The Baseball writing on the Wall.......Dec. 14, 2000, 9:04PM
Expanding salaries will lead to reduction in teams
By MICKEY HERSKOWITZ
The ownership of the Texas Rangers must be crazy, and if a second opinion is needed, their timing is wretched, too.
What were they thinking when they agreed to a corporate merger with Alex Rodriguez? Were they intentionally trying to upstage the election to the presidency of their former managing partner, George W. Bush?
Maybe not, but they didn't miss by much.
And now, if the president-elect is looking for a sure-fire method of uniting the country, he can tackle the question uppermost on the minds of all Americans: Can baseball be saved?
The son of a former first baseman for the Yale Bulldogs, the retiring Texas governor is uniquely qualified to deal with the destructive chain of events certain to be unleashed by the mindless action of the Rangers.
In truth, we don't know how this might be done, but it is the historic role of the media to raise these questions, not solve them. But a starting point would be to issue an executive order, whatever that is, requiring any team that pays a player a salary larger than the actual value of the franchise to provide free parking, nachos and soft drinks to every fan, forever.
You have to hit them where it hurts.
Not everyone, of course, was angry or unhappy by the news of the record-breaking ransom the Rangers so eagerly paid. Rodriguez, for one, was happy to the point of hysteria.
"There was a lot of laughing and hugging," he said, describing the reaction of those closest to him, including his agent and tax accountant, "and people going, `Can you believe this?' "
We believe. And perhaps A-Rod's prophecy will be proved true, when he expressed the hope the deal will make Tom Hicks look like the "most smartest owner in baseball."
We press those words to our chests with hoops of steel, but in the meantime let us warn you, the locusts are coming. There will be another strike when the owners and the players union try to negotiate a new labor agreement in 2001. Count on it.
The real impact will be felt when baseball realizes what else you get for $252 million. You get between eight and 14 empty stadiums in the cities that can't compete.
As the richer teams continue to empty the vault to sign the likes of Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Mike Hampton and Mike Mussina -- the list goes on and on -- the gap between the haves and have-nots will look like the Grand Canyon. And Major League Baseball will have to seriously consider the shrinking of its ranks, folding the franchises that have no hope.
At least one economist predicted it would take "one team going belly up" for baseball to do something about this insane escalation in salaries. Of course, the owners thought they were doing this when they created a salary cap, but they were wrong, as they often are, because the cap is written in invisible ink.
And for those who keep insisting the owners wouldn't pay these ever-ascending sums, some can. But what has affording it got to do with anything? That's why credit cards were invented. It is the fans who can't afford the mega-salaries, which are reflected in rising ticket and cable TV prices.
From all accounts, Hicks is one of the nicest billionaires you will ever meet. But there is no mystery about where the money flows from: Fox paid $250 million for the television rights to the Rangers and the Dallas Stars, and Hicks used the money to hire the former Seattle shortstop.
In effect, all Hicks did was hold the funnel.
Make no mistake, television has been the salvation of the perspiring arts. TV created gymnastics as global distraction. It made a gallant effort to establish log-rolling. You get the feeling TV could almost convince you that pushing people out a window was a sport.
Rodriguez is young and tremendously gifted, the best shortstop in the game and, some would argue, the best player. You can hardly blame him for grabbing all the gold certain owners are willing to dish out.
But in many cases big money, rather than big performance, has created today's superstar. Caught in the crossfire, the fans have little sympathy for either side. But each season, more of them are priced out of the ballpark.
An hour away from Arlington by air, the Astros are among the teams checking the seismograph to see where the A-Rod eruption registers. In the face of some persistent criticism, Drayton McLane Jr. has tried to manage the team's payroll within sensible limits -- a relative term. Now he has to try to sign his biggest star, Jeff Bagwell, in a market that is orbiting the earth.
Meanwhile, the Astros added Mike Jackson on Thursday to their bullpen, where he joins Billy Wagner, Jay Powell and Doug Brocail in the bullpen. The team's crisis center now has four pitchers coming off surgery on their arms.
The Astros are more willing than some teams to gamble on damaged merchandise, as opposed to paying retail, when retail is $25 million a year. |
