John Rocker took a lot of heat for the nasty comments he made about the seven line of the New York City subway system. Now Alex Rodriguez is hearing similar criticism, apparently because among his contract stipulations to the New York Mets was full ownership of the seven line, with posters of his face strewn across every car on the subway.
Baseball is wonderful, and so is money, but aren't things getting just a little out of hand?
Mets GM Steve Phillips said last week that A-Rod, in his contract requests, asked for an office at Shea Stadium, billboards, and a private jet, among other perks. Phillips went on to explain that the Mets are a team of 25 players, not 24 plus one, meaning Rodriguez was off his team's shopping list, and likely headed to either Atlanta or Texas.
The sad truth is that, while A-Rod deserves blame for some egocentric, ridiculous contract demands, and the Mets equally for failing to nab him and hiding behind a poor excuse, it's the business of baseball as a whole at whom we should point the fingers. Though fans are still tuned in and excited about the sport, the A-Rod scenario sheds some light on why the players and owners are jeopardizing their business by alienating their fans. I'm not totally sure how I feel about a salary cap, or revenue sharing, or any of that, but I do know that things are pretty silly when someone is asking for a private jet as part of a sports contract.
Baseball is a business, part of the sports entertainment business, and the Yankees are more entertaining than most teams because they have more money than most teams. I respect this very much, and understand that athletes are paid so damn well because we're willing to pay a lot for tickets, merchandise, and what not. But, to fans, baseball is more than just a business, and it is ironically in the sport's economic interest to keep it this way to some degree. In the long run, baseball can profit more as a business by portraying itself as less of a business, because, if not, fan interest will surely evaporate. The prospect doesn't look good; with salary offers and demands spinning rapidly out of control, it is becoming harder and harder to find even tiny shreds of purity in America's favorite pastime.
Both the Mets and A-Rod speak to this lesson. You have a player asking for very, very special treatment, and a team that feels the need to justify why it won't shell out such treatment by exposing the player to public shame. I am sure that Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, hinted at a lot of the things that Phillips alleged. I am also sure that Phillips knows how to exaggerate.
"It's about 25 players working as a team. The 24 plus one-man structure really doesn't work," he said. I wonder if he expected to bring some sappy fans to tears with such a beautiful line, or if he was trying to insult our intelligence on purpose. Does Phillips really expect us to believe that the Mets are this extra-special scrupulous organization that puts team welfare and sanity ahead of ticket sales? Such a team doesn't exist.
Here's the thing, though ? to an extent, such a team shouldn't exist. Sports are about making money, and contract negotiations are supposed to start out high. Alex Rodriguez should be no less scrupulous than you in working out a contract, and if his business has gotten so out of hand as to lend itself to private jet requests, then more power to him for having the nerve to ask.
But more importantly, team image and ticket sales are not so disconnected, and you can even justify the Mets' decision from an economic standpoint: the business of baseball does not want to get to the "A-Rod" point, because fan alienation is surely an economic risk that can potentially offset the benefit of bringing in a Rodriguez. Tons of small-market teams are having a hard time selling tickets because they can't muster up the funds to bring in the big names. Conversely, I'm sure that big-market teams are alienating their fans more and more as each year passes and each buck is spent. I'm not a Yankees fan, thank God, but I think I'd start to lose interest after the third or fourth big name per year brought in for ridiculous prices. This season, they'll lure Manny Ramirez and Mike Mussina, and win again. So, there are problems on both ends. How can you stay interested in a miserable team like the Milwaukee Brewers or a mega-business like the New York Yankees?
Alex Rodriguez wants a personal office, and since he's such a businessman, he'll probably need one. He knows very much that his personal success is not unconnected with his public perception, and he wasn't very happy that Phillips leaked word of his contract demands. He tried to play it down and insisted that he didn't request some of the things that Phillips said he did. But you'll probably see his billboards plastered all over some other stadium, where he'll have his own office, his own section, maybe his own train line.
A salary cap will help small market teams by allowing them to be more competitive, and would likely bolster the marketability of the game as a whole. But on the flip side, and just as importantly, a cap or some similar solution will prevent astute businessmen like Rodriguez from putting the game at similar risk by asking for too big a piece of the pie.
