December 18, 2003
Letter to Gene
Here's the text of the letter I sent to Gene Orza.
Dear Mr. Orza,
I have posted an article on my web log about the A-Rod trade that I think you should read:
http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/005800.php
I believe the MLBPA is making a mistake in this case. (I'm speaking as a baseball fan, not a Red Sox or Rangers fan). A-Rod moving to Boston will make Alex more popular, which will make the game more popular, which will mean more money, which will mean higer salaries for players in the future. As far as I can tell, salaries are going down right now, and with attendance flat to down over the last few years I can see why. Stopping the trade will not help anyone make more money, but letting it go through, and finding a new level of partnership with owners will. I hope the union will change its mind.
David Pinto
Posted by David Pinto at
10:16 AM
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The thing I just don't get about the Player's Union is that it ISN'T out for the best interest of a majority of the players. They care more about the average salary of the players (skewed by contracts like AROD's) the the mean, which, in my opion, what it should all be about.
Anyway, this is just another case of a group of millionaries arguing with another group of millionaires at no cost to themselves and a great cost to the public.
Greedy bastards.
Quick correction from a stat head, it's median not mean, mean is average. Median is midpoint.
S
That's fine if they want to do that.
It's also fine if less people go to the games too. They think it's bad now....wait until the players' union muck it up so much that most of the fans side with the owners.
It could be in the best interest of the players to start a new union anyway....
Yeah, my bad. Was a little worked up and typed it wrong. Thanks for the correction.
I'm sorry, I disagree with your position on this, Dave. Read Joe Sheehan's column on BP today, I think he hits the nail on the head.
Why should A-Rod be held to a different standard then the owners with whom he's negotiating? He's being asked to forfeit something like 50 million dollars; you think Tom Hicks and John Henry got to where they are today by walking away from that kind of money?
A-Rod shouldn't be allowed to tear up his contract in the same way that Tom Hicks shouldn't be allowed to. Just because things didn't work out quite the way the Rangers wanted doesn't leave them room to just abandon the contract. I don't think it's such a slippery-slope argument that this would drastically change the balance of power in labor negotiations. If A-Rod can negotiate away terms in his contract under pressure from the Red Sox, this gives teams plenty of leverage to demand concessions from players within the contract period. I think that's key here: A-Rod HAS a contract, and he should be protected by it, even from himself.
I just posted a response to Daniel's comment and the BP article at here.
I am an a$$! What was I thinking!?!?!
