Dealers choice

Jonathan Papelbon is underpaid. Well, the sun will come up in the morning, too.

MLB has a salary structure, grossly overweighted in favor of the players. I can argue that I am at the top of my game (debatable) and I will never come close to making the major league minimum as a doctor with 25 years experience.

But Papelbon has a choice. He can get paid now or wait. Let us say for convenience sake that he gets 750 grand, or has a choice to sign a three year deal for 12 million.

He can take a chance on injury or just performance variability, and if he tears a rotator cuff, then he does not get the big pay day. Or he can take the money and give up some negotiating freedom going forward.

I am not saying that he is greedy, only that he has options, far more than EVERY other reader of this column (EVER).

Sure, we are comparing apples to oranges. Who adds more value to the world, a terrific school teacher, the best ICU nurse around, Mother Teresa, or one of the best relief pitchers in baseball?

The day I am on my death bed, whom do I want there, my wife and family, or my favorite sports hero?

Comments

Mark Lesses said…
I guess he's not getting paid for his brains... I liked his suggestion that he was crying for the sake of baseball, that he somehow had an obligation to piss and moan. It must be because he's been so underprivileged in the last couple of year! Although, there is a way that Paps just seems to busting Theo's chops with his goofy diatribe, kind of like a wise ass kid.
11:32 PM
Anonymous said…
I am surprised that he took the pay raise from the Sox. Many have suggested that the reason that players like Ryan Howard get huge arbitration deals is because ownership refuses contract restructuring. Picking up $300,000 today could very well cost him millions in the future.
On a side note, several of your links are either dead or no longer relevant.
12:11 PM
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