To put this in perspective, in 1980 Nolan Ryan was the highest paid player in baseball annually making 1million dollars which was 60 times the average household income. Since 2008, Alex Rodriguez has averaged 30 million dollars a year which is 647 times what the average American household income is. Even going to a game has become expensive. My question is, what has happened to sports? Was it just time that caused this major inflation in salaries? was it agents? owners? Has the love of the game faded to the need of a salary?
A touchy subject for everyone is money. Wether you are a recent graduate, a company with multiple employees, or a professional athlete, when you love what you do, regardless of pay, it makes your job much easier. Lately, there have been a few young baseball players, toping headlines, that are not making what they are worth. I agree that these guys deserve much more than whats been given, but at the same time baseball pays ridiculous amounts of money to players.
- 250 million to ARod
- 215 million for Kershaw
- 180 million Verlander
Holy cow that is a ton of money! All players on the “25 man roster” are easily making more than the average American, league minimum is half a million dollars. Heck ask me to play baseball, travel the US, and hang out with a bunch of guys all day for a half a million, SIGN ME UP!
The salaries of players today are much more substantial than players through time. Some of the greatest baseball players of all time with their spot in the Hall of Fame would not have made anything compared to what guys are paid now.
- Hank Arron in 1979 made 200,000 which is now the equivalent to $1,104,764
- Joe DiMaggio in 1949 made 100,000 dollars, in 2012 that was the equivalent to $976,783.
- Mick Mantle in 1963 made 100,000 dollars, in 2o12 that is the to 759,130.
- Lou Gehrig made $39,000 in 1940 which is the equal to 646,974 dollars.
- Yogi Berra in 1957 made 65,000 dollars, in 2012 that is 537,867.
- Jackie Robinson’s salary in 1952 is now the equal to 347,887
- Cy Young would have only made 103,467 with his contract in 1904.
Yes, times have changed those players were making a substantial amount of money for the time they played. The MLB has more money, but making 647 times the average American is outrageous. Especially when guys like Manny Machado and Mike Trout are getting “Disappointing” contracts.