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| Rockies: Matt Holliday (r.), was introduced before Game 3 of the World Series at Coors Field in Denver. The second-highest-paid
player for his team has a yearly salary of less than $4.5 million. Jack Dempsey/AP |
Red Sox are rich, but more than fat payrolls at work
Although some experts see justification for high-paid players, they also cite other factors in winning such as solid management and player development.
from the October 29, 2007 edition
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Matthews does caution that the label is overapplied, and Red Sox players seem to agree.
"They always [talk about] the moneyball and all that … but I think this team just goes up to bat, has a great approach, and is going to be aggressive but also patient at the same time," said Youkilis after Game 1 last week, a 13-1 Sox rout.
Still, if good management and coaching win recognition, big-dollar stories stand out. Public interest and media attention
tend to alight on stories that suggest a deep and irreparable imbalance – such as the current free-agency story involving
New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez, whose agent, Scott Boras, would like to see stay in the salary stratosphere. (Rodriguez
stole some baseball headlines from the Series-winning Sox with an announcement Sunday that he would opt out of his Yankees
contract without even sitting down to negotiate an extension.)
Those market values aren't necessarily undeserved.
"Not only do [players like Rodriguez and Barry Bonds] help the team win, but they get people excited about record-breaking," says Zimbalist. "And if the player is charismatic or classy on top of that, [then] they have still greater value. And if they're playing in a large market, then they have an ever-greater value.... The system rewards them for that."
It also, in turn, fuels winning machines, according to Paul Sommers, an economics professor at Middlebury College in Vermont who has written and coauthored books and papers on the business of baseball.
Dr. Sommers found that when team salaries in Major League Baseball were adjusted for the number of games won in each of 10 seasons (1992-2001), the "cost per win" was about the same for contenders as for noncontenders.
"In other words, large-market clubs (with deep pockets) can be expected to produce more 'output,' in this case, better win records," Dr. Sommers writes in an e-mail. "So, given the payroll disparity between the Red Sox and the Rockies, I would … expect [the] better performance from the Red Sox."
Salary cap unlikely
Any MLB intervention is unlikely, probably unnecessary, others say. A salary cap would not get past the players' association, Zimbalist says. He adds that the professional basketball and football leagues, which have salary caps, actually have a higher share of revenues going to players' salaries than baseball does.
Also, though some observers find faults in baseball's current system of revenue-sharing among teams, others see it working well.
"[It] has solved a lot of the major problems," says Matthews. "When you see the [small-market] Kansas City Royals spent $3.5 million, $4.5 million on their first-round pick this year, Mike Moustakas ... they're taking the money from revenue-sharing and they're investing into player development and into their scouting departments."
That – along with the parade of major young talents coming up through the minor league – points to a game where some 750 players, stars and unknowns, should make for plenty of October surprises, like the lean-payroll Florida Marlins of 2003.
"We've got seven World Champions in the past seven years," Matthews said Saturday night. "We've got competitive balance."
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