Editorial: No bounds in sight for players’ salaries

Friday, Dec. 15, 2000 | 9:49 a.m.

Even the phrase "out of control" doesn't seem an apt description of the 10-year, $252 million deal that Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers paid to get Alex Rodriguez to sign with their team, the richest contract in sports history. The All-Star shortstop certainly is one of the best players in the game, but the question remains: Is Rodriguez, or any athlete for that matter, worth an average payment of $25 million a year?

Owners in all sports frequently bemoan having to pay such high salaries for star athletes, but no one is holding a gun to their heads, forcing them to spend tens of millions of dollars on athletes who, in many instances, don't live up to their billing. While the owners cry about their plight, the tears dry pretty fast, as the costs of free agency not too surprisingly get passed on to the fans in the form of higher prices for tickets, concessions and parking. Once again the losers in the skyrocketing bidding wars in sports will be the fans, whose loyalty to their home teams, and to the game itself, surely will be tested by free agency that permits such blockbuster deals.