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Believe It or Not, Baseball Offers Frugal Lessons

Sport re-evaluates its pay structure

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 11, 2009 8:38 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Looking at baseball, you’d think the country wasn’t in a recession—clubs are charging exorbitant ticket prices and shelling out tens of millions of dollars on top free agents. Will the bubble ever collapse? Probably not, writes Nate Silver for Esquire. MLB is, after all, a legally protected monopoly. But more importantly, the sport already has taken steps to add a dose of reality its out-of-control pay structure.

Blue-chip free agents like CC Sabathia will always command princely sums—their skills are rare. But baseball has cut contracts on its “upper-middle class.” In 2007, 29 free agents signed contracts worth $5 million to $10 million. But 2008 saw only 11 such signings, and a smaller but significant drop in the $1 million to $5 million category. "The industry, in just a few years, has arguably made up for decades' worth of inefficiencies," writes Silver. "If only the rest of the economy could be so lucky."

In this Sept. 17, 2008 file photo Chicago White Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera throws to first to make an out in an MLB baseball game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York.
In this Sept. 17, 2008 file photo Chicago White Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera throws to first to make an out in an MLB baseball game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York.   (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
New York Yankees CC Sabathia delivers in the first inning of the Yankees spring training baseball game against the Detroit Tigers at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla.
New York Yankees CC Sabathia delivers in the first inning of the Yankees spring training baseball game against the Detroit Tigers at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla.   (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Mark Texeira laughs during a press conference following his signing as a first baseman for the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009.
Mark Texeira laughs during a press conference following his signing as a first baseman for the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009.   (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
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Mar 11, 2009 8:46 PM CDT
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MLB • New York Yankees • Mark Teixeira • contract • free agency • free agent signings • baseball • free agent • financial crisis • CC Sabathia

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