For the proceeding post, I am going to deviate away from my theme of statistical analysis and discuss a very controversial problem within professional sports. A large problem, for not only Major League Baseball, but also every other professional sport is payroll and contracts. The exponentially rising levels of contracts are encumbering teams, while precipitating rising prices for tickets and various goods within the stadium. During a time of economic hardship, such as we are experiencing now, these rising costs deter some of the most loyal of fans. They just can not afford these inundating price hikes. Especially, in Major League Baseball, these teams are struggling to pay these overwhelming salaries of star players.
The main issue of these enormous contracts is that they are long-term. Lets face it, no consummate professional, unless they are at the end of their careers, is looking to ink a short-term deal. However, being pragmatic, a player who signs a long-term contract will not perform up to their best capabilities every year. For example, look at the situation with Carl Crawford during his stint with the Boston Red Sox. Crawford struggled immensely during his career with the Red Sox, however he was still paid his luxurious guaranteed salary. I am a staunch advocate of a person being paid for their production. Take into consideration a car salesman. A car salesman can earn very good money through the combination of his/her base salary and commission. However, if that car salesman does not perform well (making considerable sales), he/she does not receive the commission or great pay. The same should be for professional athletes. If they do not perform up to their greatest capabilities in the midst of a large, long-term contract, they should not be paid as if they are. There is a problem of players becoming complacent once they sign these hefty contracts. They are not so concerned about the level of their play because they know that at the end of the day, they are still receiving that enormous, guaranteed pay check. The players might not know this, but their poor play can result in much hardship and dismay for the fans. Sometimes, the high point of a sports fan day and what they look forward to is seeing their team play. If the star players and the team as a whole perform poorly, it can take a significant toll on the fans.
There is a way, in which I believe that these contractual controversies and player complacencies can be avoided. This would be through the concept of incentivized/ performance based contracts. These type of contracts include a pay range, in which the players salary is determined by their performance. The players resulting salary would land somewhere within their salary range. There are incentives for games played, good statistical performance, making the playoffs, and other noteworthy personal feats. As of right now, players receive large salaries and significant additional bonuses for these personal feats. Of course, the ranges of these performance based contracts would vary with the player and their past performances. I thoroughly believe that these types of contracts would keep professional athletes putting forth honest efforts during games.
I know what you might be thinking, the players will more than likely disapprove of these types of contracts. Well, I think its about time that some of these professional athletes get a taste of what the real world is like. If you do not perform well and make many mistakes working in the real world, what happens. You get fired, fined, or not paid. Why should the professional athletes be treated any differently with their work? Sure some professional players would get released, however, if your star player underperforms you are not going to release him. The players can complain about these contracts and go on strike all they want, I am sure that there would still be players who would play with these terms. I am sorry to any professional athletes that would be dissatisfied with making a high six-figure/ low seven-figure salary due to their poor performance at WORK. Maybe they should join the real labor force, where the average person is making ends meet with a five-figure salary.
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