MLB Players: Overpaid or Underpaid?

During this baseball season I have noticed some kind of discomfort from the MLB fans. I’ve asked and a common complaint is that MLB players aren’t performing at their best because they may have lost the will to achieve more; some MLB fans blame this lack of motivation on the fact that they feel players are being overpaid. One fan actually told me, and I quote “making $10-20-30 million in the next 6-8 years, it would be natural to slack off because I already get paid for future good or bad performances.” This worries me since Major League Baseball was actually one of the most respected sports, are MLB teams really messing things up with player salaries? Are fans really bored of watching million-dollar baseball players “slacking off” in a game they love?

One possible solution to this problem could be to have a base salary for all MLB players and bonuses that increase based on player performance, but this solution might be a bit utopian for now. Some of the most overpaid players right now make over $14 million dollars, which is the case with Carlos Delgado of the New York Mets, at the moment Carlos’ contract is worth a good $14.5 million dollars. However, if we take these kinds of numbers as a guide, there are also some valuable MLB players who are underpaid, with contracts that only brought them $500,000. This doesn’t make any sense if you ask me. Right now in baseball, major league ratings are normal, but fans seem concerned about the kind of plays they’re actually seeing. We all know for a fact that most overpaid baseball players aren’t providing much play. Right now, the New York Yankees are the highest-paid team in Major League Baseball, earning almost twice as much as the Boston Red Sox; the lowest paid team is the Florida Marlins.

Baseball teams are also more open to the kinds of deals they can offer their players; Such is the case with the Milwaukee Brewers, who have two of their biggest players on contracts for less than $500,000. Obviously some regulation is necessary, unfortunately no one seems to be ready and get their hands dirty in a cleanup. For now, we can sit back and watch the games hoping baseball betting odds remain profitable and not think about the players’ wallets while we’re at it.