Should ball players, of all varieties be paid so very much money to, well, play?

Trying to hyper link the article that ticked me off. Sorry.

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/3/19/18272925/mike-trout-record-extension-value-war-projections?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits million

No. How can anyone value a dollar when so many of them can be had for so little effort? Do these guys/gals also use money for toilet paper? They might as well…

Sure. They get paid what the market will pay them. If people don’t want the high prices then they won’t go to the games.

It’s too extreme at the top salaries, but I don’t mind them making really good salaries like a couple of hundred thousand a year, maybe up to a million, but that does seem high to me, let alone what the article takes about.

It’s not “just playing” when it’s your job. Sometimes they are out of work for a while. They run more risk than the average working of getting hurt.

I also am disgusted by very high ticket prices, so I do think the issue needs to be addressed.

Yes, let’s pay doctors what ball players make. Think medical costs are too high now? Just wait.

It’s entertainment. Are you bothered by the amount of money that stars in other entertainment fields make?

Yes, so am I. I think it’s obscene. But this is apparently what our society values. The more distance it puts between us and so-called reality, the more we’ll pay for it.

Why blame the workers? They negotiated a fair price for the human capital; the owners are willing to pay the salaries.

Remember, if the player isn’t generating multiples of his salary in revenue, they won’t be earning that much.

Tickets don’t pay the salaries; TV does.

@Jeruba yes of course 20 million per movie is obscene, however, we can watch a movie for 10 bucks, download it stream it whatever, pretty much for free. Some, most of the actors are people who have studied and worked hard at their craft. Ball players are literally just that. Wonderfully talented as they may be, they are just players who continued after we all went on to college and life.

And the ticket prices for a hockey/football game might be affordable if everyone just called “the emperor’s new clothes” on them someday, instead of drinking the koolaide.

500 million dollars to play baseball. Seriously.

On the planet where they are observing us there are wagers on how long this foolishness will continue.

P.s. The average NFL ticket price is 100 dollars. Go take your kids to a game. Buy some hotdogs, too.

“Some, most of the actors are people who have studied and worked hard at their craft. Ball players are literally just that. Wonderfully talented as they may be, they are just players who continued after we all went on to college and life.”

Professional ball players work just as hard at their craft as any actor. And often for many years more.

“500 million dollars to play baseball. Seriously.”

No baseball player is earning $500 million.

@Darth see link.

426.5 million over 12 years, to be precise.

Yes. That’s still not $500 million. Yes, he will have, presumably, earned $500 all totalled (including what he’s already earned) over the course of his career. But he’s not being paid $500 million. Not unless we want to count everyone’s lifetime career earnings as their salary.

You win.

There is no “should” in our economic system. There is just a market.

Yes, of course they should be paid what they are worth.

We like in a capitalist system where there are not laws that control wages. You get paid what the market thinks you are worth.

If you want to complain, then argue with the millions of baseball / football / hockey and other sports fans that pay to see these people play.

Consider many are just a single injury away from unemployment.

People are willing to pay the ticket prices so….

The allusion to entertainmrnt salaries is apt. And it pays to keep in mind that those obscene salaries are doled to a proportionally obscene minority of performers.

I think no because its not like there making a difference to the world like doctors hey are just entertaining people.

Why should “making a difference to the world” matter?

Obviously it doesn’t matter. But for the establishment at large, both sports and entertainment serve the vital “bread and circuses” aspects required to deflect from reflections on higher aspirations, particularly ruminations on the flaws inherent in the society and those profiting thereby. Feed the mob and dull its intellect with saturation of games festivals, gladiatorial combats.

@Sophia123 what @Darth_Algar. So what if * they’re * not making a difference in the world over all, except for their own personal world. Does the work that you do make a difference for the world over all?

I think they should. Everyone else is making a lot of money off them. The stadium owners, the companies that sell merchandise, the vendors for food and drink, the TV networks, everyone. So why not reward the source of all that income?

It all comes down to supply and demand. Our society is prepared to pay big bucks for ball games and movies.

They clearly serve a need. But then so does heroin. How do you determine whether a rabid Yankees fan would not be out shooting up a school were he not screaming himself hoarse at the stadium?

Hmmm….

Shoot up your school or go to a Yankees game?

I dunno. I’m not convinced those are the only two possible outcomes.