Mlb Players Are over Paid free essay sample

According to My Budget 360 the average middle class working American makes $46,326 a year (â€Å"How Much Does the Average American Make? Breaking Down the U. S. Household Income Numbers. † Par 2. ) Another problem teams are running into after paying their players large contracts is there lack of performance. It is also unfair to some of the lower income teams in the league. They are not able to pay the big name players in the league like many other teams in the league are able to. My argument with this is MLB athletes don’t deserve the amount of money they annually make, and it is unfair to everyday working Americans who are struggling to live the day to day life. To begin with, I believe Major League Baseball players are way overpaid, and have no idea what it is like to live off a regular American salary. According to baseball writer, Richard Cato, many rookie athletes are worried more about how much money there are going to make, before they even think about throwing their first pitch in there major league career. We will write a custom essay sample on Mlb Players Are over Paid or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Almost 10 years ago former cubs pitcher, Mark Prior, argued and argued with team management that his 10 million dollar contract was not going to be enough to support himself and his family (par 5. ) This is where my problem begins with Athletes being overpaid. They complain about not making enough money each year, where middle and lower class Americans manage to live off there much smaller salaries. I personally think the league minimum of $480,000 a year is much too large, and is pretty ridiculous to be complaining about. Just recently former Cardinals star, Albert Pujols, left his team due to the inability to pay the about of money he wanted to make. His new contract is a 10-year 240 million dollar contract that is way too much for any American to make in this sort span of time. In my opinion the MLB should set a top cap that any player in the league is allowed to make in a season and still have a league minimum, but much lower then it currently is. Another problem teams are having after giving their athletes large contracts is there are not performing like they once were, before there had their large contract. Next, there is a large problem with big name athletes getting very large contracts and not performing like they once did in their careers, before that made their multi-million dollar contracts. Athletes begin to get the thought in their head after they sign a large contract, that they are set for life and don’t have to perform like they once did because there have earned the money there have always wanted. Although not all athletes are like this, an example of someone who is not is, Derek Jeter. â€Å"I have never seen a more complete baseball player then Derek Jeter. † According to the New York Times, Jeter has done nothing but improved since signing his very large contract extension. He has continued to be the same player he was when he entered the league and has also became an even better player (par. 1. ) In his 18th year in the league, Jeter continues to play strong and break MLB records, showing he deserves the large contract he is paid. Players who continue to play hard like this through their career deserve to earn a large about of money, but not the excessive amount that he currently is. But this is not the case with all big league players saying large contracts. For example Albert Pujols has just signed the largest multi-year contract in the history of the league, but currently struggles hitting, and has not yet hit a single homerun. After signing this new large contract he has been very unproductive and is showing to be a waste of millions of dollars for his new team. This shows that not all major league players deserve to make these huge multi-million dollar contracts that are being paid. Finally, some teams have and unfair advantage on the amount of big name players they are allowed to sign year to year. If the Major League Baseball officials would decide on a salary cap for each team it would give everyone a more equal chance of signing big name players. I personally think each team should be able to spend the same amount of money each season, to give each team a more equal chance of winning. By doing this it would minimize he amount of big name players could sign year after year, and also give the current lower income teams the ability to sign more big name players. If the league would put a cap on the amount of money a player can make and the amount of money each team can spend, would make the league a much better all around league, giving each team an equal chance of winning a World Series. In Conclusion, Major League Baseball players are wa y over paid. None of these athletes have a clue what it’s like to live off the salary of an average working American. Athletes continue to complain about the amount of money they are making each year, not being enough to support their families, while lower and middle class families are living life just fine making 10 times less the amount of money. Athletes aren’t proving they deserve to make the amount of money they do either, by becoming way less productive after signing there multi-million dollar contracts. When the league puts a set salary cap on each player and each team the league will become a much better thing. It will also make working Americans very happy, knowing athletes aren’t making as much money as they once did. If everyone would have the same contracts, it would also make ticket prices go down making it more affordable for fans to go to games. By having the same contracts, players would all play harder and also make fans of the game happier and more supportive of the players and owners of the league. When the average American can begin to make larger salaries, will be the day athletes deserve to make the large contracts like they currently are. Works Cited â€Å"How Much Does the Average American Make? Breaking Down the U. S. Household Income Numbers. † My Budget 360. N. P. N. D. Web. 25 April 2012. â€Å"Jeter, a True Yankee. † New York Times. 03 Dec. 2006. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 April 2012. â€Å"Market Correction needed for rookie MLB contracts? † Left Field: The Reuters Global Sports Blog. Richard Cato. 11 June 2009. Web. 25 April 2012. â€Å"MLB Minimum Salary to Increase to $480,000 with New CBA. † Los Angeles Dodgers Payroll. Eric Stephen. 20 Nov. 2011. Web. 25 April 2012.