After the Rangers signed SS Alex Rodriguez to a ten- year, $252M contract, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said yesterday that he "did not feel betrayed by big-market team owners calling for change but willing to spend tens of millions of dollars for players," according to Don Walker of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. Selig: "I learned a long time ago, while I may be temporarily stunned by things, I know where every owner is. They know the system has to be changed. Every time you have a situation like this, it's a manifestation of how sick the system is." More Selig, on the Rangers signing Rodriguez: "This is a club that went and did what they thought they should do." Selig added that while "some of the big-market teams were busy signing players, most teams did not." Selig: "It's interesting to me that if you look at the clubs, there were 22 or 23 clubs that have sat very quietly in the last month and didn't do anything. It has nothing to do with money. It's the ability of a franchise in a given market to produce revenue. ... It's not about the owner's pocketbook because, in truth, some of the small-market teams are owned by some of the richest people in America" (MIL. JOURNAL SENTINEL, 12/14). OWNERS SHOW CONCERN: Rangers Owner Tom Hicks: "I'm concerned about our system. There is competitive imbalance, that's not right. It's not good for the game, but that's the rules we have. ... We're going to operate within the present system. If the system changes, we'll help the change the system" ("Power Lunch," CNBC, 12/13). Orioles Owner Peter Angelos, on Rodriguez', Manny Ramirez' and Mike Hampton's recent contracts: "Clearly, baseball cannot afford to pay salaries at that level. If that continues to happen, baseball is doomed unless fans are willing to pay ticket prices equivalent to other sports. I don't think they are. ... Until there is some relief in the form of a proper cap on player salaries like they have in basketball and football, what we're going to do is concentrate on our minor-league system" (Baltimore SUN, 12/14). LOSING THE PR WAR? In St. Louis, Bernie Miklasz: "The owners can't help themselves. They keep writing checks. And the players laugh all the way to the bank. So curse the players if you'd like. But the owners are baseball's worst problem" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 12/14). Last night's ESPN.com's poll question asked, "How would you react to another baseball work stoppage?" 28.3% said their feelings toward MLB would not change; 27.5% would boycott the game temporarily; 19.8% would never watch again; 15.9% said they will watch, but would not attend games and 8.3% have not watched MLB since the strike of '94 ("SportsCenter," 12/13). IS CONTRACTION THE ANSWER? In Toronto, Ken Fidlin writes, "Every time there is a labour confrontation, it ends badly for the teams. Nothing short of a hard salary cap will be enough this time, but of course the players won't submit to that. ... Backed into the corner with nowhere else to turn, management may have to kidnap the game and, with all the grotesque cold-bloodedness of a political terrorist, start killing hostages. We are talking about contraction" (TORONTO SUN, 12/14). One anonymous MLB GM said, "What we need is at least two fewer teams. The fact is the supply is never going to equal the demand" (FoxSports.com, 12/13). In Minneapolis, Patrick Reusse writes under the header, "Baseball Must Consider Contraction" (STAR TRIBUNE, 12/14).
