Baseball Diamond Journal

With the baseball strike looming, more and more people are saying the end is near for Major League Baseball. It is getting harder to argue against the end when trades are made to shore up an already unbelievable lineup like the Yankees, from teams without any chance of winning in today’s market. Another huge issue looming, as though it might matter is team payrolls and has been rumored for a few weeks now that one or more teams would come up short. Thus, making them unable to effectively be able to pay their players and staff. As of Friday that had not happened, though the Tampa Bay Devil Rays indeed were several days late in paying their team payrolls last week. It would however, appear this would be a moot point since the players are looking at a mid-August shutdown. If no agreement on team revenue sharing and salary issues are addressed, a shutdown will be likely. Does it seem to anyone but me that our society and MLB have warped senses of what priorities are? We pay athletes millions a year, and yet teachers are so vastly underpaid. Our military families struggle financially to make ends while defending our country. That same free country allows baseball players to make millions of dollars! Just a few weeks ago, we saw an example of this played out, when Yao Ming was drafted into the NBA. Ming had to have permission from his country, AND had to pay almost half his salary to the government of China just to be able to play here in America, and then players complain of no-trade clauses in contracts. I think these kind of issues are what make baseball rotten.