Money Makin', Moneymoney Makin'

Jason Michael Barker

Future Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan became baseball's first million-dollar man nearly 20 years ago when he signed a contract with the Houston Astros worth a total of $4 million over four seasons. This author was one year old at the time, but I don't feel I'm going out on a limb when I say that there were probably a few people upset over the deal. Not only was he making a million dollars, but the Major League average was only $143,756, meaning Ryan was pulling down over seven times the average salary of his fellow players.

Fans upset over the Express' contract needed only to wait two years before the Mets inked slugger George Foster to a deal worth over $2M, or nearly eight and a half times the Major League average. According the information available since 1980, Foster's contract was the richest (in relation to the league average at the time) in baseball history until Pedro Martinez' deal with the Red Sox in 1997.

Ryan's and Foster's salaries were the highest in baseball history throughout the 1980s, but then came the free-spending '90s. The Twins shelled out $3M per season to keep fan favorite Kirby Puckett in Minnesota, a deal not completely out of line with salaries at the time. At roughly five times the league average, it seems reasonable in comparison to the contract given Foster by the Mets, especially given the presence Puckett was in Minnesota -- fans there never would have forgiven the team for letting their hero walk.

Puckett didn't get to enjoy being baseball's richest player for long, however, as the A's signed slugger Jose "40-40" Canseco for five years at $4.7M per season. Canseco put up good numbers in 1990 and 1991, then fell victim to injuries (and a mid-season trade to the Rangers) in 1992 and played just 60 games in 1993 before posting a solid 1994 strike-shortened season. His OPS over the length of the contract, beginning with 1990: .914, .915, .800, .763, and .938. He played well when healthy, but did he deserve to be paid one of the top three salaries over that span? The answer is unquestionably no.

At just 595% of the ML average, Roger Clemens' 1991 $5.3 million deal was a bargain for a pitcher of his caliber. By caliber I mean both the quality of his character and...forget it. A year later the Cubs re-signed second sacker Ryne Sandberg to a $7.3 million contact, and this is the first deal I personally remember being a big deal in the media and such. I'm sure the others were as well, but this is the one that stuck in my mind. Much like Puckett in Minnesota, Sandberg was a Chicago icon with the Cubs. While it's debatable whether he deserved the contract, the Cubs couldn't risk losing their franchise player.

After a contract drought, the Mariners locked up young star Ken Griffey, Jr. for four years at $8.5 in 1996, a deal worth 722% of the ML average. Worth it for arguably the best player in baseball, and the man who for a time was the only reason to watch the Mariners? I'm inclined to say yes. Including Griffey's contract, the deals up to this point seem quite reasonable, with a few exceptions.

And then came Albert Belle.

In my opinion, this is the contract that threw the system out of whack. Is Albert Belle a good, if not great, player? Yes, yes he is. Go look up his numbers in case you're not familiar with them -- they're probably better than you thought. Go ahead, I'll wait. Done? Good. Did he deserve to be the highest-paid player in baseball? This writer thinks not. Is Belle worth more than Piazza, Griffey, Bonds, or Maddux, for example? Probably not, but the White Sox were sold on adding a hitter to go along with Frank Thomas. Belle has since moved on to the Baltimore Orioles, but that's for another time.

Still, Belle's deal was "only" 800% of the major-league average, which pales in comparison to the deal signed by Pedro Martinez upon his trade to the Boston Red Sox prior to last season. At $12.5 million per season, it was more than 900% of the $1,378,506 average salary last season, not to mention being six years long. I don't normally advocate signing any player to such a long deal, let alone a pitcher, but given that Martinez is a young, very good starting pitcher with a healthy track record, it makes some sense.

This offseason we've been treated (more accurately, the players have been treated) first to the Mike Piazza contract, and more recently the deal signed by Mo Vaughn. You've heard my take on Piazza -- given the current salary structure, the deal is reasonable for the best-hitting catcher of all time -- and by the same token, Vaughn's deal is ridiculous. He isn't even the top first baseman in the game today, let alone of all time, and players of his, er, physique don't tend to age well.

Year*	Player	Team	Years	Average Salary	MLB Minimum	Average MLB Salary	% of Average
1980	Nolan Ryan	Astros	4	$1M	$30,000	$143,756	742%
1982	George Foster	Mets	5	$2.04M	$33,500	$241,497	845%
1990	Kirby Puckett	Twins	3	$3M	$100,000	$578,930	518%
	Jose Canseco	Athletics	5	$4.7M	$100,000	$578,930	812%
1991	Roger Clemens	Red Sox	4	$5.3M	$100,000	$891,188	595%
1992	Ryne Sandberg	Cubs	4	$7.1M	$109,000	$1,048,408	655%
1996	Ken Griffey Jr.	Mariners	4	$8.5M	$109,000	$1,176,967	722%
1997	Albert Belle	White Sox	5	$11M	$150,000	$1,383,578	795%
1998	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	6	$12.5M	$170,000	$1,378,506	907%
1999	Mike Piazza	Mets	7	$13M	$200,000	$1,500,000**	867%
	Mo Vaughn	Angels	6	$13.3M	$200,000	$1,500,000**	887%

* First season of the contract, not necessarily the year it was signed.
** Rough estimate based on present salary escalation.
Special thanks to Sean Lahman's www.baseball1.com for salary information.

What's next? Sit back and wait, for it's going to be a wild time. How much will Griffey command when his current contract is up? Alex Rodriguez? Andruw Jones? Kerry Wood? It boggles the mind. Heed this advice: get your son into baseball ASAP, and you too might reap the rewards of the mad, mad world of baseball salaries. Fasten your seatbelts -- it's going to be a wild ride toward 20 million dollar deals.

about the author

You know, Jason Michael Barker wishes there was some way he could be outside playing baseball, in the rain, and not get wet. Now wouldn't that be great?.