Why the NBA/MLB should have teams contracted
Kevin Lewis
Issue date: 2/8/10 Section: Impact Staff Blogs
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As simple as that sounds, with a large portion of teams in the MLB and the NBA, that simply is not the case. With some of them, the owners are incredibly stingy and would rather simply pocket the money as opposed to pumping it back into the team in an effort to make them better. This is evidence quite frequently every year as there is almost always a "salary dump" a la Victor Martinez this year. Then there is the Pau Gasol trade in the NBA, where Memphis essentially traded Pau for his younger brother, who isn't too bad, and a couple toothbrushes and some week old ham.
I won't go as far as to say it's "unfair", but it's damn close. The Lakers were going nowhere fast, then all of a sudden Memphis gift wrapped one of the best big men in the league to them, then they were back on the map again. If Memphis isn't going to pay up to have a potentially good team, and then in turn trade their players for far less than what they should net in an effort to dump the salary, then what is the point? It negatively affects the competitive balance. Rudy Gay is probably next in line, as he is a restricted free agent out in Memphis this summer. Memphis will give him away since they choose to be cheap. All the Grizzlies, and other teams like the Timberwolves (see: Kevin Garnett trade) are essentially NBDL teams for the bigger teams who are willing to actually spend the money to put a consistently good and watchable product on the floor.
At what point does this compromise the integrity of the sport?
Another example is the Cleveland Indians. C.C Sabathia and Cliff Lee were both starters in Game One of the World Series this past season. What else do they have in common? That's right, they both were Cleveland Indians at one point. Fearing that they wouldn't be able to pay Sabathia, Cleveland traded him to the Brewers for a substantial package of minor leaguers centered around heavily touted prospect 3B Matt LaPorta. Sabathia is arguably the best pitcher in the sport, and Cleveland has, to this point, zip to show in the trade despite bringing him up through the minors and developing him into the pitcher he is today. I understand that business is business, and that these owners are about the almighty buck, but when does it come to a point where it compromises the sport?
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