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MLB Advertising Revenues: Is the revenue stream more important than the truth to the minors?

By Steve Lombardi

It's a problem for the MLB, the MiLB and they have exported it to high schools.

A Mason City, Iowa father was arrested for supplying his son steroids. The father and mother are divorced and child visitation was being exercised. The AP reports the son was given the drugs when he was on a visitation weekend.

'Court records show that boy told investigators his father gave him the pills during an earlier weekend visitation. The records also show that Gerleman admitted to giving his son the needle and the pills.'

The Gilbertville police were called when the son allegedly assaulted the mother who phoned the police. Officers found a syringe and 105 pills in the child's bedroom. The boy is 14-years old.

By now there should be no question where and why the father had that idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RgCDpqTJYw

MLB Advertising Revenues: Is the revenue stream more important than the truth?

MLB posts record revenues

Baseball's sales have increased 50 percent from 2004 and have doubled since 2000, CNN reported. DuPuy said that the level of growth this year had surprised even him and Commissioner Bud Selig.

'We have seen a healthy increase in every one of our revenue streams," DuPuy said. "We saw about a $0.5 billion from sources that really didn't exist 10 years ago." DuPuy told CNN he expects revenue growth in the single digit percentage range in 2008 and an even bigger jump in revenue in 2009.

According to USA Today (December 2007), 'Under its highly successful and lucrative Internet arm — MLB Advanced Media — stodgy old baseball, which used to take its swings at innovation long after other sports had circled the bases, has moved ahead of the technological curve.

And in the process, they have created a cash cow that has been instrumental in boosting the industry's annual revenues past $6 billion and inflating franchise values.'

By 2002 the average player salary was $2,385,903.

MLB Player Contract Morality Clause: What do these clauses state? Have they any meaning except when "The League" wants to get rid of a player? Are they really morality clauses or money saving clauses benefiting only the MLB deep pockets? In other words are they being used to protect the owners' financial interests or the leagues reputation?

Every player on the 40-man roster signs a standard contract that includes a morals clause, paragraph 3(a), that reads: "The Player agrees to perform his services hereunder diligently and faithfully, to keep himself in first-class physical condition and to obey the Club's training rules, and pledges himself to the American public and to the Club to conform to high standards of personal conduct, fair play and good sportsmanship."

So does the morality clause bar players from lying on television or not?

Why isn't the league's reputation through the morality clause being enforced against the Yankees and A-Rod? Is A-Rod above the league rules? If this time we can believe A-Rod, admitting he lied at an earlier time on 60 Minutes about not taking steroids then doesn't his public admission now violate the morality clause? Is this a distinction without a difference? You think kids are being fooled by the lame explanation that MLB isn't giving? Kids laugh at what we think. And then they do what they want to do and we wonder where they got the example. Take a mirror.

How has the morality clause been used against other players?

A 28-year-old pitcher was released from the player contract using the morality clause, for less than lying about something having much to do with the integrity of the game. How is taking steroids any different than gambling on the game? It's a distinction without a difference. Here is the ESPN story on that pitcher, Sidney Ponson.

WHAT EVERY PLAYER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MORALS CLAUSES, Brian R. Socolow

It was Praver's first comment regarding Ponson since the 28-year-old pitcher was arrested on Aug. 25 for driving under the influence of alcohol. It has been several weeks since Ponson has talked to the media.

Ponson's arrest was his second this year. He was also charged in January with driving under the influence in Florida, a case that has not been resolved.

That arrest came less than a month after he spent 11 days in an Aruban jail after he hit a judge during a Christmas Day fight at a beach in his home country. Ponson apologized for the fight and reached a settlement that involved community service and a charitable contribution.

Last week's arrest convinced the Orioles they had sufficient grounds to terminate his contract. In a one-sentence release Thursday, the Orioles said they placed the pitcher on "unconditional release waivers," citing a violation of the standard player contract.

Every player on the 40-man roster signs a standard contract that includes a morals clause, paragraph 3(a), that reads: "The Player agrees to perform his services hereunder diligently and faithfully, to keep himself in first-class physical condition and to obey the Club's training rules, and pledges himself to the American public and to the Club to conform to high standards of personal conduct, fair play and good sportsmanship."

The Orioles believe Ponson violated that rule.

"It relates to his alcohol-related conduct over a period of time," Smouse said.

This isn't about A-Rod or Ponson. It's about integrity or a lack of it. We should all be ashamed of the MLB. The MLB is wrong and it's obvious and embarrassing. It's about wanting something you didn't earn and just because you showed up think you earned it. It's about how money and power influence the decision making and how when a lot of money is involved causes distinctions to be made; distinctioins without a difference. We aren't fooling our kids; only ourselves. This is all about intellectual dishonesty and corruption that leads to financial wrongdoing.

Here is Matt Breeden from Smaller Indiana in A-Rod and the Morality Clause.

As for A-Rod, I was listening to Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio yesterday and they were discussing a very interesting topic. Greeny and Golic were bantering back and forth about whether or not the Yankees could get out of A-Rod's contract based on his use of steroids. Each of them concluded that they probably could not, but cited fraud and misrepresentation as one possible approach that they could take. Their reasoning was that A-Rod used steroids when he was in Texas and the Yankees accepted A-Rod's $250,000,000 contract based on his performance in Texas. However, since he was violating MLB's rules by using steroids to enhance his performance, he was in fact misrepresenting his ability by cheating. The problem with this reasoning, which Greeny and Golic acknowledged, is that A-Rod's performance did not deteriorate when he went to the Yankees. ....and supposedly stopped using steroids. Thus, the fraud and misrepresentation claims would be hollow, as the Yankees suffered no damage.

This got me to thinking. Maybe A-Rod didn't defraud the Yankees, but he may very well have hurt their reputation, as well as his own. This brings me to my point (...which I'm sure Hank & Hal Steinbrenner have already thought of) if you really want terminate A-Rod, or just negotiate his salary down, the morality clause is the key. You see, in just about every professional sports contracts, and most employment agreements for that matter, there is a clause that says something along the following lines:

Athlete agrees to conduct himself with due regard to public conventions and morals, and agrees that he will not do or commit any act or thing that will tend to degrade him in society or bring him into public hatred, contempt, scorn or ridicule, or that will tend to shock, insult or offend the community or ridicule public morals or decency.

A-Rod's relatively squeaky clean image has most certainly been significantly tarnished by his admission to the use of steroids. In fact, he has been scorned and ridiculed by just about every newspaper in the country over the course of the last week.

So what about the minor league professionals that aren't called up to the big dance while the likes of Steroid-Rod cheat or at least admit to having cheated in years past? I guess the lesson for the minor league players is take steriods, cheat but hire a good lawyer.

What is the incentive for the minor leaguers to lie? Take a gue$$.

MiLB - Minor League professional baseball earnings or average pay is a pittance compared to the MLB salaries.

Minor League Players: average around $1,000 per month or less.

Major League Players: average salary is $3.26 million.

Major League Total Payroll for 2009: $2.6 Billion!

Alex Rodriquez is making $33 million over ten years for more than $300 million.

Katie Couric Asks A-Rod If He's Worth $300 Million

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g84clIyPUPA

According to WikiAnswers.com –

'Minor League Baseball player contracts are handled by the Major League Baseball office. Here are the salary ranges:

First contract season: $850/month maximum. After that, open to negotiation

Alien Salary Rates: Different for aliens on visas--mandated by INS (Immigration).

Class AAA--First year: $2,150/month, after first year no less than $2,150/month

Class AA-First year: $1,500/month, after first year no less than $1,500/month

Class A (full season)--First year: $1,050/month, after first year no less than $1,050/month

Class A (short-season)--First year: $850/month, after first year no less than $850/month

Dominican & Venezuelan Summer Leagues--no lower than $300/month

Meal Money: $20 per day at all levels, while on the road.'

Is it the golden rule that children are supposed to be learning? The golden rule being "He who holds the gold makes the rules."

He who holds the gold makes the rules? Yes kids learn from the MLB. Take steriods, lie, cheat others and smile all the way to the bank. Don't be stupid after all don't you want to be rich? That's the lesson of the MLB and A-hole Rod.

School Safety: The Cost of Bulking Up, Megan Roth

Father arrested for supplying steroids to his son, Steve Lombardi

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Steve Lombardi

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on April 23, 2009 (boomark / email).