Abitrary and Capricious

 

There is nothing like having a front office who tries to get along with the players.  But what does it say about fan relation?  Player salaries are one factor in escalating ticket price. 

 

There is a seriousness associated with sport.  In hockey.  In baseball.  There are a lot of irreverent scribes.  They don’t mix well with the competitor. 

 

With George Sherrill’s signing, a $2.75 million deal for the 2009 season, the Orioles will not have any arbitration hearings this year. 

The Orioles have avoided this situation since winning their case against starter Rodrigo Lopez prior to the 2006 season.  Andy MacPhail joined the Orioles in June 2007.  Andy has a perfect record avoiding arbitration since he joined the Cubs.  Sherrill had asked for $3.4 mllion.  The Orioles offered $2.2 million. The hearing had been scheduled for Feb. 19th.  

 

I am sure all of the agents know of his record.  There was not much competing going on in the off season.  A lot of sports fans have been led to believe that the value of a franchise was based on total payroll and not the standings, and players were to be recruited.    

Those ticket prices in Baltimore would not be frozen for a while.