Bud Selig gets contract extension

[Diamondback Jay]

Commissioner Bud Selig will be extended for at least two years this week at the owners' meetings, reports ESPN's Buster Olney. Selig became MLB's acting commissioner in 1992, and the title became official in 1998. He currently earns more than $22MM per year.


(Credit: MLBTradeRumors.com)

22 mill for that fool? Holy crap

 

[82CardsGrad]

 

[BC867]

A salary of twenty-two-freaking-million-dollars per year.

That's twenty-one-million-nine-hundred-and-forty-five-thousand-eight-hundred-and-fifty-dollars more than the average salary of a high school teacher to oversee a bunch of pampered overage high schoolers play a kid's game to take our mind off the state of the economy.

 

[crisper57]

Meh, I am okay with this. Forget the steroid era, in the last 5 years, he's been the best Commissioner in the big 4 leagues.

The NHL nearly imploded after they lost a season. The NFL and NBA labor disputes cost them player development time, games, and fans.

In the meantime, MLB has instituted the strictest steroid testing in professional sports. You think a star like Ryan Braun would have been publicly busted in any other sport? Selig also had a peaceful labor negotiation this year. Did you hear about that one? No? Exactly.

And while some of his ideas were dumb (All-star Game deciding Home Field advantage in the WS), he also gets credit with the greatest baseball innovation of our generation: the Wildcard. Now he hopes to expand on that idea. He's also pushed back against purists and implemented instant replay on certain calls. Let's face it, baseball is in a lot of ways, an archaic sport. Selig has shown that he is willing to stand up against the status quo to make sure the game stays relevant.

So for a guy how is a continual laughing-stock, he's actually done a pretty good job, especially in the years since the world-at-large finally decided a clean game was more important than the long ball.

 

[Mulli]

Forget about the steroid era? I guess we have no choice.

 

[crisper57]

Forget about the steroid era? I guess we have no choice.

He just gave the public what it wanted. That era is on all of us, IMO. We all fell in love with home runs and offensive output. We didn't care, or at least didn't want to know, why there was a spike during that time.

 

[Mulli]

He just gave the public what it wanted. That era is on all of us, IMO. We all fell in love with home runs and offensive output. We didn't care, or at least didn't want to know why there was a spike during that time.

How can you put it on the public? Baseball gave it to us. From Selig's office to the teams, they could have done something about it, but didn't. It was on his watch, and he loved it. Then he threw Bonds under the bus.
I'll give you Selig's last four to five years, but that is about it.

 

[crisper57]

How can you put it on the public? Baseball gave it to us. From Selig's office to the teams, they could have done something about it, but didn't. It was on his watch, and he loved it. Then he threw Bonds under the bus.
I'll give you Selig's last four to five years, but that is about it.

In our ADD, instant gratification society, yes I put it on the public. People say baseball is too boring without home runs. I say learning the nuances of the game makes it extremely exciting, but who has time for that?

I also put it on all the young players from other countries that knew baseball was their one-and-only shot at a decent life. They'd do anything to make it. And the other players had to follow suit to keep up. Paychecks were at stake. I truly think that is where steroids made the most inroads into MLB.

Finally, I put it on the 94 strike. Baseball desperately needed a chase for the HR record to bring MLB back from death's door.

For good or ill, Selig has tried to give the fans exactly what they want and has shown that he can change with evolving demands. I'm not defending him or his role in the steroid era. In fact, I thought it was a joke. But I'd take him over Goodell, Stern, or Bettman right now.

 

[Mulli]

In our ADD, instant gratification society, yes I put it on the public. People say baseball is too boring without home runs. I say learning the nuances of the game makes it extremely exciting, but who has time for that?

I also put it on all the young players from other countries that knew baseball was their one-and-only shot at a decent life. They'd do anything to make it. And the other players had to follow suit to keep up. Paychecks were at stake. I truly think that is where steroids made the most inroads into MLB.

Finally, I put it on the 94 strike. Baseball desperately needed a chase for the HR record to bring MLB back from death's door.

For good or ill, Selig has tried to give the fans exactly what they want and has shown that he can change with evolving demands. I'm not defending him or his role in the steroid era, but I'd take him over Goodell, Stern, or Bettman right now.

Ya, even the steroid era, me too. I am growing to not care about the steroids.