“Play ball…”
If you are not a baseball fan like I am you might not be aware of the run-a-way salaries teams are shelling out for somewhat good to marginal players.
Big money spread out over many years — in Robinson Cano’s case, a decade. With big TV deals kicking in, Forbes predicts major league baseball revenue will exceed $9 billion in 2014.
Here are some of those fat contracts:
- Shin-Soo Choo agreed to a seven year, $130 million contract with the Texas Rangers.
- Robinson Cano signed by Seattle for 10 years, $240 million
- Jacoby Ellslbury inked a seven year, $153 million deal with the Yankees
- Brian McCann signed by the Yankees for five years, $85 million
- Curtis Granderson the Mets, four years, $60 million
A new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund — on the well-being of children in 35 developed nations — turned up some alarming statistics about child poverty. More than one in five American children fall below a relative poverty line, which UNICEF defines as living in a household that earns less than half of the national median. The United States ranks 34th of the 35 countries surveyed, above only Romania and below virtually all of Europe plus Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
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Ron Costello 