It’s always fashionable – and understandably so – to criticize the leviathan salaries being handed out in professional sports. Especially baseball. Especially by the New York Yankees. Especially this off-season.
And not just because we’re fans of the budget-challenged Rays.
Item: the most recent Yankee signees include pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who will average $23 million a year over seven years, and first baseman Mark Teixeira, who will average $22.5 million over eight years.
But for the first time in memory, such obscene amounts and the distorted market and societal priorities they represent – especially amid a recession – don’t seem as blatantly skewed as they once did.
Item: John Thain, chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch, made $83 million last year. Lloyd Blankfein, president and CEO of Goldman Sachs, took home $54 million last year.
That actually puts the marketplace — and even a generic sense of fairness — into appropriate context. Both Sabathia and Teixeira had great years.