Just My Imagination

The Arizona Diamondbacks have a new television contract worth in excess of $2 billion, a sum they felt compelled to share with free-agent pitcher Zack Greinke, who will get about 10 percent—$206 million over six years—of that figure.  Instead of giving so much money to one player, why not share it with millions of fans?

The Diamondbacks are the perfect team to carry out this experiment, with young players and a near-.500 winning percentage.  What would $200 million or $400 million or—don’t pass out on me here, owners--$600 million in ticket subsidies do over the course of a season or two?  Put 35,000 fans in the seats for a Wednesday game against the Padres or Marlins, and those young players could respond accordingly; performance could generate electricity that inspires performance.  Oh, and enough revenue to plow back into the team.  As it stands, what Arizona gets in Greinke is a mercenary, an extremely talented mercenary, who opted out of a $147 million contract.  Maybe Greinke was just following the adage about never being too rich or too thin.

Of course, no team in any sport would try the above.  That would require thinking outside the proverbial box, and owners are nothing if not the most predictable of lab rats.  I sometimes wonder if Branch Rickey was given a shot on reincarnation and passed on a return to the sports’ world.  No, Rickey must have come back as Steve Jobs.