Baseball players sensing things are what they should be (February 2, 2004)
Players are being paid properly now. For every free agent contract signed that I think a team overpaid on, there's another free agent contract signed that a team underpaid. Equilibrium. Not optimal, though.
The rising difficulty and cost of insuring long-term contracts.
A convergence of factors, including the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and costly injuries to players such as the Baltimore Orioles' Albert Belle in the middle of long and expensive contracts, has made it almost impossible to insure contracts longer than three years
This I don't get. Hockey players get injured far more often than baseball players. But, you don't have this issue here. If insurance is the biggest reason for limiting it to 3 years (cause that's all the insurance companies will cover), then why doesn't this affect hockey teams more? Are the premiums in hockey so high (too high?) that teams would rather not pay the insurance, and instead roll the dice?
--posted by TangoTiger at 11:40 AM EDT
Posted 1:50 p.m.,
February 2, 2004
(#1) -
Uninsured MLB player
A convergence of factors, including the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and costly injuries to players such as the Baltimore Orioles' Albert Belle in the middle of long and expensive contracts, has made it almost impossible to insure contracts longer than three years
I hate people like Osama Bin Laden and Albert Belle, conspiring to limit our earning power.
Posted 5:53 p.m.,
February 2, 2004
(#2) -
Rob H
Regarding hockey, I would guess the premiums are in fact too high. I do not follow the NHL closely though, and I suspect the NFL does not have these problems since so much of their money is non-guaranteed. Could be that the case with the NHL as well?
One thing about Albert Belle is that his injury was so unpredictable. I believe he had never been on the DL prior to his career-ending injury. The insurance companies probably have come to believe there was more risk (i.e., variance) than they previously had thought.
The thing I do not get is this: "Now, the clubs are anxious to create 'more' free agents because they realize the laws of supply and demand will cause prices to drop." How the heck is supply outpacing demand when a replacement is required for every player dumped?
Posted 11:54 a.m.,
February 3, 2004
(#3) -
Craig B
I wouldn't want to insure player contracts. Such an expense, in my view, is throwing good money after bad.