The sad state of baseball

For the past several weeks, anyone could go home from work and watch the perils of the economic crisis the country is currently facing on the nightly news.

NBC, ABC and CBS have covered it extensively. Often times, the coverage has portrayed how rough the economy is at the moment.

To put it simply: The news hasn't been good regarding the economy for quite a while.

And yet, sports fans can tune into ESPN nightly and hear about all the lucrative contracts free agent players are currently signing.

Specifically with the New York Yankees.

Last week, the Yankees rolled out the red carpet for former Milwaukee Brewer and Cleveland Indian CC Sabathia, announcing they were signing him to a seven-year contract worth an estimated $161 million.

Only days later, the Yankees signed former Toronto Blue Jay A.J. Burnett, another pitcher, to a five-year, $82.5 million deal.

Then, on Tuesday, it was announced the Yankees had signed first baseman Mark Teixeira to an eight-year contract worth $180 million.

Heading into the 2009 season, the Yankees will boast baseball's four richest contracts. Including the recent signing of Teixeira, the Yankees already had third baseman Alex Rodriguez in the lineup. Rodriguez signed the richest baseball contract in history a few years ago. He is under contract for 10 years at $275 million.

Tag on shortstop Derek Jeter's 10-year contract at $189 million.

That means New York is currently paying out a lot of dough to a handful of players.

According to reports, the Yankees are committed to paying 16 players a total of $185 million in 2009.

I personally find this disgusting. And you should too.

Sure, the Yankees have often proved they have no problem spending money to win championships. Sure they are a gold mine in the world of sports.

But with the current economic climate, this is just disgusting.

I'm not sure if there is another word for this.

Across the country, talk at the water cooler for weeks has been about how much money CEO's make for wealthy companies.

But I don't here people complaining or griping about this.

They should be.

After all, it's a game. For several years, there have been players who have dreamed of stepping on a major league baseball field to play. They would have played for peanuts more than likely.

But here, we have an organization that is spending out of control.

And for what? A trophy.

Disgusting.