Baseball's brinkmanship

Worth every cent? $252m man Alex Rodriguez

Baseball's spring training has begun, but the sport's labour problems continue to cast a pall. BBC Sport Online's Kevin Asseo gives an American perspective.

Alex Rodriguez strolled into the Texas Rangers spring training camp with a timid smile on his face.

With his trademark humility, he addressed the media hordes that had descended on tiny Port Charlotte in Florida.

"I never dreamed, in my wildest dreams, I'd be making this type of money," he said.

"It's almost embarrassing to talk about. I don't think Michael Jordan or Bill Gates or Alexander the Great are worth this kind of money."

We have to change the way we do business from top to bottom

  MLB commissioner
Bud Selig

Rodriguez is the new holder of the richest contract in American sport history.

The Rangers' shortstop will make just over $25m (£17.5m) this year, and his contract calls for him to earn a total of $252m (£175m) over the next decade.

Rodriguez's statement leads to an obvious question. Is anybody really worth this kind of money?

Self-destruct

Particularly in a sport which appears, once again, to be headed towards a labour strike at the end of this year.

Seemingly no sport has a tendency to self-destruct under the weight of its own greed like baseball.

Blame in the situation is hard to place, as the greed runs deep on both the owners' and players' sides of the table.

Selig says the outlook is gloomy for MLB

The owners complain of losing huge amounts of money and threaten to declare bankruptcy one day, then hand out a $15m per year contract the next.

If they can't afford to pay these salaries, why do they keep offering them?

Meanwhile, Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas staged a walkout in protest at his $85m deal. Presumably, $10m a year simply isn't enough.

It's difficult to know whose complaints to believe - but one thing is certain.

The current labour agreement between the owners and players expires at the end of the 2001 season, and it doesn't seem possible that they will reach a new accord anytime soon.

Stoppage looming

"The problems we face are so pervasive and complex that it's going to take myriad solutions at every level," said MLB commissioner Bud Selig.

"We have to change the way we do business from top to bottom."

That would mean another stoppage of play, delaying or possibly cancelling the 2002 season. If that happens, some feel the sport may not be able to recover.

Green knows a good thing when he sees it

When a stoppage cancelled the end of the 1994 season, including the World Series, it took several years for baseball to win back its fans.

That only happened courtesy of the epic Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa home run race of 1998.

The typical fan cannot conceive why players, with an average salary running in millions, would even think about going on strike.

There is simply no sympathy for the 'plight' of the players, and some have a hard time justifying themselves.

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green earns $14m (£10m) a year.

He said, "Somewhere along the line, the players have to sit back and say, 'We've got a pretty good deal here. Why would we want to screw it up?'."

Unfortunately, it looks as if they may do just that.