Goosegg posted:To all those who somehow think that because it's baseball (the "dream"), an employee should be thankful for earning $4/hr, would you think the same way if your kid who got his dream job on Wall Street, Apple, Amazon or whatever, should be thankful about earning the same $4/hr?
What is it about baseball that makes this job different? Is it the fact that teams collectively agree to pay these wages, prohibit the players from marketing their talent in a free market, control their lives 24/7/365 without paying for it - what is the magic here? Kids who play pro-ball spent over a decade developing their talent into the top amateurs in the world - and simply don't get paid even minimum wage. Meanwhile, the kid who learned computer programming over that decade steps out of school for a six figure job. The competition for those top jobs are just as fierce, yet free markets dictate the terms of these contracts; but, somehow, baseball is different (maybe because it's the same game as he played since he was old enough walk).
While playing proball is a great experience and can be used as a stepping stone to all sorts of jobs - inside and outside of baseball, it is a tough road and often subsidized by parents. Simply put, baseball has succeeded in off loading the overhead to those parents who love watching their sons play a familiar game.
An industry run my billionaires off loading the cost of health clubs, lessons, even baseball gloves and cleats to middle class parents. Kudos to the system!
It's a game.