I defend professional athletes against the hoary accusation that they are paid “too much.” I remember all the arguments my father would have with my Aunt Beatrice, an unshakeable liberal, who would insist that baseball stars getting higher salaries than teachers was “ridiculous.” Dad would patiently try to explain to her the economic principle of supply and demand but to no avail. It would be even more difficult keeping the late Aunt Bea’s passions in check now, when one baseball player has a ten year contract worth 700 million dollars, and the minimum MLB salary is $780,000. The amounts don’t matter, however. Those salaries reflect the actual value of those players, who have rare talents essential to a multi-billion dollar industry that supports many other industries with millions of employees.
However, alleged superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays recently made an exquisitely absurd argument to justify the obvious disparity between the 14-year, $500 million contract extension he signed in 2025 and his current disastrous season in which he has performed only slightly better than one of those minimum salary players. Guerrero’s mysterious season-long slump pretty much destroyed 2026 for the Jays, last year’s American League World Series representatives that were the overwhelming favorites to repeat.
In an interview, the 30-year-old Guerrero was asked about his struggles and explained that fans just don’t understand that he is being paid for what he has done in the past, not what he is expected to do in the future.
“they paid me [$500,000,000] for what I did, not what I am going to do”
This sounds like dumb and dumber. But hey, maybe Guerrero has CTE. Has he every had a concussion from getting hit in the head by a fastball?
I agree with aunt bea. Proffessional sports salaries have long been the proximate cause for the reality that the common man, woman and child can no longer enjoy what once were benign diversions.
Professional, and now college, sports are the goods of an elite few. These salaries produce egos that develop into megalomania.
I tried to find out who Vlad’s agent is. He evidently doesn’t have one, nor does he have any PR management. Sounds as if he and his dad saved ten percent of his deal by doing it themselves. Hence the unfiltered blather.
Oh well. Think how much he has to pay in income taxes to Canada, Ontario, Toronto, and every U.S. state he plays an away game in. And aren’t those Canadian dollars, eh?
And for extra, added benefit, there’s his first name! A ridiculous vestige of the height of Cuba’s Soviet era, particularly considering the name of the current Russian strongman. Hah!
A very rough calculation drops the $500M CAD to
$232 CAD after federal and provincial taxes.
Roughly 35% federal US tax rate takes the $232 to $146.
Vlad is getting fleeced. That’s a 70% total tax burden.
Couldn’t he arrange a compensation scheme where he only gets paid 1$ to play in US games?
His comments provide the reason why he doesn’t have an agent. Repping guys like this is a nightmare.
If somebody who has always been a stellar employee does not fit anymore in the plans of the business (e.g. new technology makes his skills obsolete) he risks having his position being made redundant. Loyalty based on past performance does not exist in business today; what matters is how you will contribute to the bottom line next year. That is how it works in business, and as pro sports is a business this also applies there.
Is pro sports entirely a free market driven, capitalism at is best and purest? My impression is “No” given that new stadiums are often financed with tax payer money. True capitalism does not need corporate welfare.
Baseball used to be the national pastime, where entire families could enjoy a ballgame during the weekend. Visiting a baseball game is now priced out of reach of many working families. Given all the corporate welfare of pro sports and the abject greed behind those obscene salaries I think we should resent that.
One slight correction: He was never with the Angels (although his dad was). The Jays signed Vlad Jr. as an international free agent and he’s never been with another MLB organization.
Ugh. Sorry: I was confused by a photo of his father. Fixed.