Steroids. Corked bats. Pete Rose admitting he bet on baseball. The Yankees-Red Sox arms race.
In a tumultuous offseason, major league baseball has made almost as many headlines as it does during the season. Despite this, Major League Baseball Chief Financial Officer and Virginia alumnus Jonathan Mariner said he still believes that the state of the game is strong.
"One of the reasons that we're drawing the public attention that we are on the steroids issue is because of the high esteem that the public holds for baseball," Mariner said in a March 4 interview. "As America's pastime, we are held to a higher standard."
Mariner, a graduate of the University's Commerce School, came to the commissioner's office two years ago, having previously worked as chief financial officer of the Florida Marlins for eight years. He made his presence known right away, helping increase profitability as a result of the new debt ceilings for teams put in place by the collective bargaining agreement of summer 2002.
The new ceilings have "been a big part of the clubs' economic turnaround over the past couple years," Mariner said. "Baseball lost as an industry over half a billion dollars two years ago. This year, we hope to break even as a league... Economically, we are on the right track and I like where we are, quite frankly, more so than I like the sister sports."
Mariner recognizes that there are still payroll disparities, with the Yankees' $185 million payroll exceeding the payrolls of the lowest six teams combined and being more than $50 million ahead of any other club.
But baseball's reforms are making progress. The strike in 1994 ruled out the possibility that a salary cap would be eliminated, according to Mariner, but salary growth has slowed drastically over the last few years. In 2003, five teams topped $100 million. Only three teams are projected to exceed $91 million this year.
"We think that the current system that came out of the collective bargaining agreement of 2002, while it didn't give us a salary cap, gave us other things -- more revenue sharing, the debt service rule and a luxury tax -- that had the same influence as something we call a salary drag," Mariner said. "The Yankees haven't won in three years ... They'll continue to spend money. The current system has helped these clubs by giving them money from the richer clubs. There's still a gap, but it helps."
Perhaps the biggest financial uproar of the offseason came when the Yankees acquired Alex Rodriguez, buying the astronomical contract of the game's highest-paid player.
"The A-Rod transaction generates a lot of different passions and emotions in people," Mariner said. "At the end of the day, you take the best player and put him in the biggest market on the biggest stage. That has to help the game somehow. The last time I checked, A-Rod doesn't pitch and the Yankees need pitching more than hitting."
In addition to his financial responsibilities, Mariner also sits on baseball's relocation board and will help decide the fate of the Montreal Expos, whose list of potential hosts include Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and the Hampton Roads area.
"We are evaluating the different proposals and hope to make a decision by the end of the year," he said. "I will say that [Baltimore Orioles majority owner] Peter Angelos does not have veto power. That's not how baseball works."
For now, the Expos remain co-opted by the other 29 teams, but Mariner insists that this situation does not affect how they are run nor their personnel moves.
"Last year when they were in the hunt, there was some talk that they should be given more resources," he explained. "But why should they be any different than Kansas City, Oakland and Minnesota? Every club has financial constraints at some level. The last two to three years, their payroll has been the highest that they ever have ever had. Before we owned them, their payroll was substantially less."
With Mariner at the financial helm, baseball stands to be in great shape in the near future. As opening day nears in less than two weeks, baseball remains America's pastime.
Read More
Late hitting and pitching dominance lead Virginia to 12-2 Commonwealth Clash victory
By Ryan Weiner | 6 hours agoVirginia takes the first game of its final regular season series.
In second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid, Virginia slated for Columbia Regional
By Ben McNiff | 8 hours agoVirginia begins Regional play Friday at 3 p.m. versus North Florida, with coverage available on ESPN+.
Live tracker: the men’s basketball offseason
By Michael Liebermann , Emory Huffman and Xander Tilock | 9 hours agoA frenetic offseason likely awaits.
