Bud Selig: That's How Much?

Baseball is sick. And in a sense, it's not frustrating, it's just sad. Because it's such a great game. But when you come across the fact that the commissioner himself is almost making $18 million a year, you just know that it's hurting badly.

According to the Sports Business Bureau, Bud Selig earned $17,470,491 for the 12 months that ended Oct. 31, 2007. Aside from Alex Rodriguez at $23 million, Derek Jeter at $22 million and Jason Giambi at $21.5 million, Bud was fourth on the money making list. That's home-run power!

The irony is that last December, at the winter meetings held in Las Vegas, Selig was warning that ''difficult times'' we're ahead, that the owners ''needed to prepare." He added that there's "concern." Looking at the numbers, you have to agree with the guy.

While the steroids scandal was taking first stage, good old Bud was running with the cash. Literally. The hell with the small market teams, revenue sharing is not for baseball anyways. While teams like Pittsburgh and Oakland are surviving, the Commish is loaded and still loading. 

I'm from Montreal and even I badly miss MLB baseball and the Expos, how can you compete against free agent salaries of $423.5 million (CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira) in a single winter? It would be enough money to build the downtown stadium we always wanted in Montreal.

According to Bud, everything is fine as it is. Last year, the Brewers made the playoffs for the first time since 1982 and Tampa Bay almost went all the way. Aren't they small market teams?

The truth is that without a cap, other teams will die too. And MLB won't find a way to buy and sell and re-buy and re-sell a franchise as they did with the Expos. The funny thing is that the salary cap was the tug of war in 1994, the year of the strike. Any similarities?

''There are many franchises today, and again I could begin to articulate them one by one, who have deep trouble. ...We have a remarkable number of teams losing a lot of money.'' That was Selig in 2001.

So from 1994 to 2001 and from 2001 to today, is it fair to ask Mr. Selig, what really has changed?