Why does AROD sell his equipment????

[suave1477]

NOW HERE IS A QUESTION THAT HAS BEEN THROWN AROUND NUMEROUS TIMES ON THIS FORUM.

WHY DOES A GUY LIKE AROD HE MAKES MORE MONEY THE MOST THEN I COULD POSSIBLY MAKE IN 2 LIFETIMES - UNLESS I INVENT THE YO-YO...... DAMN THATS BEEN DONE ALREADY LOL LOL:D

Well here is a thought put aside for 2 seconds that he doesn't need the money. Imagine the profit capabilities of it though???

Lets say hypothetical the actual of the cost of the bat to him is about $50 to $100 lets say he sells about 50 to a 100 bats per season his bats usually sell around the $1000k range or more if it is a regular season bat and 3000k and up if it is a home run bat.

DO THE MATH - AT ITS LOWEST NUMERS ON BOTH SIDES

50 Bats x $1000k each = $50,000 a year cash / thats like making $85,000 after taxes - just on bats

Now compare that to what the 50 bats cost him - $2,500 - $47,500 profit

So why does he do it??? for the money maybe?? 50k is nothing to sneeze at. because he's bored?? maybe?? Maybe to pay his cell phone bills for the year or to pay for his gas for his cars. Who knows???

[AWA85]

I am not a huge Arod fan, but one could argue that he does it for the fans. Letting them collect their favorite player and gives them many opportunities to own an item.

Not sure you can criticize him at all, who would not want to make more money. Just because he is rich does not mean he should stop reaching for more financial stability. Can not blame him at all, he is like MOST of society (just has a little more of a head start haha)

[yanks12025]

Why does Jeter, Manny, Pujols, Ortiz, Mauer, all most all major leaguers. You guys make it sound like A-rod is the only one selling his stuff. I think he does the home run bats so i collector can have a home run bat.

[momen55]

hey jason;
one word sums it up; GREED! maybe, maybe, if he would give his stuff away, he would have more of a fan base and not be hated as much.
i don't see all the hoopla for an arod bat, especially when they cost that much! i guess, if noone bought them, the price would be reasonable. there are soo many anyway, i don't see how they sell for $1,000+

[AWA85]

hey jason;
one word sums it up; GREED! maybe, maybe, if he would give his stuff away, he would have more of a fan base and not be hated as much.
i don't see all the hoopla for an arod bat, especially when they cost that much! i guess, if noone bought them, the price would be reasonable. there are soo many anyway, i don't see how they sell for $1,000+


I am not a huge Arod supporter, but I like him as a player. But how can you say "greed", if you had an chance to make a large sum of money would you turn it down? I know I wouldn't! If there is an opportunity to make money why not go for it, common sense!

Also, on the prices... I feel all New York stuff is over priced, but the market is there and the people are willing to pay those prices. Just glad Reds prices are not like that :D

[momen55]

of course times, rather people have changed, when players' didn't make the money these modern guys make, there stuff was given away. i have talked to plenty of former players and hofers that have told me that they would rather give away stuff than sell it because it would give them a bad image. i believe that.
it's just greed man!

[mariner_gamers]

Super talents have had handlers in their ears since they were teens. A lot of these guys rely on their handlers to make most of their business decisions. Handlers get a percentage of just about everything......

Also I assume Alex receives a million or better a year for his sig and memorabilia. That goes a long way to funding a foundation or two. Fans are happy, handlers are happy, foundations are happy..........

[chakes89]

Just glad Reds prices are not like that :D

You got that right

[AWA85]

I agree about giving stuff away and the image, but the agents / memorable dealers that have connections with players are starting to end that method. With minor league players hooking up with companies, I think the method of giving away bats and things is heading out the door for the most part.

[Dewey2007]

Arod must have collected game used as a youth so he knows all about getting items from players that weren't exactly what they claimed to be and he vowed to make sure this didn't happen when he got the Big Leagues. He does it so that all collectors know that they are getting a completely legitimate bat that was used by him and used to hit the homerun(s) he says he hit with each bat. He has a fool proof method of using tracking socks to make sure he knows which bat is which when he goes to sign them 6 months later.

In short he does it to help make the hobby safe for you, me and every collector out there ;)

[joelsabi]

I agree about giving stuff away and the image, but the agents / memorable dealers that have connections with players are starting to end that method. With minor league players hooking up with companies, I think the method of giving away bats and things is heading out the door for the most part.

with signature cards and game used cut of players when they are in the minors or on team usa, players who are good now know how much their stuff is worth early in their career. even now some are signing exclusives with companies like lockerroom while still in the minor.

i still think players will still give away stuff at minor league games to fans at the right moment. arod has been known to give away stuff (bats, gloves) during spring training and i know a fan who has received a bat and batting glove from him because he knew she was a true fan.

if you look at his charity work and donations (boy and girls club, university of miami, etc.) arod does give back to his community, way more than he amasses from signings and game used equipment.

There is a demand for his stuff ever since he signed with the mariners and we cannot fault him if he chooses to take advantage of the circumstances. baseball is a sport but it is also a business.

[kingjammy24]

"50k is nothing to sneeze at"

when you're making $28mm/year, not including endorsements, $50k is very much something to sneeze at. he could take $28mm, stick it in something where he's getting 4% a year, do literally nothing and wind up with $1.1mm a year just in interest.

"Imagine the profit capabilities of it though???"

the amounts are completely meaningless for a man who's already made $200mm and likely has another $100mm on the way before his career is over.

"Not sure you can criticize him at all, who would not want to make more money"

there's a trade off between time and money. increasing one will usually decrease the other. it's possible then to reach a point where your free time is worth more than money. arod has reached that point. i imagine he has very little free time. he can opt to spend a few hours sitting in some room with mario or scot monette or whoever, signing boxes of balls and bats and whatever or he could instead spend those hours with his daughter. back when he spent hours and hours at that signing with barry bonds, he couldn't have instead flown his daughter up for the day and spent it skating at rockefeller?

"if you had an chance to make a large sum of money would you turn it down?"

depends what the cost of making the money is. it may surprise you to learn that many people value other things over money and that making money isn't always worth the cost.

"If there is an opportunity to make money why not go for it, common sense!"

it's not common sense. it's short-sighted. making money has a cost. for some, the cost isn't worth it past a certain amount. if i was making $28mm/yr, was away from my daughter for 6 months out of the year, would i spend my precious free time with all this memorabilia nonsense for a ridiculous $50k? no. my free time would be worth more than what amounts to chump change. at the end of it all, arod won't be able to take it with him and the point of it all isn't to see who can be richest guy in the cemetary, to quote mickey's christmas carol.

as for "doing it for the fans", it's hard to believe that when his signing with bonds cost $7500 a pop and MVP sells his bats for $3k-$15k. if he wants to do something for the fans, he could easily give away a ton of stuff or sell it at rates where typical fans could afford it.

rudy.

[AWA85]

Rudy you sure know a lot about how much time he spend with his daughter? Care to elaborate or are you just assuming? Also think those prices are just assumptions on the $50,000, just my guess is it is a lot more than that.

Guess somebody will critique others no matter what. How can you tell Arod how to do business and how to spend his time, that is ridiculous.

[flaco1801]

figure out what he makes an at bat.... he could pass the bat to someone in the stands if he wanted to, or just it to the batboy a few times a year. when i was a kid the batboy made about 8 bucks an hour and they had to stay and clean the equiptment... they are just greedy...

[kingjammy24]

madonna is worth approx $850mm. she recently divorced and has 3 young children. she began a tour in aug 2008 and will likely stretch it into 2009.
i'm sure her kids will be relieved to know that in exchange for her prolonged absence, they'll all be $200mm richer. much better than having your mom greet you when you come home from school everyday. good thing $200mm buys a lot of nannies.

why? maybe she's just trying to become "financially stable".

rudy.

[AWA85]

Rudy- pretty anti anyone with money. Think all athletes, actors and musicians should quit their profession and stay at home till those kids move out of those house?

[kingjammy24]

"Rudy you sure know a lot about how much time he spend with his daughter? Care to elaborate or are you just assuming?"

assuming what? that a guy who plays 138 games a year for the yankees probably doesn't have a lot of free time? it's just "common sense". i can't count the number of pro athlete interviews i've seen where players have said that one of the biggest prices they've paid for their careers is the time spent away from their families. even if he spends 6 months a year with her, wouldn't 7 be nice? i'm simply saying that, at $28mm, being stuck in some room with scot monette and 200 baseballs or taking a walk with my daughter, the choice is pretty obvious. but that's me.

"Also think those prices are just assumptions on the $50,000, just my guess is it is a lot more than that."

so maybe it's twice that. $100k. woopdeedoo. there are only so many 20-room mansions and bentleys you can buy. $100k is nothing more than pocket change for a man who'll have made half a billion dollars before he turns 40.

"How can you tell Arod how to do business and how to spend his time, that is ridiculous."

my mistake. i wasn't aware arod was reading this. i was simply saying that, at $28mm/yr, there's more to life than money. isn't ridiculous making $200 million and concerning yourself with making another $100k? i guess not for some.

rudy.

[joelsabi]

if he wants to do something for the fans, he could easily give away a ton of stuff or sell it at rates where typical fans could afford it.

rudy.


how can you say a person who can afford a game used bat is not a fan? if the market will bear a huge price tag then it should be the player that gets a good cut of the money. say a player decides to lower the prices on his game used equipment. what will happen? the dealers will get to it before the fans and jack up the price. then the player will see the prices being way higher and not in the hand of the fans. if its going to transfer again to the secondary market because prices are low, then the player is not maximizing his opportunity that other will take advantage if the player does not understand the market or feel sympathy for the typical fan. also the typical fans does not collect game used equipment. i am the only collector out of all my sports crazed friends and coworkers, excluding the fine members of this forum.

[jppopma]

I agree with Rudy about there being alot of things more important than money. That's just me. While you can focus on players like this who are focussed on money, there are alot of stand up guys out there (as well as entertainers) that do have a great family life and are well respected in the communities. These are the guys who put down roots and turn down the free agency offers to stick around and be something.

At the end of their careers, they can look back and see if it was all worth it for an extra million as compared to missing their kids grow up by playing cross country. Likewise, do they want to be a town hero or just some good player who happened to make a pit stop for a few years.

I also like the point that while to him the bat money is nothing; to his "people" who get their percentage off the sales....that's their whole being. I'd look to them as the root of many of the problems.

[kingjammy24]

Rudy- pretty anti anyone with money. Think all athletes, actors and musicians should quit their profession and stay at home till those kids move out of those house?

no. i think that after they've made $300mm, they should spend their free time trying to get more. and more. and more and more. i think making money is the most important thing in life and i don't think you can ever have enough. if arod's got a free hour this weekend, i'll pay him a cool $200 just to put my groceries away. that'll give him $300mm and $200! just to make sure i know it was really him who put them away, i'll tell him to put socks on all the items.

rudy.

[5kRunner]

Even if ARod is making $300 grand for his Game Used/Autographs. We are only talking about 1% of his baseball salary. That like giving the average Joe on the street an extra $500. I'd love and extra $500 but at the end of the day an extra 1% isn't making anyone more "financially stable."

[flaco1801]

now if madonna was selling her clothes after each performance she would be like these ball players........... i wonder if arod even pays for his bats.... its the new society "get what ya can"... givebacks? pfft

[BMH]

Arod doesn't make money off of his game used stuff. That is handled by a relative and is the source of their salary. At least that is how it was explained to me.

BTW,

Maple bats are $78 and Ash are $55.

[BMH]

Didn't see the last one...

Players don't pay for the bats, the teams do. Some do buy their own so they have control over them in regards to collectibles. Arod, Jeter, Griffey, Pujols, and a few others buy their own bats along with receiving bats from the teams.

[kingjammy24]

"how can you say a person who can afford a game used bat is not a fan?"

i can't. good thing i didn't say it huh?. i said he could price it in a way that typical fans could afford it. i'm not sure how you took this mean me saying that anyone who can afford it isn't a fan.

"if the market will bear a huge price tag then it should be the player that gets a good cut of the money. say a player decides to lower the prices on his game used equipment. what will happen? the dealers will get to it before the fans and jack up the price. then the player will see the prices being way higher and not in the hand of the fans."

agreed.

"if its going to transfer again to the secondary market because prices are low, then the player is not maximizing his opportunity that other will take advantage if the player does not understand the market or feel sympathy for the typical fan."

this is the argument used by many players for refusing autographs or giving items out. they don't want to get cut out of the pie. i suppose that's fine for some benchwarmer who has a very short window of limited earning potential. but if you're an athlete making literally hundreds of millions, do you really care about being cut out of the memorabilia pie? if you sell some guy a bat for $100 and he flips it for $5000 and therefore you've lost $4900, do you really care? i wouldn't. but then again, i guess there are some guys out there who make $28mm a season and stay awake at night worrying about how to make another $100k. it's like having a 300 scoop sundae in front of you and getting angry because 1 scoop fell on the floor and someone scooped it up for themselves.

rudy.

[jppopma]

BMH, Do we dare even ask how many extra bats AROD or the others buy??? If you can even say.

[karamaxjoe]

$50,000.00 to Arod or any other superstar is like $50.00 to the common fan. If you were getting $50.00 to spend a day signing a bunch of stuff, maybe your priorities are out of whack.

[AWA85]

Would be interesting to hear how many extras Arod purchases?

[jppopma]

$50,000.00 to Arod or any other superstar is like $50.00 to the common fan. If you were getting $50.00 to spend a day signing a bunch of stuff, maybe your priorities are out of whack.


I'd take three extra hours with my son over $50 anyday, hands down!

[frikativ54]

So why does he do it??? for the money maybe?? 50k is nothing to sneeze at. because he's bored?? maybe?? Maybe to pay his cell phone bills for the year or to pay for his gas for his cars. Who knows???

Could be that it makes him feel great about himself to have all those people owning his bat.

[bigtruck260]

Could be that it makes him feel great about himself to have all those people owning his bat.

I would guess that there are more than a few athletes that get an major ego boost knowing that people will schuck out 10 grand for a bat that they (the player) used for 3-4 games. One of them was new HOFer Rickey Henderson:D

[kingjammy24]

Even if ARod is making $300 grand for his Game Used/Autographs. We are only talking about 1% of his baseball salary. That like giving the average Joe on the street an extra $500. I'd love and extra $500 but at the end of the day an extra 1% isn't making anyone more "financially stable."

exactly. and if you really want to be completely accurate about all of this, if arod generates $100k from these bats and gloves and cleats, that's only .03% of his $28mm salary. not even a full 1%! i'd love to know how much some people would be willing to do or give up for a whole .03% of their salary. my guess is some wouldn't even get out of bed for it.

rudy.

[frikativ54]

madonna is worth approx $850mm. she recently divorced and has 3 young children. she began a tour in aug 2008 and will likely stretch it into 2009.
i'm sure her kids will be relieved to know that in exchange for her prolonged absence, they'll all be $200mm richer. much better than having your mom greet you when you come home from school everyday. good thing $200mm buys a lot of nannies.

why? maybe she's just trying to become "financially stable".

rudy.

Great post, Rudy. I couldn't have said it better myself.

[Bondsgloves]

Isn't this the guy who took 250 million from texas... a TEAM HE NEW WASN'T GOIN TO WIN WITH?... Its all about the money with this guy.

Wait didn't he opt out of his contract with the Yankee's trying to get more money. Then he realized no one was going to pay him more and all the bad press he was getting, crawled back to the yankees with his head down.

The guy is about his own numbers!

There is a reason why he isn't the face of the yankee's. He's not well respected in the major leagues. When did his little girl slap to knock the ball out of the first basemans hand in the playoffs against Boston. Or wait didn't he yell " I got it" l to the Toronto short stop or third baseman so they would drop the ball. The guy is a tool and the Yankees can have him.

[BMH]

I was mistaken, all of his bats are payed for by him through Arod Inc. He doesn't get "team" bats. He ordered over 350 bats last year, all were produced as game bats. This doesn't include the "Misc" bats ordered by the team.

[TFig27]

Arod doesn't make money off of his game used stuff. That is handled by a relative and is the source of their salary. At least that is how it was explained to me.

BTW,

Maple bats are $78 and Ash are $55.

I'll take an ARod and a Jeter for $110. Where do I send the check? :D

[momen55]

BMH;
email sent.:D

[frikativ54]

I seriously believe you're always going to find an A-Rod bat. I don't think they'll be worth that much after the whole homerun chase is over. Especially if he gets injured, and never challenges Barry *Bonds. Can you imagine if A-Rod gets implicated with steroids. Those bats will be easier to find than a box of beanie babies.

[Bondsgloves]

AROD ordered 350 bats, seems like a lot? In relation to other players is this extremely high. No wonder the market is flooded. Arod only plays 162 games, you can't count the post sean because he doesn't really show up and play in it anway.

You may need to consider your investments in Arod. How many bats will be out there when its all said in done?

[BMH]

Now guys, that wouldn't be very ethical of me. Plus "game issued" doesn't pay enough to fund my hobbies :) Though a couple of us have joked about taking some game issued bats into our batting cages once in a while.


Don't worry, we never have and never will... that damn conscious keeps getting in my way.

[suave1477]

exactly. and if you really want to be completely accurate about all of this, if arod generates $100k from these bats and gloves and cleats, that's only .03% of his $28mm salary. not even a full 1%! i'd love to know how much some people would be willing to do or give up for a whole .03% of their salary. my guess is some wouldn't even get out of bed for it.

rudy.

KingJammy as in most cases I agree with you but this one I differ a little bit just because you keep saying over and over that arod makes 28mm a year

ON PAPER HE DOES

But realistically thats not even close to what he brings home

he earns to start with 28mm
Boras gets about 10% maybe more

so now hes down to 25.3mm

New York taxes for AROD - 42.7%

He brings home 14,496,900

Which doesn't include any of his expenses (houses,cars, bills), charities, foundations, people he employs directly.

Chances are after all that his money is down to half.


So adding 50k which was just a round off number which it could be way higher is still nothing to sneeze at (esepcially when that's tax free cash)

so if his actual play money is say about 7,500,000

50k or more is a bigger percentage of 7.5mm which I am sure he doesn't mind having.
And making 50k for about 2 to 3 hours of time I am sure is not that bad of a trade off since he does signings with MVP about 3 or maybe 4 times a year

[suave1477]

I am just putting things into perspective thats all

[BMH]

They also pay a tax for every state they play in, now you may say poor ballplayer, but so does the coaches and EM's.

[suave1477]

bmh your right i forgot about that good point

so add a lot more percentage to that New York tax figure

[markize]

Ouch......7.5 mill in play money-i could deal with that :D!! Seriously, don't forget to add his endorsement deals, Nike air zoom cleats, etc into his income/taxes.

Mark

[Masimen]

Just thought I would throw in my 2 cents here. I have been lucky enough to work in the entertainment industry for almost 20 years. Mostly I work in Music touring with the some of the people who supposedly don't spend time with their children and at this very moment I happen to be traveling cross country with a 3 time NBA champion, so occasionally I do cross over into the sports world. The bottom line is, unless someone on this forum is Arod's accountant, we have no idea where that money is going. It could be going in his pocket, it could be going to a relative as Brian has stated and it could all be going to Charity or any combination of the 3. it seems to me it isn't really worth worrying about. I would also have to suspect that most of us aren't around to see if Arod is giving away any of his equipment to fans.

Also, I have spent many years touring with artists who have children. many have their children on the road with them, many tailor their schedules so they never go a certain amount of time away from their families and yes, some do indeed spend too much time away from their families, but again assuming that a particular athlete or artist is shirking their responsibility as a parent to line their pockets and not having any knowledge of the situation is a little silly. The general public really has no clue as to what really goes on behind the scenes, but some folks love to assume they know.

[BMH]

Ouch......7.5 mill in play money-i could deal with that :D!! Seriously, don't forget to add his endorsement deals, Nike air zoom cleats, etc into his income/taxes.

Mark

Oh believe me, I don't feel too bad for the guys. We joke all the time at work we're on the wrong side of the bat.

[BergerKing22784]

People make comments on why doesnt he charge less per bat? The reason is supply and demand.... Lets just say he charges only 100 a bat... Well we know he has 350 bats in a year.I guarentee there are more than 350 people who would want it at $100 so what do you think those people who bought the bats for $100 are going to do with it? Some will keep it, but others the prospect of making money on it will lead them to sell it for more....

So why not A ROD charge more to get rid of the all the demand and only offer them at a price that will lead to only 350 people wanting to buy them? He is the reason the bat is worth whatever its worth so he has earned the right to that money.

Also talking about his free time... I have seen many pictures of these "private signings" players do and what not. Most of the time you see pictures of the players sitting around in sleeping shorts and a plain white tshirt in their hotel room. I mean I love traveling and seeing many things but lets say A Rod comes to Baltimore like 3 times a year doesnt normally get a day off while he is here. Probably gets to the ballpark at like 3pm or 4pm for a 7pm game. Game ends at like 10:30-11pm, shower and he probably leaves hotel around 1130ish.. Goes out grabs a bite to eat, gets a beer, its like 1am-2am.... Wakes up, whats he really going to do in those couples hours before he has to get back to the ballpark? Walk around the Inner Harbor? I am sure he has seen most of the exciting stuff in Baltimore, so why not take those few hours to sign some bats instead of feeding the ducks?


Just my two cents,
Brian

[joelsabi]

Just thought I would throw in my 2 cents here. I have been lucky enough to work in the entertainment industry for almost 20 years. Mostly I work in Music touring with the some of the people who supposedly don't spend time with their children and at this very moment I happen to be traveling cross country with a 3 time NBA champion, so occasionally I do cross over into the sports world. The bottom line is, unless someone on this forum is Arod's accountant, we have no idea where that money is going. It could be going in his pocket, it could be going to a relative as Brian has stated and it could all be going to Charity or any combination of the 3. it seems to me it isn't really worth worrying about. I would also have to suspect that most of us aren't around to see if Arod is giving away any of his equipment to fans.

Also, I have spent many years touring with artists who have children. many have their children on the road with them, many tailor their schedules so they never go a certain amount of time away from their families and yes, some do indeed spend too much time away from their families, but again assuming that a particular athlete or artist is shirking their responsibility as a parent to line their pockets and not having any knowledge of the situation is a little silly. The general public really has no clue as to what really goes on behind the scenes, but some folks love to assume they know.

I enjoyed your post. thanks for your perspective.

[kingjammy24]

suave: my bad. i didn't realize rodriguez had to pay taxes. phew, thank god for that MVP gig or else he'd be spending his nights at the local motel 6 with a can of dinty moore! seriously though, how is his memorabilia money "tax free"? if mario/MVP is reporting it, then i'm guessing arod must.

you realize the charities and foundations would likely act as write-offs and reduce his tax liability?

anyway, you forgot about $6mm in endorsements and given that his money isn't sitting in a checking account, probably another few million in investment returns. however you slice it, $50k or $100k still strikes me as chump change for a guy grossing $34mm+ annually. but i realize that's just me and i value my free time and personal life. funny thing but the last company i worked for enabled employees to purchase time off. many took advantage of it. most already had more time off than arod and made substantially less. not sure what they were thinking. i should've pointed them to weekend paper routes where they could spend a few hours each weekend making $100.

brian bergerking: i agree with everything you said. anyway, MVP is in FL. if you look at their website, you'll notice almost all of the meetings occur in either NYC or FL. i'm guessing mario doesn't follow arod around the country nor does arod travel from city to city lugging boxes of 8x10s, baseballs, and mini-helmets to sign during his spare time in baltimore or kansas city. if his time in toronto was any indication of what he enjoys doing during his downtime, then it'd probably be hard for him to see what he's signing in dimly-lit strip clubs.

some would say this thread has already devolved into the ridiculous and i'd agree. in short, why does arod spend his free time making chump change? if you believe some, it's so he can become more "financially stable". apparentely, $252mm doesn't go as far as it used to. apparently once you account for taxes, the man's lucky if he's got enough left over for another gulfstream IV. if you believe others, it's because he's addicted to money. i tend to believe he's just a struggling single father of two, busting his hump any way he can so his two girls won't go hungry.

rudy.

[jppopma]

Rudy....don't forget about saving up for plastic surgery for Madonna.

[suave1477]

suave: my bad. i didn't realize rodriguez had to pay taxes. phew, thank god for that MVP gig or else he'd be spending his nights at the local motel 6 with a can of dinty moore! seriously though, how is his memorabilia money "tax free"? if mario/MVP is reporting it, then i'm guessing arod must. [/qoute]

I never said he was crying broke!! I am just putting in to perspective what he is actually coming home with, since you keep bringing up the 28mm like he comes home with the whole 28mm out right

[quote]you realize the charities and foundations would likely act as write-offs and reduce his tax liability?

Even with white offs you only get a small percentage back and remember to get a write off you have to spend a lot more money - at absolute most I think charity is a 15% write off of what you donated


anyway, you forgot about $6mm in endorsements and given that his money isn't sitting in a checking account, probably another few million in investment returns. however you slice it, $50k or $100k still strikes me as chump change for a guy grossing $34mm+ annually. but i realize that's just me and i value my free time and personal life. funny thing but the last company i worked for enabled employees to purchase time off. many took advantage of it. most already had more time off than arod and made substantially less. not sure what they were thinking. i should've pointed them to weekend paper routes where they could spend a few hours each weekend making $100.

I agree to an extent, your right most people would want the time off. But you keep assuming he is one of those people!!! I know plenty of people who work themselves to the bone. I know someone makes nearly a billion a year. Comes to work when he is extremely sick and should be home, sits at his desk with a blanket and tylenols, takes one week vacation a year with his family, comes in at about 5am and leaves around 9pm - takes him about an hour and a half to drive to work - so he spends 3 hours of the day on the road

His wife and family live the GREAT LIFE but he hardly ever sees them and is in his mid 50's and has no plans of stopping.


some would say this thread has already devolved into the ridiculous and i'd agree. in short, why does arod spend his free time making chump change? if you believe some, it's so he can become more "financially stable". apparentely, $252mm doesn't go as far as it used to. apparently once you account for taxes, the man's lucky if he's got enough left over for another gulfstream IV. if you believe others, it's because he's addicted to money. i tend to believe he's just a struggling single father of two, busting his hump any way he can so his two girls won't go hungry.

rudy.

I am not saying he is doing it to make himself financially stable, I am just saying he possibly is financially hungry to make every drop he can. If you can milk it to the bitter end, why not????

[kingjammy24]

"I know plenty of people who work themselves to the bone. I know someone makes nearly a billion a year. Comes to work when he is extremely sick and should be home, sits at his desk with a blanket and tylenols"

i think i know who you're talking about. don't worry, he learned his lesson in the end:

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/3507/sillydz6.jpg

if you work for the guy, expect a big raise next christmas!

"If you can milk it to the bitter end, why not????"

good question. i'll let you answer it: "His wife and family..he hardly ever sees them".

rudy.

[kingjammy24]

Even with white offs you only get a small percentage back and remember to get a write off you have to spend a lot more money - at absolute most I think charity is a 15% write off of what you donated

ahh but that's the beauty of this isn't it? why donate $55 and write off $55 when instead you can buy a $55 bat, swing it around a few times, and turn it into a $3k bat? $55 just bought you a $3k write off, so he's actually spending less than the writeoff. MVP has his HR #520 bat on ebay for $15k. i bet you've never seen $55 turned into $15k so fast. how's that for magic? spend $55/bat x 150 bats, use 'em until they're worth a mint, donate all the bats to the Alex Rodriguez Foundation for Wayward Children (a 501(c) business exempt from federal taxes of course) and write it off. i'm sure his tax wizards have worked wonders with his annual liability. i'd be shocked if he paid anywhere near your estimate. anyway, all of this is for naught anyway given the pending divorce. maybe he really does need to pump those bats out if cynthia's about to have her way with his accounts.

"When people write bad things about me, I don't know if it's because I'm good-looking.."

rudy.

[mwbosoxfan]

"When people write bad things about me, I don't know if it's because I'm good-looking.."

rudy.

I think that pretty much says it all!!!!!!!