Is it your business?

This isn't exactly snooping. I can't tell you how many agents have detailed contracts for media types, down to the last penny.

 

All true. I was trying to answer the original question: Is is your business? No, I don't think it is.

 

Is there some case of an athlete or league not wanting people to know? Because this seems kind of a silly, moot discussion. We want it, leagues want to give it to us, who cares if it's "our business" or not?

 

Back in the 1960s/early 1970s before public disclosure of salaries became routine, you would fairly often hear players (and owners) say it was nobody's business.

I think it was the agents who started leaking them out to the last dollar.

 

The Players Association set things up so every player could research any contract. They did it because a GM would tell a player, "How can you ask for $40,000? RBI Jones with the Giants is only making $35,000."

Of course, RBI Jones was really making $60,000.

 

Try this example, Moddy.

When I go into Kroger and spend $4 on a gallon of milk, do I have the right to know what the stock boy or manager is making, so I'll know what kind of value I'm getting? Or, do I have the right to know they're paying the new hot-shot, Whorton-business-school graduate way too much of my money?

 

You go to Kroger expecting a certain level of cleanliness, choice and value for your dollar. If they fail, you have other stores to try, and the experience is pretty much similar no matter which store you choose.

A supermarket can change managers 10 times in a year and you might not notice the difference. A baseball team makes a minor roster move and it's in the paper.

It's not unreasonable to keep tabs on how your favorite baseball team is spending money, if only to have an idea of whether they know how to run a franchise.

 

Exactly the point I was trying to make.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I've always been fascinated with how much money people make -- celebrities, friends, public figures, my parents, everyone.

It's funny to me how protective people are about their salaries. Too much misplaced pride.

 

Ryan, it might be pride but let's switch it for a moment. Do you tell people what you make? Do you want them to know how much you make?

 

Do I tell people how much I make? Not without someone asking.
Do I want them to know? Meh. Don't really care.
Do I care if someone knows? Not particularly.
Will I tell someone if they ask? Depends on who it is and why they're asking.

 

Hey, Sonner: How much do you make?