$17.5 million

by
February 2, 2009

For Selig, that is. Despite the fact that his defense is worse than Adam Dunn’s.

Not that I’m going to be critical. Selig can be something of a buffoon who tends to bungle the high-profile stuff, but he has also presided over a very bountiful few years for Major League Baseball. It’s quick and easy to compare his salary to Derek Jeter or Joe the schoolteacher’s and act all outraged, but Bud is in the entertainment business. In light of that it would make much more sense to compare him to Robert Iger or the head of some other entertainment company. My guess is that his salary seems pretty reasonable against that backdrop.


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MooseinOhio
15 years ago

I have no real problem with him earning big money as he oversee an industry that makes big money however if MLB were to lay off folks for economic reasons I would have some struggles with Bud accepting his $3M raise or not deferring some monies to allow fewer folks to lose their jobs.

Of course I feel the same way about about CEOs and top dollars earners in the corporations that accept millions in pay and bonuses when folks are being laid off.  So for me this is less about Bud and more about the well off getting paid well but not great by their standards so that others can simply get paid.

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Craig Calcaterra
15 years ago

Agreed. And I wasn’t too clear in my post, but my claim that Bud’s salary is fair only holds insofar as it is comparable to other entertainment CEOs. I DO NOT, however, make any claims that CEO pay is inherently reasonable by any metric.

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Ryan
15 years ago

Is Bud really a 4 WAR commissioner?

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VanderBirch
15 years ago

I don’t think Bud is really that comparable to other entertainment CEO’s though. A large element of a CEO’s pay packet is ‘hazard pay’. If the company starts struggling or mistakes are made, the CEO is the guy who has to take the fall. Baseball Commissioners aren’t really in the same boat.

That said, Bud has done a great job for the owners and presided over a period of massive revenue expansion, so I don’t think his pay packet is unearned.

Big pay packets like this don’t really worry me, its the hypocrisy of executives who claim high bonuses, stock options etc are required to provide incentives, but who still expect to collect these bonuses even when their firms perform badly.

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Pete Toms
15 years ago

@ Moose.  IIRC MLB has layed off employees both at HQ and BAM.

Craig knows I’m pro Bud.  (in a couple senses)  As for the baseball bud, I’m all for him and I can boil it down to 2 words.  LABOR PEACE.

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