Ohtani or Ruth?

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

I don't actually agree with your statement the way it's phrased.

To say everyone should be paid what their "worth" presupposes that there can be some objective determinant of the value of some individual's labour and that the individual must then be paid that amount. This is nonsense. The value of any individual's labour cannot be objectively determined by an outside party. And for pay rates/scales to be enforced would be an Orwellian nightmare.

Now I don't believe there should be government legislative barriers against anyone being paid whatever he can get. But the "worth" question is another matter entirely. On the one hand to me so-and-so (e.g. many pro athletes) aren't worth as much as they're making. But it's not up to me. I'm willing to stand aside and watch as they get whatever they can get in the marketplace.

That being said I also jealously guard my inalienable right to support or refrain from supporting whichever individual/entity I please for whatever reason. I reserve the right to just say "No!" to silliness.

The second paragraph I was totally against it until the outside party bit.

Assuming they're not stupid, any owner wouldn't pay someone the sort of money the stars get - what? 20 million/year? - if they didn't think that person would bring more than that to the business as profit.

That goes for pro players and pretty much all of us who aren't owners of a business. I had a discussion about it with a former employer once. I was a bit down because one of the other guys had given me a hard time about not billing much at all. I had a typical small business crazy job. Most purchasing, most inside sales, took nearly all calls to schedule service, Pulled parts for jobs, occasionally made parts, and did repairs both in the shop and on the road. Not very odd for a place with 5 people.

The guy I worked for asked me if I actually knew what product I provided to the company. I had no idea. The he asked what happened to the time on jobs I was interrupted while doing. Obviously if I had to take 3 calls during a 1 hour job it stretched it to 2 hours or more.
Exactly I was making sure the other guys weren't interrupted for anything but the most important questions. My product was time. My hour of doing "nothing" often translated to 2-3 hours of billable time.

So in a way most of us are probably paid what we're "worth" And yes, an outside party can't really determine that. But the people running the team or company can.