Stephen A Smith Set To Make Most Of Miami Marlins Entire Payroll

When fans and sports writers talk about teams that are "ruining baseball," they almost universally reference the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers won the World Series and, to the great chagrin of opposing fans, continued their efforts to try and win. From playoff chokers 16 months ago to unbeatable juggernauts, the Dodgers have infuriated frustrated observers by investing a significant amount of revenue into improving their on-field product.

What their owners should be doing, according to critics, is pocketing that revenue and withholding more profit. After all, who doesn't want billionaires to become even richer?

Well if you love rich people pocketing money, you're going to love the Miami Marlins. 

Want to know how cheap the Marlins' ownership is? They're paying their entire roster not much more than Stephen A. Smith is going to receive from ESPN to give generally bad opinions in the loudest possible tone of voice.

Seriously.

MIAMI - Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning at loanDepot park on April 4, 2023. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

Stephen A. Smith Would Be Highest Paid Marlins Player

Smith recently signed his extension with ESPN, which will pay him $20 million per year for the next five years. 

READ: Stephen A. Smith's New $100 Million Contract With ESPN Is First, Last of Its Kind | Bobby Burack

That dollar figure would make Smith the highest paid player on the Marlins. It would be the largest free agency contract ever handed out by the Pittsburgh Pirates. But more embarrassing for the Marlins is that their entire active roster payroll, per Sportrac, is $31 million.

That's right, Stephen A. Smith will make 65 percent of the entire payroll of the Marlins' active roster. This is what's ruining baseball.

Smith's salary might be justifiable; he is an irreplaceable personality. His willingness to give extremely confident, yet astonishingly wrong opinions about major sports like baseball is unmatched. He excels at volume and being argumentative, the two most important qualifications for sports commentary. But he does not generate anywhere near the same amount of revenue as the entire Miami Marlins organization. It's impossible.

Miami's set to receive roughly $70 million in revenue sharing this year. The Marlins are spending $31 million on their entire active roster. 

There's no justifiable reason for paying Smith at $20 million per year when an entire Major League Baseball team isn't getting much more. It's an embarrassment for baseball that franchises like Miami continue to get away with pocketing tens of millions of dollars in profit while telling its fans it does not care about fielding a competitive team.

This is what's ruining the sport, not teams like Los Angeles actually investing most of its revenue into their product. It's teams like Miami.