[mlyons]

I think if you look at these contracts in terms of what they contribute to a team's record, they're both ludicrous (although Jeter's is obviously more so). The thing is, though, both of these contracts really need to be looked at in terms of what kinds of revenue they're bringing in, which is really what you spend money for. Jeter and Rodriguez are both marketing dreams, and both bring in far more revenue than their contracts cost. They sell jerseys, and put people in the seats. When you have players like Jeter whose marketing value has very little to do with their on-the-field performance, it's easy to say they're overpaid. In fact, I would argue that Jeter, at least, is drastically underpaid, considering the amount of revenues he generates for the Yankees.