Good article on baseball salaries vs. football

[Frobby]

Calvin Johnson, one of the best wide receivers in football and likely Hall of Famer: $113.8 mm.

Jeff Samardzija, league average starting pitcher: $122.7 mm guaranteed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2015/12/15/how-jeff-samardzija-just-proved-athletes-would-be-foolish-to-pick-nfl-over-mlb/

There are 15 football players who have made $111 mm+ in their careers. There are 17 baseball players who, in the last two years, have signed a single contract guaranteeing them $120 mm+. Eight of those exceed $200 mm, which is more than the career earnings of all but one football player (Peyton Manning, $244 mm).

The comparison is somewhat apples and oranges, because the article is not looking at what the football players will earn over the next several years of their careers, just what they've earned in the past. But, as the article points out, the baseball contracts are guaranteed money, whereas the football contracts largely aren't guaranteed so you can't count their money until it's earned.

In any event, it seems Jeff Samardzija picked the right sport. The Cubs' then-GM, Jim Hendry, made the decision pretty easy for him by guaranteeing him $10 mm while he was still in the minors and finishing his degree at Notre Dame. I wonder if the O's considered giving Pat Connauhgton a guarantee last spring to keep him from the NBA?

[Can_of_corn]

I think the Orioles had a better read on his NBA future then the Trail Blazers did.