Modern player signature prices: Time to check out?

[packs]

Originally Posted by Sladge34

Packs, that's not really the point of my post... anyways mantle stopped playing baseball 30 years before he died... that's why he signed regularly later in life so he had an income... players making millions, can live comfortably AND invest millions on top of that... that's why prices are up, they don't need to sign for money. Yes the fans ultimately pay there salary, but tax payers pay for all state jobs, we don't see any of them going the extra mile to accommodate there job after there clocked off, what makes you think a player wants to do that in his free time? Times have changed, would you take an hour everyday of your life to do something you didn't want to do or have to do? Probably not, and you'd probably eventually get an attitude

I don't believe that money is the only motivating factor for the show circuit. If it were, I would see no reason why a player like Frank Thomas would do so many shows. He made over 100 million in his career but he is pretty active on the show circuit. I think there is an innate want for players to remain relevant and seen. Otherwise the players wouldn't be so active in the signing circuit after retirement. Bob Feller may have said a show pays for his vacation, but I firmly believe he would have been there anyway even if it didn't.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by packs

I think there is an innate want for players to remain relevant and seen. Otherwise the players wouldn't be so active in the signing circuit after retirement. Bob Feller may have said a show pays for his vacation, but I firmly believe he would have been there anyway even if it didn't.

Agreed. There are many very wealthy players / former players who sign for reasonably fan friendly fees. My sense is insanely high prices are more ego driven than “I need to charge $700 to make it worth my time.”

[stewbacca]

Are the insane prices the ballplayers or the show promoters that need to charge that much to afford the player appearance fees? I always thought players charged a flat appearance fee based on time and the promoter would set prices and number of autographs that can fit into that amount of time. I know Tom Orr will do private signings with Reggie Jackson and others like him for $55 and tristar will charge $99 per signature.

[mr2686]

Originally Posted by stewbacca

Are the insane prices the ballplayers or the show promoters that need to charge that much to afford the player appearance fees? I always thought players charged a flat appearance fee based on time and the promoter would set prices and number of autographs that can fit into that amount of time. I know Tom Orr will do private signings with Reggie Jackson and others like him for $55 and tristar will charge $99 per signature.

Yeah, that's how it's always been in the past. I'm guessing that player appearance fees have gone up, which means the promoters have jacked up the price of each auto to compensate. The promoters used to have reasonable fees and then make it up by having the players also sign a bunch of stuff in a private signing that the promoter could then sell. Not sure what's happening now, but it's trickling down hill to the fan/collector.

[packs]

Many of the current players sign a ton of autographs at spring training. Last time I went two years ago Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Yoenis Cespedes, and Don Mattingly were my big gets. The year before I was in Arizona and got Koufax too; all for free. If you can make the trip and don't mind hanging out in the sunshine for 2 hours, spring training is a pretty good place to be.

[rjackson44]

just don't pay it ,,,

[mr2686]

I wonder what he's going to charge for his sig now? LOL

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/yoenis-...004001799.html