O/T-The Economist on the 'business of baseball"

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by Griffins

Was there something in ARod's contract that put him at the front of the line?

Good point. To my knowledge there wasn't. (It wasn't just Arod. He's owed about $27 million in deferred comp, but the total unsecured debt was about $204.) I think MLB and even the new owners were concerned about the precedent set if any owner defaults on deferred comp. I would assume that the first time it happens will be the last time any player agrees to deferred comp.

Meanwhile the secured creditors weren't "little guys." The original venture capital fund had already given up and sold the notes to a hedge fund for cents on the dollar. So the current owners of the paper (Monarch Alternative Capital) will actually make money on this deal because they bought the notes cheap.

So the only real losers actually lost the money a few years ago and weren't a part of this process.