What can you buy for $538 million dollars? You can buy four baseball players, or a mission to drill into the soil of another planet
As the flurry of pre-winter meeting activity ramps up, I was thinking about the big free agent signings and the total amount of money being spent: Robinson Cano gets $240,000,000. Jacoby Ellsbury gets $153,000,000. Curtis Granderson gets a mere $60,000,000. Jhonny Peralta, $52,000,000. Brian McCann, $85,000,000.
How much money is that, really? Just seems like numbers on a page. I was trying to think of a way to put it in different terms. And I think I found one.
According to the free market for baseball players, you can buy the services of four players, Robinson Cano, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, and Curtis Granderson for $538 million dollars.
Here's something else you can buy for $538 million dollars: a spaceship that can drill into the crust of another planet. With 25% extra to spare for upgrades and cost overruns.
NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are currently building a spacecraft called InSight, which will travel to Mars in 2016. InSight is designed to land on Mars and study the planet's geology by drilling a probe five meters into the Martian soil. The measurements it takes will enable scientists to learn more about the structure of the planet and how it formed.
Total cost: $425 million.
I don't begrudge the players the money. It is what the market will bear. But...well, the market reflects the values of our society, and the values of our society are fucked up.
Apparently the lander will not include a color camera to take photos. NASA can't afford it. Perhaps the Mariners, Yankees, and Mets would help them out.