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John Abbamondi
Director, Salary & Contract Administration, Major League Baseball
On Friday, June 16th, 2006, students in San Diego State University's Sports Business Management MBA program were pleased to welcome John Abbamondi, Director of Salary & Contract Administration for Major League Baseball.
As part of MLB's Labor Relations Department, Mr. Abbamondi's group serves as internal consultants to MLB's 30 clubs, advising team executives in matters such as salary arbitration, contract negotiations, industry economics and CBA and Major League Rules interpretations. He and his colleagues are also responsible for the daily administration and enforcement of various CBA provisions, including MLB's competitive balance tax and its rules on debt servicing and deferred player compensation. At an industry level, the Labor Relations Department is responsible for managing MLB's relationships with the Major League Baseball Players Association and the World Umpires Association.
Prior to joining Major League Baseball, Mr. Abbamondi spent nine years as a Naval Flight Officer flying EA-6B Prowlers in the U.S. Navy. He received his bachelor's degree in 1993 from MIT and his MBA from Stanford University in 2004.
Mr. Abbamondi's presentation proved incredibly insightful, as the Sports MBA students were treated to a rare insight into the MLB salary arbitration process. As a representative for the owner's side, Mr. Abbamondi discussed the importance of perfection in his department's work. Team owners have numerous issues to oversee on a daily basis, and thus rely heavily on functional experts, such as Mr. Abbamondi and his staff, to act as a safety net for overlooked items that could seriously impact the operation of the franchise. The oversight of one small detail in the handling of a player could result in the franchise losing that player to waivers or free agency. One of Mr. Abbamondi's primary responsibilities is to catch these oversights, and to advise teams on the best approach to take with certain players.
Mr. Abbamondi fielded many questions from the class about the salary arbitration process, answering many from his own personal experiences. The recent Alfonso Soriano arbitration case proved a historic one as it resulted in the largest award to come out of salary arbitration in baseball history, but it represented a victory for the Washington Nationals. Soriano and his agent had made the case that Soriano was a truly unique player with enormous talent in all areas of his game, and thus deserved compensation of $12 million per year. With the help of Mr. Abbamondi and his staff, which included Jack Tipton, a recent graduate from the first Sports MBA class, the Washington Nationals were able to prove to the panel that Soriano's statistics simply do not reflect that of a $12 million per year player. The students were shown several examples of data, charts, and tables used by Mr. Abbamondi in the Soriano case, and how that information was used in constructing the case.
Mr. Abbamondi concluded his presentation by fielding various questions about the sports industry, the dynamics of working at the league level, and the opportunities that exist for a Sports MBA graduate. He spoke highly of Jack Tipton, and the skills he brought to his department that were learned in Financial Management I, and he expressed his confidence that the graduates of this Sports MBA program are being set up for success in today's sports world.
The students, faculty, and staff of San Diego State University's Sports Business Management MBA program would like to thank John Abbamondi for taking the time to visit our program and share with us his professional experiences in the sports industry.
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