Now I am not some old fart, but some of you might not remember back in 1985, 1986 and 1987 when the MLB team owners colluded with each other to drive the price of free agents down. There were some big names involved in law suits against the owners, guys like:
- Kirk Gibson
- Tommy John
- Phil Niekro
- Carlton Fisk
- Andre Dawson
- Tim Raines
- Ron Guidry
- Paul Molitor
- Jack Clark
- Dennis Martinez
Do you know what all of these guys had in common? They were all just past their prime at the time of collusion. So let’s take a look at the list of free agents available in the 2008-2009 off season that are still available:
- Jason Varitek
- Rich Aurilla
- Orlando Hudson
- Orlando Cabrera
- Joe Crede
- Manny Ramirez
- Bobby Abreau
- Jim Edmonds
- Adam Dunn
- Ivan Rodriguez
- Ty Wigginton
- Miguel Cairo
- Nomar Garciaparra
- Ken Griffey Jr
- Garret Anderson
- Frank Thomas
- Oliver Perez
- Randy Wolf
- Branden Looper
- Ben Sheets
- Tom Glavine
That is a pretty good list of players. Are you telling me that no one needs a DH like Frank Thomas or Ken Griffey Jr? Not one team can use Ivan Rodriguez or Jason Varitek as a back up catcher? How about Dunn who routinely bombs 40 homers a year? Manny can’t get more than 2 years? After doing what he did for the Dodgers in the second half of the season last year. I’m not buying it. This smells like serious collusion to me. I don’t even understand why the media hasn’t made the connection. Look I am not a conspiracy theorist but this just smells like collusion, these guys are being forced into retirement. We are now less than one month away from pitchers and catcher reporting. It would be appalling to me if these guys remained unsigned and are forced into retirement. Surely I can’t be alone in thinking this. Anyone else feel the same way?
No, this is clearly not collusion. The country is in the midst of perhaps the worst economic crisis we have ever seen. Ticket sales are down, sponsors are either pulling out or cutting back their participation, and no one has any idea how long this will last or how bad it will get. For the owners to be cautious during this time is only good business.
It looks that way sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t. Some of those players have priced themselves right out of the market. You really think anyone is going to pay 16 million for Bobby Abreu? I think the fear (or excuse) of the economy has helped teams justify avoiding those players until their price comes down. Also there are a few players with similar talents. Like if Ramirez is taken off the market, I guarantee Dunn won’t be too far behind. They’re power hitters with below average fielding and perfect DH candidates. Dunn is waiting to see what happens with Manny, and the teams are probably doing much of the same. Problem is you can find an excuse to pay less for just about every player on the market. Abreu isn’t a home run hitter and not the best fielder, Dunn isn’t a great fielder and strikes out a lot, Manny is a headcase, Griffey and Sheets are injury prone and aren’t worth the risk, Thomas doesn’t have the power he used to. All valid excuses in my opinion.
Its really sad when you consider Adam Dunn is only 29. He has 278 career HR and has a 162 game average of 40 HR for his career. Sure he strikes out a ton, but so does another 29 year old slugger who has an awesome 162 game HR average but only 177 for his career. Yep, I’m talking about Ryan Howard.
I agree with Jason in Dallas. The economy is absolutely horrible right now, and it’s completely understandable that owners would want to be careful about how they spend their money (with the exception of the Yankees). It’s just going to take some time for the agents to realize this, and accept shorter term contracts this year. Once they do this, we’ll see a lot of signings.
By the way, I don’t think that Raines, Molitor, or Martinez were past their primes yet in 1987.
If it is collusion, no one notified the Yankees management.
The economy is a mess and everyone’s scared to death. You can’t expect teams to spend like it’s 2000 or 2005 when people are losing jobs right and left. This is just a bad year to be a free agent. A few of these guys lost millions by not accepting arbitration. My guess is in two weeks some will bite the bullet and take a one year deal so they can try again next hear and hope for a better market.
I don’t buy the collusion argument. The economy is bad, and no one can tell you how much worse its going to get. How can you — as a responsible business owner — commit huge amounts of money to multi-year contracts?
If these players wanted to take one-year deals, I think the majority of them could be signed by now. We know Manny turned down a two-year offer, and he’s not worth more than that to a National League team that has to play him in the outfield every day.
You mention that Varitek and Rodriguez should be able to get jobs as backup catchers… but who says they want to be a backup?
The younger marquee players got their money. The older guys and the guys with question marks are not getting the big bucks that they wanted. Listen to the news and see how many layoffs get announced on any given day, and you should be able to understand why.
I love the comments on this post. The more I read into it the more I guess I have to recind my idea of collusion. I guess the agents want 2000 money but the owners can’t commit to it.
I don’t think it’s collusion at all. It’s all about the economy and trying to be smarter with the dollar. Clubs are looking for deals and being much more selective than usual. There were something like 265 players that filed for free agency this year. The easiest way for teams to cut back on spending is to go young and look within the organization. So, combine a record free agent class with budget problems, and the older (read more expensive) players are the ones that are feeling the brunt of it. The older players have some real tough decisions to make when it comes to either playing for less this year or sitting it out.
I didn’t realize the list with this lengthy.
Not outright collusion but I think agents and owners are waiting to see who blinks first. Their is no way the agents are going to get thes guys 3-5 year deals from the owners.