Number of unsigned top guns tells worrying tale

Number of unsigned top guns tells worrying tale

Collusion? Or are MLB owners just coming to their senses regarding free agency spending?

Your choice.

As 2019 spring training opened in Florida and Arizona recently, 100 free agent players remained unsigned.

The list includes former Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper, one of the game's best young position players, and perhaps the game's best closer, Craig Kimbrel, who has been saving games for the Boston Red Sox of late.

Oh, and don't forget former Cy Young Award winner and World Series victor, lefty hurler Dallas Keuchel, who performed most recently with the Houston Astros.

Manny Machado, who played for both the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers last season, has agreed to join the San Diego Padres in a US$300 million, 10-year contract.

For the longest time, it was thought Harper would be the first ball player to command a long-term, 10-figure contract.

But no more.

Harper, an outfielder who averaged 29 home runs, 91 runs batted in and a .266 average the last three seasons, has only three or four ballclubs presently vying for his services: his original team the Washington Nationals, the Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres, the latter considered the longshot of the group.

Kimbrel has the best career Earned Run Average (1.91) of any closer to ever play the game.

Former teammate Chris Sale says: "It's crazy to me. I don't want to get too far into the politics of baseball but he 100 percent makes any team better that he plays for.

"It's crazy to think there hasn't been a whole lot of traction with him."

A lot of teams would love to have Kimbrel and the others but with recent declines in TV ratings and falling attendance, perhaps even the deep pocketed owners have started to rethink their spending habits.

The last few seasons have seen an influx of talented young players who teams can keep at a salary near the league minimum ($555,000) for four years or so before they can become eligible for arbitration and then subsequently gain free agent status.

After all, recent contracts like the $30 million plus per year over an extended period time (fourth-highest in MLB history), like those tendered to the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw and the Red Sox' David Price, represent quite an outlay of moolah.

So, to you and me slogging along for a relative pittance, it seems like fiscal sanity has been restored in the world of pro baseball.

Ah, but is that REALLY the case or are MLB owners simply crying poor and secretly colluding to keep salaries down -- like they were late last century and punished for?

You'll recall owners were forced to pay up to a large number of players when the courts ruled in the players' favour over a grievance filed.

A glance at the list of salaries of players on each team also reveals a startling statistic.

The number of players making megabucks is shrinking yearly. And the number making near the minimum is growing rapidly.

If you look at the lists, well over half of every MLB team's roster is made up of such players.

Now, $555,000 may sound like a lot of money but remember these guys have spent much of their lives in pro baseball not even making the US minimum wage in the minor leagues as they try to work their way up the five-tiered ladder to the big leagues.

It all just sound very fishy to many performers.

And to many of the rest of us, it looks like there's something going on between the owners.

Why all of a sudden the reluctance to spend on the part of owners, who formerly dished out cash like drunken sailors for available free agent talent?

And this isn't a new thing. Last year, a large number of free agents were in the same position and left wanting for their hard-earned payout. The number has even increased this off-season.

Currently, some players are even talking about drastic measures to resolve the problem of a lack of free agency spending.

"Unless something happens," says St Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, "there's going to be a strike. I'm just worried people are going to walk out at mid-season."

It would seem, then, like MLB is nearing a revenue-sharing crossroads.


Contact Wiggins' World at davwigg@gmail.com

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