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One critique of age-based service time is that Latino players, who can break into professional baseball at 16 as opposed to 18 for American-born players, would be disproportionately hurt by rules that tie free agency to age. So instead of locking free agency to age, the players want to rework the ways players can accumulate service time, wresting some control from teams by allowing players to accrue it via performance milestones in addition to time spent on the major league roster.
To the players, who believe ownership simply needs to invest more in rosters all around, the idea of costing top-tier stars a year or so of free agent money to benefit the middle class represents a false choice.
“All of our proposals are meant to help every player, in every class, in every situation, in every position. A lot of times it may not seem as straightforward as others,” MLBPA executive subcommittee member Andrew Miller told the Athletic. “We have to be able to communicate that to guys so they understand, ‘Hey, this is the big picture; this is why this moving piece affects this piece.’ The reality is that’s exactly it: We’re looking to address every class of player in every situation and improve upon where they are now.”
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Many of the union’s more prominent player negotiators — Miller, Scherzer, New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, Texas Rangers infielder Marcus Semien and others — happen to be in MLB’s top tier, meaning they are not the ones experiencing the pitfalls of the compensation system.
“Actually, it’s truly mystifying to see guys like Max Scherzer represent us because he has benefited from a system and rightfully so — he’s an amazing pitcher and deserves everything he gets,” said retired reliever Jerry Blevins, a former union rep. “But at the same time, he’s in there fighting for guys like me: middle-of-the-road, middle-of-the-pack guys who fill a roster.”
“It makes a big difference because they represent us, the normal guy, even though at the same time they’re benefiting from the system as it’s set up,” said Blevins, who pointed out that unlike major league owners, the “normal guys” in baseball often have just a few years to profit from their on-field talent. If Scherzer’s earnings are astronomical, a player on the margins whose career lasts a few years and earns him a few million dollars is far less secure in the long term than his more prominent peers — and will have to start over completely when his time in baseball ends.
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The underlying assumption beneath almost every one of both sides’ proposals is that any new rule will foster a hundred new ways to exploit it, given that owners want to save money and players want to maximize earnings. Players, therefore, are wary of any rule that diminishes their ability to let the market dictate their earnings because of the expectation that owners will use those rules to suppress them.
Owners are operating in a system that helps keep costs down for young players but also rewards the game’s biggest stars with the richest contracts in pro sports. They are not eager to let the market push their spending further.
MLB lockout begins as CBA expires | Why baseball’s middle class matters in the lockout
• Svrluga: Baseball’s lockout is about economics. What needs to be fixed is th
To the players, who believe ownership simply needs to invest more in rosters all around, the idea of costing top-tier stars a year or so of free agent money to benefit the middle class represents a false choice.
“All of our proposals are meant to help every player, in every class, in every situation, in every position. A lot of times it may not seem as straightforward as others,” MLBPA executive subcommittee member Andrew Miller told the Athletic. “We have to be able to communicate that to guys so they understand, ‘Hey, this is the big picture; this is why this moving piece affects this piece.’ The reality is that’s exactly it: We’re looking to address every class of player in every situation and improve upon where they are now.”
Advertisement
Many of the union’s more prominent player negotiators — Miller, Scherzer, New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, Texas Rangers infielder Marcus Semien and others — happen to be in MLB’s top tier, meaning they are not the ones experiencing the pitfalls of the compensation system.
“Actually, it’s truly mystifying to see guys like Max Scherzer represent us because he has benefited from a system and rightfully so — he’s an amazing pitcher and deserves everything he gets,” said retired reliever Jerry Blevins, a former union rep. “But at the same time, he’s in there fighting for guys like me: middle-of-the-road, middle-of-the-pack guys who fill a roster.”
“It makes a big difference because they represent us, the normal guy, even though at the same time they’re benefiting from the system as it’s set up,” said Blevins, who pointed out that unlike major league owners, the “normal guys” in baseball often have just a few years to profit from their on-field talent. If Scherzer’s earnings are astronomical, a player on the margins whose career lasts a few years and earns him a few million dollars is far less secure in the long term than his more prominent peers — and will have to start over completely when his time in baseball ends.
Advertisement
The underlying assumption beneath almost every one of both sides’ proposals is that any new rule will foster a hundred new ways to exploit it, given that owners want to save money and players want to maximize earnings. Players, therefore, are wary of any rule that diminishes their ability to let the market dictate their earnings because of the expectation that owners will use those rules to suppress them.
Owners are operating in a system that helps keep costs down for young players but also rewards the game’s biggest stars with the richest contracts in pro sports. They are not eager to let the market push their spending further.
The offseason: What to know about the MLB lockout | Free agency trackerMLB lockout begins as CBA expires | Why baseball’s middle class matters in the lockout
• Svrluga: Baseball’s lockout is about economics. What needs to be fixed is th
