Orza Gets It

Via BBTF, former MLBPA executive Gene Orza clearly spells out the problem the players face:

In 1985 there was a two-day strike. The issue was management’s desire to raise the eligibility for salary arbitration from two seasons’ experience to three. The union didn’t want to give up that year.

It was hard for Orza and company to hold the membership together. The most senior players, the backbone of the union, did not see how fighting over that one year of arbitration eligibility was in their interest.

“Certain players were actually going around to clubhouses against our wishes, saying, ‘Guys, do you really want to go on strike over salary arbitration?’ ” Orza said.

So the union surrendered the extra year. And then . . .

“Starting in the 1986 offseason, I started getting calls from all of these mid-level free agents,” said Orza. “[Guys] who aren’t getting offers, who aren’t getting jobs. Who eventually left the game. And they couldn’t understand why.

“And I had to explain to them: That what we had done in ’85 is, we made people who had two to three years of service much more valuable to the clubs. Because they could get the same [type of] player, but much cheaper now, ‘cause the [two- to three-year guys] didn’t have any [arbitration] rights.

“The number of players from zero years of service to three years of service in 1987 was 28.4 percent higher than the numbers of players in that same category in 1985. Where did those additional players come from? The guys whose jobs they were taking were the very guys who didn’t see how [the] fate of the salary-arbitration eligibles [affected] them.”

Orza sees a similarity today.

“What’s happening now is the Players Association has made young players, very young players, extremely attractive to clubs.”

The players thought that if the owners were forced to spend less money on amateurs, the saved money would be spent on arbitration eligible players and free agents. That didn’t happen. It’s time for the players to reverse this direction, and ask for more freedom for everyone. Fewer years to free agency, no qualifying offers, no draft, no amateur caps. Let players be paid what they deserve always.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2FytUs1