Can Moustakas move on from slow free agency?
SURPRISE, Ariz. – Third baseman Mike Moustakas walked into the Kansas City Royals spring training clubhouse Sunday morning, just as he has for the last 11 years, put on his same uniform and greeted familiar faces.
Still, in many ways, he conceded, it felt so foreign.
He was never supposed to be back once he hit free agency, let alone be relegated to a pay cut on a one-year contract.
He’s now presented as Major League Baseball Players Association’s Exhibit
1-A, exemplifying the integral flaws of free agency under the new collective bargaining agreement.
“I’m pretty sure I will be, you know that,” said Moustakas, who signed a one-year, $6.5 million contract, some
$80 million less than projected. Teammates Jon Jay and Lucas Duda are in similar situations, signing oneyear deals that did not reflect their perceived value, but Moustakas is the twotime All-Star and World Series champion who hit a franchise-record 38 homers last year in hitter-unfriendly Kansas City, spurring hopes of a contract nearing $90 million.
“I think a guy should be rewarded for what he did on the field,” Duda said, “but the market was extremely slow. A lot of major league fans thought we were being greedy, or whatever the case was, but there were no offers to turn down. There were no offers to even consider.”
The Royals figured Moustakas was gone and didn’t bother to make an offer.
It turns out that no one else did, either.
Even the teams that had an urgent need, including the Los Angeles Angels and San Francisco Giants, didn’t want to forfeit their second-round draft pick as compensation.
The Atlanta Braves showed interest when Moustakas’ market collapsed. So did the Tampa Bay Rays — who accelerated his market collapse by dealing Evan Longoria to the Giants — and the Chicago White Sox. Yet no one made an offer.
“The system failed Mike Moustakas,” said Scott Boras, his agent. “Players have been given notice.”
The players union will make its first stop in the Cactus League on Wednesday morning. It’s only fitting that it will be here.
“It’s just sad to see what happened,” said Jay, who took a $5 million pay cut when he signed a one-year, $3 million deal contract, “to not only me, but all of the guys still out there. As a player you want to stand and unite. We’ve got to stick together.”
Moustakas could have waited until after the draft in June when teams no longer would have to forfeit picks to sign him, but he wasn’t about to stay home for half the season and then gamble that someone would even want or need him.
“It’s crazy, man,” said former Royals teammate Jarrod Dyson, who’s now with the Arizona Diamondbacks. “People can say what they want to, but Moose put some coin in some people’s pockets. So why are they trippin’ about money now?
“It’s like you may eventually agree with a deal, and come in and act like you’re happy, but where was the love when you were negotiating the deal?”
Moustakas says he’ll always remember the pain of this winter but insists there’s no hard feelings, particularly toward the Royals, who lost stalwarts Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain and figured they’d make do with Cheslor Cuthbert at third base.
Then Moustakas’ market crashed. “We’re fortunate that it happened for us the way it did,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. “That’s as simple as I can say it.”
Moustakas knows nothing can change the past, and he can only hope he can control his future.
“Knowing Moose’s love for the game,” outfielder Alex Gordon says, “and especially his passion for the organization, I think he’s going to be just fine.”
Moustakas, who spent part of the morning Facetiming with his wife and newborn son, says it will take a little time, but he’ll be fine.
“It will be interesting for a lot of these guys, right?” Moore says. “I’m sure some of them are thinking, “What else do I have to do? It takes you back to 40 or 50 years ago when players had great years and didn’t get big raises or took cuts.
“You never want bitterness to affect your day-to-day approach, personally and professionally, but the one thing about professional baseball players is that they’ve always adapted. They’ve dealt with adversity. And they’ve been able to overcome it.
“Hopefully they’ll manage it the right way. I’m confident they will.”