Lack of free-agent activity troubles union head
Giants to retire Bonds’ No. 25
NEW YORK — Players’ union head Tony Clark claims the number of rebuilding teams and unsigned free agents in a historically slow market threatens the sport’s integrity, an assertion immediately rejected by Major League Baseball.
In a statement and a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Clark voiced the frustration of the 100plus free agents who remain unsigned with the start of spring training one week away.
“A record number of talented free agents remain unemployed in an industry where revenues and franchise values are at record highs,” he said in a statement, eight days before the first formal workouts. “Spring training has always been associated with hope for a new season. This year a significant number of teams are engaged in a race to the bottom. This conduct is a fundamental breach of the trust between a team and its fans and threatens the very integrity of our game.”
Just 61 of 166 players who exercised their free agency rights last November had announced agreements as of Tuesday, down from 99 of 158 at a similar time last year. J.D. Martinez, Jake Arrieta, Yu Darvish and Eric Hosmer are among the stars still seeking a place to play.
While the players’ association has shown no interest in agent Brodie Van Wagenen’s suggestion that players consider boycotting spring training, the union could announce this week that it will open a training camp for free agents.
Scott Boras, the sport’s most well-known agent, has called the increased number of rebuilding teams a “noncompetitive cancer.”
“We’re finding ourselves asking questions that we never thought we would have to ask before, which is are there concerns about the competitive integrity of the game itself?” Clark told the AP. “When it turns to fans being able to see or wanting to see the best 750 players and those 750-plus players wanting to play against the best players, when that becomes part of the conversation it’s just not beneficial to anybody.”
Many teams have concluded there are just two successful strategies: all-in or all-out. Either add veterans around a core group or jettison pricey players and start over. That was reinforced when the Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series four years after losing 101 games and Houston took last year’s title four years after losing 111.
“There is a number of teams, let’s call it 10 or 12 in baseball, that are tearing down and rebuilding,” Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto said last month. “You could argue that you’re going to compete with more clubs to try to get the first pick in the draft than you would to win the World Series.”
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood went further, tweeting: “It appears that there are 12-15 teams that have committed to tanking and are not putting the best team they can on the field.”
MLB attributed the amount of unsigned players to a misreading of the marketplace. Just one free agent has agreed to a deal worth $50 million or more: first baseman Carlos Santana’s $60 million, three-year contract with Cleveland. In addition, outfielder Justin Upton reached a $106 million, five-year contract to stay with the Los Angeles Angels rather than become a free agent.
“It is common at this point in the calendar to have large numbers of free agents unsigned,” the commissioner’s office said in a statement. “What is uncommon is to have some of the best free agents sitting unsigned even though they have substantial offers, some in nine figures. It is the responsibility of player’s agents to value their clients in a constantly changing free-agent market based on factors such as positional demand, advanced analytics and the impact of the new Basic Agreement. To lay responsibility on the clubs for the failure of some agents to accurately assess the market is unfair, unwarranted, and inflammatory.”
Home run king Barry Bonds will have his No. 25 jersey retired this August by the San Francisco Giants when his former Pittsburgh Pirates are in town. The Giants announced Tuesday they would hold a ceremony to honor the former slugger and seven-time NL MVP on Aug. 11. He will become only the 12th player from the New York or San Francisco Giants to have his number retired. Bonds, now 53 and an adviser in the club’s front office, broke Hank Aaron’s home run record with No. 756 on Aug. 7, 2007. He finished his 22-year big league career that season with 762 homers and under a cloud of steroids allegations.
Albuquerque native and Houston relief pitcher Ken Giles has won his arbitration case and will earn his asking price of $4.6 million this year. The club had offered $4.2 million. Players have a 5-3 record against teams in cases heard through Tuesday.
John DeCicco, who has appeared as Billy the Marlin at home games for more than a decade, was fired this week. The team confirmed the termination Tuesday, saying Billy the Marlin will remain the team’s mascot but with a different person in the costume. Team officials didn’t give a reason for the firing.
Right-hander Ervin Santana will miss the start of the regular season after unexpected surgery on his right middle finger.
Second baseman Jonathan Schoop agreed to terms on a contract for 2018 worth $8.5 million, the Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday.