Quote:
Originally Posted by Yastrzemski Sports
When you have a union, the interests of the majority have to be represented. So the elite players you mentioned above made nice money and will be fine. Mookie Betts made $2 mil his first 3 years in baseball - total, $10 mil last year and $20 next year - because he’s a huge talent. But for a majority of the players your first 7 years under team control are difficult and most players don’t have that kind of leverage to negotiate but at the same time can’t leave. So they are at the mercy of the team. Then when free agency comes around most players are 30 and teams don’t want them. It was different a few years ago when a 30 year old could get $50-100 mil and never had to worry about money. Mike Moustakas is a perfect example. He’s had a decent career and is a very good player. Last year he took a 1 yr $5.5 mil deal and this year he hasn’t signed yet and no one seems to be throwing offers out there. They would rather bring up kids from the farm. If Betts was a free agent right now he would be looking at $30+ mil per year instead of $20. If Moustakas had negotiating power 5 years ago he could have had the chance to get a big multi year deal. And that’s where the next CBA is going to lead. Players are going to be free agents much sooner in their career.
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The unions in Sports really haven't looked out for the average players interests for quite some time. The big stars? Sure, the everyday players even the merely just above average aren't helped at all. There's always a way around the CBA. Like the collusion, or the period a few years ago where players who were solid everyday players were being cut outright and new teams would sign them to a minor league contract. That happened a lot right when they got to the point where the pay tiers/arbitraton kicked in.