On this date 33 years ago, Andy Messersmith signed a three-year, $1M contract with the Atlanta Braves after being granted free agency by an arbitrator in the Seitz Decision. This move was historic in that the ruling effectively nullified baseball's reserve clause, seven years after Curt Flood first challenged the clause. This led to the inclusion of free agency after six years of service in the next collective bargaining agreement, a rule still in place today. Since then, payrolls have skyrocketed. Let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- The Biz of Baseball takes a closer look at opening day payroll, the highest paid players in baseball and which teams have the highest average player salaries.
- Astros Country breaks down the Astros' 2009 payroll.
- Bleed Cubbie Blue has details on the Cubs' payroll.
- Rays Index breaks down the Rays' opening day payroll.
- YanksBlog tries resolve different reports of the Yankees opening day payroll.
- Purple Row takes a look at service time and options remaining on the Rockies' roster, among other things.
- Baseball Analysts takes a look at payroll efficiency for the last three years.
- On a side note, The Sports Banter put together a list of the best off-season moves, and the worst.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here and followed on Twitter.
