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Giants Negotiating With Tony Watson; Phillies & Red Sox Also In Mix

By Jeff Todd | February 13, 2018 at 11:33am CDT

11:33am: San Francisco isn’t the only team in the mix, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, who tweets that the Phillies, Red Sox, and unstated other teams are also still involved.

10:20am: The Giants are engaged in “serious contract talks” with southpaw reliever Tony Watson, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports (via Twitter). It is not clear at this time what sort of contractual terms the sides are contemplating, but Watson is clearly the best lefty pen piece still unsigned at this stage.

This is certainly an interesting bit of news, due largely to San Francisco’s closely watched effort to improve while staying shy of the competitive balance tax line. Recent tabulations have suggested the team is only $2MM or so beneath the $197MM threshold at present, leaving little room for a player of Watson’s anticipated price.

If the Giants were to accept the luxury tax for the 2018 season, it’s at least fair to wonder whether they’d plan to go further over the line to add other players. On the other hand, part of the team’s strategy could be to engineer a mid-season sell-off to get back below the line if things don’t go quite as hoped.

As things stand, the Giants’ depth chart features Steven Okert as the top southpaw on hand. Josh Osich and D.J. Snelten also represent 40-man options, with recent minor-league signee Derek Holland perhaps also factoring in the mix if he cannot earn a rotation slot. San Francisco will ultimately hope for a bounce back from Will Smith, who is looking to return from a Tommy John procedure that was performed just before the start of the 2017 season, but clearly there’s some room for improvement.

Entering the winter, Watson was tabbed as the 44th-best free agent in MLBTR’s ranking of the top 50 open-market players. We guessed the 32-year-old could command $12MM in total guaranteed money over two years. While he has plenty of general late-inning experience, our assessment was that he’d be pursued (and paid) more as a quality lefty specialist. Watson, after all, has long been much more effective against opposing lefties.

Former ACES Contractor Sues Agency; Levinson Brothers Respond

By Jeff Todd | February 13, 2018 at 9:21am CDT

TODAY: Deadspin has obtained and published the complaint in full.

Those interested in learning all of the details of what Nunez states in his filing will want to read it in its original form. But it is worth discussing a few pertinent allegations, all of which were previously investigated (at least to some extent) by the MLBPA but which could now be subject to a different sort of test through the civil litigation process.

Nunez claims that the Levinsons directed and supervised his actions, approving of his questionable efforts. He details a purported undertaking to retain Fernando Rodney as a client during a dispute with another agency, with the Levinsons allegedly ordering Nunez to engineer an arrangement to kick back a portion of the agency’s fee when the MLBPA had ordered that there not be any contact with the reliever.

On the PED front, Nunez says that the Levinson brothers were behind his effort to connect players with performance-enhancing substances through Tony Bosch and the Biogenesis clinic. He also charges the ACES leaders with being “intimately involved” in the failed, harebrained scheme to clear Cabrera (which he details in all its elaborate absurdity). And he explains his prior admissions to the contrary by suggesting the Levinsons asked him to take the fall and promised to take care of him.

YESTERDAY:A disgraced former figure in the baseball world has filed a lawsuit that proposes to revisit one of the game’s most notable scandals. According to a report from Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, Juan Carlos Nunez — who served jail time relating to the Biogenesis PED mess — is suing the ACES agency that he once worked for as an independent contractor.

At this point, details are quite hazy even as to the allegations, as the complaint itself has yet to surface. Per Heyman, Nunez claims that ACES founders Sam and Seth Levinson guided and funded him in a scheme to attract clients and connect them with performance-enhancing drugs. He is seeking “millions” in damages under as-yet-unknown legal theories.

When reached for comment, Seth and Sam Levinson provided MLBTR the following statement:

“While we have not yet seen the complaint, Juan Nunez is a convicted felon who spent time in federal prison. He betrayed his family, the players who trusted him and the very people who gave him an opportunity at a great life and career. He was terminated almost six (6) years ago, in August of 2012, after his betrayals came to light. ACES has been thoroughly investigated, and at every turn, has fully cooperated. The MLBPA exonerated us, all of the players cleared us, and it was conclusively proven that we did absolutely nothing wrong. This is nothing more than a shakedown by a man broken by his own criminal actions. We will take the fight to Mr. Nunez for any meritless and defamatory claims, and we will seek all available remedies and damages that his criminal behavior has caused.”

Given that we don’t yet even know precisely what has been alleged, let alone what evidence might be mustered, it goes without saying that the actual merits of Nunez’s claims are anything but settled. Those general caveats are certainly all the more pressing here, given Nunez’s highly problematic track record.

Nunez is perhaps best known for setting up a fake website in a misguided plot to absolve Melky Cabrera (then an ACES client) of his 2012 PED suspension. It turned out that Nunez’s ties to illicit substances went beyond that case, as he was ultimately sentenced to jail time and house arrest after copping to functioning as an intermediary between baseball players and the Biogenesis clinic. Nunez was reportedly implicated in prior scams and came with an undesirable reputation even before Biogenesis.

The MLBPA investigated the ACES agency as part of the broad Biogenesis fallout, as the agency represented ten players that were caught up in the scandal. The Levinsons vehemently denied any knowledge of Nunez’s improprieties and were ultimately cleared by the union. ACES continues to represent a lengthy list of major leaguers, as documented in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

In large part, then, this is a heavily-trodden matter that has largely been resolved. That said, there surely were many questions legitimately asked with so many ACES clients coming under scrutiny. The agency obviously benefited from the relationship with Nunez, who helped to recruit and retain Spanish-speaking ballplayers. Some around the game raised concerns with the Levinsons, as documented at the time in reports such as this one from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, though the agency has not faced discipline and has continued to operate as usual in the ensuing years.

It remains to be seen whether this lawsuit will lead to the production of new information relating to the Biogenesis matter, let alone whether there is any chance that the commissioner’s office or MLBPA will reengage a matter they’d surely like to leave in the past. That may hinge upon whether Nunez is able to produce any actual evidence. Of course, with the potential discovery process in this suit still a ways off, it is not even known yet whether this litigation will really provide a vehicle for reliable new information, let alone whether it will meaningfully change our understanding of this unfortunate epoch of MLB history.

Pro Hockey Rumors: Your Source For NHL Trade Deadline Coverage

By Steve Adams | February 12, 2018 at 3:16pm CDT

Two weeks remain until the February 26th NHL Trade Deadline, and our sister site Pro Hockey Rumors is all you need to stay up to date on the latest news. Will the Buffalo Sabres find someone to pay their steep asking price for Evander Kane? Will the Vegas Golden Knights buy to help their historic expansion run? Are the New York Rangers really going to blow it up while Henrik Lundqvist is still there?

Visit Pro Hockey Rumors now and be sure to follow us @prohockeyrumors on Twitter!

MLBPA Preparing Spring Training Camp For Free Agents

By Steve Adams | February 8, 2018 at 10:00pm CDT

10:00pm: Some Boras clients, it seems, will participate in the union’s camp, per Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links). He quotes Boras:

“A question arose as to where our clients would work out. Our clients will certainly take advantage of the union facilities as their schedule allows. Where they work out is a individual choice based upon convenience. Understandably, the camps do not allow our training staff to attend and many of our clients are comfortable continuing their [Spring Training] routines and preparation at one of Boras Corps facilities.”

Feb. 8, 1:46pm: The MLBPA camp is taking shape. Rosenthal reports (links to Twitter account) that it’ll be held at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Here are a few additional details that the union has provided in an email that Rosenthal obtained:

Bo Porter will lead the proceedings; no personal trainers will be allowed
the union is arranging travel, housing, per diems, and insurance
camp will open next Wednesday and run through at least March 4th

Interestingly, some players under contract are expected to partake before reporting to their respective organizations’ camps. That’s intended as a “show of support,” says Rosenthal, but at present it does not sound as if any players intend to miss any time with their teams.

Importantly, clients of Scott Boras are not expected to participate, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). The super-agent, who represents many of the top remaining free agents, says that he’ll continue to rely upon his and his clients’ own resources “to make sure our players are prepared when they reach agreements.”

Feb. 7: With more than 100 players unsigned in the week before Spring Training is set to kick off, the Major League Baseball Players Association is laying the groundwork to host training camps for free agents, reports Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that a Spring Training for free agents “will happen.” Meanwhile, Brown’s colleague, Jeff Passan, tweets that a camp for unsigned players could kick off as soon as next Tuesday — the same day that many pitchers and catchers around the league will begin reporting to their teams’ respective Spring Training camps.

To be clear, while there are indeed more than 100 players that logged 50+ plate appearances or 20+ innings last year who remain unsigned, not all of those players would be reasonably expected to sign a Major League deal even in a more conventional offseason. MLBTR’s Free Agent Tracker for the 2017-18 offseason reveals 110 players who’ve not yet agreed to a deal, though nearly half of the players on that list seem unlikely to sign a big league deal either due to poor performance, lack of track record or injury. That said, there are still as many as 50 fairly clear-cut candidates for Major League deals, plus another handful of borderline options that could go either way in most offseasons. It’s not clear exactly how many free agents would attend a voluntary camp for unsigned players.

The union, according to Brown, is eyeing locations in both Arizona and Florida, with Bradenton’s IMG Baseball Academy one potential location. The MLBPA is also trying to find coaches and other personnel to help staff the facility and create an atmosphere that resembles a traditional Spring Training setting as closely as possible.

If (or perhaps more appropriately, when) a training camp for unemployed players ultimately comes to be, it’ll mark the first time that such measures have been necessary since 1995, when unsigned players organized a similar camp during MLB’s most recent labor stoppage. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick recently took a look back at that ’95 training camp, speaking to D-backs hitting coach Dave Magadan, who was one of the free agents that participated in the camp, about the experience.

Mets Sign Todd Frazier

By Jeff Todd | February 7, 2018 at 1:17pm CDT

WEDNESDAY: The Mets have announced the deal.

TUESDAY: Frazier will earn $8MM in 2018 and $9MM in 2019, Rosenthal tweets.

MONDAY:The Mets have struck a two-year deal with third baseman Todd Frazier, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). If he passes a physical, Frazier will receive a $17MM guarantee. The deal includes a $500K assignment bonus in the event that Frazier is traded, Jim Bowden of The Athletic tweets. Frazier is represented by Creative Artists Agency.

MLBTR predicted this match, but expected the veteran to take home a significantly bigger contract (three years and $33MM). The market for third basemen certainly hasn’t developed as the players might have hoped. Long-time shortstop Zack Cozart moved to the hot corner upon joining the Angels on a three-year, $39MM deal. The Giants filled their own need by acquiring Evan Longoria via trade. The Yankees have an ongoing opening but little to spend if they are to stay beneath the luxury tax line.

That situation had left Frazier, Mike Moustakas, and others without as much interest as had been anticipated. Indeed, in this case, it seems that some developments had to occur before the match could come together. Mets infielder Asdrubal Cabrera had seemingly been set to move to third. But he indicated recently he’d actually prefer to move to second base, leading GM Sandy Alderson to note that the flexibility might open up some new avenues for the organization.

New York held an obvious draw for Frazier, a New Jersey native who got a taste of playing near his home town last year with the Yankees. As Jon Heyman of Fan Rag notes on Twitter, that geographic preference seemingly played a role in the agreement that has now come together. It may have helped the Mets land a solid player at a reasonable price.

[RELATED: Updated Mets Depth Chart]

On the one hand, Frazier has not shown of late the kind of well-above-average offensive output he did at his peak with the Reds. At his best, Frazier produced about twenty percent more offense than the average hitter, with significant home run output and even some value on the basepaths offsetting subpar on-base abilities.

Frazier has been unable to produce both significant power and a useful OBP over the past two seasons. In 2016, he tallied forty long balls but only a .302 on-base mark. Last season, he rode a personal-best 14.4% walk rate (and personal-low 9.3% swinging-strike rate) to a .344 OBP but managed only 27 dingers and a .428 slugging percentage. While Frazier still generated a strong .215 isolated slugging mark, his batting average (.213) and batting average on balls in play (.226) remained at the sorts of low levels he has sported in recent campaigns. (For what it’s worth, there may well be at least some poor fortune in Frazier’s lowly BABIP; he carried a .352 xwOBA that lagged his .340 wOBA in 2017.)

Even if the Mets can anticipate only slightly above-average offensive work from Frazier, the deal holds plenty of promise. He has long graded as a quality performer with the glove and turned in one of his best-ever seasons in 2017. Both DRS (+10) and UZR (+6.7) credited him with saving plenty of runs as a full-time player at third base. Frazier also has an excellent track record of durability, having suited up for an average of 154 games annually since the start of 2013.

As an above-average regular for each of the past six seasons, Frazier surely anticipated a bigger contract entering the winter. At the same time, his earning power was always limited by his age. The somewhat late-blooming slugger will turn 32 years of age in a week. With teams seemingly more hesitant than ever to lock in commitments to aging players, and the league as a whole hewing younger, Frazier always seemed unlikely to drive a massive bidding war.

Still, this contract seems likely to deliver the Mets some quality infield value, much as Cabrera did on a similar contract (two years, $18.5MM plus an option that was exercised for 2018). While Frazier could conceivably also spend time at first base, the likelihood is he’ll be the primary third baseman. In that sense, perhaps, the move all but formalizes the already evident fact that the chronically injured David Wright is unlikely to factor again at the hot corner for New York.

As he reunites with his former Cincinnati teammate Jay Bruce, Frazier will hope to be part of a resurgent Mets roster. The club has brought back most of the band despite a disappointing 2017 campaign, with a few modifications. New York has now filled its most glaring needs and certainly has the talent to compete in the coming season, though the organization still faces its fair share of uncertainty — particularly in the injury department.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Ervin Santana Out 10 To 12 Weeks Following Surgery On Finger

By Steve Adams | February 6, 2018 at 4:45pm CDT

The Twins announced today that right-hander Ervin Santana underwent a “capsular release/debridement procedure” on the middle finger of his right hand. He’s expected to be ready for a return to game activity in 10 to 12 weeks, according to the announcement.

Santana, according to the Twins, began experiencing discomfort in his right hand after ramping up bullpen work in preparation for Spring Training. The issue is something he’s dealt with in the past and had reviewed following the 2017 season, per the announcement, at which point an MRI and x-rays revealed that his tendon was intact, prompting doctors to recommend an injection. The injury is a “result of repeated cumulative stress from pitching, not one acute event, and did not present again until this past week,” the team further detailed.

Certainly, the news comes as a blow to a Twins team that has aspirations of contending for its first American League Central title since 2010. The 35-year-old Santana has been among the game’s most durable arms over the past decade and has been the Twins’ most consistent starter over the past two seasons. He’ll now be sidelined until anywhere from mid-April to early May as he recovers from this procedure. With him on the shelf to open the season, an already murky Twins rotation now figures to include Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson and Adalberto Mejia, with several other names vying for starting opportunities as well.

Of course, the Twins have been prominently linked to the top name on the free agent market, Yu Darvish, with varying ties to the other top three starters: Jake Arrieta, Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn. Minnesota has reportedly been among the most aggressive teams on the Darvish front anyhow, and the loss of Santana even for only a month should only hasten their pursuit of rotation help (be it Darvish, a different free agent or a trade acquisition).

From a contractual standpoint, the injury to Santana is not without repercussions. Santana’s four-year, $55MM contract with the Twins comes with a $14MM club option for the 2019 campaign that would have automatically vested had he reached 200 innings this season. While that’s certainly still possible, especially if Santana’s return comes on the shorter end of the 10- to 12-week timeline, missing even a handful of starts at the beginning of the year makes that goal considerably tougher to achieve. Santana made 33 starts last year and totaled 211 1/3 innings — the second-highest total in MLB — but even missing two to three starts would have left him a bit shy of that mark.

Depending on how well Santana pitches, the Twins could well still exercise their end of that option, though it now seems likely to be entirely the team’s decision as opposed to a salary that Santana could lock in via the strength of his own performance.

Pro Football Rumors Seeking Part-Time Writers

By Zachary Links | February 6, 2018 at 3:00pm CDT

We’re looking to add part-time contributors to the Pro Football Rumors writing team. The position pays on an hourly basis. Applicants must meet ALL of the following criteria:

Exceptional knowledge of all 32 NFL teams, with no discernible bias.
Knowledge of the salary cap and transaction-related concepts.
At least some college education.
Extensive writing experience, with professional experience and a background in journalism both strongly preferred.
Keen understanding of journalistic principles, ethics and procedures. Completion of basic college-level journalism classes is strongly preferred.
Attention to detail — absolutely no spelling errors, especially for player and journalist names.
Ability to follow the site’s style and tone.
Ability to analyze articles and craft intelligent, well-written posts summing up the news in a few paragraphs. We need someone who can balance quick writing with thoughtful analysis. You must be able to add value to breaking news with your own insight, numbers or links to other relevant articles.
Ability to use an RSS feed reader. Ability to use Twitter. Both of these are crucial.
Strong weekend evening availability is crucial. The ideal candidate will be available for most Friday and/or Saturday evenings.
Weeknight availability (5-11 pm central time Monday-Friday) is also a plus.
Flexibility. You must be available to work on short notice.

If you’re interested, email pfrapplications@gmail.com by February 9 (11:00pm central time) and take a couple of paragraphs to explain why you qualify and stand out. Many will apply, so unfortunately we cannot respond to every applicant.

Tony Clark Accuses MLB Teams Of “Race To The Bottom”

By Jeff Todd | February 6, 2018 at 1:13pm CDT

MLBPA chief Tony Clark has issued a statement, first provided by ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick, leveling significant accusations at MLB organizations. With a huge number of free agents still un-signed, Clark says that teams have failed to engage the market in earnest.

Here is the full statement:

“Pitchers and catchers will report to camps in Florida and Arizona next week. A record number of talented free agents remain unemployed in an industry where revenues and franchise values are at record highs.

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.”

Notably, Clark does not accuse teams of acting in concert to artificially suppress earnings — quite a different, more serious potential charge for which we’ve seen no evidence. Rather, his view seems to coincide with the broad points already presented by some prominent media members and agents (as well as at least one sitting GM): i.e., that more teams than usual are strategically disinterested in trying to win in the coming season.

Unsurprisingly, Major League Baseball has a different view of the matter that reflect prior comments from commission Rob Manfred. In a statement released to Crasnick, the league rejects Clark’s characterization as an “unfair” attack on MLB teams. Arguing that many top free agents are “sitting unsigned even though they have substantial offers,” the league statement suggests that agents have failed to “value their clients” reasonably “in a constantly changing free agent market based on factors such as positional demand, advanced analytics, and the impact of the new Basic Agreement.”

Clark’s statement seems to represent a notable ramp up in the rhetoric surrounding the notably slow free agent process this winter. At the moment, though, it seems that this is mostly a war of words for public relations positioning. Camps will soon open without several prominent players, barring some quick developments in the market, which will dramatically raise the visibility of this long-simmering dispute.

The union/agent stance seems to be a familiar one, arguing that tanking tactics are reducing competition for top free agents. From the league/team side, as the above statement suggests, the rejoinder is that clubs are within their rights to operate as they see fit within the rules regime agreed upon by collective bargaining. It isn’t too difficult to see how each side hopes to draw upon the natural but competing inclinations of fans both to chide “cheap” owners and to turn a skeptical eye toward “selfish” players.

In truth, this debate isn’t a new one. Tanking has been discussed for years. Manfred’s prior argument was, in essence, that the market adequately allows for such a strategy; it’s just not that successful an approach if too many teams employ it, since inevitably plenty of clubs will “lose” the “race to the bottom” and fail to recoup top draft picks, etc. Dave Cameron has argued, though, that this year may be somewhat unique in that, for many teams, the incentives to pursue draft status and cost savings may be sufficient to outweigh an expensive, low-odds effort to chase down the half-dozen “super teams” currently pacing the game.

As Evan Drellich rightly observes on Twitter, the concept of tanking does not really adequately cover the deeper mechanisms at play. There’s more at play here, somewhere in the intermingling of pervasive and deepening analytics; aging curves in a (mostly) post-PED era; and drastically cabined amateur spending and other collectively bargained rules. The most recent collective bargaining agreement largely continued the preexisting rules regime, with a few tweaks, largely reflecting an assumption that market mechanisms would allow player compensation to keep pace with earnings growth. Even as they swim in revenue, though, MLB organizations increasingly seem to be pursuing strategies that eschew major long-term free agent entanglements — potentially challenging the assumptions undergirding the players’ commitment to the existing CBA framework.

Astros Sign George Springer To Two-Year Deal

By Steve Adams | February 5, 2018 at 11:15am CDT

11:15:am: The Astros have announced the signing.

8:48am: The Astros have agreed to a two-year, $24MM contract with outfielder George Springer, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Springer, a Super Two player who was in his second trip through the arbitration process, will earn $12MM in each year of the deal. Springer is represented by the Legacy Agency.

Springer and the Astros had yet to resolve their arbitration case and were scheduled to head to a hearing this month. He’d filed for a $10.5MM salary, while Houston had countered with a figure of $8.5MM (as shown in MLBTR’s 2018 Arbitration Tracker). Instead, the two-year pact will buy out Springer’s second and third years of arbitration eligibility, though he’ll have one remaining year of arbitration left upon completion of this deal given the aforementioned Super Two status.

The 28-year-old Springer is coming off the finest season of his big league career to date, having posted a sensational .283/.367/.522 batting line with 34 homers and 29 doubles through 629 plate appearances. Springer logged a career-high 643 innings in center field this past season and graded well there per both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating, although those two metrics, which are usually bullish on his corner-outfield work, didn’t regard his defense in right field very favorably in 2017. (With Josh Reddick, Derek Fisher and Marwin Gonzalez all in the mix for corner outfield time in 2018, Springer figures to once again spend more time in center field than in right field this coming season.)

Overall, Springer was a driving force not only behind the Astros’ romp of the American League West but the team’s first World Series championship in franchise history. Springer went 7-for-17 with a homer, two doubles and two walks in 19 ALDS plate appearances, and after an ice-cold ALCS showing against the Yankees, he laid waste to Dodgers pitching in the World Series en route to MVP honors. Springer belted five homers in seven games and hit .379/.471/1.000 through 34 PAs in the Fall Classic.

Now that Springer has agreed to a two-year deal and Ken Giles has won his arbitration hearing, the Astros’ lone remaining arbitration case if that of Collin McHugh. The right-hander filed for a $5MM salary for the upcoming season, while the Astros countered with a $4.55MM sum.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Tony Clark, Agents On Slow-Moving Offseason

By Connor Byrne | February 2, 2018 at 5:00pm CDT

Player agent Brodie Van Wagenen took aim at MLB owners on Friday regarding this year’s historically slow-moving open market. Reactions to the lack of free agent activity this winter have continued to pour in since, including from MLBPA executive director Tony Clark.

“For decades free agency has been the cornerstone of baseball’s economic system & has benefited Players and the game alike,” Clark said. “Each time it has been attacked, Players, their representatives & the Association have united to defend it. That will never change.”

Clark’s remarks come at a time of growing unrest from the players, many of whom have voiced their displeasure with the fact that owners aren’t opening their checkbooks for free agents this winter. One prominent example is Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who, despite signing a five-year, $80MM contract a winter ago, recently raised the idea of the players going on strike when the current collective bargaining agreement expires in December 2021. His teammate Rich Hill, who also received a big payday last offseason (three years, $48MM), told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe last week that “how the free agent market has been going has been disconcerting this offseason and a lot of players are concerned about it.” Hill called the situation “really bad” and noted that “players just want what’s fair.”

As FanGraphs’ Craig Edwards pointed out Friday, the majors’ cumulative payroll is almost sure to stagnate or decrease compared to 2017, even though all 30 owners received a $50MM payout this year from MLB’s sale of BAMTech to Disney. To this point of the offseason, only two of MLBTR’s top 10 free agents – the Brewers’ Lorenzo Cain (five years, $80MM) and the Rockies’ Wade Davis (three years, $52MM) – have found teams. Of MLBTR’s pre-offseason top 50 free agents, nearly half are currently unsigned, which is staggering given that the market opened three months ago and spring training is only a few weeks away.

Like their fellow agent Van Wagenen, Seth Levinson of ACES and Joshua Kusnick of Double Diamond Sports Management spoke out against the current state of affairs Friday. In a statement of his own (via Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic), Levinson offered:

“There is a bond that exists between Clubs and its fan base. The integrity of that time-honored relationship is predicated upon the good faith effort of the Club to compete to the best of its ability. The CBA which defines the relationship between Clubs and Players is a good faith effort to create and assure that there is a competitive balance among all Clubs so that the greater good and best interests of the game are served.

“There may be legitimate reasons for the problems that players have encountered in this market. That said, there is no Industry in this country where competing businesses act in virtually an identical manner. It is disconcerting, and disheartening for Clubs that are awash in revenue and or are fully capable of improving its product to choose to do otherwise. Jerry Dipoto so eloquently made the point that there may be more Clubs competing for the 1st pick in the June Amateur Draft than for the World Series.”

As Van Wagenen and Levinson did, Kusnick (via Twitter) suggested that collusion is at play, saying “it is impossible” for him to believe that all 30 teams are suddenly evaluating players the same. He went on to reveal that he has six major league free agents who are currently seeking minors deals, contending that the freeze at the top of the market is preventing teams from showing much interest in lesser FAs.

“It really does trickle down to A-ball, and I have never dealt with anything like this in 15 years,” continued Kusnick, who added that “ownership has historically attempted to subvert the players’ ability to earn the maximum amount of dollars for their services. And just because we have enjoyed an unprecedented stretch of labor peace that has benefited both sides does not mean the players are oblivious to the realities that this market has presented. The MLBPA and players have been tested before but have never broken. It will not happen this time either.”

Kusnick closed with “those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it,” which could be a warning toward owners that players will strike again – as they most recently did in 1994-95 – if necessary. The game’s latest work stoppage resulted in the loss of an entire season two-plus decades ago, and we may be headed down a similar road within the next few years if the league and the union don’t start finding common ground by then. With commissioner Rob Manfred pushing to implement pace-of-play changes that most players are less than thrilled with, the relationship between the sides is seemingly on the verge of getting even worse.

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