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Free agency (Major League Baseball)

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Free agency in Major League Baseball has existed since the 1972 Flood v. Kuhn Supreme Court case. One of the landmark decisions in the aftermath was the Messersmith/McNally Arbitration, also known as the Seitz Decision, which effectively destroyed the "reserve clause" in baseball.

With the end of the reserve clause, the players and the league negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement which was signed on July 12, 1976. It gave players a broader range of options as free agents.

In Major League Baseball, free agents were previously classified as either Type A, Type B, or unclassified. Type A free agents were those determined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement to be in the top 20% of all players based on the previous two seasons. Type B free agents were those in the next 20%. Unclassified free agents were those in the bottom 60% of players.

Teams that lost a Type A free agent to whom they had offered arbitration received the top draft pick from the team that signed the free agent, plus a supplemental draft pick in the upcoming draft as compensation. Teams losing Type B free agents to whom they had offered arbitration received only a supplemental pick as compensation.

Teams that have lost unclassified free agents, or who did not offer arbitration to classified free agents, did not receive any compensation.

The current collective bargaining agreement between MLB and its players union, signed on November 22, 2011, and taking effect from 2012 season, dramatically changed free agent compensation.

Players are no longer classified by type; if a player has six or more years of major-league service (on the team's 40-man roster) and is not under contract for the following season, he is automatically a free agent. The team can offer him an arbitration salary if they want to be able to receive draft pick compensation, and such an offer must be at least the average of the 125 richest contracts.

However, if a player is traded during the final season of his contract, his new team will be ineligible to receive any draft pick compensation.

References

  1. "MLBPA History: The 1970's - MLBPlayers.com". www.mlbplayers.com. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
  2. Jon Heyman, SI.com (2008-10-31). "Free agent Mark Teixeira tops the annual Elias player rankings – 2008 MLB Playoffs – SI.com". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  3. "Learn About Major League Baseball's Free Agency Rules". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
  4. "MLB players, owners sign agreement". ESPN.com. 2011-11-23. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
  5. Stark, Jayson (2011-11-22). "How the new CBA changes baseball". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2011-11-22.

See also

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