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MLB free agency: are certain owners just being jerks?!

By Benjamin Chase

10 September 2014: Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel (46) stands on the mound after surrendering a home run to Washington Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper (34) at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. where the Atlanta Braves defeated the Washington Nationals, 6-2. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire/Corbis via Getty Images)
10 September 2014: Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel (46) stands on the mound after surrendering a home run to Washington Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper (34) at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. where the Atlanta Braves defeated the Washington Nationals, 6-2. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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MLB free agency
DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 29: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals bats against the Colorado Rockies in the ninth inning of a game at Coors Field on September 29, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

This year’s MLB free agency period has brought out some contentious comments from players. Reading through the CBA, you’ll quickly see why!

Imagine with me a baseball nerd. A baseball nerd who enjoys reading the Collective Bargaining Agreement for fun. This baseball nerd is pondering the harsh player reaction to 2019 MLB free agency and asks, “I wonder if there is something in the CBA that is hurting these unsigned players?”

So, reading through the general rules on free agency, this tidbit comes up in regards to the qualifying offer system that was revamped in the most recent CBA (Article XX(B)(4b)).

"The former Club of a Qualified Free Agent subject to compensation (“Former Club”) shall receive an amateur draft choice (“Special Draft Choice”) immediately following the last selection in Competitive Balance Round B of the next Rule 4 Draft. Notwithstanding the foregoing, (i) a Former Club that was a Revenue Sharing Payee (as defined in Article XXIV) and not market disqualified in the Revenue Sharing Year that encompasses the most recently completed championship season shall receive a Special Draft Choice immediately following the last selection in the first round of the next Rule 4 Draft if its Qualified Free Agent subject to compensation enters into a contract with another Club with a total guarantee of $50 million or more; and (ii) a Former Club that was a CBT Payor in the Contract Year that encompasses the most recently completed championship season (regardless of the Former Club’s status under the Revenue Sharing Plan) shall receive a Special Draft Choice immediately following the last selection in the fourth round of the next Rule 4 Draft"

Do you understand all that? No? Well, it’s just that last line that is in question here. What it states is that a team that has been a competitive balance payor (paid into revenue sharing rather than received from it) and also exceeded the luxury tax in the previous season will receive no better than a compensatory pick after the 4th round for placing a qualifying offer on an eligible free agent.

This season, the only two teams who this impacted were the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Nationals. Oddly enough, they were the employers of arguably the two most notable remaining players in MLB free agency this year, Bryce Harper and Craig Kimbrel.

Both Harper and Kimbrel received a qualifying offer, which means that if they rejected that offer (and of course they would as two of the most highly-regarded players entering MLB free agency this offseason), once they signed elsewhere, no matter the size of the contract, the team would receive only a pick after the fourth round, roughly the 140th selection.

But what about the team that would sign Harper or Kimbrel? That’s where things begin to get more nefarious…

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