Curt Flood Would be Proud

As I was wandering around the web this morning, I came across an article at The Hardball Times that I think gives an interesting view of free agency from a different perspective. I liked it, so I figured it was worth a link. Head here: Who Wants to Subsidize a Billionaire? My favorite part is below:

It was this set of circumstances caused that Jim Pohlad [son of Twins' owner Carl Pohlad] to utter the statement: “There's loyalty and wanting to stay in Minnesota, and it varies from player to player.” What did Pohlad mean by this? In all practical terms in meant that Santana’s loyalty should translate into accepting less money than he is worth in baseball’s marketplace.

If Santana accepted this route, what would happen in the grand scheme of things—who benefits? Will the savings cause prices to watch Twins games to go down?

No.

Will it reduce the costs of going to games in the new park?

No.

Will your cable/satellite package that carries Twins games go down?

No.

Will the extra money be ploughed back into the roster?

Possible, but the Pohlad family’s track record indicates otherwise.

What then happens to the money Santana forgoes?

It goes right back into the pockets of the Pohlad family.

What the Pohlads are saying in effect is that the loyalty means that a kid from Venezuela who worked at his profession for 14 years to get to this point in his life should subsidize one of the wealthiest men in one of the richest countries on the planet.

The rest of the article is worth a read if for no other reason than to think about exactly what might go into your favorite team not re-signing a star player.