Ex-Royals pitcher says MLB labor deal should reward, penalize players for performance
Former Royals relief pitcher Peter Moylan made his major-league debut in 2006 and became a full-time player the following year.
In 2007, Moylan appeared in 80 games for the Braves, had a 1.80 ERA and a 1.9 WAR (wins above replacement). Although he was 28 years old, Moylan wasn’t in line for a big raise, no matter how well he had pitched because he was on his rookie contract.
As Major League Baseball and the players’ union continue to work toward a new collective-bargaining agreement (they’re due to meet Saturday), Moylan thinks there should be a fundamental change to the pay structure for young players.
Under the old agreement, players usually didn’t reach arbitration until after their third season and wouldn’t become a free agent until after six seasons with a team.
“I think once you have a year of service time, you don’t have to make the minimum anymore,” Moylan said on the Farm to Fame podcast. “I think you should go into arbitration from that point. And I think ... two or three years of arbitration, fine. But then he wins free agency quicker. You’ve gotta get to free agency quicker, because there’s guys like me that are 27 years old, and by the time I reach free agency, I’m 34.”
Moylan said the upside of paying players more when they are younger is there theoretically should be fewer multi-year deals given to older players. He cited the 10-year, $254 million contract Albert Pujols signed with the Angels prior to the 2012 season when he turned 32 years old.
“I understand that there should never ever be contracts that are 10 years long at the age of 34, or whatever it was (for Pujols), right? I get that,” Moylan said. “So the shift needs to be that money still needs to be paid out to players because they’re still playing and they’re still contributing. ...
“That money still needs to be paid out to players, it just needs to be paid out earlier, so that you’re not looking at having an Albert Pujols trying to run up the line at 42 making $28 million.”
A radical change
So you might be thinking Moylan merely wants players to keep making more money. In the current system, a team rarely has the option of paying someone less after they’ve had a bad season.
Well, Moylan wants that to change, too.
“They should be compensated based on what they did for the year. So it’s not all just about awards. I didn’t win an award my first year, but I had an unbelievable first year in the big leagues. Based on the new system that I think should be implemented, I should have been compensated for what I did that year. And that should be my base salary moving forward.
“So if I have a terrible year the next year, then my salary goes down. This is the issue, it’s almost like they can’t have it go down. It can go down, it should go down if you’re not performing.”
A pay decrease is something no one has ever advocated, especially a former player.
Moylan, who pitched for the Royals in 2016-17, also cited this tweet by former teammate Whit Merrifield that Moylan says perfectly sums up what the union seeks from a new CBA.
Like Moylan, Merrifield didn’t reach the majors until he was 27 and his earning potential likely suffered because of it.
This is an interesting conversation.
