Hall of Fame Inductee Andre Dawson Important in Fight Against Baseball Collusion

This Sunday, power-hitting outfielder Andre Dawson will earn his induction into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. To many, Dawson is best known for his 438 career home runs, 314 stolen bases, and 1987 MVP Award.

However, from a sports law perspective, Dawson is also important for having signed a blank contract with the Chicago Cubs during the 1986-87 off-season--an act that helped to expose Major League Baseball's collusive practices during that era.

According to labor arbitrator George Nicolau's 1988 arbitration ruling, he notes that Dawson was so willing to leave the Expos during the collusion era that he called a unilateral press conference to announce he would sign a blank contract to play for the Cubs. Embarrassed by these events, Cubs management then offered the all-star outfielder a contract for $500,000—almost half of his previous season’s salary.

After accepting this 50% pay cut, Dawson won the 1987 National League MVP for the last-place Cubs--becoming the first play in baseball history to win that award for a last place team.

(Cross-posted on Sports Law Blog)

Baseball Collusion: MLBPA Opens 2010 Season with New Set of Concerns

On Tuesday morning, the Associated Press reported that the Major League Baseball Players Association may file a grievance against Major League Baseball club-owners for allegedly colluding in the market to sign free-agent players during the 2009-2010 off-season. One reason why the MLB players union seems to believe that club-owners have engaged in collusion is because player salaries rose only by 1% last season, even though total league revenues have increased at an annual rate of 7.6% over the past three years .

Another reason why the MLBPA may be concerned about collusion is that MLB club-owners have a long history of colluding in the free-agent player market. For example, in my 2008 Wayne Law Review article, "Moving Past Collusion in Major League Baseball: Healing Old Wounds and Preventing New Ones," I discuss how three arbitration decisions from the 1980s found MLB club-owners to have colluded against players' rights. One esteemed labor arbitrator, George Nicolau, even found Commissioner Bud Selig to have been directly involved in collusion during the 1986-87 off-season (see pages 619-20).

With this week's newest collusion concerns, the MLBPA now has to decide whether to file a formal labor grievance over three separate, outstanding sets of claims:

• First, there are this week's collusion allegations, over which MLBPA leader Michael Weiner has stated "in one fashion or another we will respond."

• Then, there are similar allegations from the 2008-09 off-season, over which the MLBPA, one year after announcing its concerns, still has not filed a grievance.
  

• Finally, there are even allegations of collusion dating back to the 2007-08 season that involve the market for now-retired outfielder Barry Bonds. In October 2008, the MLBPA announced that it had made a preliminary finding of collusion against MLB club-owners in the market for Bonds's services; however, the union thus has neither filed a grievance nor publicly settled this matter with baseball's club-owners.
  

(Cross-Posted on Sports Law Blog)

More Baseball Collusion in '08? Agents Say "Yes," Selig Says "No," MLBPA Not Speaking

With MLB union leader Donald Fehr planning to soon step down from his post, several MLB player agents are encouraging his likely successor, Michael Weiner, to take a more active stance against player collusion.

Unlike most other sports leagues, Major League Baseball has a long and well-documented history of colluding against its players. I provide a detailed account of Baseball's troubling history of collusion in my 2008 Wayne Law Review article, "Moving Past Collusion in Major League Baseball: Healing Old Wounds and Preventing New Ones." This article discusses specifically how Baseball's neutral arbitrator in the late 1980s, George Nicolau, found Commissioner Bud Selig directly involved in collusion. (see pages 619-20).

With respect to the game's newest collusion allegations, concern of such wrongful behavior first surfaced during the 2007-08 off-season when Barry Bonds's agent Jeff Borris announced that he believed the reason why Barry Bonds did not have a single contract offer for this season was collusion.

After reviewing the available evidence, the MLBPA announced in October 2008 that it had made a preliminary finding of collusion. However, rather than file a traditional labor grievance against the MLB club-owners, the union instead attempted to resolve the matter through private negotiation.

Thus far, the MLBPA's attempts to privately negotiate have not proved fruitful. Barry Bonds still has not received a single contract offer -- not even at the league minimum salary of $410,000. In addition, a growing number of veteran players have expressed a similar concern that they too have been collusion victims.

While the MLBPA has broad discretion to determine when, if at all, to file a formal collusion grievance, like any union, it is bound by its duty of fair representation. This means that the MLBPA cannot act in an arbitrary, discriminatory, or bad-faith manner against any of its members. Union membership includes even those who have opted out of joint licensing programs, such as Barry Bonds.

Refusing to file a collusion grievance, even after reaching a informal finding of wrongdoing, might place the MLBPA at some risk of facing a claim from Bonds for breach of the duty of fair representation. This risk, in essence, might eventually pressure the MLBPA to file a collusion grievance, presuming their talks with the MLB club-owners do not reduce union concerns of wrongdoing.

For these reasons, I fully expect the MLBPA to begin more aggressively addressing these recent concerns of collusion. Hopefully, these talks will lead to some candid answers for both those inside Baseball, and the game's fans.

(A similar version of this post previously appeared on Sports Law Blog).

Sports and the Law: The Truth About Baseball Collusion

For those interested in the history of baseball collusion and its implications on the game today, here is a link to my newest article -- "Moving Past Collusion in Major League Baseball: Healing Old Wounds and Preventing New Ones."

This article discusses the history of collusion in Baseball, as well as explains how Baseball collusion in the 1980s has led to more recent allegations of collusion (A-Rod, Bonds) and other troubling aspects of Baseball's labor-management relationship (for example, inefficient drug testing).

Here are a few highlights from the piece:

(1) Selig's Documented Role in Collusion: Although MLB Commissioner Bud Selig continues to deny any role in collusion, Arbitrator George Nicolau in his Collusion II ruling cited testimony from Philadelphia Phillies president William Giles that Selig -- in the capacity of Milwaukee Brewers owner -- called him to discourage the Phillies' signing of catcher Lance Parrish (p. 619-20).

(2) George is the Good Guy: Although often maligned for other reasons, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was probably Baseball's least culpable owner during the Collusion Era. In Arbitrator Thomas Roberts' Collusion I ruling, he cites an offer Steinbrenner made for catcher Carlton Fisk as the only bona fide free agent offering during the 1985-86 season. (p. 615).

(3) The Smallwood Plan: Major League Baseball continues to criticize Barry Bonds's collusion allegations as being unrealistic and fanciful. However, the idea really can't be that off-the-wall. On September 1, 2006 -- long before Bonds was out of baseball -- Philadelphia Daily News reporter John Smallwood wrote an editorial piece explicitly suggesting that clubs collude against his services (p. 630).

(4) The Solution: Want to keep future allegations of collusion out of Baseball? The answer involves four steps: (i) returning the game's oversight to a neutral, outside commissioner; (ii) separating the role of Baseball CEO from Baseball Commissioner; (iii) allowing union lawyer oversight of Major League Baseball's off-season meetings; and (iv) providing full disclosure to players and fans about past collusion (p. 635-639).

(This article is cross-posted at Sports Law Blog).

Sports and the Law: Is Portland President Larry Miller the Newest "Jail Blazer"?

By now I'm sure you've heard about the ridiculous email sent by Portand Trailblazers president Larry Miller to the other 29 NBA teams, in which he threatens to sue any team that attempts to sign free agent forward Darius Miles. On Monday at 10 A.M., I will post on Above the Law an article discussing how that email could be seen as invitation for NBA teams to collude against Miles, as well as why the email may ultimately spell career doom for Miller and his legal counsel (if he indeed had any).