would be good for baseball."We are over a week into spring training Julio Teheran Jersey , and there are 45 major league players still without a contract. This includes three of this year’s top five free agents, as ranked by MLB Trade Rumors back in November — and Manny Machado just signed with the San Diego Padres. It’s clear from the sheer volume of unsigned players and comments from those around the game that MLB’s free agency system is in need of repair.First, let’s identify the problemThree primary factors have led to so many players being left without a contract. 1. Stiffer penalties imposed on teams who surpass the luxury tax threshold (as part of the latest collective bargaining agreement) have had a chilling effect at the top end of the pay scale.2. The widening disparity in pay between veteran free agents and players in their first few seasons has incentivized clubs to replace older players with younger, cheaper talent. 3. Tanking. Several teams around the game have all but given up on signing free agent players. There are 10 clubs who have not signed a free agent player for at least a $6 million salary this offseason.In addition to the unsigned players, there were 77 players signed to one-year contracts, and another 93 players (and counting) signed to minor league contracts through February 25. The number of one-year deals is up from 53 a year ago. These 160 players will again be free agents after the current season if they don’t retire, creating an even larger glut of free agents on the market.MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has recently issued statements denying that there is a problem.This has only further stirred unrest among the players, with talk of a labor stoppage if matters are not addressed sooner than later. While Manfred has focused on “pace of play” issues, the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) has countered with proposals to address free agency issues. Some of their proposals echo our own suggestions, but not all.Here are 12 fixes that would improve baseball’s free agency problems.Expand 25-man rostersExpansion of active rosters from 25 players to 26 or even 27 members was almost included in the current CBA, but the sides ran out of time and the proposals were tabled. Creating another 30 to 60 MLB jobs could significantly reduce the glut of free agents who are presently unemployed. Then, limit rosters in September to 30 players instead of 40.A universal designated hitterNot only is the universal DH a change that is long overdue for the good of the game, it would lead to more jobs for veteran players who tend to fill these roles — or more competition for premium hitters with declining defensive skills, at the very least. It’s coming soon.Introduce a payroll floorThirteen MLB teams have begun spring training with a payroll under $100 million for their 25-man rosters. Six teams are spending less than $70 million. The owners have previously offered to implement a minimum amount that teams must spend on player salaries, but this was tied to a hard salary cap. The luxury tax penalties are a compromise, while each round of bargaining has produced stricter penalties for the top spending teams. The players have opposed a hard salary cap every time, but have gradually given in to allow the upper limits to harden without setting a minimum payroll.Adjust the luxury tax penaltiesUnder the current CBA, teams are penalized up to 92 percent at the very top of the scale for going over the luxury tax threshold in consecutive seasons. No teams are currently in that tax bracket, with the Boston Red Sox being the only repeat “offender” this season. Teams should be taxed on the amount that they are over the threshold rather than the number of consecutive years that they go over. A dollar-for-dollar tax on payrolls over $50 million above the threshold, down to 10 percent for those less than $10 million over, would be more fair.Increase the luxury tax thresholdThe luxury tax threshold has crept up very slowly as club revenues have soared at a far quicker pace. In 2017, five clubs paid a luxury tax, including the Tigers. In 2018, all five of those teams fell back under the threshold and reset their tax brackets. All but the Yankees remain under the threshold in 2019. Releasing pressure at the top end of the scale would allow for more clubs to spend larger amounts on salaries http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-nick-markakis-jersey , with reasonable limits as explained herein.Limit the length of contractsIn order to spread the wealth to more players, the system should loosen overall spending at the upper end, force greater spending at the lower end, and transfer more money from the highest contracts to the mass of veteran free agents. The NBA limits contracts to five years. The NHL has a seven-year limit. Length of contracts is perhaps a greater deterrent to smaller market teams from signing top stars than higher annual salaries. Many players could benefit at the expense of a few.Restructure revenue sharingAll teams presently contribute about one-third of local revenues from gate receipts, concessions, and local television contracts to a pool which is then divided among all clubs. Dividing 50 percent of local television revenues would go right at the disparity (after all, it takes two teams to put on a show!). Let teams keep their gate receipts, which are the only major source of revenue that increases when a team is successful on the field. The shared revenues can then be distributed unevenly to level the playing field among all teams. This is one area where penalizing teams for exceeding the tax threshold would help the game, by denying any revenue sharing to those clubs.Eliminate payment of compensation for signing free agentsOnly seven players were given a qualifying offer of $18.3 million this year, with only one offer accepted. Three of the six players who declined qualifying offers remain unsigned. Penalizing teams for signing players and improving their rosters is fundamentally inconsistent with free market principles, and the current system adds more arbitrary criteria to the mix. The owners offered to end all compensation paid by clubs for signing free agents during the last round of CBA negotiations in exchange for an international draft, which the players rejected. Instead, a near-revolt among Latin players resulted in hard caps on international bonuses without a draft.Expand arbitration eligibilityAs part of the effort to reduce the gaps in salaries, increasing the number of players eligible for arbitration would relieve pressure on the bottom end of the scale. Reducing eligibility from “Super Two” status — roughly two years and 120 days of MLB service time — to two years would help. In addition, granting immediate arbitration eligibility for All-Star players would help to deter service time manipulation.Introduce restricted free agencyIf players were eligible for a restricted form of free agency after five years of MLB service time (if not sooner), more players would wind up with multi-year contracts, and more players may wind up signing extensions with the clubs that developed them.Increase compensation for teams that lose qualified free agentsGiving teams compensation for losing players that they can not retain in free agency is a sound principle. A previous CBA provided supplemental draft picks after the first, second, or third round for teams who lost players after offering arbitration to Type A, Type B, and Type C free agents. Only teams that have the player on their roster for at least a full season should benefit, and clubs above the tax threshold should not. More players would receive arbitration offers and stay with their current clubs. Teams that cannot afford to sign those players would be compensated when other clubs sign them away.Introduce a draft lotteryWhile there is only a marginal increase in success rates of higher draft picks, there is a distinct advantage to having the first few picks in any draft, with a curve that drops sharply from there. If there was a first round lottery among all the teams who missed the playoffs David Justice Jersey , without any weight or benefit given to the biggest losers, there would be no benefit — and no excuse — for teams that don’t try to improve their position in the standings, even short of making the playoffs. A step further would be to give the top picks to the teams who came closest but missed the playoffs, but let’s hold off on that for now. His career may need some relief."Three years ago, Dayton Moore pushed all his chips into the window of contention by signing Ian Kennedy to a five-year, $70 million deal, tied for the largest contract in club history. While Kennedy was quite solid the first year of that deal, the next two have been pretty rough. He has been barely over replacement level in 2017 and 2018 with a declining strikeout rate, a rising walk rate, and the third-highest home run rate in baseball. Out of the 125 starting pitchers to go at least 200 innings over the last two seasons, Kennedy ranks 14th-worst in ERA (5.06) and 8th-worst in FIP (5.17). Those ugly numbers may mean Kennedy’s spot in the rotation is not as secure as it has been in past years. According to manager Ned Yost, the Royals may be thinking of moving Kennedy to the bullpen.Some of that may be Ned Yost wanting to light a fire under his veteran. Kennedy is 34 years old and Yost may be sending a message not to get too complacent. Or as Hokius pointed out in our recent podcast, it could also be motivation to the younger pitchers, to dangle another potential starting job as motivation to get them to work harder. But there may also be legitimate reasons to move Kennedy to the pen. When asked about it, Kennedy seemed a bit hesitant, but admitted, “Now, if I’m put in that (role) because I’ve not pitched well 鈥?then you understand.” So every pitcher gets that a lackluster starting performance can mean a ticket to the bullpen. While it shouldn’t be a factor, the $16.5 million owed to Kennedy this year could keep him in the rotation. The Royals may look to salvage some value from Kennedy, hoping he can revert to be at least the 1.6 fWAR pitcher he was in 2016, the first year of his deal. However, the money will be paid to Kennedy regardless of what he does, making it a sunk cost. And no matter what, he seems unlikely to be worth $16.5 million this year. So the Royals need to put him in the best role to succeed http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-nick-markakis-jersey , and that could actually be in the bullpen. If you look at his splits last year, he got into a lot of trouble when he faced a lineup for the second time. That is true for most starting pitchers, but it was especially true for Kennedy. When he went through a lineup for the first time, his opponent’s OPS was .689, slightly lower than the league average of .700 the first time through a lineup. When the lineup faced him a second time, their OPS was .971. Out of 162 pitchers who faced at least 100 hitters a second time through, that was dead last. Oddly, he was one of the best pitchers the third time through a lineup, although he had a low total of innings as he didn’t get through the third time as much as a lot of other starters. Many starters have moved to the bullpen and become effective, even dominant relievers, such as Luke Hochevar, and most famously Wade Davis. Kennedy is still a fairly high-strikeout pitcher, and in one-inning stints he might be able to dominate. As Yost pointed out, “He’s a guy that can strike guys out with his fastball. He’s a guy that we think that type of workload might keep him healthier than he has (been) in the past.”Kennedy has been a pretty durable workhorse, but last year he suffered an oblique injury that limited him to just 22 starts, the lowest total in a season for him since 2009. He also suffered a hamstring injury in 2017 that limited his effectiveness. A move to the bullpen may help the 34-year old stay on the mound.Moving Kennedy to the bullpen would also open up an additional rotation spot that could be used to get a longer look at a younger pitcher. Danny Duffy, Jake Junis, and Brad Keller are seemingly locked in to rotation spots, but if Kennedy is not in the rotation, that could open up starts for guys like Jorge Lopez, Heath Fillmyer, Trevor Oaks, Scott Barlow, Ben Lively Scott Kazmir Jersey , and even dark horse candidates like Arnaldo Hernandez, Jake Kalish, or perhaps even Brady Singer later in the year.On the other hand, many of those young pitchers are not yet ready for the big leagues. And let’s be honest, other than Singer - who has yet to pitch a professional inning - none of these pitchers are high-upside prospects that demand pushing Kennedy out of a job. Most of them have pretty mediocre numbers in the minors or other red flags that put doubt on their ability to be solid Major League contributors. Still, in a rebuild (it’s not a rebuild!) season, it makes sense to get a look at as many young players as you can. Brad Keller and Ryan O’Hearn weren’t considered solid prospects a year ago, and now they look like part of the future now that they got a chance and impressed given the opportunity. Ian Kennedy, even if he resurrects his career and has a terrific season, is not part of the Royals’ future. He’ll be long gone once the Royals are good again, and his contract is large enough to make him virtually untradeable in this market.Ultimately a move will require some buy-in from Kennedy. He has made just two relief appearances in his career, very early on, when he was still breaking in with the Yankees. He says some of the right things in being open to it, telling Rustin Dodd, “If it helps us win games, it’s something I think everybody wouldn’t mind doing.” But it also sounds like he would only do it in a high-leverage role, such as an eighth-inning set up man or even closer. Yost seems to be pretty good at getting all of his guys on the same page, but it will be interesting to see how they handle Kennedy. It still seems likely he would begin the season in the rotation, but the fact the Royals are even discussing moving him is a positive sign that they they will do what is best for the long-term prospect of this organization, even if it means moving veterans into less glamorous roles.