The ‘Poor’ And The Rich Cashed In Ever Since

The winter of 1975-76 changed baseball forever. It brought about the annual gold rush of MLB Free Agency. Players were gleeful, owners mortified and fans caught in the middle.

Let’s revisit history to find out why players have been getting bigger and bigger contracts and owners’ wealth multiplying ever since.

Arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled on Dec. 23, 1975, that MLB teams could legally reserve players for only one year, after which they would become free agents. Fifty years later, players are getting $20 million-a-year deals.

“The real floodgates opened after that,” former pitcher David Cone told Ronald Blum of The Associated Press last month. “Players were finally in all walks of life, in all sports, were finally able to see what, hey, what free agency really looks like. There was all the doom and gloom back then from one side that said: ‘This is going to ruin the game. It’s not sustainable.’ And actually, it was just the opposite. It made the game better.”

It led to worldwide change. The NFL, NBA, NHL and other professional sports around the globe joined the free-agent fray along the way and everybody got richer. According to Blum, the average MLB salary was $44,676 before Seitz’s ruling. In 2025, the average was $5 million. That’s an increase of 11,091.7%.

The “poor” owners? George Steinbrenner reportedly bought the New York Yankees in 1973 for just under $10 million. In 2025, Forbes.com put the franchise’s value at $8.7 billion – an increase of 86,900%.

It did not happen instantly. MLB owners screamed foul and fired Seitz. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn challenged the ruling. A U.S District Court upheld it on Feb. 6, 1976. Kuhn and the owners appealed, and the 8th District Court of Appeals upheld it again.

It made pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally free agents. Neither had signed contracts for 1975. Their teams renewed deals, $115,000 each, citing the reserve clause instituted in 1879. That clause said that once signed to a contract, players could, at the team’s discretion, be reassigned, traded, sold, or released.

The player could do … nothing. Except not sign and challenge the antiquated ruling.

The owners locked players out of spring training for 17 days. The season started on April 8. Much more dissension was just beginning.

Balls, Strikes And Affidavits

While the game resumed, the legal battles intensified.

On April 10, Messersmith signed a three-year, $1 million deal with the Atlanta Braves.

Messersmith had earned $90,000 with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974. After going 20-6 with a 2.59 ERA, he sought a raise to $175,000 with a no-trade clause. The Dodgers refused. The right-hander decided to play without a contract for 1975 – challenging the sport’s reserve clause.

He went 19-14 with a 2.24 ERA, 19 complete games and 7 shutouts. After the ruling, the Dodgers offer $540,000 for three years. The San Diego Padres offered $1.15 million over four. When Messersmith turned that down, Padres owner Ray Kroc told the AP, “He can go work in a car wash.”

McNally, battling a sore arm, pitched 12 games for Montreal and retired in June 1975. He agreed to player’s union leader Marvin Miller adding his name to the original grievance. In case Messersmith had come to terms in Los Angeles, the union could still pursue its’ challenge.

Charlie Finley vs. Bowie Kuhn

Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley was about to lose eight prized players to free agency after the ruling. He acted quickly and defiantly.

Finley traded superstar outfielder Reggie Jackson and star pitcher Ken Holtzman to Baltimore on April 2. The six-player blockbuster made their contracts the Orioles’ headache.

Then on June 15, he sold Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to the Boston Red Sox for $1 million apiece and Vida Blue to the Yankees for $1.5 million. Kuhn voided the deals, citing “the best interests of baseball,” and the all-stars all returned to Oakland,

Finley called Kuhn “a village idiot” and sued for $10 million. He cited Babe Ruth sold by Boston to the Yankees for $100,000 and a $300,000 loan to the Red Sox owner in 1920. He pointed out that Athletics owner Connie Mack had sold off plenty of stars including Hall of Famers Eddie Collins, Mickey Cochrane, Lefty Grove, Al Simmons and Jimmie Foxx decades earlier.

Finley lost the lawsuit and many players. After going 740-547, finishing first or second in eight straight years and winning three World Series, the A’s dropped to seventh in 1977 with a 63-98 record.

MLB Free Agency In 1976

A total of 32 players signed with new teams following the 1976 season. The first was Minnesota Twins closer Bill Campbell on Nov. 6. He signed with Boston for five years and $1 million. Quite an increase over the $23,000 he got for compiling a 17-5 record and 20 saves that year.

Jackson, according to The Sporting News, earned $200,000 his one year in Baltimore. He signed with the Yankees for five years, $3.5 million.

Fingers went from a one-year, $71,200 deal in Oakland to six years, $1.6 million with a $380,000 bonus. Rudi went from $67,000 in Oakland to the California Angels for five years, $2.09 witha $1 million bonus.

Don Baylor, swapped to Oakland for Jackson, was paid $35,200 by Finley. He signed with the Angels for six years, $1.66 million including a $580,000 bonus. California added all-star second baseman Bobby Grich at five years, $1.35 million with a $600,000 bonus. He had made $46,000 in Baltimore.

Many became instant millionaires, including Wayne Garland. He got $2.3 million for 10 years with the Cleveland Indians. His story was one of rags to riches … to obscurity.

He had sought a $2,000 raise in 1976. The Orioles instead cut his salary to $19,000. He opened the year in the bullpen with a 7-8 career record. He finished it with a 20-7 record and 2.67 ERA at age 25. When he was 10-2, the Orioles offered him $40,000. He turned it down.

Then the usually penurious Indians suddenly splurged. Asked why he signed Garland instead of ace lefty Don Gullett, who left the world champion Cincinnati Reds for the Yankees, Tribe General Manager Phil Seghi said, “Gullett has a history of injuries.”

Ouch! In New York and Cleveland.

Garland, spurred by the pressure to show his worth, basically pitched the entire year with a sore arm that he hurt in spring training. He went 13-19 with a 3.60 ERA. Not bad for a guy on an offensively challenged club that finished tied for last in the AL in homers. He pitched 21 complete games including 13 of his final 16 starts.

In April 1978, Garland was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff. He had surgery and tried to come back. Repeatedly. He had the fortitude of a bulldog and the fastball of a flea. He lasted half of his contract, going 28-48 with a 4.50 ERA for five years in Cleveland.

Gullett lasted only four injury-riddled years of his six-year, $2 million deal in New York.

Messersmith had a 16-15 record in Atlanta for two years. Owner Ted Turner had said, “Andy is a Brave for life,” then sold him to New York in 1978. “The Brave for life” went 0-3 in Yankee pinstripes.

These days, guys who have missed entire seasons with arm injuries get a thousand times more than Garland, Gullett and even Jackson. And to think that many thought MLB Free Agency in 1976 was the ruination of the sport. The madness not only continues, it expands – by billions of dollars.