To me, it depends how you define it. If collusion means that most of all teams are following the same game plan, then I guess you could say, "Yes". If you look at it as the owners coming together to screw the players, I would then say, "No."
Organizations are now, as a whole, seeing the value of all star players under team control. Look at the Astros. They have underpaid talent in their first 3 years, or arbitration years, with a few veteran contracts sprinkled in between. I think organizations have finally seen that long term contracts like Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Pablo Sandoval, and Carl Crawford are becoming a thing of the past.
Now people like Scott Boras will go around yelling "FOUL!!! FOUL!!", but I just think that his way of doing things is coming to an end. I wouldn't be shocked that the players will be clamoring for free agency sooner in their careers, when the new CBA is negotiated, because the traditional is now being played against the good to great players. They have already made one adjustment when they stopped taking a team's first round pick for signing a player who refused a qualifying offer. Several free agents were left in the cold because teams value their draft picks more.
I would not be shocked if we see teams go the next step, and trade soon to be free agents near the deadline, even if they are contending. A player like Dallas Keuchel could be an example. Houston might be a title contender this year, but if one or two of their SP prospects are ready to make the jump to the big team, the Astros could consider trading someone like Dallas because it's doubtful he will resign with them next year, and they could potentially get a nice return for him also. It would be better than getting a 2nd to 5th round pick after he declines the qualifying offer.
Until the free agency eligibility rules change, I think we will be seeing more trades like Gerrit Cole, Evan Longoria, and Andrew McCutchen, before we see long term Boras contracts being signed.
Organizations are now, as a whole, seeing the value of all star players under team control. Look at the Astros. They have underpaid talent in their first 3 years, or arbitration years, with a few veteran contracts sprinkled in between. I think organizations have finally seen that long term contracts like Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Pablo Sandoval, and Carl Crawford are becoming a thing of the past.
Now people like Scott Boras will go around yelling "FOUL!!! FOUL!!", but I just think that his way of doing things is coming to an end. I wouldn't be shocked that the players will be clamoring for free agency sooner in their careers, when the new CBA is negotiated, because the traditional is now being played against the good to great players. They have already made one adjustment when they stopped taking a team's first round pick for signing a player who refused a qualifying offer. Several free agents were left in the cold because teams value their draft picks more.
I would not be shocked if we see teams go the next step, and trade soon to be free agents near the deadline, even if they are contending. A player like Dallas Keuchel could be an example. Houston might be a title contender this year, but if one or two of their SP prospects are ready to make the jump to the big team, the Astros could consider trading someone like Dallas because it's doubtful he will resign with them next year, and they could potentially get a nice return for him also. It would be better than getting a 2nd to 5th round pick after he declines the qualifying offer.
Until the free agency eligibility rules change, I think we will be seeing more trades like Gerrit Cole, Evan Longoria, and Andrew McCutchen, before we see long term Boras contracts being signed.
