One month after expressing concerns over teams' spending, the Major League Baseball Players Association took action Friday by filing a grievance against the Pirates and three others.
According to a report by Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the players' union filed the grievance to Major League Baseball alleging that the Pirates, Rays, Marlins and Athletics have failed to comply with rules on how to spend revenue-sharing money.
Last month, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported MLBPA was investigating the Marlins and Pirates, although MLB responded by saying it had no concerns with either team's spending.
Pirates president Frank Coonelly released a statement Tuesday morning calling the grievance "baseless."
“The MLBPA’s grievance against the Pirates is patently baseless," Coonelly said. "We look forward to demonstrating as much to the arbitrator if the MLBPA continues to pursue this meritless claim. As indicated when the MLBPA first expressed its 'concern' in a press release, the Pirates have always invested its revenue sharing receipts in a manner entirely consistent with the basic agreement. As previously indicated, our revenue sharing receipts have decreased for seven consecutive seasons while our Major League payroll has more than doubled over this same period. Our revenue sharing receipts are now just a fraction of what we spend on major league payroll. We also have made significant investments in scouting, signing amateur players, our player development system and our baseball facilities. It is regrettable and that the MLBPA would react to a free agent market that is apparently not to its liking by filing a frivolous grievance against a club that has continued to invest heavily in all areas of its baseball operations notwithstanding steadily diminishing revenue sharing receipts.”
Per the collective bargaining agreement, teams are required to spend their revenue-sharing money to improve the on-field product, although that doesn't have to be on player salaries.
In MLB’s revenue-sharing system, a percentage of local revenue for each club is taken from every team and paid back out. Big-market teams receive less and small-market teams receive more.
It’s not unusual for the MLBPA to take a closer look at a team’s spending of revenue-sharing income. After all, each team submits its receipts to detail how it spends that money on its on-field product. But this recent development is another reminder that frustrations have come to a boil because a number of veteran major league free agents remain unsigned.
Meanwhile, the Marlins slashed their payroll by trading Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich. The Rays followed suit by dealing Steven Souza Jr., Jake Odorizzi and Corey Dickerson. The Athletics have been mostly inactive.
The Pirates have been active, particularly over the past two weeks, but their payroll is still nearly $20 million less than last season after they traded Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole last month. Additionally, they sent $2.5 million to the Giants to offset part of McCutchen's $14.5 million salary for 2018.
Even after acquiring Dickerson last week, the Pirates' current payroll is projected to be $82.5 million on opening day. Josh Harrison, who is the second-highest paid player on the roster at $10.25 million, could also be traded.
The Pirates are the only team yet to sign a free agent to a major-league contract, opting instead for minor-league deals, waiver claims and Rule 5 draft picks.
Major League Baseball released a statement Tuesday regarding the grievance, saying "We have received the grievance and believe it has no merit." However, the Pirates' own players have expressed frustrations with the club's spending, including Harrison, David Freese and Sean Rodriguez.
"This is the [kind of] organization where if you get drafted, if you look at a guy like [Jameson Taillon], who's the No. 2 pick, it kind of sucks that you kind of have your future, if you pan out, you kind of have your future written for you, in an organization like this," Freese said at Pirate City earlier this month. "You either fold and sign a team-friendly deal or you're going to get bounced out of here. I think that's unfortunate. It's unfortunate that sometimes and lucky I guess, you have the opportunity. Some teams you go to and you're like, man, I can make $100 million quick, you know, being top picks. And here, it's just tough. It's just not realistic."
MLBPA leadership, including executive director Tony Clark, are expected to visit with Pirates players Thursday morning for their annual meeting.