[redsmetz]

While I don't agree with everything Fehr does, let's not forget "the good old days" of the reserve clause when a player was bound to a club until they decided you weren't of any use to them. Where your salary was determined and you could have a great year and they'd tell you here's a $5,000 paycut. Let's remember terrific minor league players who could never make it up to the big league club because the star was ahead of them and there was nothing they could do about. In many ways, the owners' recalcitrance is as much to blame about the messy state of affairs. They're the ones that resisted Free Agency and couldn't arrive at a reasonable solution back in the 70's. And its been the big clubs which have resisted revenue sharing which would bring greater balance to the majors.

The collective bargaining agreement has brought some order to resolve these things. Look at the rules governing minor league players freeing them up if they've been in the minors for a long time. The Rule V draft alone is a credit to the negotiations of the union.

Could you they budge some too? Sure, there should always be give and take. It's not so black and white in this world that Donald Fehr is the lone villian. There's plenty of places to point the finger.