SeligBall

The unprecedented number of players who were non-tendered this weekend - including recognizable names like Chien-Ming Wang, Garrett Atkins, and Kelly Johnson - is just the latest evidence that the balance of power in baseball is shifting dramatically back towards ownership for the first time in the "free agency" era, which began in 1976. What management is saying, by choosing not to offer contracts to valuable players still under their control, is that they have such confidence in their ability to manipulate the market this offseason, there is no reason why they should participate in a process as fair (and therefore "expensive") as arbitration. As with last season, come March we will see many players signed at the last minute for short, cheap, and incentive-laden contracts. And Bud Selig get red-faced and self-righteous in a public statement about how ludicrous it is for agents and the MLBPA to even mention "collusion."

Thou doth protest too much, Bud.