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So the MLBPA is considering filing a grievance against the owners for possible collusion stemming from the lack of reckless spending during the “post-2009 free agent market.”

The only reaction I have to this is the same one Charlie Donovan had towards Rachel Phelps when she told him to sit down.

It makes perfect sense for the players union to do all they can to make sure their clients are getting all – and them some – according to what the market dictates. That is the creed all unions are charged with. They are to make sure things are always done in the workers best interest. Only in this case, it has little to do with the economy, and more to do with baseball people slowly understanding how baseball actually works.

Before Moneyball – yes, the M word – teams were largely stuck in neutral with regards to how they evaluated players. It was all about what you saw.

This guy’s fast.

This guy’s got great power.

Boy the ball really jumps off his bat.

And my favorite, he really plays the game the “right way,” as if there is any skill called the “right way”.

All, I suppose, perfectly fine ways of looking at baseball if you were content with walking around with your head in the sand and thinking the world is flat. But as technology evolved, our understanding of certain mathematical factors evolved, and player trends stayed the same, very smart people started to see patterns and thought to themselves: what does this all mean?

Great evolvements in human history come from curios minds. The exploiting of market inefficiencies in baseball is one of them.

All Moneyball set out to prove was that certain skills, mainly the skill of getting on base, were undervalued in the market because it wasn’t a clearly seen ability. At least, not one if you never bothered to think about it objectively. Getting on base is the most important offensive skill in baseball because the game is governed by outs, not by runs, and the fewer outs you make the more runs you create. It’s simple.

But for decades baseball organizations were routinely run by those that were “brought up with the game,” which is a fancy way of saying they never got outside their bubble to learn from a more objective view point.

And within that bubble of subjectivity lies the problem. It was incurious people learning from incurious people – a breeding ground for unoriginal thought and devolvement. It was the reason then, and still is today, that baseball is the most poorly run business in the country. Players of little to no value are paid more than players of actual productive value, because there are still those that believe baseball is entirely in what you see, and not what has been proven.

Take the Kansas City Royals for instance.

This last off-season the GM Dayton Moore signed Rick Ankiel, Scott Podsednik, and Jason Kendall, all while having players already on the roster that would provide equal to, or more value, for a fraction of the cost.

Kendall was given a 2 year, $6-million deal even though he’s an atrocious hitter, has overrated on base skills (his stats largely reflect hitting in front of the pitcher in the National League) and is 36 years old. The deal was justified because he calls a great game (an extremely overrated, and subjective, skill), knows how to handle a pitching staff (another extremely overrated, and subjective, skill), and is a “winner.”

Now we can argue the merits of those traits and whether or not they actually mean anything or have anything to do with a team win, but what cannot be argued is those (presumed) traits Kendall brings to the table are not enough of a positive difference when compared to Brayan Pena’s actual talent, to justify the extra $5+ million the Royals are spending.

In any other business in the United States personnel is paid based on what they are producing not what they might produce, or could produce, or someone, somewhere, thinks they can produce. Kendall has been a below average Major League player for more than three years now. There is no reason to conclude he should warrant money the “market dictates.” His value is minimal; he should be paid, minimally.

The players union may claim collusion because money isn’t being thrown around as wildly as it used to be, but I think – I hope – that’s done more because they have to and not because they think it’s true.

Baseball is getting smarter, not cheaper. Team executives understand more the true value of players around the evolvement of statistics, and are dolling out their money more according to what they prove and not according to what they think. Baseball is starting to act more like a responsible business.

The union should be glad they still have the Royals.