Analysis : Closing Their Ranks, Owners Have Stopped Free-Agent Movement

Items:

--Donnie Moore re-signs with the Angels for three years at a guaranteed $3 million.

--Kirk Gibson re-signs with Detroit for three years at a guaranteed $4 million.

Of the 10 free agents governed by Wednesday’s deadline for re-enlisting with their 1985 teams, nine came to terms--six at some point Wednesday night and one early Thursday morning.

If this is an indication that the players are continuing to receive what they want, it also seems to be an indication that they now have no choice.

In fact, it is the now disciplined owners who are finally getting what they want. The conspiracy continues. Free-agent movement is at a standstill.

Of the 62 players who filed for free agency, 25 have signed, but:

--Not one has received more than a three-year contract.

--Not one has signed with a different team.

--Not one has received even one bid from another team before returning to his previous team.

The Major League Players Assn., which initially expressed patience with the owners’ sudden unity, is now believed to be weighing one of two options:

--A court challenge of baseball’s antitrust exemption.

--A grievance filed with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that the owners are in violation of the collective bargaining agreement, which prohibits the clubs from acting in concert to restrict the signing or movement of eligible players.

Peter Rose, a former counsel with the union and now Moore’s legal representative, said Thursday that unless something is done, the free-agent situation will only get worse.

“If the Angels had known all along that the other clubs were definitely going to keep their hands off (of Moore), would they have gone as high as they did?” Rose asked. “Next year, they’ll know. Now, the pattern has been established.”

There has been speculation that the market will stage a revival, now that the deadline for teams retaining their own players has passed, but there is no certainty.

The doubts weighed on the representatives of Moore and Gibson--this winter’s most attractive free agents--as they went to the 11th hour with their respective teams.

They couldn’t be sure that with the Angels and Tigers out of it, the phone would start ringing. In fact, rumors were rampant this week that the owners, determined to keep Gibson, Moore and the others in their places, were purposely leaking word that they would continue to refrain from bidding.

“It was a real concern,” Rose said. “On one hand, I felt there would be some interest in Donnie. On the other, I would have expected that interest to have already surfaced.

“There was no way of knowing whether, as of today, teams would have been allowed to show interest. And if so, would they have been allowed to show more (financial) interest than the Angels had?

“The whole trick to these negotiations was that there wasn’t any competition. It was all based on good faith. Give the Angels credit and give us credit for being able to get Donnie a contract he could be satisfied with. Of course, this is where he wanted to stay from the start.

“I’m not sure what our alternatives would have been if he hadn’t wanted to remain.”

Said agent Doug Baldwin, alluding to the lack of competition for Gibson, who recently had said that he would never accept only a three-year contract from Detroit:

“Certainly, if we had gotten some indication that people were interested, it would have been different. Kirk ultimately decided that it would be better to return to Detroit than to continue, perhaps, running his head into a brick wall.”

Despite the absence of competitive bids, the players who re-enlisted before Wednesday’s midnight (EST) deadline--they otherwise could not have signed with their previous teams until May 1--all emerged with substantial contracts.

Moore received a $450,000 signing bonus, a guaranteed annual salary of $850,000 and a bonus plan that can earn him as much as $250,000 a year depending on where he finishes in the voting for four major awards. The contract also includes a drug-testing clause.

Gibson, with a signing bonus and salary, was guaranteed $4 million for three years. He will also receive a $35,000 annual bonus if Detroit’s attendance surpasses 2.3 million. His agent, Baldwin, accepted the deal one minute before the deadline, after conferring on the telephone with his client, who is honeymooning in New Zealand.

The Tigers also retained infielder Tom Brookens, who accepted a two-year contract for a guaranteed $760,000.

Catcher--and soon to be outfielder--Carlton Fisk agreed to a two-year contract with the Chicago White Sox in negotiating that went past the deadline. The Major League Player Relations Committee granted a two-hour extension, and he signed early Thursday. He is guaranteed $1.7 million in salary, and was given assurances that he would not be traded.

Catcher Butch Wynegar re-signed with the New York Yankees for three years at a guaranteed $2.2 million.

The Yankees also reacquired the pitching Niekro brothers. Joe will get an estimated $2.4 million for three years, and Phil will get an estimated $375,000 for one.

The Cleveland Indians re-signed second baseman Tony Bernazard for two years at a guaranteed $530,000 a year, and left-handed pitcher Jamie Easterly for two years at an estimated $360,000 a year.

All except Bernazard and Phil Niekro, who had agreed to terms earlier in the week, and Fisk, whose extended negotiations went into Thursday, reached accord Wednesday. Of the 10 free agents governed by the deadline, only Kurt Bevacqua of the San Diego Padres remained unsigned.

The veteran Bevacqua is now one of 37 free agents still available, all ineligible to re-sign with their previous teams before May 1 and faced with a market that may terminate more careers than it sustains.

Among the unemployed are Rod Carew, Juan Beniquez, Al Holland, Ken Forsch, Geoff Zahn, Al Cowens, Dave Kingman, David Palmer, Cesar Cedeno, Mike Hargrove and Darrell Porter.

Reached at his New York office Thursday, Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Players Assn., said the union wants to see what the passing of the Jan. 8 deadline meant to the remaining free agents but that a response to the owners’ tactics is now imminent.

“The events of Wednesday night confirm that there has not been any significant discussions between any of the free agents and any club other than the retaining club,” Fehr said. “That suggests the absence of a free market.