Major League Baseball's average salary rose only a little bit this year, and players may be crying foul.
The average at the end of the 2003 season was US$2,372,189, the players' association said Tuesday in its annual study obtained by AP.
While the amount was a record, it was just 3.3 percent above last year's average of US$2,295,649. The last rise that low was in 1996, when the average increased by just 0.8 percent in the aftermath of the 1994-1995 strike.
The players' association has spent more than a year investigating whether there has been collusion among teams in their dealing with free agents, and a top union lawyer sent a memo to agents Dec. 8 asking assistance.
The union has not yet decided whether to file a collusion grievance over actions following the 2002 season and is looking closely at the current market.
"We have shared with you our serious concerns about the clubs' conduct in last year's market," Michael Weiner, the union's No. 3 official, wrote in the memo. "Already, this signing season, we have received several reports of troubling conduct by club officials."
The union assigned three lawyers to communicate with the agents representing free-agent players.
The existence of the memo was reported Tuesday by ESPN.com, and a copy was obtained by the AP.
A year ago, the union asked agents to keep detailed records of negotiations, and on Jan. 23 it filed a request for management documents.
"They met with us," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Tuesday. ``Absent their coming forward with some demonstrable evidence, we were of the sincere belief that there has been and will be no violation of the collective bargaining agreement.''
Baseball's labor contract prohibits teams from acting in concert with regard to free agents. Arbitrators found the teams violated that provision following the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons, and the sides settled the cases for US$280 million.
Since 1990, the collective bargaining agreement has contained a provision for triple damages.
"It continues to be disappointing that the union fails to recognize a robust market when it sees one," DuPuy said. "There is absolutely no evidence or suggestion that there has been any improper communication among clubs."
As for 2003, the New York Yankees had the highest average salary for the fifth straight season, finishing at US$4,687,002.
Los Angeles was next at US$4.2 million, followed by Boston (US$3.6 million), Atlanta (US$3.5 million), Seattle ($3.4 million), the New York Mets and San Francisco (US$3.1 million each) and the Chicago Cubs (US$3 million).
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