Who Would You Sign?
After the 1976 season ended, free agency kicked in for the first time across major league baseball. Before that, there had only been four types of free agents.
Amateurs who had never played professionally and were free to sign anywhere.
Veterans who had been released by their teams and were free to sign anywhere.
Catfish Hunter (and a few minor league players before him) who had been declared free agents due to some contract violation or other irregularities on the part of their team.
Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, who played the 1975 season without signed contracts, burning through the so-called “option year” of their 1974 contracts, and then claiming they were free agents after the 1975 season concluded. An arbitrator, and then two different courts, agreed with them, and free agency was born.
After those court cases were settled early in 1976, the owners and the Players Association negotiated the terms of what free agency would look like after the 1976 season ended, and it was agreed that any player who hadn’t signed a contract for that season and had at least six years of major league service would be a free agent after the season.
A couple of additional rules were established at the time, which seem sort of quaint now. A “re-entry draft” was held in early November, during which teams could declare their intention of seeking to sign eligible players. Each player could only be drafted by a maximum of 12 teams, and could only negotiate a new deal with those teams plus the one they had just played for. Also, teams were limited to signing just two free agents, though exceptions were made if they lost more than that.
