In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with any club or franchise, i.e. not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present, but who is allowed to solicit contract offers from other teams. In some circumstances, the free agent's options are limited by league rules.

The term came into wider use after sports leagues stopped using a "reserve clause", which provided a repetitive option for the club to renew the contract for one or more years but did not allow the player to terminate it.

Types[link]

Unrestricted free agent

Unrestricted free agents are players without a team. They have either been released from their club, had the term of their contract expire without a renewal, or were not chosen in a league's draft of amateur players. These players, generally speaking, are free to entertain offers from all other teams and to decide with whom to sign a new contract.

Restricted free agent

The specific rules of restricted free agency vary among the major professional sports, but in principle it means that a player is free to solicit offers from other teams for new contracts. However, before this player is allowed to sign with the new club, the current club has a chance to match (or come within 10% in some leagues) the terms of the new contract in which case the player must remain with the original team. In some leagues, if the original team decides not to match the other team's offer for the restricted free agent, the new team provides some number of draft selections to the original team as compensation for losing the player.

Undrafted free agent

Players who are not drafted in a league's annual draft of amateur players are considered to be unrestricted free agents and are free to sign contracts with any team.

Legal provisions in Europe[link]

In the European Union, the 1995 Bosman ruling by the European Court of Justice established the right of free agency for association football players in all EU member nations. The Bosman ruling has since been extended to cover other professional sports and players from Eastern Europe. Players were still tied to their clubs unless their contract ran out until the Webster ruling allowed players the opportunity to move between nations, though it does not free players to move within the national league in which they currently play.

Association football[link]

In professional association football, a free agent is a player that has been released by a professional association football club and now is no longer affiliated with any club, but has not finished his or her professional career.

Free agents do not have to be signed during the normal transfer window that is implemented in some countries' leagues. If they are signed by a team, the team signing them does not have to pay any fees - sometimes this is known as "snapped up on a free transfer".

If a player gets released from their club when the transfer window is closed, they cannot sign for another team until the window reopens. A notable case of this being Sol Campbell who in September 2009 was released from Notts County, just after a month from signing on a free transfer. He signed for his former club Arsenal in January 2010, after spending a few months training with the team to maintain his fitness.

National Football League usage[link]

Restricted free agents

Restricted free agents (RFAs) are players who have three or fewer accrued seasons of service and whose contracts have expired. RFAs have received qualifying offers from their old clubs and are free to negotiate with any club until a deadline which occurs approximately a week prior to the NFL Draft (for 2010 the deadline was April 15), at which time their rights revert to their original club. If a player accepts an offer from a new club, the old club will have the right to match the offer and retain the player. If the old club elects not to match the offer, it may receive draft-choice compensation depending on the level of the qualifying offer made to the player.^[1]

Unrestricted free agents

Unrestricted free agents are players who have completed four or more accrued seasons of service and whose contracts have expired. They are free to sign with any franchise.^[1]

Undrafted free agents

Undrafted free agents are players eligible for the NFL Draft but who are not selected; they can negotiate and sign with any team.

"Plan B" free agency

Plan B free agency was a type of free agency that became active in the National Football League in February 1989. Plan B free agency permitted all teams in the NFL to preserve limited rights of no more than 37 total players a season. If a player was a protected Plan B free agent, he was incapable of signing with another team without providing his old team the first opportunity to sign him again. The rest of the players were left unprotected, liberated to negotiate contracts with the rest of the teams in the league.

Eight players sued the NFL in U.S. federal court, stating that Plan B was an unlawful restraint of trade. In 1992, a jury found that Plan B violated antitrust laws and awarded damages to the players.

Major League Baseball usage[link]

In Major League Baseball, free agents are currently classified as either Type A, Type B, or unclassified. Type A free agents are those determined by the Elias Sports Bureau to be in the top 20% of all players based on the previous two seasons. Type B free agents are those in the next 20%. Unclassified free agents are those remaining in the bottom 60% of players.

Teams that lose a Type A free agent, to whom they have offered arbitration, receive the top draft pick from the team that signs the free agent, plus a supplemental draft pick in the upcoming draft as compensation. Teams losing Type B free agents, to whom they have offered arbitration, receive only a supplemental pick as compensation.

Teams that lose unclassified free agents, or who do not offer arbitration to classified free agents, do not receive any compensation.^[2]

The next collective bargaining agreement between MLB and its players union, signed on November 22, 2011 and taking effect with the 2012 season, will dramatically change free agent compensation. Players will no longer be classified by type. Instead, a team will only be able to receive draft pick compensation if it makes its former player an offer at least equal to the average of the 125 richest contracts.^[3] However, if a player is traded during the final season of his contract, his new team will be ineligible to receive any draft pick compensation.^[4]

National Hockey League usage[link]

In the NHL, between 2005 and 2008, the age of unrestricted free agency declined from 31 to 27. As of 2008, any player who is at least 27 years old or has at least seven years of service as an NHL player, and whose contract has expired, will become an unrestricted free agent. On July 1 of each year the free agency period begins,^[5] and unrestricted free agents are free to negotiate and sign contracts with any team. Under the old collective agreement, which expired in 2005, draft picks were awarded as compensation when a team lost an unrestricted free agent; however, under the current CBA teams losing unrestricted free agents do not receive any compensation.

In addition, any player at least 22 years of age who has not been selected in the NHL Draft can sign with any team as a free agent.

Australian Football League usage[link]

The Australian Football League will introduce free agency from the end of 2012. Out-of-contract players who are not within the top 25% paid players at their club will become unrestricted free agents after eight seasons of service at one club; out-of-contract players who are within the top 25% paid players at their club become restricted free agents after eight seasons, then become unrestricted free agents after ten seasons. Clubs receive compensation in the form of draft picks for the loss of out-of-contract free agents. Additionally, players who are delisted will become unrestricted free agents, regardless of length of service; clubs are not compensated for the transfer of such free agents.^[6]

Drawbacks for owners[link]

The economics of free agency are disadvantageous for team owners; it can lead to bidding wars—and increased player salaries mean decreased owner profits. Restrictions on free agency have therefore been preferred by North American team owners since the abolition of the reserve clause. For example, a draft can be used to keep young and talented players from generating bidding wars and causing higher player salaries throughout the league. Furthermore, some teams which play in large market cities, and hence have a larger revenue stream, would be able to outbid other teams for talented players. Some leagues, such as the National Football League and the National Basketball Association have imposed salary cap rules in order to avert such bidding wars.

In Europe, the wages of the top players have increased dramatically since the Bosman ruling, although this is partly because of increased television revenues. Some club chairmen have called for a payroll cap in a bid to control player wages, but this would almost certainly be ruled anti-competitive and therefore illegal under EU law. As in North America, the number of transfers involving a fee are on the decline since clubs can wait for players to finish their contracts and become unrestricted. Also in Major League Baseball the larger and more successful teams often trump the lesser income teams from lack of a salary cap.

Deadlines[link]

In some leagues, free agency has deadlines. For example, under the current NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, restricted free agents who do not sign contracts by December 1 of a given year will be ineligible to play in the National Hockey League for the balance of that season. However, other leagues (such as the National Basketball Association) have no such restrictions.

In Europe, players can only move during transfer windows—during the close season and half-way through the league season. There are exceptions for unsigned professional players in the lower divisions.

See also[link]

• Free agent (business)
• Restricted free agent
• Undrafted sportsperson

References[link]

External links[link]

Zack Greinke
Greinke pitching for the Royals on July 29, 2009
Milwaukee Brewers – No. 13
Starting pitcher
Born: (1983-10-21) October 21, 1983 (age 28) Orlando, Florida
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 22, 2004 for the Kansas City Royals
Career statistics (through May 20, 2012)
Win–loss record	81–74
Earned run average	3.77
Strikeouts	1,191
Teams
Kansas City Royals (2004–2010) Milwaukee Brewers (2011–present)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (2009) MLB ERA Champion (2009) AL Cy Young Award (2009) AL TSN Pitcher of the Year (2009)

Donald Zackary "Zack" Greinke (pronounced /ˈɡrɪŋki/ GRING-kee; born October 21, 1983) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers. Greinke won the American League Cy Young Award in 2009 with the Kansas City Royals.^[1]

High school & minor leagues[link]

Greinke was born in Orlando, Florida, the son of Marsha Ann (née Wilkin) and Donald Ray Greinke.^[2][3] After being named the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2002, he was selected out of Apopka High School in the first round of the 2002 draft.^[4] Greinke turned down a scholarship to Clemson to sign with the Royals.^[5]

In 2003, he played for the Wilmington Blue Rocks and Wichita Wranglers, where he was named the Royals Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Carolina League Pitcher of the Year, and The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year, with a 15–4 record and 1.93 ERA.^[6]

Major league career[link]

Kansas City Royals (2004–10)[link]

Greinke made his major league debut on May 22, 2004 against the Oakland Athletics. Greinke's first major league hit was a home run off Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Russ Ortiz in a 12–11 loss on June 10, 2005.

When Greinke was 22, he almost quit baseball. He has stated that he was "surprised I came back" to baseball.^[7] He left spring training for personal reasons in late February 2006.^[8] It was later revealed that he was suffering from social anxiety disorder and depression.^[9] He reported back to the Royals' spring training facility in Surprise, Arizona, on April 17, where he underwent ongoing pitching sessions. He was placed on the 60-day disabled list due to psychological issues and took time away from baseball entirely until returning on a rehab assignment with Wichita.

In 2007, he returned to the Royals rotation at the start of the season, but was sent to the bullpen in early May. Greinke's 2008 saw him return to the rotation and put up a good year. His 3.47 ERA was the best by a full-time Royals starter in 11 years.^[10] On January 26, 2009, Greinke agreed to a four-year contract with the Royals worth $38 million.^[10]

Greinke started off 2009 by not allowing a run in his first 24 innings. Greinke's 2008 ended with 14 scoreless innings, which meant that for 38 innings in a row, he had not given up a run. Greinke was named American League Pitcher of the Month for April for all tops in the Majors his 5 wins, 0.50 ERA and 44 strikeouts.^[11] On August 25, Greinke struck out 15 batters, breaking Mark Gubicza's record for strikeouts in a single game for the Royals.^[12] On August 30, Greinke had a one-hit complete game against the Seattle Mariners.

Greinke with the Brewers

His record for the 2009 season was 16–8, and he posted an ERA of 2.16, the lowest in MLB. On October 21, Greinke was named American League Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News.^[13] On October 28, Greinke was awarded the MLBPA Players Choice AL Pitcher of the Year, which was announced during Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio. On November 17, 2009, Greinke won the American League Cy Young Award.^[1] Greinke credited some of his performance to his use of "modern pitching metrics"—statistics on team defense and defense independent pitching statistics—to calibrate his own approach to pitching. Greinke specifically mentioned "FIP" (fielding independent pitching), an indicator developed by sabermetrician Tom Tango, as his favorite statistic. "That's pretty much how I pitch, to try to keep my FIP as low as possible.^[14]

Milwaukee Brewers (2011–present)[link]

On December 17, 2010, Greinke reportedly asked the Royals to trade him, citing he was not motivated to play for a rebuilding team.^[15] On December 19, he was traded to the Brewers with Yuniesky Betancourt and 2 million dollars for Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi. He was given the number 13, instead of his preferred number 23, due to number 23 already being issued to Rickie Weeks.^[16] In February 2011, Greinke suffered a fractured rib while playing basketball. He subsequently started the 2011 season on the disabled list.

Greinke made his Brewers debut on May 4, 2011. Greinke finished second on the team in wins despite missing the first month of the season and as many as 5 starts. He finished 2011 with a 16–6 record, a 3.83 ERA, and 201 strikeouts (7th in the NL) in 171 innings pitched while surrendering only 45 walks. Greinke became only the fifth Brewer pitcher to strike out 200+ batters in a season. He was fourth in the NL in won-lost percentage (.727), and sixth in wins.^[17] He was also exceptional at Miller Park, going 11–0 for the season at the Brewers home park.

On April 7, 2012, in his first start of the season, Greinke pitched 7 scoreless innings while giving up 4 hits and striking out 7. The Brewers went on to beat the Cardinals 6–0.^[18]

Repertoire[link]

Greinke has a 4-seam fastball that he can throw consistently from 92–96 mph and occasionally 97. Depending on the field that he is pitching in, he also throws a 2-seam fastball to try to induce ground balls. His best pitch is considered his slider that many current major league players say is the best pitch in all of baseball, having sharp 12–6 movement, ranging from 86–90 mph.^[19] Greinke also throws 2 curveballs, one in the mid to upper 70's, and one that he throws as slow as possible in the 60's, and even 50's.

Personal life[link]

Greinke is married to Miss Daytona Beach USA 2008 Emily Kuchar.^[20] Greinke met Kuchar in high school at Apopka High School. Kuchar is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.^[21]

See also[link]

• List of Major League Baseball ERA champions

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Zack Greinke

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)