Veteran pitcher Randy Wolf reportedly said that the Seattle Mariners tried to get him to sign an “advanced consent release form” that would allow the team to release or demote him after 45 days without being on the hook for his salary. The waiver is an obscure tactic that is allowed under baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement and has apparently started to become more frequently used in recent years.
Wolf declined to sign and seemed to express exasperation with being asked to do so in interviews following his release. It’s important to note that he didn’t pitch last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2012. He’s also 37. It’s not a surprise that the club would want to take steps to protect any investment they made in the veteran pitcher.
But consider this: Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijuan Walker, both players that were supposed to be key parts of the rotation this year, are hurt and won’t be available to pitch for at least several weeks to begin the season. If Wolf had signed the waiver, Seattle could have plugged him into the rotation until one of the two hurt starters got healthy, then released him without being on the hook for any of the remaining money that they owed him under the contract that they originally agreed on when he signed back in February. That’s just messed up.
From a business and financial standpoint it makes sense as to why the Mariners would try to swing the situation like that. If there is a magic solution to the problems that the Mariners face with their pitching staff, Randy Wolf probably isn’t it. But can I get some courtesy?
Furthermore, it seems bizarre that this waiver exists at all. It gives teams a crazy amount of leverage if they’re negotiating with non-roster players. If you give a player with no other options the choice between signing the waiver and not getting a deal at all, he’s probably going to sign the thing, even though the team then has the power to cut him within the 45 day timeframe and doesn’t have to pay him. Wolf’s case is somewhat unique in that he is an established veteran who has earned over $70 million in his career. If the same tactic Seattle tried to use on him were to be used on a younger player with less pedigree and leverage to say no, it would be a different story.
Sports are, in fact, a business. Wolf’s situation shows that teams are going to make use of whatever tactics are at their disposal. As long as things like the “advanced consent release form” exist and can save teams money, we’ll probably see them get used—even if it may seem heartless.
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