Jack Morris Surrenders to Arbitration as Collusion Freezes the Market

On December 19, 1986, Jack Morris reluctantly submitted to salary arbitration with the Detroit Tigers after finding no other club willing to sign him. Morris had won 21 games that season, was 31 years old and in his prime, and had offered to sign one-year contracts with the Yankees, Angels, Twins, and Phillies. All four turned him down.

Morris accused the owners of collusion, and he was right. The Players Association would later file what became known as the Collusion II grievance, covering the 1986-87 free agent class. Arbitrator George Nicolau ruled in 1988 that the owners had conspired to destroy the free agent market, violating the collective bargaining agreement.

The scheme was straightforward. After the 1985 season, owners began an unspoken agreement not to bid on each other's free agents, effectively killing the competitive market that had existed since the advent of free agency in 1976. Commissioner Peter Ueberroth denied involvement, but the arbitrators found otherwise. Owners were eventually ordered to pay $280 million in damages across three separate collusion cases covering the 1985, 1986, and 1987 free agent classes.

Morris went to arbitration and won a record $1.85 million for the 1987 season. He remained with Detroit through 1990, then signed with the Twins as a free agent and pitched the ten-inning shutout in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series that cemented his legacy. His December 1986 standoff became a landmark in the labor history of the game, proof that the market was rigged and the players' suspicions were justified.