When: Friday, March 26, 2010 (12 p.m. – 8 p.m.)

Where: Pound Hall at Harvard Law School (map)

Cost: Free (my favorite price)

The theme for the symposium is “Operating in the Shadow of Upcoming Collective Bargaining Negotiations.”  Each of the panels and the keynote address will shed light on the key issues facing each league as it approaches the expiration of its collective bargaining agreement.  In addition to discussing the key issues that will need to be resolved to avoid a labor stoppage in each league, the symposium will explore how the labor uncertainty is affecting current operations within each league, and how any sort of a labor stoppage might affect the short-term and long-term interests of each league.  In exploring each of these issues, the participants will draw from their varied backgrounds to fully understand what is at stake for the leagues, teams, unions, players, and other entities close to the game.  The agenda seems to mirror that of the 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium.

Schedule:

Sports Legacy Institute Kickoff Luncheon (12:00-1:00 – Pound 334/335)

• Chris Nowinski, President and CEO, Sports Legacy Institute
• Sean Morey, Arizona Cardinals
• Isaiah Kacyvenski, Retired NFL Player
• Christian Fauria, Retired NFL Player
• George Atallah, Assistant Executive Director for External Affairs, NFLPA
• Moderator: Professor Peter Carfagna, Harvard Law School

NFL (1:15-2:30 – Pound 101)

• Adolpho Birch, Vice President of Law and Labor Policy, NFL
• David Feher, Partner, Dewey & LeBoeuf
• Neil Cornrich, President, NC Sports
• Sarah Stuart, Senior Counsel, Reebok
• Moderator: Professor Michael McCann, Vermont Law School

NBA (2:45-4:00 – Pound 101)

• Jeffrey Mishkin, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
• Hal Biagas, Executive Vice President of Management, Wasserman Media Group
• Michael Zarren, Assistant General Manager and Team Counsel, Boston Celtics
• Matthew Hong, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Turner Sports
• Robert Tilliss, CEO, Inner Circle Sports
• Moderator: Professor Peter Carfagna, Harvard Law School

Keynote (4:15-4:45 – Pound 101)

• Robert Manfred, Executive Vice President for Labor Relations, MLB

MLB (5:00-6:15 – Pound 101)

• Daniel Halem, Senior Vice President, General Counsel for Labor, MLB
• Derek Jackson, Vice President and General Counsel, Florida Marlins
• David Prouty, Chief Labor Counsel, MLBPA
• Timothy Slavin, Assistant General Counsel, MLBPA
• Joseph Rosen, Partner, Brown & Rosen
• Moderator: Jimmy Golen, Associated Press

Reception (6:30 – 8:00 – Austin West Rotunda)

Many people speculated that Rodney Fernandez, who was working for Hendricks Sports Management at the time, had a big role in causing Chapman to make the move.  Also, as I mentioned in a post on February 15, when Chapman made the switch, many inferred that Hendricks client, Kendry Morales, played a big role in the change of agents.  But last month, Morales also moved agencies, ditching Hendricks Sports for Scott Boras Corp. Think players only change agents in football?  Think again.

What is interesting is that the man who recruited Kendry Morales to Hendricks Sports and is claimed to be the person to woo Chapman to the same agency, is now being investigated by the MLBPA and the Coral Springs, Florida Police Department based on $300,000 magically disappearing from Morales’ bank account.  The article linked above also notes that Fernandez is a former employee of Hendricks Sports and that Fernandez was fired a couple of days after Aroldis Chapman signed that lucrative contract with the Cincinnati Reds.  The termination letter consisted of no more than three lines of ink.

Is the first word that comes to your mind after reading thus far, “shady”?

“From June 2008 until December 2009 [approximately 18 months], Rodney had been requesting PMR [Pro Management Resources] to wire money via Western Union to certain people without Kendry’s knowledge,” the report said.

Reisinger told investigators that Morales discovered the unauthorized transactions in mid-December.

So if Kendry Morales knew about this back in December, was the recent firing of Hendricks Sports unrelated?  If it was based on the unauthorized transactions, what took him so long to make the move?

In an interview Monday with ESPN The Magazine, Fernandez said that money taken out of Morales’ bank account was used for expenses related to Hendricks Sports Management, all of which was done with the approval of firm co-founders Randy and Alan Hendricks. Fernandez also said that the Hendrickses were supposed to reimburse Morales for the money but never did.

“If I’m supposedly the person who took all that money, then how come now I don’t have anything?” he said. “I don’t deserve what is happening.”

Fernandez said he was told by members of the Hendricks agency to keep quiet about rumors of financial indiscretions in December and January so it would not adversely affect Chapman’s free-agent contract negotiations with the Reds.

It looks like Fernandez is going to try to take down Hendricks Sports with him, and whether Hendricks Sports is guilty of anything or not, this is not something that the agency needs while it deals with a pending lawsuit brought by Edwin Mejia and Athletes Premier International.

Is Hendricks Sports concerned that Chapman may be the next client to leave?  Whether Chapman stays a client or not, Hendricks Sports will make nice commissions on Chapman’s first contract, since they are the agency of record when Chapman agreed to the deal’s terms.

With the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl XLIV in Florida this year, it is hard to imagine any more star power in the Sunshine State.  However, the 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium defied the norm and did exactly that, bringing some of the top names in the sports industry to Gainesville.

The symposium was titled “Bargaining Collectively,” and covered all areas of collective bargaining agreements in the MLB, NBA, and NFL. For those of you unable to attend or watch the event LIVE on ustream, here is a brief recap of each of the panels.

The moderators for each panel took slightly different approaches on how to conduct the sessions.  This was a great idea and kept the audience and panelists on their toes and active during the discussion.  Dr. Harvey Schiller, President of the IBAF and CEO of GlobalOptions Group started the symposium off with a bang, addressing the crowd of around 60 or more with some opening remarks on professional sports and CBA’s.

Following Dr. Schiller’s opening remarks and a fifteen-minute food and networking break, speakers for the first panel on MLB collective bargaining issues began taking their seats.  The panelists in attendance were Marc Edelman, Gabe Feldman, Bob Ruxin, Nick Ohanesian, and UF Law Professor Thomas Hurst, who served as the moderator.

Mr. Hurst introduced the panel and gave a brief introduction of each of the four astonishing panelists before giving them the floor one at a time to speak.  Each panelist addressed a different issue relating to major league baseball and the current CBA that will expire on December 31^st of 2011.  Mr. Ohanesian (Resident Officer at the Jacksonville Resident Office of the NLRB) gave a transitory recap of the labor law process and layed down the foundation to discuss collective bargaining issues.  Following Mr. Ohanesian was Bob Ruxin, Harvard Graduate and astute author of An Athletes Guide to Agents, with contributions by SAB’s own Darren Heitner (this is my plug for everyone to go out and buy the book).

Mr. Ruxin led off with the story of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale’s decision to negotiate their contracts with the Dodgers together in 1966.  After an amazing season by both players, Dodgers management met with the two separately and used their demands against each other. The two stars then sat down for dinner and discussed their contract issues, when Drysdale’s first wife, Ginger, suggested that they negotiate together.  Like any good husband would do, Don listened to his wife and the dynamic duo battled the Dodgers together.  Koufax and Drysdale did not like management’s stance on their contracts and they decided to not report to spring training.  In the mean time, the Dodgers trashed the two stars and their tactics and staged a public relations war against the two in the media.  After four weeks, Koufax told Drysdale he could negotiate new deals for the both of them. Koufax ended up getting $125,000 and Drysdale $110,000, which were the two highest salaries in baseball at the time.  This story is important because it represented one of the first situations in baseball where contracts were collectively negotiated between players and management.  The ramifications and fallout from that deal opened up the eyes of everyone involved in MLB and helped create the first ever collective bargaining agreement in professional sports in 1968 (emphasis added).

Following Mr. Ruxin, Gabe Feldman addressed the group. Each speaker had about 10-15 minutes to speak, which was followed by questions from the audience. The four panelists complimented each other very well and hit on many of the major areas that will be mentioned at MLB collective bargaining negotiations.

All four panelists had some great points to interject.  This session also included some additional commentary from Donald Fehr, the former Executive Director of the MLBPA, who was sitting in the audience enjoying his time and waiting for his turn to speak at the closing ceremonies.

I could obviously write much more about the great comments and suggestions the panelists made during the MLB discussion as well as the rest of the symposium, but in order to save time, I will leave you with a semi brief recap of the remaining panels.  If you have any questions about the symposium feel free to ask Darren or myself any questions (email: zakurtz@gmail.com or Twitter: @zakurtz).  Darren will also be posting video of the event as it becomes available.

After the conclusion of the MLB session, it was time for the NBA to step into the spotlight.  The moderator for this panel discussion was UF Professor, Mark Fenster.  Mr. Fenster took a different approach and directed questions to the panel and specific panelists.  The panelists in this session included Sports Illustrated Legal Analyst and Vermont Law School Professor Michael McCann; renowned author and advisor Marc Isenberg; sports litigator Alan Milstein, and Patrick Muldowney, attorney from Baker Hostetler and counsel for the Orlando Magic.  This panel discussed recent news such as Gilbert Arenas’ gun issue, Brandon Jennings and the “one and done” rule and ended with a discussion on revenue sharing and other possible issues that could cause an NBA lockout.  All of the individuals on this panel were not afraid to share their opinions and beliefs, even if they differed from other panelists.  This caused for some great debates and passionate discussions.  The brilliant minds of Michael McCann and Marc Isenberg worked well together and seemed to agree on many issues…more specifically, revenue sharing and the role of the NCAA on future NBA athletes.  Patrick Muldowney was viewed as the “pro-league” representative, although he did render neutral opinions that covered both sides throughout the discussion.  Professor McCann discussed his research regarding arrests of NBA players and their age, stating that no correlation exists between younger NBA players and arrests (Check out the Sports Law Blog for Professor McCann’s article on this topic).  Overall, the energy from these professionals was great and was certainly palpable by the audience.  Although the NFL panel covered more interesting topic areas to me, the NBA discussion was my favorite panel to listen to.  Not only were the debates exceptionally intelligent, but also each of the four speakers were very spirited while arguing their side.

Last but certainly not least was the NFL panel discussion.  This panel consisted of eight individuals, and like the previous two discussions, the amount of knowledge on the subject areas was overflowing from the UF Law School covered tables.  The moderator was a UF Levin College of Law professor Jeffrey Harrison.  Panelists were Ralph Cindrich of DeBartolo Sports & Entertainment; former VP of the Green Bay Packers and President of the National Football post, Andrew Brandt; J.I. Halsell, salary cap analyst and expert formerly with the Washington Redskins; Ryan Morgan, President & CEO of Morgan Advisory Group; Glenn Schwartzman, CEO of Alliance Sports Management; J. Richard Burnoski, President and CEO of Empire Sports Agency; and Paul J. Healy, Agent/Advisor and Partner at Healy Stone & Zahler.

Mr. Harrison had his own unique approach to moderating his panel.  Mr. Harrison posed several questions throughout the hour and fifteen-minute pane, and allowed any/all panelists to chime in on issues they were familiar with.

Ralph Cindrich kicked off the last panel by showing a marketing video that he and the DeBartolo Sports team made for Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski.  Cindrich went on to talk about how new media outlets such as YouTube are being used by agents to market unknown athletes and even stars with notoriety.  He mentioned that NFL scouts and managers actually do watch these videos.  Using Rex Ryan’s 27 views of the Zbikowski video is a prime example.

This star studded panel tackled the hard issues relating to the upcoming collective bargaining agreement that ends in March of 2011.  The panel unanimously agreed that the owners and NFLPA are unlikely to come to a decision by the end of this March, thus making this next season an uncapped year.  This would mean that the NFL would act like the MLB, with no ceiling or floor in regards to team salaries.  According to the panel, the players are asking for transparency and want to see the books.  They are asking management to take less than the 18% they currently are taking.  Both of the requests are unlikely to be accepted, which will most likely bring an uncapped year to the NFL.

Salary cap expert J.I. Halsell and Andrew Brandt discussed the ramifications of an uncapped year.  Halsell mentioned that this would drastically decrease the number of unrestricted free agents.  The uncapped year will add two more years to player’s contracts, making them unrestricted free agents in six years instead of the usual four years that we are accustomed to.  Mr. Brandt followed with a discussion on revenue sharing and discussed the wide disparity between teams in baseball and how that could occur in the NFL next year.

Glenn Shwartzman, J. Richard Burnoski  or “Bruno” and Paul Healy also discussed the role of agents during collective bargaining agreements.  The three took turns discussing how important it is to communicate effectively with your client right from the start.   Bruno mentioned that if an uncapped year is a likely possibility, like it is here, the agent may handle the players contract differently.  Healy discussed the ability to have players paid over a 30 week period instead of the more traditional 17 week period, which would help tremendously if a lockout were to happen.

Overall, the large NFL panel worked great together and covered almost all areas that I was interested in learning about.  They even threw in some helpful hints to future agents about being honest and truthful at all times with your client, even if it is something he may not want to hear.  The panelists all agreed that they would rather lose a client, than take on someone with unrealistic goals or visions of themselves or their agent.  The panel concluded with a Q and A session that was very informative.

After three great panel discussions, the symposium was finally ready for the great Donald M. Fehr to address the crowd.  The insightful words of Mr. Donald Fehr were an amazing way to end a great symposium.  Mr. Fehr worked as the MLB Players Association’s Executive Director for 26 years.  He recently (2009) passed the title over to Mike Weiner.  During his tenure with the MLB, Mr. Fehr successfully negotiated two collective bargaining agreements with the MLBPA and the league (2002 and 2006) and has a tremendous amount of knowledge in the areas of collective bargaining, contract administration, grievance matters, arbitration issues, and pensions and health care matters.

Mr. Fehr is an amazing speaker.  He not only discussed the many different areas that would be covered in collective bargaining agreements, but was able to connect with the majority in the room (law school students) and all others through his use of specific comparisons and diagrams on the white board.  He began his dialogue talking about the draft and recited one of my favorite comparisons of the day to describe how ludicrous the whole draft thing really is.  He compared the teams taking part in the draft with prestigious law firms and the college or draft eligible athletes with the law students.  He compared the fairness of the draft system on NCAA student athletes with a hypothetical situation where law students could only get a job offer from one of thirty possible law firms.  The law firms would interview with students, research the top students, test the students, and rank them or choose them based on those tested areas.  The students who were picked by those thirty schools would be lawyers while ALL others have to choose something else.

As I mentioned throughout this article, all the panelists were very insightful.  I could not possibly recap all the great speakers or discuss the conference in its entirety.  That is why everyone reading this should plan on attending next year’s symposium at UF and find out for themselves what all the fuss is about.

I would like to thank Darren, Adam and the rest of the UF EASLS crew for putting together such a wonderful symposium.  I would also like to thank all the wonderful speakers who dedicated much of their time and energy to the symposium. It certainly was a success to everyone.

Baseball

• Buster Olney wonders if the fact that many 2nd tier starting pitchers have the same agents will drive up their costs to teams [Starters with same agents could push prices].
• Interesting that the owners and the MLBPA may be interested in an international draft [Is the international draft inching closer to reality?].
• I actually tested the software for Bloomberg…cool stuff [Bloomberg Technology Embraces Baseball].
• The Winter Meetings are a bratwurst fest [Suitcase Chronicles: It's Raining Men].
• Technically still not retired, though [Bonds' agent concedes slugger's playing days are over]
• A good bit of information about baseball agent, Scott Boras [The man fans love to hate].

Football

• Maybe the UFL could learn a tip or two from the CFL [CFL Stays True To It’s Brand…].

Coaches

• The first college coach (including football and basketball) to break $5 million per year. Pete Carroll can’t ask for more after this season [Mack Brown gets raise, will be highest-paid college coach].

Golf

• A view that Tiger Woods can’t expect to remain a private person and needs to get out in front of and in control of the news cycle [Tiger Woods news: sports agent Leigh Steinberg on Woods].

Football

• A big-time Gator is on the market [Taylor, set to make $6M, cut by Jags].
• A lot of talk that Thomas Mills got Hayden a really nice deal [Hayden, Colts strike deal].

Baseball

• The guy is only 26-years-old and averages a strikeout per inning pitched [Santana avoids arbitration with Angels].
• Gotta love the amount of deals that are struck in the final hour [Pirates, McLouth agree to 3-year deal].
• Should we be blaming the MLBPA instead? [Commish doesn't want steroids blame]

Sports Agents

• For our readers overseas [Superagents” reality TV show to launch in UK this week].
• Doug Eldridge of DLE Sports Management Group is trying to raise $100k [Reginald T. Dogan: Racer makes strides for wounded vets].

Basketball

• The story on Anthony Randolph switching agents made the latest Carnival [Carnival of the NBA #63: Stress Relief].
• The Chicago Bulls have been very active lately [Knicks trade for Bulls' Hughes].

The Braves were under the impression that Furcal was going to be representing the tomahawk next year in Atlanta, GA, but last Thursday, the Furcal signed a deal with the LA Dodgers.  Arn Tellem of WMG said that Furcal and the Braves never reached a deal.  The Braves said that Paul Kinzer, who along with Tellem represents Furcal for WMG, agreed to a deal with the Braves on Monday.  So who was telling the truth?  The Braves were confused, WMG was confused, and baseball fans in general had no idea what was going on.  What could be done to make the situation more clear?  Finger pointing!

This was said on Thursday by John Schuerholz, President of the Braves:

“Having been in this business for 40-some years, I’ve never seen anybody treated like that. The Atlanta Braves will no longer do business with that company — ever. I told [agent] Arn Tellem that we can’t trust them to be honest and forthright. I told him that in all my years, I’ve never seen any [agency] act in such a despicable manner.

“It was disgusting and unprofessional. We’re a proud organization, and we won’t allow ourselves to be treated that way. I advised Arn Tellem that whatever players he represents, just scratch us off the list. Take the name of the Atlanta Braves off their speed dial. They can deal with the other 29 clubs, and we’ll deal with the other hundred agents.”

WMG being completely cut off from a professional club?  Those were pretty powerful words spoken by Schuerholz and directed at the company with the #1 position in Jason Belzer’s 2008 Sports Agency Power Rankings.  Arn Tellem could not let Schuerholz make a statement like that without submitting a rebuttal.  His statement included seven main points:

1. There was never an agreement reached between Rafael Furcal and the Atlanta Braves.

2. In fact, the Braves were fully aware that Furcal was not prepared to make a decision but had requested an opportunity to sleep on it, before deciding.

3. Moreover, the Baseball rules which all agents and teams operate under are clear that no deal exists between a player and a team unless and until: (i) there is a signed and executed player agreement or; (ii) the Player’s Union and the Commissioner’s office have otherwise confirmed the deal.  Neither occurred here.

4. Furcal ultimately decided to accept the Dodgers’ offer, taking into consideration a number of factors the most important of which was his desire to continue playing short-stop and not make the position change to second base that the Braves were requiring.

5. Losing out on an all-star player like Furcal is always disappointing, and we understand the Braves’ frustration with the outcome of this negotiation, but it does not change in any way the fact that we conducted ourselves with integrity and complied with all rules of major league baseball throughout this process.

6. Our primary obligation is to serve our client’s best interests, and we will continue to do so in accordance with all relevant rules governing MLB negotiations and the utmost integrity.

7. If it serves our clients we will continue to present opportunities to the Braves, which in accordance with the rules governing Major League Baseball, the Braves must entertain. We hope that once emotions have subsided, the Braves will act in a manner consistent with not only their obligations under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the National Labor Relations Act, but also the best interests of the franchise. In short, we would not want this incident to color their better judgment.

Without taking sides, I think that Tellem made a very well crafted statement.  It is very easy to read, cuts straight to the point, and was timely made.  Will it make Braves executives any more willing to deal with WMG and its agents in the future?  It depends on how limited of a memory Schuerholz and others in the organization have.  After Schuerholz’s statement, though, you better expect the MLBPA to keep a close eye on the Braves’ actions concerning WMG clients in the future.  If there is even a slight inclination that the Braves do not sign a WMG client based on the fact that said player is represented by Tellem or Kinzer, the MLBPA will be right on the case.

Will Brinson of AOL Fanhouse believes that the Braves should sue Arn Tellem for fraudulent trade practices.  I say that both sides decide to take this into a closed room, away from the media, and somehow come to an understanding over what transpired, how it may be corrected in the future, and how both entities can work together amicably.  The finger pointing, name calling, and public outcries need to stop.  It’s not good for either party, and does nothing to build the image of baseball or sports agents.

As of yesterday, baseball executives and MLBPA agents had crawled up into the Ritz and glitz of Las Vegas, but this trip is not to enjoy the blackjack tables, luxurious pool decks, and clubs that stay open all hours of the night.  The agents and executives are in Vegas for one of the most important baseball events of the year, the Winter Meetings.  Everyone will be “vacationing” in Vegas until Thursday, with many deals going down before that point-in-time.  Before the meetings officially kicked off, there was word of signing talks.  Of the twenty-four players offered arbitration prior to the deadline, only two accepted (David Weathers and Darren Oliver).  You better believe that the other twenty-two players and their agents are on hand in Las Vegas, talking to a variety of GMs and front-office execs.

One guy getting everything comped is the head of Boras Corp., Mr. Scott Boras.  Equipped with an army of aids and a plethora of statistical sheets by his side, he is looking to find over fifteen free-agent clients jobs this offseason.  Derek Lowe believes in Mr. Boras.  But the week is not all about Boras and his legion of clients.  If you are an MLBPA certified agent (meaning you have at least one player on a 40-man roster), it is likely that you have headed to Sin City to partake in the festivities.  The man with the most talked about free-agent player, C.C. Sabathia, is Greg Genske of Legacy Sports Group.  Brad Penny and Pat Burrell are among the other free-agents that Genske is shopping over at the Bellagio.  There has also been a lot of talk about two free-agents managed by the same agent.  Raphael Furcal and Fransisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) are represented by Paul Kinzer.  And as I said, this group makes up a very small portion of the players and agents in attendance.

But the Winter Meetings actually have a purpose besides allowing agents and GMs to meet up to discuss potential deals.  In fact, the original purpose was for it to serve as a yearly meeting for baseball execs to discuss the state of the sport amongst themselves.  One topic for concern this year is the slumping state of the economy.  Minor League teams are especially worried about taking a hit in sponsorship dollars.  I hope that we do not see the economy torment Minor League baseball like it has done to some “minor leagues” in other sports.

Anyway, soon enough, Dynasty will have the chance to show face at the Winter Meetings.  I am told by many agent friends that I should be thankful that I do not have to be a participant yet.  Apparently all agents dread this time of the year.  Drink some coffee and get some rest my boys!

Sports Business

• HHR continues its excellent interview series with young sports entrepreneurs by talking to Yardbarker’s Marketing Coordinator, Diana Iakoubova [So You Want to Work in Sports?: Diana Iakoubova, Marketing Coordinator, Yardbarker Network].
• Jimmie Johnson = Roger Federer of NASCAR? [Why isn’t Jimmie Johnson more marketable?]

Basketball

• Brandon Jennings has a blog [When in Rome].

Baseball

• $52 million for a 17-game winner [Cubs, Dempster agree to four-year contract].
• Dustin Pedroia is counting down the days until he is arbitration eligible [An MVP Season for the Bargain Basement Price of $457K].
• The MLBPA tightens its grip on agents when it comes to arbitration [Union requires pre-arbitration update].

Football

• Should we start taking this kind of speak seriously? [Berthelsen predicts lockout in court testimony]
• About a dozen candidates remain in the search to replace the late Gene Upshaw [NFLPA narrows search for next executive director].

As hard as it is to believe, it’s not all about the money. For some players, staying on their current team, or going to play for their hometown team is worth taking a pay cut (see Darren’s most recent post for a good example). Let’s not forget that regardless where C.C signs, he’s going to sign for a ton of money. I understand $140 million is an extraordinary amount of cash, but $100 million and playing on the team of your choice is a pretty good gig also.

Furthermore, let’s not forget what happened to other big name players that came to New York for the money. Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, Giambi, A-Rod, Kevin Brown…none of these players had, or in A-Rod’s case have, a smooth, successful duration in pinstripes. New York is a different beast and for some, something they don’t want to deal with.

While I believe it’s way out of bounds for the MLBPA to try and dictate where a player should play, it’s even more egregious that it would suggest money is the end all for the American Pastime.

The first two paragraphs of Article XX Section E of the 2007-2011 MLB Basic Agreement reads as follows:

(1) The utilization or non-utilization of rights under Article XIX(A)(2) and Article XX is an individual matter to be determined solely by each Player and each Club for his or its own benefit. Players shall not act in concert with other Players and Clubs shall not act in concert with other Clubs.

(2) Upon any finding of a violation of Section E(1) of this Article XX by two or more Clubs, any injured Player (or Players) shall be entitled to recover in monetary damages three (3) times the lost baseball income, he (or they) would have had but for the violation. Such lost baseball income shall be limited to lost salary and other lost contractual terms, including lost additional contract years, lost signing bonuses, lost trade restriction provisions, lost option buyout provisions, and lost incentive bonuses (e.g., performance, awards, attendance and weight bonuses). Damages (and fees and interest) may be recovered only from the Clubs found to have violated Section E(1) of this Article XX.

So but for the violation, what would have Bonds made this past season?  It depends on what an arbitrator would find to be the proper amount.  Bonds made more than $15 million in his final season with the Giants.  Do you use that figure and multiply it by three, or do you use the minimum major league salary that Borris was pushing for ($390,000), which no team would offer to pay?