[Le Grande Orange]

More information on working agreements. This is from an article published in the Feb. 22, 1950, edition of The Sporting News, as part of a larger series looking at the operation of a ball club.

It is true that the independent [minor league club] occasionally wins a pennant, but the majority go to the farm teams of the majors. Under normal circumstances, independent clubs just can't compete with those blessed with the opportunity of obtaining optioned players from higher up, plus the advantages on an elaborating scouting system.

Take, for example, the independent versus the farm club in a Class C league. The salary limit is an average of $200 a month per man. With no tie-up, the independent is obliged to field a flock of $200 players. On the other hand, the farm club can bring down a half dozen players from Class A, optioned under an arrangement whereby the C club has only half of each player's $300 salary charged against its limit.

That becomes a test of $200-a-month players against those drawing $250 or better a month, and it's not hard to figure who is likely to win in the end—both financially and in the more artistic realm of the league standings.

There are three kinds of tie-ups between the majors and minors. The most successful and convincing, as far as championships are concerned, is outright ownership, whereby the parent major league club furnishes everything—money, players, field manager, and business manager. Since it's generally accepted that contenders whirl the turnstiles, it follows that the majors are going to load their top talent on their property.

The full working agreement is a simple and mutually-beneficial arrangement whereby major leaguers plant an entire squad at a home-owned club, and then harvest as many players as they desire at the end of the season. For this privilege, the lower-class club receives from $2,000 in Class D to approximately $5,000 in Class A, and on up to five figures in the higher brackets. Often the major's farm system selects its own manager, usually paying half his salary for the privilege.

The partial working agreement, third in the tie-ups, is usually a haphazard arrangement by which a club is sent from five to ten players. At the end of the season, the higher-class club is permitted to recall any or all of its players, and usually is given selection—or first refusal—of the remainder.

For example, let us suppose the Detroit Tigers option several players to Seattle, an independent organization, for 1950. At the close of the season, Seattle finds itself blessed with a major league prospect among its own players—a .440-hitting outfielder. After spirited bidding, the Giants offer $100,000 for "Old .440". Under the circumstances, the gentlemanly procedure for Seattle is to offer Detroit the player for $100,000. That's "first refusal."