Ken Davidoff's Baseball Insider

Peacemaker Bud

Michael Weiner, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, offered succinct perspective Tuesday on how the sport could pound out a new collective-bargaining agreement with absolutely no public acrimony.

"I'm not sure that the union has changed its approach to bargaining very much," Weiner told a small group of reporters after the official announcement of the new CBA. "I think a lot of credit goes to the owners for recognizing not only that the union was here to stay -- 1994-95 was about breaking the union, replacing workers and all that stuff -- but the union was a positive force. I think that recognition on the ownership side is the biggest change."

Bud Selig, the same commissioner who canceled the World Series in 1994 as part of ownership's plot to crush the union, deserves props for appreciating the error of his ways and dramatically changing them. This marks the second straight CBA that has been negotiated without dueling conference calls from the owners and players on a daily basis. Weiner and Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations and human resources, treat each other with profound respect; when Manfred departed the news conference Tuesday, he shook Weiner's hand and wished him a Happy Thanksgiving.

Now it's not as though the two sides, working in harmony, produced a perfect agreement. My greatest objections are to two "lowest-common-denominator" items. First of all, the limits on amateur draft and international spending help only the teams too cheap to dole out money for young talent. Clubs such as Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Washington have improved because of their willingness to invest in these areas.

Secondly, the only reason to agree to blood testing for human growth hormone -- when 1) we're not sure how much HGH actually helps and 2) we're not sure how good this test is -- is to shut up the dopes (many of whom serve in the United States Congress) who shout "HGH!" whenever a player enjoys a breakout season.

Value Vs. Blame

You could argue soundly about Ryan Braun's value by tying it to the Brewers' revenues. Braun did the most to help Milwaukee reach the playoffs, after all, and the Brewers wound up hosting six postseason games at Miller Park. Those are some serious extra dollars.

Ultimately, however, I think the best definition of "value" comes by defining it in a vacuum. Because Matt Kemp helped the Dodgers more than Braun did the Brewers, and unless you can find a taped telephone conversation in which Kemp urged Frank and Jamie McCourt to take the Dodgers' income and spend it on personal luxuries, it isn't Kemp's fault that he played with inferior teammates.

We'll never fully eliminate factors that players can't control when considering these awards. Yet there rests considerable room for improvement on that front.

Extra Bases

The Giants reportedly are trying to sign Tim Lincecum, eligible for free agency after 2013, to a long-term contract. And who can blame them? If Lincecum enters the arbitration arena this offseason, don't be shocked if he asks for something like $24,200,001 -- a dollar more than CC Sabathia's annual average value of $24.2 million, the highest of any pitcher.

The Twins are hopeful that Bill Smith, fired as general manager and replaced by predecessor Terry Ryan earlier this month, will return to the club's front office. Smith, who has worked for Minnesota since 1986, currently is taking some time off.

Congratulations to the Yankees' Mark Teixeira, who will be honored as Sportsman of the Year this coming Wednesday at the March of Dimes New York Division's 28th Annual Sports Luncheon. The event will take place at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan.