In the current rankings, Cruz is just ahead of Kerry Wood, who rebounded from an injury-marred season in 2007 to earn 34 saves for the Cubs in '08. Wood signed a two-year, $20.5 million contract with the Indians on Dec. 13.

Cruz, 30, is good enough that he might have qualified as Type A under any system. He also could have accepted the Diamondbacks' offer of salary arbitration and perhaps been in a better financial position.

Left-hander Darren Oliver, who is eight years older than Cruz but performs in a similar role, ended his free agency by accepting arbitration from the Angels and agreeing to a one-year, $3.665 million non-guaranteed contract.

Cruz, though, is merely an individual case. The larger question — and more difficult issue — is whether draft-pick compensation should be eliminated entirely.

MLB favors such an approach, under one condition.

In exchange for granting players free agency without constraints, the owners would want predetermined salaries for draft picks — in effect, a salary cap for players signing their first pro contracts.

Certain veterans who object to large bonuses for amateurs might endorse such a "slotting" system. But the union, as a whole, opposes such a tradeoff, believing it would limit the earning power of future generations.

The subject, a hot-button topic between the two sides, is certain to be revisited in the next round of labor negotiations; the current deal expires in 2011.

For now, the players and owners should just settle on updating the Elias formulas.

Call it "The Juan Cruz Rule."

Cleveland Indians News News » Cruz's plight shows free-agency flaw
Cruz's plight shows free-agency flaw
Something is wrong when a top middle-inning reliever is a pariah in free agency. Baseball players and owners should reopen the collective-bargaining agreement and create "The Juan Cruz Rule." What's Type A anyway?