Red(s)HawksFan said:
Why wouldn't he be? He's under contract through 2014 right now, and through 2015 if the option is picked up. If he's put on the restricted or disqualified list (a la Dempster) because he refuses to play for $500K, he's a free agent after the 2015 season concludes. The Red Sox don't retain his rights in perpetuity, they own his rights for the term of his contract. That contract ends, no matter what, at the end of the 2015 season.
People keep saying this, but:
A player on the restricted list cannot be signed by another team unless compensation is paid to the team who placed him on the list. The list is honored throughout organized baseball and in leagues that have working agreements to respect the contracts of organized baseball, such as Nippon Pro Baseball. The list is most often used today when a player retires at a young age without receiving his unconditional release. If he decides to return to playing, he must do so with his last team, unless a trade or other deal can be worked out. Salomon Torres is a recent case of a player who spent a number of years on the restricted list before returning to organized baseball.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Restricted_list
I don't think you can just decide not to play and come back a free agent. What's unclear from above is whether the 500k salary would carry over.
Ok, can you explain why or provide any backup? Because everything I've seen suggests the exact opposite.
More importantly, please provide your credentials.
What have you seen that suggests the opposite, and what are your credentials? I still think Occam's Razor suggests we would have seen more holdouts in MLB by now if there weren't negative consequences to the player for doing so.