NEW YORK -- Baseball's average salary rose only a little bit this year, and players may be crying foul.
The average at the end of the 2003 season was $2,372,189, the players' association said Tuesday in its annual study obtained by The Associated Press.
While the amount was a record, it was just 3.3 percent above last year's average of $2,295,649. The last rise that small was in 1996, when the average increased by just 0.8 percent in the aftermath of the 1994-95 strike.
The players' association has spent more than a year investigating whether there has been collusion among teams in their dealing with free agents, and a top union lawyer sent a memo to agents Dec. 8 asking assistance.
The union has not yet decided whether to file a collusion grievance over actions following the 2002 season and is looking closely at the current market.
"We have shared with you our serious concerns about the clubs' conduct in last year's market," Michael Weiner, the union's No. 3 official, wrote in the memo. "Already, this signing season, we have received several reports of troubling conduct by club officials."
The union assigned three lawyers to communicate with the agents representing free-agent players.
The existence of the memo was reported Tuesday by ESPN.com, and a copy was obtained by the AP.
A year ago, the union asked agents to keep detailed records of negotiations, and on Jan. 23 it filed a request for management documents.
"They met with us," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Tuesday. "Absent their coming forward with some demonstrable evidence, we were of the sincere belief that there has been and will be no violation of the collective bargaining agreement."
Baseball's labor contract prohibits teams from acting in concert with regard to free agents. Arbitrators found the teams violated that provision following the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons, and the sides settled the cases for $280 million.
Since 1990, the collective bargaining agreement has contained a provision for triple damages.
"It continues to be disappointing that the union fails to recognize a robust market when it sees one," DuPuy said. "There is absolutely no evidence or suggestion that there has been any improper communication among clubs."
As for 2003, the New York Yankees had the highest average salary for the fifth straight season, finishing at $4,687,002.
Los Angeles was next at $4.2 million, followed by Boston ($3.6 million), Atlanta ($3.5 million), Seattle ($3.4 million), the New York Mets and San Francisco ($3.1 million each) and the Chicago Cubs ($3 million).
Florida, which beat the Yankees in the World Series, was 19th at $1.9 million, up from 24th in 2002.
Tampa Bay was last for the second straight season at $776,775, the lowest in the major leagues since the 2000 Minnesota Twins finished at $601,680.
Final management calculations, which are slightly different, are not yet available.
First basemen were the highest-paid players at an average of $5.2 million, followed by outfielder ($4.9 million), shortstops ($4.2 million), designated hitters ($4 million), catchers ($3.7 million), starting pitchers ($3.3 million), second basemen ($2.7 million), third basemen ($2.6 million) and relief pitchers ($1.6 million).
