To me, the problem isn't free agent compensation. i think the players are actually getting much closer to what their true value is on the open market than the drastically inflated salaries of the past. the problem is that the current cba makes it very profitable to keep players in the minors until the super two cutoff point causing players to have to play a whole extra season with their original team, as well as causing them to receive fewer dollars overall in arbitration. The simplest solution to all of this would be that any days in the majors in a given season would count as 1 full year towards arbitration, rather than the convoluted system that currently exists. Another solution could be completely eliminating pre arbitration years, putting all players into the arby process immediately upon arriving in the majors. The owners would never agree to all of that, but If I was the players union, I would focus on getting the younger players paid more so that and getting them to the majors faster, so that their eventual payday in free agency isn't the only way for them to get paid.