NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — The man in sunglasses on a patio that overlooked a pool, a fairway and then the Pacific Ocean on Monday afternoon was Dallas Keuchel, who is at the moment unemployed. In his seventh month of free agency, what he desires is a job at a salary he considers to be fair, and what he has found instead is the long conversation about an industry he is willing to call on its failures.

He did not set out into free agency intent on further exposing its flaws, he said. He did not hope to conduct his free agency as a service to his fellow ballplayers or their union or, for that matter, conduct it into May and possibly June or whenever.

The plan, for what in his view was a relatively small and reasonable share of the profits, was to pitch.

He is 31 years old. He has been told his body is healthy, he said, down to every last MRI and every last subsequent sinkerball. A summer ago he was pitching to a 3.74 ERA across more than 200 innings, not his best — his best came with a Cy Young Award trophy, his next-best with a World Series parade — and still more than presentable. It is not a time to be pitching to junior college players every fifth day, even if they are game, even if it is what prepares him for a season already six weeks gone.

But, it seems, the common good came looking for him and his conscience, and the fairly simple act of looking out for himself grew into the broader cause that is player rights, and the conversation of his worth suddenly was about everyone’s worth and, granted, it could all change in a productive phone call. Until then, he said, he will not allow draft-pick compensation to live without a battle, he will not settle, he will not make it easier for the next lowball offer to carry itself as honest and legitimate.

“If you would’ve asked me on the first day of free agency, I would have said no way I’d be here on May 6,” Keuchel told Yahoo Sports on Monday afternoon. “This was not the plan at all. I would love to be out there playing ball and helping a team win. Because, to my career at this point, I’ve done more winning than I have losing and at a much higher clip. So what team wouldn’t want me to be out there? Am I the best at this point in time? No. But am I more than or better than some of the offers I’ve been given? Absolutely. That’s not me being greedy. That’s just my compensation in the market from what the analytical data is telling me. I didn’t come up with this. The front offices came up with this. So now they’re trying to tell me I’m less than what the analytical data is saying. How is that possible?”

What began as a common enough free agency — decorated pitcher seeks job in healthy industry — became a curiosity. That, then, over time, became a mystery, which is where one assumed it would end. It did not. It had so much more ground to cover. Players signed, some of them while grumbling. Spring training opened and closed. Pitching staffs were built, teetered, were propped up and were built again. The season began to rising team ERAs, injuries and flame-outs.

View photos At midnight Eastern Time on June 2, signing Dallas Keuchel will no longer include the penalty of a lost draft pick. (Getty Images) More

Keuchel said he received offers, some his agent, Scott Boras, recommended he seriously consider.

“I lead the ship,” he said. “Scott will give me information in general. He gives me necessary information for me to make a knowledgeable decision on my future. … And if it were up to him I would probably be signed at this point. He wants me out there throwing, pitching, and putting up stats that are quality major league stats. I told him no on numerous deals because it’s about principle. It’s about fair market value. And I wasn’t getting that.

“When people tweet at me, saying, ‘Hey, quit being the Le’Veon Bell of baseball,’ it is a funny line. But he stood up for himself. He stood up for his well-being. And I’m standing up for my well-being as well. It’s about principle in both situations. Now, I’m not looking to sit out this whole year. I wasn’t looking to sit out at all. But we are in this situation right now. I would love to sign tomorrow. I would love to sign right now. Or, I might have to wait until this draft pick comes off me. Whatever happens, happens. I’m not going to dwell on it. I’m going to be ready to go. That’s me right now.”

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