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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Impending free agent pitcher Gerrit Cole joined a chorus of players across baseball and inside the Astros clubhouse excoriating the existence of a championship belt given to the organization that best suppressed arbitration salaries.

The Athletic first reported the belt's premise in a story published on Friday morning. Major League Baseball acknowledged its validity within the report.

Cole started against the Rays on Friday and, as protocol, did not address the media before the game. McHugh, the team's player representative to the MLBPA and a two-time victor in arbitration cases against the Astros, did. He termed the tactic "embarrassing."

On TXSN: Collin McHugh calls arbitration belt 'embarrassing'

"We understand business, but if you were looking for a way to antagonize players, this would be a great way to do it," Cole told The Chronicle on Saturday. "If it's not intentional, it certainly is a pretty fascinating move by them because I don't think there's one player in this room that's worked hard for his salary through arbitration or gone through the process and taken it seriously like I have or Collin has that really wants to kind of be treated with a lack of respect."

Cole defeated the Astros in an arbitration hearing this offseason. His $13.1 million salary was the largest ever awarded from a hearing.

On the same day Cole won his case, Indians ace Trevor Bauer and Reds pitcher Alex Wood also emerged victorious. All three men won salaries greater than $9.5 million. At the time of his victory, Cole lauded the "artificial ceiling" the players broke through. His outcome, he said, was a "win for the players in general."

Now comes the revelation that teams were given rewards for keeping salaries as low as possible.

"Apparently they're really looking to save a dime through arbitration, so I hope more players go to court, saddle up and if their agent is not telling them to go to court, well talk to the union," Cole said. "Lean on the union, use the union and start to push back. I don't see why we can't galvanize against this kind of thought process from MLB right now. We have a lot of good players in the system who can push the ceiling forward for years to come."

The tactic seems to have further frayed an already contentious labor relationship between players and the league that this winter's free agent stagnation escalated. Cole claimed there seems to be a "mindset" among owners and the league that he hopes the players can "clean up" before a new round of collective bargaining negotiations in 2021.

"They're not valuing the intangibles veterans bring to the clubhouse because you can't put an analytic number on it," Cole said. "There's no WAR for being a good teammate, so apparently that means older guys can't get paid. Now, they're making a mockery of a system we bargained over and that players feel like they can fight for their right to get fair compensation. It seems like it's just a big joke to them."

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