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Trading major-league players used to be as simple as trading baseball cards. But not since the 1976 advent of free agency, which gave players the right to relocate on their own after putting in six years of service time. The era of free agency also allowed teams to hoard rather than swap their stars, both at the July 31 trading deadline, during the baseball winter meetings, or beyond. The late Harry Dalton, who served several teams as general manager, put it best. “Before, all you did was trade a service contract, usually an obligation for one year,” he said. “There were few, if any, other restrictions. “Now you have long-term guaranteed financial commitments, in some cases for four or five years,
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