From Hoboken, N.J. to Hokkaido and thousands of far-flung locales in between, there are few issues as contentious and complicated as player contracts in professional sports.
How a pro league strikes a proper balance between management's plan to build a winning, profitable team and a player's right to make a decent living is never an easy task.
And, really, it's never a done deal. For better or for worse, agreements will be altered in ways that defy logic, promises will be broken and relationships will be damaged. That's the nature of the beast.