Olney: Hitters who can't beat the heat getting left behind

HOUSTON -- There is lingering anger within the union about so many veteran players being bypassed in last winter’s free-agent market. Matt Holliday has 314 career homers with a lifetime .889 OPS, and he is unsigned. So is Jayson Werth, who had 10 homers in 70 games for the Nationals last season. Mark Reynolds, 34, bashed 30 homers for the Rockies last year but says the only offers he got during the winter were minor league deals. When Washington pitched him a proposal in early April, he figured he had reached a now-or-never crossroad, so he took it.

Some players believe strongly some of the established players were bypassed because of financial reasons, with clubs preferring the younger,…