No doubt about that. As a fan I loved the game more when the players were playing for their jobs and salaries each year. As a player, I would love long-term contracts. So what was good for the players was,imho, bad for the fans.
Back in the days before long-term contracts, when most players were on one-year contracts, baseball was a much meaner and brutal game. Not a whole lot of fraternizing with the opposition. I still never understood throwing at the batter who happened to be batting after the guy who hit the dinger.
It's ironic that about 6 years ago Richards was one of the best pitchers in the game until he severely injured his leg covering 1st base here at Fenway.