The Super Bowl is over (thank God). Pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training in about a week. This is an exciting time of the year.”! There’s just one problem though. There are still over 100 free agents yet to be signed. The list includes some of the best players available, such as Dallas Keuchel, Craig Kimbrel, Manny Machado and Bryce Harper. This free agent class had been touted for years as potentially one of the best groups of free agents to be available, yet now that the time has come, no one is signing them. Why is that?
This isn’t completely new. Last year’s free agent class moved very slowly as well, with many players not signing until Spring Training had begun or the season had started. Albeit that group was not nearly as good as the collection of free agents this year. One reason mentioned for last year’s offseason moving so slowly was that teams did not want to play players for past production. The logic being players perform well, reach free agency and then are paid for how they had previously done. But by the time many players reach free agency, they are one the second half of their career and their upcoming years might not be as productive as the previous ones. However, in order to sign these players, teams generally have to pay them more than their earlier years. That had been the accepted norm for years. Lately teams have not been wanting to offer those contracts and the result is a stalemate between teams and players (or owners vs. agents). This seems to be the case for Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel. Both are in their 30’s and teams appear to be worried about being on the hook for a bad contract if these players’ perfermance decreases.
In the past decade, there have been some bad, long-term contracts given to players. Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera were two of the best players of this generation. Both were given contracts that could last through their age 42 seasons. Now age has caught up to the two of them and they are not nearly the players they used to be. This leaves their teams with those huge contracts and a lack of monetary flexibility to sign. It is believed Harper and Machado are looking for 10 year deals like the one Pujols signed and that teams are gun shy about offering those deals now because of how the previously mentioned contracts have turned out. This may very well may be the case but personally I don’t think that logict makes sense. Harper and Machado are both 26, and therefore, a 10-year contract for them would end when they are 36. Most of these superstars who sign long term contacts are still productive at that age. It is typically in their late 30s when they tend to deteriorate. Harper and Machado are young enough to make it though that contract with solid productivity.
Another potential factor for the slow offseason is the potential for a work stoppage/strike in a couple years. The collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball and the Player’s Association will expire after the 2021 season. This current conflict between teams and players about contracts could play a major factor in new agreement being completed. With that potential strike looming, there is a theory teams are leery about having those huge contracts on the books. If there is a strike, it could take a while for fans to start coming back to games in the same numbers once baseball resumes. In the meantime, teams would not have the same income to which they have been accustomed but would still have to be paying those contracts.
In the meantime, until this is all figured out, baseball is still looming, players are still unsigned and fans are increasingly frustrated.
No comments:
Post a Comment