The current lack of free agent signings in MLB "represents a reckoning long in the making -- one that marries shifting power in labor relations, the emergence of analytics and cookie-cutter front offices, and the willingness of teams to treat competitiveness as an option, not a priority," according to Jeff Passan of YAHOO SPORTS. These factors combined "pose the greatest threat to a quarter century of labor peace" and have top execs "asking whether a game-changing overhaul in how baseball operates isn't just necessary but inevitable." One union official said, "I'm just not sure that the structure that's been in place for all of these years makes sense anymore." Passan noted teams that "pare back on spending or simply commit to losing justify it" by pointing to the Cubs and Astros, the last two World Series champions. A union official said, "There's less interest in winning than I've ever witnessed before. MLB has done a fantastic job of convincing the public that's OK." Tearing down to build up is a "business model," and efforts to "discourage it in the basic agreement ... had little effect." Players' "best years come in their 20s." Most free agents, then, are "asking teams to guarantee them large sums of money for multiple years based on the performance of years they're statistically unlikely to repeat." Teams have "almost destroyed baseball's so-called middle class of veteran non-stars." They "prefer scouring the trade market." One of the best free agents available this offseason recently said that he was "preparing to sit out until the middle of the season." He "worried he was going to need an external force to compel teams to pay him what his numbers say he's worth." Passan: "Maybe it would take a playoff race" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/16).
GEARING UP FOR NEXT YEAR? In Chicago, Paul Sullivan writes this offseason has been the "winter of our discontent, with relatively few free-agent signings and only a handful of big-name players on the move." About 130 or so free agents "remain unsigned, which should lead to a mad scramble once camps open." Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein said, "I'm done predicting this winter. It has kind of taken on a life of its own." Sullivan: "If the money faucet is turned off this year, why would anyone think it automatically gets turned back on again next winter, when the luxury tax still will be in play for many contenders with massive payrolls?" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/17). Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski said of the uniqueness of this offseason, "I've never seen a market go this slow, really. It's been a situation where, normally, you get to this time period and your club is pretty well set. You get back from the holidays and you're talking about spring training" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/17).
