Frazier's deal is a discount that other mid-market free agents may settle for as Spring Training approachesGETTY IMAGES
The Mets signing 3B Todd Frazier to a two-year, $17M deal, is "not the icebreaking move that the frozen free agent market so desperately needs, but it may be a sign of things to come this month," according to Jay Jaffe of SI.com. From the standpoint of Frazier, this is a "steep discount that many other mid-market free agents may settle for as spring training approaches" (SI.com, 2/5). In Boston, Nick Cafardo writes, "Forget this stuff about collusion by the owners." MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and his staff "simply smoked" MLBPA Exec Dir Tony Clark and his union team in the CBA negotiations. It is "that simple." Owners are "taking advantage of their obvious and decisive win in negotiations." Clark and the players have "nobody to blame but themselves." They allowed owners who are "making record profits to have a built-in excuse to limit lucrative, long-term contracts." The luxury tax penalties are "so harsh that teams are now 'resetting' their payrolls so they don’t eclipse the threshold and face loss of international money and draft picks." There will be "many bargains by the time this free agent flurry ends between now and the end of spring training." What is left is a "bunch of very good players who are left out in the cold." Some of them will get their "fair share." Some will get "market contracts, but it seems the owners are finally going to get what they’ve always wanted -- the ability to limit long-term contracts to a chosen few, elite players." Cafardo: "And no, that’s not collusion. That’s just beating up the players at the negotiating table" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/6). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Jared Diamond writes the tension between players and owners "threatens to derail nearly a quarter-century of growth and prosperity" for MLB. But whatever the case, the players "seem ready for a struggle, even while hoping next year rights the ship," with players like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado hitting the market (WSJ.com, 2/6).
YOU CAN'T HAVE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER: In Chicago, Barry Rozner notes pace of play is "all the rage and Manfred is convinced that young people will be more interested in it if the game is played at a modern stride and by shaving a few minutes off the average." The problem is, "you can't have it both ways." The trend is toward "more relievers per game, not fewer, so unless you're going to legislate pitching changes, games will get longer." Rozner: "You want to tell general managers they can't use four relievers a game, or five or six or seven in a postseason game?" (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 2/6).
