The slow market around Harper this offseason may be holding up other deals across the leagueGETTY IMAGES
The general thought about last winter's MLB free agent market was "not so much a market correction as it was a statement about the free agent class in general," but the second straight offseason of slow movement shows it "really was the former, especially in regard to the over-30 free agents," according to Bill Madden of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Signings are "proceeding at a glacial pace," with 124 of the original 164 players to "hit the marketplace this winter still un-signed, as well as 30-40 more in non-tenders and released players." The new CBA is "acting like a cap, especially for the usual suspect big spenders like the Yankees and Dodgers." Contracts of more than three years are now "becoming a rarity" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/6). One AL exec said the free agent market seen the last two years has "become the new normal." The exec: "The fact that we'll have free agency into February and sometimes into March, is just ridiculous. It shouldn't take that long to figure things out. I'm not blaming one side or the other, but the current situation doesn't make any sense to me." One agent said he believes the "reliance on analytics to identify players for each respective team has slowed down the process" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/6).
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: ESPN.com's Buster Olney looked into the future and predicted without "substantive changes," the number of free agents over the next few offseasons will "grow, swollen by the staggering number forced to take one-year and minor league deals, and the conditions will worsen." The "only chance the circumstances will shift in the next couple of years -- the only way the next generation of free agents will have a shot at improved conditions -- is through dialogue and negotiation." There is "no getting around" the fact that MLBPA Exec Dir Tony Clark's "approach in the last round of collective bargaining -- to wait until the last days and hours of talks to seriously negotiate with MLB -- was a disaster for the union." Clark and the players' exec committee "possess real points of leverage to explore right now with management." MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred "would like the players to help him create a product attractive to the youngest demographics of fans." Clark "could sit down every week with Manfred & Co. in the months to come and follow up on MLB's offer to hammer out an extension" of the current CBA, with "improved conditions for the players." If at the end of those talks the union is "dissatisfied, Clark could just walk away without new deals and be no worse off than he and players are today" (ESPN.com, 1/6).
WHAT'S THE HOLD UP? In L.A., Dylan Hernandez wrote there "shouldn't be any questions about whether the Dodgers are pursuing" free agent RF Bryce Harper. Hernandez: "They absolutely should be." Anything less would be an "insult [to] the fans who have made the Dodgers the major league leaders in home attendance in each of the last six years." The fans have "tolerated escalating ticket prices." Many of them "can’t watch the team on television because of the broadcasting deal that guaranteed the franchise" more than $8B. Meanwhile, the slow-moving markets for Harper and free agent SS Manny Machado are "further evidence the teams are beating the players" in the PR arena. Teams have "convinced their fans that players rarely live up to long-term contracts." The degree to which the Dodgers pursue Harper will "say a lot about where they are headed as a franchise." Dodgers fans have "behaved like fans in a major market," and now the franchise has to "behave like it's from one, too" (L.A. TIMES, 1/6).
