Teams relying on analytics do not believe 10-year deals, even for a player like Harper, are valuableGETTY IMAGES
Free agents Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are among the top players who remain unsigned with Spring Training two weeks away, and Astros Owner Jim Crane said that the numbers "don't support the kind of lengthy deals superstars are looking for" that were commonplace in previous offseasons, according to Anthony Barstow of the N.Y. POST. Crane: "Teams are very focused on value, and some of the deals that have been thrown out with Harper and Machado I think are long-term deals. I don't think that you'll see too many more 10-year deals in this business anymore because the analytics are so good and a lot of those deals never work." Crane added the current free agent market is a "little bottled up" with Harper and Machado still without deals, but "things will break loose." Crane: "It's very similar to last year" (N.Y. POST, 1/27). However, YAHOO SPORTS' Chris Cwik disagreed with Crane's assertion, and wrote there is a "difference between 'focusing on value' and ignoring clear upgrades on the market." Ten-year deals are a "risk, no one is arguing that." But if teams are "going to hand out a 10-year deal to any player, Harper and Machado check those boxes." Crane's comments "seem to be the norm among owners right now" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/26). In DC, Thomas Boswell wrote, "What you hear all over baseball is the sound of one hand clapping as owners backslap each other quietly for their marvelous miracle of salary subtraction." Suspicion of "uncompetitive or anti-competitive behavior could smear the game." How has this "decimation of baseball salary expectations been accomplished?" Boswell: "We will find out, somehow, someway, some day" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/26).
SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE: In Boston, Nick Cafardo wondered if the union will take "major action to protest what it feels is unfair labor practices by the owners." There already are "some discussions on the player side on things they could do to get the owners' attention." One suggestion was a "spring training boycott" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/27). Pirates P Jameson Taillon, the team's MLBPA player rep, said the game is "built on free agency, and if these guys aren't getting rewarded, something has to change." Taillon: "No one is going to sympathize with baseball players making millions of dollars. But the owners are making money too, and they're making way more than we are" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 1/27). Astros P Justin Verlander said the "biggest detriment to our game right now is the non-competitiveness of two-thirds of the league." Verlander: "That's why you're seeing free agents not get signed" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/27).
NEW NORMAL: ESPN.com's Jeff Passan wrote the "free-agent freeze of the past two offseasons is seemingly the new normal." Of the 83 players signed this winter, only 30 have "received multiple guaranteed years, and of those 30, 20 of the deals span just two seasons." Even if Machado and Harper do end up with the $300M-plus deals once believed to be the starting point, it "doesn't change the collapse of the market for 30-something players, the cold, calculated approach teams have embraced and the players' inability to effectively counter the degradation of their most prized possession, free agency." Passan: "Nothing is changing. Not now. Not anytime soon. The new normal is here to stay" (ESPN.com, 1/25).
AGENT OF CHANGE: Baseball HOFer Dale Murphy in a special to THE ATHLETIC wrote he does not think owners "are colluding, but I do believe they're being short-sighted, and, perhaps, a little greedy." The numbers back that notion, as players are "receiving a smaller percentage of league revenue." Among the changes Murphy wants to see under the next CBA is the introduction of a "spending floor." He also wants to see the league "reinvent free agency." Murphy: "What if owners had to operate within a tiny free-agent window? What if they had to make all of their offseason moves in one week?" Another would be to "change the draft order." His last suggestion would give fans a reprieve, noting that if a team has been "eliminated from the playoffs -- or is, say, at least 15 games out after Aug. 1 -- owners should cut ticket prices" (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/25).
