MLB last month proposed a deadline in free agency for any player signing a multiyear deal, but the deal was a "non-starter" for the MLBPA, according to Evan Drellich of THE ATHLETIC. The union cited an "impact on leverage and ultimately, salaries," for not agreeing to such a deal. No deadline "exists presently, contributing to an environment where negotiations between teams and high-profile players have dragged into spring training and the regular season." Sources said that the deadline "would have been for the end of this year's Winter Meetings, which are scheduled from Dec. 8-12 in San Diego." MLB had a "willingness to try the system on a one-year basis only." However, the union "saw a downside" of the deadline potentially creating take-it-or-leave-it propositions and a "game of musical chairs forcing players into lesser deals." MLB was "trying to position this change" as something that would not impact "economic standing, merely timing." The union "did not buy that vision" (THEATHLETIC.com, 10/31).
CHANGE NEEDED: In Chicago, Paul Sullivan wrote MLB's "long, dull free-agent season is a turnoff" to potential fans. The free-agent signing periods for both the NBA and NFL "thrive on constant speculation followed by a burst of big personnel moves." That creates "media and fan interest in almost every market." By comparison, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, the two biggest free agents during the '18-19 MLB offseason, did not sign until Spring Training was underway. The MLB Winter Meetings "once were a much-anticipated swap-o-rama, but now free agency starts slowly and grinds to a near halt in the dead of winter" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/31).
