WAITING GAME
BASEBALL has a pace problem. Sure, there's the time between pitches and the lack of balls in play, but in the dark days of the offseason, we have a more immediate concern: the Hot Stove has gone cold. Player movement is slower than Pedro Báez with a man on base.
With six weeks until spring training, no player had signed a major league deal of longer than three years. There are many reasons for this inaction: this particular class of free agents is uninspiring; last winter's collective bargaining agreement instituted stiffer penalties for teams that exceed the luxury-tax threshold; and GMs are waiting out agents in the hope of finding bargains.
But most of all, next year's class looks historically tempting: Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson and Charlie Blackmon will hit the market at 33 or younger, and Clayton Kershaw, the best pitcher of his generation, can opt out of his deal. No team wants to spend now, incur luxury-tax penalties and take itself out of the market. Teams are pursuing the players they actually care about: the ones available next year.
2017--18 FREE AGENTS
J.D. MARTINEZ OF AGE 30
ERIC HOSMER 1B AGE 28
LORENZO CAIN OF AGE 31
MIKE MOUSTAKAS 3B AGE 29
JONATHAN LUCROY C AGE 31
2018--19 FREE AGENTS
BRYCE HARPER OF AGE 25
MANNY MACHADO 3B AGE 25
JOSH DONALDSON 3B AGE 32
CHARLIE BLACKMON OF AGE 31
ANDREW MCCUTCHEN OF AGE 31
0
7
4
7
4
CAREER MVPS
ALL-STAR APPEARANCES
30-HOMER SEASONS
SEASONS SLUGGING OVER .500
SEASONS WITH 5+ WINS ABOVE REPLACEMENT
3
18
9
12
13