The MLB Offseason Has Officially Been Ruined

Credit: Keith Allison/Flickr

With pitchers and catchers starting to report for Spring Training, the 2019 MLB season is officially under way. In case you haven’t been following the offseason, the two biggest names in Free Agency still aren’t under contract and many others haven’t signed either. Why is the MLB offseason like this now? Seriously, why are the top free agents the last ones to sign? In all of the other major sports, the best talent is usually off of the board first. This can be attributed to a salary cap, but the luxury tax acts as a similar standard for an even playing field. Is this the new standard in the MLB Offseason? If so, I am not interested. 

This offseason has been one of the biggest letdowns for baseball fans in recent memory. Last week there were talks of bringing a new Universal DH rule and possibly making pitchers throw to at least three batters per appearance, but why is nobody in the MLB Front Office discussing the boring offseason? I feel like it is a hot-button topic that has many fans concerned. Who does the blame lie squarely on in this ordeal? I feel like a lot of it can be blamed on the teams that are potential suitors. They have the final say if a player is signed, but agents can be blamed as well, because their client is always their main concern and if they feel like they can get their player more money, they’re going to do so. This season, the cat-and-mouse game has been more eye-catching and it needs to stop. I obviously can’t speak for every fan, but I feel like this has just gone too far. There need to be measures in place to make sure this doesn’t happen anymore. I don’t think a salary cap is the answer, but it is an answer. I think there are other solutions that can be tried. There are already many deadlines in place for arbitration, non-tender, Rule 5, etc., so a hard deadline wouldn’t be a fix either. 

At this point, I don’t think Harper or Machado are going to get as much money as they originally planned, but I could be wrong about that. Both players are top-level talent and should be on teams before February. I could understand if both players were 35 years old, but both players are only 26. Both players are reportedly looking for long term contracts in the 7-10-year range, but why is that necessary? Opportunity for maximizing on their current value is the only reason. In 10 years, will either player be worth the amount of money they will be receiving? Highly unlikely, but if they can lock themselves into a deal until they’re 36 years old and still be paid like a player that is entering his prime, why wouldn’t they try? This is a very reasonable approach that has been successful for players for a long time, but the system is currently broken and offseason needs to be fixed. There is no reason that Harper, Machado, Kimbrel, Keuchel, and others should not be on a roster at the moment. I don’t know what needs to happen, but MLB fans deserve better. 

Yacs

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