Major League Baseball has a problem.
Spring training is underway and several top free agents have yet to sign. Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Chapman and J.D. Martinez are still on the market. Cody Bellinger reportedly wanted over $200 million in his next contract, but instead he signed a three-year deal worth $80 million early Sunday morning to return to the Cubs. Snell and Martinez are known to have received exactly one offer each. The common denominator is that Scott Boras represents all of these players.
The continued delays in signing these players have not gone unnoticed. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported that commissioner Rob Manfred wants a free agent signing period, preferably in December. It is not a surprise that the MLBPA shut that idea down quickly.
Manfred’s position is understandable, as the free-agency periods for leagues like the NBA and NFL produce a burst of activity that captivates fans and dominates news cycles. The slow burn of baseball free agency fails to generate as much offseason hype for the league.
A signing period is an overreaction to that small list of available players. Shohei Ohtani, arguably the biggest free agent that the game has ever seen, signed on December 9. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, possibly the best pure pitcher in free agency, signed on December 21. Most of the top players had already signed by the time spring training began. The problem comes from a select few players represented by a specific agency.
Boras does not always hold out until the last moment. Clients such as Xander Bogaerts, Brandon Nimmo and Corey Seager signed early in the offseason when they were available. However, teams are also smartening up to his tactics. Bob Nightengale from USA Today notes that teams have come to realize that there are no mystery teams and it would be silly to bid against themselves.
