Is this a weird offseason for baseball in general, or will it still turn out normal?

[Bellhorn04]

I posted this a little while ago: this offseason has basically been Crickets/Ohtani/Crickets/Yamamoto/Crickets. I think that's still the case.

So what the hell is going on? Why aren't the following guys signed or even rumored to be signing:

Snell
Montgomery
Stroman
Bellinger
Chapman

And plenty more.

The Dodgers have gone apeshit but most teams have been relatively quiet-including the hometown team, needless to say!

Some guys have gotten more than projected and some less than projected.

A lot of guys have gotten nothing yet.

I saw one comment that owners might be spooked about the future of certain revenue sources due to the collapse of RSN (to be honest I understand very little about this.)

The atrocious World Series ratings might have raised some concerns too.

[notin]

In Chicago, some Cubs fans are growing impatient.

The Cubs have not added a single player via trade or MLB contract. (And only 4 players to minor league deals.) Not one. It has been so bad, my Diehard Cubbie Blue daughter got elated when the team signed Colten Brewer to a minor league deal last week. Colten Brewer!

This is a team that didn’t get eliminated until game 161!!

[moonslav59]

So what the hell is going on? Why aren't the following guys signed or even rumored to be signing:

Snell
Montgomery
Stroman
Bellinger
Chapman

The Sox optimist might say, "They are waiting for the Sox to 'clear up salary space,' before signing with us.

The Sox pessimist might say, "They are holding out for absurd amounts of money way out of our price range."

[notin]

I think there is a lot of “let’s wait and see what X gets and base our demands on that.”

The problem is we have Montgomery’s camp saying “let’s see what Snell gets” and Snell’s camp plotting by waiting to see what Montgomery gets. This issue gets compounded even more once you realize Montgomery and Snell both have the same agent.

Conclusion: I don’t blame much of anything on Scott Boras. But slow offseasons are clearly his fault…

[jacksonianmarch]

This is going to be the new norm. Negotiation works the best when there is a timeline. Spring training is still a ways away

[moonslav59]

Here is another Mazz video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLu-CwXTioA

(The team was bought for $750M in 2001-2002, including the park and cable network. It's worth over $4.5B, now. They could have signed Yamamoto.)

[dgalehouse]

A slow start to the off season is becoming more common. And fans do not have a ton of patience. I would expect things to heat up soon, although some of the more marginal guys could be left twisting in the wind for at least a while longer.

[Dipre]

Here is another Mazz video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLu-CwXTioA

(The team was bought for $750M in 2001-2002, including the park and cable network. It's worth over $4.5B, now. They could have signed Yamamoto.)

What if Yamamoto simply didn't want to come here?

[moonslav59]

What if Yamamoto simply didn't want to come here?

That very well could be true, but no leak of an offer made makes me (and Mazz) think we were not near what it would take.

Maybe $350M doesn't do it.

$350 would likely get us Teoscar, Gray and Monty, though.
$75M Gray
$200M Monty
$75M Teoscar

Of course, the AAV would be out of our range for 3 years.

[Dipre]

Mazz is the inspiration for your thought process? Ok.

[mvp 78]

That very well could be true, but no leak of an offer made makes me (and Mazz) think we were not near what it would take.

Maybe $350M doesn't do it.

$350 would likely get us Teoscar, Gray and Monty, though.
$75M Gray
$200M Monty
$75M Teoscar

Of course, the AAV would be out of our range for 3 years.

If they offered 350, Dodgers would have matched it. Frankly, the Sox weren't serious about him and the Sox haven't been serious about spending money in a few years.

[moonslav59]

Mazz is the inspiration for your thought process? Ok.

Who are you referring to?

[mvp 78]

No, it's a weird freakin' offseason! (Originally penned by moon after the Sale trade from CHW.)

Rosenthal wrote an article that can be summed up: the risk that owners run into when they extend young talent is that they can turn into Wander Franco!

[notin]

No, it's a weird freakin' offseason! (Originally penned by moon after the Sale trade from CHW.)

Rosenthal wrote an article that can be summed up: the risk that owners run into when they extend young talent is that they can turn into Wander Franco!

One might think teams would have clauses in their contracts that say “by the way, if you go to jail or get kicked out of the league, we stop paying you!! Like, that day, dude!!”

If so, in some cases teams might fear those deals because they think the player WON’T turn into Wander Franco…

[Bellhorn04]

February 1, and Boras's Fearsome Foursome are still unsigned.