The lockout has ended. Over and done with. On to the next one, as Jay-Z would say. So where are all the signings we were promised?
MLB lifted its transaction freeze (which had been in effect since early December) at approximately 7 PM ET Thursday night, clearing the deck for any remaining free agents—Clayton Kershaw and Freddie Freeman among them—to sign contracts. Most anticipated a flurry of activity with free agents signing left and right, but, surprisingly, that has not been the case.
In the hours since baseball made its triumphant return to our lives, undoing months of frustration and amid a bitter labor dispute that many felt could have been avoided, it’s been a slow burn with precious little to report on the transaction front. Those crickets should give way soon enough as players take a moment to get their bearings, surveying the landscape before getting into bed with new teams. The market is flush with talent, an embarrassment of riches with All-Stars Trevor Story, Carlos Correa and Nicholas Castellanos (“a drive into deep left field”) all ripe for the picking.
Eno Sarris of The Athletic wondered aloud if players are waiting for the first domino to fall, content to play an orchestrated game of free-agent chicken as not to incriminate themselves, fearing that signing too early could imply they were talking to teams during the lockout (which would obviously be a violation of league rules).
Then again, career-altering decisions like these shouldn’t be made in haste. The free-agent fireworks are coming, it’s just a matter of when. In the meantime, we’ll continue to obsessively refresh Twitter, waiting for the inevitable stampede of signings that should be right around the corner.
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