As the calendar officially turned to February, there remains a plethora of unsigned free agents as time dwindles down to Spring Training beginning. The list includes former Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta, 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers midseason acquisition Yu Darvish and Eric Hosmer.
Though the offseason has nearly come to a close, there is no timetable on when any of the aforementioned players may sign. The lack of signings stems from the desire of clubs attempting to stay beneath the luxury tax threshold of $197 million.
There may also be a preference for teams to spend more money next offseason, when the likes of Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw and Manny Machado could test the open market. The developments are in stark contrast to last winter, when Kenley Jansen was among those to cash in.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t pay attention a lot on that,” Jansen said of this offseason’s slow free agency.
He then had pointed remarks that suggested at labor unrest that has since bubbled to the surface.
“To me, it’s just I have my personal thoughts that I have about the market. Maybe, for me to address that to the union and we’ll see how that goes,” Jansen said.
“That’s all the information I can give you. I’m aware of what’s going on and maybe we should make a few adjustments with the union and see what’s going to happen.”
Jansen further suggested that players go on a strike, as long as teams sit out the free market market with a clear intention of losing as many games as possible.
“There is a thing we might have to address, so we don’t have a lot of Miami Marlins doing this. Maybe it’s an adjustment for us, as a players’ union to maybe have to go to strike to be honest with you,” he said.
“That’s how I feel about it. I can say it about me, maybe we should go to strike to fix that. Maybe not, but I think as a thing that maybe we address that to the union.”
Sooner or later, the congested free agent market figures to gain some clarity. But until then, hundreds of players will remain in limbo without any idea of where they’ll be playing in 2018.
