That group doesn’t merely include players who filed for free agency in November. How is that possible? Let’s lay out the math.įangraphs’ Roster Resource free-agent tracker lists 199 major-league players as still unsigned. All a big transactions alert waiting to make your phone rattle 30 seconds after the lockout ends.īut beyond them, the list of out of-work baseball players might outnumber the crowd for a Marlins-Pirates game on some nights. And by that, we mean all of this … Free agent free-for-allĮverybody’s All-Unemployed Team begins with the stars: Freddie Freeman! Carlos Correa! Trevor Story! Kris Bryant! Clayton Kershaw! All unsigned. Some were reluctant to speak at all, even on background, about many of these subjects.īut by piecing together these conversations, we now have the full, staggering picture of what lurks over the horizon. Lockout protocol dictates that none of them could be quoted in this story, at least by name. To try to get a sense of the scope of this 78-ring spring-training circus, The Athletic touched base with more than a dozen people from all walks of the baseball business. … But the minute this thing ends, don’t even think about me for two weeks.’” “I’ve said, ‘Listen, until this starts, I’ll be home. “I’m trying to prepare my wife,” said an official of one club. … “Bananas,” muttered another official.Īnd you know what will make it even more bananas? It’s that right now, the entire sport is so deceptively quiet, as everyone waits for the lockout gridlock to unclog. … “Unique,” said Royals All-Star Whit Merrifield. We’re talking Park Tank meets Extreme Infield Makeover, with a special appearance by the casts of The Real Grounds Crews of Florida and Arizona. There will be much, much more to deal with, all stuffed into what figures to be a four-week reality-show-esque frenzy. All accompanied by the ohbytheway sights and sounds of spring training itself, which is bound to make us ask, at some point: Has a guy ever been traded in the middle of a cutoff-and-relay drill?Īnd those are merely the highlights.A little bonus Aaron Judge/ Shohei Ohtani/Jacob deGrom extension drama.New managers and coaches trying to connect, teach, establish team culture and make an impact - on fast-forward time. ![]() ![]() Dozens of injured players trying to push themselves back to health and onto rosters.A slew of arbitration-eligible players who need to work out contracts, file arbitration numbers, possibly even go to a hearing, all in this same window, while teams begin to wonder if they’ll even know their payroll on Opening Day.Trades that never got done this winter, erupting at any moment.Hundreds of free agents trying to get signed as soon as possible, all at the same time.It will be more like The Wildest Spring Training Ever. This won’t just be “spring training,” as we all know and love it.
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