With Spring Training just around the corner, we will soon look back at the winter of free-agent signings and blockbuster trades and try to assess which teams have added the most talent for the 2019 season.
"Winning the offseason," per se, has its perks: By adding exciting new players, a team's fanbase can start to visualize a triumphant march towards the postseason and beyond. With that excitement, however, can come sky-high expectations that can be difficult to match in short order.
How often does dominating the Hot Stove actually work out for teams?
MLB has seen some downright wild free agency roller coasters in its history, from Catfish Hunter's 30-team bidding war to Alex Rodriguez's $252 million game-changer to Greg Maddux rebuffing a full-court press from George Steinbrenner because the Braves "offered him the most substantial degree of assurity of taking the World Series" (no, really).
But in decades of dramatic deals, only one has featured fistfights, cash flying under the table and a hearing in front of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania -- so pull up a chair and discover how Nap Lajoie (very briefly) became a Philadelphia Athletic in the craziest free agent story in baseball history.
MLB has seen some downright wild free agency roller coasters in its history, from Catfish Hunter's 30-team bidding war to Alex Rodriguez's $252 million game-changer to Greg Maddux rebuffing a full-court press from George Steinbrenner because the Braves "offered him the most substantial degree of assurity of taking the World Series" (no, really).
But in decades of dramatic deals, only one has featured fistfights, cash flying under the table and a hearing in front of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania -- so pull up a chair and discover how Nap Lajoie (very briefly) became a Philadelphia Athletic in the craziest free agent story in baseball history.
This was an interesting read; there is a lot more detail on the article than just the list that I have quoted below; so I would highly recommend following the link and giving the article a complete read.
1. Teams have a great deal of guaranteed revenues
2. More teams are tanking
3. The competitive balance tax (or luxury tax) functions like a salary cap
4. Front offices value older players much less than they once did
5. The MLBPA failed to address this trend in the last CBA
6. Ownership collusion could be a possible factor
7. Early extensions have thinned the crop of available free agents