With Marcell Ozuna still unsigned, Atlanta fans haven’t gotten much free agent news since Charlie Morton signed with the team way back on November 24th. This isn’t a knock on Alex Anthopoulos; he has done a fantastic job staying patient and making smart decisions. He doesn’t let much leak to the media, which is perfectly okay with me even though it makes our jobs a lot harder.
My beef is mainly with the process as a whole. Even more than usual due to COVID-19, MLB owners are once again crying poor. Before George Springer was signed yesterday, most of the top names were still available. This has happened for years now, guys like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado didn’t sign for months after free agency began. Atlanta even scooped Dallas Keuchel during the first few months of the 2019 season, and Craig Kimbrel signed around the same time.
Obviously, there is some disconnect regarding money, even before the shortened season was announced. Scott Boras undoubtedly plays into this, and while I used to think he was the problem, I’ve changed my tune on that. He’s doing his job, and he does it well — his guys get paid.
While that can have undesirable consequences, such as raised ticket prices, I’m not here to mediate a fight between millionaires and billionaires. Clint had a great breakdown of how bad revenue had gotten with no fans, but even then, Atlanta can still afford to dish out a contract to Marcell Ozuna.
In the end, it’s not even Ozuna. Trevor Bauer is unsigned. JT Realmuto is still unsigned. I understand the process is delicate, and it is best to make well-thought-out decisions; it just sucks as a baseball fan watching the days go by with nothing to get excited about at this time every year.
You must log in to post a comment.