With just under a month to go until Spring Training, many former and potential Houston Astros still aren’t getting signed and leaving us to wonder why.
Football is winding down, and baseball season is on the horizon. For many of us fans, it is right up there with Christmas as the proverbial “most wonderful time of the year.” However, the latest dying down of signings on the free agent market is also making it a very confusing time of the year and theHouston Astrosaren’t exempt.
On the one hand, you have former playersDallas Keuchel,Marwin GonzalezandEvan Gattisstill without a team as of this writing. True, all three did have somewhat down years in 2018. Nevertheless, all three still have a lot of talent left in them. Especially, when looking at the stats on each player.
Additionally, players from other teams on the free agent market still are without teams. This includes superstarsBryce HarperandManny Machado. The rumor mill continues swirling as to where certain players will end up, but hardly anything has been made concrete yet.
So what is with this freeze? Personally, I have two theories for this:
1. The Boras Factor
Back last year,I wrote a pieceon how notorious MLB agent, Scott Boras could complicate things for the free agent market going forward. So far, this appears to be holding water. Two former Astros in Keuchel and Gonzalez are both new clients of his.
There is the real possibility that he is negotiating figures that are well beyond what any one organization in the league is willing to pay for any one particular player. In light of that, ball club owners will be left with sour tastes in their mouths for talent that is just waiting to have a new home.
Frankly, that works against a player’s favor.
2. The Lap of Luxury
Another thing that could be keeping these players from getting signed is something known as the “competitive balance tax,” or the league’s version of a luxury tax. The Wall Street Journal hasrecently reportedthat this could be used by league owners has somewhat of an unofficial salary cap.
Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle has evengiven evidenceto show of a broken market system. He theorizes that the sport itself may be becoming “too smart for its own good.” Problematic for all those involved.
So for the most coveted players on the market right now, Machado and Harper, they may not be able to get those near nine-figure salaries from storied franchises like the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox. Unsurprisingly, the same goes for all other players out there trying to get that next big payday.
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Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to their respective camps soon. Those still looking for a new team, or to get back with their old ones from 2018, will certainly want to be a part of that. The only remaining question is how agents and owners will factor into the collective and individual futures of these players.
Unfortunately, there is no one answer for when signings will pick up. There is a similar err in this free agent market freeze to a certain other institution in our country right now. I’ll leave it at that, at the risk of causing any kind of controversy.
For now, though, we once again play the waiting game. Former members of theHouston Astrosare still seeking homes and theHouston Astrosstill have some holes to fill. Last year, a lot of names lasted into Spring Training, hopefully, for the Astros, past and current, that isn’t the case.
With all of the former and potentialHouston Astrosout there, where do you think the former Astros will go? Who do you think will escape the freeze and make Houston their new home?
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