MLB Free Agency enters lightning round

With the late and sudden announcement that MLB and the players association had come to an agreement last Thursday, the off-season trading entered a sort of lightning round. With all trading negotiations suspended while the CBA was being debated, the four-month cycle of trades was suddenly reduced to three weeks. And like a water hose that has been pinched off, the spray when it is released is fast and furious.

Several deals have already been reached which, under normal circumstances, one would expect to have been debated further. Clayton Kershaw had strong interest around the league, particularly from the Texas Rangers, and it came as something of a surprise when, after less than a day of free-agency, the Dodgers offered and Kershaw signed a one-year, $17 million deal. No low-balling by LA, no testing the market for more money or a longer contract by Kershaw. It is both refreshing and disconcerting at the same time.

Texas Rangers Gold Glove shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa has had a head-spinning weekend with a flurry of trades. On Friday, he was expected to be the Rangers third baseman. On Saturday, he was traded to the Twins and then traded again on Sunday to the Yankees. Three teams in three days is a perfect metaphor for 2022’s off season.

There are still a few big names out there on the block, and the Yankees reportedly have their eye on one of them. The Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa has been angling for a deal in the region of Corey Seager’s ten year $325 million, signed before the lockout, to the effect that he ditched his agent William Morris Endeavor and signed with Seager’s agent Scott Boras. Correa has put his Houston house up for sale indicating to the Astros that he definitely means business. The Detroit Tigers have so far offered ten years and $275 million, spurring Houston to step up their efforts to keep him, but if deep pockets are what it takes then they may find it hard to compete with the voracious appetite of the New York Yankees.

If a World Series team seemingly unwilling to keep ahold of one of the major reasons that they got there in the first place is strange, then the reaction of the World Series winners is doubly so. Two lynchpins of the Atlanta Braves’ run for the crown last season are still on the market, and Atlanta shows no sign of wanting to keep them. Joc Pederson, whose home runs in the NLDS and NLCS were key moments in the season, declined a $10 million option after the World Series. Despite fan feelings to the contrary, the Atlanta front office is not budging on their price without any firm offers from other clubs.

Cooling off on a designated hitter is one thing, but doing the same thing to your first baseman seems reckless. Nevertheless, that seems to be Atlanta’s position on Freddie Freeman as well. The Dodgers, Yankees, Rangers, Red Sox and Blue Jays have been falling all over themselves to sign the All-Star, while the Braves display only ennui.

Nothing ever leaks out of the Braves front office, so it is anyone’s guess what their true position is, although their trade for Matt Olson from the Oakland A’s would suggest that they have made their peace with Freeman’s departure.

Perhaps by the time this article is published, another big trade will have taken place. Without doubt, the picture will change drastically over the coming weeks as teams scramble to ready themselves for opening day. It is a terrible, self-inflicted tragedy that Major League Baseball finds itself in. But at least the season is on.