Richard Griffin checks in with a timely report from the GM meetings in Phoenix, where there was rain, but at least no sleet or wind. Here's his assessment of the new, post-ARod marketplace:
For the first time since the inglorious era of collusion, ownership appears to be firmly in control of the free-agent market. Supply exceeds demand. In a 15-day period following the conclusion of the World Series, more than 200 players filed for free agency. That's the equivalent of eight full major-league rosters. Astonishing! They will be joined in the next 37 days by over 100 additional artificially created free agents — arbitration-eligible players not tendered contracts by the Dec. 20 deadline.
Bingo. Owners may be slow, and they may be stupid too, but even they've finally gotten the message that Sandy Alderson and company have been banging into their heads for years: the only people you're bidding against are yourselves, and you're strangling your own marketplace by refusing to non-tender your marginal players. The Blue Jays got a one-year headstart on the competition with their foresight, but that's all. Though it may be wise to wait out the market and see who's still available come January, my sense is that JP normally targets the guys he wants and gets them early. How slow or fast he moves this off-season on names like Tom Gordon and Pat Hentgen will reveal whether his approach this year leans one way or another.
For the first time since the inglorious era of collusion, ownership appears to be firmly in control of the free-agent market. Supply exceeds demand. In a 15-day period following the conclusion of the World Series, more than 200 players filed for free agency. That's the equivalent of eight full major-league rosters. Astonishing! They will be joined in the next 37 days by over 100 additional artificially created free agents — arbitration-eligible players not tendered contracts by the Dec. 20 deadline.
Bingo. Owners may be slow, and they may be stupid too, but even they've finally gotten the message that Sandy Alderson and company have been banging into their heads for years: the only people you're bidding against are yourselves, and you're strangling your own marketplace by refusing to non-tender your marginal players. The Blue Jays got a one-year headstart on the competition with their foresight, but that's all. Though it may be wise to wait out the market and see who's still available come January, my sense is that JP normally targets the guys he wants and gets them early. How slow or fast he moves this off-season on names like Tom Gordon and Pat Hentgen will reveal whether his approach this year leans one way or another.
