The MLB Offseason Needs a Complete Overhaul

So..is somebody going to do something? I think Major League Baseball is in a better place than it’s been in a long time. With that said, I really wish they’d switch up how they go about free agency. They should do it like they do it in the NBA, where it’s this two-week period in which players can decide where they sign. There’s so many stops and starts under the current system. Everyone was waiting on pins and needles to see where Shohei Ohtani would sign. I was amongst those people. His saga was relatively fun, but he ended up in Los Angeles with the team that many people predicted he would probably go to. Since then, we’ve been waiting for other dominoes to fall, and they haven’t. 

I didn’t expect a bunch of huge deals handed out this offseason, but I expected a little bit more traction in the trade market. The Yankees are the only real team that’s made some noise in that area. The problem with this offseason is that you have multiple big-name players who have probably already peaked, and many teams are afraid to sign them to long-term contracts. Matt Chapman is a prime example of that. Matt Chapman has had a fine career, but he’s over 30 years old and was not particularly productive with the bat over the last four months of last season. It seems like there are a lot of teams afraid to dip their toes in the water for him right now, knowing that he’s likely to regress.

Cody Bellinger is another prime example of a “what the fuck do we do with this guy“ player. I like Bellinger. He had a tremendous year last year, but in the two years before that, he was one of the worst offensive players in baseball. He does have age on his side, but teams will be hesitant about signing him to a long-term deal because they just don’t know what version of him they’ll get. It wouldn’t surprise me if he got another one-year deal from a team with a high AAV in hopes that he could prove himself again. 

I don’t think this is one of those offseason that’s hurting the game of baseball. What’s hurting the game of baseball are apathetic, cheap-ass owners. A team like the Baltimore Orioles should be spending out of their ass right now, but John Angelos is content sitting by with the core that they have. The Seattle Mariners are another team that should have a competitive window open, yet they haven’t done anything. I like the Mitch Garver signing, but they should be doing way more.

People can get butt hurt at the Dodgers and say that the way they’re spending is hurting the game of baseball. I don’t agree with that. Other teams could spend in the way that the Dodgers do. So many teams are just cheap and are afraid to go over the luxury tax. I have no problem with anyone trying to build a super team. This isn’t the NBA several years back, where it was a foregone conclusion who was going to play in the finals. The postseason is still a crapshoot. I just wish other teams were being more active. Even if it wasn’t in free agency, you load up on your farm system to acquire big-time players when the time is right. 

I’ll say this about this offseason. It’s been free of scandal. Give me an offseason like this that’s relatively boring as opposed to one where we’re not even sure if we’re going to play baseball. The nightmare that was the 2022 labor negotiation still keeps me up at nights. I don’t believe that this is indicative of a greater problem. I just think it’s one of those weak free-agent years outside of Ohtani. So my ultimate thesis is that the Detroit Tigers need to get their head out of their ass and start spending more money. That’s why I’m writing this.