Free Agency isn’t what it used to be, for the Chicago Cubs or anyone else. It seems the halcyon days of veteran stars and venerable bench players being valued and sought after for their leadership and clubhouse presence have been replaced by a new age filled with analytics and algorithms. Older players have been replaced by Triple-A or “AAAA”- type guys who only cost the league minimum.
While it’s a convoluted and legitimate discussion (and many, including Adam Wainwright, are having) to have given the landscape of baseball economics at the moment, the free-falling (and failing) free agent market was not the hottest contractual topic on the brink of Spring Training 2019 this past week.