As we slog toward 4pm ET on Wednesday absent the typical verve associated with the deadline, baseball fans continue to cross their fingers in the hopes that the dam will break. Or that some damn news will break. That’s the same feeling we had ahead of the 2018 season, when sluggish free agency led to more seasonal affective disorder than a lack of vitamin D.
Things were even worse this season, as two top-tier pitchers had to wait until their draft-pick compensation vanished in June to sign new deals. And now as July 31 bears down, it seems as though teams have either forgotten they can no longer do waiver deals or they’re just convinced that the new kid is going to jump off his tractor.