With spring training right around the corner, over a hundred significant free agents remain unsigned, including the two marquee free agents of this off-season - Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. Whether it is due to analytics showing teams the folly of free agency, or outright collusion, there has been a fundamental shift in the perception of free agency which has caused two consecutive inactive off-seasons.
The glacial pace of the off-season has brought up deep concerns about the business of baseball, in particular, how players are paid. For the owners, the concern is that guaranteed contracts tie up too much money in players that are on the decline.