Last year at this time, the baseball free agency push was all about collusion and the big names remained on the market. Manny Machado signed a multi-year contract with the San Diego Padres and Bruce Harper did the same with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The contracts came late in the game and a few weeks before the start of the season.
Not this time around.
The debate about owner collusion was, now, undoubtedly, short-lived. More so, the hefty contracts of a half-billion dollars granted to pitchers, Gerrit Cole (Yankees) and Stephen Strasburg (Nationals) signed the past few weeks, puts to rest any thought of offseason funny business in baseball.