Whether it’s collusion or teams shifting to a money-saving mindset to make room for next year’s loaded free agent class, this offseason has been incredibly quiet with over 130 free agents unsigned. Because of this unusual situation baseball finds itself in, Mike Krukow told Murph & Mac on Tuesday morning how he believes these uncharted waters will impact Spring Training.
“A lot of things are happening now and I think in the next couple weeks because every major league team is going to get a rebate of some money and they’re going to spend that money and you’re going to see some movement,” Krukow said. “However, I don’t feel there’s enough time to accommodate [135] free agents and because of that you’re going to see something at Spring Training this year that’s going to be very unusual and that’s free agent camps.”
After only a few significant signings, such as Tyler Chatwood to the Chicago Cubs and Wade Davis to the Colorado Rockies, there are still 135 unsigned free agents, including Jay Bruce and Lorenzo Cain. Although top talents on the free agent market will more than likely be signed by Spring Training, that still leaves a large amount of major league-caliber talent without an employer.
A camp for free agents did exist during Spring Training in 1995 in Homestead, Florida after the players’ strike came to an end, but what Krukow believes will happen this year will be much larger.
“Guys are going to need to come to Spring Training to get ready for the season and they’re going to go without jobs,” Krukow said. “So, you’ll probably see a couple camps, one in Florida and one in Arizona, that will assemble all of the free agents that need to get into shape.”
And skipping Spring Training is not an option.
“All of these guys are professional baseball players and the bottom line is that’s what they are. That’s what they need to do. They need to play,” Krukow said. “It’s not an ideal situation if you’re a player, but you’ve have to get ready and you have to get ready against other big leaguers. That’s what gets a player ready for the season.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 3:20 for Krukow on the offseason.