Column: Game Day with Gooch
As football and the memories of another New England Patriots Super Bowl victory continue to fade from everyone’s minds, sports fans have been able to shift their focus to baseball and the glorious hope of spring training.
But the optimism that usually surrounds the arrival of spring training is regrettably low this year, and it can be linked to something more pressing than pace of play, performance-enhancing drugs or any of the other complaints that typically try to explain the game’s declining popularity.
As most teams now have their full rosters present at spring training complexes across Florida and Arizona, several superstar-caliber baseball players remain without a team, continuing a tired stalemate that has exhausted excitement and drained interest in the MLB.
Atop the list of unsigned free agents is Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, both 26-year-old perennial all-stars who have slugged 359 home runs over 14 combined seasons in the big leagues.
Not only is it a bad look for baseball as teams prepare to begin a season with some of their most marketable stars sitting at home with the rest of us, but it is also incredibly disappointing for fans who had been anticipating this offseason for over three years.
Beginning in 2015, when Harper was putting together an MVP season with the Washington Nationals, people began talking about where he might go and if his next contract would be $400 million or more.
But fast forward to 2019, and spring training has begun with Harper joining Machado, closer Craig Kimbrel and starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel as definitive difference-makers who remain unsigned.
There are signs that deals may get done, at least for the top two options, before Opening Day games Thursday, March 28.
Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies have been going back-and-forth all offseason, with the latest report from MLB Network insider Jon Heyman said talks have intensified and a long-term deal for Harper will get done.
Heyman also reported that Machado has been offered an eight-year, $250 million contract from the San Diego Padres.
The fact that Machado, as well as Harper, have not yet come to an agreement with any of the handful of teams that have courted them is, quite honestly, pathetic.
Owners should shoulder some blame for seemingly becoming more interested in turning a profit than they are in funding a winning franchise over the past two winters.
Their unwillingness to make serious commitments to deserving stars remains a greedy power play based on the unfounded belief that long-term contracts are immovable and spell imminent future financial doom.
(Need proof that the belief is unfounded? Giancarlo Stanton was traded three years into a 13-year, $325 million contract, while Robinson Cano traded this offseason in the midst of a 10-year, $240 million contract.)
However, getting albatross contract offers has not been a problem for Harper or Machado.
They both seem set on ballooning their pride by one-upping the other superstar free agent by getting a contract that is longer or has a higher average annual salary.
They also seem fixed on squeezing as much out of these owners as possible.
But how much money is going to be enough?
While the same arguments could be made of the owners’ in not offering another $25 million or so to solidify the players’ signings, it is ultimately Harper and Machado who have more to lose, as they could potentially not earn any salary for their amazing athletic abilities.
The owners will still be making money regardless of whether one of the superstars join an MLB roster.
Harper and Machado should finally accept the hundreds of millions of dollars being offered by the Phillies and Padres.
It would excite those two fanbases about their 2019 World Series chances and reinvigorate MLB fans after a highly-anticipated offseason that was as boring as the Super Bowl.