MLB players are getting fed up with this winter

MLB Players are becoming more frustrated by the day

This has been a historically slow offseason, with almost all of the top free agents still without a team less than two weeks away from the start of free agency. Whether you believe the cause is collusion, a new CBA that absolutely screwed the players or smarter teams, something is not right here. Players have avoided explicitly using the term collusion over this winter, but they clearly aren’t happy with what’s happening right now. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic had a piece go up on Friday about the unhappiness on the side of the players, and it’s clear they are starting to warm to the idea of really unifying in defiance of the owners. In it, he makes a point to show that it’s not just the free agents who are upset, but players around the league. I am among those who believe these players played a significant role in this by not foreseeing this obvious result after giving in so much in the last two CBA’s, but just because they played a role doesn’t mean they aren’t allowed to fight back. They have played around with the idea of reporting late to spring training, and one agent even suggested boycotting camp altogether. I’m not sure the latter will happen, and the former likely won’t either to an extent that it’d make any sort of difference. The real takeaway here is that players are getting frustrated, and for the first time in almost a quarter-century they appear willing to fight hard for what they deserve. I’m all for players rights and they need to do something to get younger players more money and/or into free agency earlier since teams are no longer willing to pay older players, but the fact that a strike at some point seems inevitable is not something I’m looking forward to. Hopefully, players start signing soon and we can focus on real baseball rather than labor unrest.

• It looks like the Rangers aren’t going to make a push for a reunion with Yu Darvish. The top pitcher on the market, it doesn’t appear the market is huge for Darvish right now. The Brewers and Cubs have been mostly heavily connected to him, and his preference is apparently to return to the Dodgers. We all know this ends with him in pinstripes, right?
• Jim Thome, unsurprisingly, is going into the Hall of Fame as an Indian. He made that decision, and he’s also making the decision that he does not want Chief Wahoo on his plaque. Instead, he is asking for the Block C Cleveland logo. Good for Jim, and hopefully they heed his wish.