WOODBURY – Even though the calendar says that it is January, for baseball fans many feel as if it is still October. Unlike past years of constant stimulation of people signing left and right with huge deals, this year has been slow and painful, full of standoffs between players trying to max out amounts of money with possible suitors.
Author Michael Zeno of Pinstripe Alley, an SB Nation Yankees fan site, wrote of in an article describing the lack of player movement.
“It doesn’t take a Nobel Prize to be able to deduce that the MLB off-season has the slowest and most brutal pace in all of professional sports,” Zeno said.
With other sports like the NFL and NBA having players signing life changing contracts within hours of entering free agency. Some of the biggest names and game-changers are just signing deals, and we are nearly finished with January.
Nonnewaug junior Ethan Butkus thinks this off-season has been slow because players want as much money as possible.
“I really think that the reason why people are taking forever to sign is because they just want more and more money,” said Butkus. “Another possibility is that there weren’t many big name players this off-season and I think that combination created this slow off-season.”
To make matters worse, rumors flood social media on the daily, about possible suitors for players and trades enticing fans having them at the edge of their seat.
“It gets annoying seeing all these posts everyday and nothing happening,” says Butkus. “Like, I kept seeing all these posts about Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger rumored to go to a bunch of different teams. I just wanted to know.”
Nonnewaug P.E. faculty and Red Sox fan Ryan Campanario notes how exciting the off-season can be for certain teams.
“I remember when in the 90’s Wade Boggs and Johnny Damon went to the Yankees, like what the Dodgers are doing now,” said Campanario.
But, like many other sports, baseball is where owners are looking to compensate for investments in teams.
“Baseball is a business,” says Campanario, “It’s going to change over time, there has always been a lot of money involved with teams but it has definitely gone up in recent years.”
Even though it is business, the stalemate between players and teams creates annoyance to fans and the community.
“I wish something would change,” said Butkus. “I am a fan of many sports and baseball for sure has the most boring off-season. I think that it would be more entertaining if they added new rules.”
With just weeks remaining until pitcher and catchers report for Spring Training, there are still plenty of coals in the fire to keep the hot stove cooking through the winter.
