What’s Slowing Down the Transaction Market

The free agency market has been open for a few days now. And nothing has happened yet.

That's normal—it's always like this in baseball. Even though the lockout is coming in less than a month.

Basically, we're expecting a wave of signings leading up to December 1. But most of them will happen toward the end of November.

The GMs' meeting, which starts tomorrow, will help move things along. But signings have never been expected to happen this quickly.

The free-agent market will heat up shortly. But you know what shouldn't really pick up in November? Trades involving players one year away from free agency.

As Jon Morosi points out, players with one year left until free agency aren't going to be traded for a ton of top prospects.

Why? Because acquiring teams won't want to pay through the roof for a player who might barely see any action in 2027, due to the labor dispute.

This will therefore slow down the trade market in general.

“Player-for-player” trades could be considered. But that's not often a logical path for both clubs.

Logan Gilbert, Steven Kwan, Joe Ryan, Sandy Alcántara, and others are players who are therefore unlikely to be traded before the lockout.

After that? We'll see.

There are certain cases where it makes sense to get a head start on the next collective bargaining agreement—and this is especially true for free agents. But in other situations, patience will be key.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.