A pretty shocking report this morning from ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who had otherwise been noticeably quiet this week at the GM Meetings. I knew he must’ve been doing some deep digging, and sure enough he was. And what he found was pretty shocking.
A couple of the biggest names on the market – and perhaps others, if this logic follows – may sign BEFORE there is a possible lockout. That means they’d be signing really soon:
In an unexpected turn, shortstop Corey Seager and infielder Marcus Semien are among the players whose markets have accelerated to the point they could sign before the expected Dec. 1 lockout, sources tell ESPN.
My dispatch from the GM Meetings, at ESPN+: https://t.co/g5c7WvkXyk pic.twitter.com/5XE58o3wRO
โ Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 12, 2021
To be sure, we expected there to be a lot of this kind of dialogue before a lockout begins at midnight on December 1, but the expectation was that it would involve shorter-term, lower-tier, less-costly-type players who would have more reason to be concerned that a post-lockout frenzy could leave them in a crummy situation. But the stars? The guys who are gonna get monster contracts? I just didn’t expect that there would be enough teams ready to commit pre-lockout for those markets to develop. So, yeah, if a guy like Seager or Semien signed in November, I was gonna be shocked.
Against that backdrop, as Passan and some sources concede, this could just be a tactic (both players are represented by Scott Boras) to try to get a monster offer now from a team that buys into the risk. And if it doesn’t come by December 1, nothing was lost.
Note, by the way, that the Cubs were recently pegged as one of the likeliest suitors for Corey Seager, but I have a very difficult time seeing them committing – right now – to the kind of deal it would take to get Seager to sign. I guess this bears watching over the next few weeks.