BOCA RATON, Fla. — Now that they're playoff teams for a change, the Blue Jays, Cubs and Mets believe they can make a winning sales pitch to free agents.
The Blue Jays ended baseball's longest active playoff drought with their first AL East championship since 1993. The Cubs snapped a stretch of five losing seasons and made the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2003. New York ended a nine-year playoff drought and reached the World Series for the first time since 2000 before losing to the Royals
All three teams have a core that should make them contenders again in 2016, adding to their appeal as free-agent shopping begins.