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What is a Window and How Does it Close?

The term “window” has become ubiquitous in sports reporting and commentary. It is often used to determine a team’s course of action. The term window is especially relevant in baseball, where the differences in payrolls are astounding, as is the range in pay for players based on experience (imagine Zion Williamson or Joe Burrows making league minimum). Closer to home, several posters and commenters have talked about the closing of the window as something inevitable. I’m here to challenge that by definition, and then by question.

Definition: a team’s window refers to a period when a team with some budget restraints (basically, everyone besides the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox) has enough of their core players under control to compete for pennants.