If the previous two off-seasons were like the tortoise slowly inching his way to the finish line, with free agents like Jake Arrieta, Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel creeping along the racetrack longer than anyone expected, this off-season has been the hare, sprinting at light speed before everyone is down with their Christmas shopping.
Sure, the tortoise won, but that’s not really the point here.
Five of MLB.com’s 10 top free agents are already off the board, including the top four — Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon and Zack Wheeler — and the prices paid to those players were astronomical.