It was an exceptionally weird and disjointed offseason for MLB. Over $750 million was shelled out to players before Dec. 2. Then, nearly 100 days of silence.
MLB owners locked out the players once the league’s old collective bargaining agreement expired. The two sides eventually agreed on a new deal — more on that later — but it came late in the offseason. The rest of free agency and spring training were compressed into just a few weeks, and the season’s start date was pushed to April 7.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying, if you pushed baseball to the wayside this winter, we can’t blame you.