With the MLB season still on hold, today we look at what free agents that were to be free to sign anywhere following the 2020 season have the most to lose if there is no Major League season.
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00:00 What MLB free agents have the most pressure
00:04 from a postponed season?
00:06 To go over a list, I'm joined by our Matt Martell.
00:08 And Matt, let's start with the Astros,
00:10 since even though there's no baseball,
00:11 they're probably still the team at the top of people's minds.
00:14 George Springer, pressure to perform
00:16 because people are wondering how much
00:17 the sign-stealing scandal had an influence on his numbers?
00:20 - Yeah, I think so.
00:22 I mean, he hits free agency at the end of this year.
00:25 And before the year started, I put together a list
00:28 of ranking the free agents to be
00:30 for this upcoming off season.
00:31 Springer was number two.
00:33 I put him there under the assumption
00:34 that he would at least show that he was capable
00:37 of hitting without the sign-stealing.
00:39 We have these, we have reasonably based on MLB's report
00:43 and a number of other reporting that's been done
00:45 that the sign-stealing did stop last season
00:48 and Springer had his most productive offensive season then.
00:52 But at the same time, we don't know for sure
00:56 that he wasn't helped by it in some way.
00:58 This would be the first year where we had known
01:00 that there was nothing going on.
01:02 And if he had performed, it would have, you know,
01:04 boosted his stock or confirmed what we already know
01:07 about Springer, that his numbers are really good.
01:10 The problem is that there's no season this year.
01:12 He doesn't have an opportunity to prove himself
01:16 before he hits free agency.
01:18 - Yeah, a couple other names on your list
01:20 that really intrigued me.
01:21 One was Trevor Bauer, because he's been going
01:23 for these short-term deals.
01:24 But then the other is Jonas Cespedes,
01:26 because of the whole wild boar thing.
01:28 When was the last time that guy played?
01:30 - Well, the last time he played was in 2018.
01:33 He has played, I believe, a total of 119 games
01:36 since he signed his four-year $110 million contract
01:39 with the Mets at the end of the 2016 season.
01:43 So he didn't play at all last year.
01:45 The wild boar ended up being a major reason
01:47 why he missed all of last season,
01:50 although he was injured to begin with.
01:52 So this was his last shot to really earn a spot
01:54 to say, "I'm still a good player if I'm healthy.
01:57 "Give me another shot," where he could have
01:59 maybe kept his career going.
02:01 Now, if there's no season, his career might be over.
02:04 - Matt, appreciate your time, as always.
02:06 It'll be interesting to see how those prospective
02:08 free agents perform if the season does, in fact,
02:11 get started.
02:13 - Thanks, Robert.
02:14 [BLANK_AUDIO]