With the announcement there will be an MLB season this year, the transaction freeze ends this Friday.
As the MLB season readies itself for opening day in late July, we will begin to see some player movement again beginning Friday, June 26th, at noon ET. Once the transaction freeze thaws there won’t be a lot of movement.
Teams will begin the seasons with 30 players and shrink down to 28 and 26 as the season progresses. Look for organizations to construct their teams from the players already on their 40-man roster.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Having a 60 game schedule rather than a 162 game slate means more teams will most likely stay in the playoff hunt longer. More teams though will be looking to pare down payroll in an attempt to offset the losses for playing games in empty stadiums.
There are some intriguing names still on the free-agent market. Yasiel Puig, who was recently connected to the San Francisco Giants remains unsigned and will surely find a suitor before the season starts. He remained unsigned because of his erratic behavior, though during a smaller sample size I think teams will be able to look the other way in order to get his bat in the lineup.
Pitchers Clay Buchholz and Andrew Cashner could find themselves on teams looking for a veteran presence on the staff. And I don’t want to envision a game without the Fernando Rodney experience.
Aside from a few free-agent signings there won’t be a lot of movement once the transaction freeze is lifted. A few teams could work out a minor trade, though most teams will stand pat until the trading deadline, which was announced to be August 31st.
The economics of the game have been severely damaged and teams could look for cost-cutting measures with trades prior to the season starting. This would be a stretch, with teams not worrying about attendance numbers, what do they have to lose? Upsetting a fan base that can’t come to the games to boo won’t be a consequence.
The glory of the game returning in late July will be just what the MLB world needs. Don’t expect the rumor mill to be producing much once the transaction freeze is lifted though.