MLB spring training camps are open across Arizona and Florida and still many high-profile free agents remaining unsigned. Fourteen of our top 50 free agents are still without a contract, including four of the top 10: Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Jordan Montgomery, and Blake Snell. All four are Scott Boras clients, which is almost certainly not a coincidence.

Free agency moving slowly is not unusual -- it was only a few years ago that the MLBPA had to set up a spring training camp for unsigned free agents -- and, on Thursday, commissioner Rob Manfred said MLB proposed an offseason free-agent signing deadline to liven up the market. It was not well-received. Here's what Manfred said via the Associated Press:

"We would prefer to have a free-agent signing period, ideally probably in December with a deadline that drove people to make their deals, get things settled. We actually made proposals to that effect, to the MLBPA. They were not warmly received," Manfred said, referring to a mid-agreement proposal in 2019.

"One of the tactics that's available to player representatives is to stretch out the negotiation in the belief that they're going to get a better deal," Manfred said. "That's part of the system right now. There's not a lot we can do about it. But certainly from an aspirational perspective, we'd rather have two weeks of flurried activity in December, preferably around the winter meetings."

Boras responded to Manfred's comments, telling The Athletic: "Deadlines are death-lines to the players. It's a death of their right (to free agency). It's an artificial reason not to get your value. Teams cannibalize deadlines. Everything they would do would be around the deadline. 'I'll wait and get this value at this time, because I have a deadline,' rather than, 'What's the player worth?'"

Join this channel to get access to perks:
   / @hummbabybaseball  

Humm Baby Baseball is an all baseball channel that talks baseball in general but also has a focus on the San Francisco Giants. My name is Erik and if you're interested in appearing on Humm Baby Baseball or doing any kind of collaboration, please e-mail me at [email protected].

Please visit the HUMM BABY WEBSITE: https://www.hummbabybaseball.com

Humm Baby Baseball PODCAST: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1093007

San Francisco Giants Blog: https://www.hummbabybaseball.com/sfgi...

I spend anywhere from 3-8 hours every day working on Humm Baby Baseball.. if you enjoy this content, please consider helping me on Patreon. You can give as little as $1 a month to help grow the brand and give me more time to operate Humm Baby Baseball!

PATREON:   / hummbabybaseball  

Follow HUMM BABY BASEBALL On:
FACEBOOK:   / hummbabybaseball  
TWITTER:   / hummbabybb  

Thanks for checking out this video and if you like what you see, subscribe today!