Overview
- In a WFAN interview, Rob Manfred said a signing cutoff could concentrate activity into a marketable offseason window.
- Manfred signaled the idea could be raised in collective bargaining discussions ahead of the next agreement.
- MLBPA executive director Tony Clark rejected the proposal, arguing free agency depends on open competition and warning against undermining the current system.
- Agent Scott Boras criticized deadlines as mechanisms that restrict competition and prevent players from reaching a true market.
- The discussion comes during a quiet winter with Alex Bregman, Cody Bellinger, Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette and Ranger Suárez still unsigned, while no formal rule change has been proposed.