MESA, Ariz. — The flame under baseball's hot stove, extinguished by an owner-imposed lockout of players on Dec. 2, could roar back to life like a bonfire in the wake of a new collective bargaining agreement between the sides.
The only question is whether this March Madness will rival the fever pitch of last Nov. 28-Dec. 1, when 11 players — led by Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Javier Báez and Max Scherzer — signed $1.3 billion worth of contracts in a four-day span.
"When this deal is done, it's gonna be the craziest free-agent frenzy we've witnessed," former Dodgers slugger Joc Pederson wrote on Twitter last week. "Popcorn up, sports fans."
