Don’t expect MLB to match NBA craziness

CLEVELAND — Baseball players envy the buzz that accompanies NBA free agency, but they sure as heck don’t want the conditions that create that setup.

In the wake of a Hot Stove League that generally ran colder than New Year’s Eve in Chicago, with the two biggest contracts (Bryce Harper and Manny Machado) being signed after spring training began, Nationals ace Max Scherzer spoke with admiration of what has transpired in the professional basketball world over the past 10 days.

“Obviously players notice it,” Scherzer said Tuesday afternoon before the All-Star Game at Progressive Field. “I’m a sports fan. That [June 30] was an exciting day for everybody. ‘Where’s [Kevin] Durant going to sign?’ You would hope that baseball recognizes that. … It’s something that we keep moving more and more away from.”

Echoed Players Association executive director Tony Clark, while meeting with the Baseball Writers Association of America: “Why can’t that happen? Wouldn’t it be great if that did [happen]? Yeah, it would be. Hopefully we can get to a point where we reestablish a competitive environment where that can happen.”

Alas, the problem for the baseball players lies in the reality of why NBA free agents sign so quickly. With team payrolls and individual contracts capped as per the sport’s collective bargaining agreement, no games of chicken — such as the ones that ultimately landed Harper in Philadelphia and Machado in San Diego — exist. Teams express interest and their willingness to offer the maximum contract, and the player, understanding teams have only so much to spend, efficiently decides.

Commissioner Rob Manfred, who also met with the BBWAA, grinned when asked about the idea of implementing a salary cap in baseball in order to create such offseason excitement. The owners, Manfred said, would be “more than prepared” to adapt such parameters to manage their costs.

“There’s no doubt in my mind there’s excitement around a club that does not have to pay a player what he’s worth,” Clark acknowledged. “That’s likely not going to change [in baseball] any time soon.”

“I will say this: There will be no cap,” Scherzer agreed.

➤ As per the terms of the CBA, baseball can implement next season a rule requiring pitchers to face a minimum of three batters before the end of an inning.

“I think we need to keep at the pace issue,” Manfred said. “... We have the right to do that, I’m kind of inclined to encourage the owners to exercise that right.”

The expansion of rosters to 26 players from Opening Day through August , in return for the reduction of September rosters from 40 players to 28, also will help on this front starting next year, Manfred said.