The MLB offseason has been an interesting one. The Los Angeles Dodgers have swung big for free agents, while teams like the Atlanta Braves and Seattle Mariners have been active in the trade market. Teams across the league have been hyper-focused on free agents coming over from Japan and Korea, while others have been focused on trying to find money for the 2024 season because of a lack of television rights deals. There has been plenty of action, but one group of free agents that feels to have stagnated is that of the top-end relievers.

The San Diego Padres made some of the bigger splashes by signing Yuki Matsui and Woo Suk Go to their bullpen. The Braves have also made some of the biggest splashes in overall deals with a pair of three-year deals handed out to Reynaldo López and Joe Jiménez in November at the start of the offseason. The Baltimore Orioles haven’t done much this winter but did sign Craig Kimbrel to a $13 million deal for the 2024 season in early December. Aside from those deals, everything else has been mostly one-year deals or minor-league contracts of some of the middle and lower-tier options on the market.

There are plenty of notable names still available. Josh Hader remains a free agent despite being the best closer on the market after posting a 1.28 ERA with 33 saves and 85 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings in 2023. Hector Neris, Robert Stephenson, Phil Maton, Jakob Junis, Matt Moore, Jordan Hicks, and many others sit in waiting as the market tries to materialize once again. But why are they having to wait? There could be a few reasons for that.

Starting Pitching 

Oddly enough, it could be that the starting pitching market has backed up the priority list for many teams and the reliever market. Contending teams have made a point to focus on bolstering their starting rotations because good starting pitching is sometimes hard to come by. With hypothetical rule changes being thrown around as a way for the league to incentivize starting pitching again, there is always going to be a need for a top-tier pitcher who can go five or six innings or beyond. As it stands, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery are still waiting to make their decisions as to where to sign and are the remaining top picks in free agency. Following them is a myriad of mid-tier starters like Marcus Stroman (who is rumored to be heavily favoring the Yankees). Teams could be viewing relievers as the fallback plan after failing to sign one of these starters, or at least as the next step on the agenda after the starting pitching.

Money Negotiations

There could also just be a holdup due to negotiations in the financial department. The offseason had been held up for a while as the baseball world waited to see what Shohei Ohtani was going to get in free agency. Then top free agent starters had to wait to see what Yoshinobu Yamamoto would get in free agency. The offseason is now picking up steam once again but the financial aspect will begin to shape the rest of the winter for the relievers. In Hader’s case, he just is playing the waiting game. It’s reported that he is seeking a deal that will beat the five-year, $102 million contract signed by Edwin Díaz in 2022. Relievers could be waiting to see what happens with Hader for as long as possible before making deals. Whoever misses out on Hader will surely come calling for the likes of Stephenson or Hicks. There is also the strategy on the team side of things that they are just willing to wait relievers out in order to get the best deal possible if they can. There is also a matter of a number of teams sorting out broadcasting rights and television deals after the collapse of the RSN model last year. Money makes the baseball world go around and will be the deciding factor in whether some things are done or not. However, you could always defer all the money if you really wanted to.

The Volatile Nature of Relievers

There is also the matter of the volatile nature of relievers. One season a reliever could be among the best in the league and then turn around to be one of the worst the following year. Hader saw that type of change between 2022 and 2023. Now, there are a great number of relievers who have been reliable and consistent over their careers, but both good and bad relievers have struggled and things can change on a dime for how effective they are. Teams could be hesitant to bring in new relievers because they could just feel comfortable with what they already have or could be on the way through the minor league system. Relievers really are a dime a dozen, making it easy to replace them and also strike gold on a lower-tier pickup. Brent Suter was non-tendered by the Milwaukee Brewers last offseason and was quickly claimed by the Colorado Rockies. Suter went on to have a phenomenal year out of the Rockies bullpen and now finds himself as a free agent once again with better prospects on a likely cheaper deal. Any reliever signing is more of a gamble than position signings, but when it pays off it can be a game-changer for a club. So, teams would try to minimize risk and make sure they are doing their due diligence to ensure they are getting more bang for their buck.

Things Will Pick Up

There is no doubt that the reliever market will begin to heat up more and more in the coming weeks. As more starting pitchers come off the board, teams will turn to filling out the rest of their bullpen. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in a little over a month, meaning there is plenty of time to add players. Once Hader comes off the board, the reliever market will move even quicker and there could be some surprising moves in store.