This was supposed to be baseball’s big bear market year, I thought. Right? Was I the only one hearing the the streets would be paved with cheap, talented free-agents, and All-Stars would be non-tendered by their folding teams, and anyone getting more than the Major League minimum for a small-market club would be trade fodder?

Doesn’t appear to be the case. The Brewers signed Randy Wolf to a three-year, $30 million contract. Multiple bad catchers have been signed for multiple years at multiple millions of dollars. The Cardinals have reportedly offered Matt Holliday an eight-year deal. The Rays have said they’re willing to “overextend” for just this year.

And, as Tim Dierkes points out, 39 players were non-tendered, as compared to 36 last season, and they formed a pretty typical non-tender class.

I don’t know the mechanics or the economics here, but I’m beginning to think maybe the financial situations of Major League clubs weren’t as doom and gloom as they were made out to be in September. It’s almost as if they’re still making money hand over fist.

Were there a few surprising non-tendered players? Sure. Were there a few trades obviously prompted by the arbitration system? Of course. But does it seem like there’s some huge economic disparity that’s going to choke the life out of the game anytime soon? I doubt it.

That gap exists, of course. I’m just not certain it’s growing wider. And of course, it doesn’t matter how much money you have if you don’t know the right way to spend it.