With the ongoing Covid-19 crisis affecting attendance and cash flow, MLB ballclubs have tightened their belts even more this off-season.
Just two teams have signed players to traditional megabucks salaries.
And would you believe the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers and Chicago Cubs -- MLB's traditional big spenders -- are not a part of the free-spending duo.
The pair of clubs parting with huge amounts of money to either sign free agents or trade for talent with a large price tag are the San Diego Padres and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Holy Schmoley, Wiggins' World first thought.
These two organisations have traditionally been thrifty. What's gotten into them?
Well, apparently, they've decided to go for broke and spend some of the considerable dough they've been hoarding all these years.
The only way to beat the Dodgers, San Diego must be thinking, is to outspend them.
The Blue Jays, usually the third wheel in the American League East to the Yankees and Red Sox, likely feel the same way.
The Padres traded for righty pitcher Yu Darvish of the Chicago Cubs, acquiring his humongous salary (US$126 million over six years, with three seasons remaining).
San Diego also traded for pitcher Blake Snell, formerly of Tampa Bay, and his large five-year salary of $50 million over five seasons, with three years left.
Throw in the re-signing of their own free agent infielder Jurickson Profar at $21 million for three seasons and that adds up to a pretty Padres penny.
Toronto, meanwhile, went on a shopping spree this past winter that saw them ink the off-season's prize free agent, outfielder George Springer, the former Houston Astro, to a six-year deal worth $150 million.
Then the Blue Jays went out and signed ex-Oakland A's shortstop Marcus Semien to a one-year deal worth $18 million for a year of toiling north of the US border, with an eye on an extension.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were the only other team to agree to a big bucks deal when they inked last year's National League Cy Young Award-winner Trevor Bauer to a $102 million deal but for only three years.
It is interesting to note that the Semien and Bauer deals were not long term. The days of the five- and six-year free agent deal appear dead -- for now at least.
The New York Yankees, desperate for starting pitching, parted ways with their own free agent hurler, Masahiro Tanaka.
The Yanks did not re-sign the righty hurler who was serviceable but not outstanding in seven years of duty at a total cost of $155 million.
Instead, the Bronx Bombers signed promising but oft-injured free agent Pittsburgh Pirate hurler Jameson Tallion at a moderate price of $2.25 million for one year.
Over the last few years, we've seen fewer and fewer ballclubs springing for big bucks free agent salaries at all.
In fact, the Boston Red Sox have been trading off high-priced players before they've even completed their service to the club (see Mookie Betts and David Price, traded last off-season to the Dodgers).
The Bosox also recently traded outfielder Andrew Benintendi before he became a free agent with a high price tag.
The Red Sox last World Series title team of 2018 has, in effect, been gutted.
Perhaps their toys have become too expensive for owners of MLB ballclubs. Even the rich believe in a point of diminishing returns, one suspects.
Couple that with the continuing decrease in team revenues and you have an ever-gloomy road ahead for MLB teams.
And the players are feeling the pinch.
Over 100 veteran free agent players with excellent statistics were still available as spring training opened.
Their moderate price tags are still too much of a financial burden for clubs to assume, apparently.
Better to go with a minor league prospect at the league minimum ($575,000 per year).
When you read that the average salary for an MLB player is $4.38 million, don't be fooled.
A check of team payroll lists shows that most of the total team payroll is eaten up by three or four star players.
The bulk of the roster is way down the list at or near the minimum wage.
Now, $570 million may still sound like a lot of money but when you consider that players have dedicated their entire lives to making it to the bigs -- including years of toiling for very low minor league salaries -- it's not as much dough as it first appears.
Who knows what lies ahead.
Will the Padres and Blue Jays end up looking foolish for their seemingly drunken sailor spending sprees?
If so, we could have seen the last of the MLB's big off-season spenders.
Contact Wiggins' World at davwigg@gmail.com