"The thing is, they probably actually are trying. Not to build a winner, necessarily, but to spend some money. Evan Drellich at The Athletic posited a number of theories as to why these two low-payroll bottom-feeders would be looking to spend some cash now, and they are both sound and had some backing from sources anonymous and otherwise. There is one that stuck out as the most-likely of the bunch, however, and it was supported by agent Sam Levinson."
""There is a possibility of a fight among clubs over revenue sharing, with the smaller markets seeing a greater contribution," agent Seth Levinson said. "The payors (large-market clubs) will argue that insufficient revenue-sharing funds are being spent on player acquisition. "Hence, it wouldn't be a surprise if the smaller markets compete for talent in the free-agent market to convince the payors that they are committed to putting a better product on the field.""
Pirates and Marlins pursued free agents uncharacteristic for low-payroll clubs, including Josh Naylor, Kyle Schwarber, Michael King, and potentially Kazuma Okamoto. Those moves appear aimed at increasing payroll outlays rather than immediately building a contender. Multiple explanations exist for the spending shift, with a prominent theory pointing to an anticipated dispute over revenue sharing. Smaller-market clubs may compete for talent to demonstrate to large-market payors that revenue-sharing funds are being used on player acquisition. Prior reluctance to boost spending previously coincided with losing a senior baseball operations executive.
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