“All the dead time in the last two free-agent markets is a larger threat to our game than any supposed dead time between pitches,” MLBPA president Tony Clark said.

Clark spoke to reporters over the weekend, but the above comment was from an interview Clark did with the Associated Press in Jan. 2019.

But when Clark spoke in Arizona recently, those issues were still atop players’ minds, with free agency continuing to drag into spring training and the pitch clock — introduced to MLB last season — remaining unpopular in the union due to injury concerns.

Cody Bellinger returning to the Cubs for three years and $80 million, with opt outs, at least knocked one of the big available free agents off the board, but it happened after position players reported to spring training.