With each passing day on which few or no free agents sign, the pressure on players and agents grows. Come next Saturday, the deadline for tendering a contract offer to players on the 40-man roster, it’s likely that the number of players seeking employment will double, with a particular swelling in the ranks of outfielders and first basemen. That non-tender date is on everyone’s mind, and it’s an element in every negotiation with a player below the level of superstar. The recognition that baseball’s middle class is filled with guys who don’t have to be highly-compensated just because they have service time or tenure with your ball club has permeated the landscape, and even without getting into the C word, that recognition is driving supply up and demand down. So we may see a lot of the guys who weren’t tendered arbitration, and the free agents on the second and third tiers, sign deals this weekend just to keep themselves out of that mass of humanity. It’s an interesting, and positive, change, because it frees teams to use the bulk of their resources on players who do make a difference in the standings.