Flash back to January 1987. Walk Like an Egyptian is at the top of the pop charts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has coasted past 2,000. John Elway has broken Cleveland’s heart for the very first time. And in baseball, the free agents are getting utterly and completely shafted.
The notion of “freely available talent” is something of a Sabermetric piety. Savvy waiver claims and judicious use of the Rule 5 draft are two sources, but it’s mostly by trawling through the minor-league free agents each year that many organizations fill their holes at the highest level.