The stories began appearing three winters ago and accelerated in pace in the winter of 2017-18: Some of the richest teams in baseball appeared to be getting their financial houses in order, trimming payroll, clearing space and getting under the luxury tax threshold, all in apparent preparation for what was coming in the winter of 2018-19 - what was expected to be the most anticipated free agent class in baseball history.
"Why the incredible Class of 2018 will change MLB as we know it," read a Yahoo story from December 2015.
But now, the winter of 2018-19 has come and…