I still don't think there's any collusion. I think front offices in general are smarter so they're not wasting money. And the CBA rewards not spending, so there are more free agents available than there are openings for them at the prices they're asking. Teams know they can wait out the market and get a discount price in January or February because guys like McCutchen, Pollock, and Keuchel aren't going to sit out a season.
Last year, the storyline was that the teams were saving money for the big names in this year's free agency class.
I think that was a convenient excuse. This free agent class is weak behind Harper and Machado. At this time last year, Corbin hadn't broken out yet, so there wasn't even a TOR type starter guaranteed to hit the market. It was made-up reason for teams not to spend money last year. Within a week or two, I'm sure we'll start hearing how teams are holding back this year so they can sign next year's free agents (Goldschmidt, Arenado, Rendon, Bumgarner, Cole, Sale).