It's the second week of April. Anyone seen Stephen Drew or Kendrys Morales out there anywhere?

At the mall maybe? Or the movies? Or taking on odd jobs at the supermarket?

It's the second week of April, and two of the best free-agent position players on what used to be "the market" are still unemployed. So first off, can we all agree that's ridiculous? Excellent. Now let's get to the point.

For weeks now, the absurd state these men find themselves in has been mostly chalked up to some sort of disastrous, unforeseen glitch in the new system of qualifying offers for "premier" free agents. Just the other day, Brewers pitcher Kyle Lohse, told ESPN.com this system is flat out "just not fair," along with several other pithy expressions along those lines. And since he's a guy who took five months to find a job last winter after rejecting a qualifying offer of his own, who could blame him?

But now, here's an alternative view:

"I think the system is functioning more or less as it was intended to function," said one AL executive this week. "The market just hasn't quite adjusted yet."

Wait. What? That kind of talk doesn't fit the usual narrative here at all. But hold on. There's more.

" It was kind of a strange route to get [to Milwaukee]. But when you're a guy who's put in six, or in my case I think it was 10 years, to become a free agent, you want that opportunity to go make the most of your opportunity and profit from all your hard work. " -- Brewers pitcher Kyle Lohse

To all those who are screaming that this system is broken, dysfunctional and in need of a trip to the labor-deal emergency room, the same AL exec said this:

"I think the system will clean itself up."

Hmmm. Never thought of that. But this AL executive isn't alone.

"Until somebody accepts a qualifying offer," said Brewers general manager Doug Melvin, "how can we tell whether it's working or not?"

Hey, good point. And that leads us to the scenario painted by numerous executives in baseball management:

For two consecutive offseasons, we've seen a situation in which none of the 19 free agents who received a qualifying offer under this system -- which was created by the November 2011 labor deal -- actually accepted it. But what happens if a bunch of free agents next winter suddenly say: "Thanks for the offer. We'll take it?" Then what?

Well, guess what? If more "borderline" players take those offers, here's exactly what will happen: Fewer teams will then take the gamble and make those offers. That's what. And then the system won't be so broken anymore. Now will it?

So there ya go. Problem solved, in a mere 15 paragraphs. ... Or is it?

Uh, not in Lohse's eyes, it isn't.

It's easy, the Brewers right-hander said, for people like us to tell future free agents they should gobble up those one-year qualifying offers -- which are expected to be in the range of $15 million next winter, by the way. But if you're a player who has waited his whole life to be a free agent? Then it's not so easy.