Reaching the free agency has always been considered an important step in the life of a large fever. After six or seven years with an organization, it is the first opportunity of a player to be defeated and dinner, to speak to other teams, to make a decision on the next chapter of his career and, finally, to Take advantage with a big salary after all after all the years it took to get there. But the MLB free agency process has evolved considerably in a recent past, because the game economy has moved considerably, with franchise assessments and the value of the contracts of players who are skyrocketing.
Over the past two seasons, we have seen the two biggest contracts in the history of professional sports delivered. First of all, Shohei Ohtani Signed with Los Angeles Dodgers for $ 700 million Last winter. Then Juan Soto increased the bet, Sign with New York dishes for $ 765 million This offseason on an agreement which could end up worth $ 815 million with mechanical stairs and opt-ins.
But just because the teams spend more freely in a free agency. On the contrary, as the finances of the game have changed, the way players are assessed with regard to the free agency has also changed. And with the constant increase in players’ salaries, the teams have in fact become more cautious about their long -term investment.
About fifteen years ago, age was not considered an obstacle to the pursuit of a team by a team. It was not uncommon for the teams to give players from the thirty transactions at the top of the market. Two of the biggest examples of this are the agreement of $ 254 million in Albert Pujols with the age of the age of the age of 32 and the extension of $ 292 million in Miguel Cabrera with the tigers entering his season 31 years old. These are two of the best to play the game, and the two will end up at the renowned temple, but their production after the signing of these contracts was much left to be desired.
And so, while free agent contracts have become more expensive and aging players have experienced steep drops, the industry pendulum has swung in the other direction. Baseball has become the game of a young man, with many teams and resources moving to the youngest players. But following teams that try to be more wise regarding the evaluation of players and the free agency, baseball is now faced with a different problem. Today, free agents who are 28, 29 and 30 years old are struggling with value agreements on the market.
The first goal player Pete Alonso is not a perfect player. The 30 -year -old is not the best defender, nor the best Baserunner, but he is one of the most prolific power strikers in the game. His 226 circuits since 2019 are the second largest number of MLB, behind only Aaron judge. Not only that, but Alonso has also been the face of a franchise since its recruited season and did it admirably, in an authentic and authentic way.
However, it took up to a few days before the start of Printemp training Two years and $ 54 million which includes an opt-out After the next season. When winter started, Alonso and its performance, the super-agent Scott Boras, hoped to win a longer-term contract near the threshold of $ 150 million reached by colleagues from the first base Freddie Freeman and Matt Olson.
Likewise, the figures for the third goal of the free agent Alex Bregman have dropped in recent seasons. However, the 30 -year player from the World Series, aged 30, with the Astros of Houston, is tied for the second WRC + (133) the highest in baseball since 2019, and he remains a defender higher than the average in the warm corner. But with Team opening camp next week,, Bregman remains not signedAnd the chances that he won an agreement worth 30 million dollars per year, as originally wanted, seem quite distant.
There are 30 MLB teams who could improve their 2025 list by adding a double third goal player from the World Series or a first goal player of 35-40-homer. Even if you remove all the teams that rebuild or simply too cheap to spend on first talents, this still leaves around 15 alignments that would benefit from the addition of Alonso or Bregman. However, for the two players, the interest reported this winter was limited to a handful of teams.
And these are two of the players market top. Imagine what this offseason and this walk look like in recent years for intermediate and lower level agents. If Alonso and Bregman cannot obtain the offers they are looking for, where does that leave the rest of the field? What does this mean for the larger free agent process? Can free agents still be paid what they are worth on the free market?
The free agency has started to look like a forum where only the best and the most brilliant stars receive offers or above the market value. But a free agent should not have to be Ohtani or Soto to be paid. The reality is that the players of this caliber do not very often reach the free agency. On the one hand, there are not many of them to start, and second, some – including Ronald Acuña Jr., Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr., Rafael Devers and Fernando Tatis Jr. – Sign the extensions of years before they reach the free market.
The MLB system is designed so that after years of cost control, players reach a free agency and a significant salary increase. But at this point, the free agency is no longer a direct path to the big dollars for many players who get there. Yes, generational players still break the bank, but with so many teams limiting their expenses, the majority of the big leaguers await their chance of enjoying.
If this is how the owners have decided to resume part of their power – while complaining that dodgers and their massive wage bill are bad for the game – whispers on a salary ceiling will not become stronger when approaching the end of the current collective agreement at the end of the 2026 season. What is ironic about such complaints is that the refusal of other teams to spend does not benefit dodgers, who continued to take advantage of it. Paying players to build a competitive list is part of the business cost and the World Series victory – seems to understand this. And in addition, it is not as if each Dodgers player earns $ 30 million a year.
Baseball has a problem, but the problem does not concern salary ceilings or even floors as many will emphasize. No, after MLB gained record revenues of $ 12 billion last year, it should not seem that free agent contracts are removed outside of 1% of players. However, this increased income does not seem to translate into players who help create them. This brings us back to ABC and the tenuous dynamics between the owners of MLB and the association of players. This question and the factors that contribute to it will probably be part of the next ABC negotiations.
Fuck yourself, because we head to a ugly battle for the next three years, one that tracks a course for a probable lockout in two years.
