The Real Price Tag on MLB Extensions
This spring for Major League Baseball may go down as the spring with one of the biggest price tags in recent memory. Of course the spotlight came onto the big free agency signings, such as Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, and Patrick Corbin. The spotlight also came down on the big names who got traded, including franchise cornerstone Paul Goldschmidt, switching from one shade of red to another, and James Paxton, moving to New York to don pinstripes. While both of these are massive in their own ways, what might be even more massive is the price tag on some of these major MLB extensions.
In the past week alone, MLB teams have guaranteed over $1 billion to 10 different players through contract extensions. We saw Mike Trout become the first $400 million free agent, and saw many crucial franchise pieces get paid to stay in town, including Jacob DeGrom, Nolan Arenado, Chris Sale, and Alex Bregman. From a fan perspective this seems great, their teams get to keep important players for longer and don't have to risk losing them in free agency. For key players like those it helps a team's playoff chances as well and keeps that playoff window open for even longer. However, from a player's perspective it shows some of those risks of free agency.
From this player's perspective, it shows wanting to get guaranteed that money instead of waiting a long time in free agency. In the instance of Mike Trout it makes sense, he got $400 million in an extension to stay an Angel for the rest of his career, so why risk staying in free agency for a long period of time to likely not get nearly that much money. You even see guys who are still sitting in free agency, such as Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel, guys who are worthy of that money but haven't gotten anything from a team who wants them long term. These two are prime examples since they just want to try to get the money they've earned with their play but in the end are likely going to lose out on money because of teams not wanting to keep them on for long term deals.
In the past week alone, MLB teams have guaranteed over $1 billion to 10 different players through contract extensions. We saw Mike Trout become the first $400 million free agent, and saw many crucial franchise pieces get paid to stay in town, including Jacob DeGrom, Nolan Arenado, Chris Sale, and Alex Bregman. From a fan perspective this seems great, their teams get to keep important players for longer and don't have to risk losing them in free agency. For key players like those it helps a team's playoff chances as well and keeps that playoff window open for even longer. However, from a player's perspective it shows some of those risks of free agency.
From this player's perspective, it shows wanting to get guaranteed that money instead of waiting a long time in free agency. In the instance of Mike Trout it makes sense, he got $400 million in an extension to stay an Angel for the rest of his career, so why risk staying in free agency for a long period of time to likely not get nearly that much money. You even see guys who are still sitting in free agency, such as Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel, guys who are worthy of that money but haven't gotten anything from a team who wants them long term. These two are prime examples since they just want to try to get the money they've earned with their play but in the end are likely going to lose out on money because of teams not wanting to keep them on for long term deals.
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