I Actually Think I Agree With Rob Manfred For Once
Photo Credit: NESN
As we all know, the two biggest free agents in the MLB are still unsigned. With pitchers and catchers reporting and spring training starting up this week, MLB teams have been heavily criticized that the two best players along with a handful of other really good players remain unsigned. A lot of blame has been put on the owners of the teams who most seem to think are being cheap for not handing out big contracts. So this past weekend the MLB commish, who I am not a huge fan of due to all the rule changes he is trying to implement, said that Bryce Harper is partly to blame for him still being a free agent. He noted that his camp and notorious agent, Scott Boras, coming out and saying he was looking for a $400+ million deal has been an impediment for a lot of teams, and let me just say that I could not agree more.
Nobody has swindled more money from sports teams than this guy
Photo Credit: Sporting News
Bryce Harper has accomplished quite a bit in the big leagues at a young age, and him hitting the free agent market at 26 has lead many to believe he would be in line for a big long term deal like Stanton’s contract. So 10 yrs around $300 million, yeah I could see that happening. I’m not necessarily saying that I would want my team paying that much for him but I could see him getting that kind of offer. But it was made public in the years leading up to Harper’s impending free agency that he would be looking for a contract over $400 million. And that my friends is where I think that this free agency officially went off the rails.
To start, Bryce Harper has been good in his 7 years in the majors but he has also been very inconsistent. He has a career batting average of .279 and has hit below .250 2 out of the last 3 seasons. I mean maybe try hitting above .300 for more than 2 seasons out of 7 before you go around demanding a $400+ million contract. So I agree 100% that this automatically dwindled his free agent interest to 2-3 teams. In my mind it probably would have been a better strategy to have had a whole slew of teams bidding and driving up the price organically rather than coming out of the gates asking for $100 million more than any other athlete has ever received. So from that standpoint I absolutely think he’s part of the reason that he remains unsigned, he set the bar entirely way to high and he’s going to get nowhere close to that $400 million number. It also doesn’t help him that teams are finally learning from their past mistakes. You think the Angels would go back on their Pujols deal if they could or the Tigers on Cabrera’s deal? Absolutely.
In the end, I think Harper will get a 10 yr deal around $300 and Machado will get a 8yr deal around $220. But I think we are all witnessing a change in how free agency is dealt with in baseball. Long term deals are becoming a thing of the past and teams will likely be willing to pay more for short term deals. I’m not sure we will ever see Stanton’s mistake of a contract ever topped, unless it’s for Mike Trout because I’d definitely pay $400 million for Mike Trout.
Photo Credit: NBC
Thanny