PHOENIX — It’s supposed to be baseball’s Shangri-La, where all of your dreams come true and you’re lying on the beach basking in a bidding war for your services, with your accountant preparing to set up generations of your family for life.
It’s the world of free agency, where after six years of servitude and being told where to play, you are finally able to control your own life.
Great, right?
“No, not at all,’ Baltimore Orioles starter Charlie Morton, 41, tells USA TODAY Sports. “Not even close.’
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso thought he was going to get perhaps a $200 million payday when he hit free agency, after slugging more homers since 2019 than anyone but Aaron Judge. He wound up having the Toronto Blue Jays as his only serious suitor before going back to the Mets on a two-year, $54 million deal, with plans to opt out again after this year.
Starter José Quintana certainly wasn’t planning on making his 2025 season debut Friday with the Milwaukee Brewers on a one-year, $4.25 million contract that he signed in March when no one would meet his asking price after coming off a two-year, $26 million contract with the Mets.
Veteran Lance Lynn didn’t think he’d be sitting home these days in Southern Illinois after discovering that no team was willing to meet his $8 million asking price.
“Free agency could be great, it could be miserable,’ Lynn tells USA TODAY Sports. “I experienced both. You know what you think you’re worth, you know where you want to be, but teams look to try to get a guy as cheap as possible. …
“I was in a weird market where every team could afford me, but 20 to 25 teams are not looking to compete. Every team has the same playbook.’
And you wonder why there was such a rash of extensions these past few weeks – from Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s 14-year, $500 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays to Arizona Diamondbacks closer Justin Martinez’s five-year, $18 million contract – with players surrendering years of free agency to avoid the stress and possible fear of testing the market.
“People think that you become a free agent and you’re going to have 30 teams calling you,’ says Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes of the Diamondbacks, who signed a six-year, $210 million contract. “You get about three, four teams calling, and they take their time calling you.’
There are plenty of times, players will tell you, they never want to leave. Sometimes, they’re shown the door.
“I mean, it’s exciting because of the possibilities, right?’ Morton says. “Maybe you get a chance to put on a uniform of the team you always wanted to wear, or a chance for a fresh start, but I’ve always wanted to be a guy that wanted to be in the same place.
“When I get into a room with a room full of guys, I want to devote myself to that group, that organization. And over time, when you’re always on different teams, it takes its toll. I went through a World Series with the Astros. I went through a World Series with the Rays. I went through a World Series with the Braves. Going through that every day with the highs and lows, and then a couple of years later, you’re out the door.
“To me, it’s not ideal. I get why guys feel the need to drive the market, a responsibility and obligation to try to get as much they can for other guys. Really, I get the whole thing. I just wish there were more guys sticking around their ballclubs, especially if they feel good about the teams they’re with. I know plenty of guys that do devote themselves to the team, and they would take less money to stay.’
“For me, I think that wasn’t fair…,’ Severino told New York reporters Friday. “I was trying to stay with the Mets. I asked for less money to stay there but I wasn’t in their plans. At the beginning I was shocked but at the end, I knew it was business, and they need to take care of themselves.”
Quintana was perfectly willing to stay in New York, too, after his two-year, $26 million contract expired. Instead, he hit the free-agent market, and waited, and waited, and waited.
“No one even made an offer,’ Quintana said late Friday night, “until late January. It was a little weird. Then, teams started calling. I didn’t get many offers, but at the end of the day, I had a couple of teams, and I picked this one.’
Quintana signed a one-year, $4.25 million deal on March 5, made his season debut Friday, and responded by pitching seven shutout innings while dominating the Diamondbacks.
Now, a whole lot of teams wish they called a bit earlier.
Burnes was open to staying in Baltimore, too, but waited nearly a month before the Orioles even made an offer. It was a four-year deal for $180 million, giving him a record $45 million per year, but it paled in comparison to the eight-year, $218 deal the New York Yankees paid for free agent Max Fried.
“If they really wanted me,’ Burnes says, “they wouldn’t have offered me four years. They knew that wasn’t going to work. That was one of the things that we were scratching our head at where they kind of got the years from. They were kind of set on those years. …
“It was just strange because we didn’t hear that much from them, just like, hey, we’d love to have you back. Then, it was radio silence. They weren’t spitting out numbers at all. It was like, “Yeah, we want you,’ but it wasn’t like, we want you bad, here’s this offer.’
Separating facts from fiction
Of course, there is no free agency without exaggerated and fabricated reports.
Remember, under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, no team is permitted to publicly say that they offered, let alone if they have any interest in the player. A player’s agent can fib, lie, fabricate, exaggerate, or do whatever he or she wants to do, and a team has no recourse.
Remember when the Philadelphia Phillies were reported to be a major player at the outset in the Juan Soto sweepstakes. They never had a single conversation about him. They didn’t talk to starter Blake Snell, third baseman Alex Bregman or Alonso, either.
The Blue Jays did make a strong offer to Alonso, just as they did Soto, but despite erroneous reports, they didn’t make a single offer to Bregman, let alone engage with him.
There were supposed to be at least two or three teams who made larger offers to Burnes before he decided to stay home and sign with the Diamondbacks. Well, as it turns out, no one made a higher offer to Burnes. The Orioles stopped at $180 million. The Blue Jays offer was not only low, but was 75% deferred, which Burnes never took seriously. The San Francisco Giants’ pursuit of Burnes stopped before it really got started.
“This,’ Burnes says, “was by far the best offer that we had.”
And no, he didn’t leave any money on the table, with the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers never making an offer.
“We get so tired of being used as a stalking horse,’ one owner said. “Agents make things up how we’re offering this and that, and we haven’t even talked to the guy. It’s so damn frustrating.’
Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox were scolded by the Commissioner’s Office a year ago when they said they were out on Shohei Ohtani – as if someone actually believed they were going to offer $700 million.
“You know, I didn’t necessarily want to go to free agency,’ said Orioles starter Zach Eflin, who spent the first seven years of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies. “But then, I guess, it was refreshing to know that teams were interested in you, especially my hometown team [Tampa Bay]. But it’s an interesting process, for sure. Sometimes, you meet with teams over Zoom or whatever, and they’re like, we’ll submit an offer in the next couple of days, and then you don’t hear back from them. It’s kind of a wild goose chase.’
All-Stars Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson didn’t want to leave Atlanta. After winning the 2021 World Series, Atlanta filled Freeman’s position with a trade for Matt Olson, leaving him to sign with the Dodgers. A year later, Swanson, Atlanta’s longtime starting shortstop left for the Chicago Cubs. They ultimately received bigger contracts than Atlanta offered, but if they had their druthers, they would still be with the club.
“I’d love to stay here the rest of my career,’ says Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who led the team with 30 homers and 101 RBI last season, and is eligible for free agency for the first time. “I ask my agents, ‘How we looking?’ and they tell me to just trust the process. I know not everybody is going to call you, right? Maybe two, three teams, four if you’re lucky. That’s the only thing I know about.’
Future of free agency
Certainly, with a potential lockout looming at the end of the 2026 season, no one can quite predict how next winter’s free-agent market will look.
Still, it’s ludicrous to think that Guerrero’s 14-year, $500 million contract extension will have a huge impact on the free-agent market.
There’s not an executive in the game who doesn’t think the Blue Jays overpaid for Guerrero, cringing what it will look like in 14 years. They’ll also tell you the Blue Jays had no choice but to succumb to his demands knowing the public relations fallout in Canada if Guererro departed, particularly with front office jobs on the line.
Hey, Guerrero’s contract may be nice for first basemen, but if no one was going to offer Alonso $100 million last season for his prodigious power, then why would someone suddenly offer him $200 million or more when he’s a year older?
If Kyle Tucker wanted $300 million from the Astros to stick around before being traded to the Chicago Cubs, does his asking price really go to $500 million one year later?
If Guerrero’s contract was suddenly a magical elixir for free agents, slugger J.D. Martinez, closer David Robertson and first baseman Anthony Rizzo still wouldn’t be sitting at home, waiting for someone to offer a contract big enough to get them off their couch. Rizzo has no interest playing for $1 million and signing a non-roster contract. Robertson set a price-tag of $10 million during the winter. And Lynn told teams he wanted $8 million, only to have teams lower their offers to $4 million if he would wait and sign in June when teams started needed reinforcements.
“I didn’t hear anything for so long, then everyone started offering basically the same thing,’ Lynn said. “Every team seemed to say, ‘This is the best deal you’re going to get.’ When I kept saying, ‘No, you’re only paying me half of what I’m worth,’ they said, ‘What are you going to do, just not play?’
“Well, my answer is yes.’
Now, Lynn’s final crack at free agency quietly ends with him walking away from the game.
On his own terms.
“And you know what,’ Lynn says, “I’m good with that.’
Free agency once again awaits for more than 150 players in six months.
Enter at your own risk.
Around the basepaths
– The Seattle Mariners desperately need some offensive help after injuries to right fielder Victor Robles and second baseman Ryan Bliss will sideline them for at least three to four months. Yet, one club who offered a young infielder for veteran starter Luis Castillo, was told that Castillo remains off-limits – at least for now.
– If the Los Angeles Dodgers actually needed him, Shohei Ohtani could step on the mound right now and contribute, according to a person close to Ohtani, but his return is looking like it may come closer to the All-Star break.
– Several players from the Dominican Republic believe there would have been dozens of active major-league stars who would have been killed in the tragedy at the Jet Set nightclub night club in the Dominican if the incident occurred during the offseason. This was an iconic spot where so many players and celebrities frequent. The collapsed roof claimed 221 lives.
– The Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers have tabled trade discussions that would send center fielder Luis Robert Jr. to the Dodgers for Triple-A outfielder James Outman and a front-line prospect.
– Fascinating Netflix eight-part documentary on the 2024 Boston Red Sox: “The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox.” It was highlighted by Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran’s painful admission that he tried to kill himself three years ago after losing a fly ball in the lights against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It was a pretty low time for me,” Duran says in the video. “Like, I didn’t want to be here anymore. … I got to the point where I was sitting in my room; I had my rifle and I had a bullet and I pulled the trigger and the gun clicked but nothing happened. … To this day, like, I think God just didn’t let me take my own life because I seriously don’t know, like, why it didn’t go off.’’
Today, he is an All-Star outfielder who wants to spread the message of the importance of mental health throughout the world.
“The whole purpose of me sharing was to kind of get it out there and let people know that they’re not alone,” Duran told reporters. “If I can help just one person, it’s meaningful. I’m just trying to let people know that there’s always hope and to make sure they’re reaching out.”
Duran’s message, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, should be rewarded this winter when MLB hands out their most prestigious humanitarian award.
“We’re saving lives now, that’s what he’s doing,’ Cora told reporters. “He should be nominated already for the Roberto Clemente Award right now. He should win it, to be honest with you, just because of what he said and what he’s doing. He’s saving lives and we’re very proud of him.”
– The Blue Jays could have signed Guerrero for about $300 million two years ago, and their delay proved to be quite costly. His contract won’t pay more $17 million in base salary in any of his 14 years, dropping to just $7 million and $6.25 million in his final three years. Yet, he also will be paid all but $305 million of his $325 million signing bonus paid out over the contract.
– Pete Alonso on Guerrero’s record-setting contract for a first baseman: “Obviously, half a billion dollars is a huge, huge, huge amount,’’ he told reporters. “So like for him, it’s a fantastic deal, and it’s great for the first-base market. I think 14 years, he’s just done well, deservedly so…And I think right now, you can’t think of the Toronto Blue Jays without Vlad Jr.”
– Kyle Tucker’s reaction to Guerrero’s deal: “I’m sure he loves playing in Toronto and everything. So that’s great for him. But everyone’s a little different. Right now, I’m here to play this year and play for the Cubs. So I’m excited to get out there and play just kind of see where everything goes after that.”
– Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde’s reaction: “I don’t like seeing Vladdy 13 times a year. If he wanted to go to Cleveland or San Diego that certainly would have been perfectly fine with me.’’
– The Blue Jays should be able to be a strong player in the free-agent market again with $65 million coming off the books with starters Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer and reliever Chad Green free agents after the season, and $55 million after 2026 when outfielder George Springer, starter Kevin Gausman and reliever Yimi Garcia’s contracts expire.
– It’s a bad look in Sacramento that the Athletics haven’t sold out a game since the season opener, with about 3,000 empty seats for their Friday game against the New York Mets on a beautiful evening.
The Athletics, meanwhile, insist they are breaking ground on their $1.75 billion Las Vegas Strip ballpark in June, putting then on track to open in 2028.
– Brewers manager Pat Murphy on payroll disparity: “There’s a lot to [complain] about. But really, does that really help anything? … Everybody’s situation has obstacles, and ours has obstacles. You find a way to let your attitude become better than the obstacles, make the best of it, and just find some other ways to attack the game.
“I’ve been here for 10 years. You can see how business is done but our ownership and our front office is committed to winning, and that’s all I needed to hear. Our owner [Mark Attanasio] cares about the Milwaukee Brewers, and he knows the sustained success we’ve had over the last 10 years. He cares deeply about it, but he is a responsible businessman, too.
“I don’t think he should get any criticism at all for how we operate the budget.’
– What a miserable week for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
It began when they removed the Roberto Clemente sign in right field for an advertisement, and then it was discovered that they removed many personalized $75-to-$150 bricks outside their ballpark where they were found at a recycling center for building materials.
Oh yeah, and they stink once again with the worst offense in the league after doing nothing to augment their young and talented starting rotation led by Paul Skenes.
This is the same organization that hasn’t signed a free agent to a multi-year deal since pitcher Ivan Nova in 2016.
– Scouts from Japan and Korea have been closely watching Orioles starter Dean Kremer, who could get more money overseas this winter than in MLB free agency next winter.
– Former All-Star first baseman Eric Hosmer is lobbying for MLB and the union to severely stiffen the penalties for players caught using PEDs by voiding their guaranteed contract to a suspended player.
“The only way that this game gets cleaned up and these guys don’t risk 80-game suspensions for another couple years on the back end is to take away guaranteed money … ” Hosmer said on his Diggin’ Deep podcast. “If you tell me that I have $110 million on the line for these next three years and I could possibly lose that, I’m not even thinking (about risking a suspension). So, for me, I think that’s the only way to clean up the game in this way.”
The biggest trouble with the idea, the union says, is the mistrust with teams. A club’s medical staff could deliberately give a player a banned substance to assure he tests positive, immediately voiding a contract they badly want to dump.
– The Padres, who are off to the best start in baseball at 10-2, have had only two starts like this in franchise history:
1984: 10-2.
1998: 11-2.
The Padres went to the World Series each of those seasons.
– Heartwarming story in St. Louis where 27-year-old catcher Yohel Pozo, who was homeless and living out of the family car in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, got called up to the big leagues this week and hit a homer in his St. Louis debut.
– Yes, those are the Miami Marlins minor-league coaches wearing victual reality glasses during batting practice.
– Speaking of the Marlins, their Class A pitching staff in Jupiter just walked a record 22 batters and hit three more in their game last week, the most in a minor-league game in history, according to Jayson Stark of the Athletic.
– Just how good is the Dodgers bullpen?
Their relievers have struck out more batters this season than the starting rotations of 28 other teams, according to @Codifybaseball.
– That is Alex Bregman’s father, attorney Sam Bregman, who is running for governor of New Mexico.
– The New Mets entered Saturday having allowed the fewest homers in baseball (six), with none coming with more than one runner on base.
– The Dodgers opened the season with an 11-4 record despite the bottom three hitters batting a major-league worst .149. Can you imagine what happens when they heat up?
– The Phillies have become concerned with closer Jason Romano, who averaged 96.8-mph on his fastball two years ago, but now is down to about 92-94-mph and struggling holding on runners. This helps explain why the Blue Jays non-tendered him last winter before the Phillies signed him to a one-year, $8.5 million contract.
– Yankees center fielder Cody Bellinger missed a game in Detroit with food poisoning after chowing down some wings at the team hotel as he watched the men’s college basketball championship game.
He immediately made a vow after recovering.
“I will not eat wings for five years. I swear,’ Bellinger told reporters. “The thought of it makes me sick.”
– The most impressive aspect about the San Francisco Giants’ torrid start is that they’re doing it without the help of their prized free agent, shortstop Willy Adames.
Adames is hitting just .176 with a .259 on-base percentage and .216 slugging percentage.
– The ball that Walker Buehler threw to Will Smith for the final out of the 2024 World Series was auctioned off for $414,000 on behalf of Catching Hope Foundation, the Buehler Family Foundation and the Dodgers.
– Kudos to the Cubs for unveiling a plaque in honor of Tom “Otis” Hellmann, their beloved clubhouse manager who died Jan. 31, 2024.
– Quote of the week: Red Sox manager Alex Cora, when asked about the cold wintry conditions teams endured this past week: We always complain about the weather in April. We don’t in October.’
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