Signs of things to come began in 2020 with the 12-year, $365 million contract awarded to Mookie Betts, but even this was a unique situation. Friedman might have been more willing to make this deal not only because of Betts' talent, but also because he had surrendered assets to acquire him and didn't want to make it a one-year rental.
The extensions serve a couple purposes for the A's. They lock in what could be an elite lineup with less concern among the fanbase about them tearing the roster down the way they did after the 2021 season. They're largely backloaded deals, which raises the team's competitive balance payroll (based on annual value) to avoid a revenue sharing grievance without costing as much in salary while they're playing in Sacramento.
It's worth noting, too, that the Mets are deep in both top prospects and young big leaguers that could be marketed to other clubs. Their farm system is generally regarded as one of the ten best in the game. Following this year's draft and trade deadline, Baseball America ranked the Mets' system ninth in the game. MLB.com ranked it seventh.
Good morning! There's a new player in the Alex Bregman sweepstakes and it's... the Arizona Diamondbacks? It's certainly curious that Arizona would be in on Bregman given that they began the offseason purportedly open to move Ketel Marte in order to reduce payroll. Then again, the DBacks have moved in some interesting ways in free agency lately so it might not all be bluster.
The Pirates are desperately in need of offense to support an excellent young pitching staff. General manager Ben Cherington said yesterday that the front office has "more flexibility than they've had in [any] other offseasons" since he was hired going into the 2020 season. That might enable them to make multiple additions from the middle tiers of free agency. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the Bucs could commit between $30-40MM to their 2026 payroll.
"We have put ourselves in a position based on the improvement we made in 2025," Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said, per The Athletic. "We think we can put together a really exciting team for 2026 and also continue our quest to build a foundation of talent at all levels that will allow us to stay good for a long period of time."
