Mike Trout, who is worth $426.5 million. After personal terms, the new amazing ace is expected to break the record.
In the 12 days since Major League Baseball’s free agent season commenced, not one player has signed with a new team. Nobody will mistake the MLB offseason for the NFL or NBA’s, when early frenzies turn free agency into events, but even for baseball, this year has been snail-paced.
Football and basketball are capped sports, and both wait weeks to commence free agency instead of starting it the day after a champion is crowned, so attempting to compare is like apples and kumquats. None of that lessens the disappointment for baseball fans ravenous to see their teams improve.
Instead, the hot stove has turned frigid on account of a number of factors: Teams are weighing addressing needs in the trade market. Players aren’t eager to sign early, below-market deals. For now, the focus of front offices is on today’s deadline to set 40-man rosters and Friday’s to tender players a contract — which are bound to lead to even more players hitting free agency. Some teams are punting on this relatively weak free agent class altogether, looking ahead to next offseason, when a class headlined by Juan Soto, Zack Wheeler, Pete Alonso and Max Fried hits the market.
And, of course, there is a half-billion-dollar question mark obscuring the proceedings.
No, Shohei Ohtani is not going to single-handedly cause every big-spending team with aspirations of signing him to wait instead of going after other top free agents. Executives are well capable of walking and chewing gum simultaneously. Still, the specter Ohtani casts is real.
It’s no surprise, then, that he tops our overview of the winter ahead. Ohtani is primed to shatter the North American sports record for guaranteed money in a contract, currently held by his Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout, at $426.5 million. The last time a reigning MVP — Ohtani is expected to run away with the American League award Thursday — left his team in free agency was in 1992, when Barry Bonds absconded Pittsburgh for San Francisco.
The unicorn who will rule the winter
If there is one thing to know about Shohei Ohtani’s free agency, it’s that you are unlikely to know much about it until he signs somewhere. If visits between Ohtani and a team are reported publicly, it will be held against the team, so the circles will be tiny and tight.
The expectation among teams involved is that Ohtani could move relatively quickly — perhaps even before the Dec. 4-7 winter meetings, according to sources. This is not surprising. During Ohtani’s time in MLB, he has spurned turning contract negotiations into major productions. He announced he was signing with the Angels on a Friday night in early December. Rather than maximizing his final earnings — and potentially altering the arbitration system — via a hearing, he signed a record one-year, $30 million deal in 2023. The most valuable free agent in the nearly half-century-old system is not altogether interested in everything the free agent experience can offer.
