Alex Bregman signs five year extension; $100M

[reillymcshane]

Houston IF Alex Bregman has signed a five year extension with $100M. The deal buys out Bregman's three years of arbitration and two years of free agency. It takes Bregman through his age 30 season.

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/03/astros-extend-alex-bregman-six-years-100-million.html

[Fear The Chorizo]

When cream of the crop talents are signing longterm contract extensions paying them market value during what should be their prime production years instead of taking the arbitration process year to year to reach free agency, the system is actually working as it should be.

 

What we are seeing this offseason is the death of the notion that the best way to maximize a great player's earning capacity through his career is getting to free agency as soon as possible and at all costs. Boras and his approach is part of what's wrong with the financial structure of MLB, and I think we'll continue to see that approach go the way of the dinosaur for the game's best players. Teams have proven they are more than willing to pay market value for their own when those players are willing to sign deals that pay them through their actual prime years of production and extend their time with a team beyond the initial 6 year window.

 

In a way, free agency in MLB should be similar to what it realistically is in the NFL - the very best players rarely ever reach true free agency until they're long in the tooth, but it's a good avenue for good veteran players to continue their careers beyond their primes, and for the occasional stud to cash in big if their original club doesn't have the financial means or desire to make it happen with an initial contract extension.

 

Guys like Kris Bryant have to be wondering what they heck is going on right now...and Boras is probably like:

 

[homer]

When cream of the crop talents are signing longterm contract extensions paying them market value during what should be their prime production years instead of taking the arbitration process year to year to reach free agency, the system is actually working as it should be.

 

What we are seeing this offseason is the death of the notion that the best way to maximize a great player's earning capacity through his career is getting to free agency as soon as possible and at all costs.

 

This isn't really a new thing though. Braun signed an extension before hitting FA. So did Yelich, Trout (not this week but the last time), Segura signed a big extension with SEA back in 2017. There are a ton of examples. There are actually very few top tier players that end up reaching FA. There just happened to be two this year (three if you count Kimbrel I guess).

[KeithStone53151]

This actually looks like a market value contract. Arenado got $34.5M in his first 3 years of arbitration and $32.5M/year in FA. Machado got $32.5M in 3 years arbitration and $30M/year in FA. This is pretty close to both(slightly more actually), albeit without having to pay for likely decline years. Bregman will also reach FA at age 30, so he could still get one more big contract if he remains elite through this deal.