In this video I talk about the recent contracts handed out across Major League Baseball and look back on some of the similarities they have to the deals the Rockies gave Tory Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez in the 2010 / 2011 off season.
In just the last twelve months, all of the following players have signed deals that bought out at least one (and in most cases many) free agent year(s) to stay with their current club. (The list would be much longer if I included the last 24 months, but you don't need to go back that far to notice all of the talent that won't be on the free agent in the upcoming off seasons.) Without further delay, here's the list...
Adam Wainwright, Felix Hernandez, David Wright, Evan Longoria, Cole Hamels, Joey Votto, Matt Cain, Adam Jones, Ian Kinsler, Madison Bumgarner, Chris Sale, Matt Harrison, Jonathan Niese, Carlos Santana, Miguel Montero, Brandon Phillips, Starlin Castro, Adam Jones, Andre Ethier, Allen Craig, Buster Posey, Elvis Andrus, and Justin Verlander."
This is part of a colossal shift in baseball contracts we've seen over the past few season. The big market teams are going to find that's there's not too many great items left on the free agent shelves when they go shopping in the coming winters. As much as ever, you have to build and develop your team from within the organization.