Did you think there was a break in between the end of the World Series and the next thing on baseball’s calendar? Well, you were wrong. Regrettably, there is no national day of rest for fans or media after the conclusion of the Fall Classic: instead, there is the start of MLB free agency.
MLB free agency has begun
Friday’s Say Hey, Baseball is all about the official start of the 2017-2018 MLB offseason.
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
There are 149 new free agents as of Thursday, and there could be more on the way after players with opt-outs — like Yankees’ starter Masahiro Tanaka — use them to escape their current deals.
Now, I’m not going to lie to you: free agency is going to be pretty awful this offseason. There is J.D. Martinez, sure, and the appeal of Tanaka hitting free agency is obvious given his second-half and postseason turnaround. Jake Arrieta is one of the most significant players on the free agent list this winter, though, and he’s going to be a 32-year-old starter, one who reached 200 innings one time and has seen drastic dips in his performance since. It’s not exactly 2018-2019 out here.
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On the other hand, trades could save us all from an offseason of boredom. Giancarlo Stanton is going to be dealt -- the Marlins don’t really have a way of cutting all the salary they plan on cutting if they keep him. More teams in rebuilding mode might be willing to trade off key players for prospects like the White Sox did with their flurry of 2016-2017 deals. Hell, the Marlins might end up trading more players than just Stanton, since he alone doesn’t get them to where new ownership wants to be, either.
So, come for the few exciting contracts we’ll see handed out this winter, and stay for the trades that fill the gaps for all the teams that don’t manage to add those players before they’re gone. And, I don’t know, to laugh at whichever team gives Eric Hosmer too much money, that’ll probably be entertaining.
- The postseason blueprint just said “DOMINANT BULLPEN” in huge block letters, but the Astros skipped that key step and won anyway thanks to A.J. Hinch’s ability to compensate for Houston’s lack of power arms.
- We’ve got a free agent tracker for you to follow along with this offseason.
- One player who won’t be opting out is Justin Upton, who instead replaced the remaining four years and $88.5 million on his Angels’ deal with a brand new five-year contract.
- Charlie Morton reinvented himself twice to become a World Series hero.
- Yasiel Puig found his home burglarized after Game 7 of the World Series.
- Here are nine stats that explain the Astros’ World Series-clinching win over the Dodgers.
- World Series MVP George Springer wants to be an inspiration to kids with a stutter like him.
- Whitney McIntosh did some important research and catalogued every actor in a FOX show the network mentioned during the World Series’ broadcasts.
- Justin Verlander will reportedly miss the Astros’ World Series parade so he can get married to Kate Upton in Italy. We graded this rumor, as we do with every baseball rumor.
- Speaking of the parade, here’s when it’s going down.
- After the Astros’ World Series win, the minds of some players turned to Puerto Rico.
- ”Maybe one of these days I won’t fail.” That’s what Clayton Kershaw said following the Game 7 loss, and now we’re bummed out.
- George Springer had one of the best World Series performances in 113 years of Fall Classic history.
- The Orioles are about to say goodbye to a bunch of free agents.
- The Red Sox might get moving in a hurry this offseason.
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