This is all part of the changing business of baseball. The way of the future is extensions for players when they are young into their free agency years like Trout, DeGrom, Bogaerts, etc. For me, I think this is wonderful that players are more likely to stay with a team for most of their careers.
Free agency has not gone well for players in the past couple of seasons. Harper and Machado got their money but they are elite players and got very lucky that they found a team with more money than brains. But it didn’t seem that many teams were lining up for these guys. More players ended up like Keuchel and Kimbrel where they either took a small short term deal or ended up unemployed. Baseball has marched forward just fine without them.
Part of the problem is that both of these guys were looking for $100m plus. They probably could have signed a deal if they were more reasonable. Both are over 30. Last season both of their ERA went up over a point. Keuchel was a .500 pitcher. Kimbrel fell apart in the post season. These players (and their agents) have overvalued themselves. If you want to work, sign a deal and work. It reminds me of the Andre Dawson story. He was almost out of baseball. He went to the Cubs and begged them saying he would sign for any amount they were willing to pay handing them a blank contract. He won an mvp and went on to the Hall of Fame. Take a lesson in humility from a legend.
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