#mlb-free-agency

#mlb-free-agency

After six historic years with the Los Angeles Angels, Shohei Ohtani became the most coveted free agent in MLB history after the 2023 season. The two-time superstar's list of suitors included the Los Angeles Dodgers, who made a strong push to sign Ohtani when he first made the jump to the Majors in 2017. The Dodgers were among the teams who met with Ohtani during the free agency process and they left no stone unturned.

Here we are at another holiday break, and as we talked about on the last pod, there really is no incentive for teams and players to sign early, so that's why we've only really seen relievers go off the board so far.

Fairbanks, 32, had an $11 million option turned down by the Tampa Bay Rays and went into the open market and beat that number by $2 million. Fairbanks, was one of the top relievers available in a market soft with high-leverage options. As the primary closer for the Rays over the past four seasons he saved 83 games and posted a 2.83 ERA, striking out 332 and walking 103 in 265.1 innings.

On this date last year, Major League Baseball teams had spent around $2.1 billion on free agents. So far this year, that number is shy of $1.4 billion. And as big as that difference seems, it's impossible not to notice the gap between the two numbers shares the same first digit as Juan Soto's $765 million megadeal with the New York Mets signed last December.

We've started to see some top free agents come off the board as the MLB offseason has gotten rolling: Kyle Schwarber back to the Philadelphia Phillies, Pete Alonso to the Baltimore Orioles and Dylan Cease to the Toronto Blue Jays. The closer market also moved quickly: Devin Williams to the New York Mets, Edwin Diaz then ditching the Mets for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Robert Suarez to the Atlanta Braves and Ryan Helsley to Baltimore.

A little over 11 months ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers made a major move in free agency, bringing in closer Tanner Scott on a four-year, $72 million deal to shore up their bullpen. One season later, the Dodgers acquired one of the best relievers on the open market in Edwin Diaz due to their bullpen woes, mainly led by Scott's performance or lack thereof.

The first thing I said to him was, 'You're going to sign with the Dodgers, right?'...I sat there for the entire two-hour event and talked up the Dodgers to him the whole time. I don't know if I had a hand in it or not, but I like to say that I was one of the first ones to go heavy and hard after him that he should be a Dodger.

He left in free agency for the St. Louis Cardinals, and in the years since, he has converted to being a full-time reliever. This past season, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline, thriving in a low-leverage role as the Red Sox made the playoffs. Now, Matz appears determined to tour the entirety of the AL East. According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, Matz is joining the Tampa Bay Rays on a two-year contract in free agency.