In the matter of one day, Eloy Jimenez's extension dropped down to the third-most recent one reportedly signed.
In between, Blake Snell and the Rays went the way of Alex Bregman and the Astros, signing an extension after publicly griping about the meagerness of his renewal contract. The Cy Young winner is now under contract for five years and $50 million.
Then Paul Goldschmidt removed himself from the free agent market, as he and the Cardinals are finalizing a five-year, $130 million extension that will make him the highest-paid player in St. Louis history.
With Goldschmidt out of the way, that leaves Jose Abreu as the top free agent first baseman on the market, but what does that even mean anymore for a 33-year-old? Two years ago, Carlos Santana signed what was considered a light deal with the Phillies at three years and $60 million, which started with his age-32 season. That seems like the high end of a potential Abreu deal now, doesn't it?
This is probably the kind of speculative angst that leads to Goldschmidt signing a J.D. Martinez-plus deal when he's not a DH, but the game's best all-around first baseman.
I suppose it could lead to Abreu and the White Sox doing the same thing, and it wouldn't entirely surprise me because of the mutual affection and appreciation. However, considering Abreu battled the worst slump of his career and had his rally stymied by a couple of injuries, it doesn't strike me as the best time for either side to sign up. Then again, there may not be a great time for Abreu, which brings us back to "speculative angst."
Speaking of which, it's also not a great time to be a team that needs to augment its roster with impact talent from the outside. Such a team is watching future free agent options fall by the wayside day after day (Ken Rosenthal says the Astros are working on Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole).
There will still be players who don't get extended for one reason or another, whether because they're too talented for their circumstances (Manny Machado, Francisco Lindor, maybe?) or because the market shuns them (Dallas Keuchel). The former players will find a way to get paid, but players who slip through the cracks due to the latter have to fight against becoming self-fulfilling prophecies. For instance, if Keuchel signs super-late then disappoints, the results will support the idea that he was a depreciating asset, even if the weird offseason contributed more than its fair share to his struggles.
This is no fun for anybody except the owners, and it wouldn't surprise me if more players try to lock in all the guaranteed money they can to weather a rough outlook and a drastic revision to the system in 2021. The White Sox are left to hope that:
- They solve enough roster gaps with internal talent
- They develop enough excess at positions for trading purposes, or
- They get a whole lot better at pro scouting than they have been.
Not one of these feels like a great bet at this point, which is why the approach of Opening Day feels flatter than ever. Counting on the White Sox to generate their own excitement is never the soundest of bets.
