Even though pitchers and catchers for all 30 Major League Baseball teams report to spring training this week, dozens of free agents who played significant big league roles in 2024 remain available. The line between free agency ending and the season beginning grows blurrier by the year, and at least a dozen players are expected to get big league deals in the coming weeks.
The full picture of this winter is not clear, but it is on pace to be the second-highest-spending offseason in baseball history, with nearly $3.2 billion guaranteed already.
More than $1 billion comes from the New York Mets — and of that, more than three-quarters belongs to Juan Soto, whose 15-year, $765 million contract set a high-dollar mark across all of professional sports. Here is how massive Soto’s deal is: combine every free agent dollar spent this winter by the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Guardians, Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, the Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels, and Soto was guaranteed more.
That’s 22 teams, 40 players and $755 million. The top eight teams, in the meantime — the Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles — all guaranteed nine figures in free agency and have accounted for more than 76% of the spending this winter.
It’s a further reminder that the hot stove belongs to those willing to spend. There is time for the stragglers to catch up and enough talent to reshape the playoff picture around the league. Here are the answers to half a dozen questions that remain.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
