Arenado claims the slow MLB offseason didn't factor into the timing of his extension with the RockiesGETTY IMAGES
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred yesterday again cheered a thawing player market that recently saw a record-setting free agency deal by the Padres for 3B Manny Machado and a subsequent long-term extension for Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado that avoided his free agency. Manfred said the current offseason could end up as the second-most lucrative one ever for total salary commitments to players. However, he stated the increasing numbers of short-term and minor-league contracts offered to many other veterans is a function of accelerating changes in how teams are evaluating players, particularly older ones. “Those changes are driven by analytics, contracting practices that has affected the supply of free agents in the market, and on the demand side, too. We even saw that again yesterday (with Arenado) where somebody buys out somebody’s free agent rights,” he said. “Markets change over time and we are in a period of change in the game. I have a lot of faith in the idea that the market is going to adjust over time and continue to work well. The system has been really good for both the players and the clubs for a very long period of time” (Eric Fisher, THE DAILY).
WAITING GAME: Both Arenado and Rockies Exec VP & GM Jeff Bridich said that a "stagnant market for a second consecutive offseason ... didn't factor into the timing" of the record extension. Arenado said, "I wasn't afraid of free agency, and I didn't base my decision off (the market). I see what's going on and it's disappointing, but at the end of the day, my heart was here" (DENVER POST, 2/28). Meanwhile, THE ATHLETIC's Rob Biertempfel noted new Pirates P Francisco Liriano "spent most of this past offseason waiting [for] his phone to ring." Things were "quiet until the end of January when he got nine contract offers." Liriano said, "They all came the same week, seven of them on the same day, and they were all minor league deals, pretty much the same money" (THEATHLETIC.com, 2/26).
