Carlos Correa, Freddie Freeman and the big free agent question

With the completion of the World Series, baseball immediately moved into freestyle – that sort of thing. Tournament of collective labor agreement will expire on December 1, and so little movement is expected as teams and players alike wait to find out how things will play out. There is a chance the federation could proceed with a lockdown on December 2, which would halt all activities until an agreement is reached.

As we wait for those formalities to be completed, and hope the sport doesn’t stall, there are some big questions to ponder while the stove heats up.

Is Carlos Correa the next $300 million player?

The cost of the top short flight is high – very high. After Fernando Tatis Jr. Sign a contract to change the market $340 million contract With the San Diego Padres ahead of the 2021 season, Francisco Lindor has been a million times better $341 million from the Mets. Correa is younger (and arguably better) than Lindor and a few light years older than Tatis in defense and durability. So, $350 million? 400 million dollars?

Now it’s 2017. Correa is the Astros’ central character. sign theft and has accepted his role as an unrepentant spokesman for that tainted core to the point where he can sometimes feel like a wrestling heel.

In fact 1st overall selection of the 2012 draft has just turned 27, is having his best season, has excelled in the post-season and is seen by his teammates as the ultimate leader.

“Hopefully Carlos re-signs here to stay together,” said Yuli Gurriel before Americas League Championship Series. “But it’s always been hard, and this is a business, and we have to understand that. The last couple of years, he’s taken on that leadership role, and he’s done it well.”

Houston, which has never given a player a contract larger than $151 million and let George Springer, another homegrown superstar, leave last season, is unlikely to reach Lindor/Tatis territory to retain Correa – although the team has extended him a qualifying offer, meaning any other team that signs him will have to offer grant compensation for draft picks. And his polarizing nature outside of Houston and the fact that the roster of freely available staffers includes other short-lived stars like the Dodgers’ Corey Seager and Trevor Story of the Rockies could dampen his claim. him to a certain extent. But anything totaling less than $300 million in a 10-12 year deal would be an absolute bargain for the team that signed Correa – it’s a perfectly fitting situation.

Both sides have been saying all the right things. Freeman wants to stay in Atlanta – soft ice cream machine help – and the Braves want him to stay. But the financial realities of the game persisted even after winning the World Series, and let’s not forget, even Henry Aaron ended his career with the Milwaukee Brewers.

“I think everyone in this room knows I want to stay here,” Freeman said during a World Series press conference.

Freeman, 32, may be more accomplished than you realize. Since 2013, his slip plus slip rate, when adjusted for league and home, has been at least 30% above average per season. He’s hit that feat in a single qualifying season as many times as Hall of Famers like Hank Greenberg, Carl Yastrzemski and Willie McCovey have done over their entire careers. He has 271 home runs, won the 2020 NL Most Valuable Player Award, 5 times All-Star Champion, won the Golden Glove and is the most active player for a World Championship team. Series.

He also just ended an eight-year, $135 million deal – the biggest deal in franchise history – and probably wants a raise from the $22 million he made in 2021. For now, the team has extended his qualifying offer, which is largely just formality.

Atlanta bought itself some financial flexibility by signing young stars like Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies for long-term transactions much lower than their market value but post-season hero Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler qualified for free agent and Max Fried the winner of the game 6 qualified to act as a salary arbitrator. Some compromises will have to be made, and Freeman could make more money elsewhere if that’s what he chooses to prioritize.

Toronto has to wonder what could happen if only the Blue Jays made it to the knockout stages. The team was forced to play home games in the first half of the season in Florida and Buffalo, which may have contributed to an uneventful start. The hole proved too deep to climb out of the knockout stages even though the team’s plus-183 difference outperformed all but four teams in the majors.

At the core of the team is a group of really believable young stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernandez, and Toronto hasn’t shy away from spending big on freelance agency, throwing $150 million at George Springer and $80 million for Hyun-jin Ryu to complement that young core.

But for all that, the team’s best pitcher in 2021 is Robbie Ray, a hopeful Cy Young award who was bought back for essentially nothing (the player Toronto sent him to Arizona for in 2020 was returned to the Blue Jays for cash six months later). And the player in the team’s most valuable position, in terms of wins versus substitutes, is not Guerrero, who flirt when you win three crowns, but instead was Marcus Semien, the second player to be signed to a shocking one-year, $18 million contract after Oakland decided not to keep him.

Ray and Semien, both of which received qualifying offers for 2022, total costs of $26 million in 2021 and produce 13.9 WARs. It would make sense for each to want that close to every future season, and with the Blue Jays knowing they will have to pay the likes of Guerrero and Bichette at market value in the years to come, in addition to commitments. big in 30 years – ex-players and a 31-year-old midfielder can push a team beyond the threshold of staffing they can manage.

Some other things to consider.

How many years can a group reasonably commit to Max Scherzer 37 years old is a top ace of the rotation? Does that math change when you consider the other front-line starters available, aside from Scherzer and Ray, are a rather less prominent group by Kevin Gausman, the critically injured Noah Syndergaard and Justin Verlander recovering from surgery. ? (Marcus Stroman of the Mets and Carlos Rodon of the White Sox might actually be profitable considering the fragility and age of other options.)

How much is a 33 year old Starling Marte worth after hitting .310 and leading the big guys in stolen bases? Will 41-year-old Nelson Cruz ever show significant decline? What will become the champion core of Cubs being blown to the wind on trade deadlines? Will Trevor Bauer ever pitch again?for the Dodgers In other words)? And will the Mets, who have contact with almost everyone active in baseball, only to be quickly turned down, get a new general manager in place before players start signing with other teams?