This is a quicker-than-usual post just to spark discussion. Two of the last “bigger name” free agents came off the board Wednesday with Alex Bregman taking his trash can lid banging ways to Fenway Park and Nick Pivetta signing a 4-year deal to call San Diego home.
And with those deals trends continued in this “new era” of silly contracts. Once upon a time it was absurdly long deals that were all the rage, as if Albert Pujols was going to age well into his 40s. 5 years paying too much for past performance? Why not 8? Or 10?
Then we briefly entered the Age Of The Deferral, with Shohei Ohtani signing an awfully reasonable deal costing the Los Angeles Dodgers just $2M each year until he’s long gone and they have to pay the other $680M.
Welcome to 2025 and a new new normal. Bregman’s 3 year, $120M deal is for $40M each season with one increasingly common catch. Bregman can opt out after year 1 or he can opt out after year 2. So he’s really signing 3 separate one-year deals: 1 “fer sherr” and 2 “definite maybes”.
As for Pivetta’s 4 year, $55M contract? It’s a $3M signing bonus, all of $1M for 2025, then $19M (2026), $14M (2027), $18M (2028). The catch? Pivetta can opt after either years 2 or 3.
What we’re seeing, more and more commonly, are multi-year deals with opt outs. So as a fan you don’t really know if your team just inked someone for 1 year or 3, for 4 years or 2. And it’s not as if the opt outs are insurance policies rarely utilized. Blake Snell, Sean Manaea, Nick Martinez — it’s still a minority but each year multiple players exercise their opt outs when they can.
I’m curious what you think of contracts with “opt out” provisions, contracts with significant deferrals, or any other “latest trends” you’re noticing. They are certainly “fair” within the rules governing deals. But…
Are they good for the game? Should they be allowed? Are teams wise to be offering these contracts? Should or will any of this be addressed/changed in the next CBA? I look forward to hearing your thoughts and your reasoning as pitchers and catchers stretch in Mesa while position players lollygag for just a few more precious days at home.