The rules are changing when it comes to re-signing star players. Time and time again in the last few years, teams have decided to place a premium on locking down their own players to long-term extensions before allowing them to reach free agency.
It's a calculated risk, for sure, but one that seems to be paying off more often than not when a team has a chance to lock down a franchise player for years to come.
This offseason, we saw a trio of elite players snatched up by their respective teams well before they were eligible to hit the free agent market. Joey Votto, who had two season left on his deal, became a $200 million dollar man. Matt Cain, by the same token, became the highest-paid right-hander in baseball history, despite being under contract for another 12 months. Matt Kemp also was in no rush to leave the Dodgers, but instead of heading to arbitration, he signed on for eight more years and $160 more million.
Even the Pirates are getting in on the action, re-upping with outfielder Andrew McCutchen for six years before he could have even thought about leaving the team via free agency.
Now, Cole Hamels is the latest player attempting to cash in on his impending free agency by reportedly demanding a seven-year extension from the Phillies. Philadelphia has to weigh plenty of factors in deciding whether to answer Hamels' demands, but their conundrum is one that every team is increasingly needing to deal with sooner and sooner in their players' careers.
The Cardinals let Albert Pujols play out his contract after being unable to reach a deal for an extension. The Brewers did the same with Prince Fielder. Both teams were outbid in free agency, underlining the dangers of allowing players to reach that point.
In recent years, it seems like the Yankees — with CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez — are the only teams who have been able to re-sign their star players once they reach the open market with free agency. Of course, the Yankees were likely bidding against themselves for those two anyway.
Most teams do not have the luxury of the Yankees' free-spending ways, so they need to take the chance of locking up a player before they fully deserve the deal they're signing. The Tampa Bay Rays have proved very adept at this strategy, signing their young core of players to long-term deals to avoid arbitration or free agency.
The trade-off is that the players get more money sooner in their contracts and pass up a chance at entering free agency sooner. The Rays, however, risk that money up front and would get burned if their talent doesn't pan out as hoped.
With Jacoby Ellsbury becoming a free agent at the end of this year, general manger Ben Cherington and the Red Sox may soon find themselves weighing those same options.
Will they opt to re-up with the outfielder and avoid the bidding war that could ensure for the 28-year-old's services? Or, like they did when trading for Adrian Gonzalez, will the Sox make sure to re-sign Ellsbury before he gets a chance to see what's out there?
The questions are the same one that MLB teams have faced for years and years. Only now, the answers seems to be changing.
