The MLB offseason continues to surprise and dazzle with record-breaking contracts, but some of the biggest deals just broke within a span of 24 hours.
Kyle Tucker reportedly agreed to a four-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers worth $240 million on Thursday night. Not to be outdone, Bo Bichette reportedly accepted a three-year, $126 million contract with the New York Mets on Friday morning.
It's setting a new standard for short-term, high AAV free-agent contracts. That figure breaks down to roughly $57.1 million per season in net present value, making it one of the richest deals in baseball history once opt-outs and deferrals are factored in. Second only to elite contracts like the Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto sweepstakes.
At first glance, that kind of spending might seem enviable, despite the competitive and financial strain that comes with it, if it is taken into account. He has opt-outs after his second and third seasons to boot. Tucker's contract and the Dodgers' ability to absorb it have pushed Los Angeles into a payroll sphere few teams could replicate without sacrificing depth or future flexibility.
While similar to Tucker's contract, Bichette's deal prioritizes something further on the short-term scale, as it's akin to the pact between Alex Bregman and the Red Sox, where he has opt-outs after his first and second seasons, but still has high per-year value.
These two deals reflect another strategic approach, which is capturing elite production now without committing to aging years later. Sadly, it's not about competing for championships. It's about the greed and the bidding wars for a player's services.
Now contrast this with the Red Sox. Boston did pursue top free agents like Alex Bregman, even offering him a five-year package, but stopped short of the highest levels of AAV and was not willing to budge on giving him a no-trade clause. He ended up signing with the Cubs for five years, worth $175 million.
After a week of seeing new signings with other teams, it doesn't seem like the Red Sox were being cheap anymore or lacking ambition. They were being smart. It's financial discipline. Boston is protecting future payroll flexibility and avoiding the kind of looming financial commitments that have trapped too many contending teams when production falls short of salary obligations. The Red Sox, for one, are guilty of many counts.
For one, the Pablo Sandoval deal, which led to him signing for a span of five years, while earning $98 million. He didn't even make it past 2017 before he was released in July. David Price signed a hefty 7-year, $217 million contract with the Red Sox in 2016. He was traded in 2020 in the infamous Mookie Betts trade as a pure salary dump, not because of his talents. Chris Sale's contract, where he signed a five-year extension worth $145 million that kicked in during the 2020 season. He only had one healthy season before getting shipped off to Atlanta, and ironically enough, winning the Cy Young Award shortly thereafter.
Every major deal so far this winter has been front-loaded or structured to maximize immediate value at a huge price. Those are taxable, high-risk contracts that can negatively impact them later on when a player's performance dips or injuries occur, something baseball history has proven repeatedly. Now, it's not as though Tucker and Bichette are terrible players, nor are they old in baseball age. But an inevitability has taken over the league before its 2027 inevitable lockout.
It's "inevitable" because of what the teams have been signing these players to. When there's a $300 million difference between one team's payroll and the other, it's breaking the league.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox have been maintaining a competitive rotation, promising young talent, and now payroll flexibility that keeps them in play for midseason upgrades or unexpected breakouts. By resisting the urge to overcommit financially, Boston preserves an advantage in a sport where circumstances change rapidly.
So while free agency headlines spotlight these hefty deals that will push payrolls into the stratosphere, Boston's cautious and calculated approach could prove to be the most sustainable path to what's now expected to be consistent contention. This strategy may pay off when others are handcuffed by their own contracts, or at least, when the lockout can hopefully make a mend of things after this upcoming season.
Buckle your seatbelts, everyone. Enjoy the crazy ride while it's still going, because the drama will inevitably turn into an all-out brawl in CBA negotiations this December.