NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- For the dozens of sluggers available in free agency -- a glut only thickened by the high number of hitters who can be had in a trade -- the top and bottom of the market are now framed. Yoenis Cespedes got $110 million over four years, for an average salary of $27.5 million annually but far less, in total dollars, than a lot of players got in recent years. Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday have signed one-year deals, for $16 million and $13 million, respectively, as perhaps the most coveted free agents on one-year deals.
And the rest of the enormous mass of players will probably fall below them. The initial asking price for Edwin Encarnacion was said to be about $25 million a year over five years, and given that he’s one of the few free agents attached to draft-pick compensation, Encarnacion might do well if he comes close to the $80 million over four years offered by Toronto.
Think about the many unsigned slugger types who remain on the board: Mark Trumbo, Mike Napoli, Brandon Moss, Chris Carter, Jose Bautista, Pedro Alvarez, Billy Butler, Colby Rasmus, Mitch Moreland, Michael Saunders, Rickie Weeks, Jeff Francoeur, Adam Lind, Steve Pearce, Logan Morrison and Justin Morneau, in addition to Dexter Fowler, Ian Desmond, Angel Pagan, Rajai Davis, Coco Crisp, Carlos Gomez, Michael Bourn, James Loney and others.
And here are those available in trade: Andrew McCutchen, J.D. Martinez, Victor Martinez, Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson, Michael Conforto and others.