When looking for the worst contracts in baseball, examining massive free-agent deals helps narrow down the potential list of albatrosses. To find the best contracts, free agency is rarely a help. When players have their choice of teams and can create a market, the highest bidder often prevails. To strike a good deal for a team, front offices target players further away from free agency, offering life-changing money in exchange for giving away those precious free-agent opportunities.
What follows are the best contracts for teams considering money owed and expected performance. Players who are currently in the arbitration process -- such as Kris Bryant -- or have yet to reach arbitration -- such as Carlos Correa and Shohei Ohtani -- are not considered here as they have yet to sign a long-term deal with their teams.
1. Mike Trout
Owed $99.75 million from 2018 to '20
How is it possible that the highest-paid player in baseball also has the most team-friendly contract in baseball? Mike Trout makes it possible. Trout barely qualified for the batting title last season, missing a quarter of the year due a torn thumb ligament, but still managed a 7-WAR season that ranked fourth in baseball. He walked just as often as Aaron Judge, but struck out about half as much and hit for extra bases with greater frequency. He's still just 26 and is likely to double the value of his contract over the next three seasons. It might not be the longest good contract in the game, but it is still the best because no other contract is attached to Mike Trout.
2. Jose Ramirez
Owed $21.4 million for 2018-21 with an $11 million option for 2022 ($2 million buyout) and a $13 million option for 2023
Ramirez broke out for the 2016 American League champs, showing modest power with 10 homers, but registering a decent number of walks and striking out in just 10 percent of his plate appearances. Cleveland locked up its versatile third baseman before the 2017 season and Ramirez broke out on top of his previous breakout. He hit 29 homers and his .318/.374/.583 batting line was 50 percent above average. With seven home runs and twice as many walks as strikeouts this year, we can ignore his low batting average thus far as Ramirez keeps mashing. He's one of the best -- and perhaps most underrated -- players in the game. He's only 25 and Cleveland is set to pay him an average of $7.5 million over the next six years without paying for a single season after Ramirez turns 30 near the end of the 2023 campaign.
3. Corey Kluber
Owed $23.5 million for 2018-19 with a $13.5 million option in 2020 ($1 million buyout) and $14 million option in 2021 ($1 million buyout)
With two Cy Young Awards in the past four seasons, including last year, Kluber might have jumped ahead of Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer as the best pitcher in baseball. He has been an absolute workhorse, averaging 229 innings per year over the past four seasons, including playoffs. While Kershaw and Scherzer make more than $30 million per season, Kluber will cost about one-third that amount for the next four years. At 32, there might be some concerns with age, but the present value trumps those concerns as Kluber keeps bringing it every five days. He has shown no signs of wearing down in the early going this season, averaging more than seven innings per start with a fantastic 3.05 FIP and excellent 1.96 ERA.
4. Owed $18 million for 2018-19 with a $14.5 million option ($2 million buyout) for 2020 and $14.5 million option ($2 million) for 2021
When Rizzo signed his contract in May 2013, he was coming off a decent, but not great 2012 half-season and a good month to start the 2013 season. The Cubs might have hoped that Rizzo would keep developing, but four straight seasons of at least 4 fWAR and offense 40 percent above league average was pretty much the best-case scenario. It's possible we've seen the best of Rizzo already, but he's only 28 and should have some very good years ahead of him. The Cubs will pay Rizzo $47 million over the next four years for those very good seasons, less than a third of what the Padres just guaranteed Eric Hosmer.
5. Owed $46 million for 2018-21 with a $17 million option ($500,000 buyout) for 2022 and $18 million option ($500,000) for 2023
Martinez has lived just below the elite-level pitchers since entering the Cardinals' rotation in 2015. During that time, he ranks ninth in innings pitched with 611⅔, and only Jake Arrieta, Scherzer and Kluber have pitched more innings with an ERA lower than the 3.15 Martinez owns. His numbers rose a bit last year -- along with everyone else's -- but he's off to a great start this year with a 3.31 FIP and 1.42 ERA. Martinez has set his floor at above average and his ceiling remains sky high. At 26, Martinez could give the Cardinals one of the best pitchers in baseball for journeyman pitcher rates for the next six seasons.
6. Owed $84 million for 2018-21
Choosing Rizzo at $47 million over the next four years over Freeman for nearly double that is a very close call. The two players are the same age, but Freeman has outperformed Rizzo over the past two seasons, and is off to another great start. The Atlanta first baseman was just emerging as a star when the Braves were last in contention and figures to be around as the franchise's new core breaks through. He's got power, patience, and he strikes out less than 20 percent of the time. Great things are expected from Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna, but don't be surprised if Freeman is still the Braves' best player next time Atlanta makes the playoffs. At more than $20 million per year, he's not exactly cheap, but his production is hard to find for that price.
7. Owed $43.25 million for 2018-21 with a $15 million club option ($1.25 million buyout) for 2022
We have a pretty good idea about Yelich's value on the trade market, and it was very high. While Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna might have louder bats, it was Yelich who brought back the best prospects in the Marlins' tank sale over the winter. Yelich's power numbers to date might be suppressed by Marlins Park and a high ground ball rate, but there isn't anything the new Brewers outfielder doesn't do well. He hits for average and some power, draws walks and makes contact, runs the bases well and plays good defense. He's also only 26, leaving some room for more power as he gets older and plays in the hitter-friendly Miller Park in Milwaukee. With five more years at around $11 million per season, Yelich was worth the steep price, including top prospect Lewis Brinson, that Milwaukee paid to accelerate its push for the playoffs after a strong effort last season.
8. Chris Archer
Owed $13.75 million for 2018-19 with a $9 million club option ($1.75 million buyout) for 2020 and an $11 million club option ($250,000 buyout) for 2021
Archer is off to a bit of a slow start this season, seemingly bit by a home run bug early on, but he has been one of the best pitchers in baseball over the past three seasons. Archer's contract, early-season struggles and swirling trade rumors mirror the circumstances surrounding Jose Quintana a year ago. Quintana settled down and the White Sox ended up dealing him to the Cubs for one of the 10 best prospects in baseball in Eloy Jimenez. While some will question Archer's 4.05 ERA over the past two years, he has put up excellent walk and strikeout numbers in the tough AL East and his 3.61 FIP, about 15 percent better than the league average, is a better indicator of his talents. At around $8 million per year over the next four years, his contract -- signed after less than a year in the majors -- has worked out big time for the Rays.
9. Buster Posey
Owed $85.2 million for 2018-21 with a $22 million option ($3 million buyout) for 2022
Catchers aren't supposed to age well, and at 31, Posey's best days likely are behind him. Caveats aside, Posey just put up a season in which he hit 30 percent better than the rest of the league and was worth 4.3 fWAR. That kind of production at catcher is hard to find. He walks as much as he strikes out, and while he doesn't hit for a ton of power, San Francisco is a tough place to hit. Posey's deal probably carries a little more risk than many of the others on this list, but he brings great value at the toughest position on the diamond.
10. Carlos Carrasco
Owed $8 million for 2018 with a $9 million option ($662,500 buyout) for 2019 and a $9.5 million option ($662,500 buyout) for 2020
Of all the players on this list, Trout and Carrasco are the only ones who can hit free agency in the next three years. Trout is on the list because of his excellence. Carrasco makes it due to a combination of performance and incredibly low salary and risk for Cleveland. Carrasco has pitched like an ace in two of the past three years with a solid 2016 sandwiched in between. He's off to another solid start this season, averaging seven innings per outing with a 3.21 FIP and 2.31 ERA. He might not be as good as teammate Corey Kluber, but that is probably true for everyone. Cleveland has only one more guaranteed year with Carrasco, but can keep him through 2020 while never paying him more than $10 million per season. If he's as great as expected, Cleveland gets a steal. If Carrasco's performance declines or he gets hurt, the team carries no long-term risk. If you want to know how Cleveland was able to afford Edwin Encarnacion, look no further than the three great bargains in Kluber, Ramirez and Carrasco.
Honorable mention
Max Scherzer still is owed $120 million over the next four years (technically $145 million over the next 11 years with bonuses and deferments), but for an ace still at the top of his game, Scherzer is the current standard-bearer for a free-agent contract that has worked out swimmingly for the team. He has won the Cy Young in each of the past two years and is off to a great start in 2018 with a 1.91 FIP and 1.36 ERA. Even at 33, that's a contract most teams would love to have.
Others: Andrelton Simmons, Odubel Herrera, Eugenio Suarez, Jose Quintana