Major League Baseball's free agent market has cooled since a red-hot stretch at MLB's winter meetings that included middle- and lower-tier free agents landing strong deals in addition to Juan Soto's record $765 million contract with the New York Mets. While a smattering of signings is expected before Christmas, the post-Soto deluge most in the industry foresaw has not materialized.
The culprits are mainly twofold. With prices for players at a premium, teams have turned to the trade market as an alternative, leaving free agency stagnant. Teams also recognize the calendar works in their favor. The closer it gets to when spring camps open in February, the more difficult it is for players to remain steadfast in their demands.
The freeze will eventually thaw. Too many teams have money to spend and holes to fill. Every free market evolves differently, and this one -- led by Soto, Max Fried's $218 million deal with the New York Yankees and a pair of $182 million contracts for Willy Adames (San Francisco) and Blake Snell (Los Angeles Dodgers) -- has already seen $2 billion committed to 43 major league free agents.
That's more than a quarter-billion dollars more than ESPN's Kiley McDaniel projected for those players. He projected total spending in the winter to exceed $3.55 billion, and with a handful of big-name players and a slew of solid midtier players remaining on the market, it should surpass that figure.
In the meantime, the waiting game is on. Here is where each of the distinct offseason markets stands, starting with the one that has the most action at the moment.
