First of all, I am thoroughly enjoying myself, as my wife and I, explore the many sights in Rome. The tours we have been on have been great and we’ve enjoyed some fabulous meals—we even went on a food tour—and that was amazing. With the time difference, and some shaky WiFi, I have been able to keep an eye on a truly spirited free agency bidding war and I thought I’d share my thoughts on what I’ve observed. Feel free to comment because it’s all for fun.
But let’s backtrack a bit. I think 2018 has been one of the most active free agency periods in a long while. As BHows pointed out recently, FGM is unique in that we divide free agency into position segments whereby we avoid the “free-for-all bidding” that is sometimes a bit overwhelming. Each ProFSL league has its own special characteristics and FGM’s Free Agency is like no other.
We began with a small pool of CIs, but it goes without saying, that the most memorable facet was the free agency of Eugenia Suarez. Suarez was the the “prize” of the group and he was signed to a $17.0m (2022) contract. A bit of a surprise for some, but the :MIN: had a lot of cap and simply overwhelmed the other bidders for his services.
There was some spirited bidding for SPs and RPs, with some RPs being signed for a bit more than in the past, but again, that could simply be a product of perception. There were some $10.0m (2022) and $9.0m (2021) contracts for a few SPs, but again, there is one signing that stood out. That was the :CHC: acquisition of SP/UT Shohei Ohtani. He was the product of a bit of a bidding war and eventually signed for $13.0m (2022). It will be interesting to see how he pans out as a MLB player, and for our purposes, as a fantasy player too.
In terms of OFs, there were a lot of players signed by a variety of teams, but there were a few surprises. Kevin Kiermaier getting a $10.0m (2021) contract was a bit of an eye-opener, as was the $9.0m (2021) contract for Chris Owings. But that is not to say either is a bad investment, it just makes the free agency scenario a bit more intriguing.
Our MIs portion features the bidding of :TB: for Daniel Murphy, $13.0m (2021) and the arrival of the new :NYM: GM, as he snagged the services of Robinson, Alcides Escobar, and Troy Tulowitzki.
Our new :NYM: GM is also making his presence felt in the Cs bidding. He has already won the services of Robinson Chirinos and Yadier Molina, and is the leading bid for one more. He has also won the services of a few promising prospects along the way as he attempts to make up for coming to the party after it started.
Finally, there have been a multitude of trades during this off-season, wit some major players changing teams, but who is OF Juan Pablo Martinez? He is the prize of an unprecedented bidding war and seems destined to be signed to the largest bonus a prospect has ever received in FGM history. It’s really something to watch the bidding unfold and hopefully, for the eventual winner, he pans out.
All of this commentary is for fun, nothing more, and I hope other league members chose to comment on their perceptions regarding free agency. I really enjoy being a part of FGM and I hope you do too.
:toth:
Halloween