We are almost two thirds of the way through November and already five players plus an honorable mention have signed off of the MLB Trade Rumors Top 50 Free Agent List. I couldn’t comb through last year’s data so I don’t know if this is faster or slower than last year but it feels faster. So far these players have signed:
- #6 Victor Martinez (4 years, 68 Million, Detroit)
- #8 Russel Martin (5 years, 82 Million, Toronto)
- #29 Cuddyer (2 years, 21 Million, New York Mets)
- #34 A.J. Burnett (1 year, 8.5 Million, Pittsburgh)
- #41 Billy Butler (3 years, 30 Million, Oakland)
- HM, Zach Duke (3 years, 15 Million, Chicago White Sox)
Out of this list, Martinez and possible Burnett were the only ones that were expected. The Martin deal happened very quickly after rumors with the Cubs. The Cuddyer deal caught the vast majority of the baseball world by surprise. Butler just had rumors starting last night and now he’s signed. Zach Duke was in a similar boat.
Right now there are major rumors surrounding possible offers on the table for Pablo Sandoval who would be added to this list.
Like I said earlier, I’m not sure if this is a different trend from previous years, but essentially 2-3 weeks into the off-season 10% of the free agents have already signed. If another 10% sign by Thanksgiving then it might be definitive that the market is moving fast.
