A new cadre of potential bidders looms next winter for what could be the game’s dream class in MLB free agency
Who cares about the MLB free agency class of 2019? The real bonanza may hit next winter.
Stars of the stripe of Nolan Arenado, Chris Sale, Anthony Rendon, Paul Goldschmidt, Nick Castellanos, Justin Verlander, and Gerrit Cole are all scheduled to become free agents at the conclusion of the 2019 season.
While that list inevitably will change as some players choose to re-up with their present teams, for the moment at least the free agent Class of 2020 is shaping up to be everything we all assumed the Class of 2019 would become.
Don’t think teams aren’t aware of the potential talent lode looming in less than a year. Speculation has already arisen that some teams are reining in their pursuits of talented free agents this season in order to better position themselves to be aggressive players next winter.
That would make sense because close to a dozen teams possess a combination of attributes suggesting the wisdom of such a strategy. Those teams, generally not comprising the usual free agent suspects, combine a rising talent profile with the projection of manageable – and in some cases minimal – 2020 salary commitments.
Assuming those teams don’t splurge this winter and also assuming they don’t regress on the field during the 2019 season, they could enter the 2020 off-season with both the motivation and resources to make one or more major runs.
It’s time to take an anticipatory look at those teams, who are not normally thought of as players, but who might combine to reshape the free agent market one year from now.