MLB Free Agents: 2021 free agency outlook, NL East

The return of the 2020 season seems probable. Although, of the players impacted by a potentially lost season, 2021’s MLB free agents have the most to lose.

The 2019 Winter Meetings — an event that feels like it happened years ago — featured three of MLB’s ten largest free-agent contracts (per total value) all-time. All in a matter of days.

First, it was Stephen Strasburg going back to the Washington Nationals on a 7-year, $245 million pact; second, it was Gerrit Cole to the New York Yankees for 9 years and $324 (the largest deal for a pitcher and second-largest deal in total value all-time); and finally, Anthony Rendon, who went out west to the Los Angeles Angels on the exact same deal as Strasburg.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

After 2-3 years of uninspiring deals and long-drawn-out negotiations, last offseason’s hot stove finally featured some excitement. However, little did we know that in a few month’s time everything would come to a stand-still.

Which brings us to the present. MLB and MLBPA are now in the midst of crucial discussions with the hope of bringing baseball back by early July (however far apart the two sides are when it comes to finances) — a return that will undoubtedly benefit everyone involved.

Veterans want to continue playing while their body still allows it, players in their prime know their time to make big money is winding down, and prospects just want to keep impressing as they continue pushing for their chance. Everyone has their reasons, but baseball’s comeback is certainly a shared interest among the entire league; although, perhaps more so for the ones looking to earn a new big league deal after the 2020 campaign.

It’s no secret that next winter’s MLB free agents are in a tight spot, especially if there’s no baseball this year. A topic that has been analyzed and part of baseball for years, the walk-year is maybe the most significant season of a player’s career, except this time it has been severely shortened (or even ruined completely).

Instead of a full-162 to really show their worth, 2021 free-agents will instead be forced to settle for a potential 80-game season; a sample-size that will undoubtedly be looked at differently than other seasons (even if everyone’s fully aware of the unique circumstances).

And it’s not just the slashing of available games to impress this season, there’s a very strong possibility that MLB teams become much more conservative in the next several free-agent classes, perhaps scarred from the ramifications of a three-month suspension this year. The COVID-19 pandemic will no doubt have long-lasting effects, both spending-wise and perhaps even in terms of approach on the open market. To put bluntly, the class of 2021 got shafted.

So what better time than now to look at next winter’s pool of players?

Yes, these types of write-ups are commonly done after the season has been underway, as current stats and storylines usually help feed the discussion when it comes to each player’s case on the upcoming FA market, but there are already some rather peculiar circumstances that a few soon-to-be MLB free agents find themselves in (like how the absence of a season for three months has already essentially killed a few players’ FA stock).

We’ll look at the entire 2021 class, though I’ll cover the pool of players one division at a time. Today we’ll start with the NL East.