Big Spending In Free Agency Does Not Guarantee Post-Season Success

In baseball, money can’t buy happiness.

Four of the top five spenders in last fall’s free agent market missed the playoffs and will spend the winter wondering what went wrong.

Both New York teams, the Yankees and Mets, fell far short of the 2023 post-season, as did the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs – even though the Wrigleys led both leagues by signing a whopping 10 free agents.

Among the four teams in the two League Championship Series, only the Philadelphia Phillies, who spent $399 million on free agents to rank third in the majors, and the Texas Rangers, who signed five players at a cost of $247.5 million to rank sixth, are still alive, along with the ninth-ranked Houston Astros, who spent $105 million for three players while hoping to defend their 2022 world championship.

The biggest disappointments were the non-playoff teams in New York, San Diego, and Chicago. They signed 32 free agents among them, with the Yankees leading the way at $574,500,000 for five players and the Mets second at $423,166,666.

San Diego, once considered a small-market team, signed eight players for $380 million, while the Cubs bagged 10 for $310,520,000.

More than a handful of the veterans with the most glittering resumes did not provide much return on investment.

One year after winning 101 games, tied with Atlanta for the most in the National League East, the Mets added nine free agents, including defending American League Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander.

The 40-year-old right-hander received a two-year contract paying $43.3 million per annum, matching new teammate Max Scherzer for the highest annual salary in baseball history. But both performed so poorly that they were off-loaded in trade deadline deals that brought promising prospects (including the brother of MVP favorite Ronald Acuna, Jr.) into the New York farm system.

They are now facing each other in the American League Championship Series.

Another free-agent pitcher, lefty José Quintana, missed half the season after signing a two-year, $26 million contract to join the New York starting rotation.

Compounding the felony, Mets owner Steve Cohen was hit with a $111 million luxury tax, according to Front Office Sports, determined by charging 90 cents for every dollar spent above $293 million in payroll.

Cohen, a billionaire hedge fun magnate who bought the ballclub for $2.4 billion in 2020, also lost manager Buck Showalter and general manager Billy Eppler since the season ended — with his team in fourth place, 29 games behind front-running Atlanta with a 75-87 record.

One year after winning the American League East, the Yankees took a plunge that ended with a fourth-place finish and 82-80 record.

One of the big reasons was the dreadful performance of free-agent signee Carlos Rodón, a left-handed starter who battled injuries as well as opposing hitters after inking a six-year, $162 million deal. Slugger Aaron Judge got even more – nine years at $360 million – but spent large chunks of the campaign nursing a toe injury after crashing into the outfield fence at Dodger Stadium.

San Diego also went 82-80 but only after winning eight of its last ten games. That left the team third in the NL West, 18 games behind the Dodgers, despite the addition of Xander Bogaerts, one of the game’s best shortstops but also one of its costliest (11 years for $280 million).

The Padres have since announced a payroll paring that could be aided by the departures of free-agent pitchers Blake Snell, the likely winner of the 2023 National League Cy Young Award, and Josh Hader, a flame-throwing left-handed reliever who could land the largest contract ever given a closer (Edwin Diaz of the Mets holds that record with a $102 million deal, spread over five seasons).

San Diego could also move high-priced outfielder Juan Soto, arguably the game’s best young hitter, before he also leaves for free agency a year from now.

As for the Cubs, who last won a pennant in 2016, their playoff hopes remained alive into the final week, thanks to big seasons by free-agent signees Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson. But that dream died at Truist Park, when the Braves swept a three-game series in the final days of the season.

Now the team needs to keep Bellinger, a former MVP, from becoming a free agent again. Pitcher Marcus Stroman is also poised to jump ship.

Not all free-agent spending was foolish; the Philadelphia Phillies probably won’t be persuing their second straight National League pennant without shortstop Trea Turner, who provided speed, defense, and power after inking an 11-year, $300 million pact early in the free-agent season last fall.

The Phils also reaped dividends from pitcher Taijuan Walker, signed to a four-year, $72 million deal after leaving the Mets, and Craig Kimbrel, a hard-throwing closer who pitched well in the playoffs after signing a one-year, $10 million contract last winter.