New York Mets outfielder and designated hitter J.D. Martinez has hit the nail on the head when talking about free agency and its shortcomings and virtues, something that did not go down well in Major League Baseball or with prominent figures who found their privileged positions right in the middle of this ‘market’.
In truth, the fact that free agency has been a big business for players such as Shohei Ohtani or Juan Soto only shows that the only way to get a lucrative contract in that showcase is to be elite and at the top, otherwise it could become a via crucis, and as exemplary cases are the names of Pete Alonso or Alex Bregman.
“Free agency is a struggle”
According to J.D. Martinez – another player looking for a team in this ‘market’ – free agency works precisely on the basis of these postulates. He told John Heyman on ‘The Show’: “Unless you’re a guy like Soto or Ohtani, you know that if you’re in the elite and you’re at the top… it’s going to be Disneyland for you… but if you’re not, it’s going to be a struggle (…) “It hurts your ego a little bit when you see players ahead of you, who you’ve outperformed and who are getting paid a lot more than you are,” he said.
The reality is that Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani’s multi-million dollar deals were done in free agency and this has probably permeated the idea that any player who decides to expose himself there will receive something similar, and this is far from being true.
Free agency is an option, but it’s not that easy
The profitability of this showcase has been proven and today it is an increasingly popular option for baseball players who do not want to stay too long in their teams when they know they can get something better, once they can offer themselves there, but not everything is rosy.
But something must be made clear, the cases of Ohtani and Soto are exceptions, while the rule is much less ‘pleasant’, and this is the message that J.D. Martinez wants to convey: that it is a business in which the one who guarantees the most potential profits for the franchises is the one who benefits, and that they are not only of a sporting nature. In addition to a long-distance race in which having a lot of patience and being willing to ‘stretch the league’ has its rewards at the end.