Phillies' Arrieta warns young players amid slow FA market: 'You're next'
For a second straight year, baseball's free-agent market has slowed to a crawl and left many veterans without contracts a few weeks into the new year.
This trend is apparently worrisome to former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta, who took to Twitter on Saturday to warn the sport's young stars about what may be waiting for them when they reach free agency.
All of you 1-3 yr players out there better be paying attention to what’s going on in our game. You’re next. @MLB
— Jake Arrieta (@JArrieta34) January 12, 2019
The 32-year-old was one of the top starting pitchers available in free agency last winter but was stuck without a team until halfway through spring training, when he finally signed a three-year, $75-million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Arrieta was just one of many big-name veterans affected by last year's slow market. J.D. Martinez was left without an offer until the Boston Red Sox signed him in mid-February.
Closer Craig Kimbrel and former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel are still without jobs with spring training looming, as are the two biggest names on the market, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. Perhaps the best catcher available, Yasmani Grandal, reportedly took a one-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.
On Friday, it was reported that MLB player salaries suffered the biggest year-to-year drop since 2012 despite the league taking in a record amount of revenue in 2018.
Baseball's current collective bargaining agreement will expire after the 2021 season.