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Our annual off-season MLB simulation wrapped up this week and it if is a preview of the real off-season, it will be a doozy. For the uninitiated, I take 30 fans, assign them each a team, usually their favorite team, and allow them to make trades with each other using real world contract and payroll situations. They also negotiate free agent contracts with me, the most ruthless of all the player agents.
An added wrinkle this year was that instead of budgets, I had “notes from the owner” to give each GM a rough guideline on what to spend this off-season. You can read all the ground rules here.
I kept track of all the free agent signings, options decisions, and updated team-by-team payrolls in a master sheet you can see here. Here were the 25 largest free agent contracts.
Biggest free agent contracts
| Player | Team | Contract length | Amount | AAV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Contract length | Amount | AAV |
| Stephen Strasburg | Phillies | 8 years | $324 million | $40,500,000 |
| Anthony Rendon | Nationals | 10 years | $310 million | $31,000,000 |
| Gerrit Cole | Angels | 7 years | $280 million | $40,000,000 |
| Zach Wheeler | Yankees | 6 years | $180 million | $30,000,000 |
| Yasmani Grandal | White Sox | 6 years | $150 million | $25,000,000 |
| Madison Bumgarner | Giants | 6 years | $144 million | $24,000,000 |
| Marcell Ozuna | Rays | 6 years | $132 million | $22,000,000 |
| J.D. Martinez | White Sox | 4 years | $92 million | $23,000,000 |
| Josh Donaldson | Braves | 4 years | $90 million | $22,500,000 |
| Dallas Keuchel | White Sox | 4 years | $88 million | $22,000,000 |
| Didi Gregorius | Reds | 6 years | $75 million | $12,500,000 |
| Jose Abreu | Astros | 4 years | $65 million | $16,250,000 |
| Mike Moustakas | Royals | 4 years | $60 million | $15,000,000 |
| Nicholas Castellanos | Pirates | 4 years | $55 million | $13,750,000 |
| Yoshitomo Tsutsugo | White Sox | 5 years | $55 million | $11,000,000 |
| Kyle Gibson | Mariners | 4 years | $48 million | $12,000,000 |
| Hyun-Jin Ryu | Mets | 3 years | $75 million | $25,000,000 |
| Cole Hamels | Red Sox | 3 years | $64 million | $21,333,333 |
| Jake Odorizzi | Cardinals | 3 years | $54 million | $18,000,000 |
| Aroldis Chapman | Yankees | 3 years | $48 million | $16,000,000 |
| Will Smith | Cardinals | 3 years | $40 million | $13,333,333 |
| Rick Porcello | Twins | 3 years | $37 million | $12,333,333 |
| Alex Wood | Braves | 3 years | $33 million | $11,000,000 |
| Julio Teheran | Brewers | 3 years | $33 million | $11,000,000 |
| Yasiel Puig | Padres | 3 years | $33 million | $11,000,000 |
| Dellin Betances | Indians | 3 years | $28 million | $9,333,333 |
Here are what each team’s payroll looks like:
Team payrolls
| Team | Payroll |
|---|---|
| Team | Payroll |
| New York Yankees | $221,552,857 |
| Washington Nationals | $202,525,000 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | $200,473,333 |
| Boston Red Sox | $199,633,389 |
| Los Angeles Angels | $194,741,667 |
| Houston Astros | $193,240,000 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | $190,110,000 |
| Chicago Cubs | $187,435,000 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | $182,035,000 |
| San Francisco Giants | $181,901,667 |
| New York Mets | $179,928,248 |
| Texas Rangers | $162,590,000 |
| Chicago White Sox | $160,740,000 |
| Atlanta Braves | $153,075,000 |
| Cincinnati Reds | $145,402,386 |
| Colorado Rockies | $132,015,000 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | $125,290,000 |
| Seattle Mariners | $118,685,000 |
| Cleveland Indians | $115,063,333 |
| San Diego Padres | $113,855,000 |
| Minnesota Twins | $113,383,333 |
| Oakland Athletics | $108,290,000 |
| Detroit Tigers | $105,865,000 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | $103,115,000 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | $91,805,000 |
| Baltimore Orioles | $83,945,000 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | $82,075,000 |
| Kansas City Royals | $80,790,000 |
| Miami Marlins | $79,420,000 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | $73,510,000 |
Here I have team-by-team transactions as well as what their rosters may look like now. Who did the best? What team looks poised for a championship in 2020?