JULIAN FARRUGIA (11) | STAFF REPORTER
Every year in baseball’s biggest league, it seems that MLB teams spend more and more for the game’s biggest stars. With just 62 days until pitchers and catchers report back to their teams and the new MLB season gets underway, MLB owners have collectively spent a whopping $2.5 billion US on MLB free agents.
Of course, the New York Yankees top that list of total spending. Though Yankees owner, Hal Steinbrenner, has been accused of being ‘cheap’ by Yankees fan, he has spent around $422 million on ‘improving’ the team. Although he’s spent multi-millions, the team hasn’t improved one bit, as most of the money Steinbrenner has spent has been on free agents that were previously on the Yankees.
20 minutes away in Queens, New York, Mets owner Steve Cohen is living up to his affluent influence. Cohen has added 2022 Cy Young winner, Justin Verlander, and re-signed stars Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Diaz, all at a hefty price. Cohen has created the blueprint for a ‘perfect owner’, as in his short tenure as owner of the New York Mets, he has spent millions to overtake the city of New York.
The defending World Series champions and runner-ups have also made moves to return to their World Series form. The champions, the Houston Astros, inked a contract with former MVP Jose Abreu on a 3 year deal. The Phillies have reached an agreement with superstar shortstop Trea Turner, on an 11 year/$300 million deal. Both teams are heavily favoured to return to the fall classic in 2023.
We are not even done yet. There are still mega contracts out there that haven’t been inked yet. Former all-stars and some big named talents are still waiting to find their new teams, or re-sign with their old teams. One thing is for sure, money is and still will be thrown all over the place this winter.
