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It has been a historic off-season with large contracts going out, and numbers continue to climb as Rafael Devers signs an extension with the Boston Red Sox. It is the sixth-largest deal of all time and the second-largest this off-season.
Entering this offseason, Mookie Bets and Mike Trout possessed the two largest deals in MLB history. Last month, Aaron Judge joined their ranks by signing an agreement worth the same amount as Trout but a year shorter -- their contracts are worth $360 million. Sitting in fourth place is Fernando Tatis Jr. with a $340 million deal, and now, right behind him is Devers with this $331 million signing.
We knew this off-season had the potential to be off the charts as there were so many free agents, but what fans may not have anticipated were all the contract extensions.
As teams saw so many large deals going out, they realized it was in their best interest to lock up some of their best players now, so they don't have to compete with free agency later.
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Why Now for Devers?
This was a contract extension, not a free-agent signing for the Red Sox. Some may wonder why the Red Sox didn't wait until his contract expired to offer him this large bag.
There are a couple of reasons. For one, Boston just lost Xander Bogaerts to free agency, so they didn't want to risk losing Devers in a bidding war later. Free-agent contracts also continue to climb at an incredible rate. So while this deal may seem expensive, there is no telling what he might receive next year, especially if he has another incredible season.
Locking up Devers gives Boston one less position to worry about for the next 11 years.
Crazy Numbers
In 2000, Alex Rodriguez signed the largest contract in MLB history. The record stood for seven years until A-Rod signed an even larger contract.
For another seven years, Rodriguez had the two largest contracts in baseball history. In 2014 his deal was surpassed by Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton's contract stood as the largest until 2019, when the floodgates opened.
In 2019, Manny Machado and Gerrit Cole signed deals larger than A-Rod, and Mike Trout and Bryce Harper received offers larger than Stanton. Now, in nearly every off-season, a more historic deal has been made.
Devers is the fifth player this offseason to sign a deal larger than Rodriguez's 2007 contract. As the sport continues to grow, the numbers will become even more unfathomable.
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