Insofar as free-agent spending is concerned, the 2018-19 offseason has thus far proceeded at glacial pace. At this writing, generational free agents Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are still looking for work, as are other notables like Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel. As always, our Free Agent Tracker is a great way to catch up on what's already happened on that front.
So what about the money spent to date? As you're surely aware, the reluctance of teams to spend on the free agent market is a current source of dismay, as is the broader trend of those same teams seemingly not doing their level-best to, you know, win baseball games. In light of all that, we're here to track free agent spending throughout the current offseason.
Below, you'll find the total amount of money each team has spent in guaranteed salary on the free agent market this offseason. A few quick notes on the data below:
- These figures include total salary obligations to free agents signed during the 2018-19 offseason. For instance, a one-year, $10 million contract would add $10 million to a team's total, while a three-year, $30 million contract would add $30 million to a team's total.
- We're not counting players signed to extensions before they filed for free agency. We are, however, counting those free agents who wound up re-signing with their former teams (Nathan Eovaldi and J.A. Happ, for instance).
- We're counting only guaranteed major-league contracts -- i.e., minor-league deals aren't part of the calculus.
- Contract incentives are not included in the totals, as they obviously haven't been met yet.
- Also bear in mind that this doesn't include salary obligations assumed via trade. The Reds, for example, haven't spent on the free-agent market, but they have taken on a great deal of salary via trades for Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood, Tanner Roark, and Sonny Gray (plus Gray's subsequent extension).
Now let's rank all 30 teams based on how much they've spent on the 2018-19 free-agent market to date:
1. Washington Nationals
Spent so far: $189 million (Brian Dozier, Anibal Sanchez, Matt Adams, Patrick Corbin, Kurt Suzuki, Trevor Rosenthal)
2. New York Yankees
Spent so far: $124.555 million (Adam Ottavino, DJ LeMahieu, Zach Britton, Troy Tulowitzki, J.A. Happ)
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
Spent so far: $85 million (A.J. Pollock, Joe Kelly)
4. New York Mets
Spent so far: $79 million (Justin Wilson, Jed Lowrie, Wilson Ramos, Jeurys Familia
5. Boston Red Sox
Spent so far: $74.25 million (Nathan Eovaldi, Steve Pearce)
6. Philadelphia Phillies
Spent so far: $73 million (David Robertson, Andrew McCutchen)
7 . Rangers
Spent so far: $50.75 million (Zach McAllister, Asdrubal Cabrera, Shelby Miller, Lance Lynn, Jesse Chavez, Jeff Mathis)
8. Houston Astros
Spent so far: $37.75 million (Michael Brantley, Robinson Chirinos)
9. Los Angeles Angels
Spent so far: $34.35 million (Cody Allen, Jonathan Lucroy, Trevor Cahill, Matt Harvey, Justin Bour)
10. Oakland Athletics
Spent so far: $34.1 million (Marco Estrada, Mike Fiers, Joakim Soria, Chris Herrmann)
11. Tampa Bay Rays
Spent so far: $33.5 million (Avisail Garcia, Charlie Morton)
12. Atlanta Braves
Spent so far: $31 million (Nick Markakis, Josh Donaldson, Brian McCann)
13. Minnesota Twins
Spent so far: $27.1 million (Martin Perez, Blake Parker, Nelson Cruz, Jonathan Schoop)
14. Cardinals
Spent so far: $25 million (Andrew Miller)
15. Chicago White Sox
Spent so far: $24.5 million (Jon Jay, Kelvin Herrera, James McCann)
16. Colorado Rockies
Spent so far: $24 million (Daniel Murphy)
17. San Diego Padres
Spent so far: $23.5 million (Ian Kinsler, Garrett Richards)
18. Milwaukee Brewers
Spent so far: $19.45 million (Yasmani Grandal, Cory Spangenberg)
19. Detroit Tigers
Spent so far: $13.5 million (Jordy Mercer, Tyson Ross, Matt Moore)
20. Arizona Diamondbacks
Spent so far: $13.25 million (Greg Holland, Wilmer Flores, Merrill Kelly)
21. Toronto Blue Jays
Spent so far: $11 million (Freddy Galvis, David Phelps, Matt Shoemaker)
22. Chicago Cubs
Spent so far: $9.925 million (Brad Brach, Kendall Graveman, Daniel Descalso)
23. San Francisco Giants
Spent so far: $8.5 million (Drew Pomeranz, Derek Holland)
24. Kansas City Royals
Spent so far: $8.25 million (Billy Hamilton, Chris Owings)
25. Pittsburgh Pirates
Spent so far: $4.8 million (Jordan Lyles, Lonnie Chisenhall)
26. Seattle Mariners
Spent so far: $4.45 million (Hunter Strickland, Tim Beckham, Cory Gearrin)
27. Cleveland Indians
Spent so far: $2.5 million (Oliver Perez)
28. Miami Marlins
Spent so far: $2 million (Neil Walker)
30. Baltimore Orioles
Spent so far: $0
30. Cincinnati Reds
Spent so far: $0
2018-19 MLB total free-agent spending: $1,067,980,000