Christmas is still ahead of us, and yet the baseball industry has already spent in record numbers and signed away most of the best available players. Twenty-four of the top 25 free agents, as ranked by ESPN's Kiley McDaniel in early November, have already chosen new teams, signing deals totaling close to $2.8 billion.
But it isn't just the amount of money that is jarring -- it's the length of time teams are willing to pay it.
In the history of MLB free agency, only four players have received deals that have extended beyond 10 years -- and three of those came this month.