One reason the Los Angeles Angels were able to lock up Mike Trout for essentially the rest of his career stems from the long offseason for a number of top free agents this winter.
Speaking to reporters, Trout specifically cited Manny Machado and Bryce Harper as reasons he chose to re-sign with the Angels despite having two years remaining on his previous contract:
"If we hadn't gotten a deal done it would have been tough for me. I obviously wanted to be here. I said I want to deal with it now.