There’s an old adage in baseball that says, “Pay players before they get good.” And through the first three weeks of the 2025 MLB season, we’ve seen several teams secure young members of their core for the long haul. While some — such as Padres star Jackson Merrill and Boston Red Sox rookie Kristian Campbell — were pre-arbitration players with little service time, others — such as Ketel Marte, Garrett Crochet and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — earned market value similar to what they would’ve received on the free-agent market.
But when it comes to comparing contract extensions, it’s important to note that one deal might not impact other free agents or players at the same position the way we’re used to thinking.