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Sports Illustrated | Jon Tayler: Even before Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Sale were extended for a combined $280 million, which came just after this piece on Blake Snell was published, this all rings true. Baseball’s executives have mastered the system; while they would prefer the reserve clause or the salary cap to return, they found the next best thing: make free agency so unattractive that you’ll accept under-market extensions. These will continue, and thrive, until a new CBA restructures how younger players are paid.
The Ringer | Zach Kram: If you were to design an auction fantasy team, you’d of course grab the high-priced players like Aaron Judge and Ronald Acuña Jr. But you’d also take bargains like Luke Voit or even Yu Darvish as a rebound.
Bill James Online | Mark Simon: Like any year, players over-and-underachieve their projections. On the over side there was Mookie Betts, JD Martinez, and Steve Pearce, and on the under side were Zack Cozart, AJ Pollock, and Lewis Brinson.