We all make bad decisions. I have definitely made my share. But none of my bad decisions ever cost me $5,000,000. So who is the poor soul who lost out on that kind of money? Well, you will not pity him at the end of the story.
Mike Moustakas declined his player option back in October, it was worth $15,000,000. He decided to try his luck on the market, hoping to finally secure a big, long-term deal.
For those that have no clue, a player option is something that is added to contracts to give the player the choice of remaining with the team for another year at that price or they can try their hand in free agency.
Moustakas was a free agent the year before and was one of the players that went unsigned for a very long time. He ended up signing for one year with the Royals, with a mutual option for this season (a mutual option is exactly how it sounds, either party can opt out). He was traded to the Brewers and played very well in the playoffs.
In 2017 he hit 38 HRs and batted .272. He did not secure a big contract though. He was not better in 2018. He only hit 28 home runs and his average dropped to .251. For some reason, he thought teams would do better than his option (granted, he was looking for long-term, so maybe he would have taken a deal worth less per year if it was going to give him significant money over time).
Teams did not come batting down his door. Granted, he may have wanted to be a bit more patient to see where Machado ended up. One of the teams that did not get Manny, might have went for Moustakas (depending on where they wanted Machado to play).
The Brewers waited a bit and then they signed Moustakas to a deal worth $10,000,000 which includes a mutual option for next season. Moustakas will be in the same boat next year (good chance that the Brewers do not pick it up since they have two highly regarded prospects starting the year at AAA, who happen to be middle infielders).
I think this is definitely a case of Scott Boras (Moustakas’ agent) overvaluing his client. When people question why a player is willing to sign an extension that buys out their arbitration years, this is why. Free agency is risky, especially nowadays. Teams are not going to spend insane amounts of money on a player just because they hit 38 home runs one season (ask Chris Carter).
