Baseball players and the union that represents them have long accepted a system in which salaries are suppressed for six years, until free agents can hit the open market and make tens of millions of dollars, and great players can make hundreds of millions. That system is now broken, as teams have decided they'd rather not spend big money on the latter half of players' careers. Last offseason, third baseman Mike Moustakas was projected to land a five-year, $85 million contract. After watching his limited market dry up, he eventually re-signed with the Kansas City Royals for one year and $6.5 million. Lance Lynn, a veteran pitcher coming off a run of solid seasons, was predicted to land a $48–60 million deal. He settled for one year and $12 million.
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