I very much like this article by Ryan Fagan about the continued surprise at the amount of money spent on individual player salaries:

Fans of pretty much every team have been doing their best metronome impressions, what with the constant shaking of heads in disbelief as each transaction is announced.

It’s gotten to the point where a deal that could very well be mutually beneficial — the Cubs getting one year of an elite closer (Wade Davis) and the Royals getting four years of a potential star outfielder (Jorge Soler) — seems like a massive win for the Cubs, the team getting the proven star.

Here’s the thing, though: The cost to acquire/pay proven big-league talent ALWAYS seems stunning. Always, always, always.

One nice thing is that he charts how teams used to fall over themselves to give out big contracts:

Look at this headline from the November 23, 1989 edition of The New York Times: “Puckett Hits the Jackpot: First $3 Million Man.”

Seems quaint now, doesn’t it? A measly $3 million per year over three years.

Well, before the start of the 1990 season, five more players owned the record for biggest deal. First, Rickey Henderson signed a four-year, $12 million deal. Then it was Mark Langston ($3.2 million average annual value), then Mark Davis ($3.25 million AAV), then Dave Stewart ($3.5 million AAV) and then Will Clark ($3.75 million AAV). The sky certainly was falling.

Except it wasn’t.

When Puckett signed that deal he was a five-WAR player. So the Twins paid $600,000 per WAR on that contract. That value now is $8 million per WAR, and MLB is likely paying a lot less to players as a percentage of revenue. Teams rarely grossly overpay for free agents any more, although they do give out unnecessary contract extensions from time to time. The money’s there, the money keeps growing, so player salaries go up. We are very close to the first $40 million a year player, and I would not be surprised if we saw an Alex Rodriguez like jump to $50 million a year soon.