Rozner: Trout deal more evidence MLB players worried

There were tepid takes galore in the wake of the Mike Trout news Tuesday morning.

Everyone from Mookie Betts to Kris Bryant to Eloy Jimenez had their names projected and dissected, after Trout - two years in advance of free agency - inked a 10-year extension worth $360 million, adding to the two years and $66 million the Angels already owed him.

Any way you slice it, it's the richest contract in American sports history.

What this means for the rest of the best players in the game remains to be seen, but after Nolan Arenado decided against free agency and signed a year early - eight years and $260 million - and Trout also passed on the opportunity to shop his wares, it's further evidence players are concerned about what might be out there for them.

It has the air of panic after they watched the Bryce Harper and Manny Machado soap operas all winter and into spring training.

No one will be holding charity events for any of these superstars. Harper ($330 million) and Machado ($300 million) did just fine for themselves.

But it was just a year ago that speculation had Harper at perhaps 10 years and $500 million, and Machado at 10 years and $400 million.

A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to the auction, however. That pesky payroll tax got in the way of some big markets raising their hands and making serious bids.

Baseball players used to bet on themselves, especially the best ones, and quite often it worked out well, but Trout and Arenado did not and that has to raise some eyebrows.

Trout is the best player in the world and at 27 has every right to think his next two years will be better than the previous seven, while Arenado has been as good as any National League player on either side of the ball the last four years and at 27 is still improving.

Neither player wanted anything to do with free agency.

That has to be a big concern for the players association, which spent the winter crying about collusion, coercing players and their agents to do the same, while ignoring the fact that the CBAs they've agreed to with the salary-tax impediment are having a huge impact on free agency.

It's not collusion, but this disorganized sanity on the part of the clubs the past two winters has to arrive as a shock to the MLBPA and its members.

Though Arenado has an opt-out after 2021 and Machado after 2023, Harper and Trout have no such provisions, at least none reported thus far.

This is also a surprise.

The message here seems to be that these players wanted a bird in the hand, and that's an unusual position for the best players in the game.

Which brings us back to Betts, who is two years from free agency, when he'll be 28, and Bryant, who is three years from free agency, when he'll be 30.

Bryant was quoted in Arizona on Tuesday as saying that every player in the organization would like to be a Cub for life, and after he bounces back this year, maybe the Cubs and Bryant will try to get that done.

There must be fear out there among the players and concern about collective-bargaining negotiations and where that will lead, but in the meantime it's stunning to see the likes of Trout and Arenado passing on free agency.

They both settled for much less than what you have to think would have been available to them in free agency.

Or did they?

Maybe they looked around and decided it wasn't worth going through the process. Maybe they did the math and thought bigger numbers weren't going to be available.

It tells you a lot about what players are thinking.

And as you ponder the upcoming decisions for Bryant and Betts, extensions with their current clubs suddenly seem a lot more likely because the numbers in free agency are a lot less certain than they once were.