Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports provided readers with his list of most team-friendly deals in Major League Baseball this morning. He notes that this list doesn’t include players, such as Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg or Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout, "whose contracts baseball’s collective-bargaining agreement automatically depresses."
While he mentioned many players, Passan’s top six included Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen, Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp, Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun, Colorado Rockies left fielder Carlos Gonzalez and Angels right-hander Jered Weaver.
Here is the breakdown of their current contracts:
Longoria: six years, $17.5 million (includes team options of $7.5 million, $11 million and $11.5 million for 2014-16 seasons, bringing maximum total value of contract to $44 million).
McCutchen: six years, $51.5 million (includes team option of $14.75 million for 2018 season, bringing maximum total value of contract to $66.25 million).
Kemp: eight years, $160 million.
Braun: eight years, $125.5 million (includes $20 million mutual option for 2021).
Gonzalez: seven years, $80 million.
Weaver: five years, $85 million.
If you have another player that you feel should be thrown into the discussion, let us know their name and contract status in the comments section!