My lord talk about recency bias. No mention of the crazy frenzy that happened with Bobby Bonilla way back when and helped him keep getting paid through 2035 by the Mets. I remember when he hit free agency he toured around all ML teams getting gifts and tons of publicity everywhere he went. His free agency got FAR more hype than Bonds a year later did (rightly or wrongly). Plus it is safe to say Nolan Ryan got tons when he became the first to get a $1 mil per year deal ever in the winter of 79/80. Carlton Fisk's free agency was massive too.

Not to mention Wayne Garland … TFA may confuse ultimate greatness of career with hype at the time, but as with Bonilla, the two don't necessarily correlate.

Rose's free agency tour in 1978-79 was a small circus, and all reported at the time:

So the Phils targeted free agent Pete Rose following the 1978 season.
Of course, they had plenty of competition.
The Royals offered Rose a four-year, $4 million contract, plus a stake in owner Ewing Kauffman's oil investments. The Braves offered a three-year, $3 million contract, plus a $100,000-a-year pension Rose would receive the rest of his life. The Cardinals could not match the money Kansas City and Atlanta offered, but St. Louis owner Gussie Busch included a Budweiser beer distributorship to sweeten the deal. Pirates owner John Galbreath included two brood mares, plus stud services of his top horses, to entice Rose.

Pete's tour

Wayne Garland of 7.8 career WAR? and 4.5 as he hit free agency?

Bobby Bonilla? WTF. His payment thru 2035 had barely nothing to do with his free agent signing, it had to do with his release in 1999 when he was nearly washed up.

Pirates owner John Galbreath included two brood mares, plus stud services of his top horses, to entice Rose.

A pity A-Rod wasn't on the market back then.

It certainly would have been a different kind of hype, but perhaps Andy Messersmith belongs here.

Ken Griffy Jr.

Griffey Jr. was traded to Cincinnati before the 2000 season, then signed an extension. It was a huge deal nationally but not a FA situation. Junior had signed his deal with Seattle a few years before so he never hit FA.

I was going to ask if Senior going to the Yankees was a hyped FA signing, but it looks like he was traded. That leaves Rose and Don Gullett as the biggest FA departures from the Big Red Machine.

Didn't Bobby Bonilla get his crazy contract as part of a buyout to make him go away not to come in?

Alfonso Soriano is available to make the list.

It certainly would have been a different kind of hype, but perhaps Andy Messersmith belongs here

I don't remember anything on Twitter or Tiktok about that signing.

I was just getting into baseball as a kid at the time, but I have to believe the hype machine was in full swing when Reggie Jackson played out his Baltimore contract then signed with the Evil Empire. Alas I was not subscribing to TSN where I could read all the details a week later.

The book Lords of the Realm paints a pretty crazy portrait of the 70s era FA but the issue is the media landscape was so different back then that knowing about it was much more niche.

Didn't Bobby Bonilla get his crazy contract as part of a buyout to make him go away not to come in?

Exactly.

In 2000, the Mets agreed to buy out the remaining $5.9 million on Bonilla's contract.

However, instead of paying Bonilla the $5.9 million at the time, the Mets agreed to make annual payments of nearly $1.2 million for 25 years starting July 1, 2011, including a negotiated 8% interest.

At the time, Mets ownership was invested in a Bernie Madoff account that promised double-digit returns, and the Mets were poised to make a significant profit if the Madoff account delivered -- but that did not work out.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/37938979/bobby-bonilla-day-2023-new-york-mets-paid-119m-every-july-1

Pirates owner John Galbreath included two brood mares, plus stud services of his top horses, to entice Rose.

I knew Rose played a long time, but I wasn't aware that he hit free agency in 1879.

Bobby Bonilla? WTF.

The hype was in fact huge. He ended up getting the largest free agent contract to date at the time--from the Mets, who still owned NYC (which would cease to be so during the ensuing 1992 season). But ...

Didn't Bobby Bonilla get his crazy contract as part of a buyout to make him go away not to come in?

Exactly.

This is correct -- the buyout related to his second tour of duty with the Mets, not the first. Not many people cared where Bonilla was signing before the 1999 season.

Bonilla signed with the Mets for 5/$29M on December 3, 1991, at the time the largest contract in North American sports (ahead of Patrick Ewing and Roger Clemens). The White Sox were the other major suitor, although the Angels and Phillies had competitive offers.

Bonilla would be the highest paid player in baseball in 1992, 1993, and 1994 until 25 players passed him in 1995 (topped by Cecil Fielder at ($9.2M per year)

Post #7 cracks me up. A misspelling of a guy who only was a free agent once in his career and had zero hype at the time.

Was there hype around Rickey Henderson after '89? Or was it just assumed he would re-up with Oakland?

#19 It was assumed that New York wasn't interested in him and he signed pretty early in the process -- 15 days after declaring. Not much buzz for a player that good.

I don’t remember any bidding war or drama around Rickey that year. I’d guess he resigned quickly with Oakland, but I could be wrong.

Bonds got a bit more money than Bobby Bo, but not a lot more and it seems that was just inflation, signing one year later.I’d guess they would have had about the same contract if they were both available in the same year. Which really looks strange considering Bonds was twice the player, even before steroids.

Just from my memory, my thoughts before looking at the list was 1. Arod and it's not particularly close, then after that Randy/Maddux/Reggie/Ryan/Bonds all jumped in my head. But it's pretty selective memory, too young to remember Catfish, and don't remember Rose at all, but I can see that as a thing, vaguely remember Bonilla, but that is just my memory and the fact that I don't think the Cardinals remotely were in on that one. I do remember Prince Fielder being a big hype.

Not to mention Wayne Garland … TFA may confuse ultimate greatness of career with hype at the time, but as with Bonilla, the two don't necessarily correlate.

Absolutely. I kind of expected better from Lupica, who’s been following the game since his childhood in the 50s and has seen every free agent market. This reads more like “best players signed through free agency”, not most hyped. For example, Randy Johnson is on the list. He is absolutely one of the greatest free agent signings ever. He signed for 4 years and ended that run with 4 more CyYoungs. But he was 100% not the most hyped free agent pitcher of the 1998-99 offseason. That would be Kevin Brown, who got almost double the money of Johnson. And Brown is not on the list.

From reading Lords of the Realm, I wonder if Bobby Grich should rank ahead of Reggie. That’s the player the Yankees actually wanted, they only signed Reggie because they couldn’t get Grich.

The missing un-story is the collusive activity c. 1986. My sense is that the Dawson-Raines-Morris offseason received especially intense coverage.

But he was 100% not the most hyped free agent pitcher of the 1998-99 offseason. That would be Kevin Brown, who got almost double the money of Johnson.

My memory is the big question for Johnson was whether a 4th year was too big of a risk.

The missing un-story is the collusive activity c. 1986. My sense is that the Dawson-Raines-Morris offseason received especially intense coverage.

Dawson of course generated his own huge coverage when he came to Cubs' camp and first dared then practically forced them to sign him. That was a huge deal although it was only a few days of "hype." (In fairness to the Cubs, they gave him a hefty contract the next year.) But otherwise the FA freeze was mostly an un-story as you put it. I recall plenty of writers pointing out the unfairness of it all but "again no offers for Tim Raines today" isn't much of a story and it was pretty clear pretty quickly what was going to happen.

Reggie ... I don't really remember there being huge hype. Seems odd so I suspect my memory is off. Maybe it was just so obvious neither the Cubs nor Sox were interested so it didn't get local coverage? We were still getting used to the whole thing -- there wasn't good understanding of what Finley was up to and the trades were covered like old-school trades, not deals of pending FAs (an issue that continued for 25+ years). And, 76 WS appearance regardless, the Yanks weren't the Evil Empire yet (Star Wars debuted that summer).

Did guys like Seaver, Carlton, and Palmer ever reach free agency while they were somewhat near their primes? Were they just agreeing to extensions along the way from their teams?

At the time, Mets ownership was invested in a Bernie Madoff account that promised double-digit returns, and the Mets were poised to make a significant profit if the Madoff account delivered -- but that did not work out.

Sometimes the perfect comedy line writes itself.

Reggie ... I don't really remember there being huge hype.

With Reggie, it’s a bit difficult to separate the free agency hype with the more or less continuous hype that followed. The ‘star that stirs the drink’ interview, the friction with Billy Martin, the 3-HR World Series game, and, of course, the candy bar, but my recollection is that the signing itself was big news by the standards of the time, when there was no Internet, no ESPN, no BBTF, and no sports talk radio, just newspapers & short sports segments on radio & TV news.

#27 None of them ever became a free agent in their prime. And #24, no way Grich was ever a hyped FA. He has to be on the short list for most underrated players.

As for Reggie, as I recall it "everybody" had been assuming for over a year he'd be going to the Yankees after playing that one year in Baltimore. Doesn't make for the biggest hype if there's a consensus as to where he'd end up.

<i>Did guys like Seaver, Carlton, and Palmer ever reach free agency while they were somewhat near their primes? Were they just agreeing to extensions along the way from their teams?</i?

I once started writing up an alternative history for some players, pretending FA had already existed. Seaver was one. I don't remember what I came up with but something along the lines of the Mets signing him to a big arb/FA buyout (hopefully before the CYA for their sakes) but of course it would only run through maybe 29-30 and, panicked after 1974, they'd trade the last year of that contract ... I do recall they still trade him to the Reds. :-) I think I did Banks -- kinad ARodish -- and maybe Nolan Ryan -- doesn't do that well. The main "fun" was usually around trying to figure out where the pending FA would get traded and for whom.

For Carlton, oddly enough, he would have had a bit over 5 years service time after 1971 which is when he was traded. He's made 3 AS teams but really the numbers aren't that impressive. He had a solid 1970 (111 ERA+) with lousy results (10-19) and a blah 1971 (102) with excellent results (20-9). He's closer to Aaron Nola or Framber Valdez (but younger than both) than he is to Steve Carlton. Do the Cards get such a good return? Do the Phils extend him before that monster 1972 season? Why in the world would he re-up with the Phils? Why in the world would the Phils trade for a top pending FA starter coming off 67 wins? That would never happen today.

So would the Reds make a push for him? Or would the Dodgers decide it's time to make a splash or the Pirates try to get over the hump? The Reds have plenty to offer in a young Foster, Griffey or Carbo (who got traded to StL later in 1972) ... or maybe Gary Nolan or Grimsley or Gullett?

I'd never really thought before about how the trade really made no sense from the Phils' perspective. Of course in those days, you got to keep the player for as long as you wanted and star players didn't really cost any more than regular guys ... you had to pay them a bit extra to keep them from grumbling or sitting out but, under the rules of the time, the Phils could simply decide that Carlton was probably better (for longer) than Wise.

And #24, no way Grich was ever a hyped FA. He has to be on the short list for most underrated players.

Yeah, Grich would never have gotten the media hype. But he was more desirable to the Yankees than Reggie, according to that book.

I’ll have to re-read it. I’ve forgotten some of the exact circumstances, like details of the re-entry draft that meant teams had limits on how many players a team could sign, or even negotiate with.

Manny was huge. They had a show on ESPN where they followed him and his agent around and watched how they went from team to team and negotiated. It was funny in part because it seemed like the Red Sox were initially more interested in Mussina then pivoted to Manny when they couldn't sign him.

Bonilla always seemed like a guy whose value got conflated with Bonds's. It was like people thought, "The Pirates have the great combo of Bonilla and Bonds. Bonilla and Bonds! We must get Bonilla and/or Bonds." It was weird how that hype never seemed to rub off on Andy Van Slyke, who was considerably more valuable than Bonilla. I guess it's because his name didn't begin with B.

Bonds got a bit more money than Bobby Bo, but not a lot more and it seems that was just inflation, signing one year later.

I remember Bonds's deal seeming humongous. It was like 6 years/$43 mil, as opposed to Bonilla's 5 years/$29 million. That's 50% more guaranteed money (and obviously he was worth at least that much more than Bonilla).

Bobby before free agency was a legit great hitter of his time. His defense wasn't very good but there was no real way to measure that while hitting was a lot easier to do that. When he went to NY he declined to merely a very good hitter.

Bonds got a bit more money than Bobby Bo, but not a lot more and it seems that was just inflation, signing one year later.

Dude. Too great.

After 1978, Rose was going into his age 38 season. Sure, he was still playing well and everyone loved him all and he hustled and all that, but it's still a little surprising that he was so in demand. At the time, he had 3,164 hits--was there a sense that he was going to chase the hit record?

Bobby before free agency was a legit great hitter of his time. His defense wasn't very good but there was no real way to measure that while hitting was a lot easier to do that. When he went to NY he declined to merely a very good hitter.

He was a little better than I remember as a hitter but still, he was mostly a .280-ish hitter with 20-something HR power, in the parlance of the time. He did have lots of RBIs so that probably helped. By modern standards, it's a similar picture. From 1989-1991, among qualified hitters, Bonilla ranked 14th with a wRC+ of 139.

And even at the time, without a good way to measure defense statistically, he was considered a liability with the glove. By the time he reached free agency at age 28, he had already been mostly moved off 3B to RF, where he was not considered very good either.

It was a bidding war that got out of hand for a good but not great player.

At the time, he had 3,164 hits--was there a sense that he was going to chase the hit record?

On the field, he was supposed to have a wealth of intangibles. Off the field, he was bankable. The Phils were able to get an increase in their TV money on condition they signed Rose.

It looks like Grich hit free agency when Willie Randolph had just completed his first season with the Yankees? Doesn't seem like a big need, although George always liked to upgrade.

I'm going to push back on the Kevin Brown/Randy Johnson comparison. Kevin Brown received the most money in 1998-1999, but I do think the Randy Johnson hype was higher. It could be my faulty memory, but it does feel like one of the times that the hype was bigger on a guy who received less money. Johnson was older at 35, and more well known. Johnson had just been traded midseason to the Astros, where he started 11 games and went 10-1. He finished 7th in the NL Cy Young voting for 11 starts (Brown was 3rd after helping the Padres reach the World Series). Johnson was seen as Nolan Ryan Part 2. Kevin Brown has always been the turd in the punchbowl, who never endeared himself to fans, and I don't recall a lot of talk about his destination before the big Dodgers contract was announced.

The Randy Johnson free agency carousel has its own retrospective on mlbtraderumors.com:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/03/free-agent-retrospective-randy-johnson.html

The main news I remember about Brown is the clause to fly his family to games, which may have been one of the first times that was well known and discussed.

#40 They might have been thinking about Grich at SS. He hadn't played there in years but probably could have handled it. And that was a real need. Their SS hit a collective .208/.272/.251 (and were not elite defenders)

Post #7 cracks me up. A misspelling of a guy who only was a free agent once in his career and had zero hype at the time.

Oh, get lost. Where Junior would end up was the biggest story in baseball for a year. He ended up getting traded, but he chose the team and signing an extension was a condition of the trade.

Today’s 24-a-day hype machine may account for the recency bias, but there were many free agent signings that were just as big back in my teenage years- the mass exodus of Oakland A’s stars, Gene Autry trying to buy a championship and the Yankees signing Dave Winfield leap right to mind…

the mass exodus of Oakland A’s stars, Gene Autry trying to buy a championship and the Yankees signing Dave Winfield leap right to mind

These have to be the biggest baseball free agency stories of all time. Nowadays a $400M contract is just the next biggest contract and it fills the news cycle for a day or two. Back then dynasties were being built overnight or collapsing because of something that had been unthinkable only a few years before. It triggered an existential debate for years on the true source of evil in baseball, the team jumping players or the owners who had turned to opportunistic roster robbing.

Oh, get lost. Where Junior would end up was the biggest story in baseball for a year.

No it wasn't. But even if it had been, that has nothing to do with hyped free agents.

Surprised not to see Pujols ‘11 on this list.

The MLB multi-verse has a fascinating alternate history where Reggie follows the loonies and joins Montreal prior to the 1977 season. The Expos were awful in 1976 and quite bad the next two seasons, but with the arrivals of Andre Dawson, Gary Carter, Larry Parrish et al, they were on the rise for sure. I guess it's a Reggie or Dave Cash dilemma in that universe? And/or they don't make the trade for Tony Perez...?

Talking about free agency hype without mentioning the Japanese transplants seems kind of constricting. Ohtani's on the list but not for the time when he was first coming over.

I feel like Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Matsui, and Hideki Irabu had bigger hype than Ohtani, but it could also be because of where Ohtani landed compared to the others.

I think in my fandom (late 80s on), the biggest hype was around:

1. Alex Rodriguez
2. Manny Ramirez (I do remember that documentary following Jeff Moorad around)
3. Randy Johnson
4. Bryce Harper


I feel like Barry Bonds and Greg Maddux didn't seem to have as much hoopla, was it because they narrowed it down to like 2-3 teams from the outset?

There wasn't much hype beforehand with Bonds because it was pretty obvious that he was going to Giants, but the deal was extremely controversial because of the amount of money the Giants paid him.