Lockout, deals worth millions: The baseball league starts with a slight delay. Max Kepler’s club also caused a stir.
Max Kepler’s thoughts have not only revolved around baseball in the past few weeks. Not about Carlos Correa, for example, one of the best players in the MLB, who is now, completely surprisingly, a teammate of the Berliner in the Minnesota Twins. Nor about his performances last season, which, well, weren’t quite as exhilarating as in previous years.
What Kepler couldn’t get out of his head at the training camp in Fort Myers, Florida, was Russia’s war in Ukraine – because he was indirectly affected by it. His father, Marek Rozicky, is from Poland, from Poznan to be precise – and Kepler’s cousins have been busy for weeks collecting money for food and clothing and bringing the relief supplies to the border with Ukraine.
“My friends in Europe keep me up to date,” Kepler told the local newspaper last week Star Tribune and explained to the Americans: The war was taking place “practically right next door”, with his friends and relatives. Which is why it wasn’t easy for him to deal with the “Opening Day” on Thursday, when the Twins received the Seattle Mariners (10:05 p.m.).
In fact, his club caused one of the excitement during the winter break, during which the players and the 30 team owners could not agree on a new collective agreement for 99 days – which is why the season only starts now, a week later than planned. As soon as the deal was sealed, Minnesota signed said Carlos Correa.
His contract with the Houston Astros had expired and he was one of the most desirable free agents out there, if not the most desirable. The fact that he only signed for three years and $35.1 million a year, and with a rather small team, was a bang: players of his caliber usually gamble for longer-term contracts.
MLB Free Agents: Hundreds of millions for Seager and Semien
The biggest free agent deals landed Corey Seager (325 million for ten years) and Marcus Semien (175/seven) – both are now teammates at the Texas Rangers, who invested a total of $ 580 million in new staff after a miserable season . The top earner is pitcher Max Scherzer, who will be paid $130 million by the New York Mets over the next three years.
In fact, there was a lot of movement in the market – mainly because the number of play-off teams was increased to twelve, thus creating an incentive for investment. And because the “designated hitter” now also applies in the National League, which was founded in 1876: As in the American League, the pitchers no longer have to go to the plate themselves when it is their turn.
In total, the 30 clubs have invested almost 3.3 billion dollars in guaranteed salaries for 141 “free agents” – a record. The average annual salary of $4.2 million in 2021 will also increase. Kepler’s remains the same: he signed a five-year contract in 2019 – for a total of $ 35 million.
