Nowadays, it seems like every young potential star player gets signed to a long-term contract extension that buys out their arbitration years and a few of their free agent years. On top of that, established stars that are nearing free agency opt to sign lucrative contracts to stay with their team, never getting to test the open market. It may make free agency a bit boring, but it is the way the baseball world operates now.
Rather than fight that trend, let's just give into it and look at players from each and every team who could (or at least should) get a rich contract offer from their team to stay in town for many, many years.
Arizona Diamondbacks – The inspiration for this post was the news last week that the D'Backs were looking to lock up Paul Goldschmidt. Given that they recently traded the last young slugger they signed to a team-friendly extension, Arizona definitely could use another horse to hitch their wagon to.
Atlanta Braves – With the Upton brothers in place for years to come, Atlanta would be well advised to ink Jason Heyward to a multi-year deal as well, ensuring that the Braves have one of the game's best outfields for a long, long time.
Baltimore Orioles – The O's have a few options here depending on how much risk they want to assume. Matt Wieters isn't necessarily a superstar, but he is one of the top catchers in the game. If they think his body can hold up, buying out two years of his free agency would make a lot of sense. If they want to really roll the dice though, they could try to take care of 20-year old Manny Machado. With his star potential, Baltimore could save themselves a heck of a lot of cash if they work out a Longoria-style contract with him now, but they will be running the risk that Machado never lives up that kind of payday.
Boston Red Sox – This is a tough one. When it comes to young players, the BoSox really just have Will Middlebrooks, but he is far from a proven commodity. A more conservative approach would be to get a jump on contract talks with Dustin Pedroia who will be eligible for free agency after the 2014 season.
Chicago Cubs – Perhaps he won't be a franchise cornerstone, but the Cubs could do a lot worse than to engage in extension talks with Jeff Samardzija to give them a stabilizing force in their rotation as they try to rebuild. In fact, it is such a good idea, they are reportedly already doing just that, though the talks supposedly aren't going very well. Given that, maybe looking into securing the services of budding hitter Anthony Rizzo might make more sense.
Chicago White Sox – No fair, the White Sox cheated and already gave an extension to Chris Sale. After Sale, there aren't really any other candidates who appear deserving.
Cincinnati Reds – Now that they've decided to keep Aroldis Chapman in the bullpen, they could try and make sure he stays happy after spending the spring jerking with his role. Giving long-term money to relievers is fraught with peril, but Chapman might be the kind of talent worth making an exception for. Shin-Soo Choo makes sense as well, but he seems destined to test the open market.
Cleveland Indians – After their off-season spending spree, they may not have much money left. If they do, Jason Kipnis appears to be next on the list for an extension, but perhaps they's be better off waiting to see what Trevor Bauer can do and making him a long-term offer instead.
Colorado Rockies – For a bad team, the Rockies have already done a good job of signing their top young talent. The only player they didn't fully commit to was Dexter Fowler who recently signed a two-year deal, but he still has a year of arbitration left after that they could buyout with another extension.
Detroit Tigers – A hugely underrated part of Detroit's success, the Tigers would be making a colossal mistake if they didn't do something soon to make sure that Austin Jackson never reaches free agency after his team control runs out at the end of 2015.
Houston Astros – This of course assumes that the Astros are willing to spend money on something, but even then there is no obvious choice. Jose Altuve is their best player but he isn't the type of player most teams make major commitments to. A better strategy might be to hold onto their financial reserves to see if Chris Carter, Jason Castro, or Brad Peacock emerges as a worthwhile investment.
Kansas City Royals – Dayton Moore would probably pick Jeff Francouer for an extension, but the more logical choice is clearly Eric Hosmer, who should be more than willing to accept a deal after his disappointing but somewhat flukish sophomore campaign.
Los Angeles Angels – There is no more obvious choice on this list than Mike Trout. Good thing they pissed off his agent by low-balling him with his salary for the 2013 season. That should certainly help grease the skids.
Los Angeles Dodgers – With the financial resources at the Dodgers' disposal, it is only a matter of time before they make Clayton Kershaw a very rich man. Heck, they might give him two extensions just because they can.
Miami Marlins – The only logical choice on the team is Giancarlo Stanton, but after the off-season fire sale, there is no way Stanton is going to listen to anything they have to offer. At this point, it is doubtful that Jeffrey Loria could even convince Placido Polanco to sign an extension.
Milwaukee Brewers – Another proactive team, the Brew Crew locked up Carlos Gomez recently. If they show some progress this season, Michael Fiers or Marco Estrada could be next in line for a payday. Check that. what the Brewers really should do is find a way to get Bud Selig to give PED appeal arbitrator Shyam Das a contract extension, just in case MLB's witch hunt of Ryan Braun starts gaining traction.
Minnesota Twins – Long-term extensions to young star players hasn't worked out too well for the Twins the last few years but now that they are nearly free of Justin Morneau's contract, they could find the intestinal fortitude to get back in the game. Alas, there is no obvious choice here unless Aaron Hicks takes the league by storm in his rookie year.
New York Mets – Now that they've made sure David Wright will retire in blue and orange, the Mets have gotten extension fever with Ike Davis up next in their sights. That isn't a horrible plan, but a better one would be to get in early on Matt Harvey who seems to be on the fast track to becoming the team's ace. Harvey better get in on that extension while he can too because there is no telling how long the Wilpons' money will last.
New York Yankees – The Yankees can't aren't really going to let Robinson Cano reach free agency, are they? He is entering the final year of their contract and yet they somehow haven't locked him up yet. How very un-Yankee-like of them. There is no way this will last much longer. Right?
Oakland Athletics – Even though he is under contract through 2015 already, Yoenis Cespedes looks every bit like the kind of franchise slugger the A's have been searching for since the heyday of Moneyball. Tacking some years onto his existing deal would be some great foresight from Billy Beane. If not Cespedes, then Josh Reddick is a nice fallback option.
Philadelphia Phillies – For comedy's sake, might I suggest Ryan Howard? Most of the rest of the Phillies roster is either already signed long-term or too old or both. The only established player that doesn't fall into either category is Ben Revere, who would make a nice signing that wouldn't be too expensive.
Pittsburgh Pirates – Given their limited financial resources, the Pirates might be better off waiting for their treasure trove of pitching prospects to reach the majors and prove themselves, but if they are impatient, second baseman Neil Walker is more than deserving of an extension.
Saint Louis Cardinals – Given how good the Cards have been about locking up their core players, it would be a shock if they didn't sign Adam Wainwright to a big money extension by the end of the season.
San Diego Padres – The Padres keep talking about an extension with Chase Headley, one has to think that it will come to fruition sooner or later, probably sooner now that the Pads have new owners and a new local TV contract. Not only is keeping Headley a good idea for the Friars, they'd be doing us all a favor since it might convince the internet to stop saying the Yankees should trade for him.
San Francisco Giants – Even with the cautionary tale of Joe Mauer, the world demands that the Giants and Buster Posey agree to a contract that makes him a GIant for a long, long time.
Seattle Mariners – The Mariners went out of there way to acquire several players capable of smacking some dingers, so it would only be right if they actually signed one of those guys to a contract that extends beyond 2013. MIke Morse would probably be their first choice, but Kendrys Morales could make for a nice consolation prize.
Tampa Bay Rays – This is what they do best, is it not? The most Rays move ever would be to hand a nine-year contract to Wil Myers after this first game in the bigs. Even the Rays may not be that bold though, so they could settle for a team-friendly deal with Desmond Jennings or Jeremy Hellickson.
Texas Rangers – Elvis Andrus is the easy choice, assuming Texas is ready to trade either Jurickson Profar or Ian Kinsler, but they haven't tipped their way one way or the other on that front.
Toronto Blue Jays – It would be tempting to try and lock up Josh Johnson, but there is also a lot of risk with the health of his arm. A less risky, more marketable option would be to buy out some years of free agency from native Canadian Brett Lawrie.
Washington Nationals – Harper or Strasburg? Strasburg or Harper? Given that Strasburg is a free agent two years before Harper is, he'd likely be the higher priority target for the Nats.
