New trend of locking up young players changing MLB's landscape

Then we can start looking ahead to the 2015-16 free-agent class. On track to hit the market are seven players who still will be in their 20s: Jason Heyward,

Tom Verducci | Feb 25, 2014

New trend of locking up young players changing MLB's landscape /

Freddie Freeman, who is just 24, signed an eight-year, $135 million extension with Atlanta this offseason :: John Bazemore/AP

Then we can start looking ahead to the 2015-16 free-agent class. On track to hit the market are seven players who still will be in their 20s: Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Mat Latos, Neftali Feliz, Austin Jackson, Rick Porcello and Jhoulys Chacin. And you also have a bunch of players who will play in 2016 at age 30: Chris Davis, Matt Wieters, David Price, Dexter Fowler, Yoenis Cespedes, Ian Desmond and Jordan Zimmermann. Sounds like a great free-agent market, right? Just wait. It's two years and many more extensions away.

Published Feb 25, 2014

TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.