That this winter’s group of free agents would be headlined by Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon was fairly obvious for the past few months. To many, Chapman is the top option of the three, with Jansen not far behind.
It was Melancon who came off the market first, reportedly agreeing to a four-year, $62 million contract with the San Francisco Giants. That shattered Jonathan Papelbon’s $50 million deal that set the record for largest contract signed by a reliever.
It also set the floor that Chapman and Jansen are surely to break through once they agree to their respective contracts.