Free agency might or might not be alive and well, and that might have spurred the recent run of long-term contract extensions. Travis Sawchik examined the spike of signings at FiveThirtyEight and reported that March saw not only the highest dollar amount in extensions ever for one month (over $1 billion), but the most total years as well (58). That doesn't even include Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies, who signed their recent extensions in April.
For teams that cleared future money off their books in anticipation of spending more in free agency in upcoming seasons, losing the likes of Nolan Arenado, Aaron Nola, Luis Severino, Chris Sale, Xander Bogaerts, Justin Verlander and others as potential targets obviously changes the landscape.