The market for free agent hitters got a jolt last week at the winter meetings when 32-year-old designated hitter Kyle Schwarber agreed to a five-year, $150 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, and that was followed by 31-year-old first baseman Pete Alonso getting a five-year, $155 million deal from the Baltimore Orioles a day later.
Schwarber and Alonso ranked No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, on ESPN's ranking of the top 50 free agents heading into the winter, and both contracts show the value of the top one-dimensional players this offseason as the teams invested in them for one main reason: their bats.