We're like 25% of the way through the season and it's rermarkable how almost every contract has been a disaster so far.
Trea Turner (11/300) - K-rate up like 7% and basically a slap hitter right now per Statcast
Carlos Correa (6/100)- has been replacement-level trash
Jake deGrom (6/185) - shut down after 30 innings because of multiple injuries
Carlos Rodon (6/162) - immediately diagnosed with chronic back issue and hasn't pitched
Edwin Diaz (5/102) - blew out his knee, hasn't pitched
Willson Contreras (5/87.5) - scapegoated for Cards pitching being terrible and moved off catcher for a week
Justin Verlander (2/86.6) - has only thrown 12 mediocre innnings
Andrew Benintendi (5/75) - replacement-level slap hitter
Kodai Senga (5/75) - no command, looks like a 1-2 WAR SP
Taijuan Walker (4/72) - the same 1-2 WAR SP he's always been outside of a decent 2022
Chris Bassitt (3/60) - showing signs of significant skill erosion
Jose Abreu (3/60) - looks completely cooked
Robert Suarez (5/46) - injured and hasn't thrown a pitch
Mitch Haniger (3/43.5) - has been injured and terrible
Tyler Anderson (3/39) - doesn't even look like a viable SP anymore
Well over $1 billion paid out to the above players, and they're cumulatively hovering around replacement level. Draft and develop, kids. Building through FA is a recipe for being very bad for a very long time.
There were some value signings out there: The Rays seem to have got it right with Eflin. Strahm, Lugo, and Bellinger all look shrewd. Some vets re-signing with their former teams for reasons other than $ look good (Kershaw and Rizzo).