MLB free agency news: Cubs get Seiya Suzuki; Blue Jays acquire Matt Chapman; what’s next for Freddie Freeman? Track all the moves

From 2011 to 2016, slugging first basemen roamed the baseball marketplace like dinosaurs, commanding one mega-contract after another. During that time, Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Miguel Cabrera and Chris Davis received deals averaging nearly nine years and more than $25 million. Only Votto proved worth the money, and as teams got smarter, massive, long-term contracts for first basemen became extinct.

The five-year, $130 million extension Paul Goldschmidt signed with the Cardinals in March 2019 is the current bellwether for first basemen. Freddie Freeman considered that deal a floor in his talks with the Braves before he became a free agent. Matt Olson, the player the Braves acquired to replace Freeman, also was working off Goldschmidt’s blueprint when he agreed to an eight-year, $168 million extension Tuesday, less than 24 hours after arriving in a trade from the A’s.

Olson, entering his age 28 season, is 3 1/2 years younger than Goldschmidt was at the time of their respective deals. Goldschmidt received a higher average annual value, $26 million to $22 million, because he was one year closer to free agency than Olson and a more accomplished player. Both parties, however, knew the parameters entering the negotiations, enabling a deal to come together quickly.

Of course, Freeman and his representatives at Excel Sports Management also knew the parameters, but the swift agreement between Olson and the Braves stood in stark contrast to the Freeman camp’s months of stalled negotiations with the club. For all that Freeman accomplished as a homegrown Braves star — the 2020 National League MVP award, the 2021 World Series title — the 4 1/2-year age difference between he and Olson clearly was a major factor in the team’s decision-making.

(Photo of Matt Olson: Michael Zagaris / Oakland Athletics / Getty Images)