9 months ago every agent criticized me and Teo for taking a 1-year deal.
The truth is, the market was soft for everyone, and he was coming off a down year while playing in a very pitcher friendly environment.
We were looking for a 3-year deal, and while reading the market and realizing that deal might not exist, I asked him what his priority was and he said he wanted to win and play deep into October, so we pivoted and focused on getting the best short term deal on the best team interested.
Here we are 9 months later:
Career high HR
Career high wRC+
Career high rWAR
All-Star
Home Run Derby Champ
Best regular season record in MLB
NLCS appearance
He will win his 3rd Silver Slugger, and will probably get some MVP votes.
On top of that, he made more money this year than he would have made on that 3-year deal and now he will go back out on the market after a career year.
Who's laughing now?