The Brewster

"Of course we overpaid for LaLoosh," Talons GM Sean Marko said during an interview earlier today. "Every free agent, by default, is an overpay. Every free agent represents a player that you haven't developed, internally, as a franchise, and were then forced to get from outside the organization."

"Had we developed a Hall of Fame level pitcher, then we wouldn't have signed LaLoosh," the GM continued. "But we haven't. We could have more than one hitter enter the HOF someday, but developing that ace level starter has been difficult for us so far. Sure its a big contract, and I grant that we overpaid for him as compared to developing such a pitcher ourselves.

"But when you look at the actual market we operated in, I don't think we offered too much. The impression I got from other GMs was that a lot of the other offers were in the same ballpark. I like to think that Mr. LaLoosh chose to come here because of the dynamic team we've built, despite similar offers from other clubs," Marko said.

"We've worked hard for years to develop relationships with our younger players, and sign them to deals that work well with our fiscal plan. That way, when it comes time to bring in that Hall of Fame level talent to put you over the top, you're ready to do what's necessary to get things done," he said.

Sean Marko wit aside, this is absolutely the right take. Almost all premium FA signings are overpays. The question is whether or not you can fit the overpay and if it is the thing that is worth overpaying for your team. If you are not looking at the top tier guy you signed out of FA as "I overpaid for this dude, but I couldn't get this talent another way and it fixes a desperate need" you're doing it wrong.

Like, if you signed a guy for a bunch of money, and thought to yourself, "That's about right for this amount of talent. I have a lot of holes but this makes me better at one spot, and I'll build from here," I have bad news for you.