I'm writing this piece to hopefully inspire each player named into a strong finish to 2025. I don't want these guys to play themselves out of lucrative contracts in the offseason. Quite the opposite, in fact! I hope they squeeze every cent possible out of the billionaires who own their teams.
As it stands though, each of them is dealing with a mid-season slump that could well change negotiations when they all hit the free agency market in a few months.
Kyle Tucker, Chicago Cubs
Tucker's honeymoon phase in Chiago has unfortunately come to an end — or at least a hiatus. After looking like an NL MVP candidate through June, he hit a wall in July and OPS'd well under .700 during the month. He's still been a monster for the season at large (4.6 WAR, 18 home runs, 23 stolen bases and an OPS of .871) but a recent lull has brought those numbers down from where they were earlier in the year.
Now, "losing millions" in Tucker's case probably isn't as detrimental as it would be for other players; he's still going to ink a massive deal with whatever team wins his services in the winter and even a cold ending to 2025 won't change that. But a scorching hot ending to 2025 and a few big playoff moments could earn him a few more dollars in his next deal.
Ryan O'Hearn, San Diego Padres
It hasn't been a dream start for O'Hearn in his new home in San Diego, who's just 1 for 10 in his first four games. But even before he was dealt at the deadline, O'Hearn was somewhat slumping with the Orioles. He's hit just two home runs since June 24th and his production in June and July was well down from his scorching April and May.
O'Hearn will be interesting to watch down the stretch. If he gets hot again and finishes with 20-plus home runs, he might be able to convince a team to give him a multi-year deal with some good money. If he doesn't find his swing again, he could play himself out of some guaranteed money and instead have to settle for a two-year deal somewhere.
Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves
This one comes with a pretty big asterisk; the Braves have a $7 million club option for Albies next season and if they pick that up, the Albies would be off the market. If they don't pick it up, Albies would be a free agent and it's tough to picture him getting considerably more (or more at all) than $7 million per year unless he drastically improves his production the rest of 2025.
Two years ago, Albies was an All-Star and finished 16th in MVP voting. Four years ago, he was an All-Star and Silver Slugger, while playing 158 games and leading the Braves to a World Series ring.
That version of Albies has been absent for the past two years. In 2024, his production was down, and in 2025, it's at career lows across the board. He's hitting just .226, has 9 home runs, an OPS of .632 and is slugging worse than he ever has.
Paul Goldschmidt, New York Yankees
A three-hit night including a monster home run on Monday was the Yankees' first baseman's best game in some time, and maybe it'll help him break out of a cold streak he's experienced since the start of June.
Now 37 years old with a great career (mostly) behind him, Goldy likely doesn't care too much about the particulars of his contracts at this point as much as he does getting new contracts... but even that may be in a bit of jeopardy if this slide continues. A clunky end of the season might make teams think twice about signing him (at least as an everyday option) as it would be his second straight middling season. Still, if he gets back on track, he'll be a reliable enough free agent option and a team would surely talk themselves into a bounceback year from the veteran.