This year's brutal free agent market has left many players criticizing baseball's free agent system and calling for reform. Many veteran free agents have been forced to take pay cuts or sign minor-league contracts just to get on a team. The result is a strong backlash from the MLBPA against the entire free agent process.

Some of the league's top players currently under contract have seen how bad this year's market has been and decided to sign extensions rather than test free agency, the latest of which was Alex Bregman, who signed a six-year, $100 million contract extensionwith the Houston Astros.

Bregman is worth much more than this team friendly contract suggests. By not signing for more, Bregman is setting a low market for comparable star players.

Bregman's contract covers 2019, the final three years of his arbitration eligibility, and two years of free agency. While this is the second-highest contract ever for a pre-arbitration player, the extra two years that dip into free agency is where Bregman hurts other players.

Bregman is one of the most dominant players in baseball and his stats in 2018 prove it. Given Bregman's relatively low AAV, players who post similar numbers in the future will have to look at the 24-year-old's contract as the bar, and an unfair one at that.

Currently, star young players like Bregman are making considerably less than their actual value in arbitration, so it's not surprising he was willing to take a pay cut in potential free agent years in exchange for an immediate raise. For Bregman, it evens out.

Although Bregman's contract looks good over his arbitration years, the extra two seasons in which he could've tested free agency will impact the final opinion on this deal in the near future.