MLB free agency: Five players who could be a Black Friday bargain for a smart team, including former All-Stars [Video]

Everyone loves a bargain deal. It’s true most days, but it’s the animating spirit of this particular day. (Heck, half the people reading this on the original publication date probably clicked over from a tab containing online shopping.) We lean into that reality on an annual basis by using today, the highest of all days for bookkeepers, to highlight a handful of Major League Baseball free agents who could become bargains. 

What do we mean by that? Usually, it’s a shorthand way of implying these players will receive smaller contracts than what their future performances merit. Sometimes that’s because a player is coming back from injury or attempting to rebound from a down year; sometimes it’s because the player has some particular skills that just need the right situation or organization to manifest into better production. 

Whatever inspires us to include a player in this piece, the …