This implies that there's not a lot of money for the middle tier guys right now. That comes as a surprise for Joc Pederson (2yrs/$37M), Frankie Montas (2yrs/$34M), Matthew Boyd (2yrs/$29M), Clay Holmes (3yrs/$38M), Tyler O'Neill (3yrs/$49M) etc, etc, etc.
And this hasn't really changed in 15 years. They top tier get looks at 5+ year deals while the second tier guys have to settle for 2-3 years. In 2010 that meant the Twins signing Carl Pavano for 2 yrs $16.5M, and that contract value seems to have about doubled in that time.
Unless we're looking at a tier below that, then we're looking at a player like Josh Bell getting $6M for 1 year, compared to someone like Jim Thome getting $3M for 1 year.
I just see no evidence, none whatsoever, that the top players getting paid their fair value has hurt players below them.