Baseball contract year players are baseball players in their final year of their baseball contract, who may gain free agent status after the contract year is up. Baseball contract year players may also be able to extend and renegotiate their contract after the contract year. Baseball players regularly preform well in their contract year, often surpassing their previous performance standards. This is in part due to the pressure they feel to prove themselves in order to secure a bigger and better contract. However, most contract negotiations will take into the account a player's performance overall, not just his dazzling sprint to the finish line. Teams may look at a players average performance over many years, both good years and bad years, in order to gauge a player's future potential. Sports agents work increasingly hard for baseball contract year players to secure them a good deal in the future. A player who performs exceptionally well in their contract year may be offered a larger signing bonus and better overall contract the next time around.