All-Free-Agent Team: Closers and corner outfielders galore, harder to fill the middle
The offseason is built for free-agent rankings. Our local scout Keith Law compiled his top 50 free agents, and our local GM Jim Bowden ranked his own top 45. A handful of our writers teamed up to develop a collective Big Board of the top 40 free agents on the market .
GO DEEPER
MLB Top 40 Free Agent Big Board: Welcome to the Juan Soto Sweepstakes
But while rankings provide a sense of the top talent available, we need to reshuffle those lists to better understand where the market is deep and, most importantly, thin. So here’s a 26-man roster made up entirely of free agents, illustrating the ample options for a needy rotation, bullpen or outfield corner, and the relative lack of options at just about any center position.
Line-up
- Willy Adames, SS
- Juan Soto, RF
- Piet Alonso, 1B
- Anthony Santander, DH
- Teoscar Hernández, LF
- Alex Bregman, 3B
- Gleyber Torres, 2B
- Travis d’Arnaud, C
- Harrison Bader, C.F
Power in the middle
If you’re looking for a slugger, this offseason has a few options. Five of the 18 players who hit more than 30 home runs this season are now free agents (Soto, Santander, Alonso, Hernández, Adames). Bregman also has some pop, and d’Arnaud was in the top 10 among catchers in slugging percentage. Among the free agents who didn’t make our starting lineup, Randal Grichuk, Joc Pederson, Tyler O’Neill and Kyle Higashioka each hit at least .475 this year.
Depth at the corners
Our Big Board has enough corner outfielders at the top that we had to put one at designated hitter to fit them all into our lineup. Even then, there are enough everyday options that a second string could have a big impact, with Jurickson Profar (.839 OPS in 2024), Tyler O’Neill (.847) and Joc Pederson (.908) also among our top 26. free agents. Another corner bat, first baseman Christian Walker (.803 OPS, three Gold Gloves), is No. 15 on our list.
Point of weakness
When Cody Bellinger opted to stay with the Chicago Cubs, the free agent market lost its best option in center field. No other midfielder came particularly close to making our Big Board. For our Free Agents team, we selected Bader (coming off a 1.3 fWAR with the Mets) over fellow glove-first options Michael A. Taylor and Kiké Hernández. Midfield is the thinnest and weakest position in the market, although the market is not particularly deep anywhere in the middle.
Jurickson Profar, ranked 17th on our Free Agent Big Board, was an All-Star for the first time in 2024. (Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Bank
- Christian Walker, 1B
- Ha-Seong Kim, SS/2B
- Jurickson Profar, OF
- Danny Jansen, C
Thin in the infield
Positionally, this isn’t a great way to build a big league bench. There’s no backup third baseman, no backup center fielder, and we’re not sure when our utility man will be ready (or how much impact his shoulder surgery will have on his ability to play shortstop). But the options – especially in the infield – are limited. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt is ranked No. 29, but our Big Board does not include any other infielders not listed here. Those who came closest are Carlos Santana, José Iglesias, Yoán Moncada and the Korean infielder Hye Seong Kimand there are reasons to wonder about each of them in an everyday role. Second baseman Jorge Polanco could be interesting as a rebound candidate, and shortstop Paul DeJong has returned to the fold after a good season.
Options behind the plate
There are no catchers on our Big Board, but d’Arnaud and Jansen did provide some considerations near the bottom of the list, and the free-agent market also has Higashioka, Carson Kelly, Gary Sánchez, Elías Díaz, Jacob Stallings and others who have been solid catchers in the big league in recent years. This market doesn’t necessarily have a standout everyday catcher, but those are few and far between in today’s game. For teams trying to build a catchy duo, free agency can offer a number of solutions.
Lefty bats
For our backup outfielder, we simply went with the highest name left on the Big Board (Profar), but the market in particular has a fair number of left-handed options that could come in handy in a platoon. Joc Pederson (No. 26), Max Kepler (34), Alex Verdugo (38) and Michael Conforto (40) made our Big Board, and Jesse Winker just missed. Jason Heyward is also a free agent after providing some left-handed balance to a number of contenders (the Dodgers and Astros) this past season.
Rotation
- Corbin Burnes, RHP
- Max Fried, LHP
- Blake Snell, RHP
- Jack Flaherty, RHP
- Sean Manaea, LHP
Impact starters
Our Big Board’s top 12 consists of six starting pitchers, but we did not include No. 3 Roki Sasaki in our All-Free Agent rotation because his situation is unique and part of his value comes from his youth (23 years old) and the fact that he will have to sign relatively cheaply. Among proven big league starters, this free-agent market includes four of the top 20 in ERA from last season. Burnes is undeniably the best in the class, and the depth of the No. 1 starters depends on whether teams believe the recent performances of Flaherty and Manaea are sustainable.
Next level
Nearly half of our top 25 free agents are mid-rotation-or-better arms – Nathan Eovaldi (No. 13 on the big board), Yusei Kikuchi (14), Shane Bieber (20), Walker Buehler (21), Luis Severino (23) and Nick Martinez (25) – but they come with a wide range of questions, ranging from age to health to recent inconsistencies. Bieber is especially interesting because he’s a Cy Young winner returning from Tommy John surgery and won’t turn 30 until the end of May. Martinez is 34, but he’s coming off a career year in which he pitched well as a full-time starter.
A matter of age
The bottom of our Big Board is full of successful but uncertain starting pitchers. Tomoyuki Sugano, Matthew Boyd, José Quintana and Max Scherzer are each between 35 and 39 on our list, and next season they will all be between 34 and 40. The first player to miss the cut for our Big Board was Charlie Morton, another stater who turns 41 later this month. A few places below Morton was Justin Verlander, who is almost 42. Sugano has never pitched in the Majors. Boyd has made a combined 23 starts over the past three years. Scherzer made just nine starts this season. Which one can carry the workload of a starter next year?
Bullpen
- Tanner Scott, LHP
- Jeff Hoffman, RHP
- Clay Holmes, RHP
- Carlos Estévez, RHP
- Blake Treinen, RHP
- Kirby Yates, RHP
- Kenley Jansen, RHP
- David Robertson, RHP
Impact at its best
Six of these eight relievers were All-Stars the past two seasons. The only exceptions are Treinen (who was an All-Star in the past and most recently was the top arm in the Dodgers’ postseason bullpen) and Robertson (another former All-Star who played along with Yates, Scott, Jansen, Hoffman and Estévez ranked in the top 20 in Win Odds added this season). Four other free agents – Chris Martin, Hector Neris, Paul Sewald and Lucas Sims – were in the top 10 of Probability Added in 2023. There is potential for impact here.
Shutters for rent
This free-agent class is especially deep in pitchers with extensive closer experience. Eleven free agents – Jansen, Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, Robertson, Will Smith, Neris, Yates, Sewald, Estévez, Treinen and Holmes – rank in the top 25 in saves among active players, and that list does not include Scott recorded, who played doubles. -digit has been a save the past three years and made the All-Star team last year. Ninth inning experience is immediately available this winter.
From the left
We chose our bullpen by choosing every reliever on our Big Board, plus the two closest to the cut. However, if we wanted a second lefty, Chapman and Danny Coulombe – surprisingly let go by the Orioles – would warrant some consideration. AJ Minter, Tim Hill and Jalen Beeks are among the other free-agent lefties who can help balance a bullpen.
(Top photo of Pete Alonso: Harry How/Getty Images)
