The offseason is designed for ranking free agents. Our resident scout Keith Law has compiled his the 50 best free agents, and our resident general manager Jim Bowden ranked his own top 45. A handful of our editors worked together to develop a collective Big Board of the top 40 free agents on the market.

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Big Board of Top 40 MLB Free Agents: Welcome to the Juan Soto Sweepstakes

But even though the rankings provide insight into the best talent available, we need to reorganize these lists to better understand where the market is deep and particularly tight. So here’s a 26-player roster made up entirely of free agents, illustrating the many options for a rotation of need, bullpen or corner outfield, and the relative lack of options for almost every position in the middle .

Align

1. Willy Adames, S.S.
2. Juan Soto, R.F.
3. Pete Alonso, 1B
4. Anthony Santander, DH
5. Teoscar Hernández, LF
6. Alex Bregman, 3B
7. Gleyber Torres, 2B
8. Travis d’Arnaud, C
9. Harrison Bader, C.F.

Power in the middle

If you’re looking for a slugger, this offseason offers 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 pop, and d’Arnaud was top-10 among receivers 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 corners

Our Big Board has enough corner outfielders near the top that we had to put one at designated hitter just to fit them all into our lineup. Even so, there are enough daily options that a second string could make a lot of impact, with Jurickson Profar (.839 OPS in 2024), Tyler O’Neill (.847) and Joc Pederson (.908 ) also ranking 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 chose to stay with the Chicago Cubsthe free agent market has lost its top center field option. No other center fielder came particularly close to making our Big Board. For our free agent team, we chose Bader (coming off a 1.3 fWAR with the Dishes) compared to other glove options first Michael A. Taylor and Kiké Hernández. Center field is the thinnest and weakest position in the market, although the market is not particularly deep 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)

Bench

• Christian Walker, 1B
• Ha-Seong Kim, SS/2B
• Jurickson Profar, OF
• Danny Jansen, C.

Thin in the infield

Positionally, this is not a great way to build a bench in the big leagues. There’s no backup third baseman, no backup center fielder, and we don’t know when our utility man will be ready (or for how long). his shoulder operation will have an impact on his abilities playing shortstop). But the options – especially on the ground – are limited. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt ranks 29th, but our Big Board doesn’t include any other infielders not listed here. Those who came closest were Carlos Santana, José Iglesias, Yoán Moncada and the Korean infielder. Hye-seong Kimand there are reasons to wonder about each of those who play a daily role. Second baseman Jorge Polanco could be interesting as a bounce-back candidate, and shortstop Paul DeJong is back on the map after a good season.

Options behind the plate

There are no receivers on our Big Board, but d’Arnaud and Jansen have generated considerations at 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 leagues in recent years. This market doesn’t necessarily have an everyday standout catcher, but those are rare in today’s game. For teams trying to put together an exciting duo, free agency can offer some solutions.

Left-handed bats

For our backup outfielder, we simply went with the highest remaining name on the Big Board (Profar), but the market notably has a decent number of left-handed options that could be useful 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 few contenders (the Dodgers And Astros) last season.

Rotation

• Corbin Burnes, RHP
• Max Fried, LHP
• Blake Snell, HR
• Jack Flaherty, RHP
• Sean ManaeaLHP

Impact starters

Our Big Board’s top 12 includes 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 is tied to his youth ( 23 years old) and in fact, he will have to sign at a relatively low price. Among proven big league starters, this free agent market includes four of the top 20 in ERA last season. Burnes is undoubtedly the best arm in the class, and the depth of No. 1 starters depends on teams believing that Flaherty and Manaea’s recent performances are sustainable.

Next level

Nearly half of our top 25 free agents are mid-rotation or better weapons – 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 feature a wide range of questions from age to health to recent inconsistencies. Bieber, in particular, is interesting given that he’s a Cy Young winner coming back from Tommy John surgery and won’t turn 30 until the end of May. Martinez is 34 years old, but he is coming off a career year that saw him get off to a strong start as a full-time starter.

A question of age

The bottom of our Big Board is filled with successful but uncertain rookie pitchers. Tomoyuki Sugano, Matthew Boyd, José Quintana and Max Scherzer each rank between 35 and 39 on our list, and will all be between 34 and 40 next season. The first player to miss qualifying for our Big Board was Charlie Morton, another stater who turns 41 later this month. A few spots below Morton was Justin Verlander, who is almost 42 years old. Sugano never pitched in the majors. Boyd has made 23 starts over the past three years combined. Scherzer has made just nine starts this season. Who can be trusted to take on a newbie’s workload next year?

Bullpen

• Tanner Scott, LHP
• Jeff Hoffman, RHP
• Clay Holmes, HR
• Carlos Estévez, RHP
• Blake Treinen, RHP
• Kirby Yates, RHP
• Kenley Jansen, RHP
• David Robertson, HR

The impact at the top

Six of those eight relievers have been All-Stars over the past two seasons. The only exceptions are Treinen (who has been an All-Star in the past and, more recently, the upper arm of the Dodgers’ postseason bullpen) and Robertson (another former All-Star who, along with Yates, Scott , Jansen, Hoffman and Estévez, ranked in the top 20 in Added Win Probability this season). Four other free agents – Chris Martin, Hector Neris, Paul Sewald and Lucas Sims – were in the top 10 in win probability added in 2023. There is impact potential here.

Door closers for rent

This free agent class is particularly rich in pitchers with extensive closer experience. Eleven free agents — Jansen, Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, Robertson, Will SmithNeris, Yates, Sewald, Estévez, Treinen and Holmes – rank in the top 25 in saves among active players, and that list doesn’t include Scott, who has double-digit saves over the last three years and made the All-Star team last year. . Ninth inning experience is readily available this winter.

On the left side

We chose our bullpen by picking all the relievers on our Big Board, plus the two who came closest to the cut. If we wanted a second lefty, Chapman and Danny Coulombe – surprisingly dropped by the Orioles – deserves some reflection. AJ Minter, Tim Hill and Jalen Beeks are among the other free agent lefties who could help balance a bullpen.

(Pete Alonso top photo: Harry How / Getty Images)