MLB Free-Agent Signings Primed for Career Revival With New Teams in 2025
Ordinarily, a new uniform and a new contract does not a new player make. It's the talent on the inside that counts, right?
In theory, yes. But some free-agent signees ought to be feeling bullish about pulling off precisely that sort of transformation in 2025.
Let's dig our hooks into eight players who have strong chances of career revivals after signing with new teams during the offseason. Each is the same guy he was before, but one or more things about his new environment should work in his favor.
We will proceed in alphabetical order.
3B Alex Bregman, Boston Red Sox
1 of 8
Age: 30
2024 Stats: 145 G, 634 PA, 26 HR, 3 SB, .260 AVG, .315 OBP, .453 SLG
Contract: 3 years, $120 million
Alex Bregman is the first $40 million-per-year infielder in MLB history. This would not be the case if his career was in a bad place.
And yet, the fact that he didn’t get his purported $200 million wish reflects that his career isn't in an ideal place, either. He has been more of a good player than a great one since finishing second in the 2019 AL MVP voting, and he's coming off a career-low OPS.
The solution, as he and the Red Sox must have equally understood, is Fenway Park.
As a right-handed hitter who specializes in pulled fly balls, Bregman is an ideal Fenway hitter in concept. And the proof of said concept is right there in his numbers, as he's a .375/.490/.750 hitter in Boston for his career.
The elephant in the room for now is whether he will stick at third base, where he just won a Gold Glove in 2024. It will only happen if the Red Sox convince Rafael Devers to move, and that effort is not off to a good start.
But if Bregman must play second base, so be it. As a former shortstop whose arm is a liability at third, the keystone could actually prove to be a better fit for him.
RHP Walker Buehler, Boston Red Sox
2 of 8
Age: 30
2024 Stats: 16 GS, 75.1 IP, 89 H (16 HR), 64 K, 28 BB, 5.38 ERA
Contract: 1 year, $21.05 million, with 2026 mutual option
Here we have another debatable inclusion. After all, the last competitive pitch Walker Buehler threw literally ended the World Series.
For the most part, though, his return from his second Tommy John surgery was a downer. And it specifically had a lot to do with his fastball.
Whereas it had been a major weapon between 2018 and 2021, it got crushed in 2024 to the tune of a .324 average and eight home runs. Which isn't surprising, as neither its velocity nor its spin were up to his usual standards.
So, what if he just stops throwing it?
This thought did occur to Buehler in 2024, as the year resulted in his lowest usage of his four-seamer. This alone positioned him as a natural fit for the Red Sox, whose starters used the four-seamer an MLB-low 10.4 percent of the time last year.
Buehler has referred to the Red Sox's fastball-light approach under pitching coach Andrew Bailey as "the next evolution of my career." You can thus expect to see more cutters, sinkers and breaking balls from him in 2025, and rightfully so. Those pitches are nasty, and his sweeper in particular.
LF Michael Conforto, Los Angeles Dodgers
3 of 8
Age: 31
2024 Stats: 130 G, 488 PA, 20 HR, 0 SB, .237 AVG, .309 OBP, .450 SLG
Contract: 1 year, $17 million
It's been a minute since Michael Conforto was truly an impact hitter.
Between 2017 and 2020, he was 34 percent better than average and tallied 34 home runs per 162 games. But since then, he battled injuries in 2021 and 2022 and was a modest eight percent better than average in 2023 and 2024.
As they usually are, though, the Dodgers are onto something with Conforto.
He may not have had the results to show for it, but he legitimately crushed the ball last season. At 90.2 mph, his exit velocity was his best since 2016. And at 46.0 percent, his hard-hit rate was his best since 2015.
Oracle Park is what did him in. Whereas Conforto had a .632 OPS there, he had a .852 OPS when the San Francisco Giants hit the road. It's a tale as old as time, and especially for left-handed power hitters not named Barry Bonds.
Put it this way: Fly balls off Conforto's bat that used to leave Dave Flemming exasperated will probably make Joe Davis excited.
1B Paul Goldschmidt, New York Yankees
4 of 8
Age: 37
2024 Stats: 154 G, 654 PA, 22 HR, 11 SB, .245 AVG, .302 OBP, .414 SLG
Contract: 1 year, $12.5 million
Honestly? This take is already in danger of not aging well.
In 2022, Paul Goldschmidt was the NL MVP after making a run at the triple crown and finishing with a .981 OPS and 35 homers. But in 2024, he wasn't even a league-average hitter.
There are real warning signs at play, including an elevated strikeout rate and diminished effectiveness against the fastball. Such things inevitably draw one's gaze to his age.
And yet, Goldschmidt also would have hit 25 home runs if he'd been a Yankee in 2024.
A marginal improvement, perhaps, but it might underrate how well he profiles at Yankee Stadium. Power to right field is an underrated staple of his game, and balls that were outs in St. Louis in 2024 that would have been homers in New York include this one, this one, this one and this one.
A return to MVP form probably isn't in the cards for Goldschmidt, but don't be shocked if he makes a run at 30 homers in 2025.
RHP Clay Holmes, New York Mets
5 of 8
Age: 31
2024 Stats: 67 G, 63.0 IP, 60 H (4 HR), 68 K, 22 BB, 3.14 ERA
Contract: 3 years, $38 million, with opt-out after 2026
Clay Holmes was an All-Star for a second time in 2024, but his season started a lot better than it ended.
His last 47 appearances out of the Yankees' bullpen saw him post a 4.60 ERA and blow 12 saves. He fared better in the postseason, but he was merely setting up for Luke Weaver by then.
Thus, Holmes was always going to be a rebound candidate in free agency, but the Mets had the novel idea to give him a whole new assignment: starting.
He only has four starts in his career, and all of them took place in 2018. He nonetheless profiles well as a starter, as his generally nasty arsenal of stuff also comes with variety.
Holmes' sinker is his bread-and-butter pitch, but he also throws both a slider and a sweeper and is working on a cutter and a changeup. Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner says the latter is looking "outstanding."
Starting is obviously a different grind relative to relieving, but the 6'5", 245-pound Holmes has the physicality to up his workload within games. He can be for the 2025 season what Reynaldo López was to the 2024 campaign.
2B Gleyber Torres, Detroit Tigers
6 of 8
Age: 28
2024 Stats: 154 G, 665 PA, 15 HR, 4 SB, .257 AVG, .330 OBP, .378 SLG
Contract: 1 year, $15 million
Even now, with Opening Day still weeks away, it already feels like leaving New York was a change for the better for Gleyber Torres.
He was able to grow a beard without having to worry whether the Yankees would pull a 180 on their facial hair policy. It seems he also avoided a salty situation, as Yankees GM Brian Cashman recently complained about Torres' unwillingness to move off second base after the club acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr. last summer.
Whatever the case, the risk inherent in Torres choosing the Tigers is that Comerica Park is less friendly to hitters than Yankee Stadium. Just in 2024, it could have cost him six home runs.
However, the days of expecting him to be a power hitter are probably over anyway. He's more of a table-setter these days, and potentially a very good one.
Indeed, Torres hit .313/.386/.454 after he moved into the Yankees' leadoff spot on August 16, 2024. He had a whole new approach, which involved swinging less and prioritizing contact.
It's a good way for a batsman to sustain himself as a .300 hitter, so don't be surprised if Torres is able to do that for the Tigers in 2025.
1B Christian Walker, Houston Astros
7 of 8
Age: 33
2024 Stats: 130 G, 552 PA, 26 HR, 2 SB, .251 AVG, .335 OBP, .468 SLG
Contract: 3 years, $60 million
Is this...is this cheating?
Probably, given Christian Walker was basically the same player in 2024 that he had been in 2022 and 2023. It was his third straight year with an OPS over .800 and a Gold Glove to show for his work in the field.
Yet here's why he's worth including anyway: There's a real chance he's going to break out as a proper star with the Astros.
There's no room for improvement with Walker’s glove, but his bat is a different story. He put up good power numbers as an Arizona Diamondback in spite of Chase Field, hitting 67 homers there and 74 on the road between 2019 and 2024.
By contrast, Walker could have gained six homers on his actual total of 141 if he had called Daikin Park home that whole time. And not just because of the Crawford Boxes, as he stands to gain homers from the dimensions in left field and right field.
If so, the veteran may merely need to stay healthy to make the leap from a 30-homer guy to a 40-homer guy.
RHP Justin Verlander, San Francisco Giants
8 of 8
Age: 42
2024 Stats: 17 GS, 90.1 IP, 98 H (15 HR), 74 K, 27 BB, 5.48 ERA
Contract: 1 year, $15 million
Justin Verlander is 42 years old and 2025 will mark his 20th season as a major leaguer. As such, there is the obvious question of how much he has left.
It might not be much. Since winning his third Cy Young Award to cap an amazing comeback from Tommy John surgery in 2022, he has started each of the last two seasons on the injured list. He's also lost 1.5 mph off his fastball, which got hit for a .299 average in 2024.
However, simply having escaped Houston for San Francisco may do wonders for Verlander.
He got crushed at Daikin Park in 2024, posting a 7.98 ERA there compared to a 4.28 ERA on the road. The long ball was part of the problem, whereas he hypothetically would have given up five fewer home runs as a Giant.
Oracle Park has that kind of effect for pitchers, and Verlander himself wasn't actually a source of loud contact last season. His hard-rate was a mere 32.5 percent, landing him in the 92th percentile.
Again, health will be the ultimate arbiter for how well Verlander pitches this year. But he's healthy now, and that alone is a welcome change from the last two springs.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
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