Predictions and Analysis for Every Unsigned MLB Free Agent as Opening Day Approaches

The start of the 2025 MLB season keeps creeping closer and closer. The Tokyo Series will go down next week on March 18 and 19, with Opening Day for everyone following a week later on March 27.

Yet the free-agent market is not only still open, but it's also well-stocked.

FanGraphs lists 40 free agents who are awaiting work. Though, to be sure, it isn't a given that all 40 will get a minor league deal or a coveted major league contract.

It's worth making an attempt to sort through the pile, so let's do a position-by-position deep dive into which players are still in free agency, which are worth signing and where they might end up.

Ultimately, each positional set will get one bold prediction.

Available Catchers

The List: Yasmani Grandal, Yan Gomes, James McCann

As a 37-year-old who posted a .421 OPS in 34 games before he was DFA'd by the Chicago Cubs in 2024, Gomes may be at the end of the line for his MLB career.

Grandal and McCann, on the other hand, still look like semi-viable backstops. The former has a knack for framing and some pop in his bat, while the latter's .667 OPS for the Baltimore Orioles in 2024 was halfway decent by catcher standards.

Grandal reportedly turned down an offer from the Atlanta Braves, who have a need for catching after Sean Murphy cracked a rib. Elsewhere in the NL East, the New York Mets are also down a backstop after Francisco Alvarez fractured a hamate bone.

Bold Prediction: The Braves sign McCann and keep him for the whole year.

Available Infielders

Middle Infielders: Aledmys Díaz, Matt Duffy, Whit Merrifield, Joey Wendle

Granted, just how usable any of these guys are at second base or shortstop is debatable. Further, Díaz, Duffy and Wendle played in a total of 35 MLB games last season. Each will be lucky to get anything more than a MiLB contract.

The 36-year-old Merrifield is on the downswing of his career, yet he's a three-time All-Star who had a decent finish (i.e., .348 OBP) to 2024 with Atlanta. He's worth a flier as a super-utility type.

Corner Infielders: José Abreu, Anthony Rizzo, Miguel Sanó

Sanó's comeback in 2024 went so poorly that it's reasonable to believe MLB is done with him. The same may be true of the 38-year-old Abreu, whose MVP and All-Star credentials (not to mention his contract) didn't save him from getting released by the Houston Astros last June.

There's been little action on the 35-year-old Rizzo throughout the offseason, yet he was adamant last month about wanting to continue his career. Though he hasn't been the same player since suffering a concussion in 2023, the three-time All-Star may find a fit with a team in need of a left-handed bat at first base or DH.

Bold Prediction: Rizzo returns to the New York Yankees to help spell Giancarlo Stanton.

Available Outfielders

The List: Adam Duvall, Robbie Grossman, David Peralta, Alex Verdugo

After he posted a .616 OPS for three different teams in 2024, it's frankly hard to identify a way forward for the 34-year-old Grossman.

Duvall and Peralta, on the other hand, should still be able to sell themselves as worthwhile platoon outfielders. The former owns a career .780 OPS vs. left-handers, while the latter has a .814 OPS against righties.

As he's only 28 and still a competent everyday major leaguer, Verdugo is the oddity here. He's a better hitter than the guy who posted a .647 OPS for the Yankees in 2024, and there are times when he resembles a Gold Glove outfielder.

Verdugo reportedly rejected a one-year, $8 million offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier in the offseason. Even if the ship has likely sailed on him earning that kind of money, there must be a major league deal out there for him somewhere.

Bold Prediction: Verdugo lands with the Kansas City Royals as their starting left fielder.

Available Designated Hitters

The List: Matt Carpenter, J.D. Martinez

It was a nice story when Carpenter returned to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2024, but he ended up being the same player he was for (2022 notwithstanding) most of the five previous seasons: A low-impact, basically replacement-level hitter.

The 39-year-old is likely finished, in other words, and that pretty much makes it Martinez or bust in this section.

Though the 37-year-old slumped in the latter stages of 2024 with the Mets, his metrics included a 94th-percentile barrel rate. It's a decent indication that the J.D. Martinez of yore still walks the earth in some form.

The Yankees were briefly linked to Martinez, but Jon Heyman of the New York Post now calls a reunion unlikely. That is for the best, frankly, as the last thing the Yankees need is another aging star.

Bold Prediction: Martinez lands with the Cincinnati Reds as their new DH.

Available Starting Pitchers

Left-Handers: Patrick Corbin, Marco Gonzales, Alex Wood

The phrase "nothing to see here" comes to mind. Gonzales and Wood combined to make 16 starts last season, while the last five years of Corbin's tenure with the Washington Nationals were festivals of hits and runs.

Corbin did make 30-plus starts in each of the last four seasons, though, so teams can view the 35-year-old as a source of innings if nothing else.

Right-Handers: Anthony DeSclafani, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, Noah Syndergaard, Spencer Turnbull

If anyone had been wondering what Syndergaard was up to these days, the latest on him is that he had lost a bunch of weight in hopes of making a comeback in 2025. However, that was all the way back in early November.

DeSclafani likewise hasn't been the subject of much buzz after missing all of 2024 following arm surgery. In what may be a related story, the 34-year-old is four years removed from his last effective season in 2021.

This leaves Gibson, Lynn (who, in an interesting wrinkle, could be used as a closer) and Turnbull as the best options of this bunch. The first two are being eyed by the Cubs, according to Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Any of the three could hypothetically fit in New York as well.

With Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery) out for the year and Luis Gil (lat strain) gone for as long as three months, the Yankees need starting depth. For their part, the Mets are missing Sean Manaea (oblique strain) and Frankie Montas (lat strain).

Another team to watch is the Baltimore Orioles, who failed to replace Corbin Burnes and are now without Grayson Rodriguez because of an apparent elbow issue.

Bold Prediction: The Cubs sign Lynn and the Yankees let it ride with incumbents.

Available Relief Pitchers

Left-Handers: Brooks Raley, Joely Rodríguez, Will Smith, Drew Smyly

Out of this foursome, only Smyly didn't have a rough season in 2024. He made 50 appearances for the Cubs and posted a solid 3.84 ERA.

If there is any value to be mined from the other three, it concerns Smith's former status as a good-luck charm. Between 2021 and 2023, he became the only player in MLB history to win successive World Series rings with three different teams.

Right-Handers: Daniel Bard, Matt Barnes, Adam Cimber, José Cisnero, Jay Jackson, Joe Kelly, Craig Kimbrel, Jordan Lyles, Phil Maton, Keynan Middleton, David Robertson, Hunter Strickland

This is a long, yet largely uninspiring list. In particular, Bard, Barnes, Cimber, Cisnero, Jackson, Lyles and Middleton all have sunken value by way of age, injury, poor performance or some combination of all three.

Contrarily, there's a bit more to see with Kelly, Kimbrel, Maton and Strickland.

Kimbrel still has some name power courtesy of 440 career saves, though his star has fallen since his last truly great season in 2021. Maton (71 G, 3.66 ERA) and Strickland (72 G, 3.31 ERA) were solid in 2024, while Kelly still brought the heat with a 98.1 mph fastball.

Robertson, meanwhile, had a 3.00 ERA and fanned 12.4 batters per nine innings as a 39-year-old for the Texas Rangers in 2024. It's a surprise that nobody has snapped him up yet, though the stalemate surely won't last forever.

Bold Prediction: Robertson signs with the Boston Red Sox as another closer option.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.