MLB Free-agent Signings That Need to Happen Asap
Even though the 2025 MLB season is nearly two weeks old at this point, the free-agency window is far from closed. It's slim pickings at this point, but free-agent signings happen all season long.
A handful of unclaimed players are inexplicably still available. That includes former All-Stars or top draft picks who are surely at least worth a flyer compared to some of the names getting scooped up in their stead.
If your team has a hole to plug, perhaps it soon could be filled by one of the players featured here.
Players are presented in no particular order.
Will Smith, LHP
1 of 8
2024 Stats: 41.1 IP, 6.53 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 6.3 K/9
Career Stats: 652.1 IP, 3.85 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 10.3 K/9
Nobody on this list was exactly fantastic in 2024. After all, they wouldn't still be free agents if they had been great. But Will Smith was even more "not exactly great" than most.
Smith lasted all of one week before losing his job as the Royals' closer last year. He posted a negative-0.9 bWAR—bringing his total over the past three years to negative-1.4—and missed the final weeks of the regular season (and the postseason) with a back injury.
Nevertheless, teams with Smith on their roster have fared preposterously well over the past four years. He won three straight World Series with Atlanta, Houston and Texas and was present for Kansas City's improbable transformation from a 106-loss mess directly into a playoff team.
His World Series magic couldn't get the Royals over the hump in October, but that was the clearest example yet of the type of roster talisman Smith has been.
Even if you don't believe there's anything to that mojo, plenty of teams could use a veteran southpaw reliever with more than 100 saves in his career. Despite his struggles last season, it's surprising Smith hasn't been able to find work after he saved 22 games with a 3.36 FIP for the Rangers in 2023.
Candidates to Sign Him: Chicago Cubs, Athletics, Texas Rangers
J.D. Martinez, DH
2 of 8
2024 Stats: .235/.320/.406, 16 HR, 69 RBI
Career Stats: .283/.348/.516, 331 HR, 1,071 RBI
Of everyone featured here, it is most surprising that J.D. Martinez is still available. It's not a particularly close contest, either.
After receiving five consecutive All-Star nods from 2018-23, Martinez had to wait until late in spring training last March before he signed a one-year, $12 million deal to become the Mets' DH.
For the first half of the season, it looked like he was worth it. His streak of All-Star nods came to an end, but he entered the All-Star break with an .806 OPS—compared to Francisco Lindor's .784 and Pete Alonso's .772 marks.
However, his OPS plummeted to .593 in August and September. Teams are seemingly concerned that Father Time has caught up with the slugger, who turns 38 in a few months.
It doesn't help matters that Martinez is exclusively a DH these days. He appeared in the field for only three games in the past three seasons combined.
That rules out any team who already has a batter who basically cannot play the field, which includes the Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, Astros and Rangers. But come on, the Mariners couldn't use him with Rowdy Tellez and Mitch Garver among their DH rotation? Or the Padres, who have soon-to-be 41-year-old Yuli Gurriel as the right-handed half of their DH platoon?
The Twins are going to try to win the AL Central with a revolving door of designated hitters, starting four different ones within their first five games?
Candidates to Sign Him: Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins
Spencer Turnbull, RHP
3 of 8
2024 Stats: 54.1 IP, 2.65 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 9.6 K/9
Career Stats: 356.2 IP, 4.26 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 8.5 K/9
By this point, just about every team—either due to a litany of injuries or not doing enough in the offseason—could use a back-of-the-rotation starter who can semi-regularly go five innings without completely imploding.
Yet there sits Spencer Turnbull, ripe for the picking, while fans all over the country (and in Canada) try to tell their teams to do something about that.
Among the 212 pitchers who logged at least 350 innings pitched from 2018-24, Turnbull's 3.83 FIP ranks 65th, slightly better than Jack Flaherty and slightly worse than Nathan Eovaldi. And he was dynamite as a swing man last season for the Phillies, making 17 appearances (seven starts) with impressive marks until a lat injury abruptly ended his season in late June.
That injury is hardly his first. He missed most of 2021 and all of 2022 due to Tommy John surgery, and he made only seven starts in 2023 due to a neck injury. All told, he managed to pitch just 135.1 innings from 2021-24.
But that injury history merely explains why Turnbull has been unable to land a fully guaranteed multiyear deal. It doesn't explain why the 32-year-old who threw a no-hitter in May 2021 can't find a one-year contract while we've got Elvin Rodriguez starting games for the Brewers, or Carlos Carrasco in the Yankees rotation.
Candidates to Sign Him: Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres
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Nick Senzel, UTIL
4 of 8
2024 Stats: .195/.283/.331, 7 HR, 18 RBI, 1 SB
Career Stats: .232/.299/.363, 40 HR, 143 RBI, 33 SB
By no stretch of the imagination have things panned out the way everyone expected them to with Nick Senzel.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft has amounted to a negative-3.1 bWAR through six seasons in the majors. He was at least playable for most of his time with the Cincinnati Reds, but last year was brutal. He got cut by the 91-loss Washington Nationals before signing with the 121-loss White Sox, who also released him after just 10 games with a .100 batting average.
Senzel signed with Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos of the Mexican League in mid-March when it became apparent no one wanted to take another flyer on him. But how many times in the past few years have we seen a former top-10 pick finally break through after several rough seasons?
Senzel is almost 30 at this point, so maybe it's a bit much to compare him to the likes of Jo Adell, Brendan Rodgers and Mickey Moniak, who finally provided some real value in their age-25 campaigns. Still, it's wild that an uninjured former No. 2 pick is completely out of the majors before turning 30.
Perhaps if he mashes once the Mexican League season gets underway later this month, Senzel will get a call when teams are inevitably scrambling for injury replacements. His versatility in the field would be a big help on that front.
Candidates to Sign Him: Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, Detroit Tigers
Anthony Rizzo, 1B
5 of 8
2024 Stats: .228/.301/.335, 8 HR, 35 RBI
Career Stats: .261/.361/.467, 303 HR, 965 RBI
It's been a while since Anthony Rizzo was the annual MVP candidate that he was in the mid-2010s, but it has only been a few months since the New York Yankees started him at first base in all but one of their final 10 postseason games.
So, how do guys like Yuli Gurriel, Joey Gallo, Garrett Cooper and Rowdy Tellez keep finding work while Rizzo remains unemployed?
Granted, two of those four signed minor league deals, while the other two are making $1.35 million and $1.5 million. To some extent, it's probably just a case of Rizzo—who made at least $16 million in each of the past four seasons—not wanting to play for a fraction of what he's accustomed to making.
Is he ready to just be done with baseball? At 35 after two straight seasons of battling injuries ranging from concussion issues to a broken arm, it's plausible he'll call it a career soon.
It sure would be fun to get some of the old band back together again, though. Not with the Cubs, but rather with one of his star teammates from that 2016 nucleus.
Colorado (Kris Bryant) could certainly use a first baseman. Perhaps Detroit (Javier Báez), too, although Spencer Torkelson has gotten out to a great start to the year.
Alternatively, a return to his old stomping grounds in southern Florida could be in order. The Miami Marlins are very much lacking for a veteran presence, as no one on that roster is over the age of 30.
Candidates to Sign Him: Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Detroit Tigers
David Robertson, RHP
6 of 8
2024 Stats: 72.0 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 12.4 K/9
Career Stats: 876.2 IP, 2.91 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 11.8 K/9
David Robertson is no spring chicken. In fact, he's turning 40 on April 9 and was already the eighth-oldest player to appear in a game last season.
However, six of the seven players older than Robertson signed new contracts this offseason and have already made their 2025 debuts, so it's not like he aged himself out of relevance.
Nor did he render himself obsolete with his play. He provided more bWAR (1.7) in 2024 than everyone else 38 or older with the exception of Carlos Santana (2.5).
It wasn't enough to get Texas back into the postseason, but he and fellow old-timer Kirby Yates were quite the one-two punch in the bullpen. Robertson tallied 34 holds, three wins and a pair of saves while putting up ERA, WHIP and K/9 numbers right in line with what he has typically managed to do.
Yet there he sits, unsigned and perhaps regretting the decision to decline his half of the $7 million mutual option to return to the Rangers.
Or maybe he's just biding his time until some team with a rickety bullpen gets desperate enough to offer him at least that much. There are already quite a few teams well on their way to meeting that description.
Candidates to Sign Him: Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels
Yasmani Grandal, C
7 of 8
2024 Stats: .228/.304/.400, 9 HR, 27 RBI
Career Stats: .236/.345/.424, 194 HR, 592 RBI
Had nobody wanted Yasmani Grandal one year ago, it would've been tough to argue with that stance. Between 2022-23 with the White Sox, he was worth negative-1.9 bWAR, slugging .306 and allowing stolen bases at what can only be described as an alarming rate.
However, it's strange for no one to want him badly enough to get a deal done.
Grandal caught only 8.3 percent of stolen base attempts last season and allowed more than one for every nine innings played. He turned things around with the bat, though, slugging .400 and homering once for every 27 trips to the plate. (Compared to once every 60 plate appearances in 2022-23.)
By catcher's standards, that's not too shabby. In fact, Grandal's triple-slash was close to what Austin Wells managed last season (.229/.322/.395), and Wells was batting leadoff for the Yankees on Opening Day.
While he's no Ivan Rodriguez or Yadier Molina on defense, Grandal's glove isn't a colossal negative. He could still be just about the best backup catcher in the league, or even the primary starter for a handful of clubs.
Candidates to Sign Him: Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets
David Peralta, LF/RF/DH
8 of 8
2024 Stats: .267/.335/.415, 8 HR, 28 RBI
Career Stats: .278/.335/.448, 125 HR, 569 RBI
Let's first address the elephant in the room when it comes to thinking about signing David Peralta: He's virtually unplayable against left-handed pitchers.
In 135 plate appearances against southpaws dating back to 2022, he has slugged .258 with one home run. Against righties, however, he's been solid, slugging .420 with 26 home runs. For his career, he has an OPS 151 points higher against righties than he does lefties.
Platoons exist for a reason. Some players like Randal Grichuk have opposite splits, annihilating left-handed pitching while hitting just OK against right-handers. Pairing Peralta with one of those players can take a mediocre LF/RF/DH situation and turn it into a serious strength—like the Diamondbacks did with Grichuk and Joc Pederson in 2024.
Peralta is notably one of the older options out there, turning 38 in a few months. He still hit pretty well last season, though, and he can still add value on defense as a corner outfielder who won a Gold Glove in 2019.
If the Padres decide to throw in the towel on Jason Heyward and bring back an outfielder it had last season, Peralta could be the perfect replacement. But we'll see if he hasn't already been scooped up by one of the others with even bleaker left-field situations.
Candidates to Sign Him: Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves
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