Re-Grading MLB's 10 Biggest Free Agent Signings of 2024-25 Offseason
How do some of the biggest deals signed this past offseason look after nearly two months?
Without a being prisoner of the moment, it's fair to start to form an opinion on how some major offseason contracts are working out and assign some grades.
Pete Alonso, New York Mets
1 of 10
Contract: Two years, $54 million deal with player opt-out available after 2025
Grade: C
Pete Alonso is off to an MVP-level start for the Mets in 2025, with nine home runs, 38 RBI and an NL-best 16 doubles.
So why the low grade? While the $30 million Alonso is making is a bargain for how productive he's been, the Scott Boras-client is surely going to opt out of his contract after this season and test free agency again. This time, he won't have a qualifying offer attached to him, nor will he be coming off of what was perceived as a relatively down season.
Why the Mets or various other teams weren't willing to give him a lucrative five-year deal last offseason is unclear. How much would the Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates or Seattle Mariners have benefited from signing Alonso and adding him to the middle of their order? His "down year" in 2024 consisted of him hitting 34 home runs and delivering postseason heroics. And yet, the league convinced themselves that as he headed into his age-30 season, Alonso's best days were likely behind him.
As it turns out, there's few players who can produce runs at the clip that Alonso can. He's a bargain for the Mets in 2025, but next offseason they'll either have to sign him to a megadeal entering his age-31 season, or let him walk without receiving draft-pick compensation in return. President of baseball operations David Stearns has largely been excellent in his role, but he overthought this one.
Max Fried, New York Yankees
2 of 10
Contract: Eight years, $218 million
Grade: A-
The concern with Max Fried as a free agent wasn't whether he could pitch at an ace level, it was his durability. So you can't take a victory lap two months into an eight-year deal just because Fried has stayed healthy so far.
With that said, all the early returns on the Fried deal are excellent. With former AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole out for the season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, Fried has taken the mantle of Yankees' ace and run with it.
At the time of publication, Fried leads all starting pitchers in both ERA (1.29) and ERA+ (306). He's got a 6-0 record with a 2.0 WAR (per FanGraphs) after his first 10 starts in pinstripes.
Fried has been a major difference maker in the AL East, as the Yankees—despite Cole being out for the season and reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil not having pitched so far in 2025—are in first place. The Baltimore Orioles, a team that made sense as a destination for Fried in the winter, find themselves in the cellar.
Corbin Burnes, Arizona Diamondbacks
3 of 10
Contract: Six years, $210 million with player opt-out available after 2026
Grade: B-
Those who thought Corbin Burnes should have drawn more interest in free agency can point to his 2.73 ERA through his first nine starts with the Diamondbacks.
But anyone who was skeptical of making a long-term commitment to Burnes also could still be proved right. His 4.04 FIP and 3.96 expected ERA suggest that some regression is coming. He's also striking out 8.7 batters per nine innings, a significantly lower number than the 12.6 K/9 he posted when he won the NL Cy Young Award with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2021.
Granted, Burnes racked up 194.1 innings pitched and finished fifth in AL Cy Young Award voting last year for the Baltimore Orioles while posting an 8.4 K/9. He isn't as electric as when he first entered the league, which might scare some evaluators. The counter to that is he's still been a really effective pitcher, which is ultimately what matters.
Basically, the jury is still out on this one.
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Teoscar Hernández, Los Angeles Dodgers
4 of 10
Contract: Three years, $66 million
Grade: A-
Teoscar Hernández did miss some time earlier this month with a left groin strain, but otherwise is off to an excellent start in his second season with the Dodgers, hitting .310 with 10 home runs, 41 RBI and a .934 OPS.
This follows Hernández being an All-Star and winning a Silver Slugger Award after signing a prove-it deal with the Dodgers before the 2024 season. As it turned out, he proved it in such a manner that he helped the Dodgers to win the World Series.
A big part of Hernández's value is driving in runs, so he's much more valuable to a team like the Dodgers that has a star-studded lineup than he would be on a team expecting him to be their top offensive producer.
But given how he's performed since joining the Dodgers—not to mention that he's always come off as someone who is excellent in the clubhouse—a three-year, $66 million commitment for Hernández seems like a bargain.
Willy Adames, San Francisco Giants
5 of 10
Contract: Seven years, $182 million
Grade: D-
New president of baseball operations Buster Posey wanted to add thump to the Giants' lineup this past offseason, while solidifying the shortstop position for the foreseeable future. He appeared to do both by signing Adames.
But while the Giants have outperformed preseason expectations so far, Adames has delivered alarming results.
A year after hitting 32 home runs and driving in 112 runs for the Milwaukee Brewers, Adames has hit .216 with five home runs and a .650 OPS thus far for the Giants. If you're thinking that this is just due to playing his home games at Oracle Park, he's actually been better at home than on the road, where he's hitting .194 with a meager .585 OPS.
Perhaps even more concerning is Adames' defense. The Giants made a bet that 2024's poor defensive metrics for Adames—minus-16 defensive runs saved and zero outs above average—were kind of a fluke for someone that had previously graded out as an excellent defender at a premier position. So far, they've lost that bet, as Adames has been worth minus-seven DRS and minus-three OAA in 2025.
Adames, particularly at the plate, seems likely to get better results going forward. But the Giants paid him to be an elite overall player at shortstop, and it's fair to wonder if they'll get anything close to that.
Juan Soto, New York Mets
6 of 10
Contract: 15 years, $765 million with player opt-out available after 2029
Grade: A
Miss us with the hot takes.
If you sign someone to a 15-year deal, your opinion of said contract shouldn't be altered by a couple months. No, it's not ideal that Juan Soto is currently hitting .236 and has grounded into 10 double plays. But if this is as bad as it gets, that's pretty telling, because Soto still has a .370 on-base percentage.
Bryce Harper had a similar start to his first season of a 13-year, $330 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019. That deal has turned out to be a team-friendly contract, despite some sticker shock at the time. While the vultures are circling early on Soto, expect something similar to happen with him.
Not only would we bet that Soto will get back on track and perform up to the deal he signed, but that he'll hit at such a high level that he opts out after five years of his contract in search of another record-setting payday.
Soto is one of the most gifted hitters that we've ever seen, and at age 26, he didn't just lose it all because he signed a megadeal.
Blake Snell, Los Angeles Dodgers
7 of 10
Contract: Five years, $182 million
Grade: C
It's hard to feel great about Blake Snell's deal with the Dodgers considering that he's been sidelined since early April with left shoulder inflammation.
With that said, if the Dodgers went into this expecting to get an ironman, that's kind of on them. Snell has a pair of Cy Young Awards, having won it in the AL with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 and the NL with the San Diego Padres in 2023. Outside of those two seasons, though, he's never pitched more than 129.1 innings in a campaign.
There's a fair discussion to be had about whether Snell made sense for the Dodgers given that they were a team who needed a horse. They have a ton of talented pitchers, but as an injured list that currently includes Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Gavin Stone and Emmet Sheehan can attest, they've struggled to keep them healthy.
But if Snell returns at some point this season without needing surgery on his shoulder, then this deal may very well pan out how the Dodgers hoped. The early returns aren't great, but some trials weren't exactly unpredictable with Snell.
Alex Bregman, Boston Red Sox
8 of 10
Contract: Three years, $120 million with player opt-outs available after 2025 and 2026
Grade: B+
On one hand, the Red Sox angered Rafael Devers by moving him off third base, and set themselves up to have quite the decision to make when, not if, Alex Bregman opts out of his deal after this season.
On the other hand, before recently hitting the injured list with a right quad strain, Bregman was hitting .299 with 17 doubles, 11 home runs and an .835 OPS. Forget the version of Bregman that was an All-Star-ish player over his last five seasons with the Houston Astros. So far, the Red Sox have gotten the Bregman who was an MVP-level performer for the 'Stros in 2018 and 2019.
The Red Sox did give up draft-pick compensation to sign Bregman, which would make you think they'll be inclined to try to re-sign him in the offseason when he opts out because he won't be eligible to receive a qualifying offer. But with Devers under contract and a legion of young position-playing talent that includes Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer, that can't be taken for granted. Maybe this just turns into a one-year stint in Boston for Bregman, not that dissimilar to the one Adrian Beltré had in 2010.
All that will sort itself out in due time, though. Right now, the Bregman deal looks like a bargain for the Red Sox, who have gotten elite performance from one of the most-respected leaders in the game.
Anthony Santander, Toronto Blue Jays
9 of 10
Contract: Five years, $92.5 million with player opt-out available after 2027
Grade: D
The problem with Anthony Santander as a free agent last offseason was there seemed to be so little margin for error.
Yes, he was coming off of a season where he homered 44 times for the Baltimore Orioles. But he did that while hitting .235 and posting just a .308 on-base percentage. If you're a power hitter that doesn't walk 75+ times a season, you almost have to hit 40 home runs a year to justify yourself.
So far, Santander's first season north of the border hasn't gone well. He's currently hitting .188 with six home runs and a .598 OPS. He's also posted minus-3 defensive runs saved in right field.
It took a complicated deal that includes deferred money, the chance for Santander to opt out after 2027 and a $15 million club option for 2030, but the Blue Jays finally got a notable free agent to say yes to them. The problem is they may already have some buyer's remorse with Santander.
Jurickson Profar, Atlanta Braves
10 of 10
Contract: Three years, $42 million
Grade: F
Jurickson Profar was one of the most complete offensive performers in baseball a season ago, hitting .280 with 24 home runs, 85 RBI, 76 walks and an .839 OPS in a career year for the San Diego Padres.
However, there were concerns about him as a free agent. Having your best season when you're 31 years old is a bit strange, particularly when you posted a minus-1.6 WAR the prior season, despite playing most of your home games at Coors Field.
As it turns out, Profar was suspended 80 games for testing positive for the banned substance hCG after playing in just four games for the Braves. He will return this regular season, but because of the failed test, Profar will be ineligible for the playoffs.
There once was a point where Marcell Ozuna's contract looked like an albatross following a domestic violence suspension. He's gotten his career back on track. Maybe Profar will, although considering he failed a PED test after the finest season of his career, it's fair to be skeptical of what he'll look like when he returns.
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