The Perfect Fit for Biggest Names of 2025-26 MLB Free-Agent Class
Several weeks into the MLB offseason, the free-agent market remains pretty much at full capacity. Only one big name has come off the board, and that deal saw Josh Naylor and the Seattle Mariners realize a truly perfect fit.
Which has us thinking: What other perfect fits need to come to fruition?
Let's identify the absolute best team for each of the top 10 free agents on the market, as ranked by B/R's Tim Kelly. There is no overarching standard for what makes the fit "perfect," but relevant factors include home ballparks, contention windows and missing ingredients that the player can provide.
Financial feasibility likewise matters, of course, so we'll also be getting into how realistic it is that these perfect fits can actually happen.
10. LHP Ranger Suárez: San Francisco Giants
1 of 10
Age: 30
2025 Stats: 26 GS, 157.1 IP, 154 H (14 HR), 151 K, 38 BB, 3.20 ERA
Why It's a Perfect Fit
"Multiple teams" regard Ranger Suárez as the best pitcher available this winter, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan, but any attempt to label him as a No. 1-type is a step too far.
His workload has maxed out in the 150-inning range, and his method for getting outs is less about swings and misses and more about inducing soft contact. He's very good at it, as his average exit velocity and hard-hit rate were in the 95th and 98th percentiles this year, respectively.
The Giants are thus an ideal fit for Suárez on two fronts. They wouldn't need him to be their No. 1 starter, and their home stadium would maximize the lefty's knack for pitching to contact.
They have a proper 200-inning workhorse atop their rotation in the person of Logan Webb, and Oracle Park is on the opposite side of the spectrum from Citizens Bank Park as a home run haven. In San Francisco, taking Suárez deep could go from merely difficult to borderline impossible.
Why It Could Happen
The Giants have yet to be meaningfully connected to Suárez, but they've been open about wanting to add starting pitching depth. And after lopping about $40 million off their payroll from 2024 to 2025, they should have room to spend even after adding Rafael Devers' contract in June.
9. RHP Dylan Cease: Chicago Cubs
2 of 10
Age: 29
2025 Stats: 32 GS, 168.0 IP, 152 H (21 HR), 215 K, 71 BB, 4.55 ERA
Why It's a Perfect Fit
The Cubs' starting rotation looks deeper after Shota Imanaga opted back in by accepting the qualifying offer, but it's still crying out for upgrades.
Cubs starters only ranked 23rd in the league in rWAR this year, and they had a specific problem that really stands out in the modern game. They just couldn't strike batters out, as their collective 7.5 K/9 ranked 27th in MLB.
Though you never know when his ERA is going to shoot up into the mid-4.00s, Dylan Cease's ability to get batters to swing and miss is always part of his deal. He led all qualified starters with an 11.5 K/9 this year, right in line with his overall mark (11.3) for the last five seasons.
More to the point, Cease's contact rate this year was 68.5 percent. That was lower than even Tarik Skubal's, and by a significant margin of 1.3 percentage points.
Why It Could Happen
The Cubs originally drafted Cease in 2014, and they've been expected to pursue a reunion since late October. It'll likely cost $25 million or more per year to sign him, but that shouldn't be an issue. The Cubs are a revenue giant and have payroll space to work with.
8. 1B/OF Cody Bellinger: New York Yankees
3 of 10
Age: 30
2025 Stats: 152 G, 656 PA, 29 HR, 13 SB, .272 AVG, .334 OBP, .480 SLG
Why It's a Perfect Fit
Is this kind of a boring pick? Yes, it is. And there certainly are other options for Cody Bellinger, including a reunion with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
And yet, one just can't ignore his home/road splits in his first year as a Yankee in 2025:
It's hard to explain this away as anything other than a case of Bellinger's swing being a better fit at Yankee Stadium than it is anywhere else. It is geared to get the ball in the air to right field, but he doesn't hit the ball hard. His average exit velocity has been in the bottom quartile of hitters for each of the last three years.
Bellinger thus has more offensive upside in the Bronx than he does anywhere else, and the Yankees also have need for his defensive versatility as a first baseman who can play all three outfield spots.
Why It Could Happen
The Yankees might have played themselves by making Trent Grisham a qualifying offer, but they still have space in their budget for Bellinger even after he accepted it. And according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Yankees are the "clear favorite" in his market.
.png?w=256)
7. LHP Framber Valdez: New York Mets
4 of 10
Age: 32
2025 Stats: 31 GS, 192.0 IP, 171 H (15 HR), 187 K, 68 BB, 3.66 ERA
Why It's a Perfect Fit
It is perfectly fair to have doubts about Framber Valdez after he endured a brutal second half in 2025, pitching to a 5.20 ERA and notably drilling his own catcher with a fastball after an alleged cross-up.
However, you have to give Valdez this much: the dude posts. He has averaged 30 starts and 192 innings across the last four seasons, all while keeping his ERA between the mid-2.00s and mid-3.00s.
No team needs that kind of stability in its rotation as much as the Mets. Their rotation collapsed throughout 2025 and ended up ranking fourth from the bottom of MLB in innings pitched. Coupled with a 4.13 ERA, it was a bad time all around.
Though Valdez is already 32, he was a late-bloomer who only has 1,080.2 innings on his arm even after all the bulk he's carried in recent years. It's some assurance that he wouldn't be a high-priced disappointment for Steve Cohen and David Stearns.
Why It Could Happen
This is the tricky part, as SNY's Andy Martino noted the Mets were not among the teams that met with Valdez during the GM meetings. But you'll have to pardon us for still liking the fit, and this isn't a question of whether the Mets can afford Valdez. Their budget for new salaries would seem to be in the $100 million range.
6. 3B Munetaka Murakami: Miami Marlins
5 of 10
Age: 25
2025 Stats (NPB): 69 G, 263 PA, 24 HR, 5 SB, .286 AVG, .392 OBP, .659 SLG
Why It's a Perfect Fit
The name of Munetaka Murakami's game is power. Pure, uncut power.
He peaked with 56 home runs in 2022 to set an NPB record for a Japan-born player. He has otherwise typically been good for at least 30 home runs per season, and his underlying metrics support the notion that his pop would be just fine in MLB. In 2025, his hard-hit and barrel rates were roughly on par with Shohei Ohtani's.
The catch is that Murakami strikes out. Like, a lot. He fanned 28.6 percent of the time this year, and that's in a league where the average strikeout rate is about 18 percent.
This brings us to why he'd be a good fit for the Marlins, though. They have plenty of contact hitters already, as their 20.3 strikeout percentage this year was the fourth-lowest in MLB. But given they also hit the fourth-fewest homers, they badly need someone who can get runs home the easy way.
Why It Could Happen
Normally, the Marlins spending big money in free agency would be a laughable premise. But Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic have reported this winter could be different. Even a nine-figure splash on Murakami would still leave their 2026 payroll short of $100 million.
5. 3B Alex Bregman: Detroit Tigers
6 of 10
Age: 31
2025 Stats: 114 G, 495 PA, 18 HR, 1 SB, .273 AVG, .360 OBP, .462 SLG
Why It's a Perfect Fit
It wasn't for lack of trying that the Tigers weren't able to reel in Alex Bregman last year. They reportedly offered him $171.5 million over six years, a deal twice as long and $31.5 million richer than the one he accepted from the Boston Red Sox.
Regardless, the Tigers have another shot at Bregman after he opted out. And they could easily slot him into their lineup at third base, as they would only need to bump Colt Keith to the bench or to the DH spot.
Granted, Comerica Park is not as friendly to hitters as Fenway Park. Yet just as Bregman defied pigeonholing as a product of the Crawford Boxes in Houston, he didn't really need the Green Monster to boost his numbers in 2025. He actually had a .875 OPS and 12 of his homers on the road.
The Tigers should like the sound of that, and it's otherwise just plain obvious Bregman has an off-the-field appeal as well. He's a proven winner, and specifically a proven winner under manager A.J. Hinch from their time together in Houston.
Why It Could Happen
The Tigers still have room to spend before they bump up against their 2025 payroll, and Passan reported they're expected to "rejoin the fray" for Bregman this winter. If they sign him and keep Tarik Skubal, they'll head into 2026 as de facto favorites in the AL Central.
4. 1B Pete Alonso: Boston Red Sox
7 of 10
Age: 30
2025 Stats: 162 G, 709 PA, 38 HR, 1 SB, .272 AVG, .347 OBP, .524 SLG
Why It's a Perfect Fit
Even with Alex Bregman at third base, the Red Sox didn't pose much of a threat from the right side of the plate this season. And now he's out of the picture, the problem is even worse.
This is where Pete Alonso would come in. He's one of the best power threats in MLB from either side of the plate, indeed never hitting fewer than 34 home runs in any of his full seasons.
Alonso doesn't have a classic Fenway Park swing, as he's more of an equal opportunity user of all three fields than a dead-pull hitter. Yet the Green Monster could still help him, as he would stand to clank even more doubles off the left-field wall after hitting a career-high 41 this season.
With Alonso at first base, the Red Sox would have license to shift Triston Casas to designated hitter. It's the best spot for him, as he's a bad defender who needs as many advantages as he can get if he's going to finally stay healthy.
Why It Could Happen
The Red Sox are $40 million in average annual value below the 2026 luxury-tax threshold, so they should be able to afford a nine-figure deal with Alonso. And the buzz is already there, as Jon Morosi of MLB Network labeled the Red Sox as "the strongest contender of anyone" to sign him away from the Mets.
3. DH Kyle Schwarber: Pittsburgh Pirates
8 of 10
Age: 32
2025 Stats: 162 G, 724 PA, 56 HR, 10 SB, .240 AVG, .365 OBP, .563 SLG
Why It's a Perfect Fit
It's quite simple, really: Kyle Schwarber is the best home run hitter on the market, and no team needs a home run hitter as desperately as the Pirates.
They hit only 117 home runs this year, a full 31 fewer than the next-worst team in MLB. Their home stadium didn't exactly help, as PNC Park has been less friendly to home run hitters than even Oracle Park on a three-year basis.
It'll take someone with truly elite power to conquer PNC Park, and Schwarber checks that box with aplomb. He was in the 100th percentile with his 59.6 hard-hit percentage this year, with a max speed of 117.2 mph.
The Bucs could certainly also use his winning pedigree. He's played in 73 career postseason games and gone to two World Series, whereas Pittsburgh has been shut out of the playoffs since 2016.
Why It Could Happen
The Pirates seem to understand they can't waste any more of Paul Skenes' prime than they already have. They're ready to add as much as $40 million to their 2026 payroll, according to Feinsand, and Passan has reported they are interested in Schwarber. And if that is their budget, they can afford him.
2. SS/2B Bo Bichette: Toronto Blue Jays
9 of 10
Age: 27
2025 Stats: 139 G, 628 PA, 18 HR, 4 SB, .311 AVG, .357 OBP, .483 SLG
Why It's a Perfect Fit
Truth be told, this is a tough one. There isn't a team that wouldn't benefit from having Bo Bichette, and he has a ton of prospective fits on account of how he could hypothetically be signed as a shortstop, a second baseman or a third baseman.
And yet, we know from the first seven years of his career that he fits well in Toronto. He also typifies an offensive profile that came to be synonymous with the Blue Jays by the end of 2025.
Their high-contact, high-power offense led them to within two outs of their first World Series title since 2023, and Bichette did his part to make it happen with a three-run homer in Game 7. He's always been a good bat-to-ball guy, and this year saw him boost his pop with his best hard-hit rate since 2022.
The Blue Jays also have more options than most as far as where they could play Bichette. He could slot back into his old haunt at shortstop, or play second base in deference to Andrés Giménez or third base over Addison Barger.
Why It Could Happen
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said after the World Series that the club "will be in [Bichette's] market." The catch is that the team is already projected over the 2026 luxury-tax threshold, but that may not be a dealbreaker. The Blue Jays have been spending aggressively for years, and now is hardly the time to ease up.
1. RF Kyle Tucker: Los Angeles Dodgers
10 of 10
Age: 28
2025 Stats: 136 G, 597 PA, 22 HR, 25 SB, .266 AVG, .377 OBP, .464 SLG
Why It's a Perfect Fit
The Dodgers may be back-to-back World Series champs, but at no point during their second run this year did they make it look easy.
Their offense, in particular, was pretty mediocre for much of the regular season and even in the playoffs. They won the World Series in spite of it, as Dodgers hitters only had a .658 OPS in the Fall Classic, compared to a .745 OPS for Toronto hitters.
Kyle Tucker is the best possible upgrade they can make just in the abstract, and he would slot neatly into an outfield that was an offensive black hole for much of this year. Dodgers outfielders did hit 73 home runs, but with only a .299 OBP.
That Tucker is just 28 is also attractive. Out of the Dodgers' top 11 hitters in terms of plate appearances in 2025, only one of them (Andy Pages) was younger than 30.
Why It Could Happen
This is actually the tricky part, as all sorts of reports (including Passan's) suggest the Dodgers' interest is limited to shorter deals. Tucker isn't in the market for one of those, with Kelly projecting him for 10 years and $360 million.
Then again, these are the Dodgers we're talking about. They just became the first team to gross $1 billion in a season. If they decide they really want Tucker, nothing will stand in their way from going and getting him.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
.png?w=480)
