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MLB Free Agency Big Board Ranking Top 25 Players Ahead of 2025 Winter Meetings
In most calendar years, the start of the winter meetings in early December (Dec. 7 this year) is also the unofficial start of Major League Baseball's offseason transactions bonanza.
This year, though, things got a bit nutty in November.
Four key free agents (Brandon Woodruff, Trent Grisham, Shota Imanaga and Gleyber Torres) accepted one-year qualifying offers. Two others (Josh Naylor and Raisel Iglesias) re-signed with their 2025 teams. Two more (Dylan Cease and Ryan Helsley) chose new homes. And three major trades (Taylor Ward for Grayson Rodriguez; Marcus Semien for Brandon Nimmo; Sonny Gray to the Red Sox) have already shaken things up in a pretty big way.
December also started with a bang when Devin Williams (who was going to rank top 15 on this list) signed with the Mets on Monday.
As such, it's time to update the big board of available free agents before what should be a whirlwind of wheeling and dealing within the next 7-10 days.
Players are loosely ranked in ascending order of expected AAV on their next contract, although positional scarcity/abundance resulted in some players getting a boost and others getting dropped a bit.
While reasonable minds can and will disagree on the exact order, it will be significant news when each of these 25 players signs.
Just missed the cut: Pete Fairbanks, Brad Keller, Zack Littell, Ryan O'Hearn
Nos. 25-22: Justin Verlander, Luis Arráez, Harrison Bader and Ha-Seong Kim
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25. Justin Verlander, RHP, 42 years old
2025 Stats: 152.0 IP, 3.85 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 1.2 bWAR
We might be a teensy bit high on Verlander at No. 25 on the list. He should maybe be down more in the No. 35 range. But take it to the bank that you're going to get a push notification on your phone when the old-timer signs his next one-year contract, because where JV35 lands is a bigger deal than, say, Brad Keller or Pete Fairbanks.
And let's not forget the three-time Cy Young winner had a 2.60 ERA over his final 13 starts. He still has something left in the tank.
24. Luis Arráez, 1B/2B, 28 years old
2025 Stats: .292/.327/.392, 8 HR, 61 RBI, 11 SB, 1.2 bWAR
Though his run of three consecutive batting titles came to an end, Arráez remains one of the best contact hitters in all of baseball. Since the beginning of 2022, he has 30 more hits (757) than the No. 2 player on that list (Freddie Freeman).
However, he has minimal power, he's a considerable liability on defense and because he hardly ever draws walks, his 2025 ranking among the 73 qualified National League hitters was fourth in batting average but 40th in on-base percentage. That's how the present-day king of hits became a barely top-25 commodity among free agents.
23. Harrison Bader, CF, 31 years old
2025 Stats: .277/.347/.449, 17 HR, 54 RBI, 11 SB, 3.9 bWAR
After amounting to not a whole lot from 2022-24, Bader was back with a vengeance in 2025, easily one of the most valuable Twins through the first four months before becoming a huge piece of the outfield puzzle for Philadelphia.
With all their talk of "run prevention" and their current lack of outfielders, it's a bit surprising the Mets haven't already given Bader's elite glove a second chance and a multi-year deal. Aside from Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, he's the top outfielder available.
22. Ha-Seong Kim, SS, 30 years old
2025 Stats: .234/.304/.345, 5 HR, 17 RBI, 6 SB, 0.3 bWAR
Don't worry about that stat line. Kim missed the first half of the season while recovering from shoulder surgery and didn't start hitting like his old self until mid-September. And he wouldn't have declined his $16 million player option if he wasn't reasonably confident he could fare better on the open market.
It certainly doesn't hurt Kim's case that the middle infield market gets bleak in a hurry after Bo Bichette.
Nos. 21-19: Jorge Polanco, Lucas Giolito and Chris Bassitt
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21. Jorge Polanco, UTIL, 32 years old
2025 Stats: .265/.326/.495, 26 HR, 78 RBI, 6 SB, 2.6 bWAR
After looking washed up with a strikeout rate of nearly 30 percent in 2024, Polanco increased his OPS by 170 points while becoming an indispensable cog in the Mariners machine. He added three home runs in the postseason, as well as the walk-off hit in the do-or-die game of the ALDS.
And as a switch hitter who can play anywhere in the infield (or DH), just about all 30 teams ought to have some level of interest.
20. Lucas Giolito, RHP, 31 years old
2025 Stats: 145.0 IP, 3.41 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 7.5 K/9, 2.1 bWAR
Though his strikeout rate was nowhere close to what it was back when he was at his peak in 2019-21 (11.1 K/9), Giolito did at least bounce back nicely from missing all of 2024 to injury and sputtering through both 2022 and 2023.
After a hit-or-miss start to the year, he posted a 2.51 ERA from June 5 onward, good for fifth-best among qualified pitchers. He could be a solid middle-of-the-rotation arm for a contender willing to look past the recent injuries.
19. Chris Bassitt, RHP, 36 years old
2025 Stats: 170.1 IP, 3.96 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 2.1 bWAR
Though he was on the IL at the beginning of Toronto's run through October, Bassitt has been one of the most durable pitchers in all of baseball over the past four years, logging the sixth-most innings pitched (723.0), and doing so with a 3.77 ERA.
That should help offset concerns about his age, though we'll see if he can secure a multi-year deal as a middle-of-the-rotation option.
Nos. 18-16: Merrill Kelly, Kazuma Okamoto and Robert Suarez
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18. Merrill Kelly, RHP, 37 years old
2025 Stats: 184.0 IP, 3.52 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 2.9 bWAR
Like Chris Bassitt, Kelly is no spring chicken, but he has logged more than enough innings to qualify for an ERA title in three of the past four seasons—and with an even better ERA (3.47) than Bassitt's.
Though he couldn't quite steer Texas into the postseason over the final two months of the campaign, Kelly made 18 quality starts in 2025. Among pitchers available this winter, only Framber Valdez (20) had at least that many. Kelly probably should fetch a two-year deal at around $20 million apiece.
17. Kazuma Okamoto, 3B/1B, 29 years old
2025 Stats (NPB): .322/.411/.581, 15 HR, 51 RBI (77 games)
Okamoto missed about half of this past season with an elbow injury, so the home run total above doesn't do justice to his potential as a slugger.
Dating back to 2018, though, he has 247 home runs in 4,439 trips to the plate, which is mighty impressive. At any rate, in that same window, Juan Soto hit 244 home runs in 4,803 plate appearances.
That doesn't mean he'll hit anywhere near that well in the states, but he could be a solid Plan C for the teams who are looking to upgrade at third base and miss out on both Alex Bregman and Munetaka Murakami.
16. Robert Suarez, RHP, 34 years old
2025 Stats: 69.2 IP, 40 saves, 2.97 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 9.7 K/9, 2.3 bWAR
We might be underselling Suarez here at No. 16, as he leads all pitchers with 76 saves since the beginning of 2024, doing so with an ERA below 3.00 and a WHIP below 1.00.
However, he'll be 35 by Opening Day and there are a lot of solid closers available this winter, including who lands slightly higher on this list. He should get at least $15 million annually on a two- or three-year deal, though.
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Nos. 15-13: J.T. Realmuto, Eugenio Suárez and Zac Gallen
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15. J.T. Realmuto, C, 34 years old
2025 Stats: .257/.315/.384, 12 HR, 52 RBI, 8 SB, 2.5 bWAR
Like Robert Suarez, Realmuto will turn 35 by Opening Day. Quite the opposite of Suarez, though, you could make the argument for Realmuto as a top-10 free agent because of positional scarcity.
Teams looking for a catcher will talk themselves into Jonah Heim, Danny Jansen or Victor Caratini as serviceable options, but even after what was Realmuto's worst season in a decade, there is a continental divide between him at No. 1 and that next tier of available backstops.
14. Eugenio Suárez, 3B, 34 years old
2025 stats: .228/.298/.526, 49 HR, 118 RBI, 3.6 bWAR
If Suárez had continued to hit as well with Seattle as he did in the first half with Arizona, his market this offseason would have been simply fascinating. As is, he hit .189 with a 36 percent strikeout rate over those final two months of the regular season and is probably the fourth-best option at third base on a good number of big boards.
It's kind of hard to sneeze at 49 home runs, though, especially from a guy who also hit that many back in 2019.
13. Zac Gallen, RHP, 30 years old
2025 Stats: 192.0 IP, 4.83 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 1.1 bWAR
Dylan Cease got $210 million after a mostly forgettable walk year worth 1.1 bWAR. Could Gallen also still fetch something close to what we expected him to get heading into the 2025 campaign?
One big difference is that Cease at least had a solid FIP and the best K/9 ratio in the majors, while Gallen had the worst season of his career in both regards. He did at least pitch pretty well over the final two months and could be a hot commodity among the teams not trying to pay top dollar for Framber Valdez or Tatsuya Imai.
Nos. 12-10: Edwin Díaz, Michael King and Ranger Suárez
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12. Edwin Díaz, RHP, 31 years old
2025 Stats: 66.1 IP, 28 saves, 1.63 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 13.3 K/9, 3.0 bWAR
The top arm in a loaded class of closers, Díaz opted out of the final two years and $38 million on his previous contract before also declining the Mets' $22.025 million qualifying offer. (And after the Mets signed Devin Williams earlier this week, the odds that Díaz will ultimately sign elsewhere have skyrocketed.)
After a fantastic 2025 campaign, he is certainly expecting to be paid handsomely this winter, hoping for a second coming of the five-year, $102 million deal that he signed after an even more dominant run through 2022.
Something more like four years for $72 million is probably more realistic, but maybe someone goes all-in on what has been an elite closer on an every-other-year basis throughout his career.
11. Michael King, RHP, 30 years old
2025 Stats: 73.1 IP, 3.44 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 9.3 K/9, 1.2 bWAR
King is the wild card of this year's batch of free-agent starting pitchers. The 2024 season was the only one in which he has made at least 16 starts, but there's hope he can be a legitimate No. 2 starter for a contender, given his 2.91 ERA and 10.5 K/9 since the beginning of 2022.
Incentives for innings pitched and/or multiple years of club options could be part of his contract, but it's going to be an intriguing bidding war for what might be the best arm available.
10. Ranger Suárez, LHP, 30 years old
2025 Stats: 157.1 IP, 3.20 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, 4.7 bWAR
When Suárez gets into a zone, few pitchers are better. Combine his June 2023, April 2024 and June 2025, and you're looking at 17 starts (16 of them quality starts) with a 1.24 ERA and 0.81 WHIP.
Throw in the career 1.48 ERA in 42.2 innings pitched in the postseason and it's easy to see why teams might view him as the crown jewel of this year's class of available pitchers. He never has been the ace of a staff, but he clearly could be if he stays healthy.
Nos. 9-7: Pete Alonso, Cody Bellinger and Kyle Schwarber
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9. Pete Alonso, 1B, 31 years old
2025 Stats: .272/.347/.524, 38 HR, 126 RBI, 3.4 bWAR
Few players drive in runs quite like the Polar Bear. Dating back to 2019, there have been 19 cases of a player amassing at least 118 RBI in a single season. Alonso is responsible for four of those, thanks to his combination of raw power and playing on an everyday basis.
He was unable to get the nine-figure deal he wanted last offseason, but after a bounce-back year, things should be different this time around with Boston and Philadelphia among his many suitors.
8. Cody Bellinger, OF/1B, 30 years old
2025 Stats: .272/.334/.480, 29 HR, 98 RBI, 13 SB, 5.1 bWAR
Since the beginning of 2023, Bellinger is one of four players with at least a .280 batting average, 70 home runs and 40 stolen bases, the others being Shohei Ohtani, Bobby Witt Jr. and José Ramírez. It seems safe to say that disastrous two-year run at the dish with the Dodgers from 2021-22 is behind him.
Though he hasn't won a Gold Glove since 2019, he has remained a considerable asset on defense, too.
7. Kyle Schwarber, DH, 32 years old
2025 Stats: .240/.365/.563, 56 HR, 132 RBI, 10 SB, 4.7 bWAR
Schwarber's market is a bit complicated by the fact that he almost exclusively has to be used as a designated hitter, taking the deep-pocketed Dodgers, Yankees, Angels and others out of the conversation because that position is already filled.
But he has been such a potent DH over the past four years that even the Pirates and Reds are rumored to be thinking about spending like never before in order to acquire his bat. The Phillies are still the leader in the clubhouse, though.
Nos. 6-4: Tatsuya Imai, Munetaka Murakami and Alex Bregman
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6. Tatsuya Imai, RHP, 27 years old
2025 Stats (NPB): 163.2 IP, 1.92 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 9.8 K/9
Imai was already going to be one of the top arms on the market, but Yoshinobu Yamamoto's incredible run through the 2025 regular season and postseason surely didn't hurt this Japanese star's impending bank account.
Imai has struggled with walks throughout his career with the Seibu Lions, but he also has averaged better than one strikeout per inning pitched in each of the past four seasons, as well as a 6.0 H/9 ratio since the beginning of 2022. That would be the best such rate in the majors if it translates across the Pacific Ocean.
5. Munetaka Murakami, 3B/1B, 25 years old
2025 Stats (NPB): .286/.392/.659, 24 HR, 52 RBI, 5 SB
You may be thinking that doesn't seem like many home runs from what is being billed as maybe the best slugger to ever come out of Japan. However, the fact that Murakami got to 24 homers in just 263 plate appearances after missing the first half of the season with an oblique strain is kind of ridiculous.
He has averaged one home run for every 16 trips to the plate over the course of his eight-year career, and he's still a few years away from his age-28 season, which is often when players reach the peak of their prime. He strikes out a lot and is probably going to be a defensive liability if he sticks at third base, but that career .945 OPS will cause a bidding war.
4. Alex Bregman, 3B, 31 years old
2025 Stats: .273/.360/.462, 18 HR, 62 RBI, 3.5 bWAR
Speaking of injured third basemen, Bregman was hitting .299 and was right there at the top of the AL MVP conversation when he suffered that quad strain in late May. He sputtered to the finish line, batting .180 and hitting just two home runs over his final 31 games of the regular season.
No one seems too bothered by that, though, with the expectation being he'll get at least a four-year deal with a salary close to $30 million. And considering he walked away from the final two years and $80 million on his previous contract, he's probably aiming even higher than a $30 million AAV.
Nos. 3-1: Framber Valdez, Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker
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3. Framber Valdez, LHP, 32 years old
2025 Stats: 192.0 IP, 3.66 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 3.8 bWAR
Dylan Cease getting $30 million per year on a seven-year deal surely bodes well for Valdez. Both aces have been lauded for their durability, with Valdez averaging nearly 192 innings pitched over the past four seasons.
He's nowhere near the strikeout machine Cease is, but Valdez is considerably more consistent overall, exponentially better at inducing double plays and far more likely to pitch at least into the seventh inning of his starts. He's likely to cost close to $35 million per year, but the winning bidder could be locking down its ace for the next half-decade.
2. Bo Bichette, SS/2B, 27 years old
2025 Stats: .311/.357/.483, 18 HR, 94 RBI, 4 SB, 3.5 bWAR
While Cease's deal bodes well for Valdez, it was an ominous sign for anyone hoping the Blue Jays would re-sign Bichette. It could still happen, but throwing $210 million at an external free agent instead of at their home-grown star seemed to signal they won't be re-signing him. Or that if they do, it'll be on a shorter-term deal, similar to when the Mets invested $765 million in Juan Soto before eventually re-upping with Pete Alonso for seven percent of that.
Whether he stays in Canada or lands somewhere in USA, Bichette has been one of the best hitters in baseball over the past half-decade, earning some AL MVP votes in four of those five seasons. (Whether he'll be a shortstop, second baseman or DH on his new contract remains to be seen, though.)
1. Kyle Tucker, OF, 28 years old
2025 Stats: .266/.377/.464, 22 HR, 73 RBI, 25 SB, 4.6 bWAR
Tucker was one of 16 players to amass at least 22 home runs and 22 stolen bases in 2025, but the only one to do so in spite of a hairline fracture in his hand discovered in June and missing a good chunk of September with a calf strain.
He also missed more than half of the previous season with a shin fracture, yet he is somehow riding a streak of five consecutive seasons worth at least 4.6 bWAR.
The only other players who can say the same are Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and José Ramírez. He's not as high-profile a star free agent as Judge, Ohtani and Soto were in recent years, but there's a good chance he'll get north of $400 million after the past half-decade of metronome-like quality production.
.jpg?w=480 "Busch Stadium Stabbing")
.jpg?w=600 "Bryce Harper Trade Landing Spots 🛬")
