Making the Case For Best Fits on MLB's Most Intriguing Available Free Agents
Several of the top free agents on this winter's market have been snapped up, and we've already covered which teams are perfect fits for the best ones still left.
What about the best of the rest, though?
We're going back to the matchmaker board with a goal in mind: to make the case for which team is the best fit for eight free agents who lurked just outside the market's top 10 when the offseason began.
The selections are based on teams' needs, home ballparks and contention timelines, though the financial feasibility also matters. In some cases, there's already reporting to suggest that a team is interested in a given player.
3B/1B Kazuma Okamoto: Boston Red Sox
1 of 8
Age: 29
2025 Stats (NPB): 77 G, 314 PA, 15 HR, 1 SB, .322 AVG, .411 OBP, .581 SLG
Why It's a Good Fit
After missing out on Pete Alonso, the most straightforward way for the Red Sox to respond is to simply re-sign Alex Bregman and plug him back at third base.
Even then, though, they would still need a hitter who would offer more power upside from the right side of the plate. Kazuma Okamoto matches that description as a regular 30-homer slugger in Nippon Professional Baseball, and he has a swing that's a match made in Heaven for Fenway Park.
Though his raw power plays to all fields, his swing is geared to hit the ball in the air to his pull side. That's where the Green Monster looms at Fenway Park, and even the higher velocity prevalent in MLB might not stop Okamoto from taking aim at it regularly.
Unlike countryman Munetaka Murakami, Okamoto is seen as being capable of handling high velo.
Of course, Bregman and Okamoto can't both play third. But the latter also has experience at first base, so he could play both corners while also taking at-bats from Masataka Yoshida at designated hitter.
Why It Could Happen
The Red Sox are in on Okamoto, according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post, and their purported aversion to long-term contracts might not be a deal-breaker in this case. MLB Trade Rumors projects Okamoto for a reasonable four-year, $64 million deal.
OF Harrison Bader: Kansas City Royals
2 of 8
Age: 31
2025 Stats: 146 G, 501 PA, 17 HR, 11 SB, .277 AVG, .347 OBP, .449 SLG
Why It's a Good Fit
The Royals have already been busy adding to their outfield, signing Lane Thomas as a free agent and trading for Isaac Collins. Yet they still have Kyle Isbel penciled into center field, and that's a problem.
Isbel is a heck of a defender, but the Royals shouldn't need to see more to be convinced that he can't hit. His 1,426 plate appearances over the last four seasons have yielded a .646 OPS, with a high of .662 in 2023.
Though Harrison Bader has also dabbled in the .600s with his OPS, he's coming off a career-high .796 OPS that also came with career bests for home runs and doubles. He normally crushes lefties, but this year, righties felt his sting to the tune of a .845 OPS.
As Bader is a former Gold Glover who can play left field and right field in addition to center field, the Royals wouldn't be losing anything defensively by adding him. He might even be an upgrade on Isbel, who had a plus-9 Defensive Runs Saved compared to plus-13 for Bader in 2025.
Why It Could Happen
The Royals are already set to stretch their budget in 2026, but Heyman reported earlier this month that Bader has been on their radar anyway. That was before the team added Collins, but he'll only be making the league minimum next year.
RHP Lucas Giolito: San Francisco Giants
3 of 8
Age: 31
2025 Stats: 26 GS, 145.0 IP, 131 H (17 HR), 121 K, 56 BB, 3.41 ERA
Why It's a Good Fit
Lucas Giolito had a strong bounce-back season this year, but there was some good luck involved in it. He had an expected ERA of 5.00, and he should have given up more home runs.
It doesn't take much effort to make sense of these things. The righty didn't strike out many batters, and both his ground-ball rate (39.5) and exit velocity (90.3 mph) were worse than average. Basically, he gave up a lot of hard-hit air balls.
Hence, the Giants. And more specifically, Oracle Park. Statcast pegs it as the second-worst park for home run hitters in all of MLB, ahead of only PNC Park in Pittsburgh. It's a good place for all pitchers to call home, but especially fly-ball types like Giolito.
Further, the Giants need a good, solid No. 3 to place behind Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. Giolito is exactly that type of pitcher.
Why It Could Happen
The Giants have not been firmly linked to Giolito, but we know from ESPN's Buster Olney that they are pursuing "modestly priced" pitchers. Giolito should be in that bracket, as projections for his contract fall in the two-year, $30-40 million range.
C J.T. Realmuto: Philadelphia Phillies
4 of 8
Age: 34
2025 Stats: 134 G, 550 PA, 12 HR, 8 SB, .257 AVG, .315 OBP, .384 SLG
Why It's a Good Fit
The Phillies really shouldn't be running it back with the same group they had last year, but they don't have much of a choice when it comes to wanting J.T. Realmuto back.
Dependable everyday catchers don't grow on trees, after all, and least of all on the open market. Realmuto is the best option on this winter's free-agent market by several orders of magnitude, as he was more than twice as valuable than the next-best catcher who's still looking for work.
Granted, it has been a couple years since Realmuto was putting up All-Star-caliber numbers. Yet even his lesser self of the last three seasons still averaged 3.0 rWAR, and he really only had one bad month this season.
What we're saying is that he's a heck of a lot better than the catchers the Phillies are carrying right now, with Rafael Marchán set to be backed up by Garrett Stubbs.
Why It Could Happen
The Phillies have an offer out to Realmuto, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. That alone bodes well, and there hasn't been a ton of buzz about other interested teams. The Red Sox are reportedly one, but they can comfortably fall back on Carlos Narváez if they don't land Realmuto.
3B Eugenio Suárez: Pittsburgh Pirates
5 of 8
Age: 34
2025 Stats: 159 G, 657 PA, 49 HR, 4 SB, .228 AVG, .298 OBP, .526 SLG
Why It's a Good Fit
It was awfully tempting to tab the Red Sox as the best fit for Eugenio Suárez, for reasons that could basically be copied and pasted from the Okamoto slide: His right-handed swing is geared for pull power.
Yet no team truly needs Suárez quite like the Pirates. He's one of the top home run hitters in recent history, and they hit 31 fewer home runs than any other team this season.
The Cincinnati Reds are another NL Central contender that badly needs a power infusion, but they at least have Ke'Bryan Hayes and Spencer Steer at the corners. By contrast, the Bucs have Jared Triolo and Spencer Horwitz, neither of whom is worthy of standing in the way of a player with Suárez's credentials.
The sheer power hostility of PNC Park is a complicating factor here, so the Pirates would have to make Suárez an offer worth his while. But they do seem eager to spend, to a point where they reportedly offered Kyle Schwarber a club-record deal.
Why It Could Happen
There hasn't been any noise about the Pirates making a run at Suárez, but he's a more realistic option for them than Schwarber ever was. He was always going to have big-market bidders, whereas the weirdly tight-fisted Red Sox are the only one that has been tied to Suárez.
RHP Zac Gallen: Los Angeles Angels
6 of 8
Age: 30
2025 Stats: 33 GS, 192.0 IP, 176 H (31 HR), 175 K, 66 BB, 4.83 ERA
Why It's a Good Fit
Zac Gallen is only two years removed from being a regular in the NL Cy Young Award voting, yet the odds of any team treating him like an ace on this market seem slim.
Back-to-back down years will have that kind of effect, and it's not as if he has a shortage of competition. Dylan Cease got his bag, and you have to figure even pitching-needy teams have Gallen down as the fifth-best remaining option after Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez, Michael King and Tatsuya Imai.
Here's what makes the Angels an interesting landing spot for Gallen, though: Of all the ostensible contenders that could make a play for him, they might be the only one that could actually use him as a No. 1 starter.
Their rotation was that rocky in 2025, and the additions of Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah only move the needle if you think the year is 2023. Were the Angels to sign Gallen, he'd instantly leap ahead of them and Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano and Reid Detmers. Maybe that'll be the confidence boost he seems to need.
Why It Could Happen
The Angels are indeed interested in Gallen, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. And with a huge gap between their 2025 spending and projected 2026 spending, they're in a prime position to make an aggressive bid for him.
RHP Michael King: Baltimore Orioles
7 of 8
Age: 30
2025 Stats: 15 GS, 73.1 IP, 62 H (12 HR), 76 K, 26 BB, 3.44 ERA
Why It's a Good Fit
The Orioles have one of the best offenses in the American League after adding Pete Alonso during the winter meetings, but what about their starting rotation?
Well, the one-two punch of Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish could be dangerous if both stay healthy. But there isn't a proper No. 3 after the two of them, and whether Bradish should even be considered a real No. 2 after consecutive injury-shortened years is subject to debate.
The same can also be said of Michael King after his down season, but it was only last year that he was one of the top pitchers in all of MLB. He posted a 2.95 ERA over 173.2 innings, with 201 strikeouts against 63 walks.
Between this and his experience in the AL East from his New York Yankees days, King has a ceiling that should appeal to Baltimore more than the solid floors offered by Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez. To boot, his ceiling is likely less expensive.
Why It Could Happen
According to Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe, the Orioles are one of three teams in on King. The others are the Red Sox and Yankees, who have more money but also more pressing needs and, in the case of the latter, a bigger target to pursue.
RHP Tatsuya Imai: New York Yankees
8 of 8
Age: 27
2025 Stats (NPB): 24 G, 163.2 IP, 101 H (6 HR), 178 K, 45 BB, 1.92 ERA
Why It's a Good Fit
The Yankees could have a powerhouse rotation by the end of 2026. But at the outset, at least, they're going to need ace insurance.
Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt will miss the beginning of the year due to recoveries from elbow surgeries. That leaves Max Fried (who is awesome) and a series of question marks, including ones related to Cam Schlittler's workload and Luis Gil's durability.
Though Tatsuya Imai isn't the best starter available, he's the one who looks most likely to end up a Yankee. They tend to like pitchers with big stuff, and he checks that box in a big way with as many as five above average pitches in his arsenal.
To boot, signing Imai would go a long way toward reestablishing the Yankees in the Japanese market. And if he were to get his wish of taking down the Los Angeles Dodgers, even better.
Why It Could Happen
The Yankees have been consistently linked to Imai throughout the winter, including by Heyman ahead of the winter meetings. They have the budget to afford a nine-figure deal for him, and you have to wonder if they'd rather go big on him than on incumbent outfielder Cody Bellinger, who has a wide market.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
