The Most Underrated 2025-26 MLB Free Agents Still Available
While the Major League Baseball world waits on the Kyle Tuckers and Bo Bichettes to make their decisions, there are a few underrated free agents who might just be waiting for their phones to ring with an offer to play in 2026.
As far as what classifies a free agent as underrated, B/R's Joel Reuter put together an updated top 25 big board this past Wednesday, and anyone who remains unsigned and was not part of that top 25 was deemed eligible for consideration.
Now, that doesn't mean these players were necessarily the next handful of free agents who would have cracked the list if it had been a top 35 instead. In fact, we're going to start out with a collection of bargain-bin options who probably wouldn't have even ranked among the top 100 free agents a month ago.
Rather, these are the players we feel are perhaps more under the radar than they should be, because they could still provide quite a bit of value if they land in the right situation.
After the aforementioned bargain-bin guys, players are presented in alphabetical order of last name.
Bargain-Bin Reclamation Projects
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IF Nick Madrigal: A poor man's Luis Arraez, Madrigal has always been a great contact hitter. Between college and the minors, he struck out just 70 times in more than 1,500 trips to the plate. A fractured hand in 2024 and a fractured shoulder in 2025 have derailed his career. However, he's still only 28 years old, and he could be a versatile backup.
LHP Jordan Montgomery: Monty underwent Tommy John surgery in March and is likely to miss at least the first half of 2026. Could he come back and become a key cog in the second half/playoffs, like Shane Bieber this past season? Certainly not if he pitches like he did in 2024, but maybe he'll provide 2021-23 type of production for pennies on the dollar.
1B/RF Michael Toglia: A first-round pick in 2019, Toglia hit 25 home runs for the Rockies in 2024 before having a terrible 2025 campaign and getting non-tendered. He's a career .201 hitter in the majors, but in 167 games at the Triple-A level, he triple-slashed .286/.379/.557 with 43 home runs. Any team with a big question mark at first base (see: Boston, Cleveland, Washington, San Diego) should at least kick the tires here.
RHP José Urquidy: He missed half of 2023 to a shoulder injury, as well as all of 2024 and basically all of 2025 to Tommy John surgery. But could Urquidy be this year's version of 2024 Luis Severino, finally getting healthy and reharnessing his old form? He's still only 30, and he had a 3.74 ERA through his first four years in the majors. He has to at least be worth a flyer to someone.
Victor Caratini, 32, Catcher/First Base
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2025 Stats: .259/.324/.404, 12 HR, 46 RBI
Career Stats: .244/.321/.371, 58 HR, 247 RBI
For any team looking to sign a catcher this winter who is going to be the starter most of the time in 2026, it's looking a bit like J.T. Realmuto or bust.
However, for teams that could use an upgrade in the No. 2 catcher slot and/or back-up first baseman role, Victor Caratini really ought to be a prime target.
Houston even used Caratini as its designated hitter 30 times in 2025, in what was his third consecutive season with an OPS of at least .711, which is darn impressive as far as catchers go. At any rate, he is one of only seven catchers riding a three-year streak of at least 200 plate appearances and an OPS of at least .711, the others being Cal Raleigh, Will Smith, William Contreras, Sal Perez, Ryan Jeffers and Gabriel Moreno.
He's not exactly a negative on defense, either. Among the 35 players with at least 1,000 innings logged at catcher since the beginning of 2023, Caratini ranks 18th in Fielding Run Value. (Formerly a two-time Gold Glove winner, Realmuto is 30th, rated as a terrible pitch framer.)
Zach Eflin, 31, Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
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2025 Stats: 71.1 IP, 5.93 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 6.3 K/9
Career Stats: 1,073.2 IP, 4.28 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 7.7 K/9
It was a forgettable season for the Baltimore Orioles, but especially for Opening Day starter Zach Eflin.
He started the year with three consecutive quality starts, but subsequently landed on the IL for more than a month with a lat strain. He made just 11 more starts (with a 6.92 ERA) before undergoing season-ending back surgery in mid-August.
At the time of the surgery, the hope was he would be back in time for a full, normal spring training. Thus far, there has been no indication the timeline has changed.
So, why has everyone seemingly forgotten about a guy who got Cy Young votes in 2023 and had a 3.54 ERA in 59 starts between 2023 and 2024?
Zac Gallen and Zack Littell are regarded as top-10 options among the remaining crop of free-agent starters, but not this Zach, who had a sub-3.80 FIP in each season from 2020-24?
Maybe the injury history has become too much for teams to look past, or maybe his market will heat up once he's further removed from the surgery and can show teams he's good to go. But if this recent ace signs for "No. 4 starter" type of money on a one-year deal, what a steal that could be.
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Rhys Hoskins, 32, First Baseman
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2025 Stats: .237/.332/.416, 12 HR, 43 RBI
Career Stats: .238/.344/.475, 186 HR, 530 RBI
Prior to the torn ACL suffered in spring training in 2023, Rhys Hoskins was becoming somewhat of a star for the Phillies. From 2017-22, he had an .846 OPS with 148 home runs in 2,877 trips to the plate—numbers on par with Rafael Devers' .854, 139 and 2,958, respectively, during the same time.
After missing all of 2023, however, he never made it back to that same level with the Brewers over the past two seasons. He did hit 26 home runs in 2024, but with a .722 OPS that paled in comparison to what he used to provide. And then he missed about half of 2025 with a thumb injury.
However, he's still young enough that it's hardly outlandish to think he could have a bounce-back year.
And with both Pete Alonso and Josh Naylor off the board, Hoskins might be the best first baseman still available—aside from Kazuma Okamoto, who has split time between 3B and 1B over the past decade in Japan.
Michael Kopech, 29, Right-Handed Reliever
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2025 Stats: 11.0 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, 9.8 K/9
Career Stats: 411.0 IP, 4.14 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 10.0 K/9
This year was an injury-plagued mess for Michael Kopech.
He missed the first two months of the season with arm inflammation. He came back in early June and tossed seven scoreless innings with five holds across eight relief outings, but he didn't even make it to the end of June before landing back on the IL with a torn meniscus. He returned in early September, but was shut down again less than three weeks later with knee inflammation.
All told, though, from the time the Dodgers acquired him at the 2024 trade deadline through to the end of this past season, Kopech made 48 appearances (including 10 in the 2024 postseason) with a 1.84 ERA, 10.4 K/9, five wins, 17 holds, six saves and no blown saves or losses.
Pretty decent run for a free agent who hasn't even turned 30. Yet, in a market where relievers have been flying off the shelf in droves, he seems to be a little "out of sight, out of mind" in light of his minimal availability in 2025.
He could be a great late-inning option for a contender, as he has been over the past two seasons.
In particular, if the Twins are actually trying to win, what are they waiting for here? Kopech could be the closer in a bullpen that is presently nothing but question marks.
Nathaniel Lowe, 30, First Baseman
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2025 Stats: .228/.307/.381, 18 HR, 84 RBI
Career Stats: .264/.347/.424, 107 HR, 413 RBI
Happy one-year anniversary to Nathaniel Lowe, who was traded from Texas to Washington on Dec. 22, 2024.
After four consecutive seasons batting north of .260 and posting an OPS north of .760 for the Rangers, the Nationals thought they were getting two years' worth of an everyday, middle-of-the-lineup first baseman.
Out of nowhere, though, Lowe simply lost the ability to hit southpaws.
From 2021-24, he had virtually no handedness split, with a .777 OPS against lefties compared to .797 against righties. But when the Nationals released him in mid-August, he was down to a .732 OPS vs. righties and an atrocious .516 vs. lefties.
This led to the Red Sox scooping him up and putting him into a platoon with Romy Gonzalez, in which Lowe had an .864 OPS in 101 plate appearances against righties and a .402 mark in 18 plate appearances against lefties.
Maybe he bounces back in 2026 and starts seeing the ball out of left hands again? Or maybe he's simply the left-handed hitting portion of a platoon situation now?
Even if it's the latter, Joc Pederson played that role so admirably in 2024 that he got a two-year, $37 million contract last winter. Granted, it was a disastrous contract for most of this past season, but there's certainly a market for guys who can mash righties.
Maybe some team could simultaneously sign Lowe and Paul Goldschmidt to man first base? Goldy used to be an indiscriminate weapon at the dish, but over the past two seasons, he has a .651 OPS against right-handed pitching compared to .911 against southpaws.
Yoán Moncada, 30, Third Baseman
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2025 Stats: .234/.336/.448, 12 HR, 35 RBI
Career Stats: .252/.332/.426, 105 HR, 374 RBI
With Yoán Moncada, the problem has never been the production. In fact, his .448 slugging percentage in 2025 was better than (among many others) Fernando Tatis Jr. (.446), Jose Altuve (.442), Elly De La Cruz (.440), Mike Trout (.439) and Gunnar Henderson (.438).
Rather, the problem with Moncada is the frequent unavailability.
Since the beginning of 2022, Moncada has appeared in just 292 games. That's 16 fewer than Nolan Schanuel, who was drafted in 2023, and it's why he had to settle for a one-year, $5 million contract in 2025.
Considering he missed 78 games and made two separate roughly month-long trips to the IL, it's hard to imagine he's in a position to demand more than that on his next (all but certain to be one-year) contract. But if he stays reasonably healthy, he's easily going to be worth more than $5 million.
Boston is surely aiming higher than Moncada in its quest for a third baseman, but the A's could use Moncada. Same goes for the Diamondbacks and Tigers. And while third base could be a prime spot for the Pirates to show they're serious about spending money for a change, he fits perfectly into their usual wheelhouse of one-year, $5 million contracts for free agents.
Marcell Ozuna, 35, Designated Hitter
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2025 Stats: .232/.355/.400, 21 HR, 68 RBI
Career Stats: .269/.336/.469, 296 HR, 948 RBI
The year 2025 may well have been the beginning of the end for Marcell Ozuna.
Though he drew walks like never before and ended up with a solid on-base percentage, his bat speed, exit velocity and hard-hit percentage all paled in comparison to the previous two seasons. He went from slugging .718 against four-seamers and .420 against changeups in 2023 to slugging .412 and .157, respectively, in 2025.
But was it just a temporary fall from grace while he tried to play through a hip injury suffered in mid-April?
Initially, he seemed fine. Through 58 team games, Ozuna had a .901 OPS and was one of the precious few things that wasn't going awry for the Braves. That gave way to a .514 OPS over the course of his next 40 games, but then he turned things back around again for a while after he started getting the occasional day off.
Maybe with a few months of rest and rehab, he'll get back to being one of the better sluggers in the sport in 2026.
If so, signing Ozuna to what Spotrac suggests is a market value of two years, $27.4 million could be quite the coup for one of the several teams that presently does not appear to have any sort of DH plan set in stone. Arizona, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Washington or a reunion with Miami could all make sense.
Max Scherzer, 41, Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
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2025 Stats: 85.0 IP, 5.19 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 8.7 K/9
Career Stats: 2,963.0 IP, 3.22 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 10.6 K/9
With the way Justin Verlander shoved over the final 10 weeks of the regular season, there's a good amount of anticipation surrounding where the soon-to-be 43-year-old ends up pitching in 2026.
However, despite three respectable starts between the ALCS and World Series, the buzz around (slightly younger) fellow three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer hasn't been nearly as loud.
Granted, Mad Max is a far cry from what he used to be. Those October outings were much more "gutty" than "dominant." He has logged just 128.1 IP during the regular season over the past two years combined, and his 4.50 FIP since the beginning of 2023 is on par with fellow "nearing retirement" veterans like Kyle Hendricks, Kyle Gibson, Miles Mikolas, Kenta Maeda and Patrick Corbin.
He's still Max Scherzer, though, and if being just 20 strikeouts behind Walter Johnson for 10th-most of all time—not to mention 45 behind Gaylord Perry for ninth place and within 100 of both Verlander and Don Sutton at Nos. 8 and 7—makes him want to pitch for one more year, well, maybe he can do so at a reasonably high level.
As with Verlander, say this much for Scherzer's status: If and when he does sign, it's going to elicit some excitement, even if it's tamped down with "if he can stay healthy" asterisks.
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