Landing Spot Roundup For Top 10 Starting Pitchers Still on the Market
This past weekend, two of the top remaining hitters available in free agency—Eugenio Suárez and Luis Arráez—came off the board.
Perhaps what's next will be a thawing of the market for veteran starting pitchers, a group that includes multiple future Hall of Famers. After all, it's now less than two weeks until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
Here's a look at the best landing spots for the top 10 starting pitchers who remain on the free-agent market.
Framber Valdez
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Ideal Landing Spot: Baltimore Orioles
It would be fair at this stage to say it's been a rough trip into free agency for Framber Valdez, with a qualifying offer attached to him and a September crossup with catcher César Salazar drawing negative attention, both weighing on his market.
With that said, Valdez is fifth among all starting pitchers in WAR since the start of the 2022 season, per FanGraphs. Given some of the factors listed above and that he's 32 years old, it's understandable that no one has given him six or seven years this winter. But frontline pitching is still at a premium in the sport, and he can provide that.
A year ago, the San Diego Padres didn't sign Nick Pivetta—who had declined a qualifying offer from the Boston Red Sox—until mid-February. The Friars still gave Pivetta a four-year, $55 million contract, which featured the chance to opt out after the second season. Valdez is significantly more accomplished than Pivetta, so he's going to get a much higher average annual value. But that contract format could serve as a blueprint for Valdez.
Though Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias has made his name off of player development, he's signaled a willingness this offseason to surrender draft-pick compensation to sign a player who declined a qualifying offer.
Elias has already acquired Pete Alonso, Taylor Ward, Ryan Helsley and Shane Baz this winter, but none of them were qualified free agents. So he's kept his powder dry, and the chance to sign Valdez to, let's say, a four-year, $110 million deal with a player opt-out after the second season, still exists.
The O's would be in great position to compete in the crowded AL East if they finished off what has been an active winter by adding Valdez.
Zac Gallen
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Ideal Landing Spot: Arizona Diamondbacks
In hindsight, Zac Gallen probably should have just accepted the one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer from the Diamondbacks and attempted to rebuild his value in 2026 and return to the open market next offseason.
Even still, the Diamondbacks are the only team that can sign him without giving up draft-pick compensation. So while bringing back Merrill Kelly on a two-year, $40 million deal initially seemed likely to close the door on a return for Gallen, he's lingered on the market long enough that both sides should reconsider things.
Gallen likely would have to accept quite a bit less than he would have gotten on the qualifying offer, but returning to the Snakes and trying to recapture the form that saw him post consecutive top-five finishes in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2022 and 2023 is probably his best course of action.
The Diamondbacks would likely be ecstatic if someone signs Gallen, because they would get draft-pick compensation in return. But they would also be losing someone who, even in a down year, logged 192 innings last season.
Arizona could sign Gallen for 2026, and if they aren't in contention in the summer, flip him for a return.
Lucas Giolito
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Ideal Landing Spot: New York Yankees
There may come a point in 2026 where the Yankees have too many starting pitchers, but Gerrit Cole is a 35-year-old returning from Tommy John surgery, Carlos Rodón had a bone spur removed from his pitching elbow in October and Luis Gil logged just 57 frames a year after winning AL Rookie of the Year.
The ceiling of a rotation led by Max Fried is high, but there's also a lot of uncertainty. Cam Schlittler looked like an emerging star in the playoffs, but he's pitched 73 regular-season innings in his career. Brian Cashman could stand to add another arm.
Lucas Giolito may seem like an awkward fit in the sense that he's hardly been an ironman in recent years. He missed all of 2024 after undergoing an internal brace procedure on his right elbow. He wasn't available when the Red Sox lost to the Yankees in the ALWCS last year because of right elbow discomfort. But in between those two occurrences of elbow issues, the former All-Star revived his career, going 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA across 145 innings. Adding that type of arm to Aaron Boone's rotation would be big in what is almost certainly baseball's toughest division.
Giolito didn't receive a qualifying offer, so it wouldn't cost any draft-pick compensation to sign him. His recent injury history almost certainly will prevent him from getting more than two years, and it's possible the 31-year-old ultimately signs for just a season.
Chris Bassitt
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Ideal Landing Spot: Detroit Tigers
Considering he'll turn 37 later this month, Chris Bassitt is likely at the stage of his career where teams are going to be hesitant to commit to multiple years. But he showed during his 2025 season with the Toronto Blue Jays that he still has a lot to offer.
Last regular season, Bassitt posted a 3.96 ERA across 170.1 innings pitched for the Blue Jays. It was the fifth consecutive season in which Bassitt logged more than 155 innings pitched.
Then in the postseason, Bassitt was excellent when Toronto decided to utilize him out of the bullpen. For a team that nearly won it all, Bassitt posted a 1.04 ERA across 8.2 postseason frames. That type of versatility will make him more appealing to potential contenders, who likely view him as a fringe starter for a playoff rotation, but now know he can shift to the 'pen in October.
Bassitt could provide the type of veteran presence the Tigers hoped to get from Charlie Morton last summer when they traded for him.
Even assuming Detroit holds onto two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, there's uncertainty in A.J. Hinch's rotation after him. Jack Flaherty led the AL with 15 losses in 2025, while Casey Mize posted a 4.92 ERA in 12 starts after being an All-Star.
Bringing in a veteran arm like Bassitt could bolster a rotation that has playoff aspirations.
Justin Verlander
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Ideal Landing Spot: Houston Astros
This actually isn't sentimental—a third stint for Justin Verlander in Houston makes some sense for everyone involved.
Verlander faces an uphill battle to become the 25th pitcher in MLB history to win 300 games, but he is sitting on 266 victories entering his age-43 season. The Astros are a competitive team, and Houston is a comfortable setting that the future Hall of Famer can continue to chip away toward that milestone.
Hunter Brown is coming off of being a finalist for AL Cy Young, but there's not much certainty behind him. The aforementioned Valdez seemingly won't be back. There are high hopes for Tatsuya Imai, but his three-year, $54 million deal with incentives and player opt-outs is indicative that the league isn't sure how he'll translate from Japan. Lance McCullers Jr. and Cristian Javier are healthy today, but will they be all year?
Even at this advanced stage of his career, Verlander is still coming off of a season where he logged 152 innings for the San Francisco Giants. He was downright good after the All-Star Break, posting a 2.99 ERA in 14 starts.
This is still someone who can provide value, and one of the two teams he's most associated with—the Astros and Tigers—would be wise to take advantage of that.
Nick Martinez
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Ideal Landing Spot: Atlanta Braves
Nick Martinez is going to have to take a pay cut from the $21.05 million he made in 2025 after accepting the qualifying offer from the Cincinnati Reds. But his versatility makes him interesting for contending teams looking to add a quality swing man who could pitch out of the starting rotation or bullpen.
The Braves project to have a really strong starting rotation in 2026, though there are serious injury concerns with three-fifths of their Opening Day group.
Would you bet on any of Chris Sale, Spencer Strider or Reynaldo López avoiding the injury list this upcoming season? Martinez could serve as insurance if any of them get hurt, or if Hurston Waldrep doesn't take the step forward most anticipate he will.
At the same time, Martinez isn't someone that's against pitching out of the bullpen if Walt Weiss' rotation would stay healthy.
Over the past two seasons, 40 of his 82 appearances have come out of the bullpen. So he's probably a more natural fit for what the Braves need than some of the other veteran starters on this list.
Zack Littell
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Ideal Landing Spot: Tampa Bay Rays
Quietly, Zack Littell was one of the most durable starters in baseball last year, with his 186.2 innings pitched during a season he split with the Rays and Cincinnati Reds 11th in baseball.
Littell got significantly better results in 22 starts for the Rays than 10 starts with the Reds, posting a 3.58 ERA with Tampa Bay. However, the 4.59 expected ERA and 4.92 FIP Littell had with the Rays suggested his results were unsustainable.
That indeed proved to be the case, as he posted a 4.39 ERA across 52.3 innings as a Red. He also struggled when he got the ball for the Reds in Game 2 of the NLWCS, as he gave up six hits and three runs over just 3.1 innings in what proved to be Cincinnati's final game of the season.
It's fair to say Littell probably won't be returning to the Reds, though a reunion with the Rays makes quite a bit of sense. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported in December the Rays had interest in potentially bringing back Littell, who posted a 3.68 ERA in parts of three seasons with the club.
Nearly two months have passed since that report, though considering the Rays dealt the aforementioned Baz since then, Littell arguably makes even more sense now.
Max Scherzer
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Ideal Landing Spot: Check Back Around Memorial Day
Max Scherzer looked to be at the end of the road when he posted a 5.37 ERA in 12 starts following the All-Star break for the Blue Jays last year. However, he turned back the clock to a degree in the postseason, posting a 3.77 ERA over 14.1 innings for Toronto.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner still has a place in the league, although as he prepares for his age-41 season, that place might not be trying to make 30 starts a year. He's someone that could benefit from waiting until after the start of the season to pick his team and start building up, and he indicated to Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic recently that he's not opposed to that approach, even if he is ready to go right now.
Scherzer seemingly enjoyed his season in Toronto, though right now the Blue Jays are seven deep in terms of starting rotation options with Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Cody Ponce and José Berríos. Maybe they'll be in a different place in a few months, though.
If not, there will be injuries and underperformances in the first month or two of the season, if not sooner, that open up opportunities that don't currently exist. Scherzer can then choose the best opportunity as he tries to pursue his third World Series ring.
José Quintana
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Ideal Landing Spot: Los Angeles Angels
The Milwaukee Brewers were José Quintana's eighth team, and he proved that he's still an effective back-of-the-rotation arm, posting a 3.96 ERA across 131.2 innings pitched.
Now 37, Quintana actually makes quite a bit of sense for at least one of his former employers in the Angels. While Quintana posted a 6.75 ERA over 53.1 innings for the Halos in 2021, he's got a 3.79 ERA over the last three seasons, so he's improved with age.
His ability to eat innings would likely prove valuable with the Angels, as Grayson Rodriguez—acquired from the Orioles for the aforementioned Ward—missed the entirety of the 2025 season.
Current No. 5 starter Alek Manoah is an interesting reclamation project, but since finishing third in AL Cy Young Award voting with the Blue Jays in 2022, he has a 5.40 ERA over 24 starts. He's still returning from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in June of 2024.
Having some insurance if those two get hurt again or hit a wall at some point in the season would be wise.
Walker Buehler
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Ideal Landing Spot: Philadelphia Phillies
There's going to be at least one pitcher on this list who has to settle for a suboptimal opportunity, one where he ends up as more of a swing man than someone guaranteed to make 20-plus starts.
Walker Buehler—who has a 5.10 ERA across 201.1 innings pitched since his second Tommy John surgery—may be that guy.
If Buehler doesn't have a great opportunity, a return to the Phillies could make sense. The top of their rotation with Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo looks really good, but they have some uncertainty following the loss of Ranger Suárez.
It's unclear when Zack Wheeler will be ready to go again after the thoracic outlet decompression surgery he had last September, which comes with a six-to-eight month recovery timeline.
The Phillies are hopeful top prospect Andrew Painter seizes a spot in the rotation in his second season back from Tommy John surgery, but there's a chance he'll need some more seasoning at Triple-A, where he posted a 5.40 ERA across 22 starts a year ago.
Buehler would be a good insurance policy for the Phillies if things don't go as planned in their starting rotation. He did post a 0.66 ERA over 13.2 innings pitched with the Phillies last September after his release from the Red Sox. He was drawn to the Phillies in part because of his shared Vanderbilt ties with pitching coach Caleb Cotham.
A chance to work with him for a more extended period, even if he could get pushed to the bullpen at some point, might be Buehler's best option as he tries to get his career back on track.
