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Best Landing Spot For Top 10 Remaining MLB Free Agents
Over the course of the next four days, pitchers and catchers for all 30 Major League Baseball teams will report to spring training.
However, the offseason is far from finished, with dozens of free agents still waiting to be signed.
Granted, with the arguable exception of Zac Gallen, all of the highly coveted free agents are off the board. And after Marcell Ozuna signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday morning, the list of bat-wielding options out there has gotten mighty bleak.
Let's mine for some gold, though, as we project the best landing spot for the top player still available at each of 10 different positions/roles.
Catcher: Jonah Heim
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Editor's note: Heim signed a one-year deal with Atlanta on Tuesday, per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand
2025 Season: .213/.271/.332, 11 HR, 43 RBI, 0.4 bWAR
In 2023, Jonah Heim was both an All-Star and a Gold Glove recipient for the World Series-winning Texas Rangers. But after back-to-back seasons with a .602 OPS, they non-tendered him in their quest to trim the payroll.
It's surprising that no one has scooped him up yet. Heim doesn't turn 31 until this summer. And though he hasn't been a stellar defensive backstop over the past two seasons, it's not like he has been terrible back there while extending his streak of consecutive seasons with at least 10 home runs to a half-decade.
Best Landing Spot: Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay got basically nothing out of its catcher spot last season, and it has done even less this offseason to address that issue, heading into spring training with a platoon of Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia.
If the Rays were to sign Heim tomorrow, he plausibly could win the starting job on Opening Day. Not sure that's the case with any of the other 29 teams, barring injury.
First Base: Nathaniel Lowe
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2025 Season: .228/.307/.381, 18 HR, 84 RBI, 0.1 bWAR
Could also make a strong argument for Rhys Hoskins in this spot, but at least Nathaniel Lowe had been consistently solid from 2021-24 before sputtering through most of 2025 with the Washington Nationals.
Getting cut by that basement-dwelling team and landing in Boston seemed to revitalize Lowe, though, posting a .790 OPS in his 34 games with the Red Sox. However, they chose to non-tender him while pursuing a bit of a longer-term solution at first base.
Best Landing Spot: Colorado Rockies
If things hadn't gone so poorly in the nation's capital last season, the Nationals would be the obvious answer here, as it's looking like they'll be hoping for the best with Andrés Chaparro at first base. But that reunion seems highly unlikely.
A flyer with the Rockies could be fun, though. It's not like they have anything close to a sure thing entrenched at first base, and it would give him a chance to re-harness his 2022 Silver Slugger swing in a hitter-friendly venue. And if he does have a solid first four months on a one-year, $8M sort of deal, they could flip him for a decent prospect ahead of the deadline.
Third Base: Ramón Urías
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2025 Season: .241/.292/.384, 11 HR, 44 RBI, 2.2 bWAR
Yet another player who is still available after being non-tendered in advance of his final season of arbitration eligibility.
However, while both Jonah Heim and Nathaniel Lowe had disappointing campaigns in 2025, Ramón Urías had some serious value—at least with his glove—amounting to more WAR last season than he had been in either of the previous two.
He did struggle at the dish last year, but Urías had an OPS north of .700 in each of the previous four years and has a career OPS+ of 104. At any rate, he has way more pop than Ke'Bryan Hayes or Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
Best Landing Spot: Athletics
The hot corner was a hot mess for the A's last season, with six different players making at least 20 appearances—and not because they had trouble choosing among their many suitable options, just to be clear.
They do have high hopes for (the other) Max Muncy, but adding a veteran presence with a plus glove could be huge as they look to take one more big step back toward contention in the AL West.
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Middle Infield: Luis Rengifo
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2025 Season: .238/.287/.335, 9 HR, 43 RBI, 10 SB, 0.4 bWAR
Luis Rengifo can play just about anywhere, but second base has been his primary home throughout his seven-season career. And now that even Isiah Kiner-Falefa is off the market, it is slim pickings for anyone looking to add a second baseman or shortstop at this stage in the game.
Last season was a bit of a double-edged sword for Rengifo, who played in 20 more games (147) than in any previous season of his career, but who posted a .622 OPS that ranked third-worst among the 145 qualified hitters.
However, maybe he can get back to the .273 hitter with a .754 OPS that he was from 2022-24?
Best Landing Spot: Kansas City Royals
Kansas City had four productive spots in the lineup last season, and five spots that decidedly were not as productive. And second base fell into the latter bucket.
Even if Michael Massey or Jonathan India has a bounce-back year, though, Rengifo's versatility could be huge for the Royals, who didn't convincingly shore up their outfield woes with the acquisitions of Lane Thomas, Isaac Collins and Kameron Misner.
Outfield: Michael Conforto
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2025 Season: .199/.305/.333, 12 HR, 36 RBI, -0.7 bWAR
Beyond Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, the outfield pool of free agents was already quite shallow when the offseason began. At this point, it's downright bleak with reclamation projects and/or guys in their late 30s.
Michael Conforto could still be a hidden gem, though, still a few weeks away from turning 33.
At any rate, the Dodgers refused to give up on him last year until it came time to set the postseason roster. He made 132 appearances in left field and did finally seem to be turning things around in July before fading back into the abyss.
Bouncing back to 2017-20 form is a pipe dream, but maybe Conforto can at least get back to producing like he did in 2024—20 HR, .759 OPS.
Best Landing Spot: Arizona Diamondbacks
A reunion with the New York Mets could also make sense for Conforto, but they seem rather intent on letting rookie Carson Benge win that left field job.
Arizona definitely needs some outfield help, though, at least until Lourdes Gurriel Jr. makes it back from his torn ACL. As things presently stand, it's looking like they'll have Alek Thomas in center (with a 0.1 bWAR over the past two seasons combined) and Jordan Lawlar moving from short/third to left and hopefully drastically improving upon his career .478 OPS in 108 plate appearances.
Designated Hitter: Andrew McCutchen
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2025 Season: .239/.333/.367, 13 HR, 57 RBI, 0.1 bWAR
It has been a long time since Andrew McCutchen won that NL MVP in 2013. He hasn't even been an All-Star within the past decade, and the .700 OPS that he posted last season was tied for the worst of his career.
At the age of 39, though, he still wants to play another season. And while he isn't nearly as productive as he used to be, we're still talking about a guy who has hit at least 10 home runs in 17 consecutive seasons, as well as a guy who has hardly spent any time on the IL throughout his career, outside of suffering a torn ACL in 2019.
Best Landing Spot: Cleveland Guardians
It was a little surprising—though totally understandable—that the Pirates on Monday invested $12M in Marcell Ozuna to be their DH instead of sticking with what had been their traditional one-year, $5M arrangement with Cutch over the past three seasons.
If he signs with Cleveland, though, he'd get the benefit of staying relatively close to home while providing veteran leadership (and the occasional day off) for an outfield where rookies Chase DeLauter and George Valera are penciled in to start in center and right.
Front-Line Starter: Zac Gallen
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2025 Season: 192.0 IP, 4.83 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 1.1 bWAR
This is the lone spot where there legitimately are a few solid options from which to choose. Lucas Giolito, Chris Bassitt and Zack Littell are all out there as guys who could be No. 2 or No. 3 starters in a lot of rotations.
Zac Gallen is the cream of what's left of the free agent crop, though, even fresh off what was easily the least productive season of his career.
Gallen was an NL Cy Young vote recipient in each of 2020, 2022 and 2023, as well as Arizona's Opening Day starter in each of the past three years. He just turned 30 this past August, and he was definitely better in August and September than he had been through the first four months.
Someone could be getting quite the steal in the 11th hour here.
Best Landing Spot: Los Angeles Angels
For all of the "that would've been nice a year or two ago" moves the Angels have made this winter, this one actually could be a fantastic reclamation project of sorts.
The Halos cleared nearly $40M in 2026 payroll when they restructured the final year of Anthony Rendon's contract, but never actually did anything with all those savings. We thought they might be the ones to land Framber Valdez, but now that he's a Tiger, maybe they'll make Gallen an offer he can't refuse. At any rate, they definitely do need another arm or two.
Back-of-the-Rotation Veteran: Justin Verlander
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Editor's note: Verlander signed a one-year deal with the Tigers on Tuesday, announced Detroit.
2025 Season: 152.0 IP, 3.85 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 1.2 bWAR
Put Max Scherzer in this bucket, too, as the 40-something former teammates with three Cy Young Awards apiece are both still available. Justin Verlander had the much better run through 2025, though, posting a 2.60 ERA over his final 13 appearances.
Verlander is currently eighth on MLB's all-time strikeouts leaderboard, with a non-zero chance of getting up to No. 5 this season. More so than that, though, he wants a third World Series ring, and has presumably been patiently waiting out the market to pick the exact spot where he could be the final piece of the puzzle.
Best Landing Spot: San Francisco Giants
Though he only had a 4-11 record to show for it, pitching with the Giants worked out pretty well last season for JV. Patrick Bailey is arguably the best catcher in the business, and the cavernous confines of Oracle Park certainly don't hurt.
Moreover, the Giants rotation could use one more arm. They signed Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle, but is either one good/durable enough to be their No. 3 starter? Neither has come anywhere close to logging enough innings to qualify for an ERA title within the past four years. (Landon Roupp is hardly a sure thing at No. 5, either.)
Middle Reliever: Danny Coulombe
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2025 Season: 43.0 IP, 2.30 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 1.4 bWAR
Danny Coulombe did not allow a single run until his 22nd appearance last season. The 36-year-old southpaw now has a 2.38 ERA dating back to the beginning of 2022, good for the ninth-lowest mark among pitchers who logged at least 130 innings during that time.
The problem is he barely qualifies for that minimum innings threshold, because there has been at least one IL stint in each of those four seasons. But, you know, enjoy the production while he's healthy. Coulombe was a key piece of the bullpen for the postseason-bound Orioles in both 2023 and 2024.
Best Landing Spot: Miami Marlins
Of the 11 pitchers who led the Marlins in innings pitched in 2025, zero were left-handed. They do hope to have Andrew Nardi back after he missed all of last season with a back injury, but if that's Plan A in the "southpaw reliever" department, why not at least take a flyer on Coulombe?
Even beyond the handedness factor, the Marlins simply did not have a great bullpen last season. They did snag Pete Fairbanks, making that closer the second-highest paid player on their roster. But some more touch-up work is in order.
Closer: Michael Kopech
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2025 Season: 11.0 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, 9.8 K/9, 0.2 bWAR
Classifying Michael Kopech as a closer might be a bit generous. He did have 15 saves in 2024, but otherwise has not tallied a save in his career. He also missed most of last season, dealing with arm inflammation in the first half and a torn meniscus in the second half.
At this point, though, beggars can't be choosers. And the 29-year-old did have a 1.54 ERA across his 38 regular-season appearances with the Dodgers over the past two seasons.
Any team with a question mark in the ninth inning could do a lot worse in their attempt to address it.
Best Landing Spot: Arizona Diamondbacks
Only the Angels blew more saves (33) last season than the Diamondbacks (29), as the Snakes had 17 different pitchers who tallied at least one save.
The leader of that pack—Shelby Miller with 10 successful conversions—is no longer on the roster, and they didn't do anything to replace him. So they might be even worse off in the ninth inning than they already were.
They're clearly trying to win in 2026. They brought back Merrill Kelly and traded for Nolan Arenado. Addressing their suspect save situation ought to be next on the to-do list.
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