Grading MLB's Flurry of Free-Agent Contract Signings Before Spring Training
Every February, there seems to be a mad rush on last-minute signings in Major League Baseball.
It's almost as if teams don't notice their roster holes until the time comes to start sending out spring training invites, and then they quickly decide something could be addressed via a veteran free agent.
Though it does feel like we've been scraping the bottom of the free agency barrel for a little while now, sometimes these February acquisitions end up being huge. On top of Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso holding out until mid-February last winter, Jorge Polanco, Max Scherzer, Harrison Bader, Ramón Laureano, Gavin Sheets and Kike Hernández all signed in the first half of the calendar's second month before playing key roles for playoff teams.
With that in mind, let's grade the couple dozen signings that have gone down since the beginning of February.
Note: Date is based on when news of the signing broke, as opposed to when the official signing occurred. For instance, the Giants didn't officially announce the Luis Arraez signing until Feb. 10, but news of the agreement came out on Jan. 31, so it is not included here.
American League East
1 of 7
RHP Chris Bassitt signs one-year, $18.5M deal with Baltimore Orioles
Grade: C+
There's definite value in having a deep stable of options for the starting rotation. Baltimore gets an above-average grade for improving depth on that front.
But at this stage of his career, is 37-year-old Bassitt much of an improvement upon the quintet of Rogers, Bradish, Baz, Kremer and Eflin?
And isn't it weird that Baltimore's second-highest paid player is now a pitcher who they pummeled to the tune of 19 earned runs in 9.1 innings pitched at Camden Yards over the past three years?
Kind of figured if the O's were going to go for one of the better pitchers left on the market in February, they would've swung bigger for Zac Gallen or way bigger for Framber Valdez. But fingers crossed they didn't just commit to a more expensive version of 2025 Charlie Morton.
RHP Nick Martinez signs one-year, $13M deal with Tampa Bay Rays
Grade: F
Mostly, it's just difficult to understand this one.
Martinez could be a solid swing starter/reliever for a team looking for that final pitching piece of its playoff puzzle. But the Rays aren't in that spot. They spent this entire offseason dumping salary—declining Pete Fairbanks' option, non-tendering Christopher Morel, trading away Brandon Lowe, Josh Lowe, Shane Baz and more—to then make Nick Martinez their highest-paid player? Did Patrick Zalupski and Co. get a nastygram from MLB/MLBPA about what was shaping up to be a $70M payroll on Opening Day and this was their response?
UTIL Isiah Kiner-Falefa signs one-year, $6M deal with Boston Red Sox
Grade: C-
The acquisition itself is fine. The Red Sox certainly needed some experienced help in the infield, subsequently trading for Caleb Durbin, too. But after all of the talk of bringing Alex Bregman back, trading for Ketel Marte or Isaac Paredes, signing either Munetaka Murakami or Kazuma Okamato and about a dozen other intriguing options, settling for a versatile glove who has never posted a .700 OPS in his eight-year career was a real let down. The hope here is that they won't actually need him.
1B Paul Goldschmidt signs one-year, $4M deal with New York Yankees
Grade: A-
One year after signing Goldschmidt for $12.5M, this $4M salary speaks volumes to what is now expected from the 38-year-old former NL MVP. But he did hit .274 in 2025, he still has a solid glove and the Yankees needed someone other than Ben Rice who can man first base. Hard to argue with this reunion.
American League Central
2 of 7
LHP Framber Valdez signs three-year, $115M deal with Detroit Tigers [mutual option for a fourth year; Valdez can opt out after second year]
Grade: A+
An AAV north of $38M is more than perhaps anyone expected Valdez to get. Most projections had him penciled in for something in the $28M-$34M range.
However, those projections also assumed he'd be getting a five-year or six-year deal, and not needing to worry whether Valdez will still be a top-of-the-rotation caliber starter for his age-36 through age-38 seasons was enough of a benefit for the Tigers to pay a premium for the next couple of ideally great years.
This is what we had been expecting the Tigers to do from the moment the offseason began. Not specifically Valdez—I thought it would be Ranger Suárez—but inking a multi-year deal with one of the top arms on the market to A) really go for it in what will probably be their final season with Tarik Skubal and B) preemptively get a 2027 Opening Day starter in place always made more sense for Detroit than trading Skubal away.
At this point, Detroit is pretty clearly the AL Central favorite.
RHP Justin Verlander signs one-year, $13M deal with Detroit Tigers
Grade: A
Two late Tigers moves for starting pitchers; love them both. Verlander goes back to where it all began, and he doesn't need to be the ace that he was many moons ago. In fact, he'll presumably be Detroit's No. 4 starter, definitely behind Skubal and Valdez and probably behind Jack Flaherty with Casey Mize bringing up the rear.
Out of nowhere, what used to be a "Skubal and the Pipps" rotation has become probably a top-five starting five in the majors.
RHP Erick Fedde signs one-year, $1.5M deal with Chicago White Sox
Grade: B+
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. And for the first four months of the 2024 campaign, Fedde made quite the name for himself with the White Sox before landing in St. Louis as part of that Tommy Edman three-team swap. Maybe he can rediscover his prowess from two seasons ago. But for $1.5M on a team that's not exactly supposed to contend in 2026, no big deal if he doesn't.
American League West
3 of 7
LHP Jordan Montgomery signs one-year, $1.25M deal with Texas Rangers
Grade: A+
Montgomery struggled mightily with the Diamondbacks in 2024 before missing all of 2025 to Tommy John surgery. That recovery will also cause him to miss probably the first half of 2026.
But, really? $1.25M? That's it for Monty? (And wasn't part of the idea behind Milwaukee trading for him over the summer that they would re-sign him this winter? The Brewers couldn't make this gamble?)
There are still-publicly-unknown "performance incentives" in the deal, so maybe he ends up costing the Rangers more like $10M if he comes back and delivers in a big way. But a potential $1.25M sunk cost is an impressive gamble on a guy who we thought would be signing something more like a $125M contract this time two years ago, after how well he pitched down the stretch for the 2023 Rangers.
RHP Aaron Civale signs one-year, $6M deal with Athletics
Grade: B+
Until they get out of that postage stamp of a Triple-A ballpark in West Sacramento, the A's are about as attractive a destination for free agent pitchers as Coors Field has been for decades. In Civale, though, they're getting a veteran who has logged 7.1 scoreless innings pitched in the postseason over the past two seasons, and they're getting him for $1.5M less than the Diamondbacks paid for Michael Soroka.
RHP Scott Barlow signs one-year, $2M deal with Athletics
Grade: A-
See: Civale, Aaron, but change the 7.1 innings to a 1.2. Barlow hasn't been a great reliever in recent seasons, posting an ERA in the 4.20-4.40 range in three consecutive years. But he has also appeared in at least 63 games in five consecutive years and could be a key piece of the set-up equation for a team lacking for established late-inning options.
LHP Brent Suter signs one-year, $1.25M deal with Los Angeles Angels
Grade: B-
For a guy who pitches to contact, it's rather remarkable that Suter only had a 3.69 ERA over the past three seasons while calling Coors Field and the Great American Ballpark his homes. Getting away from those homer havens could be big for the southpaw who might do a fair amount of pitching in the eighth inning.
National League East
4 of 7
C Jonah Heim signs one-year, $1.25M deal with Atlanta Braves
Grade: A
With Sean Murphy likely to miss the start of the season while recovering from hip surgery, the Braves needed a stopgap solution at the backstop position. And Heim should be a serviceable backup to Drake Baldwin until Murphy is ready to return.
Heim made $4.575M last season before the Rangers non-tendered him. Kind of surprising the Braves were able to get him for so little, even though he did just barely post a .600 OPS in each of the past two seasons. If he plays well at all in April and May, this switch-hitting catcher could end up being a great trade chip.
RHP Miles Mikolas signs one-year, $2.25M deal with Washington Nationals
Grade: C+
With MacKenzie Gore now with the Texas Rangers, Mikolas might actually be the Nationals' Opening Day starter—which says a lot more about this pitching staff than it does Mikolas' production at this stage of his career. Regardless of where he lands in this rotation, what he does bring to the table is some veteran leadership for an otherwise fairly young group. And for $2.25M, at least he's bringing that veteran leadership at a fraction of the cost of what they paid Patrick Corbin to get shelled once a week from 2021-24.
OF MJ Melendez signs one-year, $1.5M deal with New York Mets
Grade: D-
The Mets absolutely needed some outfield depth, but is Melendez even playable for them? He went 5-for-60 at the dish last season and has a .215/.297/.388 triple-slash in his four years in the big leagues. And with a career fielding run value of minus-35, they basically paid double for a version of Nick Castellanos that doesn't hit very well.
RHP Chris Paddack signs one-year, $4M deal with Miami Marlins
Grade: D
Since the beginning of 2020, Paddack has a 5.06 ERA and a bWAR of 0.5. He was at least relatively healthy for a change in 2025, but the head-scratcher here is that A) they traded away Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers for seven prospects to then take a flyer on a No. 5 starter who hasn't been good in six years and B) made Paddack the third-highest paid player on the entire roster.
LHP John King signs one-year, $1.25M deal with Miami Marlins
Grade: B
King had a rough run through 2025 with the Cardinals, posting a 4.66 ERA and 1.63 WHIP, but he had been solid for the Red Birds over the previous two seasons. And as we noted in last week's look at best fits for top remaining free agents, Miami's 11 team leaders in innings pitched last season were all right-handed. Getting any lefty into the mix was a near-must.
National League Central
5 of 7
3B/DH Eugenio Suárez signs one-year, $15M deal with Cincinnati Reds
Grade: A+
Without a doubt, Cincinnati needed some lumber in its lineup. Rookie Sal Stewart could provide some pop at first base. Maybe JJ Bleday does some damage from the outfield. But neither one is a sure thing, and this team didn't have a single player make at least 120 plate appearances with an OPS north of .777.
Re-enter, Suárez.
They sent him packing during the 2021-22 offseason after a very uncharacteristic OPS+ of 82, but he has bounced back with 132 home runs over the last four years, particularly mashing the cover off the ball this past season with the Diamondbacks.
He'll pretty much exclusively serve as the DH with Ke'Bryan Hayes entrenched at the hot corner. But that's fine. His glove was never his strongest suit.
DH Marcell Ozuna signs one-year, $12M deal with Pittsburgh Pirates
Grade: A-
It's nowhere near the Kyle Schwarber splash they were talking about at the beginning of the offseason, but Ozuna could be a mighty fine final piece of the offseason puzzle. Prior to Ozuna, the Pirates had already added Brandon Lowe, Ryan O'Hearn, Jhostynxon Garcia and Jake Mangum to a lineup that might actually be able to provide Paul Skenes with some run support for a change.
RHP José Urquidy signs one-year, $1.5M deal with Pittsburgh Pirates
Grade: C
Urquidy missed all of 2024 and essentially all of 2025 to Tommy John surgery, but the Pirates are hoping (for less than double a league minimum salary) he can bounce back to something resembling the guy who had a 3.74 ERA in 342.0 innings pitched across 2019-22. If Urquidy shows any sort of potential of doing so in spring training, he'll likely break camp as the Pirates No. 5 starter, at least until Jared Jones returns from the 60-day IL.
C Gary Sánchez signs one-year, $1.75M deal with Milwaukee Brewers
Grade: B+
With this one move, the Brewers more than doubled their offseason-to-date spending on free agents. Signing Sánchez was a bit of a necessary move, though, in case it becomes clear over the next six weeks that Jeferson Quero isn't ready to serve as No. 2 behind William Contreras on the Brewers depth chart. Sánchez filled the backup DH/C role admirably for the Brewers in 2024.
IF Luis Rengifo signs one-year, $3.5M deal with Milwaukee Brewers
Grade: B
Once again, with this one move, the Brewers more than doubled what they had spent up until that point. And once again, it was a bit necessary, as their third-base situation was looking mighty suspect after trading Caleb Durbin to the Red Sox. If Rengifo can bounce back from a rough 2025 to resume producing like he did from 2022-24, he may well be their primary starter at the hot corner.
RHP Shelby Miller signs two-year, $2.5M deal with Chicago Cubs
Grade: C
The deal also includes incentives based on performance/availability in 2027, but Miller is most likely going to miss the entire 2026 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. As such, sure, we'll give this a C for now and keep an ear out for any rehab news.
National League West (Part 1)
6 of 7
(We're splitting this division into two sections, as the NL West has had an inordinate number of late acquisitions.)
RHP Zac Gallen re-signs one-year, $22.025M deal with Arizona Diamondbacks
Grade: A+
After rejecting the $22.025M qualifying offer and exploring free agency for nearly three months, Gallen discovered a market that has evidently forgotten just how good he used to be. So three months later, he ends up back with the Diamondbacks on a "prove it" deal of sorts, hoping to cash in on a major deal next winter instead.
What a fantastic late development for the Snakes, who were gearing up to have Mike Soroka at the No. 5 spot in their rotation. They instantly become a more legitimate threat to make the postseason after entering spring training with a win total line of 79.5.
They'll need him to be an ace-caliber pitcher for more than just two months this time around, though. But if he can tap back into what he used to be in 2022 and 2023, Arizona should be a contender for a wild-card spot.
UTIL Miguel Andujar signs one-year, $4M deal with San Diego Padres
Grade: A-
If you're going to lose Luis Arráez in free agency, hard to argue with bringing in Luis Arráez Lite to replace him. Andujar hit .302 over the past two seasons. And though he isn't a good defender, his ability to play first, third, left or right will be huge for a Padres team with virtually no positional depth worth mentioning.
LHP Jose Quintana signs one-year, $6M deal with Colorado Rockies
RHP Tomoyuki Sugano signs one-year, $5.1M deal with Colorado Rockies
Grade: B
Listen, we don't expect these two veterans to put Colorado back on the map. But between these additions and the signing of Michael Lorenzen last month, at least they're trying something for once?
With the exception of re-signing Jhoulys Chacin a couple of times, the Rockies had not signed a starting pitcher in free agency since getting Kyle Kendrick in 2015. So, adding three arms to the rotation is kind of cool, even if we are talking about spending close to $20M on three guys in their mid-to-late 30s who weren't getting much interest from elsewhere.
National League West (Part 2)
7 of 7
OF Nick Castellanos signs one-year, $780k deal with San Diego Padres
RHP Germán Márquez and RHP Griffin Canning sign one-year deals for TBD salary with San Diego Padres
Grade: A-
The Padres had a busy Valentine's Day, adding two veteran pitchers—Canning recovering from an Achilles tear, Márquez hoping to recover from a 6.70 ERA by finally getting out of Colorado—while also adding Castellanos on a league-minimum salary.
The pitchers add some depth of options with plenty of MLB experience to a rotation with almost no depth.
Would be fun if Castellanos amounts to anything in San Diego after the offseason-long saga of Philadelphia trying and failing to give him away. But even if it plays out like it did with Justin Upton four years ago—released by the Angels before the final season of his five-year deal before signing with the Mariners for a league-minimum salary and posting a .471 OPS in 17 games played—at least the Padres are spending virtually nothing for the flyer.
1B Carlos Santana signs one-year, $2M deal with Arizona Diamondbacks
RHP Paul Sewald signs one-year, $1.5M deal with Arizona Diamondbacks
Grade: C-
Santana is probably going to be the primary starting first baseman, at least until Tyler Locklear returns from his UCL and labrum surgeries, which could be quite a while. Meanwhile, Sewald could factor into the closer mix, as the Diamondbacks' bullpen situation remains bleak. But Santana turns 40 in two months and Sewald has been neither particularly healthy nor particularly good over the past two seasons. There's a reason they were both available for next to nothing this late in the game, but maybe they'll make an impact.
RHP Evan Phillips re-signs one-year, $6.5M deal with Los Angeles Dodgers
UTIL Kiké Hernández re-signs one-year, $4.5M deal with Los Angeles Dodgers
Grade: B+
Phillips is recovering from Tommy John surgery and probably won't be back until after the All-Star Break, but he could be a welcome re-addition to the bullpen. Meanwhile, Hernández will reprise his role of super utilityman alongside Miguel Rojas. The rich get richer by re-hiring their own.
