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Landing Spots For Biggest MLB Free Agents Still Unsigned
The 2026 MLB season will turn two weeks old on Wednesday, but the offseason isn't over for free agents who are still waiting for the right offer.
It was only a couple days ago that Patrick Corbin finally found a home with the Toronto Blue Jays. Yet even with him accounted for, dozens of players remain on the prowl for work.
Most notably, All-Star right-hander Lucas Giolito is somehow still out there after making 26 starts and posting a 3.41 ERA in 2025. He could help a lot of teams—contenders and non-contenders alike—right now.
After beginning with some honorable mentions, let's dig deeper on Giolito and six other notable free agents and pick out the best potential landing spot for each of them.
Honorable Mentions
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Hitters
Starting Pitchers
Relief Pitchers
7. LHP Nestor Cortes
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Age: 31
2025 Stats: 8 GS, 34.1 IP, 36 H (13 HR), 29 K, 20 BB, 6.29 ERA
Why He's Worth a Look
Nestor Cortes had surgery to repair a tendon in his left arm in October, at which time he wasn't expected to resume baseball activities for nine or 10 months.
This obviously helps explain the apparent lack of interest in the 2022 All-Star, but his recovery timeline doesn't necessarily preclude him pitching later in 2026. He'd be a good guy to sign and stash for a potential playoff run.
Cortes was an above-average starter for the New York Yankees as recently as 2024. And despite that one home run he gave up in the World Series, he mostly dominated lefties to the tune of a .530 OPS that year.
Best Landing Spot: San Diego Padres
The Padres were the last team Cortes pitched for, of course, and he would fit with their recent trend of stacking depth through deals with veteran hurlers.
The Friars have picked up Walker Buehler, Germán Márquez, Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie, yet their rotation depth still looks shaky. Yet given the club's tight budget, doubling down on quantity remains the only way forward.
Other Landing Spots: Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies
6. RHP Marcus Stroman
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Age: 34
2025 Stats: 9 GS, 39.0 IP, 44 H (6 HR), 26 K, 16 BB, 6.23 ERA
Why He's Worth a Look
Marcus Stroman was an All-Star for the second time in 2023, and then his career fell off a cliff after he joined the Yankees ahead of the 2024 season.
Stroman's stuff is just not what it used to be. Whereas he could once sit in the low-to-mid 90s with his sinker, the pitch averaged just 89.8 mph last year. His contact rate was higher than it had been since back in 2015.
Even so, this is a guy with a history of having a chip on his shoulder. He also has a history of throwing strikes and getting ground balls, qualities that are never not useful.
Best Landing Spot: Colorado Rockies
Whether Stroman himself would agree with this is a fair question, but call it a case of worthwhile wishcasting on our part.
The Rockies are experimenting with veteran pitch-to-contact types in 2026, and their starters' ERA is down to 5.31 from 6.65 last year. And for Stroman's sake, it's relevant that they have an elite infield defense so far.
Other Landing Spots: Atlanta Braves, Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals
5. DH/OF Jesse Winker
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Age: 32
2025 Stats: 26 G, 81 PA, 1 HR, 1 SB, .229 AVG, .309 OBP, .400 SLG
Why He's Worth a Look
After something of a career revival in 2024, Jesse Winker never really got his 2025 season off the ground before a back injury finally ended it for good in September.
So, there's that. And despite what happened in 2024, the reality is that Winker has been a replacement-level player (or worse) in three of the last four seasons. His All-Star season in 2021 might as well be eons ago.
And yet, he has a .836 OPS and 128 wRC+ against righties for his career. As most pitchers throw righty, ability like that can't simply be ignored.
Best Landing Spot: Cincinnati Reds
Winker was drafted by the Reds in 2012 and played his first five seasons with them, so this would be a nice homecoming if nothing else.
More to the point, they need bats for an offense that is last in MLB with an output of 28 runs. Winker could platoon with Eugenio Suárez at DH and Spencer Steer in left, and hopefully do some mashing at Great American Ball Park.
Other Landing Spots: San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres
4. LHP Tyler Anderson
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Age: 36
2025 Stats: 26 GS, 136.1 IP, 135 H (28 HR), 104 K, 57 BB, 4.56 ERA
Why He's Worth a Look
If nothing else, Tyler Anderson posts. He made at least 25 starts annually between 2021 and 2025, altogether averaging 5.7 innings per start.
He was also an All-Star in 2022 and again in 2024, mostly owing to loads of trust in his changeup. He's thrown it nearly as often as his fastball for three years now, a strategy reinforced by a steady whiff rate in the high 30s.
Anderson did end last year with a 5.50 ERA over his last 15 starts, so he wasn't exactly on an upswing headed into the offseason. All the same, there aren't many better guys to turn to for innings right now.
Best Landing Spot: Atlanta Braves
As everyone should be well aware by now, Atlanta's rotation has been decimated by injuries. It has a 3.02 ERA anyway, but that is to be taken with a boulder of salt.
At the least, Anderson would be a depth piece for them to stash in the minors until he's needed. At best, he could step right into their rotation as soon as he's ramped up.
Other Landing Spots: Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles
3. LHP Justin Wilson
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Age: 38
2025 Stats: 61 G, 48.1 IP, 48 H (3 HR), 57 K, 20 BB, 3.35 ERA
Why He's Worth a Look
This is assuming Justin Wilson wants to keep pitching. He might not, as Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported in January that the lefty was considering retirement.
There's been no official word on that, and it bears noting that said report also made the case that it's "unlikely" Wilson will keep pitching unless he gets a fair deal from a World Series contender.
Which is what he should be holding out for, frankly. He's been an effective lefty reliever for 13 years, including last year as he held lefty batters to a .574 OPS for the Boston Red Sox.
Best Landing Spot: Seattle Mariners
The Mariners check the box as a serious World Series contender, but do they need a left-handed reliever?
Let's just say it wouldn't be a bad idea. Gabe Speier hasn't looked right since last October, and newcomer Jose A. Ferrer is an odd case of a guy with a big arm yet a small ability to miss bats.
Other Landing Spots: Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds
2. RHP Michael Kopech
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Age: 29
2025 Stats: 14 G, 11.0 IP, 6 H (0 HR), 12 K, 13 BB, 2.45 ERA
Why He's Worth a Look
Despite some bright spots here and there, Michael Kopech's career has yet to fully launch. And if it's a question of why he's still a free agent, you probably have to look no further than his injury history.
However, we're still talking about a guy who touched 101 mph last year. And because he gets good extension out of his 6'3", 220-pound frame, his heat comes in looking even hotter than what the radar gun says.
He might be the most high-reward free agent left standing. And at this point, the risk of signing him is likely minimal.
Best Landing Spot: Arizona Diamondbacks
If the D-backs are to have any hope of taking down the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, they need to do something about their bullpen.
The closer's role is no place for Paul Sewald at this stage, and all the team's relievers have fanned only 30 of the 161 batters they have faced so far. A situation like that is crying out for Kopech's upside.
Other Landing Spots: Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox
1. RHP Lucas Giolito
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Age: 31
2025 Stats: 26 GS, 145.0 IP, 131 H (17 HR), 121 K, 56 BB, 3.41 ERA
Why He's Worth a Look
Nothing gets past MLB front offices anymore, so it's no wonder that a guy who had a 5.06 expected ERA last year still hasn't convinced anyone with his 3.41 actual ERA.
Yet Lucas Giolito does have a history as an All-Star and Cy Young Award contender, and his hot finish to last year (2.51 ERA over 19 starts) didn't come out of nowhere. He got more over-the-top with his arm angle, which improved the shapes of his pitches.
As a result, Giolito was Garrett Crochet's No. 2 for most of last season in Boston. Even if that's almost certainly his ceiling, his floor should be as nothing worse than a No. 5 starter.
Best Landing Spot: Atlanta Braves
Yeah, it's the Braves again. And this pairing has been obvious for a while now.
Assuming he doesn't want to take a huge pay cut on the $19 million he made in 2025, the other factor here is that there are only so many teams that can afford Giolito even on a pro-rated deal. The Braves should be one of them.
Other Landing Spots: Washington Nationals, Chicago White Sox, Athletics
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
