Re-Grading MLB's Biggest Free-Agent Signings of 2025-26 Offseason

With two months of the 2026 Major League Baseball season now done, which of the biggest free-agent signings from this past winter are actually looking like sound investments?

What constitutes a "biggest signing," you might ask?

Well, there were precisely 10 free agents who signed multi-year deals with an AAV of at least $25M, so, voilà, there's our list.

We'll start out with five other signings that were immediately noteworthy, as well as five cheap moves that have turned into steals.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics are current through the start of play on Sunday. Players are presented in alphabetical order by last name.

Other Signings Worth Revisiting

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Josh Naylor, Seattle Mariners (5 years, $92.5M) [Grade: B-]

The entire baseball world expected Naylor to re-sign with the Mariners, but who would have guessed he would get out to such a dreadful start? Naylor was both batting and slugging .102 through his first 15 games played. Fortunately, he has turned quite a corner since then, batting .318 and slugging .473 dating back to April 13.

Edwin Díaz, Los Angeles Dodgers (3 years, $69M) [Grade: F]

Díaz recorded a save in four of his first five appearances with the Dodgers, but there has been nothing nice about this $69M contract since then. He was shelled for a 54.00 ERA over his next two appearances before undergoing elbow surgery that will likely keep him out until after the All-Star break. He is also the subject of reported cockfighting allegations, which MLB is still reviewing, so any potential disciplinary impact remains unclear.

Japan's Finest

Kazuma Okamoto, Toronto Blue Jays (4 years, $60M) [Grade: A-]

Tatsuya Imai, Houston Astros (3 years, $54M) [Grade: F]

Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox (2 years, $34M) [Grade: A+]

Whether it was because no one wanted to pay a gigantic posting fee or because there were concerns about how well these players would translate from NPB to MLB, none of the three came all that close to our $25M threshold to be deemed a biggest signing.

All three were big news, though, particularly Murakami's shocking decision to sign a short-term deal with the White Sox.

And while the start of Imai's MLB career hasn't been the least bit encouraging, it's hard to argue with what the sluggers have accomplished. Okamoto has cooled off in recent weeks, but he had 10 home runs in his first 35 games while Murakami got to 17 blasts in 45 games and might be on the fast track to AL Rookie of the Year.

5 Big Bargain Signings [All A+ Grades]

J.J. Bleday, Cincinnati Reds (1 year, $1.4M)

Michael Conforto, Chicago Cubs (1 year, $2M)

Patrick Corbin, Toronto Blue Jays (1 year, $1M)

Nathaniel Lowe, Cincinnati Reds (1 year, $1.75M)

Martín Pérez, Atlanta Braves (1 year, $3.5M)

These signings went completely unnoticed by the vast majority of fans, but each has been huge. Bleday and Lowe have become two of Cincinnati's most important position players, out of nowhere. Conforto went from a poor-hitting pariah with the Dodgers to the Cubs' best slugger. And where would the injury-riddled rotations of Toronto and Atlanta be without Corbin and Pérez?

Sometimes for some teams, it's better to be lucky than rich in free agency.

Pete Alonso, Baltimore Orioles

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Contract: 5 years, $155M

Stats: .229/.312/.448, 10 HR, 32 RBI, 2 SB, 1.2 bWAR

Grade: B-

Initially, this looked like it could be a "Chris Davis 2.0" type of franchise-crippling disaster of a signing. After Pete Alonso had a 1.143 OPS through the first 36 games of his final season with the Mets, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn for the first few weeks of his O's tenure.

The Polar Bear had a frigid .198 AVG and .642 OPS through 23 games.

He has been much better as of late, though, with eight home runs, 24 RBI and an .855 OPS over his last 28 games played. That's a 162-game pace of 46 home runs and 139 RBI, which would be a career-high in the latter department and a fourth season with at least 40 dingers.

Unfortunately, it has not done the Orioles much good. They went 11-12 during his slow start, but have gone an even worse 11-17 since Alonso started to turn things around. They might be putting together a trade deadline fire sale for a second consecutive year, which definitively was not part of the plan when they gave Alonso that massive contract.

However, don't blame him. It's mostly because they've given up the most runs of any team in the majors since April 21. (Tyler O'Neill batting .109 during that window hasn't helped matters, either.)

Cody Bellinger, New York Yankees

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Contract: 5 years, $162.5M (with opt outs available after 2028 and 2029)

Stats: .273/.382/.475, 6 HR, 32 RBI, 5 SB, 2.8 bWAR

Grade: A+

Cody Bellinger's start to the season wasn't much more reassuring than Pete Alonso's. He ended April with a modest .723 OPS, which even included the two-homer, four-times-on-base gem in a blowout win over the Royals on April 18. Remove that outlier and his OPS drops to .633 in 29 games played.

Even so, his value added via outfield defense helped keep this from feeling like a complete bust of a signing.

And since the calendar flipped to May, Bellinger's bat has ignited, batting .320 with 14 extra-base hits and a 1.048 OPS.

(While both Aaron Judge and Ben Rice are sitting just north of .800 in May, we might add. That dynamic duo carried the Yankees through their hot start, but that offense would be floundering right now were it not for Bellinger.)

As a result, Bellinger has become New York's most valuable position player, regardless of whether you prefer Baseball-Reference or FanGraphs as your go to calculator of wins above replacement.

It sure does feel like a lifetime ago that this former NL MVP was disappointing enough that the Dodgers non-tendered him in November 2022.

Bo Bichette, New York Mets

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Contract: 3 years, $126M (with opt outs available after 2026 and 2027)

Stats: .217/.266/.316, 5 HR, 27 RBI, 1 SB, -0.2 bWAR

Grade: F

When this signing was first announced, the part that gave everyone some pause was Bo Bichette's impending shift from shortstop to third base, given how dreadful his defensive metrics had been while with Toronto.

Lo and behold, his defense is the one part that hasn't been a problem.

Bichette has been primarily manning shortstop since early May, when the Mets lost both Francisco Lindor and Ronny Mauricio to the IL in the span of about a week. However, he was more than holding his own at the hot corner, worth two outs above average at third base.

But after triple-slashing .294/.337/.469 and posting a 121 OPS+ over the course of his seven seasons with the Blue Jays, Bichette has been a shell of his former self with an OPS+ of just 67, even after his recent surge of three home runs in two games against Washington.

As we also mentioned in Bichette's section of our "It's Getting Late Early for These Stars" article from Sunday, there's a growing concern among fans that the left knee he injured last September isn't quite right, as he is also running a bit slower than usual.

Given how quickly the Mets pivoted to signing Bichette after losing out on the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes, could it be that they overlooked or disregarded a red flag in his medicals?

Alex Bregman, Chicago Cubs

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Contract: 5 years, $175M ($70M of which is deferred to 2034-41)

Stats: .250/.336/.348, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 2 SB, 0.9 bWAR

Grade: C-

One thing to consider when evaluating Alex Bregman's start with the Cubs is that they didn't particularly need him in the first place.

Even in Jeff Passan's ESPN article about the Bregman signing, it only took a few paragraphs before he noted they had all four of their primary infielders from 2025 returning and that "Chicago probably will consider trading either Gold Glove-winning second baseman Nico Hoerner or third baseman Matt Shaw to make room for Bregman."

They didn't trade either one away, though, opting to turn Shaw into a utilityman/outfielder and extend Hoerner (who would have been a free agent this winter) through 2032, with plans for Bregman's bat and veteran leadership to be the luxury addition that made them the team to beat.

However, Bregman has been one of the weakest links of the lineup, sitting on a .684 OPS after 10 consecutive seasons at .768 or better. All four of his home runs have been solo shots, and two of those came back in March. He has just four extra-base hits in the past month.

Meanwhile, Chicago's starting rotation has been equal parts underwhelming and injury-prone and is the area that they really ought to have improved upon if they had this $175M burning a hole in their pocket.

Compared to, say, Bo Bichette, Bregman has been fine. The Cubs were definitely expecting more, though.

Dylan Cease, Toronto Blue Jays

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Contract: 7 years, $210M ($64M of which is deferred to 2033-46)

Stats: 57.1 IP, 2.98 ERA, 2.31 FIP, 1.22 WHIP, 13.2 K/9, 1.5 bWAR

Grade: A+

When the Blue Jays shelled out the big bucks for Dylan Cease, they knew to expect durability and plenty of Ks.

Over the previous five seasons, he struck out 1,106 batters, which was not only good for the most in the majors, but 65 more than the first runner-up (Zack Wheeler). And after Sunday's outing against the Pirates, Cease is presently the MLB leader in strikeouts with 92 of them.

Much less certain, however, was what type of ERA Cease would bring north of the border. Because despite his elite ability to generate whiffs, he had an ERA north of 4.50 in each of 2023 and 2025 and only recorded a quality start in eight of his 32 appearances last season.

Thus far, though, he has been stellar, entering that game against Pittsburgh with the lowest xFIP and the second-lowest FIP in the American League, trailing only New York's Cam Schlittler in the latter department.

Cease is easily one of the top candidates for the AL Cy Young, and that's in spite of an unusually high BABIP against of .339. Just wait until that luck starts to turn in his favor.

[Cease left Sunday's start in the fifth inning with left hamstring discomfort, but the initial hope is that he won't miss a turn through the rotation.]

Michael King, San Diego Padres

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Contract: 3 years, $75M (with opt outs available after 2026 and 2027)

Stats: 58.1 IP, 2.31 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 1.06 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 2.1 bWAR

Grade: A

Michael King is the lone player in the top 10 who didn't sign a nine-figure contract, but that was clearly a product of his injury history.

Because from a "productivity when healthy" standpoint, not many pitchers had been better. King had a 2.91 ERA over the previous four seasons, good for the fifth-lowest mark among pitchers who logged at least 400 innings. However, there were concerns about the fact that he made it to 105 innings in only one of those seasons (2024), missing half of his walk year with both knee and shoulder injuries.

So far, so good, though, as King has been the clear ace of a starting rotation that can't seem to keep anyone else healthy.

In six of his first 10 starts, King allowed either zero or one runs, including a seven-inning, scoreless gem in a 1-0 victory over the Dodgers last week.

One mild concern is that his walk rate (10.5 percent) is the highest of his career. But like Blake Snell when he won the NL Cy Young with the Padres in 2023, King has thus far done a phenomenal job of not letting those free passes turn into runs. If that continues and he stays healthy, it could be a special season.

Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies

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Contract: 5 years, $150M

Stats: .220/.344/.597, 20 HR, 36 RBI, 1.5 bWAR

Grade: A+

It didn't take long for Kyle Schwarber to make Phillies fans ecstatic about this re-signing. In his first plate appearance of the season, he hit an opposite field home run off Nathan Eovaldi en route to a victory.

It was the first of many, as Schwarber has somewhat run away with the MLB lead in home runs, bashing 20 within his first 45 games. That included a preposterous surge of nine home runs in the span of 35 plate appearances, after which he was on pace to finish the year with 72.

But can we even pretend to be surprised anymore when Schwarber gets on one of these heaters? This is, after all, the same guy who racked up 16 home runs in the span of 18 games in June 2021, as well as the same guy who led the National League in home runs in each of 2022 and 2025, going off for 56 last year.

Even in that magical campaign, though, he didn't get to 20 home runs until game No. 64.

He might be gearing up to make some serious history this year.

Ranger Suárez, Boston Red Sox

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Contract: 5 years, $130M

Stats: 48.2 IP, 2.40 ERA, 2.99 FIP, 1.01 WHIP, 8.0 K/9, 1.1 bWAR

Grade: B

In two of his nine starts, Ranger Suárez went eight scoreless innings, allowing a combined total of three hits. In those outings, he looked to be worth every penny of this contract and then some.

However, in five of his nine starts, Suárez didn't even complete five innings, which is rather unfathomable for what is one of the 20 highest-paid pitchers in the game right now.

One of those starts was cut short due to hamstring tightness, but he hasn't made it to 85 pitches in any start outside of the two gems noted above. And considering durability/back issues was the two-fold question mark with Suárez—who has yet to reach 160 innings pitched in a season in his career—that's not a promising first two months.

That having been said, it's kind of hard to argue with what would be the fourth-best ERA among qualified AL pitchers, if Suárez had enough innings to qualify. At least he's putting the team in a position to win more often than not. He's just taxing the bullpen more than an ace-salaried arm should.

Kyle Tucker, Los Angeles Dodgers

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Contract: 4 years, $240M ($30M of which is deferred to 2036-45; can opt out after 2027 or 2028)

Stats: .247/.353/.396, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 4 SB, 1.0 bWAR

Grade: D

At this time last year, Kyle Tucker had a .922 OPS and was on pace for 35 home runs and 44 stolen bases. He was one of the top five candidates for NL MVP.

At this point in the 2024 campaign, he had a 1.034 OPS, on pace for 56 home runs and 28 stolen bases. He was one of the top five candidates for AL MVP.

But now that he got his gargantuan contract, Tucker sure has fallen by the wayside with a .749 OPS, on pace for 13 home runs and 13 stolen bases.

He isn't even one of the five most valuable players on his team, let alone in the league.

Tucker's batting average and on-base percentage aren't far off from his career norms, but what happened to the four-time All-Star who slugged .514 over the past seven seasons? His barrel rate had been north of 10 percent in each of the last five years, but he's only at 5.6 percent this season.

And where are the stolen bases? In 78 opportunities, he has only officially attempted four. Comparatively, he had 28 attempts in 239 opportunities last year, so he's running less than half as often as he used to.

The Dodgers are getting along just fine without Tucker doing any heavy lifting, but that doesn't change the fact that he has been a far cry from his usual self and nowhere near worth the second-highest AAV in the majors.

Framber Valdez, Detroit Tigers

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Contract: 3 years, $115M ($20M of which is deferred to 2030-39; can opt out after 2027)

Stats: 55.0 IP, 4.58 ERA, 4.05 FIP, 1.40 WHIP, 7.4 K/9, 0.3 bWAR

Grade: D-

In Game 1 of Sunday's double-header in Baltimore, Framber Valdez allowed just two hits in six innings of work, tallying his seventh quality start of the season. He has allowed a combined total of eight earned runs in those seven outings.

The non-quality starts have been a major problem, though, particularly the one in which he gave up 10 runs against the Red Sox before getting ejected (and suspended/fined) for drilling Trevor Story.

Notably, that calamity came the day after the news broke that Tarik Skubal was undergoing elbow surgery. It was a spot in which the Tigers desperately needed their co-ace to deliver in a big way.

Instead, what Valdez delivered was the worst start of his entire career, at least as far as Bill James' game score is concerned. And the Tigers have been in a complete freefall ever since, even losing his quality start on Sunday when Colton Cowser walked it off with a mammoth shot off Kenley Jansen.

Over the previous six seasons, Valdez had a 3.23 ERA, finishing each year at 3.66 or below. He also averaged at least 8.4 K/9 in each of those seasons. But he hasn't been that pitcher this season.

We might be seeing why it took until mid-February for him to sign a three-year deal.