Ranking the Top 25 MLB Players of Upcoming 2024-25 Free Agent Class

After one of the slowest-moving MLB offseasons in recent memory headlined by Shohei Ohtani's free agency, there is a certain level of uncertainty surrounding the upcoming free-agent class.

Outfielder Juan Soto and former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes are the biggest names poised to hit the open market after both players were traded during the offseason ahead of their contract years, while extension candidates Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso have yet to hammer out long-term deals with free agency on the horizon.

Ahead, we've laid out our preliminary ranking of the top 25 free agents based on expected production, age and potential earning power.

These rankings will be updated throughout the season, and 2024 performance will become a bigger factor as sample sizes grow.

Notable players with opt-outs and team or player options are listed separately along with some honorable mentions.

Notable Opt-Out Candidates

• 1B/OF Cody Bellinger (opt-out)
• 3B Matt Chapman (opt-out)
• RHP Gerrit Cole (opt-out)
  
• 1B Rhys Hoskins (player option)
• LHP Jordan Montgomery (player option)
• LHP Robbie Ray (opt-out)
• LHP Blake Snell (opt-out)
• RHP Michael Wacha (player option)
• RHP Nathan Eovaldi (vesting player option with 156 IP in 2024)
• RHP Justin Verlander (vesting player option with 140 IP in 2024)

Honorable Mentions

• 1B Josh Bell
• RHP Alex Cobb
  
• 1B/3B J.D. Davis
• C Elias Díaz
• IF Brandon Drury
• RHP Carlos Estévez
• LHP Andrew Heaney
  
• OF Max Kepler
• OF Kevin Kiermaier
• RHP José Leclerc
• RHP Michael Lorenzen
• 2B Brandon Lowe (club option)
• DH J.D. Martinez
• LHP John Means
• LHP James Paxton
• DH Joc Pederson (mutual option)
• LHP Martín Pérez
• 2B Jorge Polanco (club option)
• RHP Ryan Pressly (mutual option)
• LHP Tanner Scott
• RHP Spencer Turnbull
• DH Justin Turner

25. C Danny Jansen (Age: 29)

Over the past three seasons, Jansen has posted a 120 OPS+ while averaging 14 home runs, 42 RBI and 1.9 WAR while serving as a platoon option behind the plate. He is the best catching option in a market that will also include Elias Díaz, Kyle Higashioka, Yan Gomes and Jacob Stallings.

24. RHP Paul Sewald (Age: 33)

Sewald has yet to make his 2024 debut while nursing an oblique injury, but he has been a terrific late-inning option in recent years. He had a 3.12 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 11.9 K/9 with a career-high 34 saves in 39 opportunities with the Mariners and D-backs last season, and as long as his injury isn't a nagging issue, he should be one of the better relievers available.

23. IF/OF Amed Rosario (Age: 28)

After a disappointing 2023 season, Rosario settled for a one-year, $1.5 million from the Rays as he looks to return to the 4.2-WAR form he showed in 2022 with the Guardians. He is hitting .359/.367/.526 for a 161 OPS+ in 79 plate appearances to begin the year, and he has started games at second base, shortstop and right field.

22. LHP Yusei Kikuchi (Age: 32)

Kikuchi had the best season of his stateside career in 2023, finishing 11-6 with a 3.86 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 181 strikeouts in 167.2 innings. The left-hander is off to a similarly strong start in the final season for a three-year, $36 million deal with a 2.28 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 33 strikeouts in 27.2 innings over his first five starts.

21. RHP Jack Flaherty (Age: 28)

After topping 100 innings for the first time since 2019, Flaherty inked a one-year, $14 million deal with the Tigers as he looks to continue rebuilding his value. Still only 28 years old, he has a 4.44 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with a terrific 30-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio, showing better command than he had the past several years in St. Louis.

20. RHP Charlie Morton (Age: 40)

Morton has made at least 30 starts three years in a row for the Braves, serving as a veteran workhorse while posting a 3.77 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 604 strikeouts in 521 innings during that stretch. He's the third-oldest player to appear in an MLB game this season, behind Justin Verlander and Jesse Chavez.

19. OF Michael Conforto (Age: 31)

After missing the 2022 season recovering from shoulder surgery, Conforto signed a two-year, $36 million deal with the Giants, but he scuffled to a 99 OPS+ with 15 home runs and 58 RBI in 125 games last year. The former All-Star is looking more like his pre-injury self in the early going this year, hitting .271/.311/.506 for a 132 OPS+ with five home runs and 16 RBI in 90 plate appearances.

18. RHP Shane Bieber (Age: 28)

Bieber was comfortably in the top 10 of these rankings before he underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery on April 12. The good news is that he should be able to return at some point during the 2025 season, and he will be a prime candidate for a two-year, back-loaded deal. The 2020 AL Cy Young winner is also one of the younger starting pitchers on the market, which works in his favor.

17. OF Alex Verdugo (Age: 27)

Verdugo posted a 105 OPS+ and averaged 2.6 WAR per 162 games during his four seasons with the Red Sox, but he never quite lived up to being the centerpiece of the Mookie Betts blockbuster with the Dodgers. He has a 125 OPS+ with 20 hits and 12 walks in 23 games to kick off his contract year with the Yankees.

16. RHP Max Scherzer (Age: 39)

It remains to be seen how much Scherzer has left in the tank as he continues his recovery from surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back. The future Hall of Famer is on track to be back on the mound sooner than expected, and he could return by mid-May. He turns 40 years old in July and his 2,834.2 innings pitched rank second among active pitchers, so he will likely be limited to one-year deals going forward.

15. OF Anthony Santander (Age: 29)

With back-to-back strong seasons in 2022 (120 OPS+, 33 HR, 89 RBI) and 2023 (120 OPS+, 28 HR, 95 RBI), Santander has established himself as a consistent middle-of-the-order run producer. He doesn't provide much secondary value with his defense or speed, but his power and the fact that he doesn't turn 30 until October should lead to a multi-year deal.

14. RHP Clay Holmes (Age: 31)

Holmes has emerged as one of the better closers in baseball since joining the Yankees in an under-the-radar deal with the Pirates at the 2021 deadline. The sinkerballer has a 2.34 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 9.7 K/9 with 52 saves in 63 chances over 164 appearances in pinstripes, and he should receive a significant raise over the $6 million he is earning in 2024.

13. 1B Paul Goldschmidt (Age: 36)

Goldschmidt is one of the best offensive players of his generation, and he was still putting up numbers a year ago when he hit .268/.363/.447 for a 120 OPS+ with 31 doubles, 25 home runs and 80 RBI in a 3.4-WAR season. He is off to a slow start this year, but there is still plenty of time for him to prove he can still be an impact bat. A deadline trade would remove the possibility of a qualifying offer and could broaden his market.

12. OF Teoscar Hernández (Age: 31)

Hernández is one of only 23 players across baseball with at least 150 home runs since the start of the 2018 season. And after a 26-homer, 93-RBI season with the Mariners last year, he is off to a strong start playing on a one-year, $23.5 million deal with the Dodgers. The two-time Silver Slugger winner will take another crack at securing a multi-year deal this winter.

11. 1B Christian Walker (Age: 33)

With 8.8 WAR combined in 2022 and 2023, Walker trailed only Freddie Freeman (12.8), Paul Goldschmidt (11.0) and Matt Olson (10.7) among all first basemen during that span. He has back-to-back 30-homer seasons to his credit, and he also won NL Gold Glove honors both years anchoring the D-backs infield. The late-bloomer did not become an everyday player until his age-28 season.

10. OF Tyler O'Neill (Age: 28)

While injuries limited O'Neill to just 168 games and 1.5 WAR the past two seasons, he is not far removed from a terrific 2021 campaign in which he slugged 34 home runs and won Gold Glove honors in a 6.1-WAR season with the Cardinals. He hit .313/.459/.750 with seven home runs in his first 15 games with the Red Sox before he was sidelined with a concussion, but he seems to be benefiting from a change of scenery.

9. RHP Walker Buehler (Age: 29)

Buehler has not pitched in an MLB game since June 10, 2022, undergoing his second Tommy John surgery and a flexor tendon repair later that year before spending all of 2023 recovering. He went 16-4 with a 2.47 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 212 strikeouts in 207.2 innings in 2021 to finish fourth in NL Cy Young voting, and a strong return to action later this summer could push him even further up these rankings.

8. 2B Gleyber Torres (Age: 27)

Torres has never quite matched the 38-homer season he put together as a 22-year-old in 2019, but he has developed into a terrific all-around second baseman. He posted a 118 OPS+ with 25 home runs, 13 steals and 2.9 WAR in 158 games last season, and his age makes him an attractive candidate for a long-term deal.

7. SS Ha-Seong Kim (Age: 28)

Kim improved significantly in each of his first three seasons with the Padres, hitting .260/.351/.398 for a 109 OPS+ with 23 doubles, 17 home runs, 60 RBI, 38 steals and 5.8 WAR while winning his first Gold Glove. His contract includes a $7 million mutual option for 2025 that he will almost certainly decline in favor of a trip to free agency.

6. LHP Max Fried (Age: 30)

Fried finished runner-up in 2022 NL Cy Young voting when he went 14-7 with a 2.48 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 170 strikeouts in 185.1 innings, and while he missed time to injury last year, he was similarly effective when healthy with a 2.55 ERA in 77.2 innings. The left-hander is off to a rocky start this year, but he has been an ace-caliber starter when everything is clicking, and he could pitch his way to a nine-figure payday with a strong 2024 campaign.

Age: 28

With three straight 3-WAR seasons under his belt, Willy Adames has quietly developed into one of the better shortstops in baseball, and his 11.5 WAR during that same span ranks 10th at the position.

He posted a career-high 11.1 percent walk rate in 2023, helping to offset his low batting average, and he had a 24-homer, 80-RBI season. He has also been a standout defender at shortstop throughout his career, logging 22 DRS over seven seasons.

With Joey Ortiz viewed as the potential shortstop of the future in Milwaukee, Adames is expected to depart for greener pastures in free agency, and he will be the top shortstop in the 2024-25 class.

Age: 29

Slugger Pete Alonso has been one of baseball's elite power hitters since bursting onto the scene with a record-setting 53-homer season in 2019, and he posted a 123 OPS+ with 46 home runs and 118 RBI last season while earning his third All-Star selection.

All signs point to the homegrown star hitting the open market this offseason.

"We haven't had any discussion and I think at this point, for Pete, it's best for him to go and have a great year and not be distracted," Mets owner Steve Cohen told reporters in March.

A payday in the Freddie Freeman (six years, $162 million) and Matt Olson (eight years, $168 million) range might not be in the cards, but he will be one of the most sought after bats on the market next winter and a nine-figure payday is well within reach.

Age: 30

The Houston Astros locked up second baseman José Altuve with a five-year, $125 million extension in February, but another homegrown star is facing free agency with Alex Bregman playing in the final season of a five-year, $100 million deal he signed in 2019.

Unlike most star players entering a contract year, Bregman has made it clear that he is open to extension talks during the season, so there is still a chance a long-term deal gets done before he hits the open market.

He hit .262/.363/.441 for a 123 OPS+ with 25 home runs and 98 RBI in a 4.9-WAR season last year, and he has racked up 35.5 WAR over nine seasons in the majors.

The seven-year, $141 million extension that José Ramírez signed with the Guardians prior to the 2022 season could be a logical starting point in negotiations, though a shorter deal and higher annual value could be more appealing.

Age: 29

Since breaking out during the shortened 2020 season and taking home 2021 NL Cy Young honors, Corbin Burnes has been one of the best starting pitchers in baseball and a consistent top-of-the-rotation ace.

Over his first five starts in an Orioles uniform, he has gone 3-0 with a 2.76 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 29 strikeouts in 29.1 innings, putting him on an early track for his fifth straight top-10 finish in Cy Young balloting.

His 4.4 percent walk rate in the early going this season represents a career high, and his five-pitch repertoire and proven durability make him a prime candidate for a huge payday in free agency.

He could join a short list of pitchers who have reeled in a $200 million contract in free agency, and with opt-out candidate Gerrit Cole battling injury, Burnes is now the clear top pitcher on the market.

Age: 25

Juan Soto does not turn 26 years old until Oct. 25.

He will be the same age Bryce Harper was when he hit the open market for the first time and landed a 13-year, $330 million deal from the Philadelphia Phillies, and all signs point to Soto blowing past that figure.

The three-time All-Star reportedly turned down a 15-year, $440 million extension from the Washington Nationals, and he is putting together a huge contract year with the Yankees after coming over from the San Diego Padres in an offseason blockbuster deal.

Through 23 games, Soto is hitting .322/.439/.552 for a 189 OPS+ with five doubles, five home runs and 20 RBI, making him an early front-runner for AL MVP honors.

Could we see a $500 million payday for the young superstar this winter?