UPDATE: The contest is now closed. We’ll continue working on a leaderboard feature so you can track your progress as players sign. Thanks for entering!
Back by popular demand, it’s the MLB Trade Rumors Free Agent Prediction Contest! Click here to enter your picks for the destinations for our top 50 free agents. The deadline for entry is tonight at 11pm central time! You can edit your picks until then. Further contest info:
- This is something we’ve done dating back to 2011, but we took the last few years off due to technical challenges. Our readers ask me about it regularly. Then today I saw that our friends at FanGraphs used Google Forms for a simple free agent contest, and I decided to do the same.
- In the past, we have created a public leaderboard page so you can see who’s winning the contest as players sign with teams. I will attempt to build something like that this winter. If it succeeds, we’re going to use entrants’ full names on it. So, if that concerns you please do not enter the contest. Entries with inappropriate names will be deleted.
- We are also collecting email addresses, which I will use to notify winners. I may also use those email addresses to notify you of next year’s free agent prediction contest.
- If a player signs between now and the close of the contest, that’s a freebie, but you still need to go in and make the correct pick.
- After you submit your picks, you’ll receive an email from Google Forms. In that email, you’ll see a button that allows you to edit your picks.
- We will announce the winners on MLBTR once all 50 free agents have signed. We will award $500 to first place, $300 to second place, and $100 to third place. Winners must respond to an email within one week.
- Ties in the correct number of picks will be broken by summing up the rankings of the free agents of the correct picks and taking the lower total. For example: Tim and Steve each get two picks correct. Tim gets Bryce Harper (#1 ranking) and Adam Ottavino (#20 ranking) for a total of 21 points. Steve gets Yasmani Grandal (#6) and Charlie Morton (#14) for a total of 20 points. Steve’s total is lower and he’s ahead of Tim for tiebreaker purposes.
If you have any further questions, ask us in the comment section of this post! Otherwise, make your picks now!
Let’s gooooooo!
So stoked for this hahaha!
I’d like to see guessing the money component to this as well. It will seperate the men from the boys so to speak. The bottom 10% get their comment privileges revoke for a year so they can learn something.
Revoked* – also separates people from those who “can learn something”, against those that have.
Imagine being such a pathetic loser to correct spelling mistakes all day on the internet.
Didnt expect this so thanks! Had fun doing it a few years ago and enjoyed seeing who others picked, even if they were terrible picks
Yes! Always am stoked about this. Thought you guys did have it last year due to demand as well? Oh well, I am off to be about as wrong as the MLBTR team!
I was in the top 10 during the last contest and would like to know how I finished as I had a chance at #1… the page seemed to be working fine till it was pulled down.
wow nice prize package, I’m just happy it’s back, always enjoyed the challenge of guessing where the players might go, thank you guys for the great job you continue to do with this page
MLBTR has good content. Thanks 🙂
Find it fascinating that even a sincere compliment still got you two down votes. A lot of sad/bizarre people out there.
Look in a mirror
I use the mobile app. can’t even see any downvote or upvote feature. kinda nice sometimes.
MLBTR has *the best content. 🙂
nice it’s back!!!!
This will be fun! Thanks!
This is awesome!! Thanks guys
Why just top 50 and not every single free agent? 🙂
Holy moly. I thought 50 was enough. Lol
Because I have to work on Mondays and for me to download all of the free agents and comparable teams, combined with want to be close to home/I just want a ring analytics would cost me my job..
SWEET
Got mine in. I’m happy to go 5/50 lol
the mendoza line of the tournament – may be the winner
Easy: all 50 to the Yankees. Done.
This is cool!
Excellent!!! I hope to top my personal best of 4 correct picks.
Tim, would it be acceptable for participants to use something other than their first and last name as long as it’s appropriate?
Yes, that would be fine.
Any story associated with the Sosa picture?
Would it be possible to get a breakdown of the votes for each player?
It would be interesting to see how accurate the crowd is…
Yes. I will wait until the contest closes, but we will try to do some cool things showing how the voting went down.
That’s a really cool idea
the fangraphs team is giving away a tee-shirt or something to the winner. can you guys also offer a prize like this, preferrably a shirt with all of your faces across it like Mount Rushmore?
edit–oh, i just saw winner gets 500 bucks! okay yeah, thats cooler than a tee-shirt
If you win, we’ll put the money towards the t-shirt design and send you that instead.
If I win, I want to do a co-chat with Jeff Todd (NOT Steve Adams) and make fun of people for asking stupid questions.
Agreed. Would love to see how well everyone does as a group!
I say Harper to the Dodgers and Machado, Corbin, Keuchel and Robertson to the Yankees. I totally expect the Yankees to make a trade or two so as to not have to sign so many FA, though.
Please enter the contest so I can be one rank higher lol
You say you don’t think they’ll have to sign so many, yet you have them nabbing 3 of the top 5 free agents, plus one of the top relievers, for a total outlay of around $600M?
Shhhhhh… don’t share the answers.
Please enter, so I won’t finish last because apparently Yankees are going to be spending over. Billion in free agency this year
Big predictions- Manny Machado and Craig Kimbrel both sign with the Phillies.
This is great news Tim. Thanks for all of the hard work everyone at MLBTR does.
I cant wait to see how wrong I am this year!
I feel confident that i will either go 51/50 or 1/50.
So stoked for this, thanks for running it guys!
So what if a couple of these guys dont sign until May? Is there a specific date the contest will end? Opening Day? Mothers Day? Tim Tebow bobblehead giveaway day?
We’ll end it on Opening Day if someone is still unsigned.
That’s good, except we’ll all be able to edit the other 49/50 with curious accuracy.
Is anyone else having a problem with Jesse Chavez? I can’t get the options to pull up.
Nevermind, it finally worked, thanks.
ive always had a problem with Jesse Chavez
Nope, mine worked for Chavez. Ironically, that’s probably a free- bee as well. He has clearly come out and stated that he wants to remain w/ CHC and his numbers back that up, I would be highly surprised to see him sign anywhere else.
Here’s 2 freebies* guys:
David Robertson to the Yankees (Acting as own agent)
Charlie Morton to Astros (loves HOU, why didnt get QO)
*Results not guaranteed
dunno man… the talk of wanting to be home near delaware could be strong… so PHL or WAS could be attractive as both are competitive… all three teams will give him two years… i see your point though, if i were him i think id wanna continue playin on a stacked houston team where i had my resurgence
I tend to agree on D-Rob. If he had an intention of testing the market, you’d think he’d retain an agent. If he feels he has a good relationship with Cashman and is intent on re-signing, he could be trying to save himself the agent’s commission by doing it himself.
whooo hooo thanks guys! i knew you couldnt hold out on us forever! this reminds me of that feeling i get when the McRib makes its much-anticipated comeback!
Stoked!! Thanks for being this back fella’s. I feel like people have been asking for this for a couple months. This is why MLBTR is the best baseball application out there, by far. Appreciate it Tim, Jeff, Steve, Jason and company.
Yes!!! Remind us why we consume sports news instead of generating it!
I feel like I’m an expert and know the ins and outs of a lot of rosters… then I go through the list thinking, “I can picture him wearing this hat”
hahaha yea i hear you! i start off somewhat analytical, looking hard at team needs and budget concerns… but by the end of it im just lookin at the guy’s hometown and bein like, yea, he probably wants to play for his home team!
Sleeper pick- Marwin Gonzalez to San Diego.
Rumors have been swirling about AJ Preller addressing the hole the Padres gave at 3B via trade, the price just seems awfully high for someone of Eugenio Suárez category. I believe signing Gonzalez can be insurance until Hudson Potts is ready, could see him pushing the envelope by opening day ‘20.
5 year/50 million would make sense for Marwin. He can also bounce around the diamond and spell guys at multiple positions if Myers is kept and they still want to excitement with him.
XABIAL!!!!!
Shout out to ya buddy. Was searching for likely destinations for top agents and I found this.
si.com/mlb/2018/10/29/mlb-free-agent-rankings-mann…
So Xabial can’t be some loan, crazy nut saying the Yankees have a good chance at Harper when among the sources he has sited Sports illustrated agrees that Harper’s most likely landing spot is the Yankees.
yea, they also just took the safe route, selecting BOS, NYY, HOU for like 80% of the top 20 players.
I solemnly swear to attempt to better my record of 5 correct guesses this year.
Ooooooo
Is there a way to copy/paste Yankees to all players???
It’s all great fun man…much appreciated, btw…I predicted 30 of these players go to the Reds…
I hope I get some right, the Red Sox will be happy!
If I put Yankees as the answer to all 50, guarantee I’ll have the most right answers
If I pick “Marlins” for everyone, do you think I have a chance to win???
Nice comment
Hmm, no option to pick nowhere. I see that happening with Kinsler perhaps.
I just submitted mine. I’ll probably be lucky to get 5 right. I had a big chunk of them going to AL/NL East teams. I’m not sure if that’s a bad sign or not.
Where do we go to look at our picks? Through out the season.
I had some trouble filling mine out and not sure if it was received? How fast have the emails with pick results sent back to us? Thanks.
Went thru this time.
Hey, Tim. It looks like the list was changed. Was that intentional?
the list is missing the free agents that have already signed, has reordered some, and includes two new options for destinations.
I am taking the money folks, give up now. No way I miss more than 49
Bring it
Thanks for doing this, but really disappointed that it’s already closed. Had I known when it closed I would have tried to bend over backwards to get it in. Maybe I missed something.
so I am probably being a bit thick, but how do we see our picks and keep track of them?
Whelp, Suzuki to the Nats. Guess that messes up my chances in the area of catching. Picked the wrong former team.
I went to edit my responses and it won’t let me. I thought we had editing access until the contest closed?
When can we expect an update?
anyone know how to keep track of your picks and how many you got correct?
When does the leaderboard go live?