UPDATE: The contest is now closed. Stay tuned for the leaderboard.
The MLB Trade Rumors Free Agent Prediction Contest is currently open! 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:
- After the window to make picks has closed, we’ll post a public leaderboard page so you can see who’s winning the contest as players sign with teams. 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.
- If a player signs between now and the close of the contest, that player will be excluded from the contest.
- 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. We will also be giving one-year memberships to Trade Rumors Front Office for everyone who finishes in the top 15. Winners must respond to an email within one week.
- The winners of this contest will be declared on Opening Day 2024, and any unsigned players will be excluded from the competition.
- 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 Shohei Ohtani (#1 ranking) and Jordan Hicks (#21 ranking) for a total of 22 points. Steve gets Jordan Montgomery (#6) and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (#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!
I must be getting old, My enthusiasm says kick it in, my body says ‘lets see who wins’
Curly – I’m old and I’ve never heard the term “kick it in” … except whenever the cops come knocking on my door and I don’t answer.
Nah, it’s a crap shoot.
Gravity always wins.
Do picks auto save after submitting. Every time I load to check them the form becomes blank?
Easiest to do on your computer. If you’re trying to switch tabs and look a guy up on your phone—you’re gonna lose the picks.
Try Chad Maeda or Tanzania Maeda.
I just don’t have the energy or time for this… requires more research then I’m willing to give.
Thank goodness you informed us of your decision and reasoning behind it. I was getting worried.
Somebody was worried if I got two likes out of it. I guess my thing is I want to do this but I feel like it’s a whole other job trying to keep up with it.
It turns into a reward for the person who pays the most attention to this site… Many of the teams can be guessed by just listening to the daily chatter when you read the site. I knew for sure Semien and Seager were going to Texas based on process of elimination and their desire to spend. I even expected the Rangers to lure Kyle Seager out of temporary retirement for a chance to play alongside his brother.
They did offer him some kind of deal, probably 2-3 years at $7-10M/annually. He really missed the boat on that chance to share a championship with Corey. I hate his Corey’s Brother nickname, but it would’ve played better on the same team. In the end, his love of his wife and kids was bigger, or maybe wanting to be a one team player, than his desire to play with his brother.
While it’s not a perfect recipe for picking them, as I whiffed on Kyle Seager, but I’d be willing to bet, the winner is usually one of their biggest readers. It’s no knock on you for not wanting to do it, but by now they have hundreds of thousands of readers who enjoy doing it and it would be a loss for them if he stopped doing the contest each year. So, thanks Tim and company for running it each year!
What’s the record for correct picks?
I get one correct every year.
Can a winner in the future host a chat?
Bizzy – It would be very hard for the winner to host a chat in the past, unless they own a 1981 DeLorean.
Choked on my coffee laughing
*Can a winner be in consideration to host a chat on MLBTradeRumors? Maybe not this year because the rules have already been set, but maybe beginning next year?
Chat about what, how the person picked picks?
Q: When did you know you were going to win?
A: When I was like born and stuff. I was made to winner.
I enjoy this every off-season but unfortunately, my score doesn’t reflect it. I’m the Mario Mendoza of predictions….sub .200 every stinkin year – lol
padre – If I was ever sub .200 I’d call myself the Kyle Schwarber of predictions …. much better analogy ;O)
I like the rules, and what I think are some changes.
I entered and expect to get 0/50.
York – Fear not, if Belt retires you will definitely not get 50 wrong.
THIS YEAR WILL BE THE YEAR I WIN!!!…………… I say every year.
Did the form twice by accident! Will my first be the one graded or my latest one?
I made my picks last week and have already changed a few and am assuming I’ll regret that. Im guessing I’m one of many to do the same. I need to stop reading these articles speculating destinations for FAs.
How do I look at the picks I made earlier
You should receive an e-mail confirmation listing your predictions.
I have from year’s past, but not this year — same email. Weird. Guess it didn’t like my M’s/Ohtani pick.
Ohtani to the Mariners or Giants. I sure hope The Dodgers don’t make the mistake of signing him
Banned – Rangers all the way, they’ve got the two things Ohtani will want most – money and winning.
Ohtani’s not goin’ to Texas! He likes California better. (Dodgers)
Cap – Texas was on Ohtani’s short list of 7 teams when he first came to America.
Texas is on most short lists when people come to America. Its the first thing they hit after wading the Rio Grande.
Rangers actually make a lot of sense. I suspect the dry desert heat and yee-hawin might be too much of a cultural shift. But maybe $550MM changes that.
anyone signing Ohtani for that much will be making a grave mistake.
Think Albert Pujols 2.0
pretty sure he surprises us all and signs with the Atlanta Braves
Once I hit #30 or so, I probably did no better than a random team name generator
The Yankees should just run it back with Sevvy. Give him 4/$40 a second time. If he returns to form as a Starter like so many teams (and myself) think is a real possibility, then he is a bargain. If he’s “only” a late inning reliever at the end of the contract, then he’s probably still on a below market rate contract because 7th/8th inning guys are getting $10 mil right now
I think there is a much better chance for Montas coming back then Sevvy. Don’t expect Sevvy back, and expect him to have a bounce back if he’s finally healthy. 100%.
Cap – I picked the Yankees for Montas!
And I’m really good with predictions, I think I’m the only one who picked the Twins for Correa last year.
If the MLB owners weren’t so stupid nobody would’ve signed Correa.
Just a thought, but a higher cumulative total might make more sense for the tiebreaker. The top guys are going to be easier to pick because the pool chasing them will be smaller. The guys toward the bottom of the list could be signed by any of the league’s 30 teams. Getting those right takes more skill/luck.
Dan – I disagree. The top guys have the most teams interested in them, look at all the teams that want Yamamoto. Hard to predict who will offer the most money to top free agents, just look how the Red Sox surprised with Yoshida.
The guys toward the bottom of the list tend to stay with their former team, lower salary level means not uprooting family for similar or tiny bit more pay.
I’m not interest in entering….don’t want my email info sold to 3rd parties
OIC – You’re posting here, which means they already have your email. Haha!
We don’t sell emails to third parties. And yes, we already have yours since you signed up to comment!
Me and 2 of the guys in my fantasy baseball league, did this last year. The winner had to pay for pizza and beer after work. The winner last year, had only 6 correct. And we are talking a fantasy league that we started back 27 years ago, when we did all of the scoring on a spreadsheet. 3 die-hard baseball fanatics, and we found it hilarious how bad our picks were, when we checked them. I like, it’s fun for baseball fans during the offseason, as are all of the FA signings. Unless of course, you’re a Whitesox fan, and knowing full well you may not get even one of the players available.
It’s really tough. I led the MLBTR staff with 8. The winner had 13, and getting 10+ was quite difficult (out of 44).
Barring signings in the next eight hours or so, it looks like we’ll have the full 50 players in the contest.
To be honest, the last 10-12 players on the ballot, are not everyday household names, and you probably won’t hear any “rumblings” or “rumors” about potential signings, until they sign.
Upsets – Ohtani to the Giants, Bellinger to the Marlins and Snell to the Red Sox.
I have Ohtani going to the Braves and Belli going to the Giants, Tim Anderson is going to the Marlins…
Belt, Turner, and Heyward are retiring ♂️
I love this website!!! Keeps me marginally sane.
I predict the winner of the FA Contest to be Scott Boras.
I got sooo many of these wrong last season, but if I get 10/50 I’ll be happy. So many little intricacies that influence where these guys will sign though, I can’t be bothered to do all that research 🙁
With the posting of the standings, can we get some fun details? % of people who think a player is going to what team, even just the top 3 teams selected per player ♂️
I filled out me bracket, it wasn’t easy this year, it wasn’t easy last year, and it won’t be easy next year.
Tried multiple times to enter but the page wouldn’t load…good luck to anyone who actually got to enter
I got three guys opting to retire
Extend the deadline! It’s not Thanksgiving yet