With the regular season winding down, a number of teams (and their fanbases) are already starting to turn their attention towards the offseason. Identifying free agent targets is a big part of that prep work, so it’s worth taking an early look at the players who’ll be available on the open market.

We’ve already covered the catchers and first basemen. Today, we move to the keystone. It’s a weak infield class in general and that’s reflected in the second base group. There are players at other positions who could ostensibly move to second base. Virtually every shortstop is capable of playing the less demanding middle infield spot, for instance. Those players will be covered in future positional previous, though, so we’ll limit this list to players who have logged some action at second base this season.

Note: only players who have been on an MLB roster in 2023 are included. Ages listed are for the 2024 season.

Potential Everyday Options

• Amed Rosario (28)

Rosario has been a shortstop for the bulk of his career, but the Dodgers have played him more frequently at second base since adding him at the deadline. One of the youngest players in the entire free agent class, Rosario hits the market coming off a down year. He was a roughly league average hitter from 2021-22 but has slumped to a .261/.302/.377 line over 516 plate appearances. He’s hitting for more power in Los Angeles than he had in Cleveland — largely because the Dodgers have more selectively deployed him in favorable platoon situations — but has reached base at just a .288 clip with L.A.

The righty-swinging Rosario has performed well against left-handed pitching throughout his career. He’s a well below-average offensive player versus righties. Some teams may prefer to keep him in more of a short side platoon role, but the middle infield class is weak enough that he figures to land an everyday job somewhere. Public metrics pegged Rosario as one of the sport’s worst defensive shortstops; he has rated more favorably at second base, though it’s tough to put much stock in a 153-inning sample.

• Whit Merrifield (35)

Merrifield’s contract contains an $18MM mutual option with a $500K buyout. The Jays are very likely to decline their end, sending the veteran back to free agency. A three-time All-Star and two-time hits leader, Merrifield is one of the game’s better contact hitters. While he’s no longer performing at peak level, he owns a solid .281/.324/.396 slash with 11 homers through 549 plate appearances. He has kept his strikeouts to a modest 16.6% clip. He’s a fine defender at second base and can play the corner outfield.

The league has increasingly devalued the hit-first second base profile to which Merrifield belongs, however. Players like Jean Segura (over two years) and Adam Frazier (one year) received annual salaries in the $8MM – 8.5MM range last offseason. Merrifield’s platform year is more in line with Segura’s than Frazier’s, so he has a decent case for a two-year pact despite his age.

• Adam Frazier (32)

Speaking of Frazier, he has rebounded somewhat from his down 2022 campaign. After hitting .238/.301/.311 a season ago, he owns a .248/.304/.415 slash through 409 plate appearances with the Orioles this year. His 13 home runs are a career high, and while he has added a moderate amount of swing-and-miss as a tradeoff, he’s still keeping his strikeouts to a tidy 13.4% clip.

Yet Frazier’s overall production has hovered around replacement level this year, largely thanks to a sharp drop in his defensive metrics. While Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast had each rated him as an average or slightly above-average second baseman for the majority of his career, they’ve soured on his work in 2023. Statcast metrics indicate that Frazier has particularly struggled on balls hit up the middle, perhaps related to a drop in his throwing velocities from the keystone. Whether teams feel that’s a blip or a more worrisome indication of dwindling athleticism as he gets into his 30s could determine whether he matches last winter’s $8MM deal.

Multi-Positional Types

• Elvis Andrus (35)

Andrus has gotten into 98 games for the White Sox this season. It hasn’t gone all that well, as he’s hitting .251/.311/.353 with five longballs across 355 plate appearances. That’s more in line with the numbers he posted from 2018-21, making last year’s 17-homer showing look like a blip. Andrus is still a good baserunner and can play either middle infield spot, but he’s better suited for a utility role than regular playing time at this stage of his career.

• Enrique Hernández (32)

Hernández had a brutal start to the season, struggling to adjust to the Red Sox pushing him into regular shortstop run. He is better suited for the utility role he’s played throughout his career, logging most of his action at second base or in center field. The right-handed hitter was amidst a second straight well below-average offensive season when Boston traded him to the Dodgers a couple weeks before the deadline. He has turned things around in Southern California, hitting .266/.331/.435 in 139 plate appearances since the swap. The Dodgers acquired Hernández in hopes of bolstering their production against left-handed pitching, but he’s been far better against righties than lefties in that minuscule post-trade sample.

• Tony Kemp (32)

Kemp is a contact-hitting second baseman who can also play left field. He was a solid regular for the A’s from 2021-22 before a down ’23 campaign. He’s hitting just .214/.309/.307 across 389 trips to the dish this season. That’s in large part a reflection of an unsustainably poor .227 average on balls in play. Kemp has excellent plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills; he’s one of just four players (Luis Arraez, Ronald Acuña Jr. and José Ramírez being the others) with 300+ plate appearances and more walks than strikeouts. It seems likely he’ll find a guaranteed big league opportunity as a result.

• Donovan Solano (36)

After barely playing in the majors between 2015-18, Solano has surprisingly put together a five-year run as an above-average hitter late in his career. He has continued on that trajectory for the Twins this season, putting up a .290/.376/.409 line over 402 trips to the plate. Solano is a bat-first utility option who can play either corner infield spot or second base. Even at age 36, he continues to produce and should earn himself a raise on this year’s $2MM salary.

Utility/Depth Players

• Hanser Alberto (31)

Alberto got into 30 games for the White Sox, hitting .220/.261/.390 in 90 trips to the plate. The right-handed hitter hasn’t caught on since being released by Chicago in early June.

• Isan Díaz (28)

A one-time top prospect, Díaz is a .177/.267/.274 hitter at the big league level. He has spent the majority of the last two seasons in Triple-A, appearing in eight MLB games this year between the Giants and Tigers. Detroit released him a few weeks ago.

• Matt Duffy (33)

Duffy cracked the Royals’ roster out of camp after signing a minor league deal. The well-traveled infielder has spent the entire season on the big league club. He’s hitting .254/.309/.312 over 188 trips to the plate, picking up scattered starts at each of first, second and third base.

• Eduardo Escobar (35)

Escobar has mostly split his playing time between third and second base. The switch-hitting veteran is wrapping up the second season of a two-year free agent pact that didn’t turn out as the Mets had envisioned. Escobar was surpassed on the depth chart by Brett Baty early in the season. The Mets dealt him to the Angels at a time when the Halos were still pushing to compete and decimated by infield injuries. The trade hasn’t worked out, as Escobar is hitting .229/.268/.333 with a 28.1% strikeout rate over 47 games in Orange County.

• Josh Harrison (36)

Harrison posted a .204/.263/.291 batting line over 41 games with the Phillies this year. Released shortly after the trade deadline, he spent some time in the Rangers’ system but didn’t crack the Texas roster. Harrison opted out of his deal with Texas in late August and has been unsigned since then.

• Rougned Odor (30)

After an early-career run as the Rangers’ starting second baseman, Odor has played for four clubs since 2020. He’s been a below-average hitter at every stop, showing some power but running consistently low on-base marks. Odor got into 59 games for the Padres this year, putting up a .203/.299/.355 slash before being released in July. He hasn’t signed elsewhere.

• Jonathan Schoop (32)

A former All-Star, Schoop has hit .204/.248/.311 going back to the start of 2022. While he played Gold Glove caliber defense for the Tigers a season ago, the complete lack of offensive production led Detroit to release him around the All-Star Break. The 11-year MLB veteran hasn’t signed anywhere since, though he is yet to turn 32 and could still find minor league interest if he wants to give it another go.

• Kolten Wong (33)

Wong had a brutal few months as a Mariner, hitting .165/.241/.227 over 67 games. Seattle released their offseason trade pickup at the beginning of August. He’s playing out the stretch with the Dodgers, getting selected to the MLB roster as part of September expansion after initially inking a minor league deal. Wong’s defensive marks have fallen from his Gold Glove peak and he has been one of the least effective hitters in the majors this year. Yet he was an above-average offensive performer just a season ago, when he hit .251/.339/.430 over 497 plate appearances for Milwaukee.

Player Options

• Justin Turner (39)

Turner is a near-lock to head back to free agency. His contract with the Red Sox contains a $13.4MM player option with a hefty $6.7MM buyout. With a buyout worth half the option value, it should be an easy call for the two-time All-Star to head back to free agency. He’d surely beat the $6.7MM difference on his next deal.

Clubs probably won’t view Turner as an everyday second base option going into his age-39 season. He has logged 49 innings there this season, though, showing the ability to moonlight up the middle in addition to his more extensive work at the corner infield spots. The team that signs Turner is doing so for his bat, as the consistent veteran owns a .285/.355/.480 slash with 23 homers over 561 trips to the dish.

Club Options

• Jorge Polanco (30)

It’s unlikely Polanco will get to the open market. The Twins hold a $10.5MM option for next season with a $1MM buyout. The $9.5MM difference is strong value for a quality bat-first middle infielder. The switch-hitting Polanco owns a .260/.341/.461 line on the season. While injuries have kept him to 290 plate appearances, it’s the third straight year in which he’s been a well above-average hitter on a rate basis. Polanco would be the best player in the second base class if he were available. Barring a major injury, he probably won’t be.

* All stats entering play Tuesday

With the regular season winding down, a number of teams (and their fanbases) are already starting to turn their attention towards the offseason. Identifying free agent targets is a big part of that prep work, so it’s worth taking an early look at the players who’ll be available on the open market.

Over the coming weeks, MLBTR will go around the diamond to preview the free agent class. As always, we’ll start behind the plate. It’s a thin group, with no one in the class a threat to approach the five-year, $87.5MM contract that Willson Contreras received a season ago.

Note: only players who have been on an MLB roster in 2023 are included for this exercise.

Potential Regulars/Platoon Options

• Mitch Garver (33*)

Garver could prove a tricky evaluation for teams. He’s having the best season of any impending free agent who can catch. The right-handed hitter is mashing at a .286/.387/.541 clip with 16 home runs over 270 plate appearances for the Rangers. He slugged 31 homers for the Twins back in 2019 and is a career .254/.343/.489 hitter. A fully healthy Garver is one of the best offensive catchers in the sport and easily the best player in this winter’s free agent catching class.

Fully healthy is a notable caveat, however. Not only will Garver turn 33 this winter, he has a lengthy injury history. He has spent some time on the IL in every season since 2019 and required season-ending surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in 2022. That injury affected Garver’s throwing even before he went under the knife, and Texas has eased him back to catching action. He has logged only 230 innings behind the dish this season, seeing more time as a designated hitter. The Rangers have that luxury thanks to the presence of All-Star backstop Jonah Heim, but it raises questions for teams evaluating whether Garver will hold up as a true #1 elsewhere.

• Gary Sánchez (31)

Sánchez has never returned to his early-career Yankees form. He’s nevertheless coming off a decent bounceback showing for the Padres, hitting .218/.292/.500 with 19 homers through 260 plate appearances after landing in San Diego. His much-maligned blocking drew an average grade from Statcast this season, while he threw out baserunners at an acceptable 20.8% clip. The year ended on a sour note when Sánchez sustained a right wrist fracture on a hit-by-pitch last week, but it was a reasonably encouraging effort overall.

While he’s not a star, Sánchez looks like an acceptable #1 catcher. He’s a power-first offensive player with middling on-base marks. One of the younger players in the class, he has a case for a multi-year contract after settling for a minor league pact a season ago.

• Tom Murphy (33)

Murphy has mashed in a small sample this year, hitting .290/.335/.538 over 159 plate appearances. He has shown significant offensive upside in prior seasons — highlighted by a .273/.324/.535 line over 76 games in 2019 — but only has two years in which he has reached 200+ plate appearances. Murphy lost all of 2020 with a foot fracture, a good chunk of last season to a dislocated shoulder, and has been out for the past month with a sprained left thumb.

When healthy, he consistently shows plus power from the right-handed batter’s box. He strikes out a lot but brings more offensive upside than most players at the position. At age 33, he’ll be limited to one or two-year offers, but he should be a target for teams that can pair him with a more stable veteran to compensate for the injury risk.

• Víctor Caratini (30)

Caratini is a switch-hitting backstop with good strike zone awareness and solid contact skills. He hits the ball reasonably hard but makes most of his contact on the ground, muting his power impact. This year’s .247/.327/.368 line over 54 games for the Brewers is in line with his career track record. He rates as a decent pitch framer but has a well below-average throwing arm. While Caratini doesn’t have a standout skill, he’s a reasonably well-rounded player and the youngest option in the catching class.

• Yasmani Grandal (35)

Grandal was still performing at an All-Star level as recently as 2021. The final two years of his $73MM free agent deal with the White Sox didn’t go as planned. He limped to a .202/.301/.269 line last season and is hitting .236/.309/.345 over 388 plate appearances this year. He’s a switch-hitter who still draws a decent number of walks, but he hasn’t shown the same kind of power he had at his peak.

• Austin Hedges (31)

Hedges is an all-glove veteran who has found semi-regular run despite one of the league’s least imposing offensive profiles. He was an everyday catcher for three years in Cleveland and got into 65 games for the Pirates after signing a $5MM free agent deal last winter. The Rangers have pushed him into a depth role since acquiring him at the deadline.

The 31-year-old is hitting .176/.229/.222 through 203 plate appearances. He has had a hard time controlling the running game this season but has been excellent in that regard in prior years. Hedges’ elite receiving skills have not waned. Statcast rates him 11 runs above average as a pitch framer and credits him with eight more blocks than average. That’s in line with his career-long reputation as an elite receiver, and both Cleveland and Pittsburgh trusted him as their top catcher to work with fairly young pitching staffs.

• Martín Maldonado (37)

Maldonado is a beloved clubhouse presence in Houston. The Astros have continued to give him a starting workload on a World Series contender despite dismal offensive numbers, reasoning that his unquantifiable work with the pitching staff compensates for the lack of productivity at the dish. Maldonado has hit only .187/.254/.337 through 366 trips to the plate. He has occasional power but consistently poor on-base marks. Unlike Hedges, Maldonado has a well below-average grade from Statcast for his 2023 pitch framing. It hasn’t dissuaded Dusty Baker from keeping him in the lineup, though — a testament to how the coaching staff feels about his leadership and game-calling acumen.

Backups/Depth

• Jorge Alfaro (31)

A longtime top prospect who was a key piece in multiple blockbuster trades (Cole Hamels, J.T. Realmuto), the now-30-year-old Alfaro (31 next June) has never developed into the slugger that many expected. Alfaro posted a solid .269/.322/.429 batting line from 2017-19, but in 737 plate appearances since that time he’s at .236/.278/.354 with a glaring 33.6% strikeout rate. Alfaro has typically thrown well (28% caught-stealing rate), but he’s at 18% in Triple-A this year. Statcast grades him last among 75 qualified catchers since 2018 when it comes to blocking pitches in the dirt.

• Tucker Barnhart (33)

Barnhart has spent the past week in Triple-A with the Dodgers. He signed a minor league pact with L.A. after being released by the Cubs in the first season of a two-year, $6.5MM free agent deal. The two-time Gold Glove winner managed only a .202/.285/.257 line over 123 plate appearances with Chicago and is a .215/.286/.264 hitter since being traded from the Reds to the Tigers over the 2021-22 offseason. Despite the tepid offense, Barnhart should draw depth interest based on his glove and reputation as a strong clubhouse presence — especially since the Cubs are responsible for all but the league minimum on next year’s salary as well.

• Curt Casali (35)

The Reds are likely to opt for a $750K buyout on their end of a $4MM mutual option. The right-handed hitting Casali has operated as the third catcher in Cincinnati when healthy, batting .175/.290/.200 over 96 plate appearances. He is currently on a rehab stint working back from a July foot contusion.

• Sandy León (35)

León, currently in Triple-A with the Guardians, appeared in 22 games for the Rangers early in the season. The switch-hitting backstop is a classic journeyman depth catcher. He has gotten to the majors in each of the past 12 years. He’s a well-regarded defender who has hit .176/.254/.261 for five teams since the start of 2019.

• Luke Maile (33)

Maile signed a $1.175MM free agent deal with his hometown Reds last winter. He has essentially played at the level they’d expected as their backup, putting up a .234/.305/.392 line through 175 plate appearances. He has roughly average framing and blocking numbers and has cut down a quarter of opposing basestealers. He has probably done enough to secure another major league contract this offseason.

• Roberto Pérez (35)

Pérez won consecutive Gold Glove awards in 2019-20. He has continued to get looks based on his defense, but injuries have kept him off the field for most of the last two seasons. He suffered a season-ending hamstring tear in May 2022. He was capped at five games with the Giants this year before tearing the rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder, necessitating another surgery in April. He’ll likely be limited to minor league offers as a result.

• Manny Piña (37)

Piña had a few seasons as a productive depth option with the Brewers. Unfortunately, left wrist issues have essentially robbed him of the last two years. He underwent surgery after just five games in 2022. Piña started this year back on the injured list with continued soreness. He returned for four games this summer but Oakland released him around the trade deadline as they evaluated their younger catching options.

• Mike Zunino (33)

Zunino signed a $6MM contract with the Guardians a year ago on the heels of thoracic outlet surgery. He couldn’t recapture his pre-surgery form on either side of the ball. Zunino hit .177/.271/.306 with a 43.6% strikeout rate in 140 plate appearances. Perhaps even more concerning was that he struggled mightily as a receiver and threw out only 16.7% of baserunners. Cleveland released him in late June and he has remained a free agent since then.

Club Options

• Yan Gomes (36)

The Cubs hold a $6MM option that comes with a $1MM buyout. It’s a $5MM call, which seems reasonable after Gomes’ decent 2023 showing. The 12-year MLB veteran is hitting .269/.311/.414 with nine home runs through 360 trips to the plate. He hasn’t rated highly for his receiving but has thrown out an above-average 26.4% of attempted basestealers. The Cubs may look to turn the top catching job over to rookie Miguel Amaya, but it’s a low enough price point that the team could still retain Gomes as a veteran backup.

Player Options

• Omar Narváez (32)

Narváez is unlikely to hit free agency. His contract with the Mets contains a $7MM player option. The left-handed hitter has slumped to a .192/.272/.253 line in 39 games, missing a chunk of the year with a calf strain. Unsurprisingly, he told Will Sammon of the Athletic last month that he expects to exercise the option rather than retest free agency on the heels of such a tough season.

* Listed ages are the player’s age for the 2024 season.