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2025-26 MLB Free Agents

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The following players are currently free agents.  The player’s 2026 age is in parentheses.  The cutoff for this list is typically 50 plate appearances or 20 innings pitched in the Majors this year.

Updated 1-26-26

Catchers

Austin Barnes (36)
Elias Diaz (35)
Mitch Garver (35)
Jonah Heim (31)
Luke Maile (35)
Reese McGuire (31)
Tom Murphy (35)
Gary Sanchez (33)
Jacob Stallings (36)
Matt Thaiss (31)
Christian Vazquez (35)

First Basemen

Luis Arraez (29)
Wilmer Flores (34)
Ty France (31)
Paul Goldschmidt (38)
Enrique Hernandez (34)
Rhys Hoskins (33)
Connor Joe (33)
Nathaniel Lowe (30)
Carlos Santana (40)
Dominic Smith (31)
Donovan Solano (38)
Rowdy Tellez (31)
Justin Turner (41)

Second Basemen

Cavan Biggio (31)
Thairo Estrada (30)
Kyle Farmer (34)
Adam Frazier (34)
Jose Iglesias (36)
DJ LeMahieu (37)
Dylan Moore (33)
Luis Rengifo (29)
Brendan Rodgers (29)
Luis Urias (29)

Shortstops

Tim Anderson (33)
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (31)

Third Basemen

Jon Berti (36)
Jeimer Candelario (32)
Santiago Espinal (31)
Enrique Hernandez (34)
Luis Rengifo (29)
Emmanuel Rivera (30)
Eugenio Suarez (34)
Ramon Urias (32)
Gio Urshela (34)

Left Fielders

Miguel Andujar (31)
Sean Bouchard (30)
Mark Canha (37)
Michael Conforto (33)
Adam Frazier (34)
Austin Hays (30)
Sam Hilliard (32)
Connor Joe (33)
Max Kepler (33)
Nick Martini (36)
MJ Melendez (27)
Tommy Pham (38)
Chris Taylor (35)
Alex Verdugo (30)
Jesse Winker (32)

Center Fielders

None

Right Fielders

Randal Grichuk (34)
Jason Heyward (36)
Max Kepler (33)
Starling Marte (37)
Joshua Palacios (30)
Hunter Renfroe (34)
Austin Slater (33)
Mike Tauchman (35)

Designated Hitters

Miguel Andujar (31)
Mitch Garver (35)
Rhys Hoskins (33)
Andrew McCutchen (39)
Marcell Ozuna (35)
Justin Turner (41)
Jesse Winker (32)

Starting Pitchers

Tyler Anderson (36)
Chris Bassitt (37)
Walker Buehler (31)
Griffin Canning (30)
Aaron Civale (31)
Alex Cobb (38)
Patrick Corbin (36)
Nestor Cortes (31)
Anthony DeSclafani (36)
Erick Fedde (33)
Zac Gallen (30)
Connor Gillispie (28)
Lucas Giolito (30)
Tony Gonsolin (32)
Jon Gray (34)
Andre Jackson (30)
Zack Littell (30)
German Marquez (31)
Nick Martinez (35)
John Means (33)
Miles Mikolas (37)
Wade Miley (39)
Frankie Montas (33)
Jordan Montgomery (33)
Chris Paddack (30)
Martin Perez (35)
Cal Quantrill (31)
Jose Quintana (37)
Max Scherzer (41)
Marcus Stroman (35)
Tomoyuki Sugano (36)
Jose Urquidy (31)
Framber Valdez (32)
Justin Verlander (43)

Right-Handed Relievers

Scott Barlow (33)
Valente Bellozo (26)
Matt Bowman (35)
Ryan Brasier (38)
Carson Fulmer (32)
Kendall Graveman (35)
Chad Green (35)
Liam Hendriks (36)
Luke Jackson (32)
Tommy Kahnle (36)
Michael Kopech (30)
Max Kranick (28)
Derek Law (35)
Jose Leclerc (32)
Jorge Lopez (33)
Nick Martinez (35)
Shelby Miller (35)
Rafael Montero (35)
Hector Neris (37)
Adam Ottavino (40)
Evan Phillips (31)
Erasmo Ramirez (36)
David Robertson (41)
Joe Ross (33)
Eduardo Salazar (28)
Paul Sewald (36)
Lucas Sims (32)
Drew Smith (32)
Chris Stratton (35)
Hunter Strickland (37)
Lou Trivino (34)

Left-Handed Relievers

Jalen Beeks (32)
Cam Booser (34)
Andrew Chafin (36)
Danny Coulombe (36)
John King (31)
Joey Lucchesi (33)
Cionel Perez (30)
Brent Suter (36)
Justin Wilson (38)

The Largest Contracts In MLB History

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Below is our list of the 24 largest contracts in MLB history.  Please note that if a player was already under contract and signed an extension, only the new money counts.

1. Juan Soto, Mets: 15 years, $765MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2024

2. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers: 10 years, $700MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2023.  97.1% of the total is deferred and will be paid from 2034-43.  For luxury tax purposes, MLB calculated the value of the contract to be $460,767,685.  The MLBPA’s calculation is $437,830,563.

3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays: 14 years, $500MM.  Extension signed April 2025

4. Mookie Betts, Dodgers: 12 years, $365MM.  Extension signed July 2020.  Present-day value due to deferrals: $306,657,882

t-5. Mike Trout, Angels: 10 years, $360MM.  Extension signed March 2019

t-5.  Aaron Judge, Yankees: 9 years, $360MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2022

7.  Francisco Lindor, Mets: 10 years, $341MM.  Extension signed March 2021.  Present-day value due to deferrals: $332,394,479

8.  Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres: 14 years, $340MM.  Extension signed February 2021

9.  Bryce Harper, Phillies: 13 years, $330MM.  Free agent contract signed March 2019

t-10.  Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers: 12 years, $325MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2023

t-10.  Corey Seager, Rangers: 10 years, $325MM.  Free agent contract signed November 2021

t-10. Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins: 13 years, $325MM.  Extension signed November 2014

13. Gerrit Cole, Yankees: 9 years, $324MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2019

14.  Rafael Devers, Red Sox: 10 years, $313.5MM.  Extension signed January 2023.  Present-day value due to deferrals: $291,526,861

t-15.  Manny Machado, Padres: 10 years, $300MM.  Free agent contract signed February 2019

t-15.  Trea Turner, Phillies: 11 years, $300MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2022

17.  Bobby Witt Jr., Royals: 11 years, $288,777,777.  Extension signed February 2024

18.  Xander Bogaerts, Padres: 11 years, $280MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2022

19.  Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: 10 years, $275MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2007

20.  Alex Rodriguez, Rangers: 10 years, $252MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2000

21. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: 8 years, $248MM.  Extension signed March 2014

t-22. Stephen Strasburg, Nationals: 7 years, $245MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2019.  Present-day value due to deferrals: $228.9MM

t-22.  Anthony Rendon, Angels: 7 years, $245MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2019

t-24.  Albert Pujols, Angels: 10 years, $240MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2011

t-24.  Robinson Cano, Mariners: 10 years, $240MM.  Free agent contract signed December 2013

t-24.  Kyle Tucker, Dodgers: 4 years, $240MM.  Free agent contract signed January 2026.  Present-day value due to deferrals: $228.4MM

Compete With Your Crew: The Winfield Game Launches Group Leaderboards (Sponsored)

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As the MLB hot stove heats up, there’s another daily challenge baseball fans are trying to solve: The Winfield Game.

Sharing a name with Dave Winfield – the only athlete ever drafted in the first round of the MLB, NBA, and NFL drafts – The Winfield Game is a free daily sports trivia puzzle. Each day’s answer is a current or former MLB All-Star, NBA All-Star, or NFL Pro Bowler from the Super Bowl era forward. Your job is to identify that player in as few guesses as possible.

If you’ve ever played Wordle, the structure will feel familiar. One puzzle per day, limited guesses, and feedback after each attempt that helps you zero in on the answer. The difference is simply the subject matter — instead of letters, you’re narrowing down decades, teams, positions, and accolades to uncover a single sports star.

You start by typing in any player. Each guess returns a set of clues: the decades they played, the teams they suited up for, their position, and key achievements. Those clues gradually narrow the field until you land on the correct player… or run out of guesses trying.

In the above example, a user first guessed Royce Clayton – a sneaky good starting player for The Winfield Game due to having played for 11 teams during his career. Clayton gave a match on sport and an indication the player played in Chicago, though not for the White Sox. And importantly Clayton did not match on the answer’s decades of play.

The next guess was Anthony Rizzo, which turned out to be a great choice. Rizzo gave matches on the Cubs and Yankees, but neither was the answer’s main team. Which led the user to guess correctly with one of this winter’s biggest free agents – Cody Bellinger.

If you get stuck, you can optionally burn a guess on a hint, which might reveal an extra team, decade, or award to help you zero in on the right name. After you finish, you’ll see your score, streak, and that day’s average across all players. Newly added, you can also check out your own Group Leaderboard.

New this winter: Group leaderboards

The Winfield Game is rolling out group leaderboards!

In addition to the leaderboard for the best lifetime average score and the Cal Ripken Jr. Ironman Streak Leaderboard, you can now create private groups and see how you stack up against:

  • Friends and family
  • Coworkers in the office pool
  • Your fantasy league
  • Discord / Slack communities
  • Team-specific fan groups

Setting up a group is simple:

  1. Go to winfieldgame.com and create a free account (or log in).
  2. Start a new group and share the invite link with whoever you want to compete against.
  3. Everyone plays the same daily puzzle — but now you can see your group’s leaderboard and compare scores within your own circle.

Group leaderboards track performance over time, so a single lucky guess won’t carry you forever. Over weeks and months, the best puzzle solvers rise to the top… and even if you aren’t the best, you can still top the streak leaderboard for your group.

Other Insider Tips

If you are looking to put your best foot forward in The Winfield Game, here are some insider tips to help you get started:

  • Learn a “glue guy” in every sport – someone who played for a ton of teams. Rich Hill and Edwin Jackson are great names to leverage in baseball, while Ish Smith (NBA) or Josh Johnson (NFL) could help in the other sports.
  • Refine your starting player – multi-sport players like Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson will nail down the sport with just one guess, while players like Rickey Henderson or Ryan Fitzpatrick had long careers with several teams.

Play today

The Winfield Game updates daily at midnight EST, and group leaderboards are available for anyone who wants to track results with friends or colleagues.

MLB Mailbag: Tucker, Rays, Mariners, Tigers, Dustin May

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This week's mailbag gets into whether Kyle Tucker will sign a shorter-term deal, options for the Rays at catcher, the trade value of controllable Mariners starters, the Tigers' offseason thus far, Dustin May's potential impact with the Cardinals, and much more.

Dave asks:

At this point do you think Kyle Tucker will take a high AAV deal — example: 5 years $250 million with opt outs after years 2 and 4?

I'm writing this on December 17th, and I don't think we're at that point with Tucker.  It's true that long-term free agent deals usually happen in December.  The last free agent deal of 8+ years that didn't happen in December was Bryce Harper in March 2019, with his 13-year deal coming a few weeks after Manny Machado's ten-year pact.

Eric Hosmer got an eight-year deal in February 2018, and Prince Fielder signed for nine years in January 2012.

That's about it, though, so if we get to the new year without a Tucker deal, the odds start shifting toward a shorter term.

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Rangers Sign Alexis Diaz

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December 16: Texas officially announced the signing of Díaz to a one-year contract. He only has three-plus years of MLB service time and will be eligible for arbitration through the 2028 campaign. This brings their 40-man roster count to 38, not including their yet to be finalized signing to bring back Chris Martin.

December 12: The Rangers are in agreement with reliever Alexis Díaz on a one-year deal, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News first suggested that the sides were closing in on a deal, and has suggested the contract will be on the cheaper side.

With Phil Maton, Chris Martin, Jacob Webb, Hoby Milner, and Danny Coulombe all reaching free agency after the season, Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young has to assemble a new bullpen once again.  He made a pair of relief additions within minutes of each other Friday night with the signings of Diaz and Tyler Alexander.

Diaz, 29, was a 12th round pick of the Reds out of a Puerto Rico high school a decade ago.  He skipped Triple-A to make the Reds’ Opening Day roster in 2022, making good on the promotion by posting a 1.84 ERA and earning a fifth place Rookie of the Year finish despite a bout with biceps tendinitis.  With a strong start to the 2023 season, Diaz earned an All-Star nod.  He finished third in the NL with 37 saves that year.  Diaz punched out 31.2% of batters faced during his first two seasons, 14th in baseball among relievers with at least 100 innings.  However, he also had the fourth-worst walk rate in that group at 12.8%.

Diaz was able to save another 28 games with a 3.99 ERA for the Reds in 2024, but his strikeout rate plummeted to 22.7% with the walks remaining a problem.  On the strength of his saves totals and early success, he landed a $4.5MM salary for 2025 as he entered the arbitration system.

The righty started 2025 on the IL with a hamstring injury, and things only went downhill from there.  Diaz was still under consideration for the Reds’ closing job when he made his mid-April season debut, but after a disastrous three-homer outing against the Cardinals on April 30th, he was sent back to Triple-A.

Diaz’s control issues continued at Triple-A, and by the end of May the Reds sent him to the Dodgers in a trade for minor league pitcher Mike Villani.  Diaz served in a low-leverage, up-and-down capacity for the Dodgers, who eventually designated him for assignment on September 4th.  He then joined the Braves in a waiver claim and made three appearances before being sent down.  Diaz elected free agency in early October.

Diaz’s nine-game stint with the Dodgers was easy to forget, but it ending up playing a role in the club signing his older brother Edwin a few days ago to a three-year, $69MM deal.  According to Edwin, “He told me the Dodgers are a really good organization. He made it easy for me.”

Alexis may be on the opposite end of the relief salary spectrum as compared to his older brother, but Chris Young had success last winter with bargain-basement relievers.  He let Kirby Yates and David Robertson depart for greener pastures, signing Armstrong, Webb, Milner, Martin, and Luke Jackson to one-year deals topping out with Martin’s $5.5MM.  All but Jackson had solid years.  Milner and trade deadline pickup Maton signed with the Cubs this offseason.  Southpaw Robert Garcia serves as the main holdover.

Mike Maddux departed for the Angels after three years as the Rangers’ pitching coach, leading the club to elevate Jordan Tiegs to the role under new manager Skip Schumaker.  According to Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News, “Tiegs, 38, ran the team’s bullpen last season in his first on-field role with the big league club, helped stabilize a group that was largely pieced together the previous winter and drew positive reviews from veteran relievers and organizational higher-ups.”

Tiegs will have his work cut out for him with Diaz.  The righty’s average fastball velocity slipped from 95.8 miles per hour as a rookie to 93.6 with his three teams this year, though it plays up with some of the best extension in the game.  It’s been two years since Diaz missed bats with a high spin rate fastball and one of the best sliders featured by any reliever.  His control is worse than ever.  Diaz has been able to dodge longballs until this year, but doesn’t really keep the ball on the ground.

Young’s active Friday evening included the signings of Diaz, Alexander, and catcher Danny Jansen in rapid succession.  He previously swapped Marcus Semien for Brandon Nimmo for an OBP boost.  With limited payroll flexibility, Young figures to continue adding to the pitching staff.

Subscribers On The Benefits Of Trade Rumors Front Office

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As you may know, I started a paid subscription service five years ago called Trade Rumors Front Office.  For $34.99 per year, subscribers enjoy ad-free browsing of MLBTR, access exclusive articles and chats from our writers every week, and dive into GM-caliber tools such as our MLB Contract Tracker.  Recently I asked our subscribers if they would like to provide quotes about this service for marketing purposes.  This was entirely voluntary; these are all real subscribers and none of them were paid for their quotes.  I’ve chosen a few of my favorites below.  Learn more about Trade Rumors Front Office here!

————————————————————————————————————————————

I was a free user of MLBTR for years. It was my go to app for all the latest news. When the pitch came around to consider subscribing, I figured I had gotten enough value over the years that I owed it to the team to support them. Wow! I had no idea what I was missing! Getting rid of the ads was worth it alone, but all the chats are awesome. The writers really take their time to thoughtfully answer all sorts of fake trade proposals and armchair GM scenarios. What I figured would be a one-time thing, is likely going to be an ongoing subscription. 100% worth the money! – Matt

I really appreciate the Front office exclusive chats and the emailed articles with each writer’s perspectives on a variety of topics. I also subscribe simply because I think the work MLBTR does is valuable and very much worth supporting. – Greg

MLB Trade Rumors’ Front Office subscription is worth every penny—and a whole lot more. It’s the only website I’m sure to read every day, and being a subscriber enhances the experience with features like ad-free browsing, Front Office chats and special articles. I don’t see how a diehard baseball fan can get along without the excellent work from the MLBTR team! – Tom

Trade Rumors Front Office has been a subscription worth every penny. From weekly chats to great detailed articles, every baseball fan would benefit greatly, and more importantly have a lot of fun, from enjoying their content. – Joseph

I think the member chats are always well done. I especially enjoy the member’s mailbag that Tim does every week. He really takes the time to give well thought out thorough answers. I’ve learned a lot from them. – Marc

None of the other sites I subscribe to are anywhere close to MLBTR. I’m seriously thinking of cancelling all of them. – Alf

MLBTR is my first read in the morning for news. My go to for breaking news. The front office subscription has been well worth the price and they’re always producing high quality content. They keep me up to date on basketball and football too. Highly recommend to any diehards of the Big 3 sports leagues! – Greg

MLBTR Front Office Subscription offers the greatest value differential from its free offering (essential for a baseball fan) than any equivalent that I am aware of. – Reynold

Has to be one of the best decisions I made signing up for this. Just a lack of advertisement that flashes on the side of the screens makes things so much easier to read. I also read the chats but after they’re completed. Just too busy during the day to be involved and I love all the extra stuff that I get. anyone not on the subscription based, you’re wasting your time it’s so inexpensive , Join today you’ll see the benefits right away. – Andy

I check MLBTR several times a day, and my Trade Rumors Front Office subscription would be a bargain at the twice at the price. MLBTR simply has the sharpest minds in baseball analysis, with a treasure trove of information at their disposal (and at ours). It is required reading for the serious baseball fan. – John

MLB Trade Rumors has been my baseball go-to for over a decade, and I subscribed this year both to support their work and to access additional quality content. Their writers have the passion of fans and the knowledge of industry pros. It’s a pleasure to read good, AI-free, well-researched writing, without corporate spin, and I plan to renew for many years to come.  – Lloyd

The absolute ’go-to’ source. Buries competitors. And, questions are answered! If you have made the decision to invest in this type of information, there is no better, cost effective way to do so. – Paul

To read about all the benefits of Trade Rumors Front Office – which comes with a 100% money-back guarantee – click here!

Support MLBTR With A Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

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About a month ago, MLB Trade Rumors celebrated its 20th anniversary!  We hope you enjoyed our Winter Meetings coverage!

The MLBTR writing team consists of Steve Adams, Anthony Franco, Darragh McDonald, Mark Polishuk, Nick Deeds, Leo Morgenstern, Charlie Wright, and AJ Eustace.  We all love baseball and we’re dedicated to bringing you the hot stove news with timeliness, accuracy, context, and analysis.  The essence of the website has not changed in these 20 years – we’re not jumping on any trends involving clickbait, gambling, or AI.

Part of the reason MLBTR is still going strong is the addition of our Trade Rumors Front Office subscription service five years ago.  I have never viewed that as a charity for us; my goal is to provide value well beyond the $34.99 per year cost.  Here’s what you get with your subscription:

  • Removal of all ads on the website and in our app (just make sure you’re logged in!)
  • My weekly mailbag
  • Exclusive weekly hot stove articles from expert MLB writers Steve Adams and Anthony Franco
  • Exclusive member-only online chats with Steve and Anthony every week
  • MLB Contract Tracker: a high-powered tool featuring 19+ years of free agent contracts and extensions
  • MLB GM Tracker: GM tenures for all 30 teams dating back to 2000, with links to each GM’s contract history
  • MLB Agency Database: agencies for more than three-quarters of those who played in MLB in the last three seasons, compiled from industry sources
  • Random perks such as early access to our revamped Trade Rumors app (coming soon!)

In the midst of our all the offseason action, please consider supporting MLBTR with a Trade Rumors Front Office subscription.  It comes with a 100% money-back guarantee!

MLB Mailbag: Gore, Pivetta, Phillies, Santander

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As the Winter Meetings start to pick up, this week's subscriber mailbag gets into MacKenzie Gore trade proposals, more trade ideas involving this year's Cy Young winners, the trade value of Nick Pivetta and Anthony Santander, and much more.

Steve asks:

Assuming that MacKenzie Gore has not been traded as I write this, would either of these two deals be likely to work for the teams involved?

1. Gore and Luis Garcia, Jr. to the Giants for Bryce Eldridge and Carson Whisenhunt? or

2. Gore to the Red Sox for Triston Casas and Connelly Early?

Your thoughts?

Gustav asks:

Who’d say no in a Gore & Abrams for Sheehan, Freeland, Ferris & Hope?

Gore, 27 in February, has two more years of team control remaining.  He's had a couple of 3-WAR type seasons in 2024 and '25, but they came with extreme volatility.

The lefty made 32 starts in 2024.  He had a 14-start stretch in the middle where he posted a 6.18 ERA, 19.8 K%, and 11.4 BB%.  That 8.3 K-BB% was the fourth-worst in baseball among qualified starters during that June 3rd-August 17th period.  Before and after that, Gore pitched like an ace.  His velocity was up early in the season, spiking to 96.6 miles per hour from the beginning of the year through July 1st.  It was a full mile per hour slower from that point on.

Similarly, Gore entered a July 20th start against the Padres this year with a 3.02 ERA, 30.5 K%, and 7.7 BB%.  His was back in ace form, and earned his first All-Star nod.  From that point forward, though, Gore posted a 6.75 ERA, 20.7 K%, and 12.8 BB% over his final 11 starts.  This stretch was a bit more concentrated into three or four blow-ups.  Gore's velocity was back down to 95.3 this year, but was relatively consistent game-to-game.

A run through Gore's injury history:

  • 2018: IL time with blisters and fingernail issues
  • August 2019: rested for 26 days to manage workload
  • 2020: no minor league season; pitched at Padres' alternate site
  • 2021: Started year at Triple-A; moved to Padres' alternate site in June after struggling with blisters; remained there to work on his delivery.  Finished the year with two Double-A starts.
  • 2022: Made MLB debut in April when Blake Snell got injured.  July 26th: landed on IL with elbow soreness.  August 2nd: traded to Nationals.  Made four minor league rehab starts for the Nats.
  • 2023: Exited July start with a blister; made the following one.  Removed from August 16th start due to a blister; returned a week later.  September 9th: season ended due to blisters.
  • 2024: Avoided IL and known blister issues.
  • 2025: Exited May start due to leg tightness; made his next one.  August 30th: went on IL for shoulder inflammation; ended up going 16 days between starts.

The blister issues didn't seem to pop up after 2023.  Gore has never undergone Tommy John surgery.  His 2022 elbow soreness and his 2025 shoulder inflammation seemed minor.

So Gore's injury history is not bad, but he's been a pitcher of extremes the last two years.  It's difficult to value that, but I'm sure just about every organization would like to bring him in and try to smooth things out.

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MLB Mailbag: Mets, Red Sox, Murakami, Expansion, Cubs, Tatis

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This week's mailbag gets into the Mets' offseason thus far, Craig Breslow's tenure atop Boston's front office, the Munetaka Murakami situation, how an expansion draft works, the Cubs' anti-deferral policy, Fernando Tatis Jr.'s trade value, and much more.

Ed asks:

I'm finding it hard to understand the Mets thinking. I'm scratching my head about the Marcus Semien/ Brandon Nimmo trade. I asked my friend who's a big Mets fan (his last name is Metz) what he thought and he responded that it depends on what outfielder they replace Nimmo with. I told him that unless they break the bank on Kyle Tucker its not going to be a clear upgrade. I'd say Cody Bellinger is an slight upgrade but after looking at their numbers its amazing how similar Bellinger and Nimmo are offensively and I don't see Cody putting up as good numbers in Citi Field.

Then I heard they are shopping Senga, instead of signing Framber Valdez or Ranger Suarez to compliment Senga they are looking to move on all together. Again I think both Framber and Ranger are probably a little better than Senga but if you sign one of them and keep Senga he becomes your # 2 which he is much better suited for.

I believe last year was more of a fluke for Devin Williams than the new norm, but would rather have Diaz, especially since William's problem might have been that he just can't handle the New York limelight. The Mets are now going with Williams as closer unless they resign Diaz and yes it probably closes the door on Diaz unless they want to invest over $100 million on two back end of the bullpen guys.

Just curious what you think of these moves. Do you feel the Mets will be stronger in the OF, Starting and Relief pitching in 2026?

Abner asks:

As a NY Mets fan I would love to see a late innings duo of Edwin Díaz & Devin Williams. But knowing how does David Stearns operate, how realistic is the Mets signing Díaz with Williams already in the fold? Will they look for cheaper options getting a guy like Tyler Rogers and/or Emilio Pagán to be the setup man while Williams is the closer? If they decide to invest heavily in Williams and Díaz, does that mean that they will not invest in an ace for the starting rotation this offseason? Thanks in advance.

On the Nimmo/Semien trade, I agree with Ed's friend.  So far, we've seen a portion of the Mets' offseason puzzle.  It's not close to being complete.

At age 33, Nimmo projects as roughly a 2.5 WAR player next year.  It's true that the free agent market is light on outfielders who are capable of that, beyond Tucker and Bellinger.  But it's also true that 34 MLB outfielders were worth 2.5+ WAR this year, including several few saw coming.  And that doesn't account for platoons that combined for 2.5 WAR-type value.

There's also collapse risk with the 33-year-old Nimmo, who is under contract through 2030.  Let's take a quick look at the last five years and see how many 33-year-old outfielders were worth 2.5+ WAR:

Nimmo's track record is very good, and a projection system is not going to project him to fall off a cliff after a 3-WAR season.  But outfield is a young man's game, and you can see how rare good seasons are at 33+.  With Nimmo, this could be a case of the old adage about trading a player a year too early rather than a year too late.  So I don't mind subtracting a player who probably won't age well, saving some money long-term and bringing in a second baseman with strong defense.  That's not to say Semien doesn't have his own collapse risk at 35, but his speed and defense are holding strong.

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Free Agent Contest Leaderboard Now Available

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4,604 people entered the MLB Trade Rumors Free Agent Prediction Contest this year.  To date, eight of MLBTR’s top 50 free agents have signed, including four who accepted a qualifying offer.

MLBTR’s readership is off to a great start, particularly with those QO players.  So far, three contestants have predicted seven of eight correctly, and many people have five or six correct.  Click here to check out the contest leaderboard, which will be updated as more top 50 free agents sign.

You can search for a contestant name in the leaderboard, and clicking on a name shows you that person’s picks.  There’s also a “view all” link next to “staff entry,” which allows you to see picks by the MLBTR writing staff.  The contest closed on November 13th at 11pm central.

This leaderboard is accessible under the Tools menu for those on the desktop version of the website, and under the flame icon in the upper left for mobile web users.

To see the most popular choices for each player, click here.

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