All-Free-Agent Team: Closers and corner outfielders aplenty, harder to fill up the middle

The offseason is built for free-agent rankings. Our resident scout Keith Law compiled his top 50 free agents, and our resident GM Jim Bowden classed his ain apical 45. A fistful of our writers worked together to create a corporate Big Board of the market’s apical 40 free agents.

But while rankings springiness a consciousness of the apical talent available, we person to rearrange those lists to amended understand wherever the marketplace is heavy and particularly thin. Here, then, is simply a 26-man roster made wholly of free agents, illustrating the ample options for a needy rotation, bullpen aliases outfield corner, and the comparative deficiency of options for almost immoderate position up the middle.

Lineup

1. Willy Adames, SS
2. Juan Soto, RF
3. Pete Alonso, 1B
4. Anthony Santander, DH
5. Teoscar Hernández, LF
6. Alex Bregman, 3B
7. Gleyber Torres, 2B
8. Travis d’Arnaud, C
9. Harrison Bader, CF

Power successful the mediate

If you’re successful the marketplace for a slugger, this offseason has immoderate options. Five of the 18 players who deed complete 30 location runs this play are now free agents (Soto, Santander, Alonso, Hernández, Adames). Bregman besides has immoderate pop, and d’Arnaud was apical 10 among catchers successful slugging percentage. Among the free agents who didn’t make our starting lineup, Randal Grichuk, Joc Pederson, Tyler O’Neill and Kyle Higashioka each slugged astatine slightest .475 this year.

Depth astatine the corners

Our Big Board has capable area outfielders adjacent the apical that we had to instrumentality 1 of them astatine designated hitter conscionable to fresh them each successful our lineup. Even then, location are capable mundane options that a 2nd drawstring could person plentifulness of impact, pinch Jurickson Profar (.839 OPS successful 2024), Tyler O’Neill (.847) and Joc Pederson (.908) besides ranking among our apical 26 free agents. Another area bat, first baseman Christian Walker (.803 OPS, 3 Gold Gloves), is No. 15 connected our list.

Point of weakness

When Cody Bellinger chose to enactment pinch the Chicago Cubs, the free-agent marketplace mislaid its champion center-field option. No different halfway fielder came peculiarly adjacent to making our Big Board. For our Free Agents Team we chose Bader (coming disconnected a 1.3 fWAR pinch the Mets) complete different glove-first options Michael A. Taylor and Kiké Hernández. Center section is the market’s thinnest and weakest position, though the marketplace isn’t peculiarly heavy anyplace up the middle.

Bench

• Christian Walker, 1B
• Ha-Seong Kim, SS/2B
• Jurickson Profar, OF
• Danny Jansen, C

Thin successful the infield

Positionally, this is not a awesome measurement to build a big-league bench. There’s nary backup 3rd baseman, nary backup halfway fielder, and we’re not judge erstwhile our inferior man is going to beryllium fresh (or really overmuch his enarthrosis room will effect his ability to play shortstop). But the options — particularly successful the infield — are limited. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt ranks No. 29, but our Big Board includes nary different infielders who aren’t listed here. The ones that came closest are Carlos Santana, José Iglesias, Yoán Moncada and Korean infielder Hye-seong Kim, and location are reasons to wonderment astir each of those successful an mundane role. Second baseman Jorge Polanco could beryllium absorbing arsenic a bounce-back candidate, and shortstop Paul DeJong has deed his measurement backmost onto the representation aft a bully season.

Options down the sheet

There are nary catchers connected our Big Board, but d’Arnaud and Jansen did make immoderate bottom-of-the-list consideration, and the free-agent marketplace besides has Higashioka, Carson Kelly, Gary Sánchez, Elías Díaz, Jacob Stallings and others who person been coagulated big-league catchers successful caller years. This marketplace doesn’t needfully person a standout mundane catcher, but those are fewer and acold betwixt successful today’s game. For teams trying to build a catching duo, free agency mightiness connection a fewer solutions.

Lefty bats

For our backup outfielder, we conscionable went pinch the highest sanction remaining from the Big Board (Profar), but the marketplace notably has a decent number of left-handed options that could beryllium useful successful a platoon. Joc Pederson (No. 26), Max Kepler (34), Alex Verdugo (38) and Michael Conforto (40) made our Big Board, and Jesse Winker conscionable missed. Jason Heyward is besides a free supplier aft providing immoderate left-handed equilibrium for a fewer contenders (the Dodgers and Astros) this past season.

Rotation

• Corbin Burnes, RHP
• Max Fried, LHP
• Blake Snell, RHP
• Jack Flaherty, RHP
• Sean Manaea, LHP

Impact starters 

Our Big Board’s apical 12 includes six starting pitchers, but we didn’t see No. 3 Roki Sasaki successful our All-Free Agent rotation because his business is unique and immoderate of his worth is tied to his younker (23 years old) and the truth he’ll person to motion comparatively cheap. Among proven big-league starters, this free-agent marketplace includes 4 of the apical 20 successful ERA this past season. Burnes is unmistakably the apical limb successful the class, and the extent of No. 1 starters depends connected whether teams judge the caller performances of Flaherty and Manaea are sustainable.

Next tier

Almost half of our apical 25 free agents are mid-rotation-or-better arms — Nathan Eovaldi (No. 13 connected the Big Board), Yusei Kikuchi (14), Shane Bieber (20), Walker Buehler (21), Luis Severino (23), and Nick Martinez (25) — but they travel pinch a immense array of questions ranging from property to wellness to caller inconsistency. Bieber, successful particular, is absorbing fixed that he’s a Cy Young victor returning from Tommy John room and doesn’t move 30 until the extremity of May. Martinez is 34, but he’s coming disconnected a profession twelvemonth that saw him transportation good down the agelong arsenic a full-time starter.

A mobility of property

The bottommost of our Big Board is loaded pinch successful but uncertain starting pitchers. Tomoyuki Sugano, Matthew Boyd, José Quintana and Max Scherzer each rank betwixt 35 and 39 connected our list, and each will beryllium aged betwixt 34 and 40 adjacent season. The first subordinate who missed the trim for our Big Board was Charlie Morton, different stater who turns 41 later this month. A fewer spots beneath Morton was Justin Verlander, who’s almost 42. Sugano has ne'er sounded successful the majors. Boyd’s made 23 starts the past 3 years combined. Scherzer made conscionable 9 starts this season. Which tin beryllium trusted to transportation a starter’s workload adjacent year?

Bullpen

• Tanner Scott, LHP
• Jeff Hoffman, RHP
• Clay Holmes, RHP
• Carlos Estévez, RHP
• Blake Treinen, RHP
• Kirby Yates, RHP
• Kenley Jansen, RHP
• David Robertson, RHP

Impact astatine the apical

Six of these 8 relievers person been All-Stars wrong the past 2 seasons. The only exceptions are Treinen (who’s been an All-Star successful the past and astir precocious was the apical limb successful the Dodgers’ postseason bullpen) and Robertson (another erstwhile All-Star who on pinch Yates, Scott, Jansen, Hoffman and Estévez classed successful the apical 20 successful Win Probability Added this season). Four different free agents — Chris Martin, Hector Neris, Paul Sewald and Lucas Sims — were apical 10 successful Win Probability Added successful 2023. There’s imaginable for effect here.

Closers for hire

 This free-agent people is particularly heavy successful pitchers pinch extended person experience. Eleven free agents — Jansen, Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, Robertson, Will Smith, Neris, Yates, Sewald, Estévez, Treinen and Holmes — rank apical 25 successful saves among progressive players, and that database doesn’t see Scott, who’s had double-digit saves the past 3 years and made the All-Star squad past year. Ninth-inning acquisition is readily disposable this winter.

From the near broadside

We chose our bullpen by picking each reliever connected our Big Board, positive the 2 who came closest to making the cut. If we wanted a 2nd lefty, though, Chapman and Danny Coulombe — amazingly fto spell by the Orioles — would warrant immoderate consideration. A.J. Minter, Tim Hill and Jalen Beeks are among the different free-agent lefties who could thief equilibrium a bullpen.

(Top photograph of Pete Alonso: Harry How / Getty Images)

Chad Jennings is simply a unit writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Red Sox and Major League Baseball. He was connected the Red Sox hit antecedently for the Boston Herald, and earlier moving to Boston, he covered the New York Yankees for The Journal News and contributed regularly to USA Today. Follow Chad connected Twitter @chadjennings22