MLB Free Agents 2024-25: Which Hidden Stars Could Rewrite the Season’s Destiny?
As the winter chill settles over the MLB landscape, a heated question looms: what exactly will convince players to ink those life-altering contracts this offseason? The buzz is louder than a packed stadium on game day, and the stakes? Oh, they’re sky-high. With Juan Soto’s name lighting up every headline alongside a slew of coveted starting pitchers, teams face the intricate puzzle of weighing sheer star power against long-term contribution. But here’s the kicker: it’s not just about the dollars— it’s about the true impact these free agents can carve out while wearing their new colors. So, who’s worth the gamble? And what sort of figures will sizzle on those dotted lines? Buckle up as we dissect and rank the top 25 MLB free agents shaping the 2024-25 offseason—because in this high-stakes game, every signing tells a story. LEARN MORE
What it will take: The 32-year-old outfielder will benefit from his big year on the big stage with the Dodgers, drawing at least three years and million despite an impending need to DH.
Why you want him: An all-around player whose glove is the rare value add at the cold corner, Walker nonetheless posted a better RV+ than Alonso or Santander in an injury-interrupted 2024. If he remains relatively healthy as he enters his age-34 season, heâs probably a steal.
Heâs still playable at second with at least some chance at improving with experience, and the bat could handle a move down the defensive spectrum if necessary.
Perhaps more importantly, Kim rates as a strong defender at shortstop and could be an excellent one at second base. Having just turned 29, he could certainly maintain that for three or four more years.
What it will take: The 30-year-old right-hander is reaching the market a year older than Gerrit Cole and with a few more warning signs of decline. He wonât touch the nine-year, 4 million bar for long-term MLB veteran deals, but he could target an average annual value that tops Yoshinobu Yamamotoâs stretched-out deal with the Dodgers. Expect Burnes to seek million per year or more, which could take him toward the 0 mark over seven seasons.
What it will take: Three years at more than million per year.
1. Juan Soto, OF
What it will take: Heâs a prime candidate for a six- or seven-year deal that lowers the luxury tax hit for a contender and guarantees him about 0 million.
What it will take: A classic two-year, million closer or setup man situation.
What it will take: His deal may not extend beyond five years, but Fried should ask for an average annual value that matches or exceeds the far less consistent Carlos Rodonâs million. It seems likely his total guarantee will come in under 5 million.
Fried boasts the best ERA over the past five seasons (minimum 500 innings), and the best ERA over the past three seasons (minimum 400 innings). The left-hander, who will turn 31 in January, works with more subtlety than your typical frontline starter. His strikeout rate hovers around a mundane 23%, but he racks up ground balls and avoids homers like the plague, feeding into a 70 BIP- that shows his contact management was second only to Framber Valdez of the Houston Astros in 2024.
2. Corbin Burnes, RHP
He has never thrown more than 129.1 innings in a professional season, so whoever lands Sasaki will probably need to treat him with the kid gloves characteristic of top pitching prospects, not the all-in vigor that you might expect from Burnes or Fried. The reward for the initial work, though, could be incredible.
What it will take: A one-year contract and a handshake deal to not pair him with Tommy Pham.
Why you want him: Inspired by Chris Sale, the towering lefty dropped down to a lower arm angle and immediately boosted his strikeout rate and opponentsâ batting average while cutting his walk rate. It wonât cost you the farm to see if thereâs more to unlock as he becomes more comfortable with his new delivery.
What it will take: A shoulder surgery that might delay his start in 2025 could create incentive to take a short-term deal, or it could be a bargaining chip for a team looking to lock him up on a steal of a four-year deal for million or less.
3. Roki Sasaki, RHP
What it will take: A very, very convincing PowerPoint presentation, and a few million dollars.
What it will take: A deal that allows him room to prove his health and his value in some shape or form, whether thatâs a one-year bubble contract or a longer-term deal involving an opt-out.
What it will take: Agent Scott Boras will undoubtedly be looking to cash in on Alonsoâs big name and the reputation he earned mostly prior to 2024. Almost anything is possible, but a five-year deal to maximize the total guarantee, even at lower annual rates, seems like the best route.
He swings more than youâd advise (77 discipline+), and makes more contact than youâd expect (106 contact+). That adds up to a lower on-base percentage and at least some room for growth with the bat as he likely shuffles toward the designated hitter life.
4. Max Fried, LHP
What will convince players to sign on the dotted line? And what will the numbers look like on that contract? We rank the MLB free agents available this offseason.
Adames has too much swing-and-miss in his game to expect more than the .251 batting average he tallied in 2024, but a 115 raw value+ (RV+) will go a long way for relatively young, steady performers who can play shortstop.
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Why you want him: Thereâs a world in which we look back and realize a dominant Kikuchi was unlocked in a half season with Houston. Kikuchi thrived with the Astros, amping up his slider use â and, as a result, his strikeout rate â in 60 innings after the trade from the Toronto Blue Jays. His 2.70 ERA in that stint is tantalizing, even as the walks and homers loom in his stat sheet.
5. Alex Bregman, 3B
The stuff can be otherworldly, as demonstrated in a 19-strikeout perfect game and 8.0 perfect innings in back-to-back starts that flung him onto the wider worldâs radar in 2022. Itâs a fastball that has averaged 99 mph and touched 101. Itâs a splitter that gets whiffs on more than half the swings batters take. But youâll notice the hedging in that assessment â can be, has. Sasaki suffered seriously diminished stuff in 2024 amid arm issues that The Athletic reported as âshoulder fatigue,â which is among the more concerning pitcher diagnoses.
Why you want him: Heâs Shane Bieber, and your faith in him might win you a significant discount on a Cy Young winner working his way back from Tommy John surgery.
What it will take: Pony up, those homers are expensive. Expect a deal of four years or more that approaches nine figures.
A bedrock member of the Astros core, Bregman peaked as a legitimate MVP candidate when his pull power potential went farther (literally) in 2018 and 2019, but even with 25 homers instead of 40, heâs a consistent asset. With a sharp eye and elite contact skills â his 109 contact+ was a top-10 number among qualified hitters in 2024 â Bregman has about as reliable a skill set as youâre going to find. His walk rate declined noticeably in 2024, but the overall plate discipline picture still looked strong, finishing with a 114 discipline+.
6. Willy Adames, SS
Why you want him: Like a funhouse mirror version of Kim, Torres builds on similarly stellar swing decisions â his discipline+ ranked behind only Soto and Andrew McCutchen â with power that (usually) speaks loudly. Though the overall numbers were down a bit in 2024, itâs likely that he still has plenty of thump in the bat heading into his age-28 season.
The relatively lithe Fried has never thrown more than 185.1 frames in a season, which will limit confidence in his long-range durability, but heâs also never been anything other than good. Donât be surprised if he winds up being the smartest pitcher signing of the winter.
What it will take: A short-term deal worth at least million per year seems most likely for a young hitter who might want another crack at the market.
7. Blake Snell, LHP
What it will take: The biggest reliever contract of this winter, but probably no more than million.
Thatâs exactly how we will be ranking the top 25 free agents available in Major League Baseball this offseason. Itâs not about the total amount of money they will earn, but how much they might matter in the timeframe they are likely to play for their new teams.
Why you want him: Heâs clearly the most accomplished position player in the class not named Juan Soto.
8. Ha-Seong Kim, SS
Another winter of MLB hot stove intrigue is upon us.
Why you want him: The ace the Dodgers played in World Series Game 5 looked more like the one they were holding way back in 2021. A slow return to form following a second Tommy John surgery is perhaps to be expected, and the ceiling for Buehler stacks up with the best of this list.
What it will take: Something like million across no more than four years.
9. Anthony Santander, OF
Why you want him: Among hurlers who pitched 100 or more innings in 2024, only Paul Skenes had a better RV-, and only Garrett Crochet had a better whiff+.
Why you want him: If youâve ever thought about putting money under your mattress, hereâs the pitcher for you. In the last five seasons, Eovaldiâs ERA marks range all the way from 3.63 to ⦠3.87. He’s a postseason hero and clubhouse favorite who peppers the zone (109 strike+) and goes deep into games (5.9 innings per start) entering his age-35 campaign.
Letâs rank MLBâs most promising free agents.
10. Pete Alonso, 1B
What it will take: A mortal lock to land on a team chasing a ring, Eovaldi could feasibly photocopy the three-year, million deal which he recently opted out of and hand it to his favorite suitor.
The post MLB Free Agents 2024-25: Ranking the Players Ready to Make the Biggest Impact appeared first on Opta Analyst.
11. Sean Manaea, LHP
Why you want him: The longtime New York Mets avatar (one of them, at least) presents a reversed Santander case. Alonso possesses elite power potential, and a history of reaching that power without whiffing too often, but his walk year did not make the best case for him maintaining that combination of abilities into his 30s. Still, 34 homers as a career-low total (in a non-pandemic season) is a pretty remarkable fact on the resume.
Why you want him: You just sorted the MLB leaderboards by home runs and wow, look at that. The 30-year-old former Rule 5 pick gave himself a terrific free-agency platform by blasting 44 homers for the Orioles last season, but his appeal is slightly more nuanced. Over the past three seasons, only five hitters have more homers than Santanderâs 105, and all of them strike out more often than he does (20.5%).
12. Jack Flaherty, RHP
Why you want him: The 29-year-old righty who played on the same high school team with Fried and Lucas Giolito (in case you hadnât heard) has frontline potential. Across four teams in the past two years, he has occasionally reached it and more often slipped into homer-prone fits and starts. The arm that twirled a brilliant 2019 is in there, and perhaps needs encouragement to lean further into his slider and curveball. His once-potent fastball probably isnât going to reach its old level at 93 mph.
Why you want him: You just canât go out and get a surefire top-five hitter in baseball at age 26. Except for right now.
13. Gleyber Torres, 2B
What it will take: A worse contract year will keep Bregman under the seven-year, 5 million deal that Marcus Semien signed with the TexasRangers in a frothing market, but the value calculation seems similar, if not favorable for Bregman.
He has serious postseason bonafides, including a ring with the Washington Nationals in 2019, and has missed a grand total of 40 of his teamsâ games in the last six regular seasons. With his prime still stretching out in front of him, Soto is as foolproof a franchise player as weâve ever seen reach free agency.
Why you want him: Buoyed by a smart plate approach (his 119 discipline+ was a top-15 mark in 2024 among hitters with 400+ plate appearances) and excellent defense in the middle infield, Kim churns out quiet value. He has improved his contact rate in each year since making the leap from Korea, which means he now walks almost as much as he strikes out, conjuring a useful offensive force even without significant power.
14. Christian Walker, 1B
What it will take: More than a one-year deal. Right? A season after a delayed, stunted signing with the San Francisco Giants, expect a shorter-term deal worth more than million per year.
What it will take: Not all that much! Hoffman will probably get something between million and million per year across two or three years.
15. Walker Buehler, RHP
What it will take: A one-year deal and reason to believe he might win another World Series.
Headlined by Juan Soto and a barrage of starting pitchers, the class will require teams to make a host of calculations about who has the most impact to offer.
16. Shane Bieber, RHP
Over the past five seasons, Burnes has the fourth-best ERA among starters and the second-most innings. Really, only one pitcher rivals him for the title of most productive pitcher in baseball (the Philadelphia Philliesâ Zack Wheeler).
Why you want him: His sinker-slider combo is the raison d’être for the Pitching Ninja movement overlays. As long as the 37-year-old Treinen wants to try, someone will employ him to hurl baseballs like that.
17. Teoscar Hernandez, OF
What it will take: A two-year deal and a desktop bookmark, leading to scintillating April 2024 highlights, labeled âPatience.â
All of these players are appealing. But when push comes to shove, what is the argument that will convince team executives to sign on the dotted line? And what will the numbers look like on that contract?
18. Nathan Eovaldi, RHP
Blake Treinen, 97 mph Sinker & 85mph Sweeper, Overlay.
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