The 2023-24 MLB Free Agency Class is nowhere near as flashy and exciting as the previous. There won’t be any Aaron Judges, or Justin Verlanders kind if contracts. But it can be summed up in one player: Shohei Ohtani. With his recent injury and now several missing games in a row. It went from “Will $500 Million be the next contract record?” to “Will teams take him on longer than 3 or 5 years?” There can still be some interesting names, of course, besides the unicorn himself, so we’ll go by position starting with the other Starting Pitchers hitting the market.
SP
- Danny Duffy
- Adam Wainwright
- Clayton Kershaw
- Jack Flaherty
- Tyler Mahle
- Jordan Montgomery
- Lucas Giolito
- Aaron Nola
- Zack Greinke
- Julio Urias
This list of Starters is littered heavily with guys who are having a tough time, or may be even considering retirement. The biggest names we’re looking at for the upcoming are probably Flaherty, Nola, and Montgomery. There’s also Kershaw and Wainwright, but those two could be hanging it up and calling it a career.
RP
- Josh Hader
- Corey Kluber
- Matt Moore
- Will Smith
- David Robertson
This group is going to be headlined by Josh Hader, obviously. He’s had a very up and down two seasons now, but is still head and shoulders above any other Closer available on the market. David Robertson is a cheap alternative for a true Closer, he hasn’t had 30 or more Saves since 2016. And you have late Relief in Matt Moore and veteran in Corey Kluber who has converted from a Starter to the Bullpen full-time in Boston.
Firstbase
- Rhys Hoskin
- Joey Gallo
- Garrett Cooper
- Ji-Man Choi
- C.J. Cron
In 2024, the Firstbase class is thin, as well. The top Free Agent is either Max Muncy or Josh Bell, but both have an option with their teams. After them, the next top players are Hoskin and Gallo. I know, Gallo strikes out a lot, but he also can play the Outfield, which is a nice bonus. Cron has shown teams that he is a 30+ HR kind of guy, but also liable to falling on the IL list from time to time.
Secondbase
- Whit Merrifield
- Adam Frazier
- Tony Kemp
- Brad Miller
- Scott Kingery
Those five names in the list and a few others make up the entirety of the second base class. Whit Merrifield has a Mutual option with his club, while Kingery has a Club option. The other three names don’t quite scream “All Star”, but they will fit the bill for a lot of teams.
Thirdbase
- Justin Turner
- Matt Chapman
- Matt Carpenter
- Giovanny Urshela
- Evan Longoria
These are the top Thirdbase Free Agent crop, though Turner and Carpenter have Player options with their respective teams. The aging Longoria may end up hanging the cleats, at nearly 38 years old. Matt Chapman should get a fairly good contract at a tick over 30 years of age, five years at least.
Shortstop
- Javier Baez
- Brandon Crawford
- Enrique ‘Kike’ Hernandez
- Nick Ahmed
- Tim Anderson
This group is an interesting one due to the contract implications. Baez has an opt-out in his contract, but I think it’s safe to say that he won’t use it. The White Sox have a Club option on Tim Anderson’s contract, but I think it’s a fair guess to say they buy him out at $1M instead of paying him $14M for one more season. That’s the true wild card player, while the other Shortstops are fairly average, or aging fairly well. Hernandez is more of a true Utility Man than Shortstop, but he’s good enough at the position to be on this list.
Right Field
- Teoscar Hernandez
- Hunter Renfroe
- Michael Conforto
- Max Kepler
- J.D. Martinez
The top five Right Fielders going into this Winter’s offseason, if Conforto exercises his option, and the Twins exercise theirs over Kepler, can be trimmed down to basically one player. Teoscar Hernandez has had a good power run in his time with the Mariners, clubbing 25 Homeruns so far, matching his 2022 total. But turning 31 very soon, that may cut his contracts to around or under five years, making around $20M a year. Martinez being more of a DH than Outfielder, we have to consider other players like Robbie Grossman and Adam Duvall as everyday Right Fielders for some teams.
Center Field
- Cody Bellinger
- Michael Taylor
- Tony Kemp
- Kevin Kiermaier
- Harrison Bader
The first and most important name to come up here is Cody Bellinger, who can either exercise his mutual option with the Cubs and get a guaranteed $12M for one more year, or go on the market. If he’s a Free Agent after this season at the tender age of 27 who had a very All Star type of year, but it was only one year. Some team may or may not bet on Bellinger, if he bets on the market. If he doesn’t, there aren’t anymore 1B/OF guys like him, but Bader and Kiermaier will draw interest.
Left Field
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
- Eddie Rosario
- Mark Canha
- Tommy Pham
- David Peralta
The headliner here is easily Gurriel Jr., he happened to be an All Star in 2023, which will help Arizona to put a bid to keep him. From 2021-23 so far, he is averaging 30+ Doubles and 15+ HR while hitting .275. Canha and Rosario have Club options hanging over their heads, so we could replace them with Brad Miller and Joc Pederson, who are true Free Agents this offseason. Another thing that Gurriel has going for him is that he is the youngest Free Agent on the list of top 10 Free Agents of Left Fielders.
Designated Hitter
- Shohei Ohtani
- J.D. Martinez
- Jorge Soler
- Carlos Santana
- Tyler Naquin
This list is utterly dominated by one person, and one person alone; Shohei Ohtani. But if we want to talk about pure Designated Hitters, you look to Jorge Soler. The catch with Soler is that he’s almost 32 years old, and has a Player option of $9M for 2024 playing with Miami. If he doesn’t trigger it, will he find a team who’ll pay him more than $9M next season, and further? He isn’t guaranteed anything beyond next year. The situation with Shohei is so crazy, I won’t even dare guessing at what the outcome will be.
