MLB free agency: Top 10 players on the market this offseason

As soon as the store shelves flip from Halloween candy to Christmas ornaments, it’s time for MLB’s shopping season. While players can declare for free agency the day after the World Series ends, they can’t sign with a new team until 5 p.m. ET five days later, or in this case Monday. Last offseason, teams spent $5.46 billion on free agents (h/t spotrac.com) but the majority of that was by the Dodgers on two players: Shohei Ohtani (10 years, $700M) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12 years, $325M).

You can bet Juan Soto will be gunning for Ohtani’s record this offseason (with a big assist from agent Scott Boras), and there are plenty of other big-ticket names as well. Here is the top 10, not including players who are expected to ultimately remain with their current teams (i.e. the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole).

1. JUAN SOTO. It feels as if we’ve been talking about Soto’s free agency for a decade now, and with Boras running the show, don’t expect a quick resolution. Coming off a great walk year (career-high 41 homers) capped by a superb October (and he just turned 26), Soto will command the biggest contract this offseason. But will he reach Ohtani territory? Probably not.

2. CORBIN BURNES. As the A-1 ace available, Burnes will have his pick of deep-pocketed suitors. In the past three seasons combined, he has pitched to a 3.08 ERA and averaged 32 starts, 197 innings, 208 strikeouts and a 1.04 WHIP. Expect a fifth straight top-10 finish in the Cy Young Award voting, too (he won it in 2021).

3. ALEX BREGMAN. Thanks to a six-year, $100 million extension with the Astros, Bregman stuck around in Houston long enough for the cheating stain to eventually fade in the public eye (beyond Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, anyway). Bregman didn’t put up career numbers in his walk year, but a solid second half (14 homers, .833 OPS) and his excellent defense should give him momentum.

4. WILLY ADAMES. The Brewers’ team MVP is sure to price himself out of small-market Milwaukee as one of the most productive shortstops at the plate this season. Adames’ 112 RBIs were tops at the position, his 32 homers tied for third (with Bobby Witt Jr.) and his 4.8 WAR (FanGraphs) was fifth. He also had a career-high 21 stolen bases after never touching double-digits in his six previous seasons.

5. BLAKE SNELL. It’s deja vu all over again for Snell, who opted out of the two-year, $62 million deal he signed with the Giants in March. Snell settled on that after not getting the long-term money he was looking for last offseason  despite winning the Cy Young Award. This time he is coming off a 1.23 ERA in his final 14 starts, including an Aug. 2 no-hitter against the Reds.

6. MAX FRIED. After a variety of injuries limited him to 14 starts in 2023, Fried posted his highest ERA (3.25) since 2019, but that still put him fifth overall in the National League, so it’s all relative. He’ll turn 31 in January and has pitched more than 180 innings only once, in 2022, when the lefthander finished second in the Cy Young Award voting (2.48 ERA, 1.01 WHIP).

7. PETE ALONSO. The Mets’ homegrown first baseman didn’t tee up the perfect walk year from a power perspective, as  the 34 home runs were his fewest for a full season. But only Aaron Judge (232) has hit more homers than Alonso’s 226 since 2019, and he also gets points for durability, as his 846 games are second only to Marcus Semien (859) in that same span. Alonso’s late September swoon was all but forgotten after his season-saving homer beat the Brewers in the wild-card round.

8. TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ. The Dodgers’ flashy signings of the Japanese stars overshadowed the one-year, $23.5 million deal they gave to Hernandez, but L.A. certainly got it’s money’s worth. He helped picked up the slack (33 homers, .840 OPS) with Mookie Betts on the injured list and Freddie Freeman’s uneven regular season. Hernandez, who turned 32 during the Dodgers’ World Series run, should be able to parlay that production into a longer-term contract.

9. ANTHONY SANTANDER. The Orioles’ slugging outfielder picked the perfect time for a power surge, hitting a career-high 44 homers that put him behind only Judge (58) and  Ohtani (54) in the majors this season. His .814 OPS was more than 30 points higher than his career mark, and he also has averaged 153 games the past three years.

10. CHRISTIAN WALKER.  Walker, 34, is hitting free agency late in the game, but he’s also doing it as more of a complete player than Alonso,  his biggest competition in the first-base market.  While Walker doesn’t have the pure power of Alonso, he’s a two-time Gold Gold winner and also put together seasons of 36 and 33 homers before an oblique injury limited him to 130 games this year.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.