Who’s left in MLB free agency?

The Major League Baseball off-season is unlike any other in North American men’s sports. 

While NHL, NBA and NFL stars tend to sign new deals within the first couple days (or hours) they’re allowed to, baseball’s biggest names operate on a much slower timeline. 

Last year, Shohei Ohtani didn’t agree to his megadeal with the Los Angeles Dodgers until Dec. 9. This winter, it took Juan Soto until Dec. 8 to make up his mind. 

And while each player’s record-setting contract opened up the free agent market for other stars to sign in the days and weeks after, there are still plenty of top end names available a month after the Soto news broke. 

Here is a look at where things stand this off-season with just over a month left before pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. 

Top end talent 

Most of the big contracts have already been handed out for the winter. But not all. 

Let’s start with a numerical breakdown. Referencing TSN’s Top 75 MLB Free Agents list put together by TSN Blue Jays Reporter Scott Mitchell and TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips in November, three of the top 10 players ranked remain unsigned, as well as 10 of the top 30. 

Headlining those still available is Roki Sasaki, a 23-year-old right-hander who will join MLB with as much anticipation as just about any Japanese pitcher ever. And unlike other free agents, money seems secondary to the former Chiba Lotte Marines star. 

Since Sasaki is only 23, he’ll fall under MLB’s international signing rules, which makes him eligible only for a minor league contract on top of a signing bonus that is capped for each team in a range of roughly $5 million to $8 million. On Jan. 15, the new international signing period will begin and he’ll have just over a week until his posting ends on Jan. 23. Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, told reporters on Dec. 30 he is likely to make his decision between those two dates. Had Sasaki waited until after the 2026 MLB season, he’d likely be offered deals in the hundreds of millions. But because Sasaki is arriving early, it’s basically a level playing field. 

Wolfe said last week that Sasaki met with a “set few” of the 20 teams that showed interest. 

Also out there at the top of the market are a pair of corner infielders. First baseman Pete Alonso, ranked fifth on TSN’s Top 75, and third baseman Alex Bregman (eighth) are two of the top bats still up for grabs and will greatly upgrade someone’s lineup once they eventually sign. 

But buyer beware. For one, Bregman is headed into his age-31 season and Alonso turned 30 just over a month ago. Multiple reports indicate they’re each looking for five or six-year contracts, which would push each of them into their mid-to-late thirties upon completion of their deals. Given MLB’s service time rules, that’s about typical for most free agents. So, what’s the problem? 

Despite all the success each of them has had throughout their careers, neither excelled offensively in their walk-years. Bregman (.768) and Alonso (.788) are coming off career-lows in OPS. In terms of OPS+ – a stat that measures a hitter relative to the rest of the league – Bregman (118) was tied for fifth best on the Houston Astros while Alonso (123) was also fifth on the New York Mets. In fact, both player’s OPS has declined in each of the past two seasons. Couple that with the fact both corner infield positions are generally offensively deep, and you get a bit of a standstill in the market. 

Bregman is a two-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champion, a Gold Glover and a Silver Slugger. It’s hard to find a more complete resume than that. And Alonso remains one of the game’s most dangerous hitters with 226 home runs in his first six big league seasons. 

All that to say – red flags or no red flags, each player will probably sign for a whole lot of money and make whichever team they join a whole lot better. 

Outfielder Anthony Santander (No. 9 on TSN’s Top 75), starter Jack Flaherty (No. 11) and infielder Ha-Seong Kim (No. 15) are also still looking for work. 

Upside signings 

Not every team chooses to play at the top of the market in free agency. 

Be it organizational philosophies on long-term deals, front offices focusing on rebuilding or teams simply refusing to spend money, there are always limitations on who seriously bids on the top free agents. 

Of players ranked 25 through 50 on TSN’s Top 75, 12 are still available, including a handful of proven closers. Still on the board are Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estevez, Kirby Yates, David Robertson and Kenley Jansen, who have a total of 868 saves between them and handled closing duties for their teams last season.  

But sometimes, it’s the under-the-radar signings that make the biggest impact considering the cost they come at.  

Last December, the Mets signed veteran infielder Jose Iglesias to a minor-league deal with an invite to Spring Training. He ended up hitting .337 during the regular season and had a career-best bWAR of 3.1 in 85 games. Or Randal Grichuk, who slashed .291/.348/.528 on a one-year, $2 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. But maybe the biggest surprise signing was Jurickson Profar, who made the All-Star team for the first time in 2024 and finished with better numbers than Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. The San Diego Padres got him for only $1 million last February.  

All three players are still on the market and are looking to outperform expectations once again for whoever scoops them up. 

On the mound, future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer is still unsigned, and pitched to a respectable 3.95 ERA in nine outings last season with the Texas Rangers coming off injury. If Justin Verlander was able to land a one-year, $15 million deal with the San Francisco Giants for his age-42 season coming off a worse year in 2024, surely there will be some interest in Scherzer? 

And what about Canadian Nick Pivetta, who has elite swing-and-miss stuff and cut back on his walks dramatically? If he can also minimize some of the hard contact he allows, there’s no reason he can’t pitch at the front of somebody’s rotation.   

Then there are the reclamation projects. Jorge Polanco hit 33 homers in 2021. Yoan Moncada had a .915 OPS in 2019 and was once thought to be a key piece in a Chicago White Sox rebuild that never worked. Canadian Michael Soroka is out there too as he looks to relaunch a once promising career after a series of injuries.  

Not every free agent lands an eight or nine-figure deal. Sometimes the right upside play can prove to be just as valuable.  

What about the Blue Jays? 

The Toronto Blue Jays have been connected to pretty much every top flight free agent available this winter. And they’ve landed virtually nobody. 

Outside of a two-year reunion with reliever Yimi Garcia and a one-year agreement with lefty Josh Walker, Toronto hasn’t signed a single Major League free agent. They reportedly had interest in a number of high-profile targets, namely Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Teoscar Hernandez, but all ended up signing elsewhere.  

Toronto’s only big move this winter has been their Dec. 10 trade with the Cleveland Guardians that brought them infielder Andres Gimenez and reliever Nick Sandlin in exchange for first baseman Spencer Horwitz.  

Gimenez has one of baseball’s best gloves up the middle and finished as high as sixth in MVP voting during a breakout 2022 season. It was no small move. But was it the right move? 

Gimenez had just a .298 on-base percentage last season and didn’t hit for much power, slugging .340 with nine home runs in 152 games. The Blue Jays ranked 23rd in baseball in runs scored (671) and hit the fifth fewest home runs (156). If the Jays are going to bounce back next season, they’re going to need a lot more at the plate, and there isn’t a ton of evidence Gimenez can provide that. 

So, who out there can? In addition to Bregman and Alonso – two names the Jays have been connected to – switch-hitting outfielder Anthony Santander could provide the kind of thump Toronto is desperately looking for. The 30-year-old hit a career-best 44 homers in 2024 and has gone deep a total of 105 times the past three seasons, the sixth most in MLB over that span.  

There are rumblings the Jays have a contract offer out to Santander, but that’s been circulating for a few days and nothing has materialized, at least publicly.  

Speaking of contracts, maybe the biggest item on the Jays’ to-do list this winter is getting star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signed long-term. And according to reports, that hasn’t gone well thus far. Guerrero is coming off his best season since 2021 and looked like the aircraft carrier everyone was expecting in the second half of the season heading into his walk year.  

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported earlier this week that the Jays and Guerrero are “at least $100 million apart” in talks with Guerrero reportedly seeking a deal in the neighbourhood of $450 million. Nightengale also wrote that if an agreement is not reached by Spring Training, Guerrero will likely test the free agent waters. 

Shortstop Bo Bichette is also a free agent after this season and according to Nightengale he’s “as good as gone” after 2025.  

It feels like the Blue Jays are at a crossroads this winter and there has never been more pressure on the front office to turn things around than right now.