2026 MLB Free Agent Rankings: Top 50 Available Players
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Welcome to Baseball America’s coverage of the 2025-26 free agent class.
Our rankings are based on a mixture of data-driven analysis that leverages recent signing data, underlying metrics and consensus value estimates. Win values shown are an aggregate of FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus and Baseball Reference, and projected contracts were based off a $10 million/WAR calculation. You can find a detailed breakdown of the MLB free agency tiers below the table. Stay tuned for position-by-position free agent rankings.
Note: The below list was updated to remove Trevor Story, Shane Bieber and Jack Flaherty after they opted into their contracts on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Top 50 MLB Free Agents
| Rank | Name | POS | AGe on 4/1 | projECTED Contract | signed by | actual Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Tucker | RF | 29.2 | 11 Years / $360M | ||
| 2 | Bo Bichette | 2B/SS | 28.1 | 8 Years / $240M | ||
| 3 | Framber Valdez | SP | 32.4 | 7 Years / $220M | ||
| 4 | Alex Bregman | 3B | 32.0 | 6 Years / $180M | ||
| 5 | Pete Alonso | 1B | 31.3 | 7 Years / $175M | ||
| 6 | Dylan Cease | SP | 30.3 | 5 years / $160M | ||
| 7 | Cody Bellinger | CF | 30.7 | 6 Years / $175M | ||
| 8 | Gleyber Torres | 2B | 29.3 | 7 years / $160M | ||
| 9 | Kyle Schwarber | DH | 33.1 | 3 Years / $110M | ||
| 10 | Edwin Diaz | RP | 32.0 | 6 Years / $125M | ||
| 11 | Munetaka Murakami | 3B | 26.2 | 7 Years / $140M | ||
| 12 | Trent Grisham | CF | 29.4 | 5 Years / $130M | ||
| 13 | Michael King | SP | 30.9 | 4 years / $110M | ||
| 14 | Eugenio Suarez | 3B | 34.7 | 3 Years / $75M | ||
| 15 | Kazuma Okamoto | 3B | 29.8 | 5 Years / $85M | ||
| 16 | Josh Naylor | 1B | 28.8 | 6 Years / $120M | ||
| 17 | Ranger Suarez | SP | 30.6 | 3 Years / $75M | ||
| 18 | Devin Williams | RP | 31.5 | 4 Years / $75M | ||
| 19 | Brandon Woodruff | SP | 30.7 | 1 Year / $27.5M | ||
| 20 | Zac Gallen | SP | 30.7 | 2 Years / $45M | ||
| 21 | Ryan Helsley | RP | 31.7 | 4 Years / $70M | ||
| 22 | Lucas Giolito | SP | 31.7 | 3 Years / $65M | ||
| 23 | Ryan O’Hearn | DH | 32.7 | 3 Years / $45M | ||
| 24 | Robert Suarez | RP | 35.1 | 3 Years / $54M | ||
| 25 | Raisel Iglesias | RP | 36.2 | 3 Years / $54M | ||
| 26 | J.T. Realmuto | C | 35 | 3 Years / $48M | ||
| 27 | Shota Imanaga | SP | 32.7 | 2 Years/ $41M | ||
| 28 | Dustin May | SP | 28.6 | 1 Year / $15M | ||
| 29 | Chris Bassit | SP | 37.1 | 2 Years / $40M | ||
| 30 | Harrison Bader | CF | 31.8 | 2 Years / $40M | ||
| 31 | Merrill Kelly | SP | 37.5 | 2 Years / $40M | ||
| 32 | Tyler Mahle | SP | 31.5 | 2 Years / $28M | ||
| 33 | Zach Little | SP | 30.5 | 3 Years / $45M | ||
| 34 | Justin Verlander | SP | 43.1 | 1 Year / $15M | ||
| 35 | Luke Weaver | RP | 32.6 | 3 Years / $45M | ||
| 36 | Kenley Jansen | RP | 38.5 | 1 Year / $15M | ||
| 37 | Tyler Rogers | RP | 35.3 | 3 Years / $44M | ||
| 38 | Taylor Rogers | RP | 35.3 | 2 Years / $32M | ||
| 39 | Emilio Pagan | RP | 34.9 | 2 Years / $32M | ||
| 40 | Marcell Ozuna | DH | 35.4 | 1 Year / $20M | ||
| 41 | Josh Bell | DH | 33.6 | 2 Years / $24M | ||
| 42 | Yoan Moncada | 3B | 30.8 | 1 Year / $15M | ||
| 43 | Miguel Rojas | SS | 37.1 | 1 Year / $12M | ||
| 44 | Luis Rengifo | 2B | 29.1 | 2 Years / $22M | ||
| 45 | Willi Castro | UTIL | 28.9 | 2 Years / $22M | ||
| 46 | Max Kepler | RF | 33.1 | 2 Years / $24M | ||
| 47 | Cedric Mullins | CF | 31.5 | 1 Year / $13M | ||
| 48 | Lourdes Gurriel Jr. | OF | 32.5 | 1 Year / $13M | ||
| 49 | Mike Yastrzemski | RF | 35.6 | 2 Years / $22M | ||
| 50 | Austin Hays | OF | 30.9 | 1 Year/ $11M |
Tier 1: Kyle Tucker
Kyle Tucker is the clear jewel of this class. He has an unmatched combination of youth, track record, upside and pedigree. If a bidding war erupts, he may out-earn this projected contract by a wide margin.
Tier 2: Younger Position Players & Framber Valdez
Bo Bichette has a Tier 1 argument, but his declining bat speed and sprint speed, combined with questionable defense, clouds his future projection. While Framber Valdez is the oldest player in this tier, his performance track record and reliability are rock solid. He’s the premier starter in the class. Alex Bregman’s combination of stellar defense and production make him a high-floor, high-ceiling bet at a position where there aren’t a ton of other options. Pete Alonso rounds out this tier, emerging as the best clear-cut, long-term first base option available.
Tier 3: Underrated Stars, Wild Cards & Edwin Diaz
Despite his impeccable record as a strikeout artist, Dylan Cease can’t quite put it all together to ascend into ace status. Shane Bieber finally looks like himself again and should sign a contract similar to Cease. Cody Bellinger is erasing the demons of his poor performance at the tail end of his Dodgers career. If not for a few poor seasons, he could easily slot into Tier 2.
Gleyber Torres is not far off from Bichette in terms of performance, pedigree and age. He’s roughly 0.5 to 1 wins behind in per-season value. Kyle Schwarber’s still improving, even as he approaches his age-33 season. If he were a couple of years younger, he’d be in line for a monster contract. His age and lack of defensive versatility limit his market.
Edwin Diaz is the clear-cut, no-doubt best closer in this class with an eye-popping performance track record. He might shatter the contract record for a reliever. Munetaka Murakami rounds out this tier, with the upside of monster power, questionable contact and questionable defense. It will be very instructive to see which teams target him, and which teams shy away.
Tier 4: Solid Vets & Devin Williams
Trent Grisham looks like a new player and he’s arguably a Tier 2 free agent based on 2025. His lack of a long-term track record bumps him down. Regardless, his 2025 season was no fluke, and his glove is legit. Michael King would have likely topped our starting pitching rankings if not for lingering injury concerns. Eugenio Suarez continues to mash, but he’ll be almost 35 on opening day, limiting how much teams will want to invest in him. Kazuma Okamoto is another wild-card from Japan who is a solid bet to be at least an above-average bat.
Josh Naylor continues to produce, but his metrics are underwhelming. There aren’t a ton of options at first base this offseason, which should boost his market. Ranger Suarez is the exception that proves the rule when it comes to velocity. He’s a lot better than people think. Devin Williams is still just as good as he was before he came to the Yankees. He’s not quite on Diaz’s level, but that’s like saying Schwarber isn’t quite on Aaron Judge’s level.
Notes On This Year’s Class
Last year’s class was a fair bit deeper, both at the top and farther down the lists. Will this inflate the market values of this year’s players, or will we see less money spent on free agency, especially with a potential lockout looming in 2027?
Willi Castro’s tools are much louder than his performance. He could be a huge bargain if a sharp team fully unlocks him. He might just fit as a one-year bet by the Tigers, similar to Torres last season. Murakami has huge upside. As we mentioned in the Tier 3 writeup, the list of teams linked to him will be quite instructive. A wild-card team for Murakami might be the Athletics, who have done a great job with this archetype of hitter (Nick Kurtz and Brent Rooker).
Teams that need to fill a hole at shortstop won’t have a lot of options. The very best middle infielders all have questionable shortstop defense.
Marcell Ozuna might be a massive bargain. His performance fell off a cliff, but his metrics were largely consistent. Michael Conforto was just off the top 50 list. He’s an enigma, with good metrics and terrible on-field performance. That the Dodgers couldn’t figure out how to maximize him puts a damper on his value.
If Yoan Moncada could stay healthy, he’d be a lot higher up. He’s an excellent baseball player when he’s on the field. Dustin May’s stuff has regressed, but his upside is right up there with any of the other starters. He’s also still on the right side of 30 years old. Look for him to sign a one-year deal to re-establish his value, perhaps even as a closer.
