A look at top remaining free agents now that MLB is open for business
Which team will sign prized free agent shortstop Carlos Correa? Credit: AP/Winslow Townson
Top remaining free agents the market now that MLB is back open for business:
SS Carlos Correa
The 27-year-old Correa, considered the top free agent entering the winter, thinks he should do better than the 10-year, $341 million deal shortstop Francisco Lindor got from the Mets last year. Might have to settle for a bit less, but he did switch to super-agent Scott Boras in the offseason.
1B Freddie Freeman
Freeman, 32, was expected to be a shoo-in to return to Atlanta, the team that drafted and developed him, but was irritated no deal got done pre-lockout. Possible Yankees target, though early indications are Hal Steinbrenner isn’t inclined to go on a spending spree.
LHP Carlos Rodon
Rodon, 29, could not be hitting free agency at a better time after going 13-5 with a 2.37 ERA in 24 starts last season. A potential Yankees target as their rotation needs bolstering but could be too expensive.
SS Trevor Story
The 29-year-old Story is the considered the next best shortstop available on the market (after Correa). A two-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger award winner with the Rockies, for whom he played his first six seasons.
RHP Kenley Jansen
The 34-year-old Jansen, the best reliever on the market, recorded 350 career saves and a 2.37 ERA in 12 seasons with the Dodgers, including going 38-for-43 in save chances, with a 2.22 ERA, in 2021.
1B Anthony Rizzo
Will the Yankees bring back first baseman Anthony Rizzo? Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Rizzo, 32, a trade deadline acquisition of the Yankees last season, could be headed back to the Bronx with the Bombers having just the injury-prone Luke Voit as a first-base option. Still, the Yankees aren’t likely to overpay.
LHP Clayton Kershaw
It’s not often a three-time Cy Young Award winner is available on the market but that’s the case with the 33-year-old Kershaw, who went 10-8 with a 3.55 ERA in 2021, his 14th season with the Dodgers.
OF Michael Conforto
Who will sign Michael Conforto? Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The 29-year-old Conforto, who spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Mets, is coming off a rough 2021 in which he hit .232 with 14 homers and a .729 OPS.
OF Seiya Suzuki
The righthanded-hitting Suzuki, 27, was posted this offseason after six standout seasons with Nippon Professional Baseball. Hit a career-best 38 homers (in 133 games) last year with a 1.073 OPS.
3B/OF Kris Bryant
The 30-year-old rebounded in 2021 (25 homers and an .835 OPS) after a fairly miserable COVID-shortened 2020 season the year before. Spent the first 6 ½ years of his career with the Cubs before being dealt to the Giants at the trade deadline.
RF/3B Nick Castellenos
Castellenos, 30, entered the market coming off one of his best seasons, one in which he hit a career-high 34 homers and produced a .939 OPS, the second-best mark of his nine seasons.
OF/DH Kyle Schwarber
The 29-year-old Schwarber, whom the Red Sox pivoted to at the trade deadline after the Yankees snared Rizzo, was a spark for Boston, hitting .291 with a .957 OPS.
