The baseball world is bracing itself for an offseason like no other. The free agent market features a pair of 26-year-old stars: Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. The pair should compete for the largest contract in baseball history. Future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw could opt out of his contract, but even if he doesn’t, Patrick Corbin, Dallas Keuchel, Nathan Eovaldi, and other starters make up a solid group. One of the game’s best closers, Craig Kimbrel, is also hitting the open market.
For the best tool to track this winter’s free agent market, bookmark MLBTR’s 2018-19 MLB Free Agent Tracker. This will be updated quickly after any player signs. If you’re wondering who’s available, you can filter by position, handedness, and qualifying offer status. Check out our free agent tracker today!
We getting the contract predictions as soon as the option period ends?
Yes, we’re aiming to have that up on Friday.
Even if Kimbrel and Eovaldi leave can’t the Sox grab Corbin and move Price to closer/relief?
$30m for a closer/RP? ouch
Closer? Joe Kelly.
I didn’t list him as a closer until he struck out the side in Game 5. Overreaction after that World Series performance? Maybe. But like many of the pitchers listed as “closer”, he could end up as a setup man. Depends on the team.
What made Kelly filthy/nasty was he was able to control his pitches and limit his walks. He’s an interesting risk and will get paid nicely. I just don’t see teams willing to pay closer money to him. His recent success is to small a sample size. Maybe a contract with incentives that if he does close, adds significant value? I was like a yoyo in assessing him this year but only now wish him the best.
Brasier would be up for the gig before Kelly
Kelly is a Free agent too. The Sox are gonna need to figure out the bullpen. I love kimbrel but not a 16-20 mil a year
Price signed a 7yr 217 million contract! To rich for a closer!
I know. Just trying to brain storm.
More brain less storm.
SuperSinker stfu
SP are more valuable than RP. You don’t move an effective starter to the bullpen unless injuries force your hand. Not to mention the money owed to Price
Would anyone be shocked to see Eovaldi get more money than Corbin after what he did in the playoffs? I think hes the rare case of a premier guy hitting FA while still having a lot of untapped potential to dream on.
Having said that I think his perfect role might be as an Andrew Miller 2.0 type pitching 2-3 innings at a time. But he wont take the paycut necessary to do that Im guessing.
Me. I’d be shocked by that.
Yes, I would be shocked. Saying that though, they’re both going to be overpaid drastically.
I agree. And Im not saying he should get paid more, as much as he seems like the type of talent people talk themselves into dreaming on and overpaying for.
I’d pay some pretty pennies for Eovaldi.
The Sox use of starters as relievers worked this season (amazingly four starters!) but it only takes one key injury to make the industry reassess. In this case, Sale was a necessity at the end and Price has done it before. Porcello and Eovaldi were the wild cards. I’m still concerned about Eovaldi going forward with his injuries. Don’t get me wrong, I want him to stay but the worries going forward regarding him and Sale are very real.
This hot stove will be great, will the metrics guys stick to their guns like last year, or will their be a lot of over pays.. If teams start to trade instead of signing free agents the prices will go down.
I would be shocked. 1 year of success after 2 TJ surgery’s. I would be hesitant to give a large contract. I always wanted to see the pitcher he was last year, but he gets frustrating to watch.
Definitely. Two TJ surgeries likely means there’s a mechanical issue that will cause another tear.
that and his short term success.
Bryce, my fave player to the Yankees. Lesss goooo!
We agree again, and screw the haters.
Rather see Harper clean shaven all the time too! Screw Machado.
Uh, you guys don’t need Harper, you need better pitc… you know what, n/m.
Brains go out the window when your team throws money around to win like the Yankees do. Have fun losing to Boston again, even with Harper, Machado, and the Gambino himself in your lineup.
You guys are so mean to the rest of us. Oh have fun playing second fiddle to the Cubs for another 50 years.
Chicago has two teams?
New York has two teams?
At least Chicago has retained two teams throughout the modern era of baseball. Boston lost the Braves while NY lost the Dodgers and Giants only to gain the Mets. lol
if you actually knew Chicago baseball history the White Sox hardly played “second fiddle” to the Cubs over the majority of the past 50 years. The teams were fairly even in success and popularity, at least until the Cubs finally installed lights at Wrigley Field. Going back another 10-15 years prior to that time those ‘Go-Go” White Sox teams of the 1950’s and 1960’s were substantially better than anything the Cubs presented on the field. This is hardly coming from a biased person either since I am a 63-year old die-hard fan of both teams who has witnessed all that history first hand.
RedSox, Dodgers , higher payroll past couple of years than Yanks. As for Brains out the window. Wouldn’t it be better to have Sale than Moncada and injured Kopach. Sometimes have to spend to keep proven talent. Yanks and Sox both have developed young stars through system
We can all return to this discussion come 2025 when Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech and maybe even Luis Alexander Basabe are integral parts of a perennial contender on the South Side of Chicago. Cub fans can also join the discussion and maybe lament that Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease are also prime pieces of those same clubs.
As for Chris Sale and Jose Quintana? Who knows were they might be as soon as 2020 and 2021 when the last of their respective contract options have expired. It wouldn’t shock me if one of those players actually returned to the team that launched their successful MLB careers, particularly “Q” who was a favorite of both the fans and the front office.
Gardner, Judge, Stanton, Harper? Hmmmm, don’t think that’s the plan. I think pitching is first priority. Harper probably will be done signing by then. But what do I know?
And Hicks
And Ellsbury
And Frasier
Signing Harper does not preclude pitching. He’s a pure money signing, and with their payroll tax reset, there’s no ceiling they are afraid of hitting. Besides, to get the pitching they need, they’ll have to swing a trade.
All that said, I have no interest in Harper to the Yankees. He’ll be overpaid and he has yet to show he can put up consistently elite numbers. If the Yankees were starved for offense, or weak in the outfield, I’d be more interested.
You clearly no nothing about the Yankees philosophy.
*Know
A 10 year contract to Harper and Stanton not opting out puts the Yankees in a possible future position of a payroll between $250 and $300 mil in the last five years of that contract at potentially the highest tax penalty. If the Yanks go over the tax this year it will be on short term deals that will allow them to reset again before it’s time to pay Judge, Torres, Sanchez, etc.
^^^^ This ^^^
People seem to think resetting the tax almost makes teams impervious. By year 3 the base tax is back at 50% and if you have several high dollar contracts the surcharges can kick in pretty quickly.
I have said for a while (mlbtraderumors.com/2018/09/bryce-harper-discusses-…) that more and more contracts will be short term high AAV with options similar to what the Phillies did with Arrieta so they have overrides of opt-outs and more flexibility to retool. the player will also benefit as well.
While I understand he’s your favorite player, you have to agree (if you put bias aside) that it is a bad baseball move to sign him to a huge contract considering the rest of your outfield
I understand the feeling though, I would love to see the Cubs sign Kershaw while knowing it would like end up being a bad contract due to injuries
Bryce Harper to Yankees, Manny Machado to Phils, Kershaw returns to LA, Kimbrel to Atlanta, JA Happ returns to New York, Patrick Corbin returns to Zona, Nathan Eovaldi to A’s,
Contest this year?
Change Corbin to the Yankees, and your pretty spot on.
Kimbrel & Atlanta?
His first relief appearance should be that great Peaches & Herb song.
I like Kimbrel in Chicago
Which one?
I am certain it is the Cubs. Chisoxs are in the “rebuilding” stage – no sense in signing an aging RP.
Cubs obviously
Braves don’t have the money/Rather have EoValdi
The Braves actually have 40+ Mil coming off their cap and The GM expects payroll to go up from 2018. So you are very wrong in that sense. However right in the sense that in our market spending 15-20 mil on a closer per season, doesn’t make a lot of since. So unless he’s willing to give the Braves a discount, he’ll likely sign elsewhere.
I can see the Braves and Phillies landing either Harper or Machado. They both have money burning a hole in their pockets.
Harper to the Yankees if they can trade Stanton to the Dodgers.
Dodgers won’t take staton, unless Yankees willing to eat some of his contract. Plus I don’t want staton on the dodgers anyway. They don’t need power hitters. They need hitters that can get runnings home.
I think you have a better chance of trading Hicks.
hopefully my reds pick up kershaw or eovaldi, we need a ace plus another solid stater or two and we could make some noise
I mean, I’m a reds fan but c’mon lol
Contest this year?
MLBTR: David Freese is listed twice on the tracker.
Fixing. Thanks!
We should definitely do a free agent predictions contest this year.
Machado and Harper to the Marlins ( both to be trade chips on July ‘19)
Lol
Hahaha.
Corbin to Yankees, Harper to Giants, Machado to Phillie, Eovaldi to Giants. I know all you haters don’t think the Giants can sign Harper but with only 120 mill on the books, they have an open check book.
lofl…keep digging
Who’s digging? Giants have already stated they will be in on Harper. I think you just hate the Giants, and that’s ok too, reality is it’s possible they land him. So I guess the same to you, keep digging. Lmfao
What would motivate Harper to sign for 8-10 years with the Giants? They’re going nowhere fast.
He must be the Giants batboy or just released from an asylum.
They have 161 on the books for 2019 btw
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FPqQ67n_0T1niTkaJj…
People constantly look only at the guaranteed money and ignore the estimated arb $$ and the $14M +/- comp package all teams pay
Harper and Machado will go to contenders that are hitters ball parks.
You don’t list what team they parted from?
Probably should have said “Would it be possible to list the team they parted from?”
Hyperlink to Baseball Reference for each free agent would make the list more helpful.
Ellsbury, cut lose, Hicks/Frazier flipped for pitching help, Then strike on FA by signing Harper/LeMahieu and bringing back Happ/Britton.
Outfield layout; Judge LF, Harper CF, Stanton RF, Gardner 4th OF.
Infield layout; Andujar 3B, Torres SS, LeMahieu 2B, Voit 1B (If they don’t acquire a 1B), Sanchez C.
DH can rotate between Andujar, Stanton, Harper, Sanchez and Judge to keep them fresh.
When Didi returns, He plays SS, Torres back to 2B, and we can either do LeMahieu at 3B with Andujar as DH/or Andujar at 1B/or 3B with LeMahieu going to 1B in case they struggle st the position again.
Harper is a below average fielder so no way Yanks put him in center.
Agreed. I can’t imagine they would have resigned Gardner if Harper is on the horizon.
Gardy won’t stop them from going after Harper if they want him. Gardy is no more then a 4th OFer now
Harper, Corbin and Kimbrel to the Angels
Of that list, as a Cub fan I wouldn’t be interested in anyone by Evoladi and Corbin! Kershaw has had his best days and Machado is a jerk and Harper is way to inconsistent for a big contract!
Machado would fit perfect on the White Sox. A 10 year contract the first few years they can build the team up around him. And they have the money to do it.
I believe that has been the plan since last offseason. It probably won’t pan out, but it’s worth a try. If I were Hahn, I’d also try to go after Pollock on an expensive, short-term deal to play CF for the next year or two.
Machado’s “fit” on the White Sox isn’t as “perfect” as it once seemed. For one, his reluctance to always hustle would not jive with manager Rick Renteria’s team policy. For another, it now appears that Yoan Moncada could be the future third baseman on the South Side with top pick Nick Madrigal just as likely to become their core second baseman in a year or two. I also don’t see Machado as a “fit” at SS with Tim Anderson’s vastly improved glove there.
The White Sox might be wiser to invest their FA dollars elsewhere this offseason. If the front office can convince Jerry Reinsdorf to break the bank then Bryce Harper could be a better fit as a much needed high OBP left-handed power bat who also has the star power to help elevate their lowly status in the Chicago market. The Cubs seem to be the odds on favorite to land Harper this offseason but the White Sox are the local team with an unlimited budget if they want to get into a bidding war with their North Side neighbors.
Instead of putting all their FA dollars in one basket with Harper the White Sox might prefer to spread their offseason cash around by signing or trading for multiple players to fill perceived needs. With the team still in rebuild mode, it’s clear that they will only pursue younger impacting players. Their system depth looks to be in pitching, the outfield and the middle infield positions which also happens to be the strength of this years FA market. With that in mind, the White Sox might look to trade for a controllable young catcher or corner infielder and they certainly have the prospect capital and some veterans to accomplish that objective.
The White Sox might also consider investing in a controllable ace to aid their staff as Michael Kopech recovers from his TJ surgery and Dylan Cease finishes his apprenticeship in the minors. Departed veteran James Shields had a considerable influence on the young starters this past season. The White Sox might want to replace that influence with a pitcher who can actually front a rotation in 2019 and beyond.
White Sox are too far away from being a contender. to get Machado.
A 10 year contract pretty much takes care of that. And how far do you think they are? They can be way better with a few additions.
Look at how bad their outfielders were last year. Replace 2 of those guys with Eloy and Pollock. The team will be SUBSTANTIALLY better. Add some combination of Robert/Basabe/Rutherford the following year, and they’ll start resembling a real baseball team.
Now add Manny to that mix and stop trading away every bullpen piece that’s worth a damn, and this team could fight for a playoff spot as early as next year (with the real window more likely opening in 2020).
Will you folks be adding others to the the MLB Free Agent Tracker List as the offseason progresses, particularly those players who will be non-tendered by the November 30th deadline? This hasn’t always happened in the past.
Braves need to trade Soroka, Riley, Muller & Demeritte for Realmuto
Trade Julio to Arizona for Greinke
Resign Markakis to share time with Duvall
Sign David Robertson
Resign Brach & Venters
Trade away the 3b of the future, who will play 3b long term? Please don’t say Camargo. Flowers & Kurt give you the same production as JL for a lot less cost. Flowers is also a better pitch framer as well.
Keep Soroka, trade fat boy Gohara instead w/ Allard since he won’t pan out well in MLB.
Don’t trade a pitcher that is better than the pitcher you’d get back (Keep Julio)
Only way you keep Markakis is on a team friendly deal.
Robertson I can agree with.
Branch & Venters, as well.
I was with you until you said Teheran is better than Grienke. Over the last two years, Grienke has been worth 8.6 fwar and Teheran only 1.8 fwar. Money aside, the Braves trade Teheran for Grienke every single time.
But why on Earth would Arizona make that trade? Greinke is being paid a lot, but nothing out of line with his production; He could certainly fetch much more than Teheran if he were being traded.
I think Arizona would do Teheran for Grienke straight up in a heart beat, if they don’t eat any money. The Braves might do it as well if they don’t have to give up any prospects. Arizona frees up money to help fill holes from guys leaving for FA and the Braves get a veteran ace-type pitcher by just taking on salary and keeping their top prospects.
$. Few teams can afford him and fewer would because of his age.
If all the big name players only go to the top 5 rich teams MLB will see why it is losing fans and not generating interest.
Having the Sox and yanks buy championships every year is not good for the game. Maybe their individual fans but not the sport in general.
Every year, these :”experts” have all the free agents going to the same 4-5 teams but it never actually plays out that way. They’re just making “safe picks”
Atleast it not like the NBA
“MLB will see why it is losing fans and not generating interest” I know you’re talking about the FA’s going to those top teams, but MLB has many other problems that contribute to this. What you will get on this site to try and debunk this fact is..revenue, ratings don’t matter, attacking the NFL having problems, etc.
The Yankees last won a championship 10 years ago. In that time the Royals, Astros and four other teams with lower payrolls than the Yankees have won championships. In fact, since that 2009 Yankees team, not a single WS winner has been the team with the highest payroll in baseball. In fact, the team with the highest payroll in baseball in 2018 didn’t even make the postseason.
Boston had the highest opening day payroll in 2018. Pretty sure they just won the WS. I get that payrolls do not make a WS team, but it definitely helps a team get there. LA two years in a row would show that. It gave them the opportunity, they did not capitalize.
sooooo what do we have to do to convince you guys to open up THE most epic FA prediction contest in history? send money? I’d 100% throw in somewhere around 20 bucks and I bet most frequenters would as well…PLEASE!!! I don’t ask for much…
Anyone want to predict 2-3 names the braves will go get?
Sure, give me until April though.
Machado is going to get a record breaking Contract !?!?! Crazy talk !
Would love for the Mets to sign Corbin,Kimbrel and Grandal
The Mets rotation: degrom,syn,Corbin,Wheeler and matz
Mets infield C) Grandal 1b) Alonso 2b) McNeil ss) Rosario 3b) Frazier
Lf) Conforto cf) Nimmo rf) Bruce
Kimbrel as the closer
Add a lefty reliever plus Mejia is coming back lol to add to the bullpen they have
Lineup until cespy comes back: Nimmo,McNeil,Conforto,Alonso,Bruce,Frazier,Grandal and Rosario
Mets do not need Corbin, and if he signs in NY, sorry will be Yanks. Mets need
Relief, Catching , healthy players. 2b- maybe get Panick on cheap. Still has arbitration left.
Also-First Base, Center Field, OWNERS
Machado to Phils? Harper to LA or the Braves? As for my Yanks they won’t be making that big splash every Yankee fan was hoping for. The biggest reason is Stanton trade last season and the fact that he clogs up the DH spot. But the Yanks will make a ton if very smart moves. Pitching like Corbin (grew up in NY), Kikuchi (LH Japanese starter who the Yanks were heavily scouting and is projected as a mid rotation arm in the Randy Wolf mode but a notch above perhaps). Then signing Daniel Murphy to replace Walker and get that much need left handed contact first bat in the lineup. Michael Brantley can be another possible option in an outfield platoon (LH contact first bat) with Frazier if he’s healthy. Defense and speed on the bases will also be a priority and can be addressed from within the organization (Tyler Wade). Bullpen arms will come from D-Rob? Britton? Andrew Miller? And lastly Sonny Gray will be moved. My only crazy wild card move will be a trade idea that has come up allot on here, trade Elsbury and a decent prospect to Arizona for Grienke if both waive no trade. Grienke is a borderline ACE and might be the closest pitcher we can acquire that has that potential!
“as for my Yanks” Bruh the LLC owns the NY Yankees. Like every other fan of a team you have no possible idea what the Yankees will do, only hope.
I never said I was on the inside… HAhaha. Bruh chilaxxxxxx!
Ellsbury is absolutely untradeable I believe. I get Greinke has a contract too big for the DBacks but no ones trading for Ellsbury. The DBacks could get actual value for him for one, and two, Ellsbury has value at about $3 million and no return. That’s about it.
Even Sonny Gray would be tough to move
Greinke for Ellsbury, these kids say the darndest things. Coo coo
Is that what I said?
Cmon be fair here and stop trying so hard to be a tool.
Wait is this Frosted Flakes?
Investigation under way…..