Last week, it became official that free agent shortstop Bo Bichette signed a three-year, $126 million deal with the Mets. Of course, the Mets already have a shortstop in Francisco Lindor, which means Bichette will be moving to third base. That further means this free agent class (tracker here) will very likely end up having zero starting shortstops next season.
In looking ahead to next year’s crop of possible free agents, the best that class has to offer is J.P. Crawford (assuming Nico Hoerner hits free agency and doesn’t move to shortstop).
It’s an interesting dichotomy from just a few years ago, when two straight free agent classes were loaded with shortstops.
In fact, in the offseasons leading to the 2022 and 2023 seasons, eight different shortstops landed nine-figure deals in free agency nine times (one of them had it happen twice and, well, we’ll get to that). One of them moved positions to second base immediately, but still entered free agency as a shortstop and could have stuck there if his team didn’t sign another from this list.
With enough time passed and the shortstop market drastically changed, we wanted to dive into those two free agent shortstop classes and rank how things have turned out since with grades for each player. Let’s get to it.
8. Javier Báez, Tigers: D-
Contract: Six years, $140 million (2022-2027)
Báez last season salvaged himself and the since-replaced Tigers front office from getting slapped with an F for this deal. He was great early in the season and earned himself the third All-Star nod of his career and then had some great playoff moments.
Those items can only account for so much, though. Through four years of this six-year deal, Báez is hitting .229/.267/.359 (75 OPS+) with 3.9 WAR and has become more of a utility man than everyday shortstop. Even with a much better season in 2025, he struck out 109 times compared to 10 walks and only stole five bases with 12 homers.
7. Trevor Story, Red Sox: D+
Contract: Six years, $140 million (2022-2027)
In the first three years of this six-year deal, the Red Sox got 94, 43 and 26 games, respectively, from Story. He played second base his first year and then moved back to shortstop after that, but needed elbow surgery. He’s also dealt with injuries to his hand and shoulder.
Can this deal end up not looking so terrible? Hey, it’s possible. Last season, Story appeared in 157 games, racking up 654 plate appearances and the Red Sox made the playoffs with him as their everyday shortstop. He hit .263/.308/.433 (104 OPS+) with 29 doubles, 25 homers, 96 RBI, 91 runs and 31 steals, good for 3.8 WAR. Another two seasons like that and while this contract still wouldn’t be amazing or anything like that, it would be perfectly adequate.
For now, we’re looking at 320 games in four years (80 per season on average) with a 97 OPS+ and 7.9 WAR.
6. Carlos Correa, Twins (twice): C
Contracts: Three years, $105.3 million (2022); opted out and got six years, $200 million (2023-2028)
That “contracts” line doesn’t even do this journey justice. Remember, after Correa opted out of his Twins deal after one year, he agreed to a 13-year contract with the Giants. As he was reportedly house shopping in the Bay Area, the deal fell through due to concerns with his medicals. Just about one day after that, Correa agreed to terms with the Mets on a similar 12-year deal. A few days later, we learned the Mets had similar concerns about Correa’s physical (specifically, the issue was with Correa’s right lower leg/ankle area). Then that deal fell through and Correa eventually circled back to the Twins.
And last season, the Twins traded Correa to the Astros, his original home.
Correa spent parts of four seasons with the Twins and had a few injuries, missing significant time. He was productive in spurts, though, hitting .271/.345/.440 (118 OPS+) with 10.4 WAR in 450 games (a 162-game average of 3.7). He was very good in the 2023 playoffs, as the Twins finally got that monkey off their back and advanced a round in the playoffs for the first time since 2002.
Still, this can’t be ranked any higher due to the injuries and the Twins bailing on the money remaining on Correa’s deal.
5. Xander Bogaerts, Padres: C
Contract: 11 years, $280 million (2023-2033)
Odds are this deal ages very poorly and is eventually ranked down in seventh (sorry, Javy). There are still eight years to go on this thing. Overall, though, it hasn’t been horrible to this point.
Bogaerts was pretty good in his first year, hitting .285/.350/.440 (117 OPS+) with 31 doubles, 19 homers, 19 steals and 4.2 WAR. He was hampered by a fractured shoulder in 2024 and a fractured foot last season. Combining the two, he hit .263/.319/.386 (96 OPS+) with 3.2 WAR in 247 games. It should be pointed out that he’s running a lot more now. In his last five seasons with the Red Sox before signing this contract, Bogaerts stole 33 bases. In his three Padres years, he’s stolen 52 with a career-high of 20 last season.
Regardless, these last two years have been a far cry from the Bogaerts who had two top-10 MVP finishes in Boston.
4. Marcus Semien, Rangers: B+
Contract: Seven years, $175 million (2022-2028)
Four years down, three to go and it seems like Semien has hit his age-related decline. Maybe a trade to the Mets will trigger a change-of-scenery return to form? It’s possible. He’s 35 years old now.
From 2019-23, Semien was one of the most underrated and best all-around players in baseball. An ironman, he played in 161 or 162 games in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023, leading the majors in plate appearances all four seasons. He posted three 7+ WAR seasons and topped out at a whopping 8.4 in 2019.
In 2024, though, he lost nearly 40 points of average and 127 in OPS, going from 7.7 WAR in 2023 to 4.1. On a rate basis, he was similar last season, even a bit worse. He also had his first injured list stint since 2017.
It’s all been worrisome.
So why the B+?
The Rangers won the World Series in 2023 and Semien was one of their most important players. He finished third in AL MVP voting that season, played in all 162 games in the regular season plus all 17 of their playoff games. He was the offensive catalyst and had several huge playoff hits. They don’t even come close to winning the World Series without him.
That’s well worth the $175 million.
Now we’ll see if the Rangers come out on the positive end of the trade for Brandon Nimmo, but there’s no reason to fret here. When you sign a player like Semien, the hope is to win the World Series. The Rangers did it in the second year of the deal.
3. Dansby Swanson, Cubs: B+
Contract: Seven years, $177 million (2023-2029)
In judging by WAR, the best year of Swanson’s career was his contract year in 2022 for the Braves (5.5). The next three after that are the only three he’s played for the Cubs since signing this deal (5.2 in 2023, 3.9 in 2024 and 4.5 in 2025).
The offensive numbers, for the most part, won’t pop, but Swanson has done everything the Cubs signed him for. He’s been durable, a leader in the clubhouse as they looked to rebuild themselves into a contender while playing exceptional defense up the middle with double-play partner Nico Hoerner.
In 159 games last season, Swanson hit .244/.300/.417 (105 OPS+) with 24 doubles, three triples, 24 homers, 77 RBI, 84 runs and 20 steals and the Cubs won a playoff series for the first time since 2017.
What’s more, as opposed to every other deal we discussed above, this contract appears to be aging well.
2. Trea Turner, Phillies: A-
Contract: 11 years, $300 million (2023-2033)
Fresh off an NL batting title and fifth-place finish in NL MVP voting, Turner’s Phillies deal to this point has gone swimmingly.
It didn’t start out that way, remember? He was struggling mightily for months after signing the contract. Through Aug. 4, 2023, Turner was hitting .236/.289/.367 and then the Phillies fans gave him a standing ovation to try and cheer him out of it, and it worked. He was awesome down the stretch and through the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Phillies were one game away from a return to the World Series and just stopped hitting, Turner included. They’ve now won just three of their last 13 playoff games and Turner has hit .176/.246/.176 in those games.
We have to ding him a bit for those playoff struggles as well as the awful start to the contract.
Overall, though, things look great. In three years, Turner has hit .287/.337/.461 (117 OPS+) with 91 doubles, 12 triples, 62 home runs, 207 RBI, 284 runs and 11.9 WAR in 417 regular-season games.
He heads to his age-33 season with eight years left and the years will eventually be a concern. Right now, no worries.
1. Corey Seager, Rangers: A+
Contract: 10 years, $325 million (2022-2031)
As with Semien, Seager gets bonus points for the Rangers’ 2023 World Series championship. That season, Seager hit .327/.390/.623 (174 OPS+) with 42 doubles, 33 home runs, 96 RBI, 88 runs and 7.2 WAR, finishing second in MVP voting despite only playing in 119 games. He was then a beast in the playoffs, hitting .303/.439/.667 with six doubles, six homers and 12 RBI in 17 games. In the World Series, his game-tying blast in the ninth inning of Game 1 was the stuff of legends and he homered three times in five games that series. He won World Series MVP.
Seager is still wildly productive when he’s on the field, too. We’ve long known there will be injuries with him. He played in 123 games in 2024 and 102 last season, but still posted 5.0 and 6.2 WAR, respectively.
There are, of course, worries that as Seager works deeper into his 30s that he won’t be able to remain quite as productive through his injuries.
Let’s just keep in mind that every team signing a player to a deal for 10 years is just hoping to get the outstanding production on the front end and then avoid a total disaster on the back end, if possible.
In Seager’s case, it’s been four years. With the Rangers, he’s hit .278/.355/.517 (146 OPS+) with 106 doubles, 117 home runs, 303 RBI, 308 runs, 22.1 WAR, three All-Star Games, an MVP runner-up and a World Series title (in which he won World Series MVP).
He’s been worth every penny.
Add Comment