The World Series field is set, and that can mean only one thing: 28 other fan bases are looking forward to the offseason.
With that in mind, CBS Sports is keeping with tradition by publishing the first half of our annual top 50 free-agent rankings. The second half, Nos. 26 through 50, will be released with the official start of free agency.
Do note that we’re making some educated guesses on options that may prove incorrect, and that we’ll be making some edits to include any notable NPB or KBO players posted for MLB consideration. Also remember that the least important part of this exercise is the potential landing suitors listed for each player.
1. OF Kyle Tucker
- Possible suitors: Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees
Bill James once theorized that it’s better for a player’s perception for them to start hot and finish cold than the inverse — that way their numbers are more impressive for a longer period of time. Tucker tested that idea. He entered July sporting a .931 OPS, but from there on he posted an ice-cold .690 mark. His downturn seems connected to injuries, specifically the fractured hand he suffered in June. Tucker still produced his fifth consecutive four-win season, so the shape of his year may prove irrelevant to teams seeking a star-level performer who is good at everything (albeit seldom ranked among the league leaders at anything).
2. 3B Alex Bregman
- Potential suitors: Red Sox, Tigers, Mets
Bregman, one of the last notable free agents to sign last winter, showed no ill effects of being left in the cold. He kept alive his streak of having never finished worse than 15% above the league-average hitter, and for the first time in his career, he joined the 90-90 club — that is, a 90% in-zone contact rate and a 90 mph average exit velocity. Bregman can still pick it at third base, too. It’s fair to wonder how his pull-happy slugging would play in a less favorable home offensive environment than the ones he’s haunted to date, but he’s a good player who ought to land a better contract than three years and $120 million this go around.
3. SS Bo Bichette
- Potential suitors: Blue Jays, Angels, Braves
Bichette’s optimal position is second base, but his bat may convince a team to tolerate his substandard play at short for a few more years yet. He rebounded from a down season by clearing a .290 average (for the fourth time in five tries) and 60 extra-base hits (for the third time). Bichette’s flat swing allows him to wear out elevated pitches, with his .337 average on offerings located in the upper half ranking fifth among qualifiers. As an added bonus, he’s on the younger side for a free agent (he’ll turn 28 in March).
4. LHP Framber Valdez
- Possible suitors: Mets, Orioles, Blue Jays
Valdez isn’t for everyone. He’s a contact manager from a swing-and-miss generation who, year in and year out, belongs near the bottom of the majors in average exit velocity surrendered. Of course, that statistic doesn’t tell the whole story. Valdez utilizes his three-pitch mix (sinker, curve, change) to coerce the kind of earthbound contact that removes the sting from the ball. Pair him with some well-positioned and surehanded defenders and you’ll be happy with the outcome. Otherwise, why bother?
5. DH/OF Kyle Schwarber
- Potential suitors: Phillies, Padres, Braves
All Schwarber does is hit. The catch is, well, all Schwarber does is hit. He has negative defensive and positional value, and the obvious comparisons to David Ortiz miss a key consideration: Ortiz didn’t have extreme swing-and-miss tendencies. It’s reasonable to wonder if Schwarber will age as gracefully as Ortiz did. Those questions may impact the term (Ortiz himself maxed out at four years around this part of his career), but there’s no doubting Schwarber’s ability to make an immediate impact. He has both the high-end bat speed and elite plate discipline to regularly perform 30% or better than the league-average hitter. Those traits ought to hold for at least a few more years, making him one of the top free agents in this class.
6. OF Cody Bellinger
- Potential suitors: Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers
There aren’t many better fits than Yankee Stadium for a left-handed batter who excels at lifting and pulling the ball. Even so, Bellinger’s continued resurgence can be credited to his reinvention as a bat-control merchant. He struck out just 29 times more across the last two seasons than he did in 2022 alone. His in-zone contact rate this past season, meanwhile, ranked alongside names like Yandy Díaz, the aforementioned Bichette, and Jose Altuve. Bellinger, who remains a plus defender in a corner, needs the right surroundings to excel. If he finds it, he ought to continue providing average and power alike.
7. 1B Pete Alonso
- Potential suitors: Mets, Nationals, Yankees
Alonso just had one of the best seasons of his career. Can he convert that into the multi-year contract that evaded him last winter? It’s hard to say. He sliced into his strikeout rate and established a new personal-best hard-hit percentage — that’s saying something, given strength is his defining characteristic. But modern front offices view non-elite righty first basemen with a certain indifference. Alonso now further into his 30s, too, making it easier for teams to fret about when, not if, he’ll begin to decline.
8. LHP Ranger Suárez
- Potential suitors: Orioles, Mets, Giants
According to Baseball Reference’s calculations, Suárez’s most similar pitcher through this stage of his career is Framber Valdez. Teams are likely to work through that juxtaposition whenever they consider the top of the pitching market. Suárez is more than a year younger than Valdez, and he operates with a broader arsenal, but Valdez has better stuff and a more robust track record of being an innings sponge. Even if Suárez is viewed by the market as a lesser Valdez, he should land a multi-year contract to serve in the middle of some club’s rotation.
9. RHP Dylan Cease
- Potential suitors: Mets, Red Sox, Giants
Here’s one for the dip buyers. Cease notched his fifth campaign in a row with 32 or more starts but, despite underlying data that bore resemblance to his past efforts, posted the worst full-season ERA+ of his career. Teams may ask themselves: what was going on with his slider? Cease is a two-pitch pony (fastballs and sliders combined for a usage rate over 80%), yet he tinkered with his top breaker, throwing it harder with less depth and sweep. His results were worse, suggesting he should revert. True in one way, true in multiple ways.
10. C J.T. Realmuto
- Potential suitors: Phillies, Angels, Padres
Realmuto can no longer be counted among the game’s elite backstops, but even in his diminished state he ought to attract attention thanks to his offensive track record and the general state of the position. His underlying measures suggest he’s still a league-average hitter, and he remains a capable marksman. The other components of his defensive game haven’t aged as well. Realmuto is a subpar goalie and a well-below-average framer, suggesting he won’t appeal to teams who prioritize mittwork.
11. 3B Eugenio Suárez
- Potential suitors: Angels, Padres, Cubs
Suárez is a min-max experiment at the plate. He hits the ball hard, as evidenced by his second career 49-homer season, and he takes his share of walks. All the while, he ranked near the bottom of the majors in both whiff and strikeout rate, something that can be attributed in part to his weakness on pitches located up and in. Suárez will likely face scrutiny based on his age (35 come July), defense (not great), and right-handedness. When his bat goes, his spot on a roster will, too, at whitewater speeds. Until then, Suárez ought to find a home in the middle of a lineup.
12. OF Trent Grisham
- Potential suitors: Mets, Astros, Angels
Grisham prioritized skying the ball to right field this past season, a prudent decision given where he played his home games. As a result, he established a new career high by homering 34 times. There’s always the possibility that one philosophical shift will have a domino effect elsewhere, altering this here and that there. Yet Grisham avoided that fate by maintaining his nearly passive approach and, believe it or not, making contact within the zone at a higher rate. He’s not the center-fied defender he used to be, back when he won two Gold Gloves, but he can provide patience and power in the right setting.
13. RHP Shane Bieber
- Potential suitors: Orioles, Phillies, Astros
Bieber returned from Tommy John surgery late in the season, showcasing a strong handle over an average arsenal. His fastball did clock in hotter than it has since 2021, and his slider at times flashed above-average quality. The most interesting development here, though, concerned a freshly minted kick-changeup that graded better than its results. Bieber ought to find success for as long as he can locate, but he’s more of a mid-rotation starter than a frontline type.
14. RHP Michael King
- Potential suitors: Padres, Braves, Astros
The book on King hasn’t changed much over the years, even if his role has shifted this way and that a few times. He has a quality arsenal built on horizontal movement, and an undeniable track record of being a plus performer. Unfortunately, he’s a high injury risk who has topped 75 innings twice to date. There’s no harm rolling the dice, but one should be realistic about the expected outcome.
15. RHP Zac Gallen
- Potential suitors: Diamondbacks, Nationals, Cubs
Gallen salvaged what he could with a good 11-start closing stretch, but an otherwise miserable walk year makes him feel like a strong candidate to accept the qualifying offer (if one is tendered) and try again in 2026. Otherwise? He’s a candidate to sign a one-year deal elsewhere and modify his arsenal in an attempt to push back against a trend that has seen his performance slip in each of the past two years.
16. RHP Devin Williams
- Potential suitors: Practically every contender
“High-Lev Dev” is a strong rebound candidate based on, if nothing else, the incongruity between his ERA and his underlying data. There were 21 pitchers who made 30 or more appearances in 2025 without any starts and who possessed a strikeout rate above 30% and a walk rate below 10%. Williams’ 4.79 ERA was the worst of the group, which as a whole put up a 2.76 mark — to the extent that the next worst ERA was just over 4.00. Williams somehow managed that while sporting the fourth-best hard-hit percentage of the bunch, behind names like Josh Hader and Abner Uribe. Things happen in this game sometimes, particularly with individual relief seasons. There’s no compelling reason to think Williams has lost his touch just yet.
17. RHP Luke Weaver
- Potential suitors: Practically every contender
Wasn’t long ago the league had reservations about fastball-changeup right-handed relievers. Then again, wasn’t long ago Weaver was being released and waived by separate teams in a matter of weeks. To his credit, just more than two years later, he’s leveraged his stair-stepping ways into a legitimate run with the Yankees as a high-leverage arm. As a result, he ought to be on the receiving end of a lucrative multi-year contract.
18. 1B Josh Naylor
- Potential suitors: Mariners, Mets, Padres
To oppose Naylor is to grow weary of his excitable, borderline vexatious qualities. To embrace him is to grow appreciative of his skilled offensive game, particularly against righties. Naylor has a knack for squaring up the ball that, when combined with his strength and pull-and-lift tendencies, enables him to launch 20ish home runs annually. It’s to be seen if his next employer lets him run as freely as the Mariners did, but even if not he should remain a worthy most-days option at the cold corner.
19. RHP Ryan Helsley
- Potential suitors: Practically every contender
This ranking isn’t an overreaction to Helsley’s post-deadline struggles with the Mets. It’s an adjustment to some worrisome downward trends he’s experienced the last two years. Helsley has allowed more contact — and harder contact at that — while having his strikeout rate drop by more than 10 percentage points since 2023. He still pumps gas with a great slider, so there’s no sense dismissing him as a potential late-inning asset. Helsley just may need some fresh guidance.
20. RHP Merrill Kelly
- Potential suitors: Padres, Nationals, Angels
This may prove unkind to Kelly, possessor of a 121 ERA+ since Opening Day 2023, but there are reasons to be skeptical about his market. Keep in mind: 1) he’s now 37 years old; 2) he’s a command-and-changeup righty; and 3) he’s coming off a season in which he surrendered the worst hard-hit rate of his MLB career. Tomoyuki Sugano lacked Kelly’s track record (no small consideration, to be fair) when he signed for one year and $13 million last offseason. Kelly ought to beat that, just perhaps not by as much as you’d think.
21. 2B Gleyber Torres
- Potential suitors: Angels, Tigers, Giants
Torres was named to his third career All-Star Game, his first since 2019, but it wasn’t because he transformed into Something Greater. His biggest change was swinging less often, a shift that fueled improved walk and contact rate and bumped his OPS nearly 40 points. Most of what applied to Torres last winter — his relative youth; his greatest effectiveness coming on a pocket up and in; and his substandard defense — remain in play.
22. 2B Jorge Polanco
- Potential suitors: Guardians, Tigers, Angels
Polanco recovered from a down season by swinging harder and pulling the ball more frequently. That combination resulted in both the second-highest home-run tally and slugging percentage of his career. He’s lost a step over the years on account of aging and knee surgery, meaning he’s a substandard defensive second baseman. Polanco is also unlikely to repeat this year’s offensive output. Still, a team seeking above-average offense could do worse than him.
23. CF Harrison Bader
- Potential suitors: Astros, Guardians, Angels
Bader had his best season since 2021, seemingly after embracing a “swing harder” mindset. That, plus a pull-happy approach, allowed him to launch a career-best 17 home runs. In turn, he paid rent in the form of increases to both his in-zone whiff and overall strikeout rates. Bader remains a defensive demon, providing some floor to his game. At the same time, it’s possible that teams without friendly left-field dimensions could pass on him, especially given his approaching 32nd birthday and track record as a subpar hitter.
24. 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn
- Potential suitors: Mariners, Padres, Yankees
O’Hearn is a fun story, a late bloomer who didn’t have his first above-average offensive season at the big-league level until his age-28 campaign. He was honored over the summer with a trip to the All-Star Game, but the winter may not prove to be as kind. Between O’Hearn’s advanced age (he’ll turn 33 in-season), his need for a right-handed sock, and his lack of a true carrying tool, he’ll probably be choosing from a series of short-term offers.
25. OF Mike Yastrzemski
- Potential suitors: Guardians, Reds, Royals
Here’s a tidbit to chew on: Yastrzemski has tallied more Wins Above Replacement than Kyle Schwarber since debuting in 2019. Schwarber has an edge in expected payday all the same and it’s for good reason. Yastrzemski, historically a solid most-days starter, has shown signs of decline as he enters his age-35 season, at least as it pertains to physical markers (like sprint speed). He can still mind the zone and put a stick on the ball, but the margins are thinner for a player of this caliber. Between the modest ceiling and heightened crater risk, he may end up having to settle for a one-year arrangement.
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