Playing matchmaker for the best remaining free agents

Well! The Winter Meetings got started with the biggest kickoff possible, with Juan Soto agreeing to a deal with the Mets on Sunday night.

We’ve had a succession of bangers since then, including both free-agent moves (Max Fried to the Yankees, Nathan Eovaldi back to the Rangers) and trades (Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox, Andrés Giménez to the Blue Jays, and even Jake Burger to the Rangers). But even after a busy edition of the Meetings wrapped up on Wednesday, there are still a whole bunch of free agents lurking around out there. They didn’t get themselves signed at the festivities in Dallas. But they’re coming soon. It’s all starting to happen.

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So, while remaining fully aware of the danger of making a prediction that could be proven wrong any second … let’s make 10 of them! Allow me to play free-agent matchmaker and offer some off-the-cuff guesses at where 10 of the top remaining free agents will end up, given what we have learned from how the market has developed so far.

RHP Corbin Burnes: Giants
Confession: Up to the moment that the Red Sox traded for Crochet on Wednesday afternoon, we had the Red Sox as the pick here. We can still see it. Boston has made all sorts of noise about how it was going to be aggressive this offseason, and there’s no more logical place left for the club to do it than with Burnes. The Red Sox have the feel of someone with an urge to outbid somebody, if just to show they still can. There’s no reason they can’t still go out and get Burnes, even now that they have Crochet.

But we’ll back off making them the favorites, post-Crochet. Ideally, this would be the Orioles, but the price tag Fried just established may end up being too pricey for them to keep Burnes around; bad news, Orioles fans, your team may be showing up on this list less often than you would like.

Our own Mark Feinsand has reported that the Blue Jays and the Giants are the favorites here, but we’re not entirely convinced that big-time free agents are quite going to trust the situation in Toronto, which looks tenuous with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette one season away from free agency. Thus, we’ll go with the Giants, with Burnes following Willy Adames as the second big move of the Buster Posey (but wearing a suit instead of a uniform) Era.

3B Alex Bregman: Astros
Bregman has been waiting a while to hit free agency, so you can see why he’d want to get a chance to peddle his wares. But he is just a perfect fit with the Astros, as he has been his entire career, a popular player who has been a mainstay during Houston’s run of eight straight postseason appearances.

With worries about whether they will trade star right fielder Kyle Tucker ahead of his walk year, the Astros need to keep together what they can, and their other options if they lose Bregman (like trading for Nolan Arenado) don’t seem better than just paying Bregman. Maybe this is where the Red Sox get really aggressive? But here’s guessing he stays put.

1B Christian Walker: Yankees
1B Pete Alonso: Mets
We’re putting these two together because they are undeniably linked. The Yankees, who need a first baseman and would love, in the wake of recent developments, to swipe a beloved Met if they could possibly do so right now, are a logical fit for Alonso. But while the Yankees are certainly eager to spend money, one wonders if they’ll be willing to commit the years Alonso might want, to give him the massive contract that would probably require him to leave Queens in the first place.

Hence, we’ll say the Yanks go with Walker, who is underappreciated and might not cost as much as Alonso. It might be the more prudent pick, as emotionally satisfying as it might be to take Alonso away from the Mets. The Mets don’t necessarily have to sign Alonso. They could move Mark Vientos to first and go get a third baseman elsewhere. But with all the good vibes in Flushing, the simplest move may just be to bring Alonso back … particularly if a market outside of New York City municipal limits doesn’t necessarily emerge.

OF Anthony Santander: Nationals
The Nationals have a whole bunch of young talent -- a good chunk of which came over in the Juan Soto trade, don’t forget -- but it might be time to bring in a reliable veteran slugger to serve as a model for those young players and let the rest of the baseball know that this team is serious about competing again.

If that sounds familiar, that’s essentially what the Nationals did with their Jayson Werth signing 14 years ago … and that one worked out pretty well. Santander is a different player than Werth, but he could fill a similar role. And he, of course, wouldn’t have to leave the Mid-Atlantic region.

RHP Jack Flaherty: Tigers
Look: The logical place for Flaherty to go is Baltimore. The Orioles need pitching, particularly if Burnes leaves, and he’s the next name on the list. But ask an Orioles fan how they feel about Flaherty, given his brief cameo after being acquired at the 2023 Trade Deadline. Let’s just say it wasn’t the most impressive stint, one that didn’t leave the warmest memories.

The Orioles are in danger of being mostly idle during an offseason that would seem rather critical for them, but still: I can’t see them going too big on Flaherty. The Tigers had a much happier experience with Flaherty, and a return, paying both team and player back for a short-term investment heading into last year, could be what makes the most sense.

LHP Tanner Scott: Mets
Now that Soto has been nabbed, and presuming they end up with another bat (whether it’s Alonso or somebody else, or multiple somebody elses), the next empty box on the Mets’ checklist is “Bullpen Help.” The Mets (like everybody) could always use some of that, and Scott is the best reliever on the market, even if he doesn’t prove to be quite as expensive as the Mets’ own Edwin Díaz.

Some other teams (even in the NL East) desperately need Scott, but for the Mets, he’s a luxury item. Fortunately for Scott and Mets fans, this team is very much in its luxury item era right now.

OF Teoscar Hernández: Dodgers
Toronto, another place Teoscar knows well, is also a possibility. But while we’re talking about teams in their luxury item era, the Dodgers had a blast with Teoscar in their lineup in 2024. He in fact steadied the lineup during some injury-riddled stretches; he was the other free agent last offseason that few noticed but ended up being key to the Dodgers’ title run.

They will almost certainly have to go multiple years rather than one on his contract this time, but it’s doubtful, if they brought him back, that they would regret it.

2B Gleyber Torres: Mariners
The Mariners have to do something for their lineup. While Torres didn’t turn out to be the star the Yankees thought he was going to be when they traded Aroldis Chapman for him nearly a decade ago, he’s certainly an upgrade for the Mariners, who need every bat they can get.

This is a big, if quixotic, advantage that the Mariners have this offseason: Their lineup was so feeble last year that even an average hitter -- or above average, as Torres can certainly be -- is a bigger improvement for them than it would be for anyone else.

LHP Sean Manaea: Cubs
Don’t rule out a return to the Mets, who still have some rotation spots to fill, after all. But the Cubs need pitching, so badly that they’re considering trading Cody Bellinger to get some, and Manaea would be an upgrade over what they currently have. He also would show that Cubs management is serious about pushing this team back to October for the first time since 2020.