Each crew has completely different wants when getting into the offseason — and no matter they’re in search of, there is a participant to match.
Let’s check out the gamers with the highest particular person expertise who’re free brokers heading into the 2024 season.
That is loosely primarily based on baseball’s conventional 5 instruments — contact hitting, energy, velocity, fielding and arm power (with a few extras blended in). There are some free brokers who’ve a couple of standout software, however we’re utilizing every participant solely as soon as.
Listed below are the very best instruments accessible on the 2023-24 free-agent market.
What a distinction a 12 months makes. Bellinger, the 2023 NL Comeback Participant of the 12 months, reinvented himself from a boom-or-bust slugger who barely hit above the Mendoza Line in 2022 to a .300 hitter who turned all about bat-to-ball ability in 2023. He minimize his strikeouts practically in half. He made far more contact. He began spraying line drives. And he nonetheless hit 26 dwelling runs.
Try Bellinger’s turnaround from 2022 to ’23, and the way he ranked alongside the remainder of the league:
He was only a completely different kind of hitter, even in comparison with his MVP and Rookie of the 12 months seasons. Props to Bellinger for reinventing himself and turning into one of many high free-agent hitters.
Honorable point out: Michael Brantley, Shohei Ohtani, J.D. Martinez, Whit Merrifield
This one needs to be apparent. The American League dwelling run king and MVP is the very best energy hitter in the marketplace. Ohtani may be the very best energy hitter in baseball, interval. He has 124 dwelling runs during the last three seasons, averaging over 40 a 12 months. His high quality of contact is top-of-the-scale. Ohtani has 220 barrels since 2021 — that is Statcast’s highest degree of contact, balls which can be prone to be both dwelling runs or extra-base hits primarily based on their exit velocity and launch angle. The one hitter with extra is Aaron Decide (242).
Statcast additionally provides every hitter an anticipated dwelling run whole, primarily based on how lots of the 30 MLB ballparks their batted balls could be dwelling runs. Ohtani’s anticipated dwelling runs are proper consistent with his precise dwelling runs. He had 120.7 xHR from 2021-23, which, once more, means 40-plus dwelling run energy. And practically half of Ohtani’s whole homers over that span, 59 of 124, have been “no-doubter” dwelling runs — which means they’d be gone in any respect 30 stadiums. In different phrases: Regardless of the place Ohtani indicators, he’d be placing up elite energy numbers. He even hit the longest dwelling run of the 2023 season, 493 ft.
Honorable point out: Teoscar Hernández, Rhys Hoskins, Jorge Soler
There are a number of veteran hitters on the free-agent market who’ve top-tier plate self-discipline. The most effective of these is Belt, who was one of many leaders of a playoff-bound Blue Jays crew in 2023. The 35-year-old remains to be considering his enjoying future, but when he indicators with a brand new crew for subsequent 12 months, he’ll be offering a precious presence within the lineup. Belt not often chases pitches out of the strike zone, which ends up in nice on-base numbers. His 17.9% chase charge ranked within the 96th percentile of all MLB hitters final season, his 15.1% stroll charge ranked within the 97th percentile of MLB, and he posted a .369 on-base share.
Belt’s eye additionally lets him pick the pitches he could make high-quality contact towards: His 44.5% sweet-spot charge ranked within the 99th percentile of MLB in 2023, and his 15.0% barrel charge ranked within the 91st percentile. That is what led to his .858 OPS over 400-plus plate appearances. Mitch Garver (98th percentile chase charge, ninetieth percentile stroll charge, 83rd percentile barrel charge in 2023) is robust competitors in the case of having plate self-discipline and turning it into manufacturing, however Belt has confirmed to own this ability over a protracted time frame within the large leagues.
Honorable point out: Garver, Robbie Grossman, Andrew McCutchen, Tommy Pham
Hampson being non-tendered by the Marlins places one of many quickest gamers in baseball in the marketplace. Hampson’s common dash velocity final season, 29.8 ft/sec, was tied for 14th quickest in MLB. He additionally had 32 “bolts” (runs at or above Statcast’s elite velocity threshold of 30 ft/sec), tied for 18th most. And Hampson’s 32 bolts got here on simply 80 aggressive runs, so he was reaching elite velocity practically half the time, which is a really excessive charge. Hampson simply turned 29, so he ought to nonetheless have his wonderful velocity for some time, which helps him each on the bases and within the discipline. A speedy utility participant nonetheless in his 20s ought to have the ability to discover a good touchdown spot someplace.
Honorable point out: Bellinger, Billy Hamilton, Kevin Kiermaier
There are many nice fielders accessible this offseason, so we’re splitting up the protection class into infielders and outfielders. Within the infield, it would not get any higher than Chapman, a perennial Gold Glove candidate at third base who’s received the award 4 occasions, together with in 2023 with the Blue Jays. Since his MLB debut in 2017, Chapman has amassed +54 Outs Above Common on the sizzling nook, making him one of many high fielders in MLB general in that point and the second-best third baseman behind solely the good Nolan Arenado.
Honorable point out: Nick Ahmed, Brandon Crawford, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jonathan Schoop
Kiermaier is to the outfield what Chapman is to the infield, a four-time Gold Glove Award-winning middle fielder who’s the reigning Gold Glover at his place (and simply so occurred to be Chapman’s teammate in Toronto final season). He may be probably the greatest defensive middle fielders ever. Kiermaier’s vary within the outfield is second to none — since Statcast launched Outs Above Common in 2016, Kiermaier’s +84 OAA in middle discipline is the very best of any outfielder, and ranks within the high 5 amongst all MLB fielders at any place. Kiermaier has made 62 performs with a catch chance of fifty% or decrease over that point, one behind Jackie Bradley Jr. for essentially the most of any outfielder, together with 17 five-star catches (25% catch chance or decrease), one behind Billy Hamilton for essentially the most of any outfielder.
Honorable point out: Harrison Bader, Bellinger
Arm power will be significantly essential for a catcher, particularly with the brand new guidelines MLB launched in 2023 to encourage extra stolen bases, and the Kraken has one of many strongest arms of any backstop. Sánchez’s pop occasions all the time rank among the many quickest in MLB — in 2023, his common pop time to second base of 1.90 seconds was tied for sixth finest amongst all catchers, and fourth finest amongst catchers with 20 or extra throws — and people pop occasions are the product of his sturdy throws. Sánchez’s common arm power final season was 85.5 mph, and he tied for the quickest tracked particular person throw of the season by a catcher at 89.7 mph. He can catch even the very best baserunners making an attempt to steal, like Corbin Carroll.
Honorable point out: Brian Anderson, Chapman
Taylor has the correct mixture of uncooked arm power and the flexibility to show it into actual worth, each by throwing runners out and easily stopping them from taking further bases. Final season, Taylor’s common aggressive arm power of 91.5 mph ranked among the many high 10% of MLB fielders, and he reached a max of 97.9 mph. Actually, his arm power has been within the high 10% of the league each season since Statcast debuted the metric in 2020. Taylor has an general arm power of 91.9 mph over that point, a max arm power of 102.4 mph — making him certainly one of solely 10 fielders with a 102-plus-mph throw — and a excessive of 98.8 mph on an outfield help.
However having a powerful arm is simply half the battle. Taylor turns it into outcomes. For the reason that begin of the 2020 season, he is prevented 15 runs attributable to his arm within the outfield, the highest outfield arm worth of any MLB participant. That is led to runners trying to advance towards him at a charge far under common — Taylor, Kiermaier, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Jose Siri are the outfielders that baserunners attempt to run on the least.
Honorable point out: Bader, Joey Gallo, Aaron Hicks