Top Free Agents Remaining | FanGraphs Tracker Top 75

[TwistedLogic]

Included in this post are two ranking lists for the best remaining free agents on the market for the 2021 season.

 

1st List: The first list uses the FanGraphs Top 50 Free Agents list that was published on October 30, 2020. I've made a couple of small tweaks on this list in instances where the current day projected WAR is vastly different than the Steamer projections that were used when that list was originally published. For instance, FanGraphs ranked JT Realmuto above George Springer at the time because Realmuto had a 4.4 WAR projection, while Springer was at 4.7. Today, Springer's projection has only adjusted down to 4.5, while Realmuto fell hard to 3.8. In this instance, it makes no sense to rank Realmuto over Springer. For the purposes of clarity, however, I have expanded the list to include both current day projections (3rd column) and projections at the time that FanGraphs published their list (4th column).

 

2nd List: The second list in this post ranks players based flatly on their 2021 projected WAR as noted in the FanGraphs Free Agent tracker. This is the original list that I started this post with and has the benefit of going above 50 players. The pitfall of this list is that it inherently undervalues relievers (lower projected WAR) but the plus is that the projections are more accurate. As the projections are constantly changing, I'm attempting to keep this list updated as well.

 

All projections in the second list are up-to-date as of 12:00 ET, February 9, 2021

 

---

Best Free Agents Remaining for 2021

(FanGraphs Top 50)

 

[center][size=4][color="#000000"][b]
[color="#004EFF"]01 | George Springer		4.5	4.7	TOR	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]02 | JT Realmuto		3.8	4.4	PHI	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]03 | Trevor Bauer		3.4	3.8	LAD	[/color]
[color="#004EFF"]04 | Marcus Semien		3.4	3.5	TOR	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]05 | DJ LeMahieu		3.8	3.9	NYY	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]06 | Marcell Ozuna		3.1	3.4	ATL	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]07 | Masahiro Tanaka		2.9	3.1	NPB	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]08 | Ha-seong Kim		3.0	3.8	NPB	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]09 | Didi Gregorius		2.0	2.7	PHI	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]10 | Justin Turner		3.0	3.6	LAD	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]11 | Marcus Stroman		2.3	2.5	NYM	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]12 | Michael Brantley		2.3	2.4	HOU	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]13 | Kevin Gausman		2.7	2.4	SFG	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]14 | James Paxton		2.1	2.3	SEA	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]15 | Liam Hendricks		1.0	1.1	CHW	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]16 | Andrelton Simmons		3.1	3.1	MIN	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]17 | Joc Pederson		2.2	2.8	CHC	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]18 | Nelson Cruz		1.6	1.6	MIN	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]19 | Trevor May			0.8	0.8	NYM	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]20 | Jake Odorizzi		1.7	1.8	HOU	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]21 | Brad Hand			0.4	0.4	WAS	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]22 | Taijuan Walker		1.2	1.3	NYM	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]23 | Tommy La Stella		1.7	2.7	SFG	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]24 | Drew Smyly			1.5	1.7	ATL	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]25 | Kolten Wong		1.4	2.4	MIL	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]26 | Jackie Bradley Jr.		1.1	1.9	MIL	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]27 | Mike Minor			2.2	1.9	KCR	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]28 | Blake Treinen		0.4	0.5	LAD	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]29 | Jose Quintana		1.7	1.7	LAA	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]30 | Mark Melancon		0.2	0.2	SDP	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]31 | Yadier Molina		1.5	1.7	STL	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]32 | Cesar Hernandez		1.7	2.4	CLE	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]33 | James McCann		0.8	1.3	NYM	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]34 | Alex Colome		0.1	0.2	MIN	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]35 | Trevor Rosenthal		0.4	0.6	OAK	[/color]
[color="#004EFF"]36 | Kirby Yates		0.7	0.7	TOR	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]37 | Brett Gardner		1.0	1.4	NYY	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]38 | Corey Kluber		2.7	2.9	NYY	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]39 | Joakim Soria		0.3	0.4	ARI	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]40 | Carlos Santana		1.8	2.2	KCR	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]41 | Jurickson Profar		0.9	2.0	SDP	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]42 | Garrett Richards		1.5	1.6	BOS	[/color]
[color="#000000"]43 | Rick Porcello		1.7	1.9		[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]44 | Matt Shoemaker		1.5	1.5	MIN	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]45 | JA Happ			1.4	1.5	MIN	[/color]
[color="#004EFF"]46 | Robbie Ray			2.0	1.9	TOR	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]47 | Adam Wainwright		1.1	1.3	STL	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]48 | Robbie Grossman		1.1	1.2	DET	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]49 | Brad Miller		0.3	0.9	PHI	[/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]50 | Chris Archer		1.8	1.9	TBR	[/color][/size]

[color="#000000"]
The first column in the above list represents present-day Steamer projections.
The second column represents what the projections were on October 30, 2020,
the date FanGraphs published the Top 50 Free Agents ranking referenced in 
the making of this list. I have made several tweaks to the above list to better 
represent some of the wilder changes in the projections between then and now.[/color]

[/b][/color][/center]

---

 

Best Free Agents Remaining for 2021

(Projected WAR)

 

[center][size=4][color="#000000"][b]
[color="#004EFF"]01 | George Springer 4.5 TOR [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]02 | DJ LeMahieu 3.7 NYY [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]03 | JT Realmuto 3.6 PHI [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]04 | Trevor Bauer 3.5 LAD [/color]
[color="#004EFF"]05 | Marcus Semien 3.3 TOR [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]06 | Andrelton Simmons 3.1 MIN [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]07 | Marcell Ozuna 3.1 ATL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]08 | Justin Turner 3.0 LAD [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]09 | Charlie Morton 3.0 ATL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]10 | Masahiro Tanaka 2.9 NPB [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]11 | Corey Kluber 2.7 NYY [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]12 | Kevin Gausman 2.7 SFG [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]13 | Marcus Stroman 2.3 NYM [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]14 | Michael Brantley 2.3 HOU [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]15 | Joc Pederson 2.2 CHC [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]16 | Kyle Shwarber 2.2 WAS [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]17 | Mike Minor 2.2 KCR [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]18 | James Paxton 2.1 SEA [/color]
[color="#004EFF"]19 | Robbie Ray 2.0 TOR [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]20 | Didi Gregorius 1.9 PHI [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]21 | Carlos Santana 1.8 KCR [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]22 | Jose Quintana 1.8 LAA [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]23 | Cesar Hernandez 1.7 CLE [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]24 | Chris Archer 1.7 TBR [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]25 | Jake Odorizzi 1.7 HOU [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]26 | Tommy La Stella 1.7 SFG [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]27 | Eddie Rosario 1.6 CLE [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]28 | Nelson Cruz 1.6 MIN [/color]
[color="#000000"]29 | Rick Porcello 1.5 [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]30 | Drew Smyly 1.5 ATL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]31 | Kolten Wong 1.5 MIL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]32 | Yadier Molina 1.5 STL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]33 | Garrett Richards 1.4 BOS [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]34 | JA Happ 1.4 MIN [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]35 | Chris Flexen 1.4 KBO [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]36 | Jonathan Schoop 1.4 DET [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]37 | Anthony DeSclafani 1.3 SFG [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]38 | Wilson Ramos 1.3 DET [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]39 | Enrique Hernandez 1.3 BOS [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]40 | Martin Perez 1.2 BOS [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]41 | Taijuan Walker 1.2 NYM [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]42 | Robbie Grossman 1.2 DET [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]43 | Matt Shoemaker 1.2 MIN [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]44 | Adam Eaton 1.1 CHW [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]45 | Alex Wood 1.1 SFG [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]46 | Adam Wainwright 1.1 STL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]47 | Mike Zunino 1.1 TBR [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]48 | Jackie Bradley Jr. 1.1 MIL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]49 | Jason Castro 1.0 SDP [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]50 | Brett Anderson 1.0 MIL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]51 | Liam Hendricks 1.0 CHW [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]52 | Brett Gardner 1.0 NYY [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]53 | Rich Hill 1.0 TBR [/color]
[color="#000000"]54 | Maikel Franco 0.9 [/color]
[color="#000000"]55 | Mike Leake 0.9 [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]56 | Mike Foltynewicz 0.9 TEX [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]57 | Jurickson Profar 0.9 SDP [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]58 | Carlos Rodon 0.8 CHW [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]59 | Alex Avila 0.8 WAS [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]60 | Jake Arrieta 0.8 CHC [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]61 | James McCann 0.8 NYM [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]62 | Trevor May 0.8 NYM [/color]
[color="#000000"]63 | Cole Hamels 0.7 [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]64 | Michael Wacha 0.7 TBR [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]65 | Tyler Anderson 0.7 PIT [/color]
[color="#000000"]66 | Yasiel Puig 0.7 [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]67 | Freddy Galvis 0.7 BAL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]68 | Renato Nunez 0.7 DET [/color]
[color="#004EFF"]69 | Kirby Yates 0.7 TOR [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]70 | Nomar Mazara 0.7 DET [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]71 | Jake Lamb 0.6 ATL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]72 | Hunter Renfroe 0.6 BOS [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]73 | Jose Urena 0.6 DET [/color]
[color="#000000"]74 | Tyler Flowers 0.6 [/color]
[color="#000000"]75 | Homer Bailey 0.6 [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]76 | Mike Fiers 0.6 OAK [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]77 | Todd Frazier 0.6 PIT [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]78 | Marwin Gonzalez 0.6 BOS [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]79 | Felix Hernandez 0.6 BAL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]80 | Jon Lester 0.6 WAS [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]81 | Aaron Sanchez 0.5 SFG [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]82 | Travis Shaw 0.5 MIL [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]83 | Adam Duvall 0.5 MIA [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]84 | Matt Moore 0.5 PHI [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]85 | Trevor Rosenthal 0.5 OAK [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]86 | Hanser Alberto 0.5 KCR [/color]
[color="#000000"]87 | David Robertson 0.5 [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]88 | Gio Gonzalez 0.4 MIA [/color]
[color="#D3D3D3"]89 | CJ Cron 0.4 COL [/color]
[color="#000000"]90 | Trevor Cahill 0.4 [/color][/size]

[color="#000000"]*Steamer is constantly updating projections so the numbers
above may not be exact representations of the projections
at the time that you read this. That being said, I'm making
an effort to keep this list updated as often as I can.[/color]

[/b][/color][/center]

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by TwistedLogic

[TwistedLogic]

The above list is ranked by projected WAR (FanGraphs), which is what I used in the "WAR" column next to the players names.

 

While sorting by projected WAR felt like the most intuitive way of doing it, I know that inherently undervalues the relievers, so here's a separate list of the RPs on FanGraphs' free agent board:

 

[Ray]

Holding out hope for Paxton or Odorizzi.

[Jays24]

Holding out hope for Paxton or Odorizzi.

 

I'd even take Walker at this point if those 2 are off the market.

[Spanky99]

Jays are awesome... Yay!!!

[z3r0s]

Paxton is my non-Bauer choice. It just makes sense to me on many levels.

[TwistedLogic]

[Krylian]

 

Jays called me at home saying they were interested in my services as well. I declined. The fans deserve better than me.

[Jimcanuck]

Jays called me at home saying they were interested in my services as well. I declined. The fans deserve better than me.

 

What was the offer?

[Krylian]

What was the offer?

 

They didn't officially make one. Just wanted me to know they were in on me.

[KevinGregg]

this is amazing, I would have loved to see it from the beginning of the offseason! We got rank 1, 5, 19 and 72 so far, nothing to sneeze at!

 

I can't believe Shoemaker is still a FA, I haven't heard anything about him all winter. Lots of talk about bringing back Walker but nothing on Shoe.

 

I bet the Jays bring him back before they bring back Walker, he was always awesome for us

[Deadpool]

They didn't officially make one. Just wanted me to know they were in on me.

 

It's comforting to know that they were the runners up for your services though...

[Deadpool]

this is amazing, I would have loved to see it from the beginning of the offseason! We got rank 1, 5, 19 and 72 so far, nothing to sneeze at!

 

I can't believe Shoemaker is still a FA, I haven't heard anything about him all winter. Lots of talk about bringing back Walker but nothing on Shoe.

 

I bet the Jays bring him back before they bring back Walker, he was always awesome for us

 

I like Shoemaker a lot for the 6 innings he pitches every season.

[wilko]

I like Shoemaker a lot for the 6 innings he pitches every season.

 

28.2 to be exact. lol

[TwistedLogic]

lmao @ the offer the Athletics made to Semien:

 

[max silver]

It's comforting to know that they were the runners up for your services though...

 

I'm just positively dying to know what kind of "services" he was offering.

[Spanky99]

this is amazing, I would have loved to see it from the beginning of the offseason! We got rank 1, 5, 19 and 72 so far, nothing to sneeze at!

 

I can't believe Shoemaker is still a FA, I haven't heard anything about him all winter. Lots of talk about bringing back Walker but nothing on Shoe.

 

I bet the Jays bring him back before they bring back Walker, he was always awesome for us

 

Also, always hurt...

[Spanky99]

I like Shoemaker a lot for the 6 innings he pitches every season.

 

lol... yup.

[TwistedLogic]

[TwistedLogic]

Can someone please explain to me why nobody's talking about Marcell Ozuna? I don't think I've seen a single big report on where he stands or which teams are after him and I almost forgot that he's a free agent.

 

Guy posted 2.5 fWAR in 60 games and he's only 30 years old.

[Jays24]

Can someone please explain to me why nobody's talking about Marcell Ozuna? I don't think I've seen a single big report on where he stands or which teams are after him and I almost forgot that he's a free agent.

 

Guy posted 2.5 fWAR in 60 games and he's only 30 years old.

 

It's crazy man. Guy almost wins the the triple crown and yet he's not anyone's target. We were close to getting Brantley so I'm curious why no one cared to go after him before we got Semien.

[Laika]

Can someone please explain to me why nobody's talking about Marcell Ozuna? I don't think I've seen a single big report on where he stands or which teams are after him and I almost forgot that he's a free agent.

 

Guy posted 2.5 fWAR in 60 games and he's only 30 years old.

 

As far as I can tell, many teams are skeptical of his defense so the point that they don't think of him as an OF on any future contract. The talent comparison is JD Martinez of three years ago. That means the open NL DH question has severely chilled his market. There are also exactly zero competitive AL teams looking to land a big money DH/LF.

[connorp]

It's crazy man. Guy almost wins the the triple crown and yet he's not anyone's target. We were close to getting Brantley so I'm curious why no one cared to go after him before we got Semien.

 

I think obviously his camp had to wait on the whole DH thing to finalize his market. He’s a tough one to read though. He wants a multi-year deal at prob top pay. He’s been a bit up-and-down in his career as far as being elite goes. Best suited for a team with deep pockets I think. He’ll get paid something decent in the end

[43211234]

The Sportsnet commenters are going to be irate when Taijuan Walker signs for like 1/$7M with the Mariners or something.

[L54]

The Sportsnet commenters are going to be irate when Taijuan Walker signs for like 1/$7M with the Mariners or something.

 

Lol yup. Everyone online seems to want to sign Walker to like a three year deal.

[Jays24]

The Sportsnet commenters are going to be irate when Taijuan Walker signs for like 1/$7M with the Mariners or something.

 

I got irrate skimming your post thinking that you were announcing the deal initially lol. A 2 year deal for Walker seems reasonable if we can't get Paxton/Odorizzi. He'd be our 2nd best starter at this point.

[THANOS]

Lol yup. Everyone online seems to want to sign Walker to like a three year deal.

 

They look at the small sample ERA and think, wow, our next Doc Halladay.

[max silver]

I got irrate skimming your post thinking that you were announcing the deal initially lol. A 2 year deal for Walker seems reasonable if we can't get Paxton/Odorizzi. He'd be our 2nd best starter at this point.

 

I'd argue Walker would likely be the 4th best. Ryu, Pearson and Ray are all likely to be better than Walker.

[Laika]

He'd be our 2nd best starter at this point.

 

Lol, no he wouldn't. He might even be their sixth best behind Ryu, Pearson, Stripling, Matz, and Ray.

 

Really it would just be a five way tie for second best. Walker would just be another body in the pile.

[THANOS]

Lol, no he wouldn't. He might even be their sixth best behind Ryu, Pearson, Stripling, Matz, and Ray.

 

Really it would just be a five way tie for second best. Walker would just be another body in the pile.

 

Absolutely.