Grading Each MLB Free Agent Signing of the 2024 Offseason So Far

One month into the 2024-25 MLB offseason, the winter’s assortment of free-agent signings vaguely resembles a photo voltaic system.

It is an entire bunch of small- and medium-sized ones centered round a star.

It is a good time to take inventory of those signings by grading them based mostly on how the participant suits the workforce and the way a lot sense the cash makes. Simply so everybody’s on the identical web page, that is principally what every grade signifies:

Of the 16 main league signings listed by RosterResource, two weren’t actually free-agent offers. The Atlanta Braves held a 2025 membership possibility on Aaron Bummer, as did the Cincinnati Reds with Brent Suter. Thus, neither managed his personal destiny by way of free company.

In any other case, solely 5 of the opposite 14 signings are value eight or 9 figures. The remaining assure not more than $4 million.

Let’s verify these off in quick-hitter vogue earlier than giving particular consideration to the larger offers.

RHP Dylan Covey, New York Mets

The Deal: 1 12 months, $850,000

The 33-year-old Covey has a 6.18 ERA to point out for 100 appearances within the majors, however this signing has the Mets making an especially low-risk guess on what a doubtlessly helpful bullpen piece.

After sitting at 95.6 mph within the majors in 2023, Covey obtained his fastball as excessive as 96.6 mph within the minors this season. And on the tracked ones, the whiff percentages on his slider and splitter had been 50.0 and 60.9, respectively.

Grade: B

OF Austin Slater, Chicago White Sox

The Deal: 1 12 months, $1.75 million

This can be a reunion of types, as Slater crossed paths with the White Sox’s director of hitting, Ryan Fuller, in Baltimore on the finish of the 2024 season.

It was as an Oriole that Slater, 31, saved some face with a .342 OBP in 33 video games. He has modest energy, nonetheless, and his profession .793 OPS in opposition to left-handers is not a lot of a comfort prize. Righty platoon hitters do not get as a lot work as lefty platoon hitters.

Grade: C

LHP T.J. McFarland, Athletics

The Deal: 1 12 months, $1.8 million

McFarland’s twelfth season within the majors might need been his finest but. The 35-year-old led all of MLB with 79 appearances and posted a 3.81 ERA whereas permitting solely 4 dwelling runs.

Getting floor balls is type of the lefty’s factor, because the 57.3 GB% he posted this 12 months was consistent with his profession charge of 61.7 p.c. That is good as a result of he in any other case throws his fastball within the excessive 80s, and he usually does not do whiffs or strikeouts.

Grade: B

LHP Justin Wilson, Boston Purple Sox

The Deal: 1 12 months, $2.25 million

The Purple Sox lacked a second dependable lefty reliever to pair with Brennan Bernardino in 2024. That is the place Wilson is available in, and he’ll assist greater than his 5.59 ERA from this 12 months suggests.

After sitting out most of 2022 and all of 2023 due to Tommy John surgery, the 37-year-old set a career-high with a 3.92 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He additionally has comparatively impartial splits for a lefty reliever, holding righties to a .650 OPS and lefties to a .704 OPS.

Grade: A

RHP Kyle Hendricks, Los Angeles Angels

The Deal: 1 12 months, $2.5 million

By his first seven seasons, Hendricks had a 3.12 ERA and a World Sequence ring to again up his rep as a top-of-the-rotation starter. He is not that man anymore, as his final 4 seasons have seen him run up a 4.80 ERA with extra hits (570) than innings pitched (533).

The 34-year-old has made 24 begins in every of the final two seasons, so he may give the Angels what passes for bulk nowadays. Hendricks is in any other case like Tyler Anderson in that he largely induces tender contact, which no less than makes issues simpler for the protection.

Grade: C

C Jacob Stallings, Colorado Rockies

The Deal: 1 12 months, $2.5 million with 2026 mutual possibility

The Rockies and Stallings had a mutual possibility for 2025, however the 34-year-old veteran selected free company when he declined his end. That paid off within the type of a $1.5 million increase.

Stallings, who received a Gold Glove in 2021, definitely earned a increase by going off for a career-best .810 OPS and 9 homers this 12 months. He even hit higher on the highway (.827 OPS), although it bears noting that his offensive metrics typically stayed caught in below-average territory.

Grade: C

INF Kevin Newman, Los Angeles Angels

The Deal: 1 12 months, $2.75 million with 2026 membership possibility

The Angels obtained a blow in early November when shortstop Zach Neto, recent off a 20-20 season, underwent surgery on his proper shoulder. He might miss the beginning of the 2025 marketing campaign, which just about behooved the Angels so as to add depth.

To this finish, Newman ended up within the black for Outs Above Average at each shortstop and second base in 2024. Albeit with restricted energy, the 31-year-old additionally hit .278 with a usually low 15.4 strikeout proportion. As depth items go, he, due to this fact, has a number of makes use of.

Grade: B

INF Kyle Farmer, Colorado Rockies

The Deal: 1 12 months, $3.25 million with 2026 mutual possibility

The Rockies created a gap at second base after they non-tendered former prime prospect and Gold Glove winner Brendan Rodgers. At present, the Farmer deal appears to be designed to fill that gap.

Per Outs Above Average, the keystone is the 34-year-old’s finest defensive place. And whereas no one will name him a superb hitter, he is cracked double-digit homers 3 times and has a .812 OPS in opposition to lefties for his profession. Thus, he might be an improve over Rodgers.

Grade: B

C Austin Hedges, Cleveland Guardians

The Deal: 1 12 months, $4 million

If the 32-year-old Hedges is understood for something, it is for being a notoriously unhealthy hitter. His profession OPS+ is simply 53, by far the lowest amongst lively hitters with no less than 2,000 plate appearances.

It is a good factor, then, that Hedges is a well-rounded defensive catcher who supplies management within the clubhouse. There isn’t any approach to quantify the latter, although the Guardians clearly think it is value a number of million bucks.

Grade: B

The Deal: 2 years, $12 million

Is It a Good Baseball Match?

Logan O’Hoppe is the man behind the plate for the Angels, and the Travis d’Arnaud signing does not change that. He’ll be the opposite man on this delightfully apostrophe-catching corps.

It is a function for which d’Arnaud is frankly overqualified.

Now 35 years previous, he is unlikely to have any additional Silver Sluggers or All-Star alternatives in his future. However his profession .735 OPS is strong for a catcher, and he barely beat that with a .739 OPS in 2024. As per normal, he continued to provide more exit velocity than the typical hitter.

The veteran additionally handles himself effectively behind the plate, significantly relating to blocking. And whereas his framing took a flip for the more serious this 12 months, it’s usually one in every of his strengths when he is within the squat.

Is It a Good Monetary Match?

The Angels solely had a shot at d’Arnaud as a result of the Braves declined the $8 million possibility they held on him for 2025. It could have been his sixth straight 12 months with precisely an $8 million wage.

As such, the Angels did effectively to get him for $2 million lower than that for every of the following two seasons.

Grade: A

The Deal: 1 12 months, $21.05 million

Is It a Good Baseball Match?

The Reds know from expertise that Nick Martinez is an efficient match for them.

He was a rock in an in any other case shaky employees in 2024, pitching 142.1 innings with a 3.10 ERA. The 34-year-old was equal elements sharp and befuddling, strolling solely 3.2 p.c of the batters he confronted (99th percentile) and permitting solely a 30.5 hard-hit proportion (96th percentile).

If there may be trigger for concern, it’s that Martinez is a pitch-to-contact kind who’s about to spend one other 12 months at arguably essentially the most hitter-friendly park that MLB has outdoors of Coors Subject. Certainly, it’s the finest place to hit home runs.

The truth that Martinez is a ground-ball pitcher helps protect him from panic on this regard, however even he felt the sting of Nice American Ball Park in 2024. He had a 4.00 ERA there, in comparison with a 2.18 ERA on the highway.

Is It a Good Monetary Match?

Martinez had a $12 million participant possibility for 2025, so it is definitely good for him that he turned that down and in the end obtained an enormous increase by accepting the qualifying provide.

For his or her half, the Reds might need been higher off if Martinez had turned it down. He is attributable to be the most costly participant on a 2025 roster that, whilst is, will likely be more expensive than the roster that the Reds had in 2024.

Grade: C

The Deal: 3 years, $51 million with 2028 membership possibility

Is It a Good Baseball Match?

As with Martinez and the Reds, the Royals know from expertise that Michael Wacha is an efficient match for them.

The one-year, $16 million deal they signed him to final winter proved to be a cut price. Wacha made 29 begins and posted a 3.35 ERA over 166.2 innings, making him a key a part of the most valuable beginning rotation in MLB.

The 33-year-old has at all times lived by his changeup. It is, due to this fact, onerous to fault him for making it his major pitch, particularly since it has been one of many 10 most valuable pitches in MLB over the past two seasons.

Nonetheless, the Royals in all probability should not count on any extra 166.2-inning seasons from Wacha. Accidents have been a fact of life for him for many of his 12 seasons within the bigs, and that’s unlikely to alter as he continues to become old.

Is It a Good Monetary Match?

This deal is a pleasant increase for Wacha, who made $16 million in 2024 and will have made one other $16 million in 2025 if he’d exercised his participant possibility.

This does not make it a foul deal for the Royals, essentially, however it’s a little awkward that Wacha is now their priciest pitcher although he is their third-best possibility after Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans.

Grade: B

The Deal: 3 years, $63 million

Is It a Good Baseball Match?

Beginning pitching was however one in every of many issues the Angels had amid their 99-loss season in 2024, however it was an enormous one. Solely three groups obtained less WAR from their starters.

To this finish, they did effectively to get a commodity as scorching as Yusei Kikuchi.

He ended up inserting ninth within the American League Cy Younger Award voting, which is solely attributable to how he completed the 12 months with the Houston Astros. He made 10 begins for them and posted a 2.70 ERA, primarily by the use of greater trust in his nasty slider.

The query now’s how shortly hitters will alter to Kikuchi’s new slider-heavy strategy. Assuming they do, the following query will likely be how shortly he’ll alter again.

All the identical, the 33-year-old is a comparatively secure guess for the Angels. He is been a dependable pitcher for the higher a part of the final 4 seasons, making 29-plus begins 3 times and posting a 3.96 ERA throughout 2023 and 2024.

Is It a Good Monetary Match?

To provide credit score the place it is due, Kikuchi’s deal aligns with what MLB Trade Rumors predicted for him on the outset of the winter.

That makes it onerous to accuse the Angels of overpaying. And even when the roster nonetheless fails to impress, proprietor Arte Moreno is no less than placing his cash the place his mouth is relating to his desire to contend in 2025.

Grade: A

The Deal: 5 years, $182 million

Is It a Good Baseball Match?

All’s effectively that ends effectively, however it’s not supreme that the Dodgers entered the postseason for the second straight 12 months with a scarcity of efficient starters.

Persevering with to throw arms on the drawback is an efficient resolution, nonetheless. And in Blake Snell’s left arm, the Dodgers have added a darn good one.

The 31-year-old has two Cy Younger Awards, and he is coming to Southern California off perhaps essentially the most dominant run of pitching he is ever had. After an terrible begin to 2024, he recovered with 14 begins that yielded a 1.23 ERA and featured each a 15-strikeout gem and a no-hitter.

Amongst pitchers with 1,000-plus innings, Snell is one in every of only three in MLB historical past with a strikeout proportion over 30. He is additionally tied with Clayton Kershaw for the fourth-lowest average allowed at simply .210.

Knocks in opposition to Snell embrace a constant penchant for walks and a workload cap of about 180 innings. He is issued 4.1 free passes per 9 innings and he is handled quite a lot of nagging injuries.

Nonetheless, a man can get away with walks when he does not permit hits. And so long as he is wholesome on the finish, the Dodgers do not want Snell to offer them 30-plus begins and 200-plus innings.

Is It a Good Monetary Match?

That is virtually the deal I figured Snell would get, besides with an additional 12 months on it. And given his age and damage historical past, that additional 12 months is arguably a dangerous play.

However go away it to the Dodgers to do some clever accounting. On this case, Snell is getting $52 million upfront within the type of a signing bonus and can be deferring some cash. Such issues will in the end decrease the year-to-year weight of his contract.

Grade: A