Four weeks from Tuesday, the four Wild Card Series will begin and the postseason will be underway. The various divisional and wild-card races will be settled between now and then. As the games on the field intensify, is there a better time to look ahead to the upcoming offseason?
Well, yes, probably, but that won't stop us. The hot stove never fully cools. On paper, the upcoming free agent class is one of the weakest in recent memory.
There is a legitimate star and capital-A ace atop the rankings, then a bunch of pitchers who fit best as No. 3s in a contender's rotation and position players who fit best as the third-best player in a contender's lineup. This is a bad offseason to want a new building block for your franchise. There's also a cloud hanging over free agency and the offseason in general: labor talks and the looming lockout.
How aggressive will teams be in free agency before the lockout begins, likely on Dec. 2, without knowing what the new collective bargaining agreement will look like? Some teams could be active in November. Others could sit out free agency entirely.
Here is a super-early look at the top 10 players set to become free agents after the World Series. Keep in mind that free agency is not a "what have you done in the past?" business these days. Teams value free agents based on what they expect them to do in the future.
These rankings are intended to reflect that. 2027 Opening Day age: 30 Qualifying offer eligible? No (traded in-season) Skubal is the clear-cut, inarguable No. 1 free agent. Excluding Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a special case as a Japanese star who lacked an MLB track record, Skubal will be the best starting pitcher to hit the open market since Gerrit Cole in 2019.
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