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Now that we’re closing in on the month of September, prepare for the postseason picture to become the clear priority for the next few months.

For now, we just finished up our final free agency positional list, which means it’s time to preview who will be hitting the market this winter.

A current member of the Astros and a duo of former Astros lead the pack on this market with a deep group of pitchers, especially relievers, supplementing them.

We’ll also take a look at some our top stories here at Just Baseball this week!

2026 Free Agency Preview

^{*Free Agent Class Articles written by Ryan Finkelstein and Leo Morgenstern}

It’s never too early to dive into the offseason ahead for folks like us at Just Baseball. This free agent class is headlined by some huge names and a lot of question marks as well. Let’s take a dive into the players hitting the market this winter.

Position Players

Former Astros teammates Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman are trending in different directions, but Tucker is still our choice for the top free agent of the 2025-26 offseason.

At the end of June, Tucker was a serious contender for the NL MVP, and discussions about his free agency centered on just how many hundreds of millions it would take to sign him. Meanwhile, Bregman was sitting on the injured list with a significant quad strain.

Yet, Tucker has struggled badly in July and August (perhaps due to a hairline fracture in his right hand) while Bregman returned from the IL firing on all cylinders.

At this point, it wouldn’t be all that shocking to see Tucker sign a pillow contract, not unlike Bregman’s deal with Boston last winter. That said, a two-month cold streak isn’t enough for us to drop an MVP-caliber talent from the top spot on our list.

As for Bregman, it seems all but certain that he’ll opt out of the two years and $80 million remaining on his contract with the Red Sox. He’ll be coming off a much stronger walk year than he had in 2024, putting the star third baseman in a great position to cash in.

Kyle Schwarber is another hitter enjoying a terrific walk year, but his age (he’ll be 33 next year) and the fact that he’s a DH-only player keep him two spots below fellow slugger Pete Alonso on our rankings. Alonso, like Bregman, is all but certain to opt out of his contract with the Mets.

You might be surprised to see Cody Bellinger ranked so highly, considering how unceremoniously the Cubs dumped him on the Yankees over the offseason.

However, he’s playing a lot more like he did in his bounce-back 2023 season than his disappointing follow-up in 2024. A talented all-around player who only just turned 30 years old, Bellinger has no reason to pick up his $25 million player option for 2026.

Starting Pitchers

The groundball master, Framber Valdez, is one of the most reliable frontline starters in the game. Since his breakout season in 2020, he ranks fifth in MLB in innings pitched and eighth in ERA (min. 600 IP).

Whether you look at the most traditional stats or the most advanced metrics, it’s clear the southpaw is a stud. No pitcher has more wins in that span, and only four have more Wins Above Replacement (per FanGraphs).

Right-hander Brandon Woodruff has only pitched one full season in his career, but it was arguably a better season than any Valdez has ever had.

Since his breakout season in 2019, Woodruff has only thrown 638.2 innings, but they’ve sure been terrific. The only pitchers with at least 600 innings and a lower ERA in the last seven seasons are Jacob deGrom and Clayton Kershaw. Woodruff is a top-of-the-rotation ace if he can stay healthy, but that’s a huge if – especially for a pitcher who turns 33 next year.

Michael King, Shane Bieber (player option for 2026), and Zac Gallen are three more names in the same general category. We know they have the stuff to lead a rotation, but King has been injured for much of 2025, Bieber has only just returned from Tommy John surgery, and Gallen has been healthy but uncharacteristically unreliable.

For teams that might be more risk-averse this winter, the next best option after Valdez will be Dylan Cease. His results haven’t been quite as consistently excellent as Valdez’s, but he hasn’t missed so much as a single start in the past six years. Since the day of his MLB debut, no pitcher has started more games.

Relief Pitchers

Three years ago, Edwin Díaz became the first reliever to sign a nine-figure contract when he inked a five-year, $102 million deal with the Mets. It now seems all but guaranteed that he’ll opt out of the final two years and $37 million remaining on that deal and re-enter free agency.

Relievers are famously unpredictable, but considering his track record, recent success, and top-notch stuff, it wasn’t a hard decision to rank Díaz first.

It was pretty surprising when the Padres signed Robert Suarez to a five-year $46 million contract three years ago. It wasn’t that he didn’t have an excellent walk year – he did! – but he was entering his age-32 season with only 47.2 innings of MLB experience in his career.

Following an injury-marred 2023 campaign, Suarez has been one of the better closers in the game for the last two years (2.92 ERA, 70 saves). He will surely opt out of the three years and $26 million remaining on his contract.

Ryan Helsley is having a down year, but he was arguably the best reliever in the NL from 2022 to 2024, pitching to a 1.83 ERA in 152 games. He offers almost as much upside as Díaz, and unlike his Mets teammate, he won’t be eligible to receive a qualifying offer.

Aroldis Chapman will enter free agency for a fourth year in a row, and he’ll probably sign another one-year deal. That’s just life for a reliever in his late thirties.

Of course, if any team had been willing to sign him to a multi-year deal three years ago, he would have given them a 2.75 ERA and 4.8 fWAR over 184 games from 2023 to 2025. The list of pitchers with more appearances, a higher fWAR, and a lower ERA in that span is two names long: Emmanuel Clase and Tanner Scott.

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Just Baseball Trivia of the Week

Our newsletter will have a trivia question every week to test and expand the baseball knowledge of our subscribers! The answer to the weekly trivia question will be at the bottom of the newsletter each week.

Which pitcher has signed the largest average annual value (AAV) deal in MLB history?

A) Gerrit Cole

B) Jacob deGrom

C) Stephen Strasburg

D) Corbin Burnes

Just Baseball’s Top Stories

Let’s take a look at some of our top stories from the week with our writers all over the country covering the game we all love.

Jeff Passan Joins the Just Baseball Show

We had an awesome guest on the Just Baseball Show this week!

Jeff Passan, the most tapped in person in the baseball world, was kind enough to join and provide a ton of excellent intel.

Tigers Trio of Top Prospects

The Tigers are not only one of the best teams in the American League, but they have quite the talented farm system. Their trio of top MLB prospect Kevin McGonigle, 10th-ranked prospect Max Clark, and 45th-ranked prospect Josue Briceño have been excellent together at the Double-A level.

Our Emily Waldon was able to talk with these three about their progression, playing together, and much more⬇️

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Read all the details about our Discord community here.

Trivia Answer: B) Jacob deGrom

Signed prior to the 2023 season, deGrom’s deal for five years is worth $37 million a year. Despite the injuries of past, he has proven his value this year with a true vintage deGrom season.

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