Monday, May 6, 2024

2023-24 MLB free-agent signing tracker, grades: Reds sign Emilio Pagán

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MLB free agency is well underway. 

All free agents could start signing with teams as of Nov. 6, the start of hot-stove season.

Shohei Ohtani is the top prize on the market. The two-way superstar is likely to receive the biggest contract in MLB history, if not the biggest contract in the history of North American professional sports. But there are several other star players, notable names and valuable contributors on the open market as well. 

[Read more: 2024 MLB free-agent rankings: Shohei Ohtani leads top 30]

Here’s a look at the notable moves made so far this offseason, signing grades, and the top free agents still available.

Nov. 29

Reds add another starter in RHP Nick Martinez

2023 stats: 6-4, 3.43, 106 strikeouts, 1.260 WHIP, 110 innings
Reported terms: Two years, $26 million
Previous team: Padres

RHP Luis Severino reportedly signs with Mets

2023 stats: 4-8, 6.65 ERA, 79 strikeouts, 1.646 WHIP, 19 appearances (18 starts), 89.1 innings
Reported terms: One year, $13 million
Previous team: Yankees 

There’s a long winter ahead that will help fully crystalize the degree to which the Mets intend to compete in 2024, but how they choose to address the glaring rotation needs will tell us a lot. Severino is an intriguing upside gamble that could pay dividends for the Mets regardless of what direction their 2024 goes. Maybe the former Yankee a key member of a rebuilt rotation, maybe he’s a great piece to flip for a prospect or two at the deadline. I’d be more concerned about Severino’s recent struggles to stay on the field more than his atrocious 2023 stat line. He’s still throwing hard enough to rack up a lot of whiffs with the right tweaks to his arsenal, but none of it will matter if he can’t stay on the mound. I’d expect the next arm New York acquires to be one with a fair bit more certainty of delivering 25-plus starts in 2024. — Jordan Shusterman

Grade: B

RHP Emilio Pagán signs with Reds

2023 stats: 5-2, 2.99 ERA, 65 strikeouts, 0.952 WHIP, 66 appearances (one start), 69.1 innings 
Reported terms: Two years, $16 million
Previous team: Twins

Nov. 27

OF Jason Heyward re-signing with Dodgers

2023 stats: .269/.340/.473 slash line, 15 home runs, 40 RBIs, two stolen bases, 117 OPS+
Reported terms: One-year deal

RHP Sonny Gray reportedly signs with Cardinals

2023 stats: 8-8, 2.79 ERA, 183 strikeouts, 1.147 WHIP, 32 starts, 184 innings 
Reported teams: Three years, $75 million
Previous team: Twins

Fresh off a runner-up finish in the AL Cy Young race, Gray lands a hefty multiyear deal with a team in serious need of top-end starting pitching. The pre-Thanksgiving signings of Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson make a lot more sense in the context of this Gray addition, as the Cardinals have swiftly added three veteran arms before the calendar flipped to December. Gray is the key, though — a rotation filled with strictly innings-eaters of Lynn and Gibson’s ilk likely won’t hold up especially well come postseason time. There are elements of Gray’s sensational 2023 that will be tough to repeat — namely his elite home run suppression — but he’s still someone you’d feel great about giving the ball to in October. That caliber of pitcher didn’t exist on the Cardinals roster until this move. Now, the question is, will St. Louis pursue another front-end starter via trade, or does the focus shift to the bullpen? — Jordan Shusterman

Grade: B+

Nov. 26

RHP Kenta Maeda signs with Tigers

2023 stats: 6-8, 4.23 ERA, 117 strikeouts, 1.169 WHIP, 21 appearances (20 starts), 104.1 innings 
Reported teams: Two years, $24 million
Previous team: Twins

Maeda’s return from Tommy John surgery was derailed in April by a triceps strain that put him back on the shelf for a month, but he was highly reliable in his final 17 outings for Minnesota after coming off the IL in late June (3.36 ERA, .680 OPS against). Maeda should be an excellent veteran complement to an otherwise young yet promising Detroit rotation led by ascendent lefty Tarik Skubal. This is exactly the kind of floor-raising move the Tigers should be pursuing aggressively this winter, even if the soon-to-be 36-year-old Maeda doesn’t offer the same kind of upside he once did. — Jordan Shusterman

Grade: A-

Nov. 21

SS Paul DeJong signs with White Sox

2023 stats: .207 batting average, .258 on-base percentage, .355 slugging percentage, 14 home runs, 38 RBIs, four stolen bases
Reported terms: One-year deal
Previous team: Cardinals

RHP Kyle Gibson signs with Cardinals

2023 stats: 15-9, 4.73 ERA, 157 strikeouts, 1.32 WHIP, 33 starts, 192.0 innings 
Reported terms: One year, $12 million
Previous team: Orioles

Nov. 20

RHP Reynaldo López signs with Braves

2023 stats: 3-7, 3.27 ERA, 83 strikeouts, 1.273 WHIP, 68 appearances, 66 innings 
Reported terms: Three years, $30 million
Previous team: Guardians

A few days after acquiring lefty groundball machine Aaron Bummer, Atlanta bolstered its bullpen further with the signing of Bummer’s former White Sox teammate in López. López is a traditional late-inning flamethrower that is coming off a career year racking up punchouts at a career-high 30% clip, which positioned him as one of the top relievers on the market. Early reports that the Braves are considering having López stretched out as a starter are curious to say the least, but securing a pitcher of his caliber this early in the offseason is a nifty move regardless of the role he ultimately settles into. — Jordan Shusterman

Grade: A-

RHP Lance Lynn signs with Cardinals

2023 stats: 13-11, 5.73 ERA, 191 strikeouts, 1.394 WHIP, 32 starts, 183.2 innings 
Reported terms: One year, $10 million
Previous team: Dodgers

Nov. 19

RHP Aaron Nola re-signs with Phillies

2023 stats: 12-9, 4.46 ERA, 202 strikeouts, 1.151 WHIP, 32 starts, 193.2 innings 
Reported terms: Seven years, $172 million
Previous team: Phillies

Can’t spell Aaron Nola without three A’s. Nola and the Phillies were canyons apart when they discussed an extension in spring training, but compromise won the day. Nola got the seventh year he wanted, while the Phillies kept the average annual value in a reasonable range. The Phillies needed a pitcher and went with the one they knew intimately, one whose work ethic and makeup they love and one they believe will age well into his late thirties. — Jake Mintz

Grade: A

Top free agents still available

Shohei Ohtani 
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Blake Snell
Cody Bellinger
Jordan Montgomery
Sonny Gray
Matt Chapman
Josh Hader
Clayton Kershaw
Eduardo Rodríguez 
Lucas Giolito
Marcus Stroman
Jung Hoo Lee
Jorge Soler
JD Martinez 
Teoscar Hernández
Jeimer Candelario 
Lourdes Gurriel Jr
Justin Turner 
Mitch Garver
Rhys Hoskins 
Seth Lugo 
Shota Imanaga 
Kenta Maeda 
Michael Wacha 
Brandon Belt 
Joc Pederson 
Jordan Hicks 
Yariel Rodríguez 


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