Which Free Agent Will be the Best Bargain?
Tom Verducci: Jay Bruce. The market for power hitters has cratered because home runs are so prevalent. Three years ago Bruce would have been looking at a four- or five-year deal. (Think Curtis Granderson: four years, $60 million.) Now he could be had for about $39 million over three years. That’s a good value for someone who can hit in the middle of an order, play good defense in the outfield or at first base.
Jay Jaffe: Lance Lynn. You don't hear him being talked about as a potential $100 million pitcher, but in a winter where Darvish and Jake Arrieta are the only two top-tier pitchers, the going-on-31-year-old righty is worth a closer look. Despite missing all of 2016 due to Tommy John surgery, he's proven durable, making 31 or more starts in every other year since 2013, posting a 3.30 ERA (118 ERA+) and 3.7 FIP with 8.2 strikeouts per nine and a decent groundball rate.
Stephanie Apstein: Is it cheating to say Shohei Ohtani?
Jack Dickey: Todd Frazier. While his best days may be behind him, he managed to post a .344 OBP and 27 homers while splitting time between the White Sox and Yankees last year. He’s a useful player, not a complete one, which often leads to a lack of free-agent appreciation. He’d make a fine signing for either New York team.
Jon Tayler: In years previous, a lefthanded slugger who hit 38 home runs and set full-season career highs in on-base and slugging percentage would set the free-agent market (or at least his agent’s cellphone) on fire. That likely hasn’t been the case for Logan Morrison, though, who will have to wait for Hosmer to find a home before teams come calling despite his brilliant 2017 season (135 OPS+, 3.6 WAR, one ill-conceived war of words over the home run derby with Gary Sanchez). And with front offices increasingly wary of giving big bucks to first basemen no matter how much power they provide, one team could find itself landing Morrison for relative peanuts—especially compared to the haul Hosmer is going to get.
Gabriel Baumgaertner: All Carlos Santana does is hit. He's forever been underappreciated. He may be a bit limited defensively, but he'll stabilize any lineup that needs an effective contact hitter with good power.
Connor Grossman: Eduardo Nuñez isn’t going to be dirt cheap, but given his versatility and relatively solid season at the plate last year he’s a good fit on almost any team. Nuñez took off after getting traded from the Giants to the Red Sox, nearly hitting .400 in his first 10 games and equaling his home run total (four) that he had in his first 76 game in San Francisco.
He should have no shortage of suitors, but that being said, he’s not going to command the salary of a superstar. He just has a knack for moonlighting as one occasionally.
