The Nine Best Free Agency and Trade Fits of the MLB Offseason

Some players have been perfectly cast to shore up the weaknesses of their new teams.

The Mets acquired Freddy Peralta from the Brewers to front their rotation. | Michael Reaves/Getty Images

After moving at a slower pace earlier this winter, MLB’s free agent market has intensified in January, while the ever-active trade market has continued to generate buzz. As such, several teams have filled pressing needs, whether by getting a talented player to sign the dotted line on a free agent deal or by working the phones to acquire a player. 

Let’s examine which offseason transactions represent the best fits with their respective new teams. 

Jeff McNeil, 2B, A’s 

McNeil, acquired from the Mets on Dec. 22, fits the A’s in many ways. The club’s second basemen, a combination of Luis Urías, Max Schuemann, Max Muncy and Darell Hernaiz, collectively were worth -1.6 Wins Above Replacement, via Fangraphs. McNeil meanwhile was worth 2.1 fWAR even in a 2025 season that saw the former National League batting champion post the second-lowest batting average of his career. 

McNeil’s contact-heavy, strikeout-averse approach is a perfect match for the A’s lineup, which posted the 11th-highest strikeout rate and the fourth-worst contact rate. 

Reported Mets clubhouse concerns aside, the 33-year-old also brings a much-needed veteran presence to one of the youngest rosters in baseball. 

Edward Cabrera, SP, Cubs 

Not only did the Cubs need to add a starter to a group that includes Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Cade Horton, but the club’s starting rotation was lacking in its ability to miss bats, ranking 23rd in strikeout rate (20.5%) and tied for 13th in swinging strike rate (10.4%). 

Enter the flamethrowing Cabrera, whose 25.8% strikeout rate and 12.6% swinging strike rate would have ranked among the top 20 starters in the game had he pitched the qualified number of innings. 

Cabrera comes with some injury risk, but there’s a chance he blossoms into an All-Star, frontline starter in Chicago. 

Brandon Lowe, 2B; Ryan O’Hearn, 1B/DH, Pirates 

If there was one thing the Pirates needed this winter, it was more bats. Pittsburgh’s lineup ranked dead last in runs scored and OPS, effectively masking what was quietly one of the better pitching staffs in the big leagues. 

The Pirates aggressively sought upgrades, pursuing NL home run king Kyle Schwarber before he returned to the Phillies, then 10 days later acquiring two-time All-Star Brandon Lowe in a three-team deal. But Pittsburgh wasn’t done, as they signed 2025 All-Star slugger Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year, $29 million deal just days later. 

O’Hearn’s 10.7% walk rate fits right in with the Pittsburgh lineup’s approach, while Lowe, who has twice belted 30-plus home runs in his career, does something Pirates hitters have struggled to do the last three seasons: leave the yard. 

Dylan Cease, SP, Blue Jays 

Dylan Cease’s seven-year, $210 million contract is the richest signed by a pitcher this offseason so far. | David Frerker-Imagn Images

Watching rookie Trey Yesavage and veteran starter Kevin Gausman pitch in the postseason, one would think that the last thing the Blue Jays needed was a frontline starter. But with rotation question marks in terms of the health of former American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber and two-time All-Star Jose Berríos, it made sense for Toronto to bring in a durable hurler. 

Inconsistencies aside, that’s what Cease is. He ranks first in games started and seventh in innings pitched since 2021. And while he also sometimes struggles to harness his electric stuff—a 10.0% career walk rate—he also possesses a deadly fastball-slider combo that has helped him miss bats at an elite rate. 

Should Cease pitch to his full potential, he’ll elevate the Blue Jays’ rotation from good to great. 

Sonny Gray, SP; Ranger Suárez, SP, Red Sox 

Boston’s 2025 rotation boasted one of the best pitchers in baseball in Garrett Crochet—and not enough behind the lefty ace. Brayan Bello is the only returning starter besides Crochet who posted a sub-3.50 ERA. 

But all that changed with the acquisitions of Gray and Suárez. Since 2022, Gray is tied for ninth among all starters in wins (43), ranks 17th in innings pitched (650 ⅔) and 36th in ERA (3.53). Even at age 36, the three-time All-Star remains one of the most reliable No. 2 or No. 3 starters in the game. 

Then, there’s Suárez. Nearly as successful as Gray the last several years, Suárez checks one very important box for the World Series-hopeful Red Sox. He’s made as many career postseason starts—eight—as all four other projected Boston starters have in their careers combined. And the ex-Phillies southpaw owns the sixth-best ERA among pitchers with at least 42 postseason innings pitched, according to Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. 

Freddy Peralta, SP, Mets

The Mets’ 2025 season was a series of unfortunate events, and in many ways, the chain reaction was kickstarted by the club’s underachieving rotation. Injuries cut short the seasons of Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea and Griffin Canning, and when healthy, the Mets’ rotation was unable to pitch deep into games, leading to a bullpen running on fumes. 

New York then had to rely on unproven-but-promising youngsters like Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat to pick up the slack in the middle of a run at the postseason. To make matters worse, the Mets lacked a true ace. 

That’s no longer the case with Peralta in town. The former Brewers righthander ranked third in wins, seventh in ERA and ninth in strikeout rate in a career-best 33 starts in 2025. 

Edwin Diaz, RP, Dodgers 

It’s not fair that the back-to-back defending-champion Dodgers made this list. It’s even more unfair that they could have another entry in the form of outfielder Kyle Tucker, but that’s the world we live in. Los Angeles’s front office, to its credit, is living by the credo that one can always improve. 

And one such area in need of improvement for the mighty Dodgers was their vulnerable bullpen, which blew 25 saves and posted the 10th-worst ERA in MLB in 2025. 

No longer will Dodgers manager Dave Roberts be forced to rely on rookie pitchers in the ninth inning of postseason games. Now, he can turn to Diaz, arguably the best closer in MLB. Since making his debut with the Mariners in 2016, Diaz has racked up the second-most saves while posting the third-best strikeout rate. 

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