As one would expect this late into the offseason the remaining crop of free agents is fairly thin. That being said the top free agent from this winter is still available in Max Scherzer. Scherzer is looking for a monster contract north of $200 million and seeing as his agent is Scott Boras there is not going to be a lot of wiggle room for whatever team decides to sign him.
There is still some talent in the free agent pool but the pickings are getting slim, so lets take a look at some of the top free agents remaining.
1. Max Scherzer, Starting Pitcher
The top free agent going into the offseason and after the first week of January, Scherzer still finds himself atop that list. Perhaps the reason he still finds himself a free agent is that he doesn’t have the pedigree of some of the free agent pitchers before him that have singed monster contracts. Before winning the CY Young award two seasons ago Scherzer had been a fairly average pitcher.
However, the last the last two seasons Scherzer has transformed himself into one of the premier pitchers in the league. In the last two seasons Scherzer has racked up an astonishing 492 strikeouts, 39 wins, and a 2.98 ERA. Those are ace like numbers which makes the lack of overall interest surprising. As of this point there have been more teams saying they are uninterested (Yankees, Dodgers, Tigers, Cardinals) at this current time than there is interest. It will be interesting to see how this plays out but as of right now the big market teams that could afford to sign him are balking at his contract requests.
2. James Shields, Starting Pitcher
This is another name that I am surprised is still in the free agent market. Shields has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the game over the last four seasons. During that span he has a 3.17 ERA, 824 strikeouts, 17 complete games and seven shutouts. Shields has also been a workhorse for his entire career as he has gone over 200 innings pitched in eight straight seasons with his only season under 200 innings being his rookie season. A healthy workhorse like Shields is a rare commodity in today’s game which makes the fact that he’s a free agent still that much more surprising.
As of right now there are not a ton of rumors circulating around Shields who is seeking a contract just north of $100 million. For his type of production in today’s game that’s barely even breaking the bank.
The one thing that may be holding him back is his lack of success in the post season which may lead to contenders being skeptical to signing him. For his career in the postseason Shields has a 5.46 ERA a 1.534 WHIP and a 3-6 record. Eventually a team will sign him as he is too good of a pitcher it’s just a matter of how many years for the soon to be 34 year old.
3. Colby Rasmus, Outfield
As you can see the free agent field has a massive drop-off after the two big name pitchers. A one time promising prospect with the Cardinals Rasmus has been unable to put together an all around season. His best season was his second year in the league in 2010 when he batted .276 with 23 homeruns, 66 RBI, 85 runs and 12 steals. Since then Rasmus has eclipsed a .246 average only once. Rasmus does provide some decent pop having belted over 20 homeruns three times in his six year career, but lacks speed, having eclipsed double digit steals only once, and struggles to make consistent contact as he is only a .246 career hitter.
Rasmus does play above average defense and has a strong throwing arm but the market is fairly weak on players these days who’s main asset is some decent pop, and good defense
4. Rafael Soriano, Relief Pitcher
5. Jed Lowrie, Short Stop and Second Base
6. Asdrubal Cabrera, Short Stop and Second Base
7. Ryan Vogelsong, Starting Pitcher
8. Nori Aoki, Outfield
9. Rickie Weeks, Second Base
10. Casey Janssen, Relief Pitcher
As you can see the list of free agents remaining just is not very good and outside of the top two there are huge question marks about exactly what type of production teams can look to get.