Awards season and the qualifying offer period are behind us on the Major League Baseball calendar, and that means the coils of the hot stove are turning a pleasing and glowing hue of red -- i.e., players are about to change addresses. While blockbuster offseason trades are always in play, the most notable source of player turnover this time of year is via free agency. That's what we're to talk about, or -- more accurately -- make vaguely informed guesses about.
While the 2020-21 class of MLB free agents isn't the strongest of crops, there are some true needle-movers at the top. The likes of George Springer, J.T. Realmuto, Trevor Bauer, DJ LeMahieu and Marcell Ozuna can significantly improve almost any roster, so we'll put our focus on that top-end class of free agent.
Specifically, your five abiding CBS Sports MLB scribes are here to predict where the top 10 free agents -- per our free agent rankings -- wind up landing this winter. We're obviously not including right-hander Marcus Stroman, since he accepted the QO from the Mets. His removal from the top 10 allowed shortstop Marcus Semien to slide in, so we'll be throwing darts at his board, as well.
Now let's dig in with our individual predictions for the best free agents of 2020-21.
| Free agent/writer | Katherine Acquavella | R.J. Anderson | Mike Axisa | Dayn Perry | Matt Snyder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Springer, OF | Mets | Mets | |||
J.T. Realmuto, C | Phillies | Mets | Mets | ||
Trevor Bauer, RHP | Angels | Angels | Padres | ||
DJ LeMahieu, INF | Yankees | Yankees | Yankees | Yankees | |
Marcell Ozuna, OF/DH | Nationals | Braves | Braves | ||
Justin Turner, 3B | Dodgers | Dodgers | Dodgers | Dodgers | |
Michael Brantley, OF | White Sox | Braves | Astros | White Sox | |
Phillies | A's | Reds | Blue Jays | ||
Masahiro Tanaka, RHP | Yankees | Yankees | Yankees | Mets | Yankees |
Marcus Semien, SS | Phillies | Reds | Phillies | Blue Jays | Reds |
The lone unanimous choices are LeMahieu back to the Yankees and Turner re-upping with the Dodgers. Almost all of us expect Tanaka also to return to the Bronx. As for Bauer, it's either Angels or Padres according to our hive mind, and we're less certain about where Springer and Realmuto land.
It's worth bearing in mind that all of this could be slow to develop. Teams generally lost money in 2020 because of the absence of fans in the seats until the latest rounds of the postseason -- and even then in limited numbers. Of course, players will (probably rightly) suspect that teams are exaggerating the scale of their losses, which in turn means their expectations far the market may be higher than what teams have planned for the winter. As well, teams will be slow to act until there's some certainty on things like the number of regular season games in 2020, whether or not the National League will have the DH, and what the playoff format will be. All of that has bearing on roster decisions and by extension on how the free-agent market develops.
Whatever the timeline and the meandering path ahead, this is how we think things will wind up. Displeased by what you have read? Solace yourself with the knowledge that this, like everything else, does not matter.
