It’s been a slow crawl through MLB free agency this offseason
By R.J. Anderson cbssports.com contributing
Getty Images
The calendar has flipped to 2024. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in about a month. Opening Day is approaching. Yet plenty of notable MLB free agents remain on the market, which has been slow to develop this offseason. The Dodgers signed the two best free agents in December, spending more than $1 billion combined on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. But even with those names off the board, things have yet to really pick up in MLB free agency here in January.
Marcus Stroman became the latest notable name to ink a deal, as the veteran righty returned to New York with a two-year Yankees contract on Jan. 11. The Cubs, Stroman’s former team, also signed Japanese lefty Shota Imanaga this month.
Four of CBS Sports’ top 10 free agents remain unsigned, and 13 of our top 25 players are still on the board. Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery and Josh Hader are some of the players who are still looking for the right deal.
You can check out our top 50 free agent list, including write-ups on every player, here. CBS Sports will be keeping track of the top 50 free agents on the market below.
2023-24 MLB free agent tracker
| RANK | PLAYER | POS | LAST TEAM | NEW TEAM | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shohei Ohtani (29) | DH/RHP |  |  | Signed 10-year, $700 million deal |
| 2 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto (25) | RHP | Orix Buffaloes (NPB) | | Signed 12-year, $325 million deal |
| 3 | Cody Bellinger (28) | 1B/CF |  | Free agent | |
| 4 | Matt Chapman (30) | 3B |  | Free agent | |
| 5 | Aaron Nola (30) | RHP |  | | Signed seven-year, $172 million deal |
| 6 | Blake Snell (31) | LHP |  | Free agent | |
| 7 | Eduardo Rodriguez (30) | LHP |  |  | Signed four-year, $80 million deal |
| 8 | Marcus Stroman (32) | RHP | |  | Signed two-year, $37 million deal |
| 9 | Lucas Giolito (29) | RHP |  |  | Signed two-year, $38.5 million deal |
| 10 | Jordan Montgomery (31) | LHP |  | Free agent | |
| 11 | Kevin Kiermaier (33) | CF | | | Signed one-year, $10.5 million deal |
| 12 | Sonny Gray (34) | RHP |  |  | Signed three-year, $75 million deal |
| 13 | Rhys Hoskins (30) | 1B | | Free agent | |
| 14 | Josh Hader (29) | LHP | | Free agent | |
| 15 | Jung-Hoo Lee (25) | CF | Kiwoom Heroes (KBO) |  | Signed six-year, $113 million deal |
| 16 | Lourdes Gurriel (30) | OF | | | Signed three-year, $42 million deal |
| 17 | Jeimer Candelario (30) | 1B/3B | |  | Signed three-year, $45 million deal |
| 18 | Harrison Bader (29) | CF | |  | Signed one-year, $10.5 million deal |
| 19 | Jorge Soler (31) | DH |  | Free agent | |
| 20 | Joc Pederson (31) | OF/DH | Free agent | ||
| 21 | Justin Turner (39) | 3B/DH | Free agent | ||
| 22 | J.D. Martinez (36) | DH | Free agent | ||
| 23 | Tim Anderson (30) | SS | Free agent | ||
| 24 | Clayton Kershaw (35) | LHP | Free agent | ||
| 25 | Jordan Hicks (27) | RHP | Free agent | ||
| 26 | Hector Neris (34) | RHP | Free agent | ||
| 27 | Teoscar Hernandez (31) | OF | Signed one-year, $23.5 million deal | ||
| 28 | Kenta Maeda (35) | RHP | Signed two-year, $24 million deal | ||
| 29 | Michael Wacha (32) | RHP | Signed two-year, $32 million deal | ||
| 30 | Gary Sanchez (31) | C | | Free agent | |
| 31 | Michael Taylor (32) | CF | | Free agent | |
| 32 | Robert Stephenson (30) | RHP |  | Free agent | |
| 33 | Michael Brantley (36) | OF/DH |  | N/A | Retired |
| 34 | Tommy Pham (35) | OF/DH | | Free agent | |
| 35 | Gio Urshela (32) | 3B | | Free agent | |
| 36 | Tyler Mahle (29) | RHP | | | Signed two-year, $22 million deal |
| 37 | Luis Severino (29) | RHP | | | Signed one-year, $13 million deal |
| 38 | James Paxton (35) | LHP | | Free agent | |
| 39 | Seth Lugo (34) | RHP | |  | Signed three-year, $45 million deal |
| 40 | Aroldis Chapman (35) | LHP | | Free agent | |
| 41 | Hyun-Jin Ryu (36) | LHP | | Free agent | |
| 42 | Shota Imanaga (30) | LHP | Yokohama DeNA BayStars (NPB) | Signed four-year, $53 million deal | |
| 43 | Mitch Garver (33) | DH/C | |  | Signed two-year, $24 million deal |
| 44 | Jason Heyward (34) | OF | | | Signed one-year, $9 million deal |
| 45 | Ji-Man Choi (32) | 1B | | Free agent | |
| 46 | Garrett Cooper (33) | 1B | | Free agent | |
| 47 | Carlos Santana (37) | 1B |  | Free agent | |
| 48 | Frankie Montas (30) | RHP | | | Signed one-year, $16 million deal |
| 49 | Amed Rosario (28) | 2B | | Free agent | |
| 50 | Donovan Solano (36) | 1B | | Free agent |