By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

November 19, 2023

­Baseball season has come to an end yet again and now is time to look forward to what may be at the start of next season with some free agents! This is one of the most star-studded free agent classes of recent memory, so I am expecting some fireworks and some interesting looking teams come next April.

Criteria: I am only selecting the free agents I wanted to talk about so unfortunately, I won’t be doing deep dives on Drew Rucinski.

Catcher: Gary Sanchez – After having a few weird years with the Yankees and Twins, Sanchez made a huge impact this year with the Padres. He helped ace Blake Snell to have one of the best seasons of his career from behind the plate and helped bring a little more fight to the already pretty stacked Padres. He didn’t provide a lot of help in the batter’s box BUT as an elite defensive catcher and with the ace of the staff asking to be caught by him, I imagine Sanchez will stay in San Diego.

First Base: Rhys Hoskins – Following a disappointing NLCS loss to the Diamondbacks, Hoskins is in an odd spot. The rumors around MLB are that Bryce Harper is planning on being full time at first base from 2024 onward which makes it look like Hoskins will be finding a new home this offseason. I think a great spot for him would be San Francisco. He could take over for Wilmer Flores and free him up to become a utility player yet again and help be a piece to the puzzle the Giants are trying to put together.

Honorable Mention: Joey Votto – The Reds announced that they wouldn’t be renewing Votto’s deal (largest in team history) after a cool 19 years in the organization. I’m still very hopeful that the Reds sign him to a one-year deal so that he can retire as a Red. But if he has to leave, I wouldn’t mind him signing with his hometown Toronto Blue Jays or even possibly a playoff contender so that he can finally play meaningful October baseball again.

Second Base: Looking through the list of free agent second basemen was pretty disappointing. The biggest names were Elvis Andrus and Whit Merrifield (both 35). Don’t get me wrong, great players but I don’t see either of them making a huge impact when they find new teams.

Shortstop: Amed Rosario – One of the best and youngest names on the free agent list Rosario is a career .272 batter with a glove that is next to a sure thing. He had spent multiple seasons with both the Mets and Guardians before he was shipped to the Dodgers late last season before the playoffs. I think that he will end up resigning with the Dodgers as they can probably get him for just over $10 million a year.

Third Base: Matt Chapman – Coming off of an offensively disappointing year where he was still able to secure his fourth Rawlings Gold Glove, Chapman will probably be commanding a relatively high yearly salary. While his offense is much more hit or miss than Nolan Arenado, his defense in the hot corner is undeniable. Under the right circumstances, Chapman could easily be an MVP contender. He has turned down a sizable deal from Toronto already so I don’t anticipate him to be back next year, but I think he would be a great fit with the Giants much like Hoskins. With the Giants looking to be big spenders this offseason, I think two new stars to anchor their infield is more than believable.

Outfield: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. – After a World Series run with Arizona, I would be very very shocked to see the youngest Gurriel brother anywhere but with the snakes in 2024. He has been a beacon of consistency and clutch as he proved this postseason. This will more than likely cost Arizona a decent bit of change but I think it would be well worth it for their future.

Cody Bellinger – After winning National League comeback player of the year, Bellinger looks to be back to his 2019 MVP winning ways. One of the least surprising free agents of the entire class, Bellinger excelled in Wrigley and if it weren’t for possibly the biggest free agent of all time (spoiler) also being available, I would say he’s a shoo in to come back. But I still find it hard to believe he will go anywhere else after finding this success. However, for the sake of predicting something other than him resigning, I could see him ending up in pinstripes as a Yankee in 2024.

Teoscar Hernández – Two seasons removed from his last All-Star appearance, Teoscar looks to have regressed a little over the past couple years. This is not to say he is no longer a good player, but he simply isn’t hitting almost .300 and doesn’t seem to have as much pop as he formerly did. Now, I really like Teoscar, he has all the tools and seems to be universally liked by his teammates! He absolutely should get picked up by someone, and I predict that he will go to Colorado. Plenty of room to roam in the outfield, and the elevation ought to help bring some of the ever-valuable pop back to his game.

Pitchers: Aaron Nola – The ace of the almost National League champs surely set himself up well to finally get paid this season. He had his fifth consecutive full (162 game) season of 200+ strikeouts and was able to contain offenses in the postseason that were very dangerous. As much as I wanted to see him stay in Philly, I thought they missed their chance to ink a long-term deal with him last offseason. I thought Nola would be walking and likely to another contender as a great fit in Seattle. He and Luis Castillo would be a terrifying 1-2 punch. It turns out, he just inked a 7-year deal with the Phillies.

Blake Snell – After possibly his best season to date, Snell will likely be commanding a lot of money with his second career Cy Young. This will certainly limit the teams that are available to go after him, I could easily see Snell getting the eye of a New York team like the Mets. My only concern with him is that the majority of his success this season came after the acquisition of Gary Sanchez. I would almost be willing to bet that if the Padres are open to re-signing both of them, they will stay together.

Sonny Gray – Following his first All-Star appearance since 2019, Gray showed some dominance; despite his 8-8 record he allowed a league leading 0.4 home runs per 9 innings. I think his direction will be super dependent on the direction the Twins are wanting to take. If they feel that they can compete for a championship next year and looking forward, I imagine he would come back. But if Minnesota is looking to dismantle and rebuild, I think Gray would make a lot of sense for St. Louis as a veteran pitcher as the Cardinals have lost a lot of veteran presence over the past few seasons.

Who we all came to hear about: Shohei Ohtani – I mean, its Ohtani. Coming off his second unanimous MVP season in the last three years, the only thing we are able to have a conversation about is how long and where he will go. I think he will be first, looking for a long-term deal, but that will cost substantially more money. I anticipate Shohei getting more than $40 million a year as he is both an elite pitcher and hitter AND is coming off arguably the best baseball season ever played. From everything I have seen and heard, I expect him to (unfortunately for the Reds fan in me) land with the Chicago Cubs. They were finalists in the Shohei sweepstakes the first time around, and now that he has some MLB service under his belt and is more comfortable in the states, I think his only limitation is himself.