For all the transactions we’ve seen so far during baseball’s offseason, no player subgroup has been more consistently active than the starting pitching market, which has been steadily buzzing from the beginning of winter all the way until the calendar flipped to 2025.
Now that January has arrived, it’s time to take stock of where the starting pitching market stands with pitchers and catchers slated to report to Arizona and Florida in roughly six weeks. Which teams have successfully addressed their rotation needs? Which teams are still searching for help? And most importantly: Who is still available?
Starting pitchers accounted for 20 of our Top 50 free agents at the outset of the offseason. Thirteen of them have signed new contracts:
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D-backs sign Corbin Burnes (No. 3) for six years, $210M
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Dodgers sign Blake Snell (No. 6) for five years, $182M
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Yankees sign Max Fried (No. 7) for eight years, $218M
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Athletics sign Luis Severino (No. 13) for three years, $67M
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Mets sign Sean Manaea (No. 14) for three years, $75M
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Angels sign Yusei Kikuchi (No. 17) for three years, $63M
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Rangers sign Nathan Eovaldi (No. 18) for three years, $75M
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Reds sign Nick Martinez (No. 19) for one year, $21.05M (accepted qualifying offer)
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Red Sox sign Walker Buehler (No. 23) for one year, $21.05M
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Guardians sign Shane Bieber (No. 24) for two years, $26M
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Cubs sign Matthew Boyd (No. 35) for two years, $29M
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Orioles sign Tomoyuki Sugano (No. 44) for one year, $13M
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Mets sign Frankie Montas (No. 50) for two years, $34M
This baker’s dozen doesn’t include Clay Holmes (No. 29), who we labeled as a reliever, the role he has occupied for the majority of his big-league career. Holmes signed with the Mets on a three-year deal worth $39 million, and New York plans to transition him to a rotation role, a decision that will be one of the more compelling spring training storylines to monitor. Perhaps another team will sign a reliever on our rankings with the intention of having him start. Jeff Hoffman is reportedly a candidate for such a move. For now, we’ll stay focused on the remaining arms available whom we already recognize as traditional starting pitchers.
We’ve also seen eight other big-league deals for starters who were not on our Top 50 rankings:
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Red Sox sign Patrick Sandoval for two years, $18.25M
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Tigers sign Alex Cobb for one year, $15M
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Nationals sign Trevor Williams for two years, $14M
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Nationals sign Michael Soroka for one year, $9M
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Mets sign Griffin Canning for one year, $4.25M
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Angels sign Kyle Hendricks…