Major League Baseball's free agency period is open. While the likely potential for a lockout come Dec. 1 (when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires) could cause there to be a pause in activity for some unknown amount of time, teams who are eager to add to their rosters are getting their shopping started.
Big-name pitchers like Justin Verlander, Noah Syndergaard and Eduardo Rodriguez were among the first free agents to sign this offseason, but position players started coming off the board after Thanksgiving. The Mets had a Black Friday shopping spree, which was capped with a deal for Starling Marte. The Rangers made a big splash on Sunday, inking Marcus Semien to a seven-year deal. And on Sunday night, another huge arm is off the market as right-hander Kevin Gausman is headed to Toronto on a five-year deal.
The free-agent frenzy continued Monday as the Mets gave Max Scherzer a record contract. Scherzer's three-year, $130 million deal with New York is the largest average annual value (AAV) for a player in MLB history. 2021 AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray also got a nine-figure deal, signing with the Mariners for $115 million over five years. Later in the day, Corey Seager landed with the Rangers on a 10-year, $325 million deal.
We'll be using this space to keep tabs on our top 50 free agents throughout the winter, work stoppage or otherwise. As we noted when those rankings were published, "the order is based on a combination of expected impact and annual average value." You can click here to find those rankings in their original form, complete with analysis of player.
Below you'll find our tracker, complete with the player, their rank, their last team, and their new team. We'll keep this updated throughout the offseason.
2021-22 MLB free agent tracker
