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No shortage of quality pitchers among MLB free agents

The Major League Baseball calendar never ends. While the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks are competing for the World Series title, other teams are already assessing their rooms for improvement for the 2024 season. They want a head start, hoping to improve their status next year.

One way of bolstering a lineup is by signing marquee free agents. The Los Angeles Dodgers landed a big one after signing Shohei Ohtani to a ten-year, $700 million deal that will count for only $46 million annually due to deferred salaries.

But with the latest American League Most Valuable Player already locked in, other MLB teams can still find much talent from the remaining free agents. Coincidentally, most are pitchers, including a Cy Young Award winner.

The tweet above, courtesy of FOX Sports, shows some individual award winners among the notable free agents. One of which is three-time Eiji Sawamura Award winner Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He has been one of the highly-regarded acquisitions this winter due to his stellar accomplishments at Nippon Professional Baseball.

Aside from the Dodgers, Yamamoto draws interest from the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, and Chicago Cubs. Baseball analysts expect him to land a contract worth around $300 million.

Meanwhile, National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell is free to sign anywhere. He led all pitchers in earned run average (2.25) and ERA+ (182) while posting a 14-9 record. He also struck out 235 batters in 180 innings.

Josh Hader, his former teammate with the San Diego Padres, is also weighing his options for next season. He had 33 saves in 2023, helping him finish with a 1.28 ERA. Hader struck out 85 batters in 56.1 innings.

Other prominent free agent pitchers include Jordan Montgomery, who won a World Series title with the Rangers after being traded from the St. Louis Cardinals. He had a 2.79 ERA and had 58 strikeouts for Texas. There’s also international free agent Shota Imanaga, who had a 7-4 record and a 2.80 ERA for the Yokohama Bay Stars last season.

FOX Sports also listed 2023 National League Comeback Player of the Year Cody Bellinger, Teoscar Hernandez, JD Martinez, Matt Chapman, and Jorge Soler as notable free agents.

-Lance Fernandez

Fantasy Index