5 Free Agent Reunions That Would Be Good For Baseball

There are not many things sweeter than a long-overdue reunion. Thankfully for baseball fans, they seem to happen a little more frequently as of late.

Whether it be purely through nostalgia or an actual team need being filled via a roster transaction, it can surely hit a fanbase right in the feels when they see the breaking news light up their phones or come across the ticker on their TV.

Though we have seen these moves happen around the trade deadline, the offseason is where most of these reunions take place. Now that we are about to enter a period of time when we may be without baseball for longer than anyone would hope, this is precisely when moves like this should be taking place.

While the list I am about to provide is mainly composed of players nearing the end of their playing careers, the impact on the team they would be returning to will provide that organization with much more than on-field production. Veterans mentoring the future stars of the game is a never-ending cycle that this game goes through, and a big reason why it is beloved by so many across the globe.

Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks

2026 Stats: 105 G, 345 AB, .252/.313/.452, 18 HR, 52 RBI, 1.6 fWAR

When Paul Goldschmidt burst onto the scene with the Diamondbacks in 2011, it was clear that Arizona had themselves a franchise cornerstone. Then, after 1,092 games hitting .297 with 209 home runs, 710 RBI, and a.930 OPS, Arizona shipped him to the Cardinals.

Despite reaching the twilight of his career, “Goldy” has still shown us he has something left in the tank. Aside from the 2020 season, he had appeared in more than 100 games each season. Remove the 105 he played in 2026 as a part-time player, and the next lowest was 146 games played the year prior.

The veteran bat has also never posted a wRC+ under 100, including in 2024, his final season with St. Louis, when he hit a career low .245/.302/.414.

The NL West is always considered one of the better divisions in baseball simply because of the weight the Dodgers carry, but I don’t think the gap between the two teams is as wide as the records suggest. Fixing the first base position is a big part of proving me right.

The D-Backs ranked dead last in the majors with a .636 OPS and -0.9 fWAR at the position this past year. The rotating cast of Ildemaro Vargas, Carlos Santana, Pavin Smith, Jose Fernandez, Tim Tawa, and Tyler Locklear was just abysmal. Even if it was to come in and just be a platoon bat against left-handed starters, Goldy showed last season he can handle that.

He ended the year hitting .299 with 11 home runs, a .967 OPS, and a 168 wRC+.

Let’s bring the former Diamondback back to Arizona and help the team fight for the top spot in the division.

Nick Martinez – San Diego Padres

2026 Stats: 31 G, 180 IP, 3.10 ERA, 109 K, 3.96 FIP, 3.9 bWAR

This is a nice combination of a need-filler and a nice reunion for Nick Martinez and the San Diego Padres. After giving him a chance to pitch in the big leagues following a four-year stint in Japan, the Padres find themselves in a desperate state in terms of starting pitching, and the free agent right-hander would fit in perfectly.

I mentioned this in my landing spots article for Martinez, but the signing of Martinez just makes too much sense in terms of how Preller, specifically, likes to work in free agency. He is notably not shy when it comes to spending to get a player he wants. While Martinez doesn’t fit THAT mold, signing him out of the mid-level market would allow for him to still be in play for re-signing Michael King.

Martinez is coming off a career year in Tampa, one that showed the rest of the league that he doesn’t need strikeout stuff to be successful, especially in the American League East.

Returning to the pitcher-friendly ballpark that is Petco Park should bode well for him to continue the momentum he has built up to this point all the way back from when he first made it back stateside.

A nice full-circle moment for Martinez would be a swell ending to a rejuvenated career and help a baron starting rotation in San Diego.

Michael Soroka – Atlanta Braves

2026 Stats: 22 G (21 GS), 116 IP, 3.41 ERA, 114 K, 3.19 FIP, 2.2 bWAR

Michael Soroka’s potential return back to Atlanta would be incredible for more reasons than one.

Depending on which publication you were perusing at the time, Soroka ranked anywhere in the top three of prospect rankings in the Braves system before his call-up in 2018. After posting his first full season in 2019, a season in which he made his lone All-Star appearance, finished sixth in Cy Young voting, and second in the Rookie of the Year race, it seemed as if Soroka was destined to be one of the next great Braves arms.

Then came two tears in his right Achilles in 2020 and 2021, and we were wondering if he would ever pitch again, let alone make another appearance for the Braves. Thankfully, Soroka was able to make a full recovery and steadily continued to build himself over the past few years.

This last season with the Diamondbacks was the first time Soroka pitched more than 100 innings since that 2019 campaign. Though he has continued to deal with other injuries over the years that have limited his appearances, eclipsing the century mark is a sign that he looks ready to take that next step towards making 30 starts in a season.

The Braves are always rumored to be in the market for a starting pitcher, and we all know that Alex Anthopoulos notoriously tries to penny-pinch around his roster to fill a need. With their need for multiple starters this offseason, an affordable arm like Soroka fits the mold of just how “AA” likes to operate around the margins.

Kevin Gausman – Toronto Blue Jays

2026 Stats: 32G, 177.2 IP, 4.51 ERA, 184 K, 3.74 FIP, 1.1 bWAR

What I find most astounding about Kevin Gausman is just how reliable he has been for the teams he has been on since the post-COVID season. Since 2021, he has made 30+ starts in every season spanning three teams. It truly coincides with the perpetual flip of the switch in his career and when he started to settle into becoming one of the better pitchers in baseball.

Gausman is coming off a five-year deal that he signed back in the 2022 offseason with the Blue Jays, and despite them moving him at the deadline to the Cubs, I do not see a reason why he shouldn’t return to the team across the border.

While 2026 began to show there were visible kinks in the armor of the workhorse pitcher, he was still able to find a way to get the job done. When you compare his ERA (4.51) to his FIP (3.74), it becomes evident that he was dealing with a little bit of bad luck last year. This is then backed up by the graphic below provided by Baseball Savant, which shows there wasn’t much difference between 2026 and 2023, which was his best season with the Blue Jays.

If Toronto is going to try righting the ship and returning to the 2025 form when they represented the American League in the World Series, shoring up their rotation with a familiar face would suit them well.

Max Scherzer – Washington Nationals

2026 Stats: 18 G, 84.2 IP, 5.74 ERA, 68 K, 5.11 FIP, -0.3 bWAR

Now, you may be looking at the screen and saying, “How in the world is Max Scherzer going to provide this Nationals team with anything?” Truth be told, you wouldn’t be too crazy. It has been three years since Mad Max eclipsed 100 innings pitched, and he continues to deal with lingering injuries as he crawls into his age-42 season.

Despite all of that, this is a Nationals team that currently sits as the youngest team in baseball, with an average age of around 26 years old. The oldest player on their active roster is relief pitcher Jake Bird, who is about to turn 31. The player with the most big-league time? That would be Josiah Gray, with just under five seasons of service under his belt. The same Josiah Gray who is currently projected to be their number five starter despite having pitched only 12.1 innings since 2024.

What this team is desperately searching for is veteran leadership. The roster currently has talented pieces, but no one is truly capable of taking the lead in the clubhouse and helping them get through the highs, the lows, and just how grueling a major league season can be.

Though the future Hall of Famer’s career is currently up in the air, there have been recent rumblings that he is thinking about giving it one more year and reaching the 20-year career milestone that not many have been able to achieve.

As it currently stands, Scherzer sits at number nine on the all-time strikeout list with 3,557 in 3,047.2 innings pitched. He sits just three shy of tying his former teammate, the recently retired Justin Verlander. Should he decide to give it one more go, he has a chance of landing at number seven all-time, passing Verlander and Don Sutton (3574) on the list. Maybe even sixth, passing Tom Seaver, if he can muster up 83 strikeouts this year.

He also gave us a glimpse of what could be left in the tank in his final start last season.

Max Scherzer is always going to bring the flare to the mound that is bound to have you locked in, whether he is pitching well or not.