Top 10 Free Agent Pitchers for the 2026-27 MLB Offseason
With the offseason finally here, Just Baseball has ranked the top 10 pitchers that are now available on the open market.
Just like that, we have entered into offseason mode, and that means we begin to discuss the top-10 free agents at each position.
I know, I know. “But the lockout!” Lockout or not, we are going to have games played in 2027, and I, for one, am looking forward to all it is going to bring us.
As there usually is each year, there are levels by which we can classify the pitchers available on the market. Highlighted by the unquestioned top arm who was moved at this year’s deadline in what looks more like a rental deal, there is still plenty of value to be had amongst the rest of the bunch.
Needless to say, this is arguably the most entertaining part of the baseball calendar, late-season team success dependent, and it is sure to provide us with further excitement towards the already highly anticipated start of the new league year.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Class:
10. Nick Martinez – RHP
2026 Stats: 31 G – 180 IP – 3.10 ERA – 5.5 K/9 – 3.9 bWAR
$20 million mutual option declined
There’s a 98% chance that your favorite team signing Nick Martinez is likely to be looked over rather than appreciated for exactly what it is, which is your favorite team signing a damn good arm.
2026 marked Martinez’s first full season as a starting pitcher in his first season with Tampa Bay. In those career-high 180 innings, his 3.10 ERA actually ties his career-best mark, which he posted as a swingman back in 2024 for the Cincinnati Reds.
Even with the Game One start of the World Series not going according to plan, Martinez still played a key role for the Rays’ pitching staff in their path towards representing the American League against the Brewers.
The $20 million price tag seems like one well worth it, but we all knew going in that mutual options are never exercised by both parties. Even with the recent news of the declined option, it would not surprise me one bit to see Martinez sign a deal similar to the $20 million AAV given his 2026 performance for the AL Champion Rays.
9. Kevin Gausman – RHP
2026 Stats: 32 G – 177.2 IP – 4.51 ERA – 9.3 K/9 – 1.1 bWAR
Since the 2020 season, Kevin Gausman has become one of the league’s most productive pitchers every fifth night he took the mound for the team whose jersey he was wearing. It wasn’t until last season that you began to see kinks in that armor.
While the season was full of ups and downs, Gausman was still a sought-after commodity at the deadline. Unfortunately for him and the Cubs, it only amounted to 50.1 innings at a 4.83 ERA in Chicago’s search to make a deep postseason run this year.
Heading into his age-36 season, Kevin Gausman should still look to attract competitive teams looking to add a veteran to their rotation. Even with the numbers trending down, Gausman still ranks in the top third of the league in chase rate at 35%. Combine that with his innate ability to limit the walks along the way, and there should be no need to try and convince you that we should be seeing that splitter split for at least one more season.
8. Clay Holmes – RHP
2026 Stats: 18 G – 48.2 IP – 4.25 ERA – 6.1 K/9 – 0.2 bWAR
Opted out of $12 million player option
Clay Holmes began the 2026 season as one of the Mets’ lone bright spots. That was until the team’s bad juju made its way around, and Holmes suffered a fractured fibula that limited him to just over 100 innings pitched last season.
Holmes was ultimately moved to the Chicago Cubs at the deadline, and despite a shaky debut, he was able to regain the momentum that led him to have a 1.75 ERA in 36 innings across the first two months of the year.
Given the state of the pitching market, despite a below-average season by Holmes, one would believe that he should be able to net himself a deal that pays him more than the $12 million player option he recently opted out of.
The transition from reliever to starter was looking like it just may work for Clay Holmes, and I am looking forward to seeing him return to the mound with a full offseason to get healthy.
7. David Bednar – RHP
2026 Stats: 64 G – 69.1 IP – 2.47 ERA – 9.9 K/9 – 1.9 bWAR
Here we have the first reliever to make our list. An incredibly shaky 2024 season left baseball fans wondering if “The Renegade” had lost his touch in Pittsburgh. After a trade in 2025 to send the Pirates closer to the Yankees, David Bednar was able to go through a resurgence into becoming a dependable backend of the bullpen arm for the Bronx Bombers.
Bednar is coming off a career-high 69.1 innings pitched for the Yankees this year, and despite the strikeout numbers not fully returning in 2026, he was able to execute his pitches well and accumulated 35 saves in the Yankees’ trek to making the postseason.
The state of the Yankees organization seems to have hit its head as they drag into another offseason following a disappointing year. While the Yankees are always going to be amongst the top of the league’s payroll, just how much they’re looking to continue to allocate becomes the multi-million-dollar question.
While a qualifying offer may be on the table for Bednar, whether he chooses to accept it is a whole other aspect of this situation. Either way, he is expected to be a team’s primary closing option heading into 2027.
6. Adrián Morejón – LHP
2026 Stats: 76 G – 86 IP – 2.83 ERA – 11.2 K/9 – 1.9 bWAR
The left-hander may not be the best arm in the Padres bullpen because Mason Miller is that much of a freak, but that does not at all diminish the fact that Morejón is one of the league’s best bullpen arms and has continued to progress well year after year.
While the left-hander sits amongst the league’s very best when it comes to his K/9, when you look at all of the other key metrics measured by Baseball Savant, aside from his BB%, Morejón sits in the 90th-plus percentile in each.
Given the full profile, I don’t believe there is much debate in naming Adrián Morejón the gem of the reliever market. The Padres would be absolute fools to let him leave the building and blossom even further elsewhere.
5. Trevor Rogers – LHP
2026 Stats: 30 G – 169.2 IP – 4.03 ERA – 8.3 K/9 – 2.2 bWAR
Following his final season of arbitration, Trevor Rogers enters the free agent pool after yin and yang production in 2025 and 2026.
Following a trade from the Marlins to the Orioles in 2025, Rogers turned a 4.92 ERA into a 1.81 ERA and looked to have lit the same spark that named him to the only All-Star game appearance of his career. Although 2026 was not too kind to him, the left-handed starting pitcher is going to be entering his age-29 season with the chance to prove himself again.
He is at a point in his career where he could take a one-year prove-it deal with a team and still enter free agency at the age of 30. That would still allow him to garner a larger, long-term contract next season should he be able to bounce back.
4. Sonny Gray – RHP
2026 Stats: 29 G – 169 IP – 2.72 ERA – 7.9 K/9 – 4.3 bWAR
$30 million mutual option declined; owed $10 million buyout
Despite being considered an “unc”, Sonny Gray showed the doubters that he was everything but this season in his one season for the Boston Red Sox. A deal that also came with a reworked contract that added a $30 million mutual option that needs to be decided on before the 2027 offseason starts. One that would come with a $10 million buyout should it not be exercised.
To the surprise of no one knowledgeable in the mutual option game, it was declined, and Gray is not set to enter free agency with that buyout in hand.
The 2026 season was quite a sight for sore eyes, given the past two seasons Gray spent in St. Louis. After averaging an ERA in the mid-4.00s during that time, Gray was able to bring the number under three, even with his strikeout numbers falling.
Much of the talk surrounding the trade to Boston revolved around whether 2026 would be Sonny’s final season before hanging them up. Those talks are likely to be put to bed following his success this past year, and makes for an interesting name on the market to watch.
I would expect contending teams near the end of their window, or those looking for a strong veteran presence amongst young arms, to be in play for the veteran right-hander.
3. Freddy Peralta – RHP
2026 Stats: 32 G – 169 IP – 4.42 ERA – 8.3 K/9 – 0.7 bWAR
The pitcher once known as “Fastball Freddy” surely had what can only be described as a rollercoaster of a season this past year. After being acquired by the Mets back in January of this year, it was just a few months later that Peralta found himself pitching in Tampa and facing his former team in the World Series.
Peralta entered 2026 in the final year of the five-year, $15.5 million extension he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers back in 2020. At the conclusion of the final game, he became an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.
As a Met, Peralta failed to get into any sort of rhythm, pitching to a 4.99 ERA in his 22 games. After the trade to Tampa, thanks in large part to the Rays’ pitching development, the ERA shrank to a 3.25 ERA and he began to show us glimpses of the pitcher we had seen years past.
The question then becomes which version of Freddy Peralta teams are going to get in 2027, and are they willing to gamble that the changes made after the August 2nd trade are going to carry over? In my opinion, Peralta enters this offseason as the market’s biggest wild-card.
2. Michael King – RHP
2026 Stats: 32 G – 185 IP – 3.21 ERA – 7.7 K/9 – 4.3 bWAR
Declined 2027 player option
Ever since he arrived from the Yankees in the Soto deal in December 2023, Michael King has proven to be one of the league’s more consistent starting pitchers and is now looking to capitalize on the bet he made on himself just last offseason.
King signed a three-year, $75 million deal in 2026 that would grant him an opt-out, if he so chooses, from the remaining two-year, $58 million left on the contract. It didn’t take long for him to exercise that and enter free agency in search of a larger payday.
Despite the injury woes that sidelined him in the past, the 2026 season continued to show potential suitors that he has what it takes to be a stable force at the top of a rotation.
Given the status of this offseason’s market, King is likely going to “secure the bag” from whoever ends up being the runner-up in the Skubal sweepstakes.
1. Tarik Skubal – LHP
2026 Stats: 26 G – 158.2 IP – 2.72 ERA – 10.6 K/9 – 4.6 bWAR
The back-to-back AL Cy Young winner found himself a new, temporary home at this year’s deadline after a trade from the Detroit Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers, in hopes of bolstering the Dodgers’ chances at a three-peat in the 2026 season.
Now, after falling short of that, Tarik Skubal enters the free agent market as the number one pitcher available, walking into negotiations with Scott Boras as his agent, and looking to make history with a contract likely looking to reset the pitcher market.
Despite the peripherals looking just about on par with Skubal’s talent, the 2026 season was hampered by an elbow injury that led to him undergoing surgery at the beginning of May. Despite all the early reports saying his season could likely be over at that point, Skubal was able to make his return just a month later.
As I am sure every fan base is going to be clamoring for their teams to sign Skubal this offseason, someone who is going to garner a contract as large as the left-hander is likely going to limit the pool in which he and his representation will be swimming in.
Nonetheless, shortened-season or not, this contract is going to make jaws drop once the news breaks.
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Written by
Cristian has been at Just Baseball since 2021, when he first started writing about prospects. He spent eight years working in Major League Baseball with the…