2021 MLB Free Agent Class

Free agency in baseball occurs when a player has reached six years of Major League Baseball service time. After this, a player is eligible to sign with any team of choice as long as the two parties mutually agree. The biggest name who was set to hit to hit free agency this season was Mookie Betts. The Red Sox traded Mookie Betts last off-season to the Los Angeles Dodgers. This past season Mookie signed an extension with the Dodgers through 2032. Though with Mookie off the market, there are still quite a few of notable players looking to find a team for 2021.

JT Realmuto (Catcher)

Realmuto has put up impressive offensive and defensive numbers the past two seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. He is tied for 1st in homeruns with 36 and leads catchers with 115 RBI’s.

*Data taken from MLB.com and analyzed using Tableu*

He has also led all catchers in WAR over the past two seasons.

Defensively, is it fair to call Realmuto the best catcher in the league. He led all catchers in 2019 with pop-time. Baseball Savant defines pop-time as the time from the moment the pitch hits the catcher’s mitt to the moment the ball reaches the fielder’s projected receiving point. It is a combination of exchange time and arm strength. Realmuto led the league with a 1.89 pop-time to second base.

George Springer (Right Field):

Springer has spent his entire career so far with the Houston Astros. In his career he has hit for .270 average, 174 homeruns, and 458 RBIs. One key stat to point out about Springer’s 2020 season was how much he has increased his launch angle. From last season he increased his launch angle by 7.9 which was 3rd in the MLB. According to the MLB glossary, launch angle can be defined as the vertical angle at which the ball leaves a player's bat after being struck. The higher the angle, the more likely it will result in a hit.

*Spray chart of hits demonstrated by launch angle*

Trevor Bauer (Pitcher)

Bauer is coming off a very dominant 2020 season with the Cincinnati Reds, winning the National League Cy Young award. He placed 2nd in the majors with WHIP (.80), 2nd in the majors in ERA (1.73), and 3rd in the majors in strikeouts (100). There is no doubt he is the best pitcher on the market right now, yet alone one of the best pitchers in the league. The image below looks at ERA along with strikeouts per 9 innings. The closer to 0 along the x-axis, the better the ERA. The labeled values above the squares represent the strikeouts per 9 innings. The higher the number here, the better. Bauer is in good company along with other pitchers in the league like Shane Bieber, Jacob deGrom, and Yu Darvish.

*Data extracted from Fangraphs and analyzed in Tableu*

D.J. LaMahieu (Second Base):

LaMahieu finished the 2020 season with a batting title by leading the major leagues with a .364 batting average with the New York Yankees. He became the first player in the modern era to win the batting title in each league. He won the title back in 2016 with the Colorado Rockies. Not only do Yankee fans want LaMahieu in pinstripes again, but many Yankee players have expressed how much they want LaMahieu back in a Yankee uniform. LaMahieu is also very versatile defensively playing 3rd, 2nd, and 1st base for the Yankees. Off the field, LaMahieu is known for being a leader and influencer to other players.

Marcell Ozuna (Outfield/Designated Hitter)

Ozuna is coming off a monster 2020 season with the Atlanta Braves despite the shortened 60-game season. He lead the National League in homeruns (18), and RBI’s (56) and finished in 2nd in hits (77). He will be the perfect fit for a team seeking a powerful and dangerous clean-up hitter. He has outstanding offensive percentile rankings being in the top 10 % of baseball in the following categories below.