Free agency always involves risk, but the rewards can be transformative.
There are a number of high-variance stars like Cease who remain unsigned, highlighted by the seven big names below. Which version of these players will their next teams be getting? It’s a question interested suitors are surely debating.
Pete Alonso, 1B
Alonso has remained one of MLB’s premier home run hitters since he burst onto the scene with a rookie-record 53 dingers in 2019, but his overall offensive output has fluctuated in recent years. Among qualifiers, his wRC+ ranked 15th (tied) in 2022 (141) and eighth in ’25 (141), but he fell outside the top 30 in both ’23 (120) and ’24 (121). While those swings in production aren’t that extreme, they’re concerning nonetheless for a player whose value is almost exclusively tied to his bat.
Cody Bellinger, OF
Bellinger’s career has been a study in extremes, from the heights of a 2019 NL MVP season to the lows of a non-tender just three years later. Even if we ignore his 69 wRC+ across 2021-22 and zero in on what Bellinger has done in three years since the Dodgers cut him loose, there are lingering questions about his offensive profile moving forward. Is he the near-league-average bat of 2024 (18 HR, 108 wRC+)? Or the standout of 2023 (26 HR, 135 wRC+) and ’25 (29 HR, 125 wRC+)?
Bo Bichette, SS
Bichette’s return to form in 2025 (18 HR, 134 wRC+) makes it easy to look past his curious dropoff in ’24 (4 HR, 70 wRC+), especially considering the injury issues he faced that year. The shortstop has been quite consistent otherwise, posting a wRC+ of 120 or higher in every other season during his seven-year career. Still, any team considering Bichette can’t entirely ignore what happened in 2024.
Zac Gallen, SP
Gallen had a 3.29 ERA, a 3.45 FIP and a 3.43 K/BB ratio over his first six seasons, peaking with a pair of top-five finishes in the NL Cy Young Award voting in 2022 (fifth) and ’23 (third). However, he regressed sharply in 2025, posting a 4.83 ERA with a 4.50 FIP and a 2.65 K/BB — all career worsts. Gallen’s strong track record may make him a popular target in free agency, but as the Red Sox learned after signing Walker Buehler last offseason, taking a chance on a rebound candidate doesn’t always work out.
Kyle Schwarber, DH
Schwarber hit a lot of home runs for the Phillies over the past four seasons — 187 of them, in fact, tied with Shohei Ohtani for second most in MLB behind Aaron Judge. That said, the version of Schwarber we saw in 2025, when he finished second in the NL MVP Award voting with 56 homers and a 152 wRC+ (sixth best in MLB), was levels above the one from ’22-23. While the DH went deep 93 times in that span, he also tied for 31st among qualifiers with a 124 wRC+ while hitting .207 with a .333 on-base percentage.
Eugenio Suárez, 3B
Entering his age-34 season, Suárez is one of the biggest boom-or-bust hitters on the board. The third baseman fared so poorly over his first 79 games with the D-backs in 2024 (67 wRC+) that there were rumblings he could be designated for assignment. Suárez not only avoided that fate, he became one of MLB’s best hitters for more than a calendar year, ranking ninth with a 151 wRC+ while swatting 60 homers in 184 games from July 1, 2024, through July 30, ’25. However, his production dipped again following a trade to the Mariners, as he slashed .189/.255/.428 with a 91 wRC+ over 53 games for Seattle.
Devin Williams, RP
Williams was perhaps the game’s best reliever from 2020-24, but this past season marked a notable departure from his previous dominance. Traded from the Brewers to the Yankees last December, Williams opened 2025 as New York’s closer but lost his grip on the job multiple times en route to a 4.79 ERA. On a positive note, the right-hander’s underlying metrics paint a much rosier picture of his performance, as he ranked in the 95th percentile or better in expected batting average, whiff rate, chase rate and strikeout rate. He also looked more like his old self down the stretch, pitching to a 2.50 ERA with 34 K’s in his final 19 games.
