Every player wants to ace his contract year.
While teams consider a free agent’s full body of work during the evaluation process, how a player performs in that final season before free agency can also carry a lot of weight.
With 2026 now underway, it’s a good time to spotlight some of the more intriguing contract-year players we’ll be watching in the upcoming season. (Players listed in order of 2025 FanGraphs WAR.)
Whether he’s traded this offseason or not, Skubal will be surrounded by significant intrigue as the 2026 campaign unfolds. The left-hander will be chasing a place alongside Hall of Famers Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson as the only pitchers to win three straight Cy Young Awards. Another strong season could also position the 29-year-old Skubal to surpass Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s $325 million record for the richest contract ever signed by a pitcher.
Luzardo finished 2025 with an unremarkable 3.92 ERA, but that figure was seriously inflated by a rough two-start stretch that saw him allow a combined 20 earned runs. The lefty’s sparkling 2.90 FIP offers a better indication of the pitcher he was for the majority of the season, his first with the Phillies after arriving from Miami in an offseason trade. Rebounding after an injury-shortened 2024 campaign, the 28-year-old struck out 216 batters with 57 walks over a career-high 183 2/3 innings. Given his age and ability to miss bats, Luzardo could be a popular target on the free-agent market next offseason, but showing he can stay healthy will be key. He’s made more than 18 starts only twice in his career (2023, ’25).
In a free-agent class that’s light on star position players, Chisholm has a chance to put himself front and center with another season like 2025. Although he missed more than a month with a right oblique strain, Chisholm managed to record the first 30-30 season by a Yankees player in more than two decades, adding a 125 OPS+ and playing superb defense at second base. He’s also relatively young — he’ll be 28 when he hits the open market next offseason.
Pivetta reached free agency last offseason as a 31-year-old who had never recorded an ERA below 4.04 in a single season. Accordingly, the Padres’ decision to guarantee him $55 million on a four-year deal — they also had to surrender a Draft pick after he turned down Boston’s qualifying offer — raised some eyebrows. But the veteran righty made San Diego look downright prophetic when he posted a 2.87 ERA with 190 K’s over 181 2/3 innings in a career year. With an opt-out looming at the end of 2026, Pivetta could set himself up for an even larger payday if he keeps it up this season.
Dylan Cease’s seven-year, $210 million deal with the Blue Jays underscored just how much teams value durability and strikeout prowess. Cease’s contract could bode well for the 29-year-old Peralta, who will be seeking his fourth straight season with at least 30 starts and 200 strikeouts in 2026. Peralta also has been more consistent than Cease in the run-prevention department, posting an ERA of 3.86 or lower in each of the past five years. By contrast, Cease had an ERA over 4.50 in both 2023 and 2025.
Believe it or not, Sale has never been a free agent, having signed a series of extensions that gave him contract stability for more than a decade. Barring another agreement with Atlanta, he’ll find himself in an unfamiliar position next offseason — testing the open market for the first time at the age of 37. The three-year, $130 million deal Max Scherzer signed with the Mets at the same age in 2021 offers a glimpse at what might be at stake for Sale as he enters his final year under contract. He’ll be looking to continue the late-career renaissance that produced his first Cy Young Award in 2024 and a strong, albeit injury-plagued, follow-up in ’25.
The past five years have been a roller coaster for Rogers, leaving the lefty with much to prove. Is he closer to the pitcher who performed like a frontline arm in 2021 (2.64 ERA/2.55 FIP) and again in ’25 (1.81 ERA/2.82 FIP)? Or do his 2022-24 numbers (5.09 ERA/4.42 FIP) better reflect who he is? His walk year could reveal a lot.
Grisham arrived in New York as an afterthought in the 2023 Juan Soto blockbuster and did little to change the perception in his first season with the Yankees. However, in the wake of Soto’s departure to join the Mets, Grisham emerged as one of the Yankees’ most valuable regulars in 2025, producing 34 home runs with a 125 OPS+ while starting 124 games in center field. That marked a dramatic turnaround from 2022-24, when he had 39 homers with an 84 OPS+ over 381 games. Grisham reached free agency in November, but with Draft compensation penalties and concerns about his past performance threatening to depress his market, he opted to accept the Yankees’ $22.025 million qualifying offer instead of testing the open market. Now, he’ll look to prove last season was no fluke before returning to free agency unencumbered by the QO.
Although he’s three years older than Chisholm, Arozarena is in a similar spot as one of the best pending free agents in a class lacking impact bats. He’s also a comparable talent, at least on offense, having recorded five straight 20-20 seasons with a collective 120 OPS+ in that span. A high strikeout rate and Seattle’s pitcher-friendly home park are the main obstacles to a standout walk year, but neither has slowed him down so far.
After proving that he could succeed as a full-time starter in 2024 (2.95 ERA, 201 K’s), King was on track for a strong encore in ’25 before injuries intervened. The righty ended up making only 15 starts, and his free-agent appeal was further curtailed by the Draft compensation attached to him after he turned down San Diego’s qualifying offer. The 30-year-old was still able to land $75 million in guaranteed money on a three-year deal with the Padres, but if he avoids the IL and continues to pitch well in 2026, he’ll likely opt out and take another shot at free agency with no QO tied to him next offseason.
Other notables: SP Sandy Alcantara (club option), SP Shane Bieber, SP Jack Flaherty, SP Kevin Gausman, SP Sonny Gray (club option), SP Shota Imanaga, SP Casey Mize, SP Robbie Ray, SP Brandon Woodruff, OF Ian Happ, OF Luis Robert Jr. (club option), OF George Springer, OF Seiya Suzuki, OF Daulton Varsho, OF Taylor Ward, 2B Nico Hoerner, 2B Gleyber Torres, 3B Max Muncy, SS Ha-Seong Kim, RP Bryan Abreu, RP David Bednar, RP Ryan Helsley (opt-out), RP Pete Fairbanks
