MLB Free Agency: The All Unemployment Team
There are still quality players out in MLB Free Agency. So many that you could make an actual team. So, how do they stack up? Let’s take a look.
This offseason, MLB Free Agency is super active. Scott Boras has secured his clients $1 Billion dollars (not an exaggeration). The offseason is far from over though as impact players like Josh Donaldson, Marcell Ozuna, and Nick Castellanos are still available.
Using the Roster Resource Free Agent Tracker, I took the remaining free agents and put together the best available team based on projected WAR.
The Infield
- 1B, Todd Frazier, Projected WAR 1.5
- 2B, Asdrubal Cabrera, Projected WAR 1.6
- SS, Jose Iglesias, Projected WAR 1.3
- 3B, Josh Donaldson, Projected WAR 4.7
- UTIL, Wilmer Flores, Projected WAR 1.2
The infield is led by superstar Josh Donaldson who even at 34 years old is projected to have another monster season. The rest of the infield is solid if uninspiring but has players who can contribute to winning teams.
Asdrubal Cabrera just won a World Series playing 2B for the Nationals. Jose Iglesias remains a light-hitting shortstop who is an absolute wizard with the glove. Todd Frazier had a solid season in NY but is blocked at 3B on our imaginary team by Donaldson. Wilmer Flores rounds it out as the utility guy.
This is actually a pretty decent infield that is anchored by Donaldson, its defensively solid on the left side and a little below average on the right. With the exception of Iglesias and his 84 wRC+, this infield brings some strong bats that can slot in the middle and back of a lineup.
MLB Free Agency: The All Unemployment Team
The Hitting
The Outfield
- RF, Nick Castellanos, Projected WAR 1.5
- CF, Yasiel Puig, Projected WAR 1.9
- LF, Marcell Ozuna, Projected WAR 3.1
- 4th OF, Kevin Pillar, Projected WAR 1.4
Yasiel Puig isn’t a CF but the bat plays and he could be shifted to a corner to bring in the glove first Pillar later in games. Ozuna is a bat you want in the middle of your order and his exit velocities numbers suggest there could be more in the tank, even despite this gold glove effort.
Playing meaningful baseball in Chicago reinvigorated Nick Castellanos, who went on a tear after being traded out of Detroit. This outfield is bringing a ton of offense to the table, but pitchers will be holding their breath every time a ball is hit in the air.
Catching
- C, Jason Castro, Projected WAR 1.7
- C, Robinson Chirinos, Projected WAR 0.7
Castro and Chirinos would settle in as 1A and 1B as opposed to the standard starter backup template. Castro reaps his value from his incredible framing and glove work. Chirinos is no slouch either and is coming off a career year.
The catching core is going to be critical to extracting maximum value out of a rotation that is….underwhelming at best.
MLB Free Agency: The All Unemployment Team
The Pitching
The Rotation
- SP1, Homer Bailey, Projected WAR 1.6
- SP2, Alex Wood, Projected WAR 1.6
- SP3, Ivan Nova, Projected WAR 1.3
- SP4, Rich Hill, Projected WAR 1.3
- SP5, Jhoulys Chacin, Projected WAR 1.2
Bullpen
- RP, Collin McHugh, Projected WAR 0.8
- RP, Will Harris, Projected WAR 0.7
- RP, Clayton Richard, Projected WAR 0.6
- RP, Daniel Hudson, Projected WAR 0.2
This is the clear weakness of our all unemployment team. Any staff led by Homer Bailey, who was surprisingly good last season, isn’t going to do much to inspire confidence. Alex Wood has the most upside of this group but spent a majority of the last season on the Injured List. Rich Hill is the elder statesmen of the group but presumably will end up missing time from blisters or some other ailment. Nova and Chacin are solid pitchers who can give you bulk.
Projecting relievers aside from Aroldis Chapman remains a fool’s errand. Hudson closed out the World Series and showed his electric fastball. Harris and McHugh were both stalwarts for AJ Hynch in Houston. Clayton Richard adds a lefty with a funky delivery to the mix.
This group could continue to be solid or implode, you never know with relievers. You could swap out just about any of the other free-agent relievers and get similar results.
To Review
Total Projected INF WAR – 10.3
Total Projected OF WAR – 7.9
Total Projected C WAR – 2.4
Total Projected Pitching WAR – 9.3
Total Team WAR – 29.9
MLB Free Agency: The All Unemployment Team
The Verdict
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- Yasiel Puig, RF
- Nick Castellanos, LF
- Josh Donaldson, 3B
- Marcell Ozuna, DH
- Todd Frazier, 1B
- Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B
- Castro/Chirinos, C
- Kevin Pillar, CF
- Jose Iglesias, SS
Our all Free Agent Team is going to have to smash their way to the playoffs. The lineup lacks a left-handed bat which would make them susceptible to any good RHPs.
The success of this team would probably look like the 13-2 Mariners slugging their way to 11-10 victories every day, which would be entertaining but not something that could be counted on.
While we would need to fill the rest of the roster, we will assume that the remaining spots will be replacement-level players. The free-agent team’s current WAR total is a shade under 30 at 29.9. Looking at FanGraphs depth charts, that makes our team comparable to the Rangers, Pirates, and Blue Jays.
This team profiles as a fringe contender who could hang around until July but would fade come July and August.
Next. The game's most valued first basemen. dark
If there are any expansion owners out there in Portland, Montreal, Charlotte, or elsewhere, you could buy this team tomorrow. The team wouldn’t be enough for the playoffs but they would be interesting and hang around longer than the Orioles or Marlins.