Bauer, LeMahieu, Springer top list of available free agents

The free agent market received a small boost this week, although it remains to be seen whether teams will be eager to take advantage.

A record 59 players became free agents when their teams declined to offer them contracts by Wednesday night's tender deadline. That group included a few well-known names like Kyle Schwarber of the Chicago Cubs and Eddie Rosario of the Minnesota Twins — but these additions to the free agent class did little to change the sense the market could be slow this offseason.

Teams may be looking to cut costs amid the coronavirus pandemic, and so far there have been only a few short deals, such as Charlie Morton going to Atlanta on a one-year, $15 million contract and Mike Minor signing with Kansas City for two years and $18 million.

As we enter the heart of the offseason calendar, here’s a look at the top free agents still available, broken down by position. The biggest names on the market are players who were already free agents well before the new group of non-tenders joined the pool.

Players are listed with their most recent teams, with their ages in parentheses:

LEFT-HANDED STARTER

James Paxton, Yankees (32)

Paxton made just five starts this year because of problems with his pitching arm, but a string of solid seasons leading up to that make him a potentially valuable pickup if teams aren't scared off by his health.

Other options: Injury problems limited Jose Quintana to only 10 innings this season, but he made at least 31 starts in each of the previous seven years. Quintana's teammate with the Chicago Cubs, Jon Lester, can still log plenty of innings but his 5.16 ERA this year was the worst of his career.

LEFT-HANDED RELIEVER

Brad Hand, Indians (30)

Hand converted all 16 of his save attempts and then promptly had his $10 million option...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Bauer-LeMahieu-Springer-top-list-of-available-15776845.php