Top-5 Pitchers Available on the Free Agent Market

The free agency period is underway in the MLB and there's some big names available on the mound. There's no shortage of talent this offseason, and more specifically for the top-end of the rotation type of starters.

Some Big Name Starters Available to Sign This Winter

Max Scherzer: 'Mad Max' is as intense as they come and instantly turns a pretender into a contender. At 37 he's slowing down, there's no doubt at that, but he's yet to show a dip in production. He's in the NL Cy Young conversation after posting a 2.46 ERA over 179.1 innings of work. He strikes out a ton (34.1% of his batters) and walks are among the league leaders. Look for one of the powerhouse markets to provide Scherzer with a massive contract.

Robbie Ray: The Toronto Blue Jays loved what they saw out of Ray in 2021 and they will be pushing to bring back their new Ace. He signed a one-year deal for $8 million last time around and this winter will be in line for a $120 plus million. At 30 years old, he's still got lots of arm left and Ray is likely going to cap off a Cy Young Award season with a massive pay day. Sounds like the Blue Jays are still very much in the mix here.

Marcus Stroman: Stroman gets a ton of groundballs and every pitching staff could use a Stroman type among their rotation. After not playing baseball in 2020, Stroman went on to post a 3.02 ERA over 179 innings. The 30-year-old has made at least 32 starts in the past four seasons he's pitched with at least a 3.22 ERA or lower. He's durable, and has shown he can win the big game.

Carlos Rodon: After a very interesting season in 2021, Rodon hits the open market. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball early on last season, but ran into some shoulder problems. The southpaw was limited to only 132.2 innings in 2021, and this could be a red flag to some teams. Regardless, his stuff is among the best in baseball and he pitches from the left-side so there's certainly an advantage for him when it comes to interest. In his first 96.2 innings pitched in 2021, Rodon had a 2.14 ERA and was striking out 36.7% of batters.

Clayton Kershaw: The future hall-of-famer is going to look awfully different next season if he's in something other than a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform but apparently that could happen. He's battled injuries these past few seasons and some teams will only be thinking a one or two-year deal max for Kershaw. He's one of the most fascinating names to watch on the market and there's a chance he ends up with either the LA Angels or New York Yankees next season.