Contract Crowdsourcing 2024-25: Ballot 9 of 10
Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent seasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating a contract crowdsourcing project, with the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowd to better understand and project the 2024-25 free agent market.
In recent years, we’ve added a few features to these ballots based on reader feedback. You now have the option to indicate that a player will only receive a minor league contract, or won’t receive one at all. If there is a player option, team option, or opt out in a player’s contract, you’ll be able to indicate whether you think he will remain with his current team or become a free agent. Numbers are prorated to full season where noted. The projected WAR figures are from the first cut of the 2025 Steamer600 projections.
Below are ballots for seven of this year’s potential free agents — in this case, a group of position players with club options for the coming season. Most aren’t expected to actually reach free agency, but in the event they do, we are interested in gauging their markets.
Meg is the managing editor of FanGraphs and the co-host of Effectively Wild. Prior to joining FanGraphs, her work appeared at Baseball Prospectus, Lookout Landing, and Just A Bit Outside. You can follow her on twitter @megrowler.
Only players here who are tossups are Suarez and O’Hearn. Suarez entirely depends on if AZ ownership demands a payroll cut. O’Hearn has been useful for BAL but is far from a necessity, and Elias can likely find a cheaper platoon bat elsewhere. Rojas is cheap enough for LAD to hold onto him, and Rizzo is not being kept at that price.
Eloy and Rizzo are in the minor league contract range. Rizzo might retire rather than take that.
Suarez’s option is almost certainly getting picked up as they could probably trade him at that salary and get something back. I think the Orioles probably either pick up the option on O’Hearn and trade him for a minor prospect, or if he hits the open market he gets a similar deal.
Both of those guys will get 1-year MLB deals.
If Arizona decides to cut payroll, wouldn’t they pick up the option and try to deal him? 1/15 seems like a good value.