Best free-agent class ever? Judge for yourself

There have been other glamorous and star-studded free-agent classes in baseball. There have been other years, of course, when big names hit the market. It wasn’t so long ago that both Bryce Harper and Manny Machado became available when both were still just 26 years old. That was some free-agent class, too. But there has never been one like this.

The whole wide world knows that recently minted American League MVP Aaron Judge, who hit 62 home runs this season, is at the head of this particular class. No. 1 on this list is No. 99.

“In my opinion,” Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said this week, “we’re going to be able to sign Aaron.”

Cody Bellinger, non-tendered by the Dodgers, joined the list of available free agents this past week. He is coming off a couple of rough years. But he hit 47 homers just three years ago. Bellinger is still just 27, and he is a former National League MVP, World Series champion and two-time All-Star.

And Bellinger’s not the only former MVP out there. Justin Verlander just won his third AL Cy Young Award. He came back from Tommy John surgery, and he was as much a force of nature as he’s always been, winning more than 20 games for the second time in his career and winning another World Series championship with Houston. Verlander has now won 244 games, and even at 39, he believes he has a puncher’s chance to get to 300 if he can stay healthy.

Jacob deGrom is five years younger than Verlander. He has won two NL Cy Young Awards for the Mets, he can still reach 100 mph and may be about to make more money, at least in average value, than any starting pitcher has made in baseball history.

In any other offseason, perhaps Carlos Rodón would be the best starter in play. He’s finished in the top six in Cy Young voting the past two seasons, doesn’t turn 30 for a couple of more weeks and he went 14-8 for the Giants.

We haven’t even gotten to the greatest free-agent shortstop class we might ever see in baseball. Trea Turner won a World Series when he was with the Nationals and is a former batting champion. Turner knocked in 100 runs for the Dodgers, and he batted just a couple of ticks under .300 at .298. He is one of the coolest and most elegant players in the game, like when he’s sliding across home plate like he’s gliding on air. He doesn't turn 30 until next summer.

Xander Bogaerts is the best Red Sox shortstop since Joe Cronin and one of the most popular Boston players of his time. He has been with the Red Sox since he was a teenager, won two titles and is a four-time All-Star. Bogaerts hit .307 this season, and he has a lifetime batting average of .292. He didn’t turn 30 until a month ago.

Dansby Swanson, out of that sensational program at Vanderbilt, is another former World Series champ, winning with the Braves in 2021. Swanson can hit (52 home runs combined the past two seasons), and he just won his first Gold Glove Award. Fresh off his first All-Star nod, Swanson hits the market at the age of 28.

Then there is Carlos Correa, who was a free agent a year ago and signed with the Twins, but is now a free agent again. Correa has already hit more than 20 homers six times in his career. He has already played 79 postseason games in his career, and won a World Series with Houston in 2017.

Here is what Correa said this past summer about potentially staying with the Twins.

“If I go to the mall and I go to the Dior store and I want something, I get it,” Correa said. “I ask how much it costs, and I buy it. So if you really want something, just get it. So yes, I am the product here. If they want my product, they just have to get it.”

Carlos Correa could have been speaking for all the high-end free agents. And it’s not just one high-end store. This time around, it’s Fashion Week.