Who are the best bats on the free-agent market?

Thursday saw the end of the five-day quiet period after the end of the World Series and the official opening of free agency, with players on the open market now able to negotiate with any of the 30 teams.

While there is plenty of intriguing pitching available this offseason, we at the Hitter Power Rankings are, of course, focused on the bats. And there are some big ones on the market.

Our voting panel was tasked with ranking the top free-agent hitters, based on their offensive prowess. Here are the results, with each player listed with his club at the end of the 2022 season.

1. Aaron Judge, Yankees
This was a no-brainer for our voters, who were unanimous in putting Judge in the top spot. He should be comfortable there, given that he was also No. 1 in six of our 12 regular-season polls. Judge just finished authoring a walk year for the ages, setting a new American League home run record while batting .311/.425/.686. His park-adjusted OPS+ of 211 -- more than double the league average -- was the sixth highest in a non-shortened season in the Expansion Era (since 1961), behind four campaigns from Barry Bonds and one from Mark McGwire.

2. Trea Turner, Dodgers
While all four of the top shortstops on the market made this list, each of our voters had Turner at the top of that group, in the No. 2 spot overall. After all, while Turner’s blazing speed has always been his most obvious asset, there is a lot more to him than that. The 29-year-old has hit .316/.364/.514 over the past three seasons, while averaging 27 homers (and 31 steals) per 162 games. In 2021, his 319 total bases led the NL.

3. Carlos Correa, Twins
As was widely expected, Correa opted out of last offseason’s deal with the Twins, after batting .291/.366/.467 with 22 homers over 136 games. Correa’s 140 OPS+ put him in the top 20 among all qualifiers and ranked first among shortstops. Setting aside the shortened 2020 campaign, it was Correa’s sixth time in seven seasons posting an OPS+ of at least 124, and only Alex Rodriguez, Cal Ripken Jr. and Ernie Banks homered more times as a shortstop through their age-27 seasons.

4. Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox
The Aruba native has been a model of offensive consistency in Boston, posting the following OPS+ figures over the past five seasons: 135, 139, 128, 129 and 131. Now the four-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner will get to test the free-agency waters for the first time in his career.

5. Brandon Nimmo, Mets
The biggest issue for Nimmo is health, although he stayed on the field for 151 games in 2022. But his production is not in question. Nimmo owns a .385 career on-base percentage, which ranks eighth among active players (minimum 2,000 plate appearances), behind only this impressive list: Juan Soto, Mike Trout, Joey Votto, Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, Bryce Harper and Freddie Freeman. He’d look good atop a lot of teams’ lineups in 2023.

6. José Abreu, White Sox
Abreu will be 36 on Opening Day, and his power did dip this past season (15 homers). On the other hand, the 2020 AL MVP Award winner still batted .304 with a .378 OBP and 40 doubles. Abreu has led the AL in RBIs twice and topped the 100 mark six times in eight full seasons.

7. Dansby Swanson, Braves
Health can be an underrated skill, and Swanson leads the Majors in games played since 2020, appearing in all but one of Atlanta’s 383 games in that span. He also took a step forward offensively in 2022. After entering the season with a below-average career OPS+ of 90, Swanson hit .277/.329/.447 (115 OPS+) while reaching the 25-homer mark for the second straight year.

8. Willson Contreras, Cubs
A three-time All-Star, Contreras enters free agency for the first time on the heels of his fourth 20-homer campaign. His 114 career OPS+ is tied with Yasmani Grandal for the highest among active catchers (minimum 1,500 plate appearances), and Contreras has ranked in at least the 86th percentile in hard-hit rate for three straight seasons.

9. Anthony Rizzo, Yankees
Will Rizzo return to the Bronx despite declining his 2023 player option? The respected 12-year veteran certainly has been a good fit there, launching 40 home runs in 179 games as a Yankee since arriving before the 2021 Trade Deadline. Heading into next season, Rizzo needs to go deep 17 times to reach the 300 mark for his career.

10. Joc Pederson, Giants
A free agent for the second straight offseason, Pederson put himself in position to top the one-year, $6 million deal he signed with the Giants last time around. The 30-year-old is still mainly a threat against right-handed pitching but made his second All-Star team in 2022 while ranking 15th in MLB (minimum 400 plate appearances) with a career-high 144 OPS+.

Also receiving votes: Josh Bell (Padres), Michael Brantley (Astros), Michael Conforto (DNP in 2022), J.D. Martinez (Red Sox), Jean Segura (Phillies)

Voters: David Adler, Paul Casella, Doug Gausepohl, Thomas Harrigan, Sarah Langs, Brian Murphy, Mike Petriello, Andrew Simon