The top 10 free-agent starters, ranked

This is an opportune offseason to be in search of rotation help.

Many of the most coveted free agents available are starting pitchers, and that group was bolstered further by the recent news that the top pitcher in Japan is going to be posted. But how exactly do all of these talented arms stack up?

To answer that question, we turned to our MLB.com panel to vote on one final 2024 edition of the Starting Pitcher Power Rankings. This one focuses only on free agents.

Here is a look at the results, with each pitcher listed alongside his final 2024 team.

1. Corbin Burnes, Orioles
Burnes presents an interesting case. In the big picture, he has four straight All-Star selections and almost certainly is headed for a fifth straight top-10 Cy Young Award finish, including his win in 2021. The 30-year-old has thrown more than 190 innings with an ERA+ of better than 125 for three straight seasons. On the other hand, his strikeout and whiff rates have plummeted from their elite peaks in 2021-22. This past season, Burnes' 23.1% K rate was only 29th out of 58 qualified pitchers. That could give some teams cause for concern before handing out a long-term deal, but Burnes has been so effective that he still stands atop this class.

2. Roki Sasaki, Chiba Lotte Marines (NPB)
Why will Sasaki be so hotly pursued by MLB teams once his posting window officially opens? Just imagine if someone like NL Rookie of the Year favorite Paul Skenes was suddenly made available to any bidder. Sasaki, who turned 23 on Nov. 3, is only seven months older than Skenes, and like the Pirates right-hander, has top-of-the-charts, power stuff. Like Shohei Ohtani in 2017, Sasaki is subject to international bonus pool money restrictions, which means that any team signing him will do so while making a relatively minimal financial commitment. There are certainly risks here, especially in terms of health and durability, but Sasaki’s potential is easily the highest of anyone available this offseason, other than Juan Soto.

• Who are the favorites to land Roki Sasaki?

3. Blake Snell, Giants
Snell’s first foray into free agency didn’t go as planned. Despite coming off his second Cy Young Award in 2023, the lefty languished on the market until mid-March before finally signing with the Giants on a one-year deal with a player option for 2025. Expect Snell to do better this time around after exercising his opt-out clause. While his late start this past season seemed to hinder him initially, Snell was virtually unhittable for the last three months of the season, posting a 1.23 ERA and 1.77 FIP across 14 starts, which included a no-hitter on Aug. 2 at Cincinnati. Opponents hit a meager .123/.211/.171 against him over that span. Snell is always going to face some questions about his durability and high walk rates, but at his best, he’s as dominant as anyone.

• 7 top suitors for Snell & what his contract might look like

4. Max Fried, Braves
Here’s a stat that might surprise you: Among the 67 pitchers who have thrown at least 500 innings over the past five seasons, Fried sports easily the best ERA+ (151), well ahead of Burnes and Zack Wheeler (141). Of course, Fried is only 25th in innings and 34th in strikeout rate among that group, which perhaps explains him ranking outside the top three on this list. Fried has never blown away hitters with velocity or missed a ton of bats, but when it comes to keeping runs off the board, he has been consistently excellent. How? He avoids hard contact as well as anyone and keeps the ball on the ground and in the ballpark.

5. Jack Flaherty, Dodgers
Like Fried, Flaherty is a product of Harvard-Westlake High School in Southern California. Unlike Fried, consistency has not been his calling card. Even during the Dodgers’ 2024 championship run, Flaherty had two excellent playoff starts, two disastrous starts and one in between. That was representative of a highly talented pitcher who has battled injuries and significant fluctuations in both stuff and results since arriving in the big leagues. The good news for Flaherty -- and the righty’s next team -- is that he’s a bit on the younger side for a free agent (having just turned 29 in October), has mostly stayed healthy for two straight seasons and was quite effective in 2024. Flaherty looks like one of the riskier options on this list, but the potential rewards should still generate a robust market.

6. Sean Manaea, Mets
In mid-June, there was little reason to think Manaea would be anywhere close to this spot. The 32-year-old lefty, coming off a couple of underwhelming seasons with the Padres and Giants, had a 4.30 ERA over his first 12 outings with the Mets. From there, though, Manaea went 9-3 with a 3.05 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning over his final 20 outings, before making three solid postseason starts. Along the way, with Chris Sale as inspiration, the 6-foot-5 Manaea dropped his release point, to great effect.

7. Walker Buehler, Dodgers
Following a lengthy rehab from his second Tommy John surgery, Buehler struggled mightily to rediscover his form in 2024. The numbers were ugly: 16 starts with a 5.38 ERA, 5.54 FIP and .862 opponent OPS. This looked nothing like the pitcher who was one of the best in baseball from 2018-21, culminating in a fourth-place NL Cy Young Award finish. But, at long last, signs of that pitcher re-emerged during the postseason, just in time to help the Dodgers secure a World Series title. Was that a blip? Or a sign that Buehler is back? That’s the question teams will have to answer this offseason.

8. Yusei Kikuchi, Astros
Over six MLB seasons since making the move from NPB, Kikuchi has been unable to put it all together for an extended period of time. The left-hander has shown plenty of flashes, but consistent success has eluded him, leading to roughly league-average production (a 4.28 ERA and 96 ERA+ over 601 innings since 2021). The glass-half-full view is that Kikuchi might have found a winning formula after the Blue Jays dealt him to Houston at the Trade Deadline, posting a 2.70 ERA and 3.07 FIP in 10 starts down the stretch while dramatically ramping up his slider usage at the expense of his four-seam fastball.

9. Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers
Despite the fact that he will turn 35 before next season, Eovaldi opted out of his contract, passing up a $20 million guarantee in 2025. Despite his age, it’s not hard to understand why. Eovaldi still throws in the mid-90s, with two swing-and-miss secondary pitches in his splitter and curveball, helping him consistently post excellent chase and walk rates. He now has strung together five consecutive seasons with an ERA under 4.00 and an ERA+ over 100, and he’s a proven postseason performer. It would be no surprise to see Eovaldi land a solid multi-year deal.

10. Shane Bieber, Guardians
Whichever team signs Bieber will do so knowing that the 29-year-old righty is still working his way back from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in April. That adds plenty of uncertainty to the mix here, but also an opportunity to add a star-caliber pitcher to their rotation on a short-term commitment. Bieber was one of MLB’s top starters from 2019-22, winning the AL Cy Young Award in ‘20, and after a relatively subpar ‘23 campaign, he looked fantastic out of the gate this past season before tearing his UCL. Assuming Bieber comes back strong, he has a chance to re-enter the market as a clear ace in a year or two.

Others receiving votes: Luis Severino, Tomoyuki Sugano, Nick Martinez, Nick Pivetta, Max Scherzer, Charlie Morton, Jose Quintana

Voters: David Adler, Chris Begley, Brett Blueweiss, Jason Catania, Scott Chiusano, Doug Gausepohl, Thomas Harrigan, Bryan Horowitz, Ricardo Montes de Oca, Brian Murphy, Arturo Pardavila, Manny Randhawa, David Venn, Zac Vierra, Tom Vourtsis, Andy Werle