Welcome to the first installment of the 2027 edition of our annual free-agent ranking exercise. Working from 50 down to the mystery no. 1 (no prize for guessing no. 1), we’re releasing the first third of the group today, the middle third on Wednesday, and the top of the class on Friday. Then, next week, we will include some honorable mentions, because while this is not going to hold up as the best free agent market in recent history, the lack of star power should make for some interesting opportunities atin the margins. 

Free-agent rankings tend to be rather nebulous affairs, and in the spirit of a good qualitative exercise, everyone has their own priorities. Our long-standing philosophy at Baseball Prospectus, and one that will notably be tested in the coming months, is to maintain a strict indifference to the concept of money. We do not care how much players get paid, and we do not care how much owners are theoretically going into hock to cover expenses. As such, these rankings are based on how valuable we feel each player will be in the short-term, and thus how happy the casual fan should feel to find some new laundry to root for and/or purchase from the team store. 

The signing window for free agents began a week ago. There were rumors that the impending lockout would spur early activity, and while that hasn’t been the case, it is possible that we see moves happen before the full rankings are released. Please understand that our rankings, if not all 20,000 of the words explaining them, have been set, and anyway, since this is more a prediction on 2027 production than whose agent has the most riverboat charm, they should be unaffected.

Finally: Only eight players received a qualifying offer this season, and while we’re uninterested as to how it affects their market, it may affect our predicted landing places. And as always, here to provide a baseline for our shame is our old friend and mascot Randy, the Random Number Generator. If PECOTA truly hates the Brewers, Randy, it seems, has chosen to love the Angels. We don’t pretend to understand its process. We just hope to do at least one better than it.

50. Jojo Romero, RP