The number of players on the free agent market has grown.
Following Friday night’s deadline for MLB teams to offer players contracts for next season, 63 joined the open market after being nontendered. Most of those players are fringe major-leaguers or second-tier prospects.
However, some notable players were also set free. Here is a look at five who could generate a fair amount of interest.
BRANDON WOODRUFF
The two-time All-Star underwent shoulder surgery that could cause him to miss the 2024 season. Considering the right-hander is eligible for free agency at the end of next season, is no surprise that the Milwaukee Brewers decided to cut him loose rather than go through the arbitration process.
Any team signing Woodruff will almost certainly give him a two-year contract. That way, he could spend next year rehabbing before returning to action in 2025.
While Woodruff was limited to 11 starts this year, he was outstanding as he posted a 5-1 record and 2.28 ERA. The 30-year-old has gone 46-26 since breaking into the major leagues with the Brewers in 2017 with a 3.10 ERA in 130 games.
AUSTIN MEADOWS
It also wasn’t surprising that the Detroit Tigers nontendered the 28-year-old outfielder. He played in just 42 games the last two seasons because of anxiety and vertigo after the Tigers acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays in a trade.
Any team signing Meadows would take on some risk because of his mental health struggles. However, Meadows has also hit .259/.333/.472 with 70 home runs and 23 stolen bases in 417 career games over six big-league seasons.
Meadows is still young enough to get his career back on track. He also has the pedigree of being an All-Star in 2019 with the Tampa Bay Rays and being the ninth overall pick in the 2013 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
JACOB STALLINGS
Stallings had a miserable season at the plate for the Miami Marlins as the 33-year-old catcher had a .191/.278/.286 slash line with three home runs in 88 games. His defense was average as his zero defensive runs saved indicates.
Yet Stallings is just two years removed from being the National League Gold Glove catcher in 2021 with the Pirates, a season in which he hit a career-high eight homers. Stallings had 21 DRS that season, but his defense slipped after going to the Marlins and he had minus-nine DRS in 2022.
Stallings doesn’t provide much offensively, but he handles a pitching staff well. With the catcher market thin this winter, he should have suitors.
SPENCER TURNBULL
The right-hander has had his moments since breaking into the major leagues in 2018 with Detroit. However, the Tigers decided to cut ties with Turnbull after he made just 16 starts over the last three seasons because of injuries, including a torn elbow ligament that required Tommy John reconstructive surgery.
Since throwing a no-hitter on May 18, 2021, against the Seattle Mariners, Turnbull has pitched only 10 times in the big leagues. The elbow injury a month later dashed a promising season two years after the Tigers stuck with Turnbull through a 3-17 rookie season.
Turnbull is 31 and has that no-hitter on his resume. Some teams will view him as an intriguing reclamation project.
DAKOTA HUDSON
Speaking of reclamation projects, Hudson also fits that bill. The St. Louis Cardinals nontendered the right-hander after once considering him a prime building block for their starting rotation.
Hudson is also a Tommy John survivor and hasn’t been the same since undergoing the surgery in 2020. He went 15-10 with a 4.55 ERA in 47 games in the succeeding three seasons.
Hudson had a 6-3 record this past season but, that was deceiving since his ERA was 4.98 and he had just 45 strikeouts in 81 1/3 innings. However, at 29, he is still young enough to give teams hope they can turn his career around.