The 2020-2021 All Free Agent Team
Free agency is going to be even stranger than usual this year. The process has been a bit slower the past few offseasons, with teams shifting towards spending models that project future performance rather than reward past accomplishments. Mega-contracts given to veterans like Albert Pujols and Chris Davis have generally aged poorly, so the early-career extension has proven for some to be a more efficient route to a big payday than free agency. That will especially be the case this offseason.
With so much uncertainty about the financial state of teams, front offices will be even more loathe than usual to shell out for players outside the organization. In other words, the hot stove won’t just be cold this year – it’ll be unplugged.
It’s presumed that there will be a record number of non-tenders this year, which will expand the free agent pool further. Supply and demand suggests this will drive down free agents’ prices, so many of them are likely to sign short-term deals late in the offseason. All those players available for just cash on the market will disincentivize teams from swinging trades to plug holes in their team, too, so all the warning signs for an extremely boring offseason are flashing their neon lights.
There still is some good news – there are a lot of good players on the open market who can help teams win. While we don’t know for sure who is going to be non-tendered or released just yet, what would a team of current free agents look like? It might have a bloated payroll, but it would be pretty darn good. You could even give them a catchy name, like, the Boras Bulldogs. Scott would be proud.
You can also take a look at OTBB’s 2018 All Free Agent Team here.
We’ll use ZiPS Projections courtesy of Fangraphs to get an idea of how much each free agent will produce in 2021. Their listed age is how old they will be next season.
Catchers
| NAME | AGE | R/L/S | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | WAR |
| J.T. Realmuto | 30 | R | 495 | 24 | 83 | .277 | .335 | .503 | 4.2 |
| James McCann | 31 | R | 357 | 12 | 46 | .241 | .295 | .389 | 1.2 |
Realmuto will likely be the most well-compensated position player in this class, with good reason. He’s arguably the best catcher in the game right now, and exactly the kind of guy you want leading your pitching staff. He’s in the middle of his prime years, but catching is extraordinarily tough on your body, so how many prime years he has left is tough to gauge.
For the Bulldogs, McCann would be a steady veteran backup with upside – he had a strong 2020 season that outperformed projections by a wide margin.
Infielders
| NAME | AGE | R/L/S | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | WAR |
| Marcus Semien | 30 | R | 573 | 28 | 91 | .274 | .346 | .496 | 5.0 |
| D.J. LeMahieu | 32 | R | 539 | 16 | 70 | .291 | .344 | .442 | 3.4 |
| Justin Turner | 36 | R | 395 | 15 | 57 | .278 | .354 | .456 | 2.3 |
| Didi Gregorius | 31 | L | 424 | 21 | 73 | .271 | .313 | .481 | 1.9 |
| Cesar Hernandez | 31 | S | 510 | 11 | 52 | .267 | .339 | .394 | 1.3 |
| Tommy La Stella | 32 | L | 238 | 8 | 30 | .265 | .317 | .408 | 0.9 |
Here’s where it should be mentioned that these ZiPS projections for 2021 were from after the 2019 season. More up-to-date projections will come out later this offseason. Semien was coming off of a 7.6 WAR year, and although LeMahieu had put up an excellent season himself, Fangraphs wasn’t confident that he wasn’t playing a bit over his head.
This season, of course, Semien struggled a bit while LeMahieu is in the conversation for MVP. So even though Semien’s projections may be a bit high and LeMahieu’s (and La Stella’s) may be a bit low, it might be unwise to read too much into 2020’s short-season madness anyway. Regardless, LeMahieu and Semien would be excellent anchors for the Bulldog’s infield, complemented by the ageless Turner and resurgent Gregorius. Hernandez was one of the Indians’ offensive bright spots this year in addition to his steady defense, and La Stella gave both the Angels and A’s equally solid production while playing multiple spots. If the Bulldogs were a real team, there’d be a lot to like about this infield.
Outfielders
| NAME | AGE | R/L/S | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | WAR |
| George Springer | 31 | R | 484 | 29 | 86 | .271 | .360 | .508 | 4.3 |
| Marcell Ozuna | 30 | R | 509 | 29 | 104 | .279 | .346 | .513 | 2.8 |
| Michael Brantley | 34 | L | 477 | 13 | 65 | .289 | .346 | .438 | 2.0 |
| Jackie Bradley Jr. | 31 | L | 440 | 17 | 58 | .234 | .317 | .420 | 1.4 |
| Nelson Cruz | 40 | R | 395 | 26 | 81 | .266 | .339 | .506 | 1.3 |
Before you mention it, yes, Nelson Cruz has no business standing on the outfield grass anymore – but he’s still plenty valuable as a DH, even at the tender age of 40. The ageless wonder put up 2 WAR in just 53 games this year, so that 1.3 WAR projection for next year definitely looks conservative. Meanwhile, Springer’s gonna Springer, and each of Ozuna, Brantley and Bradley Jr. are coming off very nice years with their old clubs.
Starting Pitchers
| NAME | AGE | R/L | IP | ERA | FIP | WHIP | SO | BB | WAR |
| Trevor Bauer | 30 | R | 174 | 3.76 | 3.79 | 1.26 | 200 | 66 | 3.7 |
| Marcus Stroman | 30 | R | 152 | 3.60 | 3.69 | 1.24 | 130 | 47 | 3.2 |
| Kevin Gausman | 30 | R | 138 | 3.85 | 3.63 | 1.22 | 132 | 38 | 2.7 |
| Jake Odorizzi | 31 | R | 140 | 4.09 | 4.10 | 1.26 | 146 | 49 | 2.6 |
| Masahiro Tanaka | 32 | R | 150 | 4.38 | 4.47 | 1.23 | 130 | 33 | 2.3 |
| Mike Minor | 33 | L | 153 | 4.53 | 4.60 | 1.31 | 136 | 48 | 2.3 |
Six starters to add some depth and account for the 26th roster spot. Aside from Bauer, who is coming off a presumably-Cy Young season and has established himself as a true ace, there’s a dearth of starting pitching on the market so far. Even though that’s bad news for 30 real teams that are hungry for pitching, there’s enough out there to fill out a rotation for the Bulldogs. Stroman didn’t pitch at all in 2020 and is a complete wild card, so it may be in his best interest to take a make-good one-year contract this offseason. Gausman is coming off a nice bounce-back season with the Giants, Tanaka continues to be a decent #3-type, and Minor had some troubles but was excellent in 2019.
Bullpen
| NAME | AGE | R/L | IP | ERA | FIP | WHIP | SO | BB | WAR |
| Liam Hendriks | 32 | R | 65 | 2.88 | 2.74 | 1.05 | 91 | 19 | 1.4 |
| Kirby Yates | 34 | R | 50 | 2.70 | 3.05 | 1.00 | 78 | 15 | 0.9 |
| Drew Smyly | 32 | L | 93 | 4.53 | 4.47 | 1.34 | 93 | 34 | 0.9 |
| Blake Treinen | 33 | R | 56 | 3.34 | 3.66 | 1.29 | 59 | 24 | 0.6 |
| Shane Greene | 32 | R | 53 | 3.71 | 3.68 | 1.20 | 58 | 18 | 0.6 |
| Alex Colomé | 32 | R | 54 | 3.95 | 4.15 | 1.28 | 53 | 20 | 0.5 |
| Trevor Rosenthal | 31 | R | 18 | 5.50 | 5.33 | 1.78 | 21 | 16 | -0.1 |
Rosenthal’s inclusion is worthy of some explanation here. ZiPS projections were formed after his terrible 2019 season when he threw 15.1 innings of 13.5 ERA ball, but he is coming off a great platform season and two of his last three have been great. When updated projections come out this offseason, he’ll undoubtedly be seen as a positive contributor.
Smyly is on this list despite most of his appearances being starts because he did make a couple relief outings, and his brightest future might involve going the way of Drew Pomeranz. Yates is a big name on the list, who went from elite closer to injury-riddled afterthought in the span of a year. Treinen was an elite closer himself in 2018 and had a decent year in 2020, though he isn’t much of a back-end option anymore. Greene and Colomé, two more arms with closing experience and good recent production, round out a high-ceiling bullpen that would close out a lot of games for the Bulldogs.
Sports Reference calculated that a replacement-level team deserves a record of 48-114, and the Boras Bulldogs project for 53.6 WAR in this year-old ZiPS model. That sets them at between 101 to 102 wins, so they’d be real World Series contenders. Maybe you really CAN buy championships! Thanks Boras!
