Five MLB free agents who just missed the top 50: Two former All-Stars, an ex-Yankee and more

Earlier this week, CBS Sports published my annual ranking of Major League Baseball’s 50 best free agents. Today, I’m partaking in a different post-publication tradition: explaining why I omitted some notable players.

The dirty secret about listmaking is that, after a certain point, the names are largely interchangeable. There’s no inherent difference between being the No. 50 and No. 51 free agent — other than, you know, one goes in the article and the other does not. That is to say, the players included here were all considered for spots late on the list; I just found myself preferring other players for this or that reason.

What, precisely, was “this or that reason”? Below, I’ve explained my thinking on five players in particular, including a couple of former All-Stars.

1. Alex Cobb, RHP

I’ve long appreciated Cobb’s game, and there’s no denying his competitiveness. He made the All-Star Game for the first time in 2023, suggesting he still has something to offer a team. At the same time, I suspect he may have to settle for a non-roster deal this winter. Why? He’s a 37-year-old coming off a season in which he was limited by injury to just three starts. Cobb’s three-pitch mix (sinker, splitter, curve) grades out OK, so it’s possible that he ends up cracking a rotation come next spring. I just couldn’t justify giving him a spot without feeling he was more likely to land a guaranteed deal.

2. John Means, LHP

Means, a 2019 All-Star, has always been a highly effective changeup artist when healthy. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been hearty and hale often in recent years. He’s made 10 combined starts since the end of the 2021 season, and he underwent his second Tommy John surgery over the summer. Even if you’re optimistic about Means’ recovery, he’s probably not going to be much of a factor this season. An incentive-laden one-year pact with a club option seems like his ceiling.

3. Paul DeJong, SS

DeJong is coming off a surprisingly productive season, homering 24 times and posting a 97 OPS+ while splitting the year between the White Sox and Royals. Given that there’s few solid shortstops available this winter, it would stand to reason that DeJong deserves a spot somewhere near the bottom — like, say, where I placed Kevin Newman. My reservation with DeJong is that I don’t buy his bat. He struck out more than 32% of the time this season (including more than 37% down the stretch); he doesn’t walk a ton; and his home-run tally obscures that he doesn’t hit the ball hard or pull it frequently. That’s not a profile that I see teams flocking to this winter.

4. Danny Jansen, C

There aren’t a lot of attractive catching options, but a few factors caused me to forgo including Jansen in the top 50. Foremost, he’s coming off a down season. His 87 OPS+ was the worst he’s managed since 2020, and he was putrid after a midseason deal shipped him to Boston. Additionally, Jansen has always struggled with injury, to the extent that he hasn’t cleared 350 plate appearances since 2019. I think teams would be more forgiving of that aspect if he were a sure thing to provide above-average offense, à la Mitch Garver last offseason. Without that, what is there to bank on here?

5. Alex Verdugo, OF

Verdugo is a good defensive corner outfielder with a track record of being a league-average bat. He’s coming off a career-worst season, however, and it’s tough to overlook how the market offers a similar player (in Max Kepler) who seems to offer less drama. (And note that we didn’t rank Kepler, either.) Verdugo will almost certainly land a gig somewhere anyway; heck, he might even prove to be a nifty buy-low addition.