Most Popular Picks from MLBTR’s Free Agent Contest

Entries for MLB Trade Rumors’ annual Free Agent Prediction Contest closed on November 13, with 4,604 different readers submitting their landing spot picks for each of the offseason’s top 50 free agents. This year we’re going to offer another fun resource for reference: which teams were the most popular picks for each of the 50 players.

As you might expect, the bigger-spending teams got a lot of attention, even though 21 of the 30 teams were the top picks for at least one free agent. (The Rockies, Cardinals, Pirates, Nationals, Astros, White Sox, Guardians, Royals and Twins were the only teams not listed as top picks.) Of the six players who have already signed, the majority of participants correctly identified that Josh Naylor, Raisel Iglesias and the qualifying quartet of Brandon Woodruff, Trent Grisham, Shota Imanaga and Gleyber Torres would remain with their team. 2025 plowing.

The most popular choice of all 50 players was Bo Bichette returning to the Blue Jays, with 81.5% of participants predicting a reunion. This narrowly resulted in Kyle Schwarber (79.9%) and JT Realmuto (76.1%) re-signing with Philadelphia, as readers are confident the Phillies will retain those two veteran bats, but there is much less consensus on the chances of Ranger Suarez (13.2%) returning to Philly. Eight percent of readers are predicting Ryan Helsley for the Marlins, who represented the lowest top pick of any player in the top 50.

1. Kyle Tucker: Dodgers (39.9%), Yankees (17.8%)
2. Bo Bichette: Blue Jays (81.5%)
3. Dylan stops: Red Sox (20.9%), Cubs (17%), Mets (13.9%)
4. Munetaka Murakami: Mets (20.3%), Mariners (17.4%), Dodgers (16.7%)
5. Alex Bregman: Red Sox (37.3%), Tigers (30.3%)
6. Framber Valdez: Giants (18.7%), Mets (14.2%), Orioles (10.2%), Cubs (9.8%)
7. Tatsuya Imai: Dodgers (20.2%), Mets (13.7%), Giants (12.7%), Cubs (12.6%)
8. Cody Bellinger: Yankees (61.2%)
9. Kyle Schwarber: Phillies (79.9%)
10. Ranger Suarez: Blue Jays (13.2%), Cubs (12.7%), Phillies (12.3%)
11. Pete Alonso: Mets (35.8%), Red Sox (29.6%)
12. Josh Naylor: Sailors (72.6%)
13. Edwin Diaz: Mets (38.1%), Dodgers (23.2%), Yankees (10.2%)
14. Michael King: Orioles (14.5%), Padres (12.3%), Yankees (11.8%)
15. Zac Gallen: Diamondbacks (26.3%), Giants (10.4%), Angels (8.1%)
16. Devin Williams: Dodgers (23.3%), Mets (9%)
17. Brandon Woodruff: Brouwers (30.3%), Mets (18.4%)
18. Trent Grisham: Yankees (25.9%), Angels (13.2%)
19. Kazuma Okamoto: Dodgers (11.6%), Padres (10.9%), Mariners (10%), Angels (9.9%),
20. Eugene Suarez: Sailors (18.7%), Reds (17.5%)
21. Robert Suarez: Dodgers (15.7%), Mets (13.7%), Blue Jays (7%)
22. Shota Imanaga: Cubs (22.1%), Angels (11.6%)
23. Jorge Polanco: Sailors (37.7%), Royals (7.8%)
24. Chris Bassitt: Blue Jays (30.8%), Braves (15.7%)
25. Merrill Kelly: Diamondbacks (38.5%), Rangers (7.3%)
26. Brad Keller: Cubs (15.6%), Braves (12.2%), Yankees (11.6%)
27. Luke Giolito: Red Sox (21.1%), Orioles (9.6%)
28. Hi Seong Kim: Brave (45.4%)
29. JT Realmuto: Phillies (76.1%)
30. Ryan O’Hearn: Marlins (18%), Padres (8.4%)
31. Harrison Bader: Phillies (15.6%), Royals (11.9%), Guardians (8.8%)
32. Raisel Iglesias: Brave (24.3%)
33. Nick Martinez: Red (9.6%), Padres (8.7%)
34. Luis Arraez: Rangers (12.2%), Padres (9.1%), Angels (7.4%)
35. Zack Littell: Angels (12.9%)
36. Ryan Helsley: Marlins (8%)
37. Gleyber Torres: Tigers (59.4%)
38. Justin Verlander: Tigers (29.1%), Astros (18.2%), Giants (18.2%)
39. Cody Ponce: Brewers (11%), Cardinals (10.1%)
40. Kyle Finnegan: Tigers (28.1%)
41. Lucas Weaver: Yankees (17.4%), Cubs (9%)
42. Tyler Rogers: Mets (16.1%), Orioles (13.2%), Giants (13.1%)
43. Seranthony Dominguez: Blue Jays (25%)
44. Pete Fairbanks: Dodgers (12.9%), Cubs (9.3%)
45. Gregory Soto: Blue jays (14.3%)
46. Emilio Pagan: Red (28.8%)
47. Tyler Mahle: Athletics (8.9%), Rangers (8.5%)
48. Max Scherzer: Blue Jays (33.2%), Giants (14.4%), Tigers (11.9%)
49. Victor Caratini: Rays (22.3%), Astros (11.9%)
50. Willie Castro: Parents (10.6%)