Absent a Shohei Ohtani or Juan Soto-like titan, the 2026 MLB free agent class features a far more balanced collection of impactful players. Many of them are in line for substantial paydays. Dylan Cease set the market for starting pitching at $210 million. Rumor has it Kyle Tucker could receive north of $400 million when all is said and done.
While there are still several big-ticket free agents driving the conversation right now — Pete Alonso, Kyle Schwarber, Bo Bichette, Framber Valdez, Cody Bellinger, and of course, Tucker — there are also several under-the-radar, bargain-bin types that could do an admirable job in lieu of those marquee names. If your team can't afford the best of the best, fear not. There's probably a worthwhile alternative closer to their price range.
Premium free agent: 1B Pete Alonso
Bargain alternative: 1B Rhys Hoskins
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso should command a significant market this winter. The five-time All-Star slugged 38 home runs last season, posting an .871 OPS and 144 OPS+ — his best all-around numbers since his miraculous rookie breakthrough all the way back in 2019.
Alonso has his shortcomings, to be sure. He strikes out a ton. He's a bad defensive first baseman, verging on full-time DH territory. But he's also one of the most productive offensive weapons of the last decade, and more importantly, he's durable. The 31-year-old has appeared in at least 152 games in each of his seven MLB seasons, the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign notwithstanding.
Any team signing Alonso can count on significant run production in the heart of their lineup for the foreseeable future. His hitting profile makes him prone to cold spells, but Alonso draws a ton of walks and packs a serious intimidation factor, even when he's not roping hits over the wall. He led the NL with 41 doubles last season, driving the baseball to all fields at a high level. He shouldn't be mislabeled as a boom-or-bust, empty-calories power source.
That said, if your team comes up short on Alonso's sky-high asking price, Rhys Hoskins makes for a quality alternative at first base. He's a better defender, for starters. He also strikes out a ton, but his lofty 11.6 percent walk rate and .332 on-base percentage can stimulate the middle of a lineup. Hoskins has dealt with his share of injuries in recent years, but when healthy, he's a 30-plus home run threat operating in a similar, if slightly lesser capactiy than Alonso.
Premium free agent: SP Framber Valdez
Bargain alternative: SP Jordan Montgomery
Houston Astros lefty Framber Valdez is the best starting pitcher on the market following Dylan Cease's watershed $210 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. Valdez is an imperfect ace. His sportsmanship, for lack of a better term, came under question when he blatantly crossed up his own catcher amid frustration. But, pound for pound, he's the crème de la crème for available pitchers and a potential needle-mover for any contender.
The sinkerballing southpaw is a paragon of durability and consistency. He has a sub-4.00 ERA in six straight seasons. He has at least 28 starts and 176.0 innings pitched in four straight seasons. You can broadly count on Valdez to take the mound every fifth game and provide stable results. He finished 2025 with a groundball rate in MLB's 97th percentile. Put a quality defense behind Valdez, and it becomes difficult for an opposing lineup to detonate.
There's a chance we see Valdez join Cease in the $200 million club, even at 32 years old. If your team fancies a less burdensome investment, however, look to Jordan Montgomery. Another lefty with an effective sinker and spritely complementary pitches, Montgomery inked a one-year, $25 million contract with the Diamondbacks in 2024. He imploded, then he got hurt. Montgomery picked up his $22.5 million player option for 2025 and missed the entire season.
It's hard to know exactly what to expect from the 32-year-old on the other side of elbow surgery, but Montgomery was essential to the Texas Rangers' 2023 World Series run. If he gets healthy and settles into new surroundings, there's a world in which Montgomery becomes a bankable No. 2 or No. 3 starter, like he was before his ill-fated sojourn in Phoenix.
Premium free agent: SS Bo Bichette
Bargain alternative: 2B Luis Arráez
Bo Bichette found his stride again in 2025, hitting .311 with an .840 OPS and 129 OPS+. One of the absolute best contact hitters in MLB, Bichette's ability to perceive the strike zone and fend off pitches in second to none. He generates consistent hard contact to all fields and, while home runs aren't his bread and butter, Bichette is the perfect new-age cleanup bat. He stacks extra-base hits (44 doubles last season) and drives in runs en masse (94 RBI).
That said, Bichette was also among the worst defensive shortstops in MLB last season. The Blue Jays mitigated those concerns by bumping Bichette to second base in the World Series — a move that paid dividends. Bichette probably won't post dramatically better metrics at second, but a move to a less premium position could extend his lifespan in the infield. Whether he's in Toronto or not, Bichette's next contract will bank on him not becoming a full-time DH before his 30th birthday.
If Bichette exceeds your favorite team's spending limit, Luis Arráez could be a worthwhile alternative. Arráez is a bit of a complicated evaluation nowadays. He is absolutely elite in the contact department — 100th percentile in strikeout rate, whiff rate, and squared-up rate — but unlike Bichette, he lags behind in the hard contact department. Arráez is a singles machine, basically. He's sluggish on the base paths and a weak point on defense. The Padres primarily used Arráez at first base or DH last season, although he's traditionally a second baseman, with trace utility at third base.
Arráez, like Bichette, is a candidate to lead the league in hits in any given season. He shares comparable shortcomings as a defender, but like Bichette, is at least versatile enough to slide around to a handful of different infield positions based on team need. Arráez is only a year older than Bichette, too, still is the prime of his career at 28. Bichette does the same things at a much, much higher level, but Arráez can still help a team win in the right situation.
Premium free agent: OF Cody Bellinger
Bargain alternative: OF Harrison Bader
Cody Bellinger has put together one of the more fascinating careers in recent history. An MVP and world champion with the Dodgers in 2019, Bellinger's value cratered around COVID. The man hit .165 with a .542 OPS and 44 OPS+ just two years after winning the league's top individual honor. Joining the Cubs on a prove-it deal in 2023, Bellinger found himself back in the saddle. After a slightly bumpier 2024, Chicago dealt him to the New York Yankees to clear space for Kyle Tucker.
Yankee Stadium was kind to Bellinger. He put together his most complete campaign since 2019, posting an .813 OPS and 125 OPS+. He tallied 29 home runs, 98 RBI and 13 stolen bases, all while playing stellar defense in left field for a New York team that desperately needed his glove. That all makes Bellinger an extremely intriguing free agent. He can move all over the outfield as needed, and even spend time at first base when called upon. A lefty, Bellinger actually hits southpaws better than he hits right-handed pitchers. He doesn't generate much hard contact, but Bellinger clocks pitch locations and battles deep into counts far better than your average Yankee.
Bellinger should command six or seven years of substantial pay as a result of his well-roundedness. If you're looking for a slightly less stable, but equally versatile and dynamic option, look no further than Harrison Bader.
The 2025 campaign was a coming out party of sorts for Bader, especially after he arrived in Philadelphia at the deadline. Bader logged an .824 OPS and 122 OPS+ in 50 games with the Phillies. Like Bellinger, Bader offers a little bit of everything. He's a shutdown, Gold Glove-type defender in centerfield, but can slide over to the corners if needed. He can slug it on occasion and he's frisky on the bases, capable of stealing 10-20 bags per season.
Bader's year-to-year impact tends to fluctuate violently, but he found a higher gear in 2025 and he's worth the gamble for any team that comes up short in the Belli Bomb sweepstakes.
Premium free agent: DH Kyle Schwarber
Bargain alternative: 3B Eugenio Suárez
Kyle Schwarber put together his best season at the perfect time. The 32-year-old DH enters free agency as the best pure hitter on the market. He finished 2025 with a whopping 56 home runs and 132 RBI, posting a .928 OPS and 156 OPS+. That landed Schwarber second in NL MVP voting, behind only Shohei Ohtani.
There are certain limitations to signing a mid-30s DH for a ton of money — and no, Schwarber can't move back to the field — but there's no way around it. Schwarber's bat immediately changes the trajectory of whichever team he joins. If the Phillies re-sign him, the Phillies remain favorites in the NL East. If he goes to Boston, Cincinnati, Baltimore, wherever, those lineups take on a whole new dimension.
Schwarber strikes out a ton, but he makes up for it with a healthy volume of walks. He also improved his approach in meaningful ways this past season; Schwarber won't shorten his swing and churn out bloop singles on two-strike counts, but he isn't nearly as hot-or-cold as he was a couple years ago.
If Schwarber exeeds the price point of your favorite team, Eugenio Suárez supplies an intriguing alternative at a far lower market value. Suárez mashed last season, cranking 49 home runs with an .824 OPS and 126 OPS+ between Arizona and Seattle. Unfortunately, Suárez's production plummeted in a major way after the trade deadline (.627 OPS in 53 regular season games for the Mariners). Like Schwarber, Suárez tends to trade off contact for power. He strikes out... a lot. And unlike Schwarber, Suárez has not fully figured out how to stabilize his approach.
Suárez is serviceable at third base, but he's on a DH track and would fill that need for any number of rejected Schwarber suitors. Inking the 34-year-old to a short-term contract and hoping that he can mirror his first-half production from last season, rather than his second-half production, is not a bad idea.