MLB free agent rankings by pure power: Why Schwarber could – and should – sign first

Kyle Schwarber will finish second in NL MVP voting behind Shohei Ohtani after a dominant season. Schwarber has never had trouble hitting the ball hard and far, but never has he put together a more well-rounded campaign at the plate. He upped his average to a career high .256 and drew 108 walks, his second-highest total in 11 MLB seasons.

Schwarber's .928 OPS and 150 OPS+ put him in rarified air. He led the NL in homers (56) and RBI (132). Now, he's a free agent, available to the highest bidder. The Philadelphia Phillies certainly want to keep him around, but it will be a competitive marketplace — and it's telling that no common ground was found before it reached this point.

The expectation is that Schwarber could fly off the board early in free agency, perhaps becoming the first major domino to fall, per MLB insider Jon Morosi. Does that bode well for the Phillies? Only time will tell, but the persistent rumors, which connect him to the Boston Red Sox and other contenders, are less than ideal for anxious Philadelphia fans.

Let's dive into a stacked 2026 free agent class to see how the best available hitters measure up to the offseason's biggest power-hitting prize.

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Ranking Kyle Schwarber and MLB free agents by home runs

Kyle Schwarber will set the market this offseason

It sure sounds like Schwarber might be the first domino to fall. He's a unique case. On paper, there's a lot of risk in handing significant long-term money to a mid-30s DH with a history of high strikeout rates. But Schwarber is such a significant power threat that the benefits outweigh the negatives, especially given his leadership qualities and the soundness of his track record. It helps that he also draws a ton of walks and finds other ways to get on base, leveraging the immense fear he invokes in every pitcher he faces.

Whether he re-signs with the Phillies, leaves for familiar stomping grounds in Boston, or winds up with a surprise third team (New York Mets? Chicago Cubs?), Schwarber can expect a healthy payday on the heels of his best individual campaign to date. That the Phillies appear so desperate to keep him is just another feather in his cap. Schwarber's value to that team cannot be overstated.

Eugenio Suárez, Pete Alonso and Trent Grisham are intriguing risk-reward gambles

It's fair to say the best overall hitters on this list, besides Schwarber, are probably Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger and Alex Bregman. And yet, the next three-best home run hitters last season were Eugenio Suárez, Pete Alonso and Trent Grisham. All pack serious upside. All of them can change the trajectory of a game with a single swing. But there are risks baked in as well, which will test teams' appetite for pure power at the expense of defense and on-base percentage.

Alonso is a 30-year-old first baseman on a tangible decline defensively. Suárez is a consistently below-average third baseman in the field — and he strikes out a ton, with a long history of torrid power streaks followed by frigid cold spells. Grisham was basically an afterthought for New York coming into the season, but after struggling to stick in the lineup in 2024 (.675 OPS and 91 OPS+), something clicked (.811 OPS and 125 OPS+). He's 29, he's a negative defender in centerfield and will need to be demoted to a corner with his next club. But he hit 34 home runs and picked up 74 RBI, batting leadoff for the most explosive offense in the AL. His eventual contract could tell us a lot about just how rabid the market is this winter.

Bo Bichette stands out as an elite contact hitter

Bo Bichette was hurt for much of the Toronto Blue Jays' postseason run, but he's coming off an incredible bounce-back campaign that saw him finish with a .311 average and .840 OPS. He hit 18 home runs and his career high is 29, which is nothing to scoff out. But raw power is not Bichette's primary selling point, which speaks for the variety included on this list.

Yes, Bichette can lay into a pitch. That ability was on full display with his absolute tank off of Shohei Ohtani in Game 7 of the World Series. But what makes Bichette special is his ability to work deep into counts, fight off pitches, and just find ways on-base. His power is most frequently on display with line drive doubles into the gaps — not on light tower shots that crack the SportsCenter Top 10.

Alex Bregman and Josh Naylor fall into a similar vein as highly disciplined, well-rounded hitters whose value is hardly rooted in home run totals. You need to slug in today's MLB — there's increasingly little patience for pure contact hitters like Luis Arraez or Steven Kwan — but home runs aren't only a small slice of the equation when evaluating the best hitters. Extra base hits and on-base percentage are far more dependable metrics of quality offense than home runs.

The opposite end of the spectrum includes niche, situational power merchants like Marcell Ozuna and Josh Bell. Both should garner interest, but those are aging vets destined for streamlined roles, rather than the centerpiece of a team's offseason plans.