Top 5 MLB Free Agent Shortstops for 2025

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Willy Adames (Photo by Tom DiPace)

October baseball is in the air, which means the offseason isn't long in coming. We identify the top MLB free agent teams that could be targeted this winter by taking a data-driven approach to this year's group of players. We will be releasing new position groups in the coming days.

Below is our breakdown of the top 10 free agent first basemen and designated hitters in the 2025 class, including three-year averages for several key metrics.

Our list leverages the work of MLB Trade Rumors for the free agent roster, as well as FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus and Baseball Reference for player win values ​​above the baseline, Baseball Savant and Baseball Prospectus for defensive data, and FanGraphs for all other data. We encourage our readers and subscribers to consider subscribing to FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus as well.

Adames will be on the right side of 30 when he enters free agency, which is by far the deepest shortstop option available. I only present three years of data above, which would suggest that Willy's defense is declining. However, according to Baseball Savant, his glove was about five runs better this year than in 2020-21. Baseball Prospectus projects it to be about five runs worse than 2020-21. The more detailed fielding metrics available at Baseball Savant, such as his arm strength and sprint speed, suggest a player with the same athletic ability. He should be able to play competent shortstop for at least a few more years.

With the bat, Adames shows the importance of hitting the ball in the air. Judging by his 90th percentile exit velocity and his average exit velocities (both slightly below average this year) and his maximum exit velocity (plus), he has about average raw power, but hits a lot of home runs due to his 20-degree average launch angle. This is the template for a player like Arjun Nimmala in the Blue Jays system, whose underlying stats are similar.

If we dig deeper, he achieves above-average launch angles on all pitch types, with the optimized swing sacrificing zone contact and regular contact. He's aggressive in the zone against all pitch types, with about average chase, indicating strong swing decisions. This is the recipe for hitting 30 home runs with average raw power: Be aggressive, swing at hittable pitches, and hit them in the air.

All in all, Adames is clearly in a class of his own in this free agent class.

Kim maximizes his abilities and is a great example of how a player can add tremendous value by playing a good shortstop and performing above league average. His low batting average is more due to an extremely passive approach that gives him more walks at the expense of more strikeouts. His raw contact ability is tremendous and well above average against all pitch types except four-seamers, against which he is slightly above average. He doesn't hit the ball very hard and given his past success, this seems to be an approach that works well for him.

He may choose to stay in San Diego, but he seems like a great fit for almost any contending team, especially given his defensive versatility. His arm strength, reach and sprint speed were all at 74 percent or better, so he expects to maintain his athletic ability to be a valuable shortstop for many years to come.

Age is just a number.

Despite declining foot speed and arm strength, Rojas used his veteran know-how to give the Dodgers an incredible season. Rojas is the exact opposite of a “Statcast standout” in that his arm strength is poor (42nd percentile), his sprint speed is terrible (15th percentile), and his exit velocity numbers are as close to the low end of the scale as possible. It's pretty remarkable how good a defender he was, despite metrics that suggest he can't play shortstop anymore.

Rojas' future projection depends on how much you believe in his BABIP, which was terrible in 2022 and 2023 but has been at least .295 since 2019 outside of those two seasons. His WRC+ number makes his 2022-23 seasons look particularly dismal , but his DRC+ is 93, 112, 90, 87, 84 and 102 since 2019, according to Baseball Prospectus, indicating stable skill.

Rojas excels at his tools, but sometimes tools aren't everything. He won't get the big bucks given his age and ability, but he will be a valuable player at a very high level for the team that signs him.

Start angle, start angle, start angle.

Players who have an average launch angle of about 20 degrees on their batted balls often hit at least 20 home runs or more, even at average launch velocities. However, all of this comes at a price. DeJong is very aggressive and has a lot of swing-and-miss moves in his game, making him an all-or-nothing type of player for the most part. He won't gain much value getting on base or advancing runners with singles. This limits his value significantly, as we can see from his win totals over the last three years.

Ultimately, these rankings are more a reflection of the available pool of shortstops than a clear endorsement of DeJong's baseball ability.

Newman and DeJong were born two days apart but couldn't be more different in their value creation.

With Newman, he'll either get a single or he won't provide much value. A five home run season would be about the maximum you could expect from him. Teams that value home runs more than avoiding strikeouts will likely prefer DeJong, but these two will likely provide similar value in very different ways.

At the end of the day, for teams that have a hole at shortstop that needs to be filled through free agency, there are probably only three players who are projected to be average or better.