Top 5 pitchers for the 2025-2026 off season

Before we roll into the 2026 season we have to take a stop at the annual off season. Like every year teams will be out to tinker, fix, or overhaul their rosters going into the next season. As we have seen every year since the start of free agency teams will be out to get pitching. So let's take a look into the off season and see who the current best available pitchers are.

Dylan Cease: San Diego Padres

2025 Stats

8-12, 4.55 ERA, 168 IP, 215 SO, 1.37 WHIP, 1.1 BWAR

Potential Landing Spots

Cubs, Red Sox, Mets, Giants, Blue Jays

Arguably the best pitcher on the list, Dylan Cease hits the market coming off a season that is subpar to his standard. He turned in 32 starts this year with a total of 168 innings where he had a 4.55 ERA and gave up a career high 21 homers. While struggling to limit the runs this year he found the strikeout gear once again, leading the league with a 11.5 SO/9 with a total of 215 punchouts over the season. The reason that he is still looked at as the market setter for this year's pitching market stems from his ability to have that dominant, standout year that teams are looking for. His two standout years of 2022 and 2024 where he placed top 4 in both Cy Youngs races, even as a runner up in 2022. The teams who are going to be looking for his services are going to want replicas of his two best years. 

What are teams expecting from Cease?

Teams are looking for Dylan Cease to repeat his best two years and buy into his upside like his high strikeout rate and great expected stats. His best year 2022 we saw him go on one of the best pitching runs of all time with 13 straight starts with 1 run or less throughout the summer of ‘22. This success was built on a backbone of incredible ability to get strikeouts and produce whiffs. In 2022, he was 91st percentile with 33.3 whiff percentage accompanied by an impressive 88th percentile strikeout rate of 30.4%. We saw similar stats like this in 2024 with 92 percentile Whiff% and 89 percentile K%. While Dylan Cease saw an increase in ERA up to 4.55, nearly matching his rough 2023 stats, the confidence in his ability to pitch is still at a high. Cease posted a good 74th percentile xERA at 3.43 over a run down from his actual era, Cease also posted a 78th percentile in his 4th place Cy young 2024 year. 

What can we expect from Cease in the future?

I see Dylan Cease as one of the best available with the best stuff in the class. His slider being one of the top in baseball in recent years and having the highest run value in baseball in 2024. He has also worked on his four-seam fastball to get more swings and misses, giving him his highest swinging strike rate of his career. He is also a pitcher who is easy to invest into, as he is 30 years old and has not missed a start in his big league career going on 7 years. Now, the downside of Cease is that he is mostly a two pitch pitcher, last year he went even split of 41 percent for both FF and Sl and mixed in a Changup and Sweeper here and there but nothing substantial. This gives Cease a higher chance to be prone to some regression with his stuff. While I believe that regression is likely to happen to Cease at some point, any team that is looking for an ace for the next 3-4 seasons should look their way to Cease.

Framber Valdez - Houston Astros

2025 Stats

13-11, 3.66 ERA, 192 IP, 187 SO, 1.24 WHIP, 3.8 BWAR

Potential Landing Spots

Rangers, Tigers, Braves, Padres, Astros

Former Astros ace is expected to receive a lot of buzz during this upcoming 2025 Free Agency window. Coming off a down year to his standards, Valdez recorded a K% of 23.3% which is the lowest over his past 4 seasons. Moreover, his spike in BB% and HH% are two major concerns that teams have in whether to invest in the 31 year old this offseason. However, in this case, the pros outweigh the cons heavily when talking about the value of Valdez.

What can we expect from Valdez now?

The 31 year old has a track record of postseason success, fierce competitiveness, and availability. Since the start of 2022, Valdez only had two brief stints on the IL, each having the lefty miss two starts. His postseason track record has shown his ability to find a way to win. In the 2022 World Series, Valdez recorded a 1.46 ERA over 12.1 innings, leading the way to the Astros winning a ring in 6 games.

What can we expect in the future from Valdez?

For the 4th straight season, the southpaw is still expected to fetch Cy Young votes and continue to be placed in the upper echelon of starting pitching. Having said that, in my opinion, there is still more to Valdez than what meets the eye. 2025 saw Valdez feature a 59.4% GB rate, an incredibly high rate. However, Valdez’s defense ranking 21st in Defensive Runs Saved shows how with the right defense, such as, the Braves, Tigers, and Rangers - who all ranked top 10 in DRS - Valdez could continue his reign of dominance at an even higher level.

Michael King: San Diego Padres

2025 Stats

5-3, 3.44 ERA, 73.1 IP, 76 SO, 1.200 WHIP, 1.2 BWAR

Potential Landing Spots

Padres, Blue Jays, Yankees, Orioles

Another San Diego starter hits the open market after emerging as a dominant starter after making the move from the bullpen. While King was limited to only 15 starts in 2025, he posted a strong 3.44 ERA in 73.1 innings with 76 strikeouts. Michael King is also just 2 years from a dominant 2024 season where he posted an ERA of 2.95 in 173.2 innings and got 201 strikeouts. The teams who are going to look for Michael King are expecting him to produce another 2024 season. While Michael King has always had the ability to produce at a high level with a career 130 ERA+ era plus and 139 Era plus first year and 125 Era plus his second year since becoming a starter While teams might be a little concerned with his peripheral stats from last year, I believe that his season and expected stats are hampered by two main injuries during the season. In late May, Michael King was diagnosed with a pinched nerve in his right shoulder, causing him to be placed on the injured list and scratching his start against the Braves. This injury caused him to shut down and not return until August of that year against Boston. While making his first start in months, King goes down with a knee injury and will not take the mound until a month later. 

Does this injury hamper his free agency?

While no team is going to be happy to sign a player coming off an injury, I believe that this one will not affect him as much. King has shown high upside the past two seasons with his dominant 2024 season and continued his dominance in 2025 until his first injury. Up until May 18th his last healthy start he had fantastic stats of a 2.59 ERA and a WHIP just over 1 at 1.02. After one rough start coming back from injury, King showed a glimpse of his good self with a great outing against the White Sox, where he only gave up two hard hit balls all game.

So what can we expect from Michael King in the future?

I believe that King can and will be dominant again into the future especially in the next 4-5 years. As he is only 30 years old and has produced for 5 seasons now. If his health stays the same, he can be a front line starter like how he was with San Diego or can be one of the games top 3-4 starters and make a big impact in playoff runs. While I see a big upside for Michael King, his floor is very high. As he was mainly used as a bullpen arm for the Yankees before making his transition to starting later in 2023.This experience can keep King's innings flexible on a year to year basis. The hope for teams in Michael King is to get his fastball back up to his peak 2022-2024 years. While he did see a big drop off from positive 4 run value into negative 5 this year, I believe this stemmed from his injury. I believe that a turn around on his fastball shape can produce some of his best work in the next few years.

Ranger Suarez: Philadelphia Phillies

2025 Stats

12-8, 3.20 ERA, 157.1 IP, 154 SO, 1.22 WHIP, 4.7 BWAR

Potential Landing Spots

Blue Jays, Red Soxs, Braves, Phillies,

Ranger Suarez is coming off arguably his best full season of his career since 2021 with a productive 3.20 ERA and 137 ERA+, Suarez found himself as the 2-3 starter for the Phillies behind a dominant season from Christopher Sanchez and an injury to Zack Wheeler. To start the season, Ranger Suarez was on the IL with a sore back, recurring from previous seasons. His first game back was a rough, going 3.2 innings, allowing 7 hits and 7 runs but after that ran off a dominant stretch throughout the rest of the season. The southpaw threw 5 or more innings in every start besides three to a tune of a 2.80 ERA. Ranger Suarez also crushed his expected stats and savant data, with 80th percentile or above in run valve, both breaking and offspeed run value, xERA, Avg Exit Velo, BB%, Barrel%, and Hard-Hit%.  While another year of Fastball Velo decreasing to 7th percentile and whiff rate to 24th percentile this is not a concern with his ability to produce weak contact and low hard hit percentage.

What are teams looking for from Suarez?

With Ranger Suarez being another 30 year old free agent for this class, he’s coming into the market at a good time. After a breakout year in 2021 he has put together his 5th successful season in a row, with this last year being the best. With his recent success teams should expect a season of 150-170 innings with a 3.10-3.60 ERA and similar FIP. Fangraphs projects him to get up to 169 innings with a 3.55 ERA with 29 starts. Teams also are wanting Suarez to be a strong Number 2 or 3 starter that can help extend their rotation and also produce in October. In 42.2 innings Suarez has dominated in the postseason to a 1.48 ERA with 44 strikeouts, so, teams with recent or hope for playoff success can benefit from Suarez’s playoff rise.

So what can we expect from Suarez?

I expect Ranger Suarez to continue to produce at the level like he has for the next 4-5 years. With his expected stats and percentile rankings continuing to improve each year, this gives him a strong outlook for future success. Pair that with adding a slider that he threw 19% of the time against lefties which dropped his WHIP against lefties to under 1 for the 4th time in 5 years. Moreover, we can expect his success to continue from this stretch to continue for the next 4-5 years. 

Brandon Woodruff - Milwaukee Brewers

2025 Stats:

• 7-2,  3.20 ERA, 0.912 WHIP, 64.2 IP, 83 SO, 1.2 BWAR

Potential Landing Spots

• Mets, Giants, Phillies, Cubs

32 year old Brandon Woodruff is flying under so many radars this off season just because of his injury history. The righty was sidelined most of 2023 and all of 2024 recovering from Anterior Capsule Surgery in his shoulder. However, this injury doesn’t take away from the dominance that Woodruff had in his limited appearances in 2025. Woodruff dominated to an insane 2.18 xERA and .172 xBA. Despite the dip of 3 MPH on his fastball from 2023 to 2025, the former Brewer had his highest K% and lowest BB% of his career. Although his 2025 season ended early due to a lat strain, there is no doubt that Woodruff is a Cy Young candidate as long as he can stay on the field. 

What are teams looking for in Woodruff?

Woodruff is a high upside arm this off season. Teams aren’t going to be able to rely on him for close to 200 innings like the other starters on the market, however, if you’re asking for the best starting pitcher in terms of getting outs and keeping runs off the board, it's Brandon Woodruff. Big concerns will be keeping the righty off the injured list and hoping his stuff doesn’t decline like the past has shown. Yet, despite declines, Woodruff just finds a way. It’s a special nature you can’t find in many other arms who have battled injuries like Woodruff has. Expect Woodruff to not lead a rotation, but join a team looking to create one of the best 1-2 punches across the MLB.

What can we expect from Brandon Woodruff in the Future?

While I hope that he can find a 3-4 year stretch without any injuries I don't see that to be the case. I can see a good 3-4 year stretch that could be compirable to degrom from 2022 to 2025 as he was great when on the field but limited action, but a full healthy season shows why he is the player he is. The best outlook for a team is to try to figure out a way to get his innings in the most impactful time, while a full season from Woodruff is Cy young level pitching the injury history will be taking into account during his early season load, especially on a long term deal. To close it out teams who are after Woodruff are either after his upside and hoping for a full year with Cy young level performance or they are banking his 60-100 innings for an October run.