Major League Baseball and the MLB Players' Association have come to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which means we can turn the hot stove — which has been set to a simmer — back to high again.
Signing free agents is risky business. There are more cautionary tales than success stories — particularly when the cash values increase.
But each team — even some of the most snakebitten and stingy franchises in sports — have seen success on the market.
Here are the best free-agent signings by all 30 MLB teams.
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Baltimore Orioles – Roberto Alomar
You don't have to like the man, but you can't argue with his results. Alomar was a three-time All-Star and he took the O's to the ALCS twice in his three years in Baltimore after signing before the 1996 season.
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Boston Red Sox – David Ortiz
One of the greatest players in Red Sox franchise history and best clutch postseason hitters in all of baseball history, Boston signed him to a non-guaranteed deal in 2003.
Chicago White Sox – Carlton Fisk
Played 13 years and hit 214 home runs for the White Sox after starting his career in Boston and supposedly had his contract from Red Sox ownership be sent too late.
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Cleveland Indians – Juan Gonzalez
Signed to a one-year, $10-million make-good deal in 2001, Juan Gone made good with an All-Star season where he hit 35 homers and drove in 140. He re-signed with Texas the next year and never regained that kind of form.
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Cecil Fielder – Detroit Tigers
Came back from a poor-play exile in Japan in 1990 to sign a two-year deal worth $3 million with the Tigers and promptly hit 51 homers.
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Houston Astros – Nolan Ryan
Ryan became baseball's first million-dollar-a-year player when he signed with this hometown Astros in 1979. The Angels let him walk because they were concerned that Ryan wouldn't have a long career after an injury in his age-32 season.
Ryan pitched until he was 46 and struck out another 2,805 batters.
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Kansas City Royals – Hal McRae
Signed with Kansas City from the Reds in 1973 and helped the Royals to two pennants and the team's first World Series. He was a 27.7 WAR player in his 15 years in K.C.
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Los Angeles Angels – Vladimir Guerrero
Vlad won the AL MVP his first year in Anaheim and then helped lead the Angels to five AL West titles in his six years in Orange County, after signing a $82 million deal in 2004. He was a 22.8 WAR player in those six years, having hit 173 homers and posting a .927 OPS.
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Minnesota Twins – Jack Morris
Morris signed a one-year deal for 1991 and then delivered a World Series title.
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New York Yankees – Reggie Jackson
The Yankees have a lot of practice at this, but Jackson was the trendsetter and one of the best players in Yankee history.
Mr. October takes the crown.
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Oakland Athletics – Dave Stewart
Released by the Phillies in the spring of 1986, the A's signed Stewart to a bare-bones deal in 1986. He proceeded to win 20 games four-straight years — helping the team to two titles in that time.
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Seattle Mariners – Ichiro
All the other players on this list went from one Major League team to another, but we'll break precedent for Ichiro, one of the greatest baseball players to ever live, who signed with the Mariners from Japan before the 2001 season.
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Tampa Bay Rays – Carlos Pena
Not a lot to choose from, but after signing with Tampa Bay before the 2007 season, Pena's Gulf Coast renaissance helped the Rays reach the World Series in 2008
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Texas Rangers – Alex Rodriguez
You could make the argument that this could be Adrian Beltre, but that argument would be wrong.
Love him or hate him, A-Rod produced after he signed the largest deal in baseball history in December 2000. In three years in Texas, he posted a 1.011 OPS.
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Toronto Blue Jays – Roger Clemens
Signed a four-year, $40 million deal with Toronto before the 1997 season and won the pitching triple crown in both seasons north of the border before he was traded to the Yankees.
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Arizona Diamondbacks – Randy Johnson
A no-brainer.
Johnson, paired with Curt Shilling, helped the D-Backs win the World Series in 2001 — his first year with the team. He won four Cy Young Awards in four years in Arizona.
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Atlanta Braves – Greg Maddux
Duh.
Maddux turned down a larger offer from the Yankees in 1992 to sign with the Braves for five years and $28 million. He was a 66 WAR player in 11 seasons in Atlanta.
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Chicago Cubs – Jon Lester
The go-to answer for this is Andre Dawson, but let's switch it up.
I have written that Jon Lester was the best $155 million the Cubs have ever spent and since the team won the World Series this past year, I have to stand by that.
Lester brought the Cubs an ace and a playoff bulldog. His impact on the team that broke The Curse was such that if he never throws another pitch in Chicago, you could say he was worth that $155 million.
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Cincinnati Reds – Dave Parker
The Reds do not sign guys.
But they did land Parker, a hometown kid, in 1984 after 11 years with the Pirates. Parker was a two-time All-Star in his four years in Cincinnati, driving home 432 runs before he was traded to the A's.
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Colorado Rockies – Larry Walker
One of the smoothest swings you'll ever see and one of the best signings ever made — Walker made the Rockies legitimate when he signed before the 1995 season for four years and $22 million.
Walker posted an absurd 1.044 OPS in 10 years with the Rockies.
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Los Angeles Dodgers – Kirk Gibson
The Dodgers, shockingly, do no have a great free-agent track record. But Oct. 15, 1988 made Kirk Gibson the best signing in the team's history. They haven't won a World Series since.
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Miami Marlins – Kevin Brown
The Marlins, on the other hand, do have an excellent free-agent track record, but few can stack up with Brown, who signed with Florida before the 1996 season. Before he was traded away in the last year of his three-year, $12.9 million deal, Brown was arguably the best pitcher in the National League. He posted a 2.30 ERA in two years in South Florida and helped the Marlins win their first World Series championship.
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Milwaukee Brewers – Mike Cameron
No team has a worse free-agent track record than the Brewers, so Mike Cameron is the winner. He was pretty good in his time in Milwaukee and helped the Brew Crew make the playoffs in 2008.
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New York Mets – John Olerud
Some believe this snakebitten franchise's best free agent signing is Carlos Beltran. No sir — if we're factoring in value, it has to be Olerud.
The first baseman was a Met before he re-signed in 1997, but he did fully hit the market before he signed a two-year deal worth $8 million.
In all, he had a slash line of .315/.425/.501 in 476 games in Flushing.
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Philadelphia Phillies – Pete Rose
Rose was seen as washed up by the time he made it to the Phillies in 1979. He was old — about to turn 38 — when he inked the biggest deal in baseball, four years, $3.2 million. Rose played in Philadelphia for five years and had 826 hits in that time.
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Pittsburgh Pirates – Russell Martin
Martin wasn't the biggest free agent, but he, like Jon Lester, was a culture change signing.
With Martin behind the plate for two years, the Pirates made the postseason for the first time in 21 years in 2013 and again in 2014.
Totally worth the $17 million.
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San Diego Padres – Rollie Fingers
He was going to sign with the Red Sox before the 1977 season, but the commissioner of baseball voided the purchase, so Fingers signed with the Padres, where he made $266k per year until he was traded.
In four years as the Padres' closer, Fingers saved 108 games.
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San Francisco Giants – Barry Bonds
Another no brainer.
No matter what you think about Bonds, the numbers stand, and they are astounding. He hit 586 homers in 15 years in San Francisco, winning five MVP awards and posting an obscene 1.143 OPS over that decade and a half.
Not bad for a six-year, $43.75 million deal before the 1993 season.
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St Louis Cardinals – Chris Carpenter
Another tough team — the Cardinals prefer to home grow or trade for their players — but Carpenter, a mainstay in their rotation for all their success over the last 10 years, signed a one-year, $500k contract before the 2003 season, which he sat out.
But he stayed with the Cardinals in 2004 — helping them win the pennant — and then he won the Cy Young in 2005.
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Washington Nationals – Jayson Werth
We're not counting the Expos' history, so it's just the Washington era, and it comes down to Livan Hernandez, Max Scherzer, who just completed his first year in D.C., or Werth, who signed a seven-year, $126 million contract before the 2011 season.
Werth has hit 99 homers in his six years in Washington, and his 2013 season, where he had a .931 OPS was excellent.
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