There is always fierce competition for starting pitching on the open market. This offseason should be no exception, but the current crop of starters available through free agency is an especially interesting one.

There is no clear-cut, standout, obvious ace who tops all the rest. Instead, there is a group of somewhere between four and six pitchers -- depending on your interpretation -- who could credibly slot in at or near the top of someone’s rotation in 2026. There isn’t a ton of separation between these arms, which have, in some cases, wildly divergent strengths and weaknesses. Different teams might have very different orders of preference based on their own evaluations.

Signings & Trades

The same was true for the 15 MLB.com voters who participated in a free-agent edition of the Star

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