With the regular season in the books, MLBTR is taking a position-by-position look at the 2026-27 free agent market. Next up are the center fielders. There are no slam-dunk everyday options — MLBTR’s Anthony Franco took a look at the trend of underwhelming center field classes a couple weeks ago — but there are some interesting bounceback candidates to consider.
Player ages are for the 2027 season, and names within each tier are listed alphabetically, not “ranked.” Only players who appeared in MLB (or on major league 60-day injured lists) this year are included.
Previous entries in this series: Catcher, First Base, Second Base, Third Base, Shortstop
Current or Recent Center Field Regulars
TJ Friedl (31)
Friedl entered the 2026 season locked in as the Reds’ primary center fielder — and understandably so. In 2025, he slashed .261/.364/.378 (112 wRC+) with 14 homers and a dozen steals. The lefty-swinging Friedl was far better against righties but held his own against fellow southpaws.
By early June this season, Friedl had been optioned to Triple-A. He was hitting so poorly (.179/.259/.256) that the Reds had little choice. Friedl returned four weeks later when Blake Dunn suffered an injury, but he never found his footing. The Reds placed him on outright waivers in August. He went unclaimed. A month later, they designated Friedl for assignment and passed him through outright waivers. He elected free agency yesterday.
Friedl has never been a plus defender, and his power output has always been below-average. But at his best, he offered quality bat-to-ball skills with enough walks to notch strong on-base percentages, good baserunning, and enough defensive acumen to hold things down in center field. This year was an unmitigated disaster, but Friedl has multiple seasons where he’s been worth 3 WAR or better. Any team that signs him will be able to control him via arbitration into 2028, as he finished the current season with four-plus years of service time.
Trent Grisham (30)
Grisham had a breakout season in 2025, belting a career-high 34 homers with a career-best 14.1% walk rate. He hasn’t come close to replicating that output in 2026, in part due to injuries. Grisham missed about seven weeks due to a pair of IL stints for a right hamstring strain — one in June and another in September.
When he’s been on the field, Grisham’s season has been a mixed bag. On the plus side, he cut his strikeout rate from last year’s 23.6% to a career-best 18.4%. For a player who fanned at a 28% clip from 2022-24, it’s a notable uptick in contact ability. However, Grisham’s power output dwindled. He popped 18 homers in 484 plate appearances — 16 fewer home runs in only 97 fewer trips to the plate. His ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average) fell sharply, from .229 last year to .184 this year. His defense in center graded well below average for a second straight season. Statcast actually credited him with a stronger throwing arm than in 2025, but his range diminished even without an appreciable downturn in his sprint speed.
Grisham has never been great against lefties, but he was close to league average in 2026. The big surprise was a precipitous step back in his production against righties: .254/.364/.506 in 2025 compared to .201/.305/.403 in 2026.
Age is on Grisham’s side, to an extent. He’ll turn 30 on Sept. 1. He can’t receive a qualifying offer this winter. He accepted a QO from the Yankees at the outset of the 2025-26 offseason, and players can only receive one QO in their career. Grisham is probably better suited for a corner spot, but he has nearly 6700 center field innings in the majors and could perhaps be expected to produce better results — with the glove and the bat — in a season with healthier legs.
Cedric Mullins (32)
Mullins technically has an option on his contract, but it’s a mutual option and therefore a mere formality. Teams use mutual options as accounting measures more than anything else — kicking a portion of a player’s guaranteed salary down the road by a season in the form of a buyout on an option that will (almost) never be exercised by both parties. It’s been a dozen years since the last time a mutual option was exercised by both parties. Mullins’ $10MM option will be declined by one side, and he’ll receive a $500K buyout whether it’s the team or Mullins himself who declines.
It seems likely that the team is preparing to move on. Mullins had a big rebound showing with the glove (6 DRS, 11 OAA in 1086 innings), but he batted just .205/.284/.344 in 502 turns at the plate. He still has a nice blend of homers (15) and steals (21 — albeit in 31 attempts), but Mullins’ 30-30 campaign back in 2021 now looks like a clear outlier. He’s been below average in three of the five seasons since and only a slight bit better than average in the other two. Overall, he’s posted a .231/.303/.392 batting line (97 wRC+) in 2626 plate appearances since that scintillating ’21 showing.
Mullins didn’t hit well against lefties or righties this season. He took a one-year, $7MM deal last winter in hopes of bouncing back from a below-average offensive performance in 2025. Instead, his offense slipped even further. Center field options are minimal this winter, but another one-year contract still seems to be the likeliest outcome.
Alek Thomas (27)
A 2018 second-round pick by the D-backs and longtime top prospect, Thomas has played in parts of five big league seasons but never provided anything with the bat. He’s a career .230/.273/.360 hitter who’s never reached double-digit homers in a given season. He’s played 3429 innings in center field at the big league level and been credited with 6 DRS and 11 OAA, though most of the positive grades for his defense came in his first two big league seasons.
The Diamondbacks cut bait on Thomas and designated him for assignment in May. He was traded to the division-rival Dodgers and spent the majority of the season with their Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City. To his credit, Thomas hit .305/.378/.537 in 322 plate appearances there. Hitting minor league pitching has never been an issue for the lefty-swinging Thomas, though. He’s a .313/.387/.504 hitter in his minor league career, including a .326/.394/.551 mark in parts of five Triple-A campaigns.
Hitting big league pitching has (clearly) been another story entirely. Thomas has a free-swinging approach, chasing off the plate at elevated rates and making contact at below-average levels both within the strike zone and on those chases off the dish. His exit velocities and hard-hit rates tend to hover slightly below average — a deficiency that’s exacerbated by Thomas’ penchant for hitting the ball into the ground. Thomas’ 54.5% ground-ball rate is the seventh-highest among 349 qualified major league hitters dating back to his 2022 MLB debut.
Thomas finished up the 2026 season just shy of four years of major league service. Anyone who signs him to a cheap one-year deal — a minor league pact is also possible — would be getting three seasons of club control. However, he’s out of minor league options, and he’d need to rebuild his stock quite a bit before that future control really comes into play.
Daulton Varsho (30)
Long one of the game’s best defensive center fielders, Varsho ripped 20 round-trippers in only 271 plate appearances last season after returning from 2024 shoulder surgery. He added three blasts in 81 postseason plate appearances. That offensive uptick, coupled with his prime age and plus-plus defense, gave Varsho a chance at slugging his way to a hefty multi-year deal — perhaps even a nine-figure contract — if he could put together a strong 2026 showing.
As with so many free agents in this year’s class, the opposite played out.
Varsho turned in a punchless .243/.307/.375 batting line in 365 plate appearances with the Blue Jays before being traded to the Astros, for whom he was even less impactful: .127/.224/.311 in 161 plate appearances. Wrist trouble dogged Varsho during his time in Houston, and he’s not on their playoff roster after finishing the season on the injured list. The Astros announced Wednesday that Varsho underwent arthroscopic surgery to address the issue, so even if they advance beyond the Wild Card round of play, Varsho won’t be a part of the roster. His season is over.
Back in spring training, Sportsnet’s David Singh detailed how the Jays were working to develop more of an all-fields approach for Varsho, who has been a dead-pull hitter in recent seasons. Varsho pulled nearly 52% of his batted balls from 2022-25. He hit just 27.5% up the middle and 20.6% to the opposite field. In 2026, Varsho’s pull rate dipped to 39.9%. His percentage of opposite-field batted balls was largely unchanged (21.2%), but he hit 38.9% of his batted balls back up the middle/to center field — a massive increase.
The change in approach didn’t pay off in terms of results, and Varsho now heads to the market on the heels of a career-worst offensive performance and with a nagging wrist injury that required minor surgery. His track record is solid, and he won’t turn 31 until next July, so there’s a bit of upside here. Perhaps a switch back to his pull-heavy approach can restore some of the lost offense, and a healthier wrist certainly won’t hurt. He’s ineligible for a QO this season, so if a team signs him and he bounces back nicely, there’s the potential to make a QO and recoup a 2028 draft pick, too (if the QO system survives the upcoming wave of collective bargaining). A deal that allows Varsho to get back to free agency quickly — whether one year or two with an opt-out — seems likely.
Short-Side Platoon
Tyrone Taylor (33)
Taylor has been a phenom since being traded from the Mets to the Cubs alongside Clay Holmes, albeit in a tiny sample of 82 plate appearances. He’s batting .351/.390/.500 with Chicago and slashed .279/.325/.502 in 241 total plate appearances this season.
It’s career-best production for the longtime Brewer, who’s sporting a career-low 17% strikeout rate. Taylor rarely hits the ball hard, though, evidenced by a career 87.4 mph average exit velocity and 36.4% hard-hit rate. He has significant platoon splits this season (153 wRC+ versus lefties, 102 versus righties), though the gap isn’t as pronounced when looking at his career on the whole (105 vs. 94). Taylor is a plus defender in all three outfield spots. He’ll turn 33 in January but still boasted 92nd percentile sprint speed this season.
From 2023-25, Taylor was a well below-average hitter. He posted slightly above-average numbers at the plate in a limited role with Milwaukee from 2019-22. He’s never topped 405 plate appearances in a season. In all likelihood, he’ll be viewed as a part-time player, but Taylor is good enough defensively and hit well enough this season that it’s at least feasible a club could sign him with an eye toward a larger role. He’s a candidate for a relatively low-cost multi-year deal.
Lane Thomas (31)
Thomas had a roughly league-average showing at the plate with Kansas City (.232/.326/.393) but cratered upon being traded to the Braves. It’s only 46 plate appearances, granted, but a .171/.261/.317 performance isn’t what either player or team was hoping to see following the change of scenery.
In 2023-24, Thomas posted big power and speed totals (43 homers, 52 steals) while logging largely regular at-bats in Washington and Cleveland (who acquired him from the Nats at the ’24 deadline). His bat tailed off as soon as he was traded to the Guardians, however, and it’s never really recovered. Since being traded away from D.C., Thomas has tallied 703 plate appearances but mustered only a .207/.290/.363 batting line. The glimmer of a rebound in Kansas City this year has quickly faded with that Atlanta swoon, and he’ll head back to free agency as a rebound candidate for a second straight season.
Thomas can play all three outfield spots but drew career-worst marks for his center field defense this year (-9 DRS, -7 OAA in only 459 innings). He’s a clear platoon bat who’s hammered lefties at a .287/.360/.489 clip in his career but floundered against fellow righties with a .217/.286/.378 performance.
Club Option Decisions
Luis Robert Jr. (29) — $20MM club option with $2MM buyout
There’s no bigger upside play in this year’s class than Robert, but there’s also no greater injury risk. The 38-homer, 20-steal season he posted back in 2023 will continue to tantalize teams, but Robert has managed only 1086 plate appearances in three seasons since, during which he’s batted .223/.290/.379. Robert was one of the highest-profile signings we’ve ever seen out of Cuba, and he signed what was at the time a record contract extension for a player who’d never logged even one big league game. He has a genuine superstar-level set of tools but one of the longest injury histories you’ll come across for a player under 30.
Despite an underwhelming, injury-marred showing with the Mets, Robert was scooped up on waivers in late August. The Orioles had the top waiver priority among the interested clubs, but both the Padres and Rays reportedly placed claims on him, too. Robert was still owed $2.99MM of his $20MM salary at the time, plus at least that $2MM buyout. The fact that at least three clubs were willing to take a $5MM gamble to claim the final month of Robert underscores how tempting his blend of speed, power, defense and athleticism is.
Will that be enough for the O’s to pick up his option? Would Baltimore consider trading him to another club before that option decision is due? We’ll find out after the World Series, but even if the O’s simply buy him out, Robert will be one of the most popular rebound candidates on the market this winter.
Victor Robles (29) — $9MM club option with $500K buyout
It’s easy to forget now, but Robles was once a consensus top-10 prospect in the entire sport. He looked to have arrived in full force in 2018-19 when he gave the Nats 176 games (683 plate appearances) with a .258/.328/.430 batting line (96 wRC+), 20 homers, 31 steals and absolutely elite defense in center (24 DRS, 22 OAA).
Robles never sniffed that level of production again, however — at least not with the Nats. Washington designated him for assignment and released him in June 2024. Robles signed with the Mariners and improbably went on the best run of his career, hitting .328/.393/.467 with four homers and 30 steals in only 262 plate appearances. He parlayed that performance into a two-year, $9MM extension but has spent the bulk of that time on the injured list. Shoulder, biceps and pectoral injuries have combined to limit him to 263 plate appearances since Opening Day 2025.
The Mariners are going to decline this option, and Robles will hit the market in search of a rebound opportunity. A small one-year deal is the best for which he can hope this winter, and it’s possible he’ll need to settle for a non-guaranteed contract.
Myles Straw (32) — $8MM club option with $1.75MM buyout
Straw was traded from Cleveland to Toronto in what was largely a salary dump by the Guardians. Toronto was a willing taker, as the Guards sent them a notable chunk of international pool space as compensation for taking on about $11MM of Straw’s remaining contract. The goal at the time was to build up enough pool space to sign Roki Sasaki, who eventually spurned the Jays to sign with the Dodgers.
Though Straw wasn’t the main component of that trade, he’s made it well worth the Jays’ while. Toronto added him to the 40-man roster — he’d been outrighted in Cleveland — at the end of camp in 2025, and he’s since given them 629 plate appearances with a .251/.308/.354 line. That’s 13% worse than average, admittedly, but Straw has provided elite defense in the outfield and plus baserunning. He’s said to be a beloved figure in the Toronto clubhouse, too. The option price here is probably a bit steep, given Straw’s likely reserve role, but he’s already said he wants to return to Toronto, so perhaps the Jays will negotiate a new arrangement or buy him out but re-sign him to a cheaper deal.
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