When MLB's free agency window officially opens five days after the World Series ends, every team will be looking to sign players who blossom into superstars during their new contracts.

Please note before you dive in that our goal here is to identify players who could become stars, not players who might remain stars.

In other words, if you're looking to read about free agents like Tarik Skubal, Randy Arozarena, Luis Arraez, Freddy Peralta and Brandon Lowe, who have already been multiple-time All-Stars, you're in the wrong place.

Some of these players have been an All-Star once in the past, but none of them have received the honor twice, nor were any of them All-Stars in 2026.

Beyond that criterion, though, any impending free agent was considered fair game.

The players (four hitters and four pitchers) are presented in alphabetical order by last name.

1B/3B Alec Bohm

2026 Stats: .249/.315/.383, 15 HR, 88 RBI, -0.2 bWAR

Starting with the 2024 NLDS, Alec Bohm's final two years with the Phillies were considerably less than spectacular.

After going 1-for-13 in that fateful postseason series and subsequently becoming a popular name in trade speculation, Bohm ended April 2025 with a .526 OPS. Though he hit an impressive .311/.358/.460 over the course of his final 89 games of that season, he played in just 28 of the team's last 65 games because of rib and shoulder injuries.

Bohm started out even colder this year, sitting on a .433 OPS through his first 35 games. But he eventually climbed out of that hole, batting .304 over his final 62 games of the regular season.

But what if he could figure out his swing in March for a change and do it consistently going forward?

When he came out hot to start the 2024 season, he was an All-Star for the first time in his career. Based on how he finished the past two seasons, he has the potential to be a batting champ.

Whether he's a first or third baseman (or a designated hitter) on his next contract remains to be seen, but he could hit .300 with 20 home runs and 100 RBI, which only 2025 AL MVP Aaron Judge and inevitable 2026 AL MVP Yordan Alvarez have accomplished in either of the past two seasons.

UTIL Mauricio Dubón

2026 Stats: .276/.321/.399, 12 HR, 73 RBI, 10 SB, 2.7 bWAR

Save for maybe Ben Zobrist, "Utilityman" and "Superstar" have historically not gone hand in hand.

After all, the saying goes: Jack of all trades, master of none.

Is that starting to shift, though?

As teams continue to gravitate toward six-man starting rotations and deeper bullpens, utilitymen who can provide some legitimate offense while bouncing all around the diamond are becoming increasingly indispensable.

Just look around the league at the top teams from this season.

The Dodgers have made Tommy Edman, Miguel Rojas and Kiké Hernández key cogs throughout their three-year reign of terror. Jake Bauers played at least 16 games at three different positions while breaking out in a huge way for Milwaukee. José Caballero's bat completely disappeared down the stretch, but he played all over the place for the Yankees. Ryan Vilade came out of nowhere and played everywhere for Tampa Bay.

Mauricio Dubón was arguably Atlanta's most important player, not named Chris Sale, presumably headed for his third utility Gold Glove in four years.

Despite never having a position to call his own and not logging enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title in any season from 2021-25, Dubón has been worth 8.0 bWAR since the beginning of 2023, batting a respectable .268 during that time.

If Atlanta can afford to re-sign him to a multi-year deal, we know he's a perfect fit. But who couldn't find a few homes for this Swiss Army knife?

C Ryan Jeffers

2026 Stats: .256/.353/.461, 14 HR, 56 RBI, 2.8 bWAR

Over the past four seasons, Ryan Jeffers has been a consistently productive catcher.

He doesn't homer like Cal Raleigh, Shea Langeliers or Hunter Goodman.

He doesn't hit for average like Gabriel Moreno, Drake Baldwin or William Contreras.

As far as his defensive impact is concerned, let's just say we wouldn't be flabbergasted if he's mostly a first baseman or designated hitter on his next contract.

Nevertheless, Jeffers has been worth roughly 2.0 WAR per year since 2023, despite maxing out at 465 plate appearances in 2024.

For the most part, though, that "never qualifies for a batting title" status is just the life of a catcher who actually gets regular days off, as opposed to DHing for half of the season. He did miss nearly two months with a broken hamate this past summer, but Jeffers has been mostly healthy.

He averages 136 hits, 22 home runs and 79 RBI on a "per 162 games" basis, and his .782 OPS over the past four years is on par with those of Randy Arozarena (.784), Wilyer Abreu (.783), Giancarlo Stanton (.782) and Jackson Merrill (.780).

Expecting him to become a superstar is probably a bit much, but this catcher, who turns 30 in June, is maybe a top five hitter among this class of free agents.

RHP Michael King

2026 Stats: 185.0 IP, 3.21 ERA, 4.13 FIP, 1.18 WHIP, 7.7 K/9, 4.3 bWAR

At this point, it's some kind of sick joke that Michael King has never been named an All-Star, right?

King is one of seven pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched and an ERA of 3.00 or better since the beginning of 2022. The other six—Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell, Chris Sale, Drew Rasmussen, Max Fried and Zack Wheeler—have combined for 12 All-Star Games and four Cy Youngs during that half-decade.

Yet, no love for King, who pretty much carried San Diego to the postseason in both 2024 and 2026.

Technically, King is not a free agent yet. He needs to opt out of the two years and $58M remaining on his current contract.

Unless he's worried about re-entering free agency with a lockout looming, though, it really should be a no-brainer. Given how well he's pitched over the past few seasons, he could turn down 2/$58M and end up with 5/$158M instead.

The big question here is whether King fits the "with New Teams" description in our headline, as the Padres will be highly motivated to re-sign him if and when he does opt out.

Regardless, he'll get his long-overdue All-Star Game nod in 2027 and finally start getting the attention he deserves as the top 20-ish pitcher he's been for a while.

LHP Adrián Morejón

2026 Stats: 86.0 IP, 2.83 ERA, 2.37 FIP, 1.08 WHIP, 11.2 K/9, 1.9 bWAR

The unfortunate reality for relief pitchers is that if you're not recording saves, most fans of the other 29 teams aren't noticing.

But after three consecutive years of dominating in the shadow of an All-Star closer, it's finally time for Adrián Morejón to shine.

In both 2024 and 2025, Morejón was one of the primary bridge planks from San Diego's starting rotation to Robert Suarez. This season, he ranked top five in the majors with 28 holds, paving the way for Mason Miller to lead the NL in saves.

Across those three seasons, Morejón had a 2.58 ERA and 10.0 K/9 in 223.1 innings of work. And aside from Miller and Cleveland's Cade Smith, FanGraphs rated him as the most valuable reliever since the beginning of 2024.

Though he only has eight saves thus far in his career, it's likely that he will be viewed as a closer on the open market. Though he made only $3.9M this season, it's a foregone conclusion that he'll get an eight-figure salary on a multi-year deal.

From there, we wait to see if he can hold a candle to Josh Hader, Aroldis Chapman and Billy Wagner atop the all-time list of the best southpaw relievers.

LHP Trevor Rogers

2026 Stats: 169.2 IP, 4.03 ERA, 3.45 FIP, 1.19 WHIP, 8.3 K/9, 2.2 bWAR

Trevor Rogers had a disastrous six-week stretch this spring. In those seven starts, he had a 10.01 ERA. After heading into the first of those seven starts tied for first place in the AL East on the morning of April 14, Baltimore ended the seventh start 11 games back in the division.

If we temporarily disregard that rough patch, though, Rogers has made 41 starts since the beginning of 2025, posting a 2.34 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in those 249.2 innings of work.

While his strikeout rate pales in comparison to Blake Snell, Rogers is almost a lite version of the two-time Cy Young-winning southpaw. Not many pitchers are better when he's healthy and on point.

That double-edged sword is going to make for a curious market in free agency, though.

After a breakout rookie season in 2021, Rogers ended both the 2022 (lat) and 2023 (biceps) seasons on the IL, finished 2024 in Triple-A due to poor performance and missed the first two months of 2025 with a knee injury. Basically, it took him four years to get the starts he should have gotten in two seasons.

Even in a healthier-than-usual season in 2026, he still spent two weeks on the IL with the flu in the middle of his brutal stretch of seven starts.

That might scare teams away from giving him an ace-caliber contract, even though he has mostly pitched at an ace-caliber level over the past two seasons.

LHP Patrick Sandoval

2026 Stats: 70.1 IP, 5.12 ERA, 3.77 FIP, 1.68 WHIP, 9.3 K/9, -0.6 bWAR

Pretty serious deep cut with this nominee, but Patrick Sandoval deserves some good luck for a change.

Sandoval suffered a torn UCL in June 2024, missed all of 2025 while recovering from Tommy John surgery and finally made it back to the big leagues this July, 745 days after his previous appearance.

But in addition to that unusually long recovery window, Sandoval had some horrific BABIP luck on both ends of his time on the shelf.

In fact, among the 459 pitchers who have logged at least 100 innings pitched since the beginning of 2024, Sandoval's .360 BABIP against ranks dead last, resulting in a 5.10 ERA in stark contrast to a much more respectable 3.82 FIP. During that same time, Gerrit Cole (3.83), Corbin Burnes (3.85) and Michael King (3.86) have each had a slightly worse FIP than Sandoval.

Prior to the injury, Sandoval was a potential star in the making. 2022 was his best season, but he had a 3.53 ERA and an 8.8 K/9 from 2021-23. It just flew under the radar because the Angels were a sub-.500 mess despite being led by Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout.

Basically, there's a reason Boston gave him a two-year, $18.25M deal, knowing there was a good chance he would miss the entirety of the first season of it.

Post-surgery, both his velocity and control were on par with what they used to be. He simply could not buy an out on balls in play, allowing 11.0 hits (but only 0.90 home runs) per nine innings pitched.

If that worm turns and he benefits from some positive regression to the mean, this about-to-turn 30-year-old southpaw could be next year's Michael Soroka or Foster Griffin, shining on a cheap one-year deal.

CF Daulton Varsho

2026 Stats: .221/.281/.355, 12 HR, 40 RBI, 12 SB, 0.9 bWAR

Daulton Varsho had a painful contract year, both literally and figuratively.

After giving Toronto a .682 OPS through the first four months, he was traded to Houston and really cratered down the stretch, producing a .535 OPS. He also missed the dramatic finish to Houston's regular season and its brief stay in the postseason after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left wrist in late September.

As it turns out, though, that wrist had been bothering him for three months.

Varsho spent 10 days on the IL with wrist inflammation in mid-June, and then what was a .778 OPS through 80 team games turned into a .507 OPS the rest of the way.

Now that he has had the surgery, could he revert to the borderline top-25 player he was from 2022-25?

An elite defensive outfielder who averaged 27 home runs and 14 stolen bases per 162 games played?

Varsho is almost certainly headed to one of those "prove it" contracts for one year plus an option for a second season. If the surgery had its intended effect and he can swing at low strikes without pain, he just might prove it and become an All-Star for the first time.