2024 MLB Free Agents: Top Rumors and Predictions amid ALCS, NLCS Bracket | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report

The baseball world is buzzing, and not only because of the electricity of the 2024 MLB postseason.

Teams who are no longer in the World Series hunt—i.e., everyone other than the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Guardians and New York Mets—have already shifted into offseason mode.

We'll do the same here by examining some of the latest free agent buzz and predicting how these situations will play out.

Juan Soto is this offseason's proverbial big fish.

He is absurdly productive, right in the heart of his prime and projectable going forward as a 25-year-old. In other words, he's headed for an absolutely monstrous payday.

The New York Yankees could be on the giving end of that payout, but they will obviously have competition for him—including from at least one AL East rival. The Toronto Blue Jays could make Soto "an astronomical offer," a close friend of Soto's told Randy Miller of NJ.com.

As intriguing as the idea of pairing Soto with fellow 25-year-old slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. might be, that's far from the likeliest outcome. Soto's free agency feels like it'll be a bidding war between the two New York teams, and it's one our crystal ball thinks the pinstripes can win.

Prediction: Soto re-signs with the Yankees.

As a former Cy Young winner who's still on the right side of 30 (until next May), Shane Bieber should theoretically be poised to strike it rich in free agency.

Unfortunately, timing can be everything for free agents, and it clearly isn't in Bieber's favor at the moment.

His 2023 campaign was choppy (3.80 ERA, second-highest of his career), and his 2024 season was upended by Tommy John surgery in April. This isn't exactly the ideal runway from which to launch into free agency.

It's possible Bieber will wind up needing to take a "prove-it" pact before re-entering free agency sooner than later in search of that big payday. There is "interest on both sides" between Bieber and the Cleveland Guardians on a new deal, per cleveland.com's Paul Hoynes, but it's reasonable to assume more teams will probe the option of potentially getting a discount on an award-winning pitcher.

Prediction: Bieber stays in Cleveland.