Two of the best defensive first basemen in baseball head the list of the best defensive players available in free agency this offseason.

Christian Walker and Carlos Santana finished second and third, respectively, in The Fielding Bible Awards and won the Gold Glove Award in their respective leagues. Walker has won the Fielding Bible Award twice before. Santana has been a strong candidate for that honor in each of the last two seasons.

Walker’s defense is significant, value wise. The most prominent free agent first baseman is Pete Alonso, but over the last three seasons, Walker has him beat in Defensive Runs Saved by a combined tally of 33-1 and has matched or bettered Alonso in Baseball-Reference’s Wins Above Replacement in each of those three seasons.

Most Defensive Runs Saved – First Base

Last 3 Seasons

Both players should have plenty of suitors. Among those teams that need a first baseman (besides the Mets and Diamondbacks) are the Astros, who ranked last in Runs Saved at that position last season, and the Yankees, who lose Anthony Rizzo to free agency. Santana, the oldest position player to win a Gold Glove, is a solid fallback option.

Michael A. Taylor seems to always end up on a list of top free agent defenders and in fact, his 11 Runs Saved in 2024 were the most of any free agent. Taylor ranks second to Daulton Varsho in Runs Saved among center fielders over the last three seasons. He may have a hard time finding a deal though after posting career lows in batting average (.193) and OPS (.543).

Most Defensive Runs Saved – Center Field

Last 3 Seasons

The other center fielder with a history of being a defensive standout is Harrison Bader. Though Bader fared well in other defensive metrics in 2024, he’s lagged in Defensive Runs Saved. Bader has 3 Runs Saved in 320 games in center field the last three seasons after totaling 15 there in 2019 and 18 there in 2021.

Of the 44 players with at least 10 Runs Saved last season, the only one besides Taylor who is a free agent is utility infielder Kevin Newman, who totaled 6 Runs Saved in 44 games at second base and 4 Runs Saved in 55 games at shortstop (he also played 41 innings combined at first base, third base, and left field).

Newman’s defensive history, which comes mostly as a shortstop, is up and down. He’s had as many as 9 Runs Saved in a season there and as few as -6.

Ha-Seong Kim is also an intriguing option for a team looking for a middle infielder. Kim had 11 Runs Saved at shortstop in 2022 and 10 Runs Saved at second base in 2023. And he also has a credible history at third base.

Kim moved back to shortstop for 2024 and totaled 2 Runs Saved, but more notably he suffered a shoulder injury that required labrum surgery. How this impacts him for the future is a question teams will have to consider.

At third base, Alex Bregman is coming off a Gold Glove season and finished a strong 6th in a deep field in Fielding Bible Awards voting. There’s a reliability to Bregman’s defense. In nine seasons, he’s finished with a negative Runs Saved total only once.

At catcher, Austin Hedges’ situation is similar to Taylor’s in center field – that of an excellent defensive player with poor offensive numbers. Over the last three seasons je ranked tied for 6th among catchers in Defensive Runs Saved and 4th in Strike Zone Runs Saved, the component that measures a catcher’s ability to get more strikes than expected for his pitchers. As we were writing this article, Hedges re-signed with the Guardians, who ranked 2nd in MLB in Defensive Runs Saved last season.

Other notable free agents with good defensive histories include outfielders Alex Verdugo, who had 10 Runs Saved in right field with the Red Sox in 2023 then had 8 in left field in 2024, and Max Kepler, who has had as many as 12 Runs Saved in right field in a season.

There is also the curious case of shortstop Willy Adames, who figures to be one of the most sought-after free agents this offseason. Adames had 9 Runs Saved in 2022 and 8 Runs Saved in 2023 and had a decent track record prior to that. But he had -16 Runs Saved in 2024, the worst total for any shortstop. We’ll be looking more closely at his performance and those of other prominent free agents later this offseason.