3. James Shields – “Big Game” James finds himself hitting the open market for the first time in his career at the perfect moment. Despite his actual postseason numbers calling his moniker into question — 3-6 lifetime with a 5.46 era in 11 postseason starts — Shields has the benefit of recent memory rewriting history. As one of the key faces to the Kansas City Royals’ improbable World Series run — ultimately, they ended up falling just short of capturing the title — Shields was the starting pitcher for five of his team’s sixteen postseason games. Like Scherzer, Shields is a consistent machine, starting at least 30 games in eight straight seasons and compiling a lifetime ERA of 3.72 despite pitching most of his career in the American League East. Shields is clearly the third-best pitcher on the market this year — Scherzer and Lester, who does not have a draft pick compensation tied to him, lead the class — and he will certainly receive a contract comparable to his ranking behind the top two.
Ranking Baseball’s Top Free Agents With Qualifying Offers
![max-scherzer-37 - XN Sports Max Scherzer](https://b3384186.smushcdn.com/3384186/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/max-scherzer-37.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
![max-scherzer-37 - XN Sports Max Scherzer](https://b3384186.smushcdn.com/3384186/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/max-scherzer-37.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
David Robinson, f, Hanley Ramirez, James Shields, Max Scherzer, Michael Cuddyer, MLB Free agents, Nelson Cruz, pablo sandoval, Qualifying Offer, Victor Martinez