The 2024-25 MLB offseason will be remembered for years to come as the winter when Juan Soto signed his record-setting 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets.

Meanwhile, left-handed pitchers Max Fried and Blake Snell also inked deals that now rank among the 25 biggest ever handed out in free agency, and fellow pitcher Corbin Burnes is a safe bet to join them before the start of the 2025 season.

Ahead, we've taken a look through the 25 most expensive free-agent signings in baseball history and assigned a grade to each deal based on individual performance, team success and productivity through the duration of the contract.

For deals that are still in progress, a grade was assigned based on what has been accomplished so far, but there is still time for those players to shift the narrative and move up or down a letter grade.

It's a mix of success stories, cautionary tales and everything in between.

Deals from the 2024-25 Offseason

OF Juan Soto, NYM: 15 years, $765 million (2025-39)

SP Max Fried, NYY: 8 years, $218 million (2025-2032)

SP Blake Snell, LAD: 5 years, $182 million (2025-2030)

It's impossible to provide any sort of assessment on these contracts since the players have not yet taken the field for their respective new teams, but all three joined teams with World Series aspirations and have a chance to be true impact additions.

Soto has built a Hall of Fame foundation with the Nationals, Padres and Yankees, and now he has a chance to cement his legacy over the next decade and a half with the Mets.

If he is headed for Cooperstown one day, it will likely now be with his bust wearing a Mets hat, but in order for the signing to be a success, he will need to lead the club to at least one World Series title and perhaps multiple.

Fried and Snell both join rotations where they will, arguably, not even be the ace of the staff, with Gerrit Cole holding that title for the Yankees and either Tyler Glasnow or Yoshinobu Yamamoto carrying that mantle for the Dodgers.

That said, both are capable of moving the needle for last year's pennant winners.

'A' Grade

DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani, LAD: 10 years, $700 million (2024-33)

WAR total: 9.2
WAR per season: 9.2

In a sport that struggles to market its top players on a national level, Ohtani is the face of the sport stateside and internationally, and signing him last offseason made the Dodgers the center of the baseball universe. He won NL MVP and a World Series ring in his first season with the team, and now he's set to return to the mound in 2025.

SS Corey Seager, TEX: 10 years, $325 million (2022-31)

WAR total: 15.7
WAR per season: 5.2

Seager has made the All-Star team in each of his three years with the Rangers, posting a 139 OPS+ and averaging 32 home runs per season. He took home 2023 World Series MVP honors when he went 6-for-21 with three home runs and six RBI in five games in the Fall Classic.

SP Max Scherzer, WAS: 7 years, $210 million (2015-21)

WAR total: 31.2
WAR per season: 4.5

With two Cy Young Awards, six All-Star selections and a World Series title in 2019, Scherzer goes down as one of the most successful free-agent signings in MLB history. The Nationals also flipped him to the Dodgers in the final season of his deal for a package of prospects that included Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray.

'B' Grade

OF Aaron Judge, NYY: 9 years, $360 million (2023-31)

WAR total: 15.3
WAR per season: 7.7

The optics of losing Judge in free agency after his 62-homer MVP performance in 2022 would have been brutal for the Yankees, and he has continued to rake in the first two seasons of his new contract, taking home his second MVP award in a 10.8-WAR campaign in 2024. He will have to shake the narrative of shrinking under the bright lights of October to move into the "A" grade category.

OF/1B Bryce Harper, PHI: 13 years, $330 million (2019-31)

WAR total: 23.3
WAR per season: 3.9

Harper is already almost halfway through the long-term deal he signed with the Phillies, and while he has yet to win a World Series title, he does have 2021 NL MVP honors and 152 home runs with a 149 OPS+ in 3,128 plate appearances to his credit. He is going to surpass some major career milestones before his time in Philadelphia is over.

SP Gerrit Cole, NYY: 9 years, $324 million (2020-28)

WAR total: 19.9
WAR per season: 4.0

Cole has given the Yankees the bona fide ace of staff they were lacking, and he has lived up to his record-setting contact on an individual level. In five seasons in pinstripes, he has gone 59-28 with a 3.12 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 915 strikeouts in 759 innings, and he won a long-awaited first Cy Young in 2023. Now he just needs a World Series ring to jump into the top tier of signings.

3B Manny Machado, SD: 10 years, $300 million (2019-28)

WAR total: 17.5
WAR per season: 4.4

Machado played out four seasons of this initial contract with the Padres before signing a new 11-year, $350 million extension that replaced the final six years and eliminated a potential opt-out clause. He finished third in NL MVP voting in 2020 and runner-up in the balloting two years later, and he also hit six home runs over 18 total playoff games while helping the Padres reach the NLCS in 2022.

SS Alex Rodriguez, TEX: 10 years, $252 million (2001-10)

WAR total: 56.4
WAR per season: 8.1

Rodriguez would only end up playing through seven years of his contract before exercising an opt-out and eventually signing a new 10-year, $275 million deal with the Yankees. Things did not go as hoped for the Rangers, but they did a good job cutting their losses, flipping him for Alfonso Soriano after three seasons and saving some money they owed the Yankees when he opted out. He won AL MVP in 2003, 2005 and 2007, and he slugged 329 home runs while leading the AL in that category five times over that seven-year span.

'C' Grade

SP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, LAD: 12 years, $325 million (2024-35)

WAR total: 1.7
WAR per season: 1.7

Yamamoto had his rookie season derailed by a strained rotator cuff, but he looked the part of a frontline starter when healthy, going 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 105 strikeouts in 90.0 innings over 18 starts. He also went 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in 18.2 innings in the postseason, filling a crucial rotation spot on a banged-up staff. A great start, but there's also a long way to go on this deal.

SS Trea Turner, PHI: 11 years, $300 million (2023-33)

WAR total: 6.4
WAR per season: 3.2

Turner got off to a rocky start during his first year with the Phillies, hitting .247 with a .687 OPS during the first half of the 2023 season, but he caught fire down the stretch before earning his third career All-Star selection in 2024. He turns 32 years old in June and is part of an aging core in Philadelphia, though their window to contend for a title is still open.

SP David Price, BOS: 7 years, $217 million (2016-22)

WAR total: 11.0
WAR per season: 1.6

After posting an AL-best 2.45 ERA in a contract year in 2015, Price signed what was then the richest contract ever for a pitcher. He continued to pitch at a top-of-the-rotation level over his first three years in Boston, helping lead the club to a World Series title in 2018. However, he was traded to the Dodgers prior to the 2020 season as part of the Mookie Betts deal, and the Red Sox ate $48 million and took a lesser return on Betts to get that move done.

1B Prince Fielder, DET: 9 years, $214 million (2012-20)

WAR total: 7.1
WAR per season: 1.4

Fielder slugged 230 home runs in seven seasons with the Brewers before hitting the open market, and he signed a massive free-agency deal to join Miguel Cabrera in the middle of the Detroit lineup. After solid offensive seasons in 2012 (154 OPS+, 30 HR, 108 RBI) and 2013 (122 OPS+, 25 HR, 106 RBI), he was traded to the Rangers in exchange for Ian Kinsler. He played just 289 games over the next three years before a neck condition prematurely ended his career.

SP Zack Greinke, ARI: 6 years, $206.5 million (2016-21)

WAR total: 20.0
WAR per season: 3.3

Greinke went 19-3 with a 1.66 ERA in 222.2 innings in a contract year with the Dodgers in 2015, and the D-backs ended up being a surprise landing spot for him in free agency. He spent three-and-a-half years with Arizona before he was traded to the Astros at the 2019 deadline, and he pitched in the World Series in 2019 and 2021. He went 77-39 with a 3.55 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 922 strikeouts in 1,015.1 innings over the life of the contract.

'D' Grade

SS Xander Bogaerts, SD: 11 years, $280 million (2023-33)

WAR total: 5.6
WAR per season: 2.8

Earlier this offseason, B/R ranked the 10 worst contracts on the books heading into the 2025 MLB season, and the Bogaerts deal was in the No. 4 spot. The 32-year-old is coming off an ugly 2024 season in which he posted a 92 OPS+ and 1.2 WAR in 111 games, and he will earn $25.5 million annually through the 2033 campaign.

3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY: 10 years, $275 million (2008-17)

WAR total: 23.1
WAR per season: 2.3

Agent Scott Boras announced during Game 4 of the 2007 World Series that Rodriguez planned to opt out of the final three years and $72 million of his contract, and it looked like he was headed for a split from the Yankees. After testing the free-agency waters, he eventually found his way back to the Bronx two months later on a new 10-year deal. The new contract started on a high note as he tallied 19.1 WAR over the first four seasons and finally won his first ring in 2009, but it ended in disgrace as his PED use became the story.

1B Albert Pujols, LAA: 10 years, $240 million (2012-21)

WAR total: 12.7
WAR per season: 1.3

Pujols continued to be an impact bat over his first five seasons with the Angels, posting a 123 OPS+ while averaging 29 home runs and 98 RBI, but the second half of the contract was a disaster. He was a minus-2.0-WAR player in 460 games over his final four-plus seasons before he was released early in 2021. The fact that he landed with the Dodgers and enjoyed something of a resurgence was just salt in the wound.

2B Robinson Canó, SEA: 10 years, $240 million (2014-23)

WAR total: 23.7
WAR per season: 2.4

After nine seasons with the Yankees, Canó made an immediate splash with the Mariners. Over the first four seasons of his contract, he racked up 20.1 WAR while scoring a pair of top-10 finishes in AL MVP voting. However, his 2018 season was shortened by an 80-game PED suspension, and he was traded to the Mets that offseason. He went on to tally just 0.2 WAR in 189 games over the final five years of his contract, including missing the entire 2021 season with a second 162-game PED suspension.

SS Carlos Correa, MIN: 6 years, $200 million (2023-28)

WAR total: 5.1
WAR per season: 2.5

Correa was productive when healthy last season, hitting .310/.388/.517 with a 152 OPS+ in 86 games while earning an All-Star selection. However, he has played 140 games just twice over 10 seasons in the big leagues, so it's unlikely his injury woes will suddenly be a thing of the past. The Twins are also now having trouble navigating his bloated salary, which has led to his name surfacing in trade rumors just two years into his six-year contract.

OF Jason Heyward, CHC: 8 years, $184 million (2016-23)

WAR total: 8.9
WAR per season: 1.1

Do the Cubs still win Game 7 of the 2016 World Series without the legendary speech Heyward gave during the rain delay? Maybe, but that question is enough to keep an otherwise wildly disappointing tenure from earning an "F" grade. He posted an 87 OPS+ and 8.9 WAR in seven seasons, and the Cubs released him ahead of the final season of his contract, eating $22 million in the process.

'F' Grade

SP Stephen Strasburg, WAS: 7 years, $245 million (2020-26)

WAR total: -0.5
WAR per season: -0.1

Strasburg went 18-6 with a 3.32 ERA and 251 strikeouts in 209 innings during the 2019 regular season, then capped things off by going 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA in 36.1 innings during the playoffs while taking home World Series MVP. The Nationals rewarded him with a huge new contract in free agency, but injuries limited him to just eight total appearances in the next four years before he officially retired in April 2024. He will still receive the full value of his contract.

3B Anthony Rendon, LAA: 7 years, $245 million (2020-26)

WAR total: 3.7
WAR per season: 0.7

After finishing third in 2019 NL MVP voting while helping the Nationals win a title, Rendon departed in free agency. He tallied 2.2 WAR and finished 10th in AL MVP voting during the shortened 2020 campaign, but he has been a complete non-factor in the years since. He has hit .231 with a 86 OPS+ and 1.5 WAR in 205 games over the last four years, and he rubbed more than a few people the wrong way last offseason when he told reporters that "baseball has never been a top priority for me" while pulling in a $38.6 million salary.

SP Jacob deGrom, TEX: 5 years, $185 million (2023-27)

WAR total: 1.3
WAR per season: 0.7

Despite injuries limiting him to just 26 starts in his final two seasons with the Mets, deGrom still landed a huge contract from the Rangers in free agency. After making just six starts in 2023 and watching from the sidelines during the team's run to a World Series title, he was limited to just two appearances this past season, tossing a combined 41 innings in 2023 and 2024 while earning $70 million. There is still time to salvage the contract, but it has been a disaster to this point.

Complete List

25 Most Expensive Free-Agent Signings

1. Juan Soto, NYM (15 years, $765 million)
2. Shohei Ohtani, LAD (10 years, $700 million)
3. Aaron Judge, NYY (9 years, $360 million)
4. Manny Machado, SD (11 years, $350 million)
5. Bryce Harper, PHI (13 years, $330 million)
6. Corey Seager, TEX (10 years, $325 million)
7. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, LAD (12 years, $325 million)
8. Gerrit Cole, NYY (9 years, $324 million)
9. Trea Turner, PHI (11 years, $300 million)
10. Xander Bogaerts, SD (11 years, $280 million)
11. Alex Rodriguez, NYY (10 years, $275 million)
12. Alex Rodriguez, TEX (10 years, $252 million)
13t. Stephen Strasburg, WAS (7 years, $245 million)
13t. Anthony Rendon, LAA (7 years, $245 million)
15t. Albert Pujols, LAA (10 years, $240 million)
15t. Robinson Cano, SEA (10 years, $240 million)
17. Max Fried, NYY (8 years, $218 million)
18. David Price, BOS (7 years, $217 million)
19. Prince Fielder, DET (9 years, $214 million)
20. Max Scherzer, WAS (7 years, $210 million)
21. Zack Greinke, ARI (6 years, $206.5 million)
22. Carlos Correa, MIN (6 years, $200 million)
23. Jacob deGrom, TEX (5 years, $185 million)
24. Jason Heyward, CHC (8 years, $184 million)
25. Blake Snell, LAD (5 years, $182 million)