The MLB season is entering into the home stretch of the playoffs and soon a new world series champion will be crowned. However, for a lot of the fans their teams may have already been eliminated and for the general managers they are already looking to next year and the free agents. One position that definitely helps out quite a bit is the starting pitching. So who are the top rated free agent starting pitchers and how will their moving skew the baseball predictions for next year.

Trevor Bauer

Bauer pitched for the Cincinnati Reds this year and looked very impressive in how he did. Granted, Bauer finally got some run support, but still the pitching and the extremely low ERA were all on his arm. Last season Bauer had a very impressive 1.73 ERA in just 73 innings pitched. However, it calls into question if the pitching and low ERA was thanks to his arm or the shorter season.

Marcus Stroman

Jul 12, 2020; Flushing Meadows, New York, United States; New York Mets starting pitcher Marcus Stroman (0) pitches during a simulated game during summer camp workouts at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Stroman is making the list, but will rely heavily on his performance in 2019 as he opted out of the 2020 season. However, it has been rumored that Stroman had been battling an injury before opting out of the season due to coronavirus concerns. The stats for Stroman in 2019 were not overly impressive and in 11 starts he ended up with a 4-2 record and a 3.77 ERA, but only ended up getting a total of 59.2 innings pitched.

Masahiro Tanaka

Oct 7, 2020; San Diego, California, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) pitches in the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays during game three of the 2020 ALDS at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Like Stroman Tanaka may be coming to any team that signs him as a potential injury liability. Tanaka did end up pitching in 2020, though, and while he was not his former self he still did really well. However, the stats may not live up to the bigger contracts that some of the players will demand compared to what Tanaka has done in the past. This year he posted a 3-3 record with a 3.56 ERA, which is decent, but he only threw a total of 48 innings.

The free agents that are starting pitchers is a very limited window. However, it is a window that a lot of the general managers would like to take advantage of. Most of the starters that are available this year have age concerns or injury issues to take into consideration. The others that are on the market this year may have issues that bring questions as to how much the shorter season played into their success and if the baseball predictions made on a long term season would be different than what the 60 game season showed