Throughout the off-season, we will place a spotlight on some of the most interesting Free Agents set to hit the Auction Market in 2024 for the 11th Roger Dorn Baseball League Draft. With a wave of money to spend and a talented Free Agent Class, the 2024 Auction Draft is set to see historic spending yet again with a wave of Activations driving up the overall cap space across the league.
Our Free Agent Spotlight Off-Season series will start with one of the more intriguing names set to hit the market in 2024 -- Kansas City Royals left-hander Cole Ragans.
LHP Cole Ragans
Positional Free Agent Rank: 7
Overall Free Agent Rank: 21
Cole Ragans was two different pitchers in 2023 for two different clubs. He worked solely as a reliever for Texas with too many walks and homers as part of a rather leaky bullpen. It was that situation which led the club to deal the talented lefty to Kansas City for Aroldis Chapman. The deal has been a win-win in the short term, but one Texas will regret for years to come if Ragans continues to shove as he did once reporting to the Royals.
Ragans averaged 92.1 mph with his fastball in nine starts for the Rangers in 2022. Texas shifted him to the pen this year, and though he struggled to a 5.92 ERA in 17 appearances, it was very notable that his velocity jumped four mph. Incredibly, he held on to those gains and even went up a tad further after the Royals transitioned him back to the rotation. He wound up with an 89/27 K/BB ratio in 71 2/3 innings over 12 starts for Kansas City, which has his stock sky-high entering 2024.
The Honolulu Hammerheads claimed Ragans on 8/7, one week after the Deadline players must be on your roster to be Keeper eligible for the following season.
Potential Fits
The interest in Ragans is expected to be widespread, with every RDBL club looking for a backend rotation option with sky-high potential. That demand is likely to push Ragans into the $30-35 range, provided he puts together a solid Spring Training.
Prediction: $32 to Honolulu Hammerheads
The Heads had their eyes on Ragans for most of 2023 after his move to the Royals, snatching him up in early August. GM Ross Horiuchi would love a reunion with the ability to put Ragans behind Sonny Gray, Tanner Bibee, Michael Wacha, Brandon Pfaadt and potentially Chris Sale of Reese Olson to form a talented and high-upside rotation.
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