Whether it's next week or the week after that or so on, Major League Baseball's lockout will eventually end and the free-agent market will open back up again.
In the meantime, let's speculate on the best possible home for each of the top 10 players left on the board.
On this list are a closer, two left-handed aces and a veritable menagerie of sluggers and star position players. Where they fit best is naturally subject to debate, but we made our picks based on needs, contention timelines and hypothetical payroll flexibility.
Starting with the closer, let's count 'em down.
10. RHP Kenley Jansen: Toronto Blue Jays
2021 Stats: 69 G, 52 GF, 69.0 IP, 36 H (4 HR), 86 K, 36 BB, 2.22 ERA, 185 ERA+, 2.3 rWAR
Qualifying Offer: No
After cycling through different closers in April and early May, the Toronto Blue Jays found a good one when they handed the role to Jordan Romano. Between his first save on May 11 and the end of the season, he pitched to a 1.99 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 54.1 innings.
However, Romano also injured his knee somewhere along the line and is now recovering from surgery. Toronto's pen also still needs a late-inning reliever even after the club's signing of Yimi Garcia.
There's no better move the Blue Jays can make than to also bring aboard Kenley Jansen. He's 34 now, but he still has his legendary cutter and he's fresh off a dominant run. He finished 2021 with a 0.44 ERA over his last 21 regular-season appearances and was then unscored upon in eight playoff outings.
The Jays can sign Jansen and still not be close to their peak payrolls of 2017 and 2018. They perhaps wouldn't need to make additional moves, as they otherwise have the offensive firepower and starting pitching depth they need to continue their ascent as an American League superpower.
9. 1B Anthony Rizzo: Minnesota Twins
2021 Stats: 141 G, 576 PA, 22 HR, 6 SB, .248 AVG, .344 OBP, .440 SLG, 111 OPS+, 1.7 rWAR
Qualifying Offer: No
It's easy to speculate about Anthony Rizzo ending up back with the very team that drafted him way back in 2007: the Boston Red Sox.
Trouble is, Rizzo isn't the right-handed hitter that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said (per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe) the team is seeking. And in the person of B/R's No. 17 prospect, Triston Casas, the Red Sox have a talented left-handed-hitting first baseman who's about ready to break in.
The Minnesota Twins, on the other hand, should seriously consider Rizzo as a much-needed upgrade over Miguel Sano at first base. Rizzo is a steadier hand offensively, not to mention a better defender by several orders of magnitude. He doesn't have those four Gold Gloves for nothing.
Signing Rizzo would also give further legitimacy to a contention window that, in spite of the hit it took amid a last-place finish in 2021, is still open. Or so the Twins clearly think, as they otherwise would not have extendedByron Buxton for $100 million over the next seven years.