Every year around this holiday, fantasy columns roll out the same tired bit: fireworks metaphors for hot streaks, "declare your independence" from a bad closer, pick your cliché. We went a different direction.
In MLB right now, there are four real players with "Free" sitting right there in their last name. So we pulled every one of them and put their 2026 season on trial. Two you keep without a second thought. Two you should set free.
Freddie Freeman, Keep
Start with the easy one. Freeman is hitting .294 with an .887 OPS, 14 home runs and 47 RBI, numbers that would be a career year for most first basemen and are simply Tuesday for him. He is doing this at an age when most first basemen are losing bat speed and gaining trips to the injured list, and he is doing it while still playing plus defense at a position where a lot of aging sluggers have moved to a permanent seat at DH. There is no version of this column where Freddie Freeman gets cut. If your league mate is shopping him because of a name-based bit they saw on social media, that is a buy-low opportunity, not a sell signal.
Kyle Freeland, Set Him Free
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Freeland's ERA has been living in the 7s and 8s for most of the season, and the instinct with any Rockies pitcher is to blame Coors Field and move on. The Statcast data does not let him off that easily. His exit velocity against sits at 90.8 mph, his hard-hit rate is 44.2 percent, and his expected wOBA against is .368, a number that confirms hitters are actually squaring him up rather than getting a lucky bounce at altitude.
Thin air explains a few extra doubles. It does not explain a 44 percent hard-hit rate. This is not bad luck wearing a bad park. This is a bad season, full stop, and the underlying skills say it is not turning around soon. Release him in anything shallower than an NL-only format.
Alex Freeland, Set Him Free (Gently)
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The Dodgers rookie is a legitimately interesting long-term piece: switch-hitting, multi-position, a real prospect pedigree that had him profiled as an everyday player within a year or two. None of that matters for your roster right now.
He is hitting .241 with a .776 OPS in a part-time role, and his underlying Statcast marks, an xwOBA barely above .290, do not suggest a breakout is hiding underneath the batting average. This is a bench bat on a good team, not a hidden gem. Watch him. Do not roster him. There is a difference, and July is when fantasy managers most often confuse the two.
Tyler Freeman, The Borderline Case
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Freeman's Colorado teammate is the one name in this group that actually depends on your league format.
A .280 average with 25 runs scored plays fine in AVG-driven or deep NL-only leagues, and there is real value in a bat that does not strike out much and gets on base in front of Colorado's lineup. But three home runs and 22 RBI is replacement-level production in anything roto or points-based that rewards power, and a Coors Field address only goes so far when the power just is not showing up.
Keep him if batting average is load-bearing for your team. Set him free everywhere else.
And Here's The Verdict
One keep, two cuts, and one borderline case is a better spread than this bit had any right to produce.
The larger point, if there is one buried under the pun: a name is not a strategy, but neither is ignoring a real Statcast trend just because a player happens to share it with a Hall of Famer. Kyle Freeland's ERA is not bad luck. Alex Freeland's playing time is not coming. Check the numbers before you check the name.
Questions About "Free" Players, Answered
Should I drop Freddie Freeman in fantasy baseball?
No. Freeman is hitting .294 with an .887 OPS, 14 home runs and 47 RBI, a normal Freddie Freeman season by any measure. This is not a name worth cutting under any circumstance this year.
Is Kyle Freeland's ERA just bad luck from pitching at Coors Field?
No. His 44.2 percent hard-hit rate and .368 xwOBA against confirm hitters are genuinely squaring him up, not just catching a thin-air bounce. Treat his ERA as earned rather than unlucky.
Is Alex Freeland worth adding in fantasy baseball right now?
Not yet. He is hitting .241 in a part-time role with an xwOBA barely above .290, underlying numbers that do not support a hidden breakout. He is a name to monitor, not a name to roster in most formats.
Is Tyler Freeman a must-add in fantasy baseball?
Only in batting-average-driven or deep NL-only leagues. His .280 average plays, but three home runs and 22 RBI make him replacement-level in any format that rewards power production.
