Where Will Michael Conforto Land?

Opening Day is in less than two weeks. Most of the free agent market has been sorted out, and teams are settling in with their new players and preparing to start the 2022 season.

Except for Michael Conforto. The former Mets outfielder is the only remaining notable free agent, and with under fourteen days left before the season starts, he is without a new home.

Things have gotten to the point that even former teammates in New York are feeling for him.

“Obviously a confusing time [for him], probably a frustrating time,” Brandon Nimmo told reporters. “I’m just wishing him the best.”

When the Mets signed two outfielders in Mark Canha and Starling Marte last November, that essentially pushed Conforto out into the free agent market. He has been linked to several teams, but one by one, those teams signed other players instead.

But that does not mean that there aren’t still places where Conforto would be a good fit. These are a few possibilities to consider:

Chicago White Sox

The Sox are, on paper, one of the best teams in the American League and still the team to beat in the AL Central — even as the gap between them and other teams is closing — but they could still use some depth, especially in the outfield.

The place where Conforto’s bat would best fit is in right field. The Sox are set in center and left field with Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, but right field is a question mark. Conforto has spent most of his innings in recent years in right, but he has experience in the other spots as well. That might be needed, given that both Jimenez and Robert have had bad luck with injuries.

The Sox are currently just under $200 million for their payroll in 2022, which leaves plenty of room financially for them to be in the hunt for Conforto.

Cleveland Guardians

Their payroll is so low that both Dallas Keuchel and Joc Pederson have called them out for it, and the team is essentially in a rebuild since losing Francisco Lindor. There might be nothing better for the new-look Guardians to signal moving in a new direction by signing Conforto.

The Guardians have a very green outfield, so they would benefit from Conforto’s veteran presence. This season will be his eighth. Conforto is also one of the only remaining free agents who has a projected 2022 WAR above one win, and the Guardians would be better for his .824 career OPS.

Milwaukee Brewers

If Conforto prefers to stay in the National League, there is no question the Brewers could use him. They reached the playoffs last year thanks to elite pitching, but it was their lack of offense that was the Achilles Heel in the postseason.

Conforto’s aforementioned prowess at the plate would help Milwaukee better pair their top-tier pitching with some pop on offense. And outfield with both Conforto and Christian Yelich in it would go a long way toward fixing the Brewers’ hitting woes.

The Brewers are not known for spending big in free agency, but they have plenty of room under the competitive balance tax to spend a little more this offseason. That would probably end up being a wise decision because the NL Central is one of the weaker divisions in baseball. Milwaukee has a ways to go to compete with the best in the NL as a whole, but their division is pretty easily up for grabs.

The bifurcated nature of free agency has made things difficult for more players than just Conforto. Splitting the opportunity for players and agents to talk to teams between November and early December and then not until March has created challenges both for free agents and players looking for contract extensions.

The compressed amount of time for these kinds of talks to take place in March — as spring training is going on at the same time — has also made things tricky.

That has contributed to the situation Conforto is on. But even as Opening Day looms closer, there are plenty of places he can play.