3. Atlanta Braves Top Free Agents: Terry Pendleton, 1991
Winning an MVP (albeit slightly controversial at the time) after signing with the team in free agency grants automatic qualification to this list. In John Schuerholz first year as GM, he needed to overhaul the roster and brought in Terry Pendleton to man third base for the 1991 season on a 4-year $10 million contract.
A solid player in his time with the Cardinals, the then 30-year-old Pendleton experienced career highs in his tenure in Atlanta. Bouncing back from a year in which he hit only .230 in over 120 games in St Louis, Pendelton would shock the baseball world by winning the NL MVP in 1991 hitting .319 to go along with 199 hits, 22 homers, and 86 runs driven in while also leading the Braves to their first division title since 1982.
By today’s standards those numbers don’t scream MVP off the stat sheet, but Pendelton won a neck-and-neck race with Barry Bonds where a lot of people thought Bonds was robbed. While Bonds ranked ahead of Pendelton in almost every advanced metric, voters ultimately couldn’t deny the impact Terry had on turning the Braves around from winning 65 games in 1990 to winning 94 games and a pennant in 91′.
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