I see Scott Boras at the World Series every year, and annually I throw out what I think the contract ultimately will be for his best free-agent client.

Each year, Boras “tsk tsks” me, sermonizes that I simply do not understand the market and treats the number I just proposed like something with which you buy a bag of chips.

By the way, he almost always is right. Last year, my guess was six years at $110 million for Jacoby Ellsbury. I never even saw the Yankees coming for him, and Ellsbury got seven years at $153 million. Last week, in San Francisco, I tip-toed to seven years at $175 million for Max Scherzer. It turns out I don’t understand the market again this year.

So there is that disclaimer as I try to guess-timate the 10 players I suspect will land the biggest contracts this offseason:

Max Scherzer

Projection: 7 years, $175 million

He not only is Boras’ best free agent but also the most attractive of the big three starters with Jon Lester and James Shields. What can depress his market? The spate of pitching injuries has a lot of clubs spooked about these kinds of investments — as an example, the Yankees put down $175 million on Masahiro Tanaka (including his posting fee) and have no idea what they have moving forward.

Also, with offense so diminished, will teams put all their big dollars toward hitters and believe that merely good pitchers (who cost less) can pitch great? Think Brandon McCarthy with the Yankees.

Still, the alpha dog of the class usually gets his money, especially when repped by Boras. My hunch is Scherzer/Boras did not reject the Tigers’ six-year, $144 million overture from last spring without knowing they could do substantially better.

So Boras probably will be right that my $175 million is too low. Scherzer was traded by Arizona to Detroit as part of the three-team deal that sent Curtis Granderson to the Yankees because the Diamondbacks were convinced he would blow out his arm. Instead, he never made fewer than 31 starts in five seasons with Detroit. His last two have been brilliant (39-8, 3.02 ERA, 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings). He doesn’t turn 30 until July. He will not have to pass around a tin cup.

Jon Lester

Projection: 6 years, $145 million

The Cubs are expected to muscle up for established pitching this offseason to team with their fleet of talented young position prospects. Chicago president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer drafted and developed Lester when they were with the Red Sox.

He is a lefty. He just had his best season. He is a proven workhorse and — before this year’s wild-card game — a dominant postseason performer. He badly wanted to stay with the Red Sox and would have taken a discount. And there is talk Boston will have its cake and eat it too, that having obtained Yoenis Cespedes for Lester in July, the Red Sox will now re-sign him. I don’t buy it. I think the Red Sox are now fanatical about not giving out nine-figure deals that take players — especially pitchers — into baseball old age.

James Shields

Projection: 5 years, $100 million

There is a lot of talk about the Red Sox bringing the righty back to the AL East. He turns 33 this winter and mostly had a poor postseason. But he is a proven workhorse (at least 31 starts each of the last eight seasons) and terrific teammate. Club officials expect he might make his money as the fallback prize — teams that don’t land Scherzer or Lester will turn to Shields.

The worry for Shields has to be if teams just decide to go another way. It is possible high-end starters such as Johnny Cueto and Andrew Cashner could be had in trades. Plus, the free-agent market is going to be replete with starters such as McCarthy, Francisco Liriano, Edinson Volquez, Ervin Santana, etc., who will cost considerably less but could be seen as better value for the dollar. Remember the best pitching signings last year were guys on good but not bank-breaking deals such as Phil Hughes, Jason Vargas, Tim Hudson, Scott Kazmir and even Bartolo Colon.

Yasmany Tomas

Projection: 7 years, $100 million

Rusney Castillo received seven years at $72.5 million from the Red Sox, and the expectation is Tomas is going to crush that record for a Cuban import. He has been helped by the wave of Cubans who have come in recent seasons and had strong success — such as Yasiel Puig, Cespedes and Jose Abreu. Like them, Tomas is viewed as a righty with big-time power potential.

The Phillies have been mentioned as the front-runner and, because the outfielder does not turn 24 for two weeks, he seems a good fit even for a rebuilding club. But Philadelphia president Pat Gillick said recently he does not expect the Phillies to contend in 2015-16, so will they spend this kind of money when at least two years of it might be for a second-division team? The Tigers were in late on Castillo and might need to replace Torii Hunter.

Tomas is not the only international star who could be coming this winter. Korean shortstop Kang Jung-ho is expected to be posted. He is an immense righty power hitter in his country, but doubt is strong he can handle shortstop in the majors, and he might have to move to third base or right field.

Kenta Maeda arguably became the best pitcher in Japan when Tanaka departed, though he lacks the same wipeout stuff. Plus, there remain questions if his Hiroshima Carp are going to post the 26-year-old righty.

Veteran Japanese shortstop Takashi Toritani, who has a reputation as a slick fielder but a more limited hitter (though he hit .314 this year), also is expected to try to get to MLB this offseason.

Pablo Sandoval

Projection: 5 years, $90 million

The Giants were believed to be offering in the three-year, $40 million range in the spring. Sandoval is a constant worry because of his girth, and his regular-season numbers (while above average) never quite honor his talents. But he is just 28. He switch-hits. He is an excellent fielder. And it is hard to ignore how good a hitter he has been in the postseason (.344 in 39 games with a .935 OPS).

He is another guy the Red Sox are said to like. The Yankees don’t seem to be on him, trying to retain Chase Headley instead. But with third basemen in short supply, Sandoval’s contract could positively raise the asking price for Headley to three years or four years at $13 million to $15 million annually.

Hanley Ramirez

Projection: 5 years, $80 million

One AL executive called him “the human red flag.” There are questions about his durability, makeup and whether he is even still a shortstop any longer (both scouts and defensive metrics say he should be playing third base). One NL official went as far as to say he thought Ramirez might take a one-year deal in an offensive-friendly place such as Fenway Park to rebuild his value for a long-term pact.

But Ramirez turns 31 in December. I don’t think he can wait to do a multi-year deal. He has been limited to 214 games the past two years, but in a sport hungry for bats, he had a .907 OPS in those two seasons — though just a good, but not great, .817 in 2014.

Nelson Cruz

Projection: 4 years, $72 million

He has the stain of Biogenesis. He is 34. He is a poor defender. But he hit a major league-best 40 homers, albeit in friendly Camden Yards. The qualifying offer killed his market last year, and he almost certainly will get one this season when they are due Monday. Those 40 homers are going to get him paid this time.

Victor Martinez

Projection: 4 years, $60 million

He turns 36 in December, so four years is a huge risk. But he was arguably the majors’ best hitter in 2014. He walked 70 times and struck out 42 to produce a .402 on-base percentage to go along with 32 homers. Add in that he is a switch-hitter with a reputation as one of the game’s best clubhouse personas, and Martinez is going to get paid. The Tigers want to keep him as Miguel Cabrera’s protection. However, that would give Detroit two aging first base/DH types on big-time contracts.

Melky Cabrera

Projection: 4 years, $52 million

Like Cruz, he has the Biogenesis stain but also a strong 2014. He is just 29, and the Blue Jays want to keep a player they see as a hard worker, a good teammate and relatively shift-proof with his switch-hitting ability to hit line-to-line. But there will be competition. The Royals, for example, had him in 2011, liked him and need a right fielder. Don’t forget Kansas City was willing to bestow more than the three years at $45 million the Yankees gave Carlos Beltran last offseason to reunite with an even older switch-hitter with more limited defensive skills.

Russell Martin

Projection: 4 years, $52 million

After the 2012 season, Martin wanted to stay a Yankee so badly, it is believed he would have taken a good one-year deal over the two-year, $16 million package provided by Pittsburgh. There were forces in the Yankees organization who did not like his low average while believing they had catching coming. Yep, they had catching coming — it was from outside the organization, though, and Brian McCann cost $85 million.

Martin just had his best season, posting a .402 on-base percentage and being a clutch-hitting force for the Pirates. But it is his athletic/heady work behind the plate that gets him notice. This is why you will hear him so associated with the Cubs, who might want a veteran leader/presence to mix with their young positional core.