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Seemingly every season, one of the Brewers’ top players is involved in the rumor mill. Whether it’s Corbin Burnes or Devin Williams, the Brewers’ consistent ability to compete combined with a shoestring budget leave them with an assortment of quality players who will naturally pop up in trade rumors as they near the end of their windows of team control with the club. This year, the next star up to be discussed is right-hander Freddy Peralta.
Peralta, 29, may not be on the same level of star power as someone like Burnes but he’s still an exciting pitcher in his own right. Since joining Milwaukee’s rotation full time in 2021, Peralta has been among the game’s most reliable starters with a 3.30 ERA and 3.65 FIP across 738 1/3 innings of work. He’s struck out an impressive 29.6% of his opponents in that time while walking 9.0%, and he actually enjoyed a career year this season as he posted a 2.70 ERA in 176 2/3 frames and finished fifth in NL Cy Young award voting.
It goes without saying that Peralta is the sort of pitcher that literally any rotation in baseball could benefit from adding, even if he isn’t a “true ace” on the level of Burnes or someone like Tarik Skubal of the Tigers. The quality of Peralta’s arm is already enough to make him an attractive trade candidate by himself, and with teams like the Red Sox and Mets known to be in the market for pitching help this winter, there’s plenty of enticing young talent the Brewers could try to land in exchange for the right-hander’s services.
The fact that he’ll make just $8MM in 2026 should only serve to increase his market, with teams like the Padres facing financial constraints and clubs that typically put together lower overall budgets like the Orioles and Rays not necessarily being forced out of the bidding by financial considerations. The Giants, Braves, and Blue Jays are among a number of clubs known to be on the hunt for starting pitching help this winter as well, so it’s easy to see a robust market forming if Milwaukee decides to dangle Peralta.
All of that makes it very easy to see why the rumor mill has suggested a Peralta trade could be on the horizon this winter. Between the Burnes (Joey Ortiz) and Williams (Caleb Durbin) trades, the entire left side of the infield that took Milwaukee to the NLCS this year as acquired by shipping a talented pitcher on an expiring contract to the AL East during the offseason. The argument can very easily be made for the team to try to repeat history, locking down a controllable piece or two who could fill a hole somewhere on the roster while leaning on the team’s ever-expanding group of young arms to make up for the gap left by Peralta’s departure. Jacob Misiorowski, Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick, Logan Henderson, Tobias Myers, and Robert Gasser could all be in the mix to start games for the Brew Crew next year, to say nothing of players like Aaron Ashby and DL Hall who currently pitch out of the bullpen.
With all that being said, the Brewers’ front office has thrown some cold water on the trade rumors for the time being. President of baseball operations Matt Arnold recently indicated that he expects Peralta to remain a Brewer in 2026. While it would be a bit of a departure from their usual model to keep Peralta, it wouldn’t be totally unprecedented. The club kept Willy Adames in the fold until he walked in free agency last winter and simply issued him a qualifying offer to recoup draft capital when he signed in San Francisco. They could certainly look to take a similar path with Peralta, particularly given the fact that they no longer have another proven high-end arm to fall back the way they did when they traded Burnes.
Additionally, Peralta’s $8MM salary wouldn’t open up new possibilities financially the way a trade of someone making more money like Burnes did, as $8MM is often the sort of money second-division hitters and bullpen pieces make in today’s free agent market. There’s also nothing stopping Milwaukee from reversing course at the deadline if the team doesn’t meet expectations in the first half. Though after a year where they posted the best record in baseball, that outcome seems fairly unlikely.
Arguably, this all means that the decision on whether or not to trade Peralta should come entirely down to the sort of return the Brewers can get for him. If multiple big-league ready and potentially impactful pieces are available, as was the case when they landed Ortiz and Hall from the Orioles in exchange for Burnes, then perhaps that’s worth weakening the front of the rotation. If the right-hander isn’t valued that highly by the market, however, it could be the case that Milwaukee is better off going the same route they did with Adames and keeping their star player in the fold for his walk year.
How do MLBTR readers view Peralta’s trade candidacy? Should Milwaukee trade him this winter to keep their perennial contention machine well-stocked? Or should they hold onto him and try to build on one of the best seasons in franchise history with him in the fold? Have your say in the poll below:
Red Sox right-hander Luis Guerrero, who was designated for assignment last week, went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Worcester, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. He lacks the service time or prior outright needed to elect free agency, so he’ll remain with the organization as non-roster depth.
Guerrero, 25, has pitched 27 1/3 innings of relief for Boston over the past two seasons. He sports a sharp 2.63 ERA in that time and sits 96.9 mph with his heater, perhaps making it a bit surprising that he went unclaimed at first glance. However, Guerrero went on the injured list with an elbow sprain back in June and never returned — though he never required any type of surgery to address the injury. The Sox moved him to the 60-day IL in August. Guerrero also has poor command, walking nearly 15% of his opponents against just a 17.6% strikeout rate in the majors.
The hard-throwing Guerrero’s minor league numbers are more alarming. He has a respectable enough 3.89 ERA in parts of three Triple-A seasons but saw that mark jump to 4.39 in 2025. He’s walked or plunked an untenable 17.4% of his opponents at the top minor league level, and in 2025 walked nearly 19% of the minor league hitters he faced in 31 innings.
Guerrero has, at times, posted gaudy strikeout and swinging-strike rates. The velocity is impressive, and he has a pair of minor league options remaining. That all makes him a nice depth piece whom the Sox are surely glad to retain, but he’ll need to further refine his well below-average command if he’s to carve out a steady role in a major league bullpen. Assuming his elbow is healed, he’ll be in big league camp with the Sox and hope to pitch his way back into the mix for a 40-man roster spot.
The Blue Jays are targeting high-leverage relievers, reports Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. Free agent Edwin Díaz appears to be one possibility, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Rosenthal frames the Jays as the main threat to poach Díaz from the Mets. Rosenthal reports that the Jays recently met with Díaz’s representatives from Wasserman, though he also notes that may not mean anything since everyone meets with everyone at this time of year. Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat reports that the Jays were interested in Ryan Helsley ahead of the deadline. He is now a free agent and could be a target as well. The Jays were also connected to Pete Fairbanks earlier this week.
The Jays have seemingly been casting a wide net early in the offseason, having been connected to all kinds of different pursuits. The bullpen is one thing on their list and it’s a sensible one. The Jays had a middling relief group in 2025. Toronto relievers had a collective 3.98 earned run average, which was 16th out of the 30 big league clubs. Closer Jeff Hoffman had a 4.37 ERA for the year. He dominated through most of the playoffs but then surrendered the big Miguel Rojas home run when the Jays were two outs away from a title.
Last week, general manager Ross Atkins said that Hoffman would be open to moving to a different role if the Jays found another closer. It seems the Jays are indeed considering that. Díaz is one of the best closers in the game today. He already has 253 saves under his belt. He just wrapped up a season in which he had 1.63 ERA, 38% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 48.4% ground ball rate.
He has been with the Mets since 2019 and it might be assumed by some that he will end up back in Queens. He was approaching free agency three years ago but signed a five-year, $102MM deal to stay with the Mets just days before he was set to hit the open market. That deal contained an opt-out after three years, which Díaz triggered. He is now a free agent for the first time.
The Mets could certainly re-sign him but it doesn’t seem to be a fait accompli. Díaz himself said this week he has been talking with the Mets but put the odds of a return at 50/50, per Laura Albanese of Newsday. “If they came with the best deal for me, I’d enjoy to stay with them,” Díaz said, “but at the end of the day, I don’t know what they’re thinking.”
Díaz is still quite a good reliever but he is three years older than when he signed his previous deal. MLBTR predicted him to secure a four-year, $82MM pact this time around, a similar average annual value but on a shorter commitment since he’ll turn 32 years old in a few months. Díaz appears to be setting his sights a bit higher than that. Earlier this week, reporting from Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic indicated he is looking for roughly the same kind of deal he got last time. Bob Nightengale of USA Today echoed that this week, reporting that Díaz is looking for at least $100MM over five years.
That would be a notable expenditure for any club. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the $102MM guarantee from the previous Díaz deal is still the record for a reliever. The $20.4MM AAV is also top of the list, apart from swingman Nick Martinez accepting a $21.1MM qualifying offer from the Reds a year ago.
Whether the Jays would be willing to do that remains to be seen. They’ve never given a reliever more than the three years and $33MM they gave to Hoffman a year ago. They might have to triple that to land Díaz. Perhaps getting so close to a World Series will push them there, both because the bullpen let the last game slip away and because they presumably raked in a bunch of extra money from the deep playoff run.
RosterResource projects the Jays for a $235MM payroll next year, more than $20MM shy of their year-end figure in 2025. It’s unknown how high they are willing to go in the wake of their 2025 run. Presumably, there is a limit somewhere and they will have to balance their desire for Díaz against pursuits of Bo Bichette, Kyle Tucker, starting pitching and so on. Díaz also rejected a qualifying offer. Since the Jays paid the competitive balance tax in 2025, signing a player tied to a QO means they would have to forfeit two draft picks and international bonus pool space.
The Mets have been operating with very few payroll limits in recent years but David Stearns has shown a measured approach to building his pitching staff since taking the president of baseball operations job. Despite having Steve Cohen’s seemingly boundless resources, he hasn’t given a pitcher a deal longer than three years yet. The bullpen has mostly been built with one-year deals. A.J. Minter got two years with an opt-out in the middle, though his lack of health in 2025 means he will be coming back for that second year.
Some may speculate that Cohen would just override Stearns and bring back Díaz as a fan favorite. Rosenthal downplays this notion is his column, linked above, referring back to the 50/50 comments from Díaz.
Turning back to the Jays, they could also shop in a different aisle. As mentioned, they have been connected to Fairbanks, who will be far cheaper than Díaz. That’s also true of Helsley, who has a strong track record but is coming off a poor platform season.
From 2022 to 2024, Helsley tossed 167 2/3 innings with a 1.83 ERA, 34.6% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate. In 2025, his ERA jumped to 4.50 as his strikeout rate fell to 25%. He was especially bad after getting traded from the Cardinals to the Mets at the deadline, with a 7.20 ERA after that swap.
That obviously puts a big dent in his earning power but he should still get interest as a bounceback candidate. Plenty of clubs would be happy to try him on a one-year deal with the hope that 2025 was a blip. He might also have enough juice for two years with an opt-out. MLBTR went the latter route, predicting him for a two-year, $24MM guarantee.
There’s no denying the trend lines aren’t good. Helsley’s strikeout rate has gone from 39.3% in 2022 to 35.6%, 29.7% and 25% in the most recent seasons. But he still averaged 99.3 miles per hour on his fastball this year, a tiny drop from his peak of 99.7 mph in in 2023. He may have been tipping his pitches and he also surrendered a fairly high .342 batting average on balls in play. His 14.5% home run to fly ball ratio was far worse than previous seasons. Part of that was him getting hit harder than before but some teams may feel he could be back to his old self with a tweak or two.
If the Jays circle back to Helsley, that would be a far different addition than Díaz. Díaz is about as rock-solid as a closer gets these days and would immediately supplant Hoffman as the top guy in the bullpen. Helsley would be a lower-cost flier and would surely start lower in the pecking order before having to earn his way up. How the Jays play it will presumably depend on the other market factors and how things play out with the other things on their to-do list.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
The Cubs are in the market for notable rotation upgrades this offseason, and right-hander Michael King is among the names on their radar, per Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. Mooney and Sharma also double down on the Cubs’ previously reported interest in Dylan Cease, noting that the Cubs are willing to forfeit the requisite draft pick and international funds to sign a player who has rejected a qualifying offer (which both Cease and King received from the Padres).
King, 31 next May, has had an atypical arc over the past few seasons. A swingman and multi-inning reliever for several years in the Bronx, he moved into the Yankees’ rotation late in the 2023 season and posted brilliant results in nine starts down the stretch. New York shipped him to San Diego as part of the Juan Soto blockbuster of the 2023-24 offseason, and King subsequently broke out as one of the top starters in MLB, starting 30 games for the Friars and turning in a 2.95 ERA with a hearty 27.7% strikeout rate against a solid 8.7% walk rate.
It was more of the same early in 2025. King sprinted out of the gates with a 2.59 ERA and even better rate stats (28.4 K%, 7.6 BB%) in his first 10 starts. By late May, he’d claimed the No. 6 spot on our Free Agent Power Rankings here at MLBTR. A nine-figure free agent deal seemed all but certain — provided King stayed healthy.
That proved to be a major caveat. The Padres placed King on the 15-day IL in late May with what was originally termed inflammation in his right shoulder. San Diego later called it a pinched nerve in his shoulder, but it wasn’t expected to be a prominent injury … at least not at first. King, however, wound up spending nearly three months on the shelf. In late June, King publicly voiced frustration with the injury, noting that there were days where he was in significant discomfort and could barely muster any baseball activity — and that he’d wake up a day later feeling close to 100% and ready to go.
King finally returned the mound in early August, giving the Padres hope that he’d be back atop their rotation down the stretch. His return lasted all of two innings, however — but not due to his previously problematic shoulder. Rather, King landed back on the 15-day IL due to a left knee issue that popped up in his return effort. An MRI revealed no structural damage, and King hoped to be back after a minimal stint but still wound up sidelined for another month.
King returned for good in early September, but his results in four starts were rocky. He pitched just 15 2/3 innings and yielded 10 runs on 18 hits (including six homers) with an 11-to-7 K/BB ratio. Brilliant as his start to the season was, King pitched a total of 17 2/3 innings with a 6.11 ERA following May 18. He made one appearance with San Diego in the postseason, pitching one inning of relief — and striking out the side in a perfect frame.
There’s little doubting that King is among the most talented arms in the sport, but his platform year before free agency finished with more of a whimper than a roar. The Padres seemingly don’t have any qualms about his health. They issued him a $22.025MM qualifying offer despite having minimal payroll flexibility this winter. San Diego would presumably be thrilled to have King back, given the need in their rotation, but they’re reportedly aiming for a similar payroll to 2025 and King accepting the QO would put them about $10MM over where they sat in ’25. If the Padres had major concerns about his shoulder and/or knee, they likely wouldn’t have risked the QO — particularly since their compensation for him signing elsewhere will only be a pick after the fourth round (rather than after the first) due to their status as a luxury tax payor.
King isn’t necessarily the sole focus of the Cubs’ hunt for rotation upgrades (nor is Cease). The Athletic duo note that Chicago has some interest in star NPB righty Tatsuya Imai and they could rekindle last offseason’s trade talks with the Marlins about their starting pitchers. Imai will be posted for major league teams next week. Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara is signed through 2026 with a club option for 2027, while 27-year-old righty Edward Cabrera is controlled via arbitration through 2028. It’s still possible that lefty Shota Imanaga returns, whether via accepting his own QO or perhaps working out a new two-year deal.
The Cubs currently project for a payroll of about $158MM, per RosterResource, which sits around $50MM shy of their end-of-season levels in 2025. They’re nowhere close to the luxury tax, currently sitting close to $75MM shy of next year’s $244MM first-tier threshold. Shortstop Dansby Swanson is currently the only Cubs player who’s guaranteed anything beyond the 2026 season. His seven-year, $177MM contract runs through 2029. There’s quite literally no free agent the deep-pocketed Cubs can’t afford to pursue, so the only limitations on their winter additions will be self-imposed if the bidding reaches a point that’s too far beyond the comfort zone of either the front office or owner Tom Ricketts.
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:
1. Trade market buzzing:
On the heels of this week’s GM Meetings, there’s been plenty of rumors about the trade market that will be worth monitoring as the offseason progresses. Cardinals super utility man Brendan Donovan, Royals southpaw Kris Bubic, and Mets veteran Jeff McNeil have all drawn interest from rival teams in recent days. All of those pieces appear to have real potential to move this offseason, but there are other longer shot trade candidates floating around the rumor mill as well. The Diamondbacks are getting plenty of calls on star infielder Ketel Marte, and the Mets are getting interest on mercurial right-hander Kodai Senga. Even with teams like the Reds and Astros publicly taking big names like Hunter Greene and Isaac Paredes off the table, there’s still plenty of early intrigue on the market.
2. Bullpen market heating up?
Yesterday, a report from Francys Romero of BeisbolFR suggested that the market for relievers could start moving in the early part of the offseason. That would be a sharp contrast to last winter, when top relief arms like Tanner Scott lingered on the market into January and even the earliest signings for veteran closers didn’t start until the Winter Meetings. There have already been plenty of rumors about the offseason’s top relief arms this winter.
Right-hander Brad Keller is garnering interest as a starter after a dominant year in the bullpen with the Cubs. The Red Sox, Reds, Dodgers and Marlins have been connected to Devin Williams, and the Dodgers have also been connected to Raisel Iglesias as they look to bolster a middling bullpen that forced them to move Roki Sasaki into a ninth inning role this October. One other interesting wrinkle in the bullpen market this year is the presence of Edwin Diaz, who wasted no time in signing during his last trip to free agency when he inked a deal with the Mets in early November back in 2022. Could he or another top relief arm follow suit with a November deal this year?
3. Coaching staff additions continue:
While most of the focus is on free agency and the trade market at this point, teams are still doing the little things in the background to prepare for the 2026 season. That includes making alterations to and finalizing their coaching staffs. Just in the past few days, the Orioles, Twins, Reds, and Astros have all made significant coaching moves. More will surely continue to trickle in throughout the offseason, especially from the many teams that have hired new managers this winter. That’s also to say nothing of the Rockies, who still have to hire a manager after naming Paul DePodesta their president of baseball operations last week.
The Nationals are in a new era. Their stalled rebuild led ownership to fire president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez. Paul Toboni is now leading a front office for the first time, while the club brought in a rookie manager in 33-year-old Blake Butera. It's easy to imagine Toboni making a couple significant trades to add a needed influx of talent to the farm system.
"We're in the business right now of just bringing in as much value as we can to the organization," the new baseball operations president said from the GM Meetings (link via Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post). "However that may look, we’ll stay disciplined to that." The most obvious place would be to entertain conversations on left-hander MacKenzie Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams. Gore is down to two years of arbitration control and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $4.7MM salary. Abrams' $5.6MM projection is a little higher, but he has three years of remaining control.
This feels like the opportune time to move Gore. Any team in a short-term contention window could be interested. He's at least a mid-rotation arm with the upside of a #2 starter. The Nationals could hear from two-thirds of the league about his availability.
Whether to trade Abrams is a tougher call. The Nats presumably expect to compete for a playoff spot within three years. There's less injury risk with a position player than there is with a pitcher. The Nationals could view the 25-year-old shortstop as the kind of core piece whom they're more or less unwilling to trade. At the same time, Abrams has been maddeningly inconsistent over the past couple seasons. He's a gifted athlete who is nevertheless prone to defensive miscues. This may just depend on how a Toboni-led front office that didn't acquire Abrams views the player.
Abrams is coming off a .257/.315/.433 line with 19 home runs through 635 plate appearances. He has hit between 18-20 longballs in each of the past three seasons. Abrams has stolen 31 bases in consecutive seasons and ranks sixth in MLB with 109 steals since the start of 2023. He won't walk much, but he puts the ball in play with middle-of-the-road exit velocities. At his best, he looks the part of a top-of-the-order spark plug. He's coming off a second straight season in which he was only at that level for a few months. Abrams was a star-level performer in the first half of each of the past two years, but he slumped after the All-Star Break both times.
He's not much easier to pin down defensively. Abrams certainly has the frame and athleticism of a shortstop. He has been far too mistake-prone, however, with only Elly De La Cruz committing more errors over the past few seasons. Most of them have been related to poor accuracy. Abrams was charged with 18 throwing errors this year, three more than anyone else. He has committed 38 throwing errors over the past three seasons. As one might expect given all the easy misses, Statcast has graded Abrams as by far the sport's worst defensive shortstop in that time.
Other teams could have differing views on Abrams' defensive projection. There are presumably some who feel he's non-viable at shortstop and would only consider him at second base or as a potential center field conversion. Others could feel the throwing issues can be cleaned up with mechanical tweaks. They could also be motivated out of some amount of desperation considering the lack of alternatives. Bo Bichette could command upwards of $200MM and faces his own defensive questions. Only one team can sign Ha-Seong Kim, and he doesn't have anywhere near the same offensive ceiling that Abrams has flashed. There aren't many clear options on the trade front.
If the Nationals were to trade Abrams, which clubs should make the biggest push? Let's split them into a few groups. Teams are listed alphabetically within each tier.
The Rockies introduced new president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta at a press conference on Thursday. Owner Dick Monfort and executive vice president Walker Monfort also took part. While the executives spoke mostly in generalities, Dick Monfort revealed that he plans to scale back his involvement in baseball operations now that a new front office leader is in place.
Dick Monfort is one of the leading figures on the owner’s side in labor negotiations with the MLB Players Association. The 71-year-old pointed out that he’ll have more work to do on that end with the collective bargaining agreement expiring a little over a year from now. “I have a lot more responsibility with the league over the next year, so I have to allocate time there. Plus, I’m getting older,” he told reporters (including Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post). “Walker came to me and said he was interested in taking on (a bigger role). He can handle it.”
It is generally believed that Monfort will be one of the leading proponents of a salary cap push by the owners. The MLBPA has maintained that’s a non-starter, setting the stage for another round of contentious negotiations. The sides recently opened preliminary talks, but they’re almost certainly going to negotiate throughout the entire 2026 season. Commissioner Rob Manfred has already indicated he expects offseason lockouts to be a norm. A lockout would only come into play if there’s no new deal in place by December 1, 2026, and it seems both sides are pessimistic on the odds of things getting resolved that smoothly.
Walker Monfort, Dick’s son, has taken on a much bigger role with the Rox over the past few months. While he has worked for the franchise for more than 15 years, he was promoted to executive vice president in June. The 38-year-old played a significant role in the DePodesta hiring, and he indicated he’ll oversee a lot of the day-to-day operations of the club. “Obviously, everybody reports upward, to our chairman and CEO, my father, Dick. Basically, from there, I will still be in charge of oversight of the entire organization,” Walker Monfort said. “So Paul will report to me, and those that he hires will report to him.”
The most significant of those hires will a general manger and a manager. DePodesta said there’s no timetable for either hire. The Rockies are the only team without a permanent manager in place. Jon Morosi of The MLB Network reported last week that the Rox would like to have a GM by next month’s Winter Meetings.
Colorado’s search for a baseball operations head dragged a little longer than ownership probably anticipated. They’d reportedly narrowed to two finalists, Amiel Sawdaye and Matt Forman, before both men took themselves out of consideration. Dick Monfort said the team evaluated around 30 candidates in the search.
Any hire was going to have his work cut out for him. DePodesta takes over one of the worst teams in MLB history. They’re coming off a 119-loss season and have very little talent anywhere on the roster. A pitching staff that allowed nearly six earned runs per nine innings is in particularly rough shape. Speaking at the GM Meetings earlier this week, DePodesta implied he was open to trading hitting for rotation help (link via Thomas Harding of MLB.com).
“I want to stop short of naming a particular position group – I have one in mind, for sure – but I do think there’s some depth. Now what I have to do is understand what the other 29 teams think, and what players they are attracted to from our organization,” DePodesta said. “We need to be open-minded about that, and if we need to shift assets around – take a little away from this area to bolster another – then we’ll have to do that.”
Harding writes that a trade of an outfielder could be one way to add pitching. Center fielder Brenton Doyle regressed offensively, hitting .233/.274/.376 across 538 plate appearances. He’s a plus defensive outfielder, though, and teams would surely have interest with his four remaining years of arbitration control. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Doyle for a $3.2MM salary as a Super Two player.
Mickey Moniak had terrible defensive metrics but is coming off a career season at the plate. He popped 24 homers while hitting .270/.306/.518 in 461 trips. He’s projected at $4.2MM and controllable for two seasons. Most teams probably see him as a fourth outfielder, but he has flashed some of the offensive promise that made him the first overall pick nine years ago.
Tyler Freeman has good bat-to-ball skills, speed and some defensive versatility. He could be a serviceable utility player. None of Jordan Beck, Yanquiel Fernández or Zac Veen have been good MLB players to date, but they all had prospect pedigree and remain in their pre-arbitration seasons. They’d have modest trade value but could have some fans in other clubs’ scouting departments.
The Twins are hiring Keith Beauregard as their new hitting coach, reports Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star-Tribune. He’ll replace Matt Borgschulte, who held the position for the 2025 season. Nightengale writes that assistant hitting coaches Rayden Sierra and Trevor Amicone are expected back in the same positions.
Beauregard makes the jump to the Twin Cities after three seasons with a division rival. He’d been a hitting coach with the Tigers between 2023-25. The 42-year-old had previously been a collegiate hitting coach and a minor league hitting instructor in the Dodgers organization. His stint on A.J. Hinch’s staff was his first in the big leagues. Beauregard worked as a co-hitting instructor with Michael Brdar, who’ll remain in that role for a fourth season in Detroit.
The Tigers hit .247/.316/.413 this past season. They ranked in the middle third of MLB in all three slash stats and finished 10th with 198 home runs. They were 11th in scoring. A few of their hitters (e.g. Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres, Javier Báez, Zach McKinstry) got out to excellent starts but collapsed in the second half. Detroit had the sport’s third-highest strikeout rate (25.1%) and is expected to emphasize putting more balls in play next season.
Individual coaches only have so much sway over player performance, of course. Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Dillon Dingler have developed into quality position players over the past couple seasons. Former first overall pick Spencer Torkelson has been up and down but is coming off his best season. He hit .240/.333/.456 while matching his career high with 31 home runs.
Borgschulte is seemingly out after just one season as Minnesota’s top hitting coach. That’s always a possibility when a team makes a managerial change, as the Twins did in dismissing Rocco Baldelli in favor of Derek Shelton. Minnesota had a below-average offense in 2025. They ranked 23rd in scoring while batting .238/.310/.397. Byron Buxton is a star and second-year infielder Luke Keaschall looks like a building block. The Twins will need a lot more from former top picks Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee than they got this past season.
Shelton’s first staff in Minnesota is coming into place. Pitching coach Pete Maki, assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez, and third base coach Ramon Borrego join the assistant hitting coaches as holdovers from last season. They’ve already brought in Grady Sizemore as first base coach and LaTroy Hawkins to oversee the bullpen. They need to replace bench coach Jayce Tingler, who departed to take a position on the Giants staff. Catching coach Hank Conger and quality control coach Nate Dammann were also let go. Minnesota is reportedly hoping to get James Rowson, the runner-up in the managerial search, to accept the bench coach position.
The Rays announced that right-hander Brian Van Belle went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Durham. Tampa Bay had designated him for assignment last week when cutting their roster down to 40.
Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reports that Van Belle underwent elbow surgery that will cost him the entire 2026 season. The 29-year-old had finished the year on the injured list with what was initially diagnosed as elbow inflammation. That was apparently serious enough to necessitate surgery that’ll prevent Van Belle from building off this year’s brief MLB debut. The Miami product made four appearances after being acquired from the Reds as part of the three-team Zack Littell deadline deal. He gave up five runs over 8 1/3 innings while picking up his first win.
Van Belle will remain in the farm system without occupying a 40-man roster spot next season. He could get a look in Spring Training in 2027. He’s coming off a cumulative 3.17 ERA in 105 Triple-A innings between the Red Sox, Reds and Rays systems. Van Belle’s fastball sits around 90 MPH, but he has a plus changeup and excellent control.
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