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Poll: Should The Orioles Stick With Tony Mansolino?

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The Orioles saw their 2025 season more or less end before it started due to a brutal 15-32 record in their first 47 games. That start to the season saw manager Brandon Hyde get fired in mid May despite his popularity with the players in the clubhouse, while third base coach Tony Mansolino took over as the club’s interim manager. The Pirates decided to stick with Don Kelly long-term after he took over for Derek Shelton earlier this year. The Angels opted against keeping Ray Montgomery in the manager’s chair after he took up the mantle due to Ron Washington’s illness.

Mansolino has neither been extended nor dismissed, and Mike Elias remains in place as the club’s president of baseball operations, leaving no uncertainty in the front office to delay the club’s decision. Instead, Mansolino remains in limbo. Mansolino is set to be a candidate for the manager job in Baltimore, but he’s far from guaranteed to remain in the role and a wide-ranging search is expected. That makes some sense. With a young core that was in the playoffs in both 2023 and ’24, the Orioles are still in the middle of their contention window even despite this year’s disastrous 87-loss campaign. A quick turnaround is not only possible, but perhaps even expected given their collection of young hitting talent.

That could attract plenty of interesting candidates to the role, and the allure of hiring a big-name manager is obvious. After all, the Reds’ decision to hire Terry Francona last offseason got them to the playoffs in a 162-game season for the first time since 2013. The Rangers’ decision to hire Bruce Bochy a few years ago got the franchise its first ever World Series championship that same year. Joe Maddon’s second year as manager in Chicago ended the club’s infamous World Series drought. For a franchise like Baltimore that last won the World Series in 1983 and is still in the early years since emerging from a lengthy rebuilding period, it would be understandable if those success stories held some appeal.

Mansolino managed Baltimore to a 60-59 record after taking over for Hyde in spite of one of the weakest rotations in baseball, an offense that suffered from injuries and under-performance, and a sell-off at the trade deadline that shipped out valuable pieces like Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn. The Orioles had a 35-30 record under Mansolino through the day of the trade deadline, a 94-win pace that would actually represent an improvement not only over this season, but also the club’s 2024 record if maintained over a full season.

Of course, evaluating managerial performance is difficult to do from the outside of an organization. In a sample of just 65 games, it’s easy for one hot streak to change the perception of the stretch. Even Mansolino’s 119 games on the job can be looked at with something of an asterisk. After all, most teams would look a great deal better if you simply ignored their worst 43-game stretch of the year.

How do MLBTR readers think the Elias and the Orioles should approach their managerial vacancy? Did Mansolino do enough in his time managing the team this year to earn a longer opportunity, or should the team pivot to a fresh voice? Have your say in the poll below:

Marlins Notes: Infield, Outfield, Mack

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The Marlins didn’t make the playoffs in 2025 but are entering the winter with a bit more optimism compared to a year ago. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald took a look at the Miami position player mix and provided some details on the club’s aspirations for the winter.

Jackson had previously reported that the club was likely going to be targeting a veteran bat this winter. In today’s reporting, he adds that first base is the most likely place for them to make that addition, though third base and the outfield corners are mentioned as other possibilities.

First base is a sensible spot to target, as the Fish don’t really have anyone locked in there. Seven different players spent some time at that spot in 2025, though Eric Wagaman got the bulk of the action. Wagaman hit just .237/.281/.375 for a wRC+ of 79. That indicates he was 21% below league average at the plate. Teams generally hope to get above-average offense out of the first base spot, so that’s a natural spot to look for more production.

The free agent class is headlined by guys like Pete Alonso, Josh Naylor and Ryan O’Hearn. The Marlins have occasionally thrown out notable multi-year deals but president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has largely kept his wallet in his pocket since getting his job. Two offseasons ago, his big signing was one year and $5MM for Tim Anderson. Last winter, it was $3.5MM for Cal Quantrill.

Perhaps he will get more aggressive with the Marlins coming off a respectable 2025 season, though it may be more likely he goes for guys who can be had on short-term deals such as Rhys Hoskins or Paul Goldschmidt. The non-tender deadline will shake loose a few more guys, with Nathaniel Lowe and Ryan Mountcastle some of the possibilities there. Christian Walker and Alec Burleson are speculative trade candidates.

Signing a third baseman is also a possibility but Jackson reports that the most likely scenario is Connor Norby and Graham Pauley battling for the job, or perhaps even forming a platoon. Pauley seems to have a decent floor as a strong defender. In 390 innings at the hot corner this year, he was credited with three Defensive Runs Saved and six Outs Above Average. Offensively, he slashed .224/.311/.366 for a wRC+ of 90. Perhaps there’s more to come with the bat. His 11.4% walk rate and 19.6% strikeout rate were both above average and he may have been held back by an unfortunate .262 batting average on balls in play. But even with offense close to average, he could be a valuable player thanks to the glove.

Norby, on the other hand, received grades of -5 DRS and -4 OAA at third this year. He didn’t make up for that with the bat, as he slashed .251/.300/.389 for a wRC+ of 90. However, he has slashed .293/.369/.493 at the Triple-A level going back to the start of 2023, which translates to a 123 wRC+. Bringing that kind of production to the majors would be great but he’ll be a bit of a question mark until that happens.

As for the platoon possibility Jackson mentions, Norby is right-handed and Pauley left-handed. Both players have reverse splits in their big league careers thus far but the sample size is still pretty small for both. Neither had huge splits in the minors but major league pitching might be a different story in the long run.

In the outfield, Jackson suggests the investment is likely to be small, suggesting it could be similar to the club signing Heriberto Hernández to a minor league deal last winter. They should have Kyle Stowers and Jakob Marsee in two spots, with room for guys like Hernández, Griffin Conine, Dane Myers, Joey Wiemer and others.

Behind the plate, Bendix already gave a public vote of confidence to Agustín Ramírez, despite his poor defensive metrics. If he is going to get another shot behind the plate next year, that could leave Joe Mack in Triple-A. Jackson reports that the club would prefer Mack to start the year in Jacksonville, but he will have a chance to earn a job in spring training.

Mack is one of the top catching prospects in the league. He’s not yet on the 40-man roster but would be eligible for this winter’s Rule 5 draft if not added, so the Fish will surely give him a spot in order to protect him from being selected. He’s considered a strong defender and he slashed .250/.320/.459 for a 108 wRC+ in 99 Triple-A games this year.

Promoting him to the majors seems justified at this point, but if Ramírez is going to get the bulk of the playing time as the Marlins continue to give him a shot to improve defensively, then perhaps Mack would be better served staying in Triple-A to get regular playing time.

It seems like there’s even less chance of a move up the middle, as Jackson reports the club is happy with the Otto López and Xavier Edwards tandem. López has produced subpar offense but the move to shortstop has worked well. He was credited with 7 DRS and 4 OAA at that spot this year. He can also steal 15-20 bases a year, adding to his value. Edwards got poor grades at short but has been great since kicking over to the other side of the bag. He tallied 12 DRS and 9 OAA at the keystone this year, with 27 steals and roughly average offense.

Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images

New Rays Owners Discuss Stadium Plans

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One week ago, the Rays officially changed hands, with a group led by Patrick Zalupski stepping in for Stuart Sternberg. An introductory press conference was held today, featuring Zalupski and other key personnel, with Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reporting on the proceedings.

With the Rays, the natural focus is stadium plans and that was indeed the case today. Sternberg had been trying for years to get a new stadium plan in place. There was a plan to knock down Tropicana Field and replace it with a new stadium complex. That plan appeared to be on the proverbial one-yard line before hurricane damage to the Trop threw the plan off course. The subsequent squabbling between Sternberg and government officials scuttled the plan and soured the relationship to such a degree that this sale was the result.

The new ownership group is naturally going to resume that search for a future home. The Trop may be repaired to a playable state by the start of the 2026 season. Even if that does come to pass, the club’s lease there only runs through 2028, leaving the future up in the air.

The Zalupski group said today that it plans to pursue an “aggressive and perhaps audacious” plan which would include a fixed roof stadium as part “world class live/work/play experience” in a complex of over 100 acres which would open in time for the 2029 season. The Battery complex which surrounds Atlanta’s Truist Park was cited as “the gold standard” for what the group has in mind.

This type of project has become more popular for sports franchises in recent years. By having non-sports businesses in a larger interconnected network of commerce including things like office towers, hotels and restaurants, it diversifies the portfolio and lessens the pressure on the team to be successful. Even if the club is performing poorly and there’s a drop in terms of attendance and/or television ratings, the owners could still be making money off the other elements of the complex.

What’s still to be determined is the financing for this plan. Per Topkin, the group acknowledged the need for public contributions. That’s another element that modern sports owners love, as it’s obviously a much nicer arrangement if someone else is putting up the money for your real estate projects. Government officials often feel compelled to comply with such plans out of fear that opposing them will hurt at the ballot box. Just last year, Royals owner John Sherman essentially admitted that he bluffed a threat to take that team out of Kansas City because he thought it would help him sway voters in a ballot measure about stadium funding.

Securing that government funding will likely be a key storyline for the Rays in the coming weeks and months. As mentioned, Sternberg’s worsening relationships with public officials made it essentially impossible for him to move forward as owner, which led to this sale. Sternberg’s plan was set in St. Petersburg, meaning he was dealing with officials in that city and officials from Pinellas County.

Zalupski’s group is expected to target Tampa, meaning a different city council and also a different county, as Tampa is in Hillsborough County. That could provide some optimism about getting something done but Sternberg also previously explored Tampa without much success. Tampa mayor Jane Castor was present at the press conference today and said the city is “not going to spend tax dollars on building” a stadium. Topkin notes that Zalupski’s group will be meeting with officials from both Tampa and St. Petersburg, perhaps indicating they are keeping their options open or maybe just doing due diligence. Topkin’s report also adds some specific locations which could be fits.

If the group is successful in getting a stadium and larger complex built, Zalupski suggests that would be good for the team on the field. “It’s what you have to have in today’s Major League Baseball to be successful,” Zalupski said. “We think without that revenue generation, it’s going to be really, really challenging or nearly impossible to compete with the major markets. So for us, this is critical to building a championship team.”

The Rays are well established as one of the lower-spending clubs in the majors. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, their payroll has been in the bottom third of the league for over 20 years. They have still found some success despite that investment, which is often attributed to the club’s cutting-edge approach to analytics. They made the playoffs five straight years from 2019 to 2023, though they’ve dropped to just below .500 in the past two seasons.

Combining the club’s analytical bent with some more resources would be a nice boost, though that may take years to come to fruition. At this point, there’s no real way to tell if the Rays owners are genuine in that plan to make more meaningful investments in the team, but Zalupski did elaborate.

“We’ve got to deliver this world-class development, generate the revenue to produce a consistent champion,” Zalupski said. “You don’t want to be one year great and five years bad and have to go all in. We want to build a sustainable championship team. I think the revenue generation that can come out of this development, will provide that.”

For what it’s worth, Atlanta did ramp up spending after Truist Park opened in 2017. According to Cot’s, their payroll has moved into the top ten recently, after being more middle-of-the-pack in the preceding decade. On the other hand, it was also hoped that the Twins would open up a new era of spending when Target Field opened in 2010, but Cot’s shows that didn’t really happen.

It’s unclear what would happen if the new stadium cannot be ready by the start of 2029. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch has said the city would be open to a Trop extension but they are also planning new developments of the site which could involve the Trop being torn down, per Colleen Wright of The Tampa Bay Times.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement, Imagn Images

MLB Mailbag: Reds, Bregman, Bichette, Polanco, Braves, deGrom

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This week's mailbag gets into the Reds' offense, whether Alex Bregman, Bo Bichette, and Jorge Polanco will stay with their respective clubs, trade targets for the Braves' rotation, and whether the Rangers could trade Jacob deGrom.

Bill asks:

What can the Cincinnati Reds possibly do to fix the mess that is their lineup? They need at least one big bat and probably do not have the money to accomplish that.

The Reds' offense ranked eighth in the NL with 4.42 runs scored per game.  Let's examine where the lineup stands after the Reds were eliminated by the Dodgers in the Wild Card round.

No one on the Reds had a stellar offensive season.  Almost every regular fell between a 97 wRC+ and a 109 mark, with 100 being league average.  Where can improvements be found?

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Nic Enright To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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With the Guardians having been eliminated from the postseason, some details about their offseason are now coming to light. Per Tim Stebbins of of MLB.com, right-hander Nic Enright will undergo Tommy John surgery in the coming weeks. That will mean he’ll miss the entire 2026 season. Also, designated hitter David Fry will be undergoing surgery for a deviated septum and a fractured nose. His timeline was not specified.

It’s a challenging situation for Enright, a young player who has already been through a lot. He announced in February of 2023 that he was undergoing treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He had been with the Marlins at that time after that club took him from the Guardians in the Rule 5 draft a few months earlier. He was returned to the Guardians in June of that year.

In 2024, a lat strain limited him to just 17 Triple-A innings, though the results were good. He only allowed two earned runs on nine hits and five walks while racking up 32 strikeouts. The Guards gave him a 40-man spot in November of that year, to prevent him from being scooped up in the Rule 5 yet again.

That allowed him to make his major league debut this year, which went quite well. While frequently being shuttled to Triple-A and back, he logged 31 innings in the big leagues with a 2.03 ERA, 23.6% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. He also had a 1.38 ERA in 13 Triple-A frames.

He was placed on the major league injured list in September due to right elbow/forearm inflammation. Presumably, he has spent the past month exploring his options, which has led him to the surgeon’s table. If the Guardians keep him on the 40-man roster through the winter, he could spend all of 2026 on the 60-day injured list. However, there’s no IL in the offseason, so he would need to hold a spot until then.

It has also been a challenging year for Fry. He seemed to break out in 2024, hitting 14 home runs in 122 games, leading to a .263/.356/.448 line and 129 wRC+. But shortly after that season ended, he required surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. That was going to cause him to miss time in 2025 and be limited to DH duties when he did return.

He was reinstated from the IL at the end of May. He struggled badly, putting up a .171/.229/.363 line this year. His season was then ended in scary fashion when a pitch from Tarik Skubal hit him in the face. It was initially reported that he would recover in six to eight weeks without the need for surgery, though that plan has evidently changed. Ideally, he can heal up in time for a healthy offseason and spring training but perhaps more updates will be forthcoming throughout the winter.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

MLBTR Chat Transcript

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Steve Adams

  • Good morning! I’ll get going around 1pm CT, but feel free to submit questions ahead of time, as always.
  • Good afternoon! Let’s get underway

Derek

  • Do Alec Bohm and A Garcia get non tendered? Not sure either team wants to commit 10+million to them

Steve Adams

  • I think Bohm will be non-tendered. Garcia has a chance to be traded somewhere to a team looking to buy low, but a NT is still possible there. I think he’s done with the Rangers one way or another.

Brooklyngail

  • Your prediction. Does HSK pick up his option and stay in Atlanta or does he test the market?

Steve Adams

  • No, I expect him to head back to the market. He got more than 1/16 when he was fresh off shoulder surgery. Even if it’s another two-year deal with an opt-out, he should be able to lock in more guaranteed money now that he’s healthy — plus the market is devoid of actual shortstop options.Braves could always try to get him to sign on for a new three- or four-year deal before he declines the option, but if my choices are “he exercises it or declines it,” I’m pretty comfortably in the latter camp.

Depressed Oriole

  • Mountcastle worth 8 mil in a trade or non tender more likely?

Steve Adams

  • I’d lean toward the non-tender, but he’s not a Nate Lowe-esque lock to be non-tendered. I could see a team giving up a negligible return to plug him in at 1B/DH at that price.

Squints

  • Does Woody end up back with Brewers next year?

Read more

Offseason Outlook: Kansas City Royals

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An 82-80 record is nothing to sneeze at in Kansas City, as it represented just the sixth time in the last 31 years that the Royals topped the .500 mark.  Still, the Royals took a step back after reaching the playoffs in 2024, and will again be looking to bolster their lackluster offense.

Guaranteed Contracts

  • Bobby Witt Jr., SS: $272MM through 2034 (Witt can opt out after each of the final four years of the contract; Royals can trigger $89MM club option for 2035-37 seasons if Witt triggers all player options)
  • Seth Lugo, SP: $43MM through 2027 (includes $3MM buyout of $17MM club/vesting option for 2028)
  • Michael Wacha, SP: $33MM through 2027 (includes $1MM buyout of $14MM club option for 2028)
  • Carlos Estevez, RP: $12MM through 2026 (includes $2M buyout of $13MM club option for 2027)
  • Cole Ragans, SP: $12MM through 2027 (Royals hold arbitration control over Ragans for 2028 season)

Option Decisions

2026 financial commitments (assuming only Perez's option is exercised): $79MM
Total future commitments (assuming only Perez's option is exercised): $385.5MM

Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projections from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Free Agents

The Royals got an early jump on their offseason work when they agreed to a contract extension with Seth Lugo just before the trade deadline.  Lugo's previous deal allowed him to opt out of the contract's final year and enter free agency this winter, and the Royals seemed to at least test the trade market just in case an extension couldn't be finalized.  As it turned out, the veteran righty will now be staying in K.C. through at least the 2027 campaign, further solidifying the Royals' starting corps.

The rotation was more good than elite this season, as injuries played a role.  Lugo himself missed about a month and a half due to back and finger issues, Kris Bubic's All-Star season was ended by a rotator cuff strain in late July, and 2024 All-Star Cole Ragans was limited to 13 starts and 61 2/3 innings due to a rotator cuff strain of his own.  The silver lining to these health issues was that Noah Cameron got the opportunity to break into the rotation, as the rookie delivered a 2.99 ERA over his first 138 1/3 frames in the majors.

Better health is obviously no guarantee for 2026, yet assuming the Royals deal with just an average amount of injury misfortune, their rotation looks like one of the more solid on-paper units in baseball.  The Royals have fewer questions about their starting pitching than most clubs, due to both a high talent floor and plenty of depth.  Mutual options are almost always declined anyway, but Michael Lorenzen probably would've been moving on regardless considering all of the other pitching options on hand.

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Previewing The 2025-26 Free Agent Class: Second Base

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A number of teams (and their fanbases) have already turned their attention towards the offseason. Identifying free agent targets is a big part of that prep work, so it’s worth taking a look at the players who’ll be available at each position.

We’re moving to second base, where the eligibility cutoff is players who either logged at least 50 innings at the position this season or have primarily played there in their careers. Every shortstop could theoretically play second base, and there’ll be teams that have interest in Bo Bichette and/or Ha-Seong Kim on the right side of the infield. They’ll be covered in greater detail with the shortstop preview, so we’ll limit this to true second basemen and/or utility players. Ages listed are for the 2026 season.

Previous entries in this series: catcher, first base

Everyday Players

Gleyber Torres (29)

Torres hits the market for a second straight season. He chose a one-year, $15MM pillow contract with the Tigers last time. Torres was coming off a relative down season in his final year with the Yankees. He’d hit .257/.330/.378 across 665 plate appearances, and while that was weighed down by a slow start, teams clearly weren’t making the kind of long-term offers he’d sought.

The stint in Detroit started brilliantly. Torres hit .281/.387/.425 in the first half and was named the AL’s starting second baseman at the All-Star Game. The numbers dropped significantly after that, as he limped to a .223/.320/.339 finish amidst Detroit’s near collapse. He ended the year with numbers that were only a little better than he managed in 2024: .256/.358/.387 with 16 homers over 628 plate appearances.

Torres is a bat-first second baseman who is a good but not great hitter. He’s young enough to have a shot at a four or even five years, but that would’ve been easier to see if his numbers hadn’t crashed in the second half. Free agency generally hasn’t been kind to second basemen in recent years, especially those who aren’t capable of or willing to play other positions. Torres has been adamant about sticking about the position in the past and seemingly rebuffed interest from the Nationals in moving to third base last offseason. It’s not clear if he’ll be more open to moving around the diamond in his second trip to free agency.

The Tigers could make Torres a qualifying offer, which will reportedly come in around $22MM. That looked quite likely early in the season but now seems borderline. The Giants, Angels, Reds, Royals, Astros and potentially Nationals could all be involved if Detroit lets him walk.

Jorge Polanco (32)

Polanco’s contract technically contains a $6MM player option, but he’s going to decline that and hit free agency. The Mariners surprisingly re-signed him on the heels of a disappointing 2024 season. Seattle attributed the down year to a knee injury through which he’d played that required postseason meniscus surgery. They’ve been proven right with a resurgent year from the switch-hitting infielder. Polanco drilled 26 homers and 30 doubles with a .265/.326/.495 slash line in the regular season. He’s carried the hot bat into October, blasting a couple solo homers off Tarik Skubal on Sunday night to help the Mariners even their Division Series against Detroit.

While Polanco can still hit, he’ll face questions about his defensive workload over 162 games. Seattle initially planned to play him at third base, believing that not needing to navigate the second base bag would be easier on his knee. That lasted five games before renewed soreness and an oblique injury led the M’s to use him as a full-time designated hitter for a while. He began mixing in second base work in June and played there regularly for the final three weeks of the season. He logged a little under 300 innings at the keystone overall.

Polanco is eligible for a qualifying offer. Seattle probably wouldn’t want to commit $22MM at the beginning of the offseason, but he has played so well this year that it’s at least a long shot possibility — especially if he helps carry the lineup on a deep playoff run.

Luis Arraez (29)

Arraez also isn’t expected to start 100+ games at second base, though that’s not because of injury. He’s simply not a good defensive player. The Padres have pushed him mostly to first base over the past couple seasons. He only started 10 games and logged 82 innings at second base this year. It’s unlikely teams would want to live with his glove there on an everyday basis, but he could get part-time work while playing mostly first base as he has done in San Diego.

Readers are surely familiar with Arraez’s unique offensive skillset. He’s the sport’s best contact hitter and one of the few players who can be expected to hit close to or above .300. The throwback style doesn’t include many walks or extra-base hits, which becomes more of an issue as he falls further down the defensive spectrum. Baseball Reference has valued Arraez around one Win Above Replacement in consecutive seasons. His free agency will be a test case for how much teams still care about batting average.

Multi-Positional Types

Willi Castro (29)

Castro was one of the better utility players available at the deadline. The switch-hitter had turned in a .250/.335/.398 line over two and a half seasons in Minnesota. He looked to be on track for a solid multi-year contract as free agency approached. Things have gone sharply downhill since he was traded to the Cubs, however. Castro hit .170/.245/.240 in 34 games with Chicago. That dropped his season batting mark to .226/.313/.366 through 454 trips to the dish.

Adam Frazier (34)

The lefty-hitting Frazier was also traded at the deadline. His numbers picked up after the move. Frazier carried a .255/.318/.336 slash in 78 games with the Pirates. He turned in a league-average .283/.320/.402 line in nearly 200 plate appearances in his second stint with the Royals. He finished the year with a .267/.319/.365 line over 459 trips to the plate. Frazier doesn’t take many walks or hit the ball hard, but he’s a plus contact hitter who still grades as a competent defender.

Luis Rengifo (29)

Rengifo has some similarities to Castro. He’s a switch-hitter, relatively young for a free agent, and has had a couple above-average offensive seasons. He has played all over the field but isn’t an especially good defender anywhere. The bat has been good enough to make up for that in previous years. Rengifo combined for a .273/.323/.431 slash in almost 1300 plate appearances between 2022-24. However, he ended the ’24 campaign on the injured list after undergoing wrist surgery, and he’s now coming off the worst full season of his career in ’25. While he appeared in a personal-high 147 games, he managed just a .238/.287/.335 batting line. He should still command a big league deal based on his track record, but it’ll likely be a one-year contract.

Miguel Rojas (37)

Teams know what they’re getting from Rojas, a rock solid defensive infielder who can play a fine shortstop, second base or third base. He’s coming off a second straight decent offensive season, hitting .262/.318/.397 across 317 plate appearances. Rojas isn’t going to put many balls in the seats, but he makes a ton of contact and has enough juice to pick up 20-25 doubles.

Amed Rosario (30)

The Yankees acquired the righty-hitting Rosario from the Nationals at the deadline — one of two utility pickups (along with José Caballero) to complement lefty-swinging infielders Ryan McMahon and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Rosario hit .303 in 16 games in pinstripes and finished the year with a combined .276/.309/.436 line. He has a lifetime .298/.336/.464 slash versus lefty pitching, which should get him another low-cost big league deal.

Team Options

Ozzie Albies (29)

The Braves control Albies on a $7MM option that comes with a $4MM buyout, making it a $3MM decision. That’s still an easy yes even with Albies coming off a second straight middling year and suffering a season-ending hamate fracture. They’re not going to cut their longtime second baseman to save what amounts to low-end utility player/middle reliever money.

Brandon Lowe (31)

Lowe isn’t going to get to free agency either. The Rays have an $11.5MM club option, a bargain for a middle infielder coming off a 31-homer season. He’ll probably be in trade rumors because this will be his final year under club control and that salary is a bit steep by Rays standards, but Tampa Bay would be able to find a solid trade return even if they’d rather reallocate the money.

Minor League Deal Candidates

The Opener: ALDS, Rays, MLBTR Chat

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As the playoffs continue, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on today:

1. ALDS resumes:

Game 3 of the ALDS is today, with the Yankees and Blue Jays headed to New York while the Mariners and Tigers head to Detroit. For the Yankees, today could be the club’s last stand as they face elimination. Carlos Rodon (3.09 ERA) will take the mound for the club opposite Toronto righty Shane Bieber (3.57 ERA in seven starts). In Detroit, the Tigers will be hoping to take a lead over the Mariners after Seattle managed to tie the series in a game started by Tarik Skubal on Sunday. This time around, Jack Flaherty (4.64 ERA) is on the bump for Detroit against Seattle right-hander Logan Gilbert (3.44 ERA). The Mariners and Tigers are set to play at 4:08pm local time at Comerica Park, while the Blue Jays and Yankees will square off at 8:08pm local time in the Bronx.

2. Rays ownership introductory presser:

The Rays’ new ownership group has officially taken over for longtime owner Stu Sternberg, though Sternberg remains in the fold as a minority stakeholder. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times notes that an introductory press conference for the new owners is scheduled to take place at 11:30am local time later today. Patrick Zalupski, the managing partner and co-chair of the organization, will be in attendance alongside new co-chair Bill Cosgrove and new CEO Ken Babby. Per the Rays, the conference will be viewable for fans on the Rays’ YouTube channel among other local options. While personnel changes on the baseball operations side of organization currently appear unlikely, fans will still surely be curious to see if the new owners will be altering the club’s budget going forward. It’s also possible there will be notable updates on the Rays’ stadium situation.

3. MLBTR chat today:

The postseason is underway, and just eight teams remain in the fight as the Division Series continues in both leagues. The rest of MLB is already looking ahead to 2026, with a number of managerial vacancies (plus a GM vacancy in Colorado) yet to be filled. Whether your team is still in the hunt or you’re already turning your attention towards the offseason free agent and trade markets, MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat at 1pm CT later today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.

Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026

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Matt Swartz has created a model to project salaries for arbitration eligible players, which we’ve been publishing at MLB Trade Rumors for 15 years.

In the baseball industry, teams and agents determine arbitration salaries by identifying comparable players. To project the entire arbitration class in this way would take a massive amount of time and effort. So, Matt has developed an algorithm to project arbitration salaries that looks at the player’s playing time, position, role, and performance statistics while accounting for inflation. The performance of comparable players matters, but our system is not directly selecting individual comps for each individual player.

As a disclaimer, it should be emphasized that our projections are not to be used as a scorecard for the agent and team on an individual player level. A player doing better or worse than our projection isn’t indicative of anything. Our arbitration projections are created as a tool for our readers to get a general idea of a team’s payroll situation.

While the service time figures included are official, there is not yet an established Super Two cutoff, which delineates which players with between two and three years of service qualify for early arbitration. That could lead to a few late entrants being added to the list. It’s also worth noting that contracts signed prior to the non-tender deadline aren’t generally considered to be normal arbitration comparables; contracts signed prior to that deadline can be skewed by light offers that are presented to borderline non-tender candidates in take-it-or-leave-it fashion (with “leave it,” in such instances, being a non-tender). That’s not universal to all pre-tender deals but is frequently applicable.

One other note: it’s increasingly common for teams to negotiate one-year deals with club options or mutual options covering an additional arbitration season. We’ve noted all of the players who have an option for the 2025 season under the terms of a prior agreement. If the team buys out that option, the player does not become a free agent. He simply is paid whatever buyout (if any) was agreed upon under the terms of the prior agreement and heads back through the arbitration process again this winter.

If you find MLBTR’s arbitration projections useful, please consider supporting us with a subscription. Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers received early access to these arbitration projections, and the subscription also includes the best research tools you can get without actually working for an MLB team: our contract tracker, our agency database and our GM tracker.

The projections:

Angels (10)

Astros (16)

Athletics (5)

Blue Jays (7)

Braves (9)

Brewers (7)

Cardinals (9)

Cubs (4)

Diamondbacks (11)

Dodgers (9)

Giants (5)

Guardians (8)

Marlins (7)

Mariners (10)

Mets (9)

Nationals (9)

Orioles (14)

Padres (7)

Phillies (9)

Pirates (9)

Rangers (9)

Rays (17)

Red Sox (9)

Reds (14)

Rockies (7)

Royals (16)

Tigers (14)

Twins (10)

White Sox (3)

Yankees (14)

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