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Diamondbacks Showing Interest In Alex Bregman

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The D-Backs are among the teams that have expressed interest in Alex Bregman, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today was among those to report. Arizona seems to be a long shot to spend at this level but has a vacancy at third base.

Bregman is known to be a priority for the Red Sox. He opted out of his three-year deal with Boston after hitting .273/.360/.462 over 495 plate appearances. He made his third All-Star team despite suffering a quad strain that sidelined him between late May and the middle of July. That’s a testament to the strength of his first half. Bregman slashed .298/.380/.546 with 11 home runs over 53 games before the Break. His numbers dropped in the second half, as he hit .250/.341/.386 in his final 261 trips to the plate.

While Bregman’s power dropped late in the season, he showed his typically excellent plate discipline. He walked more often than he struck out even in his less impressive final few months. Bregman narrowly established a career mark with a 44.4% hard contact rate and remained the above-average hitter he was throughout his time in Houston. He’s no longer an MVP contender as he was at his 2018-19 peak, but Bregman is an annual threat for 25 homers with a .360 on-base percentage. He remains an above-average defensive third baseman and is revered for his clubhouse presence.

The D-Backs don’t have a clear answer at the hot corner. They traded Eugenio Suárez at the deadline. That theoretically opened the position for top prospect Jordan Lawlar, but his performance down the stretch was concerning. Lawlar hit .182 without a home run in 74 plate appearances. He also committed four errors (three on bad throws) over 76 innings. The D-Backs didn’t trust him defensively and limited him to mostly DH work in September until they’d been eliminated from playoff contention.

Lawlar came up as a shortstop but isn’t going to play there on a team with Geraldo Perdomo. He doesn’t have a path to second base playing time right now, though the D-Backs have fielded plenty of calls on Ketel Marte. They could give Lawlar a look in the outfield or dangle him as a trade chip for a young starter. For now, the likeliest course of action is to keep him at third base and hope that they can iron out his throwing woes in Spring Training.

It’d be very surprising to see Bregman wind up in the desert. The D-Backs are prioritizing the rotation even after agreeing to bring back Merrill Kelly on a two-year contract. Owner Ken Kendrick has already said payroll will come down from the approximate $195MM mark at which they opened the ’25 season.

RosterResource projects them for a $171MM payroll next season, so they’d either need to make an exception for Bregman or offload money in a trade. (They’d save $15MM in 2026 if they trade Marte for players making the league minimum.) The Diamondbacks are only one offseason removed from pulling off a free agent shocker, as almost no one saw them signing Corbin Burnes — who, like Bregman, is a client of the Boras Corporation — to a $210MM contract before it happened.

Burnes, who lives in Arizona, signed with the Diamondbacks largely because of family considerations. Bregman is a New Mexico native who grew up as a Diamondbacks fan, notes Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. As Piecoro points out, the D-Backs (under the previous front office) had an opportunity to draft Bregman with the first pick in 2015. They went with Dansby Swanson instead, allowing the Astros to grab Bregman at #2 overall.

Diamondbacks To Sign Merrill Kelly

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Dec. 16: Kelly’s contract also contains a vesting option for a third year, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. If Kelly reaches 170 innings in 2027, he’ll lock in a $12MM salary for the 2028 season. If he reaches 185 innings in ’27, that ’28 guarantee will jump to $14MM.

Dec. 14: The Diamondbacks are in the final stages of completing a two-year, $40MM contract with right-hander Merrill Kelly, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.  The deal will be official once Kelly passes a physical (as per Jon Heyman of The New York Post). Arizona will need to clear a space on its currently full 40-man roster.  Kelly is represented by Apex Baseball.

The 37-year-old Kelly returns to the team with which he has spent nearly his entire major league career. Though initially drafted by the Rays in the eighth-round of the 2010 draft, Kelly made his big league debut with the Diamondbacks back in 2019 after a four-season stay in Korea as a member of the KBO’s SK Wyverns (now known as the SSG Landers). After a pedestrian rookie campaign in the majors where he pitched to a league-average ERA in 32 starts, Kelly managed to fashion a role for himself as one of the better mid-rotation arms in the majors.

Since the start of the 2022 campaign, Kelly has pitched to a 3.47 ERA in 108 starts. He’s struck out 23.1% of his opponents while walking 7.7% in that time, leaving him with a 3.81 FIP. Although a 4.03 SIERA and other so-so peripherals cast him as a step down from your prototypical front-end starter, the veteran has managed to remain a durable and productive rotation piece. Kelly particularly endeared himself to Arizona fans when he delivered a brilliant 2.25 ERA over 24 postseason innings during the club’s run to the World Series in 2023.

Amid a disappointing 2025 season where the Diamondbacks were ravaged by injuries to everyone from star closers Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk to newly-signed ace Corbin Burnes, the team engaged in a sell-off at trade deadline and shipped Kelly to the Rangers in exchange for a trio of pitching prospects. Kelly put up fairly pedestrian numbers across ten starts with the Rangers: a 4.23 ERA and near-matching 4.18 FIP across 55 1/3 innings of work.

Even while the veteran was in Texas, an offseason reunion with the Diamondbacks was already being speculated upon. Kelly spoke fondly of Arizona and expressed an openness to re-signing when asked about the possibility while the Rangers were visiting Chase Field in the season’s final few weeks. “Definite” interest in a reunion with Kelly was reported on Arizona’s side shortly before last week’s Winter Meetings, and now the sides have come together on a deal.

Turning to the deal itself, Kelly’s $40MM guarantee clocks in just ahead of the two years and $36MM MLBTR predicted for the right-hander when ranking him as the #25 free agent in this offseason’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents list. The Snakes were aggressive both in their offer and the timing of the deal; while the free agent market for position players and especially relievers has kicked into gear already, Kelly is just the third starting pitcher from MLBTR’s Top 50 to sign a contract this offseason. He joins Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, both of whom received guarantees that slightly eclipsed MLBTR’s predictions.

Now that he’s set to return to Arizona, Kelly stands as the favorite to start for the Diamondbacks on Opening Day this year. He’ll join a rotation that already added Michael Soroka and will reunite with former teammates Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt, and Ryne Nelson. Burnes could be a factor later in the season but is not expected to pitch until sometime in the second half after undergoing Tommy John surgery in June. While the team’s rotation certainly looks much more complete with Kelly back in the fold, bringing the right-hander back shouldn’t stop the team from pursuing other rotation additions after the club’s pitching staff finished 19th in the majors with a 4.29 ERA last year.

Of course, adding beyond this could prove to be easier said than done. The Diamondbacks are projected for a payroll just north of $171MM in 2026, according to RosterResource. That rises to north of $205MM for luxury tax purposes. GM Mike Hazen has suggested that, while Arizona’s payroll would likely be moving downward from its 2025 level, that would still leave the team with room to spend. The club spent $188MM on its payroll last season, however, meaning they currently sit less than $17MM from that mark.

Perhaps that leaves enough wiggle room to reunite with Paul Goldschmidt on an affordable one-year deal, a move the Diamondbacks have been said to be contemplating, but Kelly will surely go down as the team’s biggest expenditure unless an increase in payroll is approved or the team makes a trade that clears salary. To that latter point, the hot stove has been burning with Ketel Marte trade buzz in recent weeks. Moving Marte would certainly clear payroll off the books (and simultaneously add some young rotation options as part of the return), though Hazen has consistently downplayed the likelihood of a deal surrounding Marte actually coming together.

Diamondbacks Sign Isaiah Campbell To Minor League Deal

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The Diamondbacks have signed right-hander Isaiah Campbell to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The ACES client has been assigned to the Triple-A Reno Aces but will presumably receive an invite to big league camp in spring training.

Campbell, 28, has appeared in each of the past three big league seasons. Suiting up for the Mariners and Red Sox, the righty has thrown 43 innings in the majors, allowing 5.65 earned runs per nine. His 21.9% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate are close to average while his 47.7% grounder rate is a few ticks better than par. His .341 batting average on balls in play and 66.6% strand rate are both to the unfortunate side, so metrics like his 4.34 FIP and 3.89 SIERA are a bit more optimistic than his ERA.

Only 7 2/3 of those innings came in 2025, as he spent most of the season with Triple-A Worcester. He logged 57 2/3 at that level this year with a 3.90 ERA. His 18.1% strikeout was a bit on the low side but he got grounders on 50.5% of balls in play. He averages in the mid-90s with his four-seamer and sinker but throws his slider more than half the time. He added a curveball in 2025 and mixed that in sporadically.

Campbell exhausted his final option season this year and will be out of options going forward, which will make it harder for him to hold a roster spot. The Sox outrighted him off their 40-man in October and he was able to elect free agency.

The bullpen was a big problem for the Snakes in 2025. They had planned for A.J. Puk and Justin Martínez but both were felled by UCL surgeries and other guys dealt with injury problems as well. Their relief corps had a collective 4.82 ERA this past season, which was better than just the Angels, Rockies and Nationals.

They will surely make some more moves to upgrade their bullpen before Opening Day but Campbell gives them some extra non-roster depth for now. He has just over a year of MLB service time. If he can earn a roster spot and hold it, he can be cheaply retained beyond the 2026 season.

Photo courtesy of Bob DeChiara, Imagn Images

Mariners, Giants “Front-Runners” For Brendan Donovan

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The Mariners and Giants have emerged as front-runners in the sweepstakes for super-utility man Brendan Donovan, according to a report from Katie Woo of The Athletic. Woo added that both clubs are also engaged with the Diamondbacks on Ketel Marte.

Both Seattle and San Francisco have previously been reported to have interest in Donovan’s services, which Woo notes the Cardinals are seeking multiple top prospects in exchange for. With that being said, they were often mentioned as just two of many teams interested in the versatile infielder; Donovan’s market has been said to encompass more than half the league, with the Pirates, Royals, Guardians, and Astros standing among the other teams that have been connected to him this winter.

That makes the Mariners’ and Giants’ “front-runner” status a notable shift in the status quo, and Woo goes as far as to mention specific prospect names being discussed with both clubs. In talks with Seattle, Woo reports that the Cardinals have discussed top pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfielder Lazaro Montes. The pair are Seattle’s #7 and #3 prospects, respectively, according to MLB Pipeline. In talks with the Giants, Woo writes that the names of infielder Gavin Kilen and southpaw Carson Whisenhunt have come up. Kilen is San Francisco’s #2 prospect per Pipeline, while Whisenhunt ranks #7.

Cijntje has garnered some buzz around the baseball industry due to his status as a switch pitcher who throws from both the right and left sides. He’s a more well-regarded pitcher from the right-hand side, touching the upper 90s with his right arm but being relegated to the low 90s with his left. In his pro debut in 2025, Cijntje pitched to a 3.99 ERA overall across the High-A and Double-A levels but actually got better after his promotion. In seven starts at Double-A, Cijntje turned in a 2.67 ERA across 33 2/3 innings of work with a 25.5% strikeout rate and an 11.0% walk rate.

Montes entered the 2025 season as a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport but scuffled a bit after being promoted to the Double-A level. He hit a solid but unspectacular .213/.319/.433 in 64 games at the level with a 30.5% strikeout rate. That’s hardly exciting production, but some of those struggles can be forgiven considering he was one of just four hitters under the age of 21 to reach 200 plate appearances in the Texas League last year, joined by Sebastian Walcott, Walker Jenkins, and teammate Michael Arroyo.

Kilen was San Francisco’s first-round pick in the 2025 draft. As a result, he has just ten professional games under his belt where he hit a lackluster .205/.279/.282. With that said, the University of Tennessee product hit an incredible .357/.441/.671 in his final collegiate season and was roundly viewed as a plus contact hitter despite questions about his power potential and ability to handle shortstop at the big league level.

As for Whisenhunt, the 25-year-old already made his big league debut earlier this year with a 5.01 ERA across five starts. While it was hardly an exciting pro debut, Whisenhunt did manage to post a 4.41 ERA in 21 starts in Triple-A’s Pacific Coast League despite the extremely unfriendly environment for pitchers at that level. He profiles as a possible mid-rotation arm with a profile carried by a plus-plus changeup.

Of course, it’s possible that these are only a handful of prospects St. Louis is discussing with the two suitors. It should also be noted that Donovan is far from the only avenue either club is pursuing for their vacancy at second base. The Mariners had been in rather public pursuit of a reunion with Jorge Polanco until he signed with the Mets yesterday, but they’ve still be connected to Marte in addition to Donovan. Woo suggests that Polanco’s departure could leave the Mariners more motivated to make a deal in the coming days, and perhaps that could indicate that Seattle is the more aggressive suitor of the two.

Woo describes the Giants, by contrast, as “exploring all options” as they look to upgrade over Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald at second base. In addition to Marte, Brandon Lowe is also known to be available on the trade market while teams have also inquired after Cubs infielder Nico Hoerner. The infield market in free agency is tilted more towards the left side, but Alex Bregman has expressed a willingness to play second base in the past, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim has experience at the position, and Bo Bichette has long been viewed as a potential candidate to move off shortstop at some point. San Francisco hasn’t been directly tied to any of those players, of course, but all stand out as at least plausible acquisitions to be made by a team searching for second base help.

Diamondbacks Designate Bryce Jarvis For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Bryce Jarvis has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man move for their signing of Michael Soroka, which is now official.

Jarvis, 28 this month, was Arizona’s first-round pick in the 2020 draft. The Snakes took him with the 18th overall pick and signed him with a $2.65MM bonus. He was a notable prospect for a bit but his stock has been dropping effectively since he was drafted.

He posted lackluster results as he worked his way up the minor league ladder, working mostly as a starter. In 2022, he made 25 Double-A starts but allowed 8.28 earned runs per nine in the process.

In 2023, he had a 5.08 ERA on the farm, slightly better but obviously still not ideal. Nonetheless, the Diamondbacks called him up to work out of the big league bullpen. He posted a 3.04 ERA there, although that number was misleading. His 9.8% walk rate was subpar and his 13% strikeout rate well below average. A tiny .162 batting average on balls in play and a high strand rate of 74.5% helped him out.

It was a similar story in 2024. Jarvis posted a 3.19 ERA but with subpar numbers under the hood. In 2025, his luck corrected, as he had a 5.73 ERA. He also continued to make starts at the Triple-A level, but with an 8.47 ERA in those.

Over the past three years, Jarvis has logged 105 big league innings. His 3.69 ERA doesn’t look bad but his 15.8% strikeout rate and 11.8% walk rate are both poor figures. He would have allowed more runs if not for a .251 BABIP and 76% strand rate. His 4.97 FIP and 5.11 SIERA are likely more accurate representations of the work he has done so far.

Jarvis has now been bumped off the roster in Arizona and will be in DFA limbo for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Snakes could take five days to explore trades. Jarvis does have an option remaining, so it’s possible some club takes a shot on his draft pedigree and hopes for a breakout.

Photo courtesy of Joe Rondone, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Sign Michael Soroka

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December 12th: The Diamondbacks made it official today, announcing they signed Soroka to a one-year deal with a mutual option. Fellow righty Bryce Jarvis has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

December 8th: The Diamondbacks and free agent right-hander Michael Soroka are in agreement on a one-year deal that will reportedly pay the ISE Baseball client a guaranteed $7.5MM. Soroka can tack on an additional $2MM worth of incentives. The deal is pending a physical. Once complete, he’ll be penciled into the team’s rotation.

Soroka, still just 28 years old, is already signing the second free-agent contract of his career. He inked a one-year, $9MM deal with the Nats last offseason after an uneven year with the White Sox, wherein he struggled immensely as a starting pitcher before posting huge numbers as a reliever down the stretch. Washington plugged Soroka back into a starting role in 2025, eventually flipping him to the Cubs at the trade deadline. Soroka posted a middling 4.52 ERA in 89 2/3 innings (17 starts, six relief appearances) but continued to intrigue with sharp rate stats: 25.1% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate, 44.1% ground-ball rate.

Arizona is in need of help both in the rotation and in the bullpen, so even though Soroka is bound for the starting staff, he could be a fallback in the bullpen if the initial plan doesn’t work out. For now, he’ll join the trio of Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt as one of manager Torey Lovullo’s starters.

It still wasn’t that long ago that Soroka looked like one of the game’s most promising young arms. The 2015 first-round pick ranked as one of baseball’s top prospects prior to his debut with Atlanta, and the first two seasons of his career more than justified that billing. In 200 1/3 innings from his late-2018 callup through the end of the 2019 season, Soroka pitched to a sparkling 2.79 earned run average. His 20% strikeout rate was below-average, but he compensated for that with an excellent 5.9% walk rate, a 50.2% grounder rate and plenty of weak contact.

Injuries decimated the next several years of Soroka’s career and eventually pushed him out of the Braves’ plans. He’s twice torn his Achilles tendon and also missed time due to multiple shoulder injuries and a biceps strain. Soroka hasn’t reached even 100 innings in a major league season since that outstanding 2018-19 run; in fact, he’s pitched only 215 1/3 big league innings total since that time — just 15 more than he pitched in that initial MLB run.

Soroka will be one of multiple additions in general manager Mike Hazen’s rotation. The D-backs entered the offseason in dire need of pitching depth. Of the aforementioned trio of starters, only Nelson (3.39 ERA, 154 innings) posted quality bottom-line results last year. Both Rodriguez and Pfaadt posted ERAs north of 5.00, though each (Pfaadt in particular) was viewed more favorably by fielding-independent metrics.

Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick has already indicated that payroll will decline after last year’s mark topped $200MM for the first time in franchise history. However, he’s also made clear that the team is fully intent on striving to contend despite that reduction. It’s not clear exactly where the ultimate budget lies, but Hazen and his staff should have plenty of spending room even with the budget scaling down. The addition of Soroka pushes next year’s projected payroll to just over $151MM, per RosterResource.

Arizona has also been looking into a reunion with righty Merrill Kelly, whom they traded to the Rangers in July ahead of his free agent departure this offseason. There’s mutual interest there, though Kelly’s annual salary will likely more than double what Soroka just commanded. Pete Fairbanks is a known target on the bullpen side of things, though he’s surely just one of many. The D-backs are also at least hearing out other clubs who inquire on star second baseman Ketel Marte, though a trade is seen as unlikely, and they’re listening to offers on lefty-swinging outfielders Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy.

Suffice it to say, it’ll be a busy few days for the D-backs in Orlando at this week’s Winter Meetings, though it’s unlikely the check off every item on their to-do list before MLB’s premier offseason event concludes.

Jesse Rogers and Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the one-year agreement between the two parties. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic first reported the salary terms, incentives and Soroka’s role.

Rays Have Discussed Pepiot, Baz In Ketel Marte Trade Conversations

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The Rays are among a number of teams that have been tied to Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte. Arizona general manager Mike Hazen has consistently downplayed the chance of a deal coming together on their MVP-caliber second baseman, but he hasn’t slammed the door shut given the team’s need for starting pitching.

Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that conversations with the Rays have kicked around a framework that would send both Ryan Pepiot and Shane Baz to the desert. Piecoro writes that nothing is believed to be close on that front and the Rays are not necessarily any kind of frontrunner. Indeed, he adds that the Diamondbacks have had conversations with another team interested in Marte that would be built around a bigger-name starting pitcher.

Whether or not talks with Tampa Bay progress, the mention of multiple controllable starters hammers home the high asking price which the Diamondbacks have set. Pepiot landed in Tampa Bay as the centerpiece of the Tyler Glasnow return two offseasons ago. He’s the team leader with 297 2/3 innings pitched since the start of 2024.

The former third-round pick owns a 3.75 earned run average while striking out a little more than a quarter of opposing hitters. He’s a decent strike-thrower who sits around 95 MPH with his heater and has a plus changeup. Pepiot’s slider is a distant third offering, and the changeup has made him a reverse splits pitcher. He has held left-handed hitters to a .192/.287/.354 batting line with a near-28% strikeout rate over the past two seasons. Righties have hit .243/.303/.420 while punching out at a 23% clip.

Pepiot is unlikely to develop into an ace, but he’s an established mid-rotation starter who turned 28 in August. He has a little over three years of service time, so he’s under arbitration control through 2028. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $3.7MM salary. Teams place a premium on an affordable #3-type starter. The Rays presumably aren’t shopping Pepiot, but it’s a testament to Marte’s offensive impact that the righty would be on the table in those conversations.

Baz, 26, has also come up in trade talks with the Astros. The 6’3″ righty is a former top prospect who has yet to reach his upper mid-rotation ceiling. That’s partially due to some early-career injuries, including Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2023 season. He posted a 3.06 ERA across 14 starts when he returned in ’24. That earned him a spot in Kevin Cash’s rotation this year, but Baz had an up-and-down performance. He concluded with a 4.87 ERA across 166 1/3 innings. That’s despite a solid 24.8% strikeout percentage and 11.6% swinging strike rate.

The pure upside might be higher with Baz than it is with Pepiot. He sits 97 MPH and gets above-average movement on an 85 MPH knuckle-curve and 90 MPH cutter. Baz has plus stuff and is a decent enough strike thrower. He has been held back by a lack of start-to-start consistency. He allowed one run or fewer 10 times (including seven scoreless appearances) but also had 10 outings in which he gave up five or more runs.

Baz also has between three and four service years and is eligible for arbitration through 2028. He’s projected for a $3.1MM salary. Teams are probably divided as to whether they’d prefer Pepiot’s stability or Baz’s raw stuff, but both pitchers have significant trade value. They’re two of the three returning Tampa Bay pitchers (alongside Drew Rasmussen) who topped 100 innings. The Rays are likely to give Steven Matz a starting opportunity, but they’d certainly need to backfill the rotation if they traded two starters. Shane McClanahan hasn’t pitched since 2023. Joe Boyle and Ian Seymour have limited track records.

The Diamondbacks would require a monster return built around MLB starting pitching to move Marte. He’s coming off a .283/.376/.517 showing with 28 home runs. Marte is the best second baseman in the league and is signed for a bargain $102.5MM over the next six seasons (the final of which is a player option year).

“I think it’s a risky deal when you’re talking about trading really, really good players at all,” Hazen told Piecoro. “It’s something that we have to at least listen to in our job. It’s not something that you really look forward to, necessarily, when you have the players that we do. But it’s also the reality of our team and where we are that I have to consider some things.”

Arizona agreed to terms with Michael Soroka on a one-year deal this week. He’ll be in the rotation alongside Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt. (They’re unlikely to get Corbin Burnes back from Tommy John surgery before August.) Nelson was the only one of that trio who found much success this year. The D-Backs need to add another two starters and don’t have a ton of payroll space to address that via free agency. They’re also looking for bullpen help and could upgrade at third base or in the outfield.

While Marte is the best second baseman at least loosely available on the trade market, the Rays ironically have the second-best such option. Brandon Lowe is coming off a 31-homer season in which he hit .256/.307/.477 over 553 plate appearances. Lowe is entering the final season of his contract and is set to make $11.5MM. The Rays have reportedly gotten hits from the Pirates and Reds (surely among others) about his availability.

President of baseball operations Erik Neander touched on Lowe’s trade candidacy from the Winter Meetings (link via Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times). He called the two-time All-Star an “important, impactful player who provides power at a position that is hard to find.” Neander acknowledged the Rays’ history of shopping players whose control windows were closing but praised both Lowe and Yandy Díaz as longtime contributors.

“Our history is our history. We’ve made (trades) with players that are established, that are impactful contributors that as they get their way closer to free agency, we’ve made plenty of those decisions. But we’ve also made decisions the last few years to kind of continue to roll forward with these guys. We greatly appreciate them and are more than happy to ride in the next year and see what this team can do.”

Both clubs could go in a few different directions over the coming weeks. There’s no guarantee either will end up moving their star second baseman, but the trade market has yet to really pick up as most of the top free agent hitters continue weighing their options.

Pirates, Reds Among Teams Interested In Brandon Lowe

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The Rays are known to be listening to offers on second baseman Brandon Lowe, whose $11.5MM club option was picked up by the team at the start of the offseason. Lowe will be a free agent next winter. The Pirates have inquired about Lowe, per MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, and the Reds have also discussed the slugging second baseman, per Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic.

The 31-year-old Lowe has been a consistently above-average hitter throughout his big league tenure, dating all the way back to his MLB debut in 2018. That includes 2025, when Lowe belted 31 home runs in just 134 games. The lefty-swinging slugger turned in an overall .256/.307/.477 batting line. While his 6.9% walk rate was the lowest of his career, Lowe’s 91.1 mph average exit velocity and 46.4% hard-hit rate were some of the best he’s posted in his eight major league seasons.

Over the course of those eight big league campaigns, Lowe is a .247/.326/.481 hitter with 157 home runs, 126 doubles, 12 triples, 33 steals, a 9.4% walk rate and a 27.3% strikeout rate. He’s typically graded out as a solid defensive second baseman, though he was dogged by both Defensive Runs Saved (-14) and Statcast’s Outs Above Average (-13) during the 2025 season. It bears mentioning that he missed time with ankle and oblique injuries in ’25, either of which could have impacted him defensively. Those maladies only added to a relatively lengthy injury history; Lowe has also missed time due to multiple back injuries, a bone bruise in his shin and a fractured kneecap.

Pittsburgh stands as a clean and obvious fit. The Bucs are looking for power bats to add to the lineup, and Lowe has plus power from the left side — a key distinction for Pirates targets, as PNC Park is the toughest environment in MLB for right-handed home run power. It’s a pitcher-friendly venue in general, but left-handed power isn’t suppressed nearly as much as right-handed pop.

The Pirates lack a clear option at second base. Former top-10 pick Nick Gonzales hasn’t hit in parts of three big league seasons, slashing just .257/.300/.375. Even if the Pirates want to give him another look, it could come at another position. Gonzales played a career-high 109 innings at shortstop last year and has dabbled at third base. Nick Yorke, another former first-rounder (2020) whom Pittsburgh acquired from the Red Sox in exchange for Quinn Priester, has struggled in a small sample of 33 MLB games. Former top prospect Termarr Johnson had a nice season in Double-A last year but is just 21 years old and has yet to play at the Triple-A level. Lowe could serve as a bridge for Johnson, the No. 4 overall pick back in 2022.

It’s been an uncharacteristically aggressive offseason for the Pirates, even if their efforts in free agency have yet to bear fruit. They were reportedly willing to offer Josh Naylor around $80MM and put forth a franchise-record $120-125MM offer to Kyle Schwarber before he agreed to return to the Phillies on a five-year, $150MM deal. Adding Lowe in a trade with Tampa Bay wouldn’t be as big a splash but could provide some of the thump the Bucs are known to seek as they look to provide support for their terrific young rotation. Given that the Bucs were willing to go those reported lengths on Naylor and especially Schwarber, Lowe’s $11.5MM salary shouldn’t be any kind of deterrent.

For the Reds, Lowe isn’t quite as clean a fit — at least not at second base. Cincinnati hopes that former first-round pick and fifth-place Rookie of the Year finisher Matt McLain can bounce back after a brutal 2025 showing. McLain hit .290/.357/.507 with 16 homers and 14 steals in only 89 games as a rookie in 2023 before missing the 2024 season due to shoulder surgery. He returned in 2025 but mustered only a .220/.300/.343 line in 147 games.

Even with McLain likely taking some of the time at second base, there could be room for Lowe. First and foremost, McLain has a full slate of minor league options remaining. Cincinnati could try to get him back on track in Triple-A Louisville if he struggles next spring. Lowe also has experience in left field and at first base. Plus, either player could slot in for occasional DH work. McLain is a talented defender, but some relative “downtime” at DH could conceivably keep him healthier. He made only three DH appearances this past season.

One outside-the-box possibility for the Rays and their longtime second baseman could hinge on Tampa Bay’s interest in Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte. The Rays have inquired with the Snakes about Marte, according to The Athletic, and one scenario they’ve considered could send Brandon Lowe to Arizona as part of that return. Tampa Bay would surely need to add immediate rotation help and likely some prospect value as well in order to even get the D-backs to consider the possibility.

The Diamondbacks have repeatedly downplayed the swirling spate of trade rumblings surrounding Marte, who is signed for another six years and $102.5MM. General manager Mike Hazen has publicly called a trade “unlikely” but acknowledged that he never outright dismisses interest in any player. He’ll always hear teams out as a matter of diligence. Hazen has also contended that teams have inquired on Marte repeatedly over the past several offseasons, but that attention simply hasn’t generated as much public chatter as it has this time around. Still, the Rays make for an interesting entrant into the bidding, if only because their perennial payroll concerns make them an unexpected landing spot for a player with more than $100MM still remaining on his contract.

There are plenty of interconnected pieces at play with regard to the Rays, Pirates, Reds and D-backs in all these trade scenarios. The Reds, Rosenthal and Sammon note, also have interest in Marte. As with Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, they have plenty of affordable young pitching to dangle in trade talks. The Diamondbacks are loath to part with Marte, but the Reds, Pirates and Rays have deeper stocks of pitching to try to persuade Arizona than many of their rivals throughout the league.

Jake Lamb Accepts Player Development Role With Diamondbacks

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Former All-Star third baseman Jake Lamb has accepted a player development role with the Diamondbacks, reports Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. That presumably marks the end of the 35-year-old’s playing career, in which he accrued more than eight years of MLB service.

Lamb’s move into his post-playing days fittingly comes with his original organization. He was a sixth-round pick by the D-Backs in 2012 out of the University of Washington. Lamb got to the big leagues two seasons later and emerged as the team’s everyday third baseman for a few years. He hit .263 with six homers in 107 games during his first full season before breaking out as a surprise power threat.

Between 2016-17, Lamb connected on 59 home runs. He reached 30 doubles in both seasons and combined for 13 triples. The lefty-hitting infielder posted a .248/.345/.498 slash in more than 1200 plate appearances. Lamb was worth around six to seven wins above replacement over that stretch, and he earned an All-Star selection in 2017. He popped 30 homers and drove in 105 runs in his career season, one of 19 players to reach 30 homers and 100 RBI that year. He helped the Snakes to a postseason berth and went 6-13 across four playoff contests.

Unfortunately, Lamb injured his left shoulder while diving for a ground-ball early in the ’18 season. He initially returned within five weeks but landed back on the injured list around the All-Star Break. Testing revealed a rotator cuff injury that required season-ending surgery. Lamb returned in 2019 but was never able to get back to his pre-injury form.

The power that had been his calling card didn’t return. He hit .193 with six homers in 78 games. His average had fallen to .116 during the shortened 2020 season when the D-Backs moved on. Lamb bounced around as a journeyman corner bat for the next few seasons. He suited up with the Athletics, White Sox, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Mariners and Angels between 2020-23. None of those stints lasted more than 43 games, and Chicago is the only other team for which he took 100+ plate appearances.

Lamb remained a productive Triple-A hitter through the 2023 season. His minor league numbers dropped over the past two seasons, though, and Triple-A stints with the Pirates and Giants didn’t result in another MLB opportunity. Lamb finishes his playing career with a .235/.326/.427 slash line across 2650 plate appearances. He connected on 96 home runs and tallied 342 RBI. He was a part of two playoff teams, as he also made four postseason appearances with the A’s in 2020. Congratulations to Lamb on a solid career and all the best in his post-playing days.

D-backs Rumors: Marte, Johnson, Front Office

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Even as general manager Mike Hazen continues to downplay the possibility of a trade, Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte is one of the most talked-about players around baseball’s Winter Meetings at the moment. Hazen has called a trade unlikely, stating that despite far more public chatter this offseason, the amount of interest he’s receiving in Marte is in line with the robust interest he’s received in past offseasons. Like most front office leaders around the sport, Hazen has said that it’s his job to at least hear out inquiring teams on virtually any player, Marte included.

Arizona’s asking price has been reported to be anywhere from high to exorbitant. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic adds more detail, reporting that one club who inquired with the Diamondbacks came away with the belief that it’d take an “established, well-regarded” starting pitcher and multiple additional pieces of value — presumably, controllable young big leaguers or nearly MLB-ready prospects.

While Marte has been connected to a litany of teams thus far, not all are in serious pursuit. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports that while the Blue Jays have checked in, their interest is more a case of due diligence than one of aggressively trying to make a deal happen. The starting point of an established young rotation piece would be hard for the Jays to include in their offer, Nicholson-Smith notes, and Trey Yesavage is really the only player on the roster who fits that role (and that would very likely be an understandable breaking point for the Jays). Similarly, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe suggests that while the Red Sox have looked into the possibility, Boston hasn’t been all that aggressive when discussing Marte with the D-backs.

Marte, 32, is owed $102.5MM over the next six seasons, though the sixth year on his contract is a player option valued at $11.5MM. That’s a hefty commitment but also less than he’d receive in free agency right now, coming off a .283/.368/.519 showing over the past three seasons (.283/.376/.517 in 2025). Moving Marte would, in theory, net the Diamondbacks an immediate rotation piece, multiple young players and $15MM in immediate payroll flexibility that could be used to help fortify the bullpen and/or infield corners (or, perhaps, to add even more rotation depth).

That said, the team is pursing those goals even while listening on its star infielder. Moving Marte, or shedding salary in general, isn’t any sort of prerequisite for the Diamondbacks to further round out the roster. RosterResource currently projects them for a $151MM payroll following yesterday’s $7.5MM deal with starting pitcher Michael Soroka. Owner Ken Kendrick has said payroll will decrease this season, but no firm number has been given. The D-backs are more than $35MM shy of last season’s Opening Day mark. There’s room to spend even if the budget will scale back.

The Soroka deal speaks to that, as do some of the team’s other pursuits. Arizona and right-hander Merrill Kelly reportedly have mutual interest in a reunion. The Snakes are reported to have interest in closer Pete Fairbanks. Just this morning, Piecoro reported that former Braves reliever Pierce Johnson is also of interest to the Diamondbacks.

Johnson, 35 in May, has spent the past two-plus seasons in Atlanta after going from the Rockies to the Braves at the 2023 trade deadline. He turned things around amid a brutal ’23 season following that swap, pitching to a 0.76 ERA down the stretch for his new club and earning himself a two-year, $14.25MM extension. Overall, Johnson totaled 139 innings and logged a tidy 2.91 earned run average during his time calling Truist Park home.

The Braves somewhat surprisingly declined a 2026 club option on Johnson, valued at $7MM, in favor of a $250K buyout. Given Johnson’s results in Atlanta and the modest (net) price tag of $6.75MM, there was a strong case to pick the option up.

Perhaps Atlanta was concerned about Johnson’s poor finish to the season. Nearly half the runs he allowed on the year came over the final month of play. From Aug. 25 onward, Johnson was rocked for nine runs on 19 hits and three walks. Four of those 19 knocks left the yard. His strikeout rate dropped nearly three percentage points, and his average fastball dipped by about 0.4 mph.

That could set the stage for Johnson to sign a one-year deal — or perhaps a two-year pact at a lighter AAV than the $7MM turned down by Atlanta. That sort of price point would work nicely for a D-backs club that’s trying to add multiple starters and multiple relievers in relatively affordable fashion. One move that won’t garner as many headlines but could still yield notable dividends to the team’s pitching hopes happened on the front office side of things earlier today, however.

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported this morning that Jeremy Bleich, the Pirates’ director of pitching development, is leaving the organization to join the Diamondbacks as an assistant general manager.

Bleich, 38, is a Stanford product whom the Yankees selected with the 44th overall pick back in 2008. He made one big league appearance on the mound with the 2018 Athletics but ended his playing career after the 2019 season. Bleich has been with the Pirates since 2020 and has played a role in helping to cultivate the organization’s enviable pipeline of young pitching talent. Paul Skenes was likely to develop into an ace wherever he landed, but the Bucs have had a high conversion rate on second- and third-round picks like Braxton Ashcraft, Jared Jones, Bubba Chandler and Hunter Barco, among others, and have seen lower picks (e.g. 11th-rounder Mike Burrows) develop into quality big league contributors. The Diamondbacks, conversely, have struggled to finish the development of their top pitching prospects in recent seasons.

Diamondbacks prospects who’ve ranked among the top of their system but have yet to pan out in the majors in recent years include Brandon Pfaadt, Bryce Jarvis, Blake Walston, Corbin Martin and Drey Jameson, to name a few. Since 2019, Ryne Nelson is the only pitcher the D-backs have drafted and received even three total WAR from in the majors. Bleich obviously can’t be solely credited with the Pirates’ success in pitcher development, but it’s not at all surprising to see the Snakes pry a prominent name in pitching development away from a rival club as they look to improve their fortunes moving forward.

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