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Wilbur Wood Passes Away

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Longtime big league knuckleballer Wilbur Wood passed away on Saturday at age 84.  A left-handed workhorse starter, Wood was a three-time All-Star over a 17-year MLB career that included stints with the White Sox, Pirates, and Red Sox.

It took Wood a while to really establish himself in the big leagues, as after making his MLB debut with Boston in 1961, Wood threw only 159 2/3 innings over 73 appearances from 1961-65.  A trade from the Red Sox to the Pirates in 1964 at least gave Wood regular bullpen duty during the 1965 season, but after spending the entire 1966 campaign with Pittsburgh’s Triple-A team, he was traded to the White Sox in the move that really unlocked Wood’s career.

Future Hall-of-Famer Hoyt Wilhelm was a member of that Chicago team, and the veteran took Wood under his wing by teaching him some of the tricks of Wilhelm’s knuckleball.  Wood had thrown the pitch on-and-off in the past, but under Wilhelm’s tutelage and encourage, Wood adopted the pitch on a regular basis and the rest was history.  Over 292 games and 495 2/3 innings from 1967-70, Wood posted a 2.49 ERA as a fireman out of the White Sox bullpen, often tossing multiple innings in all sorts of situations as a closer, leverage set-up man, or just innings-eater.

The White Sox moved Wood back into the rotation in advance of the 1971 season, setting the table for a five-year run of numbers that seems impossible by today’s modern pitching standards.  Wood posted a 3.08 ERA over 227 appearances (224 of them starts) and a whopping 1681 2/3 innings from 1971-75, leading the majors in starts four times over that span and twice leading MLB in innings.  Wood’s success was recognized with a runner-up finish in AL Cy Young Award voting in 1972, and he also finished third in the Cy race in 1971 and fifth in 1973.  Wood was named to the AL All-Star team in 1971, 1972, and 1974.

Even in an era when starters were expected to carry a heavier workload and four-man rotations weren’t uncommon, Wood’s knuckler-powered durability stood out.  Wood’s 376 2/3 IP in 1972 is the highest single-season mark of any pitcher from 1918 to the present day.  To put Wood’s 1972 season in perspective, MLB’s top two leaders in innings pitched in 2025 (Logan Webb and Garrett Crochet) combined for 412 1/3 innings last year.

Unfortunately for Wood, the White Sox weren’t particularly competitive during his five-year dream run.  He became one of only a few pitchers in modern baseball history to both win and lose 20 games in a season when Wood went 24-20 in 1973.  Wood won at least 20 games every year from 1971-74, and he also lost 20 more games in 1975.

Wood’s amazing run of durability ended when his kneecap was broken by a line drive off the bat of the Tigers’ Ron LeFlore in May 1976, which ended his season.  Wood was never the same after the injury, as the southpaw posted a 5.11 ERA over 290 2/3 innings for Chicago in 1977-78.  He decided to retire, concluding his career with a 164-156 record, a 3.24 ERA, 6.5% walk rate, and 12.7% strikeout rate over 651 games and 2684 innings.

We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Wood’s family, loved ones, and many fans.

Rangers Sign Jakob Junis

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The Rangers have signed right-hander Jakob Junis to a one-year, $4MM contract, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.  Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News reports that the deal contains a mutual option for the 2027 season.  The signing will become official once Texas makes a corresponding move on its 40-man roster.  Junis is represented by Wasserman.

Rosenthal adds in a follow-up note that Texas will indeed use Junis as a reliever, coming off Junis’ first bullpen-only season of his nine-year MLB career.  Junis has started 116 of his 249 career games, and still made some spot starts and swingman-esque appearances in 2023-24 even as he took on larger relief roles.  In 2025, however, Junis signed a one-year, $4.5MM deal with the Guardians and worked only as a reliever over his 57 appearances and 66 2/3 innings.

The results were more than solid, as Junis posted a 2.97 ERA and an above-average 6.6% walk rate.  Junis’ strikeout, chase, and whiff rates weren’t anything special, but in a reversal of career norms, he did a very good job of limiting hard contact.  After posting a 1.4 HR/9 over his first eight seasons, Junis halved that number to 0.7 HR/9 during his lone season in Cleveland.  Junis increased the use of his changeup, and throwing the pitch 20% of the time (up from 8.7% of the time in 2024) helped turn both Junis’ change and his primary slider into very effective out pitches.

Junis will look to keep things rolling as he enters his age-33 season, and the veteran has been pitching long enough that he broke into the majors with the 2017 Royals as a teammate of current Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young.  Junis will become the latest new face to join Young’s total makeover of the Texas bullpen this offseason.

Chris Martin decided to forego retirement to return for another season with the Rangers, but Hoby Milner, Shawn Armstrong, Jacob Webb, and Phil Maton have all left in free agency.  Texas has filled those gaps with Alexis Diaz, Tyler Alexander, Carter Baumler, Zak Kent, and now Junis, who had far and away the best 2025 season of any of this group.  Junis’ ability to cover innings and take on some higher-leverage assignments should be a big help to the Rangers as they continue to figure out their ideal relief mix.

White Sox Sign Ryan Borucki To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox announced that left-hander Ryan Borucki has been signed to a minor league deal that contains an invitation to Chicago’s big league Spring Training camp.  It’s something of a homecoming for Borucki, who grew up just north of Chicago in Mundelein, Illinois.

With eight MLB seasons under his belt, Borucki brings a lot of veteran know-how to an overall inexperienced White Sox relief corps.  Though Chicago’s priority during a rebuild is still giving innings to these younger pitchers, having a seasoned reliever like Borucki around might be helpful if Borucki pitches well enough in camp to earn a roster spot.  Brandon Eisert and Tyler Gilbert (likely the two top left-handed options in the Sox pen) are coming off so-so performances in 2025, so Borucki also provides some added southpaw depth.

Borucki has plenty to prove himself, however, as his struggles against right-handed batters and his inability to keep the ball in the park have led to middling results.  Over 256 1/3 career innings in the Show, Borucki has a 4.28 ERA, 19.7K%, and 8.9BB%.  While Borucki has been prone to allowing home runs, he has done a good job of avoiding fly balls in general, with a 51.8% grounder rate over 135 1/3 innings from 2021-25.

In 2025, Borucki posted a 4.63 ERA, 22% strikeout rate, and 11% walk rate over 35 innings with the Pirates and Blue Jays, while missing about six weeks due to a back injury.  He signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh last winter, and caught on with Toronto (his original team) on another minors contract after being released by the Bucs in August, but the Jays also designated Borucki for assignment and then outrighted him in September after four MLB outings.

Reds Receiving Trade Interest In Starting Pitchers

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The Reds’ excellent rotation was the biggest reason behind the team’s return to the playoffs in 2025, and rival teams have taken notice of this talent and depth.  The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes that Cincinnati is still getting trade inquiries about its starters, and while the Reds “remain open to the possibility if the return improves them for the present and future,” this high asking price might scare off a number of suitors.

Indeed, it might be that not much has changed on the pitching front since October, when president of baseball operations Nick Krall said he “wouldn’t say no” to the idea of dealing from the rotation.  As Krall added, however, “when you trade pitchers you’ve got to go (back)fill them somehow.  We all know how it works, where you run out of innings at some point in the season, guys get hurt, things happen.”

A few weeks later, both Krall and manager Terry Francona further downplayed the idea that Hunter Greene in particular would be available at the right price, with Krall noting “That’s a hard one to actually say, ’Hey, we’re going to trade the guy that has a chance to be the ace of your staff and top-of-the-rotation guy going into the postseason.’  We’re looking to figure out how to get better, but right now that’s not on the table.”

Continuing that thread, Rosenthal writes that “rival clubs doubt their big arms are truly available,” in reference to Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Andrew Abbott.  Greene is signed to an extension through at least the 2028 season, Lodolo has two years of arbitration control remaining, and Abbott is controlled through 2029 and is still a year away from reaching arbitration eligibility.  Brady Singer has been more widely mentioned as a potential trade chip since he is a free agent next offseason, but Rosenthal feels the Reds would want both an MLB-ready starter and a bat for Singer’s services, which seems like a tall order.

As good as Cincinnati’s rotation was in 2025, the group is already down a couple of arms since Nick Martinez and Zack Littell are free agents.  Chase Burns is one of baseball’s top pitching prospects and is penciled into the fifth starter’s role for 2026, and another top-100 prospect in Chase Petty is in the mix.  Beyond these top six starters, however, the Reds have more young depth but a lot of injury-related question marks.  Forearm and oblique problems limited Rhett Lowder to 9 1/3 minor league innings and no time in the majors last year, and Julian Aguiar and Brandon Williamson missed all of 2025 while recovering from Tommy John surgeries.

Like Krall implied, the “you can never have enough pitching” mantra might alone be enough to make the Reds wary about trading any of their starters and depleting the team’s clear strength.  On the flip side, moving a starter (even one of the top three arms) for a premium return would allow Cincinnati to address multiple roster holes, particularly within the team’s lineup.

The Reds haven’t done a ton to upgrade their average-at-best offense, as the team has added JJ Bleday and Dane Myers while trading Gavin Lux.  Cincinnati’s pursuit of Kyle Schwarber was an outlier based on Schwarber’s status as a local product, so the team’s limited payroll will likely preclude any more major expenditures unless some other money is moved off the books (i.e. Singer’s $12.75MM salary for 2026).  For now, the Reds are primarily counting on internal improvements for lineup help, which is a risky endeavor in an NL Central that keeps getting more competitive.

Ryan Pressly Announces Retirement

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Two-time All-Star reliever Ryan Pressly has decided to retire after 13 Major League seasons.  In a statement to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal, Pressly said his decision is “bittersweet, but what a ride it’s been….The friendships — from bullpen brothers to vets who mentored me along the way — those bonds last a lifetime.  I’ll miss the banter in the ‘pen, the inside jokes that kept us loose on those high-leverage nights.  But I’m fired up for this next chapter with my family, and chasing whatever adventure comes next.”

Pressly retires with a 3.33 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, 48.5% grounder rate, and 7.2% walk rate over 691 1/3 career innings with the Twins, Astros, and Cubs.  Since the start of the 2013 season, only six pitchers have appeared in more games than Pressly, who made 667 trips from the bullpen to the mound.

Never a big velocity pitcher, Pressly succeeded thanks to an excellent slider-curveball combination, and a ton of spin on both his curve and fastball.  From 2017-25, Pressly ranked in no less than the 99th percentile of all pitchers in curveball spin, and no less than the 95th percentile in fastball spin rate.  These fantastic spin rates helped Pressly miss a lot of bats, and turn a lot of hard contact into easy outs on the ground.

Originally an 11th-round pick for the Red Sox back in the 2007 draft, Pressly never pitched for Boston at the MLB level, as the Twins plucked him out of Boston’s farm system in the 2012 Rule 5 Draft.  Pressly had never even pitched at the Triple-A level before making his big league debut with Minnesota in 2013, but he hit the ground running with a 3.87 ERA over 49 games and 76 2/3 frames, immediately establishing himself as a multi-inning bullpen workhorse.

Injuries and a couple of stints in the minors interrupted Pressly’s time with the Twins, but his solid work saw him receive more high-leverage opportunities.  By the time Minnesota dealt Pressly to Houston at the 2018 trade deadline, the right-hander was acting as the Twins’ set-up man, and he continued that role in the Astros’ relief corps.  Pressly was outstanding down the stretch for the Astros in 2018, and his excellent work as a set-up man in 2019 earned Pressly his first All-Star nod.

This led to another promotion to the closer’s job in 2020, kicking off a four-year stint that saw Pressly record 102 saves in 118 chances while recording a 2.99 ERA, 31.5% strikeout rate, and 6.2% walk rate.  Despite this high-profile role on a playoff regular, Pressly’s success flew somewhat under the radar — perhaps because he never received many free agent headlines since the Astros kept (wisely) extending him.

Pressly inked a two-year, $17.5MM deal in advance of the 2019 season that became a three-year, $27.5MM deal after he reached enough appearances to trigger a vesting option for the third year.  In April 2022, Pressly signed another extension that ended up paying him $42MM over a three-year span (2023-25) once he hit another vesting threshold.  While it’s possible Pressly might’ve banked a bit more money if he’d tested the open market, he was very happy playing close to home (Pressly hails from Dallas and his wife is from Houston) and playing for a frequent contender.

The Astros’ regular trips to the postseason allowed Pressly the chance to shine on the biggest stages in baseball, and he delivered with a 2.78 ERA over 45 1/3 career playoff innings, including a streak of 22 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run.  Pressly’s run in Houston was highlighted by the team’s World Series title in 2022, and he threw the final inning of the Astros’ combined no-hitter in Game 4, and he picked up the save in both Game 5 and the clinching Game 6.

Despite Pressly’s continued success at closer, the Astros chose to double down on their relief depth by acquiring Josh Hader during the 2023-24 offseason, which resulted in Pressly’s return to a set-up role.  While he continued to pitch well, his $14MM price tag got a bit too hefty for an Astros team trying to limit its luxury tax bill, and Pressly agreed to waive his no-trade protection to approve a deal to the Cubs last winter.  Unfortunately for Pressly, he struggled in what ended up being his final MLB season, and Chicago released the reliever in August.

It was a little surprising that Pressly didn’t catch on anywhere following the release, and both the Twins and Astros were reportedly considering reunions.  Retirement was apparently an option for Pressly even over the summer, however, and after some time to weigh the decision, he has decided to walk away from the game at age 37.

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Pressly on an excellent career, and we wish him the best in his post-playing endeavors.

Nationals Sign Trevor Gott To Minor League Contract

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The Nationals have signed right-hander Trevor Gott to a minor league deal, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports.  The contract presumably contains an invitation for Gott to attend Washington’s big league Spring Training camp.

Gott returns to the District for the second time in his career, as he posted a 7.39 ERA over 28 innings with the Nats from 2016-18.  This disappointing performance came on the heels of Gott’s strong 2015 rookie season with the Angels, but after the Nationals acquired the righty in a trade for Yunel Escobar during the 2015-16 offseason, Gott battled injuries and ineffectiveness while being shuttled up and down from the majors and Triple-A.

After being dealt to the Giants prior to the 2019 season, Gott struggled again in 2020 and didn’t pitch in the big leagues at all until resurfacing with the Brewers in 2022.  The 2022-23 seasons saw Gott establish himself as a solid innings eater out of the Brewers, Mariners, and Mets bullpens, as Gott delivered a 4.17 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, and 6.9% walk rate over 103 2/3 innings.

Despite this success, the Mets chose to non-tender Gott following the 2023 campaign, and he caught on with the Athletics on a one-year, $1.5MM deal for the 2024 season.  Unfortunately for Gott, he had to undergo a Tommy John surgery in March 2024, and it has now been over two years since his last appearance in a Major League game.  He inked a minor league deal with the Mariners last winter, but after returning to game action at the start of May, Gott had a 7.40 ERA over 20 2/3 innings in the minors.

Now entering his age-33 season and more fully recovered from his TJ procedure, Gott heads to Washington’s camp looking to show what he still has left in the tank.  A strong Spring Training might well win Gott a job, as the Nationals have plenty of openings in the bullpen after their relief corps was the league’s worst in 2025.  Gott could be one of many veteran pitchers the Nats bring to camp on non-roster invites as they look for some bargains or hidden gems to help round out their pen.

Hazen: D’Backs Aren’t Revisiting Ketel Marte Trade Talks

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Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen said at the end of December that the club was “shortly” going to cease all trade talks involving second baseman Ketel Marte, and the unofficial deadline apparently came on January 9, once reports emerged that Marte would be staying put.  Probably unsurprisingly, this didn’t end the trade speculation entirely, but even as the offseason player market has continued to evolve just over the last eight days, Hazen has maintained his stance that discussions are over.

“We’ve already engaged in that process.  I said at the time that I set the deadline for a reason, to avoid this,” Hazen told MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert and other reporters.  Hazen also noted that by telling both Marte and rival executives that trade talks have ended, he’d be risking his credibility (both with D’Backs players and in future negotiations) by going back on his word now.

It is worth noting that there have been several instances in the past of players being traded after a front office exec has seemingly shut down trade discussions — perhaps the most famous in recent years was Nationals GM Mike Rizzo declaring “we are not trading Juan Soto” two months before Soto was indeed dealt to the Padres at the 2022 trade deadline.  It is also fair to assume that Hazen would have a hard time saying no if another team emerged in the coming days with a Marte trade offer that was absurdly tilted in Arizona’s favor.

That said, there is no reason to doubt Hazen’s resolve in this case.  While some reports emerged last summer about clubhouse discontent directed towards Marte, it never seemed too likely that the Diamondbacks would trade a star player they signed to another long-term extension just last April.  This new extension (covering the 2025-31 seasons) overwrote Marte’s previous deal that ran through the 2027 campaign, and added $64MM in new money.

$102.5MM remains on the final six years of the contract, and if Marte was a free agent this winter, he would’ve topped that number even as his enters his age-32 season.  This relative discount price made Marte an attractive alternative for teams who may not have been wowed by free agent options, or weren’t willing to meet the asking prices of players on the market.  Such teams as the Red Sox, Tigers, Blue Jays, Mariners, Rays, Phillies, Pirates, and Giants were publicly linked to Marte’s trade market, though Pittsburgh and San Francisco are two of the five teams on Marte’s no-trade list.

The Pirates may have been out on Marte anyway after acquiring Brandon Lowe to address their second base needs.  The same could be true of the Rays (after acquiring Gavin Lux) and the Jays (after adding Kazuma Okamoto to the infield mix), but the other rumored suitors could conceivably be in play if the Diamondbacks still had any appetite for a Marte deal.

Most notably, the Red Sox and Phillies fell short in their respective pursuits of Alex Bregman and Bo Bichette, leaving those two teams perhaps most keen on another big-ticket infield upgrade.  For the Sox in particular, Gilbert noted that Boston’s signing of Ranger Suarez signing led to a lot of D’Backs fans immediately wondering if the Red Sox would now be more comfortable in sending controllable pitching to Arizona for Marte.

On the flip side, of course, any increased desperation on the part of other teams might cause Hazen to increase what was already known to be a very high asking price for Marte’s services.  But, the time for haggling now seems to be over on Hazen’s part, and (barring any unexpected developments) it seems like Marte will simply return to the heart of the Diamondbacks’ lineup in 2026.

Astros Sign Carlos Perez, Amos Willingham To Minors Deals

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The Astros released their list of non-roster Spring Training invitees yesterday, and two of the names heading to camp are catcher Carlos Perez and right-hander Amos Willingham, who signed minor league deals with Houston back in November.

Now entering his age-35 season, Perez will look to continue his tour of the AL West by winning a job on the Astros’ roster.  Perez played 184 of his 278 career big league games with the Angels, and he has also suited up for the Rangers and Athletics during his five MLB seasons.  Most of Perez’s time in the majors came during the 2015-18 seasons, as he didn’t resurface again in the Show until he played in 66 games with the A’s in 2023.

Perez was non-tendered after the season but returned to the A’s on a minor league deal for 2024, and he then moved onto the Cubs last offseason on another minor league pact, with neither agreement resulting in any MLB playing time.  Over 859 career plate appearances in the majors, Perez has hit only .218/.265/.327.  His all-time Triple-A numbers (.279/.353/.505 over 3055 PA) are far superior, with the caveat that Perez has played most of his Triple-A career in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Yainer Diaz is Houston’s starting catcher but the backup role is now in flux since Victor Caratini signed with the Twins.  Cesar Salazar is the top current choice as Diaz’s understudy and Perez is the only other catcher in the organization with any big league experience.  Perez could push Salazar for a roster spot in Spring Training, though since Astros GM Dana Brown said earlier this month that the team was still on the lookout for backup catching help, both Salazar and Perez could be pushed down the depth chart.

Willingham made his MLB debut by pitching 24 1/3 innings over 18 appearances with the Nationals in 2023, but he tossed just a single inning in one game for Washington in 2024.  The righty has a 7.11 ERA to show for his brief time in the bigs, but he has a 3.62 ERA and 23% strikeout rate to show for his 104 1/3 innings in Triple-A, albeit with a 10.27% walk rate that is on the high side.  The Georgia native signed a minor league deal with the Braves last offseason that didn’t lead to a call-up, and Willingham actually spent most of his year at the Double-A level while also battling injuries.

Willingham made some changes to his pitching repertoire last year.  After previously using a fastball-slider combo as his two primary pitches, he threw his cutter over half the time in 2025, with his 94.4mph fastball reduced to a 37.3% usage rate.  He’ll head to Spring Training with the hopes that this revamped arsenal can lead to a job in the Astros’ bullpen, and Willingham has a minor league option remaining.

Dodgers Likely To Keep Teoscar Hernandez

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Teoscar Hernandez’s name surfaced in trade rumors earlier this winter, and now that Kyle Tucker is joining the Los Angeles outfield, it created some natural speculation that the Dodgers could clear room by moving Hernandez elsewhere.  Even with Tucker in the fold, however, it is more likely than not that Hernandez will still be a Dodger on Opening Day, according to both The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez.

The Dodgers’ plan is likely to move Hernandez over to left field, with Tucker taking his customary right field position.  Andy Pages and Tommy Edman would be the primary center field options with Alex Call in a reserve outfield role, and Edman is also perhaps the top option within an unsettled second base mix that also includes Miguel Rojas, Hyeseong Kim, Alex Freeland, and new acquisition Andy Ibanez.  A reunion with Enrique Hernandez at some point this offseason also can’t be ruled out.

Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts and GM Brandon Gomes both downplayed the idea of a Hernandez trade back in December, and even Rosenthal’s initial report about the trade talks indicated that it was “unlikely” the Dodgers would move on just a year after signing Hernandez to a three-year, $66MM free agent contract.  The remaining money on that deal is broken down as $12MM in 2026, $14.5MM in 2027, and a $6.5MM buyout of a $15MM club option for the 2028 season.

Half of that $66MM guaranteed has already covered in the form of a $23MM signing bonus and a $10MM salary for 2025, plus $23.5MM of the total $66MM is deferred until 2031.  A team trading for Hernandez would therefore be taking on only $33MM over a two-year period, with the remaining deferrals reducing that overall price tag.

This modest remaining cost likely led a few outfield-needy teams to at least float the idea of a Hernandez deal with Los Angeles, and the Royals were cited as one of the interested clubs.  While money isn’t exactly an object for the free-spending Dodgers, moving Hernandez would’ve provided the team with some luxury tax relief, and opened up some more room in the outfield for other players.  Call or Edman could get more playing time on the grass, which then removes Edman from the second base battle.  Several of the Dodgers’ top prospects are outfielders, so the likes of Josue De Paula could’ve had more room for a Major League debut in 2026.

In keeping Hernandez, the Dodgers avoid any potential pitfalls with depth or untested players as L.A. tries to win its third consecutive World Series title.  There’s also the possibility that Hernandez’s trade market was a little thin in the wake of a so-so year for the veteran.  Hernandez still hit 25 homers, but his .247/.284/.454 slash line over 546 plate appearances translated to only a 102 wRC+, and his walk rate plunged to a career-low 4.8%.

Hernandez also had only a 107 wRC+ in 2023, though he bounced back from that season to hit more like his old self in his first year with the Dodgers in 2024.  Another rebound performance shouldn’t be ruled out as Hernandez enters his age-33 season, but his subpar defense means that his value is limited if he isn’t hitting.

While trading a proven big leaguer like Hernandez might not be in the cards for the Dodgers, the champs have enough depth all over the diamond that they could turn to any number of less-established players as trade chips.  Rosenthal suggests that right-hander Bobby Miller or minor league outfielder Ryan Ward could be players Los Angeles is more open to trading.

Just a few years removed from being one of the game’s top pitching prospects, Miller performed well in his 2023 rookie season but has struggled to an 8.85 ERA over 61 MLB innings since Opening Day 2024.  He appeared in only two Major League games in 2025 while continuing to battle control problems at the Triple-A level.  Ward is an eighth-round pick from the 2019 draft who crushed Triple-A pitching in 2025, and while he likely would’ve already gotten a chance in the Show in a less star-studded organization, Ward is entering his age-28 season and probably isn’t in the Dodgers’ long-term plans.

Sung Mun Song To Miss Four Weeks Recovering From Oblique Injury

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Padres infielder Sung Mun Song will require about four weeks of recovery time due to an oblique injury, according to Jeeho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency.  Song sustained the injury during a recent batting practice session.

The projected recovery period just about matches up with the start of San Diego’s spring camp, so Song might not miss any time at all as he prepares for his first big league Spring Training.  As always, of course, oblique-related injuries are notoriously tricky to gauge, so the four-week timeline perhaps represents a best-case scenario.  Song will also be missing out on offseason prep time in general, so depending on his progress, the Padres could place him on the 10-day injured list to begin the season if Song still needs a little more time to ramp up.

As Yoo notes, the more immediate matter for Song even before Opening Day is the World Baseball Classic in March.  That said, it wasn’t known if Song was intending to play for the South Korean national team or if he was skipping the WBC to focus on his debut season in the majors.  Yoo writes that Song didn’t take part in the South Korean team’s preliminary camp that opened on January 9, hinting that Song might not have been in the team’s plans even if healthy.

Song wasn’t on the national team’s radar during the last WBC in 2023, as the infielder didn’t really start to produce big numbers in the KBO League until the 2024 season.  Song broke out with 19 homers and a .340/.409/.518 slash line over 602 plate appearances for the Kiwoom Heroes that year, and followed up by hitting .315/.387/.530 with 26 home runs in 646 PA in 2025.

This put Song onto the radar of Major League teams, and after the Heroes agreed to post him, San Diego signed Song in December to a four-year contract worth $15MM in guaranteed money, with a player opt-out prior to the 2029 season and a club option for the 2030 season.  Manny Machado is occupying Song’s primary position of third base, but Song’s ability to also play first and second base should allow him plenty of playing time bouncing around the Padres’ infield, plus the team has also considered him as an outfield candidate.  There’s plenty of intrigue in how the 29-year-old will adjust to MLB pitching, though this oblique issue is an unwelcome first hurdle to Song’s Padres career.

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