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Blue Jays Outright Yariel Rodriguez

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The Blue Jays are outrighting Yariel Rodriguez off their 40-man roster, according to Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi.  Reporter Francys Romero had the news earlier this afternoon that Rodriguez was being designated for assignment, though the Sportsnet item clarifies that Rodriguez wasn’t DFA’ed, but has already cleared outright waivers.

It isn’t yet known if this is tied to any upcoming roster move.  A 40-man roster spot wasn’t immediately needed for the Jays, as the club has only 38 players on their current 40-man.  Cody Ponce’s three-year contract has yet to be officially announced, but once that deal is complete, the Jays will now still retain two vacancies on their 40-man with Rodriguez now apparently on his way out.

It’s a somewhat surprising move on paper, as Rodriguez had a 3.08 ERA over 73 innings out of Toronto’s bullpen in 2025, and he received some high-leverage work in a set-up role in the earlier part of the year.  He was also included on the Blue Jays’ rosters for both the ALDS and ALCS, and he was charged with three earned runs over 2 2/3 innings of work before being left off the World Series roster.

The 3.08 ERA was seemingly a positive step forward from the 4.47 ERA that Rodriguez posted over 86 2/3 innings as a starting pitcher in 2024 (his first season in the majors), though a look under the hood reveals some pretty similar peripherals.  Rodriguez’s 22.1% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate in 2025 were both a tick backwards from his 2024 statistics.  After posting a 4.46 SIERA that almost matched his ERA, there was a much larger gap between the righty’s 3.08 ERA and 4.27 SIERA in 2025, as Rodriguez was aided by a .228 BABIP and an 81.2% strand rate this past season.

Two seasons of middling strikeout rates and hefty walk totals left the Blue Jays ready to move on from the right-hander, less than two years after Rodriguez signed a five-year, $32MM free agent contract.  $17MM remains on that contract, in the form of a $5MM salary in 2026, $6MM in 2027, and then a $6MM player option for 2028 or (if Rodriguez does opt out), a $10MM club option that the Jays can exercise to retain him for the 2028 campaign.

Unsurprisingly, no team was willing to claim away this remaining contract on waivers, and thus Rodriguez has now been outrighted off the 40-man.  He is still in the Toronto organization, as Rodriguez doesn’t have the necessary service time or a past outright on his resume that he would need to give himself the ability to decline the outright assignment in favor of free agency.  This means that the Blue Jays could still select Rodriguez’s contract back to the 40-man at any point, whether in the offseason or during the 2026 campaign.

However, the outright clearly puts Rodriguez in line as something of a secondary option within Toronto’s bullpen plans, and likely makes him a trade candidate for the remainder of the winter.  While no team was going to eat all of that $17MM deal, the Jays could explore (or continue exploring, as they’ve surely checked around about trade possibilities) moving Rodriguez as part of a swap of unwelcome contracts, or the Jays could eat a significant chunk of the $17MM to help accommodate a trade.

It has already been a busy offseason for the Blue Jays, who have signed Ponce and Dylan Cease to multi-year contracts, and Shane Bieber is also staying in the rotation after declining to opt out of the final year of his deal.  This puts the Jays in line for approximately a $267.9MM payroll and a $282.5MM luxury tax number (projections courtesy of RosterResource), and this is before Toronto addresses its lineup or bullpen needs heading into the 2026 campaign.

The four largest payrolls in Blue Jays history have come in each of the last four seasons, as ownership has been willing to foot increasingly large bills on the both the salary and tax fronts.  The Blue Jays paid the luxury tax in both 2023 and 2025, and their current 2026 projection already has them just shy of the $284MM tax threshold and the third penalty tier.

Given how the Jays have already signed Cease and have been linked to many other big names this offseason (i.e. Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger, and old friend Bo Bichette), clearly more spending is still to come.  That said, only the front office knows exactly what the budget actually is, and trimming some excess salary like Rodriguez could free up some extra dollars that could be put towards some higher-ceiling talent.  The fact that Toronto has two open 40-man roster spots heading into the Winter Meetings is perhaps a hint that the Jays might be anticipating another new acquisition sooner rather than later.

KBO League’s LG Twins Re-Sign Yonny Chirinos, Austin Dean

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The LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization announced earlier this week that right-hander Yonny Chirinos and first baseman Austin Dean have been re-signed to new contracts for the 2026 season.  Right-hander Anders Tolhurst is also being brought back, as the Twins will be retaining their entire trio of foreign-born players from the previous season.

Dean earns the largest contract of the group with $1.4MM in guaranteed money ($1.1MM salary, $300K signing bonus) and another $300K available in incentives.  Chirinos also got a $300K signing bonus, as well as $900K in guaranteed salary, and up to $200K more in incentives.  Tolhurst will receive $800K in salary, a $200K signing bonus, and can get another $200K in incentive bonuses.

All three players were key contributors to a Twins team that won the Korean Series in 2025, and Dean also played a big role in the franchise’s 2023 championship team.  Dean has spent the last three seasons with the Twins, hitting .315/.384/.560 with 86 homers over 1686 plate appearances.  His distinguished resume with the Seoul-based team also includes a KBO All-Star nod in 2023 and two Golden Glove Awards.

Dean hit .228/.286/.390 over 365 PA and 126 games with the Marlins, Cardinals, and Giants from 2018-22, and had trouble sticking in the majors after getting most of his playing time with Miami in 2018-19.  Now entering his age-32 season, Dean has found a nice niche for himself with the Twins, and might well have several more years ahead of him in the KBO League.

Chirinos is another former big leaguer who emerged as a solid member of the Rays’ pitching mix in 2018-19, but a Tommy John surgery threw his career off track.  After posting a 3.65 ERA over 234 1/3 innings from 2018-20, Chirinos spent the entire 2021 season rehabbing and then delivered only a 5.31 ERA across 122 innings with the Rays, Braves, and Marlins over the 2022-24 campaigns.

The move to Seoul helped get Chirinos back on track, as he posted a 3.31 ERA across 30 starts and 177 innings.  A strong groundball pitcher in the minor leagues, Chirinos took that ability to new heights with a 59.8% grounder rate with the Twins.  A tiny 4.9% walk rate also helped him avoid damage, even if he didn’t miss many bats with an 18.6% strikeout rate.

Tolhurst was a 23rd-round pick for the Blue Jays in the 2019 draft, and he didn’t receive any MLB playing time during his four seasons in Toronto’s farm system.  He made it as far as Triple-A Buffalo in 2025, posting a 4.67 ERA in 71 1/3 innings with the Bisons.  With seemingly no promotion to the Show on the horizon, Tolhurst was released in August so he could make the jump to the KBO League, and he made an instant impact with his new team.  Tolhurst had a 2.86 ERA over 44 innings with the Twins, and he was the winning pitcher in both Game 1 and the series-clinching Game 5 of the Korean Series.

Eury Perez Only Untouchable Starter In Marlins’ Pitching Trade Talks

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There has been speculation all winter that the Marlins will add hitting help by trading one of their starting pitchers.  Eury Perez appears to be the only name that is off limits, as The Athletic’s Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal write that the Fish are “at least listening on offers” for pitchers besides the 22-year-old right-hander.

Given how the Marlins have talked about a contract extension with Perez’s camp in the past and are expected revisit those talks this offseason, it’s no surprise that Perez is being held out of any broader trade negotiations.  Perez is already under team control through the 2029 season and doesn’t even become arbitration-eligible until next winter, so there is zero urgency on Miami’s part to move a pitcher who looks like a cornerstone.  Of course, the Marlins’ stance could change if a team approached them with a truly huge trade proposal for Perez, but barring that type of Godfather offer, Perez will surely be staying put.

There’s also the fact that if the Marlins actually did look to deal Perez now, they’d be doing so at something less than peak value.  Perez has still thrown only 186 2/3 innings in the majors, split almost evenly between 91 1/3 innings in his 2023 rookie season and 95 1/3 frames this past year.  In between, of course, the 2024 campaign was a total wash for Perez due to Tommy John surgery, and his recovery from the procedure kept the righty from making his 2025 debut until June 9.

The return to action went fairly smoothly, as Perez posted a 4.25 ERA, 27.3% strikeout rate, and 8.3% walk rate in 2025.  This was an identical match to his 2023 walk rate and only a slight drop from his 28.9K% in his rookie year, and while Perez had a 3.15 ERA in 2023, his SIERA totals over the two seasons (3.94 in 2023, 3.80 in 2025) were pretty much the same.  Perez did allow a ton of hard contact in 2025, but his fastball velocity and fastball spin rates both remained elite post-surgery.

Now further removed from the TJ procedure and with a normal offseason, Perez is being eyed as a major piece of the Marlins rotation both in 2026 and into the future.  His import to the rotation only grows if the Marlins do end up moving another starter, which seems like a logical tactic for the Fish to address their lineup holes.  Sammon and Rosenthal describe a starter trade as “a strong possibility” for the Marlins, while ESPN’s Jeff Passan goes a step further by writing “Miami is almost certain to move a starting pitcher this winter.”

Braxton Garrett missed all of 2025 due to UCL revision surgery and Max Meyer had a season-ending hip surgery in June, so it can be assumed that these two pitchers are probably also unlikely to be dealt coming off such significant injuries.  Thomas White and Robby Snelling are two of the Marlins’ top prospects, and since the Fish aren’t far removed from being in full rebuild mode, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix isn’t likely to move such key minor leaguers before they’ve even reached the Show.  Any of Dax Fulton, Ryan Gusto, Adam Mazur, or Janson Junk probably wouldn’t bring back much of a trade return.

This leaves perhaps the likeliest trade candidates as Edward Cabrera, Sandy Alcantara, or Ryan Weathers.  Alcantara is the Marlins’ highest-paid player and has been the subject of trade rumors for years, yet now that Miami is seemingly on the verge of returning to contention, the Fish may be moving away from the idea of moving him whatsoever.  Recent reports indicate that Alcantara is now expected still be with the club in 2026, and the Marlins will only move Cabrera for a big trade return.

Cabrera and Weathers are each controlled through 2028, so again, there is no reason Miami necessarily has to move either of these arms prior to Opening Day.  Both pitchers have lengthy injury histories, however, and the Marlins might be willing to sell relatively high (on Cabrera in particular) before another health issue impacts future trade value or keeps either pitcher off the Marlins’ own mound.

Orioles Designate Ryan Noda For Assignment

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The Orioles announced that first baseman/outfielder Ryan Noda has been designated for assignment.  The club also announced the previously-reported waiver claims of Will Robertson and Drew Romo, and Noda’s DFA clears the final 40-man roster spot Baltimore needed to officially add Robertson and Romo.

Noda also came to Baltimore on a waiver claim last August, as the O’s claimed the 29-year-old away from the White Sox to create some roster depth in the wake of the trade deadline.  Noda ended up appearing in seven big league games in an Orioles uniform, with 14 plate appearances.  Combined with his 45 PA for Chicago, Noda ended up with a .106/.276/.170 slash line to show for his 59 total PA at the MLB level in 2025.

It was a busy year of transactions for Noda, as starting in November 2024, he went from the A’s to the Angels to the Red Sox to the White Sox and finally to the Orioles on a series of waiver claims and (in the case of the move to Boston) a trade.  This is the third time Noda has been DFA’d, but he has neither the required three years of MLB service time or the past outright assignment on his resume to decline an outright if he clears waivers and the Orioles assign him to Triple-A.  That means Noda will remain in Baltimore’s organization if outrighted off the 40-man, though his past history suggests that another waiver claim is certainly possible.

The Athletics selected Noda out of the Dodgers’ organization as a pick in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft, and it looked like a shrewd move for the A’s after Noda hit .229/.364/.406 with 16 home runs over 495 PA during the 2023 season.  This solid rookie performance didn’t carry forward, however, as Noda followed up with only a .137/.255/.211 slash over 111 PA in 2024, and he spent the majority of that season in the minors.

Strong minor league production has kept Noda in the minds of teams looking to add roster depth on the waiver wire, though his Triple-A numbers dropped to .188/.409/.361 and 10 home runs over 291 PA.  Since those plate appearances were split over four different teams in four organizations, it seems possible that the transactional whirlwind played a part in Noda’s dropoff at the plate.  He still maintained his ability to get on base, and Noda is still a player capable of handling first base or either corner outfield slot, plus some center field work in a pinch.

Blue Jays Interested In Kazuma Okamoto

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Kazuma Okamoto’s posting window closes in four weeks’ time, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that the six-time NPB All-Star is getting “big interest” from Major League teams.  The Pirates and Red Sox have already been linked to Okamoto’s market, and Heyman reports that the Blue Jays are also showing interest.

Okamoto was mostly a third baseman during his time with the Yomiuri Giants, but he also logged a good deal of time as a first baseman and corner outfielder.  While he wouldn’t get much time at first base in Toronto due to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s presence, Okamoto’s defensive utility undoubtedly has some appeal to a Blue Jays team that likes to mix and match around its lineup.  Third base would probably be Okamoto’s primary position in Toronto, yet his ability to also work in the corner outfield could make him something of a right-handed hitting version of Addison Barger, who is expected to continue operating as a third baseman/right fielder depending on what other winter moves the Jays end up completing.

Bo Bichette naturally looms as the biggest question mark hanging over the Blue Jays’ infield, as Toronto remains engaged with the former All-Star about a reunion.  If Bichette re-signs, it might make the infield a little too crowded for Okamoto as well, since that would have the ripple effect of pushing Barger into more or less everyday outfield duty, and leave little playing time for the likes of Ernie Clement or Nathan Lukes.  Likewise, if the Jays were to sign another prime offseason target like Kyle Tucker, that pushes Barger into more of a third base role, making Okamoto then redundant.

Trades could alter the roster situation, of course, but whatever team signs Okamoto would surely have designs on him as more than just a part-time player.  MLB Trade Rumors ranked Okamoto 19th on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, and projected a four-year, $64MM deal for the 29-year-old.  This contract doesn’t factor in the posting fee a big league team would also owe to the Giants, which hinges on the size of Okamoto’s deal — a $64MM contract would translate to an $11.5MM posting free, for instance.

Okamoto has 248 home runs and an outstanding .277/.361/.521 slash line over his career in Japan, though there are always questions about how exactly hitters will adjust in the move from NPB to MLB.  In Okamoto’s case in particular, Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen raised some concerns over how the infielder will adjust to the higher velocities of big league pitching, as Okamoto has been inconsistent against pitches over 94mph.

The Blue Jays are broadly an “in on everyone” team that at least checks in on pretty much every available free agent or trade target every winter.  It could be that their interest in Okamoto is an extension of his due diligence, since Okamoto wouldn’t be as clean a fit on Toronto’s roster as other winter targets.

That said, the Jays have already added Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce to the rotation, and their continued explorations into other big-ticket names indicates that Toronto is prepared to be even more aggressive after coming so close to a World Series title in 2025.  The Blue Jays also have a longstanding interest in trying to establish themselves amongst Japanese players and fans, which has involved failed pursuits of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki in the past.

Phillies Interested In Cody Bellinger

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Much of the buzz surrounding the Phillies this winter has concerned their efforts to re-sign one or both or Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto.  Since either of those free agents might well end up leaving Philadelphia for another team, the Phils have also been doing their due diligence on other major free agents or trade targets, including Tatsuya Imai and Ketel Marte.

Cody Bellinger’s name can now also be added to the list, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan writes that the Phillies “have interest in” the former NL MVP.  The Phils join the Yankees, Mets, Angels, Dodgers, and Blue Jays as teams known to have some level of interest in Bellinger’s services.

Since it is known that re-signing Schwarber is the Phillies’ chief priority, Bellinger might represent the team’s backup plan if Schwarber heads elsewhere.  While Bellinger doesn’t have Schwarber’s power or overall offensive consistency, there are plenty of reasons why Bellinger would make perhaps even more sense as a fit in the Phillies’ lineup.

Bellinger is also a left-handed hitter, and is coming off a strong 2025 campaign that saw him hit .272/.334/.480 with 29 home runs over 656 plate appearances for the Yankees.  It was more than enough for Bellinger to decline his $25MM player option for the 2026 season and re-enter the free agent market, looking for the long-term nine-figure deal that has eluded him in previous trips to the open market.

Bellinger had a 125 wRC+ last season, which is a few notches below the 152 wRC+ Schwarber posted during his 56-homer season.  Over the 2023-25 seasons, the gap is narrowed to a 135 wRC+ for Schwarber and a 123 wRC+ for Bellinger.  In terms of how the two have produced their numbers, it’s a tale of two somewhat opposite skillsets.  Bellinger makes a lot of contact and rarely strikes out, though he doesn’t generate much hard contact.  Schwarber makes a ton of loud contact, but with the tradeoff of plenty of strikeouts.  Both hitters perform well against left-handed pitching so there isn’t a platoon concern, but Bellinger hit far better at Yankee Stadium than he did in road games in 2025.

That aforementioned 2023-25 span also reveals an advantage for Bellinger in fWAR (11.4 to 9.1), as Schwarber being essentially a DH-only player and a subpar corner outfielder leaves him trailing far behind Bellinger in defensive value.  As this defensive skillset translates to the Phillies, Bellinger could fill in at first base whenever Bryce Harper needs a DH day.  More regularly, Bellinger would be playing in the outfield, perhaps in right field since Nick Castellanos is expected to be traded or maybe just released entirely.  A corner outfield slot is a better fit for Bellinger than center field duty, yet Bellinger could be a part-time answer to the Phillies’ needs in center.

For all of the rumors swirling around Bellinger as a trade candidate and free agent in recent years, this is the first time Philadelphia has been properly linked to his market.  This doesn’t necessarily mean the Phillies had no interest in the past, but other players were possibly just higher on the wishlist, plus the team’s first base/outfield/DH picture has been relatively crowded.

Between Bellinger’s defensive pluses and the fact that he is over 28 months younger than Schwarber, Bellinger got a slightly higher spot on MLB Trade Rumors’ ranking of the offseason’s top 50 free agents.  Bellinger was eighth on our list and Schwarber ninth, with very similar contract predictions — Bellinger five years and $140MM, Schwarber five years and $135MM.

While these are only projections, it isn’t likely that Bellinger represents much or any of a savings for the Phillies as a Schwarber alternative.  Bellinger isn’t attached to a qualifying offer, which undoubtedly has some extra appeal to a Phillies team that would pay a steeper penalty for signing a qualified free agent since Philadelphia spent above the luxury tax threshold in 2025.  By that same token, the Phils would receive a compensatory pick after only the fourth round of the 2026 draft if one of their own qualified free agents (Schwarber and Ranger Suarez) signed elsewhere.

KBO League’s SSG Landers Sign Drew VerHagen

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The SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization announced a one-year contract with right-hander Drew VerHagen for the 2026 season.  VerHagen will earn $800K in guaranteed money ($750K salary, $50K signing bonus) and another $100K is available to the 35-year-old righty in contract incentives.

A veteran of eight Major League seasons, VerHagen has a 4.98 ERA over 281 2/3 innings with the Tigers (from 2014-19) and Cardinals (2022-23), working primarily as a long reliever with a few spot starts.  He also has a significant amount of experience pitching in Japan, as VerHagen pitched with the Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball during both the 2020-21 seasons and then again over the last two seasons.

Overall, VerHagen has a 3.68 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, and 6.65% walk rate in 283 1/3 innings with the Fighters.  His most recent season, however, was his least-successful in NPB.  VerHagen delivered only a 6.08 ERA over 26 2/3 frames with the Fighters in 2025, and spent the bulk of the season with the Fighters’ minor league affiliate.

VerHagen will now look to turn the page in a new league and a new country.  He’ll take up one of the Fighters’ allotted roster spots for foreign-born pitchers, essentially replacing Drew Anderson (who is returning to MLB on a one-year deal with Detroit).

Orioles Sign Ryan Helsley

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The Orioles have signed right-hander Ryan Helsley to a two-year contract that allows him to opt out after the 2026 season. It’s reportedly a $28MM guarantee for the Wasserman client, who’d also receive a $500K assignment bonus if he’s traded. The salary is evenly distributed, so Helsley will decide on a $14MM player option next winter.

Felix Bautista underwent shoulder surgery last August that will keep the closer on the injured list until at least August 2026, and that timeline means one setback could sideline Bautista for the entirety of the 2026 campaign.  As a result, the Orioles headed into the offseason looking for multiple bullpen additions, including a pitcher with past experience as a closer.

Helsley fits that description, as he racked up 105 saves as the Cardinals’ primary ninth-inning choice from 2022-25.  This stretch saw Helsley named to two NL All-Star teams, he was the NL’s Reliever Of The Year in 2024, and he even received some down-ballot Cy Young Award consideration in both 2022 and 2024.  Overall, Helsley posted a 2.67 ERA, 29.12% strikeout rate, and 9.93% walk rate over 299 2/3 innings in a St. Louis uniform, from his debut with the team in 2019 until he was traded to the Mets at last July’s trade deadline.

Given the Cardinals’ struggles over the last few seasons and Helsley’s looming free agency, it was seen as a surprise that it took so long for the reliever to be traded.  (In fact, the Orioles were first rumored to be interested in Helsley back in May 2024.)  Even trading Helsley last winter in the wake of his excellent 2024 would’ve brought a greater return back to the Cardinals, though they still landed three prospects in the midseason deal with New York.  And, considering how things went south for Helsley with the Mets, it’s hard to say the Cards didn’t come out on top in the deal.

Over 20 innings and 22 appearances with the Mets, Helsley was torched for a 7.20 ERA, with his home run rate, strikeout rate, and walk rate all going in the wrong direction.  Helsley felt he was tipping his pitches during his time in New York, but whatever the cause, the move back into a setup role behind Edwin Diaz ended up as a wash.  Helsley’s struggles were one of the many reasons behind a disastrous second half for the Mets that saw the team slowly fade out of the playoff race and ultimately fall short of the postseason.

Despite this rough stretch, close to half the league reportedly had interest in Helsley on the open market.  The Blue Jays, Cubs, and Tigers were among the many teams who saw Helsley as a bounce-back candidate and, intriguingly, Detroit and some other clubs viewed Helsley as a potential starting pitcher.  Given how Helsley has never started a game at the MLB level, it would’ve been a surprising development to see him land somewhere as a rotation candidate, but he’ll now settle into his familiar closing role in Baltimore.

MLB Trade Rumors still ranked Helsley 36th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents. He topped our projection of a two-year, $24MM deal, and he might end up handily topping $24MM over a two-year timeframe depending on what happens with his opt-out clause.  If he rediscovers his 2024 form, Helsley will surely choose to re-enter free agency in search of a more lucrative longer-term contract.  The Orioles might not mind that scenario if Bautista is back healthy by that point, and Helsley could then be tagged with a qualifying offer heading into free agency next winter.

Helsley brings elite velocity and spin with his 99.3mph fastball, though batters teed off on Helsley’s fastball in 2025, and his slider has been the more effective of his pitches over the last few years.  The righty has long struggled to avoid walks or hard contact, though the home run ball was never a huge issue until his brief stint with the Mets.  It obviously wasn’t the ideal platform for Helsley as he entered free agency, yet it is understandable why the Orioles still felt comfortable in making a two-year investment in his services.

Even a two-year pact counts as a big step for an O’s front office that has been pretty conservative about investing heavily in free agents.  Much of Mike Elias’ seven-year stint in charge of the baseball operations department was spent rebuilding, of course, but Tyler O’Neill’s three-year, $49.5MM deal from last winter is the only other multi-year contract Elias has even given to a free agent.  The Orioles’ disappointing 75-win performance in 2025 may have raised the urgency level, as Baltimore has been linked to a number of top-shelf names in this year’s free agent market.

Between signing Helsley and re-acquiring old friend Andrew Kittredge, the back end of the Orioles’ bullpen looks much sturdier than it did at season’s end.  More relievers could still be on the way, but Baltimore’s primary pitching need is now rotation help.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that Helsley was in agreement with Baltimore on a two-year deal with an opt-out. Katie Woo of The Athletic had the $28MM guarantee, while The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported the $500K assignment bonus. The Associated Press reported the salary breakdown.

Inset photo courtesy of Brad Penner — Imagn Images

KBO’s Samsung Lions Sign Matt Manning

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The Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization announced the signing of right-hander Matt Manning to a one-year, $1MM contract.  Manning was outrighted off the Phillies roster in September, and he elected minor league free agency earlier this month.

Manning was once one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, and he was a fixture of top-100 prospect rankings in the years following his selection as the ninth overall pick of the 2016 draft.  He posted solid numbers on his way up the Tigers’ minor league ladder until his MLB debut in June 2021, but the strikeout ability Manning displayed in the minors didn’t translate to his work in the Show.  Over 254 innings and 50 starts with Detroit from 2021-24, Manning posted a 4.43 ERA, 7.8% walk rate, and only a 16.4% strikeout rate.

Some injuries hampered Manning during this time, but the Tigers eventually decided to move on entirely from the right-hander.  Manning spent the entire 2025 season in the minors, first with Triple-A Toledo and then with the Phillies’ Double-A affiliate in Reading after the Tigers designated Manning for assignment and traded him to Philadelphia just before the trade deadline.

Manning turns 28 in January, so between his relative youth and his past pedigree as a top prospect, it is a little surprising that he didn’t draw interest from any MLB teams on a minor league contract.  The fact that Manning inked his deal with the Lions relatively early in the offseason, however, perhaps suggests that he wasn’t interested in waiting perhaps several more weeks to land a non-guaranteed deal, and then going through the grind of another season in the minor leagues.  Manning is also now out of minor league options, so even if he did make a big league roster, he might’ve been facing more DFAs and outrights, plus potential moves to other teams on waiver claims or trades.

Rather than ride this carousel, Manning will get a $1MM payday from the Lions.  The KBO League is generally a hitter-friendly league, yet the lesser level of competition might help Manning get his career on track.  There have been several instances of pitchers who have used stints in the KBO to rework their pitching repertoire, post some strong numbers, and get back onto the radar of big league teams, so chances are we haven’t seen the last of Manning in a Major League organization.

NPB’s Chiba Lotte Marines Sign Jose Castillo

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The Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball announced the signing of left-hander Jose Castillo.  The Mets chose to non-tender Castillo earlier this month, passing on the southpaw’s projected $1.7MM arbitration salary.

The move overseas to Japan may seem like small potatoes given the transactional maelstrom that was Castillo’s 2025 season.  He saw big league action for four different teams (the Diamondbacks, Mets, Mariners, and Orioles) while compiling a 3.94 ERA over 32 innings.  Beginning the season on a minor league deal with Arizona, Castillo was designated for assignment in May and then traded to the Mets, and he subsequently bounced around on a series of waiver claims.  Castillo actually had three separate stints with the Mets, with the latest coming in early November when he was claimed off Baltimore’s waiver wire.

Castillo is out of minor league options, making him a necessary DFA candidate whenever a team wants to move him off its active roster.  He would probably be facing another round of designations, outright assignments, and waiver wire visits if he’d signed a minor league deal with a Major League team this winter, so it perhaps isn’t surprising that Castillo has opted for the relative security (and a guaranteed salary) of this deal with the Marines.

Though Castillo has pitched in parts of five MLB seasons, that resume consists of his 32 innings in 2025, 38 1/3 innings with the Padres in his 2018 rookie season, and just two innings spread over a single game with the Padres in each of the 2019, 2022, and 2023 campaigns.  Multiple injuries (including a Tommy John surgery) shelved Castillo for almost the entirety of the 2019-21 seasons, and he pitched primarily in the minors with the Padres, Marlins, and Diamondbacks from 2022-24.

While a small sample size of big league work, Castillo’s career 4.11 ERA, 27.1% strikeout rate, and 9.6% walk rate are all respectable for a pitcher with such a journeyman resume.  He also has a 4.21 ERA over 130 1/3 career innings at the Triple-A level.  Control has been an issue for Castillo, but he has always been able to rack up strikeouts and generate grounders.  Castillo doesn’t turn 30 until January, so there’s still plenty of time for the left-hander to explore a future move back to North American baseball depending on how things work out during his Marines tenure.

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