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Orioles Claim Josh Walker, Designate Drew Romo For Assignment

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The Orioles have designated catcher Drew Romo for assignment, 7News Boston’s Ari Alexander reports.  The move opens up space on Baltimore’s 40-man roster for left-hander Josh Walker, as the O’s announced that Walker has been claimed off waivers from the Braves.

Romo only just arrived in Baltimore’s organization a few days ago, via a waiver claim off the Rockies’ roster.  Romo has never been outrighted before and had has only 73 days of MLB service time, so if he clears waivers here, he would have no choice but to accept an outright assignment to the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate.  Another waiver claim seems possible, as teams are always in need of catching depth, and Romo has some past prospect pedigree as a former first-rounder.

Selected 35th overall by the Rockies in the 2020 draft, Romo was drawing some top-100 prospect attention prior to the 2023 season, but his star diminished as he posted okay but unspectacular numbers in the context of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.  Romo has a career .286/.337/.466 slash line and 21 homers over 632 PA with Triple-A Albuquerque, spending time at Colorado’s top affiliate in each of the last three seasons.  In 2025, his Triple-A production dropped to .264/.329/.409 over 244 PA.

Romo has also gotten some brief playing time in the majors, producing just a .419 OPS in 56 PA over 19 games with Colorado over the last two seasons.  The Rockies opted to move on and the Orioles made the claim, even if Baltimore is already quite set at catcher between Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo (not to mention Maverick Handley also on the 40-man).

Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns, and Grant Wolfram are the only left-handed relief options on the Orioles’ 40-man roster, so adding Walker gives Baltimore a bit more depth in that area.  The O’s are already familiar with Walker, as he first joined the team on another waiver claim off the Phillies’ roster back in August, and Walker was then signed to a big league contract in November.  This guaranteed salary didn’t stop the Braves from claiming Walker away when the Orioles designated him in November, but the offseason roster churn has now seen Walker land back in Baltimore just a month later.

Walker has pitched in each of the last three MLB seasons, delivering a 6.59 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, and 10.9% walk rate over 27 1/3 career innings with the Mets and Blue Jays.  The southpaw had spent his whole pro career in the Mets organization before he was dealt to the Pirates at the 2024 trade deadline, and Walker has since bounced around to multiple teams in journeyman fashion.

Since transitioning to bullpen work in 2022, Walker saw an uptick in his minor league strikeout numbers, but also an increase in his walks.  The 2025 season also saw Walker struggle to keep the ball in the yard, as he gave up seven home runs over 42 2/3 combined innings with the Triple-A affiliates of the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Phillies.  Walker has one minor league option remaining, so he could be a candidate for frequent shuffles back and forth between the 26-man roster and the Triple-A roster.

2025 Rule 5 Draft Results

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The 2025 Rule 5 draft is taking place this afternoon at the Winter Meetings in Orlando. This post will be updated with the results as they come in.

As a refresher, the Rule 5 draft is a way for players potentially talented enough for the big leagues but blocked by their current clubs to find opportunities elsewhere. Any players that were 18 and under at the time of their original signing and went professional in 2021, and any players who turned pro at 19 years of age or older in 2022, are eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft if they are not on a 40-man roster.

Though the amateur (Rule 4) draft now has a lottery to determine the selection order, the Rule 5 draft still goes the old-fashioned way of reverse order of standings from the season that just ended. Clubs need to have an open 40-man roster spot in order to make a pick but aren’t obligated to make a selection on their turn. If they do make a pick, they will have to pay $100K to the team they select from. The selected players must stay on the active roster (or injured list) for the entire 2026 season or else be placed on waivers. If they clear waivers, they must be offered back to their original team. They cannot be optioned to the minors.

Players like Anthony Santander and Ryan Pressly have been notable picks in other recent years while guys like George Bell and Roberto Clemente are found deeper in the history books. Last year, 15 players were selected. Only four of those remain with the club who selected them and only three of those have had their rights fully transferred to their new club. The White Sox took Shane Smith from the Brewers. The Marlins took Liam Hicks from the Tigers. Mike Vasil was taken by the Phillies from the Mets but was later traded to the Rays and then went to the White Sox via waivers.

The one other pick from last year’s draft which is still live is Angel Bastardo, who the Blue Jays took from the Red Sox. He was recovering from Tommy John surgery and spent the entire 2025 season on the injured list. He is still on Toronto’s 40-man but they don’t yet have his full rights, as a player needs at least 90 active days to remove the Rule 5 restrictions. If the Jays are willing to roster him for about three months during the 2026 season, they could then gain his full rights and option him to the minors. All other picks were eventually returned to their original organization and/or became free agents.

This year’s picks will be featured below as they come in…

  1. Rockies: RHP RJ Petit (from the Tigers) (Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs was on this before the official announcement)
  2. White Sox: RHP Jedixson Paez (Red Sox)
  3. Nationals: RHP Griff McGarry (Phillies)
  4. Twins: C Daniel Susac (Athletics) (Susac was then traded to the Giants, per Longenhagen. The Twins will get minor league catcher Miguel Caraballo in return, per Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star Tribune)
  5. Pirates: RHP Carter Baumler (Orioles) (The Pirates then traded Baumler to the Rangers for RHP Jaiker Garcia. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News previously suggested Texas would likely get Baumler)
  6. Angels: pass
  7. Orioles: pass
  8. Athletics: RHP Ryan Watson (Giants) (Will be traded to Red Sox, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The A’s will get Justin Riemer in return, per Cotillo.)
  9. Braves: pass
  10. Rays: pass
  11. Cardinals: RHP Matt Pushard (Marlins)
  12. Marlins: pass
  13. Diamondbacks: pass
  14. Rangers: pass
  15. Giants: pass
  16. Royals: pass
  17. Reds: pass
  18. Mets: pass
  19. Tigers: pass
  20. Astros: RHP Roddery Muñoz (Reds)
  21. Guardians: RHP Peyton Pallette (White Sox)
  22. Red Sox: pass
  23. Mariners: pass
  24. Padres: pass
  25. Cubs: pass
  26. Dodgers: pass
  27. Blue Jays: RHP Spencer Miles (Giants)
  28. Yankees: RHP Cade Winquest (Cardinals)
  29. Phillies: RHP Zach McCambley (Marlins)
  30. Brewers: pass

Second round (all others passed)

Photo courtesy of Mike Watters, Imagn Images

Orioles Among Teams In Discussion With Marlins On Edward Cabrera

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The Orioles are among the clubs in conversations with the Marlins about hard-throwing starter Edward Cabrera, report Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic. There’s been a decent amount of smoke regarding a potential Cabrera trade over the past week, and The Athletic writes that Miami’s talks with other clubs have picked up.

Cabrera is one of the higher-upside arms in the sport. He got out to a slow start but turned in a 2.95 earned run average while striking out 26.5% of opponents in 20 appearances between the beginning of May and the end of August. Cabrera has always had power stuff, but he dialed in his control and walked fewer than 7% of batters faced over that four-month stretch. The 27-year-old righty was one of the more intriguing deadline trade candidates, but Miami never received an offer they found compelling.

Holding Cabrera was defensible given his talent and extended window of affordable team control. It wasn’t without risk, though, particularly from a health perspective. Cabrera has battled shoulder issues in the past, and he’d never topped 100 MLB innings in a season before this year. While the shoulder wasn’t an issue in 2025, he was diagnosed with an elbow sprain at the beginning of September. It briefly raised fears about a possible Tommy John surgery. He instead wound up missing only three weeks and returned to make two starts to finish the season.

The Marlins wouldn’t have brought Cabrera back for two largely meaningless games if they felt he were at a serious risk of re-injury. (Miami was still mathematically alive in the Wild Card race into the season’s final week but never had a real chance of getting to the playoffs.) Cabrera didn’t look any worse for wear. His fastball was back up around 98 MPH on average, and he punched out seven Mets hitters across five scoreless innings in the season’s final game.

Miami has nevertheless remained open to offers that would swap a starter for much needed offensive help. They’ve taken Eury Pérez off the table but are willing to discuss the rest of their rotation. Cabrera has the highest trade value of that group. He’s under club control for three seasons and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $3.7MM salary.

The Fish could swap Cabrera for hitting while opening the season with a rotation comprising Pérez, Sandy Alcantara, Ryan Weathers, Braxton Garrett and Max Meyer. They have Janson Junk and Ryan Gusto as depth options and top prospects Robby Snelling and Thomas White looming in the high minors. They’d probably look to add a more stable source of innings at the back end, but it’d still be a high-ceiling group.

Baltimore and Miami have already lined up on one huge pitching for offense swap in recent years. The Marlins sent Trevor Rogers to the Orioles for Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby at the 2024 deadline. It initially looked lopsided in Miami’s favor with Stowers’ emergence as an impact bat. Rogers’ late-season dominance this year is potentially rebalancing the scales. The Orioles still need to raise the ceiling of the rotation alongside Rogers and Kyle Bradish, while their controllable infield talent (e.g. Jordan Westburg, Coby Mayo) aligns nicely with Miami’s needs.

Orioles Made $150MM Offer To Kyle Schwarber

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The first major free agent chip fell this morning with Kyle Schwarber returning to Philadelphia on a five-year, $150MM deal. The reunion seemed likely from the start, though the slugger had several other suitors, including at least one willing to match the $150MM price tag. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the Orioles offered Schwarber the same deal he ultimately accepted with the Phillies.

President of baseball operations Mike Elias has made it clear the team is looking for an impact bat, even after acquiring Taylor Ward. The Orioles still have a significant gap between last year’s payroll and their financial outlook for next season, giving them the potential flexibility for a large expenditure. The club has already spent some money this offseason, though it’s all gone to the bullpen. Baltimore added Ryan Helsley on a two-year, $28MM deal and picked up the $9MM option on Andrew Kittredge after acquiring him from the Cubs.

Camden Yards would’ve been a fun fit for Schwarber. Statcast’s Park Factors ranked it as the third-best home run venue for left-handed hitters. Citizens Bank Park tops the list, so Schwarber isn’t missing out on much by spurning the Orioles.

Baltimore will now turn its attention to the remaining free agent bats, including Pete Alonso. The Orioles and Red Sox are expected to meet face-to-face with the former Met this week. Baltimore’s lineup is strong up the middle and behind the plate, but there should be room to make additions at the corners and DH. Youngsters Samuel Basallo and Coby Mayo will likely factor in at first base and DH, but they wouldn’t preclude the club from adding a player like Alonso. Rosenthal noted the club is also considering Kyle Tucker in its pursuit of an elite hitter.

Pittsburgh’s interest in Schwarber was met with skepticism, but the club came through with a legitimate offer. Rosenthal had the Pirates’ proposal at four years and $120MM, while Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reported the club offered $125MM. Pittsburgh’s offer either met or exceeded the Philles’ deal in terms of average annual value, according to those reports. The fifth year could’ve been the trump card, but it’s hard to scoff at an offer worth upwards of $30MM per season.

Landing Schwarber for anywhere near those reported numbers would have easily set a franchise record for a free agent signing. The current mark is $39MM for Francisco Liriano in 2014. Pittsburgh’s last multi-year signing was a three-year deal with Ivan Nova heading into the 2017 campaign.

GM Ben Cherington previously touted the team’s increased financial flexibility this offseason, and the front office is doing what it can to make a big splash. Pittsburgh was also in on Josh Naylor before he re-signed with Seattle. Stumpf noted that the club will now turn its attention to another former Mariner, Jorge Polanco. The Pirates are expected to have an offer to him soon, per Stumpf.

Cincinnati had been connected to Schwarber given its proximity to his hometown. Rosenthal had the Reds’ offer at five years, but closer to $125MM. C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reported that Schwarber and his wife met with Cincinnati brass before Thanksgiving.

Unlike the Orioles and Pirates, the Reds are not expected to redirect the money offered to Schwarber elsewhere. Their pursuit of the slugger was driven by the idea that signing him would benefit ticket sales, per Rosenthal. Schwarber is from Middletown, Ohio, less than an hour from Great American Ball Park.

Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher, Imagn Images

Orioles President Discusses Payroll, Offseason Targets

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The Orioles have made a few moves this offseason but are still looking for a big rotation upgrade and an impact bat. President of baseball operations Mike Elias spoke to the media today about the club’s offseason and was asked if the O’s had enough spending capacity to address both needs via free agency. “Yes, I think so,” Elias said, per Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun. “I mean, you look at our payroll as it stands right now, and it’s still well below where we went last year.”

Baltimore went into 2025 with an Opening Day payroll of $165MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Thanks to some midseason trades and some guys reaching free agency at season’s end, next year’s payroll isn’t close to that number. As of today, their 2026 club is slated to cost about $118MM, per RosterResource. Even if there’s no bump in payroll coming, that’s more than $45MM in wiggle room.

Elias candidly admitted last month that a front-of-rotation starter and a reliever with closing experience were on the to-do list. The latter seems to be ticked off the list, at least for now. The O’s signed Ryan Helsley earlier this month. Today, Elias said the club is still looking for an external reliever but also might want to leave room open for some of their incumbent arms, per Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun.

That still leaves the rotation as an item to be crossed off. Adding an impact bat was also on the list. The O’s acquired Taylor Ward from the Angels last month but Elias admitted in the wake of that deal that bolstering the lineup was still on the agenda.

Elias said today that the club is willing to be open-minded about the positional fit of the hitter they look to add, per Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. “If the player is good enough, we can figure out ways to accommodate them, so we have a lot of conversations going on, mostly in free agency, but also in some trades, on guys we view as impact bats.”

Just about anywhere the O’s add to their position player group, there will be domino effects. They don’t have a pure designated hitter but there are several guys who would currently project to spend time there. The catching duo is currently Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo, so the DH spot could be used to have both of them in the lineup regularly. In the outfield, they have Ward, Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers, Tyler O’Neill and others in the mix. Given O’Neill’s injury history, it would make sense for him to get some DH time. At first base, they have both Coby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle in the mix, so the DH spot would be needed if the O’s want both of those guys getting at-bats. The rest of the infield includes Jackson Holliday, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg.

Adding just about any impact hitter would knock someone down the pecking order. If the O’s successfully sign a notable free agent bat, perhaps that will push someone currently on the roster to the trading block. In recent weeks, the O’s have been connected to notable free agents like corner outfielder Kyle Tucker, designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and first baseman Pete Alonso. On the starting pitching side of things, the O’s have been connected to names like Tatsuya Imai, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez, Michael King and Zac Gallen.

MLBTR predicted Tucker to earn a guarantee of $400MM over 11 years. That’s an average annual value of $36.36MM, which would eat up most of Baltimore’s remaining spending capacity, assuming they are willing to run a similar payroll in 2026. With the others, it’s somewhat possible to imagine two of them fitting into the club’s remaining payroll space. Valdez was projected for a $30MM AAV, Alonso $27.5MM, Schwarber $27MM, Imai $25MM, Suarez $23MM and then King and Gallen both at $20MM.

Theoretically, if the O’s do add two names from that list, they could also then save money via the trade market. For instance, Mountcastle is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $7.8MM next year. Or perhaps there’s a path where younger and cheaper players are traded for a more notable return, which lessens the need to do everything via free agency. Elias has yet to sign a starting pitcher to a multi-year deal but there have been offers, including putting a four-year pact on the table for Corbin Burnes.

If they do go the free agent route, Elias has already said they are willing to sign guys who rejected qualifying offers. As a revenue-sharing recipient, the O’s would have to forfeit their third-highest selection in next year’s draft to sign a guy who rejected a QO. Of the aforementioned names, that would apply to Tucker, Schwarber, Valdez, Suarez, Gallen and King. Alonso wasn’t eligible to receive a QO because he got one a year ago. Imai is coming over from Japan, so the QO situation doesn’t apply, but whoever signs him would have to pay a posting fee to his NPB club.

Elias also provided one other note about the club’s plans, noting that they hope to develop Jeremiah Jackson in a utility role, per Weyrich. Jackson debuted in 2025 and hit well, with a .276/.328/.447 line, though that was buoyed by a .365 batting average on balls in play. He played second base, third base and right field. In the minors, he also has experience at shortstop and the other two outfield slots.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images

Pete Alonso Meeting With Red Sox, Orioles At Winter Meetings

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Free agent first baseman Pete Alonso is attending the Winter Meetings and will have in-person sit-downs with the Red Sox and Orioles, among other interested clubs, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Both the Red Sox and the O’s have already been at least loosely linked to the Polar Bear, but it’s nevertheless notable that Alonso is both attending the event himself — it’s located within driving distance of his Florida home — and that both are interested enough to meet with the player directly. Presumably, Alonso will be meeting with other clubs this week as well.

Boston has long stood as a logical fit. Triston Casas missed almost the entire 2025 season due to a knee injury. Replacements Romy Gonzalez, Abraham Toro and Nathaniel Lowe held their own, but Toro (outrighted, elected free agency) and Lowe (designated for assignment, non-tendered) are no longer with the club. The vast majority of Gonzalez’s production came against left-handed pitching. He was a below-average hitter versus righties — albeit not by that much, but with the help of a BABIP north of .370.

Casas is hoping to be ready for the beginning of the season, but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow sidestepped when asked after the season whether it was fair to expect Casas to be his first baseman in 2026. If the Red Sox want to go cheaper at the position, they could look at a Casas/Gonzalez platoon. But there’s been speculation about trading Casas going back more than a year now, and Gonzalez — who’s played every position on the diamond other than catcher — makes for a fine utility piece even if the Sox go with more of an everyday option at first. Alonso is also open to some DH work, though that’d come into play more if Boston could finally find a taker for what’s left of Masataka Yoshida’s ill-fated five-year contract.

The Red Sox already have about $178MM of payroll obligations for the upcoming season, per RosterResource, and their luxury-tax obligations total more than $224MM (putting about around $23MM shy of the first-tier threshold). Signing Alonso would very likely put Boston over that line, though trades of other veterans (e.g. Yoshida, Jarren Duran) could bring that number back down to an extent.

The Orioles are a less-obvious fit, at least at first glance. Baltimore is dead-set on adding prominent help to the starting rotation and is deep in young position players. However, Coby Mayo is the heir-apparent at first base and has yet to prove that he can hit major league pitching on a consistent basis. Signing Alonso could free the Orioles to more seriously explore trading some of its crop of young bats to bring in an arm via the trade market.

That’s a rather circuitous route to improving the rotation, but if the Orioles are more comfortable betting on Alonso’s bat holding up over the long run than they are a prominent pitcher’s elbow/shoulder, it’d be a sensible enough course of action. To date, the O’s seem to be casting a wide net. They’ve been linked to Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez, Tatsuya Imai and Michael King, to name a few. They’re also hoping to bring in a big bat to fill out the offense — even after acquiring Taylor Ward and his 36 home runs in last month’s trade with the Angels.

Payroll-wise, there’s basically nothing that should be off limits for Baltimore this winter. Outfielder Tyler O’Neill, young catcher Samuel Basallo and newly signed closer Ryan Helsley are the only players guaranteed anything beyond the current season. The 2027 season is a player option for Helsley, however, and Basallo’s extension carries an $8.375MM annual value. His salary doesn’t climb beyond $8MM until 2031.

Alonso enjoyed a much stronger 2025 season than he did in 2024, boosting his batting line from .240/.329/.459 (121 wRC+) to a stout .272/.347/.524 line (141 wRC+). He clubbed 38 homers, lopped two percentage points off his strikeout rate (down to a roughly league-average 22.8%) and saw massive bumps in average exit velocity, hard-hit rate and barrel rate. He also has the benefit of hitting free agency without a qualifying offer this time around, given that he rejected a QO following the 2024 season and players can only receive a QO once in their careers under the system’s current rules.

Cubs, Giants, Angels, Tigers Among Teams Interested In Zac Gallen

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TODAY: Both The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale expanded on Feinsand’s link between Gallen and the Cubs, writing that Chicago indeed has interest in the free agent.  Giving up draft compensation to sign Gallen isn’t a deal-breaker for the team, Mooney notes, as the Cubs have shown interest in other players (i.e. Ranger Suarez, Michael King) who rejected qualifying offers.

DECEMBER 5: Right-hander Zac Gallen didn’t have the platform season he envisioned heading into free agency, but the former Cy Young finalist and All-Star nevertheless turned down a qualifying offer from the D-backs and hit the open market last month. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Giants have had conversations with Gallen’s camp (video link). MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adds the Angels and Tigers to the list of teams with interest in Gallen. He also indicates that the Orioles, Cubs and Braves have at least looked into Gallen. Meanwhile, John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports recently suggested a D-backs reunion was unlikely.

Gallen, who turned 30 in August, struggled through four brutal months to begin the 2025 season but ended with a flourish. Through the time of the trade deadline, the right-hander was lugging a 5.60 ERA toward the finish line. That ugly ERA came despite roughly average strikeout and walk rates (22.1% and 8.6%, respectively). He was getting hammered by the long ball, yielding 23 homers in his first 127 frames of the season (1.63 HR/9).

From August onward, Gallen looked more like his typical self. His strikeout rate dipped two percentage points, to a below-average 20.3%, but his walk rate improved to 7.1%. Most importantly, he cut back on the home runs. Gallen yielded just eight round-trippers in his final 65 innings — a rate of 1.11 per nine innings, which falls far more closely in line with his career mark (1.05).

Even with a 3.32 earned run average over his final 11 starts, Gallen closed out the year with an unsightly 4.83 ERA overall. It’s not a strong mark, but Gallen and Boras are surely hoping that track record and impeccable durability will carry his market. Gallen started 33 games in 2025 and is tied with Jose Berrios for the fourth-most starts in MLB (126) dating back to 2022. His 734 innings rank third in the sport during that time, trailing only Logan Webb and Framber Valdez. Gallen has only been on the major league injured list three times in his career — a pair of short stints due to hamstring strains in 2024 and 2021 and a month-long IL stay for a mild elbow sprain back in ’21.

The Giants are a sensible fit. They’re looking for rotation help but not keen on handing out the type of six- and seven-year deals we’ll see for many of the market’s top names. Giants brass has seen him more than most pitchers over the years, as an ultra-durable stalwart in a division rival’s rotation. President of baseball operations Buster Posey even personally faced Gallen eight times, going 2-for-6 with a pair of walks and a home run.

San Francisco has the aforementioned Webb atop the rotation and signed through 2028. No. 2 starter Robbie Ray is signed only through the 2026 season. Right-hander Landen Roupp positioned himself for a rotation spot with a nice showing through 22 starts in his age-26 season. Other candidates at the moment include Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, Kai-Wei Teng, Trevor McDonald and Carson Seymour. It’s a fine collection of depth, but there’s also plenty of uncertainty (hence the focus on rotation upgrades).

Gallen wouldn’t need to be the Giants’ ace but would give them a reliable source of innings and a big track record on which to dream. The Giants’ projected payroll, per RosterResource, is a bit under $169MM. That’s right about the same level at which they opened the 2025 season, but Giants ownership has topped $200MM payrolls in the past — even as recently as 2024. There’s room to add to the budget.

The Angels’ projected payroll is in a near-identical spot to that of the Giants, but the Angels trotted out a $203MM Opening Day mark just this past season. Mike Trout and Yusei Kikuchi are the only players signed beyond the 2026 season, and only Trout is signed beyond 2027.

In Anaheim, Gallen would join a rotation currently fronted by Kikuchi and Jose Soriano. Beyond that duo, the Angels are likely to give former top prospect Reid Detmers, who had a strong season in the bullpen in ’25, another look in the rotation next season. They’ve also acquired Grayson Rodriguez from the Orioles and signed Alek Manoah to a one-year deal this winter. Former top prospect Caden Dana headlines the depth options — a group also including Mitch Farris, Sam Aldegheri, Walbert Urena, Jack Kochanowicz and prospect George Klassen, who has not yet been added to the 40-man roster. There are some talented arms in the mix, but as with the Giants, the Halos simply lack stability behind a pair of generally established veterans atop the rotation.

Over in Detroit, the Tigers have some more stability but less depth. Having the best pitcher on the planet on the roster is a nice start, of course, and the Tigers can follow Tarik Skubal with Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Reese Olson and sophomore Troy Melton. Adding Gallen would push Melton to the top depth option, presumably in Triple-A, alongside Keider Montero, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Ty Madden and prospect Jaden Hamm (not yet on the 40-man roster).

The Tigers have one of the cleanest long-term payroll sheets of any club in MLB. Javier Baez’s six-year contract runs through 2027. He and Colt Keith — playing on a six-year, $28.6425MM extension — are the only two players guaranteed anything beyond the 2026 season. Adding Gallen would give the Tigers some 2026 stability and protect them in the event that Skubal, Flaherty and/or Mize all depart in free agency next winter.

The other clubs listed by Feinsand are all known to be in the market for rotation help, too, so none of the bunch is particularly surprising. It’d be out of character for the Braves to sign Gallen, unless his market collapses and he signs a short-term pillow deal (either one year or two years with an opt-out). Atlanta hasn’t given more than $30MM to a free agent starting pitcher under president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos. The Orioles are likely searching for ceiling over stability, so unless they’re confident they can get Gallen back to his 2022-23 form, he’s probably not Plan A or B in Baltimore. The Cubs are already counting on one bounceback from a notable starter (Shota Imanaga), though Gallen fits the spending profile they’ve pursued in offseasons more than the other names at the top of the market.

Even coming off a down year, Gallen will likely find a multi-year pact. Even if he prefers to bet on himself with a shorter-term deal, he’s precisely the type of former All-Star for whom the Boras Corporation has frequently negotiated two-year deals with opt-out pacts. We predicted a four-year deal for Gallen on our annual ranking of the sport’s Top 50 free agents, believing that the market will value his durability and track record enough to get him paid nicely — albeit not to the extent he’d have enjoyed coming off a more typical season. Gallen will presumably be presented a variety of contract structures, many of which will have opt-out opportunities or convoluted multi-year player and club options alike. The deal he ultimately accepts will hinge on his personal level of risk aversion.

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.

Latest On Michael King’s Market

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Michael King is one of the bigger risk-reward plays in the starting pitching class. He’s arguably a top 10 pitcher in MLB when healthy but is coming off a platform season that was wrecked by a nerve injury in his throwing shoulder. He’s also attached to draft compensation after rejecting a qualifying offer from the Padres.

That hasn’t deterred plenty of teams from expressing interest. King was already known to be a target for the Cubs, Tigers and Yankees, while even the Marlins checked in as a long shot suitor. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and Joel Sherman of The New York Post each write that the Mets are involved. Feinsand adds the Orioles, Angels and incumbent Padres as teams on the periphery of the market. Sherman reports that the Red Sox have also shown interest in the 30-year-old righty.

King converted to the rotation late in the 2023 season as a member of the Yankees. He pitched well enough to stick as a starter after being traded to San Diego as the centerpiece of the Juan Soto deal. King finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting in 2024, pitching to a 2.95 ERA while striking out 201 batters over 31 appearances. He’d pitched even better over the first six weeks of the ’25 campaign. King reeled off 10 starts with a 2.59 earned run average and punching out 28% of opponents before the injury.

Durability is the big question. The shoulder issue wasn’t structural but proved a lot more problematic than initially expected. He wound up missing almost three months and showed signs of rust when he returned late in the season. King gave up 12 runs while tallying all of 17 1/3 innings over five starts in the second half. His velocity was fine but he only managed 12 strikeouts while issuing nine free passes.

King appeared on track for a nine-figure contract amidst his hot start. That’s tougher to envision now, as the 2024 campaign remains the only season in which he has reached even 105 innings. That’s largely because of his usage with the Yankees, but he also missed a couple months in 2021 with a finger injury and suffered a season-ending elbow fracture the following year.

MLBTR predicted King to receive a four-year, $80MM contract. It’s also possible he prefers a two- or three-year deal with an opt-out to get back to free agency next winter. King declined the straight one-year qualifying offer, but a multi-year deal with an out clause would give him a little more security than the QO would have provided. Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote this morning that King is willing to sign for a shorter term than the top free agent arms (e.g. Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai, Ranger Suárez). That wouldn’t necessarily rule out a four-year deal, as the best starters are expected to command five or six-year contracts. Dylan Cease already pulled a seven-year guarantee.

The Mets should come away with a mid-rotation or better arm via free agency or trade. They stayed away from the top of the rotation market last winter. That worked out early in the year but collapsed down the stretch. Only the Rockies, Nationals and Angels had a higher second-half ERA from their rotation than the Mets’ 5.31 mark. Nolan McLean looks like a budding frontline starter, but he’s their only pitcher who allowed fewer than 4.20 earned runs per nine after the All-Star Break.

Baltimore, Boston, San Diego and the Angels have all been in the rotation market. The Red Sox should probably focus elsewhere after acquiring Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo in trade. The Angels have landed a pair of starters this offseason as well, but Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah both have significant health questions. They still need a starter and are also in the mix for Zac Gallen. The O’s are involved on Valdez and Suárez; no pitcher seems to be off the table for them. The Padres are unlikely to spend what it’d take to bring King back, though they’ll need multiple rotation adds after also losing Cease to free agency and Yu Darvish to elbow surgery.

Orioles Claim Will Robertson, Drew Romo

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The Orioles have claimed outfielder Will Robertson off waivers from the Pirates, according to Jake Rill of MLB.com. The O’s have also claimed catcher Drew Romo off waivers from the Rockies, according to an announcement from Colorado. There wasn’t any previous indication these players were on the wire but it appears their respective clubs tried to sneak them through waivers in order to open 40-man spots. Baltimore’s 40-man had a vacancy but they will need to open one spot to make these two claims.

Robertson, 28 this month, is a popular bet for a late-bloomer breakout. This is the fourth roster he’s been on in the past six months. A fourth-round pick of the Blue Jays back 2019, he wasn’t really on the prospect radar as he climbed the minor league ladder. He would show some occasional pop but also struck out about 30% of the time, which limited his overall offensive production. He has occasionally played in center field but has mostly been a corner-only guy, meaning he needs to hit to provide value.

He seemed to find another gear in 2025. He put up good numbers in Triple-A to start the year, enough that the Jays called him up to the big leagues in June. He was designated for assignment in July and went to the White Sox in a cash deal. Between the Jays and the Sox, he hit just .129/.173/.143 in the majors, but in a tiny sample of just 75 plate appearances.

In his 354 Triple-A plate appearances between the two clubs, he lowered his strikeout rate to 24.9%, still a high number but a nice drop for him personally. He also drew walks at a strong 13.6% clip and hit 20 home runs. All told, he had a .289/.387/.571 line at Triple-A this year. That production translates to a 148 wRC+, indicating he was 48% above league average at that level.

Despite that strong production, his age and lack of prospect pedigree make him a fringe roster player. The White Sox put Robertson on waivers in October. The Pirates claimed him and held him for a couple of months before trying to pass him through waivers themselves. The Orioles have swooped in to grab him.

His path to playing time in Baltimore isn’t great right now. The Orioles have an outfield mix that consists of Taylor Ward, Tyler O’Neill, Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers, Jeremiah Jackson, Leody Taveras, Heston Kjerstad, Reed Trimble and others. Robertson still has options, so he can be stashed in Triple-A as depth, but the Orioles often claim players off waivers and then later try to pass them through themselves. If they were to try that with Robertson at a later date and succeed, they could keep him in the system in a non-roster capacity.

Romo, 24, was once a prospect of some note. The Rockies took him 35th overall in 2020. As a switch-hitting catcher who was considered a strong defender, he got a lot of attention from prospect evaluators. Baseball America ranked him #80 in the league back in 2023.

His stock has dropped in the past couple of years, however. He appeared to become prone to chase in 2024. He only walked in 4.3% of his plate appearances in Triple-A that year. His .297/.339/.499 line and 97 wRC+ that year weren’t disastrous but his results were propped up by a .331 batting average on balls in play. Going into 2025, BA ranked him as just the 17th-best prospect in the entire Rockies’ system.

Here in 2025, his results were even worse. He slashed .264/.329/.409 for a 75 wRC+ in Triple-A, despite being aided by a .338 BABIP. He’s also received brief major league looks over the past two seasons but has a dismal .167/.196/.222 line in 56 plate appearances.

The trends aren’t great, which is surely why the Rockies tried to pass him through waivers today. For the O’s, they’re grabbing a guy who is still fairly young and was a Top 100 prospect a couple of years ago. Even if his offense doesn’t improve, he’s a glove-first catcher with options and can therefore be kept in Triple-A as depth. The O’s project to have Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo splitting the catching duties, with Romo and Maverick Handley also on the 40-man.

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

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