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Nine Teams Terminate Contracts With Main Street Sports

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The nine MLB teams who had contracts with Main Street Sports have terminated those contracts with the company. It’s possible that some of them eventually work out new deals with the broadcaster, which operates channels under the FanDuel Sports Network banner. The teams are the Braves, Reds, Tigers, Royals, Angels, Marlins, Brewers, Cardinals and Rays. Talks between the company and the teams are ongoing. Various elements of this developing story were reported by Evan Drellich of The Athletic, Alden González of ESPN, Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

The issue is due to the poor financial state of the company. They have recently missed payments to several teams, including the Cardinals and Marlins, but possibly others. The nine teams have cut ties with the company for now to keep them away from potential bankruptcy proceedings and explore other options, but it’s possible some teams will eventually sign new pacts with the company. Main Street is trying to find a buyer, though the reporting indicates talks with DAZN have fizzled out. Fubo TV might have stepped into the bidding but there are conflicting reports about that.

This is just the latest chapter in a saga that goes back quite a while, with cord cutting and streaming having chipped away the regional sports network (RSN) model. The company was previously known as Diamond Sports Group with channels marketed as Bally Sports. Going into 2023, 14 MLB clubs and many teams in other sports leagues had RSN deals with the company. But trouble emerged early that year when the company missed some payments. They filed for bankruptcy in March of 2023.

The company eventually emerged from bankruptcy in November of 2024 and then rebranded. Along the way, many of their deals with MLB clubs fell apart. In some cases, new deals were worked out. In other cases, the league took over broadcasting duties. The Rangers went a different route and launched their own RSN. Coming into 2026, Main Street has 29 deals with teams across MLB, the NBA and NHL.

The path of MLB handling the broadcasts will be available for all the clubs involved here. “No matter what happens, whether it’s Main Street, a third party or MLB media, fans are going to have the games,” commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday, per Blum.

The MLB path is largely inconsequential for fans. If anything, it’s a better arrangement. MLB still puts the games on cable. For cord-cutters, they have the option of streaming the club by paying the league directly, with no local blackouts.

For the teams, however, it’s not a great situation. RSN deals have been a big source of revenue over the years. The bankruptcy of Diamond/Main Street put many of them in a tough position. Renegotiating with the company meant accepting lower fees than they had been receiving on their previous deals. Going with MLB would allow them to potentially reach more fans but the revenue in that path is both lesser and not guaranteed, as the money is contingent on how many people sign up to stream.

MLB handled the broadcasts of five clubs in 2025: the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins and Guardians. It was reported in September that the Mariners would go down this route in 2026. This week’s reporting suggests the Nationals will likely leave MASN and join with the league as well.

In the cases of at least a few of these teams, the situation seems to had on-field implications by reducing the club’s spending capacity when it comes to player payroll. The Padres and Twins, for instance, have been trying to strike a delicate balance of staying in contention while having less to spend on players than the front office may have once anticipated.

That’s obviously a disadvantage compared to some big-market clubs, many of whom are co-owners in RSNs which are relatively healthy in larger population areas. In July of 2024, it was reported that the league and the MLB Players Association had agreed to redirect some competitive balance tax money to teams impacted by the television situation. This week’s reporting indicates that arrangement was for 2024 alone. There was no such deal in place for 2025 and there’s currently nothing lined up for 2026 either.

“The clubs have control over the timing,” Manfred said this week. “They can make a decision to move to MLB Media because of the contractual status now. I think that what’s happening right now clubs are evaluating their alternatives. Obviously they’ve made significant payroll commitments already and they’re evaluating the alternatives to find the best revenue source for the year and the best outlet in terms of providing quality broadcasts to their fans.”

With this situation and other disruptive developments in terms of MLB’s broadcast landscape, the league’s preference has been to not sign any new contracts that go beyond the 2028 season. It has been reported that many of MLB’s broadcast deals expire after that season. Manfred hopes to put together a league-wide streaming service with no blackouts and/or have a big auction of rights to various games, with multiple broadcasters bidding against each other.

A mini version of this happened recently when MLB’s deal with ESPN fell apart. The league then split up ESPN’s previous package, selling some of it back to ESPN along with other elements. Netflix bought the rights to Opening Day, the Home Run Derby and some other special events. NBC/Peacock bought Sunday Night Baseball and the Wild Card round from 2026 to 2028, as well as other events. ESPN acquired the local rights for the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Guardians and Twins as part of their new deal.

All of this figures to hang over the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The current CBA expires after the 2026 season. Another lockout, like the one in 2021-22, is widely expected. Manfred has essentially admitted that one will occur by speaking positively about the lockout process.

Whether that lockout extends long enough to cancel games in 2027 remains to be seen. The players and the union are already concerned by a lack of spending from some clubs and the RSN situation will likely only exacerbate that. Some of the impacted clubs would likely welcome more revenue sharing but the bigger clubs wouldn’t be as keen on that. The owners are expected to push for a salary cap but the players are strongly opposed to that.

Manfred has made plenty of unpopular moves in his time as commissioner but he can currently point to a legacy that includes no games missed due to labor strife. Baseball’s popularity is also on the rise, despite the aforementioned TV disruption. Game Seven of the 2025 World Series was the most-watched game around the world since 1991. The uptick in ratings and attendance has been attributed by many to recent rule changes, particularly the pitch clock.

Disrupting the 2027 season would impact that legacy and also cut into baseball’s recent surge, which would be inopportune timing with the aforementioned future broadcast plans. Manfred is signed through 2029 and does not plan to seek another term after that.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

18 Players Exchange Filing Figures

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Teams and arbitration-eligible players had until 7:00 pm Central to agree to terms or exchange filing figures. The vast majority agreed to salaries, either this afternoon or before November’s non-tender deadline to ensure they were offered contracts at all.

There were 18 cases where team and player did not align — none bigger than the record $13MM gap between the Tigers and Tarik Skubal. Nothing formally prevents players and teams from continuing negotiations. However, virtually every team takes a “file-and-trial” approach to the process. Clubs will mostly refuse to continue talks about one-year deals after this date. They’ll often make exceptions for discussions involving multi-year contracts or one-year deals with a club/mutual option. It’s unlikely that all of these players will end up getting to a hearing, but the majority probably will.

If the sides go to a hearing, a three-person arbitration panel will either choose the player’s or the team’s filing figure. (Hearings will run between January 26 and February 13.) The arbitrators cannot pick a midpoint. That’s designed to prevent the parties from anchoring by filing at extremely high or low figures. Teams’ preferences for the file-and-trial approach follows a similar logic. The idea is to deter players from submitting a higher number from which they could continue to negotiate until the hearing begins.

Unless otherwise noted, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported all filing figures for those who didn’t reach agreements. The list of players who could go to a hearing this winter (service time in parentheses):

Angels

  • Reid Detmers (3.159): Filed at $2.925MM, team filed at $2.625MM

Astros

  • Isaac Paredes (4.160): Filed at $9.95MM, team filed at $8.75MM
  • Yainer Diaz (3.035): Filed at $4.5MM, team filed at $3MM

Blue Jays

  • Eric Lauer (5.091): Filed at $5.75MM, team filed at $4.4MM (first reported by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet)

Braves

  • Dylan Lee (3.150): Filed at $2.2MM, team filed at $2MM

Brewers

Marlins

Mariners

  • Bryce Miller (2.153): Filed at $2.625MM, team filed at $2.25MM

Nationals

Orioles

  • Keegan Akin (5.083): Filed at $3.375MM, team filed at $2.975MM
  • Kyle Bradish (3.160): Filed at $3.55MM, team filed at $2.875MM

Rays

  • Edwin Uceta (2.150): Filed at $1.525MM, team filed at $1.2MM

Reds

Royals

Tigers

Twins

  • Joe Ryan (4.033): Filed at $6.35MM, team filed at $5.85MM

Angels Claim Wade Meckler

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The Angels announced that they have claimed outfielder Wade Meckler off waivers from the Giants. He had been designated for assignment by San Francisco last month. The Halos had a couple of 40-man vacancies and didn’t need to make a corresponding move.

Meckler, 26 in April, changes teams for the first time. The Giants drafted him in 2022 and he has been with that club until today. Generally speaking, he has a contact-based approach at the plate with limited power. He stepped to the plate 1,157 times in the minors over the past three years with just 16 home runs but his 13.1% walk rate and 16.7% strikeout rate in that span were both excellent figures. Even with the lack of power, his combined line of .311/.403/.431 in those seasons translated to a 127 wRC+, with some help from a .371 batting average on balls in play.

Despite the solid numbers, the Giants never gave him much time in the majors. He got a brief look in 2023, hitting .232/.328/.250 in 64 plate appearances, but wasn’t called up in either of the past two campaigns.

Whether his offensive approach can work against big league pitching isn’t really known at this point. According to Baseball America, he does well with fastballs but whiffs on a lot of breaking pitches. He does have a solid floor thanks to his speed and defense, however. BA describes his speed as “double-plus”. During his brief stint in the majors in 2023, Statcast ranked his sprint speed in the 95th percentile of big leaguers. He has played all three outfield spots in his professional career.

The Angels don’t really have a clear solution in center field right now. Jo Adell got most of the playing time there in 2025 but his defensive grades were poor. The Halos opened a corner for him by trading Taylor Ward to the Orioles for Grayson Rodriguez. The club has some willingness to let Mike Trout play center field going forward, after limiting him to right field and the designated hitter spot in 2025, but that likely wouldn’t be for more than an occasional appearance.

Bryce Teodosio got into 50 games in center for the Angels last year and got good grades for his glovework, but he hit just .193/.236/.287. Matthew Lugo is in the mix but he’s a converted infielder without the same defensive acumen. He hasn’t hit yet in the majors either. Kyren Paris is in a somewhat similar position. Nelson Rada might take over the position in the long run but he’s only 20 years old and hasn’t made his major league debut yet.

Considering that group, the Angels have been understandably linked to the center field market this offseason, but they haven’t really done anything about it. Perhaps that will change before Opening Day but it’s a good landing spot for Meckler now. He can battle for playing time either as the regular center fielder or for a role as a fourth outfielder. He also has an option remaining and could be sent to Triple-A as depth.

If things go well, the Angels can keep him around for a while. He has just 24 days of big league service time, that means he is still years away from qualifying for arbitration and even further from free agency.

Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images

Angels Sign Kirby Yates

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January 6: Los Angeles officially announced the signing on Tuesday evening. Their 40-man roster count climbs to 38.

December 30: The Angels have reportedly agreed to a one-year, $5MM contract with free agent reliever Kirby Yates. The veteran right-hander is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Yates gives the Angels yet another veteran reliever with some closing experience who’s in need of a rebound — in his case, ahead of what’ll be his age-39 season. The Halos will hope to finally get a full workload out of Robert Stephenson in the final season of his three-year, $33MM contract. They’ve also signed former Jays closer Jordan Romano and veteran reliever Drew Pomeranz to low-cost, one-year contracts this offseason as well.

If healthy — a major caveat, given the injury history in question here — Yates could be the best of the bunch. The two-time All-Star led the NL with 41 saves back in 2019 and has twice posted full seasons with an ERA shy of 1.20, including as recently as the 2024 season with Texas.

Since an age-30 breakout with the Padres, the late-blooming Yates has pitched 355 innings with a 2.84 earned run average, 97 saves, 65 holds and only 13 blown save opportunities. He’s fanned a whopping 35.1% of his opponents along the way (backed by a huge 15.7% swinging-strike rate) and walked 9.6% of the batters he’s faced. Coincidentally enough, the Angels were the team from which the Padres claimed Yates off waivers. They’d picked Yates up themselves via waivers the prior October. He pitched only one inning as an Angel and was tagged for two runs.

Yates now returns for a second stint with the Angels. The signing reunites him with veteran pitching coach Mike Maddux, who was Yates’ pitching coach with the ’24 Rangers. Yates saved 33 games and posted an immaculate 1.17 ERA with a 36% strikeout rate that season.

That performance was enough to land him a hearty $13MM guarantee on a one-year deal with the Dodgers. But while Yates landed the first World Series ring of his career, the marriage didn’t go particularly well. He was thrice placed on the injured list — twice for hamstring strains and once due to a lower back injury — and pitched only 41 1/3 innings. The veteran righty’s 5.23 earned run average was one of the worst marks of his career, and his 92.8 mph average four-seam velocity was his lowest since 2013. Yates still punched out an excellent 29.6% of his opponents, but he was doomed by home runs, yielding an average of 1.96 round-trippers per nine frames.

While Yates has typically been excellent when healthy, he’s had his share of injuries. He pitched only 4 1/3 innings in 2020 due to bone spurs in his elbow. He signed with the Blue Jays in free agency that offseason but never pitched an inning for Toronto. He required Tommy John surgery at the end of spring training. From 2020-22, Yates pitched only 11 1/3 innings in the majors.

The Angels will bet on Yates’ track record and hope for better help. Between Yates, Stephenson, Romano and Pomeranz, they certainly aren’t lacking talent at the back end of the bullpen — but there’s a clear lack of consistency and durability. They’ll hope to add flamethrower Ben Joyce to that mix at some point this season, though his timetable for a return from last May’s surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder remains murky.

It’s not entirely clear where the Yates signing takes the Angels’ payroll. RosterResource projected them for a payroll around $172MM this morning, but that was before the Angels and Anthony Rendon agreed to defer the payment of the final year and $38MM on his contract for a reported three to five seasons. Details surrounding that still-fresh arrangement have yet to surface in full, but it’s clear that the Angels are quite a bit south of the roughly $206MM payroll figure at which they ended the 2025 campaign.

Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News first reported that Yates was signing a one-year deal with the Angels. Jon Heyman of The New York Post had the $5MM guarantee.

Angels Sign Donovan Walton To Minors Deal

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The Angels signed infielder Donovan Walton to a minor league contract last month, according to Walton’s MLB.com profile page.  Walton has been outrighted off 40-man rosters multiple times in his career, so he was eligible to elect minor league free agency and depart the Phillies organization once the season was over.

Walton has appeared in six of the last seven MLB seasons, though 49 of his 72 games in the Show came in 2021-22 with the Mariners and Giants.  After signing a minors deal with the Mets last offseason, Walton was traded to the Phillies in July, and continued to toil away on the farm until his contact was selected to Philadelphia’s active roster in September.  Walton made a pair of starts at second base while the Phils were dealing with a spate of infield injuries, but those two outings represented the entirety of Walton’s 2025 playing time in the majors.

The 31-year-old has hit just .172/.223/.298 over 214 career plate appearances in the bigs, but Walton’s ability to play both middle infield positions and also chip in at third base and in left field has helped him earn some looks at a bench player.  He has hit pretty well in Triple-A ball (.281/.365/.435 over 1479 PA), but expecting those numbers to translate into MLB success this late into Walton’s career might be a tall order.

Having a veteran utility player as a depth option on either the 26-man roster or at Triple-A makes sense for an Angels team that is thin in the infield.  While Vaughn Grissom was acquired in a trade from the Red Sox, the second and third base positions are still question marks in Los Angeles.  The Angels figure to bring in at least one player as an everyday option at either the keystone or the hot corner, leaving Walton and company to battle it out for part-time duty or a bench role.

Angels To Sign Tayler Saucedo

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The Angels are signing left-hander Tayler Saucedo, as Saucedo himself indicated recently on his personal Instagram account. The exact details of Saucedo’s contract aren’t yet known, but it’s likely to be a minor league deal with an invite to big league Spring Training.

Saucedo, 32, made his big league debut as a member of the Blue Jays back in 2021 but got the majority of his work over the years with the Mariners after Seattle picked him up off waivers prior to the 2023 season. Saucedo proved to be a viable middle relief arm for the Mariners across two seasons, pitching to a 3.54 ERA in 86 1/3 innings of work with a 21.7% strikeout rate against a walk rate of 11.0%. That latter figure is elevated relative to Saucedo’s strikeout ability, but the lefty was able to make up for it by generating an excellent 55.0% ground ball rate. Saucedo’s 3.79 FIP and 4.05 SIERA were more pedestrian than elite, but there was still reason for optimism regarding the southpaw’s profile.

That’s because Saucedo’s combination of strikeouts and grounders was very encouraging. Among relievers with a ground ball rate of 55.0% or higher between 2023 and ’24, the lefty’s strikeout rate ranked tenth. That combination of strikeouts and grounders is hard to come by, and among those who fit that bill are high-end closers like Andres Munoz and Jhoan Duran. Saucedo was held back from reaching those elite levels primarily by a his penchant for allowing free passes. While ground ball pitchers like Camilo Doval and Aaron Bummer have managed to make walk rates in the 11-12% range work in high leverage situations, they do so with a much healthier helping of strikeouts than Saucedo can muster.

Despite his flaws, Saucedo entered 2025 figuring to be a key piece of the Seattle bullpen. Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out as the lefty struggled in ten MLB appearances this year. His 7.43 ERA across 13 1/3 innings in the majors this season left him to spend most of the season at Triple-A Tacoma. After being optioned to the minors, he was sidelined for two months by a lat strain that sent his season further off the rails. The lefty looked good for Tacoma upon his return to action, with a 2.75 ERA overall across 22 appearances at the level to go with a 27.9% strikeout rate. That performance wasn’t enough to convince the Mariners to keep him in the fold, however, and he was non-tendered back in November as a result.

Now with the Angels, Saucedo figures to enter Spring Training with an opportunity to grab a spot in a mostly unsettled Angels bullpen. Robert Stephenson, Drew Pomeranz, and Kirby Yates figure to handle the late innings, while Ben Joyce will be a factor later in the year upon his return from last year’s shoulder surgery. If Saucedo finds a role in Anaheim, it figures to be in the middle innings. Besides Pomeranz, the only other lefty in the team’s current projected bullpen is Brock Burke. Burke turned in a dominant 2022 season as a member of the Rangers but has been less impressive in the years since; he posted 3.36 ERA with a 4.16 FIP in 69 appearances for the Angels last year. That’s solid enough production for a middle relief lefty, but there could still be room for Saucedo to join Burke (as well as righty Jordan Romano) in the middle innings.

Angels Interested In Nolan Arenado

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As the Cardinals continue to pursue trades of their veterans, the Angels have emerged as a potential destination for Nolan Arenado. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic connected the third baseman to the Halos last week, and colleagues Will Sammon and Katie Woo echoed the sentiment this week.

Two potential roadblocks existed for an Arenado deal, one for each side, though the Angels have cleared up their end. As Sammon and Woo point out, St. Louis’ attempts to move the aging slugger have been hindered by fellow third basemen Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suarez still being on the market. Arenado would be a backup option to teams that come up short in pursuing Bregman and Suarez.

The Angels’ third base situation was clouded by the status of Anthony Rendon. The oft-injured infielder still had a year remaining on the disastrous seven-year, $245MM contract he signed after the 2019 season. Los Angeles resolved that situation yesterday, agreeing to a restructured contract with Rendon. The $38MM left on his deal will be deferred over the next three to five seasons. Rendon will not be back with the team in 2026. Following the Rendon news, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register mentioned Arenado as a possible trade target for the Halos.

Arenado is a SoCal guy, but that might not be enough for him to waive his no-trade clause to join the Angels. The financial aspects of the deal would also need to be sorted out. St. Louis has been able to move two of its three large veteran contracts so far this offseason, but both deals required cash attached to the player. The Cardinals sent $20MM to Boston in the Sonny Gray deal. They tossed in $8MM to complete the Willson Contreras trade, which was also with the Red Sox.

Arenado still has $42MM remaining on his current deal. The original eight-year, $260MM extension he signed with the Rockies runs out after the 2026 campaign, but the Cardinals added on another year for $15MM after acquiring him. By eating money in the Gray and Contreras trades, St. Louis was able to net MLB-ready starting pitchers in Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins. The Angels’ system isn’t exactly overflowing with talented starters, but players like Mitch Farris, Jack Kochanowicz, and Caden Dana fit the Fitts/Dobbins mold as young arms with minimal MLB service time who could contribute to a 2026 rotation.

It’s easy to forget just how good Arenado was in his first two seasons in St. Louis. He hit 34 home runs in his debut with the club, then delivered a monster 2022 that put him in the mix for NL MVP. Arenado slashed .293/.358/.533 and led the NL with 7.9 WAR (per Baseball Reference) that year. Teammate Paul Goldschmidt took home MVP honors, but Arenado earned his fifth Silver Slugger award and his 10th straight Gold Glove award.

Arenado steadily declined over the next three seasons. He provided decent results in 2023, knocking 26 home runs and finishing with a 107 wRC+. His power continued to fade the following year, as he posted a meager .123 ISO and the first sub-.400 SLG campaign of his career. Arenado bottomed out in 2025, slashing .237/.289/.377 with just a dozen dingers. He also missed time with a shoulder injury. Arenado’s 84 wRC+ in 2025 was his worst mark since his rookie year in 2013 (excluding the shortened 2020 season).

Despite the falloff at the plate, Arenado remains an above-average fielder and a solid contact hitter. If the cost is cheap enough, he could help an Angels team with an unsettled situation at the hot corner. The Halos largely relied on Yoan Moncada and Luis Rengifo at third base last season. Both players are now free agents. The current in-house options are Christian Moore, Oswald Peraza, and Vaughn Grissom. The trio could all be candidates to play second base as well, with Kyren Paris also factoring in at that position. The Angels have been bottom 10 in OPS at third base in each of the past five seasons.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

Angels, Anthony Rendon Restructure Contract; Rendon Will Not Return To Team

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The Angels and Anthony Rendon have agreed to a restructured version of his contract that will defer the $38MM he is still owed for the next three to five seasons, reports Sam Blum of The Athletic. Rendon will not return to the team. His tenure with the Angels is over.

Rendon is not officially “retiring,” Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register adds. He’ll still count against the team’s roster for the time being, although with the two sides agreeing to part ways, it stands to reason that the Angels could release him at any point. He’ll be paid regardless.

ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez reported in late November that the two parties were working on a buyout of sorts regarding the final year and $38MM on the seven-year, $245MM contract Rendon signed following his monster 2019 season. It proved to be a catastrophic misstep for the Halos — one of the least-productive major signings in the sport’s history. Rendon played in only 257 games for Anaheim, slashing just .242/.348/.369 with 22 home runs in 1095 plate appearances. Of a possible 1032 games he could have played with the Angels, Rendon will wind up appearing in just under one-quarter of them.

It’s easy to forget, but Rendon’s Angels tenure started out quite well. He played in 52 of 60 games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and slashed a robust .286/.418/.497 with nine homers, 11 doubles, a triple and more walks (16.4%) than strikeouts (13.4%). It was precisely the type of star-level output for which the Angels hoped when signing the 2019 postseason standout after a sensational run in Washington; from 2017-19, Rendon had slashed .310/.397/.556 with the Nationals.

Everything fell apart after that first season in Anaheim. Rendon’s 2021 season was cut short by hip surgery. His 2022 season ended early due to wrist surgery. He missed all of the 2025 season following a second hip surgery. Even in the 2023-24 seasons, when he avoided undergoing any kind of surgical procedure, Rendon was limited to just 90 games due to the combination of a fractured tibia (suffered when fouling a ball into his leg), a torn hamstring and an oblique strain.

As one would expect, as those injuries piled up, Rendon’s production wilted. Following his terrific 2020 campaign, he played in just 202 games with the Angels and hit .231/.329/.336 with poor defense. He was effectively a replacement-level player — and a frequently injured one at that. Rendon also sparked controversy off the field as well in 2023, when he was captured on video grabbing an A’s fan by the shirt after he’d been cussed at while leaving the field. Rendon swore at the fan and took a swipe at him after releasing his shirt. He was suspended for four games and fined by the league.

The Angels weren’t counting on any contributions from Rendon in 2026 anyhow, but the restructure and deferral of his weighty $38MM salary gives the team some extra spending power this winter. Details surrounding the nature of the deferrals and how much — if anything — they’ll pay Rendon in 2026 are unclear. Blum, however, suggests that the Angels could use the newfound financial freedom to pursue a higher-profile free agent this winter. That doesn’t necessarily have to be at third base, although in Alex Bregman and NPB star Kazuma Okamoto, there are a pair of notable options at the position.

Many of the top names on the free agent market remain unsigned to this point. In addition to Bregman and Okamoto, none of Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, Cody Bellinger, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez or Tatsuya Imai have signed yet. Imai’s 45-day posting window closes on Jan. 2. Okamoto’s posting window closes two days later.

Prior to the Rendon buyout/restructure, RosterResource projected the Angels’ payroll at about $172MM, which is roughly $34MM shy of their 2025 level. Depending on how the new arrangement has been structured, the Angels could be anywhere from $40-70MM shy of last year’s season-ending mark, which would give general manager Perry Minasian and his staff plenty of room to further augment the club.

Andrew Heaney Announces Retirement

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Andrew Heaney is retiring after 12 Major League seasons, as the 34-year-old southpaw announced via his social media feeds.  Heaney finishes his career with a 4.57 ERA over 1136 2/3 innings as a starter and occasional reliever with six different MLB teams, including seven seasons with the Angels.

“I will miss the game greatly, but all of my experiences and the lasting relationships have made me a better person,” Heaney wrote.  “The routine of showing up to the yard every day and working to improve each time out has been a driving force for me…I am now ready to return my focus and energy to being a husband, father, family man, and active member of my community.  I’m retiring from baseball, but I hope to give back more than I received.  Thank you to all of you for the love and support you have given me.  Y’all know who you are.”

Heaney spent his final season with the Pirates and Dodgers, posting a 5.52 ERA over 122 1/3 innings.  After inking a one-year, $5.25MM deal with Pittsburgh last February, Heaney’s struggles kept him from being dealt at the trade deadline, and the Bucs ended up demoting him to the bullpen and then releasing him entirely at the end of August.  The Dodgers brought Heaney back on a minor league deal for what was technically his third stint in the organization, and he appeared in a single big league game in late September but wasn’t included on any of Los Angeles’ postseason rosters.

Selected ninth overall by the Marlins in the 2012 draft, Heaney debuted in the Show in 2014 but was dealt after the season to the Dodgers as part of a major seven-player trade that brought Dee Strange-Gordon to Miami (and Enrique Hernandez and Austin Barnes to Chavez Ravine).  The Dodgers then flipped Heaney to the Angels that same day in another trade for Howie Kendrick, which has some historical import as the last time the two Los Angeles clubs engaged in a player-for-player swap.

A Tommy John surgery and some other injuries limited Heaney during his time in Anaheim, but he delivered a 4.51 ERA over 569 1/3 innings his long stretch in an Angels uniform.  The tenure ended when Heaney was dealt to the Yankees at the 2021 trade deadline, and that winter he returned to L.A. for a more proper stint with the Dodgers when he signed a one-year, $8.5MM free agent deal.  Injuries were again a factor for Heaney during this year, but he had a 3.10 ERA and a whopping 35.5% strikeout rate over his 72 2/3 frames.

The Oklahoma City native’s next contract brought him a bit closer to home, as Heaney inked a two-year, $25MM deal with the Rangers in the 2022-23 offseason.  The deal was a hit for both the pitcher and the team, as Heaney had a 4.22 ERA with Texas while staying generally healthy — his 160 innings in 2024 and 147 1/3 innings in 2023 were the second- and third-highest single-season innings totals of his career.  During the 2023 postseason, Heaney had a 4.09 ERA in 11 innings over five games as a starter and reliever, helping the Rangers win the World Series.

Home runs were a constant issue for Heaney throughout his career, and his 199 career homers allowed inflated his ERA and perhaps kept him from breaking through as a front-of-the-rotation arm.  Still, Heaney carved out a long and successful career for himself as a starter on the strength of his strikeout ability (23.8% career strikeout rate) and quality control (7% walk rate).  Despite his struggles in 2025, it seemed like Heaney still had more in the tank if he’d chosen to continue pitching, and perhaps could’ve reinvented himself as a full-time relief pitcher.

Instead, Heaney has decided to hang up his glove and will now move onto his post-playing endeavors.  We at MLB Trade Rumors wish Heaney all the best, and congratulate him on a fine career.

Angels, Padres Among Teams Interested In Kazuma Okamoto

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The Padres and Angels are among the teams to have shown interest in infielder Kazuma Okamoto, according to a report from Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. Romero also mentions interest on the part of the Pirates, who have been frequently connected to Okamoto in recent weeks. The infielder is nearing the end of his 45-day posting window, which ends on January 4.

The 29-year-old Okamoto is coming off a season where he appeared in just 69 Central League games for NPB’s Yomiuri Giants. The infielder hit .327/.416/.598 in 293 trips to the plate for Yomiuri last year. That was good for an otherworldly 210 wRC+, as he slugged 15 homers with 21 doubles while posting identical 11.3% strikeout and walk rates. That scorching hot half-season isn’t reflective of Okamoto’s overall body of work, but his numbers are still impressive even over a larger sample. Since making his Central League debut back in 2018 at the age of 22, Okamoto has never hit fewer than 27 homers in a season. He’s walked at a 9.6% clip or better in every season of his career and has struck out more than 20% of the time just once, back in 2019 as a 23-year-old. Okamoto’s career .277/.361/.521 slash line in NPB play puts him in league with current MLB sluggers like Shohei Ohtani and Seiya Suzuki, although it should be noted that there have been concerns among scouts regarding Okamoto’s ability to hit high-end velocity.

A decent defensive third baseman with plenty of experience at first base as well, Okamoto could make sense as an addition at either infield corner depending on the needs of his acquiring club. If he were to sign with the Angels, Okamoto would surely handle the hot corner. Yoan Moncada is a free agent after handling third for Anaheim this past year, and Anthony Rendon figures to retire after an injury-riddled career with the Angels. That leaves playing time wide open at third base, and the Angels have been clear about their desire to bring help at the position into the fold this winter. While Okamoto (like any free agent coming over from NPB) comes with risk, it’s easy to see him offering an upgrade over internal options like Oswald Peraza and Vaughn Grissom.

By contrast, it seems much more likely that Okamoto would handle first base for San Diego. Manny Machado is installed as the Padres’ third baseman for the time being, and the Hall of Famer has the better part of a decade remaining on his massive contract extension with the club. First base, however, is somewhat vacant after the departure of Luis Arraez in free agency earlier this winter. Gavin Sheets and Sung Mun Song appear poised to compete for playing time at the position, but both are left-handed and better suited for other positions than first. That could make Okamoto a very attractive addition, offering a steady right-handed bat at the position while still leaving room for Sheets and/or Song to get occasional reps there based on matchups.

MLBTR predicted a four-year, $64MM contract for Okamoto at the outset of the offseason. Whether either club would be willing to spend at that level to bring Okamoto into the fold remains to be seen. The Padres have spent significant money this offseason on Song and right-hander Michael King, but after doing so are pushing the boundaries of the team’s reported budget and seem more likely to try and offload salary elsewhere on the roster than bring it back into the fold. As for the Angels, it’s been a mostly quiet offseason in Anaheim without much substantial spending. That could certainly mean there’s room in the budget to add a bat like Okamoto, but it’s also fair to wonder if a team that has often been reluctant to spend significant dollars on position players in free agency in the years since Rendon’s disastrous contract would be willing to shell out a multi-year deal for a third baseman before the end of their previous third baseman’s contract is even official.

There are other suitors for Okamoto’s services to keep in mind, as well. The Pirates have been the team perhaps most frequently connected to Okamoto, and it wouldn’t be too much of a shock to see them bring the slugger in amid an unusually aggressive offseason given the significant hole the club faces at third base. He’s been connected to the Blue Jays and Red Sox as well this offseason, though both of those big market clubs seem to be focused on bigger fish like Alex Bregman and Bo Bichette at this point. Given the approaching end of Okamoto’s posting window, it’s increasingly likely the Okamoto will sign before either Bregman or Bichette sees their market resolve. That could make a deal with Boston or Toronto somewhat less likely, if those two clubs are hesitant to fill a roster spot that could otherwise be earmarked for a more impactful player.

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