Hunter Dobbins To Open Season On Injured List
Cardinals manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including Dan Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) today that right-hander Hunter Dobbins will begin the season on the injured list. Dobbins is still rehabbing from the ACL tear he suffered back in July as a member of the Red Sox. That was always likely to be the case given the typical recovery timeline that comes with injuries of that sort.
There is good news to report regarding Dobbins’s progress, however. Guerrero notes that Dobbins has been able to build up his arm strength throughout Spring Training but is not yet fully built up in terms of fielding. He spent most of spring throwing live bullpens but appeared in a backfields game yesterday, his first in-game action of camp. Guerrero adds that Dobbins was held back from covering first base during the game but will continue his fielding progression moving forward.
The 26-year-old made his big league debut with Boston last year. An eighth-round pick back in 2021, he made 13 appearances (11 starts) in the majors, with a 4.13 ERA in 61 innings of work. That was good for an exactly league average ERA+ of 100, though his FIP was a more impressive 3.87. Dobbins did not strike out many batters (17.6%) but kept his walk rate down to just 6.6% and generated grounders at a strong 48.4% clip. It was a solid debut overall that offered some reason for optimism that Dobbins could be a quality #4 starter in the majors, though with Tommy John surgery and two ACL tears on his resume the biggest challenge for the righty might be simply staying healthy.
As for 2026, Dobbins’s timeline for return isn’t known just yet, though the fact that St. Louis has not felt the need to put him on the 60-day injured list to this point in the spring is certainly at least somewhat encouraging. The Cardinals are surely hoping to get Dobbins onto the roster sooner rather than later. The righty was a key piece of the return in the Willson Contreras trade this offseason and was brought in to help fill out a rather thin pitching staff.
With Dobbins sidelined, there’s relatively little intrigue in the team’s upcoming rotation decisions. Veteran free agent addition Dustin May figures to join Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante, and Michael McGreevy in four of the five spots in the Cards’ rotation to open the year. That leaves one spot available in the rotation that figures to come down to either Richard Fitts or Kyle Leahy with Dobbins starting the year on the injured list. Top prospect Tink Hence doesn’t appear ready for a big league debut quite yet with zero Triple-A starts on his resume, so the team’s starting depth will be rather limited after that group of six for as long as Dobbins is on the shelf.
Which Top Prospects Could Be On 2026 Opening Day Rosters?
In the not-too-distant past, it was relatively rare for organizations to break camp with their very best prospects on the roster. It still happened at times, but MLB's service time structure was set up such that keeping a top prospect in the minors for even two weeks to begin the season effectively ensured that he'd be controllable for seven years rather than the standard six. There were obvious exceptions to this thinking -- Atlanta fans surely remember Jason Heyward breaking camp as a 20-year-old and belting a three-run homer on Opening Day -- but there were far more cases of keeping a player in the minors to buy the extra year. Kris Bryant, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer and others were all called to the majors just when they'd spent enough time in the minors to give their clubs an extra year of control. There was nothing inherently nefarious about the gambit; teams were operating within the collectively bargained rules and making business decisions.
The 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement sought to implement some real incentives for teams to bring their best players north to begin the season, however, and by and large they've been effective. With the Prospect Promotion Incentives (PPI), any prospect who appears on two recognized top-100 lists and is called up early enough to earn a full service year can net his team a bonus draft pick, either in that season's Rookie of the Year voting or in MVP/Cy Young voting over the next three seasons.
There's also a disincentive to holding a player down. For those same qualified top prospects, a top-two finish in either league's Rookie of the Year voting will net a full year of major league service time, regardless of when they were called up. Said prospects still have around 90% of a season in such instances, which is more than enough time to turn in a ROY-worthy performance.
Teams now know that holding a player down for 15 days or so might lead to him getting a full year of service anyhow and comes with the disadvantage of rendering that player ineligible for future PPI picks. As such, it's become increasingly common for touted prospects to break camp on their teams' rosters.
With that in mind, and with fewer than two weeks to go until Opening Day, it seems worth running through a slate of top prospects who could factor into their teams' Opening Day plans.
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Cardinals Notes: Nootbaar, Baez, Catcher
Lars Nootbaar still hasn’t played this spring as he works back from heel surgeries. Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat noted yesterday that the left fielder is trending towards beginning the season on the injured list. There’s no clear timetable for his season debut.
An injured list stint has been a possibility since the Cardinals announced that Nootbaar had surgery to address Haglund’s deformities on both heels in early October. The health uncertainty seemingly took the outfielder off the trade block over the winter. Nootbaar was loosely tied to the Rangers, Mets and Pirates at points throughout the offseason. There was too much uncertainty in his health outlook for the Cardinals to net a strong enough return to move him.
The Cardinals have two years of arbitration control over Nootbaar. The lefty hitter posted above-average offensive numbers over his first three and a half MLB seasons. He had a career-worst .234/.325/.361 showing across 583 plate appearances last year. Nootbaar is making $5.35MM this season and seems likely to be available at the deadline as long as he’s healthy.
Nootbaar’s injury leaves the Opening Day left field job available. The Cardinals were in the market for a right-handed hitting outfielder late in the offseason but didn’t come away with any MLB additions. They signed Nelson Velázquez to a minor league deal. He’s mashing at a .333/.440/.524 clip with four walks and two strikeouts in 25 plate appearances this spring. They’re also getting utility infielders Thomas Saggese and José Fermín outfield work in camp. One of those players could split time with lefty-hitting Nathan Church as a stopgap left field platoon.
One idea not under consideration: carrying highly-regarded outfield prospect Joshua Báez on the Opening Day roster. The Cardinals optioned the 22-year-old to Triple-A Memphis yesterday. Báez had an excellent camp, slugging three homers while going 7-21 in 10 games. Báez has no Triple-A experience, though, so it’s hardly a surprise that he’ll begin the season in the minors.
A former second-round pick, Báez floundered early in his minor league career. He firmly put himself back on the prospect radar last season. Báez combined for a .287/.384/.500 slash with 20 homers between High-A and Double-A. Even more impressively, he cut his strikeout rate to a league average 21.4% clip after fanning in more than 34% of his plate appearances in his first three professional seasons. He’ll look to follow up his impressive Spring Training by maintaining that improved contact rate in his first look at Triple-A pitching.
St. Louis also optioned catching prospects Jimmy Crooks and Leonardo Bernal over the weekend. That leaves Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages and Yohel Pozo as the three catchers on the 40-man roster who remain in camp. Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the team intends to carry all three on the Opening Day roster. Pages will be the primary option behind the dish, while Pozo will work in a traditional backup role. Herrera will continue seeing more time as a designated hitter than at catcher, though the Cardinals aren’t moving him off the position entirely.
Cardinals Extend Oli Marmol
The Cardinals and manager Oli Marmol have agreed to a two-year contract extension, according to a report from Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Marmol was entering the final year of his contract but is now set to remain in St. Louis for the 2027 and ’28 seasons, with a club option for 2029. The Cardinals have subsequently announced Marmol’s new deal.
It’s the second extension Marmol has signed with the Cardinals. The 39-year-old initially took over as manager in St. Louis following Mike Shildt’s dismissal in October of 2021. Marmol’s first season as manager saw the Cardinals romp to a division title with a 93-win season thanks primarily to MVP-caliber performances from both Paul Goldschmidt (who won the award in the NL) and Nolan Arenado (who finished third). Unfortunately, the Cardinals were delivered a quick exit by the Phillies in the Wild Card round that year and went home that October without winning a single playoff game.
The end of the 2022 campaign also marked the end of longtime franchise face Yadier Molina‘s playing career, and Molina’s departure ushered in a transitory period in Cardinals baseball. While the club added an impactful bat behind the plate in Willson Contreras, pitchers in St. Louis struggled to adapt to life after getting so used to working with the nine-time Gold Glover. Meanwhile, both Goldschmidt and Arenado regressed in a big way, and injuries to key players like Brendan Donovan and Tyler O’Neill left the Cardinals tumbling from the top of the NL Central all the way to the bottom with a 91-loss campaign. 2024 saw the franchise get just barely back over .500 with an 83-79 record that left them tied for second place in the NL Central standings, but the team fell right back below .500 in 2025.
Difficult as Marmol’s tenure in St. Louis has been, management and ownership clearly do not lay the organization’s struggles at his feet. They signed him to a two-year extension prior to the 2024 campaign, and even after John Mozeliak retired and new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom took over, both Bloom and team ownership have expressed confidence in Marmol in the run-up to today’s extension.
It’s understandable why the team would choose to stick with Marmol despite a lack of on-field success. The Cardinals have saddled Marmol with a stagnant and aging roster for the majority of his time with the organization. Outside of deals for Contreras and Sonny Gray (both traded to the Red Sox this offseason), St. Louis has made relatively minimal efforts to improve the roster via trades and free agency in recent years, instead banking on internal developments that haven’t come to fruition. That lack of internal development has been attributed to the organization by the team’s decision to reallocate funds that once were used for player development into fortifying the big league payroll, and over the past two years the team has started to move towards a rebuilding phase where they plan to scale back spending and return their focus to building from within.
Given the current state of the organization, it’s understandable that the Cardinals would look to keep someone they had enough confidence in to install as MLB’s youngest manager at the time of his hire. Now headed into his fifth season as a big league manager (with a decade of coaching experience prior to that), Marmol has plenty of experience handling young players and veterans alike. His work with last year’s Cardinals team, which lacked the win-now expectations of most seasons in St. Louis, will surely prove informative for the difficult task of rebuilding into a contender that the organization now faces.
Poll: Will JJ Wetherholt Break Camp With The Cardinals?
Rebuilds are never fun, and as the Cardinals plunge into one for the first time in decades there hasn’t been much for fans in St. Louis to get excited about. Trades that shipped out Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, and Nolan Arenado were as much about clearing money off the books as they were about bringing in meaningful talent. Even the Brendan Donovan trade, which secured a strong haul of picks and prospects, is unlikely to impact the big league club in 2026. One thing fans can get excited about in the short term is top prospect JJ Wetherholt.
The No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 draft has made good on that lofty slot since entering pro ball. After a solid cup of coffee at Single-A in his draft year, Wetherholt’s performance exploded in 2025 when he slashed .306/.421/.510 across 109 games split between the Double-A and Triple-A level. That would be impressive for virtually any prospect, but it’s especially so for Wetherholt, who is just 22 years old and adds strong infield defense and impressive baserunning to his well-rounded game. That package is enough to make him a consensus top 10 prospect in the sport entering this season.
The Cardinals have made clear that they plan to give their top prospect the opportunity to make the big league roster out of camp. He just ripped his first homer of the spring this morning, taking Devin Williams deep to dead center (video courtesy of Tim Kanak). A spot in the Opening Day lineup should be much easier to come by now that Donovan has been dealt to Seattle, but Wetherholt will still have competition from other players on the roster. Nolan Gorman and Masyn Winn figure to lock down third base and shortstop, leaving second base to a competition between Wetherholt, Thomas Saggese, Jose Fermin, and Ramon Urias.
Since the Cardinals don’t expect to compete in 2026, their priority is seeing what they have with their current group of young players. Urias, 32 in June, is on a one-year deal and is more of a steady bench piece than an impact addition. From St. Louis’ perspective, it makes more sense to have Urias waiting in the wings to take over somewhere on the infield in case of an injury or a younger player struggling to perform. Looking at the other three options, Wetherholt is the highest-upside option and arguably has the highest floor.
Fermin hit quite well for the Cardinals in 30 games last year but has typically struggled on the offense over his three years in the majors. He seems best suited for a utility role. Saggese, 24 in April, hit just .258/.299/.342 in 82 games last year while playing average defense between shortstop, third base, and second base. Perhaps he could take a step forward with regular at bats and some additional big league experience, but his chances at making the roster are complicated by the fact that he was at his worst defensively (-5 OAA) when playing second base.
That would seem to leave Wetherholt with a clear path toward starting at second base for the Cardinals, but there are other considerations to keep in mind. If Wetherholt does not begin the year on the Opening Day roster, the Cardinals could squeeze and extra year of service time out of their up-and-coming superstar. Perhaps that’s enough reason for the Cardinals to go with someone like Saggese at second base for the first few weeks, especially given the fact that Wetherholt has spent just 16.6% of his defensive innings in the minors at second base. It could be argued that getting him additional reps at the keystone could be beneficial. On the other hand, Wetherholt could earn a full year of service time regardless, if he finishes top two in NL Rookie of the Year voting. Breaking camp with him also opens the Cards up to earning future draft picks via MLB’s prospect promotion incentive program.
How do MLBTR readers expect the Cardinals to handle their second base camp battle? Will Wetherholt force his way onto the big league roster? Will they instead give someone like Saggese or Fermin the first look? Or will none of the three youngsters take the job confidently enough to stop St. Louis from defaulting to the veteran presence of Urias? Have your say in the poll below:
Who will start at second base for the Cardinals on Opening Day 2026?
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JJ Wetherholt 71% (2,890)
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Ramon Urias 13% (538)
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Thomas Saggese 12% (494)
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Jose Fermin 4% (148)
Total votes: 4,070
Twins Claim Zak Kent
The Twins announced Thursday that they’ve claimed righty Zak Kent off waivers from the Cardinals, who’d designated him for assignment a few days ago. Righty Pablo López, who underwent an internal brace procedure yesterday and will miss the entire 2026 season, was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Kent joins his third team since spring training opened and his fourth of the offseason. The 28-year-old (as of Tuesday) finished the 2025 campaign on the Guardians’ roster but has since bounced to the Cardinals, Rangers, back to the Cardinals, and now to the Twins following a series of DFAs. There’s fortunately no cross-country journey for him this time around, as the Twins and Cardinals both play their spring games in Florida’s Grapefruit League.
The 2025 season saw Kent make his big league debut with Cleveland, tossing 17 2/3 innings with a 4.58 ERA, 21.1% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate. Most of his season was spent with the Guardians’ top affiliate in Columbus, where Kent notched a 2.84 ERA and set down a gaudy 31.4% of his opponents on strikes — albeit against an ugly 13.2% walk rate. Kent isn’t an especially hard thrower, sitting 93.1 mph with his four-seamer in 2025, but he missed plenty of bats in the upper minors thanks to the quality of his mid-80s slider and low-80s curveball.
Kent is entering his final minor league option year. He’s actually already exhausted the standard three option years allotted to players, but teams can be granted fourth option years based on a player’s minor league injury history and/or the speed with which they burn through those original option years. He’ll give the Twins another option to consider in a wide-open bullpen mix that has only Cole Sands, Anthony Banda, Taylor Rogers and Justin Topa locked into spots. In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Kent carries a 3.74 ERA, a 26% strikeout rate and a 12% walk rate.
Cardinals Designate Zak Kent For Assignment
The Cardinals have designated right-hander Zak Kent for assignment, the team announced. The move opens up a spot on the 40-man roster for Ramon Urias, who agreed to a one-year deal. St. Louis claimed Kent off waivers from the Rangers earlier this week.
It’s been a whirlwind offseason for Kent, with the Cardinals at the center of it. The club picked him up off waivers from the Guardians back in December. After about a month in the organization, he lost his spot when St. Louis landed left-hander Justin Bruihl. The Rangers claimed Kent, but bumped him off the roster when they signed left-hander Jordan Montgomery. Kent’s most recent stint with the Cardinals lasted just five days.
The 27-year-old had an unremarkable debut with Cleveland this past season. He pitched to a 4.58 ERA in 17 2/3 innings. Kent showed a three-pitch arsenal in his 12 appearances, throwing each of his four-seamer, slider, and curveball at least 25% of the time. The righty used the slider on nearly 40% of his offerings. It held opponents to a .138 batting average. The slider was also his best whiff pitch.
It’s likely the Triple-A numbers that have teams intrigued by Kent. He has a career 3.74 ERA in 122 2/3 innings at the level. Kent posted back-to-back seasons with a K/9 above 11 at Columbus. He had a sub-3.00 ERA with a 31.4% strikeout rate in 34 appearances with the Clippers in 2025.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images
Cardinals Sign Ramón Urías
The Cardinals announced the signing of infielder Ramón Urías to a one-year contract. The Wasserman client is reportedly guaranteed $2MM. He’ll receive a $1.5MM salary and is guaranteed a $500K buyout on a 2027 mutual option valued at $4MM.
The infielder can earn an additional $2MM in performances bonuses: $125K apiece for 350 and 375 plate appearances; $200K each at 400 and 425 PAs; $250K at 450, 475 and 500 PAs; and $300K apiece at 525 and 550 plate appearances. St. Louis designated Zak Kent for assignment to create roster space.
Urías, 32 in June, has been a solid multi-positional player for the past six big league seasons. Most of that time was spent with the Orioles, though he was traded to the Astros at last year’s deadline. He has stepped to the plate 1,856 times in the majors, roughly three full seasons’ worth, and hit 50 home runs in that time. His .257/.321/.403 batting line translates to a 104 wRC+, indicating he’s been 4% above average on the whole.
His defense is even stronger than his offense. He has mostly played third base but has also spent some time at the other infield positions. He’s probably stretched as a shortstop but he has received strong reviews for his work at the hot corner. He won the American League Gold Glove at that position in 2022, getting credited with 14 Defensive Runs Saved and eight Outs Above Average. For what it’s worth, in the years since, DRS still views him as a positive defender but OAA has him below par. His work at the keystone is well regarded, with 11 DRS and 2 OAA. He has fewer than 100 innings at first base.
He is coming off a down year at the plate. Between the O’s and the ‘Stros, he slashed .241/.292/.384 for an 87 wRC+. Houston could have retained him via arbitration for 2026, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a $4.4MM salary, but they decided to non-tender him instead.
For St. Louis, Urías should backfill some of their missing infield depth. The Cards are rebuilding and traded away Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan and Willson Contreras this winter. Those moves both saved money and also freed up playing time for some younger players the organization would like to get a look at.
On the dirt, they project to have Masyn Winn at short and Alec Burleson at first, with the other two positions a bit more open. Nolan Gorman seems likely to take over the third base job but also has lots of experience at second. JJ Wetherholt could get the second base gig but he hasn’t yet cracked the major leagues.
Behind those leading candidates, the Cards also have José Fermín, Thomas Saggese, Bryan Torres and César Prieto on the 40-man roster. No one in that group has more than 100 big league games played. All of them except for Fermín have options, so perhaps the club would prefer them to get regular playing time in the minors if they don’t have regular big league jobs. Gorman also has options and is coming off two rough years at the plate.
When dealing with a group of fairly unproven guys, some will perform and some will not. On top of that, injuries are inevitable. Urías is coming off a down year at the plate but is a fairly reliable veteran who could step in to cover for some of the other guys, if necessary. If he’s on the roster and playing well in the summer, he would be a logical trade candidate for the rebuilding club.
Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat first reported the Cardinals were nearing a deal with Urías. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the sides agreed to a one-year, $2MM deal with a $500K buyout on a mutual option. The Associated Press reported the option value and the bonus specifics.
Photo courtesy of Cary Edmondson, Imagn Images
Orioles Claim Bryan Ramos
2:36pm: The Orioles have formally announced the Ramos waiver claim. Bautista was indeed moved to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster, which remains at capacity.
12:50pm: The Orioles have acquired infielder Bryan Ramos from the Cardinals, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. This is a waiver claim and not a trade, reports Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner. The Cards designated Ramos for assignment earlier this week when they claimed Zak Kent off waivers. Baltimore will need to open a 40-man roster spot but could easily do so by moving Félix Bautista to the 60-day injured list, since he is slated to miss most of the upcoming season.
This is the second time this month that the O’s have acquired Ramos. The White Sox designated him for assignment in late January and Baltimore sent cash considerations to Chicago to get him on February 1st. Five days later, the Orioles tried to pass Ramos through waivers but the Cards claimed him.
It may seem odd to trade for a player and put him on waivers almost immediately but the Orioles are the most aggressive club in trying to pass players through waivers to keep them as non-roster depth. There’s no 60-day injured list from five days after the World Series until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, so the O’s tried to get him through before other teams got some extra roster spots. The Cards intervened but now the Orioles have grabbed Ramos a second time.
When Ramos was first on the Baltimore roster, his path to playing time with the O’s wasn’t great. He has primarily been a third baseman in his career, with a bit of experience at second base, first base and left field as well. Baltimore’s infield was slated to include Jordan Westburg, Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday and Pete Alonso from left to right, with several corner outfielders on the roster as well. The O’s acquired Blaze Alexander in early February to serve as depth all over.
But the infield has quickly taken a few significant blows in the early days of spring training. Holliday suffered a hamate fracture and will start the season on the injured list. Westburg has a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. He is trying to avoid surgery for now but is going to miss time regardless and could still end up under the knife in the future.
With those injuries, half the infield is now up in the air. Coby Mayo may ultimately take over the third base job but his defense there has been questionable enough that he spent more time at first base last year. Alexander could move from a bench role into the regular second base job while Holliday is out.
Ramos is out of options. He could perhaps give the O’s a bit of extra infield depth on the bench while they sort out the injury situation. They could also bring in further reinforcements and squeeze Ramos to the waiver wire again in the future. For now, he has a roster spot and is in the mix for a big league bench job alongside Jeremiah Jackson and non-roster invitees like Jose Barrero and Luis Vázquez.
During his time with the White Sox, Ramos was a notable prospect. Over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he slashed .265/.346/.453 on the farm for 116 wRC+, getting as high as Double-A. But his stock has dipped since then. He hit .228/.314/.392 in the minors over the past two years, mostly at Triple-A, with that performance translating to an 82 wRC+. He has also produced a tepid .198/.244/.333 line in his major league plate appearances.
Ramos has exhausted his option status, so his recent struggles have pushed him to a fringe roster position. If he can carve out a role in Baltimore’s injury-battered infield, he can be controlled for six full seasons before reaching free agency.
Photo courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images
Poll: Which Team Had The Best Offseason?
The offseason has more or less come to a close at this point. While a handful of players remain available in free agency and there’s always a chance of a surprise trade or two throughout Spring Training, the vast majority of the heavy lifting has been done. As Spring Training begins, it’s worth checking in on what teams around the league did this winter to see which club had the strongest offseason. A look at a few of the candidates:
Baltimore Orioles
After a disastrous 2025 season that saw the club fall to the basement of the American League, the Orioles have been very busy in their efforts to turn things around. A rotation that struggled to stay above water last year saw the return of Zach Eflin as well as the additions of both Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt. Those additions may not have included the front-of-the-rotation ace the Orioles were widely expected to pursue, but the club was aggressive elsewhere on the roster. Ryan Helsley was brought in to close while Felix Bautista is injured, and the club swung a deal for Taylor Ward to help round out their outfield. By far the biggest addition of the winter, however, was slugger Pete Alonso, who signed a five-year, $155MM contract. Alonso adds a legitimate 40-homer threat to the middle of a lineup that struggled to generate much offense outside of Gunnar Henderson last year and was heavily slanted toward lefty hitters.
Chicago Cubs
It’s rare that a team would be in this conversation after losing the offseason’s top-ranked free agent, but there’s a lot to like about the 2026 Cubs even after bidding farewell to Kyle Tucker. Alex Bregman, signed to a five-year, $175MM deal, can’t be expected to be the same offensive force as peak-level Tucker, but he makes up for that by helping to complete what’s arguably become the best defensive infield in baseball alongside Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, and Michael Busch. The move pushes Matt Shaw into a utility role, where he can serve as protection against injury for the club while also potentially sharing time with fellow youngster Moises Ballesteros at DH. The addition of Bregman was complemented by the decision to swing a trade for high-upside righty Edward Cabrera in the rotation. That likely pushes swingman Colin Rea back into a bullpen that’s been rebuilt with Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey, and Hoby Milner after losing Brad Keller, Andrew Kittredge, and Drew Pomeranz back in November.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers’ offseason hasn’t been an exceptionally busy one, but the few moves they wound up making could prove to be the most impactful of any team this winter. They kicked off their offseason by poaching star closer Edwin Diaz away from the Mets, but their biggest splash was the addition of Tucker to their outfield. Diaz and Tucker are both All-Stars with among the highest ceilings in the game at their respective positions. Adding both to an already star-studded roster, the Dodgers managed to address the 2025 team’s biggest weaknesses: a lackluster outfield and a leaky bullpen. They also extended Max Muncy on an affordable one-year deal and reunited with Kiké Hernandez and Evan Phillips. After back-to-back World Series championships, the Dodgers look even better headed into 2026 despite their relatively low volume of transactions.
New York Mets
While the Dodgers mostly kept their 2025 team intact for 2026 with just a few additions, the Mets went in the opposite direction with a complete roster overhaul. Out went Alonso, Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil. Replacing them is a host of talent ranging from new staff ace Freddy Peralta to relievers Devin Williams and Luke Weaver on the pitching side, and a cluster of position players headlined by star infielder Bo Bichette. In addition to Bichette, who’ll move to third base alongside shortstop Francisco Lindor, the team brought in Marcus Semien to handle the keystone, Jorge Polanco to cover first base, and Luis Robert Jr. to work in center field. It’s a busy offseason that completely changed the look of the team that failed to make the playoffs last year, though it remains to be seen if this team will better support Lindor and Juan Soto in their pursuit of a World Series championship.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays finished just shy of a World Series championship last year, and this winter they acted like a team that wanted to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to close the gap. A new-look rotation added Dylan Cease at the front and Cody Ponce at the back. A lineup that lost Bichette in free agency looked to make up for it by bringing in Kazuma Okamoto and Jesus Sanchez. Meanwhile, the team’s shaky bullpen upgraded from hard-throwing righty Seranthony Dominguez by bringing in ever-reliable soft-tosser Tyler Rogers. Missing out on both Bichette and Tucker takes some of the punch out of Toronto’s offseason, but adding Cease to a rotation that already includes Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage should make the Jays significantly more threatening than they already were last year.
Other Options
Plenty of teams had offseasons worthy of praise aside from the five listed above. The Tigers managed to snag arguably the top pitcher available in lefty Framber Valdez on a short-term deal while also reuniting with future Hall of Famer and Detroit legend Justin Verlander, though failing to upgrade the lineup is surely disappointing for fans hoping to see the team make the most of Tarik Skubal‘s likely last year in town.
The Red Sox were very busy this winter as they brought in Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo, Willson Contreras, and Caleb Durbin via the trade market while signing Ranger Suarez and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in free agency, but the team’s failure to reunite with Bregman casts a shadow over their busy winter.
The Astros got the rotation depth they coveted, signing NPB star Tatsuya Imai to a three-year deal with multiple opt-outs and acquiring righty Mike Burrows in a three-team trade that sent outfielder Jacob Melton to the Rays. They’re still too right-handed and have a glut of infielders that could still lead to one more big spring trade.
The Pirates were very active by their usual standards, overhauling the lineup to bring in Ryan O’Hearn, Marcell Ozuna, and Brandon Lowe among others. The Rangers came into the winter without much room to add but managed to come away with a solid bat (Nimmo) for the lineup and a big arm (MacKenzie Gore) for the rotation nonetheless. The Mariners kept Josh Naylor and added Brendan Donovan to the infield. The A’s added only complementary pieces (McNeil, Aaron Civale) in terms of external additions but deserve praise for their franchise-altering extensions of Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson.
On the flipside, the rebuilding Cardinals managed to shed significant portions of the Contreras, Gray and Nolan Arenado contracts and pulled in a nice return from the Mariners (and Rays) in the three-team Donovan trade.
What team do MLBTR’s readers think had the best offseason this winter? Have your say in the poll below: