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Nine Players Elect Free Agency

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Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents. Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back. These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion. Unless otherwise credited, these free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

Catchers

Outfielders

Pitchers

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hui, Imagn Images

Sandy Alomar Sr. Passes Away

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Former All-Star infielder Sandy Alomar Sr. has passed away, per an announcement from the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League. He was 81 years old and would have turned 82 this coming weekend.

The father of big leaguers Roberto Alomar and Sandy Alomar Jr., Sandy Sr. enjoyed a 15-year playing career of his own. From 1964-78, he suited up for the Angels, Yankees, White Sox, Braves, Rangers and Mets. The elder Alomar made the 1970 All-Star team as a member of the Angels during a season in which he batted .251/.302/.293 and played in all 162 games while providing quality defense and 35 stolen bases.

In all, Alomar hit .245/.290/.288 in 5160 major league plate appearances across his decade and a half as a big league player. He played primarily second base but also logged more than 1200 innings at shortstop and made a handful of appearances at the hot corner. Alomar was known for his glove and speed more than his bat; he totaled just 13 career home runs, 126 doubles and 19 triples but piled up 227 career stolen bases. He’s one of just 300 players to ever steal at least 225 bags in his career.

Beyond his career as a player, Alomar logged parts of 16 season as a coach in the major leagues, spending time with the Padres (third base coach), Cubs (first base coach), Rockies (third base coach) and Mets (bench coach, first base coach). He also managed in the minor league ranks for both the Cubs and the Mets and spent several seasons coaching and managing teams at home in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

Our condolences go out to each of the organizations Alomar impacted, as well as the Alomar family and friends, and the countless fans he accrued over a baseball career that spanned more than 50 years.

Nathan Eovaldi Undergoes Surgery For Sports Hernia

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Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi has undergone surgery to repair a sports hernia, reports Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports. GM Ross Fenstermaker revealed earlier this month that the righty would be meeting with a specialist to determine the best course of treatment, and evidently, surgery was the conclusion they came to. Willson suggests that the Rangers expect Eovaldi to be fully recovered from the hernia surgery (and the strained rotator cuff that ended his season in August) by the time spring training rolls around, presuming he suffers no setbacks.

In addition to the rotator cuff strain, Eovaldi also missed a month earlier in the season with what was originally labelled a triceps issue and later diagnosed as posterior elbow inflammation. When he took the mound, however, the 35-year-old looked better than ever in his 14th big league season. He finished with a 1.73 ERA in 22 starts. Like his ERA, his xERA and SIERA were also career-bests. His velocity was down, but he compensated with pristine command, walking just 4.2% of the batters he faced, and he still did a phenomenal job of missing bats and inducing soft contact. If it weren’t for the time he missed, Eovaldi likely would have been a strong contender for the AL Cy Young, and even so, there’s a good chance he’ll earn some votes for just the second time in his career.

Eovaldi’s health will be paramount for the Rangers in 2026. RosterResource estimates that the team has about $45MM coming off the books this winter, but it doesn’t seem like ownership is ready to foot the bill for a high-spending offseason. When Bruce Bochy stepped down as manager, president of baseball operations Chris Young explained that the team would be focusing on youth moving forward, citing financial uncertainty. That certainly suggests that Texas won’t be making many major additions in the coming months. So, if the Rangers want any hope of improving upon a second straight mediocre finish and contending in 2026, the stars who are already under contract will need to put the team on their back. A full, healthy season from Eovaldi – especially the version of Eovaldi on display in 2025 – would go a long way for this team in 2026.

MLBTR Podcast: Rockies’ Front Office Changes, Skip Schumaker, And ABS Talk

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • The Rockies parting ways with general manager Bill Schmidt (1:45)
  • The Rangers hiring Skip Schumaker as manager (9:50)
  • The ABS challenge system coming to MLB for 2026 (15:20)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Will the upcoming expiration of the CBA after 2026 lead teams to not spend money this winter? (24:10)
  • With some recent teams selling at the deadline and then making late surges, will it lead to changes in how teams approach future deadlines? (30:15)
  • Which free agent pitchers could sign one-year deals to be traded next summer? (35:15)
  • Who are realistic targets for the Orioles this offseason? (46:10)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Orlando Ramirez, Imagn Images

Rangers, Declan Cronin Agree To Two-Year Minor League Deal

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The Rangers are signing free agent reliever Declan Cronin to a two-year minor league contract, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Cronin underwent Tommy John surgery last month and will miss next season, so this is about adding bullpen depth for 2027.

Cronin reunites with former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who’ll take over the Texas dugout next season. He led Miami relief pitchers with 70 1/3 innings in 2024, Schumaker’s final season in South Florida. Cronin turned in a 4.35 ERA with solid strikeout and walk rates while getting ground-balls at a 58% clip and looked like a nice find after the Fish grabbed him off waivers the preceding offseason.

The righty began this season on the 15-day injured list after suffering a Spring Training hip strain. Miami optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville when he returned from that injury. Cronin was pitching with diminished velocity, averaging 91.8 MPH on his sinker in the minors after sitting at 93.4 during his MLB work last year.

Six weeks later, Cronin went on the minor league injured list. He briefly returned in August before getting shut back down with the elbow injury that required surgery. Miami released him to open a spot on the 40-man roster. They could have placed him on the MLB injured list, but they would’ve needed to carry him on the 40-man throughout the offseason. They decided not to do that and cut him loose instead.

The 28-year-old Cronin has just over a year of MLB service time. He’ll presumably get a look in Spring Training two years from now, where he’ll try to earn a middle relief spot. Cronin still has a pair of options remaining.

Nick Hundley Interviews For Giants’ Managerial Opening

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October 6th: Hundley has now been interviewed by the Giants, reports Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle.

October 5th: As the Giants get their managerial search underway following Bob Melvin’s recent dismissal, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that catcher Nick Hundley is “strongly in the mix” for the job. It’s unclear whether Hundley has interviewed for the position at this point, but the fact that his name has come up so clearly is nonetheless notable.

Hundley, 42, was a big league catcher for parts of 12 seasons and served as the Giants’ primary backup to Buster Posey for the 2017 and ’18 seasons. After serving under Posey as part of the team’s catching tandem, it now appears Posey has interest in bringing Hundley in to serve as his manager now that he’s become San Francisco’s president of baseball operations. Hundley immediately jumped into an off-the-field role with the league upon announcing his retirement in 2020, as he became a senior director of baseball operations with the commissioner’s office.

He spent two years in that role before departing the league office to take up a job in the Rangers organization, where he serves as a special assistant to president of baseball operations Chris Young. Hundley won a World Series in the organization in 2023, and during that playoff run was actually a candidate to manage the Giants when then-president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi was looking to replace Gabe Kapler in the dugout. At the time, it was reported that Hundley had withdrawn himself from consideration before receiving an interview due to family considerations. He had talked to both Zaidi and Posey himself about the role before making that decision, however, indicating that he had at least some level of interest.

With no interview confirmed to have taken place, it’s not necessarily a lock that Hundley would accept the opportunity to interview if offered given his past decision to decline that invitation. With that being said, it’s entirely possible that whatever concerns Hundley had about jumping back into the grind and travel involved with a managerial role have resolved themselves in the past two years, or even that the idea of reporting directly to a former teammate like Posey holds enough appeal to get him involved in the process again. It’s also worth noting that Heyman made clear Hundley has “no guarantees” of landing the position, even in the event he has changed his mind about his desire to manage.

Whatever the case may be regarding Hundley’s candidacy, he’s far from the only person the Giants will talk to about their managerial gig. Former All-Star and longtime Oakland A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki is known to have interviewed for the position. Former Giants bullpen coach Craig Albernaz, now in Cleveland as Stephen Vogt’s bench coach and associate manager, is “expected to get a look” for the job as well. It’s worth noting that all three of Hundley, Suzuki, and Albernaz have connections to the Bay Area, though that may not necessarily be something Posey is looking for specifically in his next manager. Whoever next sits in the manager’s chair for the Giants will be an external hire, as Posey is not expected to interview any members of the current coaching staff for the job.

Rangers Notes: Coaches, Offense, Eovaldi, Bradford

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The Rangers’ hiring of Skip Schumaker as manager was the biggest news out of Arlington yesterday, but some other items emerged from the club’s end-of-season press conference that took place on Friday hours before Schumaker’s deal was announced.  President of baseball operations Chris Young and GM Ross Fenstermaker gave some hints about the managerial search when speaking with the Dallas Morning News’ Shawn McFarland (multiple links), MLB.com’s Drew Davison, and other media, as Young said the club wasn’t yet looking at external candidates and had “a lead candidate internally that we’re focused on.”  Sure enough, the Rangers ended up promoting senior advisor Schumaker into the manager’s chair as Bruce Bochy’s successor, an outcome that was widely predicted if Bochy wasn’t returning for 2026.

More continuity could exist within the coaching staff, as Young said that the team is open to retaining all of its coaches for next season.  Schumaker’s familiarity with the organization could help in this regard, but naturally the new skipper will have some say in bringing in some of his own choices for the 2026 staff.

Speaking of pitching coach Mike Maddux in particular, Young said the Rangers want to retain Maddux either in his current position or in some other role within the organization.  The well-respected Maddux has now logged three seasons in his second stint as the Texas pitching coach, after previously working in that same job during the 2009-15 seasons.  Given how the Rangers’ rotation excelled in 2025, it would seem like the ball is in Maddux’s court about whether he wants to return to Arlington in any capacity, or perhaps seek out a new challenge elsewhere.

Texas led all of baseball in rotation ERA (3.41) and overall ERA (3.49), but a lackluster offense doomed the club to an even 81-81 record.  While the Rangers’ lineup never truly got clicking, the club’s numbers in some categories did improve as the year went on, which Young attributed to more of a contract-driven approach under hitting coach Bret Boone (who was hired in early May after offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker was fired).  This emphasis on putting the ball on play and not over-focusing on launch angles will continue, as Fenstermaker said the club will look for players with “stable skills, on-base percentage, the ability to make contact, [and] execute situationally” when weighing new additions.

A full winter and Spring Training under Boone should also help, Young noted, rather than the lineup having to somewhat adjust on the fly after Ecker was let go.  “The philosophy did shift.  The players have not had an offseason to adjust,” Young said.  “I think they’ll be asked to do different things in the offseason in terms of their training, and not just simply working on one specific swing, but being able to do multiple things that may allow them to be more successful and contribute to a team-type of approach that is necessary.”

Fenstermaker also provided updates on several Rangers players who were bothered by injuries down the stretch, noting that Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter, and Cole Winn are all expected to have normal offseasons and will be ready for the start of Spring Training.  Jake Burger should also be ready to go for spring camp following his recent wrist surgery, as Fenstermaker said Burger’s recovery timeline is around 6-8 weeks.

Nathan Eovaldi’s offseason prep work could be delayed by a sports hernia surgery in the near future.  Fenstermaker said Eovaldi is visiting a specialist next week to determine if a surgery is necessary, with a timeline to be determined if the veteran righty ends up going under the knife.  Sports hernia surgeries have a fairly broad recovery period of roughly 6-12 weeks depending on the nature of the procedure, so there could be some impact on Eovaldi’s regular throwing build-up, which in turn would possibly delay his availability for Spring Training.

More will be known when and if the surgery takes place, though there is some good news in that Eovaldi’s arm seems fine.  Eovaldi’s season was ended after he was put on the injured list with a rotator cuff strain at the end of August, but Fenstermaker said the right-hander’s throwing program should proceed as planned once the matter of the sports hernia procedure is cleared.

Between the rotator cuff strain and an earlier IL stint for posterior elbow inflammation, Eovaldi was limited to 130 innings and 22 starts in 2025.  Such injuries have to be a concern given Eovaldi’s lengthy past health history and the fact that he is turning 36 in February, but the veteran righty still looked like an elite arm when he was able to pitch.  Eovaldi posted a 1.73 ERA over his 130 frames, with a superb 4.2% walk rate and host of other impressive metrics backing up that tiny ERA.

Cody Bradford is also expected to be set for the start of Spring Training, which counts as a bit of a surprise given that Bradford underwent an internal brace procedure in late June.  Brace procedures do come with a shorter timeline than Tommy John surgeries, so the initial thought was that Bradford was would be out until late June 2026 at the earliest.  The fact that Bradford is expected to participate in all of spring camp doesn’t necessarily alter that timeline since he’ll still need a lot of ramp-up time, though it’s a positive sign that Bradford seems to be making good progress in the first few months of his rehab.

Rangers Hire Skip Schumaker As Manager

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The Rangers have officially named Skip Schumaker their new manager. The 2023 NL Manager of the Year signed a four-year contract to become the 21st full-time skipper in franchise history. Schumaker’s hiring comes just four days after the team announced that future Hall of Famer Bruce Bochy would not be back for a fourth season.

“We are thrilled to announce this promotion and have Skip leading this club in the dugout,” president of baseball operations Chris Young said in a press release. “Over his past year as a senior advisor to our baseball operations group, Skip has proven to be driven, passionate and thorough in everything he does. He has a winning spirit and energy, and we are fortunate that someone so highly regarded in the industry has agreed to become our manager.”

The team also released a brief statement from Schumaker himself. “I am honored and excited for this opportunity to manage the Rangers,” he said. “While I attained a good understanding of the organization through my front office role this past season, the conversations with Chris Young, (general manager) Ross Fenstermaker, and others this week have only intensified my interest in this opportunity. I can’t wait to begin the work for 2026.”

This move has been telegraphed for almost a year. As mentioned in the club’s announcement, Schumaker joined the Texas organization last November as a senior advisor. That came a few weeks after he stepped down as manager of the Marlins after two seasons. It immediately raised speculation that Schumaker would be the successor whenever the 70-year-old Bochy decided to go in a different direction.

The rapidity of the hiring confirms this was the preferred outcome. Young told reporters this morning the club was not speaking with any candidates outside the organization (relayed by Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News). It was only a matter of days for the team to finalize a contract that gets Schumaker back in the dugout.

A utility infielder during his playing career, Schumaker was a longtime role player for the Cardinals. He began his coaching days in San Diego, then returned to St. Louis as Oli Marmol’s bench coach for the 2022 season. Schumaker got his first managerial opportunity with the Marlins one year later. He signed a two-year deal with a club option for the ’25 campaign to lead what was viewed as a rebuilding Miami team.

The Fish outperformed expectations in 2023, winning 84 games and snagging a Wild Card spot. Unsatisfied with the team’s player development pipeline, owner Bruce Sherman made a change atop the front office at year’s end. Peter Bendix was brought in as president of baseball operations. General manager Kim Ng stepped down rather than work as the #2 executive after leading the front office for the preceding three seasons.

Bendix was unconvinced that Miami’s winning season really opened a contention window. They’d gotten to the playoffs despite being outscored by 57 runs. The Phillies comfortably swept them out of the first round. Ownership certainly wasn’t going to approve significant free agent spending. As Bendix geared up for the team’s latest rebuild, the Marlins agreed to void their option on Schumaker’s contract. He managed out a 100-loss season in 2024 and confirmed the long-apparent news that he would not be back for a third year in South Florida as soon as the season ended.

The sour finish has not detracted from Schumaker’s reputation as one of the sport’s top young managers. It doesn’t appear as though he seriously pursued a position last offseason. He was loosely tied to the White Sox vacancy that eventually went to Will Venable — ironically, the previous presumed successor to Bochy in Arlington — but decided to spend a season in the Texas front office while keeping his options open for 2026.

Schumaker steps into a dugout that might be in the midst of its own youth movement. The Rangers have disappointed in each of the past two seasons after winning the World Series during Bochy’s first year. The franchise has dealt with revenue losses related to the collapse of its local broadcast contract, leading to what is expected to be a reduced payroll. In announcing Bochy’s departure, Young told reporters the club was dealing with financial uncertainty and would place more emphasis on development of young players.

A roster shakeup was necessary anyhow. Their veteran lineup simply hasn’t been good enough over the past two seasons. It’d be a surprise if at least one or two of Adolis García, Jonah Heim, Josh Jung and Jake Burger weren’t traded or non-tendered. Texas still has four huge contracts on the books for Jacob deGrom, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Nathan Eovaldi. They’ll be saddled with Joc Pederson’s $18.5MM salary when he inevitably exercises his player option.

Trading any of deGrom, Eovaldi or Seager would signify a greater teardown than seems likely. They’d need to eat a lot of the remaining three years and $72MM on Semien’s contract to find any interest, and Pederson stands a better chance of being released than traded. There’s a good chance all five of those players are back, but there should be significant turnover among their group of arbitration-eligible hitters.

A 1-2 punch of deGrom and Eovaldi may alone be enough to keep them in the playoff hunt next year if both aces can stay healthy. They’ll need more foundational lineup pieces around Seager, Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter and eventually top prospect Sebastian Walcott if they’re to have consistent success throughout the Schumaker era.

There are now seven open or uncertain managerial positions around the game. The Giants and Twins fired Bob Melvin and Rocco Baldelli, respectively, at season’s end. The Angels announced they were not exercising Ron Washington’s club option for 2026, nor would they bring back interim skipper Ray Montgomery. Brian Snitker retired after leading the Braves for nine and a half seasons. The Nationals (Miguel Cairo), Rockies (Warren Schaeffer) and Orioles (Tony Mansolino) ended the year with interim managers after midseason firings. None of those teams have announced whether their interim candidates will get the position on a full-time basis.

Image courtesy of Orlando Ramirez, USA Today Sports.

Skip Schumaker The Favorite To Be Rangers’ Next Manager

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The Rangers announced earlier in the week that Bruce Bochy would not return as manager in 2026 after his three-year contract drew to a close at the end of the current season. That’s created ample speculation about who’ll step into his shoes. President of baseball operations Chris Young perhaps tipped his hand at today’s end-of-season press conference when he revealed that the club hasn’t yet spoken to external candidates (link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). Grant adds that former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, whom the Rangers hired as a senior advisor to the baseball operations department last offseason, is the current “focus” in the Rangers’ search for a new manager.

Schumaker, 45, had an 11-year playing career from 2005-15. Following his retirement as a player, he quickly jumped into the coaching ranks, hooking on a first base coach with the Padres. He eventually moved up to the position of associate manager in San Diego before being hired as the bench coach in St. Louis, where he’d spent the bulk of his playing career. After one season as Oli Marmol’s bench coach with the Cardinals, Schumaker was hired away as the new manager of the Marlins heading into 2023.

Schumaker’s Marlins surprisingly went 84-78 in ’23, narrowly sneaking into the playoffs as a Wild Card club. They were dispatched in short order by the division-rival Phillies, who swept the Wild Card series 2-0, but it looked like a nice step forward for the Fish all the same. Schumaker took home National League Manager of the Year honors for that performance.

The Marlins took a step back in 2024, however, as a newly installed front office opted not to add to the big league roster. Quite to the contrary, Miami wound up trading Luis Arraez to the Padres — in a package including 2025 breakout outfielder Jakob Marsee — in early May. By the time the trade deadline rolled around, the Marlins had shipped out a dozen players in a full dismantling of the team. Prior to the season, Schumaker and the Marlins had agreed to void his 2025 club option — a move reportedly borne out of some frustration from Schumaker over the ouster of general manager Kim Ng, who’d hired him a year prior. By season’s end, Schumaker’s looming departure was one of the worst-kept secrets in baseball. Miami hired Dodgers coach Clayton McCullough to take over the dugout, while Schumaker latched onto a new role in Texas.

Schumaker has now spent the past year familiarizing himself with the organization and building a rapport with Young, general manager Ross Fenstermaker and the remainder of the team’s operation. That experience would seemingly give him a leg up over external candidates if the Rangers went that route, but the fact that they’ve opted not to do so sends strong signals that Schumaker was already considered Bochy’s heir apparent.

If the Rangers ultimately choose to hand the dugout reins over to Schumaker, the 2026 season will be his third as a big league manager. He went 146-178 during his two seasons with Miami, although the Miami front office didn’t really set him up for much success in terms of wins and losses in that 2024 season.

MLBTR Podcast: Mike Elias On The State Of The Orioles

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias to discuss…

  • Elias’s promotion from general manager to president of baseball operations (1:45)
  • Why the Orioles underperformed in 2025 (3:30)
  • The club’s lack of investment in free agent pitching (5:25)
  • The decision making about playing time for prospects when they don’t find immediate big league success (9:20)
  • How Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo can co-exist on the roster (12:35)
  • Getting six prospects from the Padres in the Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano trade (14:50)
  • Trading Bryan Baker to the Rays for a draft pick (16:55)
  • Seeing the potential in O’Hearn before his breakout (18:45)

Plus, Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors joins the show to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Tim Heitman, Imagn Images

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