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Blue Jays Interested In Brad Keller

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The Blue Jays have been busy adding to their rotation this offseason but they’re not necessarily done. Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet report that the Jays are still open to adding more starting options, with right-hander Brad Keller one guy they have interest in.

The club has already signed Dylan Cease and reportedly has an agreement in place with Cody Ponce as well. That now gives the Jays an on-paper rotation of Cease, Ponce, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and José Berríos, with Eric Lauer, Bowden Francis, Ricky Tiedemann and others in the mix as well.

That’s plenty of depth in a sense but there are also some questions in there. Ponce is fairly unproven as he has been pitching in Asia and his last MLB game was several years ago. It was reported this week that Bieber dealt with forearm fatigue late in the 2025 campaign and is now questionable for Opening Day 2026. Berríos was bumped from the rotation late in the season and also wound up on the injured list with an elbow injury. He appears to be healthy now but there may be some discontent there and the Jays are reportedly open to trading him. Lauer pitched both as a starter and reliever in 2025 and could be in line for the same type of role next year. Francis and Tiedemann are both coming off seasons lost to injuries. There’s plenty of long-term uncertainty as well. Gausman, Bieber and Lauer are all slated for free agency after 2026. Berríos has an opt-out in his deal at that time as well.

Keller is a logical target for the Jays, and many other clubs, since he could be deployed either out of the rotation or the bullpen. If the Jays were to sign him, his role could depend on his own performance as well as future moves, the health of Bieber, and various other factors.

Earlier in his career, Keller was a decent starter for the Royals. He didn’t get a ton of strikeouts but he got opponents to hit the ball into the the ground. From 2018 to 2020, he posted a 3.50 earned average with a 16.8% strikeout rate and 52.1% ground ball rate. He then endured a few years of struggle, with a 5.14 ERA from 2021 to 2023. He underwent surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome in October of 2023. He returned to action in 2024 but without much success, posting a 5.44 ERA as a swingman.

In 2025, he got a relief role with the Cubs and ran with it. He logged 69 2/3 innings on the year overall with a tiny ERA of 2.07. His 56.1% ground ball rate was in his usual range but he also managed to punch out 27.2% of batters he faced, almost double his early-career rate.

In recent years, it has become quite common to stretch out successful relievers, often in cases involving guys with previous starting experience. Garrett Crochet, Seth Lugo, Michael King, Clay Holmes and Reynaldo López have had varying degrees of success with the switch. It didn’t go quite as well with guys like A.J. Puk and Jordan Hicks. But the appeal for a team is clear, as it’s usually an attempt to get a starter for a reliever price.

At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Keller to secure a $36MM guarantee over three years, with that prediction baking in the possibility some clubs would view him as a starter. $12MM annually isn’t nothing but it’s still cheaper than veteran injury reclamation deals. Guys like Alex Cobb and Max Scherzer got $15MM contracts last winter, for instance. The top guys, like Cease, get about double that annually.

Keller has indeed received interest as a starter this winter, with the Tigers and Yankees reportedly interested in him. The connection to the Tigers came before they signed Drew Anderson, so it’s possible that deal diminishes their interest in Keller somewhat. For the Yankees, they have a number of starters who are going to start the season on the injured list, so it seems the plan would be for Keller to start initially. As other pitchers get healthy, perhaps he could end up pushed into a relief role.

As mentioned, the thinking with the Jays would be somewhat similar. Bringing Keller into the mix could bolster the rotation but he could also end up in the bullpen if he’s not one of the top five rotation options. The Jays will presumably be balancing their desire to sign Keller with their other priorities.

RosterResource projects the Jays for a payroll of $268MM next year, which is already $10MM above where they finished in 2025. They seem to still be in the market for a closer and a big bat, with frequent connections to Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker. Doing those things and also signing Keller will depend on how high the budget can go after their deep playoff run this year.

Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images

2025 Rule 5 Draft Results

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Second round (all others passed)

Photo courtesy of Mike Watters, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Notes: Weaver, Outfielders, Berrios

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With the Blue Jays scouring the bullpen market, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports that Luke Weaver is one of the many relievers on the Jays’ radar.  Weaver temporarily served as the Yankees’ closer in 2025, but would presumably be used just in a high-leverage capacity by the Jays, and probably isn’t viewed as a candidate to supplant Jeff Hoffman in the ninth inning (unlike other Jays targets Robert Suarez or the newly-signed Dodger Edwin Diaz).

MLB Trade Rumors projected Weaver for a two-year, $18MM contract, and we ranked the right-hander 41st on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents.  He posted a 3.62 ERA, 7.6% walk rate, and 27.5% strikeout rate, with very strong chase and whiff rates accompanying that impressive K%.  However, Weaver’s 2025 season was a Jekyll-and-Hyde campaign built around a three-week absence in June due to a hamstring strain.

Weaver had a 1.05 ERA over 25 2/3 innings prior to his stint on the injured list, and then a 5.31 ERA over his final 39 innings of the season.  If the regular-season woes weren’t enough, Weaver was then charged with five earned runs over what was officially just one-third of an inning pitched over three playoff appearances — the Jays themselves contributed to this misery by scoring three runs off Weaver without a batter retired in their 10-1 rout in Game 1 of the ALDS.

The long ball was a big part of Weaver’s problem, as eight of his 10 home runs allowed in 2025 came following his IL stint.  His 27.5% grounder rate was one of the worst in the league, and well below the 38.7% grounder rate he’d posted over nine previous big league seasons.  The big question facing the Blue Jays or any other suitors is whether or not this susceptibility to home runs is a new reality for Weaver, or either a lingering after-effect of his hamstring injury or perhaps just because of some tipped pitches.

As Nicholson-Smith notes, spending huge money on a closer probably isn’t an ideal situation for Toronto’s front office, so Weaver represents an option a tier below Suarez’s asking price.  Beyond signing a reliever, another option would be to add bullpen help via the trade market, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon write that the Blue Jays “are considering” the idea of trading an outfielder for a reliever.

Nathan Lukes, Myles Straw, Joey Loperfido, “and a few others” are candidates for such a deal.  Presumably this would mean minor league depth options like Jonatan Clase, and not presumptive starters like Daulton Varsho, Addison Barger, or Davis Schneider.  (The Blue Jays probably wouldn’t mind moving Anthony Santander, yet Toronto would have to eat a huge chunk of Santander’s remaining contract in the aftermath of his injury-marred down year.)

Lukes was a part-timer over his first two seasons with Toronto, but emerged as a regular in 2025, hitting .255/.323/.407 over 438 plate appearances (103 wRC+).  The left-handed hitting Lukes primarily played against right-handed pitching, though his splits were only somewhat better against righties than lefties.  Lukes can play all three outfield positions, and has delivered passable glovework in center field while excelling in corner outfield roles.

Outfield-needy teams could certainly view Lukes as a candidate for at least strong-side platoon duty.  He is also controllable through the 2030 season as a probable Super Two candidate when he gains arbitration eligibility next winter, though the late-blooming Lukes is already 31 years old.  The 26-year-old Loperfido is another player with long-term control since he has barely over a full year of MLB service time, and after he hit .333/.379/.500 over 104 PA for the Jays in 2025, rival clubs might be keen to see what he could do with more playing time.

This winter’s center field market is thin enough that Straw could be viewed as a glove-first starter.  Straw has never been much of a hitter throughout his eight MLB seasons, but posting a 91 wRC+ in 2025 (from a .262/.313/.267 slash line over 299 PA) counts as a relative surge by Straw’s standards.  Some teams will view that as an acceptable level of offense from a player who can deliver Gold Glove-worthy defense in center field.

Straw is the most expensive of this trio, as he is owed $7MM in 2026, and the Blue Jays hold an $8MM club option on his services for 2027 (with a $1.75MM buyout) and an $8.5MM club option for 2028 ($500K buyout).  As per the terms of the trade that brought Straw from Cleveland to Toronto last winter, the Guardians are covering $1MM in salary this year and will pay $1.75MM towards either the 2027 buyout or salary.

A $6MM immediate price tag for a superb defensive center fielder isn’t outlandish, and it is a testament to Straw’s bounce-back year that he has regained some value after being a salary dump for the Guardians last offseason.  Beyond just the statistics and the salary, however, Rosenthal/Sammon note that Straw’s reputation as a great locker room leader must be valued by both trade suitors and the Blue Jays, given how close-knit Toronto’s clubhouse was during their playoff run.

It makes for a difficult tightrope for the Jays to walk this winter, as while the team obviously wants to retain their 2025 magic on and off the field, some upgrades are needed.  Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce are already big new additions to the pitching staff, and beyond the possibility of a Bo Bichette reunion, signing a Kyle Tucker or an Alex Bregman would bring an entire new dimension to the lineup.  Nicholson-Smith suggests that if all of Bichette, Tucker, and Bregman signed elsewhere, Toronto wouldn’t necessarily feel the need to seek out another prominent hitter, as the team has trust in its core.  Such a decision would carry some risk, as the Jays would be hoping Santander regains his old form, and the rest of the lineup continues basically its team-wide breakout performance.

Jose Berrios’ situation has also been a subplot of Toronto’s offseason, as the Blue Jays are reportedly open to trading the veteran starter, though that’ll be a tricky endeavor considering Berrios’ down year and the three years and $66 remaining on his contract.  There have been rumblings that Berrios isn’t happy with his status with the team, as he was removed from the rotation late in the season and (ostensibly due to an injury) wasn’t part of the playoff roster.  According to The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon, Berrios hasn’t requested a trade.

GM Ross Atkins shared some details on Berrios when speaking with Bannon and other reporters on Monday, saying Berrios was indeed “disappointed that he wasn’t in our rotation.  He handled it well….We’re never going to have a situation where we have 40 players or even 26 players that are feeling great about the opportunity that they were given.”  The Blue Jays still view Berrios as a starter going into 2026, and rotation depth might be critical given how Shane Bieber isn’t necessarily a lock for Opening Day due to late-season forearm fatigue.

Braves, Cubs Among Teams Interested In Robert Suarez

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Edwin Diaz came off the market on Tuesday when he signed a three-year deal with the Dodgers earlier today. Now that both he and Devin Williams are off the board, veteran right-hander Robert Suarez stands as the clear top option available on the market for closers this winter. It didn’t take long after Diaz’s deal was reported for MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand to report that Suarez’s market was starting to gain traction. Feinsand highlighted the Mets, Blue Jays, and Braves as the “most aggressive suitors” for the righty’s services. New York and Toronto have both been connected to Suarez already this winter, but Atlanta is a newly-reported suitor. Meanwhile, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR throws the Cubs’ name into the mix as well, reporting that Chicago is exploring the closer market and adding that Suarez is “one of the ideal candidates” for the club.

Suarez, 35 in March, has been an All-Star in back-to-back seasons. He’s sporting a 2.87 ERA and 3.17 FIP with 76 saves in 134 2/3 innings of work across those two campaigns. This year, he struck out 27.9% of his opponents with a 5.9% walk rate, giving him a 21.9% K-BB ratio that ranked 26th among qualified relievers this year. Those excellent numbers are enough to make him one of the league’s top relievers, although the right-hander’s age and imperfect track record (including a middling 2023 season where injury limited him to just 26 appearances) figure to limit the length of his contract somewhat. MLBTR predicted Suarez for a three-year, $48MM deal as the #21 free agent on our Top 50 MLB Free Agents list for the offseason.

That would be a hefty sum for a team like the Braves to pay for a closer when they already have longtime closer Raisel Iglesias in the fold, particularly when Atlanta is also in the market for help at shortstop and in the rotation. With that said, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time the club committed significant dollars to their bullpen. Iglesias, Joe Jimenez and Aaron Bummer are both on significant contracts already, and players like Pierce Johnson and Will Smith have been guaranteed significant dollars by Atlanta in the past.

The Cubs seem like a much clearer fit for Suarez, at least on paper. They’ve lost Brad Keller, Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Thielbar, and Andrew Kittredge from their bullpen this offseason. While they signed Phil Maton last month and Daniel Palencia remains a viable closing option, that’s still a lot of talent to lose from the late-inning relief mix. That makes it unsurprising that Chicago would be in the mix for a player like Suarez, although it’s worth noting that the Cubs have typically shied away from large multi-year commitments to relievers. Maton’s two-year deal is actually the first multi-year guarantee the team has signed a reliever to since Craig Kimbrel back in 2019, but a deal for Suarez would be on another level entirely; his annual salary would surely rival the $14.5MM total guarantee Maton landed.

The Mets and Blue Jays remain as perhaps the most obvious fits for the righty. While New York did bring Williams into the fold, they remained in on Diaz even after that signing. Now that Diaz has settled on Los Angeles, the Mets pivoting towards Suarez to strengthen the back of their bullpen is easy to understand, particularly after Williams delivered inconsistent results in the ninth inning as a member of the Yankees last year. The Jays, meanwhile, have long been known to be in the market for another high leverage reliever to pair with Jeff Hoffman in the late innings.

The number of quality closers on the market is dropping quickly, and if Toronto is hoping to add a high-end reliever with closing experience Suarez is undoubtedly the top option at this point. Keller and Tyler Rogers are alternative impact options still available who lack that ninth inning track record, while closers like Pete Fairbanks and Luke Weaver are still available but are coming off far less impressive seasons than the one Suarez just delivered in San Diego. The Marlins and White Sox are among the other teams known to be involved in the closing market this winter, though it would be a surprise to see either spend aggressively enough to land someone of Suarez’s caliber.

Shane Bieber Dealt With Forearm Fatigue Late In 2025 Season

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One of the winter’s earliest surprises was Shane Bieber’s decision to pick up a $16MM player option for the 2026 season rather than take a $4MM buyout and return to free agency. That choice was viewed as a head-scratcher around the league at the time, as the former Cy Young winner’s track record and the 3.66 ERA he posted in 59 innings between the regular season and playoffs with Toronto was likely enough to justify a solid multi-year deal.

A report this evening from The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon offers a bit more perspective on Bieber’s decision. Towards the end of the 2025 campaign, Bannon reports that Bieber was dealing with forearm fatigue. Bieber has since begun rehab work, and Bannon notes that Ross Atkins told reporters that the right-hander is “in a strong position.” While the Jays are currently taking things week-to-week with Bieber’s recovery process, Atkins noted that Bieber being ready to pitch on Opening Day remains “a very realistic outcome” though he stopped short of definitively saying Bieber would be part of the Opening Day roster.

That Bieber was dealing with a forearm issue just 13 appearances into his return from Tommy John surgery certainly seems to help explain his decision to exercise his 2026 player option. While there’s little doubt that Bieber could have beaten the $12MM he would’ve left on the table by declining the option in terms of overall guarantee, it’s plausible that teams would have been hesitant to commit a substantial average annual value to a pitcher coming off elbow surgery who was already rehabbing a fresh ailment. By sticking with Toronto this winter, Bieber gives himself the opportunity to rehab with the Blue Jays rather continuing his rehab as a free agent, and can now look to enter free agency next winter with what he’s surely hoping will be a full season of starts under his belt in 2026 to allay any concerns about the health of his arm going forward.

With Bieber’s status somewhat uncertain for Opening Day, it’s all the more understandable that the Blue Jays have been aggressive in adding to their rotation. Dylan Cease, Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Cody Ponce, and Jose Berrios figure to make up the club’s Opening Day rotation if Bieber were to start the year on the injured list, though the depth provided by players like Yariel Rodriguez, Bowden Francis, and Eric Lauer is strong enough that the Blue Jays seem to be considering the possibility of trading Berrios this winter. Cease, Gausman, and Bieber are all surely locked into rotation spots when healthy, and Yesavage showed more than enough down the stretch and into the playoffs to warrant first crack at a rotation job headed into 2026.

That would leave just one spot available for Ponce, Berrios, and the team’s depth options to compete for in Spring Training, and so it would hardly be a shock to see the Jays make a move that ships a rotation piece out at some point this winter. At the same time, however, Bannon reports that the Jays remain interested in adding starting pitching even after landing both Cease and Ponce in free agency earlier this winter. While the team is overflowing with rotation options, not all of them are especially reliable. In addition to questions surrounding Bieber’s health, Ponce’s return from the KBO league this year will come with inherent question marks.

Meanwhile, Berrios struggled in the second half and was relegated to the bullpen for October while Yesavage is a young arm who threw a career high in terms of innings this past year between the majors, minors, and postseason. It seems unlikely the team would look to add another high-end arm to the rotation given their needs in the bullpen and lineup, but perhaps additional depth to join players like Francis and Lauer as depth pieces would be valuable, especially in the event that Berrios is traded or Bieber opens the season on the injured list.

Latest On Alex Bregman’s Market

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While the relief market has moved quickly, there hasn’t been a ton of activity on the position player front. Kyle Schwarber’s return to Philadelphia on a five-year contract might open things up. Teams like the Orioles, Red Sox and Pirates were in on Schwarber amidst their pursuit of various free agent hitters.

Alex Bregman is unlikely to be a fit for Baltimore or Pittsburgh, but he’s certainly on the radar for Boston. Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe wrote this evening that the Red Sox are making Bregman a priority. The Sox enjoyed an excellent season from the three-time All-Star, who hit .273/.360/.462 with 18 homers across 495 trips to the plate. He’s also highly regarded as a clubhouse leader and could slot back in at third base, allowing the Sox to use Marcelo Mayer at second base.

[Related: The Best Fits For Alex Bregman]

Boston has been loosely linked to a number of marquee middle infielders as well. They’ve checked in on Ketel Marte and Brendan Donovan. A report tonight from Tim Healey of The Boston Globe suggested they’ve at least gauged the Rangers’ interest in moving Corey Seager, though WEEI’s Rob Bradford suggested those conversations haven’t gone anywhere. The Sox have had conversations with top free agent infielder Bo Bichette, but Julian McWilliams of CBS Sports downplayed that fit tonight as well. That all aligns with the idea that the Sox are more focused on Bregman or a pure power bat at first base (e.g. Pete Alonso).

In addition to Boston, Bregman has been tied to the Tigers and Cubs this winter. Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press wrote on Monday afternoon that Detroit’s interest had been fairly muted to this point compared to last offseason, when they are believed to have put forth the highest offer. The Tigers made a six-year proposal narrowly above $170MM a year ago. Bregman opted for a three-year deal with the Sox that allowed him to opt out and return to the market this winter.

Chicago reportedly made a four-year proposal in the $115MM range last offseason. They’re back in the market and met with Bregman via Zoom a few weeks ago, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. However, the Cubs’ interest is complicated by the presence of second-year third baseman Matt Shaw. After a slow start to his career, Shaw had a nice second half that tapped into some of the ability that made him a top prospect. The Cubs have Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson up the middle, so adding Bregman would make for a cluttered infield.

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer spoke generally about reports that have tied the Cubs to external third basemen. “I’ve been surprised by the number of media reports that link us to different guys. There is zero lack of confidence in Matt. I would say the opposite,” Hoyer said on Monday (link via Jesse Rogers of ESPN). He didn’t refute interest in Bregman specifically, nor are executives allowed to do so under the CBA for any free agent. The Cubs aren’t closing the door on adding a high-end bat to replace Kyle Tucker, but they appear more focused on pitching.

Theoretically, the Cubs could sign Bregman and use Shaw as a trade chip for a mid-rotation starter. That doesn’t seem to be a strong consideration. “When a team calls a player ‘untouchable,’ it’s because his value is so high that it’s just unrealistic to think that anyone else would come over the top and give you something that’s even more than that value. That’s where Matt Shaw comes into play for us,” general manager Carter Hawkins told Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. “Is he untouchable? No.  No one’s untouchable, but the odds of somebody coming in and giving us an offer that would make us want to move him is really, really low.”

If the Tigers and Cubs stay on the periphery of the market, that could open an opportunity for a dark horse suitor. The Angels and Mets are speculative possibilities. Meanwhile, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic wrote that the Blue Jays could keep an eye on Bregman as a fallback if they don’t come away with one of Tucker or Bichette. The Jays don’t need a third baseman, but both Addison Barger (corner outfield) and Ernie Clement (second base) could play other positions. Toronto’s general willingness to cast a wide net makes them a viable dark horse, though it’d be a surprise if they seriously jumped in on Bregman while Bichette and Tucker are still unsigned.

D-backs Rumors: Marte, Johnson, Front Office

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Even as general manager Mike Hazen continues to downplay the possibility of a trade, Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte is one of the most talked-about players around baseball’s Winter Meetings at the moment. Hazen has called a trade unlikely, stating that despite far more public chatter this offseason, the amount of interest he’s receiving in Marte is in line with the robust interest he’s received in past offseasons. Like most front office leaders around the sport, Hazen has said that it’s his job to at least hear out inquiring teams on virtually any player, Marte included.

Arizona’s asking price has been reported to be anywhere from high to exorbitant. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic adds more detail, reporting that one club who inquired with the Diamondbacks came away with the belief that it’d take an “established, well-regarded” starting pitcher and multiple additional pieces of value — presumably, controllable young big leaguers or nearly MLB-ready prospects.

While Marte has been connected to a litany of teams thus far, not all are in serious pursuit. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports that while the Blue Jays have checked in, their interest is more a case of due diligence than one of aggressively trying to make a deal happen. The starting point of an established young rotation piece would be hard for the Jays to include in their offer, Nicholson-Smith notes, and Trey Yesavage is really the only player on the roster who fits that role (and that would very likely be an understandable breaking point for the Jays). Similarly, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe suggests that while the Red Sox have looked into the possibility, Boston hasn’t been all that aggressive when discussing Marte with the D-backs.

Marte, 32, is owed $102.5MM over the next six seasons, though the sixth year on his contract is a player option valued at $11.5MM. That’s a hefty commitment but also less than he’d receive in free agency right now, coming off a .283/.368/.519 showing over the past three seasons (.283/.376/.517 in 2025). Moving Marte would, in theory, net the Diamondbacks an immediate rotation piece, multiple young players and $15MM in immediate payroll flexibility that could be used to help fortify the bullpen and/or infield corners (or, perhaps, to add even more rotation depth).

That said, the team is pursing those goals even while listening on its star infielder. Moving Marte, or shedding salary in general, isn’t any sort of prerequisite for the Diamondbacks to further round out the roster. RosterResource currently projects them for a $151MM payroll following yesterday’s $7.5MM deal with starting pitcher Michael Soroka. Owner Ken Kendrick has said payroll will decrease this season, but no firm number has been given. The D-backs are more than $35MM shy of last season’s Opening Day mark. There’s room to spend even if the budget will scale back.

The Soroka deal speaks to that, as do some of the team’s other pursuits. Arizona and right-hander Merrill Kelly reportedly have mutual interest in a reunion. The Snakes are reported to have interest in closer Pete Fairbanks. Just this morning, Piecoro reported that former Braves reliever Pierce Johnson is also of interest to the Diamondbacks.

Johnson, 35 in May, has spent the past two-plus seasons in Atlanta after going from the Rockies to the Braves at the 2023 trade deadline. He turned things around amid a brutal ’23 season following that swap, pitching to a 0.76 ERA down the stretch for his new club and earning himself a two-year, $14.25MM extension. Overall, Johnson totaled 139 innings and logged a tidy 2.91 earned run average during his time calling Truist Park home.

The Braves somewhat surprisingly declined a 2026 club option on Johnson, valued at $7MM, in favor of a $250K buyout. Given Johnson’s results in Atlanta and the modest (net) price tag of $6.75MM, there was a strong case to pick the option up.

Perhaps Atlanta was concerned about Johnson’s poor finish to the season. Nearly half the runs he allowed on the year came over the final month of play. From Aug. 25 onward, Johnson was rocked for nine runs on 19 hits and three walks. Four of those 19 knocks left the yard. His strikeout rate dropped nearly three percentage points, and his average fastball dipped by about 0.4 mph.

That could set the stage for Johnson to sign a one-year deal — or perhaps a two-year pact at a lighter AAV than the $7MM turned down by Atlanta. That sort of price point would work nicely for a D-backs club that’s trying to add multiple starters and multiple relievers in relatively affordable fashion. One move that won’t garner as many headlines but could still yield notable dividends to the team’s pitching hopes happened on the front office side of things earlier today, however.

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported this morning that Jeremy Bleich, the Pirates’ director of pitching development, is leaving the organization to join the Diamondbacks as an assistant general manager.

Bleich, 38, is a Stanford product whom the Yankees selected with the 44th overall pick back in 2008. He made one big league appearance on the mound with the 2018 Athletics but ended his playing career after the 2019 season. Bleich has been with the Pirates since 2020 and has played a role in helping to cultivate the organization’s enviable pipeline of young pitching talent. Paul Skenes was likely to develop into an ace wherever he landed, but the Bucs have had a high conversion rate on second- and third-round picks like Braxton Ashcraft, Jared Jones, Bubba Chandler and Hunter Barco, among others, and have seen lower picks (e.g. 11th-rounder Mike Burrows) develop into quality big league contributors. The Diamondbacks, conversely, have struggled to finish the development of their top pitching prospects in recent seasons.

Diamondbacks prospects who’ve ranked among the top of their system but have yet to pan out in the majors in recent years include Brandon Pfaadt, Bryce Jarvis, Blake Walston, Corbin Martin and Drey Jameson, to name a few. Since 2019, Ryne Nelson is the only pitcher the D-backs have drafted and received even three total WAR from in the majors. Bleich obviously can’t be solely credited with the Pirates’ success in pitcher development, but it’s not at all surprising to see the Snakes pry a prominent name in pitching development away from a rival club as they look to improve their fortunes moving forward.

Blue Jays Interested In Robert Suarez

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The Blue Jays are known to be looking for bullpen upgrades and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that free agent Robert Suarez is a guy they have shown some interest in, though Nicholson-Smith suggests the interest may be preliminary. Suarez has also been connected to the Mets and Dodgers this offseason.

The relief market has been the fastest-moving segment of free agency so far in this offseason. Devin Williams, Emilio Pagán, Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, Raisel Iglesias and others have already come off the board. There are still some notable names still out there, including Suarez, Edwin Díaz and Pete Fairbanks.

The Blue Jays have been one of the most active teams so far this winter, having added Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce to their rotation via notable free agent deals. They have also been on the hunt for notable bullpen upgrades. Jeff Hoffman was the closer in 2025 but he posted a 4.37 earned run average and is apparently willing to be bumped into a setup role. The Jays were previously connected to the now-signed Helsley, Maton and Iglesias, in addition to being linked to Díaz and Fairbanks.

Suarez would also be a logical target for Toronto. He has been San Diego’s closer for the past two years. In 2024, he notched 36 saves while posting a 2.77 ERA. His 22.9% strikeout rate was only around average but he showed good control with a 6.2% walk rate. In 2025, he took his game to another level. His 2.97 ERA was technically a slight increase over the previous season but his walk rate dropped to 5.9% and his strikeout rate spiked up to 27.9% as he saved 40 contests for the Padres.

Despite the strong results, Suarez will have his earning power limited by his age. He has only been in the big leagues for four years but that’s because he broke out in Japan before coming over to join the Padres for the 2022 season. He’s now 34 years old and will turn 35 in March.

MLBTR predicted Suarez for a three-year, $48MM deal at the beginning of the season. Even getting to three years would require Suarez to break recent precedent. The last time a reliever got a three-year deal beginning at age-35 or later was Will Harris. His $24MM guarantee was half of what MLBTR predicted for Suarez. Mariano Rivera’s deal in 2007 was the last time a pitcher this age or older got three years with an average annual value more than $8MM.

Time will tell what kind of deal Suarez can earn and if the Jays are strongly involved. Though they have been connected to various relief targets, Toronto’s splashes thus far have been on the rotation side. Next up could be the lineup, as they have been frequently connected to both Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker, the top free agent position players available.

Nicholson-Smith also suggests the Jays might still be looking for more rotation depth, but on a lesser scale than their previous moves. At present, the Jays have an on-paper rotation consisting of Cease, Ponce, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and José Berríos. They also have guys like Eric Lauer, Ricky Tiedemann and Bowden Francis in the mix. Now that Yariel Rodríguez has been outrighted off the 40-man, it’s possible that he could get stretched out in the minors, since he was a starter in 2024.

That’s a lot of depth already but injuries are inevitable and the cliché about never having enough pitching exists for good reasons. It’s also possible that the Toronto rotation picture changes over the winter. There have been trade rumors around Berríos since the Cease and Ponce signings. Moving him would subtract from the depth but could perhaps free up some payroll space to for other pursuits.

A similar path could be taken with Rodríguez, though his remaining guarantee is far less than that of Berríos. Rodríguez is guaranteed $17MM over the next three seasons whereas Berríos is still owed $66MM over the same time period, with an opt-out after 2026. Moving Berríos would therefore open more spending capacity for the Jays but the Rodríguez deal may be easier to move.

RosterResource projects the Jays to spend $268MM on next year’s squad. That’s already above the $258MM figure they had at the end of 2025. It’s unclear how much more room they have but it seems their deep postseason run this year will lead to a bit of extra spending.

Photo courtesy of Denis Poroy, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Outright Yariel Rodriguez

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blue Jays Interested In Kazuma Okamoto

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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