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The Opener: GM Meetings, Shildt, Trade Market

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As the offseason continues to get underway, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. GM Meetings continue:

The annual GM Meetings are currently underway in San Antonio, Texas, with top decision-makers around the baseball world having gathered to open negotiations as hot stove season gets underway. While these meetings are far less active than the Winter Meetings in December, they nonetheless offer important clues as to the direction each franchise plans to move in for the coming offseason. Today, in particular, figures to be significant as Chandler Rome of The Athletic noted yesterday that agent Scott Boras is set to make his annual address to reporters regarding the state of the game and the coming offseason. One of the most powerful agents in the sport, Boras represents a number of the winter’s top free agents including Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman, and Blake Snell.

2. Padres, Shildt nearing deal:

It was reported yesterday evening that the Padres are finalizing an extension for manager Mike Shildt. The possibility of San Diego looking to lock up their manager longer-term has been on the table for some time now, but the sides have clearly made progress on the deal and it could be officially announced in the near future. Shildt spent four years at the helm of the Cardinals and won NL Manager of the Year in 2019. 2024 was his first season with the Padres after Bob Melvin departed to manage in San Francisco, and it hardly could have gone better for the club as he led San Diego to a 93-69 record and a win in the NL Wild Card series over the Braves, though they eventually fell in five games to the Dodgers during the NLDS.

3. Big names coming off the trade market?

As fans around the league begin speculating about their team’s plans for the coming offseason, many focus on the possibility of finding a star on the trade market rather than paying the hefty prices to be seen in free agency. Such a maneuver might be difficult to pull off this winter, however, as even teams that weren’t competitive in 2024 seem reluctant to part ways with their stars. Yesterday saw both the Athletics and Blue Jays throw cold water on the possibility of trading a frequently speculated upon star (Brent Rooker and Bo Bichette, respectively). Those comments from Toronto also notably come after frequent indications in recent months that the club has no interest in dealing away first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. With so many offensive talents thought to be possible trade candidates now seemingly off the board, will other surprise hitters reach the trade market or will teams have to settle for improving on offense through free agency?

Cubs Expected To Pursue Help Near Top Of Rotation, Back Of Bullpen

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The Cubs are expected to be aggressive in their search for upgrades near the top of the rotation and in their late-inning relief corps, reports Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Chicago was already expected to be in the market for catching upgrades this winter.

Improvements on the pitching staff have long stood as a fairly logical pursuit for the Chicago front office. The lineup was largely set even before Cody Bellinger passed on his opt-out opportunity. The Cubs have Michael Busch at first base, Nico Hoerner at second, Dansby Swanson at short and Isaac Paredes at the hot corner. The outfield/DH mix contains Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki and now Bellinger. Each of Happ, Suzuki and Swanson have no-trade provisions.

Hoerner was speculated by many — MLBTR included — to be a possible trade candidate as a result of this inflexibility on the trade front, but his recent forearm surgery makes a deal quite unlikely. The Cubs aren’t likely to add a long-term replacement.  Mooney suggests that top prospect Matt Shaw or an in-house alternative like James Triantos could bridge that gap. Hoyer told Mooney and others at the ongoing GM Meetings that there’s no timeline for Hoerner’s return just yet, but the team expects a “full recovery.” On paper, there’s a path to moving Bellinger and the remaining two years on his contract, but to this point there’s been no indication the Cubs will consider that this winter.

As such, an upgrade behind the plate seems like the clearest path to bolstering the lineup, while an upgrade on the pitching side of things is the most obvious path to improving the club overall. As it stands, the Cubs could be as much as $50MM shy of their 2024 payroll levels — a number that could push closer to $60MM if they opt to further subtract some arbitration-eligible players via non-tender or trade. Trey Wingenter, Julian Merryweather, Adbert Alzolay, Patrick Wisdom and Nick Madrigal are among the options who fit that billing after several arb-eligible Cubs were already cut loose yesterday.

That leaves the Cubs with significant financial firepower at their disposal, assuming ownership authorizes a payroll at least in line with last year’s rough $235MM mark (per RosterResource). President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer (or perhaps owner Tom Ricketts) has typically preferred not to invest money in lengthy deals for relievers. The last multi-year deal for any reliever from the Cubs was in 2019 when they signed Craig Kimbrel to a three-year, $43MM pact. If that trend holds up, it’ll only point all the more significantly toward a potential splash in the deep end of the free agent pool for starting pitchers.

As it stands, the Cubs have Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon and likely Javier Assad locked into starting spots. Candidates for the fifth spot in the rotation include Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks, Hayden Wesneski, Caleb Kilian and top prospect Cade Horton. All have minor league options remaining, and any of the bunch could end up a bullpen option. Brown and particularly Wesneski both got looks in relief last year. Assad has had success as a reliever in 2023.

The top end of the free-agent pool includes Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Max Fried and Jack Flaherty. All four were predicted for nine-figure guarantees on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agent rankings. Of the four, both Burnes and Fried received and will reject a qualifying offer. Ricketts confirmed in October that the Cubs narrowly crossed the luxury tax threshold in 2024, meaning they’d need to surrender their second- and fifth-highest selections in the 2025 draft as well as $1MM of space from their 2025 international bonus pool in order to sign Burnes, Fried, Sean Manaea, Luis Severino or any of the free agents who received a qualifying offer. (It’d have been “only” their second-highest pick and $500K of pool space had they successfully dipped under the line.) The qualifying offer historically hasn’t been a dealbreaker for the Hoyer-led Cubs. They signed Swanson after he rejected the Braves’ QO in the 2022-23 offseason.

And, to be clear, the mere fact that the Cubs haven’t given out a multi-year deal to a reliever under Hoyer doesn’t mean that they won’t consider doing so this winter. Prior to last offseason, the Cubs had typically spent $5MM or less on free-agent relief pitchers. They nearly doubled that sum when signing Hector Neris. The deal didn’t work out, of course, but Hoyer has already begun to deviate a bit from the bargain-bin approach to building out a bullpen. That’s a far cry from declaring they’re in in top relievers like Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estevez and others, but a step up in their aggression toward pursuing relief help shouldn’t be ruled out.

If the Cubs are indeed intent on sticking to the one-year bucket in free agency, there’s no shortage of older but still high-quality leverage options from which to choose. Each of Kirby Yates, Kenley Jansen, Blake Treinen and old friend David Robertson is a free agent this winter. They’ll all pitch next year at 37 or older, making them likely one-year deal candidates. Any of the bunch could (and likely will) command an eight-figure salary, but the Cubs already came close to that level in signing Neris and could be further emboldened to pursue a solidified ninth-inning option after last year’s bullpen again proved shaky, tying for eighth in the majors with 26 blown saves.

Astros Notes: Bregman, Dezenzo, McCormick

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The Astros have made no secret about their hope of retaining Alex Bregman. General manager Dana Brown reiterated that optimism when speaking with reporters at the GM Meetings this afternoon.

“Our biggest priority is third base, without a doubt. We’d love to have Alex Bregman back. It’s our biggest priority,” Brown said (links via Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle and Chandler Rome of the Athletic). The GM added that the Astros have had “productive conversations” with the Boras Corporation, though he didn’t elaborate on the status of talks or specify whether the team has actually made an offer. ESPN’s Alden González wrote in early October that Houston was preparing to do so in the near future.

The Astros don’t have many options to step in at third base if Bregman walks. Re-signing him will almost certainly require the biggest investment in franchise history, though, which casts real doubt about whether they’ll be able to get anything done. Brown himself acknowledged a few weeks ago that the team may need to be “creative” in managing payroll. The Astros haven’t gone beyond six years under owner Jim Crane. Bregman would probably require breaking that precedent. MLBTR predicted a seven-year, $182MM deal in ranking him as the offseason’s #3 free agent.

Brown suggested the Astros were open to going beyond six years in the right circumstances, though it’s clear the organization tends to shy away from those contracts. “I don’t think we’re going to be in the business of giving multiple seven-year deals or multiple eight-year deals. But if there’s an opportunity to sign a guy that we feel is going to be good for six or seven years, I think Jim would do it,” the GM said.

Houston faces questions in the opposite corner infield spot. First base was an issue all season. The Astros pulled the plug on the ill-fated José Abreu deal a few months into the year, but Jon Singleton didn’t perform well either. Brown acknowledged the team needed better production at that spot. It’s unclear whether they’re willing to go back into free agency for someone like Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt or Anthony Rizzo as they remain on the hook for the final season of the Abreu deal.

Brown pointed to Zach Dezenzo as a potential internal option. The 24-year-old hit well in a small sample in Triple-A. That didn’t translate in an even briefer MLB look. Dezenzo slumped to a .242/.277/.371 slash over his first 19 MLB contests. He’s a career .295/.377/.499 hitter over parts of three seasons in the minors. Dezenzo has experience at both corner infield spots and could factor into the third base mix if Bregman walks, though he’s probably a better defensive fit at first.

Turning to the outfield, Brown indicated the Astros planned to tender an arbitration contract to Chas McCormick (X link with video from Ari Alexander of KPRC 2). The right-handed hitter had a rough season, hitting .211/.271/.306 in 94 games. McCormick had posted very strong numbers through his first three big league campaigns, so it’s not much of a surprise that Houston plans to bring him back on a relatively modest salary. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $3.3MM sum. Brown added that the Astros could look for a left-handed hitting outfielder to potentially spell McCormick (and presumably Jake Meyers) against righty pitching.

Royals Could Listen On Kris Bubic, Alec Marsh In Search For Offense

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The Royals already knocked out one key bit of offseason business, re-signing Michael Wacha to a $51MM deal just before the veteran starter could discuss contracts with other teams. It seems they’ll now turn their attention to deepening a top-heavy lineup.

Will Sammon and Katie Woo of the Athletic write that the Royals are looking for ways to improve their on-base skills, particularly out of the leadoff spot. To that end, Sammon and Woo report that Kansas City may entertain trade offers on Kris Bubic or Alec Marsh if they can net lineup help.

The Kansas City offense was almost entirely dependent on Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez this year. They were the only Royals players to reach 20 homers. Of the nine K.C. hitters with 300+ plate appearances, four had better than average seasons by measure of wRC+. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and second baseman Michael Massey only narrowly checked in above average, hitting for power but with middling on-base marks.

Finding a reliable table-setter in front of Witt and Perez was a huge challenge. Kansas City gave Maikel Garcia the majority of the playing time atop the lineup. Garcia stole 27 bases but provided very little at the plate. Royals leadoff men had a putrid .228/.270/.334 batting line overall. No team had a lower OBP out of the top spot, while only the White Sox got less slugging output. That left Witt to take a lot of at-bats with the bases empty. K.C.’s franchise shortstop ranked eighth in MLB in plate appearances with no one on base. The seven players ahead of him were all primarily leadoff hitters (thereby guaranteed to take at least one at-bat with the bases empty every game).

While a free agent pursuit of someone like Jurickson Profar or Gleyber Torres would address the leadoff spot, the Royals could do so more affordably by dealing from their pitching depth. Kansas City has an excellent front four in their rotation. Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo project as an elite 1-2 tandem. Wacha is back to resume his role as a quality third starter, while righty Brady Singer is a mid-rotation arm in his own right. The fifth spot is a little less established.

Marsh held that role for the bulk of the ’24 season. The Arizona State product started 25 times and tossed 129 innings of 4.53 ERA ball. He struck out 22.4% of opponents against a solid 7.1% walk rate. While it wasn’t a dominant showing, Marsh had serviceable numbers for a fifth starter. The Royals nudged him out of the rotation when they acquired Michael Lorenzen at the deadline. With Lorenzen returning to free agency, Marsh could be the in-house favorite for that job again.

He’ll have competition from former Brave Kyle Wright. Kansas City acquired the right-hander last offseason, weeks after Atlanta announced that the former fifth overall pick underwent shoulder surgery. The Royals stashed him on the injured list all year with an eye towards a 2025 return. While it’s difficult to bank on a pitcher who has missed the majority of the last two seasons to injury, Wright posted a 3.19 ERA over 30 starts in 2022. The Royals are surely interested to see how his stuff looks in Spring Training. That could increase their willingness to deal Marsh.

Bubic could be in the mix for the fifth starter role as well, but he spent this past season in the bullpen. The Stanford product underwent Tommy John surgery in April ’23. He was sidelined into the beginning of July this year. The Royals used him in relief when he returned. That helped an underperforming bullpen while limiting his workload in his first season back.

The move was a success. Bubic posted excellent numbers over 30 1/3 innings, turning in a 2.67 earned run average while punching out more than 32% of opponents. He got swinging strikes at a huge 14.8% clip while averaging a personal-high 93 MPH on his fastball in short stints. That’s much better than the 4.99 ERA he owns across 60 career starts, although he flashed better velocity and swing-and-miss acumen in a small sample in ’23 before going under the knife.

Kansas City’s bullpen remains a weak point. The Royals could prefer to keep Bubic as a potential leverage piece. There’d be plenty of teams interested in plugging him into their bullpens, while there are presumably clubs that still view him as a rotation target.

Bubic is under arbitration control for two more seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $2.8MM salary. Marsh doesn’t have the same upside but comes with a much longer contractual window. He just surpassed one year of service and is controllable through 2029. He won’t get to arbitration for another two seasons and should have appeal for teams seeking an affordable fifth or sixth starter.

Jays GM: Bichette Trade “An Easy No”

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The Blue Jays have no interest in rebuilding after this year’s last place finish. Toronto made that clear by only dealing rentals or role players (i.e. Isiah Kiner-Falefa) at the deadline. As part of that renewed effort to contend, general manager Ross Atkins shot down the possibility of a Bo Bichette trade.

Asked by MLB Network’s Jon Morosi how he’d respond to inquiries from other teams on Bichette, Atkins replied that it’d be “an easy no” on the Jays’ end (X link). The GM has downplayed the possibility of moving his shortstop or infield mate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a few occasions in recent months.

It’s a logical stance for the team. While Bichette is entering the final year of his contract, a trade this winter would be selling at the low point of his value. The two-time All-Star is coming off a terrible season. He hit .225/.277/.322 over 336 plate appearances. Bichette had three injured list stints and underwent postseason surgery to address a fractured right middle finger. The Jays will hope for a return to the form he showed between 2019-23, when he was among the best shortstops in baseball.

Bichette is under contract for $16.5MM next year. It’s the final season of the three-year deal that he signed to buy out his arbitration window. A rebound would position him to cash in as a free agent when he enters his age-28 campaign. He and Guerrero are both on track for free agency next winter. It looks highly unlikely the Jays will keep both players for the long term.

As they try to turn things around in 2025, the Jays will pencil Bichette back in at shortstop. They’ll need to make other moves to improve after a 74-88 showing. Upgrading a bullpen that ranked 29th in MLB with a 4.82 ERA is the most obvious target area. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith writes that the Jays are also going to be involved in the starting pitching market.

Toronto projects for a starting five of Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, José Berríos, Bowden Francis and Yariel Rodríguez. Right-hander Jake Bloss, acquired from the Astros in the Yusei Kikuchi deadline deal, might be the top depth option. It’s not a bad group, but Rodríguez and Francis haven’t pitched full seasons as starters. Adding a more established starter could have a trickle-down impact on the ’pen, as Rodríguez worked in both capacities and could excel in a multi-inning relief role if the Jays added to their rotation.

On the position player side, the outfield stands as the biggest question. Toronto doesn’t have a clear starter in left field. George Springer is penciled in as the top option in right field, but he’s coming off a middling year at age 35. Daulton Varsho is ticketed for the lion’s share of playing time in center field. They’ll probably need a short-term stopgap with Varsho recovering from September rotator cuff surgery. Atkins told MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian and Keegan Matheson (X link) that the Jays don’t expect Varsho to be ready for Opening Day, though it doesn’t sound as if he should be sidelined too far into the season.

Atkins indicated the Jays aren’t likely to make a big move behind the plate, telling Bastian and Matheson that adding a catcher is “not a priority” (X link). Toronto is set to give the bulk of playing time to Alejandro Kirk. They reacquired Tyler Heineman via late-season waiver claim to serve as Kirk’s backup.

It does seem they’re open to adding at either second or third base, however. Nicholson-Smith reports that the Jays have shown early interest in the top free agent second baseman, Gleyber Torres. The Yankees allowed Torres to hit the market without a qualifying offer, so a signing team will not forfeit draft compensation. There’s a wide range of free agent outcomes for Torres, who hits free agency coming off a relative down year. Most of that can be traced to a dismal April, as he hit well from May onward and continued to produce during New York’s pennant run. He has a case for three or potentially four years going into his age-28 season, but the infielder could prefer a shorter-term arrangement to get back to free agency after a better overall walk year.

Toronto has a collection of internal second base options, none of whom has a ton of MLB experience. Will Wagner is probably the internal favorite after impressing in 24 games to close his rookie season. Leo Jiménez, Davis Schneider and Ernie Clement could also vie for playing time. Torres brings a higher floor than that group. Atkins and his staff will weigh whether they want to allocate significant resources to the keystone when they have so many other areas to address over the next few weeks.

Orioles To Name Cody Asche Hitting Coach

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The Orioles plan to name Cody Asche hitting coach, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (X links). Kubatko also reported earlier today that Baltimore was hiring Tommy Joseph away from the Mariners as an assistant hitting coach.

Baltimore parted ways with former hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte at the end of the season. Borgschulte landed with the Twins as their top hitting instructor last month. Kubatko reports (on X) today that Fuller is headed to the White Sox as director of hitting.

Asche will take a larger role in their stead. The O’s hired the former big league third baseman/outfielder as offensive strategy coach during the 2022-23 offseason. Asche had something of a de facto third hitting coach job in that capacity for two years. The O’s now seem content to turn the lead job over to the 34-year-old.

Most of Asche’s five-year playing career came as a member of the Phillies. The left-handed hitter played in Philadelphia between 2013-16. The final of those seasons overlapped with Joseph, a former first baseman who played 249 games for the Phils between 2016-17. Joseph made the transition to coaching in 2021. He spent a trio of seasons working with minor league hitters before joining Seattle’s staff as an assistant hitting coach. The Mariners shook up their hitting staff a couple times last season but kept Joseph in the fold all year. He’ll move on after one season to work with his former teammate in Baltimore.

Baltimore also has a bench coach vacancy after parting with Fredi González at the end of the year. The O’s haven’t settled on a replacement, but one notable name is connected to the job. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reports that the Orioles have interest in David Ross for the position, though he cautions that it’s unclear if that interest is mutual.

Last winter, Ross rebuffed interest from the Yankees regarding their bench coach job. That came within a week of his surprise firing as Cubs manager when Chicago jumped on the chance to hire Craig Counsell. Ross seemingly didn’t have any desire to take a non-managerial coaching job at the time. It isn’t known if that has changed, though he has close ties to Baltimore skipper Brandon Hyde. The O’s manager was on the Cubs’ coaching staff while Ross played for Chicago in 2015-16.

Braves Interested In Nathan Eovaldi

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The offseason is getting ramped up and Atlanta seems to be focused on adding to its rotation. Per Mark Bowman of MLB.com, right-hander Nathan Eovaldi ranks near the top of the club’s offseason wish list.

Eovaldi, 35 in February, just declined his player option with the Rangers. He could have stayed in Texas for 2025 and made a $20MM salary but decided to head to the open market and assess his options. MLBTR recently predicted the veteran could land a guarantee of $44MM on a two-year deal as part of our annual Top 50 Free Agents list.

The righty is arguably the poster child for career success after a second Tommy John surgery. After returning from that operation, he struggled a bit in 2019 but has been quite consistent over the past five years. He has a 3.75 earned run average over those campaigns, striking out 24% of batters faced, limiting walks to a 5.6% rate and getting grounders at a 46.9% clip. His ERA finished between 3.63 and 3.87 in all five of those seasons with his other rate stats holding quite steady as well.

For Atlanta, starting pitching is a sensible target area. They just lost both Max Fried and Charlie Morton to free agency, opening two holes in the starting pitching mix. That leaves them with a core of Chris Sale, Reynaldo López and Spencer Schwellenbach but with question marks behind that threesome.

Spencer Strider will eventually be in the mix but will likely miss at least part of the season after undergoing internal brace surgery in April of last year. Griffin Canning was just acquired in the Jorge Soler deal but he is coming off a rough season in which he posted a 5.19 earned run average and his strikeout rate fell to 17.6% after being at 25.9% the year prior.

Ian Anderson is on the roster but hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2022 due to poor performance and Tommy John surgery. The club also has guys like Huascar Ynoa, AJ Smith-Shawver, Hurston Waldrep, Bryce Elder and a few others, though no one in that group did much to impress in 2024.

Given that rotation picture, pursuing external additions makes plenty of sense, though the budget with naturally be a consideration. RosterResource projects the club for a $215MM payroll next year, just $20MM shy of 2024’s spending.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos has said the payroll will rise but it’s unclear by how much and there have been some recent signs that money could be tight. The aforementioned Soler deal did bring back Canning but was seen mostly as a salary dump. A few days ago, the club reworked the contracts of both López and lefty Aaron Bummer, in both cases shifting a few million bucks from the 2025 ledger to 2026. The club turned down a club option on Travis d’Arnaud even though Anthopoulos had previously suggested they would be picking that up to bring the catcher back for 2025.

The long-term books have plenty on them as well, thanks to the club’s penchant for signing incumbent players to extensions. Each of Strider, López, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Ronald Acuña Jr., Sean Murphy, Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies are likely to be on the books through 2027, either due to guaranteed contracts or club options.

In addition to the club’s finances, there is also the track record to consider. Though they have been connected to some prominent free agents over the years, that hasn’t been their modus operandi. Per MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the largest guarantee they’ve even given a free agent is the $75.3MM they gave to Melvin Upton Jr. way back in 2012. Ozuna’s $65MM deal is their top free agent deal from more recent seasons. Their largest deal for a free agent starting pitcher was $60MM for Derek Lowe back in 2009 while $18MM for Cole Hamels is the biggest of the past five years.

Taking all that into consideration, Eovaldi is a logical target for the club. He’s been quite effective on the mound but his age and injury history will put a natural cap on his earning power. While pitchers like Fried, Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and Jack Flaherty could require nine-figure commitments, Eovaldi will be in a different tier of free agency. Though Atlanta seems to have targeted Eovaldi, free agent starters who could command similar contracts include Yusei Kikuchi, Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, Nick Martinez, Nick Pivetta, Matthew Boyd, Andrew Heaney, Frankie Montas and others.

Shohei Ohtani Undergoes Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery, Expected To Be Ready For Spring Training

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The Dodgers announced today that Shohei Ohtani underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a labrum tear in his left shoulder that resulted from a dislocation. The club added that the two-way star is expected to be ready for spring training.

Ohtani was clearly hurt in game two of the World Series. He attempted to steal second base, sliding into the bag and wincing in pain afterwards. He left the field with the trainer though technically wasn’t replaced, as he was the designated hitter and his spot in the lineup didn’t come up again.

After the game, manager Dave Roberts said that Ohtani had suffered a “little” shoulder subluxation, or dislocation. After a day off between the second and third game of the series, Ohtani was back in the lineup but collected just one hit in the final three games of the series. Even the best hitters in the world can have a few rough games but perhaps the injury was lingering more than the club let on initially. Roberts implied as much after the series was done, per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post on X. Whatever Ohtani’s status was during those games, it’s now clear that his labrum was torn and arthroscopic surgery was necessary.

Though the injury is to Ohtani’s non-throwing arm and he is expected to recover by spring training, it could add another bit of uncertainty heading into 2025. It’s not uncommon for injury recoveries to eventually surge past estimated timelines and this isn’t the only thing Ohtani will be working back from. He underwent UCL surgery late in 2023 and didn’t pitch at all in 2024.

Though he was limited to a designated hitter role in 2024, he still had an elite season. He hit 54 home runs and stole 59 bases, producing a .310/.390/.646 slash line and 181 wRC+ in the process. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series and Ohtani seems like a lock to earn another Most Valuable Player award soon.

Heading into 2025, Ohtani will be trying to get both his right elbow and left shoulder in game shape as he looks to return to being a two-way player. His mound work was probably going be limited anyway after missing an entire season. Whether this new operation adds further limitations or impacts his availability as a hitter remains to be seen. Ohtani has generally shown that it’s best not to doubt his abilities but his unprecedented career means he is always stepping into unknown territory, in a sense, since no player has ever managed his kind of double workload over an extended period of time before.

Depending on how the situation develops, it could impact the offseason for the Dodgers. They have plenty of talented arms in their theoretical 2025 rotation, including Ohtani but also Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Landon Knack, Ben Casparius and others. Clayton Kershaw will presumably be re-signed at some point. However, most of those guys have workload or health concerns, so the club could consider offseason additions even though there’s a large number of names in it. The free agent market features Jack Flaherty, Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and dozens of others, while the trade market could potentially have Garrett Crochet leading the pack.

Rangers Hire Skip Schumaker As Senior Advisor; Expected To Hire Luis Urueta As Bench Coach

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5:35pm: In a column at the Dallas Morning News, Grant reports that the plan would be for Ecker to focus on hitting while Urueta takes over the bench coach job.

4:55pm: The Rangers have hired former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker as a senior advisor to president of baseball operations Chris Young, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News on X. Grant adds that Luis Urueta, who was bench coach during Schumaker’s tenure in Miami, is expected to take up that job with the Rangers.

It’s unclear how this will impact Donnie Ecker, as he has been the bench coach in Texas and there’s been nothing to indicate he’s leaving the club.  Will Venable was just hired to manage the White Sox after previously being associate manager of the Rangers, so perhaps Urueta will take over some of Venable’s duties with Ecker’s title changing.

Schumaker was hired to manage the Marlins ahead of the 2023 season. His first campaign at the helm was a successful one, as the Fish defied the odds to go 84-78 and squeak into the postseason, their first appearance in the playoffs in a full season in 20 years. Schumaker earned National League Manager of the Year honors on the heels of that.

Despite the cinderella season, the Marlins decided to shake up their front office afterwards, parting ways with general manager Kim Ng and hiring Peter Bendix as president of baseball operations. Schumaker was reportedly displeased with the shift in direction, which led the Marlins to void their 2025 club option with him.

That reporting came out in April and it was expected all throughout the 2024 campaign that he would leave Miami, which is what eventually came to pass. He was speculated as a managerial fit for other clubs and did eventually get consideration for openings once the offseason rolled around. Two clubs other than the Marlins had dugout vacancies this winter, the Reds and the White Sox. Schumaker was connected to both gigs but the Reds went with Terry Francona and the Sox with Venable.

Perhaps Schumaker will return to being a skipper someday, but he will join the Rangers organization for now. It’s unclear if this is part of some long-term pivot away from the dugout to the front office or perhaps just a placeholder job. If Schumaker intends to manage again in the future, this job is perhaps a more attractive alternative than just sitting on his hands for a year. He can share some of his expertise with the Rangers while absorbing some of theirs and perhaps be ready to pursue managerial jobs next winter.

It’s also possible that his next managerial opening could be in Arlington. Many people considered Venable to be a sort of manager-in-waiting since current skipper Bruce Bochy is turning 70 years old in April. Venable has now moved on but the club will naturally want to be prepared for the possibility of Bochy deciding to retire. If that comes to pass in the next year or two, perhaps Schumaker can simply slide into that role, already being familiar with some of the inner workings of the organization.

As for Urueta, he spent the past two years working under Schumaker in Miami. It was reported last month that the Marlins would not be retaining any of their coaching staff, presumably letting Schumaker’s eventual replacement have some say over how their next staff would be composed. Urueta got some consideration for the managerial gig in Miami, which is still open, but it now seems he will be heading to Texas with Schumaker.

As mentioned, the Rangers have had both Ecker and Venable on the coaching staff in recent years. Ecker was hired as bench coach and offensive coordinator going into 2022 and Venable was hired as associate manager going into 2023. With Venable leaving and Urueta coming in as bench coach, it’s unclear how this will impact Ecker. Perhaps Ecker could shift into Venable’s role, though that’s mere speculation at this point. More details will surely emerge in the days to come.

A’s GM: “We’re Going To Keep [Brent Rooker]”

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Athletics slugger Brent Rooker was one of the most sought-after candidates on the summer trade market, but the A’s were reluctant to move him then and are similarly unwilling to move him now. General manager David Forst candidly told Jon Heyman of the New York Post at today’s GM Meetings (X link): “We’re going to keep [Rooker].”

Skeptics will crack wise that this only means Rooker is even likelier to be traded, but that’s quite likely not the case. Baseball executives rarely make such definitive declarations about a player’s trade candidacy (or lack thereof) on the record. The overwhelming majority of the time they do so, the player indeed stays put. The most famous recent exception is back in 2022, when Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said in June that he would not trade Juan Soto but then did so the following month; however, even then, Rizzo only did so after Soto rejected a reported 15-year extension offer worth more than $400MM guaranteed.

Teams could still try to pry Rooker away from the A’s, but today’s frank comments from Forst all but rule out the possibility this winter. Perhaps next July or next offseason the club will reconsider, but the A’s control Rooker for an additional three seasons. They’re likely headed to West Sacramento to kick off a new era for A’s baseball, ahead of their planned move to Las Vegas in 2028. It stands to reason that the A’s will want some recognizable talent on the roster as they aim to appeal to fans in their temporary home market, sell merchandise, etc.

Rooker, who turned 30 last week, has gone from waiver fodder to one of the sport’s premier sluggers since landing with the Athletics. The Twins selected him with the 35th overall pick in 2017, gave him his MLB debut in 2020, and ultimately traded him to the Padres alongside Taylor Rogers in the deal that brought Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan and prospect Brayan Medina back to Minnesota. San Diego only held Rooker for a bit more than three months, giving him just seven big league plate appearances before trading him to the Royals in exchange for backup catcher Cam Gallagher. Kansas City waived him less than three months later.

The A’s placed a claim, and it proved to be perhaps the best waiver claim in recent memory. Rooker, always touted for his plus power but panned for strikeouts and defensive limitations, broke out with a .246/.329/.488 slash and 30 homers in an uneven 2023 campaign. He was brilliant in April, July and September but struggled in the interim months that season.

Rooker’s 2024 campaign, however, left little doubt about the sustainability of his breakout. He was a plus hitter in every month of the season and finished out the year with a superlative .293/.365/.562 batting line and 39 home runs. Only four players — Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Anthony Santander and Juan Soto — hit more home runs than Rooker this past season. By measure of wRC+, he was the seventh-best qualified hitter in MLB, trailing only Judge, Ohtani, Soto, Bobby Witt Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Yordan Alvarez.

Rooker is hitting arbitration for the first time in his career. Because of his limited track record prior to landing with the A’s, he’s projected for a reasonable $5.1MM salary by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. With another season like the one he just enjoyed, that sum could more than double in the 2025-26 offseason. If he can sustain this for two more years, Rooker could well be sporting a salary in the $15-20MM range during his final year of arbitration. Suffice it to say, that opens the door for potential trade scenarios down the road, but it seems that Rooker will stay put for the time being.

The A’s don’t have a single dollar committed to the 2025 payroll. Rooker is one of four arbitration-eligible players, and the others — Seth Brown, Miguel Andujar and Dany Jimenez — are all potential non-tender/trade candidates. Rooker, along with outfielders JJ Bleday and Lawrence Butler, slugging catcher Shea Langeliers and rebound candidate Zack Gelof, comprises a potential lineup core for the A’s next season. With nothing guaranteed on next year’s books, the A’s are likely to add some money via free agency and/or trade in the next few months, as they’ll need to invest in the roster to an extent in order to retain their status as a revenue sharing recipient. It’s a low bar to clear, but the A’s did finish the ’24 season with an approximately $63MM payroll, per RosterResource, so they’ll need to make some additions alongside Rooker, given the dearth of any other meaningful financial commitments on the roster.

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