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Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Dodgers

By | at March 7, 2026 8:24am CDT

The reigning champions weren’t the busiest team this winter but the moves they made were impactful and addressed their relative weak spots. They go into 2026 looking for the elusive three-peat, something not seen in MLB since the 1998-2000 Yankees.

Major League Signings

2026 spending (not including Ibáñez): $90MM
Total spending (not including Ibáñez): $325.5MM

Trades and Claims

Option Decisions

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

Notable Losses

The Dodgers went into the offseason in a great spot. The roster was strong enough to win the World Series for a second straight year. Their free agent class mostly consisted of relievers and role players, so no major holes were opening up.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman addressed that situation in December, speaking to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. He acknowledged that the club had less “heavy lifting” to do than in previous offseasons.

He pointed to the outfield and bullpen as places they could add but also said they were cognizant of the fact that the roster is getting older, with many of their stars being well into their 30s. They were actually the oldest club in the league in 2025. Going forward, it would make sense to sign fewer long-term deals and incorporate more young prospects. But at the same time, winning with their legendary core is a short-term priority.

Though the Dodgers did emerge victorious in 2025, they were not perfect and were almost eliminated a few times. Manager Dave Roberts seemed to have almost no trust in the relief corps, so he relied more and more on his starting pitchers as the postseason went along.

The outfield was also a bit wobbly. Teoscar Hernández has often out-hit his defensive shortcomings but was around league average offensively in 2025. Andy Pages had a good year but went ice cold in the playoffs. Michael Conforto was enough of a bust to be left off the postseason roster. Tommy Edman was fighting an ankle injury that would eventually require surgery.

On the bullpen pursuit, there were a number of high-profile relievers available in free agency. The Dodgers were connected to guys like Devin Williams, Pete Fairbanks, Raisel Iglesias and Robert Suarez. In the end, they somewhat surprisingly landed the top guy on the market, getting Edwin Díaz via a three-year deal worth $69MM.

Diaz is about to turn 32 and isn’t quite as dominant as he was a few years ago, but he’s still one of the best relievers in the game. He posted a 1.63 earned run average for the Mets in 2025, striking out 38% of batters faced.

Many expected Díaz to stay in Queens, since the Mets also needed to address their bullpen and are one of the few clubs with roughly the same spending power as the Dodgers. It would later come out that the Mets had offered him a three-year, $66MM deal. Considering the modest deferrals in the deal Díaz accepted from the Dodgers, the two offers were pretty close to identical. Some reports said the Mets were willing to go higher but were caught off-guard when he quickly agreed with the Dodgers before they could.

Diaz also reportedly received a five-year offer from Atlanta, though the dollar value of that wasn’t revealed. Presumably, it would have been a lower average annual value than the three-year offers he was getting from the Dodgers and Mets.

Maybe he wanted to break his own AAV record for a reliever, which was $20.4MM on his previous deal. The Dodgers deal, even factoring in the deferrals, is worth about $21.1MM annually. Maybe he just wanted to join baseball’s premier organization. At Edwin’s introductory press conference, he mentioned that his brother Alexis spoke fondly of the Dodgers after spending some brief time with them in 2025, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.

Whatever the reasoning, the Dodgers added an elite closer to their already-strong club, just before the holiday break. Later in the winter, they would also bring back Evan Phillips on a much more modest deal worth $6.5MM. He is recovering from Tommy John surgery and won’t be available until the second half, but he could give the Dodgers another bullpen boost for the stretch run and playoffs.

As the calendar flipped to 2026, the outfield market hadn’t moved much. The top two free agents, Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, were both still out there in January. As the holidays ended and teams got back to business in January, the Tucker market quickly picked up steam.

Tucker seemed to have some clear, distinct choices. The Blue Jays were offering a more traditional long-term deal that would essentially cover the remainder of Tucker’s career. They reportedly went as high as $350MM over ten years. That was a pretty close match for MLBTR’s 11-year, $400MM prediction and would have been one of the ten highest guarantees in MLB history.

The Mets and Dodgers were again bidding against each other and offering Tucker a different path. Both clubs were eager to avoid that kind of length and were willing to jack up the short-term spending. Taking this path would mean Tucker secures less overall but could earn a large amount of money in the next few years, with a chance to return to free agency to make more in the long run.

Players like Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso and others had taken this approach in free agency before but Tucker was being offered a super-charged version of it. The Mets reportedly went to $220MM over four years, with opt-outs after the second and third years. The Dodgers went slightly higher to $240MM over the same four-year term, also with opt-outs after year two and year three. That got it done.

There are some deferrals in the Tucker deal, but also a huge signing bonus. The sticker price comes with a $60MM average annual value. The deferrals knock the AAV down but only a little, as it is reportedly considered to be about $57.1MM in terms of the competitive balance tax.

For all intents and purposes that was easily a new record. Shohei Ohtani‘s ten-year, $700MM deal has a $70MM AAV on the surface, but the infamous deferrals in that deal knock it down to the $46MM range. With that in mind, Juan Soto was effectively the AAV record holder at $51MM before this Tucker deal.

It was a stunning number and could potentially represent many different things to different people. To some, the offers from the Dodgers and Mets represent the unworkable economic imbalances in the modern game. Both clubs repeatedly go into the top bracket of the CBT, meaning they face a 110% tax rate on new deals. The Dodgers will effectively send out $120MM to have Tucker on their team this year. That’s more than the entire player payroll of many clubs.

This had led to increased desire for drastic changes to baseball’s rules, with many fans and team owners clamoring for a salary cap or extreme alterations to the revenue-sharing rules. The Dodgers had already become public enemy number one in the eyes of many baseball fans by dominating on the field and in the offseason. Every new signing increases the outrage and the Tucker deal certainly cranked it up.

From the MLBPA perspective, this is evidence of why there should not be a cap. If multiple teams value Tucker highly enough that they are willing to pay out $120MM annually, it’s a sign that the league is in a strong financial position on the whole. Even under the current rules, Tucker is only going to get about half of the value he is producing on the field. The other half, the tax money, will go the league. Some of it will end up in a central fund, some will be distributed to smaller clubs like the Guardians and Marlins will no real mechanism to make them spend it. In the eyes of many, that lack of urgency from some teams is a bigger problem than the Dodgers’ willingness to invest in a winning team.

It also might just be a perfect alignment of circumstances. By all accounts, the Dodgers are bringing in all kinds of crazy revenue, as one would expect for a successful club. But the star presence of their Japanese players also means they basically have a money faucet running across the Pacific Ocean. As mentioned, they are trying to avoid a pitfall where they overcommit to their current core and suddenly find themselves with an old and creaky roster. They have used their financial might to add Tucker in the way that they wanted.

From his perspective, Tucker is technically leaving money on the table but he will have a good chance to get it back, and then some. In the ideal situation for him financially, he spends his age-29 and age-30 seasons playing for the best team in baseball. He will bank $120MM and could return to free agency looking for another deal ahead of his age-31 campaign. If he can find $230MM from that point on, he will make up the difference of what the Jays offered. If the next collective bargaining agreement looks to have made positive changes for players, he can benefit from that.

There were a few other things of note in the Dodgers’ offseason. There were some trade rumors surrounding Teoscar Hernández and Tyler Glasnow but it never seemed especially likely that either would move. Max Muncy got another year added to his contract. That slightly contradicts the plan to avoid an aging roster, as Muncy will turn 36 this year, but he’s still plenty productive and it’s just one more guaranteed season. Old friends Miguel Rojas and Enrique Hernández were re-signed for bench roles, though Hernández will start the season on the injured list.

The main storyline of the Dodger offseason is straightforward. They were already great in November, with some slight question marks around the bullpen and outfield. They signed the top free agent available for both of those areas. They did so while limiting their long-term commitments, as they wished. They ramped up spending in the short term, with RosterResource projecting them for a $395MM payroll and $405MM CBT number, but they are clearly fine with that.

They go into 2026 as the clear favorites. The Projected Standings at FanGraphs expect 96 wins, putting them eight wins clear of every other club in the majors. The PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are even more bullish, putting the Dodgers at 104, ten clear of any other team. Anything can happen in baseball’s chaotic postseason but the organization is the jewel of the league right now.

It’s also possible that this offseason will have ripple effects that spread out in ways that can’t be foreseen. Many claim that baseball is “broken” and point to the Dodgers as the perpetrator. The Tucker deal alone didn’t do the deed but some feel it may have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Huge swaths of fans are fed up and want change. The collective bargaining agreement is set to expire after this season. A lockout feels assured and many expect it to get nasty. Some even fear lost games, if not the entire 2027 season.

Time will tell on all of that. For the 2026 Dodgers, they could hardly have drawn it up any better.

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2025-26 Offseason In Review Los Angeles Dodgers MLBTR Originals

Offseason In Review: New York Yankees

By | at March 6, 2026 11:55pm CDT

The Yankees mostly opted for the status quo, as their 2026 club will look a lot like the 2025 version. A few small differences could take them up a notch.

Major League Signings

2026 spending: $85.525MM
Total spending: $195.525MM

Trades and Claims

Option Decisions

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None to date

Notable Losses

There was a lot to like about the Yankees in 2025, but they came up just a bit short of the ultimate goal. They won 94 games in the regular season, the same as the Blue Jays, with Toronto only taking the division title based on the tiebreaker rules. The Yanks got a Wild Card spot and took out the Red Sox but were felled by the Jays in the Division Series.

Going into the 2025-26 offseason, a lot of the key pieces would be remaining in place. The area with the greatest potential for change was the outfield, which was a strength in 2025. Aaron Judge won his third American League MVP Award. Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham enjoyed productive seasons (a breakout, career-best year in the latter’s case). Grisham and Bellinger both headed to free agency at the start of the offseason, the latter by triggering an opt-out in his previous contract.

Theoretically, the Yankees could have turned to some internal replacements, but there would be big risks there. Jasson Domínguez had an uneven year in 2025. His offense was passable but not too exciting. In 429 plate appearances, he hit just ten home runs. A 9.6% walk rate helped his on-base percentage, leading to a .257/.331/.388 line and 103 wRC+. He stole 23 bases but received awful grades for his left field defense. His minus-7 Defensive Runs Saved and minus-10 Outs Above Average were some of the lowest among big league outfielders.

There’s also Spencer Jones, who crushed 35 home runs on the farm last year, including 19 at Triple-A. However, he posted those homers while striking out in 35.4% of his plate appearances. Presumably, he’d strike out even more frequently against better competition in the big leagues. No qualified major leaguer struck out at a higher rate than 32.3% in 2025.

With some questions about both Domínguez and Jones, and the Yankees always in win-now mode, it seemed like the outfield would be a priority. One spot was quickly filled, as Grisham somewhat surprisingly accepted the qualifying offer. His career had been unimpressive prior to 2025, but the breakout was extreme. He hit 34 home runs and drew walks at a 14.1% clip. Grisham’s .235/.348/.464 line led to a 129 wRC+. His defensive grades slipped, but he was considered a strong fielder in every other season of his career, so it’s possible last year’s downturn was more of an odd, one-year blip than a true decline.

Skeptics could point to Grisham’s larger body of work, with a .191/.298/.353 line over the previous three seasons combined, but there were reasons to believe Grisham could cash in on that strong season. Just one offseason earlier, Jurickson Profar had done precisely that. After years of subpar performances, Profar parlayed his strong 2024 season into a three-year, $42MM deal with Atlanta. Grisham went into free agency younger and with a better defensive reputation, so he had a case to top Profar’s guarantee.

MLBTR predicted Grisham could get $66MM over four years, even with the QO attached, but he decided to return to the Bronx for just one year at $22.025MM. A multi-year deal at that same annual value may not have been there, but a three- or four-year deal at a lighter rate with a larger overall guarantee seems like it would have been feasible. Grisham would be a bargain for the Yankees if he can come anywhere close to last year’s performance, and doing so would position him for a major contract next winter.

With Grisham back in the fold, the Yankees still had one outfield spot to consider. They were connected to various names both in free agency and via trade, including Kyle Tucker, Luis Robert Jr. and others, but a reunion with Bellinger always made a lot of sense. He had thrived in his one year in the Bronx. Bellinger hit .272/.334/.480 for a 125 wRC+ on the year overall but with a massive .302/.365/.544 line and 152 wRC+ when playing in Yankee Stadium with its short porch.

The two seemed a perfect match for each other, but the courting process dragged out nonetheless. Bellinger remained on the open market into January. Reports trickled out indicating that the Yankees had made him an offer, then another. There was reportedly an impasse, with the Yankees offering five years and Bellinger seeking a longer deal, but the two sides finally reached an agreement in late January.

The $162.5MM guarantee and five-year term were within the realm of expectations. MLBTR had predicted five years and a slightly lesser guarantee of $140MM. The Bellinger deal was particularly notable for being frontloaded and having two opt-outs. He’ll get a $20MM signing bonus and big salaries of $32.5MM in the first two years, followed by salaries just under $26MM in the final three. Since he can opt out after 2027 and 2028, it’s possible for him to bank $85MM in the first two years and then return to the open market after his age-31 season. The nature of that deal means that Bellinger’s hit for the competitive balance tax will be higher than usual.

After Bellinger was back in the fold, there was some speculation that Domínguez and/or Jones could end up on the trade block. To this point, however, there hasn’t been any strong indications that the Yankees have considered that route. With Grisham only signed for one more year and Bellinger potentially opting out after 2027, there are future opportunities available for those youngsters.

Though the outfield was the main target, the rotation needed some consideration as well. The Yankees will be getting Gerrit Cole back at some point in 2026, after he spent 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he still won’t be ready by Opening Day. They will also be without Carlos Rodón to start the season, as he had surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow. Clarke Schmidt had UCL surgery in July of last year and will begin the season on the shelf as well.

The Yanks were connected to some big names over the winter, including Framber Valdez, Edward Cabrera, Michael King, Freddy Peralta, Tatsuya Imai and MacKenzie Gore. Their rotation strike ended up being less splashy than those options. They sent four prospects to the Marlins to acquire lefty Ryan Weathers.

Weathers was once a notable prospect and has shown some flashes of potential in the majors, but not over a long sample size. He had good results with the Marlins in 2024 and 2025 but some injuries limited him in both seasons. He tossed 125 innings over those two campaigns and produced a 3.74 earned run average, 22% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate and 45.6% ground ball rate.

A more proven arm could have been preferable, but a nice benefit of Weathers is that he’s controlled for three more years and still has an option remaining. He should get a rotation job alongside Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Luis Gil to start the season. Like Weathers, each of Schlittler, Warren and Gil can be optioned. A stint in the minors for someone in that group is possible if everyone is healthy when Rodón and Cole return. In the meantime, the Yanks also brought back Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn to serve as veteran swingmen.

Paul Goldschmidt became a free agent after the 2025 season, but first base wasn’t a big priority since Ben Rice took over that job. The Yanks were able to bring Goldy back on a modest $4MM deal, seemingly to serve a more complementary role this time. His bat was around league average in 2025, but he still crushed lefties. Since the Yankee lineup skews left-handed, there’s a role for Goldschmidt. Amed Rosario was also brought back for similar reasons and the Yanks also added Randal Grichuk via a minor league deal.

In the bullpen, Devin Williams and Luke Weaver became free agents after 2025, but the Yankees seemingly tried to address those departures proactively. At the 2025 deadline, their three relief additions were David Bednar, Camilo Doval and Jake Bird. Since all three would still be under club control for 2026, the Yanks may have felt less pressure to replace Williams and Weaver this winter.

Their most notable bullpen move was fairly modest, as they acquired Angel Chivilli from the Rockies. He is still unproven, with a 6.18 ERA in 90 1/3 innings. The Yanks will hope that getting him away from Coors Field will help. He has an intriguing arsenal with high-90s velocity and strong ground ball rates. Chivilli isn’t slated for free agency for at least five years and still has an option remaining. The Yanks also took a shot on Cade Winquest in the Rule 5 draft. He had a 3.99 ERA in the minors last year.

There was some chatter around Jazz Chisholm Jr. this offseason. Since he’s slated for free agency after 2026, there were some trade rumors and the possibility of an extension also came up. It never seemed especially likely that the Yanks would move on from him, and he indeed is still on the roster. The Yankees don’t do many extensions and still haven’t done anything with Chisholm, though he has said he’s open the possibility. It’s theoretically possible for momentum to build at any time, but Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported this week that substantive talks have still not occurred.

Ultimately, the roster is going to look very similar to last year’s. Shortstop Anthony Volpe will miss some time due to offseason shoulder surgery but could rejoin the club in April. José Caballero will cover that spot in the interim. Apart from that, the position player group is essentially identical. There’s a bit more change on the pitching side, but the staff is also going to have a lot of continuity.

There’s not really anything wrong with that. The Yankees were one of the best teams in the league last year. Running back mostly the same squad should put them in position to be really good again. It’s also possible they could be a bit better. They will get Cole back at some point, which should give them a boost, and they’ll get a full season from Schlittler, who just debuted last July. If Weathers can stay healthy, he’s another potential bonus. If there are obvious shortcomings on display in the next few months, the Yanks could address those at the deadline, but for now the roster has been tweaked more so than overhauled.

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2025-26 Offseason In Review MLBTR Originals New York Yankees

Offseason In Review: Milwaukee Brewers

By | at March 6, 2026 4:29pm CDT

The Brewers retained one of their top starters on the qualifying offer. They traded their other veteran ace as he enters his walk year. Milwaukee was active as ever on the trade market — many of which were forward-looking moves — but they’ll expect to compete for another NL Central title.

Major League Signings

2026 spending: $27.025MM
Total spending: $28.525MM

Trades and Claims

Option Decisions

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

The Brewers were MLB’s best regular season team in 2025. They won a league-high 97 games and were comfortably in charge of the NL Central throughout the second half. After defeating the Cubs in the Division Series, they were blanked by the Dodgers in the NLCS. The front office was faced with the usual challenge of maintaining that level of success with a bottom half payroll and their two best pitchers at or nearing free agency.

Milwaukee’s first significant decision was whether to issue a $22.025MM qualifying offer to Brandon Woodruff. The two-time All-Star had an excellent 12-start run in his return from shoulder surgery. His velocity was down a few ticks from pre-surgery levels. Even more alarming is that he suffered a lat strain during a September bullpen session that wound up ending his season.

A qualifying offer would nevertheless have been an easy call for a team running a $200MM+ payroll. Woodruff’s track record is so strong that he’d be great value at that price point if a team knew he’d stay healthy. It’s a much bigger roll of the dice for a club that opened last season with a $115MM payroll. Woodruff could realistically account for 20% of their spending on players.

The Brewers took the upside play and issued the offer. Woodruff accepted and will be back for a ninth season. The Brewers may have been a little surprised that he took a one-year offer, but it certainly wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. The team wouldn’t have issued the QO if they feared it’d cripple them financially.

At the same time, it immediately ramped up speculation about Freddy Peralta’s future. Exercising an $8MM club option was the easiest decision the team made all winter, but that didn’t preclude a trade. (Woodruff, by contrast, couldn’t be traded without his consent until June 15 as a major league free agent signee.) President of baseball operations Matt Arnold initially downplayed the possibility of dealing Peralta, but those conversations would pick up steam in the second half of the offseason.

Milwaukee reportedly discussed Peralta with the Yankees, Astros, Dodgers, Braves, Padres and Twins (presumably among others). The most natural destination, however, always seemed to be the Mets. New York front office leader David Stearns knows Peralta well from his time running baseball operations in Milwaukee. The Mets’ rotation lacked an established headliner alongside touted rookie Nolan McLean. They had a deep enough farm system that it made sense for them to push in some chips below their top prospect tier in a consolidation trade.

The Brewers were probably willing to carry both Woodruff and Peralta on the payroll, but this kind of trade is par for the course. They simply weren’t going to spend what it took to keep Peralta off the open market. They could hold him until free agency and make the qualifying offer, as they did with Willy Adames, but they’d surely get a more valuable trade return than the compensatory draft pick.

The question was whether they were getting enough back that it outweighed the hit they were taking to the 2026 roster in trading one of the National League’s five best pitchers. The Brewers never operate as clear-cut buyers or sellers. They weren’t kicking off a rebuild one year after winning 97 games. As was the case with the Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes and Devin Williams trades, they needed to feel the package itself was too strong to ignore.

Each of those previous three deals netted cost-controlled major league players. That’s a clear priority for a team trying to remain annually competitive. Arnold eventually pulled the trigger on a deal that sent Peralta and swingman Tobias Myers to Queens for rookie starter Brandon Sproat and top infield/outfield prospect Jett Williams.

Sproat is a 6’3″ righty who sits in the 96-97 mph range and has a five-pitch mix. He made his first four MLB starts last September. The command is a work in progress, but he’s around the strike zone enough to project as a starter. He has mid-rotation caliber stuff and is competing for a rotation spot this spring.

Williams, a 5’7″ utility player, is coming off a .261/.363/.465 showing with 17 homers and 34 stolen bases in the upper minors. He’s a plus athlete with good strike zone discipline and more power than one might expect based on his height. There’s some swing-and-miss to his game and questions about his position, but he fits well in a group that emphasizes defensive versatility and aggressiveness on the bases. Williams has yet to reach the majors but should be up this year, perhaps as soon as Opening Day.

The trade almost certainly makes the Brewers worse in 2026. They were never going to get a McLean-level prospect for one year of Peralta. Myers is overshadowed in the bigger picture but had developed into a nice swing option in his own right over the past two seasons.

It’s similar to the 2024 Burnes trade, which also netted two MLB-ready pieces who’d recently been at the back of Top 100 prospect lists (DL Hall and Joey Ortiz). They didn’t get much out of either of those players last season, but Ortiz had a 3-WAR campaign as Milwaukee’s third baseman in 2024. Getting that kind of combined value from Sproat and Williams this year would go a long way toward keeping them competitive while stockpiling long-term value.

Ortiz was the most vulnerable position player in the starting lineup entering the offseason. He moved seamlessly (from a defensive standpoint) to shortstop to replace Adames but didn’t perform offensively. His .230/.276/.317 line was third-worst among hitters who tallied 500 plate appearances. Top prospects Cooper Pratt and Jesús Made figure to eventually push Ortiz off the position, but neither player is likely to get consideration for the Opening Day roster.

Williams has a better chance of taking over shortstop within the first half of the season. If Ortiz bounces back enough offensively to hold the job, they can use Williams as a multi-positional piece. That could include work in the outfield or at third base, where the Brewers made potential sell-high trades on unheralded prospects coming off strong rookie seasons.

That started in mid-December when Milwaukee dealt left fielder Isaac Collins and middle reliever Nick Mears to Kansas City for lefty sinkerballer Angel Zerpa. Collins finished fourth in Rookie of the Year balloting behind a .263/.368/.411 line across 441 plate appearances. He’d been a good Triple-A hitter as well but surprised evaluators with that kind of performance in his age-27 season. His batted ball metrics weren’t as impressive. There’s a decent chance he’s closer to a league average hitter moving forward.

Mears is a power arm who had a career-low 3.49 ERA last season. His strikeout rate was down more than eight percentage points relative to 2024, however, and he’d fallen out of favor as he struggled and battled injuries in the second half.

The Brewers will try to coax more out of Zerpa, who has an ERA right around 4.00 in 177 big league innings. He throws hard and has one of the highest ground-ball rates in MLB. Zerpa doesn’t miss bats at a high level and has gotten knocked around by right-handed opponents (.282/.340/.470 in 488 career plate appearances). Although Milwaukee has left the door open to building him up as a starter, the platoon issues suggest he’s better served in a relief role. He’s pitching out of the bullpen in Spring Training and should replace Mears in that spot.

Collins felt a little superfluous in a Milwaukee outfield that also includes Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell and Christian Yelich on occasion. Blake Perkins, Tyler Black, Brandon Lockridge and offseason signee Akil Baddoo are all depth options on the 40-man roster. (Collins is a more decisive upgrade for a K.C. team that had arguably the worst outfield in the league.)

That wasn’t the case for the other second-year position player whom the Brewers surprisingly traded away. Caleb Durbin would have been Milwaukee’s everyday third baseman. Acquired from the Yankees in last offseason’s Williams trade, the 25-year-old Durbin hit .256/.334/.387 with 11 homers and 18 steals over his first 136 big league games. He placed third in Rookie of the Year voting. Durbin is small and doesn’t hit the ball hard, so he was never a marquee prospect. Yet he commands the strike zone, puts the ball in play, and has the athleticism to play a quality second or third base.

It stands to reason the Brewers didn’t enter the offseason looking to trade Durbin, whom they controlled for six more seasons. With the number of higher-ceiling infield prospects they have coming through the farm system, he’s also not someone they’d refuse to discuss. They wound up working out a deal with the Red Sox — who felt that his right-handed bat could play up at Fenway Park — centered around Durbin and left-hander Kyle Harrison.

There’s a clear parallel between the Durbin trade and last spring’s deal with Boston for Quinn Priester. Harrison is a former top prospect whose stock had seemingly dropped within each of his two previous organizations. The Giants included him as part of the Rafael Devers trade. The Red Sox shied away from calling him up for most of last season even as they navigated rotation injuries and stuck with a struggling Walker Buehler for the majority of the year.

Harrison has a 4.39 ERA with league-average strikeout and walk rates in just under 200 big league innings. He’s 24 and still has a minor league option remaining. He struck out roughly 26% of Triple-A opponents a year ago but has had inconsistent command. The Brewers control him for at least five seasons. It’s not easy to convince teams to trade controllable starting pitching. The Brewers got the higher upside end of the deal but are taking a risk in trading a solid everyday infielder for more of a developmental pitching play.

It wasn’t a direct Durbin/Harrison swap, though they’ll very likely be the players whose careers determine which team got the better end. The teams also exchanged utility infielders. Milwaukee reacquired speedster David Hamilton (a former Brewer draftee who was traded to Boston in the deal for Hunter Renfroe) while sending Andruw Monasterio, Anthony Seigler and the #67 pick in this year’s draft to Boston. Depth starter Shane Drohan, a 27-year-old who has yet to make his MLB debut, also landed in Milwaukee.

The Brewers needed to backfill an infield spot after the Durbin trade. They took a $3.5MM flier on Luis Rengifo, who is coming off a replacement level season for the Angels. Rengifo didn’t hit at all last year but turned in a .273/.323/.431 line in more than 1200 plate appearances between 2022-24. He can move around the infield but won’t provide strong defense anywhere.

Rengifo is the favorite to start at third base on Opening Day. That’s fine as a stopgap, though the Brewers are hoping he’ll be pushed into a utility role by someone from within the farm system (Williams, Pratt, etc.) before long.

The right side of the infield is more settled. Brice Turang is one of the game’s steadiest hands at second base. Andrew Vaughn played his way to the everyday first base job with his monster second half. Milwaukee tendered a $2.7MM arbitration contract to Jake Bauers as a left-handed bench bat, while Black could also hit his way into the mix.

Vaughn’s emergence made it an inevitability that the Brewers were moving on from Rhys Hoskins. They paid him a $4MM buyout on an $18MM mutual option. Milwaukee also bought out veteran starter Jose Quintana and backup catcher Danny Jansen.

William Contreras plays as often as any catcher in MLB. The backup catcher role in Milwaukee isn’t a huge priority. Jansen, who commanded a two-year deal from the Rangers, was overqualified. The Brewers want to allow prospect Jeferson Quero to continue playing regularly in the minors, so they needed to make a cheap depth move behind the plate.

Milwaukee circled back to old friend Gary Sánchez on a $1.75MM contract. He hit 11 homers in 89 games for them two seasons ago. Sánchez commanded $8.5MM from the Orioles the following winter, but his lone year in Baltimore was tanked by wrist and knee injuries. He only got into 29 games. The Brewers have some insurance in the form of minor league signee Reese McGuire.

Aside from the Woodruff qualifying offer, Milwaukee stayed away from the free agent pitching market. Sproat and Harrison will be in the mix, but they’re relying heavily on their collection of talented in-house arms to step up behind Woodruff.

Priester has a rotation spot once healthy, though he’s delayed by a wrist issue this spring and could start the season on the injured list. Manager Pat Murphy said today that right-handers Jacob Misiorowski and Chad Patrick are in the rotation (via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy). Righty Logan Henderson and lefties Robert Gasser, Aaron Ashby and DL Hall are all in the conversation. The Brewers have a lot of flexibility to shuffle pitchers up and down from the minors. Woodruff is their only starter who can’t be sent down.

There’s a similar level of flexibility in the bullpen, where Rob Zastryzny is their only out-of-options arm. The Brewers already had one of the best relief groups in MLB. Aside from the Mears/Zerpa swap, they didn’t need to do much at the back end.

Milwaukee took calls on closer Trevor Megill, who is down to two seasons of arbitration control, but didn’t find an offer to their liking. He’ll probably be traded next offseason as part of the team’s usual operating procedure. They’ll hold him for now alongside Abner Uribe, Jared Koenig, and Zerpa. Ashby and Hall will be in the bullpen if they’re not starting. Milwaukee’s relief pitching should once again be a strength.

The Brewers also took care of some administrative business at the beginning of Spring Training. Murphy, who was entering the final season of his contract as manager, signed a new three-year deal that guaranteed him nearly $9MM. Murphy’s job security obviously wasn’t in question after consecutive Manager of the Year wins, but he’s now locked in for the foreseeable future.

There hasn’t been any reporting about extension talks with players this spring. It’s likely too late to get anything done with Contreras — as with Megill, he’s a likelier trade candidate headed into his walk year next winter — but the Brewers are happy to lock up pre-arbitration players long term. They’ve done so with Peralta, Chourio and Ashby in recent years.

Chourio’s was a pre-debut extension, and it stands to reason they’ll be open to that possibility with Made soon enough. Speculatively, any of Misiorowski, Frelick or Priester would stand as potential targets. Turang is earning a little over $4MM as a Super Two player and will go through arbitration four times. This spring might be the last one in which an extension could be within Milwaukee’s financial comfort zone.

That would cap off a very Brewers style offseason. They made one big trade that was widely expected and a couple more that almost no one saw coming. They’ll rely on internal development and a few of their upper level trade pickups to try to claim a fourth straight division title.

How would you grade the Brewers' offseason?

  • C 35% (490)
  • B 33% (465)
  • D 16% (228)
  • A 10% (135)
  • F 5% (73)

Total votes: 1,391

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2025-26 Offseason In Review MLBTR Originals Milwaukee Brewers

Offseason In Review: Cleveland Guardians

By | at March 5, 2026 5:44pm CDT

Spring training is here, but it’s not clear the Guardians ever got the memo that the offseason began. Despite winning the AL Central in 2025, they made practically no additions and will enter the year with one of their lowest team payrolls — if not the lowest — in more than a decade.

Major League Free Agent Signings

Total spend: $11.9MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Waiver Claims

Extensions

  • José Ramirez, 3B: Four years, $106MM (on top of preexisting three years, $69MM; contract includes $70MM in deferred money which actually lowers the amount Cleveland owes Ramirez in 2026)

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Cleveland went on an improbable run to its third AL Central title in four seasons in 2025, rattling off a blistering 20-7 record in September to edge out Detroit, who’d led the division for much of the summer. Strong play from the Guardians alone wouldn’t have gotten the job done; they needed the Tigers to also collapse in epic fashion. Detroit obliged, going 7-17 in September to squander what been an 11-game division lead as deep into the season as Sept. 4.

Entering the offseason, it was easy to presume that a Cinderella run of this nature, coupled with practically no long-term commitments and one of the lightest slates of 2026 financial obligations of any team in the sport would have emboldened the Guardians to add to what was an anemic offense. Any such presumptions have been proven incorrect.

The Guardians hit .226/.296/.373 as a team last season. The resulting 87 wRC+ (indicating their offense as a whole was 13% worse than average) ranked 28th in the majors. Cleveland ranked 28th in baseball with 643 runs scored and 29th in each of batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Superstar third baseman José Ramirez and and slugging first baseman Kyle Manzardo (who was heavily platooned) were the only members of the roster to manage even a league-average offensive line, by measure of wRC+. Left fielder Steven Kwan was short by the narrowest of margins, at 99. Outfield prospect George Valera hit fairly well but did so in a sample of 48 plate appearances.

Not only was no one else on Cleveland’s roster even a league-average hitter — virtually no one else was even close. First baseman/outfielder C.J. Kayfus hit .220/.292/.415 — good for a 96 wRC+ in 138 plate appearances. No one else on the roster was even within 10% of average. Cleveland gave a total of 2757 plate appearances to Angel Martinez, Gabriel Arias, Daniel Schneemann, Bo Naylor, Nolan Jones, Brayan Rocchio and Hedges. That’s 46% of their team-wide plate appearances. Those seven players combined for a .212/.280/.346 batting line (76 wRC+). They’re all back in 2026.

Cleveland does have some hope for better offense in 2026. They could receive a full year of outfield prospects Valera and Chase DeLauter, but betting on them to this extent is an immense risk. DeLauter was a first-round pick in 2022 and has been a top prospect since. He’s also been regularly injured. Since being taken in the draft three and a half years ago, he’s played all of 138 minor league games. His two playoff games with Cleveland in 2025 marked his big league debut. It’s a similar story with Valera, a former top prospect out of the Dominican Republic who has only once played 100 games in a season despite signing back in 2017. He played 60 regular-season games in 2025 between the big leagues and the minors.

The Guardians also have 2024’s No. 1 overall pick, second baseman Travis Bazzana, very likely to make his big league debut early in the 2026 season. Twenty-four-year-old infielder Juan Brito could also get a look, though he got into only 31 minor league games last season due to injury. Catching prospect Cooper Ingle could make his debut in 2026 as well, and he’d have only the lowest of bars to clear with the bat in order to be an upgrade over the current Naylor/Hedges tandem.

That group unequivocally gives Cleveland some near-term upside, but banking on them as the sole means of offensive improvement is the type of strategy one might see from a rebuilding club or a cost-conscious team whose payroll is already pushing franchise-record territory. Neither is the case in Cleveland. The Guardians are aiming to contend, despite their lack of investment in the club. And while projections will peg their payroll around $80MM or so, that doesn’t include the $10MM of deferred money for Ramirez or the $6MM they won’t be paying to closer Emmanuel Clase while he faces trial for rigging pitches in a gambling scandal that rocked the franchise (and also included starting pitcher Luis Ortiz).

Cleveland’s payroll is going to clock in around $65MM. Their franchise-record mark for Opening Day was about $70MM higher than that, back in 2018. They’ve been between $90-100MM in each of the past three seasons. The last time they trotted out a payroll this low was in 2021, the first year coming off the pandemic-shortened season when they’d just absorbed substantial losses. If we’re willing to set that aside due to unique circumstances, Cleveland hasn’t been this thrifty since 2011-12.

For a team coming off a division title and that type of late-season surge, it’s hard to reconcile. President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said in a recent appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that the Guardians need to leave space for young players to step up and that their clearest path to contending involves young hitters like Bazzana, DeLauter and Valera helping to carry the offense. There’s some truth behind those comments, but Antonetti surely didn’t want his priciest offensive addition of the winter to be a reunion with Hedges, either. It’s abundantly clear that this front office had little to no money to work with this winter, and that’s borne out when digging deeper into their slate of moves.

Hedges’ $4MM deal to return to the Guardians was surprising at the time and looks all the more confounding in the wake of an offseason devoid of activity. Cleveland seems to place a higher premium on catcher defense than just about any team in the game. In Naylor and Hedges, they’ll have one of the sport’s top defensive duos but also perhaps the least-productive catching tandem in baseball from an offensive standpoint. That pair is generally keeping the seat warm for the aforementioned Ingle, who slashed .260/.389/.419 with more walks than strikeouts as a 24-year-old in Double-A and Triple-A last season. Ingle should make his debut at some point in 2026.

The only other move to address the lineup was a late non-roster deal with first baseman Rhys Hoskins. The former Phillies standout had two pretty pedestrian seasons in Milwaukee in 2024-25 after returning from an ACL tear that cost him the 2023 season. He hit .223/.314/.418 with 38 homers in 221 games while calling the hitter-friendly American Family Field home. Hoskins was a perennial 30-homer threat in Philadelphia from 2018-22, hitting .241/.350/.483 with 130 round-trippers in 2665 plate appearances. He hasn’t approached that level of output since, which is why the market largely checked out on him this winter. He’ll make just $1.5MM if he cracks Cleveland’s roster. There’s obvious bargain potential there, but the 2024-25 version of Hoskins is more of a league-average bat than the difference-maker sorely lacked by Cleveland.

Whether ownership-driven or a conscientious decision by the baseball operations staff — the former seems much likelier — improvements in the lineup will have to come down to the Guardians’ young players. Beyond Ingle, names to watch include:

  • Travis Bazzana, 2B (No. 1 pick in 2024): .245/.389/.424, 17.6% walk rate, nine homers, 17 doubles, five triples, 12 steals in 84 games between Double-A and Triple-A
  • George Valera, OF (international free agent out of the Dominican): .220/.333/.415 in 48 MLB plate appearances, plus .318/.388/.550 in 170 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A
  • Chase DeLauter, OF (2023 first-rounder): .264/.379/.473 with a matching walk and strikeout rates of 15.8% in 177 minor league plate appearances (mostly in Triple-A)
  • Juan Brito, INF (acquired from Rockies in 2022 Nolan Jones trade): .243/.355/.437, 12.8% walk rate, 23.1% strikeout rate in 125 minor league plate appearances (mostly Triple-A)
  • C.J. Kayfus, 1B/OF (2023 third-rounder): .220/.292/.415 in 138 MLB plate appearances, plus .300/.390/.539 with 14 homers, an 11.9% walk rate and 25.2% strikeout rate in 369 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A

In addition to the lack of big league experience, one thing that stands out among that group is a lack of games played in 2025 — at any level. Valera (60 games in 2025) and DeLauter (42 games) have been consistently hurt throughout their minor league tenures. A pair of oblique strains limited Bazzana to 84 games in his first full season. Brito played 31 games due to thumb and hamstring surgeries. Kayfus logged 130 games — the only one of the bunch close to a full season.

Cleveland needs so much to go right that it’s hard to see this club being even an average MLB offense. DeLauter and Valera seem ticketed for Opening Day outfield roles but need to prove they can both stay healthy and hit big league pitching. The options behind them (Angel Martinez, Nolan Jones, Johnathan Rodriguez, Petey Halpin) don’t inspire much confidence. Bazzana is probably starting the year in Triple-A, meaning the Guardians will go with a combination of Gabriel Arias (.220/.274/.363 in 2025) and Brayan Rocchio (.233/.290/.340) in the middle infield.

The entire Guardians offense hinges on superstar third baseman José Ramirez, so perhaps it’s fitting that he was at the center of the only truly notable transaction Cleveland made this winter. Ramirez signed an extension that guaranteed him four years and $106MM in new money (on top of his preexisting three years). He’s now locked up through age 39. It’s fair to wonder whether this was really necessary. He was already under club control through his age-35 season. If Ramirez slows down and this turns into a Miguel Cabrera/Tigers situation, the Guardians could live to regret the deal.

In the short term, it seemed to pay some dividends. Ramirez agreed to defer $10MM annually over the seven years of his contract. He has a $25MM salary for the upcoming season, but only $15MM will be paid out this year. In theory, that should’ve given Cleveland more room to add to the roster, but that didn’t pan out. As such, the most consequential deal of their offseason actually subtracted from the 2026 payroll.

Ramirez might be the most singularly important player to his roster of any team in Major League Baseball. An injury to him would decimate Cleveland’s entire offense, but there’s no real fallback plan if he gets hurt. They’ve been fortunate to keep him as healthy as they have. Ramirez has missed only four games in each of the past two seasons. Dating back to 2020, he’s played in an incredible 96.5% of Cleveland’s games. He’s a true iron man, but he’s now 33 years old. If he were to incur an injury, the infield would likely include a combination of Brito, Rocchio, Arias and Bazzana to the left of Manzardo.

The Guardians’ pitching staff is in better shape, as is frequently the case, but it’s not as dominant as it was when the Guards were habitually churning out borderline Cy Young candidates. The sextet of Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen, Parker Messick, Slade Cecconi and Joey Cantillo gives manager Stephen Vogt six solid options, but no one from the group feels like a true No. 1 starter. Williams’ 3.06 ERA gives him that look on the surface, but he walked more hitters than any qualified pitcher in baseball last year. Metrics like SIERA (4.35) and FIP (4.39) are far more bearish.

There’s some depth, primarily in the form of righty Austin Peterson and lefty Doug Nikhazy. Both are on the 40-man roster. Peterson had a strong showing in the upper minors but has yet to debut at 26 and isn’t an especially touted prospect. Nikhazy struggled in the upper minors and in the majors last year. Non-roster options include Kolby Allard and old friend Pedro Avila. Former top prospect Daniel Espino is finally healthy again, but he’s pitched a total of 19 innings since the 2021 season ended. Anything he contributes will be a bonus, but it’s hard to rely on him given that injury track record.

The one area Cleveland made some small additions is in the bullpen. Veteran Shawn Armstrong is coming off a big year in Texas. His overall body of work since 2020 is strong, but it’s been a roller coaster in terms of year-to-year ERA marks; he’s ranged everywhere from 1.38 in 52 innings with the ’23 Rays to 6.75 in 36 frames with the O’s and Rays in ’21. On a cheap one-year deal, he’s a nice addition — particularly for a club that has a good track record of coaxing strong performances out of unheralded pitchers.

That ability will be pivotal with the Guardians’ other big league signing in the ‘pen, too. Connor Brogdon had a nice run with the Phillies from 2020-23 (3.55 ERA in 142 innings) but has struggled since. He still sat better than 95 mph with his heater and notched an impressive 13.2% swinging-strike rate in 47 innings with the Angels last year, even while limping to a 5.55 earned run average. If the Guardians can help to curb his susceptibility to home runs (2.11 HR/9 with Anaheim), he could be a nice bullpen piece both in 2026 and 2027, as he’d be arbitration-eligible next winter.

Antonetti & Co. also rolled the dice on a $1.5MM guarantee for hard-throwing former Pirates righty Colin Holderman. He can be optioned, so he’s not a clear lock to make the roster, however. The 30-year-old righty, who sits 97.4 mph with his sinker, notched a 3.52 ERA while fanning nearly one-quarter of his opponents in 2023-24. His strikeout rate plummeted in 2025, however, as he was rocked for a 7.01 ERA in 25 2/3 big league frames.

There’s no sugarcoating the fact that this was an immensely disappointing offseason for Cleveland fans. Their 2026 chances rest entirely on Ramirez continuing his iron-man ways and several oft-injured prospects simultaneously staying healthy and breaking out in their first extended looks of major league action. The pitching staff should be solid or better once again, but the depth beyond the top six rotation arms isn’t great.

Cleveland’s blank-slate payroll (aside from Ramirez and Bibee) seemed to set the stage for at least a modest addition or two in the lineup. Instead, their offseason will be remembered more for its inactivity than anything else. It’s a huge bet on in-house improvements, and there’s little to no safety net if those prospects fall to injuries or struggle to adjust to major league pitching.

How do MLBTR readers grade Cleveland’s offseason?

How would you grade the Guardians' offseason?

  • D 37% (646)
  • F 37% (642)
  • C 19% (325)
  • B 5% (78)
  • A 2% (42)

Total votes: 1,733

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2025-26 Offseason In Review Cleveland Guardians MLBTR Originals

Offseason In Review: San Francisco Giants

By | at March 5, 2026 3:10pm CDT

The Giants checked a few boxes this offseason, adding a pair of back-end starting pitchers and everyday players at second base and in the outfield. Their biggest splash might be in the manager’s office, as they stayed away from the top of the free agent market.

Major League Signings

2026 spending: $44.95MM
Total spending: $68.78MM

Trades and Claims

Option Decisions

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

Before the offseason got underway, president of baseball operations Buster Posey identified the priority. “Our focus is going to be on pitching, to try to fortify our starting staff. The same goes with the bullpen,” he told Alex Pavlovic and Laura Britt of NBC Sports Bay Area in early October.

Posey had acted decisively in pursuing star players during his first year running baseball operations. He’d signed Willy Adames to a franchise-record contract the previous offseason and made the biggest trade of the 2025 season when he took on the Rafael Devers contract from the Red Sox in June. The Giants were naturally a popular pick to land one of free agency’s top arms — ranging from Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez in the rotation to Edwin Díaz at the back of the bullpen.

That was not to be. Not long after Posey’s comments, high-ranking team personnel began to downplay expectations. General manager Zack Minasian told John Shea of The San Francisco Standard they’d focus more on depth arms. CEO Greg Johnson made similar comments to Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle, noting that they were wary of making extended free agent commitments. None of that contradicted Posey’s identification of the focus, but it pointed to the more quiet offseason that would follow.

Indeed, one could argue the Giants’ biggest move didn’t involve the roster at all. San Francisco fired manager Bob Melvin at the end of the season. That was at least moderately surprising, as the Giants had exercised their 2026 option on Melvin’s services just three months earlier. The team’s 29-36 record in the second half was apparently the impetus for the change, but the Giants played at the same .500 level they had for most of the season after August despite selling multiple pieces (e.g. Mike Yastrzemski, Trevor Rogers, Camilo Doval) at the deadline.

In any case, the front office felt a change was necessary enough that they ate Melvin’s reported $4MM salary. They’d go on to make one of the boldest managerial hires in recent memory. After considering more traditional candidates like Kurt Suzuki, Nick Hundley, and Vance Wilson, the Giants wooed college baseball’s best coach.

They hired Tony Vitello away from the University of Tennessee, paying a premium to do so. Vitello is reportedly making $3.5MM annually on a three-year contract. The Giants also paid a $3MM buyout to the university. They’re committing $10.5MM to the managerial position this year all told, which is probably the most in MLB. Teams don’t publicly disclose managerial salaries, but Dave Roberts’ extension with the Dodgers pays an $8.1MM average annual value that is believed to be the most in the league.

Vitello built what had been a floundering Tennessee program into a national powerhouse during his eight years in Knoxville. It’s nevertheless a virtually unheard of hire for an MLB team. Vitello made the jump directly to major league managing without any previous experience in pro ball.

That has some precedent in other sports but hasn’t really been done in MLB, where college staffers making the move have usually begun their careers as coaches or in player development roles. He’ll have the advice of some experienced voices. The Giants added Ron Washington to the coaching staff while bringing Bruce Bochy back to the organization as a special advisor (joining Dusty Baker in that regard)

Fascinating as the hire is, Vitello will have more constraints as an MLB manager than he did as a college coach. College coaches are also primarily responsible for putting their rosters together via recruiting and the transfer portal. That’s obviously not the case in MLB, where the front office was tasked with addressing the pitching staff and fixing two obvious holes in the lineup.

As the aforementioned comments from Johnson and Minasian suggested, the front office seemingly didn’t have much long-term payroll flexibility. They’d signed three nine-figure contracts (Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman and Adames) in the previous two offseasons. They took on close to $215MM in future commitments on the Devers deal — including the money saved by attaching Jordan Hicks as a salary offset. They also paid $17MM to division rival Blake Snell in January as a deferred signing bonus from his 2024 free agent deal.

Although the Giants would take aim at a few high-impact trade targets, they limited themselves to the third and fourth tiers in free agency. That began with a two-year, $22MM deal for right-hander Adrian Houser. It’s a hefty price for a pitcher who was playing on a minor league pact as recently as last May. Houser pitched very well in 11 starts for the White Sox but struggled to a near-5.00 ERA over 10 outings following a deadline trade to Tampa Bay. He slots into the back half of the rotation as an innings eating grounder specialist.

The Giants made a similar move with a one-year, $10MM flier for Tyler Mahle. There’s maybe a little more upside with Mahle, who is coming off a 2.18 ERA across 16 starts for the Rangers. That’s driven largely by an elevated strand rate and minimal batting average on balls in play that covered for a mediocre 19.1% strikeout rate.

Mahle missed bats early in his career with the Reds but hasn’t had the same caliber of stuff since then due to injury. He pitched a total of 107 MLB innings from 2023-25. A May ’23 Tommy John surgery was the most significant injury, but he also lost chunks of time in each of the past two seasons to shoulder problems. His average fastball speed has dropped two ticks from a 94 mph high back in 2021. Mahle still has excellent command and enters camp healthy, but he has back-of-the-rotation stuff despite last year’s impressive earned run average.

Signing Houser and Mahle all but ensured the Giants wouldn’t re-sign Justin Verlander, who’d been their only free agent of much note. Verlander pitched well down the stretch, but the Giants evidently preferred the other veteran arms to betting on a player entering his age-43 season. San Francisco also traded away depth arms Mason Black and Kai-Wei Teng in minor deals.

The free agent pickups slot behind Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. Having one of the 10 best pitchers in MLB anchor the group is an excellent start. Ray shows the ability to pitch at a legitimate #2 level at times but can also battle his command and had a rough second half. Landen Roupp is the in-house favorite to round out the starting five. He’s a quality back-end arm.

It’s not a bad group, though it’s lacking the ceiling behind Webb that’d compete with the upper tier of rotations in MLB. That might need to come from an unexpected step forward from an internal arm. The Giants have some intriguing depth pieces on the 40-man roster. Hayden Birdsong, Trevor McDonald, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, and Carson Seymour are all optionable starters with modest big league experience.

Individually, no one from that group projects as a high-end starter. There’s enough volume the Giants can hope someone takes an unexpected step forward with a velocity jump or new pitch. Birdsong has the best raw stuff but disappointed when given a rotation opportunity a year ago. He simply didn’t throw enough strikes.

Although Birdsong enters camp as a starter, the Giants should probably focus him on a relief role this year. They’re likely to need more than one of the rotation depth pieces in the bullpen — which they did puzzlingly little to address over the offseason. They not only stayed away from the Díaz/Devin Williams price range but also opted not to bring in any middle-tier relievers (e.g. Kyle Finnegan, Kenley Jansen).

Free agent bullpen prices were high. The Giants may have simply thought that playing in that area was bad value. However, it leaves them with one of the thinner bullpens of any team that expects to contend. In addition to the Rogers and Doval trades, they lost breakout closer Randy Rodríguez to Tommy John surgery as they were playing out the string.

San Francisco’s only acquisitions were reclamation projects. They signed Jason Foley and Sam Hentges to cheap one-year deals. Both pitchers are coming off shoulder surgery and headed for season-opening injured list stints. Rowan Wick is essentially a 2027 version of the same idea. San Francisco brought him back from Japan for barely more than the league minimum. He’ll miss the entire season after recently undergoing Tommy John surgery but could be kept around via minimal club option next year if he’s recovering smoothly.

An already thin group has taken a couple more hits in camp. Waiver pickup Reiver Sanmartin tweaked his right hip in an exhibition game for Colombia in the World Baseball Classic. Hard-throwing righty Joel Peguero was diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain just last night.

Ryan Walker feels like the closer by default despite an up-and-down 2025 season. Righties JT Brubaker and José Buttó can’t be optioned and will make the team. Erik Miller and the out-of-options Matt Gage lead an uninspiring group of left-handers. Minor league signees Gregory Santos and Michael Fulmer have a clear path to middle relief spots. Aside from the general difficulty in predicting relief pitching, there’s not much reason for excitement unless someone like Birdsong or McDonald gets a bullpen job and runs with it.

Can the Giants outhit their pitching concerns? This was a league average lineup a year ago, a disappointing result for one that should be better than that on talent. They entered the offseason with two obvious potential problem areas: second base and right field. Tyler Fitzgerald floundered at the former position, leaving Casey Schmitt to hold the job in the second half. He’s a low-end regular who profiles better as a utilityman. Right field was an even bigger issue, as they got nothing out of the position after the Yastrzemski trade.

San Francisco addressed both positions via free agency. They added Harrison Bader on a two-year, $20.5MM contract in their second-biggest investment of the winter. The front office successfully waited out Bader’s push for a third year to add an impact defender coming off a career-best .277/.347/.449 showing. They’ll expect some regression offensively — Bader dramatically outperformed his batted ball metrics thanks to an inflated .359 BABIP — but he’s an ideal fit for the spacious Oracle Park outfield.

Bader will play every day in center field, pushing Lee to right. Lee is coming off a .266/.327/.407 season that’d be fine even with the higher offensive bar to clear in a corner outfield spot. Despite above-average speed and an excellent arm, Lee occasionally had some trouble tracking balls in center field. Bader will be a notable upgrade, while Lee’s athleticism should remain an asset with the amount of ground to cover in the right-center gap.

They’ll be joined in the outfield by Heliot Ramos, a 2024 All-Star who underwhelmed last season. Ramos had a huge May (.347/.407/.600) but had a sub-.720 OPS in every other month. He batted .248/.316/.358 in the second half. Ramos still topped 20 homers with slightly above-average offensive numbers overall, but left field could be a position to monitor at the deadline if his late-season form carries into 2026. Former Guardian Will Brennan could factor in there as a left-handed complement but seems likelier to begin the season in Triple-A after an offseason split deal.

The Giants’ biggest pursuits came at second base. Bay Area native Nico Hoerner would have been an ideal fit, but the Cubs never had much motivation to trade him. The Giants made a run at landing Brendan Donovan from the Cardinals; he wound up traded to Seattle instead. Talks with the Nationals about CJ Abrams reportedly stalled when Washington balked at a prospect package built around shortstop Josuar Gonzalez.

They ended up turning back to free agency. In a weak middle infield class beyond Bo Bichette, they opted to give Luis Arraez another opportunity at second base. It’s difficult to quibble with the price, as the three-time batting champion settled for one year and $12MM. The risk is that comes with the promise of moving Arraez back to the keystone after two years working mostly as a first baseman in San Diego.

Fans are familiar with Arraez’s skillset. He’s the most difficult player in MLB to strike out and one of a handful of hitters who can reasonably be expected to bat .300. The all-contact approach doesn’t leave much room for walks or any kind of power. Last season’s .292/.327/.392 batting line came out to roughly league average overall, by measure of wRC+.

Arraez’s career numbers are better than that (.317/.363/.413), and he should certainly be an offensive upgrade over Schmitt. They’ll probably need to live with well below-average defense in the process despite expressing hope that working with Washington can turn things around. Arraez doesn’t move especially well and has been a below-average defender from the time he reached the majors.

Schmitt is a much better defensive player and should stick around as a utility piece and potential late-game substitute. Schmitt’s name has been floated in trade rumors, but there probably aren’t many teams that view him as a clear everyday player. If most other clubs also see him as a utility piece, he’s more valuable to the Giants as an Arraez complement than netting a fairly modest trade return. Fitzgerald was a non-factor in the second half and doesn’t have much of a path back to playing time in San Francisco. A change of scenery trade for a low-level prospect could make sense.

Chapman and Adames will play almost every game on the left side of the infield. Devers will divide his work between first base and designated hitter. Top first base prospect Bryce Eldridge is trying to break camp after a brief 2025 debut. He’d play regularly alongside Devers if he’s on the roster. If the Giants have him open the season in the minors, that’d increase the odds of an out-of-options Luis Matos or Jerar Encarnación sticking around.

There’s also a camp battle for the backup catcher job. Patrick Bailey is such a good defender that he’ll remain the primary catcher despite providing very little at the plate. Prospect Jesus Rodriguez is competing with Rule 5 selection Daniel Susac and minor league signee Eric Haase for a bench spot.

The Giants hit most of the obvious needs they had entering the offseason — though the bullpen stands as a curious exception. They did so mostly with moves to raise the floor rather than upside plays, seemingly because of payroll restrictions. Did they do enough to jump the Padres and Diamondbacks as the second-best team in the NL West and at least snag a Wild Card berth?

How would you grade the Giants' offseason?

  • C 48% (983)
  • B 27% (556)
  • D 18% (373)
  • F 4% (90)
  • A 3% (59)

Total votes: 2,061

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2025-26 Offseason In Review MLBTR Originals San Francisco Giants

Offseason In Review: Arizona Diamondbacks

By | at March 4, 2026 4:57pm CDT

Arizona brought a lot of familiar faces back to the pitching staff, and brought Nolan Arenado back to the NL West.

Major League Signings

2026 spending: $56.325MM ($14.025MM deferred)
Total spending: $77.325MM

Trades And Claims

Option Decisions

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None to date

Notable Losses

Last August’s reports about some clubhouse friction with Ketel Marte led to speculation that the Diamondbacks could potentially be looking to move on from the star second baseman.  These trade rumors dominated the first half of Arizona’s offseason, with nine teams (the Tigers, Reds, Red Sox, Rays, Mariners, Pirates, Phillies, Giants, and Blue Jays) all publicly known to have some interest in Marte’s services.

Despite all of this interest, a swap never came together.  In November, GM Mike Hazen said a Marte deal was “mostly unlikely” to happen, and the D’Backs took the step of placing a seemingly hard deadline on the Marte trade talks in early January.  Hazen and his front office were seemingly willing to listen to offers just out of due diligence, but weren’t going to let the situation linger all winter.

All of this drama came less than a year after Marte signed a new extension that could keep him in Arizona through the 2031 season.  Trading Marte would have gotten the $102.5MM remaining on the contract off of the Diamondbacks’ books, perhaps allowing the team to re-direct that money towards other roster needs.  But, of course, another need would’ve then been created, since it wouldn’t have been easy for the Snakes to replace Marte’s All-Star level of production.

Another interesting wrinkle is that Marte will reach 10 full years of MLB service time about two weeks into the 2026 season, thus giving him full no-trade protection as a 10-and-5 player (10 years in the majors, at least five consecutive years with one team).  There was some thought that the D’Backs might be inclined to move Marte while they still had leverage, but assuming that Hazen indeed sticks to his deadline, it would seem like the former NLCS MVP will indeed be wearing a Diamondbacks uniform on Opening Day.

Ironically, Arizona’s biggest infield-related move of the offseason involved acquiring another player with a full no-trade clause.  The veto power written into the extension Nolan Arenado initially signed with the Rockies back in February 2019 allowed the third baseman to control his fate over two completed trades (his move to Arizona this winter and the February 2021 trade that sent him from the Rockies to the Cardinals), and at least one non-deal (Arenado rejected a proposed trade last offseason that would’ve sent him to the Astros). He reportedly also preferred a move to Arizona than a potential trade that would have sent him to the Athletics over the winter.

The scuttled deal with Houston left Arenado playing on a 78-84 St. Louis team that seemed to be aching to fully start a rebuild, and moving Arenado’s contract was a key element of the Cardinals’ plans.  Heading into this winter, Arenado was more open about expanding his list of approved destinations, reflecting the reality of both the Cards’ situation and his own lowered trade stock.  Arenado’s age-34 season was one of the worst of his career, as he hit .237/.289/.377 with 12 homers over 436 plate appearances, and missed about a month and half of action due to a shoulder strain.

St. Louis was willing to eat a big chunk of Arenado’s remaining salary to accommodate the trade, so the Diamondbacks are covering only $11MM of the $42MM owed to the third baseman over the last two seasons on his contract.  Spending $11MM and giving up an unspectacular pitching prospect (Jack Martinez) to see if Arenado can benefit from a change of scenery seems like a reasonable gambit on Hazen’s part.  Arenado is still a plus defender if nothing else, and while his hitting numbers have been in decline for the last three seasons, the move to Chase Field could perhaps help bump him back up to at least a league-average level of offense.

The Arenado trade was finalized after the Diamondbacks missed out on an even more prominent third base target in Alex Bregman.  Arizona’s reported interest in Bregman surprised many, as such a signing was thought to be out of the spending range for a team that was likely to be reducing payroll, as per statements from team chairman Ken Kendrick back in September.  Like last winter’s blockbuster signing of Scottsdale resident Corbin Burnes, the D’Backs may have been willing to stretch the budget for another star from the Southwest — Bregman is from New Mexico, and grew up cheering for the Diamondbacks.

Bregman ended up signing with the Cubs for five years and $175MM ($70MM of which is deferred), so the Snakes’ interest ended up going for naught.  It isn’t known how fervent Arizona’s pursuit was, and the Marte trade market also certainly impacted the team’s free agent pursuits as well as the broader infield free agent market as a whole.  A team swinging a deal for Marte would probably have less interest in signing Bregman, for instance.  As well, if the D’Backs had to trade Marte to free up money for a Bregman signing, Bregman might have then been less interested in joining an Arizona team that didn’t have a proven star like Marte in the lineup.

Pete Fairbanks, Pierce Johnson, Munetaka Murakami, and old friend Paul Goldschmidt were some of the other free agents besides Bregman who were on Arizona’s radar.  Players linked to the Diamondbacks in trade talks (mostly in Marte-related deals) included Cole Young, Ryan Pepiot, Shane Baz, Brandon Lowe, and Brendan Donovan, plus surely plenty of other names were bandied about in the Diamondbacks’ many negotiations.

If Marte was going to be traded, multiple reports stated that the Diamondbacks were prioritizing controllable pitching in any return.  This ask related both to the natural value of both pitchers, and Arizona’s need for rotation help.  With Merrill Kelly traded to the Rangers at last summer’s deadline and Zac Gallen entering free agency, the D’Backs were seemingly headed into a new era without those two stalwarts atop the rotation….

…except both pitchers are now returning to the desert.  Kelly’s new two-year, $40MM contract wasn’t a huge surprise, as the right-hander expressed an openness about re-signing with the Diamondbacks in the aftermath of the Texas deal.  Gallen’s return on a one-year, $22.025MM deal was a little more of an eye-opener, yet it isn’t a total shock that his market failed to catch fire in the wake of only a so-so 2025 season.  Gallen posted a 4.83 ERA over 192 innings last year, with a 21.5% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate and were both a little below league average.

Between this down year and a 2024 season that was also pretty ordinary, it has now been two years since Gallen has looked like a true frontline ace.  Rejecting Arizona’s qualifying offer also attached draft pick compensation to Gallen’s availability, creating another obstacle for teams wary about signing the right-hander in free agency.  With the market failing to yield an acceptable long-term offer, Gallen re-signed for what is technically the exact price of the qualifying offer, except $14.025MM of his $22.025MM salary is deferred.  This means some short-term savings for the D’Backs and less immediate money for Gallen than if he’d just accepted the QO.

Reuniting Gallen and Kelly filled two big holes in the rotation, even if it means the Diamondbacks are more or less standing pat with the same starting group that posted middling numbers in 2025.  The D’Backs are counting on Gallen to rebound, Eduardo Rodriguez to finally get on track in his third season in Arizona, Brandon Pfaadt to take a step forward in his fourth MLB campaign, and Ryne Nelson to continue his solid work from last season.

Health is also a must, and there are already some injury concerns early in camp — Kelly is battling a bad back and Pfaadt has some side discomfort.  Burnes underwent Tommy John surgery last June and won’t be available until at least late July or early August.  Depth starter Blake Walston is out until May or June due to a TJ surgery of his own, and Cristian Mena is still dealing with the teres major strain that cost him a big chunk of the 2025 campaign.

Michael Soroka has his own checkered injury history, but he’ll provide depth as a swingman after joining the D’Backs on a one-year, $7.5MM contract.  A biceps strain and two shoulder strains limited Soroka to 169 1/3 innings over the last two seasons, but when healthy he delivered fairly okay numbers as both a starter and reliever with the White Sox, Nationals, and Cubs.  Soroka’s 4.06 SIERA outpaced his 4.62 ERA over the last two seasons, his strikeout rates were above average, and his walk rate was much improved in 2025 after he displayed very shaky control in 2024.

The rotation’s health status will be the biggest factor in Soroka’s role, and if he isn’t starting, some long relief innings would be a big help to the bullpen.  Like how the rotation is in some ways waiting on Burnes, the pen is missing two top high-leverage arms in Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk, who both underwent major arm surgeries last June.  Martinez had a Tommy John surgery and won’t be back until the second half, while Puk is projected to return this June after undergoing an internal brace procedure.

Reinforcing the relief corps was therefore a major goal of Arizona’s offseason, and if the team makes another prominent transaction before Opening Day, it would probably be a bullpen add.  As to the moves they’ve already made, the D’Backs didn’t invest much in new relievers, certainly not at the level that the Marlins spent on Fairbanks ($13MM) or the Reds on Johnson ($6.5MM).

Though Soroka’s salary could certainly be counted as spending on the bullpen, Paul Sewald and Taylor Clarke’s combined deals barely topped $3MM in guaranteed money.  Formerly the Diamondbacks’ closer in 2023 and early 2024, Sewald returns to Arizona looking to bounce back after a pair of injury-marred seasons.  Clarke is another former Diamondback who has been pretty inconsistent for much of his career, but he was good last season in posting a 3.25 ERA over 55 1/3 innings out of the Royals’ bullpen.

These signings could turn into big bargains if Clarke repeats his 2025 performance and Sewald can regain some of his past form.  The D’Backs are also hoping to strike on one of their flier-type acquisitions, like their waiver claim of Grant Holman (injured for most of 2025) or minor league deals with such pitchers as Jonathan Loaisiga or Derek Law.  Every team heads into Spring Training hoping to hit paydirt on a non-roster invite, but having a reliever emerge would be of particular import for the D’Backs considering their needs in the pen.

Arizona also added a reliever via trade, as Kade Strowd was brought aboard in the deal that sent utilityman Blaze Alexander to the Orioles.  Strowd is a 28-year-old righty who just made his MLB debut last season, and delivered a sparkling 1.71 ERA over 26 1/3 innings in his first taste of the majors.  His 4.02 SIERA reflects Strowd’s less-than-stellar peripherals and his .227 BABIP, but he is a controllable grounder specialist with minor league options remaining, making him an intriguing new face for the Diamondbacks’ relief mix.

Trading Alexander and Jake McCarthy represented a minor shake-up to the Diamondbacks’ collection of position players.  Tim Tawa is expected to take Alexander’s place as the top utility option, while McCarthy’s outfield role could be filled by Jorge Barrosa or (most interestingly) projected center fielder Jordan Lawlar.  With Arenado now at third base, Marte staying put, and Geraldo Perdomo locked into the shortstop role, Lawlar is moving from the infield to the new position of center field.

The position switch adds another degree of difficulty to Lawlar’s attempts to stick in the majors, as he is now playing the outfield for the first time in pro ball as well as still figuring out big league pitching (Lawlar has hit only .165/.241/.237 in the small sample size of 108 PA in the Show).  While some D’Backs fans may feel they’ve been waiting for Lawlar’s breakout forever, Lawlar is still only 23, and only now seems to be ticketed for regular playing time on Arizona’s active roster.

Depending on how the experiment pans out, Lawlar could end up playing more in left field than in center, with Alek Thomas moving into the middle outfield role.  Or, Thomas and Lawlar could form a lefty-righty platoon in center if Lawlar isn’t quite ready for a starting job, though this would leave left field to Tawa, Barrosa, or rookie Ryan Waldschmidt until Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is back from a torn ACL.  As optimistic as Gurriel is feeling about an early return, chances are he’ll still be out of action until at least June.  Corbin Carroll remains the anchor of stability within the unsettled outfield picture, but even Carroll’s availability for Opening Day has now been clouded by hamate surgery during Spring Training.

Utilityman Ildemaro Vargas has mostly bounced around the infield during his career, but he could also provide some outfield help as he returns on a minors contract for yet another stint with the D’Backs.  Also on the depth front, James McCann was re-signed as the backup catcher, and a spring calf injury to Adrian del Castillo clinched McCann’s spot as Gabriel Moreno‘s chief understudy.

Finally, one more prominent veteran was brought aboard in February when Carlos Santana inked a one-year, $2MM contract.  Santana and Pavin Smith are expected to share time at first base, though given Santana’s strong glovework, he might get more time in the field while Smith is used as a DH against right-handed pitching.  Santana is turning 40 in April and is entering his 17th MLB season, plus his offense took a sharp downturn to an 82 wRC+ over 474 PA with the Guardians and Cubs last year.

With Santana at first base and Arenado at third, the Diamondbacks should enjoy a defensive upgrade, which was one of Hazen’s offseason goals.  What Santana (or Arenado, for that matter) can still provide at the plate is an open question, though Santana may be limited to just part-time at-bats depending on how Arizona approaches the first base/DH situation.  Tyler Locklear is also expected to factor into the picture in May or June, when he returns from shoulder and elbow surgeries.

After all the offseason comings and goings, the Diamondbacks are projected (as per RosterResource) for an approximate $195.2MM payroll.  This is a touch above their $191.3MM payroll from 2025, running counter to Kendrick’s pre-offseason statements about a spending cut.  As Kendrick explained a few weeks ago, “I want our fans to feel that we are committed to investing every dollar possible and putting the best team we can put together on the field….We’re in a partnership with our fans. They generate revenue by buying tickets and coming to ball games and supporting us.  And as a good partner, we need to take the money they spend and invest it wisely, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

It feels like every team should operate under this basic premise, though that is hardly the case given how so many clubs operate under stricter payroll limits or refuse to spend at all.  As commendable as it is that the D’Backs are continuing to try and compete, the effort hasn’t been rewarded by a playoff berth in either of the last two seasons.  The Diamondbacks had enough belief in their core that they retained or re-signed a lot of it this winter, but the question is now whether or not they finally have the right roster composition to return to the postseason.

How would you grade the Diamondbacks' offseason?

  • C 45% (546)
  • B 37% (451)
  • D 11% (130)
  • A 4% (54)
  • F 4% (45)

Total votes: 1,226

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2025-26 Offseason In Review Arizona Diamondbacks MLBTR Originals

Offseason In Review: Cincinnati Reds

By | at March 3, 2026 10:06am CDT

Eugenio Suarez‘s power bat is returning to the Queen City, but is that enough to bolster an inconsistent lineup?

Major League Signings

2026 spending: $37.4MM
Total spending: $47.4MM

Trades And Claims

Option Decisions

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None to date

Notable Losses

Kyle Schwarber grew up in Middletown, an Ohio city just a short drive away from Cincinnati.  The idea of adding both a local product and a top-tier bat in Schwarber inspired the Reds to go beyond their usual financial zone in free agency, as the team reportedly made Schwarber an offer in the range of five years and $125MM.  As was widely expected going into the offseason, however, Schwarber ended up re-signing with the Phillies (for five years and $150MM), leaving the Reds and Schwarber’s many other suitors looking for a backup plan.

Instead of adding a 56-homer slugger in Schwarber, the Reds brought in a 49-homer slugger who also had some ties to Cincinnati, as Suarez returned for his second stint with the organization.  After bashing 189 homers for the Reds from 2015-21, Suarez went yard 132 more times in four subsequent seasons with the Mariners and Diamondbacks, including 49 home runs in 2025.

Though there were plenty of similarities between Schwarber and Suarez’s 2025 campaigns, there’s a reason Suarez was available at the relative bargain price of one year and $15MM.  Schwarber is entering his age-33 seasons while Suarez turns 35 in July, Suarez’s walk rates over the last two seasons have been below average while Schwarber’s have been elite, and Suarez’s overall production has been inconsistent.

From the start of July 2024 to the end of July 2025, Suarez was arguably the hottest hitter in baseball in batting .276/.336/.593 with 60 homers over 766 PA with Arizona.  He struggled badly in the first half of the 2024 season, however, and then his bat drastically cooled again this past summer after the D-Backs sent Suarez to the Mariners at the trade deadline.

Between the up-and-down numbers, Suarez’s age, and his defensive drop at third base, it seemed like Suarez wasn’t getting the types of offers he was expecting after a 49-homer campaign.  Suarez’s alternate strategy was a one-year deal in a familiar (and hitter-friendly) environment at Great American Ball Park, with the idea that he’ll have a better chance of landing a pricey multi-year deal after another big platform year.  It’s not out of the question that the Reds could again reunite with Suarez next winter if the price is right, but for now, the club is happy to add some much-needed power to the lineup for at least 2026.

Hitting was the Reds’ chief need this winter, as Cincinnati’s run to a wild card berth came despite middling offensive numbers almost across the board.  Bringing Suarez into the lineup (primarily as a DH, since Ke’Bryan Hayes has third base covered) should alone provide a lot of pop, though the Reds will again be relying on a lot of the same faces from 2025.

While the Reds were willing to go above and beyond spending-wise for a special case like Schwarber, their free agent spending was (as usual) limited for much of the winter.  President of baseball operations Nick Krall said in early November that the team’s payroll would be largely unchanged from 2025, and that has proven to be the case.  As per RosterResource‘s calculations, Cincinnati finished 2025 with a payroll of roughly $118.7MM, and they currently have around $126MM on the books for the coming season.

Uncertainty over the Reds’ broadcast contract with Main Street Sports contributed to the team’s modest spending.  The Reds were one of the nine teams who walked away from their deals with MSS due to the company’s continued financial issues, and Cincinnati then joined five of those teams in signing on with Major League Baseball to handle its broadcasts for at least 2026.  Staying with MLB will bring some short-term stability to the situation, though the lesser broadcast rights represents a significant hit to the Reds’ revenues.

With money at a premium, it isn’t surprising that most of the Reds’ offseason pursuits (particularly on the batting front) came on the trade market.  Schwarber and old friend Miguel Andujar drew the team’s interest in free agency, but the Reds were linked to such names as Ketel Marte, Luis Robert Jr., Brandon Lowe, and Jake Meyers.  Robert has long been on Cincinnati’s radar, but the White Sox ended up dealing the outfielder to the Mets.  Lowe, meanwhile, landed on an NL Central rival, as the Rays dealt their longtime infielder to the Pirates.

Only Krall and his front office lieutenants know exactly why any of these trade pursuits didn’t materialize, but it is fair to guess that the roadblock might’ve been the Reds’ reluctance to deal from their rotation depth.  There was plenty of speculation that the Reds could dangle one of their starters for a prominent bat, except there was never much chance that any of Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, or Chase Burns were heading anywhere.  If teams kept asking about that group (and not more palatable trade chips like Brady Singer, or maybe Chase Petty or Rhett Lowder), it isn’t surprising that the Reds couldn’t line up on a trade fit.

Since the rotation powered the Reds’ playoff chase, it is understandable that Krall wasn’t keen on moving any arms from his club’s biggest strength.  Both the team’s rotation (and bullpen) took a hit via a free agent departure, when swingman Nick Martinez left to sign with the Rays.  Deadline acquisition Zack Littell is also a free agent, and while he remains unsigned at the time of this post, Cincinnati is probably deep enough in starters that a reunion isn’t likely.

Between Martinez leaving, and the Reds’ decision to decline their club options on Brent Suter and Scott Barlow, some big holes needed to be filled in the relief corps.  The Reds’ biggest free agent expenditure addressed the bullpen, as Emilio Pagan was brought back on a two-year, $20MM deal.

This new contract is pretty similar to the two-year, $16MM pact he signed with Cincinnati back in November 2023, as this new deal also allows the right-hander to opt out after the first season.  Pagan passed on his previous opt-out chance in the wake of an injury-marred down year in 2024, but he rebounded in very impressive fashion to post a 2.88 ERA, 30% strikeout rate, and 8.1% walk rate across 68 2/3 innings last season, while converting 32 of 38 save opportunities.

Pagan’s extreme fly-ball tendencies always run the risk of variance in his performance, depending on how many of those fly balls stay in the park or sail over the outfield wall.  He is also entering his age-35 season, so a decline simply based on age isn’t out of the question.  Still, in somewhat similar fashion to the Suarez deal, the Reds were willing to invest on a player they already know and like, and who has a track record of success in the organization.

Barlow and Suter could’ve been retained for a total of $9.5MM via their club options.  The Reds instead spent a bit more on another righty and lefty relief duo in Pierce Johnson (one year, $6.5MM) and Caleb Ferguson (one year, $4.5MM).  The four pitchers are pretty comparable overall, though the newcomers perhaps bring a bit more upside and a bit more postseason experience to the pen.

Cincinnati’s most prominent swap of the winter saw the team part ways with a bat in order to land some more bullpen help.  Gavin Lux delivered barely replacement-level production in his only season in southwest Ohio, so the Reds sent him to the Rays as part of a three-team trade with the Angels that brought Brock Burke into the relief corps.  Burke is a solid left-hander who doesn’t miss many bats, but he has developed a knack for inducing grounders.

The Reds had some interest in re-signing Austin Hays after declining their club option, but Hays went to the White Sox in part because Chicago could offer him the type of regular playing time that wasn’t available in Cincinnati’s outfield mix.  With Hays and Lux gone, a Reds outfield that was already something of a question mark heading into the offseason needed some more reinforcement, though the acquisitions of JJ Bleday and Dane Myers don’t really provide a clear answer to the outfield questions.

Bleday (the fourth overall pick of the 2019 draft) had a strong year with the A’s in 2024, but has posted exactly 0.0 fWAR over his other three Major League seasons.  After Bleday followed up his seeming breakout year with more struggles in 2025, the A’s parted ways with the outfielder at the non-tender deadline.  Myers is more of a glove-first fourth outfielder type, as he has batted only .245/.299/.354 over 511 career PA with the Marlins.  The righty-hitting Myers has hit well with the platoon advantage and should get a decent amount of run against lefty pitching.  Bleday wasn’t a huge expenditure at the cost of $1.4MM, and he is arbitration-controlled through 2028 while Myers is controlled through 2029.

Cincinnati’s most regular outfield alignment on paper will probably be Bleday in left, TJ Friedl in center field, and Noelvi Marte in right, with Spencer Steer or Myers likely starting over Bleday when a southpaw is on the mound.  Will Benson provides added depth off the bench or in Triple-A.

How exactly the Reds will juggle their position players remains a topic of debate, though Terry Francona is as good as any manager at finding at-bats for everyone and riding the hot hand.  The situation underlines the curious dichotomy about the Reds heading into 2026 — this is a team aiming to return to the playoffs and make a deeper run, yet the club is also not exactly sure of what it has with the majority of its position players.

Assuming Suarez is more like the version of himself who tore up pitching for the bulk of his D-Backs tenure, he’ll be a source of stability.  Elly De La Cruz is already an All-Star with an even higher ceiling of greater potential.  Hayes is a mediocre hitter but also perhaps the sport’s best defensive third baseman, so he at least brings huge value with his glove.  Friedl is a decent hitter who is probably better suited as a platoon corner outfielder, rather than as a defensively-challenged center fielder slated to get the majority of the work up the middle.

Those players are, at it stands, the surer things.  Marte’s midseason move to right field seemed to work just fine from a defensive perspective, but can he take the next step as a hitter to truly establish himself as a big league regular?  Can Sal Stewart be a Rookie of the Year contender after his very promising numbers over 58 PA in 2025?  Can any or all of Steer, Matt McLain, and Tyler Stephenson return to the form they showed at the plate earlier in their careers?  In Steer’s case, can he also adjust in what might be a utility role, as Cincinnati intends to toggle Steer around between first and second base, the corner outfield slots, and the DH position?

Obtaining another true everyday player to insert into the lineup might’ve solved at least one of these questions, but Suarez was the one splash permitted for a front office working under budget constraints.  The Reds’ swath of minor league signings provides some interesting depth possibilities, with Nathaniel Lowe standing out as the most intriguing bounce-back candidate, even if he’d add to an already crowded first-base picture.

Francona, Krall and company would happily welcome a problem of having multiple productive hitters for too few positions, given how the 2025 Reds often had trouble providing their excellent starters with suitable run support.  The wild card berth represented great progress, and it’s easy to see how the Reds can contend again in 2026 since they still project to have one of the game’s better rotations.  With the NL Central (let alone the NL wild card picture as a whole) becoming more competitive, the Reds are counting on Suarez and at least a couple of internal breakouts to allow the team to take another step forward.

How would you grade the Reds' offseason?

  • C 41% (831)
  • B 40% (804)
  • D 10% (193)
  • A 6% (113)
  • F 3% (69)

Total votes: 2,010

 

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2025-26 Offseason In Review Cincinnati Reds MLBTR Originals

Offseason In Review: Detroit Tigers

By | at February 27, 2026 11:15am CDT

For a long time, it seemed like it would be another conservative offseason for the Tigers, but the boldest strike of the Scott Harris era finally came. The Tigers now look like the strongest team in MLB’s weakest division, in what could be their final season with Tarik Skubal.

Major League Free Agent Signings

2026 spending (not including deferred money owed to Valdez and Verlander): $68.275MM
Total spending: $187.025MM

Trades and Waiver Claims

Option Decisions

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None yet

Notable Losses

The Tigers hired Scott Harris as president of baseball operations in September of 2022. The team was in a rut at that point, having not made the playoffs since 2014. They finally pulled out of rebuilding mode by making the playoffs in 2024 and 2025.

Despite the return to contention, the front office’s approach has generally come across as risk-averse. Last winter, they signed a number of free agents but mostly on the modest side. They were all one-year deals except for their two-year deal with Jack Flaherty. Even that pact was seemingly designed to be a one-year arrangement, with Flaherty having an opt-out halfway through.

The Tigers were quite good for most of the 2025 season, but their deadline was a bit underwhelming. Acquiring Chris Paddack, Charlie Morton, Rafael Montero, Kyle Finnegan and Paul Sewald wasn’t an exciting haul. The Finnegan pickup worked quite well, but Morton was eventually released and Paddack moved to the bullpen. The Tigers remarkably lost their hold on the division lead when they went 7-17 in September and finished second to the Guardians. They limped into the postseason, won the Wild Card series (against Cleveland) but were eliminated in the ALDS.

Going into this winter, it was fair to wonder whether the urgency would get cranked up. With Tarik Skubal entering his final year of club control before reaching free agency, the 2026 season seemed like a good time to put some chips on the table.

The uncertainty there also led to plenty of trade speculation around Skubal, which was understandable from fans of other clubs. Since he’s so talented and with no signs of an extension being viable, it was a logical dream. But from Detroit’s point of view, they went into the winter with a strong team in the most wide-open division in the league. Keeping Skubal and going for a title always seemed the far likelier play.

Some of the offseason moves came fairly quickly. In mid-October, just a few days after being eliminated from the playoffs, it was announced that manager A.J. Hinch had been extended. The deal actually took place during the season but the announcement was held until after.

Not long after that, a few of the chess pieces moved into place. Or rather, they stayed in place. In early November, Flaherty surprisingly decided to trigger his $20MM player option instead of heading to the open market. He wasn’t coming off a great season but still would have had a shot at beating that price point as a somewhat reliable mid-rotation starter. It also would have been possible that the Tigers made him a $22.025MM qualifying offer, giving him a chance to feel out the market. If he didn’t find much to inspire confidence, he could have then decided to return to Detroit with a slight bump over his existing contract. But perhaps due to his extended stay in free agency last time, Flaherty decided to skip the whole thing and just stay in Detroit for another year.

A few days later, the Tigers made a somewhat surprising call of their own, issuing a QO to second baseman Gleyber Torres. They had signed him going into 2025, a one-year deal worth $15MM. He had a strong first half but then slumped in the second as he played through a hernia that ultimately required surgery after the season was done. It didn’t seem like he had done much to increase his earning power in the one year from when he signed for $15MM, but the Tigers were apparently comfortable giving him a raise of almost 50%. Torres was comfortable with that raise as well, as he accepted the QO.

From there, the Tigers shifted their focus to pitching. They were connected to many of this winter’s free agents, including Devin Williams, Ryan Helsley, Pete Fairbanks, Michael King, Ranger Suárez and many others.

In the first few weeks of December, they added a few arms to the staff. Drew Anderson signed a one-year deal worth $7MM. He’s not a household name in North America, as he’s been pitching in Asia for the past four years, starting with two in Japan and then two in South Korea. His results in the KBO in 2025 were excellent. Anderson posted a 2.25 earned run average with a 35.3% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 45.9% ground ball rate.

It’s not a guarantee that he will translate that to the majors, but it’s not a huge gamble for the Tigers, relatively speaking. Cody Ponce was only slightly better than Anderson in the KBO last year but he had enough juice to get a three-year, $30MM deal from the Blue Jays. Anderson was exclusively a starter in 2025 and looked to have a path to a rotation job with Detroit at the time of the signing. But he also has some relief experience and his ultimate role would depend on what other moves the Tigers made by the end of the winter.

Then came a couple of bullpen additions. In mid-December, the Tigers added Kenley Jansen on a one-year deal worth $11MM and brought back Finnegan on a two-year deal worth $19MM. As mentioned, Finnegan was the club’s best deadline pickup. The Tigers altered his pitch mix, having him throw way more splitters at the expense of his fastball. The result was a massive increase in strikeout rate — from 19.6% with the Nationals to 34.8% with the Tigers. Given that quick jump, it made sense to keep the relationship going.

Jansen is 38 years old and isn’t as dominant as he once was, but he has remained a reliably impactful arm. He has pitched at least 44 innings in each full season dating back to 2011. He didn’t finish any of those with an ERA higher than 3.71. Despite a career-low strikeout rate, Jansen posted a 2.59 ERA in 2025.

On the position player side, the Tigers sniffed around but didn’t bite into anything. They had made a strong push to sign Alex Bregman last winter but weren’t nearly as involved this time around. They were connected to players like Ketel Marte and Ha-Seong Kim without a lot of smoke.

In the end, they’re essentially going into 2026 with the same position player group as they had in 2025. That could be a little worrying for fans, considering that the team stumbled through the second half last year. It seems the club is hoping the big offensive boost comes from within. That could come from better health from incumbent players, including Torres, but also the arrival of some touted prospects.

Kevin McGonigle is a consensus top five prospect in the sport, with many evaluators placing him second behind Konnor Griffin of the Pirates. McGonigle spent the second half of 2025 in Double-A and crushed. He hit 12 home runs in 206 plate appearances and slashed .254/.369/.550 for a 162 wRC+ despite an unlucky .230 batting average on balls in play.

Evaluators aren’t convinced he will stick at shortstop in the long run, but that’s a spot the Tigers have open for now. Zach McKinstry and Javier Báez could be bumped into utility roles. The most likely path forward is that McGonigle starts 2026 in Triple-A, but he could quickly hit his way to the majors. Even if the Tigers aren’t prepared to break camp with him, McGonigle has a good shot to force his way into the majors before too long.

There are some other prospect who could also come up and make an impact, including Max Clark in the outfield, with Thayron Liranzo and Josue Briceño behind the plate. Like McGonigle, those three finished 2025 at Double-A, putting them somewhat close to the big leagues. Infielder Max Anderson isn’t ranked quite as highly as the other prospects covered here, but he hit .296/.350/.478 between Double-A and Triple-A as a 23-year-old. He’ll be in the mix as infield needs arise.

January brought a surprising plot twist to the Detroit offseason. The arbitration filing deadline came and went with the Tigers reaching deals with all their eligible players except for one. That’s a fairly normal occurrence — but the one holdout happened to be Skubal and the gap in the filing numbers was a shockingly high number of $13MM.

Many accused the Tigers of low-balling their star player, but their $19MM filing figure was backed by precedent. No pitcher had ever topped $20MM in arbitration before. Skubal’s camp was arguing that he deserved to buck precedent due to his tremendous accomplishments and because arbitration pitcher salaries had stagnated and fallen way behind hitters. David Price earned $19.75MM in 2015 and no one had pushed that number up in the decade since.

That big gap hung in the air for about a month, with Skubal’s hearing result not expected until February. The day after those filing figures were submitted, there was another development on the financial side. Nine teams, including the Tigers, terminated contracts with the floundering Main Street Sports, the company which owns the FanDuel Sports Network channels. That left the Tigers with uncertainty regarding their broadcast situation and its associated revenue. (It would later be reported by the Associated Press in February that MLB will handle the broadcasts.)

The Tigers were fairly quiet on the transaction front throughout January, which led to some real concern that the offseason would be yet another instance of the club avoiding bold moves. At that time, they had the same lineup as 2025. On the pitching staff, the changes were minimal. The rotation looked like it needed a nice upside play, but rumors in late January connected Detroit to swing types like Nick Martinez and Jose Quintana. With Skubal potentially costing the Tigers $13MM more than expected and the broadcast revenue up in the air, would the Tigers sit on their hands?

Before the Skubal hearing result came in, a resounding answer was sent rippling through the baseball world. It was reported on February 4th that the Tigers and left-hander Framber Valdez had a agreed to a three-year deal worth $115MM. That guarantee and the $38.3MM average annual value made it easily the most significant deal of the Harris era.

It did still have some Harris-ian qualities. This front office clearly likes to avoid long commitments, as mentioned earlier. Three years is the longest free agent deal given out by Harris, but there is an opt-out for Valdez after year two. Even in making their most significant free agent addition, the Tigers are still trying to avoid long-term handcuffs.

Still, it’s a big upgrade for 2026, arguably the best they could have hoped for. Valdez was considered by many the top free agent pitcher available this winter. Dylan Cease was projected to earn more money and did so, but that was mostly due to age difference. The 32-year-old Valdez is two years older than Cease but arguably as desirable from a pure skill standpoint. Valdez has a 3.36 ERA in his career. His strikeout and walk rates are usually around league average, while his ground ball rate is often one of the best in the league. Even if he’s only in Detroit for two years, Valdez increases the club’s chances of capitalizing on what could be Skubal’s final year in Detroit. And if Skubal does depart, Valdez can take over as the de facto ace for a year while the club moves into its post-Skubal era.

A few days later, an arbitration panel ruled in favor of Skubal, awarding him the $32MM salary for which he’d filed rather than the team’s $19MM figure. That’s potentially a seismic result for the players. Its impact on salaries might be felt for years to come. For the 2026 Tigers, it meant an extra $13MM on the books.

That didn’t stop the Tigers from adding, however. A few days later, they reunited with old friend Justin Verlander. His addition to the rotation also came with a subtraction, as it was announced that Reese Olson would miss the season due to shoulder surgery.

Perhaps the Skubal decision led the Tigers to lean on deferrals a bit more. The Valdez deal, which was announced before the Skubal decision but didn’t become official until after, features a $20MM signing bonus which is deferred and paid out from 2030 to 2039. Verlander will only get $2MM this year, with the other $11MM paid out in that same 2030-39 span. Would the Tigers have deferred less if they had beaten Skubal in the hearing?

That’s speculative and a fairly moot point. The larger takeaway here is that the Tigers have stepped on the gas pedal. They had run payrolls near $200MM in the past under previous owner Mike Ilitch. Since Mike passed in 2017, his son Chris has been in charge without the same level of spending. The club was rebuilding for his first few years, but their recent return to contender status didn’t vault them back up to that payroll level, until now. For 2026, RosterResource projects them for a $217MM payroll, with a $242MM competitive balance tax number that puts them right against payor status. Both numbers project to be franchise records.

On the position player side, the Tigers are relying on their guys either improving, getting healthier or bubbling up from the minors — at least for now. If they have holes come July, they can patch them at the deadline. The pitching staff has clearly been upgraded. They can go into the season with a front five of Skubal, Valdez, Flaherty, Verlander and Casey Mize, with Drew Anderson in the mix as well. Jackson Jobe could return late in the year, as he is currently recovering from June Tommy John surgery. Troy Melton could also take a step forward, though he’s been slowed by elbow inflammation in camp and may not be ready for Opening Day.

Time will tell if this is Skubal’s final year in Detroit. It would have been criminal if the Tigers didn’t at least act like it was a possibility. Thankfully, they have been more aggressive than usual this winter as they try to take advantage of having the best pitcher alive, before it’s too late.

How do MLBTR readers grade Detroit’s offseason? Have your say in our latest poll:

How would you grade the Tigers' offseason?

  • B 55% (934)
  • A 22% (369)
  • C 18% (308)
  • D 3% (51)
  • F 2% (29)

Total votes: 1,691

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

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2025-26 Offseason In Review Detroit Tigers MLBTR Originals

Offseason In Review: Seattle Mariners

By | at February 26, 2026 3:05pm CDT

The 2025 Mariners were a game away from the World Series. Their two-decade playoff drought and status as perennial runner-up increasingly feels like a thing of the past. They enter the 2026 season as the AL West favorite in projections at both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus after a winter that featured multiple upgrades.

Major League Free Agent Signings

Option Decisions

Trades and Waiver Claims

Extensions

  • None yet

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

When fans think of the Mariners, the dominant starting rotation is often the first thing that comes to mind. The 2025 season, Seattle’s best since 2000-02, played out in somewhat uncharacteristic fashion, however. The rotation was solid but not elite. Mariners starters barely cracked the top half of baseball in terms of ERA, due in part to injuries up and down the staff. Seattle’s bullpen ranked top-10 in ERA, however, and the lineup finished tenth or better in runs scored, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and wRC+. Cal Raleigh, the AL MVP runner-up, played a huge role in the Mariners’ offensive eruption, but the Seattle lineup was a strong unit top to bottom.

Seattle’s deadline acquisition of Josh Naylor from the D-backs played a big part in that. Naylor hit the ground running in the Emerald City and immediately looked at home, slashing .299/.341/.490 with nine homers in 210 plate appearances. The 5’10”, 235-pound Naylor even delighted baseball fans (not just Seattle fans) by somehow going 19-for-19 in stolen base attempts despite sitting in the third percentile of big leaguers in terms of average sprint speed, per Statcast. Naylor entered the season with 25 career steals in 598 games. He played 54 games as a Mariner.

President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto made it known before season’s end that keeping Naylor was not just a priority for the Mariners but the offseason priority. Appearing on the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, Dipoto told host Darragh McDonald that Naylor was “as good as anybody that’s played in the last handful of years at hitting in this ballpark” while voicing a strong desire to keep the 28-year-old slugger.

True to his word, Dipoto wasted little time in making an aggressive push to keep his newly acquired first baseman. Naylor, who also raved late in the season about how much he loved playing in Seattle, was one of the first major free agents off the board, coming to terms on a five-year, $92.5MM deal two weeks after the World Series wrapped up.

Naylor’s deal is the largest contract the Mariners have given to a free-agent position player since Dipoto began running baseball operations for the Mariners more than a decade ago — and not just barely, but by a magnitude of nearly four times. Dipoto has been open about his desires to avoid building a roster through free agency, and his affinity for working the trade market is well known. That Naylor nearly quadrupled the $24MM guarantee paid to Mitch Garver underscores how strongly the Mariners felt about keeping him. Prior to the Naylor signing, Garver was the only free agent position player to sign a multi-year free agent deal with Seattle in ten years.

While Naylor was the priority, the Mariners remained open to re-signing veterans Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez, both of whom hit in the middle of the lineup down the stretch and into the playoffs. Polanco was always deemed more likely, but the Mariners apparently balked at matching or topping the two-year, $40MM deal he received from the Mets. That $20MM average annual value was steeper than nearly any pundit or fan thought Polanco would command.

The veteran Polanco’s departure left the Mariners in a familiar position. As was the case the offseason prior, the M’s had openings at both second base and third base. Dipoto and GM Justin Hollander spent most of the 2024-25 offseason working the trade market to find an option at one or both positions before ultimately re-signing Polanco to one-year deal that turned out to be a raucous bargain.

For much of the current offseason, it looked as though things might play out similarly. The Mariners engaged with the Cardinals on Brendan Donovan early, but interest in the utilityman extraordinaire was robust. Dipoto and Hollander kept in touch with Suarez’s camp, were at least loosely involved in the market for star NPB third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, spoke to the D-backs repeatedly about Ketel Marte and inquired on the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner. There were surely other trade and free agent targets whose names didn’t become public.

Through it all, the Mariners were cited as one of the top suitors and front-runners for Donovan, who entered the offseason as a veritable lock to be traded by the rebuilding Cardinals. It may have taken longer than fans hoped, but the Mariners eventually got their man on Feb. 2, parting with top pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje, outfield prospect Tai Peete, young third baseman Ben Williamson and a Round B Competitive Balance draft pick (No. 68 overall) in a three-team deal that brought Donovan their way. Seattle’s interest in the former Gold Glove winner dated back to last season, meaning the three-team swap capped off more than a yearlong pursuit of the versatile infielder/outfielder.

Donovan indeed feels like a perfect fit for the M’s. He’s a quality defender at either third base or second base, meaning the Mariners can see which of Cole Young and Colt Emerson stand out the most this spring. The hope is that Emerson is the team’s long-term third baseman — or perhaps shortstop, if J.P. Crawford departs in free agency next winter — and that Young is the second baseman of the future. Donovan’s ability to play either spot lets the Mariners take a flexible approach to their infield alignment. And if both players eventually force their way onto the roster, Donovan can split time between those two positions, the outfield corners and designated hitter.

While Seattle paid a steep price to acquire Donovan in terms of the talent they surrendered, they’re getting him for just $5.8MM this season and can control him through the 2027 campaign. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the two parties eventually talked extension. Donovan was open to a long-term deal in St. Louis even as the Cards embarked on a rebuild.

Time will tell whether he feels similarly about his new surroundings, but at the very least he doesn’t appear to be dead-set on testing free agency 18 months from now. Recent extensions for Tommy Edman and Ryan McMahon paid that pair of comparably aged infielders $70MM total; Donovan might command a bit more, but a five-year deal in that general range (beginning with next year’s final arbitration season) feels like something that could work for both sides, speculatively speaking.

Even if no extension comes to fruition, Donovan will be hitting at or near the top of a deep Mariners lineup for the next two seasons. He’s the sort of versatile, high-contact bat the Mariners coveted several years ago when trying to reshape their offensive identity after years of ranking at or near the top of the league in strikeouts. With Donovan (career 13.5% strikeout rate) and Naylor (career 16%) now helping to anchor the lineup, the M’s have a bit of a different feel than the all-or-nothing bunch to which we’d grown accustomed earlier this decade.

The Donovan trade may have been the Mariners “signature” trade of the offseason, but it wasn’t the only swap of consequence for Dipoto, Hollander & Co. One of the Mariners’ first moves post-Naylor was to address the lack of reliable left-handed relief in their bullpen, swinging a trade for Nationals southpaw Jose A. Ferrer. Many fans were shocked to see the Mariners part with top catching prospect Harry Ford to acquire a reliever, but Ford was blocked by Raleigh with no clear path to playing time in Seattle. That doesn’t mean he can be swapped out for any old bullpen arm, but what Ferrer lacks in name recognition he makes up for in extremely intriguing underlying numbers.

Ferrer’s 4.15 ERA over the past two seasons (4.48 in 2025) isn’t going to garner much attention. However, that mark came playing in front of a porous Nationals defense that rarely did the flamethrowing sinker specialist help. The 25-year-old Ferrer (26 next week) averages a blazing 97.7 mph on a sinker that’s helped him post a gargantuan 61% ground-ball rate dating back to 2024 — fifth highest in all of baseball (min. 100 innings pitched).

In 2025, Ferrer upped his strikeout rate from the prior year’s 19.4% to a nearly league-average 21.9%. His swinging-strike rate rose to a slightly above-average 11.5%. Ferrer has only walked 4.9% of his opponents the past two seasons. That blend of plus command and plus-plus ground-ball tendencies, coupled with even average bat-missing abilities (and a competent defense behind him) gives Ferrer immense breakout potential. Metrics like SIERA (2.97) and FIP (2.95) already feel he’s great, and the Mariners’ track record in coaxing breakouts from unheralded relievers (e.g. Paul Sewald, Gabe Speier, Drew Steckenrider, Justin Topa) shouldn’t be overlooked. Ferrer is controlled for four more seasons and has two minor league option years remaining. Adding him to a bullpen anchored by Andres Munoz and Matt Brash could make for a lethal trio.

Most of the remaining moves were more on the margins of the roster. Rob Refsnyder and his lifetime .281/.383/.443 line against lefties (.302/.399/.560 in 2025) gives manager Dan Wilson a big platoon bat to pair with lefty-swinging outfielder/designated hitter Dominic Canzone, who’s coming off a breakout .281/.358/.481 showing in 268 plate appearances. Canzone more than held his own against lefties, so he’ll still get some left-on-left looks, but all of his power was against righties. Only two of his 22 extra-base hits (one double, one homer) came versus southpaws.

Andrew Knizner was brought in on a moderately surprising big league deal to be the backup to Raleigh. He’s earning just $1MM, so it’s a minimal commitment if Knizner doesn’t pan out. He’s a career .211/.281/.316 hitter whose defensive marks have improved in a small sample over the past two seasons. Notably, he was one of the best catchers in Triple-A last year when it came to challenging pitches under the incoming ABS system, which could have factored into the decision. Catching depth in general was a priority though, as they also reunited with Mitch Garver on a minor league deal and picked up Jhonny Pereda from the Twins in a cash swap.

Assembling a deep collection of optionable arms also proved to be a priority this winter. The Mariners acquired a whopping six optionable young relievers via either small trades or waivers. The current big league bullpen doesn’t have much flexibility — Ferrer and Brash are the only optionable arms, and neither is being sent down anytime soon — so it’s possible something will shake loose later in camp with the Mariners moving on from an out of options arm like Casey Legumina. The Mariners added Yosver Zulueta, Josh Simpson, Cole Wilcox, Alex Hoppe and Robinson Ortiz via trade and claimed Ryan Loutos off waivers. They’ll have plenty of options to evaluate when injuries inevitably crop up among the more experienced members of the bullpen.

The starting pitching lacks that same level of depth, particularly after sixth starter Logan Evans suffered a UCL tear that’ll require season-ending surgery. The Mariners’ top quintet of Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller is among the most talented in the game, but the top options behind him are now out-of-options swingman Cooper Criswell, former prospect Emerson Hancock (who’s struggled in the majors thus far) and non-roster veteran Dane Dunning. Finding an optionable rotation candidate or bringing in one more low-cost or non-roster veteran would arguably still be prudent, but even if they opt to do so, it’s not likely to be one of the top names available.

By and large, the Mariners’ heavy lifting is wrapped up. Naylor, Donovan and Ferrer are quality headline additions, but the M’s have done plenty of work to round out the margins of the roster with improved depth to position them for the rigors of a long season. They’ll head into 2026 as a popular pick to win their division at the very least, and better health from their top starters could make Seattle one of the favorites in the broader American League overall.

How would you grade the Mariners' offseason?

  • B 52% (1,143)
  • A 29% (639)
  • C 14% (305)
  • D 3% (60)
  • F 2% (50)

Total votes: 2,197

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2025-26 Offseason In Review MLBTR Originals Seattle Mariners

Offseason In Review: Miami Marlins

By | at February 24, 2026 7:29pm CDT

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Marlins dipped a toe into free agency but didn’t commit to anything substantial. Their larger moves were trades of established pitchers for controllable young talent, as the team continues to chase the ever-elusive idea of a “sustainable,” cost-controlled core.

Major League Free Agent Signings

Trades and Waiver Claims

Minor League Signings

Extensions

Notable Losses

The Marlins closed out the 2025 season with a 56-50 record over the final four months of the year. That wasn’t enough to erase a poor start to the season, but Miami’s 79-83 record overall was good for a third-place finish in the National League East — a surprisingly strong result for a club whose biggest moves of the preceding offseason were trading away Jesus Luzardo and Jake Burger. Right-hander Cal Quantrill, who didn’t even finish the season on the roster due to his significant struggles, was the only veteran free agent addition for Miami last winter.

That strong four-month stretch ensured at least something of a different tone this winter, though the Marlins didn’t fully commit to pushing into a win-now mentality. The third offseason for president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and second for manager Clayton McCullough was punctuated by a handful of free agent pickups but also saw the Fish continue trading from their perennially strong collection of starting pitching depth.

Miami entered the offseason with needs at first base, in the bullpen and in the outfield. They were each addressed to varying extents, but in typical Marlins fashion, those solutions generally came in the form of low-budget transactions. Miami jumped early to bring slugger Christopher Morel into the fold after he was non-tendered by Bendix’s former Rays club. Bendix was the general manager in Tampa Bay, but he was out the door by the time the Cubs traded Morel to the Rays as part of the Isaac Paredes return in 2024. It stands to reason that the Rays’ interest in Morel dated back several years to when Bendix was their GM, and he’ll now get his hands on a player with big power but also alarming strikeout concerns and no true defensive home.

The Marlins are rolling the dice on Morel as their primary first baseman — a position he’s never played before. (Insert your “Tell ’em, Wash” jokes here.) Morel has huge pull-side power and comes to Miami on just a $2MM salary with three seasons of club control remaining. If they can coax a breakout, he’ll be a bargain for them, though it’s also fair to wonder whether he’d play out all three seasons with the perennially frugal Fish in that scenario. Tapping into that raw power and unlocking a full-fledged breakout would likely lead to substantial arbitration raises, so even if Morel can finally put it all together, his price tag down the road in 2028 might prove steep enough that Miami deals him before his final arbitration season.

While Morel was the first to sign, the Bendix-led Marlins made it clear early on that former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks was a target. Fairbanks’ $11MM club option being declined by Tampa Bay rated as at least a mild surprise, and he was met with robust interest early on. In the end, it was the Marlins who bid $13MM to install Fairbanks at the back of their ‘pen, giving McCullough the sort of established closer he lacked in 2025, when six Marlins players logged between three and 15 saves. It’s the largest one-year salary the Marlins have ever given to a reliever. Fairbanks will be able to remain in Florida and continue piling up saves in a pitcher-friendly setting, making it a sensible move for all parties.

Also joining the Miami pitching staff are right-hander Chris Paddack — a former Marlins prospect — and lefty John King. Paddack will step into the rotation on the heels of a career-high 158 innings pitched but also the second-worst ERA (5.35) of his seven-year run in the big leagues. The former top prospect’s brilliant 2019 debut with the Padres is a distant memory, but he’ll pitch all of 2026 at 30 years old and brings some of the best command in baseball (career 5.2% walk rate) to South Florida.

The 31-year-old King was a quality middle reliever for the Rangers and Cardinals from 2021-24 before a tough season in 2025. He has one of the game’s lowest strikeout rates among relievers but also boasts plus command and one of the top ground-ball rates in the sport: 61.8% over the past half decade. Southpaw Cade Gibson gave Miami a strong rookie showing out of the bullpen in 2025, but the only other left-handed relievers to make an appearance were Josh Simpson (7.34 ERA, 30 2/3 innings), Anthony Veneziano (4.71 ERA, 21 innings) and Patrick Monteverde (four runs in 3 2/3 innings). Veneziano is no longer with the organization. Simpson was designated for assignment and traded to the Mariners (for cash) after Miami signed King.

All of Miami’s free-agent additions were, in some way or another, buy-low acquisitions. Morel and King were non-tendered despite affordable arbitration projections. Fairbanks’ club option, which looked fairly reasonable, was declined (partly due to budget constraints for the Rays). Paddack was traded from Minnesota to Detroit at the deadline and quickly lost his rotation spot. He has a 5.23 ERA over the past three seasons. All four have traits on which Miami can dream — Morel’s power, Fairbanks’ velocity/strikeouts, King’s grounders, Paddack’s plus command/formerly plus changeup — but they’re all projects.

Beyond the level of aggression the Marlins would or wouldn’t show with respect to their veteran additions, the biggest question surrounding the club was whether they’d once again deal from their stock of talented young starters. As we’ve seen so often in the past, even under prior front office regimes, Miami isn’t afraid to deal away young arms, trusting in the development staff’s ability to continue to turn more out.

If you’d told most fans, pundits and even other teams at the end of the 2025 season that Miami would trade two starters, most would have assumed longtime ace Sandy Alcantara would be one of them. He had a rough year overall in his return from Tommy John surgery, but the former NL Cy Young winner finished strong and is heading into the final guaranteed season of a contract that guarantees him at least $19MM more ($17MM salary, $2MM buyout on a $21MM club option for 2027). That’s a reasonable price for most clubs but a steep one for the ever-cost-conscious Marlins.

Instead, it was 27-year-old righty Edward Cabrera — long rumored as a trade candidate in his own right — and 26-year-old southpaw Ryan Weathers. While many expected Cabrera to be a popular trade target this winter, the Weathers trade came somewhat out of the blue, given that he only made eight starts last year due to injury and had three years of club control remaining.

Weathers’ trade to the Yankees netted the Marlins a quartet of prospects, none of whom are expected to be immediate contributors. Outfielder Dillon Lewis was the most highly touted prospect in the swap but hasn’t even played in Double-A yet — nor has young infielder Juan Matheus. Outfielder Brendan Jones and infielder Dylan Jasso reached Double-A in 2025, but both will presumably require further development time in Triple-A.

Weathers originally came to the Fish in what’s now a clearly lopsided trade sending Garrett Cooper to the Padres — a swap put together by former general manager Kim Ng. That acquisition gave way to a 2024 breakout and enough promise in 2025’s limited sample for Bendix to cash in on a four-prospect package that deepens the Marlins’ position player pool.

The trade of Cabrera was both more expected and more consequential in terms of 2026 impact. While he was far from a lock to change hands, Cabrera has been discussed frequently in recent years. Interest in the former top prospect’s electric arsenal has been widespread, and his 2025 breakout was enough to push it over the top. There are big durability concerns with the 6’5″ flamethrower, but Cabrera’s 3.53 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate, career-best 8.3% walk rate, 97 mph average heater, 12.6% swinging-strike rate and three remaining years of club control pushed the Cubs to part with a three-prospect package headlined by Owen Caissie, who’s now the favorite to break camp as Miami’s right fielder.

Caissie, 23, is a 2020 second-rounder who has spent several seasons ranked among baseball’s top-100 prospects but had no clear path to regular at-bats at Wrigley Field (at least not this year). He’s a three-true-outcomes lefty slugger with a big arm — a prototypical right field mold whom the Marlins hope can pair with 2025 breakout bopper Kyle Stowers to give the Fish some genuine middle-of-the-order thunder for the foreseeable future.

Caissie mashed at a .286/.386/.551 rate and popped 22 homers in only 99 Triple-A games, but he also fanned in 28% of his Triple-A plate appearances (against a 13.2% walk rate). The Marlins also added minor league infielders Cristian Hernández and Edgardo De Leon in that swap, but they’re both down-the-road considerations; Hernández hasn’t played above A-ball, and De Leon is only 19. Caissie is the headliner, and he gives the Fish a potential lineup cornerstone with six full seasons of club control and two minor league option years remaining. In Caissie, Stowers and center fielder Jakob Marsee (.292/.363/.478 in 55 games as a rookie), Miami has the makings of an excellent young outfield — no small feat considering the years of turnover they underwent on the grass prior to the arrival of this trio.

Most of Miami’s other dealings centered around role players. Dane Myers is a solid fourth outfielder who runs well, but he’s entering his final minor league option year and was shipped to the Reds for minor league outfielder Ethan O’Donnell, who’s not yet on the 40-man roster. Another fourth outfield option, Victor Mesa Jr., went to the Rays for lottery ticket teenage infielder Angel Brachi. Utilityman Eric Wagaman was traded to the Twins for minor league reliever Kade Bragg, who could make his debut at some point in 2026 — a nice bit of business considering Wagaman was a minor league free agent who signed a big league deal with Miami last winter.

In addition to selling off that trio of role players, the Marlins brought in some depth pieces by acquiring righty Bradley Blalock from the Rockies and speedster Esteury Ruiz from the Dodgers. Blalock replenishes a bit of rotation depth. He’s coming off a brutal year in the Rockies organization but had some decent results in the minors with the Brewers before that. Ruiz is in his final minor league option year and offers more speed than Myers. He could fill a similar fourth outfield role.

Setting aside the trades of Cabrera and Weathers as well as the signing of Fairbanks, most of Miami’s moves amount to tinkering around the margins. The 2026 season will be pivotal to determining their identity. They’ll see if a combination of Morel, Graham Pauley and Connor Norby can handle the infield corners. The middle infield is set for now with defensive standout Otto Lopez at shortstop and exciting leadoff man Xavier Edwards at second base. Stowers, Marsee and Caissie are the outfield hopefuls. Former top prospect Agustin Ramirez will try to improve behind the plate, but top-100 prospect Joe Mack is nipping at his heels in Triple-A, so Ramirez could eventually move to more of a first base/designated hitter/third catcher role.

On the pitching side, it’ll be Alcantara, Eury Pérez and the veteran Paddack, with former top prospects Max Meyer and Braxton Garrett returning from injury-lost seasons. Miami has two of the game’s top-ranked pitching prospects in Thomas White and Robby Snelling. Both could debut in 2026. Former prospects Dax Fulton and Adam Mazur are both still on the 40-man roster and have minor league options remaining, which gives the Fish some more depth. The bullpen already lost Ronny Henriquez to Tommy John surgery in December, but Fairbanks and King join holdovers like Gibson, Calvin Faucher and Anthony Bender to form a decent nucleus. If any of Meyer, Garrett, Fulton or Mazur don’t pan out as starters, they could shift there.

The Marlins thinned out their rotation but did so by shipping out a pair of starters who had durability issues — an all-too-common problem that seems to regularly plague their always impressive groups of young arms. Alcantara’s name could come up as a summer trade candidate, but if Miami is contending he’s not likely to go anywhere. The thought of a rotation including Alcantara, Pérez, White and Snelling is tantalizing regardless of who the fifth option would be.

Miami has the feel of an up-and-coming team, but it’s hard not to wonder what they’d look like with even a shred of payroll support from ownership. They’re currently projected to spend about $73MM on the 2026 payroll — a basement-level mark even by their standards and one of the lowest figures in the league. A bit more money on the bullpen or the infield could’ve made this club all the more compelling, and with only $83MM of luxury-tax obligations on the books, they’re running the risk of a grievance regarding the allocation of the reported $70MM or so of revenue-sharing funds they receive. Extensions for Marsee and/or Stowers — they’ve broached the subject with both young outfielders — could mitigate some of those concerns, but as MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows, Alcantara’s five-year, $56MM deal is the only extension of five or more years the Fish have given out in the past decade. It’s hard to imagine them going to the lengths necessary to sign one of their young outfielders for the long haul.

How would MLBTR readers grade the Marlins’ offseason? Have your say in the poll below:

How would you grade the Marlins' offseason?

  • C 38% (510)
  • B 27% (366)
  • D 22% (288)
  • F 9% (122)
  • A 4% (51)

Total votes: 1,337

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2025-26 Offseason In Review MLBTR Originals Miami Marlins
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