As the Winter Meetings continue, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Rule 5 Draft today:
Baseball’s annual Rule 5 Draft is scheduled to take place at 1pm CT this afternoon. International players and high school draft picks who signed in 2020 and college draft picks signed in 2021 who have not yet been added to their club’s 40-man roster are vulnerable in today’s draft, where any club can select them for a $100K fee. If the player does not stick on their new club’s 26-man roster for the entire season, he must be offered back to his original club for $50K. Teams must have open space on their 40-man roster to select a player in the draft, meaning the Twins, Orioles, Braves, Rays, and Diamondbacks would each need to clear space on their 40-man roster before the draft begins in order to participate.
Players selected in the Rule 5 draft occasionally go on to impact their team in the future, as free agent outfielder Anthony Santander famously did following his selection in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft. 2025’s draft saw White Sox right-hander Shane Smith and Marlins catcher Liam Hicks stick with the clubs that drafted them on the 26-man roster through the entire year, while right-hander Mike Vasil was claimed off waivers by the White Sox and remained in Chicago for the whole year as well. Smith, in particular, is noteworthy for earning an All-Star appearance and down-ballot consideration in AL Rookie of the Year voting thanks to his 3.81 ERA in 29 starts for Chicago. Will a similarly valuable diamond in the rough be unearthed today?
2. Could the Pirates pivot to Polanco?
The Pirates were among the teams most aggressive in pursuing slugger Kyle Schwarber, but after he turned down the club’s four-year, $120MM offer they could still look to reallocate at least some of those resources to other pursuits in their efforts to upgrade the offense. Pittsburgh has been connected to infielder Jorge Polanco in the past, and Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reported yesterday that the Pirates were expected to put an offer on the table for the switch hitter’s services soon. Will Polanco be the big free agent fish Ben Cherington’s front office has been working to land, or will they end up looking elsewhere for offensive talent to support Paul Skenes and the rest of their excellent rotation?
3. Relief market buzzing:
The market for relievers has been the busiest part of free agency so far this winter, and yesterday was no exception as Edwin Diaz landed with the Dodgers on a three-year agreement. Diaz wasn’t the only significant name to come off the market yesterday either, as the Pirates signed southpaw Gregory Soto to a one-year deal and the Tigers re-upped with Kyle Finnegan on a two-year pact. That takes three more late-inning arms off the market and leaves the teams still in the market for top relievers running low on options. Robert Suarez is now the best option on the market and is drawing interest from a pair of new suitors, but he’s hardly the only interesting option available. Brad Keller, Luke Weaver, Tyler Rogers, Seranthony Dominguez, and Pete Fairbanks are all also still available after landing on MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents list. Who will be the next to sign?
Is it possible that Pittsburgh is doing it inside out—looking to sign a quality FA and then, if they do, trade Skenes for an insane haul, including current position players?
Zero chance Skenes is moved this winter
Agreed. Even teams with deep farms wouldn’t be able to give commensurate value for him without completely gutting the system. I think he’ll be moved by the 2027 deadline, though.
I don’t think they would trade him.. he won the Cy Young 2025 for crying out loud you don’t trade that
RA Dickey won the Cy with the Mets in 2012 and was traded to Toronto that December for Travis d’Arnaud, John Buck, Noah Syndergaard and Wuilmer Becerra. Granted that Dickey was not Skenes, but when the cupboards are bare you have to leverage what you have in an attempt to improve your roster. What good is Skenes doing the Pirates if the team can’t provide him with run support?
Dickey was old and anyone w a brain new him repeating that season was fairly improbable so that was selling his before the crash.
SKENES only near crash possibility is an injury
MR – And more importantly, Dickey was a knuckleballer which is as unpredictable as it gets. Dude never even got Cy VOTES in any other season of his long career. It was an incredibly dumb trade by AA.
Reminds me of Wakefield, 3rd in Cy Young in 1995 and never got votes in the other 18 years of his career.
From a guy who lived through Roy Halliday in Toronto this is all Déjà vu. Skenes time is right now. And if Cherington isn’t going to provide the necessary run support he should pull off a deal for Mike Trout so Skenes will have some moral support.
And Dickey robbed Kershaw of the NL Cy Young that year.
Except the Pirates have the 9th best farm system. So their cupboard is not bare. They have the best prospect in baseball in AAA.
@ tighty. He’s making them better and giving fans something to be excited about.
Hank – Will Flemming said yesterday that Sox fans will be “very happy” by Friday ….. let’s hope it’s real, if not he deserves all the crap that will come his way.
You make trades to improve. Cy Young winners have been traded. MVPs have been traded. Skenes won’t be traded now because he is very cheap and fills sets. His cost will begin to rise through arbitration shortly, and when it does the trade clock will start to tick. He can win the CY this coming season and the next but he will be traded before free agency, the only question is when. Look to Detroit and Skubal for insight.
All true but Skenes looks to be interested in increasing his brand as does his girlie friend little Livvy so it wouldn’t be a surprise if sometime this season he demands a trade to a “winner”.
So, Royalsfan….you think the Tigers are crazy too for wanting to look at offers for Skubal who has won the Cy the last 2 years running….the other side of that coin is that if you’re not winning in 26, there is no higher value attached then now….
did the tigers go to the playoffs?
I don’t think Pittsburgh will trade Skenes any time soon either, but not because of the Cy Young.
I second hyrax’s comment above that it’s the value of four more years of Skenes keeping anyone from attempting to pry Skenes away this offseason.
A team couldn’t acquire Paul Skenes without giving up so much that it hurts them. They can trade Skenes in 2-3 years and still get an absolute haul for him. This is an elite rotation and they seem to be trying to make it a competitive team.
If Jones comes back healthy n Chandler takes a step. I agree
Problem is if they dont find at least 2 impact bats, it wont matter.
If not 2 impact bats, then they need at least 4 new bats to join the offense n pray a couple work out
lay off the sauce, Skenes isn’t being traded and in fact, he’s been asked to speak with free agents that Cherington is interested in signing
You people that make these wild suggestions really need to stop this nonsense
The – Keep in mind some of the commenters here are very young and very old ;O)
There is also a portion of the Red Sox fanbase who are convinced Tatis will be traded this offseason, which is almost as crazy as Skenes being traded this offseason.
Skubal on the other hand is a possibility.
Skubal to the Mets might calm their fan base. They have young assets—including arms—and a deep pockets owner who could extend him (or pay what it would take to get him in free agency).
How come we haven’t seen one freakin’ trade during these Winter Meetings ??? Slowest Winter Meetings ever!! Did they all go to Disneyworld for team building exercises or something?? Snoozefest
Teams are often paralyzed by fear that their precious prospects will turn into superstars for another team. Secondly, teams are reticent to trade starting pitching because is sooo expensive on the open market. A club has to overpay generally to pry away young controllable rotation pieces.
And where did I state that a trade is on the table? What I did do was point to a precedent for it happening and why it wouldn’t be the worst idea if the team can’t manage to construct a roster that can provide run support for one of the greatest arms in the game. I mean, the farm is top 10 in the league yet they’ve been unable to add offence? Please. If the Pirates have illusions of contending, Cherington or no Cherington at the helm, the time is now for the organization to run the franchise accordingly.
Tighty:
People here read comments then change it to whatever they want to. Just so they can make the other person sound ridiculous.
The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Because Skenes will soon be setting records for arbitration salaries, Nutting will dictate to Cherington or whomever the GM is that Skene be traded. The only question is when.
Will MLBtraderumors post both primary and secondary phase of the Rule 5 results? The secondary phase occasionally has some interesting players also.
Historically, they’ve posted all picks. I think last year went through 3 rounds? Anyway, whichever recent year that was, MLBTR posted the entire results.
Polanco would be nice if he was the other bat you added! Shoot for Alonso
I’d honestly rather have Polanco and Suarez than Alonso. Bellinger maybe than any of them. I’m still holding out hope that a Guardians trade for Kwan works out.
Polanco and Suarez are realistic and would really help out that lineup. Find another OFer and maybe Pitt is a WC team with some luck
I’ll be shocked if the Pirates land anyone of note. Money is one thing, but there’s a lot of work to do there. They probably need some smaller pieces and get incrementally. better over the next couple of years to start attracting better FAs. Then again, never discount money…
Polanco wouldn’t be a bad start.
Oh me also but hopeful
The fact that they’re even offering is a good sign, no doubt.
Anthony Santander is a free agent?
no he’s not. I think they were just pointing out that he was a rule five draft pick.
Hope the White Sox do as well this year as last year. Silver lining to sucking as hard as they have is picking really high in the Rule 5. Their lottery luck has already made this a dream winter meetings, but maybe they can make it even better.
Pirates have other starters besides Skenes that teams would be interested in. They should try that approach first.
This seems to be an odd reply to my post.
I don’t want to trade from here be of the best pitching staffs in the NL when you can sign a free agent.
I can’t believe the whitesox still havd loyal followers ….. I would be done w them ( day to day ) until Jerry dies or new kid takes over
are there any outfielders that could be taken in the rule five draft?
Royals – Antunez and Pinango.
If KC fills the outfield with R5 guys, that’s a problem.
I was just asking if there was an outfielder available.
Pintar. That’s about it.
Kyler Fedko with the Twins org
Disappointed that the greatest Rule 5 pick of all time Roberto Clemente wasn’t mentioned. Plucked by the Pirates from the Brooklyn Dodgers
Right? How many more titles would the Dodgers have if fhey kept Clemente
Johan Santana drafted by the marlins and immediately traded to Twins Territory 1999
I am baffled that no one wants to go to the A’s!!! Forget the triple A ballpark!!! You road split will get you traded to a contender at the deadline OR you’ve fallen into a franchise that’s got the best young players on the team and coming on the way to Vegas OR maybe you manage a decent home Era which in turn gives you EVEN MORE LEVERAGE!!!! Play the game
or you can go to a team you actually want to play for
I’m getting more convinced The Big Yo is an AI or just really, really, REALLY bad at sarcasm to go this much about the “Vegas A’s” and their “2028 World Series” ring.
I love baseball
Disagree, he had an injury filled 2024, other than that he is a good ballplayer. I hope he signs with Seattle for only 2 years though.
He had a nice healthy walk year. Next year he’ll likely be heading back to the IL for portions of the season.
Not a huge fan of a polanco singing BUT it seems he is a steady non-negative player and when he plays a more fuller season he’s better than average.
Hearing the Reds are pivoting to Marte and Lowe now that they lost out on Schwarber. Of course they are looking at infielders when they really need a big bat in the outfield for two years now. Neither of those guys strike fear in anyone hitting behind Elly.
Simply amazing.
Go get the Polar Bear, Reds!
He would probably hit 60 in that park.
Rumor is:
Scott Boras is using a a fake birth certificate.
Polanco to the Mariners!!!
Make it happen Jerry!
buying high on Polanco is exactly what the Pirates need, they’re just one little piece away! :S
@Nick Deeds
You got the years wrong for the draft.
Although technically those players are eligible, I believe you meant to say that Highschool and international players from 2021 and college players from 2022 are eligible.
What was listed (2020 & 2021) was a year behind.
Rule of thumb:
4.5-4.9 years for Highschool and international
3.5 years for college
Optimistically hopeful that Preller plucks a R5 arm (á la Kolek). Pads 40 Man at 36 and holding…
Pittsburg trying to get to playoffs at least once during their Skenes era which is on a time clock. They won’t be able to afford him when he’s a free agent so one day he will be traded; likely in the winter prior to his final team control season. They could trade him now for Sproat , Tong , Menaea, and Baty but they won’t .
YellowCleats: *PITTSBURGH. And the Mets won’t give up all of those players.
Given this is a rumor website, why no mention of the Dodgers-Tigers trade rumors?
si.com/mlb/tigers/onsi/news/tigers-tarik-skubal-tr…
That would be amazing if that happened.
Old York: Anything is possible, but this report should be taken with several grains of salt because it’s very easy for anyone in the media to start a rumor at the winter meetings and Sports Illustrated is far from the most credible source of MLB news.
@Alfred E Neuman
We’re on a website titled MLB Trade Rumors.
This is literally a trade rumor. If we’re on a website called MLB Confirmed Trades, then you’d have a point…
Pirates pls get Polanco he destroyed Astros
Thanks to Branch Rickey’s knowledge of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ farm system, after leaving to join the Pirates’ front office, Rickey famously took Roberto Clemente from the Dodgers in the 1954 Rule 5 draft.
It’s high schoolers who were drafted in 2021 and collegians who were drafted in 2022 that are first-time eligible bis year. Not 2020 and 2021.
Polanco is anything but a “big free agent fish.” If that’s the best position player they add this off-season, it would be another bitter for Pirates fans to swallow.