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?
Take Polanco Pirates. He’s limited and won’t be worth what he gets.
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.
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.
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?
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).
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.
Will MLBtraderumors post both primary and secondary phase of the Rule 5 results? The secondary phase occasionally has some interesting players also.
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.
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.
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
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 love baseball
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.
Rumor is:
Scott Boras is using a a fake birth certificate.