Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye out for throughout the day today:
1. Yankees 40-man move incoming:
The Yankees officially announced their move to re-sign Cody Bellinger on a five-year pact yesterday, restoring their lineup to where it was last season in conjunction with the returns of Trent Grisham and Amed Rosario. The team did so without announcing a corresponding 40-man move, however. That means New York will have to clear a roster spot in the near future to accommodate the addition of Bellinger. That could come by way of a simple DFA to clear a roster spot, though it’s also possible that New York could try to clear a roster spot by working out a minor trade that sends a 40-man player out for non-roster talent or cash.
2. DFA resolutions expected:
A handful of players who have recently been designated for assignment are expected to have their situations resolved today. Nationals righty Andry Lara, Rangers righty Dom Hamel, and Marlins right-hander Osvaldo Bido were all pushed off their respective team’s 40-man roster last week. Bido was moved to make room for Miami’s acquisition of Bradley Blalock, while D.C. parted ways with Lara to make room for a waiver claim of Mickey Gasper. Hamel was squeezed out of the mix in Texas by the club’s signing of righty Jakob Junis. Hamel and Lara both made their big league debuts last year and have ten combined relief appearances in the majors, while Bido has a career 5.07 ERA in parts of three MLB seasons. All three players have now been in DFA limbo for one week, and either a waiver claim or outright assignment should be expected in short order.
3. MLBTR chat today:
Pitchers and catchers will begin reporting in just a couple of weeks, but some offseason questions still remain. Framber Valdez and Eugenio Suárez are among the top free agents still available, while the trade market still holds intriguing talents like Brendan Donovan, CJ Abrams and Mark Vientos who could still be moved. If you’re wondering what’s left for your favorite team to do before spring begins or simply looking for the latest hot stove buzz, MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered with a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT today. Readers can use this link to ask a question in advance, follow along when the chat begins, and read the transcript after the chat concludes.
Heck yeah
I know. I’m excited about those DFA resolutions too!
Who are the Yankees gonna DFA?
gotta be Judge or Cole
Was thinking the same… Maybe both to be safe. Thanks for confirming!
@WideWorldofSports
You jest, but it’s a pretty reasonable move.
Hal mentioned earlier in the offseason that the Yankees were struggling financially. There were rumours that he even consulted with some bankruptcy lawyers about next steps with the Yankee organization.
Getting someone to take the Judge or Cole contracts off their hands would go along way to keeping the Yankees solvent and staving off the need for bankruptcy proceedings. Dark days in the big apple for sure.
Or maybe I also jest.
Bunch of jesters today
Bite your own tongue!!!
I’m holding out hope on a Cade Winquest and Anthony Volpe for Fernando Tatis Jr. trade.
So not enough.
a .212 hitter with 150 strikeouts….and a 25 year old minor league arm. but please…..hold out hope
Hope and some duct tape are all Yankees fans have after this offseason. /s
If you had to look that up, you took my post way too seriously. If you knew it off the top of your head, I’m impressed.
know what? Joe. I actually did look it up. Reds fan. NOW I can get the sarcasm. that’s on me!
You can crap in one hand and hope in the other and see which gets filled first
Keep holding your breath too, Joe! Let’s see what happens first…
Come on Gwinning. This is a chance to get the best SS in the league. If you don’t believe me just ask Boone.
I did ask Boonie the best things about Anthony, and he retorted-
“Volpe is right in front of us”
“His next play is the most important”
“Tip your hat to him”
“Good at-bats”
And then some other “savage-in-the-box” rhetoric… Idk, I’m on the fence about your proposal now.
I thought Winquest was our next closer? Unless, the Mutts wanna sign him instead? Since they crave former Yankees.
Love MLBTR chat. Thanks for doing one back to back days.
Hello, hello, I wanted to put this out again as folks tend to skip over news, but the Opener is the best spot for this.
Taking a tally of folks that may want to join a MLBTR Fans Yahoo Fantasy Baseball League. I’d be running it, and it would be free. My preference is a 12 team league, but if there’s a lot of interest I can go higher.
If you liked or commented on yesterday’s post in the Opener comment section, no need to do so again, this is just for folks that missed it. So if interested LMK!
MLBTR, I’d love a to get your blessing on this. LMK!
-Salzilla
Is this not an AD?
He’s like that.
I’m asking if folks that post here want to be in a FREE league with fellow commenters. So no, it is not.
It is still an ad for your league. Free or not.
Relax folks. If Tim & Co. don’t mind, then no one else should. And I have no skin in the game, as I don’t play fantasy sports at all and have zero interest.
Sal, while it would be fun but people need skin in the game to stay interested past May. Just my two .02.
I’m not making anything for money that has MLBTR’s name on it. If you can’t do something for fun and pride of winning then I suggest to those not to join.
Also adding the league I run has been in existence for free for almost 20 years and it’s highly competitive. So you don’t need money for competition.
@Sal —I’d be interested
@Flanster, the league is now open to join, info in today’s opener. you can also check elsewhere in this thread for my email.
As proffered before, I’m in Sal!
Now open. email me for the link: mlbtrfantasybaseball@yahoo.com
I would love to see you put together a fantasy league that has all the guys that are constantly proposing the most inane 14 player trades on here. They would be a lot of fun if they attempted to put it into practice for themselves.
Carver, we could start a website just talking about the random craziness that League would provide!
Haha, I do plan on posting periodic updates in these Openers. So the crazier trades the better.
You could call it the Tug of War Trade Machine. Sure, the trades have little to do with baseball realities, but they would set up one helluva tug of war competition.
I’ve always hated using closers as openers!
It’s definitely not that easy. Especially since most leagues have weekly moves limits amongst other factors.
More free Fantasy ball? Deal me in!
@P2BNL the league is now open to join, info in today’s opener. you can also check elsewhere in this thread for my email.
Now open. email me for the link: mlbtrfantasybaseball@yahoo.com
There are a couple of reclamation hard throwing arms like Jayvien Sandridge and Kervin Castro that they probably want to hang on to. Brent Headrick is a lefty with good stuff they should have in camp. Then recent acquisitions like Winquest, Spanish and Luciano are guys I assume they have plans for this year. Braden Shewmake is a utility guy whose scouting report says good things about but he was drafted way back in 2019 and with guys like Caballero, Rosario and Cabrera on the 40 they might try and slide him thru waiver claims and send him to AAA.
I think it could be Vivas. He looked incapable of ever being a major leaguer when he got called up.
Yeah, I’m kinda done with Vivas. The guys they picked on waivers more recently are more intriguing to me at this point like Luciano and Siani.
@Sal @Joe
Naaahhhh…. he deserves more time. He’s only 24 and last year was his first call up and only had 66 PA. He’s still technically a rookie since he had less than 160 PA. He’s intriguing to me. At AAA he had a .279/.389/.364 slash with 65 walls vs 45 k’s. No power but the contact skills and walk ability are skill set the Yanks lack. He also offers positional flexibility in that he can play 2b, 3b and LF.
Luciano is on his 4th team this winter
White Sox need to make a corresponding move for Dominguez as well
Not sure who should be DFA’D. It’s going to be interesting to see who Getz chooses.
Hopefully the reason we haven’t heard yet is because they’ve been trying to trade someone.
With how many lefties they have on the 40-man and in camp, Hudson is probably someone that can be DFA’d.
Question for the room. Can any of you stomach the idea of Miguel Andujar playing a few games at 3b, 1b and LF and coming off the bench as a PH in 2026. He would fill the need for a RH bat. He doesn’t have any fluky platoon splits but destroyed LHP last year at a clip of an .986 OPS. And if injuries pile up to more than 1 player including Stanton he could easily be an entail DH as he can hit both LHP and RHP. He doesn’t walk much but he doesn’t strike out much either. Defense would be the only liability.
For the Yanks? Yes I’d do this.
He had a .348 BABIP last season and his hard hit rate is not great. I wouldn’t mind a minor league deal with ST invite.
@Yankee
I think he’ll get an mlb deal without a problem. Over his last 600 AB (2024-2025) he’s hit .302/.336/.425 with a wRC+ of 114 hitting righties pretty well and destroying lefties. Anyone with a DH opening should be on this guy. I guess I’m answering my own question tho. I doubt he’ll want a platoon situation. But he would be a good fit if we can tolerate his glove part time.
He hit .318 in the big leagues over 341 PAs – a minor league deal because his BABIP is inflated and his hard hit rates aren’t great?
You think he regresses?
He hit .285 in ’24 in a part-time role.
Id say if henhas a full season of ABs as a regular, he could hit 20+ HRs this season and post .275/.325/.475 and an .800 OPS — he isnt a great fielder and after Bader’s deal he probably isnt looking at much more than 2/15M but Id say any team in need of a DH should sign him immediately.
The Reds should move Elly De La Cruz off SS, and open up the DH for Andujar. They liked his bat enough last season to trade a good pitching prospect for him.
Andujar had a solid season last year and should definitely land a major league role.
I think a lot of teams would be interested in him for a role like that at a low salary
Yankees must’ve already made that move, but don’t announce it yet, right?
They can’t just spend a day with 41 men on the roster, can they?
Corin
Since MLB let the Dodgers have 100 players on their 40 player roster and 50 on their active roster, they had to throw the Yankees a bone here /s
The Yanks should see about Jeremy Pena.
They have to make a trade and Pena would be a nice addition at SS for two seasons.
I think the Astros would move Pena.
Astros:
Jeremy Pena
Walker Janek
–for–
Will Warren
Carlos LaGrange
Austin Wells
Anthony Volpe
That could be a good trade for both teams. Astros get Paredes in the lineup everyday, adds a legitimate SP in Warren to the Astros rotation and pairs Diaz with Warren and a big trade chips in Volpe and LaGrange that could be used to pry Buxton off the Twins.
Twins:
Byron Buxton
–for–
Astros:
Mike Burrows
Carlos Lagrange
Miguel Ullola
Anthony Volpe
Astros move Pena, Burrows, Janek and Ullola out and return Will Warren, Austin Wells and Byron Buxton. Warren slots in at the top of the Astros rotation and Buxton and make a big imoact in the Astros lineup.
Twins move Buxton for Volpe, LaGrange, Burrows and Ullola, a huge haul. Volpe starts at SS for the Twins. Burrows is at the back end of the rotation and LaGrange, the real get for Minnesota, is on the farm. Ullola a nice project too.
Yankees trade Warren, Volpe, LaGrange and Wells, they get an allstar SS in Pena and a top 10 prospect at C in Janek. They rely on Rice and Escarra at C and move Judge to 1B. Jones gets the call in the OF.
*all my edits went to shxt — got disconnected from wifi, but I like the trade. My post reads poorly but the substance is there in the trade proposals.
@NoAbs
Doing too much homie. Yanks don’t need an all-star hitting SS to win. They need a healthy Volpe to return to the gold glove caliber SS he was in 2023 and 2024 (5th in DefWar according to Fangraphs). In fact, Volpe’s glove rated so high in 23 & 24 that he matched Pena in WAR in the same amount of time. Besides?, I think Volpe was rushed after spending very little time at AA-AAA. But he’s shown the ability to hit for power and speed. If we want young players, this is part of the growing pains and if his 3rd year was hampered due to the injuries he’s played thru then he gets another year at least. But you’re trade creates other problems we don’t need. Despite the same slight offensive struggles that Volpe has had (strikeouts and low obp) Wells too has gold glove caliber defense that has ranked him 4th in defWAR according to Fangraphs. Why get rid of him, or Volpe, when they are usually above average defensively at two of the most important infield positions? On a team with Judge, Stanton, Bellinger, Rice, Jazz, Grisham, etc they should be able to handle the bulk of the offenders load. But we can still put forth a lineup of guys who 1 thru 9 can deliver 20+ himers at every position. Tho we have Rice that can play C he’s nowhere near Wells defensively and do we tally wasn’t to eat his body down with handing the carving duties 100+ games when his bat will always be his calling card? He can truly be a 30+ hr and .360+ obp guy. Let him claim 1B as his own and master that position. Judge has never played 1B and shouldn’t be rushed into a change. That trade comprises us at C, 1B and RF. Leave things alone and focus on positions where we really need.
@KnicksFanCavsFan — you are right, the Yanks give up way too much in that trade. They definitely need a pair of good RK/A ball prospects in addition to Pena and Janek.
Houston adds Xavier Neyens and Minnesota adds Quentin Young.
I like Volpe a lot too and think you are right on both Volpe and Wells.
Warren and LaGrange are both awesome too. Yanks are stacked up but they could Judge to 1B and give Jones a look in RF. Judge’s UCL has to be a big concern.
That necessitates more starts at C for Rice. Janek is a good C prospect to replace Wells.
@No
Janek is good looking catching prospect but he’s 23, only has 1 season under his belt, hasn’t executed killed it and has never played above A+. Wells is a highly rated defensive C that has a great minor league pedigree, has shown mlb power and had proven he can stick at the position. Why trade him for a player who’s likely 2 years away from being ready? Why risk the development of Rice by putting extra strain on his body by asking him to catch 100+ games? Judge played over 150 games last year. I just don’t think they’d a need to rush him out of his position in RF. And Yanks would be crazy to trade Warren, their most durable pitcher (tied mlb for most starts in 2025), when we’re going to be short missing Cole and Rondon already and hope that Gil and Weathers will stay healthy too. I personally would not be shocked if Warren has an ERA in the mid 3s this year. He has a really good mix of pitches and a good enough FB to be a mid rotation guy. Same with Gil and Weathers, and if he’s healthy again, Schmidt. If they are all healthy the Yanks could have a really good rotation of SP.
@KnicksFanCavsFan, Id agree, Id keep Volpe, Wells, Warren and LaGrange.
Good prospects, Janek, Neyens and Young.
The trade really doesnt work if you value Volpe and Wells that highly and I agree with you on both.
I also like Warren a heck of a lot and LaGrange has a sick heater.
As to KnicksfanCavsFan’s question: Andujar’s earlier days in yankee pinstripes were often good ones until the unfortunate injury circumstances crept in on the player/team continuity element. I was an Andujar fan bc of his contributions on offense and was bummed when the yankee lineup was devoid of his name and bat many years back. That’s essentially two issues right there: injury history and his age that make it a crapshoot for Miggy to return to the Bronx. Tbh the ability/talent & instincts continue to work in his favor and I wish him well. NY fans are hungry for younger and less injury-prone players at this juncture. Can’t say I blame them.