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Nationals Claim Tsung-Che Cheng, Designate Konnor Pilkington

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The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed infielder Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Mets. Left-hander Konnor Pilkington has been designated for assignment to create space on the 40-man roster.

In 2025, Cheng made his big league debut with the Pirates, albeit in the smallest of samples (seven hitless plate appearances). The 24-year-old batted just .207/.305/.267 through 410 Triple-A plate appearances, connecting on just one homer with a dozen doubles and trio of triples.

Obviously, that’s poor production at the plate, but Cheng is a plus runner who swiped 20 bags and can play solid defense at three infield spots (shortstop, third base, second base). He’s walked in 12.5% of his minor league plate appearances as well and has a career .350 on-base percentage in the minors.

More to come.

MLB Mailbag: Giants, Framber Valdez, Eugenio Suarez

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This week's mailbag gets into the Giants' rotation, why Framber Valdez remains unsigned, a thorough look at where Eugenio Suarez could land, the Tigers and Nationals, and more collective bargaining thoughts.

Paul asks:

Who makes sense for the Giants to add to their rotation?

Daryn asks:

Why is Framber Valdez not signed yet? He is the best starting pitcher in the market. Is it his age and asking for a lot of years, or it is the clubhouse thing we hear about?

At present, the Giants' rotation looks like this:

Like every team, they'll need reinforcements for injuries.  Ray is 34 and 2025 was his first full season in three years.  Houser is 33 and tossed a career-high 164 1/3 innings last year (Triple-A included).  Roupp missed 24 days with elbow inflammation and then saw his season end in August with a deep bone bruise to his knee.  Mahle missed over three months with shoulder soreness.

On the Mahle conference call, Giants GM Zack Minasian said, "I don’t know if we’re ever done. I think we’re very comfortable with the five that we have and then the bundle of arms behind them. Our depth is in a much better spot than it was at the beginning of the offseason, so we’re happy with where we’re at. We’ll keep working at it, but we do think this is a solid five-man rotation going into the spring."  That quote comes via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

That bundle behind the starting five may include Hayden Birdsong, Kai-Wei Teng, Carson Seymour, Blade Tidwell, and Carson Whisenhunt, all of whom made big league starts last year.  Trevor McDonald and Keaton Winn are options as well.

The Giants are paying $21MM in AAV for Houser and Mahle this year, but neither can be counted on for a 2-WAR season.  I don't know that Zac Gallen would be enough of an improvement over the Giants' existing back-end options, but slotting Framber Valdez in behind Webb would be huge.  The Giants have a good team at present, but Valdez could add a crucial three wins over whoever he replaces.

Back in November, Giants owner Greg Johnson expressed reluctance to sign a pitcher to a long-term deal.  Just before that, MLBTR predicted a five-year deal for the 32-year-old Valdez.  Ranger Suarez signed a five-year deal two weeks ago, so it is possible to get that type of contract in January.  That said, we haven't seen a free agent starter get five years on January 28th or later since Yu Darvish in 2018.  As we get closer to pitchers and catchers reporting, the chance of Valdez getting a true five-year deal like Suarez decrease.

There are several factors that likely contribute to Valdez being unsigned on January 28th:

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Brewers, Reese McGuire Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers have signed catcher Reese McGuire to a minor league contract and invited him to major league spring training, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reported last week that the two sides had been talking. McGuire is represented by Apex Baseball.

McGuire, 31 in March, is a former first-round pick and top prospect who’s played in parts of eight major league seasons with four teams — most recently the 2025 Cubs. He hit .226/.245/.444 (86 wRC+) in 140 turns at the plate with Chicago last year and is a career .248/.293/.374 hitter in 400 games and 1178 plate appearances as a big leaguer.

Though he never developed into much of a threat in the batter’s box, McGuire has been a frequently used backup in recent years, due primarily to his defensive acumen. He receives above-average grades for his framing, ability to block balls in the dirt and his throwing. He nabbed eight of 31 thieves on the bases this past season (25.9%) and has a career caught-stealing rate just over 27%.

McGuire has more than five years of major league service time, so if he makes the roster in Milwaukee, the Brewers won’t be able to option him to the minor leagues. As things stand, there would appear to be a good chance that McGuire can indeed break camp with the club. William Contreras is, of course, in line to handle the bulk of the Brewers’ catching work.

Prior to their deal with McGuire, there was no clear backup option. Top prospect Jeferson Quero is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster, but the Brewers aren’t going to have a 23-year-old top-100 prospect sit on the bench as a backup at the major league level. Bringing McGuire into the mix allows Milwaukee to send Quero to Triple-A Nashville where he can play regularly and continue his development. Quero notched 250 plate appearances in Triple-A last season, but that was his first exposure to the top minor league level and he posted only league-average offensive marks in that time. He’s the heir apparent to Contreras behind the dish but isn’t yet ready for a full-time major league look.

The Brewers could always bring in some more veteran catchers to create some competition in camp, but for now, McGuire jumps to the front of the pack as the likeliest in-house option to serve as Contreras’ backup in 2026.

Rockies Acquire Edouard Julien, Pierson Ohl

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The Twins have traded infielder Edouard Julien and right-hander Pierson Ohl to the Rockies, according to announcements from both clubs. Minor league right-hander Jace Kaminska and cash considerations are going to the Twins. The Rockies freed up two 40-man spots earlier today by trading Angel Chivilli to the Yankees and designating Yanquiel Fernández for assignment. Ohl was already off the 40-man because he was designated for assignment last week. Trading Julien drops Minnesota’s count to 39, as Kaminska does not require a spot.

Julien, 27 in April, has shown flashes of potential with a three-true-outcomes approach. His best showing was in his rookie season with the Twins in 2023. He struck out in 31.4% of his 408 plate appearances but also drew walks at a huge 15.7% clip and hit 16 home runs. Even with all the punchouts, his .263/.381/.459 batting line led to a 134 wRC+, indicating he was 34% better than league average.

Most of that damage came with the platoon advantage, as he had an awful .196/.229/.217 line against lefties, but it was still enough for him to finish seventh in American League Rookie of the Year voting and inspire a troubadour.

He hasn’t been at that level since then, however. He has taken 509 plate appearances over the past two seasons with just 11 home runs. His 10.8% walk rate is still above average but not otherworldly, while his strikeout rate stayed high at 32%. That led to a combined line of .208/.299/.324 and a 79 wRC+ for that span. Julien has experience at second and first base but isn’t a particularly strong defender at either position, which made the declining offense more problematic.

As he struggled, the Twins often sent him to the minors. He still hit well down there, with a .261/.406/.440 line and 125 wRC+ in Triple-A over the past two years, but he exhausted his option seasons in the process. That was going to put him on the fringes of the roster going forward. The Twins signed Josh Bell to play first base and seem likely to give Luke Keaschall run at second. They have Austin Martin, Eric Wagaman and Tristan Gray also in the mix.

Julien’s path to playing time in Colorado is much better. The Rockies don’t really have a clear option for first base or second base. At first, waiver claim Troy Johnston is one option but he has just 44 games of big league experience and can still be optioned to the minors. The Rockies just got T.J. Rumfield in the Chivilli trade today but he still doesn’t have a roster spot or any major league experience.

Since Julien isn’t a standout defender, he would be a better fit at first. But if the Rockies are willing to play him at the keystone, there’s not much in the way. The Rockies probably want to give some playing time to Adael Amador but he has a .176/.242/.250 line in his career thus far and can still be optioned to the minors. Ryan Ritter is in a somewhat similar situation. Willi Castro can bounce around to other positions.

Julien may play both positions, with his playing time at each determined by which other players on the roster are healthy and producing. He can be controlled for four full seasons, so the Rockies could keep him around if he bounces back to his 2023 form.

It also shouldn’t be a shock if Julien ends up traded again before those four years are up. Colorado has lost at least 101 games three years running, including an awful 43-119 season in 2025. That led to an organizational overhaul, with Paul DePodesta taking over as the new front office leader. Presumably, the club’s decision makers aren’t expecting a return to contention in the short term.

But it does appear that they see value in buying low from the fringes of other rosters. Earlier this winter, the Rockies acquired Jake McCarthy from the Diamondbacks. Like Julien, he has some major league success but is coming off a down year. Since he is out of options, the Snakes were going to have a tough time keeping him on the roster. The Rockies acquired him and his three remaining years of control. Since it will be difficult for Colorado to be good again in that window, the apparent hope is that McCarthy bounces back and can be traded after he has rebuilt some value. Julien is controlled for one more season than McCarthy but the situations are somewhat analogous.

As for Ohl, 26, he’s in a different boat. He only made his major league debut last year and has just 30 big league innings under his belt with a 5.10 earned run average. He can be controlled for six full seasons and also has a full slate of options, so he can be kept in the minors or shuttled up and down fairly regularly.

He doesn’t throw especially hard, averaging around 92 miles per hour with his four-seamer last year, but he has the intriguing combination of possessing strong control of a diverse arsenal. He mostly threw his four-seamer and changeup last year but also mixed in a cutter, sinker, curveball and even dabbled with a knuckleball. He tossed 71 1/3 innings across multiple levels of the farm last year, making six starts and 18 relief appearances, with a 2.40 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate and 3.9% walk rate.

The Rockies need pitching more than any other team. Their collective 5.99 ERA was easily the worst in the majors last year. Since Ohl has experience starting and relieving, and also has options, he can move around based on the club’s needs. The Rockies presumably want to give starts to young pitchers like Chase Dollander, McCade Brown and Carson Palmquist but Ohl can step up if those guys struggle or need more time in the minors. He could also eat some innings out of the bullpen or be stashed in the minors as depth.

While those are intriguing pickups for the Rockies, the Twins probably feel they are mostly giving up guys who were getting squeezed out anyways. As mentioned, Ohl was already designated for assignment, while Julien is out of options.

In return, they are getting a bit of cash and some non-roster depth. Kaminska, 24, was a tenth-round pick of the Rockies in 2023. He hasn’t featured on top prospect lists but had good numbers a couple of years ago. In 2024, he tossed 87 1/3 innings at Single-A with a 2.78 ERA, 29.5% strikeout rate and 3.4% walk rate. He required Tommy John surgery in March of 2025 and missed the entire season. The Twins will try to get him back on track whenever he’s healthy. He will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December of 2026 if not added to the 40-man roster.

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Nick Wosika, Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images

Angels Claim Kaleb Ort, Designate Wade Meckler

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The Angels claimed righty Kaleb Ort off waivers from the Yankees, who had previously designated him for assignment, per announcements from both clubs. Outfielder Wade Meckler was designated for assignment in a corresponding move, the Angels announced.

Ort, 34 next week, made his big league debut with the ’21 Red Sox and has pitched in each of the past five major league seasons, the past two as a member of the division-rival Astros. He was excellent with Houston in 2024 but posted shakier numbers with the ’Stros in 2025. Overall, his past two seasons have resulted in a combined 4.08 ERA with a 26.1% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and 38.2% ground-ball rate.

The hard-throwing Ort has averaged 96.8 mph on his four-seamer in that time and notched a strong 12.6% swinging-strike rate, generating plenty of whiffs with his slider, in particular. In addition to a walk rate that’s a bit heavy, Ort has been plagued by a major susceptibility to the long ball. He’s served up 25 round-trippers in 122 1/3 career innings in the majors, including 15 dingers in 70 2/3 frames across the past two seasons in Houston.

Ort is out of minor league options, so the Angels will have to either carry him in their Opening Day bullpen or else remove him from their 40-man roster between now and that point. The Halos are his third organization in as many weeks; Houston designated Ort for assignment in early January, after which he was claimed by the Yankees. He could have some more staying power in Anaheim, where there’s a clear need for bullpen help, but the Angels still need to clear a 40-man spot to make their re-signing of Yoan Moncada official, which could put Ort at risk again. Even if they go another route to open a spot for Moncada, Ort figures to be on the bubble for any subsequent additions to the Angels’ 40-man roster.

As for the 25-year-old Meckler (26 in April), he came to the Angels via waivers just three weeks ago, after the Giants had designated him for assignment. The 2022 eighth-rounder got his feet wet with 20 games and 64 plate appearances just over a year after being drafted. Predictably, he struggled in that initial — and, to this point, only — MLB exposure, hitting .232/.328/.250 in that tiny sample.

Meckler has spent the bulk of the past two seasons in Triple-A and hit well there, combining for 699 plate appearances with a .296/.392/.429 batting line. He doesn’t offer a ton of power (just 11 homers) and has only 21 steals in Triple-A despite plus speed, but Meckler is a high-contact hitter with a knack for drawing free passes. He’s gone down on strikes in just 16.7% of his Triple-A plate appearances against a stout 13.5% walk rate.

Meckler has plenty of experience across all three outfield positions and has seen brief action in the infield, primarily at second base (68 innings this past season). He has one minor league option remaining. A club seeking some speed, OBP and flexible left-handed-hitting outfield depth could take a look, whether via waivers or a small trade. The Angels will have five days to trade him before he has to be placed on waivers, though that waiver placement can also happen anytime in the interim. One way or another, his DFA will be resolved in a week’s time.

Braves Interested In Lucas Giolito, Chris Bassitt

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The Braves have made offseason additions in the bullpen, the infield and the outfield thus far, bringing in veterans Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez, Ha-Seong Kim, Mauricio Dubon, Jorge Mateo and Mike Yastrzemski via free agency or trade. (Kim suffered a hand injury after signing and will miss several months of the season.) The rotation, however, remains untouched as January nears its conclusion.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports on MLB Network (video link) that Atlanta is in the market for some form of rotation upgrade, however, specifically listing right-handers Lucas Giolito and Chris Bassitt as free agents of interest. Neither pitcher received a qualifying offer, so neither would require any draft forfeitures. The Braves are over the luxury tax threshold, per RosterResource’s estimates, but they weren’t tax payors in 2025 so the penalty for signing either veteran would be minimal.

Giolito, 31, started 26 games for the Red Sox in 2025 after missing the 2024 season due to a UCL procedure. He pitched well enough to convert his 2026 club option into a mutual option, which he declined in order to return to the open market. Giolito started the season in rocky fashion (6.42 ERA through seven starts) before rebounding to the tune of a 2.51 ERA in his final 19 starts and 111 1/3 innings. His 20.3% strikeout rate and 9.7% walk rate over that dominant run of 19 starts don’t support such a strong earned run average, and metrics like SIERA (4.67) and FIP (3.97) were much more bearish. Still, Giolito performed like a capable midrotation arm at the very least.

Were it not for a late elbow injury, Giolito’s market might have been more aggressive. (Although, had he been fully healthy, Boston may also have given more consideration to extending a qualifying offer.) Giolito’s surgically repaired ulnar collateral ligament received a clean bill of health at the time, but September testing on the right-hander revealed some irritation in his flexor tendon and a bone issue in his elbow that required some downtime. He missed the Red Sox’ postseason run as a result, but by November he was viewed as “fully healthy” and ready for a normal offseason.

A former first-round pick and top prospect, Giolito has had a roller-coaster tenure in the big leagues. He struggled greatly in his first 45 MLB appearances from 2016-18 (5.48 ERA) before settling in as a durable No. 2 starter with huge strikeout numbers for the White Sox. From 2019-21, he pitched 427 2/3 innings with a 3.47 ERA, 30.7% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate. Giolito stayed healthy and kept missing bats from 2022-23, but home run troubles inflated his ERA to 4.88 over 63 starts between those two seasons. He signed a two-year deal with the Red Sox covering the 2024-25 seasons and affording him the opportunity to opt out after ’24. A spring UCL injury that year wiped out his 2024 campaign and naturally led him to pick up his ’25 player option rather than test the market last winter.

Despite the up-and-down nature of his results, Giolito carries a respectable 4.30 ERA in his career — and that number dips to a flat 4.00 if you set aside the struggles he experienced from ages 21 to 23 back in ’16-’18. Last year’s career-low strikeout rate is a concern, but Giolito’s 93.3 mph average four-seamer is an exact match for his career levels, so it’s not as though he came back from surgery working with dramatically reduced stuff. Clubs aren’t going to view him as the clear playoff-caliber starter he was during his three-year peak with the ChiSox, but it’s not out of the question that he can get back to pitching at that level. Even last year’s level of output would make him a third or fourth starter in a good rotation.

As for Bassitt, he’s considerably older but has been more durable and more consistent. The 36-year-old righty (37 next month) ranks seventh in the majors in games started and eighth in innings pitched over the past six seasons. During that time, he’s pitched to a combined 3.57 earned run average with a 22.7% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and a 44% ground-ball rate. All of those are right at the league average, if not slightly better.

Bassitt has made at least 30 starts and pitched at least 170 innings in four straight seasons. His 2025 campaign featured 170 1/3 frames with a 3.96 ERA and rate stats right in line with his overall marks from the past six seasons. Bassitt also shined with the Blue Jays in the postseason, shifting to a relief role without missing a beat. He fired 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball and allowed only three hits and two walks while punching out 10 in that time.

If there are any red flags with Bassitt, they’re not as much with his recent performance as they are simply with the aging process of any pitcher. He’ll pitch all of the upcoming season at 37. Last year’s results were strong, but it’s worth noting that his 91.5 mph average fastball was the lowest of his career by a decent margin. His prior career-low was 2023’s 92.4 mph. He bounced back slightly with a 92.6 mph average in 2024 but lost about a mile per hour off that heater in ’25. That said, it didn’t have an impact on his ability to miss bats; Bassitt’s strikeout rate and swinging-strike rate were both better in 2025 than in 2024.

Though the Braves currently have a talented rotation, there are plenty of question marks regarding both health and workload among the bunch. Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Reynaldo Lopez and Hurston Waldrep rank among the best quintets in the sport from a pure talent level. However, Sale was limited to 20 starts due to fractures in his ribcage. Strider made 23 starts but posted a 4.45 ERA with diminished rate stats in his first season back from UCL surgery. Schwellenbach started only 17 games due to a fracture in his elbow. Lopez made only one start due to shoulder surgery. Waldrep, a former first-rounder and top prospect, looked very good in nine major league starts but had shakier numbers in Triple-A and has just 63 1/3 big league innings under his belt.

Atlanta has some depth options in the form of Bryce Elder, Joey Wentz, Grant Holmes and Didier Fuentes, the latter of whom has garnered some top-100 prospect love this offseason. Still, given the plethora of injury troubles Atlanta faced, Sale’s age/injury track record and Strider’s downturn in results, augmenting the current group would be wise. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently argued as much at greater length in a recent piece for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers.

The Braves’ current cash payroll of $262MM would already be a franchise record, while their $258MM of luxury tax obligations are the second-highest in franchise history. Bringing in either Bassitt or Giolito would surely bump Atlanta into the second tier of luxury penalization but would leave them shy of the third tier — the point at which a team’s top draft pick is dropped by ten spots. The Braves will owe a 20% tax on the next $6MM or so spent ($1.2MM) and a 32% tax on the next $20MM. If we presume Bassitt is targeting something similar to the two-year, $40MM deal signed by fellow 37-year-old starter Merrill Kelly, he’d come with about $5.7MM of taxes for the Braves, on top of his actual salary.

Rockies To Designate Yanquiel Fernandez For Assignment

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The Rockies are designating former top outfield prospect Yanquiel Fernandez for assignment, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. Between the Fernandez DFA and this morning’s trade of right-handed reliever Angel Chivilli to the Yankees (in exchange for non-roster first baseman T.J. Rumfield), Colorado has cleared two spots on its previously full 40-man roster.

Fernandez just turned 23 on New Year’s Day but has exhausted two of his three minor league option years. He made his major league debut with the Rox this past season but hit just .225/.265/.348 with a 30% strikeout rate in 147 trips to the batter’s box. Fernandez has struggled in parts of two Triple-A seasons as well, hitting a combined .259/.320/.437 through 409 plate appearances despite very hitter-friendly environments.

In the 2023-24 offseason, Fernandez landed on the back end of top-100 lists at Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus. At the time, he was coming off a .265/.313/.486 showing with 25 home runs in 521 plate appearances across three levels, topping out as a 20-year-old in Double-A. Given that power output and his youth relative to the competition he was facing at the time, Fernandez was seen as a potential power-over-hit corner outfielder with a plus-plus throwing arm. A future as an everyday right fielder seemed attainable, but his aggressive approach and lack of plate discipline have hindered the final stages of his offensive development.

Between Jordan Beck, Brenton Doyle, Mickey Moniak and trade acquisition Jake McCarthy, the Rockies didn’t necessarily have immediate playing time for Fernandez. However, he still has a minor league option remaining and all four of those outfield alternatives have some questions about their health and/or recent performance, making it at least a mild surprise to see Fernandez jettisoned from the 40-man roster.

The Rockies will have five days to trade Fernandez before he has to be placed on outright waivers. Given his remaining minor league option, his former pedigree, and his plus power and arm strength, there’s a good chance another club will take a speculative look via either a small trade or waiver claim.

Yankees Designate Michael Siani For Assignment

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The Yankees announced Wednesday that they’ve designated outfielder Michael Siani for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to newly acquired reliever Angel Chivilli, who just came over in a trade with the Rockies.

Siani, 26, was only claimed off waivers five days ago. The Yankees will now presumably hope to pass him through outright waivers and retain him as a defensive-minded depth piece in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, though no team has been able to get Siani through waivers yet this winter despite multiple attempts.

Siani has bounced around the DFA circuit frequently this offseason, going from the Cardinals, to the Braves, to the Dodgers, to the Yankees since the season ended. He’ll now be traded or placed on waivers within the next five days.

An over-slot fourth-rounder with the Reds back in 2018, Siani has spent his entire playing career in the National League Central. He very briefly debuted with Cincinnati back in 2022 but made only 25 major league plate appearances with his original organization before being claimed off waivers by St. Louis in September of 2023. He was a frequently used, defensive-minded fourth outfielder with the 2024 Cardinals when he logged a career-high 334 plate appearances.

In parts of four major league seasons, Siani owns an anemic .221/.277/.270 batting line (58 wRC+) but good grades for his defense and baserunning. He’s played 1014 major league innings in the outfield — primarily in center but with fleeting corner appearances mixed in — and been credited with overwhelmingly positive marks from Statcast’s Outs Above Average (16) and from Defensive Runs Saved (7). He’s also gone 21-for-26 in stolen base attempts, giving him a success rate of nearly 81%.

The left-handed-hitting Siani still has a minor league option remaining. He could be a pickup for any club looking to bring in a speed-and-defense option off the bench — particularly one who can freely be shuttled between Triple-A and the majors.

Rockies Trade Angel Chivilli To Yankees

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11:06am: The two teams have formally announced the swap. It’s a straight one-for-one deal. The Yankees designated outfielder Michael Siani for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot.

10:45am: The Yankees and Rockies have agreed to a deal that will send reliever Angel Chivilli from Denver to the Bronx in exchange for minor league first baseman T.J. Rumfield, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network.

Chivilli is a hard-throwing 23-year-old righty who has shown an aptitude for missing bats and generating grounders but has yet to find consistent success in the majors. He averaged 97.1 mph on his four-seamer this past season and boasts an outstanding 14.4% swinging-strike rate in his young career, and he’s limited walks at a solid 8.1% clip. However, a penchant for serving up the long ball have undercut those swing-and-miss capabilities and otherwise solid command so far; Chivilli has served up an average of 1.99 homers per nine frames in each of his two partial MLB seasons.

Despite that big swinging-strike rate and a healthy 32.3% opponents’ chase rate on pitches off the plate, Chivilli comes to the Yankees with a below-average 17.4% strikeout rate in his career. His opponents have posted an awful 78.4% contact rate against Chivilli’s pitches that fall within the strike zone — league average in 2025 was 85.4% — but he’s put himself at a disadvantage by falling behind in counts far too often. Chivilli’s career 56.9% first-pitch strike rate (55.6% in 2025) is considerably lower than the 62% league average.

It bears mentioning that Chivilli has struggled more at Coors Field than on the road, though his ERA in both settings (7.06 at home, 5.03 on the road) is sub-par. He’s generated enormous swinging-strike rates on both his changeup (26.3%) and slider (23.4%) but struggled to miss bats with his four-seamer he threw in 2025 or the sinker he threw in 2024.

Though the bottom-line results haven’t been there yet, pitchers with Chivilli’s blend of velocity, command, ground-balls and raw bat-missing ability (even if it hasn’t manifested in big strikeout totals yet) are hard to come by. If the Yankees can coax some more swing-and-miss from one of his heaters and/or get him to throw first-pitch strikes with more frequency, there’s potential for Chivilli to develop into a high-quality late-inning option. He also has a minor league option remaining, so he’s someone the Yanks can send to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for further refinement if he doesn’t win a bullpen job in spring training.

Chivilli is controllable for at least five more seasons, which adds to his appeal. If he spends any notable time in the minors this year, the Yankees could push that to six full seasons. Chivilli currently has 1.036 years of big league service time, meaning he’ll need to spend 136 days on New York’s major league roster or injured list to remain on track for free agency following the 2030 season. If he spends about one-third of the season in the minors, that free agency timeline would be pushed back to the 2031-32 offseason, though he’d then project as a Super Two player who’d be arbitration-eligible four times rather than the standard three.

In exchange for that development project, the Rockies will pick up an interesting 25-year-old first baseman. Rumfield was blocked in the Bronx by Ben Rice but has a clear path to regular first base work in Colorado if he hits his way into the job. Based on his recent minor league track record, Rumfield has a good chance to do just that.

A 12th-round pick by the Phillies in 2021, Rumfield landed with the Yankees by way of the trade that sent righty Nick Nelson and catcher Donny Sands to Philadelphia. He spent the entire 2025 season with the Yankees’ top affiliate in Scranton, slashing .285/.378/.447 with 16 home runs, 31 doubles, a triple, five stolen bases (seven attempts), a huge 11.9% walk rate and an 18.4% strikeout rate that’s comfortably lower than average. The year prior, Rumfield hit .292/.365/.461 with 15 homers and similar rate stats in 114 Triple-A games.

The left-handed-hitting Rumfield is not yet on the 40-man roster. He went unselected in last month’s Rule 5 Draft despite being eligible. Baseball America ranked him 30th among Yankees prospects this offseason, noting that he makes plenty of contact, is adept at pulling the in the air and plays a fine defensive first base. There was no path to regular playing time for him in the majors with the Yankees, and he lacks the defensive versatility to profile as a true bench option for them. With the Rockies, however, Rumfield will head to camp with a legitimate chance to win the first base job this spring.

At the moment, 28-year-old waiver pickup Troy Johnston and perpetually injured veteran Kris Bryant are among the team’s options at first base. Newly hired president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta recently declined to even fully commit to Bryant being in spring training when asked by Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, however, stating only: “That will be up to our medical people.”

Johnston has plenty of experience in the outfield corners as well, so even if the Rockies want to give him a real chance on the big league roster — he does have a solid Triple-A track record with the Marlins organization — he could fit into a bench/designated hitter role if Rumfield seizes the first base job.

Rumfield may not be a star in the making, but if he can turn in even average offense and glovework at first base, he’d be a seismic upgrade for a Colorado club that had far and away the worst first base output of any team in MLB — on either side of the ball. Colorado first basemen posted an atrocious .211/.268/.372 batting line in 2025. The resulting 62 wRC+ (indicating that was 38% worse than average at the position after weighting for ballpark) was 15 points south of the 29th-ranked Giants. Former first-rounder Michael Toglia paced the Rockies in first base appearances last year but hit just .190/.258/.353 with a mammoth 39.2% strikeout rate, -3 Defensive Runs Saved and -10 Outs Above Average in 88 games.

MLBTR Podcast: Examining MLB’s Parity Situation – Also, Bellinger, Peralta, Robert, And Gore

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • Tim’s recent post looking at MLB’s economics and issues of parity (1:20)
  • The possibility of a salary cap coming into existence at some point in the future (5:25)
  • Comparing the salary cap path to alterations to the current revenue sharing system (8:40)
  • The public relations battle with fans knowing all about players and their salaries but not necessarily knowing so much about the owners and their finances (17:35)
  • Is there any hope of the owners working out some new revenue sharing arrangement? (20:45)
  • Are deferrals a massive problem or is the Shohei Ohtani deal just an extreme outlier that had led to increased angst? (26:50)
  • What kind of compromise are we likely to get in the next collective bargaining agreement? (32:45)
  • The Yankees re-signing Cody Bellinger (37:35)
  • The Mets acquiring Freddy Peralta from the Brewers and Luis Robert Jr. from the White Sox (47:20)
  • The Brewers’ end of the Peralta trade (53:20)
  • The White Sox’ end of the Robert deal (56:15)
  • The Rangers sending five prospects to the Nationals to acquire MacKenzie Gore (1:02:00)

Check out our past episodes!

  • What The Tucker And Bichette Contracts Mean For Baseball – Also, Nolan Arenado And Ranger Suarez – listen here
  • The Cubs Land Cabrera And Bregman, Remaining Free Agents, And Skubal’s Arbitration Filing – listen here
  • Contracts For Imai And Okamoto, And Thoughts On The Pirates And Giants – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Michael McLoone, Imagn Images

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