The Rays have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from Atlanta, according to announcements from both clubs. Atlanta designated him for assignment earlier this week. Tampa had 40-man space and didn’t need to make a corresponding move.
More to come.
The Orioles announced Friday that they’ve designated lefty Josh Walker for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to newly acquired right-hander Shane Baz, whose previously reported acquisition from the division-rival Rays is now official.
More to come.
The Astros, Pirates and Rays have agreed to a big three-team trade, according to various reports. Each team’s end of the deal breaks down as follows…
The Bucs have a full 40-man roster and will have to make two corresponding moves to make this official.
Lowe is the biggest name of the bunch here. The 31-year-old has spent the past eight seasons with the Rays. In that time, he has established himself as one of the better power-hitting second basemen in the sport. Dating back to the start of 2019, he has hit 151 home runs. Among primary second basemen, only Marcus Semien and Jose Altuve are ahead of him in that category, with Semien having 178 homers in that span and Altuve 158.
That power production from Lowe is even more impressive when one considers that he did that in about one thousand fewer plate appearances than Altuve and about 1,600 shy of Semien. But that also demonstrates the main knock on Lowe, which is that he has had trouble staying on the field. Due to various injuries over the years, he has only twice been able to play more than 107 games in a season. Lower back problems have been a frequent issue but he’s also hit the injured list due to a right shin bone bruise, a right triceps contusion, a right patella fracture, a right oblique strain, left oblique tightness and left ankle/foot tendinitis.
Earlier in his career, the Rays moved Lowe between second base and the outfield corners. Presumably because of the injuries, he hasn’t been sent out to the grass since 2022. He has been almost exclusively a second baseman lately, with a few stints at first as well. His second base defense was once around league average but seems to have slipped as he has battled those injuries and pushed into his 30s. He was given a minus-13 grade from Outs Above Average this year and minus-14 from Defensive Runs Saved.
There’s also a bit of concern from his declining plate discipline. He has always had a high strikeout rate but offset that earlier in his career with solid walk rates. That hasn’t been the case lately, as Lowe walked in fewer than 8% of his plate appearances in each of the past two years.
The power has still been enough to carry the profile. Dating back to the start of 2024, he has 52 home runs and a .251/.309/.475 batting line. That translates to a 118 wRC+, indicating his offense has been 18% above league average overall. Despite the defensive shortcomings, FanGraphs credited him with four wins above replacement in 241 games over that two-year span. He is going to make $11.5MM in 2026 before he’s slated to reach free agency.
Though Lowe is an imperfect player, he will be a big upgrade for the Pirates. They had almost no offensive prowess to speak of in 2025. Spencer Horwitz was the only Pirate to produce a wRC+ higher than 101.
While the Bucs had a clear lack of offense, they had a huge pile of pitching talent. Paul Skenes was the clear headliner but they had plenty of other exciting young arms in the mix. After several years struggling to return to contention, the Bucs came into this winter looking to get aggressive in upgrading the offense.
They made some spirited attempts in free agency, making competitive offers to Kyle Schwarber and Josh Naylor before the re-signed with the Phillies and Mariners respectively. Even if they had succeeded in one of those guys or someone else, it always seemed likely that they would use their stockpile of young arms to bolster the offense.
This is the second such trade of the offseason for the Bucs. They sent Johan Oviedo to the Red Sox earlier this month as part of a five-player swap, with outfielder Jhostynxon García coming back to Pittsburgh.
Lowe could jump in as the regular second baseman. The Bucs used guys like Jared Triolo, Nick Yorke and Nick Gonzales there in 2025 without anyone taking firm hold of the position. Given Lowe’s age, injury issues and defensive shortcomings, it’s also possible he sees significant time in the designated hitter slot. That would leave open some playing time for those guys, though Triolo and Gonzalez could also factor in at shortstop or third base.
Since Lowe is going into the final year of his deal, he’s just a one-year upgrade for the Pirates, though it’s possible they could make him a qualifying offer at season’s end if he has a healthy and productive campaign.
They had added yet another guy to their position player mix with Mangum, though he’s not likely to be a massive lineup boost. He got into 118 games with the Rays this year as a speed-and-defense guy with a contact-based approach. His 15% strikeout rate was lower than league average but he also only drew walks at a 4% clip and hit only three home runs. His .296/.330/.368 batting line translated to a 95 wRC+ but he stole 27 bases and got strong defensive grades in all three outfield slots.
Mangum has exactly one year of service time, meaning he’s at least two years from arbitration and five years from free agency. He also has a full slate of options, so he could be sent to Triple-A to serve as depth. The Bucs should have Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds in two outfield spots. One spot is available with guys like García, Jack Suwinski, Marco Luciano and others in the mix. Mangum could push for a regular role or a gig as a fourth outfielder, or he could end up in Triple-A, as mentioned. A lengthy optional assignment could delay his trajectory to arbitration and/or free agency.
The Bucs also picked up a reliever in Montgomery. The southpaw tossed 55 2/3 innings for the Rays over the past two years, allowing 5.01 earned runs per nine. He struck out 32.5% of batters faced and got grounders on 45% of balls in play but also gave out walks at a big 13% clip. He has a high-90s fastball, as well as a cutter and a slider, but control is clearly an issue.
He is also optionable and can be controlled for five years, so the Bucs can see if they can help him harness his stuff, without having to commit a big league roster spot. Pittsburgh’s southpaw relief contingent is currently headlined by Gregory Soto, with Evan Sisk and now Montgomery also in the mix.
In order to get those players, the Pirates are making a notable subtraction from their rotation. Burrows, 26, was an 11th-round pick and spent many years in the mid-range of Pittsburgh’s top 30 prospects. However, he has increased his stock lately. He has thus far tossed 99 1/3 innings in his big league career with a 3.90 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 41.9% ground ball rate. He has averaged in the mid-90s with his four-seamer and sinker while also throwing a slider, curveball and changeup. He has also thrown 83 2/3 innings in the minors over the past two seasons with a 4.20 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate.
The Pirates are hoping that their trades this offseason have bolstered their lineup and bullpen, while the rotation could still be a strength despite the subtractions. Even without Oviedo and Burrows, they still have Skenes, Mitch Keller, Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler, Hunter Barco, Thomas Harrington and others in the mix. Jared Jones is still recovering from Tommy John surgery but should rejoin that group at some point in 2026.
Burrows is a very sensible addition for the Astros. Injuries tore apart their rotation in 2026. Luis Garcia required yet another elbow surgery and was jettisoned from the roster. Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski and Brandon Walter all required Tommy John surgery during the 2025 season and are facing lengthy absences.
In addition to the injury issues, they also lost Framber Valdez to free agency and don’t appear likely to re-sign him. That’s because they are reportedly hoping to avoid the competitive balance tax in 2026. RosterResource pegs them for a CBT number of around $220MM, which is roughly $24MM shy of the $244MM base threshold. That gives them some ability to do things but they also have other needs on the roster and presumably want to keep some powder dry for midseason additions.
Put it all together and the Astros came into the winter with a rotation consisting of Hunter Brown and a series of question marks. Cristian Javier should have a spot next year but he had middling results in 2025 after recovering from his own Tommy John surgery. They can’t count on Lance McCullers Jr. for anything after he posted a 6.51 ERA in his return from a lengthy injury absence. Jason Alexander is in the mix but is a veteran journeyman. Spencer Arrighetti, J.P. France, Colton Gordon, AJ Blubaugh and Miguel Ullola are on the 40-man but they’re all either unestablished at the big league level or struggled with injuries in 2025.
Adding to the rotation was obviously necessary but the budgetary situation has impacted their approach. Instead of going after top free agents, they have given modest deals to reclamation project Nate Pearson and KBO returnee Ryan Weiss.
Burrows also fits into the low-cost mode. He has less than a year of service time, meaning he’s still years away from arbitration and even further from free agency. He also still has an option season remaining, so the Astros can send him to Triple-A throughout the year if other guys push him for a rotation spot.
More to come.
Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the elements of the deal. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com and Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com report that the deal appears done but is pending medical reviews.
December 19th: The Cards announced that Koperniak has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Memphis.
December 17th: The Cardinals announced that outfielder Matt Koperniak has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man move for right-hander Dustin May, whose signing is now official.
Koperniak, 28 in February, has been with the Cards since signing with them as an undrafted free agent in 2020. From 2021 to 2023, he produced pretty solid results as he climbed the minor league ladder. Across those three seasons, he stepped to the plate 1,399 times. His 10.1% walk rate and 16.1% strikeout rate were both solid figures. He produced a combined line of .293/.375/.441, which translated to a wRC of 112, indicating he was 12% better than league average at the plate.
He seemed to find a new gear in 2024, his first full season at Triple-A. He hit 20 homers and slashed .309/.370/.512 for a 128 wRC+. That may have been a bit fluky, as he got some help from a .351 batting average on balls in play, but the Cards seemed to believe in him. They added him to the 40-man roster in November of that year to keep Koperniak out of the Rule 5 draft.
He spent 2025 back at Triple-A on optional assignment and his results backed up. His home run tally dropped to 14, despite taking 23 extra plate appearances. His BABIP dropped to a more average-ish .283. He finished the season with a .246/.317/.382 line and 85 wRC+.
The Cards are rebuilding and will be giving playing time to younger players in 2026 but Koperniak wouldn’t have been at the front of the line after that performance. He’s instead been bumped off the roster and into DFA limbo. The Cards will now see if there’s any trade interest in him. If not, he’ll be put on waivers. He does still have a couple of options remaining and is considered a strong defensive outfielder, with experience at all three spots. If some club out there likes him, they could acquire him and keep in Triple-A as depth as they hope for a bounceback at the plate.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
The Orioles and Rays have agreed to a deal which will send right-hander Shane Baz to Baltimore. In return, the Rays will get outfielder Slater de Brun, catcher Caden Bodine, right-hander Michael Forret, outfielder Austin Overn and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that the O’s were nearing a deal for Baz in exchange for prospects. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that the deal was done and had the specific players going back to the Rays.
Baz, 26, will step right into Baltimore’s rotation. As is the case with the since-traded Grayson Rodriguez, Baz once ranked as one of the sport’s top pitching prospects. In fact, a look back at Baseball America’s top 100 prospects of the 2022 season shows Rodriguez at No. 6 and Baz right behind him at No. 8.
Baltimore, of course, traded Rodriguez and his remaining four years of club control to the Angels in exchange for the final year of club control over slugging corner outfielder Taylor Ward. Rodriguez hadn’t pitched in a big league game in nearly 18 months due to injuries. Baz has his own lengthy injury history but pitched a career-high 166 1/3 innings across 31 starts for Tampa Bay last season. The two are different pitchers with different skill sets and different levels of risk, and both are projects (to varying extents). But it’s nevertheless notable that the O’s shipped out one former top-10 pitching prospect and just weeks later acquired another.
In 2025, Baz worked to a 4.87 earned run average but drew more favorable reviews from metrics like SIERA (3.95) and FIP (4.37). He fanned 24.8% of his opponents, issued walks at a 9% clip and kept the ball on the ground at a better-than-average 46.7% rate. Home runs were the biggest problem for Baz, who saw 15.6% of the fly-balls against him clear the outfield fence and allowed an overall average of 1.41 homers per nine innings pitched.
It’s notable that Baz was particularly homer-prone in right-on-right matchups. The Rays played last year’s “home” games at Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field (the Class-A affiliate for the Yankees) while Tropicana Field was undergoing repairs after significant damage at the hands of Hurricane Milton. Steinbrenner Field played as the second most homer-friendly venue in MLB for right-handed hitters, per Statcast’s Park Factors; Baltimore’s Camden Yards was still homer-friendly to righties, but not nearly to the same extent.
If Baz can rein in the home run woes and continue to stay healthy, he has the makings of a mid-rotation starter. Those aren’t trivial caveats, however — particularly the health one. Baz had arthroscopic elbow surgery prior to the 2022 season, returned to pitch 27 innings that summer, and then went back on the injured list due to an elbow sprain. He underwent Tommy John surgery that September and missed all of the 2023 season and the first half of the 2024 campaign.
Injury concerns notwithstanding, Baz sat 97 mph with his four-seamer this past season and got strong results on a new knuckle curveball that he hadn’t previously used in the majors. Opponents hit just .214 and slugged .321 against that newly implemented breaking pitch. Baz also works off a changeup and a cutter (getting better results with the former in 2025), rounding out a four-pitch arsenal.
The Orioles will control Baz for another three seasons. He’s a Super Two player who’s eligible for the second of his four arbitration raises this offseason. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected an eminently affordable $3.1MM salary for the right-hander. That bumps the Orioles’ projected payroll, per RosterResource, north of $140MM and gives the more than $178MM of luxury tax considerations. They’re still nearly $70MM from the first tax threshold.
Baltimore entered the offseason in clear need of rotation help. Baz adds a capable arm with some yet-untapped upside but isn’t the clear playoff-caliber starter Baltimore has sought (though he has the potential to become that). He joins Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish and Dean Kremer as rotation locks. Tyler Wells, Cade Povich, Brandon Young and Chayce McDermott are all candidates for the fifth spot who are already on the 40-man roster.
That’s solid depth, but the Orioles’ rotation still feels like it’s one veteran arm short. The team’s aggressive signing of Pete Alonso (plus acquisitions of Ward and Baz) are clear signals of a win-now mindset as they look to put an ugly 2025 season behind them. Adding a proven starter would go a long way toward realizing that goal. Baltimore has been linked to prominent free agents like Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez and Tatsuya Imai — all of whom remain unsigned. Even after adding Alonso, Baz, Ward and free agent closer Ryan Helsley, their projected payroll is more than $20MM shy of last season’s Opening Day mark. There should be room to make another splash on the starting pitching front.
More to come.
The Phillies announced that they have acquired left-hander Kyle Backhus from the Diamondbacks. Minor league outfielder Avery Owusu-Asiedu goes in the other direction. The move opens a 40-man spot for Arizona, which should allow them to make their agreement with Merrill Kelly official. Philly’s 40-man count goes from 37 to 38.
More to come.
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December 19th: The Padres officially announced their deal with King today.
December 18th: The Padres have an agreement to re-sign Michael King to a three-year contract with opt-outs after the first two seasons. The Excel Sports Management client is reportedly guaranteed $75MM.
He’ll receive a $12MM signing bonus and a $5MM salary for the 2026 season. He’d collect a $5MM buyout if he opts out of the remaining two years and $53MM. King would make $28MM in 2027 if he opts in and would then have a $30MM player option for the ’28 campaign. While the Padres have yet to announce the deal, he has reportedly already passed his physical.
It’s a surprise strike for a San Diego team that had seemed likely to lose King and Dylan Cease in free agency. It wasn’t clear whether they’d have the short-term spending capacity to keep either pitcher. While they were never expected to come close to the $210MM guarantee which Cease received, they’ll bring King back on a short-term deal to help a rotation that was their top priority.
The 2026 season will be the righty’s third in San Diego. The Padres acquired King as the centerpiece of their Juan Soto return over the 2023-24 offseason. He had run with a limited rotation opportunity late in his final season as a Yankee after years of strong work out of the bullpen. San Diego committed to him as a full-time starter and was rewarded with a career season.
King pitched to a 2.95 earned run average with 201 strikeouts over 173 2/3 innings. He finished seventh in NL Cy Young balloting and entered his walk year as a candidate for a nine-figure contract. He looked on his way to a $150MM+ deal after getting out to an even better beginning to the ’25 campaign. He turned in a 2.59 ERA while striking out 28.4% of batters faced over his first 10 starts.
The Padres scratched King from his outing on May 24 with stiffness in his throwing shoulder. Then-manager Mike Shildt initially framed it as a minor issue that arose when the pitcher slept awkwardly. It proved a much bigger problem. King went on the injured list with what the team called inflammation. They subsequently determined it was a nerve injury that came with a nebulous timeline. He wound up missing almost three months.
King made his return on August 9. He made one start before going back down with left knee inflammation. That cost him another month, and he wasn’t as effective when he made it back for good in September. King didn’t get beyond five innings in any of his final four starts. He gave up 10 runs over 15 2/3 innings. Most of the damage came in an eight-run drubbing at the hands of the Mets on September 16. King’s final two appearances were scoreless, but those came with an uninspiring 7:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The Padres didn’t fully trust King going into October. They opted for Nick Pivetta, Cease, and Yu Darvish to start in their Wild Card Series loss to the Cubs. King’s only playoff action was one scoreless inning of relief in the decisive Game 3. He struck out three of four batters while averaging 95.6 MPH on his fastball. That was his highest single game velocity of the season. That’s to be expected during a one-inning appearance with the heightened adrenaline of a must-win game, but it was an encouraging sign for the health of his shoulder.
San Diego issued the $22.025MM qualifying offer. It was an easy call for King to decline in search of a multi-year deal. This arrangement functions as a bit of a pillow contract but with a much higher floor than the one-year QO would have provided. King would make $22MM if he opts out after one year. That result would be the same as if he’d accepted the qualifying offer. The extra two guaranteed seasons afford him a lot more injury protection.
King’s guarantee technically falls just shy of MLBTR’s four-year, $80MM prediction. However, the higher average annual value and the opt-outs make this a stronger overall deal for the player. He’ll have a chance to return to free agency in advance of his age-32 season and cannot be tagged with another qualifying offer. A healthier season could position him for a four- or five-year contract.
Health is no small caveat. The ’24 campaign is the only time King has reached even 105 innings in a season. While that’s in part because the Yankees used him as a reliever, King missed extended stretches in 2021 (finger contusion) and ’22 (elbow fracture) in addition this year’s shoulder woes. The Padres are taking on some injury risk but get the upside of a potential top-of-the-rotation arm on a short-term deal.
King and Pivetta project as their top two starters. San Diego has reportedly discussed the latter in trade conversations but would need a huge return to move him. Joe Musgrove is back from Tommy John surgery and slots into the #3 rotation spot. They’ll be without Darvish for the entire season, so the final two starting jobs are up for grabs. Randy Vásquez and JP Sears lead the internal options, but the Padres could look for a cheaper back-end/swing type later in the winter. They’ll surely kick the tires on controllable arms in trade, as well, as both Pivetta and King can opt out.
San Diego’s projected payroll climbs to $218MM, as calculated by RosterResource. The backloaded nature doesn’t change the $25MM AAV used for luxury tax purposes. They’re up to a projected $259MM in tax commitments. They’ll exceed the $244MM base threshold for the second straight season. Repeat payors are taxed at a 30% rate for their first $20MM in overages. Re-signing King costs around $4.5MM in taxes.
The more significant development is that it moves them closer to the $264MM second tier, at which the rate climbs to 42%. The Padres had nearly $280MM in luxury tax commitments this year, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Their actual salary obligations were around $209MM, though, so it’s unclear how much more flexibility the front office has at its disposal. In addition to the need for a back-end starter, they should acquire another bat to plug in at first base or designated hitter and could use a better utility infielder than Will Wagner and Mason McCoy.
King’s deal is the second-largest of the offseason in what has been a slowly developing market for free agent starting pitchers. Cease is the only other starter who has signed for more than $40MM so far. The rotation market should pick up in the next few weeks. NPB star Tatsuya Imai needs to sign before his 45-day posting window closes on January 2. Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez and Zac Gallen join Imai as the top unsigned arms.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com was first on the agreement, contract terms, and the note that the physical is already complete. Image courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images.
December 19th: The Giants have officially announced the Houser signing but haven’t yet announced a corresponding move.
December 16th: The Giants and righty Adrian Houser are in agreement on a two-year, $22MM contract, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. There’s a club option for a third season. Houser, a client of the BBI Sports Group, will presumably step right into San Francisco’s rotation next season after a rebound showing in 2025. The Giants, who also announced a one-year deal with former Tigers closer Jason Foley less than an hour ago, will need to free up a pair of 40-man roster spots, as they were already at capacity prior to either of those two agreements.
Houser, who’ll turn 33 in February, was a steady presence in the Milwaukee rotation for several years. From 2021-23, Houser started 68 games for the Brewers (in addition to five relief outings) and logged a 3.94 ERA. His 17.6% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate were both worse than average, but Houser piled up grounders at a 51.3% rate and managed to consistently avoid the long ball (0.83 HR/9).
The Brewers traded Houser to the Mets in the 2023-24 offseason, ahead of what was set to be his final season of club control. He struggled through his lone year in Queens (5.84 ERA in seven starts and 16 relief outings) before being designated for assignment and cut loose. He wound up settling for a minor league contract with the Rangers in free agency last winter. Texas didn’t bring him up to the big leagues prior to an opt-out date, so Houser returned to the market and signed a big league deal with the White Sox — a decision that now stands as a turning point in his career.
Houser hit the ground running and never looked back. In 11 starts with the ChiSox, he pitched 68 2/3 innings of 2.10 ERA ball. As was the case in Milwaukee, Houser posted a strikeout rate well shy of the 22% league average (17.1%), but he did so with better command (8% walk rate) and even fewer round-trippers (0.39 HR/9). Houser’s home run suppression didn’t seem sustainable; only 4.6% of the fly-balls he surrendered with the Sox turned into homers — miles south of the league-average 11.9% mark and his own career mark of 11.5%.
Following a trade to Tampa Bay, Houser indeed saw his home run luck run out. His homer-to-flyball rate jumped to 11.9%, and he averaged 1.12 homers per nine frames. The resulting 4.79 ERA was pretty closely in line with his 4.62 SIERA with Chicago. Still, Houser proved a durable source of innings down the stretch for the Rays, pitching 56 1/3 frames across 10 starts. Overall, he finished out the season with a 3.31 ERA, 17.8% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate, 48.9% ground-ball rate and 0.73 HR/9.
Houser will slot into new skipper Tony Vitello’s rotation behind Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp. The Giants have a host of candidates for the fifth and final spot on the staff, including (but not limited to) Blade Tidwell, Carson Seymour, Kai-Wei Teng, Trevor McDonald, Hayden Birdsong and well-regarded prospect Carson Whisenhunt.
The Giants have been on the hunt for rotation help this winter, and while they’ve been connected to some of the more prominent names on the market, ownership has publicly expressed a reluctance to commit long-term to a starting pitcher. That’s made fits with pitchers like Tatsuya Imai, Framber Valdez and Ranger Suarez seem unlikely, though it’s at least plausible that the Giants could look to further augment their starting staff via the trade market or another shorter-term deal such as today’s Houser agreement.
Given Houser’s inconsistent track record, lack of missed bats and generally unsustainable level of home run suppression with the White Sox, it’s a fairly steep price for the Giants to pay. Then again, San Francisco’s Oracle Park is one of the most pitcher-friendly venues in the sport. Oracle Park is particularly tough on left-handed home run power, which dovetails nicely with Houser’s skill set. He held right-handers to an awful .249/.293/.320 batting line in 2025 (.234/.296/.339 career) but was tagged by lefties for a .274/.356/.456 batting line last season (and .282/.367/.456 for his career).
The addition of Houser pushes San Francisco to about $203MM of luxury tax obligations, per RosterResource. The Giants are more than $40MM shy of the $244MM first-tier threshold. However, while they’ve paid the tax in the past — doing so as recently as 2024 — it’s not clear whether they’re comfortable doing so in 2026. Ownership comments downplaying the possibility of adding additional long-term deals would suggest at least some trepidation about spending to those heights.
The Giants are still looking for help in the outfield, at second base and/or in the bullpen. While the top-end free agents to whom they were loosely linked earlier in free agency (e.g. Imai, Valdez) don’t seem like realistic targets, barring an about-face from ownership on the team’s stance regarding long-term commitments, there are still various avenues to pursue. Free agency offers no shortage of veteran hitters and relievers available on short-term deals, and San Francisco is reportedly among the teams most aggressively pursuing Cardinals infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan.
President of baseball operations Buster Posey presumably has several more moves up his sleeve, and while the addition of Houser doesn’t necessarily raise the team’s ceiling much, it does boost the floor of a rotation that was pretty rife with question marks beyond the veteran Webb/Ray tandem up top.
The Orioles have shown interest in Cardinals left-hander JoJo Romero, reports Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The O’s join the Yankees and Mariners as club connected to Romero this month.
Romero, 29, is one of the most straightforward trade candidates of the offseason. He is slated for free agency after the upcoming campaign. With the Cardinals rebuilding, there’s little sense in hanging onto him. They could wait to trade him at the deadline but that path carries risks, as the Cards know. They held onto Erick Fedde and Ryan Helsley going into 2025 and saw both pitchers decrease their respective trade values with poor performances. Even if Romero keeps performing, any pitcher can get hurt at any time, which is another reason to cash him in now.
Since being acquired from the Phillies in 2022, Romero has tossed 171 innings for the Cards, allowing exactly three earned runs per nine. His 23.4% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate in that time are both pretty close to typical league averages but his 53.7% ground ball rate is quite strong. He averages around 94 miles per hour with his four-seamer and sinker while also mixing in a slider, cutter, curveball and changeup. He has recorded 12 saves and 64 holds.
Romero isn’t an overpowering bullpen arm by today’s standards but his results have been consistently solid. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $4.4MM salary next year, very affordable in the current landscape.
The Baltimore bullpen has changed a lot in the past six months. They fell out of contention this year and went into seller mode at the deadline. They flipped Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge to other clubs. In August, Félix Bautista required shoulder surgery, a procedure with an estimated recovery time of 12 months. This offseason, they have re-acquired Kittredge from the Cubs and signed Helsley.
They currently have four lefty relievers on the 40-man roster, in Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns, Grant Wolfram and Josh Walker. Akin has had some solid years with the Orioles but had an uncharacteristic 12.3% walk rate this year. Enns is about to turn 35 and worked as a swingman in 2025 after a few years pitching in Asia. Wolfram and Walker each have fewer than 30 big league innings pitched. Romero would immediately jump to the top of that group if the O’s were able to acquire him.
The lefty relief market has been surging a bit lately. In the past two weeks, Soto, Hoby Milner, Tyler Alexander, Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Ferguson and Caleb Thielbar have signed free agent deals. On the trade market, Jose A. Ferrer, Ángel Zerpa and Matt Strahm have been flipped. Free agency still features guys like Sean Newcomb, Justin Wilson, Danny Coulombe, Andrew Chafin, Brent Suter and others. There are many theoretical trade candidates but Romero is the most obvious one.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images
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