The Cubs and Marlins are nearing an agreement on a trade sending righty Edward Cabrera from Miami to Chicago, as first reported by Bleacher Nation’s Michael Cerami. While no agreement is firmly in place yet, Kevin Barral of Fish On First reports that top outfield prospect Owen Caissie is in the package that is close to being finalized.
More to come.
The Guardians announced Wednesday that they’ve re-signed catcher Dom Nuñez to a minor league contract. The ALIGND Sports client will be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.
Nuñez, 31 later this month, has spent the past two seasons with the Guardians, mostly with their Triple-A affiliate. He briefly appeared in majors in 2025, going 2-for-7 with a pair of singles in two games, but has taken 561 plate appearances and caught nearly 900 innings with their Columbus club dating back to 2024. He became a free agent after the season when Cleveland passed him through outright waivers.
Originally a sixth-round pick by the Rockies back in 2013, Nuñez has appeared in parts of four big league seasons but owns just a .182/.280/.371 slash (58 wRC+) in 354 trips to the plate. He hasn’t hit much in five Triple-A seasons either (.206/.333/.383, 27.6% strikeout rate) but has shown a knack for drawing walks and has some pop in his bat when he does make contact.
Nuñez, however, has a sound defensive reputation. He’s posted solid framing and blocking marks in the minors and majors alike, and he’s nabbed a strong 29% of would-be thieves on the bases in his minor league career. Cleveland clearly places immense value on catcher defense — hence the team’s repeated re-signings of Austin Hedges — and Nuñez will give them a quality defender to plug into the depth chart in the upper minors.
On the big league side of things, Hedges will reprise his role as backup to Bo Naylor (another plus defender with a light bat), but that pair increasingly looks like a placeholder for top prospect Cooper Ingle. The 23-year-old Ingle hit .260/.389/.419 with more walks than strikeouts in 510 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A last year. Ingle played only 28 games in Triple-A last season, so the Guards seem likely to send the 2023 fourth-rounder back to Columbus for a bit more seasoning, but a debut in 2026 seems likely as long as he stays healthy.
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The White Sox have added some depth to the rotation already this winter, signing lefties Anthony Kay and Sean Newcomb to respective two-year and one-year contracts ($12MM for Kay; $4.5MM for Newcomb). Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic report this morning that the South Siders are still hoping to bring in another veteran arm on a one-year deal, with Griffin Canning among the pitchers they’ve targeted.
There’s no indication that a deal is close. Canning surely isn’t Chicago’s lone target, nor are the White Sox the sole team looking at the possibility of signing him. The fit between the two parties is a fairly sensible one, however.
Canning, 30 in May, is a former second-round pick and top prospect with the Angels. He showed flashes of making good on that potential across parts of five seasons with the Halos, but injuries repeatedly set him back. The Angels eventually swapped him out for Jorge Soler in a Nov. 2024 deal with the Braves. Atlanta non-tendered him a few weeks later. Canning went on to sign a one-year deal with the Mets.
Early in the 2025 campaign, that low-cost pickup looked like a steal for the Mets. Thrust into the rotation mix after spring injuries to Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea, Canning raced out of the gates with a 2.47 ERA, 23.2% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and gaudy 55.2% ground-ball rate in his first nine starts. Fielding-independent metrics like FIP (3.84) and FIP (3.92) weren’t quite as bullish as his earned run average, but Canning very much looked the part of a quality mid-rotation arm over that span of nearly two months.
The right-hander then ran into some troubles with his command, issuing 18 walks over his next 26 1/3 frames. His numbers obviously took a step back along the way, and Canning never got much of a chance to right the ship. He was through 2 2/3 spotless innings against the Braves on June 26 when he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon that ended his season. Overall, Canning closed out the year with a 3.77 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 50.9% grounder rate.
The uptick in grounders was a new development for Canning, who’d previously carried just a 39.5% ground-ball rate in his career. The Mets scrapped his prior curveball in favor of a knuckle curve, but the more prominent factor in his newfound success in that regard were changes to his slider and changeup, which generated grounders at respective rates of 57% and 62%. Canning threw his slider at career-high levels in ’25 and used his four-seamer at a career-low mark (while also averaging 94.1 mph on the pitch — second-best in his career).
Discouraging as his finish to the season was, Canning showed enough in his 16 starts with the Mets to command a big league deal this winter. He’s a relative upside play, which makes him a good fit for a club that can promise him a rotation spot and trot him out every fifth day. The White Sox, still working through another rebuilding effort, can afford that opportunity far more easily than a clear-cut contender.
At the moment, each of Kay, Shane Smith, Sean Burke and Davis Martin appear locked into manager Will Venable’s rotation. Newcomb could compete for a starting gig this spring but spent more time in the bullpen in recent seasons. Jonathan Cannon will be in the mix but has a minor league option remaining. Top prospects Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith could both debut in 2026, but each could probably use some more minor league time. Smith hasn’t pitched at all in Triple-A, and Schultz struggled mightily there in five starts (9.37 ERA) after a much stronger showing in Double-A. Both southpaws could stand to improve their command, in particular.
Whether it’s Canning or another veteran, there appears to be ample room for at least one more arm in the White Sox’ rotation. Kay is looking to continue his NPB breakout but has never had much big league success. Smith (a 2024 Rule 5 pick) and Burke only have one season of solid results in the majors. Martin has pitched like a fourth or fifth starter in parts of three MLB seasons. Smith, Martin and Burke all have minor league options remaining.
At the moment, RosterResource projects just an $87MM payroll for the White Sox. That’s over $100MM shy of their franchise-record mark, set back in 2022 ($193MM). The Sox carried just a $75MM payroll on Opening Day last year but were well over $100MM in both 2024 ($123MM) and in 2023 ($181MM).
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. Movement on Tucker’s market?
Outfielder Kyle Tucker’s market has moved more slowly than the top free agents of recent offseasons. Players like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, and Aaron Judge had all already signed by this point when they were on the open market. There’s been at least some smoke with regard to Tucker of late, however; the Blue Jays have seemingly stepped up their pursuit of the offseason’s top hitter. Adding Tucker would be a crown jewel on a banner offseason for Toronto, transforming the middle of their lineup with the addition of a lefty slugger who can complement Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and balance a lineup that leans heavily right-handed. Toronto isn’t the only known suitor for Tucker. He’s been at least loosely connected to teams like the Mets and Dodgers, although Los Angeles would primarily be interested in a shorter-term deal.
2. DFA resolutions continue:
As we move further from the holiday season, the players who were left in DFA limbo during the league’s holiday pause continue to find resolutions. Yesterday saw Justyn-Henry Malloy traded from the Tigers to the Rays, while the Cardinals scooped up Justin Bruihl from the Guardians. Today figures to see more players’ situations resolved. In particular, lefty Josh Walker, outfielder Wade Meckler, and former top prospect Marco Luciano all appear likely to either be claimed off waivers or outrighted by their current clubs today. They were all designated for assignment two days after Jhonkensy Noel and Joey Wiemer. Noel and Wiemer were both claimed off waivers Monday.
3. Will Bregman find a long-term offer?
After opting out of the final two years and $80MM remaining on his contract with the Red Sox, third baseman Alex Bregman re-entered free agency hoping to land more long-term security this winter. That path worked out for the other big bat from last winter’s class who settled for a short-term deal with an opt-out, as Pete Alonso landed in Baltimore on a healthy five-year guarantee. It’s been unclear if there was something similar in the cards for Bregman throughout the offseason. Bregman was receiving real interest from Toronto, but the team’s recent Kazuma Okamoto signing makes it more difficult to see a fit between the two sides. He’s also drawn varying levels of interest from the Cubs, Tigers and D-backs. Some recent rumors have suggested the Red Sox are getting more aggressive in their pursuit of Bregman. Will that be enough to net him the long-term offer he covets, or will another suitor like Chicago or Arizona need to step up its efforts in order to get him there?
Star Diamondbacks infielder Ketel Marte has dominated trade rumblings over the past month-plus. Despite frequently stating that he doesn't consider a trade likely, general manager Mike Hazen has been hammered by calls from opposing teams hoping to pry the All-Star slugger away from Arizona.
Marte is enough of a known commodity that we needn't run through an extensive breakdown of his résumé here, but it bears spelling out some of the basics. The three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner has steadily produced anywhere from above-average to elite offense dating back to 2018. He's a switch-hitter who touts a massive .283/.368/.519 slash (140 wRC+) over the past three seasons. Marte is a superstar talent who's signed to a contract more commensurate with a freshly extended arbitration player. He's owed $102.5MM over the next six seasons, with the final year of that being an $11.5MM player option. He'll be paid $15MM in 2026, $12MM in 2027, $20MM in 2028 and $22MM in 2029-30.
Arizona has reportedly been seeking multiple major league-ready starting pitchers to even consider parting with Marte. Specifically, they're targeting controllable arms who can be long-term cogs in the starting staff. They reportedly talked with the Rays about a deal including both Ryan Pepiot and Shane Baz before the latter was traded to Baltimore, for instance.
Hazen has been relatively open about listening to offers and his reluctance to actually move Marte throughout the winter. He indicated last week that one way or another, he'd like to wrap up this situation soon. That was understandably viewed by many as something of a call for best and final offers.
With resolution on the situation seemingly nigh, one way or another, it feels worth running through the league to find the best fits for Marte, some viable dark-horse spots, and also lay out the clubs that don't feel like they'll be much of a factor at all. Let's run through it all.
The Astros reached a minor league agreement with right-hander Christian Roa, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. It’s a homecoming for the Houston native and Texas A&M product.
Roa was a second-round pick of the Reds in 2020. Cincinnati added him to the 40-man roster three years later to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Roa struggled in Triple-A during the ’24 season. He sustained a season-ending shoulder injury in August without reaching the majors. The Reds tried to sneak him through waivers at year’s end, but the Marlins stepped in with a claim.
Miami succeeded in getting Roa through waivers a couple weeks later. The 26-year-old spent the bulk of the season at Triple-A Jacksonville. He had a nice year, working to a 2.60 earned run average while striking out 26.1% of batters faced. Miami called him up in the final few weeks. Roa got into his first two big league contests, tossing three scoreless innings. He struck out and walked three batters apiece. The Fish outrighted him again at the end of the season, leading him to elect minor league free agency.
Roa has a four-seam fastball and sinker that each sit around 96 MPH on average. He leans mostly on the heaters and a mid-80s slider, only sporadically mixing in a changeup. Roa had starting experience early in his minor league career but has been a full-time bullpen arm for the last two seasons. His command never developed to a passable level to start. Last year’s 11.4% walk percentage was still an issue but represented a step forward from his 14-17% marks of the previous three seasons.
Alex Bregman’s market appears more muddled after the Blue Jays signed NPB third baseman Kazuma Okamoto. Toronto had been tied to the three-time All-Star but no longer seems to have room for an infielder (barring a reunion with Bo Bichette).
The Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Cubs and Tigers have been the remaining most frequently speculated landing spots. ESPN’s Buster Olney suggested last week that Boston has an offer on the table. In a column at ESPN this morning, Olney floated the possibility that the Red Sox might be willing to do something similar to the six-year, $171.5MM offer which the Tigers reportedly made to Bregman last winter. There’s no firm reporting about what the Red Sox have put on the table, to be clear, so the notion that the Red Sox could go long term seems mostly to be informed speculation on Olney’s part.
Boston landed Bregman on a three-year deal with opt-outs last winter. They juiced the average annual value to $40MM, albeit with significant deferrals that dropped the actual value closer to $30MM annually. Bregman is no longer attached to a qualifying offer and coming off a better season on a rate basis than he had in 2024. He’s also entering his age-32 season, so he may be more incentivized to secure the longest deal and maximum guarantee. The upside of taking short-term deals with opt-outs decreases as a player approaches his mid-30s.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com each wrote on Tuesday that many within the industry considered Arizona and Toronto the top threats to a Boston reunion before the Jays added Okamoto. That’d naturally point to the Diamondbacks as the strongest challengers now, yet most chatter on the Bregman/Arizona tie has been connected to a potential Ketel Marte trade. With D-Backs general manager Mike Hazen implying they could soon pull Marte from the market entirely, that could have a trickle-down impact on Bregman.
Arizona could certainly fit Marte and Bregman on the roster. The latter would step in as the everyday third baseman. The bigger question is whether ownership would sign off on another nine-figure infield investment after extending Marte for $102.5MM last spring. The long-term payroll would be a bigger stumbling block than this year’s outlook. Marte agreed to defer $6MM of his $15MM salary in 2026, so trading him would only free up a fraction of the first-year salary that Bregman would command.
Meanwhile, two of last year’s finalists appear to be less involved this time around. Detroit has reportedly thus far shied away from making another long-term offer. Top shortstop prospect Kevin McGonigle is on the doorstep of the majors. Bregman would be a significant upgrade over the current third base grouping of Colt Keith, Zach McKinstry and potentially Javier Báez once McGonigle arrives.
Manager A.J. Hinch gave a vote of confidence to McKinstry in response to speculation about a third base acquisition. “I get asked about third base all the time. I’m like, ’Our guy made the All-Star team,'” Detroit’s skipper told Audacy’s 97.1 The Ticket (h/t to Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press).
McKinstry was indeed an All-Star behind an excellent first half, but he has been a career utility player and hit .213/.278/.378 after the Break. It’s hard to believe he’s truly standing in the way of the Tigers signing Bregman — though it’s understandable that Hinch would publicly defend his player. Detroit’s $165MM payroll projection is already more than $20MM above where they opened the 2025 season, which seems a bigger obstacle to a significant free agent move.
The Cubs proposed a four-year, $115MM deal last winter. They’ve been positioned on the periphery of the market this time around. Matt Shaw had an encouraging second half of his rookie season. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and GM Carter Hawkins spoke at the Winter Meetings about their confidence in the 24-year-old infielder. It doesn’t appear that much has changed in the past month on that end. Feinsand reports that while the Cubs continue to have some level of interest in Bregman, they’re not expected to make the highest offer.
The Tigers agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Dugan Darnell, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press reports that Darnell will receive a non-roster invite to MLB camp. He’d make a little more than the $780K league minimum if he cracks the big league roster.
Although Darnell will be with the club in camp, he’s not going to see any game action. The 28-year-old underwent surgery to repair a labrum tear in his left hip at the end of September. That came with an eight-month recovery timetable that’ll sideline him into May. He’ll presumably head to Triple-A Toledo at that point and look to pitch his way onto the MLB roster.
Darnell is a native of Northville, Michigan, who played collegiately in the state at Division III Adrian College. He went undrafted and pitched in the independent ranks before getting a professional look with the Rockies. Darnell pitched to a 3.74 earned run average across 200 minor league appearances in the Colorado organization. That included 53 2/3 frames of 3.19 ERA ball in a very difficult environment at Triple-A Albuquerque last season. Darnell earned his first MLB call as a result, allowing five runs over 11 2/3 innings until suffering the injury.
The righty has a three-pitch mix led by a 93-94 MPH fastball. He uses a splitter as his top secondary offering against left-handed hitters while relying more evenly on the split and a slider against righties. Darnell didn’t show enough in his limited MLB look to hold an offseason 40-man spot with Colorado. He bounced to Pittsburgh and Detroit on waiver claims. The Tigers non-tendered him shortly after but succeeded in bringing him back in a non-roster capacity. They did the same with non-tendered receivers Jack Little, Tyler Mattison, Tanner Rainey and Sean Guenther.
Meanwhile, Petzold reported yesterday that Detroit reached minor league deals with each of Dylan File, Woo-suk Go and Wandisson Charles. None of that trio received an invite to Spring Training, however. That indicates they’re viewed purely as organizational depth arms. All three of those pitchers have had stints on a team’s 40-man roster in the past, but none has gotten to the MLB level.
File is coming off a 4.70 ERA between the top two minor league levels in the Seattle farm system. He’s a starter who owns a 4.33 ERA over seven seasons in the minors. Go was a closer in his native South Korea. He signed a two-year, $4.5MM contract with the Padres over the 2023-24 offseason. Go failed to break camp and was quickly traded to the Marlins as a salary offset in the Luis Arraez deal. He has kicked around the upper minors over the past two years, including 20 appearances in the Detroit system a year ago. Charles is a 29-year-old reliever with a 98 MPH fastball who has never been able to find the strike zone. He has pitched in the A’s and Baltimore systems and spent the 2025 campaign in Mexico.
The Blue Jays had already been one of the sport’s most aggressive teams before signing NPB star Kazuma Okamoto to a four-year, $60MM contract over the weekend. Okamoto joins Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce and Tyler Rogers as significant free agent acquisitions. They’ve also been one of the clubs most frequently tied to the top two free agent hitters, Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette.
There has been plenty of speculation that the Jays could be Tucker’s eventual landing spot. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com wrote yesterday that two of his sources pegged Toronto as the favorite for the market’s top player. Meanwhile, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reports this evening that the Jays are making a stronger push for Tucker than they had earlier in the winter. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet adds that the sides have had recent conversations, though he suggests the door remains open to Tucker or Bichette. Toronto’s interest in Tucker stretches back to the beginning of the offseason; he visited the club’s Spring Training facility in Dunedin on December 3.
RosterResource calculates the Jays’ payroll around $280MM, which is already $40MM above where they opened the 2025 season. Their luxury tax estimate sits at $308MM, more than $20MM north of last year’s season-ending tax number. They’re above the $304MM mark that represents the top tier of penalization. That already has them on track to pay around $30MM in luxury taxes, more than all but four teams (the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees and Phillies) paid last season. Any future spending is taxed at a 90% clip on the average annual value. A hypothetical $35MM AAV for Tucker would come with a $31.5MM tax on top of it.
[Related Poll: Will Jays Add Another Bat?]
It’s unclear how much of a deterrent the tax obligations are for the Jays. They’re already into uncharted financial waters after coming a few inches away from their first World Series in three decades. The Rogers ownership group and the front office are clearly committed to a win-now posture. George Springer, Shane Bieber, Kevin Gausman and Daulton Varsho will all be free agents next offseason. That’s a lot of money coming off the books but also four key contributors whom they’re not guaranteed to have back in 2027, which should only increase the motivation to make another run this year.
Tucker, a career .273/.358/.507 hitter, is the best offensive player available. He’d step into an everyday right field role, pushing Anthony Santander to left. The Jays would have Springer as their primary designated hitter. Okamoto and Addison Barger could play either third base or factor into the corner outfield. It wouldn’t leave much playing time for Nathan Lukes, who’d be a speculative trade candidate. Lukes is coming off a solid season (.255/.323/.407 with 12 homers) but isn’t the kind of player who’ll prevent teams from making a run at a star.
General manager Ross Atkins spoke in generalities this morning about the team’s diligence in looking for continued ways to improve (link via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet). Atkins noted that any “additions at this point start to cut away playing time from players that we feel are very good major league pieces.” While it’s not a given that they’ll make any moves, that’d seemingly point toward them only strongly pursuing impact talent rather than targeting marginal upgrades over role players.
If the Jays were to land Tucker, that’d almost certainly close the door on a reunion with Bichette. One team signing the top three free agents in an offseason is essentially without precedent, and adding both players would push Toronto’s luxury tax number well above $350MM. Bannon indeed suggests that while the Jays aren’t out of the running for Bichette, a new deal with their longtime shortstop looks less likely after the Okamoto signing.
Playing Okamoto and/or Barger regularly at third base pushes Ernie Clement to second, where Bichette would probably be penciled in if he heads back to Rogers Centre. The bigger deterrent may simply be a reluctance on the team’s part to make a long-term commitment to Bichette. Bannon writes that a reunion could be more likely if the infielder settles for a shorter deal that allows him to opt out after the first season.
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