Orioles, Shane Baz Finalizing Extension
The Orioles and right-hander Shane Baz are finalizing a five-year, $68MM extension, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Cornerstone Baseball Group client was previously slated to reach free agency after the 2028 season and had agreed to a $3.5MM salary for 2026. Passan says in a follow-up tweet the deal buys out his three arb years and two free agent years, so it appears this will overwrite his 2026 salary in some way. If that proves to be the case, this deal would pay him $64.5MM in new money over four added years. MLBTR has learned that Baz will get a $4MM signing bonus and $1MM salary in 2026, followed by salaries of $7MM, $10MM, $21MM and $25MM in the next four years.
Baltimore is evidently quite confident in their ability to get the best out of Baz, a pitcher who is clearly talented but who still comes with some question marks. Baz is a former first-rounder and top prospect but injuries had held him back to the point where he had barely 100 big league innings going into 2025. He did pitch 166 1/3 innings last year but with an uninspiring 4.87 earned run average. Despite that, the O’s surrendered a package of four prospects and a draft pick to get him a few months ago and are now making a big financial commitment to him for years to come.
The Pirates took Baz with the 12th overall pick back in 2017. Before reaching the majors, he was flipped to the Rays in the 2018 Chris Archer trade. Baz debuted with the Rays late in 2021, making three starts. In the minors that year, he posted a 2.06 earned run average while striking out 37.9% of opponents and limiting walks to a 4.4% clip.
Going into 2022, he was considered one of the top pitching prospects in the sport but he required arthroscopic elbow surgery in April of that year. He came back later that year and made a few more starts but then elbow issues popped up again. He underwent Tommy John surgery in September of that year and missed the entire 2023 season.
He was still rehabbing at the beginning of 2024 but eventually got back on the mound and showed some promise. He made 14 starts for the Rays that year with a 3.06 ERA, though his 21.6% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate were both around average. Going into 2025, Baz was finally healthy after many years of elbow issues, which had limited him to 119 2/3 career innings. He made 31 starts and logged 166 1/3 innings in 2025. Unfortunately, the overall results weren’t good. As mentioned, Baz had a 4.87 ERA on the year.
There are some reasons for optimism under the hood. The Rays were playing in a minor league park last year due to hurricane damage to Tropicana Field. It’s possible Baz may have been impacted by that, as he had a 5.90 ERA at Steinbrenner Field but a 3.86 ERA on the road. Normally, about 12% of fly balls turn into home runs at the major league level. For Baz, that number was 18.9% at home and 11.1% on the road last year.
For the whole year, home and away, Baz struck out a solid 24.8% of batters faced. His 9% walk rate was around average. His 46.7% ground ball rate was a few ticks better than par. His 3.95 SIERA was optimistic that he deserved to have an ERA about a run better than where it actually ended up. His fastball averaged 97 miles per hour on the year while he also mixed in a cutter, slider, curveball and changeup.
The Orioles are clearly of the mind that Baz still has his best days ahead of him. Back in December, they sent prospects Slater de Brun, Caden Bodine, Michael Forret and Austin Overn to the Rays, along with a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick, to get Baz and his three remaining years of club control. Three of those four prospects were taken in the first three rounds of recent drafts. The other, Forret, was a 14th-round pick but had become arguably the best prospect in the bunch. The draft pick will be the 33rd overall pick this summer.
There are some parallels to Baltimore’s journey with Trevor Rogers. He was the National League Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2021 after he posted a 2.64 ERA over 25 starts for the Marlins. Then Rogers was injured and/or struggling for many years, diminishing his stock. From the start of 2022 to the 2024 deadline, Rogers only tossed 230 1/3 innings with a 4.92 ERA. The O’s felt they could get him back on track and sent Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby to the Marlins to get Rogers when he still has two-plus years of control remaining.
It took a while for that bet on Rogers to pay off but it did. He struggled with the O’s late in 2024 and had a knee injury at the start of 2025. After that, he was brilliant. He eventually made 18 starts for Baltimore last year with a 1.81 ERA, 24.3% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate. He got the Opening Day nod yesterday against the Twins and earned a win by throwing seven shutout innings.
Like with Rogers, Baz was plucked away from his Florida club as Baltimore sent a notable prospect package down the coast. Both pitchers had displayed talent but had gone through some injury challenges and posted some underwhelming numbers. The Rogers pick-up has worked out very well. The O’s clearly feel good about getting similar results out of Baz.
More to come.
Jorge Alcala Triggers Assignment Clause In Blue Jays Deal
Right-hander Jorge Alcala has triggered an assignment clause in his minor league deal with the Blue Jays, reports Ari Alexander of 7News Boston. Alexander writes that Alcala will now be available to all 29 teams, so it sounds like this is an upward mobility clause.
Alcala, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Jays in the offseason. He tossed 7 1/3 innings in Grapefruit League action but allowed seven earned runs via 12 hits and three walks while striking out six. He didn’t break camp with the club.
The upward mobility clause is a potential way for him to get to the big leagues with another team. The way such clauses usually work is that the player is offered up to the 29 other teams. If one of them wants to give the player a roster spot, the signing team then has to either give him a spot or trade him to another club that will. Alcala has enough service time where he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent, so he should only get claimed if a club is willing to put him directly onto its active roster. If no team claims him, the Jays can send him to Triple-A.
Alcala has a power arm, with both his four-seamer and sinker having averaged around 97 miles per hour in his career. However, his results have been up and down over the years. He had a 3.92 earned run average with the Twins back in 2021. He hardly pitched in 2022 and 2023 due to various injuries. He got back on track in 2024 by posting a 3.24 ERA, but then that spiked to 6.22 last year as he bounced to the Red Sox and Cardinals. He was non-tendered by St. Louis at the end of the year.
On the whole, Alcala has a 4.29 ERA in 218 1/3 innings. His 9.3% walk rate is around average for a reliever. Despite the big velocity, his 24.9% strikeout rate is only a bit above par for a bullpen arm. Typically, a player will know in about 48 hours if someone claimed him via his upward mobility clause, so Alcala should be able to head towards his destination at some point before the weekend is through.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Mets Outright Vidal Bruján, Ben Rortvedt
The Mets have sent infielder/outfielder Vidal Bruján and catcher Ben Rortvedt through waivers unclaimed, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The two were designated for assignment when the Mets set their Opening Day roster earlier this week. Both players have the right to elect free agency but would have to walk away from the money on their contracts. That means they are likely to report to Triple-A and stick around as depth.
A player with at least three years of service time has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency. However, he needs five years of service to both reject an assignment and also keep his salary commitments in place. Both Bruján and Rortvedt are between three and five years. That means they would have to be willing to leave money on the table to choose free agency.
Bruján was once a top prospect but hasn’t clicked in the major leagues. He has a lot of defensive versatility but has a career batting line of just .199/.267/.276. He has exhausted his options and been bumped into fringe roster territory. He bounced from the Cubs to Baltimore and Atlanta last year. He finished the season with Atlanta and qualified for arbitration.
The team and Bruján avoided arbitration by agreeing to a split deal for 2026 which pays him $850K in the majors and $500K in the minors. They later tried passing him through waivers but the Twins claimed him. A week later, the Twins designated him for assignment and traded him to the Mets for cash. Presumably, Bruján won’t want to walk away from that deal. The minor league salary on that pact is actually not too far from this year’s major league minimum, which is $780K.
Assuming he reports to Triple-A Syracuse, he’ll try to position himself for a call-up at some point. He has experience all over the diamond but has spent a lot of his time in the middle infield. The Mets are currently rolling without a backup middle infielder. If something happens to Francisco Lindor, the fallback plan would be for third baseman Bo Bichette to slide over. If they decide to bring someone up later, it could be Bruján, though Ronny Mauricio is on the 40-man and will be playing in Triple-A on an optional assignment.
Rortvedt’s situation is fairly comparable. He has a good defensive reputation but has hit .190/.279/.270 in his career. He finished last year with the Dodgers and quickly avoided arbitration by signing a $1.25MM deal for 2026. The Dodgers tried to pass him through waivers but he was claimed by the Reds. The Dodgers later claimed him back but a second attempt to get him through waivers led to the Mets claiming him.
For the Mets, they probably never planned to have Rortvedt on the Opening Day roster, since they have Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens as their catching tandem. They held Rortvedt as injury insurance but had to bump him from the roster this week because he is out of options. Now that he has cleared, he can continue to be injury insurance without taking up a roster spot. The Mets also have Hayden Senger on the 40-man, so he’ll be in Triple-A as optionable depth.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Anthony Franco
- Good afternoon, hope you've all had a good week!
- We've got regular season baseball again, exciting times! Let's get rolling
Mad Max
- Thoughts on Cubs and extensions? Comp to Anthony and Red Sox,what percentage can be applied of regret to Armstrong,Anthony,Merrill in 3 years? Which tema takes a step forward due to locking up young talent versus using up a position and payroll?
Anthony Franco
- I'd order them Anthony, Merrill, PCA on value but I'd happily have done any of them if I were the team. The track record on those extensions for high-end position player prospects who find immediate MLB success is pretty good
- If that guy becomes Ronald Acuña or Corbin Carroll, it's one of the three to five most valuable contracts in the game. Even if they go the Michael Harris II or (worse) Ke'Bryan Hayes path, it's not the end of the world. Risk-reward in these cases almost always points to the team being aggressive if the player is willing to sign early
- Cubs ones are a little weird because they follow a different path than the usual early-career extension. Typically a little shorter commitment that buys out one or two free agent years without attaching club options at the back end.
They did something similar with Happ and the first Hoerner deal. It reduces the long-term upside a little bit but they seem to prefer keeping the guarantee comparatively low (PCA would've beaten Merrill money if they went longer)
NL MVP candidates
- Did the MLBTR staff have a chuckle that nobody picked anyone other than Ohtani to win his fourth consecutive NL MVP? Granted the NL might be somewhat light on superstars compared to the AL (Judge, Bobby Witt Jr, Cal Raleigh, Julio, etc)... but nobody thought Juan Soto deserved a nod? He's a 40-40 guy now after all
Anthony Franco
- Ha, we did them all individually. I put mine in last before sending them out but deliberately avoiding looking at anyone else's picks when I wrote them all up. After four or five Ohtani picks, I wondered if it'd be unanimous
- He's so clearly the best player in MLB that I think any of us felt like picking someone else would come off as too contrarian, but I would still take the field. Not like it'd be a huge surprise if Soto, Acuña, Carroll, even Tatis jumped in there
Randy, the destroyer
- Who do you think gets squeezed off the Yankees roster when Volpe returns (assuming everyone stays healthy until then)? Their bench is Goldy, Grichuk, backup C Escarra and Rosario. Do they just drop Grichuk at that point?
Anthony Franco
- They're probably assuming someone's hurt in between (Stanton most likely), but if they avoid any injuries, I'd guess Rosario's the odd man out. Feels a little redundant if you're also carrying Caballero on the bench
- Could also option Volpe if Caballero and all the bench guys are performing. Doubt that's the plan right now but it would preserve all the roster depth and if Volpe looks shaky on the rehab assignment, wouldn't be that hard to justify
To ATL
- I'm a big fan of Ozzie Albies the person, but is he on a short leash if his bat doesn't come to life? .548 OPS in Spring Training, yikes.
Anthony Franco
- Eh I just don't think the Braves believe in Nacho Alvarez at all and I have tough time seeing the argument that even a diminished version of Albies is worse than Jorge Mateo or Kyle Farmer
- The first $7M option was a no-brainer because he played well in the second half and there was the relatively big buyout ($4M). That's not the case for the upcoming option, so I wouldn't be surprised if they move on at the end of the year. Could curtail his playing time once HSK comes back by using Dubón at second, but I don't think Ozzie's getting pushed off the roster in-season
Joe Ryan
- I'm guessing I'm gone shortly after the break. Or are ownership and the FO too directionless to move anyone at the deadline, just like they fumbled the winter?
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White Sox Claim Bryan Hudson
The White Sox announced that they have claimed left-hander Bryan Hudson off waivers from the Mets. New York designated the lefty for assignment earlier this week. The Sox had a couple of open 40-man spots since they designated catcher Korey Lee and infielder Curtis Mead for assignment this week. Hudson is out of options and will need an active roster spot, so the Sox will have to bump someone off whenever he reports to the team.
The Sox claimed Hudson from the Brewers back in August. He was nudged off their roster in the winter when they signed outfielder Austin Hays. After being designated for assignment, he was flipped to the Mets for cash considerations. He didn’t have a good spring, allowing six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. He didn’t make the Mets’ roster and is out of options, so he had to be bumped into DFA limbo.
For the Sox, they are presumably overlooking Hudson’s rough spring and focusing more on the potential he has shown in the past. He posted a 1.73 earned run average in 62 1/3 innings for the Brewers in 2024. He got some help from a .148 batting average on balls in play and a 94.2% strand rate but he still deserves some credit. His 26.8% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 41.2% ground ball rate were all average or better marks. His 3.60 FIP and 3.22 SIERA that year suggested he would have been pretty good even with more neutral luck.
Last year, his results backed up and he got sent to the minors, which exhausted his final option year and also got him pushed to the waiver wire. He finished the year with a 4.80 ERA in 15 big league innings between the Brewers and White Sox, as well as a 5.97 ERA in Triple-A.
Though it’s been a tough year-plus for Hudson, the Sox clearly like him, as this is the second time they have claimed him in the past eight months. They currently have Sean Newcomb, Chris Murphy and Tyler Gilbert as their southpaw relief contingent, though Murphy and Gilbert both have options and could end up sent down to the minors when Hudson joins the team.
Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images
Rawlings The Chosen One Now Available! (Sponsored)
Rawlings has returned with their latest in a line of products that have remained the standard for athletes of all ages for nearly 150 years. Just a year after being named “Youth Bat Of The Year” by Bat Bros, the Rawlings Icon is back with a new iteration: The Chosen One.
Like its predecessor, The Chosen One sports the “In/Tense” carbon composite construction and “Tuned Balance” performance technology, pairing a consistently powerful hitting surface with optimal weight distribution and balance. Instead of bringing this technology together into the two-piece Rawlings Icon, The Chosen One blends the optimally flexible handle into the powerful carbon composite barrel of the Icon, creating one of the most powerful experiences in BBCOR.
The Chosen One is the industry’s only one-piece composite BBCOR bat on the market. Its lack of a connective joint greatly reduces negative, hand-rattling feedback at contact while still allowing the perfect amount of flex with reduced durability concerns. The Chosen One is built to last.
The Chosen One stands out with a distinctive white barrel and handle, featuring premium “RevGrip” material engineered for unmatched cushion and tack. Striking gold font is used in the trusted Rawlings symbol, the now well-known “Icon” label, and the accompanying “The Chosen One” it uses to identify itself. It’s clear that style was just as much a goal as performance when it came to The Chosen One’s design.
The Bat Bros offered shining praise for The Chosen One, noting that it is “as good as every BBCOR bat in the game, if not better.” Its lightness and balance lead to high-quality, consistent contact. It’s what we’ve come to expect from one of the most respected brands across all levels of baseball across the world. “Be Iconic” in 2026 with the Rawlings Icon The Chosen One, and get the best out of your swing!
About Rawlings:
Established in 1887, Rawlings is an innovative leading global brand and manufacturer of premium baseball and softball equipment, including gloves, balls, and protective headwear. Rawlings unparalleled quality, innovative engineering and expert craftsmanship are the fundamental reasons why professional athletes, national governing bodies and sports leagues choose Rawlings. Rawlings the official baseball, glove, helmet, face guard and base of Major League Baseball®, the official baseball of Minor League Baseball® and the official baseball and softball of the NCAA® and the NAIA®. Rawlings acquired Easton Diamond Sports®, the official equipment supplier of Little League® Baseball and
Softball, Team USA Softball®, and USSSA® Softball, in 2020. The company is headquartered in St. Louis.
For more information, please visit www.Rawlings.com.
This is a sponsored post from Rawlings.
Fantasy Baseball Subscriber Chat With Nicklaus Gaut
Nicklaus Gaut will be talking fantasy baseball with Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers today at 1 pm Central time. Get your question in early or participate in the live event at the link below!
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Jason Heyward Announces Retirement
After spending parts of 16 seasons in the majors, outfielder Jason Heyward is calling it a career. The five-time Gold Glove winner and 2016 World Series champion announced the end of his playing career this morning in an appearance on MLB Network (video link).
“After 16 major league seasons, I’m going to announce my retirement,” Heyward said. “I’m glad and happy to be stepping to the other side of the game. I look forward to being a potential mentor to any of the young players coming up — anybody that’s in the game right now. I feel like the game is in good hands. I look forward to being a fan and seeing what other ways I can give back. … Thank you to everybody that’s been there to support [me]. The fans, teammates, coaches, staff, ownership groups — thank you for allowing me to live out my dream.”
A Georgia native selected by Atlanta with the No. 14 overall draft pick back in 2007, Heyward debuted for his hometown Braves as a 20-year-old back in 2010. He entered that season ranked by Baseball America as the Game’s No. 1 overall prospect and wasted little time announcing his presence in the big leagues; with two men aboard in the first at-bat of his career, Heyward deposited a 2-0 fastball from Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano into the Braves’ bullpen and circled the bases with the first of his 186 major league home runs (video link).
Heyward hit .277/.393/.456 as a rookie and spent the next four seasons starring in his home state as a key force in the middle of the lineup. With Atlanta rebuilding in 2015 and Heyward only a year from free agency, the Braves flipped him to the Cardinals in a deal bringing young right-hander Shelby Miller to Atlanta.
That swap worked out nicely for both clubs. Heyward posted one of his best seasons with St. Louis in 2015, slashing .293/.359/.439 with elite defense. He rejected a qualifying offer following the season, and the Cardinals netted a compensatory draft pick. The Braves, meanwhile, got an All-Star season out of Miller before trading him to the D-backs for Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte.
Heyward went on to sign an eight-year, $184MM contract with the Cubs — a record deal for the team that still stands as the largest contract in franchise history. Though he’s credited for rallying the team during his now-infamous rain delay speech during Game 7 of the World Series, that eight-year commitment certainly didn’t pan out as the Cubs envisioned. He hit .230/.306/.325 in year one of the contract, and while his 2018-20 numbers were solid (.261/.347/.419), Heyward was released as the contract’s seventh year drew to a close. He won a pair of Gold Gloves in Chicago but batted only .245/.323/.377 in 2836 plate appearances as a Cub.
A 2023 pairing with the Dodgers brought about a resurgent season. Heyward, still playing out the eighth year of that Cubs contract (but in a different uniform) slashed .269/.340/.473 and popped 15 homers in 377 plate appearances with the Dodgers. He re-signed in L.A. but struggled, finishing the season with the Astros and eventually signing a one-year deal with the Padres ahead of the 2025 season. San Diego released him after 95 unproductive plate appearances.
Though Heyward never developed into the offensive force most expected, he finished his career with a lifetime .255/.306/.408 batting line — about four percent better than league-average production, by measure of wRC+. He swatted 186 home runs, swiped 126 bases and tallied 306 doubles, 41 triples, 879 runs scored and 730 runs batted in.
It’s often easy to understate just how excellent Heyward was with the glove. He won five Gold Gloves in his career and very arguably should have won more. He has the sixth-most Defensive Runs Saved (159) of any player at any position since the stat was introduced.
Thanks to his superlative defensive acumen, solid overall offense (looking at his career as a whole) and positive contributions on the basepaths, Heyward retires with 34.8 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, and 41.2 WAR by Baseball-Reference’s version of the stat. Not including his draft bonus, Heyward took home more than $211MM in salary. Focusing solely on his level of performance relative to the expectations associated with his free agent contract undersells the quality of Heyward’s play throughout his 16-year career. Few players ever achieve this level of accolade and production. Congratulations to Heyward on a very fine tenure in the big leagues, and best wishes in whatever the game has in store for him in the future.
8 Young Players Auditioning At New Positions
The 2026 season has gotten underway for all but six teams. The A's, Blue Jays, Braves, Royals, Rockies and Marlins will kick off their seasons today. The return of meaningful games has revealed or confirmed some usage plans.
There are a few veteran players who are known to be changing their primary positions this season -- in some cases sliding back to spots they've previously played. Brendan Donovan is moving over to third base to begin his Mariners tenure. The Marlins will play Christopher Morel at first base, while the Giants are giving Luis Arraez another chance to play second base. The Blue Jays are moving Andrés Giménez to shortstop after letting Bo Bichette walk. Mike Trout was back in center field for the Angels last night.
Positional movement is even more common for young players breaking in at the MLB level. Some well-regarded prospects are blocked at their natural positions and need to debut elsewhere. Others are moving down the defensive spectrum after struggling at their previous spots.
We'll run through some first- or second-year players taking on new defensive assignments to begin the year. They'll be worth monitoring to see how they take to unfamiliar spots on the diamond. For those who play fantasy baseball, this may also be an opportunity to get an early jump on players whose positional eligibility should expand within the first couple weeks of the season.
Jordan Lawlar, Diamondbacks, LF/CF
Lawlar was a full-time outfielder this spring, playing 14 games in center field and three in left. He made his regular season outfield debut as a left fielder last night. The D-Backs kept incumbent Alek Thomas in center, though they'll probably get Lawlar work up the middle as well. The 23-year-old made a nice play at the wall in his debut, taking a double away from Freddie Freeman in the process.
Throwing accuracy issues pushed Lawlar off third base at the end of the 2025 season. Arizona acquired Nolan Arenado to play alongside Geraldo Perdomo in what should be an excellent left side of the infield defensively. They need more offensive production out of the two outfield spots to the left of Corbin Carroll. Lawlar, a former No. 6 overall pick and .328/.414/.576 hitter in his Triple-A career, is going to get plenty of run out there.
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Yankees, Luis Garcia Agree To Minor League Deal
The Yankees and former Astros righty Luis Garcia are in agreement on a minor league contract, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. It’s presumably a two-year minor league pact, as Garcia underwent his second career Tommy John surgery back in October.
That latest surgery marked another setback in what’s become a grueling stretch of injuries. From 2021-22, Garcia looked to be breaking out as a cornerstone in Houston’s rotation. The 6’1″, 240-pound righty started 28 games and turned in a mid-3.00s ERA in each of those two seasons, combining for 312 2/3 frames with a 3.60 earned run average, a 25.4% strikeout rate and a 7.5% walk rate. Garcia was never a flamethrower, averaging 93.6 mph on his four-seamer even in that two-year peak, but he had good command and generated big whiff rates on his cutter, slider and changeup alike, helping him to an overall 13.2% swinging-strike rate that sat a couple percentage points north of average.
It was more of the same to begin the 2023 season. Garcia notched a flat 4.00 ERA through his first five starts. He punched out 26.4% of his opponents against an 8.7% walk rate. He leaned more heavily on that cutter, his best pitch, through those first 27 innings and posted a career-best 14.5% swinging-strike rate.
Garcia’s sixth start of the 2023 season, however, lasted only one batter. He left with a trainer after eight pitches, citing elbow discomfort. The right-hander was quickly diagnosed with a UCL tear and underwent Tommy John surgery in early May. Astros fans braced for an absence of 12 to 14 months — standard practice for UCL reconstructions of this nature. Garcia’s rehab has since proven anything but standard.
The Astros deemed Garcia “ahead of schedule” in April 2024. He was throwing off a mound about 11 months out from surgery, and things appeared to be tracking well. Garcia set out on a minor league rehab stint in June 2024, but the Astros scaled him back after he struggled to recover between starts. Manager Joe Espada noted in July that Garcia’s elbow was a bit sore, and the team was proceeding with caution. A shutdown of his throwing program lingered into August, and on the 19th of that month the team announced he would not return in 2024, instead shifting his focus to the 2025 season.
The following January, the Astros announced that Garcia would not be ready for Opening Day. He’d continued throwing but was building up very cautiously following the 2024 setbacks. Two months later, Garcia was shut down with renewed elbow discomfort. He opened the season on the 15-day IL. After receiving a second opinion on his elbow, he was diagnosed with inflammation and shut down for another month.
Garcia began another rehab assignment in August 2025, more than two years removed from his surgery. He finally returned from the injured list in September and quickly looked like his old self. His first MLB action in 28 months produced six innings wherein he allowed three runs on just three hits and no walks with six punchouts. His next start lasted only 1 2/3 innings, and Garcia headed straight back to the IL due to elbow discomfort. Less than a month after making that return, he underwent Tommy John surgery again.
By the time he’s healthy enough to even be an option in 2027, Garcia will have made just two MLB appearances in a span of nearly four years. There’s no doubting that he’s a major league-caliber arm, but that lengthy injury layoff makes him a pure wild card for the Yankees moving forward. He’s a nice piece to stash for future depth and an intriguing name for Yankees fans to keep in the back of their mind — even if he won’t factor into the plans this season.