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Diamondbacks To Sign Merrill Kelly

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The Diamondbacks are in the final stages of completing a two-year, $40MM contract with right-hander Merrill Kelly, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.  The deal will be official once Kelly passes a physical (as per Jon Heyman of The New York Post) and Arizona will need to clear a space on its currently full 40-man roster.  Kelly is represented by Apex Baseball.

The 37-year-old Kelly returns to the team with which he has spent nearly his entire major league career. Though initially drafted by the Rays in the eighth-round of the 2010 draft, Kelly made his big league debut with the Diamondbacks back in 2019 after a four-season stay in Korea as a member of the KBO’s SK Wyverns (now known as the SSG Landers). After a pedestrian rookie campaign in the majors where he pitched to a league-average ERA in 32 starts, Kelly managed to fashion a role for himself as one of the better mid-rotation arms in the majors.

Since the start of the 2022 campaign, Kelly has pitched to a 3.47 ERA in 108 starts. He’s struck out 23.1% of his opponents while walking 7.7% in that time, leaving him with a 3.81 FIP. While a 4.03 SIERA and other so-so peripherals cast him as a step down from your prototypical front-end starter, the veteran has managed to remain a talented and mostly durable rotation piece. Kelly particularly endeared himself to Arizona fans when he delivered a brilliant 2.25 ERA over 24 postseason innings during the club’s run to the World Series in 2023.

Amid a disappointing 2025 season where the Diamondbacks were ravaged by injuries to everyone from star closers Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk to newly-signed ace Corbin Burnes, the team engaged in a sell-off at this year’s trade deadline and shipped Kelly to the Rangers in exchange for a trio of pitching prospects. Kelly put up uninspiring numbers across ten starts with the Rangers, posting a 4.23 ERA and near-matching 4.18 FIP across 55 1/3 innings of work. Even while the veteran was in Texas, an offseason reunion with the Diamondbacks was already being speculated upon.  “Definite” interest in a reunion with Kelly was reported on Arizona’s side shortly before last week’s Winter Meetings, and now the sides have come together on a deal.

Turning to the deal itself, Kelly’s $40MM guarantee clocks in just ahead of the two years and $36MM MLBTR predicted for the right-hander when ranking him as the #25 free agent in this offseason’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents list. Perhaps that slight premium the Diamondbacks paid for Kelly’s services was the cost of jumping the market; while the free agent market for position players and especially relievers has kicked into gear in a big way already, Kelly is just the third starting pitcher from MLBTR’s Top 50 to sign a contract this offseason. He joins Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, both of whom received guarantees that slightly eclipsed MLBTR’s prediction.

Now that he’s set to return to Arizona, Kelly stands as the favorite to start for the Diamondbacks on Opening Day this year. He’ll join a rotation that already added Michael Soroka earlier this offseason while reuniting with former teammates Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt, and Ryne Nelson. Burnes could be a factor later in the season but is not expected to pitch until sometime in the second half of the season. While the team’s rotation certainly looks much more complete with Kelly back in the fold, bringing the right-hander back into the fold shouldn’t stop the team from pursuing other rotation additions after the club’s pitching staff finished 19th in the majors with a 4.29 ERA last year.

Of course, adding beyond this could prove to be easier said than done. The Diamondbacks are projected for a payroll just north of $171MM in 2026, according to RosterResource. That rises to north of $205MM for luxury tax purposes. GM Mike Hazen has suggested that, while Arizona’s payroll would likely be moving downward from its 2025 level, that would still leave the team with room to spend. The club spent $188MM on its payroll last season, however, meaning they currently sit less than $17MM from that mark.

Perhaps that leaves enough wiggle room to reunite with Paul Goldschmidt on an affordable one-year deal, a move the Diamondbacks have been said to be contemplating, but Kelly will surely go down as the team’s biggest expenditure unless an increase in payroll is approved or the team makes a trade that clears salary. To that latter point, the hot stove has been burning with Ketel Marte trade buzz in recent weeks. Moving Marte would certainly clear payroll off the books, though Hazen has consistently downplayed the likelihood of a deal surrounding Marte actually coming together.

Brewers “Open To” Using Angel Zerpa As A Starter

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The Brewers and Royals officially announced the three-player trade (reported yesterday) that sent Isaac Collins and Nick Mears to Kansas City in exchange for Angel Zerpa.  Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold spoke to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the trade today, and revealed the interesting detail that the club was “open to” the idea of Zerpa moving from the bullpen back to rotation work.

“We have some scouts that think he can do it.  He has done it in the past,” Arnold said.  “This guy also has postseason experience, too, which we obviously value a lot.  Having a guy with that kind of versatility and experience in big games is something we think will really help us.”

As we’ve seen teams move away from traditional pitching roles in recent years, there has been an increased willingness to explore turning relievers (sometimes even career relievers) into starting pitchers.  If clubs no longer expressly need their starters to throw more than five innings or take more than two turns through an opposing lineup, stretching a reliever out to handle this increased workload is more of a realistic goal than stretching a reliever to handle seven-plus innings.

Zerpa began his pro career as a starting pitcher, and worked as a starter in three of his first four career games in the majors (in 2021-22).  He started only three of his 15 appearances for the Royals in 2023, however, and hasn’t since started a game in anything outside of an opener capacity.  Instead, K.C. used Zerpa as a southpaw bullpen weapon, and the hurler posted a 4.03 ERA, 20.8% strikeout rate, 8.0% walk rate, and a whopping 60.6% groundball rate over 118 1/3 innings in 2024-25.

Right-handed hitters were quite productive against Zerpa even as he mostly dominated lefty swingers, and he allowed a lot of hard contact along with his uninspiring strikeout and walk numbers.  Zerpa is a hard thrower whose fastball averaged 96.2mph in 2025, but his standard four-seamer hasn’t been very effective over the last two years, while his 96.6mph sinker is his top pitch.  The slider was thrown 44.6% of the time in 2025, with a slider used 31.9% of the time and the four-seamer 19.8% of the time.  As Hogg noted, increased usage of a changeup might be necessary to help the 26-year-old Zerpa adjust back to starting pitching.

It isn’t the kind of arsenal that immediately stands out as a rotation candidate, and it might be that Zerpa just winds up as a reliever if the Brewers decide against the role change in Spring Training.  That said, the fact that the Brewers in particular see starting potential in Zerpa is probably a plus in favor of the experiment working.  Milwaukee’s ability to turn unheralded pitchers into capable or even elite starters or relievers has been perhaps the key element of the team’s success over the last decade, so nobody should rule out the possibility that the Brew Crew could help Zerpa unlock another level of performance no matter his role.

Arnold said the Brewers had “been trying to access [in a trade] for a long time,” as “I think that our group felt like this was a really strong arm to access with really, really good ingredients.  We’re very excited to get him with our coaches who have done a great job tapping into arms like this for a number of years.”

Zerpa is arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason, and is arb-controlled through the 2028 season.  Because he has primarily operated as a non-closer, Zerpa’s first-year arbitration projection is only $1.2MM.  This is a solid price tag even if the left-hander stays in the pen, but he can successfully move into the rotation, he’ll be even more of a bargain over Milwaukee’s period of team control.

One reason why Zerpa may remain in the Brewers’ pen is the club’s current rotation surplus.  Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick, and Jacob Misiorowski line up as the projected starting five, and plenty of other starting candidates (i.e. Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser, Carlos Rodriguez, Tobias Myers) are depth options.  The “you can never have too much pitching” mantra applies here since this group is likely to be naturally thinned out by injuries, plus Woodruff and Peralta are both set to become free agents next winter.  As trade rumors persist about Peralta, it is even possible the Brewers could suddenly have a big hole atop their rotation this offseason.

MLBTR Chat Transcript

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Mark P

  • The Weekend Chat is here! We’ll get things rolling after a few questions get into the queue….

Giants fan

  • Any truth to the rumors of the Giants being close on a Ketel Marte trade? Chances of that happening and what would the Giants have to give up to get him?

Mark P

  • I’d find it surprising if the D’Backs moved Marte to a division rival, of all teams.  One would imagine SF would have to significantly outbid other teams to make that happen, which might mean Eldridge would have to be involved.

Bloom

  • Is there a way you’d see the cardinals both buying and selling?

Mark P

  • As in, trying to make an effort to contend in 2026?  Probably not, though the Cardinals aren’t turning up their noses at players who can be MLB contributors immediately.  Fitts, for instance, can help next year.

CBA

  • What’s one thing you want to see in the next CBA?  Any chance the league would go after establishing max contracts?

Mark P

  • The union would push back hard on max contracts, as they would anything directed at limiting salaries.

    One thing I’d like to see in the next CBA is a longer-term agreement, so we only have to suffer through all of this depressing lockout talk every 6-7 years instead of every four years

Dave

  • Hi mark, do you think the royals make  another trade for a bat?

Mark P

  • I’d think so.  Collins and Thomas are upgrades over what they had, but I’d suggest more is needed to really get things cooking.

Motor City Beach Bum

  • Who is the best non-Bregman bat the Tigers will realistically pursue?

Mark P

  • A quick glance at the Tigers’ entries on MLBTR this winter reveals a real push towards pitching.  Bregman, Ketel Marte, and HS Kim are the only position players really linked to Detroit so far, which makes sense since Jeff Greenberg literally said pitching was the Tigers’ priority this winter.

    The link to Marte was a little odd since Gleyber will be back at 2B.  I’d think Detroit fans wouldn’t be too enamored by Kim as the fallback plan to Bregman, but that might be as realistically big as it gets for Detroit on the position-player side

Read more

Chris Young: Rangers “Are Not Shopping Corey Seager”

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TODAY: “We are not shopping Corey Seager, I want to make that very clear,” Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said today during an interview with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.  Reiterating many of his same statements to media from earlier in the week, Young today said the trade buzz on Seager was “a little bit overblown,” as interest from rival teams was more in the line of standard due diligence.  “Maybe they thought by trading Marcus [Semien], we’d be open on Corey….We call and check in on great players with other teams as well.  So teams are doing their job, I get it,” Young said.

DECEMBER 10: The Rangers, as they look to address several areas of need on the roster while simultaneously scaling back payroll, have received numerous calls on star shortstop Corey Seager. However, while Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News lists the Red Sox (as was reported last night), Yankees and Braves as teams that have inquired, he adds that the Rangers are not at all motivated to move Seager and haven’t had any meaningful trade talks regarding the five-time All-Star.

On the surface, it sounds like a fairly similar situation to that of Ketel Marte in Arizona. Seager, like Marte, is an MVP-caliber talent on a weighty long-term contract whose current club is hoping to walk the line of simultaneously addressing multiple roster needs and scaling back the payroll. The Rangers aren’t expressly turning teams away but also aren’t shopping Seager and would surely need multiple controllable young big leaguers who could help immediately if they were to even entertain the idea of a trade.

Seager, 32 in April, was limited to 102 games last season thanks to multiple hamstring strains but continued to produce at an elite level when on the field. He hit .271/.373/.487 last season and touts a huge .294/.372/.544 batting line in his past 1514 plate appearances as a Ranger. That’s 52% better than league-average production after weighting for his home park, by measure of wRC+. Seager also walked at a career-best 13% clip in 2025 and notched the second- or third-best marks of his career in average exit velocity (92.9 mph), barrel rate (15.3%) and hard-hit rate (53.6%). He also posted a career-high 16 Defensive Runs Saved, while Statcast’s Outs Above Average credited him as a positive defender (+4) for the third time in the past four seasons.

The Rangers signed Seager to a 10-year, $325MM contract prior to the 2022 season. He’s lived up to that massive payday thus far but is still owed $186MM over the next six seasons (paid out evenly at $31MM per year). Adding that type of commitment would send the Yankees careening into the top tier of luxury penalization for a third straight season. They’re currently just shy of the third-tier cutoff ($284MM), per RosterResource. As soon as they cross that line, they’ll be subject to a 95% tax on subsequent additions and will see their top pick in next year’s draft dropped by 10 places. Effectively, Seager could cost them double the remaining commitment on his contract.

It’s not quite so extreme in Boston, where the Red Sox are about $20MM shy of the first luxury tier. Seager would push them into the first tier for a second straight season. They’d owe a 30% tax on the roughly $11MM of Seager’s contract that clocks in beyond that first penalty line. Once they’re more than $20MM over the limit, that’d jump to 42%. Crossing the threshold by more than $40MM would push the Red Sox’ top draft pick back 10 spots and bump the tax on subsequent additions to 72.5%.

The Braves are currently the furthest of this group from the luxury tax threshold, sitting about $33MM shy on RosterResource’s projections. They could technically add Seager without hitting the tax line, though acquiring him would effectively signal a willingness to pay the tax, as they’d be about $2MM away from the first-tier cutoff and have several other acquisitions they’d like to make. However, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported last month that Atlanta is one of eight teams on Seager’s limited no-trade list. That only further reduces the likelihood of a deal. Seager will gain full no-trade protection after the 2026 season, by virtue of 10-and-5 rights.

It’s still not entirely clear what type of payroll figure Rangers ownership has in mind. Texas currently projects for a payroll around $169MM, which is about $47MM shy of last year’s Opening Day mark. They’re looking for help behind the plate, at first base and on the pitching staff. That’s a lot of boxes to check, clearly, but there should be at least some room for modest spending. There are also various trade avenues to explore that don’t involve shipping out their best all-around position player (or one of their best but expensive arms like Jacob deGrom or Nathan Eovaldi, for that matter).

It’s of at least moderate note that Texas didn’t outright dismiss the possibility of trading Seager, but it’s more notable that they’re not digging deeply into the possibility. If one of the interested parties presents a compelling enough offer, perhaps the Rangers would ponder such a switch, but this appears to be a very different scenario than, say, the Cardinals — a rebuilding club with motivation to shed several veteran contracts and a willingness to pay down some of that salary. Seager’s name may well continue to surface in rumors, just as we’ve seen with Marte in Arizona or Tarik Skubal in Detroit, but that doesn’t mean he’s all that available or that the Rangers are eager to deal him.

Giants Showing Interest In Cody Bellinger

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It’s been a pretty quiet offseason so far in the Bay Area, though the Giants have at least been linked to several notable trade candidates and free agents.  The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser adds another big name to the list, writing that the Giants “have checked in on” Cody Bellinger.

While Bellinger’s ability to play first base probably wouldn’t be a factor for a team with Rafael Devers and Bryce Eldridge lined up for first base/DH duty, Bellinger would slot perfectly into the Giants’ vacancy in right field.  San Francisco could also slide Bellinger into left field or center field on occasion, depending on how Heliot Ramos or Jung Hoo Lee are deployed.  Bellinger is more of a serviceable center field candidate than a true regular, but he is a strong defender in the corners — his work as a left fielder and right fielder for the Yankees in 2025 earned +15 Defensive Runs Saved and +6 Outs Above Average.

Bellinger’s bat would also be a nice fit in the Giants’ lineup, as the 30-year-old is coming off a 125 wRC+ season (29 home runs, .272/.334/.480 in 656 plate appearances) in New York.  Bellinger hit far better at Yankee Stadium than he did on the road, which could be a concern for the Giants if Bellinger was playing his home games at pitcher-friendly Oracle Park.  On the plus side, the left-handed hitting Bellinger hits both right-handed and left-hand pitchers well, and he has one of the harder batters in the sport to strike out over the last three seasons.

The Giants have been linked to Bellinger a couple of times during his past forays into free agency, though that was back when Farhan Zaidi was in charge of San Francisco’s front office.  Current president of baseball operations Buster Posey was still on the team’s board of directors at the time, and of course Posey has plenty of on-field experience in facing off against Bellinger back during Bellinger’s days as a staple of the Dodgers lineup.  Posey has also done business with another Scott Boras client in Matt Chapman, as Posey was instrumental in getting Chapman’s extension finalized late in the 2024 season.

It is possible the Giants’ call on Bellinger might have been routine due diligence, or just to test the waters to gauge Bellinger’s interest in coming to San Francisco.  The larger question, of course, is whether or not the Giants are willing to meet Bellinger’s asking price.  MLB Trade Rumors projected the former NL MVP (who ranked eighth on our top 50 free agents list) for a five-year, $140MM contract, as Boras is surely looking to finally land the guaranteed long-term deal that eluded Bellinger during the 2023-24 offseason.

Giants team chairman Greg Johnson has been openly wary over long-term contracts in general, particularly for pitchers.  Bellinger being a position player might mean the Giants would be more open to signing him to a big contract, yet the team already has a lot of money invested in Devers, Chapman, Lee, and Willy Adames through at least the 2029 season.

For as many holes as San Francisco has in its lineup, starting pitching is a more glaring need, as the Giants have only Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and Landen Roupp lined up for rotation spots.  If the Giants are truly hesitant about heavy investments in starting pitchers, they could look to address their rotation needs via trade, and perhaps use any free agent dollars to sign a prominent position player (like Bellinger).

The Yankees have been the team most directly linked to Bellinger’s services, as New York was known to be prioritizing a known quantity in Bellinger ahead of other top targets like Kyle Tucker.  The Mets, Angels, Blue Jays, and Phillies have also reportedly shown interest in Bellinger this winter, though Philadelphia is probably a less likely suitor now that Kyle Schwarber has re-signed.

Phillies, Mets, Padres, Pirates Interested In Luis Robert Jr.

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TODAY: The Phillies also had recent interest in Robert, as per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon, continuing Philadelphia’s explorations in a Robert deal back at the trade deadline. Robert’s right-handed bat would be a nice complement to lefty-swingers Brandon Marsh and Justin Crawford in the Philadelphia outfield, and having an experienced center field option like Robert provides the Phillies cover if Crawford isn’t quite ready for prime time as he makes his MLB debut.

DECEMBER 13: Last month, the White Sox picked up their $20MM option on Luis Robert Jr. General manager Chris Getz signaled that the club planned on Robert being their starting center fielder in 2026. That has not stopped clubs from inquiring on his availability in trade talks, as Francys Romero of Beisbol FR reports that the Mets, Padres, and Pirates have expressed interest in acquiring Robert.

The 28-year-old batted .223/.297/.364 with an 84 wRC+ across 110 games for the White Sox this year. His first half was particularly brutal, as he only hit .185/.270/.313 with a 63 wRC+ in 70 games through June 25, when he incurred a left hamstring strain that would send him to the injured list a few days later. Robert was striking out in 30.9% of his plate appearances, only marginally improved from his 33.2% rate last year. He did have a 10.2% walk rate, but for the most part, he was continuing an offensive decline that started with an 84 wRC+ season in 2024.

His second half was a clear improvement. Robert returned from the IL on July 8 and batted .293/.349/.459 with a 124 wRC+ in his next 146 plate appearances. After experiencing poor batted ball luck in the first half of the season (.245 BABIP), he benefited from positive regression upon his return (.317 BABIP). He also dropped his strikeout rate to 16.4% in the second half, bringing that mark down to 26.0% on the season. His rebound was enough for the White Sox to hold onto Robert at the deadline, despite interest from several clubs. Unfortunately, he suffered another left hamstring strain and was placed on the IL in late August, which ultimately ended his season.

The end result was a season worth 1.3 WAR according to FanGraphs. Looking at the bigger picture, it’s clear that Robert has fallen from the height of his 2023 season, when he posted a 129 wRC+ and hit 38 home runs in a career-high 145 games while earning an All-Star nod. That was the fourth season of a six-year, $50MM extension that Robert had signed in January 2020, which was then a record for a player who had not yet debuted in the majors. Robert’s production from 2020-23 made it look like a good deal, but his drop-off in 2024-25 (second-half rebound notwithstanding) made the $20MM club option for 2026 look a lot more expensive.

In the end, the team picked up the option in lieu of paying Robert a $2MM buyout. On the surface, that $18MM net amount was a lot for an injury-prone player who had posted below-average offense for two years, especially for a rebuilding club. The move may have been motivated by the lack of standout center fielders in free agency. Trent Grisham had a strong year in 2025 but accepted the qualifying offer rather than test the market. Cody Bellinger is still available, but he is a corner outfielder at this stage of his career. Harrison Bader is an exceptional defender and will do well on a multi-year deal, although his career-best offensive showing in 2025 was partly the product of good batted ball fortune (.359).

The club is hoping that Robert will have a decent offensive showing in 2026, which would make him a solid trade candidate at next year’s deadline. Still, it’s not surprising to see teams doing their due diligence now, despite Getz’s earlier comments. Eight teams were interested in Robert at this year’s deadline, including the Mets and Padres. The Mets mostly used Tyrone Taylor in center in 2025, but he only posted a 70 wRC+ in 341 plate appearances. They attempted to upgrade by trading for Cedric Mullins, but he himself posted a 66 wRC+ in 143 plate appearances and departed for the Rays in free agency. The club has prospect Carson Benge knocking on the door. A trade for Robert would be affordable for a high-payroll club and would give them an everyday center fielder if they want to ease Benge into the majors.

The Padres and Pirates are more curious fits. The former has Jackson Merrill firmly entrenched in center. He is coming off a 3.0 fWAR season and signed an extension in April that will guarantee him $135MM through 2034. Robert could be an upgrade at DH, but that wouldn’t be the best use of him since he is still a solid defender, posting 7 OAA in center in 2025. RosterResource currently pegs San Diego for a $201MM payroll in 2026, compared to $211MM this year. Team chairman John Seidler recently indicated that the team will operate at around the same level of payroll. They would need the White Sox to cover at least half of Robert’s salary to facilitate an offseason trade, and that’s before leaving room for other additions.

Meanwhile, the Pirates have shown an increased willingness to spend this offseason. They made an $80MM offer to Josh Naylor and were willing to pay Kyle Schwarber $120-$125MM before he re-upped with the Phillies. That said, Robert is obviously not on the same level as Naylor or Schwarber. Pittsburgh also has Oneil Cruz under control through 2028. Like Robert, Cruz had a below-average offensive showing in 2025 (86 wRC+), but Cruz is much more affordable, with a projected $3.6MM salary in his first turn through arbitration compared to Robert’s guaranteed $20MM. Pittsburgh may just be doing their due diligence, though the likeliest outcome is that Robert stays put in Chicago through the offseason.

Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images

Mets Sign Daniel Duarte To Minor League Contract

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The Mets signed right-hander Daniel Duarte to a minor league deal, as first noted on Duarte’s MLB.com profile page earlier this week.  Duarte spent the 2025 season on a minors contract with the Twins but didn’t pitch while recovering from a May 2024 UCL revision surgery.

A veteran of three MLB seasons, the bulk of Duarte’s 38 1/3 career innings came as a member of the Reds bullpen in 2023, when he tossed 31 2/3 frames across 31 games.  Duarte has a respectable 3.99 ERA across his limited time in the Show, though with only a 17% strikeout rate and a troublingly comparable 14.5% walk rate.  An extreme groundball pitcher early in his minor league career, Duarte still has a 47.3% grounder rate in the majors, but batters have capitalized when they’ve been able to get the ball in the air — Duarte has given up seven homers across his 38 1/3 career innings.

It remains to be seen how Duarte will look after such a long absence, though his return to the mound in Mexican winter league play this offseason has resulted in 19 2/3 scoreless innings.  A 5.71 BB% and 21.43% strikeout rate are further steps in the right direction.

New York was impressed enough to extend a contract to the 29-year-old, and Duarte will get a chance to show the team his progress first-hand during Spring Training.  There’s no risk for the Mets in bringing Duarte and several other pitchers to camp on minors deals, and there figures to be plenty of opportunity given how the Mets so often cycle relievers up and down between Triple-A and the active roster.  Duarte has a minor league option year remaining, so this gives up some advantage over out-of-options players in the competition for roster spots.

Chris Martin Planning To Pitch In 2026

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In September 2024, Chris Martin said that he was “95%” sure that 2025 would be his final season before retirement.  It appears as that five percent chance of a return has now grown into a reality, as MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports that Martin is planning to return in 2026 for his 11th MLB season.  The Red Sox have interest in Martin for what would be a return engagement between the two sides, as Martin pitched for Boston during the 2023-24 seasons.

Martin spent the 2025 season with the Rangers on a one-year, $5.5MM deal, and the fact that the Arlington native turned down larger offers from the Red Sox and other teams to join the Rangers only added to the narrative of what seemed to be a farewell season.  The right-hander delivered yet another strong season, posting a 2.98 ERA, 24.7% strikeout rate, and an elite 4.6% walk rate over 42 1/3 innings out of the Texas bullpen.

For the second straight season, Martin made multiple trips to the injured list.  The righty missed time due to right shoulder fatigue, a left calf strain, and (most troublingly) thoracic outlet syndrome, with the TOS diagnosis emerging in September.  Since the assumption was that Martin was retiring, there wasn’t any word on whether or not Martin underwent TOS surgery, but it would appear he is foregoing the procedure or his diagnosis wasn’t serious enough to require surgery.

Between the TOS situation, Martin’s other recent injuries, or the simple fact that he turns 40 in June, there is certainly some question about whether Martin can continue to defy Father Time.  That said, Martin is still one of baseball’s best control pitchers and he is still getting strong results, so it makes sense that he would still want to keep playing as long as he still has gas in the tank.

Since he pitched for the Red Sox so recently, Boston has plenty of direct knowledge of Martin’s health, and the team is therefore ideally suited to perhaps manage Martin’s usage in order to keep him as healthy as possible in 2026.  A one-year deal for Martin on a modest salary wouldn’t represent much of a risk for the Red Sox, and the upside is high if Martin can stay off the IL and keep posting his usual numbers.  The Sox are known to be looking for experienced bullpen help, and Cotillo reported yesterday that other former Boston hurler Justin Wilson is another reunion candidate, plus left-hander Danny Coulombe drawing interest.

White Sox Sign Oliver Dunn, Tim Elko To Minor League Deals

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The White Sox have signed infielders Oliver Dunn and Tim Elko to minor league contracts (SoxMachine’s James Fegan was among the beat writers to report the news.)  Dunn’s deal contains an invitation to Chicago’s big league Spring Training camp, though Elko will presumably miss camp due to his ongoing recovery from ACL surgery in October.

Elko was a 10th-round pick for the White Sox in the 2022 draft, and he’ll continue his career with the organization after being non-tendered in November.  That move cleared a space on Chicago’s 40-man roster, and it is fair to guess that the two sides probably had a handshake deal to bring Elko back in relatively short order.  Elko’s surgery came with an eight-month recovery timeline, so he won’t be a factor for a potential return to the 26-man roster until at least July.

The torn right ACL was a sour end to Elko’s first big league season, as he made his debut in May.  Elko hit only .134/.194/.328 in 72 plate appearances over 23 games, while also spending four weeks on the injured list due to a right knee sprain that now seems like a precursor to his ACL problems.  The White Sox are expected to do something to address their first base position, but if they more or less stand pat, it could give Elko some more opportunity to see what he can do against MLB competition when he’s healthy.

Dunn’s MLB resume consists of 55 games with the Brewers over the last two seasons, and only a .206/.261/.290 slash line to show for 145 PA.  A large portion of Dunn’s 2024 rookie was spent on the injured list due to a back injury, but while Dunn was still in the mix for regular infield duty with Milwaukee going into this season, his lack of offensive made him an afterthought.  The Brewers designated Dunn for assignment and outrighted him off their 40-man roster in September, and Dunn elected minor league free agency at season’s end.

The 28-year-old Dunn has mostly played at second and third base during his pro career, but he has a handful of appearances as a left fielder, shortstop, and a couple of cameos at first base.  The White Sox will see what Dunn can do in competing for a bench job this spring, and he could be retained as minor league depth even if he doesn’t break camp.

Tyler Glasnow Does Not Expect To Be Traded

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Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow’s name reportedly “came up” in trade talks with other teams in recent days, but Glasnow made an appearance on MLB Network Radio’s Sunday Sliders program with Dani Wexelman of SiriusXM and made clear that he does not expect to be traded. Per Wexelman, Glasnow went on to noted that president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman had spoken to him directly and told him that he isn’t being traded.

That more or less puts to bed trade speculation regarding Glasnow this offseason. A California native, Glasnow was dealt from the Dodgers to the Rays two seasons ago and promptly signed on an extension with his new team that runs through the 2028 season. Glasnow is owed $30MM annually for each of the next two seasons, and in 2028 the Dodgers hold a $30MM club option on his services that converts into a $21,562,500 player option is declined. For a player headed into his age-32 campaign who has delivered a 3.37 ERA, 3.24 FIP, and a 30.9% strikeout rate across 40 starts as a Dodger (not to mention a 1.69 ERA and 2.95 FIP in six playoff outings), that contract is something of a bargain.

Given the relatively short-term commitment to Glasnow, the Dodgers’ surplus of elite pitching talent, and a market for free agent arms that some teams seem less than enthused to spend in, it’s easy to see why some clubs may have asked after Glasnow in trade talks. At the same time, however, the Dodgers’ deep group of rotation options comes with an equally lengthy injury history. The quantity of arms Los Angeles has in its stable is more important for them than the average team given the number of oft-injured players the team has in the fold. Considering that reality, it’s not exactly a surprise that the Dodgers seem to have no intention of trading Glasnow this winter.

Glasnow isn’t the only Dodgers player whose name has entered the rumor mill this winter. Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez similarly had his floated in trade conversations, and while Dodgers brass suggested that a deal involved Hernandez was unlikely that hasn’t stopped the Royals from expressing interest in him. Of course, that interest was before yesterday’s trade with the Brewers that sent Angel Zerpa to Milwaukee while bringing outfielder Isaac Collins and right-hander Nick Mears back to Kansas City. With Collins and Lane Thomas in the fold, it’s possible that the Royals are done with external additions on the grass and will rely on players like Kyle Isbel and Jac Caglianone to fill out the rest of the outfield mix.

While deals involving Glasnow and Hernandez don’t seem likely at this point, the fact that multiple veteran pieces of the Dodgers’ roster have come up in trade talks could suggest an openness to creativity on the part of the World Series champs this offseason. Friedman previously suggested that the club’s aging core of talent and finding ways to get younger players opportunities to contribute is something that the club has begun weighing this winter, and it’s not hard to see how a deal involving a veteran or two could allow MLB’s oldest team to get younger and clear the deck for the next wave of young talent in L.A.’s lauded farm system.

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