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Rangers Notes: Langford, Carter, Smith, Dorton

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The Rangers will have a new-look outfield after non-tendering Adolis García and swapping Marcus Semien for Brandon Nimmo. The pair of moves seemingly positions Wyatt Langford to move from left field to the opposite corner. While that might still be the case, manager Skip Schumaker left open the possibility of using Langford as a center fielder in 2026 (relayed by Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News).

Langford has some experience up the middle. He has started 50 games and logged 414 1/3 innings there in the big leagues. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average have liked his work. It’s a limited sample, but Langford has posted excellent marks in nearly 1700 innings in left field. He’s an excellent runner underway and has gotten solid grades from Statcast for his first-step reads. Langford’s arm isn’t spectacular but also isn’t poor enough to limit him to left field.

It’s rare for a college corner outfielder to move up the defensive spectrum in pro ball. Langford played left at the University of Florida as well, though that was in deference to two players whom scouts regarded as plus defenders up the middle. He hit his way to the big leagues so quickly that the Rangers didn’t have time to get him much minor league work in center. Texas used Leody Taveras as their center fielder in 2024 and gave Evan Carter the majority of the reps there this past season.

Carter is back and could certainly stake a claim to the center field role. He has battled injuries and been a little up-and-down since his sensational debut late in 2023. The Rangers have also used Carter in a strict platoon capacity, giving him a total of 68 career plate appearances versus lefty pitching. He has all of five MLB hits against southpaws. Schumaker suggested they could open up a few more left-on-left looks for Carter this season — even if they try to ease him in against less imposing arms.

“In this league, you earn your stripes, but you have to give them opportunity to earn their stripes,” Shumaker said (video via DLLS Sports). “There are elite, ace-type lefties who are challenging for lefties and righties, and then there are some lefties you feel really comfortable letting them hit against — whether it’s a starter or maybe a middle reliever.”

If Carter finds success against southpaws, the Rangers could have him flanked by Nimmo and Langford. The latter could slide over to center field against the toughest left-handed opposition, opening the door for Texas to mix in another righty bat off the bench. Fourth outfielder Michael Helman popped five home runs over 38 games in a late-season look, but he’s approaching his 30th birthday and had a .294 on-base percentage in Triple-A this year.

Adding right-handed bench bat would make some sense, though the Rangers appear to be up against a very tight line financially. They need to add at least a part-time catcher, a starting pitcher, and an entire bullpen. Upgrading on Jake Burger at first base would be ideal, but that might not be within the budget. Luis Arraez has been a speculated target based on his ties to Schumaker from the Marlins and the Rangers’ desire to make more contact. However, Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote last week that Arraez might be out of their price range even on the heels of a down year in San Diego.

For similar reasons, Texas expects to replace Semien at second base internally. Utilityman Josh Smith should enter camp as the favorite. Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News relayed word from Schumaker that Smith has a decent chance to win the job, though Cody Freeman and Ezequiel Duran are also in the mix. The lefty-hitting Smith has been a little better than average at the plate over the past two seasons. There has been some in-season volatility, as the LSU product has been much better in the first half in consecutive years.

In one bit of non-playing news, the Rangers are hiring Eric Dorton as a third hitting coach (as first reported by Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). He’ll work alongside Alex Cintrón as an assistant to lead hitting instructor Justin Viele. It’s an internal promotion. The 36-year-old Dorton has been in the organization since 2019 and was previously a minor league hitting coordinator. This is his first MLB coaching job.

Orioles President Discusses Payroll, Offseason Targets

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The Orioles have made a few moves this offseason but are still looking for a big rotation upgrade and an impact bat. President of baseball operations Mike Elias spoke to the media today about the club’s offseason and was asked if the O’s had enough spending capacity to address both needs via free agency. “Yes, I think so,” Elias said, per Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun. “I mean, you look at our payroll as it stands right now, and it’s still well below where we went last year.”

Baltimore went into 2025 with an Opening Day payroll of $165MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Thanks to some midseason trades and some guys reaching free agency at season’s end, next year’s payroll isn’t close to that number. As of today, their 2026 club is slated to cost about $118MM, per RosterResource. Even if there’s no bump in payroll coming, that’s more than $45MM in wiggle room.

Elias candidly admitted last month that a front-of-rotation starter and a reliever with closing experience were on the to-do list. The latter seems to be ticked off the list, at least for now. The O’s signed Ryan Helsley earlier this month. Today, Elias said the club is still looking for an external reliever but also might want to leave room open for some of their incumbent arms, per Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun.

That still leaves the rotation as an item to be crossed off. Adding an impact bat was also on the list. The O’s acquired Taylor Ward from the Angels last month but Elias admitted in the wake of that deal that bolstering the lineup was still on the agenda.

Elias said today that the club is willing to be open-minded about the positional fit of the hitter they look to add, per Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. “If the player is good enough, we can figure out ways to accommodate them, so we have a lot of conversations going on, mostly in free agency, but also in some trades, on guys we view as impact bats.”

Just about anywhere the O’s add to their position player group, there will be domino effects. They don’t have a pure designated hitter but there are several guys who would currently project to spend time there. The catching duo is currently Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo, so the DH spot could be used to have both of them in the lineup regularly. In the outfield, they have Ward, Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers, Tyler O’Neill and others in the mix. Given O’Neill’s injury history, it would make sense for him to get some DH time. At first base, they have both Coby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle in the mix, so the DH spot would be needed if the O’s want both of those guys getting at-bats. The rest of the infield includes Jackson Holliday, Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg.

Adding just about any impact hitter would knock someone down the pecking order. If the O’s successfully sign a notable free agent bat, perhaps that will push someone currently on the roster to the trading block. In recent weeks, the O’s have been connected to notable free agents like corner outfielder Kyle Tucker, designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and first baseman Pete Alonso. On the starting pitching side of things, the O’s have been connected to names like Tatsuya Imai, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez, Michael King and Zac Gallen.

MLBTR predicted Tucker to earn a guarantee of $400MM over 11 years. That’s an average annual value of $36.36MM, which would eat up most of Baltimore’s remaining spending capacity, assuming they are willing to run a similar payroll in 2026. With the others, it’s somewhat possible to imagine two of them fitting into the club’s remaining payroll space. Valdez was projected for a $30MM AAV, Alonso $27.5MM, Schwarber $27MM, Imai $25MM, Suarez $23MM and then King and Gallen both at $20MM.

Theoretically, if the O’s do add two names from that list, they could also then save money via the trade market. For instance, Mountcastle is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $7.8MM next year. Or perhaps there’s a path where younger and cheaper players are traded for a more notable return, which lessens the need to do everything via free agency. Elias has yet to sign a starting pitcher to a multi-year deal but there have been offers, including putting a four-year pact on the table for Corbin Burnes.

If they do go the free agent route, Elias has already said they are willing to sign guys who rejected qualifying offers. As a revenue-sharing recipient, the O’s would have to forfeit their third-highest selection in next year’s draft to sign a guy who rejected a QO. Of the aforementioned names, that would apply to Tucker, Schwarber, Valdez, Suarez, Gallen and King. Alonso wasn’t eligible to receive a QO because he got one a year ago. Imai is coming over from Japan, so the QO situation doesn’t apply, but whoever signs him would have to pay a posting fee to his NPB club.

Elias also provided one other note about the club’s plans, noting that they hope to develop Jeremiah Jackson in a utility role, per Weyrich. Jackson debuted in 2025 and hit well, with a .276/.328/.447 line, though that was buoyed by a .365 batting average on balls in play. He played second base, third base and right field. In the minors, he also has experience at shortstop and the other two outfield slots.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images

Nationals Hire Matt Borgschulte As Hitting Coach

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The Nationals announced what appears to their full coaching staff at this afternoon’s Winter Meetings (relayed by Andrew Golden of The Washington Post). The most notable previously unreported development is the hiring of Matt Borgschulte as hitting coach. They also added Victor Estevez as third base/infield coach and Dustin Glant as assistant pitching/bullpen coach.

Borgschulte spent the 2025 season as Minnesota’s hitting coach. The Twins moved on from him after one year following a managerial switch from Rocco Baldelli to Derek Shelton. Minnesota hitters ranked 23rd in scoring and finished between 16th and 22nd in all three slash stats. They were a middle-of-the-pack group in strikeouts and walks while tying for 11th in home runs.

It was a step back from a ’24 season in which they finished 10th in the majors in runs and were narrowly better than average in every slash category. The usual caveats about separating coaches from their personnel apply, of course. The 35-year-old Borgschulte had spent the prior three season as a co-hitting coach with the Orioles. He replaces Darnell Coles in the nation’s capital.

Estevez gets his first job on a big league staff. The 37-year-old had spent more than a decade coaching and managing in the Milwaukee farm system. He has seven seasons of minor league managerial experience, the past two of which have been at the High-A level. Estevez has also managed in the Dominican Winter League. He’ll have his work cut out for him with a Washington infield that ranked 28th in MLB with -60 Outs Above Average over the past three seasons.

Glant jumps to the professional ranks after spending four seasons at Indiana University. He’d been the Hoosiers’ pitching coach since 2022. Glant had spent the prior six seasons at Ball State as their pitching coach. The 44-year-old pitched parts of six seasons in the Arizona farm system in the 2000s.

The remainder of Blake Butera’s first staff, all of which had already been reported: bench coach Michael Johns, pitching coach Simon Mathews, assistant hitting coach Andrew Aydt, assistant pitching coach Sean Doolittle, first base/outfield/baserunning coach Corey Ray, catching coach Bobby Wilson, field coordinator Tyler Smarslok, and development coach Grant Anders. It’s almost an entirely new group after the managerial change. Doolittle is the only holdover from Dave Martinez’s and Miguel Cairo’s 2025 group.

NL East Coaching Notes: Mattingly, Doolittle, Marlins

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Coaching staffs are coming together around the league. The Nationals and Marlins have made recent additions, while the Phillies are close to bringing a former manager back to the division.

  • Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters, including Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that the team is looking to hire Don Mattingly as a bench coach. “It’s not official, but we have really focused on speaking with Don and trying to make that happen, and we’re hopeful that it will,” Dombrowski said. Mattingly has been a bench coach in Toronto for the past three seasons. It was reported shortly after the Blue Jays’ World Series loss that he wouldn’t be returning to the team. Mattingly previously spent seven seasons coaching in the NL East, as the Marlins manager from 2016 to 2022.
  • Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni shared details on manager Blake Butera’s coaching staff with reporters, including Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports. The list includes recent additions Corey Ray as first base coach and Grant Anders as bullpen catcher, but one of the more notable names is the lone holdover, Sean Doolittle. Washington is retaining the former closer as an assistant pitching coach. Doolittle came on board with the title of pitching strategist in 2024, shortly after his retirement as a player. The lefty saved 75 games for the Nats across five seasons.
  • The Marlins are expected to hire Blake Butler as an infield coach, reports Isaac Azout of Fish On First. He’s taking over for Tyler Smarslok, who took a gig as field coordinator with the Nationals. Butler has been a minor league coach in Pittsburgh’s system since 2020. He’s managed Single-A Greensboro for the past two seasons.

Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images

Tigers Sign Drew Anderson

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The Tigers announced the signing of righty Drew Anderson to a one-year, $7MM contract. There’s a $10MM club option for the 2027 season. Anderson, a client of Turner-Gary Sports, is expected to compete for a rotation spot. Detroit had an opening on the 40-man roster and didn’t need to make a corresponding move.

Anderson, 32 in March, bounced around the big leagues a few years ago. He got brief looks in five straight seasons from 2017 to 2021, spending time with the Phillies, White Sox and Rangers. He posted a 6.50 earned run average in 44 1/3 innings spread across those five seasons.

He went overseas for the 2022 season, joining the Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He had a pretty good run as a Carp, posting a 3.05 over two seasons in Hiroshima. On the heels of that performance, he tried coming back to North America. The Tigers gave him a minor league deal in January of 2024. He didn’t make the team out of camp and was pitching for the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization by the end of April.

His first year in Korea went quite well. He tossed 115 2/3 innings over 24 appearances with a 3.89 ERA. His 10.7% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 31.9% of batters faced and got grounders on 45.8% of balls in play. The Landers re-signed him for 2025 and his performance this year was even better. He made 30 starts and logged 171 2/3 innings with a 2.25 ERA, 35.3% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 45.9% ground ball rate.

In the past few days, a handful of teams have agreed to deals with players returning from stints overseas. The Astros agreed to a one-year, $2.6MM deal with Ryan Weiss, who had been pitching in Korea. Anthony Kay, who has been in Japan, got a two-year, $12MM deal from the White Sox. The Blue Jays made a big splash by agreeing to a three-year, $30MM deal with Cody Ponce.

Anderson’s numbers in 2025 were fairly close to Ponce’s in a few areas. Ponce’s 36.2% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate were both slightly ahead. His 45.7% ground ball rate was just barely behind Anderson’s. Ponce posted a 1.89 ERA, coming out slightly ahead of Anderson.

While the numbers might suggest a narrow gap between the two, the industry consensus is that Ponce is further ahead of Anderson based on his stuff. To illustrate, this piece from Eric Longenhagen and James Fegan of FanGraphs pegged Ponce as a #4 starter on a good team who should earn $20-25MM on a two-year deal, fairly close to what he eventually secured. Anderson, on the other hand, split the two writers. Without naming names, they say one of them felt Anderson could be a decent back-end guy while the other felt he would likely end up as a reliever.

It’s still unknown how much the Tigers are spending but they are making a bet that Anderson can hack it as a big league starter. Detroit’s rotation will be fronted by Tarik Skubal, with Reese Olson, Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty in behind him. Anderson will presumably be competing for the #5 spot in spring training alongside guys like Keider Montero, Troy Melton, Ty Madden and Sawyer Gipson-Long. The Tigers have been connected to free agents such as Zac Gallen, Ranger Suárez and Michael King, so it’s possible they change up the picture between now and when camp opens.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that the Tigers and Anderson reached a one-year deal with a club option. The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen suggested Detroit views the righty as a starter.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Cooper Hummel To Sign With NPB’s Yokohama BayStars

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Former Astros outfielder Cooper Hummel is expected to sign with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. It’s a one-year deal with a club option for 2027. Hummel is now represented by GSI, per an Instagram post from the agency in late November. He appeared in 37 games between Baltimore and Houston last season.

The 30-year-old Hummel spent time with four different organizations in 2025, including two stints with the Astros. The club designated him for assignment in late March, and he joined the Yankees on a minor league deal. New York released Hummel in late May, and he latched on with the Orioles. He appeared in one game with the team, striking out in his only at-bat. Hummel was then DFAed and soon found himself back in Houston. He earned semi-regular at-bats with the Astros until he was designated for assignment yet again. Hummel closed the year at Triple-A in the Rays’ system.

Hummel hit just .170 with three home runs and a stolen base at the big-league level last year. He now has a 58 wRC+ across 119 career games. Hummel debuted with the Diamondbacks in 2022. He came to the organization from the Brewers in a trade headlined by Eduardo Escobar. Hummel slashed .176/.274/.307 in 201 plate appearances with Arizona, his most extensive MLB work to date. He also had brief stretches with Seattle in 2023 and Houston in 2024.

Strikeouts have been a consistent issue for Hummel. He posted a 29.5% strikeout rate between the Orioles and Astros last season. He’s at 31.2% for his big-league career. Hummel had better contact numbers in the minors and also showed a tremendous eye at the plate, but has struggled to reproduce those results at the highest level.

Hummel is the latest in a slew of signings for Yokohama. The club also signed infielder Dayan Viciedo and added reliever José Ruiz in recent weeks.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images

Padres To Keep Mason Miller In Bullpen

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Padres manager Craig Stammen says that the club is planning to keep Mason Miller, Adrián Morejón and David Morgan in the bullpen, per Alden González of ESPN. “It’s a risky proposition health-wise and performance-wise,” Stammen said, of the proposing of stretching them out.

Turning relievers into starters has been all the rage around baseball in recent years. The appeal is often financial, as starters generally cost more in terms of dollars spent on free agents or prospects traded for controllable pitchers. Some of the more successful conversions have been in San Diego, as both Seth Lugo and Michael King fully established themselves as starters with the Padres.

Going into 2025, there was some sense for the Padres to consider trying again with the aforementioned names. Their rotation depth has been a problem for a few years now. They then traded Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek at the deadline to get catcher Freddy Fermin. They lost both King and Dylan Cease to free agency at season’s end. Yu Darvish is going to miss 2026 while recovering from UCL surgery.

That leaves them with Nick Pivetta and a bunch of question marks. Joe Musgrove should be back next year but he just missed the 2025 campaign due to his own elbow surgery. Guys like Randy Vásquez, JP Sears, Kyle Hart and Matt Waldron are in the mix but they all had middling results in 2025. Vásquez was the only one with an earned run average below 5.00 but his 13.7% strikeout rate doesn’t provide a lot of confidence in him repeating that kind of run prevention.

The San Diego bullpen, on the other hand, was one of the best in 2025. Padres relievers had a collective 3.06 ERA this year, the best mark in the majors. They have lost Robert Suarez to free agency but it’s still a talented group.

Moving a reliever or two into a starting role could have perhaps helped the Padres bolster their rotation without costing any money, a key element for a club which has clearly been operating under financial constraints in recent years. This would hurt the bullpen but would arguably be a worthwhile trade-off.

President of baseball operations commented on the possibility of this plan back in October and November, with Miller, Morejón and Morgan mentioned as possible candidates. Preller didn’t completely close the door on the possibility but raised the concern of ending up in a situation where neither the rotation nor the bullpen are strengths.

The possibility was most enticing with Miller. He was a starter as a prospect and began his major league career out of the rotation with the Athletics. But some injuries, including a UCL sprain in 2023, led the A’s to put him in the bullpen. He became one of the best closers in baseball, throwing triple-digit heat and striking out over 40% of batters faced. Had he moved into a starting role, he likely would have needed to take his foot off the gas a bit, but the idea of him dominating as a starter was an exciting one.

That path would also carry some risk. The Padres gave up a big package of prospects, headlined by Leo De Vries, in order to get Miller and Sears from the A’s. They were willing to pay that price in large part because Miller was cheaply controlled for four-plus seasons. A notable injury, such as a surgery with a recovery timeline of over year, would take a huge bite out of that control window. It seems the Friars have decided to not take the risk and will keep Miller in a role where he has seemed comfortable.

Morejón isn’t the household name that Miller is, but he was once a notable starting pitching prospect himself. Frequent injuries limited him early in his big league career, which pushed him to the bullpen. The past two seasons have been great, as he has stayed healthy enough to log at least 63 frames with an ERA under 3.00 in both campaigns. Morgan has been primarily a reliever throughout his professional career but just had a strong major league debut while featuring a five-pitch mix and minimal platoon split.

Despite the attraction of filling a rotation vacancy from within, it seems the Padres will keep all three of these guys in the bullpen. That means the club should have a really strong relief corps again in 2026 but their rotation remains a massive question as of today. Answering that question is going to be a challenge with their ongoing payroll problems. The financial picture is such a challenge that they are reportedly considering trade offers on Pivetta, which would only further thin the rotation.

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

Rangers, Tyler Wade Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent infielder/outfielder Tyler Wade, reports Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. Presumably, the Paragon Sports International client will be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee next spring.

Wade, who turned 31 a couple weeks ago, has spent the past two seasons in the Padres organization. He’s a versatile but light-hitting utility player who posted a .212/.296/.245 batting line in 283 plate appearances with the Friars and carries a career .216/.294/.284 batting line (65 wRC+) in 992 turns at the plate in the majors. He has above-average speed but doesn’t get on base frequently enough to make great use of that speed. However, he did swipe 17 bags in just 145 plate appearances with the 2021 Yankees — albeit in part due to frequent use as a pinch-runner (7-for-8 in steals during 19 pinch-running appearances).

While Wade has been primarily a middle infielder in his career, he’s also spent plenty of time at third base and has at least 133 innings at each of the three outfield spots. He’s drawn solid marks for his glovework at second base but more tepid results at third base, shortstop and in the outfield.

Texas recently traded Marcus Semien to the Mets and non-tendered Adolis Garcia. While Brandon Nimmo — acquired for Semien — will step into the outfield alongside Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter, Wade provides some veteran depth as a potential backup outfielder and second baseman. He’ll vie for a bench job next spring, competing against Exequiel Duran, Cody Freeman, Justin Foscue, Sam Haggerty and Michael Helman — among others.

Padres Sign Daison Acosta To Major League Contract

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The Padres announced Monday that they’ve signed right-hander Daison Acosta to a one-year, major league contract. Their 40-man roster is now up to 37 players.

Acosta, 27, has never pitched in the majors but enjoyed a strong 2025 showing in the Nationals’ system, pitching to a combined 2.42 ERA with a 33% strikeout rate, 12.4% walk rate and 44.1% ground-ball rate across three levels in a total of 52 relief innings. He sits 94.5 mph on his four-seamer, coupling that heater with a splitter, sinker and slider to round out a four-pitch repertoire.

Originally an international signee with the Mets out of his native Dominican Republic way back in 2016, Acosta made his way to the Nats by way of the Rule 5 Draft’s minor league phase back in 2023. He spent two seasons with the Nationals organization and pitched well in both seasons, logging a sub-3.00 ERA while striking out just shy of one-third of his opponents. He’s posted gargantuan swinging-strike rates of 19.1% and 17.3%, respectively, across the past two minor league seasons.

Acosta hasn’t started a game since 2022, so it seems he’ll be a pure depth signing for the San Diego bullpen. It’s a low-cost pickup, presumably paying Acosta the MLB minimum for any time spent in the majors on a split deal. He still has a full slate of minor league options, so the Padres can send him to Triple-A next spring without first placing him on waivers.

Mets Interested In Kyle Schwarber

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The Mets are interested in free agent slugger Kyle Schwarber, reports Mike Puma of The New York Post. Schwarber rejected a qualifying offer from the Phillies, so any other club would face the associated penalties for signing him.

Schwarber has been one of the most popular free agents this winter, which isn’t surprising. The Phillies would love to have him back and he has also been connected to the Pirates, Reds, Red Sox, Orioles and Giants. Pittsburgh has reportedly made a four-year offer to Schwarber.

The interest stems from Schwarber being one of the best bats in the league. He strikes out a lot but also draws lots of walks and hits home runs. He has seven seasons with at least 30 long balls. He’s gotten to 38 in each of the past four campaigns and hit at least 46 in three of those four. 2025 was a personal best, as he was able to launch 56 homers. His 28.4% strikeout rate in his career is quite high but he has drawn walks at a 14.2% clip.

Schwarber is a lefty and has been hamstrung by southpaws at times in his career, but he seems to have put that all behind him more recently. His production against lefties has improved over the years, so much so that he was actually better without the platoon advantage in the two most recent campaigns. In 2024, he slashed .300/.407/.490 for a 152 wRC+ against lefties, compared to a .218/.342/.482 line and 124 wRC+ otherwise. In 2025, those lines were .252/.366/.598 and .232/.364/.541 for respective wRC+ numbers of 162 and 146.

There are downsides with Schwarber. He is essentially only a designated hitter at this point in his career. He has just 13 outfield appearances over the past two years combined. He could perhaps end up at first base but doesn’t have a track record of success there. His age is also a factor, as he’ll turn 33 in March.

It seems teams are willing to overlook those concerns in order to take a chance on adding an elite bat. MLBTR predicted Schwarber could secure a five-year, $135MM deal this offseason. As mentioned, the Pirates have already put a four-year offer out there. Given how many teams are at the table, perhaps he will get that fifth year.

For the Mets, they have a fairly open DH spot. Starling Marte took most of the plate appearances in that slot in 2025 and he is now a free agent. Longtime first baseman Pete Alonso is also on the open market. The Mets subtracted a lefty bat from the lineup when they dealt left fielder Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien.

Alonso could still be re-signed but having both him and Schwarber is probably not in the cards. The Mets are hoping to improve their run prevention next year, which prompted them to add a solid defender like Semien. It has been reported that the Mets don’t love Alonso as a defender and would like him to spend more time as a DH going forward, if they reunite. Signing both Alonso and Schwarber would mean putting Alonso back out there as a regular first baseman, which doesn’t align with that run prevention plan.

Financially, the Mets could theoretically do a lot. They have been big spenders since Steve Cohen became owner of the team. RosterResource currently pegs their 2026 payroll at $279MM, about $60MM below where they finished in 2025. They could make even more payroll space if they trade Jeff McNeil and/or Kodai Senga, who have both been in plenty of rumors this offseason.

The Mets have some needs on the pitching staff but are reportedly hoping to avoid the top free agent starters. Perhaps they plan to dedicate more resources to the lineup. They likely need to make another move to replace Nimmo in the outfield, maybe two moves when considering their center field situation. They could go after Schwarber but they could also try to bring back Alonso and/or Edwin Díaz. Alonso is reportedly meeting with the Red Sox and Orioles at the Winter Meetings, but he could also make time for other clubs as well.

Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher, Imagn Images

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