The Royals have an agreement in place with lefty John Means, the team announced. It’s a two-year minor league contract. Means tore his Achilles tendon in December and is likely to miss the 2026 season. The Wasserman client last pitched in the big leagues with the Orioles in 2024.
More to come…
The Brewers are bringing in Luis Rengifo on a one-year major league deal, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The veteran infielder has spent his entire seven-year MLB career with the Angels. He’s a client of MVP Sports Group. The team has yet to announce the move.
Feinsand adds that Rengifo will earn a $3.5MM base salary in 2026. The agreement includes a $10MM mutual option for 2027. Rengifo can also make an extra $1.5MM in incentives this year.
Milwaukee had a hole to address in the infield after dealing Caleb Durbin to the Red Sox. This might not be the move MLBTR’s Steve Adams had in mind when he wrote about the potential for another notable addition, but Rengifo could provide credible production at multiple spots. The 28-year-old had delivered three seasons of above-league-average offense before struggling mightily last year. He has considerable experience at second base, third base, and shortstop.
Rengifo debuted with the Angels in 2019. He held down the second base job for the majority of the season. The infielder managed an 83 wRC+ across 406 plate appearances. He earned poor marks for his work at the keystone (-4 Defensive Runs Saved, -4 Outs Above Average). Rengifo fell into part-time work over the next two seasons, scuffling at the plate but offering defensive versatility.
The 2022 campaign represented a breakout for Rengifo. He slugged 17 home runs in 127 games. Rengifo came into the year with just 14 career homers. He improved his hard-hit rate while striking out just 15.5% of the time. Rengifo maintained the offensive gains the following year, popping 16 home runs with a 115 wRC+.
Rengifo remained a valuable asset in 2024, though his production took a different shape. He only left the yard six times, but stole 24 bases and hit an even .300. Rengifo had totaled 18 thefts in the previous five MLB seasons. He’d maxed out at a .264 batting average. Biceps and wrist injuries limited Rengifo to 78 games, and could have been to blame for his lack of power.
Last season was a challenge for Rengifo. His OPS tumbled to .622, his worst mark since 2021. He did chip in nine home runs and 10 steals. Rengifo managed to stay healthy for the full year, playing in a career-high 147 games.
More to come…
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3:12pm: The two sides have a deal in place, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. Miller is guaranteed $2.5MM over two years but can boost that further based on 2027 incentives.
1:25pm: The Cubs and right-hander Shelby Miller are finalizing a multi-year, major league contract, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. The Excel Sports client is expected to miss the 2026 season after undergoing UCL and flexor surgery in mid-October. As such, it’ll likely be a backloaded two-year arrangement that allows Miller to rehab with the Cubs in 2026 with an eye toward joining their bullpen in 2027.
Miller, 35, has had an unusual career arc. The 2009 first-rounder was a top prospect with the Cardinals and finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting back in 2013. He spent two seasons with St. Louis before being traded to Atlanta for Jason Heyward in the 2014-15 offseason. The Braves got 33 excellent starts out of Miller in 2015 before trading him to the D-backs in a lopsided blockbuster that sent Dansby Swanson — just six months removed from being the No. 1 overall pick in the draft — Ender Inciarte, and former first-rounder Aaron Blair back to Atlanta. Miller’s time in Arizona was an injury-plagued nightmare; he pitched to a 6.35 ERA in 139 innings over the course of three seasons before being cut loose.
Miller bounced around the league for several seasons without much success — including a two-inning stint with the 2021 Cubs, where he was tagged for seven runs — but he’s found a second act to his career as a late-inning reliever. Over the past three seasons, he’s suited up for four clubs, including a much more successful return tour with the D-backs in 2025. Since Opening Day ’23, he’s posted a 3.13 ERA with a strong 25.3% strikeout rate, an 8.2% walk rate, 13 saves and 17 holds in 143 2/3 innings.
Last offseason, Miller and the D-backs agreed to a one-year pact that yielded outstanding results. He pitched 36 1/3 innings for Arizona and turned in a dominant 1.98 earned run average with a 28% strikeout rate. The reunion was cut short by a forearm injury, and the Brewers traded for Miller at the deadline while he was still on the 15-day IL.
Miller went on to make 11 appearances with Milwaukee, pitching well in August before making one lone appearance in September. He faced two hitters, allowing both to reach base, and called for a trainer after feeling what he described as a “pop” in his elbow. Miller later told the Brewers’ beat that an internal brace procedure and flexor repair was presented as an option when he was first placed on the injured list with the Diamondbacks. He wanted to continue to try to pitch that season, knowing he’d likely need eventual surgery and that doing so could mean a full Tommy John procedure, which comes with an even longer rehab window than an internal brace.
The Brewers were aware of the risk at the time they traded for Miller, which is why they didn’t send a prospect back to Arizona but rather just took on $2MM of the $22.5MM Arizona was paying left-hander Jordan Montgomery last year (while Montgomery was rehabbing his own Tommy John procedure). Miller ultimately had Tommy John surgery in October — the second of his career. His first came during that original run with Arizona.
Miller will turn 36 in October, right around the one-year anniversary of his second UCL reconstruction. He’ll have to go on the Cubs’ 40-man roster when the deal is finalized — players cannot be signed and placed directly on the 60-day injured list — but he’ll move to the 60-day IL as soon as Chicago needs to free up another roster spot. He’ll 16 months removed from surgery by the time pitchers and catchers report to spring training in 2027 (pending a potential lockout related to the expiring 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement).
The Rangers announced Friday that they’ve designated right-hander Zak Kent for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to left-hander Jordan Montgomery, whose one-year deal to return to Texas is now official.
The 27-year-old Kent was just claimed off waivers last month, but he’s no stranger to the organization. Texas selected him in the ninth round of the 2019 draft, and the right-hander pitched in their system all the way through 2023 before being traded to Cleveland just prior to Opening Day 2024.
Kent made his big league debut with the Guards in 2025, tossing 17 2/3 innings with a 4.58 ERA, 21.1% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate in that small sample. He spent the bulk of the season in Triple-A Columbus, where he logged a tidy 2.84 earned run average with a huge 31.4% strikeout rate … and also a huge 13.2% walk rate. He sat 93.1 mph with his four-seamer, complementing the pitch with an 85.7 mph slider and an 81.3 mph curveball.
Since the 2025 season ended, Kent has bounced from the Guardians, to the Cardinals, to the Rangers via waivers. He’ll now very likely find himself on waivers once again, though the Rangers could also spend the next five days searching for a trade partner as well. Kent has exhausted his three minor league option years, but Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in December that he’s eligible for a fourth option year (which are typically granted for players who miss significant minor league time with injury or exhaust their first three option years within their first five professional seasons).
The Giants have signed right-hander Rowan Wick to a one-year major league deal, the team announced. The agreement includes a club option for 2027. Wick is recovering from Tommy John surgery and is not expected to pitch this season. The team has not announced a corresponding move.
The 33-year-old Wick returns stateside after spending the past two seasons with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He was excellent out of the bullpen during his time in NPB, recording a 1.75 ERA across 87 2/3 innings. Wick secured five saves last season with the BayStars. He’ll look to impact the San Francisco bullpen next year as he continues to rehab from TJ.
The majority of Wick’s big-league experience has come with the Cubs. He was traded to Chicago straight up for Jason Vosler after a brief stint with the Padres. Wick was a semi-regular in the Cubs’ bullpen from 2019 to 2021. He emerged as the team’s closer in 2022. Wick notched a career-high nine saves that season, but faltered down the stretch and lost some opportunities to trade deadline acquisition David Robertson.
Wick began the 2023 season in the minors. The Cubs would release him in July. He bounced to the Braves and then the Blue Jays, but never made it back to the majors. After posting a 6.66 ERA at Triple-A, he made the jump to NPB.
San Francisco has a history of signing injured pitchers with the intention of getting contributions once they recover. The strategy has continued even after Buster Posey took over as president of baseball operations. The club added right-hander Jason Foley in December. He’s coming back from shoulder surgery and is a candidate to begin the year on the 60-day IL. San Francisco also signed Sam Hentges this offseason. The lefty hasn’t pitched since 2024 following shoulder and knee surgery, but could be ready for the start of this season.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images
The Reds and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe are in agreement on a minor league deal, per Mark Feinsand and Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. The SportsMeter client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.
A year ago, the notion of Lowe settling for a non-roster deal would’ve seemed far-fetched. From 2021-24, the now-30-year-old Lowe was the Rangers’ everyday first baseman — and a good one, at that. He slashed a combined .274/.359/.432 (124 wRC+) with 78 home runs, 104 doubles, 10 triples, 13 steals, a strong 11.3% walk rate and a 23.3% strikeout rate that was only a bit north of average. Defensive metrics were bearish on his glove early in his MLB run, but he posted quality marks in both Defensive Runs Saved (4) and Outs Above Average (10) in 2023-24.
As the Rangers began the process of paring down their payroll, they traded Lowe and his $10.3MM salary to the Nationals for left-hander Robert Garcia. The change of scenery didn’t work out whatsoever for Lowe. He appeared in 119 games and tallied 490 plate appearances with a .216/.292/.373 batting line (86 wRC+) before being designated for assignment and released in August. Lowe’s walk rate in D.C. dipped to 9.6%, and his strikeout rate climbed to 26.5%. He was also a bit more prone to pop-ups and hit fewer line drives than he had during his Texas stint.
The Red Sox, needing help at first base, quickly scooped Lowe up and got better production out of the veteran’s left-handed bat. In a smaller sample of 119 plate appearances with Boston, Lowe turned in a .280/.370/.420 slash that pretty closely resembled the production from his time in Arlington. His production was buoyed by a .361 average on balls in play that he’s highly unlikely to sustain, but Lowe was also dogged by a .267 BABIP with the Nationals — a whopping 72 points south of the .339 mark he carried into the season.
With the Reds, Lowe will have a chance to win a prominent role in the lineup. Top prospect Sal Stewart is the presumptive front-runner at first base, but he has all of 18 big league games under his belt. The 2022 No. 32 overall pick belted five homers in that time and had a big year in Triple-A as well (.309/.383/.524, 152 wRC+) but some veteran competition for him won’t hurt. Also in the mix at first base are Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer. The former hasn’t hit in the majors since 2023 and has minor league options remaining, while the latter can play all over the diamond.
There could be occasional DH at-bats available, although the returning Eugenio Suárez will likely take the bulk of those reps in 2026. Suárez could also see time at the hot corner if the oft-injured Ke’Bryan Hayes hits the injured list, which would open up additional avenues to get both Stewart and Lowe into the lineup — assuming Lowe performs well enough to make the roster, of course.
The Rangers revealed yesterday that right-hander Nabil Crismatt will undergo an elbow procedure, but further specifics weren’t immediately clear. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News has since written that Crismatt, who’s in camp with Texas as a non-roster invitee, suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament during his first bullpen session of camp. Whether he undergoes a full reconstruction (Tommy John surgery) or an internal brace procedure to repair/strengthen his current ligament, he’ll miss the entire season.
Crismatt, 31, signed on for a second stint with the Rangers this offseason. He pitched for their Triple-A club in 2024 but didn’t receive a call to the majors. The journeyman right-hander has pitched for four teams across the past six seasons, logging a combined 3.71 ERA in 211 big league innings. He’s fanned 20.6% of his opponents against a 7% walk rate and kept 49.2% of batted balls against him on the ground.
Crismatt spent the 2025 season with the D-backs and Phillies organizations, tossing 34 MLB frames for Arizona and matching his 3.71 career earned run average on the dot. He’s never been a hard thrower, sitting 89.5 mph on his sinker and 90 mph on his four-seamer throughout his big league career. His blend of grounders, above-average command and a knack for inducing weak contact have helped him to succeed more often than not in the majors.
Since he’s on a non-roster deal, Crismatt won’t be placed on the injured list and won’t accrue big league service. It’s a tough blow for the right-hander, who also logged 102 1/3 innings of 3.96 ERA ball in Triple-A last year. In addition to hoping to land a spot on the Rangers’ roster, he’d been slated to pitch for his native Colombia in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. That obviously won’t happen. Depending on which variety of UCL procedure he undergoes, Crismatt will likely be ready next spring (internal brace) or next April/May (Tommy John surgery).
In the aftermath of the Alex Bregman signing, one of the immediate questions was whether it changed how the Cubs would proceed with Nico Hoerner. Bregman pushed second-year infielder Matt Shaw into a utility role, but he'd be capable of stepping in at second base. The Giants, Red Sox and Mariners were among the teams seeking a trade match for a player of Hoerner's profile. Would the Cubs flip him before his walk year?
That's almost certainly not happening now. There was no reason for the Cubs to entertain the possibility unless they were blown away by the kind of prospect that other teams would not entertain for a rental (e.g. Connelly Early, Bryce Eldridge). Hoerner is a much better player than Shaw in the short term, and the Cubs have as strong a chance as anyone to take the NL Central. Boston traded for Caleb Durbin, while the Giants signed Luis Arraez to play second. Seattle acquired Brendan Donovan from the Cardinals.
As Spring Training gets underway, the focus might now swing to an extension. March is the most common time of year for those conversations. If the Cubs are able to get a long-term deal done with Hoerner this spring, that could make them more comfortable dangling Shaw in deadline talks if any top-of-the-rotation starters come available. Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic wrote this week that Hoerner has emerged as a pillar in the clubhouse. The relationship between team and player is strong enough that it'd be a surprise if they didn't have some conversations before Opening Day about what it'd take to keep him off the market.
Let's try to narrow down what that might cost:
Feb. 13: Taylor signed a minor league deal with a spring training invite, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. He reported to camp this morning.
Feb. 12: The Angels are in agreement to bring back veteran utility player Chris Taylor, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It’s not clear whether it’s an MLB deal or a minor league contract with a Spring Training invite, though the latter seems more likely. Taylor is represented by Meister Sports Management.
Taylor finished the 2025 season in Orange County. He signed a big league deal after being released by the Dodgers in May. Taylor made 30 appearances for the Halos. He started games at all three outfield positions and at second and third base. He didn’t make a huge impact beyond that defensive flexibility, as he struck out 29 times and hit .179 across 90 plate appearances. Taylor almost immediately went on the injured list with a broken left hand. A brief return in July proved unsuccessful and he was essentially shelved until September.
The former All-Star combined for a .186/.256/.301 batting line over 125 plate appearances between the two Los Angeles teams. Taylor’s offense has cratered over the past two seasons. His bat speed and power production have dropped, putting more of a focus on his already high strikeout tallies. He has fanned at a 32% clip while hitting .196/.284/.301 with six home runs over 371 plate appearances in the last two seasons.
Taylor will compete for a bench role. He’s still an above-average runner who can fill in anywhere other than catcher and shortstop. The Angels have a wide open second base competition between Christian Moore, Vaughn Grissom, Oswald Peraza and non-roster invitee Nick Madrigal. Third base belongs to Yoán Moncada for now, but he’s hardly a picture of durability. They’re patching together an outfield that’ll include Jo Adell, Josh Lowe and at least one of Mike Trout and Jorge Soler with the other working as a designated hitter.
As a player with six years of service time who finished last season on the major league roster, Taylor hit the market as an Article XX(b) free agent. If he’s signing a minor league contract, it would come with a trio of automatic opt-out dates under the collective bargaining agreement: five days before Opening Day, May 1, and June 1.
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