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Mariners Acquire Robinson Ortiz From Dodgers
The Mariners and Dodgers each announced that Seattle has acquired left-hander Robinson Ortiz in exchange for minor league right-hander Tyler Gough.
Neither player has any big league experience, but the trade is likely more about the Dodgers’ desire to clear a spot on their 40-man roster. Tuesday is the deadline for teams to set their rosters in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, and Friday is the non-tender deadline, making for a very busy upcoming week of roster churning.
Interestingly, it was only 10 days ago that Los Angeles selected Ortiz’s contract to the 40-man roster, but the Dodgers have now changed course and sent Ortiz to Seattle. L.A. now has 38 places filled on its 40-man, while the Mariners have at least 39 spots addressed and potentially a full 40 depending on when Josh Naylor’s new contract is made official.
Ortiz (who turns 26 in January) had spent his entire pro career in the Dodgers organization prior to today’s trade. Between the canceled 2020 minor league season and multiple injury problems, Ortiz pitched only 22 2/3 innings over a five-year span covering the 2020-24 seasons, but the 2025 campaign represented some return to relative normalcy. The southpaw posted a 2.73 ERA and 28.3% strikeout rate over 59 1/3 combined innings at three different minor league levels, with Ortiz making his debuts at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels last year.
A nasty slider/sinker combo has led to a lot of strikeouts for Ortiz, though control has continued to be an issue, as evidenced by his 13.2% walk rate in 2025. Seattle is notably thin in left-handed pitching, as Gabe Speier currently represents the only lefty slated to be part of the Mariners’ bullpen mix next year. Ortiz adds a bit more depth in that department, and there appears to be plenty of upside for Ortiz as a relief weapon if he can cut back on the free passes.
Gough was a ninth-round pick for the Mariners in the 2022 draft, and he posted a 4.66 ERA over 125 2/3 innings at A-level Modesto in 2023-24, starting 32 of his 33 career gmes. A Tommy John surgery in September 2024 has since kept Gough off the mound, though the usual TJ recovery timeline should put the right-hander in line to be ready for a healthy Spring Training come February.
Mariners To Re-Sign Josh Naylor
The Mariners and first baseman Josh Naylor are in the final stages of working out a five-year contract, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. The deal will become official when Naylor passes a physical, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. WHDH’s Ari Alexander reports that the contract is in the range of $90MM-$100MM. Naylor is represented by ISE Baseball.
Assuming the deal crosses the finish line, Naylor becomes the first headline name of the 2025-26 free agent class to land a new contract, just two weeks after the World Series concluded. It counts as a surprise to see any major free agent sign their next contract this quickly, even before the players who received qualifying offers have made their decisions. (Naylor was notably not eligible for a QO, since he was traded from the Diamondbacks to the Mariners during the season.)
MLB Trade Rumors ranked Naylor 12th on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, and the five-year term matches our projection that Naylor would receive a five-year, $90MM deal. The five-year length of Naylor’s contract also matches the longest free agent deal the Mariners have given out during Jerry Dipoto’s decade in charge of Seattle’s baseball operations department. The M’s inked Robbie Ray to a five-year, $115MM pact during the 2021-22 offseason, and Ray’s contract and Yusei Kikuchi’s four-year, $56MM deal in January 2019 were the only free agent deals of the Dipoto era to exceed even two years.
There are multiple reasons behind the lack of big free agent strikes. The Mariners’ infamous 10-year, $240MM deal with Robinson Cano from December 2013 could’ve led to some organizational wariness over blockbuster signings. Since John Stanton’s ownership group bought the team in 2016, the M’s have only once finished a season with a top-10 payroll, and are only moving back into the middle range of spending league-wide. There is also “Trader Jerry’s” own personal preference to build rosters via trades rather than free agents, as Dipoto has become known for being very active in negotiating swaps. Players may have had misgivings about joining a Mariners team that has two just postseason appearances in the last 24 seasons, and hitters in particular weren’t exactly lining up to play in a notoriously pitcher-friendly environment.
With all of this in mind, there was such mutual interest between Naylor and the Mariners that it certainly seemed like the team was very willing to stretch beyond its usual free agent comfort zone. Dipoto was open in telling the media — including Darragh McDonald on the MLBTR Podcast back in September — that re-signing Naylor was a priority for the organization, and Naylor himself was just as effusive in how much he enjoyed playing in Seattle.
Considering how Naylor performed after arriving in the Pacific Northwest, it’s easy to see why both sides moved quickly on a long-term deal. Naylor was already enjoying a strong season with the Diamondbacks, but with Arizona falling out of contention, the D’Backs dealt the slugger a week before the trade deadline, landing rookie left-hander Brandyn Garcia and pitching prospect Ashton Izzi.
Naylor proceeded to hit .299/.341/.490 with nine homers and 19 stolen bases (without a single caught stealing) over 210 regular-season plate appearances for the M’s, and he followed that up with a .340/.392/.574 slash line over 51 postseason PA. Adding this type of pop into the lineup was perhaps the primary reason the Mariners won the AL West, and then outlasted the Tigers in the ALDS before falling just short of the first World Series berth in franchise history in losing the ALCS to the Blue Jays in seven games.
This kind of success made the Mariners want to more or less bring the band back together for 2026, which was no small feat since Naylor, Jorge Polanco, and Eugenio Suarez (among others) were all set for free agency. Re-signing Naylor is the first major domino to fall, and it how remains to be seen if either Polanco or Suarez can also be retained in the wake of the team’s sizeable commitment in Naylor. The M’s entered the offseason with approximately $34MM to spend, according to Dipoto’s statements after the playoff run was over, with more money potentially available at the deadline if more in-season reinforcements were required.
For now, the Mariners and their fans can at least enjoy the idea of Naylor suiting up at T-Mobile Park for the next five seasons. Naylor turns 29 in June, so his contract will run through his age-33 season. There has been some league-wide hesitancy in recent years about giving major contracts to first base-only players (especially as those players enter their 30’s), yet Naylor’s production outside of just his stretch run with the Mariners makes him a solid choice for a five-year investment.
Naylor’s 128 wRC+ in 2025 was a career high, narrowly topping the 127 wRC+ he posted with the Guardians in 2023. Since emerging as a regular with Cleveland in 2022, Naylor has hit .275/.336/.464 with 88 home runs, translating to a 123 wRC+ and 9.9 fWAR over the last four seasons. His barrel and hard-hit ball rates are okay but uninspiring, and his walk rate from 2022-25 was below average, so Naylor doesn’t exactly fit the profile of a classic slugging first baseman.
His biggest offensive weapon is his ability to make contact, as Naylor is among the league’s more difficult players to strike out though he is prone to chasing pitches off the plate. There is also the amusing oddity of Naylor’s 30-for-32 record at stealing bases in 2025, which speaks to his skill as an opportunistic baserunner despite being one of the slowest players in baseball. Defensively, public metrics are mixed on his glovework. The Outs Above Average metric has him solidly above average with +12 OAA, while his -6 Defensive Runs Saved paints a less-flattering picture of his work at first base.
Naylor joins Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez as Seattle players locked up through at least the 2029 season, and Rodriguez’s deal could actually extend through 2039 depending on a complicated set of options following the 2029 campaign. These three All-Star position players, veteran righty Luis Castillo, and a core of homegrown starters (George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller) have become the building blocks of an AL West title team that looks to remain competitive for at least the rest of the decade.
Though many pundits — including three of us at MLBTR — predicted Naylor would re-sign the Mariners, the fact that he has found a new deal so suddenly creates an interesting ripple effect on the rest of the free agent class. Teams in need of lineup help have one less big bat to consider, and the first base market in particular has now lost a name many teams would’ve considered as perhaps a preferred alternative to Pete Alonso, Munetaka Murakami, or Kazuma Okamoto. Murakami or Okamoto could be deployed at third base and Cody Bellinger could be viewed as a first baseman or outfielder in equal measure, depending on a suitor’s needs.
Inset photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear — Imagn Images
Emilio Pagan Receiving Interest From “At Least 10 Teams”
Free agent reliever Emilio Pagan is a popular figure now that the market has opened, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that “at least 10 teams” have reached out to Pagan and his reps at the Ballengee Group. A return to the Reds is also a possibility since Wittenmyer says the two sides have had some talks, though Cincinnati president of baseball operations Nick Krall didn’t give any hints on the subject.
“I don’t want to say yes or no. I don’t know,” Krall said about a potential new contract with Pagan. “I loved Emilio. He was great for our club. I would absolutely be open to bringing him back. It just depends on how everything fits together.”
Krall made similar comments praising Pagan back in October, and the reliever also expressed his own desire to return to the Reds. Despite this mutual interest, Wittenmyer feels the amount of league-wide interest in Pagan could push his price tag beyond the Reds’ comfort zone. Krall has stated that Cincinnati’s 2026 payroll will roughly match its 2025 payroll, which sat in the $116MM-$119MM range by season’s end.
With a limited budget and multiple roster needs to address, Wittenmyer believes the Reds will again “be waiting out the market for value buys” in free agency. This could mean that Pagan might’ve signed elsewhere by the time the Reds are prepared to more fully dig into the market, or the club might seek out less-expensive bullpen reinforcements.
It was a little over two years ago that the Reds signed Pagan to a two-year, $16MM contract in his previous trip through free agency. The deal allowed Pagan to opt out last winter, but he chose to remain under contract and take his $8MM salary for 2025 — an expected move given how the right-hander posted a 4.50 ERA over 38 innings during an injury-shortened 2024 campaign.
This past season, however, saw Pagan stay healthy and deliver a fine platform year. Pagan posted a 2.88 ERA and a 30% strikeout rate over 68 2/3 frames, and he saved 32 of his 38 chances as the Reds’ closer. His 8.1% walk rate was a little below average and Pagan received a lot of batted-ball luck, as his .200 BABIP in 2025 perhaps balanced out his unlucky .351 BABIP from 2024. That said, his xwOBA dropped from .307 in 2024 to .267 this year, and Pagan’s signature four-seamer was still humming along at a 95.7mph velocity, nicely setting up his devastating splitter.
MLB Trade Rumors ranked Pagan 46th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents, and projected the righty to land another two-year, $16MM deal. The contract reflects Pagan’s age (he turns 35 in May), his up-and-down tenure in Cincinnati, and how some teams may not to pursue a reliever who has been so notoriously homer-prone throughout his career.
While Wittenmyer’s report indicates there’s obviously still plenty of teams that do have Pagan on their list of targets, it is fair to say that Pagan may not necessarily be the top choice for clubs in need of bullpen help. Some teams may not view him at a closer at all, while others could see him as a backup option if they can’t land one of the more high-profile closers available. Depending on how things play out or depending on how long it takes the likes of Edwin Diaz or Robert Suarez to find their next contract, there might be an opening for the Reds and Pagan if the reliever gets tired of waiting and decides to pivot back to a familiar and comfortable location.
Astros Notes: Hader, Alvarez, Arrighetti
Astros general manager Dana Brown shared some injury updates earlier this week at the GM Meetings, including the rather troubling news that Isaac Paredes is no guarantee to be ready for Opening Day. Brown provided some more positive news with Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle (multiple links) on some of the many other Astros players who missed significant time during the club’s injury-plagued 2025 campaign, as all of Josh Hader, Yordan Alvarez, and Spencer Arrighetti are expected to be ready for Spring Training.
Hader’s season was ended in early August by a right capsule sprain in his right shoulder. There was some initial hope that Hader could potentially return during the playoffs, but he still hadn’t started throwing by season’s end, so it seemed unlikely that the closer would’ve been available even if Houston had reached the postseason.
Brown didn’t yet have a timetable on Hader’s recovery at his end-of-season press conference, but said this week that Hader has now thrown off a mound three times. The plan is for Hader to have his regular winter throwing program and “hopefully, we’ll get him ramped up sometime early to mid-February…he’s on course to come back and be there for Opening Day,” Brown said.
As Rome noted, losing Hader ended up devastating Houston’s relief corps. Hader had been the anchor of the bullpen, posting a 2.05 ERA, 36.9% strikeout rate, and 7.8% walk rate across 52 2/3 innings while closing down 28 of 29 save opportunities. While Bryan Abreu performed respectably well in Hader’s place, losing a star closer further thinned out a bullpen that was already missing other arms due to injury, and it added to Houston’s mountain of health woes.
Having Alvarez for only 48 games was perhaps the most impactful of all the Astros’ injuries. The three-time All-Star was sidelined mostly by a hand sprain that was eventually revealed as a finger fracture, and persistent hand discomfort kept Alvarez out of action from early May to late August. While he posted great numbers upon his returning, Alvarez was shut down again by a left ankle sprain in mid-September that left him unable to even resume basic running or hitting drills by the end of the season.
The good news is that Brown said Alvarez should have “a normal offseason,” and is back to running at around “65-70 percent” of his usual capability. Speed is not exactly a huge aspect of Alvarez’s game and he should continue to be Houston’s primary DH in 2026, but keeping an elite bat healthy is naturally a huge factor in the Astros’ hopes of future success.
Arrighetti was limited to seven starts and 35 1/3 innings in 2025, as he missed four months of action after his right thumb was fractured by a batted ball during batting practice. That fluky injury was followed up by a bout of elbow inflammation that shut Arrighetti down for good in early September. There was some concern raised when Arrighetti was set to go for a second opinion on his elbow, but it would appear as though he has gotten a clean bill of health for regular offseason prep.
For now, Arrighetti is penciled into a spot in Houston’s Opening Day rotation, though Brown has been open about the Astros’ desire to add to their pitching staff. With Framber Valdez potentially leaving in free agency and several other Astros pitchers besides Arrighetti also on the mend, acquiring another starter would help clear up some of the uncertainty surrounding the pitching staff.
Tom Timmermann Passes Away
Former big league pitcher Tom Timmermann passed away this past week at the age of 85, according to multiple reports. The right-hander spent parts of six seasons in the majors.
Timmermann was signed by the Tigers and made his pro debut in 1960 at the age of 20. He’d go on to spend nearly a decade bouncing around the minor leagues, working as both a starter and a reliever, until he eventually made his big league debut with Detroit on June 18, 1969. He recorded 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his debut to kick off what was a strong season out of the bullpen in his rookie year.
After pitching to a 2.70 ERA in 46 2/3 innings out of the bullpen, Timmermann made his first career MLB start in the penultimate game of Detroit’s season. He managed a complete game where he surrendered three runs to the Orioles but came away with the win after striking out future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson and teammate Boog Powell as they wrapped up brilliant campaigns that saw them both finish in the top 3 of AL MVP voting that year.
Even after his impressive finish to the 1969 season, Timmermann didn’t manage to break into the Tigers rotation right away. He spent the 1970 and 1971 seasons largely in the bullpen and pitched to roughly average results across 169 1/3 innings, though he did manage to record 31 saves along the way. In 1970, he set the team record for appearances by a pitcher with 61 and was named Tiger of the Year by Detroit’s chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
It was in 1972 when Timmermann finally got the opportunity to start in the majors on a regular basis. Then in his age-32 season, Timmermann started 25 of his 34 games that year and pitched quite well with a 2.89 ERA in 149 2/3 innings of work. It was a solid enough performance, but it wasn’t enough to earn the right-hander another look in the rotation for the 1973 season. The Tigers put him back in the bullpen, though Timmermann’s chance to start would later come at the cost of his roster spot in Detroit. On June 15, nearly four years to the day after his big league debut, Timmermann was traded to Cleveland in exchange for future All-Star Ed Farmer.
The move to an eventual 90-loss club in Cleveland allowed Timmermann the opportunity to start, but he didn’t do very well with the change of scenery. The right-hander pitched to a 4.96 ERA across 33 appearances for the franchise during the 1973 and ’74 seasons. The last game of his major league career arrived on April 26, 1974, when he threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief and was credited with a win over an Angels lineup that coincidentally included Robinson. Timmermann pitched at the Triple-A level for the Toledo Mud Hens and Oklahoma City 89ers to close out his season before calling it a career after the 1974 season.
In all, Timmermann recorded a 3.78 ERA in 548 innings of work at the big league level across six MLB seasons. He posted an even 35-35 record with 35 saves recorded in that time, and struck out 315 batters throughout his big league career. Though it wasn’t known until long after his big league career had come to a close, Timmermann was also the biological father of former big leaguer Phil Leftwich. Leftwich was born nearly a month to the day prior to Timmermann’s MLB debut but was put up for adoption as an infant, and the connection between the two wasn’t discovered until Leftwich (who pitched for the Angels in parts of three seasons from 1993 to 1996) was on the cusp of his own big league debut.
MLB Trade Rumors joins the rest of the baseball world in extending our condolences to Timmermann’s family, friends, and loved ones.
Mariners Notes: Ford, Right Field, Hancock
With Mitch Garver headed into the open market, the Mariners have a hole to fill on their roster without a clear backup for Cal Raleigh behind the plate. As noted by Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, GM Justin Hollander indicated at the GM Meetings this past week that, as the roster is currently constructed, that backup catching job would go to longtime top prospect Harry Ford.
“As of today, Harry would definitely be the backup,” Hollander said, as relayed by Divish. “I think that Harry’s in a great spot. He has checked all the boxes along the way that you would want from a high school catcher coming through the draft. He’s performed at every level.”
It’s not hard to see why Hollander feels positively about Ford, who has been a consensus top-100 prospect for years and got a brief taste of the majors late in the season with eight games down the stretch this year. Ford hit .283/.408/.460 in 97 games at the Triple-A level this year, an impressive slash line that was good for a 125 wRC+ even in the Pacific Coast League’s inflated offensive environment. He struck out just 19.2% of the time while sporting a massive 16.2% walk rate, and while he didn’t run as often as he had in the lower minors (just seven steals on the year) he did slug a career-high 16 home runs. Overall, it was a strong showing for the 22-year-old and clearly sets him up to be ready for more exposure to major league pitching in 2026.
Whether that comes in Seattle or elsewhere has not entirely been decided yet, however. Divish notes that while the Mariners do seem comfortable having Ford join the roster as the backup to Raleigh, they remain open to trade offers that involve Ford. That’s a sensible position to take, given that Raleigh has cemented himself as baseball’s best catcher after posting perhaps the best season at the position in MLB history this past year. With the Mariners surely intent on continuing to play Raleigh (who has started at least 114 games behind the dish in each of the past three seasons) as much as possible, the role of backup catcher isn’t quite as important for Seattle as it is for other teams.
While there are no obvious alternatives in the organization to Ford at the moment, Divish points out that a number of viable backup options figure to be available on minor league or low-cost big league deals. Many of those options could surely offer similar production to Garver in the spot. Given the scarcity of quality catching options around the league, if another team views Ford as a plug-and-play starter behind the dish they might value him enough to make the return for his services worth the downgrade from Seattle’s perspective. A weak catching market in free agency that is highlighted by J.T. Realmuto and Victor Caratini should only further bolster Ford’s value if the Mariners were to decide to shop him this offseason.
Turning away from Ford, Hollander also expressed confidence in the group of players they already have in the organization when it comes to filling out the outfield next season. Randy Arozarena is locked in as the club’s everyday left fielder (barring a move that sees him traded, at least), while Julio Rodriguez has cemented himself as a franchise cornerstone in center. Right field was handled by a hodgepodge of different players throughout 2025, and in 2026 Hollander points to three names who could factor into the mix: Luke Raley, Dominic Canzone, and Victor Robles.
Even though none of them were impact players in 2025, it’s not hard to see why the Mariners would want to give that trio a run at the position rather than pursuing an external addition. Raley is just one year removed from back-to-back seasons where he slashed .246/.326/.476 while totaling 41 homers and 42 doubles across 255 games. While Raley has never been successful against left-handed pitching, it’s not at all difficult to imagine that he could rebound enough to be worth affording regular playing time to when a right-handed starter is on the mound for the opposing team. Robles, meanwhile, missed all but 32 games this past year due to injury and was someone the Mariners believed in enough that they afforded him an extension just two months into his tenure with the organization.
Canzone has the weakest overall track record of the three, but actually delivered by far the best results this year. In 82 games as a part-time player for the Mariners, Canzone raked to the tune of a .300/.358/.481 slash line with 11 homer and 11 doubles while he struck out at a reasonable 21.9% clip. A tough postseason where he went just 3-for-28 with a walk and ten strikeouts saw him leave 2025 on a sour note, but the 28-year-old clearly had a 2025 worth building on next season. Perhaps adding a second right-handed hitter to the mix alongside Robles could allow the Mariners to maximize matchups and create depth in the event of injury, but an everyday starter in the outfield does seem unnecessary given the far more significant holes around in the infield.
Another place where it seems the Mariners could look to go internal is with starting pitching depth. Divish reports that right-hander Emerson Hancock is expected to prepare this winter and enter Spring Training as a starting pitcher. Hancock has served as a swingman with below average results (4.81 ERA, 5.23 FIP) across his three seasons and 162 2/3 innings of work in the majors, but looked quite good in short relief down the stretch for Seattle this year. That made some wonder if he would stick in the bullpen full-time going forward, but it seems as though the Mariners value Hancock’s versatility given their lack of upper-level starting pitching depth. Beyond their starting five pitchers, only Logan Evans has spent significant time starting at the big league level aside from Hancock.
Cam Devanney To Sign With NPB’s Hanshin Tigers
Pirates third baseman Cam Devanney is signing with the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball, according to a report from Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Devanney is on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster, which will drop to 38 players once the deal is officially complete.
Devanney, 28, was a 15th-round pick by the Brewers back in 2019 who made his big league debut with the Pirates late in the 2025 season after being acquired from the Royals in this summer’s Adam Frazier trade. At the time of the deal, Devanney was enjoying something of a breakout season for the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in Omaha. In 69 games, he had slashed .272/.366/.565 with 18 homers and 14 doubles across 288 plate appearances. Devanney was striking out at a 24.3% clip while walking 11.8% of the time.
That was impressive enough that the Pirates decided to trade for him and give him a shot in the majors. He appeared in 14 games for Pittsburgh down the stretch this year, but in those games hit just .139/.184/.167 with a massive 55.3% strikeout rate. That came in a sample size of just 38 plate appearances, of course, but between that work in the majors and a paltry .256/.327/.361 slash line in 34 games with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis, it was already fair to wonder what Devanney’s future in the Pirates organization might really look like.
Rather than keep him in the fold as a potential up-and-down depth option for next year, the Pirates are instead opting to let Devanney head overseas and try his hand at baseball in Japan. He will join first baseman Bob Seymour and right-hander Roansy Contreras in making the jump from MLB to NPB this winter, and it’s entirely possible more players on the bubble of MLB and the minor leagues could make the jump as well in the coming weeks and months. Signing overseas provides a player in that situation the opportunity to make more money than they would even as a 40-man roster player with a stateside organization while seeing a higher level of competition than Triple-A allows.
As for the Pirates, Devanney’s departure doesn’t move the needle much. He was unlikely to unseat Jared Triolo at the hot corner and, while an addition to the infield could make plenty of sense given the team’s need for additional offensive firepower, any moves made on the dirt this winter won’t be done because of the loss of Devanney. In terms of infield depth, both Tsung-Che Cheng and Enmanuel Valdez are already on the 40-man roster and could easily slide into the bench role Devanney was expected to occupy.
Latest On Cardinals’ Offseason Plans
With Chaim Bloom now officially at the helm of the Cardinals’ baseball operations department, the rebuilding phase that the team has been expected to undergo since it was announced that Bloom would take over for John Mozeliak this offseason now looks likely to begin in earnest. That means exploring possibilities on the trade market, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Cardinals told agents during the GM Meetings this past week that their interest in at least some free agents will hinge on the team’s ability to clear salary in trades.
The big name so far in this winter’s rumor mill has been super utility man Brendan Donovan. Donovan has already been connected to Royals, Guardians, and Astros with other teams expected to be involved as well. Robust as the market for the 28-year-old’s services appears to be, clearing his salary (which MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects to land at $5.4MM in 2026) off the books won’t do much for the team’s bottom line. Of course, Donovan is far from the only name on the trade market from St. Louis. Six Cardinals appeared on MLBTR’s list of the Top 40 Trade Candidates for this offseason.
That includes three veterans making significant money: right-hander Sonny Gray, third baseman Nolan Arenado, and catcher-turned-first baseman Willson Contreras. Ownership is reportedly willing to include cash in trades of higher priced veterans, and the club’s trio of veterans with no-trade clauses have all expressed a willingness to be more lax with their no-trade protections than they were last winter. Goold writes that the Cardinals are “actively seeking “fits”” for both Arenado and Gray on the trade market. That’s hardly a surprise between St. Louis’s efforts to move Arenado all throughout last winter and the $40MM payout that Gray is guaranteed between his $35MM salary in 2026 and a $5MM buyout on his 2027 option.
Even if some salary is retained, moving Gray and Arenado would open up the club’s finances considerably. RosterResource projects the Cardinals for a $124MM payroll in 2026. While that’s down about $20MM from last year and nearly $40MM from two years ago, ownership and the front office have been candid about the plan to scale back payroll in recent years. If trading both Gray and Arenado can clear $30MM to $40MM off the Cardinals’ books this year, however, that should give them a lot more flexibility when perusing free agency for short-term upgrades who could either help the club compete next year or become trade chips themselves over the summer.
Notably absent from Goold’s roundup of rumors is Contreras. That’s an interesting development, as Contreras would likely be the easiest of the three to move in theory. With that being said, he’s also the one most hesitant to waive his no-trade protection. While he’s indicated he would be willing to consider possible trades, his preference remains to stay in St. Louis and serve as a veteran leader in a clubhouse that figures to get a lot younger as the team retools the roster. A surprise trade of Contreras could lessen the pressure to move both Gray and Arenado or open up even more possibilities on the trade market for St. Louis, but it’s fair to expect that the Cardinals will spend most of their energy on trying to move the veterans most willing to waive their no-trade clauses.
Looking beyond the club’s pricey veterans, Donovan is joined by players like Lars Nootbaar and JoJo Romero as potential trade chips Goold writes that the Cardinals told rival clubs they were willing to listen on. Goold notes all three of those players are within two years of free agency, a fact that’s also true of both Gray and Arenado. The only other players with less than three years of team control remaining in the organization are John King, who was reportedly a trade candidate over the summer, and post-deadline waiver claim Jorge Alcala. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see King’s name come back up in the rumor mill at some point, though Alcala seems unlikely to have any real trade value after posting an ERA north of 6.00 this past year.
In terms of the return for the players they look to deal, Goold adds that the Cardinals have made clear to rival clubs that they’re prioritizing pitching help and looking towards the future. Kansas City and Cleveland, as previously mentioned, are already known to be in the mix for Donovan and have the sort of young, controllable pitching available that could intrigue the Cardinals. The same could be true of teams like the Yankees and Dodgers who have previously expressed interest in Donovan as well. One intriguing fit could be with the Pirates.
In-division trades typically aren’t especially common, but Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington has shown himself to be comfortable dealing with the Cardinals in the past, such as when the sides came together on a trade involving Jose Quintana and Johan Oviedo at the 2022 trade deadline. The Pirates have plenty of young pitching and are in need of help in the outfield that both Donovan and Nootbaar could potentially provide. Bloom’s old stomping grounds of Boston also have a rich collection of young pitching, though their existing glut of left-handed outfield talent could make them a less than ideal fit for someone like Donovan and especially Nootbaar.
Poll: Which Team Will Sign Harrison Bader?
Among the center fielders available in free agency, Harrison Bader stands as the best option in terms of defense. In 2025, he tied for 7th-best among qualified outfielders with 13 Defensive Runs Saved. Indeed, Bader has been worth a staggering 67 DRS along with 77 Outs Above Average dating back to his debut 2017 season.
In 2025, Bader paired his typically excellent defense with a career-best offensive performance. In 501 plate appearances across 146 games between the Twins and Phillies, he batted .277/.347/.449 with a 122 wRC+ while setting a career high with 17 homers and upping his hard-hit rate to 40.3%. However, there are questions as to whether Bader’s performance is sustainable, given that he batted .359 on balls in play, which was far above the league average of .291.
Offensive question marks aside, Bader figures to earn a multi-year contract in this turn through free agency. We at MLBTR project him for a two-year, $26MM deal. Which team will take the plunge? Here’s a look at some of the options:
Phillies
A reunion with the Phillies would make plenty of sense. Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, and Ranger Suarez are all free agents, and though the club would love to bring Schwarber back, there might be some available payroll if the other two end up leaving. In general, the Phillies’ outfield defense has not been a strong suit in recent years. In 2025, Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler were roughly average in the field, while Nick Castellanos was worth -11 DRS in right field and may not be on the team in 2026. Johan Rojas was worth 4 DRS in 418 2/3 outfield innings but also hit for just a 58 wRC+ in 172 plate appearances. Justin Crawford rates as the team’s No. 3 prospect according to MLB.com and could factor in, though a reunion with Bader would add to the defense while giving Crawford time to adjust to the majors.
Angels
The Angels used Mike Trout primarily as a DH this year in order to keep him healthy. That left Jo Adell as the starting center fielder, and he was worth -13 DRS in 724 innings there. Bryce Teodosio was much better with 7 DRS in 406 innings, but like Rojas for the Phillies, Teodosio was an offensive black hole with a 51 wRC+ in 150 PA. Overall, the Angels’ outfield defense was valued at -27 DRS, which ranked second-worst among big-league clubs ahead of only the Rockies. Signing Bader would help a great deal in that department, and it’s not as if the $26MM figure would break the bank for owner Arte Moreno, anyway.
Giants
The Giants have Jung Hoo Lee signed through 2029 (though he has an opt-out after 2027). While he was slightly above average offensively with a 107 wRC+ in 150 games this year, he was last among qualified center fielders with -18 DRS. Statcast regards him as having 11th-percentile range but 91st-percentile arm strength, so it’s possible he’d be a better fit in right field than center. Overall, the Giants’ outfield defense was not much better than the Angels’, as they combined for -21 DRS during the season. Mike Yastrzemski had been their best defensive outfielder, but he was traded to the Royals at the deadline. Since San Francisco already has expensive contracts on the books for Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and Lee himself, signing Bader could be a low-cost option for strong defense and good-enough offense.
Orioles
Cedric Mullins was well below average defensively in 2025 and was traded to the Mets at the deadline. Colton Cowser and Dylan Carlson were serviceable in center following that trade, but they were hardly difference-makers. Prospect Dylan Beavers debuted in 2025 but only played the corners, and their next-closest outfield prospect, Enrique Bradfield Jr., is seen as an exceptional defender but an underdeveloped bat. Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias has signaled that the club will be aggressive in pursuing upgrades, and RosterResource gives them $68MM in payroll space before they match their 2025 spending. Bader would dramatically improve the defense while still leaving room for pitching upgrades.
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