Twins Notes: Ryan, Raya, Merryweather
A few days after being scratched from his start on Saturday, Joe Ryan is already throwing. Twins manager Derek Shelton told reporters that the pitcher played catch from 90 feet this morning (link via Matthew Leach of MLB.com). Ryan was sent for imaging over the weekend after experiencing lower back discomfort, but he’s dealing only with inflammation.
There should still be ample time for Ryan to be ready for the start of the season. If healthy, he’d be a lock to take the ball on Opening Day after Minnesota lost Pablo López to Tommy John surgery. That’s already a massive hit to the Twins’ uphill path to competing for a playoff spot, making it all the more imperative that Ryan stay healthy. It’s a bigger question whether the All-Star righty will be back in time to represent the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic in a couple weeks.
Assuming Ryan is ready for the start of the season, he’ll be followed in the rotation by Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson. There should be a camp battle for the final two spots among Zebby Matthews, Taj Bradley, Mick Abel and potentially David Festa.
One pitcher no longer in the rotation conversation: Marco Raya. The 23-year-old prospect moved to the bullpen while pitching at Triple-A St. Paul in the middle of August. That’s a permanent move, as Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star-Tribune writes that the Twins informed Raya he’ll be a full-time reliever this year. The righty pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout against a handful of Tigers minor leaguers in his spring debut on Monday.
Raya’s move to the bullpen doesn’t come as a huge surprise. The former fourth-round pick has good stuff but hasn’t thrown enough strikes in his minor league career. He walked almost 13% of opponents over 98 2/3 Triple-A frames a year ago, turning in a 6.02 earned run average in the process. Raya used six pitches in the minors but could pare down the repertoire now that he’s working in short relief. The bigger hope is that Raya’s below-average control won’t be as big an issue in brief stints.
There’s ample opportunity in the Minnesota bullpen. Taylor Rogers, Anthony Banda, Justin Topa, Kody Funderburk and Cole Sands are probably penciled into the Opening Day relief corps. That still leaves three jobs up for grabs. Most of Minnesota’s depth arms on the 40-man roster have little to no MLB experience. They compensated by bringing in a number of veteran arms on minor league contracts with Spring Training invites.
Julian Merryweather is among the non-roster invitees trying to pitch his way onto the roster. Merryweather’s team debut got out to a less than ideal start. The right-hander departed his first Grapefruit League appearance after suffering a left hamstring strain, Nightengale relays. Merryweather walked Justyn-Henry Malloy and struck out Ben Williamson before departing.
Mariners, Brendan White Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners are signing reliever Brendan White out of the independent ranks, according to an announcement from the Atlantic League’s Lancaster Stormers. White finished last season with the Stormers after being released from a minor league contract with the Tigers in July.
White, 27, pitched in the majors for Detroit a couple seasons ago. He made 33 appearances and tossed 40 2/3 innings of 5.09 ERA ball as a rookie in 2023. He struck out a quarter of batters faced against a league average 8.5% walk rate. He sat in the 94-95 mph range with his four-seam fastball while using a mid-80s breaking ball almost two-thirds of the time.
The right-hander lost most of the ’24 season to injury. Detroit non-tendered him at the end of the year but brought him back on a minor league contract. White had a rough return to Triple-A Toledo last season. His strikeout rate fell to 17% as opponents rocked him for more than seven earned runs per nine innings. He continued to struggle after landing with the Stormers, giving up six runs while handing out 10 free passes (six walks and four hit batters) across 9 2/3 innings.
White will look to put the down year behind him as he joins a new MLB organization for the first time in his career. He’ll presumably open the season at Triple-A Tacoma.
Offseason In Review: Miami Marlins
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Marlins dipped a toe into free agency but didn’t commit to anything substantial. Their larger moves were trades of established pitchers for controllable young talent, as the team continues to chase the ever-elusive idea of a “sustainable,” cost-controlled core.
Major League Free Agent Signings
- Pete Fairbanks, RHP: One year, $13MM
- Chris Paddack, RHP: One year, $4MM
- Christopher Morel, INF/OF: One year, $2MM
- John King, LHP: One year, $1.5MM
- Total spending: $20.5MM
Trades and Waiver Claims
- Traded RHP Edward Cabrera to Cubs in exchange for OF Owen Caissie and minor league INFs Cristian Hernandez and Edgardo De Leon
- Traded LHP Ryan Weathers to Yankees in exchange for minor league OFs Dillon Lewis and Brendan Jones and minor league INFs Dylan Jasso and Juan Matheus
- Traded OF Dane Myers to Reds in exchange for minor league OF Ethan O’Donnell
- Traded INF Eric Wagaman to Twins in exchange for minor league RHP Kade Bragg
- Traded OF Victor Mesa Jr. to Rays in exchange for minor league INF Angel Brachi
- Traded LHP Josh Simpson to Mariners in exchange for cash
- Traded OF Joey Wiemer to Giants in exchange for cash
- Acquired OF Esteury Ruiz from Dodgers in exchange for minor league RHP Adriano Marrero
- Acquired RHP Bradley Blalock from Rockies in exchange for minor league RHP Jake Brooks
- Claimed RHP Garrett Acton off waivers from Rockies
- Claimed RHP Osvaldo Bido off waivers from Rays (later lost to Angels via waivers)
- Claimed RHP Zach Brzykcy off waivers from Nationals (later outrighted to Triple-A)
Minor League Signings
Extensions
- None yet (team has had discussions with OF Kyle Stowers and with OF Jakob Marsee)
Notable Losses
- Cabrera, Weathers, Myers, Wagaman, Mesa Jr., Simpson, Wiemer, Troy Johnston (claimed by Rockies), George Soriano (claimed by Orioles)
The Marlins closed out the 2025 season with a 56-50 record over the final four months of the year. That wasn’t enough to erase a poor start to the season, but Miami’s 79-83 record overall was good for a third-place finish in the National League East — a surprisingly strong result for a club whose biggest moves of the preceding offseason were trading away Jesus Luzardo and Jake Burger. Right-hander Cal Quantrill, who didn’t even finish the season on the roster due to his significant struggles, was the only veteran free agent addition for Miami last winter.
That strong four-month stretch ensured at least something of a different tone this winter, though the Marlins didn’t fully commit to pushing into a win-now mentality. The third offseason for president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and second for manager Clayton McCullough was punctuated by a handful of free agent pickups but also saw the Fish continue trading from their perennially strong collection of starting pitching depth.
Miami entered the offseason with needs at first base, in the bullpen and in the outfield. They were each addressed to varying extents, but in typical Marlins fashion, those solutions generally came in the form of low-budget transactions. Miami jumped early to bring slugger Christopher Morel into the fold after he was non-tendered by Bendix’s former Rays club. Bendix was the general manager in Tampa Bay, but he was out the door by the time the Cubs traded Morel to the Rays as part of the Isaac Paredes return in 2024. It stands to reason that the Rays’ interest in Morel dated back several years to when Bendix was their GM, and he’ll now get his hands on a player with big power but also alarming strikeout concerns and no true defensive home.
The Marlins are rolling the dice on Morel as their primary first baseman — a position he’s never played before. (Insert your “Tell ’em, Wash” jokes here.) Morel has huge pull-side power and comes to Miami on just a $2MM salary with three seasons of club control remaining. If they can coax a breakout, he’ll be a bargain for them, though it’s also fair to wonder whether he’d play out all three seasons with the perennially frugal Fish in that scenario. Tapping into that raw power and unlocking a full-fledged breakout would likely lead to substantial arbitration raises, so even if Morel can finally put it all together, his price tag down the road in 2028 might prove steep enough that Miami deals him before his final arbitration season.
While Morel was the first to sign, the Bendix-led Marlins made it clear early on that former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks was a target. Fairbanks’ $11MM club option being declined by Tampa Bay rated as at least a mild surprise, and he was met with robust interest early on. In the end, it was the Marlins who bid $13MM to install Fairbanks at the back of their ‘pen, giving McCullough the sort of established closer he lacked in 2025, when six Marlins players logged between three and 15 saves. It’s the largest one-year salary the Marlins have ever given to a reliever. Fairbanks will be able to remain in Florida and continue piling up saves in a pitcher-friendly setting, making it a sensible move for all parties.
Also joining the Miami pitching staff are right-hander Chris Paddack — a former Marlins prospect — and lefty John King. Paddack will step into the rotation on the heels of a career-high 158 innings pitched but also the second-worst ERA (5.35) of his seven-year run in the big leagues. The former top prospect’s brilliant 2019 debut with the Padres is a distant memory, but he’ll pitch all of 2026 at 30 years old and brings some of the best command in baseball (career 5.2% walk rate) to South Florida.
The 31-year-old King was a quality middle reliever for the Rangers and Cardinals from 2021-24 before a tough season in 2025. He has one of the game’s lowest strikeout rates among relievers but also boasts plus command and one of the top ground-ball rates in the sport: 61.8% over the past half decade. Southpaw Cade Gibson gave Miami a strong rookie showing out of the bullpen in 2025, but the only other left-handed relievers to make an appearance were Josh Simpson (7.34 ERA, 30 2/3 innings), Anthony Veneziano (4.71 ERA, 21 innings) and Patrick Monteverde (four runs in 3 2/3 innings). Veneziano is no longer with the organization. Simpson was designated for assignment and traded to the Mariners (for cash) after Miami signed King.
All of Miami’s free-agent additions were, in some way or another, buy-low acquisitions. Morel and King were non-tendered despite affordable arbitration projections. Fairbanks’ club option, which looked fairly reasonable, was declined (partly due to budget constraints for the Rays). Paddack was traded from Minnesota to Detroit at the deadline and quickly lost his rotation spot. He has a 5.23 ERA over the past three seasons. All four have traits on which Miami can dream — Morel’s power, Fairbanks’ velocity/strikeouts, King’s grounders, Paddack’s plus command/formerly plus changeup — but they’re all projects.
Beyond the level of aggression the Marlins would or wouldn’t show with respect to their veteran additions, the biggest question surrounding the club was whether they’d once again deal from their stock of talented young starters. As we’ve seen so often in the past, even under prior front office regimes, Miami isn’t afraid to deal away young arms, trusting in the development staff’s ability to continue to turn more out.
If you’d told most fans, pundits and even other teams at the end of the 2025 season that Miami would trade two starters, most would have assumed longtime ace Sandy Alcantara would be one of them. He had a rough year overall in his return from Tommy John surgery, but the former NL Cy Young winner finished strong and is heading into the final guaranteed season of a contract that guarantees him at least $19MM more ($17MM salary, $2MM buyout on a $21MM club option for 2027). That’s a reasonable price for most clubs but a steep one for the ever-cost-conscious Marlins.
Instead, it was 27-year-old righty Edward Cabrera — long rumored as a trade candidate in his own right — and 26-year-old southpaw Ryan Weathers. While many expected Cabrera to be a popular trade target this winter, the Weathers trade came somewhat out of the blue, given that he only made eight starts last year due to injury and had three years of club control remaining.
Weathers’ trade to the Yankees netted the Marlins a quartet of prospects, none of whom are expected to be immediate contributors. Outfielder Dillon Lewis was the most highly touted prospect in the swap but hasn’t even played in Double-A yet — nor has young infielder Juan Matheus. Outfielder Brendan Jones and infielder Dylan Jasso reached Double-A in 2025, but both will presumably require further development time in Triple-A.
Weathers originally came to the Fish in what’s now a clearly lopsided trade sending Garrett Cooper to the Padres — a swap put together by former general manager Kim Ng. That acquisition gave way to a 2024 breakout and enough promise in 2025’s limited sample for Bendix to cash in on a four-prospect package that deepens the Marlins’ position player pool.
The trade of Cabrera was both more expected and more consequential in terms of 2026 impact. While he was far from a lock to change hands, Cabrera has been discussed frequently in recent years. Interest in the former top prospect’s electric arsenal has been widespread, and his 2025 breakout was enough to push it over the top. There are big durability concerns with the 6’5″ flamethrower, but Cabrera’s 3.53 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate, career-best 8.3% walk rate, 97 mph average heater, 12.6% swinging-strike rate and three remaining years of club control pushed the Cubs to part with a three-prospect package headlined by Owen Caissie, who’s now the favorite to break camp as Miami’s right fielder.
Caissie, 23, is a 2020 second-rounder who has spent several seasons ranked among baseball’s top-100 prospects but had no clear path to regular at-bats at Wrigley Field (at least not this year). He’s a three-true-outcomes lefty slugger with a big arm — a prototypical right field mold whom the Marlins hope can pair with 2025 breakout bopper Kyle Stowers to give the Fish some genuine middle-of-the-order thunder for the foreseeable future.
Caissie mashed at a .286/.386/.551 rate and popped 22 homers in only 99 Triple-A games, but he also fanned in 28% of his Triple-A plate appearances (against a 13.2% walk rate). The Marlins also added minor league infielders Cristian Hernández and Edgardo De Leon in that swap, but they’re both down-the-road considerations; Hernández hasn’t played above A-ball, and De Leon is only 19. Caissie is the headliner, and he gives the Fish a potential lineup cornerstone with six full seasons of club control and two minor league option years remaining. In Caissie, Stowers and center fielder Jakob Marsee (.292/.363/.478 in 55 games as a rookie), Miami has the makings of an excellent young outfield — no small feat considering the years of turnover they underwent on the grass prior to the arrival of this trio.
Most of Miami’s other dealings centered around role players. Dane Myers is a solid fourth outfielder who runs well, but he’s entering his final minor league option year and was shipped to the Reds for minor league outfielder Ethan O’Donnell, who’s not yet on the 40-man roster. Another fourth outfield option, Victor Mesa Jr., went to the Rays for lottery ticket teenage infielder Angel Brachi. Utilityman Eric Wagaman was traded to the Twins for minor league reliever Kade Bragg, who could make his debut at some point in 2026 — a nice bit of business considering Wagaman was a minor league free agent who signed a big league deal with Miami last winter.
In addition to selling off that trio of role players, the Marlins brought in some depth pieces by acquiring righty Bradley Blalock from the Rockies and speedster Esteury Ruiz from the Dodgers. Blalock replenishes a bit of rotation depth. He’s coming off a brutal year in the Rockies organization but had some decent results in the minors with the Brewers before that. Ruiz is in his final minor league option year and offers more speed than Myers. He could fill a similar fourth outfield role.
Setting aside the trades of Cabrera and Weathers as well as the signing of Fairbanks, most of Miami’s moves amount to tinkering around the margins. The 2026 season will be pivotal to determining their identity. They’ll see if a combination of Morel, Graham Pauley and Connor Norby can handle the infield corners. The middle infield is set for now with defensive standout Otto Lopez at shortstop and exciting leadoff man Xavier Edwards at second base. Stowers, Marsee and Caissie are the outfield hopefuls. Former top prospect Agustin Ramirez will try to improve behind the plate, but top-100 prospect Joe Mack is nipping at his heels in Triple-A, so Ramirez could eventually move to more of a first base/designated hitter/third catcher role.
On the pitching side, it’ll be Alcantara, Eury Pérez and the veteran Paddack, with former top prospects Max Meyer and Braxton Garrett returning from injury-lost seasons. Miami has two of the game’s top-ranked pitching prospects in Thomas White and Robby Snelling. Both could debut in 2026. Former prospects Dax Fulton and Adam Mazur are both still on the 40-man roster and have minor league options remaining, which gives the Fish some more depth. The bullpen already lost Ronny Henriquez to Tommy John surgery in December, but Fairbanks and King join holdovers like Gibson, Calvin Faucher and Anthony Bender to form a decent nucleus. If any of Meyer, Garrett, Fulton or Mazur don’t pan out as starters, they could shift there.
The Marlins thinned out their rotation but did so by shipping out a pair of starters who had durability issues — an all-too-common problem that seems to regularly plague their always impressive groups of young arms. Alcantara’s name could come up as a summer trade candidate, but if Miami is contending he’s not likely to go anywhere. The thought of a rotation including Alcantara, Pérez, White and Snelling is tantalizing regardless of who the fifth option would be.
Miami has the feel of an up-and-coming team, but it’s hard not to wonder what they’d look like with even a shred of payroll support from ownership. They’re currently projected to spend about $73MM on the 2026 payroll — a basement-level mark even by their standards and one of the lowest figures in the league. A bit more money on the bullpen or the infield could’ve made this club all the more compelling, and with only $83MM of luxury-tax obligations on the books, they’re running the risk of a grievance regarding the allocation of the reported $70MM or so of revenue-sharing funds they receive. Extensions for Marsee and/or Stowers — they’ve broached the subject with both young outfielders — could mitigate some of those concerns, but as MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows, Alcantara’s five-year, $56MM deal is the only extension of five or more years the Fish have given out in the past decade. It’s hard to imagine them going to the lengths necessary to sign one of their young outfielders for the long haul.
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Diamondbacks Notes: Kelly, Waldschmidt, Outfield
Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly has been battling some back tightness this week. A quick diagnosis was expected but the issue is dragging on a bit longer than initially anticipated, as detailed by Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic.
The issue first cropped up on Saturday, which led to Kelly being scratched from a live batting practice session. He was sent for an MRI and those results were expected to be announced on Monday. He has instead been sent for additional testing, including a CT scan, with the club still avoiding any kind of official announcement on his status.
“It’s a wide range,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I’m not going to lie. We’re being very thorough with what we’re doing. We’re taking every test necessary to make sure that we get everything in the bag before we start to pass that information along. We’ve got to figure out exactly what’s happening in there.”
Time will tell if this is just the club being cautious or if it’s a sign the injury is more significant than anticipated. If Kelly has to miss any time, it would be less than ideal for a club with subpar rotation depth. Right now, they project to have Kelly alongside Zac Gallen and Ryne Nelson with Eduardo Rodríguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Michael Soroka battling for two spots. If Kelly is on the shelf, then everyone in that group would be in line for rotation gigs to open the season.
The Snakes also have Yilber Díaz, Cristian Mena, Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt and Dylan Ray on the 40-man roster and the guys in that group could suddenly jump to next-man-up status. No one in that cluster has even 32 big league innings pitched. Non-roster invitees with some big league experience include Joe Ross, Thomas Hatch and Bryce Jarvis.
Elsewhere, Arizona has a fairly wide open outfield group. They traded away Jake McCarthy in the offseason and Corbin Carroll require hamate surgery, meaning he could start the season on the injured list. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is recovering from last year’s surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He was expected to be out until the All-Star break. There are some signs he could beat that timeline but he is still projected to start the season on the IL.
That leaves Alek Thomas as the lone guy seemingly locked into a spot. Jordan Lawlar could be in there as well, though he is still getting accustomed to the outfield after coming up as an infielder. He also hasn’t hit at the big league level yet, though he has destroyed the minors and is out to a strong start this spring.
That leaves a path open for prospect Ryan Waldschmidt and Piecoro writes that the club hasn’t ruled out the possibility of him breaking camp with the club. It would be fairly bold if the Snakes ultimately went down that path. Waldschmidt topped out at Double-A last year and isn’t yet on the 40-man roster. But he can clearly hit, as shown by last year’s .289/.419/.473 slash line and 142 wRC+. He hit a home run off Pedro Avila of the Guardians in yesterday’s Cactus League game.
Waldschmidt is a consensus top 100 prospect in the league, so he would be eligible for the prospect promotion incentive if he cracked the Opening Day roster. If he went on to win Rookie of the Year or finish top three in MVP voting during his pre-arbitration years, the Snakes would net a future draft pick just after the first round.
It’s possible there’s a great amount of fluidity in the Arizona outfield this year. Between Carroll, Thomas, Gurriel, Waldschmidt, Lawlar, Jorge Barrosa, Pavin Smith and Tim Tawa, they have a number of options in the mix, with health and performance surely to shuffle the depth charts over the months to come.
Photo courtesy of Rob Schumacher, Imagn Images
Yankees Still Open To Adding Platoon Bat
Spring training games have begun but further roster tweaks are still possible. Joel Sherman of The New York Post reports that the Yankees are still open to adding a right-handed-hitting outfielder or catcher. Sherman mentions the club’s previously-reported interest in players like Randal Grichuk, Austin Slater and Chas McCormick. Grichuk is still a free agent. Slater and McCormick are in camp with other clubs on minor league deals, Slater with the Tigers and McCormick with the Cubs.
The Yankees have a lefty-heavy lineup, with six of their projected regulars swinging from that side. The three righties are right fielder Aaron Judge, designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton and shortstop José Caballero. The lefies are center fielder Trent Grisham, left fielder Cody Bellinger, first baseman Ben Rice, second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., third baseman Ryan McMahon and catcher Austin Wells.
The Yanks do have a couple of righties to complement that group, with Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario projected to be on the bench. It would be nice to add even more coverage from the other side of the plate, especially with Goldschmidt only capable of playing first base.
Jasson Domínguez is a switch-hitter and could be the fourth outfielder but, given his youth, the Yankees should prioritize him getting regular playing time in the minors as opposed to being on the big league bench in a part-time role. He’s better from the left side of the plate regardless. Oswaldo Cabrera is a switch-hitter but he’s also better as a lefty bat. It’s also unclear if he’ll be fully recovered from last year’s ankle surgery by Opening Day. He and Domínguez both have options and could be sent to Triple-A.
The club currently projects to have J.C. Escarra, another lefty, as the backup catcher. He still has options, so it’s possible for the Yanks to add a righty-swinging catcher and bump Escarra to Triple-A. Sherman also wonders if the Yanks would be willing to ride with Rice as the backup catcher, but that seems highly unlikely with Rice slated to be the regular at first. There aren’t a lot of free agents left at this part of the calendar. Christian Vázquez is available and hits from the right side but he doesn’t have strong platoon splits in his career.
It’s possible that more guys shake loose as Opening Day nears. Some players on minor league deals with other teams won’t break camp, which could lead to those players opting out or being released. Fringe roster players might end up on waivers.
The Yanks may be hoping for that path on the outfield side. Their interest in Grichuk hasn’t yet resulted in a deal. Slater and McCormick still don’t have roster spots and could end up available in the coming weeks. Slater has default opt-outs in his deal since he was an Article XX(b) free agent, which means he finished last year on a big league roster and had at least six years of service time. He can opt out five days prior to Opening Day, May 1st or June 1st. Detroit’s Opening Day is March 26th, so that opt-out should come on March 21st.
The Tigers project for a lefty-heavy outfield mix consisting of Riley Greene, Parker Meadows and Kerry Carpenter. When Carpenter is in the designated hitter spot, switch-hitting Wenceel Pérez should step in. Slater’s righty bat would fit well in there but the Tigers already have Matt Vierling and Jahmai Jones on the roster. Slater was briefly with the Yankees in 2025 but injuries prevented him from making notable contributions.
McCormick would not have uniform opt-outs in his deal because he was not an Article XX(b) free agent. He has less than five years of big league service. He became a free agent because he was outrighted off Houston’s roster at the end of the season. As a player with at least three years of service time, he had the right to become a free agent and exercised that right.
Though he wasn’t guaranteed any opt-outs, Sherman notes that McCormick did get one put into his minor league deal with the Cubs for March 21st. Chicago projects for a starting outfield of Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki. McCormick could push for a fourth outfielder job but the Cubs also added Michael Conforto on a minor league deal this week, giving McCormick more competition.
Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Braves Announce Creation Of BravesVision
The Braves today announced the launch of BravesVision, a team-owned media entity which will broadcast the club’s games and make them available on television and via streaming. Fans will be able to deal directly with the team to access the broadcasts with no local blackouts. This will include all regular season games except those which are subject to national exclusivities. For those with questions about the details, the club released an FAQ page.
Up until recently, Atlanta was one of several teams with a regional sports network (RSN) deal with Main Street Sports, formerly known as Diamond Sports Group. That company’s portfolio of MLB clubs has been shrinking in recent years as they have hit financial trouble, largely caused by cord cutting. As of the start of this year, Main Street still had deals with nine MLB clubs, including Atlanta. The company missed some payments, which caused all nine teams to terminate their deals in January.
Earlier this month, six of those teams pivoted to having the league handle the broadcasts. Atlanta was one of the three still undetermined, but with some signs they would launch their own broadcast network, which has effectively come to pass with this announcement.
It’s difficult to say how this will impact the club’s bottom line in the long run. As of a few years ago, Atlanta was getting more than $100MM annually from their RSN deal. Travis Sawchik of MLB.com has reported that clubs who have lost their RSN deals and pivoted to new arrangements have been bringing in about 50% less than before, on average.
Atlanta is going a slightly different route than most of the other clubs in this position. The majority of them have handed the reins over to the league. The Rangers have been an exception, as they launched their own network a year ago, with Atlanta now following in that example. Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News spoke to some team officials about the situation in October. Those employees spoke highly of the increased ratings of the new arrangement but were more cagey about whether the club made as much money as they had on their previous RSN deal.
Down the line, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has a goal of marketing a streaming package that includes the rights of as many clubs as possible. It will be challenging to get them all on board since many of the large-market clubs have healthy RSN setups that they own or co-own. They will have some reticence about joining a more centralized arrangement that would see them sharing TV revenue with smaller markets.
For fans, today’s news seems to largely be a positive. Due to a dispute in 2024, there were times where the club’s games weren’t even available to some cable subscribers in the local area. Now the majority of the club’s games should be accessible to fans everywhere.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images
Brewers Sign Luis Rengifo
Feb. 24: Rengifo will make a $2MM salary in 2026 with a $1.5MM buyout on a $10MM mutual option, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The incentives are based on plate appearances, with $100K for 150 and then each 50 PA increment up to 350, followed by $250K for 400 and 450, then $500K for 500. There’s also a one-time assignment bonus of $250K if Rengifo is traded.
Feb. 16: Milwaukee has officially announced the addition of Rengifo. With room on the 40-man roster, the Brewers did not need a corresponding move.
Feb. 13: 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 be guaranteed $3.5MM. 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.
The switch-hitting Rengifo has typically been better from the right side. He’s slashed .268/.311/.438 against lefties in his career, compared to .242/.305/.360 when facing righties. Rengifo didn’t show noticeable splits last season, with just two points separating his OPS from each side of the plate.
It’s been more quantity than quality for Rengifo with the glove. He’s logged at least 98 appearances at all three infield positions excluding first base, but doesn’t have a DRS better than -4 at any spot. Rengifo posted a -5 DRS at third base last season, though he was a +5 at second base.
Photos courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez and Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Good morning! We’ll get going at 1pm CT, give or take a couple minutes, but feel free to start sending questions in anytime.
- Good afternoon! Let’s get this started up
Sox Fan
- Could the White Sox just release Benintendi? I think he’s taking up at bats from others
Steve Adams
- Doubtful with two years and $32MM to go. He was at least a league-average hitter last year. They’ll hope for a decent enough first half to be able to trade him and save a few million bucks. If he really struggles at the plate this season though, I can see it happening midyear.
Wayward
- The Bucs standing pat now? Things have gone quiet at 3B, and it seems that they want to see what Urquidy and some of the young arms in Barco and Harrington can give them potentially, especially since it appears Jones could be ready in late May. I really thought they would have signed Anderson or Corbin.
Bucco Basement
- What is up with these minor league deals for guys who can still impact a team? Did they just wait around too long to see if they could increase their salary or are they much worse than I’m assuming? I want my Pirates to get Tyler Anderson or Patrick Corbin and I’m wondering if either could be gotten on a MiLB deal.
Pirates1Fan
- I think the Bucs need another arm – Patrick Corbin a fit?
Steve Adams
- So, Pirates fans really want them to sign another cheap starter. I feel like they already did this with Urquidy. I get that they’ve signed a cheap lefty pretty much every spring under Cherington (Quintana, Heaney, Martin Perez, Tyler Anderson the first time around)
- But I don’t think it’s a big need with the depth they have already.You’ve got Skenes, Chandler, Keller, Ashcraft, Urquidy … Jared Jones on the mend and maybe back late April/May. Thomas Harrington, Hunter Barco in Triple-A. Mike Clevinger as a non-roster guy.
- I do think it’s feasible that either Anderson or Corbin has to settle for a non-roster deal, and if it’s with the Bucs, sure, great. More depth is never bad. But I don’t think it’s super appealing for one of those guys to jump into a rotation mix that has like 8-10 options already — at least not on a non-guaranteed deal.
Padres Shut Matt Waldron Down
Padres right-hander Matt Waldron has been shut down for the time being and is considered week to week, manager Craig Stammen told the team’s beat (via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune). The right-hander recently underwent a procedure for a hemorrhoid.
Waldron, 29, made only one big league appearance last season, pitching 4 2/3 innings and being tagged for four runs. He tallied 26 starts for the Friars the year prior, turning in a 4.91 ERA with a 21.3% strikeout rate against a 6.4% walk rate. He posted a solid 3.79 ERA through his first 23 starts of the season in 2024 before being clobbered for 26 runs in only 18 1/3 frames over his final few appearances, ballooning his ERA by more than a full run in the process.
One of the only active knuckleballers in the majors or minors, Waldron struggled through 21 Triple-A starts last year, serving up a 6.48 earned run average. He maintained respectable strikeout and walk rates, however (20.7% and 7.1%, respectively). A .368 average on balls in play and well below-average 59% strand rate both dogged him.
Waldron is out of minor league options and thus cannot be sent to Triple-A without first clearing waivers. He can, however, open the season on the 15-day injured list and embark on a 30-day minor league rehab assignment once cleared to pitch, if the recovery from his recent procedure necessitates such an absence.
Following a late flurry of low-cost additions, the Padres’ 2026 rotation includes a returning Joe Musgrove (from 2024 Tommy John surgery), the re-signed Michael King, veteran Nick Pivetta, out-of-options righty Randy Vásquez and free agent newcomer Germán Márquez. San Diego also added Griffin Canning on a one-year deal, though he’s still on the mend from last year’s torn Achilles tendon. Lefties JP Sears and Kyle Hart are on the 40-man roster but could be depth options in Triple-A El Paso to begin the year, given Vásquez’s lack of options. Veterans Walker Buehler, Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie all inked a minor league deals with invitations to spring and could factor into the mix as well.
Offseason In Review: Colorado Rockies
The Rockies went outside the box with one of the more fascinating executive hirings in recent memory. The top baseball operations duo of Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes have their work cut out for them. It’s not going to be fixed in one offseason, but they made a handful of lower-cost additions to raise the floor after losing 119 games.
Major League Signings
- 2B/3B/OF Willi Castro, Two years, $12.8MM
- RHP Michael Lorenzen, One year, $8MM (including buyout of ’27 club option)
- LHP Jose Quintana: One year, $6MM
- RHP Tomoyuki Sugano: One year, $5.1MM
2026 spending: $25.25MM
Total spending: $31.9MM
Trades and Claims
- Claimed RHP Garrett Acton off waivers from Rays (later lost on release waivers to Marlins)
- Claimed 1B Troy Johnston off waivers from Marlins
- Acquired LHP Brennan Bernardino from Red Sox for minor league OF Braiden Ward
- Traded LHP Ryan Rolison to Braves for cash
- Selected RHP RJ Petit from Tigers with No. 1 pick in Rule 5 draft
- Claimed RHP Keegan Thompson off waivers from Reds
- Acquired OF Jake McCarthy from Diamondbacks for minor league RHP Josh Grosz
- Traded RHP Bradley Blalock to Marlins for minor league RHP Jake Brooks
- Traded RHP Angel Chivilli to Yankees for minor league 1B T.J.Rumfield
- Acquired 1B/2B Edouard Julien and RHP Pierson Ohl from Twins for minor league RHP Jace Kaminska and cash
Option Decisions
- Team declined its end of $7MM mutual option on 2B Thairo Estrada in favor of $750K buyout
- Team declined its end of $4MM mutual option on 2B Kyle Farmer in favor of $750K buyout
Notable Minor League Signings
- Drew Avans, Valente Bellozo, John Brebbia, Eiberson Castellano, Adam Laskey, Nicky Lopez, Vimael Machín, Kyle McCann, Parker Mushinski, Chad Stevens, Brett Sullivan
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Germán Márquez, Thairo Estrada, Michael Toglia (non-tender), Kyle Farmer, Angel Chivilli, Bradley Blalock, Ryan Rolison, Orlando Arcia, Yanquiel Fernández (lost on waivers), Drew Romo (lost on waivers), Anthony Molina (lost on waivers), Dugan Darnell (lost on waivers), Warming Bernabel, Roansy Contreras, Aaron Schunk, Lucas Gilbreath
As the Rockies were playing out the string on one of the worst seasons in baseball history, it was evident significant changes were coming. The Rox had already fired manager Bud Black early in the year, tabbing Warren Schaeffer as an interim replacement. Speculation about general manager Bill Schmidt’s job security mounted by the end of the regular season.
The Rox announced at the beginning of the playoffs that Schmidt was out. The team framed it as a mutual decision, though reporting suggested the GM was fired. In either case, owner Dick Monfort said he planned to go outside the organization for the next baseball operations leader. Schmidt and Jeff Bridich had been internal promotions and did not pan out. Assistant GM Zack Rosenthal resigned once it became apparent that he wasn’t under consideration for the top role.
Colorado interviewed a handful of traditional candidates: Royals assistant GM Scott Sharp, Blue Jays vice president of baseball strategy James Click, D-Backs AGM Amiel Sawdaye, and Guardians AGM Matt Forman among them. They’d seemingly narrowed the decision to Forman and Sawdaye by Halloween but reopened the search at that point. Sawdaye and Forman reportedly each withdrew from consideration toward the end of the process.
It left the Rockies in an awkward spot of beginning the offseason with no clear head of baseball operations. They made a couple option formalities in buying out Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer and even placed a few waiver claims (Garrett Acton, Troy Johnston) while a committee of holdovers ran operations.
As the GM Meetings approached in the second week of November, the Rockies made a stunning hire. They tabbed former Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta as their president of baseball operations. DePodesta, best known for his role as Billy Beane’s top lieutenant during the Moneyball era, last ran an MLB front office 20 years ago. He had been out of baseball altogether since 2016, spending the past decade in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.
It’s much too early to judge how DePodesta’s newest role will turn out. The Rockies have been too insular throughout Monfort’s ownership tenure but certainly can’t be accused of that with the DePodesta hiring. Maybe that’s an inevitability after an historically inept season.
It could also be a hint of a changing of the guard at the top of the organization. Although Dick Monfort remains the ownership head, he has voiced a desire to offload some of the daily responsibility to his son, Walker (who was promoted to team president last summer). Dick Monfort is one of the leading ownership figures on the labor side — he’s generally perceived as one of the more stringent advocates for a salary cap — and wanted to focus more attention on the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations.
Although DePodesta would do a fair bit of work reshaping the back of the roster, his immediate priority was on staffing. He tabbed longtime Dodgers executive (and former Padres GM) Josh Byrnes as his general manager, the No. 2 in baseball operations. The two have roots together dating back to their days in Cleveland’s front office in the late 1990s.
The Rockies also decided right away to remove the interim tag and allow Schaeffer to continue on as manager. One could read that as the kind of loyalty which has burned the organization in the past, but it’s more defensible in this case. The roster is nowhere close to competitive no matter who’s managing. As long as the Rox were comfortable with Schaeffer’s connections to young players, they might as well see if he’s the right person to lead them through the rebuild.
Schaeffer did overhaul much of the coaching staff that he had inherited from Black. They tabbed first-year hitting and pitching coaches (Brett Pill and Alon Leichman, respectively). Jeff Pickler gets his first bench coaching position.
Figuring out the pitching staff is the biggest challenge. Playing at Coors Field does them no favors, but last year’s staff was largely bereft of talent no matter the park. Colorado pitchers had the highest earned run average and lowest strikeout rate in MLB both at home and on the road. The rotation’s 6.65 ERA was the highest in any full season in MLB history. The bullpen’s 5.18 mark wasn’t historically terrible but ranked 29th in the majors.
The front office has sought to raise the floor with a handful of veteran additions. Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano all came aboard on one-year deals between $5.1MM and $8MM. They’re low-ceiling additions, but the Rockies weren’t going to convince high-upside arms to take a pillow contract at Coors Field.
There’s a commonality between all three of their free agent acquisitions. Although none miss bats at high levels, they all mix 5-7 pitches with regularity. That’s probably not a coincidence. “We want big arsenals. We think big arsenals will be harder to game plan against,” Leichman told Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post. “You know, if a guy has six, seven pitches, that’s harder to game plan for than if a guy has two or three, right? So we think that’s an advantage. The more weapons you have, the more random you can be.”
The trio will at least provide innings in the first half of the season. They’re not going to be big trade candidates, but it’s possible one or two of them will pitch well enough to net a low-level prospect in July. Colorado released Austin Gomber midseason and let Germán Márquez walk via free agency. They kicked Antonio Senzatela to long relief at the end of last year. With the exception of Kyle Freeland, they’ve mostly moved on from their previous rotation core.
Freeland, Lorenzen, Quintana and Sugano should comprise four-fifths of the Opening Day rotation. Chase Dollander and Ryan Feltner are the top options for the final spot. The Rox are expected to build righty Jimmy Herget up as a potential starter this spring, though it’s likelier he winds up back in the bullpen. Prospects Gabriel Hughes and Sean Sullivan could debut midseason.
Colorado didn’t invest much in the bullpen. They made a few low-cost additions to the middle relief group. DePodesta’s first trade brought in 34-year-old lefty Brennan Bernardino from the Red Sox. They grabbed out-of-options righty Keegan Thompson off waivers from the Reds, who had signed him to a split contract just a few weeks earlier. The Rox had the top pick in the Rule 5 draft and used it on right-hander RJ Petit, who posted a 2.44 ERA with a near-30% strikeout rate in 47 appearances in the Detroit system last year. He’ll have a strong chance to break camp.
The higher-leverage bullpen arms are returnees. Seth Halvorsen, Victor Vodnik and Juan Mejia are controllable power arms with spotty command. They have a better chance of netting a meaningful trade return than do any of the fifth/sixth starter free agent signings, so they’re probably the bigger projects for the new pitching coaches.
Angel Chivilli also has big stuff but hasn’t found any success over his first two seasons. The Yankees placed a bet on the arm, acquiring Chivilli in a one-for-one swap for minor league first baseman T.J.Rumfield. The lefty-hitting Rumfield is coming off a .285/.378/.477 showing with 16 homers over a full season in Triple-A. He’s soon to turn 26 and doesn’t have much to gain from another look at minor league pitching.
Rumfield isn’t exactly a prospect. The Yankees left him unprotected in the Rule 5 draft. Every team, Colorado included, passed on the chance to acquire him for $100K. The Rockies instead parted with Chivilli to add him without the roster restrictions associated with a Rule 5 pick. Even if Rumfield breaks camp, the Rockies can option him to Triple-A, which would not have been the case had he been a Rule 5 selection.
There’s a good opportunity for the Virginia Tech product to win the first base job. The Rockies non-tendered Michael Toglia, one of far too many first-round misses in recent years. They claimed 28-year-old Troy Johnston off waivers from Miami. He’s likely competing with Blaine Crim and Rumfield in Spring Training.
Trade acquisition Edouard Julien could factor into the first base mix as well. Colorado acquired the left-handed hitter alongside swingman Pierson Ohl in a trade with Minnesota. (Ohl had a decent chance to win a long relief job but blew out this spring and is headed for Tommy John surgery.) Julien works a lot of walks and showed intriguing power upside as a rookie back in 2023, but concerning levels of swing-and-miss pushed him to the fringe of the Twins roster. He’s a decent flier for a rebuilding team that was thin on upper-level infield depth.
Julien has spent the majority of his career at second base. He’s not a good defender anywhere and probably better suited at first or designated hitter. If the Rockies prefer him at first base, that’d leave open the keystone for Adael Amador, minor league signee, Nicky Lopez or utilityman Willi Castro.
Castro signed a two-year, $12.8MM contract — Colorado’s first multi-year free agent deal since the unfortunate Kris Bryant signing. Castro had two and a half seasons as a quality bat-first utility piece in Minnesota. His numbers tanked after a deadline trade to the Cubs. That didn’t dissuade the Rox from making a multi-year commitment. He’s a respected clubhouse presence and can move between second and third base depending on what the Rockies get out of Julien, Amador, Tyler Freeman, Ryan Ritter and Kyle Karros at those respective positions. He also has some outfield experience.
Even with Castro and Julien in the fold, this is probably the worst infield in MLB. The only player locked into an everyday spot on the dirt is Ezequiel Tovar at shortstop. He’s looking to rebound after a down year in which he was hampered by hip and oblique issues.
Bryant remains on the roster, but it’s impossible to know when or if he’ll be physically able to return to the field. The former MVP has been forthright about a degenerative back condition impacting his daily life. He was immediately placed on the 60-day injured list and has no timetable for a return. Bryant isn’t going to retire and walk away from the remaining three years and $78MM on his contract. He continues to express hope that he’ll be able to play again.
The Bryant signing was ill-advised for a Colorado team that should have already been rebuilding, but no one would have foreseen things going this poorly. It’s far from the only reason that things have gotten so bleak, yet it remains the biggest misfire for an organization that has had few success stories in recent years.
The biggest exception is behind the plate. Hunter Goodman was maybe the only unequivocal bright spot in 2025. He hit 31 homers, tied for second among catchers, with a .278/.323/.520 batting line to earn his first All-Star nod. Goodman didn’t come up in any substantive trade rumors, though that’s surely not because of a lack of interest from other clubs. The Rockies control him for four seasons.
This is the kind of player the organization has been eager to extend in recent years, usually at a time when it feels like buying high. They could look into that possibility this spring, with Goodman potentially looking for something in the $40-50MM range if he’s signing away a free agent season or two. The Rockies are probably better off waiting to see if he can repeat last year’s breakout since his aggressive approach and massive whiff rates leave him with a low floor from an on-base perspective.
Goodman will get the majority of the playing time behind the dish. Braxton Fulford is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster, so he’s the favorite for the backup job. Fulford struggled as a 26-year-old rookie. The door is open for minor league signees Brett Sullivan or Kyle McCann to beat him out in camp.
Colorado moved on from former supplemental first-round pick Drew Romo this offseason. They also parted ways with former high picks or notable prospects like Toglia, Ryan Rolison and Yanquiel Fernández. That’s emblematic of how little they’ve gotten from the farm system in recent years despite frequently picking at the top of the draft.
Another former top-10 pick, Zac Veen, is trying to play his way into the outfield mix this spring. Brenton Doyle is locked into center field. The corners are more open, but they have a handful of options. Jordan Beck, Mickey Moniak and prospect Sterlin Thompson are in-house possibilities.
DePodesta expressed openness to trading an outfielder for pitching depth, but their only move went in the opposite direction. They dealt minor league righty Josh Grosz to Arizona for out-of-options fourth outfielder Jake McCarthy. McCarthy is a contact-oriented hitter who can steal bases but has alternated solid and terrible years at the plate. Although he and Julien couldn’t be more different stylistically, it’s a similar roll of the dice on a fringe roster player who has had intermittent big league success.
Those will be the kinds of moves the Rockies will make for the next few years. This isn’t going to be a good team for quite some time. They’re probably headed for another 100-loss season, though their moves on the margins should keep them from repeating last year’s level of futility. The success of this offseason will hinge much more on the front office hires than any of the tinkering with MLB’s worst team.