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Braves Acquire Ryan Rolison

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The Braves have acquired left-hander Ryan Rolison from the Rockies, according to announcements from both clubs. The Rockies, who designated Rolison for assignment yesterday, receive cash considerations in return. Atlanta’s 40-man roster count climbs to 38.

It’s a buy-low move for Atlanta. Rolison was a first-round pick back in 2018, getting selected 22nd overall by the Rockies. He signed with a bonus just north of $2.9MM. He was one of the club’s top prospects in the years after that draft selection but hasn’t yet delivered on his potential.

His trajectory to the majors was thrown off in a few ways. The minor leagues were canceled in 2020 on account of the pandemic. The next few years were curtailed by various injuries, most notably shoulder problems. He was capped at 71 2/3 minor league innings in 2021, missed the entire 2022 season, threw 11 frames in 2023 and then 46 1/3 innings in 2024. He had initially been a starter but has been mostly working out of the bullpen more recently.

In 2025, he finally made it to the show but the results weren’t impressive. He tossed 42 1/3 innings for Colorado this year, allowing 33 earned runs for a 7.02 ERA. His 13% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate were both subpar figures.

If one wanted to look for signs of optimism, his minor league numbers are worth a glance. He tossed 29 2/3 Triple-A innings this year, in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. In that environment, he had a 3.34 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 48.8% ground ball rate.

Rolison got nudged off the roster in Colorado but Atlanta had some space and will give him a shot. He still has an option year remaining, so his new club can keep him in the minors as left-handed depth, if they so choose. His service time count is at two years and 114 days, meaning he still hasn’t qualified for arbitration and can be controlled for four seasons. That could extend to five if he ends up spending a large amount of time on optional assignment.

Atlanta seems to have a fondness for getting relievers out of Colorado. In recent years, they have grabbed guys like Pierce Johnson, Brad Hand and Tyler Kinley to bolster their bullpen group. Now they’ll take a shot on Rolison. His overall track record isn’t great but he’s a former first-rounder who is optionable and controllable, while the cash they gave up is presumably minimal. They also won’t be relying on him as he’s probably seventh or eighth on the lefty relief depth chart behind Aaron Bummer, Dylan Lee, Dylan Dodd, José Suarez, Joey Wentz, Hayden Harris and/or Josh Walker.

Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images

Mets Release Frankie Montas, Select Nick Morabito

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November 19th: Montas has now been released, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

November 18th: The Mets announced that they have designated Frankie Montas for assignment, and the team has requested unconditional release waivers on the right-hander.  The transaction removes Montas from the 40-man roster, allowing the team to select the contract of outfield prospect Nick Morabito in advance of today’s Rule 5 deadline.  The Athletic’s Will Sammon reported on Morabito’s selection earlier today.  Reporter Michael Marino was the first to pass on the news that Montas would be designated for assignment, with SNY’s Andy Martino providing the later update that Montas was being released.

The DFA period is essentially irrelevant since no team will claim or make a trade offer for Montas, who is owed $17MM in 2026 and will miss all or most of the season while recovering from a torn UCL.  As such, today’s move closes the book on Montas’ Queens tenure after less than a year, as he signed his two-year, $34MM free agent deal with the Mets last December.

Montas ended up tossing just 38 2/3 innings over nine appearances in a Mets uniform.  Montas suffered a lat strain in Spring Training and didn’t make his Mets debut until June, and he then struggled to a 6.28 ERA and lost his rotation job.  Even worse injury news emerged in late August, as Montas underwent UCL surgery.  It wasn’t known if Montas had a Tommy John surgery or a brace procedure, but either way, 2026 is going to be another lost year for the veteran righty.

Unsurprisingly, Montas didn’t trigger the opt-out clause after the first year of his contract, and thus he remains on the Mets’ books for a $17MM salary in 2026.  Montas probably won’t land his next contract until next winter, and a minor league deal seems like the next step for a pitcher with such a shaky recent track record.  Beyond his disastrous 2025 season, Montas also appeared in just one game in 2023 due to shoulder surgery, stemming from shoulder issues that led to a rough end to his 2022 campaign.

He recovered to toss 150 2/3 innings of 4.84 ERA ball with the Reds and Brewers in 2024, which was enough to convince the Mets that Montas might be close to regaining his early-career form as a staple of the Athletics rotation.  Instead, the signing will go down as a total bust for David Stearns’ front office, and one of several ill-advised pitching moves that contributed to New York’s disappointing 83-win season.

Morabito was a second-round pick for the Mets in the 2022 draft, and his selection to the 40-man roster means that rival teams won’t be able to select the 22-year-old in December’s Rule 5 Draft.  Known for his excellent speed, Morabito has stolen 130 bases in 160 attempts during his pro career, including 49 swipes for Double-A Binghamton in 2025.  This was Morabito’s first time playing Double-A ball and he hit .273/.348/.385 with six homers and 27 doubles to go along with his impressive stolen-base total.

MLB Pipeline ranks Morabito 16th amongst all Mets prospects, and the scouting report notes that Morabito’s offensive potential is held back by his tendency to hit too many grounders.  His speed can turn some of those grounders into singles, of course, but “elevating on contact will be a big goal…if he is going to have a chance to be more than a speedy, high-contact fourth outfielder.”  Defensively, Morabito is seen as a decent outfielder who can handle all three positions, though his modest throwing arm probably makes right field his least-effective spot on the grass.

Angels Hoping To Add Center Fielder, Third Baseman

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The Angels crossed one item off their winter to-do list last night, adding some potential rotation help by landing righty Grayson Rodriguez in a trade sending Taylor Ward to the Orioles. There’s still plenty of work to be done. The Halos were known to be seeking at least two starting pitchers this winter, and while Rodriguez technically counts toward that end, he’s coming off a season lost to injury and hasn’t pitched in a big league game since July 2024.  He’s said to be healthy now, but even if that’s the case, the Angels can’t simply pencil him in for 30 starts next year.

Anaheim figures to add at least one more starting pitcher, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com, who adds that GM Perry Minasian is also on the hunt for upgrades in center field and at third base. A second base addition hasn’t been squarely ruled out, either. Minasian has already suggested that, all else equal, he’d prefer a new bat in the lineup to be left-handed. Following last night’s trade, he also suggested that moving Ward — and his projected $13.7MM salary — could allow the Angels to swim deeper free agent and/or trade waters.

“It’s not only acquiring somebody we feel like can impact the rotation, but freeing up money to maybe get into areas where we wouldn’t have been able to before,” Minasian said. Rodriguez, notably, is not yet arbitration-eligible and will thus make scarcely more than the league minimum in 2026.

At least one prominent name that fits with the Angels has already come off the board; Trent Grisham, the lefty-swinging center fielder, accepted his qualifying offer and will return to the Yankees next season. The free agent market still includes at least a pair of reasonably affordable names to consider in the infield and in center field: Jorge Polanco and Cedric Mullins. Both hit left-handed — Polanco is a switch-hitter — and both ought to be available for annual rates comparable to, if not lower than what Ward might’ve commanded in free agency.

If the Angels look to take a bigger swing, then Japanese star Munetaka Murakami stands as an option at third base, while Cody Bellinger looms as a viable center field candidate. Neither is a perfect fit. Murakami has significant swing-and-miss issues and is viewed as someone who’ll eventually need to move to first base. The Angels’ 27.1% team strikeout rate was already easily the highest in MLB last year. The Rockies (25.9%) were the only other team north of 25%. Bellinger doesn’t come with those same strikeout concerns (just a 13.7% rate in ’25), but he’s also been more of a part-time center fielder in recent years. He hasn’t played center regularly since 2022 with the Dodgers.

The trade market ought to present other opportunities. Boston’s Jarren Duran has plenty of experience in center field, though he’s primarily played left recently in deference to defensive wizard Ceddanne Rafaela. Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan is no stranger to third base. If the Angels want to follow the Rodriguez mold and add a former top prospect whose stock is down at the moment, someone like D-backs center fielder Alek Thomas or Cardinals third baseman/second baseman Nolan Gorman could likely be had. (Gorman, again, comes with major strikeout concerns, though.)

Whichever path Minasian and his lieutenants opt to pursue, the payroll space should be there. With Ward no longer factoring into next year’s budget, RosterResource projects the Angels for a payroll around $166MM. That’s nearly $50MM shy of last year’s Opening Day mark. They’re also down to one more year of Anthony Rendon’s ill-fated contract. After the 2026 season, the only players guaranteed anything are Mike Trout (signed through 2030) and Yusei Kikuchi (signed only through 2027).

While the Angels’ recent history of long-term deals is checkered at best, there’s room for the club to be aggressive both in terms of offers to free agents and taking on salary in trades. There’s no firm indication yet that they’ll pursue marquee names like Bellinger, Murakami, Alex Bregman, Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai, etc. — but there’s also no real reason to think they can’t make competitive bids for at least one free agent from that bunch, based on the current state of the payroll.

Poll: The Royals’ Second Base Decision

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Just under a year ago, the Royals and Reds made one of the first significant trades of the 2024-25 offseason when Kansas City acquired Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer in exchange for right-hander Brady Singer. The trade made plenty of sense at the time, as the Reds were in need of some reliability in their rotation while the Royals were desperate for offensive upgrades in the lineup. Singer fulfilled his role with the Reds for the most part, pitching to a solid 4.03 ERA in 32 starts. Things haven’t been quite so rosy on the Royals’ side of the equation, as Wiemer did not appear in an MLB game for the organization and India fell well short of expectations.

In 136 games this past year, the 28-year-old India split time between second base, third base, and left field while hitting .233/.323/.346 (89 wRC+). He was essentially a replacement level player, worth 0.4 WAR according Baseball Reference and -0.3 according to Fangraphs. That might sound surprising considering that India was within spitting distance of league average offensively and collected 567 plate appearances, but his defense was atrocious. His -14 Outs Above Average this year was in the first percentile among all qualified fielders, and he drew negative grades at every position he played. His -6 Defensive Runs Saved weren’t quite as ugly but still well below par.

Did India struggle enough that his first year in Kansas City will also be his last? He’s due to go through the arbitration process one final time in 2026, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $7.4MM salary next year. That’s a hefty chunk of change to spend on a replacement level player, especially for a Royals club that doesn’t have much money to spend this winter without first making room in the budget. While Michael Massey’s 57 wRC+ in 77 games was even more disastrous than India’s 2025 campaign, Massey is projected for a salary of just $2MM next year and is controlled through the 2028 season.

It’s undeniable that India had the better numbers of the two and looking at his advanced metrics creates an argument that he could’ve easily been an average or better hitter with a little luck. His 18.7% strikeout rate was actually the lowest of his career, and while a 9.5% walk rate was below his career norms it was still above league average. The big problems for India were that his BABIP dropped twenty points below his career norms while he managed to slug just nine home runs after being consistently good for 15 to 20 homer power during his time with the Reds.

The good news is that India’s expected numbers were stronger than his actual production, so there’s at least some reason to believe he could bounce back a bit in his age-29 season. Some of that reduction in power figures to be due to the difference between Great American Ballpark and Kauffman Stadium, however, as the Reds play at one of the friendliest stadiums in the majors for homers while the Royals undeniably have a pitcher’s park. Meanwhile, Massey’s season offers little in the way of statistical signs that better days on the way, but it’s still worth noting he was a quality player as recently as last year and his 2025 season was marred by multiple injuries, including an ankle sprain and a broken wrist. Perhaps all Massey needs to turn things around for his age-28 season is better health.

If the Royals decided to stick with both players, they’d been committing nearly $10MM to what would essentially be a second base platoon that was below replacement level in 2025. That’s a big gamble given the club’s limited resources, but there aren’t really any safe options at the club’s disposal. Non-tendering both players would leave the team with a hole and a free agent class somewhat thin on mid-tier infield talent (Willi Castro, Miguel Rojas) isn’t likely to provide a substantial upgrade, leaving them to pursue possible trade candidates like Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman. Non-tendering India would free up the majority of that money while still keeping Massey in house as a potential upside option, but it’s unclear if someone who would be better than India would be available at his price tag anyway. Non-tendering Massey would save a modest amount of money but, given his years of control, would only make sense if the team doesn’t believe he’ll be able to rebound. The non-tender deadline is Friday, giving the Royals just a few more days to make a decision.

How do MLBTR readers think the Royals should address second base this winter? Should they go with India, go with Massey, keep both, or send both packing in search of a new answer? Have your say in the poll below:

Blue Jays, Dodgers Interested In Cody Bellinger

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The Yankees are known to have interest in reuniting with Cody Bellinger, even after Trent Grisham accepted the qualifying offer yesterday, but they will have competition. Bellinger has already been connected to the Mets and Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that the Blue Jays and Dodgers have interest in him as well.

Passan notes that the Jays want a left-handed complement to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. They have a few lefties projected to be in next year’s lineup. That includes Addison Barger, Daulton Varsho and Nathan Lukes, but there’s room for improvement there. Barger has shown signs he could be a middle-of-the-order bat but his track record in the majors isn’t especially long yet. Varsho has some home run pop but isn’t an elite hitter overall. Lukes is a pesky, contact-oriented type.

The Jays have already been connected to Kyle Tucker, a lefty swinger who happens to be the top free agent available. Bellinger hasn’t been quite at Tucker’s level for most of the recent past but he is coming off a better platform season. Passan writes that the Jays view Bellinger as an acceptable fallback to Tucker.

Bellinger just had a strong 2025 campaign with the Yankees. He hit 29 home runs while only striking out 13.7% of the time. His .272/.334/.480 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 125. He stole 13 bases and got strong defensive grades, playing all three outfield spots as well as first base.

There were some concerning elements under the hood. None of Bellinger’s 29 home runs went to the opposite field. He had a .302/.365/.544 slash and 152 wRC+ when playing at Yankee Stadium with its short porch in right field. He had a .241/.301/.414 line and 97 wRC+ on the road.

In the past, the market hasn’t always jumped on Bellinger, even when he has put up good numbers. It’s possible that is related to his unimpressive batted ball metrics, which are still present. In 2025, his average exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate were all in the 36th percentile or worse.

Coming off a strong season in 2023, Bellinger reportedly went out looking for $200MM and didn’t find it. He had to settle for a three-year, $80MM deal with opt-outs. His 2024 season was mediocre enough that he didn’t even trigger the first opt-out chance. The Cubs sent him to the Yanks in what was effectively a salary dump deal, though he bounced back enough to trigger his second opt-out.

Observant Jays fans will know that the club has been connected to Bellinger throughout his ups and downs, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that they have him on the radar again. The question will be if they make him a priority with Tucker and Bo Bichette still out there. MLBTR predicted Bellinger to secure $140MM over five years, significantly less than the predictions for Tucker and Bichette but still a hefty commitment.

The Jays have a number of incumbent outfield options but there’s some flexibility in it. In addition to the aforementioned Varsho and Lukes, George Springer and Anthony Santander are likely to be sharing one corner and the designated hitter spot. There’s also guys like Barger and Davis Schneider, though those two are capable of playing the infield. Myles Straw is around as a glove-first bench guy. Signing another outfielder would likely push Lukes to a part-time position and Barger and Schneider to more full-time infield roles.

RosterResource projects the Jays for a payroll of about $233MM next year. That’s more than $20MM shy of their year-end figure in 2025. Getting back to that level would leave room for a notable addition but they would likely have to increase spending to make more than one marquee move. With needs on the pitching side of things as well, they may have to divert some of their recent extra revenue from their playoff run into next year’s team. Perhaps they will put more of a focus on Bichette but Bellinger is a possible fallback and getting both isn’t entirely impossible.

As for the Dodgers, the outfield does stand out as a place for them to add. The roster is obviously in a good place, as they just won the World Series and didn’t lose any major contributors to free agency. But if you’re looking for a place to find weak spots, the grass is a bit patchy. The Michael Conforto signing was a bust. Teoscar Hernández had an uneven season. Andy Pages had a decent year but his bat disappeared in the playoffs. Tommy Edman can play the outfield but is now recovering from ankle surgery and might be needed at second base.

Despite the need, it would be surprising if Bellinger was the solution. He was drafted by the Dodgers and spent the first six seasons of his career there but didn’t seem to part on good terms. Scott Boras, Bellinger’s agent, publicly blamed the Dodgers for Bellinger’s struggles in 2021 and 2022 after shoulder surgery. That prompted Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman to respond and defend the club. Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times was among those to relay the play-by-play of that saga back in 2023.

Given the tension there, perhaps a reunion isn’t especially likely. On the other hand, it’s not as though the situation has prevented the Dodgers and Boras from doing business. Since that spat, the Dodgers have signed Boras clients like Conforto, Blake Snell and James Paxton. If the Dodgers really want Bellinger and are willing to pay, that should win out over past squabbles.

On the other hand, it’s not clear if the Dodgers want to make a big splash in the outfield. They have also been connected to Tucker but with some reporting suggesting they might prefer to make a short-term addition as they wait for their outfield prospects to arrive. Josue De Paula, Zyhir Hope, Mike Sirota and Eduardo Quintero are all outfielders in the system and all four have been on top 100 prospect lists. They aren’t immediate fixes since no one in the quartet has reached Triple-A yet, but the Dodgers might be inclined to wait, as opposed to signing an outfielder to a mega deal. Having just won a second straight title, perhaps there’s less pressure for them to win the offseason.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images

Marlins To Hire Craig Driver As First Base Coach

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The Marlins are hiring Dodgers catching coordinator Craig Driver away as their new first base coach, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid. He’ll replace Tyler Smarslok, who held that role in 2025 but is leaving the organization to become the new field coordinator for the division-rival Nationals, per a report from Andrew Golden and Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post.

Driver is plenty familiar with Marlins skipper Clayton McCullough, with whom he worked during on the Dodgers’ 2024 coaching staff. Driver spent the 2024-25 seasons as L.A.’s catching coordinator. McCullough was the Dodgers’ first base coach from 2021-24. Prior to his time with the Dodgers, Driver spent several seasons as the Cubs’ first base coach and catching coach. He was a bullpen catcher and “receiving coach” with the Phillies for a couple years before heading to Chicago.

A catcher during his NCAA days, Driver went undrafted and jumped into the college coaching ranks upon graduation. His final stint in college ball was in 2016-17, when he was the catching coach at Yale. He’s been working in pro ball since 2018.

Miami’s coaching staff isn’t turning over all that much in 2026. Driver is one of three known newcomers at present, joining newly hired assistant hitting coaches Chris Hess and Corbin Day, who came over from the Red Sox and Twins organizations, respectively, where they’d been minor league coaches/instructors. Last year’s assistant hitting coach, Derek Shomon, left the Fish to take the lead hitting coach job with the White Sox.

MLBTR Podcast: Offseason Preview Megapod: Top 50 Free Agents

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams and Anthony of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Dan Hamilton, Imagn Images

The Stats Behind Some Potential 2026 Hall Of Famers (Sponsored)

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The 2025 season concluded with one of the most thrilling endings in a very long time (unless you are a Blue Jays fan), but now we’re in the Baseball Offseason, with a very long and cold winter ahead of us before there’s more baseball to watch.

We’re also in Hall of Fame season! This winter, BBWAA voters will decide whether any new players will be elected into the Hall. While there’s some exciting first time players on the ballot, there are also some very interesting ones returning for another year.

We’ll use Stathead, the Internet’s #1 Baseball Stats Search Engine, to take a look at three candidates returning to this year’s ballot. Let’s see why, or why not, they deserve a spot in Cooperstown.

Want to do your own research into the players you think deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame? Sign up for Stathead! Your first month is on us!

Carlos Beltrán
Receiving over 70% of the vote in his third year on the ballot, Carlos Beltrán seems like the safest bet for induction in 2026. How did someone with just one top-10 MVP finish in his career become a Hall of Fame lock? Let’s dig into the numbers!

Beltrán provided elite offense at a premium defensive position. From age 21-33, years where his primary position was center field, Beltrán posted an .853 OPS. He had seven seasons with an OPS over .850 while primarily playing center field. In the last 50 years, only four other CFs had more .850 OPS seasons.

Then, there’s Beltrán work in the field. He had four seasons with at least 10 Rfield, the fielding component of WAR. Rfield is scaled to runs, meaning he contributed around 10 runs of value (equivalent to about one win) four separate times in his career. Since 1990, only 38 OFs have done that four times, most of whom don’t have anywhere near the offensive numbers that Beltrán has.

Putting it all together, Beltrán is one of eight OFs in the last 50 years to have three or more seasons with an OPS of .850 and at least 10 Rfield.

Chase Utley
Switching to the infield, Utley scored a respectable 39.8% in last year’s voting. He still has a ways to go to reach election, but the numbers show why his candidacy is growing.

From 2005-09, Utley posted a ridiculous 39.7 WAR. Individually, those were seasons of 7.3, 7.3, 7.8, 9.0, and 8.2. When your worst season in that span is equivalent to Cal Raleigh’s 2025, you must be doing something right.

How to put that in context? There’s a few ways of looking at Utley’s run here:

When you factor that those five seasons all had Utley as a top five player in WAR, something only six other 2B have done, it’s clear that he has a strong case for the Hall thanks to one of the 2000s’ most impressive peaks.

Félix Hernández
Speaking of peaks, Félix Hernández got 20.9% of the vote last year, as voters weighed whether or not his run as arguably the best pitcher in baseball was enough to counteract a career that was shorter than the average Hall of Fame pitcher.

King Félix won one Cy Young and finished in second two more times. In all three seasons, he had an ERA+ of 170 or better, meaning his ERA was 70% better than the average pitcher when you account for league and ballpark.

That, it turns out, is a very rare achievement. Only 11 pitchers in MLB history have had three or more seasons where they threw 200+ innings and posted a 170+ ERA+. Of the 11, six pitched before Integration. The other five? Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martínez, Greg Maddux, and Félix Hernández.

This is a sponsored post from Stathead Baseball.

Randy Jones Passes Away

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The Padres announced Wednesday that two-time All-Star and former National League Cy Young winner Randy Jones has passed away. He was 75 years old. The team issued the following statement:

“With deep sorrow and heavy hearts, the Padres mourn the passing of our beloved left-hander, Randy Jones. Randy was a cornerstone of our franchise for over five decades, highlighted by becoming the first Padres pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame in 1999, his impact and popularity only grew in his post-playing career, becoming a tremendous ambassador for the team and a true fan favorite. Crossing paths with RJ and talking baseball or life was a joy for everyone fortunate enough to spend time with him. Randy was committed to San Diego, the Padres, and his family. He was a giant in our lives and our franchise history. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to his wife Marie and the entire Jones family during this difficult time. RJ will be greatly missed.”

Jones was the Padres’ fifth-round pick in the 1972 draft and was in the majors as a 23-year-old the following season. The Fullerton native, born just about 100 miles north of the city where he’d eventually star on the mound, appeared in 20 games during his rookie season and immediately impressed with a 3.16 earned run average in 139 2/3 innings.

From that point, Jones became a fixture in San Diego’s rotation. A tough 1974 season saw him lead the National League with 22 losses, but he flipped the script in 1975-76, reaching 20 wins in both seasons. Jones logged an NL-best 2.24 ERA in 285 innings during the ’75 season and finished second in Cy Young voting to the legendary Tom Seaver. A year later, it was Jones’ turn to take home the hardware. He tossed an MLB-best 315 1/3 innings, including an incredible 25 complete games (five shutouts) and notched a tidy 2.74 earned run average. Coupled with 22 wins, that performance helped him beat out runners up Jerry Koosman, Don Sutton and Steve Carlton for what would be the lone Cy Young Award of his decade-long career.

Jones spent another four seasons in the Friars’ rotation but never returned to those lofty heights. He averaged 204 frames per season from 1977-80, working to a collective 3.62 ERA along the way. The Padres traded him to the Mets following the 1980 season, and he’d go on to pitch two years in Queens with a 4.69 ERA in 167 innings before being released.

Though Jones’ peak was fairly brief, he was one of the faces of his team in the mid-70s and is fondly remembered by fans for that pair of stellar, Cy Young-caliber seasons in ’75-’76. He retired with exactly 100 wins and a 3.42 earned run average compiled over the course of 1933 innings in the majors. We at MLBTR offer our condolences to the family, friends and countless fans of Jones — and to the entire Padres organization.

Phillies, Liover Peguero Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies have agreed to a minor league contract with former Pirates infielder Liover Peguero, reports Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. He’ll presumably be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee next spring.

Peguero was once a touted young infielder whom the Pirates acquired from the D-backs in exchange for Starling Marte. He’s a former top-100 prospect who was once viewed as a possible shortstop of the future in Pittsburgh. Peguero’s bat has never come around, however. He’s seen action in four big league seasons but has mustered only a .227/.278/.368 slash line in 315 turns at the plate.

Peguero has also looked overmatched at the top minor league level. Outside of a late-2023 cameo in Triple-A where he smacked a pair of homers in 30 promising plate appearances, he’s produced well below-average numbers with the Pirates’ top affiliate in Indianapolis. He’s a .253/.317/.403 hitter in 888 plate appearances there, including a career-worst .247/.313/.375 showing in 75 games with Indy this season. Baseball America and other outlets have lauded his quality defensive tools but also noted a penchant for slipping into poor mechanical stretches that lead to far too many throwing errors.

For the Phillies, Peguero is a simple depth add — a roll of the dice on a former top prospect who doesn’t have a clear path to playing time with the big league club. Peguero could vie for a bench job if he has a big showing in camp, but with Trea Turner and Bryson Stott in the middle infield and Edmundo Sosa in a key utility role, he’ll head to spring training a ways down the depth chart.

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