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MLB To Take Over Broadcasts For Six Additional Teams

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Major League Baseball will take over the broadcasts of six new teams in 2026, reports John Ourand of Puck. The six clubs are the Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Royals, Cardinals and Reds. That represents six of the nine clubs who terminated deals with Main Street Sports last month. That leaves the Braves, Tigers and Angels as the three clubs from that group of nine who still need to formalize broadcast plans for this year.

The company has seemingly been hanging by a thread for a long time. Cord cutting and streaming have been eroding the regional sports network (RSN) model for years. Previously known as Diamond Sports Group and operating under the Bally Sports logo, the company was in bankruptcy for most of 2023 and 2024. When they emerged from bankruptcy late in 2024, they changed the company name and switched to the FanDuel Sports branding. More trouble emerged recently as they reportedly missed payments to several teams, which is what prompted the nine teams to walk away last month.

In recent years, MLB has handled the broadcasts of several other clubs who saw RSN deals collapse. The Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins and Guardians were with the league in 2025. In those instances, the league largely kept TV broadcasts the same, retaining most of the personnel. For fans, this arrangement worked better as it did not involve local blackouts. Customers without cable packages could buy streaming packages directly from the league.

For teams, this expanded viewership but the financial situation wasn’t as good. Instead of a guaranteed fee from the RSN, they instead got a fungible amount of money based on streaming numbers. Clear numbers haven’t been made available but the industry consensus is that teams bring in less money via this model than they did via the previous RSN system. Travis Sawchik of MLB.com says the new model only brings in about 50% of the previous RSN set-up.

This often has on-field implications. Some of those teams, particularly the Padres and Twins, saw their player payrolls decrease in recent years. The lower spending capacity seemingly had an impact on Juan Soto being traded from the Padres to the Yankees a couple of years ago and Carlos Correa getting traded from the Twins to the Astros last summer, among other moves.

It was reported in September that ESPN would be acquiring the local rights for those five teams for the next three years. It’s unclear how that will impact local customers who have been paying the league directly to stream games. Also in September, it was reported that the Mariners would also be moving to the league. Last month, the Nationals announced that they would be moving to the MLB model.

Assuming the league will still be selling streaming packages for the five teams it was handling last year, then the league will have at least 13 teams in its portfolio in the coming season. With three clubs still outstanding, it’s possible MLB could get to more than half the league.

Commissioner Rob Manfred has previously spoken of his desire to market a streaming package like MLB.TV but without local blackouts. Controlling the rights for roughly half the league will make that more viable. Expanding the portfolio even further will be challenging. Most of the larger-market clubs still have pretty healthy RSN situations and would have less interest in jumping into a pooled system with these clubs.

That is part of a broader league strategy that will come into play in the next few years. A large number of the league’s broadcast deals expire after 2028. Manfred’s hope is to maintain as much flexibility as possible until then, at which point he could try to sell companies packages of combined rights. As an example of how this might play out, ESPN’s deal recently fell apart but then MLB pivoted to split it up and sell it to various companies. ESPN bought back some bits and acquired some new ones, while Netflix and NBC/Peacock acquired other components.

It will take a few years to see how that all plays out. In the shorter term, it could impact the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The current CBA expires December 1st of this year. Presumably, MLB doesn’t want those talks to lead to canceled games in 2027. Ratings and attendance have been up lately, with the faster pace of the pitch clock a possible explanation. Missed games due to a lockout would hurt that momentum, which wouldn’t help the league in selling rights the following year.

For fans of the teams involved in today’s news, new information about broadcast options should be forthcoming. The Cardinals already announced their streaming prices, which are $19.99 monthly or $99.99 for the full season. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald outlined the situation for Marlins fans today, with some more details still to be determined.

This could also impact player payroll for some clubs. Though the streaming model is a less certain source of revenue, these teams now at least have some clarity on what kind of money should be coming in this year. As of less than two weeks ago, the Reds were reportedly interested in players like Eugenio Suárez but reluctant to make more moves until they figured out the broadcast puzzle. They reportedly reached an agreement with Suárez yesterday.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

Angels Designate Cody Laweryson For Assignment

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The Angels announced Monday that they’ve designated right-hander Cody Laweryson for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to infielder Yoan Moncada, whose previously reported one-year deal to return to the Halos is now official.

Laweryson was a November waiver claim out of the Twins organization. The 27-year-old (28 in May) made his big league debut this past season when he tossed 7 2/3 innings and held opponents to just one run. The 2019 14th-round pick set down seven of the 26 opponents he faced on strikes (26.9%) and didn’t issue a walk. Laweryson’s fastball sits at an average of 93.2 mph, and he rounds out his repertoire with a cutter and changeup.

That ascension to the majors capped off a strong overall year for the 6’4″ righty. Laweryson split the bulk of the season between Double-A and Triple-A, where he combined for 44 innings of 2.86 ERA ball. He posted better-than-average marks in strikeout rate (24.6%), walk rate (7.7%) and grounder rate (46.3%) in the minors.

Since Laweryson was only selected to the 40-man roster for the first time this past season, he has a full slate of three minor league option years remaining. He can be controlled for at least six full seasons. All of that could make him appealing to clubs looking for some flexible bullpen depth, though it bears mentioning that 2025 was a rebound campaign. Laweryson was tagged for a 4.80 ERA in 50 2/3 innings of Triple-A ball in 2023 and hit even harder (6.52 ERA) in 33 innings of Double-A relief in 2024.

The Angels can trade Laweryson or place him on waivers at any point in the next five days. If they go the waiver route, that’ll be another 48-hour process. His DFA will be resolved in a maximum of one week.

Angels Outright Wade Meckler

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The Angels announced Monday that outfielder Wade Meckler, who’d been designated for assignment last week, went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake. He has neither the three years of MLB service time nor the prior outright needed to elect free agency, so Meckler remain with the club as non-roster depth and presumably be invited to major league camp later this month.

Meckler, 26 in April, was a January waiver claim out of the Giants organization. He has just 20 big league games under his belt, all coming in 2023, when he hit .232/.328/.250 in 64 plate appearances. That cup of coffee came barely a year after he’d been taken in the eighth round of the 2022 draft, so some struggles at the plate weren’t exactly a surprise.

Since that brief 2023 audition, Meckler has spent the bulk of his time in Triple-A, where he’s a .296/.392/.429 hitter in 699 turns at the plate. He’s hit only 11 home runs but is a plus runner with high contact rates and a good eye at the plate. He’s fanned in only 16.7% of his plate appearances in Triple-A — a mark that’s well below the league average and not much higher than his gaudy 13.5% walk rate.

Meckler has played all three outfield spots, and the Giants gave him eight minor league games at second base this past season. He’ll stick with the Halos as a versatile bit of outfield depth. The Angels still don’t have a true center fielder. Jo Adell played there extensively last year but graded very poorly. Jorge Soler is sub-par even in a corner and isn’t an option in center. Trade acquisition Josh Lowe could get some run in center but has been below-average there in the past. The Angels might even try Mike Trout back in center at times this year, but his injury history and defensive decline are well known. Meckler could eventually resurface as an option to bring some speed and a truer center field presence to the roster.

Dipoto: Mariners Working On Another Addition

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Mariners fans holding out hope for a reunion with Eugenio Suárez finally got resolution on that front yesterday when the slugger agreed to a return to a different one of his former homes: Cincinnati. Suárez’s one-year, $15MM deal with the Reds takes another infield option off the board for a Seattle club that has reportedly spent the bulk of the offseason exploring options at both third base and second base. An addition could yet be on the horizon, however. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto hinted strongly on Seattle Sports’ Mariners Hot Stove Show this weekend that another move could yet be in the offing, telling host Shannon Drayer:

“There’s one more move that’s in us, that we want to make, and we’ve been grinding hard for the last handful of days to see if we can bring it through, and hopefully we do. … Our lineup took a huge step forward last year. Obviously we’ll be short a couple of bats that were there with us in Toronto to finish the season, but we get a full year of Josh Naylor. We get the upswing of our players as they get more exposure, especially Cole Young, who I think is going to break out for us this year. And I do hope there’s one more player coming along for the ride that might not be in a Mariners uniform just yet.”

General manager Justin Hollander similarly suggested that it’s “certainly” possible his club makes a move to add a hitter this week, per Adam Jude of the Seattle Times. Jude writes that Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan still feels to be the likeliest target for the M’s, but Hollander stressed that the Mariners are being “open-minded” about ways to improve their lineup.

The fit between Donovan and the Mariners has been explored at length both here and elsewhere, for more than a year. Seattle’s interest into the versatile infielder/outfielder dates back to last offseason. The lefty-swinging Donovan is 29 years old, controllable for two seasons (earning $5.8MM in 2026), can play multiple positions capably (second base, third base, left field) and is a .282/.361/.411 hitter in four big league seasons. Donovan is one of MLB’s toughest strikeouts and is a quality defender who can bounce around depending on which of the Mariners’ young hitters breaks through.

That said, it also bears emphasizing that the Mariners have various spots at which they could pursue an upgrade if they’re indeed “open-minded” to other possibilities, as Hollander indicated. Young is the favorite for at-bats at second base but hit only .211/.302/.305 in 257 plate appearances as a rookie. He’s a former first-round pick and top prospect who’s still only 22, so there’s plenty of reason to be bullish. At the hot corner, Ben Williamson played good defense but hit only .253/.294/.310 in 295 plate appearances. Colt Emerson, one of the top 10 to 20 prospects in the entire sport, looms in the upper minors but only turned 20 last summer. He topped out with six games in Triple-A late last year and could be a third base option later this season.

At the moment, the DH spot will primarily be occupied by a combination of Dominic Canzone, Luke Raley and (on days when he’s not catching) MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh. Canzone was excellent with the M’s in 82 games last year (.300/.358/.481) but needed a .354 average on balls in play to get there and has no prior big league track record. Raley struggled through injuries and a downturn in performance but was a quality platoon slugger for Tampa Bay and Seattle in 2023-24.

There’s also some uncertainty in right field. Victor Robles was terrific down the stretch for the Mariners in 2024 but missed most of last year due to a shoulder injury and hit just .245/.281/.330 in 114 plate appearances when healthy. Canzone and Raley can also factor in out there, as can free agent pickup Rob Refsnyder, but there’s room for an addition there as well, be it via trade or a largely-picked over free agent class.

The flexibility to bring in someone at multiple infield positions or as part of the DH/right field mix creates a wide range of possibilities. Notable names who’ve yet to sign for the upcoming season include Miguel Andujar, Rhys Hoskins, Nathaniel Lowe and Marcell Ozuna (to name a few). Donovan is the most prominent name on the trade market, but the Nationals (CJ Abrams), Red Sox (Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu) and Mets (Mark Vientos, Brett Baty) are among the clubs who have had some prominent players’ names surface on the rumor circuit throughout the winter.

Currently, RosterResource projects a roughly $157MM for the Mariners’ Opening Day payroll. That’s north of last year’s mark by about $10MM but shy of where Seattle ended the season, following deadline pickups of Suárez, Naylor and Caleb Ferguson. Seattle’s franchise-record Opening Day mark was about $158MM back in 2018. Given this past season’s deep playoff run and the clear win-now mode in which they find themselves, ownership will presumably be comfortable with a new record mark for Opening Day, though there’s no firm indication yet as to how far past the current $158MM record they’re willing to push.

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White Sox Notes: Hicks, Sandlin, Leasure

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The White Sox pulled off another significant transaction yesterday, acquiring right-handers Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin, two players to be named later, and $8MM in cash (to help cover Hicks’ $24MM salary) for pitching prospect Gage Ziehl and a player to be named later.  It is the third notable move in four days for Chicago, after the Pale Hose signed Seranthony Dominguez and Austin Hays to free agent contracts.

Between the $12MM owed to Hicks in 2026, Hays’ $6MM guarantee in a one-year deal, and the $8MM allotted for Dominguez in the first season of his two-year, $20MM contract, it adds up to a $26MM outlay for the White Sox on this trio for the upcoming season. It’s a pretty close match for the $20MM Chicago had committed to Luis Robert Jr. before the outfielder and his contract were dealt to the Mets on January 20.

“With the payroll flexibility that we gained through that move, we wanted to utilize that money toward players that could help us for the long term as we continue to take the next step.  There are different avenues to do that,” White Sox GM Chris Getz told reporters (including SoxMachine’s James Fegan and MLB.com’s Scott Merkin), further noting that “adding a Sandlin is essentially part of a Luis Robert return.”

That’s a bit of a eyebrow-raising comment, given that Chicago’s payroll currently sits at a paltry $85.5MM, per RosterResource.  To suggest that Sandlin’s acquisition was only possible in conjunction with a Robert trade would imply that the Chicago-based club can’t support a payroll that includes Robert, Dominguez, Hays and Hicks — but that would’ve only pushed the payroll to around $105MM.  Perhaps owner Jerry Reinsdorf truly won’t green-light a payroll north of $100MM at present, but the South Siders trotted out a $181MM Opening Day payroll as recently as 2023 (and $193MM in 2022).  Getz’s assertion that Sandlin is indirectly part of the Robert return is either a case of some serious spin or an eye-opening acknowledgement of severe budget restrictions put in place by Reinsdorf.

Regardless,  it seems that Sandlin has been on Chicago’s radar for a good while now, and Getz views the hard-throwing right-hander as someone who’s “going to come into Spring Training and compete for a spot” in the team’s rotation.  Sandlin has only 23 2/3 Triple-A innings to his name, and he struggled to a 7.61 ERA during that brief stint with Triple-A Worcester in 2025.  Even if he doesn’t crack the club’s Opening Day rotation, it’s perfectly plausible that he’ll be an option to join the staff later in the season as he gets more experience at the top minor league level.

Beyond this young arm in Sandlin, Hicks brings some experience to the pitching staff, though he’s a pure rebound candidate.  The righty posted a 6.95 ERA across 67 1/3 innings with the Giants and Red Sox in 2025, with subpar strikeout (18.5%) and walk (10.2%) rates.  Hicks’ 4.41 SIERA also wasn’t great but is a better reflection of his performance, since it factored in some bad batted-ball luck, as the grounder specialist was hurt by a .352 average on balls in play.

Health was also a factor. Hicks spent a little under two months on the injured list dealing with toe inflammation and then tendinitis in his throwing shoulder.  On this front, Hicks told media that he has recovered well, and is up to throwing 99.5mph in a recent bullpen session. “My body’s in a great place, probably the best it’s been since 2023,” Hicks said.  “I’m fit for whatever role that the team needs me in.  I think that I can do very well in both [starting and relieving].  I’m just excited for the opportunity mostly, and ready to get back on the field.”

For now, the White Sox plan to use Hicks as a relief pitcher, Getz stated.  This isn’t surprising given how Hicks struggled as a starter with the Giants and was converted back to relief work partway through each of the last two seasons.  Hicks has spent the bulk of his career in the ’pen and had better results as a reliever than as a starter.

Speaking of relief pitchers, the White Sox discussed another reliever during their negotiations with the Red Sox.  MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports that the two sides “had serious discussions” about including Jordan Leasure in the deal before the Red Sox instead went with Ziehl as the named player in the two-player return.

Whereas Ziehl has yet to reach Triple-A, the 27-year-old Leasure has two seasons of MLB experience, with 101 games for Chicago.  Leasure made his debut in 2024 and posted a 6.32 ERA over 31 1/3 innings, but improved on that mark significantly with a 3.92 ERA and 30.1% strikeout rate over 64 1/3 frames in 2025.  The right-hander’s 11.2% walk rate was still on the high side, but a step up from Leasure’s 12.7 BB% in 2024.

There’s no real reason to think Chicago is actively shopping Leasure, but it’s of some note that they at least considered it — particularly with how many clubs around the league are looking for affordable bullpen help.  Leasure will pitch the bulk of the upcoming season at 27 (28 in mid-August), has a pair of minor league options remaining, and won’t be arbitration-eligible until next offseason, when he’ll likely be a Super Two player.

The Opener: Red Sox, First Base, Arbitration Hearings

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. What’s next for the Red Sox?

The Red Sox swung a trade to clear space in their budget and on the 40-man roster when they shipped right-hander Jordan Hicks, pitching prospect David Sandlin and $8MM cash and two players to be named later in exchange for Gage Ziehl and a player to be named later. Getting the majority of Hicks’ salary for the next two seasons of the books has allowed them to squeak back under the second tier of the luxury, but the team has still yet to replace Alex Bregman on the infield. Marcelo Mayer poised to play either second or third base depending on where a new addition would play, but options are dwindling after both Luis Arraez and Eugenio Suarez signed over the weekend. How will Boston address its biggest remaining need?

2. First base market heating up?

While every hitter in our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list has signed after Suarez reached a deal with the Reds yesterday, there are still a number of interesting bats on the market. Specifically, the first base market has remained rather quiet throughout the winter, leaving players such as Paul Goldschmidt and Rhys Hoskins unsigned. Recently, that market has appeared to heat up. The Diamondbacks are reportedly interested in adding a first baseman, and yesterday they were connected to switch-hitting veteran Carlos Santana and also said to have interest in Ty France. Arizona’s division rivals in San Diego are also looking for help in their first/base DH mix and have interest in France, who is drawing interest from both New York clubs as well. Wilmer Flores, Nathaniel Lowe, and Rowdy Tellez are among the other noteworthy options still available. With Arraez and Suarez off the board, is the market heating up for some of these corner bats?

3. Arbitration hearings underway:

Arbitration hearings kicked off late last week, and the Associated Press reports two such hearings have occurred so far: one between right-hander Edwin Uceta and the Rays, and one between left-hander Dylan Lee and the Braves. The decision from those arbitration hearings is typically not immediately announced; Uceta’s is being withheld until other cases have resolved, while Lee’s is expected to be announced at some point next week. After first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino avoided arbitration last week, 12 more players are scheduled for arbitration hearings. The most notable among those is two-time AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal, who is facing a massive $13MM gap between his filing figure and that of the Tigers. Arbitration hearings are scheduled to run through February 13.

Reds Sign Eugenio Suarez

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Eugenio Suarez is returning to Cincinnati, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that the slugger has signed a one-year, $15MM deal with the Reds that includes a mutual option for the 2027 season.  Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the option is worth $16MM, though mutual options are rarely triggered by both sides.  The deal will become official once the Reds clear a spot on their 40-man roster, and presumably when Suarez passes a physical.  Suarez is represented by Octagon.

Reports emerged last week that the Reds had interest in a reunion with the third baseman, who hit .253/.335/.476 with 189 homers over 3730 plate appearances during the 2015-21 seasons.  The continued uncertainty over the Reds’ broadcast deal with Main Street Sports was said to be a holdup for the team in how much money they had available to pursue Suarez or other targets like Austin Hays (who signed with the White Sox yesterday).

With an agreement now in place with Suarez, it could be that the Reds have gotten some clarity about how they’ll proceed with MSS or perhaps a new broadcasting agreement with Major League Baseball itself.  Alternatively, Suarez’s acceptance of just a one-year deal and arguably a discount price may be another reason why the two sides were able to line up on a contract.

MLB Trade Rumors ranked Suarez 20th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents, and projected him for a three-year, $63MM deal.  The one-year, $15MM pact falls well short of that prediction in both years and average annual value, as it could be teams were wary of making a larger commitment to a strikeout-prone player who turns 35 in July.  Suarez’s third base glovework also dropped in 2025, as he posted -6 Defensive Runs Saved and -3 Outs Above Average.

With the bat, however, Suarez hit 49 home runs in 2025, matching his career high set with the Reds in 2019.  Suarez’s overall slash line of .228/.298/.526 reflects his power-heavy output, as he delivered a below-average walk rate for the second consecutive season.  Though Suarez’s 29.8% strikeout rate put him in the fifth percentile of all batters, he maxed out when he did make contact, with strong hard-contact and barrel rates.

It has been a strange two-season run for Suarez, who sandwiched a superstar-level campaign in between two mediocre half-seasons.  Suarez had only a .591 OPS over his first 315 PA of the 2024 season with the Diamondbacks, before he caught fire and hit .276/.336/.593 with 60 homers over 766 PA from July 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025.  Unfortunately, Suarez then drastically cooled off after he was dealt to the Mariners at the trade deadline, but he somewhat rebounded to get some key hits during Seattle’s postseason run to Game 7 of the ALCS.

This rather extreme streakiness could be another reason Suarez’s market never really took off this winter, as teams were justifiably not sure exactly which version of Suarez they’d get in his 13th big league season.  The Mariners had some interest in a reunion, and other teams like the Cubs, Red Sox, and Pirates were also linked to the slugger.

Pittsburgh was the other finalist for Suarez’s services, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.  As per MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf and Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates were willing to offer a $15MM average annual salary to Suarez and also offered him a second guaranteed year.  In taking just a one-year contract, Suarez seems to be hoping to fully re-establish his market by having a big season in 2026 and then re-entering free agency next winter.  It was also very likely to Cincinnati’s benefit that Suarez is already very familiar with the organization from his previous seven-year run in the Queen City.

While the Pirates are on the way up, Suarez may have been more interested in joining a Reds team that actually did make the playoffs in 2025.  Cincinnati reached the postseason on the strength of its rotation, as the lineup was average at best in most offensive categories, and 21st of 30 teams in home runs.  Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer combined for 43 homers as the Reds’ top two home-run hitters in 2025, so Suarez alone tops that total.

Suarez steps right into an everyday role in the Reds’ lineup, though it will be interesting to see where exactly Suarez is deployed.  Ke’Bryan Hayes is arguably the best defensive third baseman in the game, so Suarez is more likely to see a lot of action as a DH and possibly at first base.  Suarez’s MLB history as a first baseman consists of just three late-game appearances, all of which came last year.  The Reds will surely give Suarez plenty of time at the position this spring to see how Suarez fares at the cold corner, and Steer and Sal Stewart will also receive at-bats in the first base/DH mix.  Stewart can also play some second base and Steer could play left field, with Steer’s right-handed bat complementing the left-handed hitting JJ Bleday on the grass.

Bleday and Dane Myers were the only notable offensive adds the Reds made prior to today, with the two outfielders more or less replacing Hays and Gavin Lux (who was dealt to the Rays as part of the three-team deal with the Angels that brought reliever Brock Burke to Cincinnati).  Suarez now represents a major boost to the Reds’ lineup, and a source of stability on a team that is still waiting to see what it has in players like Steer, Stewart, Matt McLain, or Noelvi Marte.  Even De La Cruz was more good than great in 2025, but EDLC figures to benefit with Suarez providing protection behind him in the lineup.

RosterResource estimates a $126.1MM payroll for the Reds at the moment, which is a minor increase over their $118.7MM figure from the 2025 season.  President of baseball operations Nick Krall said in early November that the Reds would be spending at “around the same” levels as 2025, so it could be that the team is essentially done with significant offseason moves unless they can unload some salary.

This could again change depending on what happens with the Reds’ broadcast deal, or ownership might potentially green-light some more spending either now or during the season (perhaps once some ticket revenue starts rolling in).  The Reds seem to be well-positioned to make another run at a postseason berth in 2026, even though within the NL Central alone, the Pirates will be better and the Brewers and Cubs each figure to keep battling for the division crown.

Inset photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear — Imagn Images

Multiple Teams Interested In Ty France

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The Diamondbacks, Mets, Padres, and Yankees are among the teams who have shown interest in Ty France, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.  The free agent first baseman won the AL Gold Glove Award last season, though he hit only .257/.320/.360 with seven homers over 490 plate appearances with the Twins and Blue Jays.

After batting .285/.355/.443 over 1418 PA during the 2020-22 seasons, France went from a 129 wRC+ over those three years to a 106 wRC+ in 2023, and a 93 wRC+ over the last two seasons.  France has still been making contact at an above-average rate, but his hard-contact rates are middling at best and he has never taken many walks.  Defensively, France’s glovework had cratered in the view of public metrics before he rebounded out of nowhere to post +10 Outs Above Average and +9 Defensive Runs Saved over 976 2/3 innings at first base in 2025, resulting in his first Gold Glove.

France is a right-handed hitter without a platoon split, as his numbers against right-handed and left-handed pitching are basically identical over his career.  Teams in the market for a right-handed hitting first base complement might prefer more of a clear-cut righty masher, though France’s newfound defensive capability is a bonus.

The Yankees have Ben Rice (a lefty bat) lined up as the starting first baseman and Giancarlo Stanton is locked into the DH role.  Some more at-bats could be available on the days when Rice is playing catcher, but France would be used in a strict part-time capacity if he went to the Bronx.  The same would be true in Queens, as the Mets plan to use Jorge Polanco as the starting first baseman, plus Mark Vientos and Brett Baty will be either at DH, or in the field when Polanco or any of the other Mets veterans are getting a DH day.  Having an experienced first baseman like France would be helpful for the Mets, considering that Polanco has played only one MLB game at first base.

The left-handed hitting Pavin Smith will get the bulk of Arizona’s first base work, but between a platoon first base role and an open DH spot, France would have more opportunity for playing time with the Diamondbacks.  Such names as Paul Goldschmidt and Carlos Santana have also been linked to the D’Backs this winter as part of the team’s ongoing search for first base help.

Signing with the Padres would be a homecoming moment for France, a SoCal product who played college ball at San Diego State.  France began his pro career as a 34th-round pick for the Padres in the 2015 draft, and he spent parts of his first two MLB seasons with the Friars before he was dealt to the Mariners as part of a seven-player trade at the 2020 deadline.

Returning to San Diego at age 31 would line France up as a right-handed complement within a surplus of left-handed bats vying for time on the right side of the Padres’ infield.  Jake Cronenworth, Sung Mun Song, Will Wagner, and Gavin Sheets are all lefty swingers, and the Padres have no set DH.  Sheets is projected to be the starting first baseman with Cronenworth perhaps being the favorite for DH duty and Song bouncing around to multiple positions, but there’s plenty in flux as the Padres figure things out.  Song is getting his first taste of Major League action after nine seasons in the KBO League, and an oblique injury could delay the start of his inaugural MLB campaign.

Orioles Acquire Bryan Ramos, Designate Weston Wilson

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The Orioles have acquired infielder Bryan Ramos from the White Sox, according to reporter Francys Romero.  Baltimore has officially announced the trade, and the Sox will get cash considerations in return.  To open up a 40-man spot for Ramos, the Orioles designated Weston Wilson for assignment.

Ramos was designated for assignment three days ago when the Sox themselves needed to create 40-man space for the newly-signed Seranthony Dominguez.  Ramos’ stint in DFA limbo didn’t last long, and he’ll now change organizations for the first time in his career, as the infielder was an international signing for the White Sox back in 2018.  He started to make waves as a prospect during the 2022-23 seasons, and he made his MLB debut in 2024, posting a .586 OPS over 108 plate appearances for Chicago.

This uninspiring performance seemed to drop Ramos down the depth chart, even on a rebuilding White Sox team.  He appeared in just four big league games in 2025, bringing his overall slash line to .198/.244/.333 in 120 PA against Major League pitching.  While Ramos’ numbers (.235/.321/.404 in 705 PA) at Triple-A Charlotte are more respectable, they’re underwhelming considering that Charlotte plays in one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in the minors.

Ramos has played only third base in the majors, and the hot corner has also been his primary position during his minor league career.  However, Ramos has increased his versatility by playing some second base and a handful of games as a first baseman and left fielder, as becoming more of a utilityman will help Ramos in his attempts to return to the majors.

Wilson is a more established utilityman who has seen some time at first base, second base, third base, and all three outfield positions over his 100 career Major League games, all with the Phillies from 2023-25.  Wilson has also shown more at the plate, with a .242/.328/.428 and nine homers over 245 PA.  Most of that production came in Wilson’s first two seasons, and since he had only a .652 OPS over 125 PA in 2025, the Phils decided to move on by DFA’ing Wilson in late January.

The Orioles made a claim a few days later, but have now sent Wilson back to the waiver wire in relatively short order.  This is something of the way of life for players like Wilson or Ramos who are out of minor league options, and Baltimore is particularly aggressive in constantly churning the back end of its 40-man roster, with the idea that the O’s can add minor league depth by sneaking enough players through the outright process.  Assuming Wilson isn’t claimed again, the Orioles can outright him to Triple-A since Wilson doesn’t have enough service time to reject an outright assignment.

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