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Orioles Claim Will Robertson, Drew Romo

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The Orioles have claimed outfielder Will Robertson off waivers from the Pirates, according to Jake Rill of MLB.com. The O’s have also claimed catcher Drew Romo off waivers from the Rockies, according to an announcement from Colorado. There wasn’t any previous indication these players were on the wire but it appears their respective clubs tried to sneak them through waivers in order to open 40-man spots. Baltimore’s 40-man had a vacancy but they will need to open one spot to make these two claims.

Robertson, 28 this month, is a popular bet for a late-bloomer breakout. This is the fourth roster he’s been on in the past six months. A fourth-round pick of the Blue Jays back 2019, he wasn’t really on the prospect radar as he climbed the minor league ladder. He would show some occasional pop but also struck out about 30% of the time, which limited his overall offensive production. He has occasionally played in center field but has mostly been a corner-only guy, meaning he needs to hit to provide value.

He seemed to find another gear in 2025. He put up good numbers in Triple-A to start the year, enough that the Jays called him up to the big leagues in June. He was designated for assignment in July and went to the White Sox in a cash deal. Between the Jays and the Sox, he hit just .129/.173/.143 in the majors, but in a tiny sample of just 75 plate appearances.

In his 354 Triple-A plate appearances between the two clubs, he lowered his strikeout rate to 24.9%, still a high number but a nice drop for him personally. He also drew walks at a strong 13.6% clip and hit 20 home runs. All told, he had a .289/.387/.571 line at Triple-A this year. That production translates to a 148 wRC+, indicating he was 48% above league average at that level.

Despite that strong production, his age and lack of prospect pedigree make him a fringe roster player. The White Sox put Robertson on waivers in October. The Pirates claimed him and held him for a couple of months before trying to pass him through waivers themselves. The Orioles have swooped in to grab him.

His path to playing time in Baltimore isn’t great right now. The Orioles have an outfield mix that consists of Taylor Ward, Tyler O’Neill, Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers, Jeremiah Jackson, Leody Taveras, Heston Kjerstad, Reed Trimble and others. Robertson still has options, so he can be stashed in Triple-A as depth, but the Orioles often claim players off waivers and then later try to pass them through themselves. If they were to try that with Robertson at a later date and succeed, they could keep him in the system in a non-roster capacity.

More to come.

Pirates Claim Marco Luciano

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The Pirates have claimed infielder/outfielder Marco Luciano off waivers from the Giants, per a team announcement. Pittsburgh’s claim of the former top prospect fills their 40-man roster. The Giants hadn’t previously announced a DFA for Luciano but were clearly trying to pass him through waivers to free up some roster space.

Originally signed as a teenager out of his native Dominican Republic, the now-24-year-old Luciano spent five consecutive seasons on Baseball America’s top-100 prospect lists, topping out at No. 12 in the game in the 2020-21 offseason. He was a steady producer throughout much of his time in the low minors, but Luciano’s bat stalled out in Triple-A and strikeouts have become a major concern.

In 226 games (1017 plate appearances) at the Triple-A level, Luciano has managed only a .227/.351/.401 batting line — despite those plate appearances coming in an exorbitantly hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League environment. He’s also struck out an alarming 29.6% of the time in Triple-A, including a 30.6% clip this past season. He hasn’t fared any better in brief major league looks, hitting a combined .217/.286/.304 with a 35.7% strikeout rate in 126 plate appearances between the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He spent all of 2025 in Triple-A.

Luciano was at one point considered the potential shortstop of the future in San Francisco — an heir to longtime shortstop Brandon Crawford. The Giants began to shift away from that possibility in 2024 when they got Luciano some time at second base in Triple-A. Last offseason’s signing of Willy Adames to a seven-year deal officially pulled the plug on any hope that Luciano could eventually claim that spot. The Giants gave him one Triple-A game at first base in 2025 and otherwise played him exclusively as a left fielder or designated hitter.

Luciano is out of minor league options, so the Pirates won’t be able to send him to Triple-A without first passing him through waivers themselves. If he makes it to spring training on the 40-man roster, he’ll have a chance to claim a bench role in Pittsburgh if he can put together a strong performance during Grapefruit League play.

The Pirates don’t have set options at shortstop, second base or in left field, so Luciano could theoretically compete for playing time at any of those spots — though Pittsburgh’s press release announcing the move referred to him solely as an outfielder. He’ll join newly acquired Jhostynxon Garcia as a righty-swinging corner outfield option on the depth chart, though Garcia has a far better chance of carving out regular playing time.

Braves Claim Osvaldo Bido, Anthony Molina

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The Braves announced that they have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Athletics and fellow righty Anthony Molina off waivers from the Rockies. They had one 40-man spot available and opened another by designating left-hander Josh Walker for assignment.

More to come.

Twins Planning To Keep Joe Ryan, Byron Buxton, Pablo López

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The Twins just underwent a big sell-off at the summer trade deadline. That led to plenty of speculation about further selling this winter but that appears not to be in the cards. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the club plans to hold onto trade candidates like Joe Ryan, Byron Buxton and Pablo López as they try to return to contention in 2026. Rosenthal doesn’t mention Ryan Jeffers but this presumably applies to him as well.

Minnesota was in contention for a decent amount of the 2025 season. They fell down the standings in the summer and pivoted into seller position ahead of the July deadline. Many expected them to do modest selling of impending free agents but they went far deeper than that. They flipped controllable relievers Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland and Brock Stewart. They also sent infielder Carlos Correa back to Houston, an effective salary dump. It was clearly financially motivated from the get-go and then the player they acquired in return, pitcher Matt Mikulski, was released in October.

After such an aggressive teardown, the expectation has been that they would continue selling this winter. Ryan, López and Buxton were all the subject of trade rumors. Buxton and López are the two highest-paid players on the team but would still be attractive to other clubs. Buxton is signed through 2028 and López 2027. Ryan isn’t expensive, as he’s still in his arbitration seasons. But with just two years of club control, he wouldn’t fit on a rebuilding club. With his modest projected salary, he likely would have had the highest trade value of the trio. Jeffers is an impending free agent and would have found lots of interest, especially considering the weak catching market.

There were at least some signs that the Twins didn’t plan for their deadline sell-off to lead to multi-year rebuilding project. Their returns in their summer trades were largely major league-ready players and upper level prospects. Across various trades, they acquired Mick Abel, Taj Bradley, Alan Roden, James Outman and Kendry Rojas, among others. The first four of those guys already had some major league experience. Rojas still hasn’t appeared in the big leagues but reached the Triple-A level prior to being acquired. If the club were planning a yearslong rebuilding effort, those would have been odd choices.

In the background of all this was the Pohlad family looking to sell the club, something they announced in October of 2024. But in August of 2025, just a few weeks after the deadline, it was announced that the family was taking the club off the market. They would instead be taking on some minority partners, whose investments would help the club deal with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.

As the winter began, many still expected the club to be selling this winter. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey pushed back on that a bit in November, saying that he had not yet been given any directions about further lowering the payroll and that his plans would be to add to the 2026 roster until told otherwise.

None of their moves this offseason have clearly pushed them in one direction or another. They have made a few very small trades, having picked up relief pitcher Eric Orze and catcher Alex Jackson. But now it seems the club has picked a lane and will be trying to put their best foot forward in 2026.

Perhaps the heavy lifting on the financial front was accomplished at the deadline, primarily by the Correa deal. The situation with the new investors is still a bit foggy but it’s possible the debt is gone or least a much smaller concern. RosterResource projects the Twins for a payroll of $96MM next year, about $40MM below where they finished in 2025. They may not get all the way back to those 2025 levels but it doesn’t seem there’s any need to further subtract. Rosenthal’s source says the club has “mild flexibility” to make additions. The Twins already have one of the top farm systems in the league, so perhaps adding more prospects to the stockpile isn’t a high priority.

Though the Twins believe they can contend in 2026, they will have work to do. The rotation looks to be in decent shape. In addition to Ryan and López, they have Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Abel, Bradley, Rojas and others. But the lineup was subpar last year. In addition to Correa, they also traded impending free agents Harrison Bader, Ty France and Willi Castro. They traded almost their entire bullpen and will have a big to-do list there.

Before even considering the flexibility to make external additions, they will need internal improvements. In the lineup, guys like Royce Lewis, Luke Keaschall, Brooks Lee and other young players will need to either break out or return to form. It will be a similar situation for rotation options like Ober, Matthews, Festa, Abel and Bradley.

This is also a big development for other teams. Many of the other 29 clubs surely would have been calling about Ryan, López, Buxton and others if the Twins were going to continue to sell. If those players aren’t available, that could have domino effects elsewhere. Demand for the remaining free agents should increase somewhat. The same should apply for players that are available in trades, such as MacKenzie Gore of the Nationals or various players on the Cardinals.

It’s an interesting shake-up to the offseason. For the Twins, they will keep their top guys and see how things go in 2026. If they fall short in their attempt to compete, they could pivot to trading these players at the deadline. As mentioned, they have a strong farm system already, so perhaps returning to contention in 2027 would be possible even if 2026 comes up a bit short. For now, it dries up the trade market for other clubs, as the Twins will look for ways to utilize the bit of payroll flexibility they have.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images

Giants, Angels, Tigers Among Teams Interested In Zac Gallen

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Right-hander Zac Gallen didn’t have the platform season he envisioned heading into free agency, but the former Cy Young finalist and All-Star nevertheless turned down a qualifying offer from the D-backs and hit the open market last month. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Giants have had conversations with Gallen’s camp (video link). MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adds the Angels and Tigers to the list of teams with interest in Gallen. He also indicates that the Orioles, Cubs and Braves have at least looked into Gallen. Meanwhile, John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports recently suggested a D-backs reunion was unlikely.

Gallen, who turned 30 in August, struggled through four brutal months to begin the 2025 season but ended with a flourish. Through the time of the trade deadline, the right-hander was lugging a 5.60 ERA toward the finish line. That ugly ERA came despite roughly average strikeout and walk rates (22.1% and 8.6%, respectively). He was getting hammered by the long ball, yielding 23 homers in his first 127 frames of the season (1.63 HR/9).

From August onward, Gallen looked more like his typical self. His strikeout rate dipped two percentage points, to a below-average 20.3%, but his walk rate improved to 7.1%. Most importantly, he cut back on the home runs. Gallen yielded just eight round-trippers in his final 65 innings — a rate of 1.11 per nine innings, which falls far more closely in line with his career mark (1.05).

Even with a 3.32 earned run average over his final 11 starts, Gallen closed out the year with an unsightly 4.83 ERA overall. It’s not a strong mark, but Gallen and Boras are surely hoping that track record and impeccable durability will carry his market. Gallen started 33 games in 2025 and is tied with Jose Berrios for the fourth-most starts in MLB (126) dating back to 2022. His 734 innings rank third in the sport during that time, trailing only Logan Webb and Framber Valdez. Gallen has only been on the major league injured list three times in his career — a pair of short stints due to hamstring strains in 2024 and 2021 and a month-long IL stay for a mild elbow sprain back in ’21.

The Giants are a sensible fit. They’re looking for rotation help but not keen on handing out the type of six- and seven-year deals we’ll see for many of the market’s top names. Giants brass has seen him more than most pitchers over the years, as an ultra-durable stalwart in a division rival’s rotation. President of baseball operations Buster Posey even personally faced Gallen eight times, going 2-for-6 with a pair of walks and a home run.

San Francisco has the aforementioned Webb atop the rotation and signed through 2028. No. 2 starter Robbie Ray is signed only through the 2026 season. Right-hander Landen Roupp positioned himself for a rotation spot with a nice showing through 22 starts in his age-26 season. Other candidates at the moment include Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, Kai-Wei Teng, Trevor McDonald and Carson Seymour. It’s a fine collection of depth, but there’s also plenty of uncertainty (hence the focus on rotation upgrades).

Gallen wouldn’t need to be the Giants’ ace but would give them a reliable source of innings and a big track record on which to dream. The Giants’ projected payroll, per RosterResource, is a bit under $169MM. That’s right about the same level at which they opened the 2025 season, but Giants ownership has topped $200MM payrolls in the past — even as recently as 2024. There’s room to add to the budget.

The Angels’ projected payroll is in a near-identical spot to that of the Giants, but the Angels trotted out a $203MM Opening Day mark just this past season. Mike Trout and Yusei Kikuchi are the only players signed beyond the 2026 season, and only Trout is signed beyond 2027.

In Anaheim, Gallen would join a rotation currently fronted by Kikuchi and Jose Soriano. Beyond that duo, the Angels are likely to give former top prospect Reid Detmers, who had a strong season in the bullpen in ’25, another look in the rotation next season. They’ve also acquired Grayson Rodriguez from the Orioles and signed Alek Manoah to a one-year deal this winter. Former top prospect Caden Dana headlines the depth options — a group also including Mitch Farris, Sam Aldegheri, Walbert Urena, Jack Kochanowicz and prospect George Klassen, who has not yet been added to the 40-man roster. There are some talented arms in the mix, but as with the Giants, the Halos simply lack stability behind a pair of generally established veterans atop the rotation.

Over in Detroit, the Tigers have some more stability but less depth. Having the best pitcher on the planet on the roster is a nice start, of course, and the Tigers can follow Tarik Skubal with Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Reese Olson and sophomore Troy Melton. Adding Gallen would push Melton to the top depth option, presumably in Triple-A, alongside Keider Monero, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Ty Madden and prospect Jaden Hamm (not yet on the 40-man roster).

The Tigers have one of the cleanest long-term payroll sheets of any club in MLB. Javier Baez’s six-year contract runs through 2027. He and Colt Keith — playing on a six-year, $28.6425MM extension — are the only two players guaranteed anything beyond the 2026 season. Adding Gallen would give the Tigers some 2026 stability and protect them in the event that Skubal, Flaherty and/or Mize all depart in free agency next winter.

The other clubs listed by Feinsand are all known to be in the market for rotation help, too, so none of the bunch is particularly surprising. It’d be out of character for the Braves to sign Gallen, unless his market collapses and he signs a short-term pillow deal (either one year or two years with an opt-out). Atlanta hasn’t given more than $30MM to a free agent starting pitcher under president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos. The Orioles are likely searching for ceiling over stability, so unless they’re confident they can get Gallen back to his 2022-23 form, he’s probably not Plan A or B in Baltimore. The Cubs are already counting on one bounceback from a notable starter (Shota Imanaga), though Gallen fits the spending profile they’ve pursued in offseasons more than the other names at the top of the market.

Even coming off a down year, Gallen will likely find a multi-year pact. Even if he prefers to bet on himself with a shorter-term deal, he’s precisely the type of former All-Star for whom the Boras Corporation has frequently negotiated two-year deals with opt-out pacts. We predicted a four-year deal for Gallen on our annual ranking of the sport’s Top 50 free agents, believing that the market will value his durability and track record enough to get him paid nicely — albeit not to the extent he’d have enjoyed coming off a more typical season. Gallen will presumably be presented a variety of contract structures, many of which will have opt-out opportunities or convoluted multi-year player and club options alike. The deal he ultimately accepts will hinge on his personal level of risk aversion.

Mets Claim Cooper Criswell

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The Mets have claimed righty Cooper Criswell off waivers from the Red Sox, reports ESPN’s Jorge Castillo. Boston designated him for assignment just yesterday as a corresponding move after acquiring Johan Oviedo from the Pirates. (Boston needed 40-man spots for both Oviedo and minor league lefty Tyler Samaniego.) The Mets have not yet announced the claim, but they currently have a pair of 40-man vacancies, so they won’t need to make a corresponding move.

Though Criswell isn’t yet eligible for arbitration, the Sox had signed the right-hander to a fully guaranteed $800K deal for the upcoming season. As noted here at the time he signed, Boston’s hope in doing so was likely that Criswell’s lack of minor league options and a slightly higher-than-usual salary for a pre-arbitration player would help him pass through waivers so they could keep him as non-roster depth.

That didn’t work out for the Red Sox, but we’ve increasingly seen clubs take this tactic with fringe 40-man players who lack minor league options as a means of attempting to bolster their stash of experienced players in the upper minors. The Mets themselves could very well try the same with Criswell later in the offseason as their 40-man roster fills up.

The 29-year-old Criswell appeared in seven games for the Sox in 2025, logging 17 2/3 innings of 3.57 ERA ball but with only an 11.3% strikeout rate. He’s totaled 154 2/3 innings across parts of five major league seasons and carries a career 4.48 ERA, 16.7% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate between the Angels, Rays and Red Sox. He also tossed 65 2/3 innings of 3.70 ERA ball for the Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Worcester this past season, working primarily as a starter.

If Criswell survives the offseason and spring training on the 40-man roster, he’d likely be looking at a swingman role if the Mets consider carrying him on the Opening Day squad. New York currently has Nolan McLean, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Jonah Tong, Brandon Sproat and Christian Scott ahead of Criswell on the rotation depth chart. The Mets are also likely to further add to that group via free agency and/or trade, though it’s also possible that some of those names could be subtracted via trade. Senga, in particular, has seen his name pop up in recent rumors.

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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Anthony Franco

  • Good afternoon everyone, hope you're well!
  • There's a lot already queued up so apologies in advance for anything I can't cover. Let's get rolling

Black and Gold Bleeder

  • Do the Pirates have a reasonable shot at either Suarez or Okamoto?? They need power from the third base position before anything else.

Anthony Franco

  • Yeah it seems like either of those should be viable with their current spending posture, especially if Geno ends up at two years. Not sure how a low-OBP righty bat would play at PNC but agree that third base is a need and they should be after offense wherever they can get it

Giants fan

  • As a giants fan im confused on the direction they should go. Signing a pitchers to longterm contracts doesn't seem to be the giants course. The giants have money to spend a knowledgeable fan base too. 10 outfielders on the roster not enough infield depth. The giants as mentioned in your trade rumors comments today lists a solid core of young pitchers but lacking experience. Trades are possible. Please give your thoughts.

Anthony Franco

  • Well I think they should sign Kyle Tucker but that's an ownership question more than a front office one. If they're limited to the Gallen/King tier in free agency (I'd prefer the latter for any team), then they're probably leveraging some of those upper level starters for an outfielder
  • Nootbaar's available and Cardinals are targeting high level starters. I wouldn't give up Roupp for Noot but if STL likes Whisenhunt or McDonald, maybe that gets the ball rolling
  • Similar logic with Ketel (Roupp/Birdsong should be on the table there), but I have a tough time seeing Arizona moving him at all -- much less in division

Mariners

  • What/who do you think makes the first major move at the meetings? What team/free agent? Is it a trade or a signing?

Anthony Franco

  • Based on my annual last place finishes in the Top 50 contest, I recommend ignoring any of my predictions
  • But give me Framber to Baltimore

David

  • Stearns says he wants to prioritize defense this off-season which he proved with the Semien trade.  However there is  always talk of moving Vientos to first which would probably be a drop from Alonso since he’s never played there.  What do you think the Mets will do at 1B if they don’t resign Pete to bolster the defense

Anthony Franco

  • Disagree a little with the premise, not like Pete's an elite defender there either. I think having Vientos log any meaningful time at 3B would cut against the infield defense priority, so the question is whether they think he'll bounce back enough at the plate to warrant 1B/DH time or whether it's time to move on entirely
  • If the goal is solely to upgrade the defense, they'd probably be best off signing Bregman and moving Baty to first. I think that's too far in the other direction and still expect them to get something done with Alonso personally

Gonzo for Gonzo

  • Thoughts on the Pirates-Red Sox deal? Losing the best nickname in baseball and a RH OF plus having to dump Criswell seems like a steep price for the Sox, they must believe they can unlock something with Oviedo. Makes lots of sense for Pirates if the Password can hit at the MLB level.

Anthony Franco

  • Yeah I like it more for Pittsburgh but I'm not super enamored with either player, so I get the logic on both sides
  • Oviedo's probably the seventh-best starter that Pittsburgh had. They ran out Tommy Pham and Alexander Canario in LF for most of last season. I'm concerned about Garcia's approach and still think they should be in the outfield market, but he has minor league options and enough promise (power, youth, upper minors track record) that he's a guy they should absolutely be willing to roll the dice on
  • Wasn't going to have the opportunity for everyday reps that he'd need to develop the approach, so I'm fine with Boston moving on. Would've expected them to do better than Oviedo, but Tim Dierkes's immediate response was "not sure why Garcia is considered a Top 100 prospect, but I'll leave that to the experts" and I tend to agree
  • I don't think Oviedo's more than a five-and-dive starter unless the Sox can teach him a splitter or something, but he'd be more interesting to me out of the bullpen so maybe he becomes a surprise relief weapon in the playoffs

Matt

  • How about Brandon Lowe for one of Roupp/Birdsong?

Anthony Franco

  • More than I'd give up for one year of Lowe
  • Like the player and fit in SF though

DodgerFan

  • Seeing the initial reports that Teoscar Hernández was being discussed on the trade market didn’t sit well with me, but after thinking it over, I can understand why the Dodgers might explore it. Two-part question:
    1. What kind of return could the Dodgers realistically get for Teo, and would they be able to move his full contract?
    2. Do you view Bader as a legitimate fit for an everyday center-field role, or is it more likely they fill that spot internally (Edman, Kim, Pages)?

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Braves, Ben Gamel Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Braves and outfielder Ben Gamel have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. The Wasserman client will presumably also receive an invite to big league camp in spring training.

Gamel, 34 in May, didn’t make it to the majors in 2025. That was the first time since 2015 that he didn’t appear in the show. He signed minor league deals with the Tigers and Angels but was limited by injuries to just 52 minor league contests. He put up a hearty .281/.402/.539 line in those games but didn’t get called up.

Over his big league career, he has generally been a decent hitter. In 2,320 plate appearances, he has a .252/.334/.382 line. That translates to a 96 wRC+, indicating he has been just 4% below league average overall. A lefty swinger, he’s been a bit better with the platoon advantage but doesn’t have massive splits. He has a 98 wRC+ against righties and an 88 wRC+ versus southpaws. He has experience at all three outfield slots and first base but is primarily a left fielder.

Atlanta currently projects to have an outfield alignment featuring Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II and Jurickson Profar. The designated hitter spot is open but will likely be used to rotate catchers Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin through there. Given Acuña’s injury history and Profar’s poor defense, they could also get some DH time, which could open up some outfield time.

Eli White and Michael Siani are on the roster and project for bench roles, with Vidal Bruján and Brett Wisely around as infielder/outfielders. Siani is optionable, so it’s possible Gamel could earn a bench job and push Siani into regular playing time in Triple-A. Even if Gamel doesn’t break camp with the club, he could head to Triple-A and be ready to come up in the event of an injury.

Photo courtesy of Erik Williams, Imagn Images

Astros, Orioles Among Clubs Interested In Ranger Suárez

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Left-hander Ranger Suárez is one of the top free agent starting pitchers still available. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the Astros, Cubs and Orioles are the clubs most likely to pluck him away from the Philadelphia, though the Phillies remain in the mix. Feinsand adds that the Mets and Tigers are also involved in the southpaw’s market. Jeff Passan of ESPN adds that Suárez has long been a target of Houston and Baltimore.

Suárez, 30, has been pretty consistent in terms of his results in recent years. He’s generally been able to combine decent strikeout and walk rates with strong ground ball numbers. However, he also has some question marks since his velocity isn’t huge by modern standards and some injuries have prevented him from being a workhorse.

Over the past four seasons, Suárez has tossed 588 1/3 innings for the Phillies, allowing 3.59 earned runs per nine. He punched out 21.9% of batters faced in that time and gave out walks at a 7.5% pace, both marks being close to typical league averages. His 50.8% ground ball rate in that span was quite strong.

He has spent at least some time on the injured list in each of those campaigns. Back problems are a recurring issue but there was also an elbow strain and a hamstring strain mixed in. Due to those injury setbacks, he has never hit the 160-inning mark in any season of his career. As for the velocity, he was able to average in the 93-94 mile per hour range with his fastball a few years ago. However, over the past two seasons, he’s been in the 91-92 mph range.

It’s not a perfect profile but Suárez is still one of the better arms out there. At the beginning of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Suárez could secure a five-year, $115MM deal. He was the fourth starting pitcher on the list, behind Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez and Tatsuya Imai. Cease has signed with the Blue Jays but Valdez, Imai and Suárez remain three of the most attractive starting pitchers available. Suárez rejected a qualifying offer from the Phillies, meaning any other team that signs him would be subject to the associated penalties.

Valdez is a fairly similar pitcher, since he’s also a ground ball guy, but he edges past Suárez for a few reasons. Though he’s two years older, he’s been more durable. While Suárez has never got to 160 innings, Valdez got to at least 176 in each of the past four seasons, including three with at least 192 frames. His ground ball rate is usually in the 60% range, about 10 points ahead of Suárez. His velocity has also been a few ticks above Suárez of late. MLBTR predicted Valdez for $150MM over five years.

The Astros just lost Valdez to free agency and need help in the rotation due to a large number of injuries. They seem to have a tight budget, with an apparent desire to avoid the competitive balance tax. It therefore makes sense that they might look to pivot to Suárez as a way to effectively replace Valdez at a discount.

RosterResource has Houston’s CBT number around $220MM, putting them roughly $24MM below next year’s base threshold of the tax. Signing Suárez would likely put them right up against the line but they could also create some more room by trading someone like Jake Meyers, Jesús Sánchez or Christian Walker.

Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias has publicly admitted that the club is looking for a front-of-rotation starter to slot next to Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish. They have generally avoided big splashes on the pitching side. They also needed rotation help last year and ended up giving one-year deals to Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano, relatively older guys without much upside. It’s possible they make a bolder strike this offseason, having been connected to Imai, Valdez and others.

The Cubs are also known to be on the lookout for rotation upgrades. They have a number of decent arms already on the roster but clearly want to raise the ceiling by adding a playoff-caliber arm. They were interested in Cease before he came off the board and have also been connected to Imai, Michael King and others.

RosterResource has them less than $50MM away from the tax line, which they have generally tried not to cross in recent years. They could also consider a big offensive upgrade, such as going after Alex Bregman. Getting both a big-name starter and Bregman could push them close to that line.

The Tigers have a big ace in Tarik Skubal but could upgrade the group behind him. As of now, Reese Olson, Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty are his best supports but the club could get an external upgrade and bump each of those guys down a peg. They haven’t been signing top free agents for a while but the tier below seems possible. They have been connected to King and now Suárez this offseason.

The Mets dealt with a lot of rotation injuries in 2025, forcing them to rely on rookies Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat. There’s talent there but the club clearly wants to make additions after a narrow playoff miss. They have been connected to Imai as well as Joe Ryan of the Twins.

They have a lot of moving parts in their offseason. Acquiring Marcus Semien might push Jeff McNeil to the trade block. They also might want to flip out Kodai Senga as they also add to the rotation. They may or may not re-sign Pete Alonso and Edwin Díaz. They also might be in the markets for Cody Bellinger and other free agents.

As for the Phillies, they could try to bring back Suárez but it might not be their priority right now. Zack Wheeler may miss the beginning of the season due to thoracic outlet syndrome surgery but it’s possible he can rejoin the club fairly early in the campaign. Once back, he would slot into the rotation with Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker and Andrew Painter.

The Phils could bolster that group but they also have other things on the to-do list. They want to re-sign Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto while also remaking their outfield. Amid all of that, it’s possible one of these other clubs has a chance to lure Suárez away.

Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher, Imagn Images

D-backs Have Shown Interest In Reunions With Kelly, Goldschmidt

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The D-backs are in the market for rotation help this offseason, and there’s mutual interest between the team and longtime right-hander Merrill Kelly, reports John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. A reunion with righty Zac Gallen is seen as less likely, he adds. Beyond the “definite” interest in re-signing Kelly, Gambadoro adds that Arizona is open to the idea of bringing Paul Goldschmidt back to Phoenix —  albeit in more of a part-time/platoon role at first base.

Kelly, 37, spent six and a half seasons in the Arizona rotation before being traded to the Rangers at this summer’s deadline. The former Rays farmhand broke out in the Korea Baseball Organization from 2015-18 and had never pitched in the majors before the D-backs took a two-year flier on him in the 2018-19 offseason.

That modest investment proved to be a masterstroke. Kelly went on to sign an extension with the Snakes and ultimately made 162 starts with a 3.74 ERA over the course of 953 innings during his time in Arizona. All three of the pitching prospects the Snakes picked up in the trade sending Kelly to Texas now rank among the top 20 or so within the Diamondbacks’ system; Baseball America recently ranked righty David Hagaman their No. 5 prospect. Lefty Kohl Drake and righty Mitch Bratt are further down BA’s list of D-backs prospects but are also closer to the majors. Both could debut in 2026.

Bringing Kelly back to Chase Field after receiving a solid trade return would be a nice sequence for the D-backs. Even when the season was still ongoing, Kelly was asked (during a return series to Arizona as a visitor) about whether he’d be open to returning as a free agent.

“I’ve voiced my love for this place,” Kelly said at the time (video link via 98.7’s Jake Garcia). “I’ve talked to the front office tirelessly about being a D-back for life. That was really my plan. That was real. That was genuine. … So it’s never off the table. Coming home is very attractive, not only for me but also for the family aspect of it. But at the same time, I’ve put myself in a position to have what I hope to be a decent market, so I’m going to have to make a hard decision, business-wise, but coming back and being a D-back is never off the table.”

The D-backs have made no secret about the fact that they’re cutting payroll after topping $200MM for the first time in franchise history last year. With multiple rotation spots and several bullpen roles to fill, that could be a tall order. However, Kelly isn’t going to command the type of long-term megadeal that some of his free agent counterparts can seek, given that he’ll pitch next year at age 37. He’s likely capped at a two-year deal on the open market, which surely only enhances his appeal to the Diamondbacks. Arizona currently projects for a payroll around $145MM, per RosterResource.

With that in mind, a Goldschmidt reunion also makes some sense for a team that could use a right-handed platoon bat at first base. Pavin Smith seems likely to enter the season as Arizona’s primary option at either first base or designated hitter (depending on how righty-swinging Tyler Locklear looks next spring). Smith has hit .262/.357/.475 with 17 homers in 446 plate appearances across the past two seasons, but he’s been limited by injury and nearly all of that production came versus right-handed pitching. The lefty-swinging Smith has just 47 left-on-left plate appearances since 2024 and is a career .222/.296/.301 hitter versus southpaws.

Goldschmidt, at 38 years old, is no longer the annual MVP threat he once was. He spent 2025 with the Yankees and got out to a torrid start before limping to a sub-par finish over the final four months of play. His .274/.328/.403 batting line was about league average, but Goldschmidt batted only .226/.277/.333 (69 wRC+) from June 1 onward.

One thing he managed to do all season, however, was to pummel left-handed pitching, just as he always has. Goldschmidt posted an awful .247/.289/.329 line against righties but decimated lefties at a .336/.411/.570 clip in 168 turns at the plate. He earned $12MM last year, and coming off a poor finish with glaring platoon splits, he’s probably looking at a further pay cut. Critics might label a reunion as a nostalgia bid for a player who is past his prime, but Goldschmidt can still provide value in a limited role. And, with someone this talented, a rebound to better numbers against righties can never be expressly ruled out; Goldschmidt didn’t hit right-handers at all in 2024-25, but he slashed .259/.359/.446 against them as recently as 2023.

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