The Braves are adding free agent outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. It’s a two-year deal worth $23MM with a club option for the third year. Robert Murray of FanSided was the first to report that the two sides were nearing an agreement.
More to come…
After entering the offseason as expected sellers, the Twins have seemingly reversed course. They’re now inclined to hold Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan and Pablo López while making a few depth additions. Speaking at the Winter Meetings, general manager Jeremy Zoll highlighted revamping the bullpen and adding a power hitter as two offseason goals.
Minnesota has never spent much on the bullpen under president of baseball operations Derek Falvey. That’s likely to continue this offseason, as they’ll presumably take a volume approach and bring in a few arms on one-year deals. They could aim a bit higher in their pursuit of a power hitter. That’s likeliest to come at first base.
Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that Minnesota has checked in with each of Ryan O’Hearn, Rhys Hoskins and Josh Bell. Hayes writes that the front office has around $20MM to spend this offseason. That opens the ability to play in the third or fourth tier of free agent bats. The Twins should be able to find an upgrade over utility player Kody Clemens, who’s probably the top in-house option at first base.
O’Hearn, a lefty bat, would be the most expensive of that trio. The 32-year-old is coming off a .281/.366/.437 showing with 17 homers across 544 plate appearances between the Orioles and Padres. He has been an above-average hitter in three consecutive seasons. O’Hearn has improved his approach while hitting between 14 and 17 longballs in each of the past three years.
That should be enough to secure a multi-year contract. MLBTR predicted a two-year, $26MM deal in ranking O’Hearn the #30 free agent in the class. A $13MM average annual value would evidently be within Minnesota’s overall budget, but that’d leave very little room for the bullpen or a utility infielder. It seems likely the Twins would aim lower if O’Hearn’s market pushes into an eight-figure annual salary.
Hoskins and Bell are more straightforward one-year deal candidates. The former is coming off a .237/.332/.416 showing with 12 homers in 90 games for the Brewers. He got out to a hot start but had a terrible June before suffering a left thumb sprain. That cost him six weeks and opened playing time for Andrew Vaughn, who surprisingly thrived in Milwaukee. Hoskins was relegated to a bench bat role when he returned in September. He’s only a season removed from hitting 26 homers, albeit with a middling .214/.303/.419 overall slash line.
Bell has signed a series of one-year deals over the past few seasons. He played on a $6MM contract with the Nationals in 2025, batting .237/.325/.417 with 22 longballs across 533 plate appearances. Bell is exceptionally streaky within seasons but pretty consistently ends up as a slightly above-average overall hitter at the end of the year. (He has some parallels to former Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario in that regard.) That was again the case this past season. Bell took a .219/.307/.372 line into the All-Star Break before rebounding with a .267/.353/.489 performance in the second half.
Hoskins is a right-handed batter. Bell is a switch-hitter who has generally been better from the left side of the plate. A righty bat might make more sense given the presence of lefty-swinging first base/DH options like Clemens, Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach and Edouard Julien. Lefty-hitting Nathaniel Lowe and right-handed Paul Goldschmidt should also be available on one-year deals.
There hasn’t been much movement at the top of the free agent rotation market. Most of the focus on starting pitching has been on the trade front, though we didn’t see any major deals at the Winter Meetings.
Most of the top trade candidates are questionable to move at all. Brewers star Freddy Peralta is among that group. Milwaukee isn’t motivated to trade the All-Star righty on the heels of a 97-win season, but they’re not going to shut down conversations entirely. They’ve heard from no shortage of teams with interest. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic report that the Astros, Giants, Mets, Orioles, Red Sox and Yankees are among the clubs that have reached out about Peralta.
The wide range of suitors is to be expected. Houston, San Francisco, Baltimore and the Mets all have starting pitching at or near the top of the priority list. The Astros are focusing on the trade market as they try to stay below the luxury tax line. The Giants and Mets have ample payroll flexibility but have downplayed their desire to make long-term commitments to a starter. The Orioles are casting a wide net to find an impact arm who can slot in the upper half of the rotation. They’ve been tied to Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez in free agency, as well as trade possibilities like Edward Cabrera and MacKenzie Gore.
The Yankees will begin the season without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón due to injury. Clarke Schmidt may miss the entire season rehabbing Tommy John surgery. They’re set to open the season with Max Fried and Cam Schlittler in the top two spots. Will Warren and Luis Gil project as the third and fourth arms for now, and they don’t have a fifth starter lined up. Warren had a solid rookie season but struggled with the home run ball. Gil was the Rookie of the Year in 2024. This year, he was limited to 57 innings with mediocre strikeout and walk numbers after missing a few months with a lat strain.
Boston isn’t as clearly in need of starting pitching. They entered the offseason pursuing a #2 starter. They’ve acquired Sonny Gray to fill that role and brought in Johan Oviedo as a back-end option. The focus is on adding a big bat or two, but they’ve been tied to virtually every free agent or trade candidate of significance.
Peralta fits on every contender. He’ll make $8MM in the final season of what turned out to be a dramatically team-friendly extension. He’s coming off a career-low 2.70 ERA and finished fifth in NL Cy Young balloting. This was the third straight season in which he reached 200 strikeouts and started 30+ games. The Brewers fully expect to compete for another division title themselves. They’ve pulled the trigger on trades of stars with dwindling club control windows (e.g. Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes) to remain consistently competitive, though that’s not an absolute. They were happy to hold Willy Adames all the way to free agency.
Adames rejected a qualifying offer and netted a compensatory draft pick when he signed with the Giants. Barring injury, Peralta would be a near lock to do the same if Milwaukee holds him all year. That’d net them a compensatory pick after the first round of the 2027 draft — assuming he signs for at least $50MM. Milwaukee would be entitled to the highest level of compensation as a revenue sharing recipient.
Obviously, the Brewers could extract a far greater return for even one year of Peralta’s services on the trade market. They’re balancing that against the hit it’d deal to the 2026 team. Brandon Woodruff is back to join Quinn Priester, Jacob Misiorowski and Chad Patrick in what would still be a high-upside rotation. Every club would be better with Peralta on it, though.
President of baseball operations Matt Arnold addressed the Peralta rumors shortly before the Winter Meetings. “I’m not sure that there’s a scenario that’s been presented that would make any sense for us,” Arnold said last week (link via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). “We obviously get hits on him all the time. He’s a very popular target, certainly. But he’s also a huge part of our team and we want to be competitive in 2026. A big part of this is bringing back the core that we had last year.”
The biggest news of a relatively quiet Winter Meetings dropped on the final day. Pete Alonso is headed to Baltimore (pending a physical) on a massive five-year deal. His departure from the Mets had been telegraphed by the team's reported reluctance to go beyond three years. It's nevertheless jarring for a team that has spent at the top of the league to be comfortably outbid on the franchise's all-time home runs leader by a mid-market Orioles club.
Alonso's departure came one day after the Mets let Edwin Díaz walk to the Dodgers. They're a few weeks removed from trading Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien. Clearly, president of baseball operations David Stearns and his front office weren't happy to run it all back after the team melted down in the second half. They've signed Devin Williams to replace Díaz. We've yet to see how they'll respond to the losses on the position player side. There's plenty more to come -- no team is complete on December 10 -- but the 2026 Mets will look a lot different than the teams of the past few seasons.
At the beginning of the offseason, Stearns spoke about a need to improve the pitching and defense (link via Will Sammon of The Athletic). Aside from the Williams signing, they've waited out the pitching market so far. Their position player moves, or lack thereof, suggest they're indeed focused on getting more athletic. Semien remains an excellent defensive second baseman. Alonso's lack of defensive value is a big reason they were reluctant to pay him into his mid-30s.
Where do they go from here?
After re-signing Josh Naylor, the next step on the Mariners’ to-do list is a reunion with Jorge Polanco, with the intent of utilizing the veteran infielder as a second baseman and part-time DH. Seattle has also been linked to such second base trade targets as Brendan Donovan and old friend Ketel Marte, though the focus on the keystone is noteworthy. When it comes to checking in at the hot corner, the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude hears from sources that “the Mariners…are not active in the third-base market.”
While Eugenio Suarez is another ex-Mariner that remains on the team’s radar, Suarez seems to be the backup plan if Polanco doesn’t re-sign, and Jude writes that the M’s would utilize Suarez just as a part-time third baseman if the slugger ends up back in the Pacific Northwest. That decision seems logical, as Suarez’s public defensive metrics were subpar (-6 Defensive Runs Saved, -3 Outs Above Average) in 2025, as the Mariners have better fielders within the team’s collection of young infield talent.
This internal group is the reason why the M’s seem content to more or less stand pat at third base. Ben Williamson’s bat is a work in progress at best, but Williamson has a solid glove and can at least hold his own as a defender. Top prospect Colt Emerson has only six Triple-A games under his belt, but he’ll be a factor at some point for the Mariners in 2026, potentially as soon as Opening Day. Cole Young is another highly-regarded prospect who mostly played second base in his 2025 rookie season, and would presumably remain in a timeshare with Polanco and play second on the days when Polanco is a designated hitter.
The situation could be altered a bit if the Mariners acquired Donovan, a multi-positional player who could chip in at third base if necessary. But overall, Seattle is confident that its up-and-coming youngsters can help the team in 2026, so even while the M’s are in win-now mode, they aren’t looking to bring in too much veteran depth to block the internal options.
Jude adds the interesting detail that Scott Boras, Alex Bregman’s agent, “initiated discussions with the Mariners to express Bregman’s willingness to consider Seattle as a destination.” This isn’t an uncommon practice in baseball business, as agents routinely seek out any possible suitors that might be a fit for their clients. It doesn’t appear as though the M’s did much or anything to reciprocate this interest, both due to the Mariners’ in-house third basemen and likely Bregman’s expected price tag.
The Red Sox are known to be looking for bullpen upgrades. According to Sean McAdam and Chris Cotillo of MassLive, right-hander Seranthony Domínguez is one specific name they have checked in on, though the report suggests nothing is imminent.
Domínguez, 31, has been a leverage reliever in the big leagues for several years now. He has generally done a good job of missing bats and keeping the ball on the ground but has also shown some control problems.
Overall, Domínguez has 306 big league innings on his track record, having allowed 3.50 earned runs per nine. His 10.5% walk rate is a bit worse than par but his 45.1% ground ball rate is a few ticks better than average while his 27.9% strikeout rate is quite strong. He has racked up 40 saves and 78 holds along the way.
2025 was a fairly extreme season for him, a year in which he added a splitter and a curveball to his arsenal. It was split between the Orioles and Blue Jays, as he was amusingly traded in between games of a doubleheader between the two. He was on the Baltimore roster in the first game of the contest and then pitched against them as a Blue Jay in the second game. He finished the year having tossed 62 2/3 innings with a 3.16 ERA. His 13.8% walk rate was the highest of his career but his 30.3% strikeout rate was also better than normal for him.
Despite the lack of control, Domínguez held a key role in the Toronto bullpen through their playoff run, with mixed results. He did post a strong 3.18 ERA over 12 postseason appearances, but he walked 11 opponents and only struck out 10. He seemed to benefit from a .115 batting average on balls in play and 91.5% strand rate in that small sample of work under the bright lights.
For the Red Sox, their bullpen needs aren’t desperate. Their relief group had a collective 3.41 ERA in 2025, second only to the Padres. But even the best teams can find a way to make an addition and bump out their eighth-best arm.
At the beginning of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Domínguez could earn an $18MM deal over two years. The relief market has moved fast, with guys like Edwin Díaz, Devin Williams, Phil Maton, Kyle Finnegan, Emilio Pagán, Raisel Iglesias, Gregory Soto, Ryan Helsley and others off the board. That leaves Robert Suarez, Brad Keller, Pete Fairbanks, Tyler Rogers, Sean Newcomb and Domínguez as some of the better names still out there.
The Red Sox may not have huge payroll flexibility but they also have plenty of other balls in the air. They are looking for big lineup upgrades and may be able to trade controllable starting pitching. It’s also possible they could use their corner outfield surplus on the trade block. If they add a big bat at first base, then maybe Triston Casas is available as well. Amid all of that, adding to the bullpen probably isn’t the biggest priority but they also can’t wait forever with the way the market is moving.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images
TODAY: The Blue Jays officially announced their 2026 coaching staff. Duncan will be a Major League field coordinator, Atkinson will be an assistant hitting coach, and Butera has the general role of Major League coach. Bannon believes Butera and Duncan will also share in bench coach duties with other members of the staff, as the Jays plan to divvy up Mattingly responsibilities rather than name an full-time bench coach.
DECEMBER 9: The Blue Jays have reportedly made multiple additions to manager John Schneider’s staff. Former catcher Drew Butera is expected to be in the dugout next season, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. He’ll be joined by Eric Duncan and Cody Atkinson, reports Mitch Bannon of The Athletic.
Butera was a catching instructor with the White Sox for the past two seasons. He had previously been a bullpen catcher and catching coach with the Angels. Butera spent 12 seasons behind the plate in the big leagues. He played for five different teams, with his longest stints coming with the Royals and Twins. Butera won a World Series ring with Kansas City in 2015.
Duncan served as Toronto’s director of position player development in 2024, per Bannon. His first MLB coaching gig was with the Marlins as an assistant hitting coach in 2019. He also worked as a quality control coach with the team. Duncan was a first-round pick by the Yankees in 2003. He topped out at Triple-A as a player. New York hired him as a minor league coach in 2015.
Atkinson had been the Rangers’ minor league hitting director, per Bannon. He’s been in charge of the organization’s minor league hitting program since 2019, according to MLB.com. It’s unclear which roles the trio will fill, though it’s fair to assume Butera will contribute in the catching department, with Duncan and Atkinson helping out on the hitting side. The only news prior to today regarding Schneider’s staff had been the departure of bench coach Don Mattingly, who is being pursued by the Phillies.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images
Most of the buzz surrounding the Giants this winter has involved the team’s pursuits of position players or rotation help, yet the bullpen stands out as a significant need for the team since Randy Rodriguez will miss the 2026 season due to Tommy John surgery. San Francisco signed Sam Hentges and got involved in Devin Williams’ market before Williams signed with the Mets, though as with the roster as a whole, not much has yet been done during what has been a quiet Giants offseason.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle took a look at some of the available relievers that might help upgrade the bullpen, and also added the new information that “the Giants have been in touch with” Michael Kopech. The right-hander is an interesting buy-low candidate for the Giants or many other teams, as Kopech is coming off an injury-shortened 2025 campaign.
Three separate placements on the injured list limited Kopech to 11 regular-season innings with the Dodgers, and he didn’t pitch for L.A. during its postseason run. Kopech was twice placed on the 60-day IL due to a shoulder impingement and meniscus surgery, and he then finished the season on the 15-day IL due to a recurrence of his right knee discomfort. He did deliver a 2.45 ERA and 22.6% strikeout rate during his small chunk time on the mound this year, but with the huge red flag of a 24.5% walk rate, as Kopech had more walks (13) than strikeouts (12) over his 11 frames.
Kopech was once one of baseball’s most highly-regarded pitching prospects, and was a significant piece of the trade package the White Sox acquired from the Red Sox in the Chris Sale deal in December 2016. He made his MLB debut in 2018 but then didn’t pitch in either of the next two seasons, due to a Tommy John surgery and Kopech’s decision to opt out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. He eased his way back into action by working primarily as a reliever in 2021, and had decent numbers in a full-time starting role in 2022 while battling more injuries.
Control problems and home runs started to become an overwhelming issue for Kopech in 2023, and the White Sox decided to move him to the bullpen the following season in an effort to both combat these issues and keep him healthy. Kopech’s walk rate was still on the high side, but he finally seemed to put things together after a deadline trade to the Dodgers. The righty posted a 1.13 ERA over 24 regular-innings with Los Angeles and then had a 3.00 ERA over nine postseason frames to help the Dodgers win the 2024 World Series.
Kopech is just entering his age-30 season, and he averaged 97.5mph on his fastball in 2025. The strikeout potential and pure stuff in Kopech’s arsenal provides hope that he can still develop into a consistent bullpen weapon, if he can stay healthy and keeps the walks even somewhat in check. A one-year contract seems like the max for Kopech in the wake of his more-or-less lost season, yet that scenario probably works fine for the righty and agent Scott Boras — a strong 2026 season would very likely set Kopech up nicely for a more lucrative longer-term contract next winter.
New Giants bullpen coach Jesse Chavez briefly crossed paths with Kopech when Chavez spent Spring Training 2024 in Chicago’s camp on a minor league contract. Who knows if that brief stint as teammates might give San Francisco any edge in signing Kopech, but perhaps more importantly, the Giants can offer Kopech plenty of opportunity within a pretty wide-open bullpen picture. It isn’t a reach to imagine that an in-form Kopech could quickly earn high-leverage work, and he did amass 15 saves for the White Sox and Dodgers in 2024.
TODAY: In an interesting twist, the Mets may utilize Edwards as a starter at Triple-A, according to Sammon and Ken Rosenthal. Edwards has never started a big league game, but he made 19 Triple-A starts over the last two seasons with the Rangers, Angels, and Padres’ top affiliates, plus he made 14 starts in the Mexican League in 2025.
DECEMBER 8: The Mets have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent reliever Carl Edwards Jr., reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. Edwards, a client of the Ballengee Group, will be in major league camp next spring as a non-roster invitee.
Edwards, 34, pitched just six big league innings last season between the Angels and Rangers, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks with six punchouts. He’s pitched for eight teams across parts of 11 major league seasons, totaling a 3.56 ERA, 28% strikeout rate and 12.7% walk rate in 286 frames.
Once regarded as a top pitching prospect, the 6’3″, 165-pound Edwards settled in as an important reliever with the Cubs back in their 2016 World Series run and in subsequent seasons. From 2016-18, the “Stringbean Slinger” tossed 154 1/3 innings of 3.03 ERA ball with a huge 34.2% strikeout rate but a hefty 13.5% walk rate.
Edwards slipped into journeyman status shortly thereafter, as his command troubles worsened and his struggles became untenable. He had a resurgence with the Nats in 2022-23, however, combining for 93 2/3 innings with a 3.07 earned run average. His 20.1% strikeout rate was a far cry from his Cubs peak, although his 10.6% walk rate was also an improvement.
Edwards spent the bulk of last season in Triple-A, working to a 4.44 ERA through 50 2/3 frames in an extremely hitter-friendly environment. He set down 25.8% of his opponents on strikes and posted a 7.2% walk rate that stands as the best mark of his career in any notable sample. He also induced grounders at a hearty 54.9% rate in Triple-A. He’ll be a veteran depth option with the Mets — one of several such additions surely on the docket this winter.
3:31pm: Both clubs have now officially announced the swap.
1:50pm: The Phillies are going to acquire right-hander Yoniel Curet from the Rays. Right-hander Tommy McCollum is going the other way. The Rays designated the Curet for assignment recently to open a roster spot when they signed outfielder Cedric Mullins. Philadelphia’s 40-man roster count jumps from 34 to 35. Reporter Mike Rodriguez first noted that Curet was going to Philly. Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported on McCollum’s inclusion.
Curet, now 23, joins a new organization for the first time. The Rays signed him as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic. By the end of 2023, he was eligible for the Rule 5 draft. He hadn’t even climbed as high as Double-A yet and had shown clear control problems, but he also racked up strikeouts. From 2021 to 2023, he logged 197 innings across various levels with a 2.97 earned run average. He walked 15.3% of batters he faced but also punched them out at a 31.7% clip.
The Rays didn’t want to risk losing him in the Rule 5, so they gave him a 40-man spot. His 2024 season was quite strong. He made 26 starts between High-A and Double-A, throwing 119 innings with a 2.95 ERA. His 11.9% walk rate was still high but an improvement for him, while his 31.5% strikeout rate was relatively unchanged. He had enough hype that Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him as the #61 prospect in the whole league going into 2025.
But this year was a bit of a setback for him. He was on the injured list for most of the first half due to an injury in his throwing shoulder. Once healthy, he tossed 55 1/3 innings with a 3.90 ERA, 12.8% walk rate and 25.5% strikeout rate. FanGraphs now lists him as the 11th-best prospect in the Rays’ system.
Due to his control problems, Curet might end up getting pushed to the bullpen. However, he still young and has an option remaining. The Phils can send him to Triple-A and either keep him stretched out or see if his stuff plays up in a relief role.
The Rays squeezed Curet off their roster but are getting a non-roster player in return. McCollum was available in today’s Rule 5 draft but wasn’t selected. According to JJ Cooper of Baseball America, this trade wasn’t able to be finalized until the draft was completed with McCollum going unselected.
McCollum, 27 in June, was an undrafted free agent in 2021. The Phils signed him and he has been pitching as a reliever in their system since then. Somewhat similar to Curet, he has a history of striking guys out while also giving them free passes. From 2021 to 2024, McCollum threw 134 innings with a 3.56 ERA, 31.8% strikeout rate and 15.6% walk rate. In 2025, he reduced the walk rate all the way down to 6.9% but his strikeout rate also fell to 25.5%. He posted a 3.07 ERA in 55 2/3 innings.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
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