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Padres Sign Pablo Reyes To Minor League Deal

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The Padres have signed infielder Pablo Reyes to a minor league deal, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America. The Klutch Sports client will presumably also receive an invite to major league camp in spring training.

Reyes, 32, has appeared in seven big league seasons. He has mostly served as a part-time utility player and as a source of hope and inspiration. Overall, he has appeared in 259 games and stepped to the plate 606 times over those seven campaigns. He has produced a .245/.305/.342 batting line and stolen 14 bases. The righty swinger has been better against lefties, with a .272/.325/.418 line when holding the platoon advantage.

Defensively, Reyes can fill multiple positions. He has at least 150 innings at the three infield positions to the left of first base, as well as each of the outfield corners. He’s also had briefer stints at first base and in center field, plus five mop-up innings on the mound.

One year ago, he signed a minor league deal with the Yankees and eventually cracked the Opening Day roster with that club. He was on the roster for almost three months but didn’t play much. He got into 25 games, mostly as a defensive replacement. He only received 34 plate appearances and put up a .194/.242/.226 line in those. He was designated for assignment in June, became a free agent and then landed a minor league deal with the Mets. He put up a strong .289/.385/.484 line for Triple-A Syracuse over the next few months.

The Padres currently project to have an infield of Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Jake Cronenworth and Gavin Sheets from left to right, with Ramón Laureano, Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the outfield. Guys like Mason McCoy, Will Wagner, Tirso Ornelas and Bryce Johnson are on the 40-man and are candidates for bench spots. The first three of those guys have options and could be sent to the minors. Reyes will come into camp looking to earn a reserve role. If he eventually gets a roster spot, he is out of options.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Royals, James McArthur Avoid Arbitration

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The Royals announced that they have agreed to terms on a contract for the 2026 season with right-hander James McArthur, therefore avoiding arbitration. He will make $810K next year, reports Anne Rogers of MLB.com.

McArthur, 29 next month, showed huge promise a few years ago but is a big wild card now. He debuted with the Royals in 2023 by tossing 23 1/3 innings. His 4.63 earned run average wasn’t especially impressive but his 25.6% strikeout rate, 2.2% walk rate and 58.7% ground ball rate were all excellent. A tiny 54.5% strand rate seemed to inflate his ERA, which is why he had a 2.78 FIP and 2.65 SIERA.

That got him some run as the closer in Kansas City to begin 2024 but his results backed up. He tossed 56 2/3 innings that year with a 4.92 ERA. His 5.7% walk rate and 53.3% ground ball rate were still good but moved in the wrong direction, while his strikeout rate fell to a subpar 19.8% clip. He landed on the injured list in September due to an elbow sprain.

At some point in the 2024-25 offseason, he underwent surgery to repair a fractured olecranon in his right elbow, with two screws inserted. In July, Rogers reported that he wasn’t responding well to the screws, so they were removed. He didn’t pitch in any official game action for the year.

Though McArthur spent the entire 2025 season on the IL, he got his service time count up to two years and 150 days. That was just a bit past this year’s Super Two cutoff, there qualifying him for arbitration. Since he missed so much time, MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a salary of just $800K, barely above next year’s $780K league minimum. Despite the modest projection, his uncertain health status made him a candidate to be non-tendered. Friday at 4pm Central is the non-tender deadline.

Instead of moving on, the Royals will keep McArthur around and hope for better health and a bounceback. Perhaps that bodes well for his health outlook in the coming season, though they aren’t risking much by agreeing to a salary barely above league minimum. McArthur still has an option and doesn’t need to be kept on the big league roster.

Photo courtesy of Peter Aiken, Imagn Images.

Phillies, Bryan De La Cruz Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies signed outfielder Bryan De La Cruz to a minor league contract earlier this month, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Reporter Mike Rodriguez first mentioned the two sides were in agreement and noted that the client of Premier Talent Sports & Entertainment received an invite to major league camp next spring. The team hasn’t formally announced the pickup, though many clubs wait to announce their minor league deals and non-roster invitees in bulk later in the offseason.

De La Cruz showed promise early in his career with Miami, hitting .269/.318/.430 with 18 homers, 27 doubles and a pair of triples in his first 574 plate appearances from 2021-22. He popped 19 homers in 2023, but poor glovework and an OBP barely north of .300 made him a roughly replacement-level player. De La Cruz had a better start in ’24, connecting on 18 long balls through his first 454 turns at the plate. The Pirates, in need of affordable power as they hoped to make a Wild Card push, acquired him in a deal that immediately went south.

Pittsburgh, at the time, was acquiring a player with three-plus years of club control remaining. However, he hit so poorly with the Bucs (.200/.220/.294 in 168 plate appearances) that the Pirates simply moved on after the season. De La Cruz landed in Atlanta but struggled badly in 50 big league plate appearances and in 11 Triple-A games. He eventually went to the Yankees on a minor league deal and posted solid, if unspectacular numbers with their Triple-A club in Scranton: 368 plate appearances, 15 homers, eight steals, .271/.340/.456 (111 wRC+).

The righty-swinging De La Cruz has some power but an over-aggressive approach and suspect defensive skills in the corners. He also lacks the track record against left-handed pitching you’d prefer to see out of a corner outfielder. He decimated southpaws in a small sample during his rookie season, but dating back to 2022 he’s actually been slightly better versus righties (and well below-average against both overall).

There’s no harm in taking a non-roster look at an experienced outfielder who’ll play all of next season at 29, but De La Cruz is more of a depth signing than anything else. The Phils will be in the market for outfielders this winter, but it’d probably take multiple spring injuries and a big performance from De La Cruz for him to make the club. The likeliest scenario is that he heads to Triple-A Lehigh Valley next season with a shot to mash his way into the big league picture. If he’s able to do that, he’d be controllable through at least 2028, but there’s a long way to go before that future control is any kind of consideration.

Mets Have Not Asked Brandon Nimmo About Waiving No-Trade Clause

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It was reported recently that the Mets are making outfielder Brandon Nimmo available in trade talks. Andy Martino of SNY characterizes those talks as preliminary, noting that Nimmo and his representatives have not yet been asked about the possibility of waiving his full no-trade clause.

It appears that the Mets have a few moving pieces in their early offseason planning. There have also been rumors about infielder/outfielder Jeff McNeil and right-hander Kodai Senga being available in trades. Today, reporting from Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic notes that the Mets may need to trade from their roster before targeting other pursuits.

The piece mentions that this is both due to the roster fit and the financial picture, though the money is presumably not that big of an issue. Under owner Steve Cohen, the Mets have been one of the top-spending clubs in baseball. RosterResource currently projects them for a $253MM payroll and $256MM competitive balance tax figure in 2026. At the end of 2025, those numbers were $340MM and $337MM. Even without moving money away, there should be powder dry for additions.

The roster situation is a bit more interesting. The piece mentions Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger and Alex Bregman as completely speculative names that the Mets could pursue, depending on how their trade talks go. Currently, there’s not a great path to getting Tucker onto the roster, with the Mets having Nimmo and Juan Soto in the corners. The designated hitter spot is open and could make it more viable to have all three in the lineup regularly, but the fit would be much easier if Nimmo were moved.

It would be a somewhat similar situation with Bellinger, who the Mets have already been connected to. He’s a bit of a better fit than Tucker since he can play center field and first base, but he’s spent more time in the outfield corners than anywhere else in recent seasons.

With Bregman, there are the many unanswered questions of the Mets infield. Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña have all been jockeying for playing time in recent years. Since all of them can play multiple infield positions, there are many possible combinations. The ideal arrangement would depend upon if Pete Alonso comes back, if the Mets sign someone like Bregman or Munetaka Murakami, and so on. There’s also the McNeil factor, as he has mostly played second base and the outfield corners. He has dabbled at third but hasn’t played there since 2022. He played some center field in 2025 but didn’t get great marks for his work out there.

When considering the names currently on the roster, the guys who could be traded away and the guys who could be added, there are infinite possibilities for how it ends up. Based on the reporting, it appears the Mets are using the early parts of the offseason to explore those possibilities. If they can line up a trade they like, perhaps they would then pivot to replacing a traded player by pursuing a free agent. If the roster ends up with more continuity, then perhaps they get less ambitious with their free agent pursuits. If they make any traction, then perhaps Nimmo will be approached about his no-trade clause, but it seems things are still very theoretical at the moment.

One way or another, the Mets are sure to be on the lookout for relievers. They’ve already been connected to Devin Williams. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reports that the Mets were interested in Raisel Iglesias before he re-signed with Atlanta last night.

Mets relievers had a collective 3.93 earned run average last year, which placed them 15th out of the 30 clubs in the majors. After the season, Edwin Díaz opted out of his contract and became a free agent at season’s end. Tyler Rogers, Ryan Helsley, Gregory Soto and Ryne Stanek also departed for the open market.

Given their needs in the bullpen, the Mets will probably be connected to just about every available reliever. They have the resources to go after top guys like Díaz and president of baseball operations has also shown a penchant for getting creative in targeting lower-cost additions.

Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher, Imagn Images

MLB Mailbag: Grayson Rodriguez-Taylor Ward Trade, Qualifying Offers, Duran, Abreu

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This week's mailbag gets into the Grayson Rodriguez-Taylor Ward trade, the four accepted qualifying offers, the trade value of Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu, and much more.

Nick asks:

Hi, what is Mike Elias thinking selling low on Grayson? Ward is a good, not great, hitter, and Rodriguez's ceiling is an ace. You guys have been calling for a Singer-Ward swap and I feel like 4 years of Rodriguez, even with his injuries, would have way more value than one year of Singer.

Zach asks:

For real, what's with trading Grayson Rodriguez?!?

In making this trade, Orioles president of baseball operations and GM Mike Elias made a big bet against Rodriguez.

When the Orioles drafted Rodriguez 11th overall out of high school in 2018, the club was a few months away from replacing Dan Duquette with Elias as the head of baseball operations.  So Elias wasn't involved with that pick, but he is intimately familiar with Rodriguez's career and health history.

Once one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, Rodriguez's injuries began with a 2022 Grade 2 lat strain that cost him three months and pushed back his expected Major League debut.  He was healthy in 2023, had some success in the Majors, and totaled 165 innings - the only time in his career he's topped 117 frames.

Rodriguez missed 19 days with shoulder inflammation in May 2024, and then saw his season end that year on July 31st due to what was initially called a mild lat strain.  No one could've guessed that quality start against the Blue Jays would close the book on Rodriguez's Orioles career before his 25th birthday.

The big righty supposedly entered 2025 without restrictions, and claimed he wasn't hurt when his velocity was down in spring training.  But in March he was diagnosed with elbow inflammation, compounded in April by another "mild lat strain."  It was initially thought Rodriguez would return in the second half, but he experienced elbow discomfort while rehabbing and was shut down.  After multiple opinions were gathered, Rodriguez's 2025 season ended with right elbow debridement surgery on August 11th.

As Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun reported, Elias described Rodriguez's health this way at the end of September: "There’s nothing medically to suggest that he won’t be ready, and he’s very determined and not happy about what happened last year."  Elias expressed some caution but ultimately said, "I am bullish on the situation."  The procedure involved removing bone chips from Rodriguez's elbow.

Rodriguez spoke to reporters yesterday.  Here's an excerpt from Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register:

"Rodriguez said he is “absolutely” confident that he can pitch a full season this year. He said the bone spurs had been an issue for “three or four years,” and he believes that they led to the lat injuries. “Just being able to get those out of there, my arm feels great right now throwing,” Rodriguez said. “There’s really no question for me to be ready for spring training.”"

I'm searching for an explanation why the pitching-needy Orioles would trade a pre-arbitration mid-rotation type starter with 238 2/3 pretty good big league innings to his name and four years of team control remaining for one year of what looks like, at best, a 2.5 WAR outfielder.

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Athletics Unlikely To Trade Hitter For Rotation Upgrade

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The Athletics need pitchers and have hitters but that doesn’t mean they will trade from one area to address another. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that teams are trying to give the A’s controllable starting pitching in exchange for a young hitter but the A’s would prefer not to mess with their lineup and will focus more on adding pitching via free agency.

The A’s have been rebuilding for a few years now and have had more success on the position player side so far. While many of their young pitchers have scuffled in the majors, the club has put together a nice lineup featuring guys like Nick Kurtz, Tyler Soderstrom, Brent Rooker, Jacob Wilson, Lawrence Butler, Shea Langeliers and others. There’s an argument that they should make someone in that group available via trade in order to bolster their rotation, especially considering the difficulties they face in adding to the rotation via free agency.

Getting a free agent to sign with a rebuilding club is always more challenging than luring a player to a clear contender. The A’s showed some promise in the second half of 2025 but are still only theoretical contenders compared to clubs with more tangible recent success. On top of that, there’s the ballpark situation. The A’s are temporarily playing in a Triple-A park in West Sacramento while they are waiting for their new stadium in Las Vegas to be built. Free agents aren’t going to have that as their top choice.

Last winter, the A’s signed Luis Severino a three-year, $67MM deal. That was above most industry projections and it’s generally viewed as an overpay, which was necessary to get Severino to choose the A’s over other destinations. Even though Severino took that nice deal, he eventually made public complaints about the working conditions at Sutter Health Park. The pact hasn’t worked from an on-field perspective so far, as Severino posted a 4.54 earned run average in his first year with the A’s.

Rather than go down that road again, the A’s could turn to the trade market. A deal involving Soderstrom once felt like an inevitability. He came up as a catching prospect but his glovework wasn’t as impressive as his bat. He was moved to first base as a major leaguer but was eventually displaced by the arrival of Kurtz. With Rooker often in the designated hitter slot, Soderstrom was pushed to left field.

With Soderstrom awkwardly pushed to another position, there was a case for him to be traded to a club with a greater first base need. However, he surprisingly thrived after the position change. He spent 876 2/3 innings in left field in 2025 and was credited with ten Defensive Runs Saved and five Outs Above Average. That DRS tally was bested only by Steven Kwan, Wyatt Langford and Jarren Duran among left fielders this year, with Kwan the only guy who was meaningfully ahead of Soderstrom. In the OAA column, Soderstrom was tied for first with Kwan, Langford and Isaac Collins.

Presumably, that lessens the need for the A’s to consider a trade. Instead of a clumsy first baseman who is kicking the ball around in an outfield corner, Soderstrom may actually just be a good fit in left. He hit 25 home runs and slashed .276/.346/.474 for a 125 wRC+ while undergoing that position change as well. Still he still has four years of club control and hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration, he could just be kept around as a key piece of the lineup.

The A’s will need rotation help, however. Their starters posted a collective 4.85 ERA this year, which was better than just three other clubs. Last winter, it was reported that the A’s needed to have a competitive balance tax figure of around $105MM in order to avoid a grievance related to their revenue sharing status. That seemed to contribute to their pursuit of Severino, as well as signing extensions with Rooker and Butler. RosterResource projects them for right around that $105MM figure for 2026, so perhaps there’s less pressure for a CBT-inflating move this offseason.

Regardless, the A’s may need to spend anyway. It’s possible their preference for not trading from their lineup is just posturing for leverage in trade talks, but if not, then free agency is the way to go. It would be a shock if they targeted top names like Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez or Tatsuya Imai, but there are perhaps scenarios where guys like Michael King, Zac Gallen, Lucas Giolito or others don’t see their markets develop as hoped, which could increase their willingness to join the A’s as a way of getting paid.

Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images

Latest On Kyle Tucker’s Market

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We’re still in the nascent stages of the MLB offseason, with only a handful of notable free-agent signings and trades thus far. Still, with the GM Meetings now in the rearview mirror, teams have laid a fair bit of groundwork for the weeks and months ahead, both on the free agent and trade markets. Kyle Tucker stands as the offseason’s top free agent, and while there’s no indication he’s close to signing, there are also some hints falling into place about his potential market.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote this week that some rival teams feel the Blue Jays are the likeliest landing spot for the four-time All-Star. They’ve been a popular speculative pick early on after a deep World Series run and with only one other major long-term commitment (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) on the books. Of course, Bo Bichette could be the priority, and it’s rare for any team to sign two free agents of that magnitude in a single offseason.

Tucker is a prominent enough star that some unexpected suitors figure to jump into the fray. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote this morning that while the Orioles are prioritizing pitching this winter, they haven’t ruled out a run at Tucker. Having already acquired Taylor Ward from the Angels, the addition of Tucker would free Baltimore to dangle young outfielders Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers on the trade market in hopes of securing some controllable arms. There are quite a few pitchers of note who could be on the block this winter, and both Cowser and Beavers would intrigue clubs looking to move arms. Both are former first-round picks. Cowser has four more seasons of club control, while Beavers only debuted late in 2025 and thus has a full slate of six years of club control remaining.

Baltimore stands as a fascinating fit. President of baseball operations Mike Elias was the Astros’ scouting director when Tucker was selected with the No. 5 overall pick. The O’s don’t have anything on the books long-term, other than Samuel Basallo’s eight-year, $67MM extension. That $8.375MM annual value isn’t going to be stand in the way of any other long-term deals. Beyond Basallo, Tyler O’Neill is the only other player signed to a guaranteed deal beyond the 2026 season. His three-year, $49.5MM contract runs through 2027.

The Orioles’ long-term financial outlook is so clean that there’s no true impediment to them signing Tucker and a notable a free agent starter. That’s not to say such a scenario is likely, of course, but Baltimore’s 2026 payroll currently projects for about $105MM, per RosterResource, and that’s before potential non-tenders or trades of Ryan Mountcastle ($7.8MM projected salary), Keegan Akin ($3MM projection), Yennier Cano ($1.8MM projection) and/or Alex Jackson ($1.8MM projection) prior to tomorrow’s 5pm ET non-tender deadline.

Depending on what happens with the Orioles’ arbitration class, they could realistically see next year’s projected payroll drop into the $93-100MM range by tomorrow evening. The opened the 2025 season with a payroll around $164.5MM. We’re certainly not accustomed to seeing Baltimore spend like this, but this is also only the second offseason under new owner David Rubenstein. Elias has already publicly stated that he is “fully prepared” to sacrifice draft picks by signing free agents who rejected qualifying offers, and for all the focus on pitching, it was reported more than a month ago that the O’s also covet an impact bat — likely in the outfield.

None of this is intended to frame the Orioles as any sort of favorite to sign Tucker, to be clear. Far from it. However, the fit and logic behind it are probably more sensible than one might think at first glance.

Other clubs will still loom in the market. Passan cites the Phillies as a possible landing spot, should Kyle Schwarber sign elsewhere. The Yankees have been linked to both Tucker and a Cody Bellinger reunion. GM Brian Cashman indicated this week that Trent Grisham’s decision to accept his qualifying offer will not impact the team’s pursuit of Bellinger. Presumably, then, that thinking extends to Tucker as well. The Dodgers have also been linked to Tucker, though Passan doubles down on his prior reporting that their interest would “likely” be on a shorter-term but high-AAV deal — the type we rarely see taken by the consensus top free agent in a given offseason.

Red Sox, Connor Wong Avoid Arbitration

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The Red Sox announced Thursday that they’ve signed catcher Connor Wong to a one-year contract for the 2026 season, thereby avoiding arbitration. He’ll be paid $1.375MM next year, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports. Ari Alexander of 7News adds that Wong would earn $25K for reaching each of 250, 300 and 350 plate appearances, bringing his maximum earnings to $1.45MM.

Wong, 29, had a breakout 2024 showing at the plate when he hit .280/.333/.425 with 13 homers in a career-high 487 plate appearances. He wasn’t able to replicate that production in 2025, however, and wound up posting a career-worst .190/.262/.238 slash (39 wRC+). That came in a smaller sample of 188 turns at the plate. As Wong struggled, he also lost his grip on the starting job to rookie Carlos Narvaez, who’ll head into 2026 atop Boston’s depth chart behind the dish.

Though Wong’s bat cratered this past season, he did make some notable improvements in his framing and blocking — at least in the eyes of Statcast. He’s still not a plus defender, but those gains and the promise he showed at the plate in 2024 will be enough to keep him with the Sox as a backup to Narvaez. Wong also has a minor league option remaining, so if the Sox want to bring in some additional catching help for the MLB roster, they could option Wong without needing to place him on waivers.

This was Wong’s first offseason of arbitration eligibility. He’s under club control through the 2028 season, though that’ll only come into play if he’s able to bounce back in 2026. If last year’s struggles persist into next season, Wong’s hold on his roster spot will be tenuous.

Astros Aiming To Stay Under Luxury Threshold

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For a second straight offseason, Astros owner Jim Crane is “wary” of exceeding the luxury tax threshold, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports. Dipping under the tax line was a clear priority for Houston last offseason as well.

This year’s first-tier luxury threshold lands at $244MM. Per RosterResource, the Astros are currently about $25MM shy of that mark. Their DFA of Ramon Urias and last night’s trade of fellow utilityman Mauricio Dubón (for lower-priced utility option Nick Allen) trimmed a net $8.7MM off that payroll projection, which uses MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s projected arbitration salaries.

Houston’s current $218.9MM luxury tax projection could — and very likely will — dip further over the next 36 hours. The deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is tomorrow at 5pm ET. The ’Stros have several plausible non-tender candidates, including outfielder Jesus Sanchez ($6.5MM projected salary), reliever Enyel De Los Santos ($2.1MM projection) and outfielder Taylor Trammell ($900K projection). If the Astros move on from that trio, they’d trim a net $7.15MM from the current $218.9MM projection.

The Astros are known to be in the market for rotation help — they already took a cheap one-year flier on former top prospect Nate Pearson, guaranteeing him $1.35MM — and have been working to balance out a heavily right-handed lineup for the better part of the past calendar year. Framber Valdez is a free agent, leaving Hunter Brown atop a starting staff with more question marks than reliable contributors.

Cristian Javier is a quality mid-rotation arm when healthy, but 2026 will be his first full year back from Tommy John surgery. Lance McCullers Jr. returned from a two-year injury absence in 2025 but struggled badly. Spencer Arrighetti missed most of the season with a broken thumb. Jason Alexander was a surprise contributor in 2025, but he’s a journeyman 33-year-old with no prior MLB success who’d struggled in Triple-A from 2023-24. J.P. France pitched just four MLB frames and was hit hard in Triple-A after spending the first two-thirds of the season rehabbing from shoulder surgery. Left-hander Colton Gordon was tagged for a 5.34 ERA in 19 starts as a rookie. Righty AJ Blubaugh impressed in his first 32 big league innings but was tagged for a 5.27 ERA in a much larger Triple-A sample. Each of Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski and Brandon Walter underwent Tommy John surgery. Prospect Miguel Ullola could factor in, but he’s yet to pitch in the majors and has poor command.

Suffice it to say, the need for starting pitching is acute, but the means to acquire it aren’t exactly plentiful. The Astros can certainly add one free agent starter at a notable salary, but that’d eat up a good chunk of the space they have between their current standing and the first luxury tier. Adding a left-handed bat to a lineup where Yordan Alvarez and rookie outfielder Zach Cole are the only current options (assuming Sanchez is non-tendered or traded) will also cut into the gap. Houston would presumably prefer to add another catcher, too; current backup Cesar Salazar hit just .213/.353/.353 in Triple-A this past season and has just 67 career plate appearances in the majors. He’ll turn 30 in March. And of course, most teams prefer to maintain at least a little financial wiggle-room for in-season dealings.

The trade market always presents alternative options, but Houston’s farm system is in dire straits. The Astros have long shown a knack for coaxing strong performances out of pitchers who weren’t considered top-tier talent throughout the industry (though the team clearly stalled in that regard this past season). However, that doesn’t mean other clubs will be lining up to surrender established talent in exchange for minor leaguers from what’s widely regarded as a bottom-five system in the game.

It’s feasible that further trades could be engineered to create more spending power, but GM Dana Brown has downplayed the possibility of moving first baseman Christian Walker (owed $40MM through 2027) and flatly said that he has “no interest” in trading infielder Isaac Paredes ($9.3MM projected salary). As things stand, the Astros have limited spending power to address their needs and an even more limited stock of minor league talent to peddle if they try to upgrade via trade. There are never any “easy” answers when trying to assemble a competitive roster with sufficient depth to navigate a 162-game season, but Brown & Co. are staring at their most complicated puzzle in recent memory.

The Opener: Braves, Trade Market, Relief Market

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

1. Braves getting down to business:

Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has long been known for his desire to move quickly during the offseason, and yesterday saw him kick off Atlanta’s offseason in a big way. The team re-signed closer Raisel Iglesias on a one-year deal worth $16MM and followed that move up by swinging a trade with the Astros for utilityman Mauricio Dubon. Iglesias helps to steady a bullpen mix that bid farewell to righties Tyler Kinley and Pierce Johnson when their club options were declined. Dubon gives the club a viable answer at shortstop should they fail to find an upgrade elsewhere and an excellent bench piece if he does wind up squeezed out of the starting lineup. In addition to further exploring the shortstop market, Atlanta will be on the hunt for rotation help and another reliever or two.

2. Trade market heating up?

The Dubon deal was the second notable trade in as many days, joining the surprise swap of Taylor Ward for Grayson Rodriguez between the Angels and Orioles. Neither Ward nor Rodriguez was a potential non-tender candidate, but Dubon and Nick Allen (whom the Astros acquired in exchange for Dubon) both might have been on their previous teams. MLBTR’s list of non-tender candidates released yesterday, and GMs around the league will surely be focused on trying to work out trades for any of their players who they don’t plan to tender a contract to tomorrow over the next day. Some notable trade candidates on that list include Jonah Heim, Adolis Garcia, Jonathan India, Alec Bohm, Jesus Sanchez, and Bailey Falter.

3. Could Iglesias spark more relief market movement?

Iglesias re-upping with the Braves wasn’t exactly a shocking move, given Atlanta’s proclivity towards familiar faces and a need for help at the back of a bullpen that lacked certainty outside of Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer. Even so, there have been indications this winter that the market for relief arms could move more quickly than other parts of free agency. Iglesias is far from the only interesting name available in a market led by Edwin Diaz. Robert Suarez, Ryan Helsley, and Devin Williams are all notable names who should get strong contracts this winter, while Brad Keller, Pete Fairbanks, and Luke Weaver might lack that star power but would still be exciting additions to the back of virtually any bullpen. Who will be the next to sign?

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