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Phillies Interested In Cody Bellinger

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Much of the buzz surrounding the Phillies this winter has concerned their efforts to re-sign one or both or Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto.  Since either of those free agents might well end up leaving Philadelphia for another team, the Phils have also been doing their due diligence on other major free agents or trade targets, including Tatsuya Imai and Ketel Marte.

Cody Bellinger’s name can now also be added to the list, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan writes that the Phillies “have interest in” the former NL MVP.  The Phils join the Yankees, Mets, Angels, Dodgers, and Blue Jays as teams known to have some level of interest in Bellinger’s services.

Since it is known that re-signing Schwarber is the Phillies’ chief priority, Bellinger might represent the team’s backup plan if Schwarber heads elsewhere.  While Bellinger doesn’t have Schwarber’s power or overall offensive consistency, there are plenty of reasons why Bellinger would make perhaps even more sense as a fit in the Phillies’ lineup.

Bellinger is also a left-handed hitter, and is coming off a strong 2025 campaign that saw him hit .272/.334/.480 with 29 home runs over 656 plate appearances for the Yankees.  It was more than enough for Bellinger to decline his $25MM player option for the 2026 season and re-enter the free agent market, looking for the long-term nine-figure deal that has eluded him in previous trips to the open market.

Bellinger had a 125 wRC+ last season, which is a few notches below the 152 wRC+ Schwarber posted during his 56-homer season.  Over the 2023-25 seasons, the gap is narrowed to a 135 wRC+ for Schwarber and a 123 wRC+ for Bellinger.  In terms of how the two have produced their numbers, it’s a tale of two somewhat opposite skillsets.  Bellinger makes a lot of contact and rarely strikes out, though he doesn’t generate much hard contact.  Schwarber makes a ton of loud contact, but with the tradeoff of plenty of strikeouts.  Both hitters perform well against left-handed pitching so there isn’t a platoon concern, but Bellinger hit far better at Yankee Stadium than he did in road games in 2025.

That aforementioned 2023-25 span also reveals an advantage for Bellinger in fWAR (11.4 to 9.1), as Schwarber being essentially a DH-only player and a subpar corner outfielder leaves him trailing far behind Bellinger in defensive value.  As this defensive skillset translates to the Phillies, Bellinger could fill in at first base whenever Bryce Harper needs a DH day.  More regularly, Bellinger would be playing in the outfield, perhaps in right field since Nick Castellanos is expected to be traded or maybe just released entirely.  A corner outfield slot is a better fit for Bellinger than center field duty, yet Bellinger could be a part-time answer to the Phillies’ needs in center.

For all of the rumors swirling around Bellinger as a trade candidate and free agent in recent years, this is the first time Philadelphia has been properly linked to his market.  This doesn’t necessarily mean the Phillies had no interest in the past, but other players were possibly just higher on the wishlist, plus the team’s first base/outfield/DH picture has been relatively crowded.

Between Bellinger’s defensive pluses and the fact that he is over 28 months younger than Schwarber, Bellinger got a slightly higher spot on MLB Trade Rumors’ ranking of the offseason’s top 50 free agents.  Bellinger was eighth on our list and Schwarber ninth, with very similar contract predictions — Bellinger five years and $140MM, Schwarber five years and $135MM.

While these are only projections, it isn’t likely that Bellinger represents much or any of a savings for the Phillies as a Schwarber alternative.  Bellinger isn’t attached to a qualifying offer, which undoubtedly has some extra appeal to a Phillies team that would pay a steeper penalty for signing a qualified free agent since Philadelphia spent above the luxury tax threshold in 2025.  By that same token, the Phils would receive a compensatory pick after only the fourth round of the 2026 draft if one of their own qualified free agents (Schwarber and Ranger Suarez) signed elsewhere.

KBO League’s SSG Landers Sign Drew VerHagen

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The SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization announced a one-year contract with right-hander Drew VerHagen for the 2026 season.  VerHagen will earn $800K in guaranteed money ($750K salary, $50K signing bonus) and another $100K is available to the 35-year-old righty in contract incentives.

A veteran of eight Major League seasons, VerHagen has a 4.98 ERA over 281 2/3 innings with the Tigers (from 2014-19) and Cardinals (2022-23), working primarily as a long reliever with a few spot starts.  He also has a significant amount of experience pitching in Japan, as VerHagen pitched with the Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball during both the 2020-21 seasons and then again over the last two seasons.

Overall, VerHagen has a 3.68 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, and 6.65% walk rate in 283 1/3 innings with the Fighters.  His most recent season, however, was his least-successful in NPB.  VerHagen delivered only a 6.08 ERA over 26 2/3 frames with the Fighters in 2025, and spent the bulk of the season with the Fighters’ minor league affiliate.

VerHagen will now look to turn the page in a new league and a new country.  He’ll take up one of the Fighters’ allotted roster spots for foreign-born pitchers, essentially replacing Drew Anderson (who is returning to MLB on a one-year deal with Detroit).

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

A’s Not Inclined To Move Luis Severino Solely For Salary Relief

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The Athletics made Luis Severino the highest-paid player in franchise history last winter. The first season of his three-year, $67MM free agent contract was mixed at best. The veteran righty had a poor first half, allowing a 5.16 ERA over 20 starts. He was at the center of controversy in late June after he bemoaned pitching at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park in a conversation with The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty.

Those comments reportedly didn’t sit well with A’s brass. There was speculation that the team would try to move Severino before the deadline, but his contract and poor performance made that easier said than done. Severino rebuilt some value with a better showing after the All-Star Break. He concluded the season with a 3.10 ERA over his final nine appearances. He struck out a solid 21.8% of opponents while holding them to a .226/.289/.333 batting line over that stretch.

Aside from a three-week injured list stint due to an oblique strain, the second half performance was what the A’s front office had in mind when they signed Severino. As they enter another offseason that’ll be focused on pitching, they seem less inclined to move him than they had been a few months ago. Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic write that the A’s are not interested in trading Severino in a pure salary dump. While they’re not taking him off the table in talks, it seems they’re demanding a legitimate return on top of another club taking his contract off the books.

Severino is still owed a $5MM signing bonus, which will be paid next January 15. (The A’s would be responsible for that even if they traded him within the next month.) He’ll make a $20MM salary next year and has a $22MM player option for the 2027 campaign. It’s a total commitment of two years and $42MM with the possibility that Severino opts out after the first season. He received and rejected a qualifying offer from the Mets last winter, so the A’s would not be able to make him another QO if he retests the market.

It’s not a terrible contract, but it’s also not one that has much upside for the team. Severino is coming off a 4.54 ERA with a below-average 17.6% strikeout rate across 162 2/3 innings overall. There’s been a lot of attention to the three-run gap in his ERA (6.01 vs. 3.02) at home versus on the road. However, Severino’s 17% strikeout rate and unsustainably low .249 average on balls in play during his away starts suggest his road ERA is a bit of a mirage. There’s a much narrower gap in his FIP (4.34 vs. 3.87) in his home/road splits. The overall picture looks like that of a league average starter.

The ideal outcome for the team is that Severino pitches like a #3 starter next season and opts out. He’d only exercise the player option if he pitched poorly enough that he doesn’t feel it’d be smart to walk away from a $22MM salary. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t appear teams are willing to offer the A’s a strong trade package. Sammon and Rosenthal write that interested clubs would only take on Severino’s contract if they don’t need to give up significant talent.

That doesn’t achieve a whole lot for the A’s, assuming the front office and ownership aren’t shopping him solely because of his criticism of the temporary stadium arrangement. Severino and Jeffrey Springs are their only returning starters who topped 100 innings. The rotation had a 4.85 ERA overall, the fourth-highest mark in MLB. Rookies Jacob Lopez and Luis Morales showed promise, but starting pitching remains the team’s biggest need. That’s particularly true given how hitter-friendly the Sacramento park plays — putting a greater toll on the A’s young arms. They may face similar challenges to last offseason in convincing free agent starters to sign there.

Severino, Springs, Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler are the only players on guaranteed deals. They have one of the lightest arbitration classes in MLB. RosterResource projects their luxury tax number around $105MM, which was their reported target last winter to avoid a revenue sharing grievance. Their actual payroll estimate sits at roughly $75MM. That’s also right around where they opened the ’25 campaign. In addition to their rotation need, they’re aiming to add a high-leverage reliever and could pursue second and/or third base help.

Mariners Finalize Coaching Staff

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The Mariners announced their 2026 coaching staff on Friday morning. There are three news additions to Dan Wilson’s group: bullpen coach Austin Nola, third base coach Carlos Cardoza, and field coordinator Jake McKinley. MLBTR covered Nola’s hiring last month.

Cardoza, 39 in January, gets his first job on an MLB staff. The Puerto Rico native has coached professionally for a decade, spending the majority of that time working in the Texas farm system. He served as a minor league manager and has led the Rangers’ Double-A affiliate for the past three seasons. Seattle needed a new third base coach to replace Kristopher Negrón, who departed to take over as Don Kelly’s bench coach with the Pirates.

McKinley is also making his debut on a big league staff. He makes the jump from the college ranks after spending the past three seasons as the head coach at the University of Nevada. (Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball reported that McKinley was leaving the Wolfpack to join the M’s as field coordinator earlier this week.) The 2025 Mountain West Coach of the Year, McKinley led Nevada to a 19-11 record within conference play to win the regular season conference championship. He’d previously worked in the professional ranks as part of Milwaukee’s player development department.

The rest of Wilson’s staff returns on the heels of the ALCS berth. Bench coach Manny Acta, senior director of hitting strategy Edgar Martinez, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes, pitching coach Pete Woodworth, assistant pitching coach Danny Farquhar, director of pitching strategy Trent Blank, first base coach Eric Young Jr., and infield coach Perry Hill are all back in their previous roles.

Latest On MacKenzie Gore Trade Talks

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Nationals left-hander MacKenzie Gore is one of the biggest names to watch as the Winter Meetings approach. The All-Star southpaw is Washington’s biggest trade chip, and they’re unsurprisingly getting plenty of calls.

Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic write that the Nationals have heard from upwards of 15 teams with interest. Buster Olney of ESPN relays that executives from multiple front offices expect a Gore trade to come together within the coming days. ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel wrote earlier this week that the Nats had a high asking price — as one would expect for a mid-rotation starter who comes with two affordable seasons of club control.

Gore, who turns 27 in February, took the ball 30 times this year and posted a 4.17 earned run average. That’s not all that impressive in aggregate, but he flashed the talent that once made him a third overall pick. Gore’s first half was excellent: 110 1/3 innings of 3.02 ERA ball with a 30.4% strikeout rate. Things unraveled down the stretch. He was tagged for a 6.75 ERA in 11 starts after the All-Star Break. His strikeout percentage plummeted by 10 points as the whiff rates on his curveball and slider dropped. Gore struggled to throw strikes and twice landed on the injured list. He missed the first couple weeks of September with shoulder inflammation, then was scratched from his final start because of an ankle impingement.

The ankle is unlikely to be a concern moving forward. The shoulder could raise a little more alarm, but his velocity wasn’t much affected when he returned. His fastball averaged 94.8 MPH in September, only marginally below its 95.3 MPH mark for the season. Gore’s scattershot command and start-to-start inconsistency are the bigger questions. There’s nevertheless going to be ample interest in a lefty with plus stuff who pitched like a #2 starter for the first three months of the season.

Gore ranked as MLBTR’s top trade candidate entering the offseason. That reflected both his value and the likelihood that he’d be on the move. The Nationals don’t appear close to coming out of their rebuild. They fired GM Mike Rizzo midseason and are starting fresh with president of baseball operations Paul Toboni. Gore is two seasons away from free agency. The Nats almost certainly won’t be competitive next season and face an uphill battle to making the playoffs in 2027, making it difficult to envision Gore remaining in D.C. beyond next year’s deadline at the latest.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Gore for a $4.7MM salary in his penultimate arbitration year. That’s unlikely to climb beyond $8-10MM in 2027. An acquiring team would be getting two years of a mid-rotation arm for a total around $12-15MM. That’s a bargain even if Gore never reaches another level, but there are surely clubs that believe they can coax a better full season than he has shown so far.

The Padres reportedly made the strongest push to bring Gore back at last summer’s deadline. They still need controllable starting pitching, though a deal could be difficult to manage after they moved top prospect Leo De Vries to the A’s for Mason Miller instead. The Cubs were also linked to Gore at the deadline and remain on the hunt for a high-end starter.

The Giants, Yankees, Tigers, Red Sox and Rangers could all pursue a top arm in trade. The rotation isn’t necessarily a need for the Mariners, but they’re in win-now mode and have the kind of farm system that could allow them to jump in on any available trade candidate. The Orioles and Mets are also chasing rotation upside, but a huge trade with the Nationals could be complicated. The O’s and Nats have long had a contentious relationship related to their decade-plus long dispute over TV rights, while the Mets face the challenge of pulling off a trade within the division.

Diamondbacks Sign Jacob Amaya, Taylor Rashi To Minor League Deals

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The Diamondbacks signed infielder Jacob Amaya and relievers Taylor Rashi and Gerardo Carrillo to minor league contracts, as announced by their Triple-A affiliate in Reno. All three players will get non-roster invitations to Spring Training.

Amaya joins the system after spending the 2025 season with the White Sox. He appeared in a career-high 36 games but only batted .106 with one extra-base hit (a double) in 73 trips to the plate. The 27-year-old spent the rest of the season with Triple-A Charlotte. He hit .250/.352/.420 with nine homers across 219 plate appearances. He posted decent batted ball metrics but struck out in 29% of his trips to the dish.

A former 11th-round pick of the Dodgers, Amaya is a light-hitting utility player. He has nearly 5000 professional innings at shortstop and has logged more than 1100 frames at second base. Amaya has played some third base as well and should provide a solid glove around the infield. He’ll compete with Tim Tawa for the utility job in camp but is probably ticketed for Reno to begin the season.

Rashi returns after being non-tendered a couple weeks ago. The Snakes dropped him from the 40-man roster to make room for James McCann, whom they re-signed that day. The 29-year-old righty pitched 10 times this past season, allowing eight runs across 16 1/3 innings. He recorded 22 strikeouts while issuing eight walks. Rashi only throws 90 MPH but turned in an impressive 3.48 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents over 67 1/3 innings in the Pacific Coast League this year.

Carrillo has yet to pitch in the majors. A former Dodgers prospect who was traded to the Nationals as part of the Max Scherzer/Trea Turner deal in 2021, he topped out at Double-A in the Washington system. The 27-year-old righty briefly got to Triple-A last year with the Rangers but spent the bulk of the season at Double-A Frisco. He posted a 3.69 ERA with a 26.8% strikeout rate against generally younger competition.

Latest On Michael King’s Market

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Michael King is one of the bigger risk-reward plays in the starting pitching class. He’s arguably a top 10 pitcher in MLB when healthy but is coming off a platform season that was wrecked by a nerve injury in his throwing shoulder. He’s also attached to draft compensation after rejecting a qualifying offer from the Padres.

That hasn’t deterred plenty of teams from expressing interest. King was already known to be a target for the Cubs, Tigers and Yankees, while even the Marlins checked in as a long shot suitor. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and Joel Sherman of The New York Post each write that the Mets are involved. Feinsand adds the Orioles, Angels and incumbent Padres as teams on the periphery of the market. Sherman reports that the Red Sox have also shown interest in the 30-year-old righty.

King converted to the rotation late in the 2023 season as a member of the Yankees. He pitched well enough to stick as a starter after being traded to San Diego as the centerpiece of the Juan Soto deal. King finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting in 2024, pitching to a 2.95 ERA while striking out 201 batters over 31 appearances. He’d pitched even better over the first six weeks of the ’25 campaign. King reeled off 10 starts with a 2.59 earned run average and punching out 28% of opponents before the injury.

Durability is the big question. The shoulder issue wasn’t structural but proved a lot more problematic than initially expected. He wound up missing almost three months and showed signs of rust when he returned late in the season. King gave up 12 runs while tallying all of 17 1/3 innings over five starts in the second half. His velocity was fine but he only managed 12 strikeouts while issuing nine free passes.

King appeared on track for a nine-figure contract amidst his hot start. That’s tougher to envision now, as the 2024 campaign remains the only season in which he has reached even 105 innings. That’s largely because of his usage with the Yankees, but he also missed a couple months in 2021 with a finger injury and suffered a season-ending elbow fracture the following year.

MLBTR predicted King to receive a four-year, $80MM contract. It’s also possible he prefers a two- or three-year deal with an opt-out to get back to free agency next winter. King declined the straight one-year qualifying offer, but a multi-year deal with an out clause would give him a little more security than the QO would have provided. Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote this morning that King is willing to sign for a shorter term than the top free agent arms (e.g. Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai, Ranger Suárez). That wouldn’t necessarily rule out a four-year deal, as the best starters are expected to command five or six-year contracts. Dylan Cease already pulled a seven-year guarantee.

The Mets should come away with a mid-rotation or better arm via free agency or trade. They stayed away from the top of the rotation market last winter. That worked out early in the year but collapsed down the stretch. Only the Rockies, Nationals and Angels had a higher second-half ERA from their rotation than the Mets’ 5.31 mark. Nolan McLean looks like a budding frontline starter, but he’s their only pitcher who allowed fewer than 4.20 earned runs per nine after the All-Star Break.

Baltimore, Boston, San Diego and the Angels have all been in the rotation market. The Red Sox should probably focus elsewhere after acquiring Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo in trade. The Angels have landed a pair of starters this offseason as well, but Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah both have significant health questions. They still need a starter and are also in the mix for Zac Gallen. The O’s are involved on Valdez and Suárez; no pitcher seems to be off the table for them. The Padres are unlikely to spend what it’d take to bring King back, though they’ll need multiple rotation adds after also losing Cease to free agency and Yu Darvish to elbow surgery.

Tigers Have Shown Interest In Brad Keller As Starter

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The Tigers are among the teams that have expressed interest in free agent righty Brad Keller as a starting pitcher, Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press wrote this afternoon. That report preceded Detroit’s agreement with swingman Drew Anderson, but it’s unlikely a one-year deal with a pitcher who hasn’t appeared in MLB since 2021 would take them out of the mix for starting pitching.

Keller is coming off a breakout year working out of the Cubs bullpen. The 30-year-old righty fired 69 2/3 innings of 2.07 ERA ball. He emerged as Craig Counsell’s most trusted leverage arm by the end of the season. Keller recorded 25 holds and a trio of saves while relinquishing just three leads all year. He was fantastic in the second half, allowing one run while striking out 35 hitters across 27 2/3 frames. He picked up two more saves and a hold while tossing 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the playoffs.

While the underlying metrics weren’t quite so dominant, Keller posted solid peripherals across the board. He punched out 27.2% of opponents against a manageable 8% walk rate. Keller got ground-balls at a 56.5% clip, the 10th-highest rate among relievers with 50+ innings. The only slight area of concern was a modest 10.8% swinging strike rate that checked in a little below the 11.5% league average.

Keller’s performance was obviously going to have plenty of teams interested in him as a reliever. As we noted on our writeup of the Top 50 Free Agents, it made sense that some clubs would view him as a rotation conversion candidate. Keller has plenty of starting experience. He was a starter for most of his six seasons as a member of the Royals. The 6’5″ righty found some early-career success as a grounder specialist at the back of the K.C. rotation.

His numbers tanked between 2021-23, and he underwent surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome before the ’24 campaign. Keller didn’t find much success in limited MLB looks with the White Sox and Red Sox that year. He was forced to settle for a minor league contract with the Cubs last winter. Keller looked rejuvenated in a relief role, earning a roster spot out of camp and pitching his way to the top of the bullpen hierarchy before long.

While the thoracic outlet surgery could give some clubs trepidation, there’s reason for optimism if he does return to starting. He has continued to use a five-pitch mix out of the bullpen. He had no issues handling left-handed hitters this year, holding them to a .223/.293/.277 slash with a 26% strikeout rate over 123 plate appearances. Keller doesn’t have pristine command but has shown good enough control to work into the middle innings as a starter. While he obviously wouldn’t maintain this past season’s 97.2 MPH average fastball velocity in longer stints, it’s not unreasonable to imagine him sitting 94-95 over five-plus innings.

MLBTR predicted Keller for a three-year, $36MM contract. That baked in the possibility that he could sign somewhere as a starter. ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote this morning that Keller indeed seems on track to pull a three-year deal. The Tigers have yet to sign a free agent for more than two seasons under fourth-year president of baseball operations Scott Harris.

Keller would nevertheless fit their general operating procedure of targeting the middle tiers of free agency. Detroit has also been linked to Michael King and Zac Gallen and have been more loosely floated as a potential Ranger Suárez suitor. They also reportedly kicked the tires on a reliever to starter move with Ryan Helsley, but he’s off the board on a two-year deal to close for the Orioles.

The rotation currently lines up with Tarik Skubal, Reese Olson, Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize in the top four spots. Rookie Troy Melton is probably the in-house favorite for the fifth starter role. He’d compete with Anderson, Keider Montero and Sawyer Gipson-Long for that job. They can certainly use another starter, and Keller would have the fallback to pitch in high-leverage relief if he doesn’t win a rotation spot out of camp.

Giants To Hire Jesse Chavez As Bullpen Coach

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The Giants made a handful of notable moves on the coaching staff and in the front office. The club announced the hirings of former big leaguers Javier López and Curt Casali as front office advisors. They’re adding another longtime MLB player in the dugout, as newly-signed reliever Sam Hentges tells reporters (including Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle) that Jesse Chavez will be the new bullpen coach.

Chavez, 42, jumps into coaching a few months after the end of his playing career. He announced his retirement in July after being waived by the Braves. Chavez became a staple on MLBTR pages for a series of transactions that tended to land him back in Atlanta. He made four MLB appearances this year, reaching the big leagues for an 18th season.

A long reliever for the majority of his career, Chavez posted a 4.27 ERA in 657 appearances. He pitched for nine teams overall. The Giants were not one of them, but he spent four seasons in the Bay Area with the Athletics. He’ll replace Garvin Alston, who held the role for the past two seasons. San Francisco had arguably the sport’s best bullpen for the first few months of the 2025 season. Trades of Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval and a late-season Tommy John surgery for new closer Randy Rodríguez leave them with a lot of work to do this offseason.

As for the new advisors, both have ties to the organization. Casali caught in the big leagues for parts of 11 seasons. He had separate stints in San Francisco from 2021-22 and again to close his career last year. He was in camp with the Braves this past season but retired after the team announced he wouldn’t be on the Opening Day roster. He jumped into front office work with the Reds and now heads back to San Francisco.

López was a longtime reliever who spent his final seven seasons in orange and black. He was an effective left-handed specialist for the 2010, ’12 and ’14 World Series teams. López was obviously a longtime teammate of president of baseball operations Buster Posey. He retired in 2017 and has remained adjacent to the organization as a color analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area.

San Francisco also made one notable personnel move that does not involve a former big leaguer. They promoted vice president of analytics Paul Bien to assistant general manager. He joins Jeremy Shelley as the club’s assistant GMs, who work underneath Posey and general manager Zack Minasian. Bien, a UCLA graduate, has been in the organization since 2012. His background is in data and technology, and he has worked alongside the scouting/player development groups as well as providing analytic information to the MLB staff.

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