Padres Shut Matt Waldron Down
Padres right-hander Matt Waldron has been shut down for the time being and is considered week to week, manager Craig Stammen told the team’s beat (via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune). The right-hander recently underwent a procedure for a hemorrhoid.
Waldron, 29, made only one big league appearance last season, pitching 4 2/3 innings and being tagged for four runs. He tallied 26 starts for the Friars the year prior, turning in a 4.91 ERA with a 21.3% strikeout rate against a 6.4% walk rate. He posted a solid 3.79 ERA through his first 23 starts of the season in 2024 before being clobbered for 26 runs in only 18 1/3 frames over his final few appearances, ballooning his ERA by more than a full run in the process.
One of the only active knuckleballers in the majors or minors, Waldron struggled through 21 Triple-A starts last year, serving up a 6.48 earned run average. He maintained respectable strikeout and walk rates, however (20.7% and 7.1%, respectively). A .368 average on balls in play and well below-average 59% strand rate both dogged him.
Waldron is out of minor league options and thus cannot be sent to Triple-A without first clearing waivers. He can, however, open the season on the 15-day injured list and embark on a 30-day minor league rehab assignment once cleared to pitch, if the recovery from his recent procedure necessitates such an absence.
Following a late flurry of low-cost additions, the Padres’ 2026 rotation includes a returning Joe Musgrove (from 2024 Tommy John surgery), the re-signed Michael King, veteran Nick Pivetta, out-of-options righty Randy Vásquez and free agent newcomer Germán Márquez. San Diego also added Griffin Canning on a one-year deal, though he’s still on the mend from last year’s torn Achilles tendon. Lefties JP Sears and Kyle Hart are on the 40-man roster but could be depth options in Triple-A El Paso to begin the year, given Vásquez’s lack of options. Veterans Walker Buehler, Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie all inked a minor league deals with invitations to spring and could factor into the mix as well.
Offseason In Review: Colorado Rockies
The Rockies went outside the box with one of the more fascinating executive hirings in recent memory. The top baseball operations duo of Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes have their work cut out for them. It’s not going to be fixed in one offseason, but they made a handful of lower-cost additions to raise the floor after losing 119 games.
Major League Signings
- 2B/3B/OF Willi Castro, Two years, $12.8MM
- RHP Michael Lorenzen, One year, $8MM (including buyout of ’27 club option)
- LHP Jose Quintana: One year, $6MM
- RHP Tomoyuki Sugano: One year, $5.1MM
Trades and Claims
- Claimed RHP Garrett Acton off waivers from Rays (later lost on release waivers to Marlins)
- Claimed 1B Troy Johnston off waivers from Marlins
- Acquired LHP Brennan Bernardino from Red Sox for minor league OF Braiden Ward
- Traded LHP Ryan Rolison to Braves for cash
- Selected RHP RJ Petit from Tigers with No. 1 pick in Rule 5 draft
- Claimed RHP Keegan Thompson off waivers from Reds
- Acquired OF Jake McCarthy from Diamondbacks for minor league RHP Josh Grosz
- Traded RHP Bradley Blalock to Marlins for minor league RHP Jake Brooks
- Traded RHP Angel Chivilli to Yankees for minor league 1B T.J.Rumfield
- Acquired 1B/2B Edouard Julien and RHP Pierson Ohl from Twins for minor league RHP Jace Kaminska and cash
Option Decisions
- Team declined its end of $7MM mutual option on 2B Thairo Estrada in favor of $750K buyout
- Team declined its end of $4MM mutual option on 2B Kyle Farmer in favor of $750K buyout
Notable Minor League Signings
- Drew Avans, Valente Bellozo, John Brebbia, Eiberson Castellano, Adam Laskey, Nicky Lopez, Vimael Machín, Kyle McCann, Parker Mushinski, Chad Stevens, Brett Sullivan
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Germán Márquez, Thairo Estrada, Michael Toglia (non-tender), Kyle Farmer, Angel Chivilli, Bradley Blalock, Ryan Rolison, Orlando Arcia, Yanquiel Fernández (lost on waivers), Drew Romo (lost on waivers), Anthony Molina (lost on waivers), Dugan Darnell (lost on waivers), Warming Bernabel, Roansy Contreras, Aaron Schunk, Lucas Gilbreath
As the Rockies were playing out the string on one of the worst seasons in baseball history, it was evident significant changes were coming. The Rox had already fired manager Bud Black early in the year, tabbing Warren Schaeffer as an interim replacement. Speculation about general manager Bill Schmidt’s job security mounted by the end of the regular season.
The Rox announced at the beginning of the playoffs that Schmidt was out. The team framed it as a mutual decision, though reporting suggested the GM was fired. In either case, owner Dick Monfort said he planned to go outside the organization for the next baseball operations leader. Schmidt and Jeff Bridich had been internal promotions and did not pan out. Assistant GM Zack Rosenthal resigned once it became apparent that he wasn’t under consideration for the top role.
Colorado interviewed a handful of traditional candidates: Royals assistant GM Scott Sharp, Blue Jays vice president of baseball strategy James Click, D-Backs AGM Amiel Sawdaye, and Guardians AGM Matt Forman among them. They’d seemingly narrowed the decision to Forman and Sawdaye by Halloween but reopened the search at that point. Sawdaye and Forman reportedly each withdrew from consideration toward the end of the process.
It left the Rockies in an awkward spot of beginning the offseason with no clear head of baseball operations. They made a couple option formalities in buying out Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer and even placed a few waiver claims (Garrett Acton, Troy Johnston) while a committee of holdovers ran operations.
As the GM Meetings approached in the second week of November, the Rockies made a stunning hire. They tabbed former Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta as their president of baseball operations. DePodesta, best known for his role as Billy Beane’s top lieutenant during the Moneyball era, last ran an MLB front office 20 years ago. He had been out of baseball altogether since 2016, spending the past decade in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.
It’s much too early to judge how DePodesta’s newest role will turn out. The Rockies have been too insular throughout Monfort’s ownership tenure but certainly can’t be accused of that with the DePodesta hiring. Maybe that’s an inevitability after an historically inept season.
It could also be a hint of a changing of the guard at the top of the organization. Although Dick Monfort remains the ownership head, he has voiced a desire to offload some of the daily responsibility to his son, Walker (who was promoted to team president last summer). Dick Monfort is one of the leading ownership figures on the labor side — he’s generally perceived as one of the more stringent advocates for a salary cap — and wanted to focus more attention on the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations.
Although DePodesta would do a fair bit of work reshaping the back of the roster, his immediate priority was on staffing. He tabbed longtime Dodgers executive (and former Padres GM) Josh Byrnes as his general manager, the No. 2 in baseball operations. The two have roots together dating back to their days in Cleveland’s front office in the late 1990s.
The Rockies also decided right away to remove the interim tag and allow Schaeffer to continue on as manager. One could read that as the kind of loyalty which has burned the organization in the past, but it’s more defensible in this case. The roster is nowhere close to competitive no matter who’s managing. As long as the Rox were comfortable with Schaeffer’s connections to young players, they might as well see if he’s the right person to lead them through the rebuild.
Schaeffer did overhaul much of the coaching staff that he had inherited from Black. They tabbed first-year hitting and pitching coaches (Brett Pill and Alon Leichman, respectively). Jeff Pickler gets his first bench coaching position.
Figuring out the pitching staff is the biggest challenge. Playing at Coors Field does them no favors, but last year’s staff was largely bereft of talent no matter the park. Colorado pitchers had the highest earned run average and lowest strikeout rate in MLB both at home and on the road. The rotation’s 6.65 ERA was the highest in any full season in MLB history. The bullpen’s 5.18 mark wasn’t historically terrible but ranked 29th in the majors.
The front office has sought to raise the floor with a handful of veteran additions. Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano all came aboard on one-year deals between $5.1MM and $8MM. They’re low-ceiling additions, but the Rockies weren’t going to convince high-upside arms to take a pillow contract at Coors Field.
There’s a commonality between all three of their free agent acquisitions. Although none miss bats at high levels, they all mix 5-7 pitches with regularity. That’s probably not a coincidence. “We want big arsenals. We think big arsenals will be harder to game plan against,” Leichman told Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post. “You know, if a guy has six, seven pitches, that’s harder to game plan for than if a guy has two or three, right? So we think that’s an advantage. The more weapons you have, the more random you can be.”
The trio will at least provide innings in the first half of the season. They’re not going to be big trade candidates, but it’s possible one or two of them will pitch well enough to net a low-level prospect in July. Colorado released Austin Gomber midseason and let Germán Márquez walk via free agency. They kicked Antonio Senzatela to long relief at the end of last year. With the exception of Kyle Freeland, they’ve mostly moved on from their previous rotation core.
Freeland, Lorenzen, Quintana and Sugano should comprise four-fifths of the Opening Day rotation. Chase Dollander and Ryan Feltner are the top options for the final spot. The Rox are expected to build righty Jimmy Herget up as a potential starter this spring, though it’s likelier he winds up back in the bullpen. Prospects Gabriel Hughes and Sean Sullivan could debut midseason.
Colorado didn’t invest much in the bullpen. They made a few low-cost additions to the middle relief group. DePodesta’s first trade brought in 34-year-old lefty Brennan Bernardino from the Red Sox. They grabbed out-of-options righty Keegan Thompson off waivers from the Reds, who had signed him to a split contract just a few weeks earlier. The Rox had the top pick in the Rule 5 draft and used it on right-hander RJ Petit, who posted a 2.44 ERA with a near-30% strikeout rate in 47 appearances in the Detroit system last year. He’ll have a strong chance to break camp.
The higher-leverage bullpen arms are returnees. Seth Halvorsen, Victor Vodnik and Juan Mejia are controllable power arms with spotty command. They have a better chance of netting a meaningful trade return than do any of the fifth/sixth starter free agent signings, so they’re probably the bigger projects for the new pitching coaches.
Angel Chivilli also has big stuff but hasn’t found any success over his first two seasons. The Yankees placed a bet on the arm, acquiring Chivilli in a one-for-one swap for minor league first baseman T.J.Rumfield. The lefty-hitting Rumfield is coming off a .285/.378/.477 showing with 16 homers over a full season in Triple-A. He’s soon to turn 26 and doesn’t have much to gain from another look at minor league pitching.
Rumfield isn’t exactly a prospect. The Yankees left him unprotected in the Rule 5 draft. Every team, Colorado included, passed on the chance to acquire him for $100K. The Rockies instead parted with Chivilli to add him without the roster restrictions associated with a Rule 5 pick. Even if Rumfield breaks camp, the Rockies can option him to Triple-A, which would not have been the case had he been a Rule 5 selection.
There’s a good opportunity for the Virginia Tech product to win the first base job. The Rockies non-tendered Michael Toglia, one of far too many first-round misses in recent years. They claimed 28-year-old Troy Johnston off waivers from Miami. He’s likely competing with Blaine Crim and Rumfield in Spring Training.
Trade acquisition Edouard Julien could factor into the first base mix as well. Colorado acquired the left-handed hitter alongside swingman Pierson Ohl in a trade with Minnesota. (Ohl had a decent chance to win a long relief job but blew out this spring and is headed for Tommy John surgery.) Julien works a lot of walks and showed intriguing power upside as a rookie back in 2023, but concerning levels of swing-and-miss pushed him to the fringe of the Twins roster. He’s a decent flier for a rebuilding team that was thin on upper-level infield depth.
Julien has spent the majority of his career at second base. He’s not a good defender anywhere and probably better suited at first or designated hitter. If the Rockies prefer him at first base, that’d leave open the keystone for Adael Amador, minor league signee, Nicky Lopez or utilityman Willi Castro.
Castro signed a two-year, $12.8MM contract — Colorado’s first multi-year free agent deal since the unfortunate Kris Bryant signing. Castro had two and a half seasons as a quality bat-first utility piece in Minnesota. His numbers tanked after a deadline trade to the Cubs. That didn’t dissuade the Rox from making a multi-year commitment. He’s a respected clubhouse presence and can move between second and third base depending on what the Rockies get out of Julien, Amador, Tyler Freeman, Ryan Ritter and Kyle Karros at those respective positions. He also has some outfield experience.
Even with Castro and Julien in the fold, this is probably the worst infield in MLB. The only player locked into an everyday spot on the dirt is Ezequiel Tovar at shortstop. He’s looking to rebound after a down year in which he was hampered by hip and oblique issues.
Bryant remains on the roster, but it’s impossible to know when or if he’ll be physically able to return to the field. The former MVP has been forthright about a degenerative back condition impacting his daily life. He was immediately placed on the 60-day injured list and has no timetable for a return. Bryant isn’t going to retire and walk away from the remaining three years and $78MM on his contract. He continues to express hope that he’ll be able to play again.
The Bryant signing was ill-advised for a Colorado team that should have already been rebuilding, but no one would have foreseen things going this poorly. It’s far from the only reason that things have gotten so bleak, yet it remains the biggest misfire for an organization that has had few success stories in recent years.
The biggest exception is behind the plate. Hunter Goodman was maybe the only unequivocal bright spot in 2025. He hit 31 homers, tied for second among catchers, with a .278/.323/.520 batting line to earn his first All-Star nod. Goodman didn’t come up in any substantive trade rumors, though that’s surely not because of a lack of interest from other clubs. The Rockies control him for four seasons.
This is the kind of player the organization has been eager to extend in recent years, usually at a time when it feels like buying high. They could look into that possibility this spring, with Goodman potentially looking for something in the $40-50MM range if he’s signing away a free agent season or two. The Rockies are probably better off waiting to see if he can repeat last year’s breakout since his aggressive approach and massive whiff rates leave him with a low floor from an on-base perspective.
Goodman will get the majority of the playing time behind the dish. Braxton Fulford is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster, so he’s the favorite for the backup job. Fulford struggled as a 26-year-old rookie. The door is open for minor league signees Brett Sullivan or Kyle McCann to beat him out in camp.
Colorado moved on from former supplemental first-round pick Drew Romo this offseason. They also parted ways with former high picks or notable prospects like Toglia, Ryan Rolison and Yanquiel Fernández. That’s emblematic of how little they’ve gotten from the farm system in recent years despite frequently picking at the top of the draft.
Another former top-10 pick, Zac Veen, is trying to play his way into the outfield mix this spring. Brenton Doyle is locked into center field. The corners are more open, but they have a handful of options. Jordan Beck, Mickey Moniak and prospect Sterlin Thompson are in-house possibilities.
DePodesta expressed openness to trading an outfielder for pitching depth, but their only move went in the opposite direction. They dealt minor league righty Josh Grosz to Arizona for out-of-options fourth outfielder Jake McCarthy. McCarthy is a contact-oriented hitter who can steal bases but has alternated solid and terrible years at the plate. Although he and Julien couldn’t be more different stylistically, it’s a similar roll of the dice on a fringe roster player who has had intermittent big league success.
Those will be the kinds of moves the Rockies will make for the next few years. This isn’t going to be a good team for quite some time. They’re probably headed for another 100-loss season, though their moves on the margins should keep them from repeating last year’s level of futility. The success of this offseason will hinge much more on the front office hires than any of the tinkering with MLB’s worst team.
How would you grade the Rockies' offseason?
Rangers Top Prospect Sebastian Walcott Undergoes Internal Brace Procedure
Feb. 24: Walcott underwent an internal brace procedure and not a full UCL reconstruction (Tommy John surgery), MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry reports. That’s relatively good news, in that it’s possible he could be cleared to start hitting before the end the season. He’s looking at a timetable of five to six months, Landry adds.
Feb. 12: Rangers top prospect Sebastian Walcott, one of the most touted prospects in the entire sport, could miss the entire 2026 season due to an elbow injury that will require surgery, president of baseball operations Chris Young announced to the team’s beat this morning (link via Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). Walcott could potentially get at-bats late in the season, and if he’s healthy, he’ll be a prime candidate to make up some lost reps in the Arizona Fall League and/or in winter ball. Young added that righty Nabil Crismatt, who’s in camp as a non-roster invitee, is also headed for elbow surgery (via Wilson).
Walcott appeared in last year’s Arizona Fall League, but his time there was cut short by elbow inflammation. Surgery was not recommended at the time. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes that Walcott spent the offseason rehabbing and felt strong entering camp, but he recently experienced renewed discomfort when throwing.
A consultation with renowned surgeon Dr. Keith Meister revealed “structural changes.” Walcott will have surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, it seems, but it has not yet been determined whether he’ll require a full Tommy John procedure (i.e. ligament reconstruction) or an internal brace procedure to repair/strengthen the existing ligament. The latter comes with a shorter timetable for recovery.
It’s a brutal blow to the Rangers and their farm. Walcott is only 19 years old (20 next month) but already appeared on the cusp of MLB readiness. The Bahamian-born shortstop spent the 2025 campaign in Double-A and hit .255/.355/.386 (110 wRC+) despite being the youngest player in the league.
In 552 plate appearances, Walcott hit 13 home runs, 19 doubles and two triples. He also went 32-for-42 in stolen base attempts, walked at a huge 12.7% clip and only struck out in 19.6% of his plate appearances. That’d be a productive season even for a more physically developed 23- or 24-year-old, but Walcott enjoyed that success in spite of being five years younger than the average Texas League player.
Virtually every prospect list one can find will include Walcott within its top 20. He’s currently No. 16 at Baseball America, 16th on Keith Law’s list at The Athletic, seventh at MLB.com, and all the way up to fifth on Kiley McDaniel’s list at ESPN. Scouting reports laud him for possessing enormous, plus-plus raw power with good plate discipline, a feel to hit, plus speed and a plus arm. There’s some concern that he’ll outgrow shortstop — he’s already listed at 6’4″ and 190 pounds before turning 20 — but he has plenty of bat to stick at third base or in the outfield if such a shift is eventually needed.
It’s plausible that a healthy Walcott, with a big enough start to his season, could have emerged as an option in the majors for Texas. He’s not going to displace Corey Seager at shortstop, but third base, second base and (to a lesser extent) the outfield are all less settled in Arlington. All of that will be put on hold for the time being now, and Walcott’s debut will surely be pushed back into at least the 2027 season, as he’ll need to ease back into things as he rehabs from this health setback.
On the plus side, Walcott’s meteoric rise through the system means that youth is still very much on his side. He could miss the entire 2026 season, play well in the AFL and winter ball, open next season back at Double-A and still push to make his MLB debut during his age-21 season. The injury is a clear development setback, but for a player who has accomplished so much at such a young age, the outlook remains quite bright.
As for Crismatt, the upcoming elbow procedure scuttles any hope of cracking the big league roster. It’s not yet clear what type of procedure he’ll require. He’d been slated to pitch for his native Colombia in the World Baseball Classic, but those plans are obviously dashed as well.
The 31-year-old Crismatt spent part of the 2024 season with the Rangers’ Triple-A club and returned on a minor league deal this winter. He pitched in the majors with the D-backs last year and recorded a 3.71 ERA, 16.3% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate in 34 innings. Crismatt has suited up for four clubs across parts of six MLB seasons and carries a lifetime 3.71 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate in 211 innings — most of them coming in relief.
The Opener: Suarez, Extensions, MLBTR Chat
On the heels of a big move by the Braves this morning, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day today:
1. Suarez to make Red Sox debut:
Boston’s top offseason addition is set to suit up for his new club for the first time today. Left-hander Ranger Suarez is the scheduled starter for the Red Sox in today’s Spring Training game against the Pirates. The 2024 All-Star will look to make a strong first impression on his new fanbase as he gears up to represent Venezuela in this year’s World Baseball Classic. His opponent today will be Pittsburgh righty Carmen Mlodzinski, who posted a solid 3.55 ERA in 99 innings of work for the Pirates last year. The two will face off at Fenway South in Fort Myers in a game scheduled for 1:05pm local time this afternoon.
2. Extension season underway:
One of the most talented impending free agents just came off the board early this morning when Chris Sale landed an extension in Atlanta. Sale joins Dodgers veteran Max Muncy (and, if you include front office executives, Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller) in having forgone free agency to stick with their current club this month. That also doesn’t include the offseason’s extensions for players under long-term club control like Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson of the A’s. There aren’t any players and teams known to be in the midst of extension talks at the moment, and some players like Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs have even specifically noted that talks are not underway with their club. With that being said, deals can come together quickly behind the scenes; Sale indicated earlier today that his negotiations with the Braves took just one week. Could more extensions be on the way over the coming days?
3. MLBTR Chat Today:
Spring Training is officially underway, and baseball games are being played once again. A handful of interesting free agents such as Lucas Giolito and Zack Littell remain available, but most of the heavy lifting for clubs has been done at this point in the offseason. Are you wondering where your favorite team stands headed into Spring Training, and if there are any other moves for your club to make before the season begins? MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, follow along with the chat once it goes live, and read the transcript after it’s complete.
Marlins’ Graham Pauley Avoids Major Injury
Feb. 24: Pauley and the Marlins received good news on the infielder’s imaging. While Pauley didn’t provide a specific diagnosis, he told the Marlins’ beat that it was “all good news” and that he’s hoping to be back in games late this week or, at the latest, within the next two weeks (link via Barral).
Feb. 23: Marlins infielder Graham Pauley has been shut down from all baseball activity due to ongoing tightness in his forearm, manager Clayton McCullough told the team’s beat this morning (via Kevin Barral of Fish On First). Pauley has been sent for imaging to get a better idea of what’s causing the discomfort, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com adds. The team should have an update within the next couple days.
The 25-year-old Pauley has a chance to break camp as Miami’s everyday third baseman, so any injury requiring him to miss time would be particularly noteworthy. The former Padres farmhand came to Miami in the Tanner Scott swap two years ago. He didn’t hit much in the 184 plate appearances he logged in the majors this past season (.224/.311/.366) but showed quality defensive skills and the same keen eye at the plate (11.4%) for which he’s gotten praise throughout his minor league tenure. Pauley hit well in 37 Triple-A games last year, slashing .263/.342/.511 with eight homers and five steals.
Pauley’s primary competition at the hot corner is fellow 25-year-old Connor Norby — another trade acquisition (Trevor Rogers) who’s hoping to solidify himself in the majors. Norby, a former top prospect with the Orioles, has hit .245/.298/.407 in 531 MLB plate appearances so far. He has more power than Pauley but with a more concerning strikeout/walk profile and lesser defense. He hasn’t put it all together in the majors yet, but Norby has torched minor league pitching, including a .296/.371/.502 line in 1155 plate appearances at the Triple-A level between the Baltimore and Miami organizations.
Additional options for the Marlins at third base are few and far between. Both Christopher Morel and Deyvison De Los Santos have considerable experience at the position, but neither is a good defender. Morel will move to first base after signing as a free agent; De Los Santos (acquired from the D-backs a couple years ago in the A.J. Puk trade) played 556 innings at first base last year and only 229 at third base. He was exclusively a first baseman in winter ball this offseason. Utilityman Javier Sanoja looked solid with the glove in 41 games at third last year but hit just .243/.287/.396 in 342 plate appearances.
If Pauley winds up having to miss time and the Marlins feel their third base depth is insufficient, there are still a handful of options on the market. Jon Berti, Emmanuel Rivera, Luis Urías and Jose Iglesias are among the still-unsigned infielders capable of handling the hot corner. Other options will surely present themselves in the weeks ahead, either as veterans opt out of minor league deals or as players are designated for assignment to make room for non-roster veterans, thus leading them to waivers or the trade market.
Braves Extend Chris Sale
The Braves announced Tuesday that they’ve signed veteran left-hander Chris Sale to a one-year, $27MM contract extension with a $30MM club option for the 2028 season. (Atlanta is one of the few teams that publicly discloses contract terms itself.) The Wasserman client was slated to reach free agency this coming winter but will instead stick with Atlanta through at least 2027.
Sale, 37 next month, is entering his late thirties but remains as effective as ever. Atlanta acquired the southpaw prior to the 2024 season in exchange for Vaughn Grissom in a deal with the Red Sox that turned out to be a coup. Since joining the organization, Sale has pitched to an otherworldly 2.46 ERA (2.84 SIERA, 2.38 FIP), with a strikeout rate of 32.2% and a walk rate of 5.9%. Those elite rate stats earned him his first career Cy Young Award in 2024, although a ribcage fracture in 2025 has limited his overall workload in Georgia to a total of 303 1/3 innings.
Injuries were the story of Sale’s career for several years prior to his arrival in Atlanta. For the first nine years of his big league tenure, the lefty was utterly elite with seven All-Star appearances and six top-five finishes in Cy Young voting for the White Sox and Red Sox.
That portion of his career ended in emphatic fashion as Sale struck out then-Dodger Manny Machado to secure the 2018 World Series for Boston, but come 2019 Sale struggled for the first time in his career. While his peripherals remained elite, he posted a pedestrian 4.40 ERA and was limited to just 25 starts due to injuries. He’d go on to make just nine starts between 2020 and 2022 before returning to the mound for most of the 2023 season with a 4.30 ERA in 20 starts.
Sale may not be a true workhorse, but he’s been more durable in recent seasons and will now look to continue the high note he’s found in Atlanta as his career begins to wind down. Both Sale himself and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos recently indicated to reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Bowman) that they hoped the remainder of the 2024 Cy Young winner’s career would be spent in Atlanta, and now he’ll remain under club control until the end of his age-39 campaign. Sale told reporters (including Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) after news of the extension broke this morning that the deal came together quickly after those comments were made early in camp.
“[Anthopoulos] said what he said, I said what I said, and we just kind of looked at each other like, ‘Are we serious?'” Sale said, as relayed by Bishop. “And I called [my agent] and was like ‘Hey, call Alex, figure something out.’ You know, we made our pitch, they made their pitch, and we just kind of met in the middle. I mean, I feel like this was [done in] like, a week.”
Sale will be looking to not only put the finishing touches on a compelling Hall of Fame case but also lead the Braves back into the postseason after a rough 2025 season. He’s the undisputed ace of an Atlanta staff that looks very intimidating when at full strength but now figures to enter the season without either Spencer Schwellenbach or Hurston Waldrep. Both young righties had surgery to remove bone spurs/loose bodies from their right elbows earlier this month, and neither has a clear timetable for his return.
Instead, Sale will be joined by Spencer Strider, Grant Holmes, and Reynaldo Lopez in the rotation as things stand, with a handful of depth arms in competition for the fifth starter job. It’s a group that could clearly use an additional quality arm, but it remains to be seen if Anthopoulos will manage to add someone like that to the mix before the season begins. Whatever may happen with the rotation in 2025, however, the Braves can now move forward with the assurance that one of the game’s most elite hurlers will be staying in town for the foreseeable future.
From a payroll vantage point, there doesn’t appear to be any immediate impact on the 2026 season. The contract is structured as a new deal beginning in 2027, so it doesn’t change Atlanta’s baseline cash payroll or its luxury tax payroll for the upcoming season.
Sale’s deal does tack on $27MM of luxury considerations to the 2027 budget, although the Braves already had substantial money coming off the books at season’s end. Ha-Seong Kim ($20MM), Raisel Iglesias ($16MM), Joe Jimenez ($9MM), Aaron Bummer ($9.5MM), Mauricio Dubón ($6.1MM), Jonah Heim ($1.25MM) and Jorge Mateo ($1MM) are all free agents at season’s end, and the only notable arbitration raise Atlanta faces will be Schwellenbach’s first trip through the process. As things stand, RosterResource projects a $176MM luxury payroll for Atlanta in 2027 — about $84MM shy of their current mark.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the extension and the 2027 salary.
Cubs To Sign Michael Conforto
The Cubs reached agreement with outfielder Michael Conforto, as first reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post. It’s a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. Conforto, who is represented by the Boras Corporation, will make $2MM if his contract is selected, per Fabian Ardaya and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. There are also unspecified performance bonuses in the deal.
Conforto, 33 next month, is a veteran of ten MLB seasons at this point. A former top ten pick in the draft and top 100 prospect, Conforto was an All-Star in 2017 and hit .259/.358/.484 (128 wRC+) through his first six seasons in the majors. Things took a turn for the veteran from there, however. His 2021 season was only pedestrian (104 wRC+), and his 2022 campaign was lost to shoulder surgery. Since returning, he’s stayed at that roughly league average level overall. He’s hit .225/.316/.390 with a 98 wRC+ across three seasons with the Giants and Dodgers, but last year in L.A. was the worst season of his career to this point.
In 138 games for the Dodgers, Conforto hit just .199/.3o5/.333 with a wRC+ of 83. He was well below replacement level according to both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference in terms of WAR, he posted the weakest power production (.138 ISO) of his career, and his strikeout rate jumped to 24.9% for the first time since 2018. It was a brutal season overall, and things got bad enough that Conforto wound up being left off L.A.’s playoff rosters entirely during the World Series run. After returning to free agency this offseason, Conforto found minimal interest across the league until the calendar had already flipped to 2026. As Spring Training drew near, teams like the White Sox and Astros expressed interest in Conforto’s services, but the Cubs had not been connected to him before today’s news.
On the Cubs, Conforto seems more or less blocked without an injury. Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki are sure to be tapped to handle the outfield corners, and even if Conforto is still capable of handling center field (a position he hasn’t played since 2019) superstar Pete Crow-Armstrong is sure to get regular reps at the position. Conforto’s best hope of making the roster would be as the team’s primary DH who could rotate through the outfield corners to get Happ and Suzuki off their feet. He’ll face stiff competition from top prospect Moises Ballesteros for that top DH job, however. Ballesteros hit an excellent .298/.394/.474 in his first taste of big league action last year, and while that came in just 57 trips to the plate it was still a strong enough showing to warrant a larger look this year.
It’s certainly not impossible that Conforto could rediscover the combination of power and discipline that made him an effective big league hitter, and if he does so he could challenge Ballesteros for the DH job. That could be particularly appealing for the Cubs if they want to continue developing Ballesteros as a catcher, given that the team’s starting tandem of Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya leaves little room for Ballesteros to get a look behind the plate in the majors at this point. Failing that, he’ll compete this spring for a bench job against the likes of Dylan Carlson and Chas McCormick. Conforto has the most success at the big league level of that trio, but also would likely be the most stretched defensively as a center fielder.
Mariners Were Reluctant To Discuss Cole Young In Ketel Marte Talks
Among players who were not traded this offseason, few found themselves in more rumors than Ketel Marte. Arizona general manager Mike Hazen maintained throughout the winter that a trade was unlikely and said last month that talks never got close to a deal. Nevertheless, the D-Backs took calls from various teams who had interest in their star second baseman.
The Mariners were among the clubs that checked in as they pursued a high-impact infielder. Seattle surely had some interest in Marte, who began his career in the organization before being traded to Arizona over the 2016-17 offseason. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports that conversations about bringing Marte back to the Pacific Northwest didn’t progress far. According to Jude, that’s at least in part because the M’s balked at including second-year infielder Cole Young in a deal.
That aligns with a December report from Jude’s Seattle Times colleague, Ryan Divish, that the Mariners were reluctant to trade off their major league roster. The M’s wound up landing their preferred target, Brendan Donovan, in a three-team trade with the Cardinals and Rays. It required them to part with one big leaguer, third baseman Ben Williamson. Williamson was a secondary piece in that deal, which was headlined by Double-A pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje. A deal built around Young would have subtracted a higher-upside player than Williamson from the MLB team.
Donovan is a more versatile defensive player than Marte. He’s expected to kick over to third base to begin the season. That’ll open the path for Young to win the second base job. The 22-year-old struggled as a rookie, batting .211/.302/.305 with four home runs across 257 plate appearances. He showed an advanced plate approach but didn’t hit the ball hard enough consistently to do damage.
Young lost playing time down the stretch and was left off the playoff rosters. Jorge Polanco was the starting second baseman in October, while the M’s felt Leo Rivas provided a better contact-oriented infielder off the bench.
Jude’s reporting suggests the Mariners haven’t lost any faith in Young’s upside. The former first-round pick was an excellent hitter at every minor league stop. He’d posted a .277/.392/.461 line with more walks than strikeouts over 54 Triple-A games. Young still didn’t put up huge home run tallies, but he hit the ball harder with more consistent gap power against minor league pitching. Although he has exhausted his prospect eligibility, he remains one of the organization’s most promising young players. He’s under club control for six full seasons and would be a borderline candidate for Super Two eligibility over the 2027-28 offseason if he sticks on the MLB roster.
Rangers Notes: Langford, Smith, Foscue
Spring Training is the most common time of year for teams and players to discuss extensions. As exhibition play gets underway, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News chatted with Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford about the possibility of a long-term deal.
While Langford broadly expressed an openness to the conversation, he didn’t seem to feel pressure to get something done. “Amazing stadium, facilities, people and leadership here. So there’s really a lot to like about it. I definitely would be open to it. There’s no rush to do anything,” the 24-year-old said. “That’s my … view on it. No matter what, I’m going to be here for four more seasons, unless I get traded or something.”
Langford broke camp in 2024 and has exactly two years of MLB service. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time next winter. As he mentioned, he’s four years away from free agency (barring a massive change to the process in the next set of collective bargaining negotiations). He’s on track to hit the market before his age-28 season.
While Langford has played for roughly league minimum salaries in each of the last two years, he banked an $8MM signing bonus as the fourth overall pick in 2023. He has also earned close to $1MM over the past two seasons via the pre-arbitration bonus pool. Langford should be well positioned financially to go year by year if he wants to bet on himself.
Grant writes that there haven’t been any recent conversations on the extension front. He reports that they had some brief talks last offseason that didn’t progress and haven’t resumed. It’d hardly be a surprise if the front office checks in with his representatives at Wasserman closer to Opening Day.
Langford is coming off a .241/.344/.431 showing with 22 homers and stolen bases apiece across 573 plate appearances. He’s an excellent corner outfield defender who could play center field if the club needed. They’re likely to use him primarily in right field alongside Evan Carter and Brandon Nimmo, but Langford could kick in to center if Carter suffers another injury.
He’s a year closer to free agency than Jackson Merrill was when he signed an eight-year, $135MM extension last April. He’s a better defender than Tyler Soderstrom, who signed for $86MM at the same age and service class in December. Langford isn’t going to approach the $289MM guarantee which Bobby Witt Jr. commanded as a franchise shortstop, but his camp could seek between $150-200MM to sign away multiple free agent years.
Langford is locked into an everyday outfield role, but Texas has a few position battles to sort through during camp. Although second base appeared to be one such position, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News writes it seems to be Josh Smith’s job to lose. The utilityman has started both of his exhibition appearances at the keystone and been lifted mid-game along with the team’s other projected everyday players.
Smith seemed the in-house favorite to replace Marcus Semien from the time that Texas dealt the veteran infielder to the Mets for Nimmo. Cody Freeman had the best opportunity to push him for that job, but he’s going to miss virtually all of Spring Training after being diagnosed with a fracture in his lower back. Ezequiel Duran should step into Smith’s previous role as a utility infielder.
Former first-round pick Justin Foscue has taken the bulk of his minor league work at second base. Foscue has virtually no MLB track record, however, and Texas is planning to get him some outfield work in camp. That’d give him a better chance of winning a bench job. That hit a bit of a snag this afternoon, as the 26-year-old left Monday’s game with right hamstring discomfort (relayed by Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). Foscue had started the game at first base. He singled in his first at-bat but was removed after one inning.
Brewers Notes: Rotation, Woodruff, Garabito
Right-hander Brandon Woodruff is easily the most experienced arm in Milwaukee’s rotation mix after the Freddy Peralta trade but health has been an ongoing issue in recent years. He appears to be a bit behind schedule in camp this year after finishing 2025 on the injured list due to a lat strain. He spoke to reporters, including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, about his ramp-up and wouldn’t commit to being ready by Opening Day.
“I think it’s too early to say right now,” Woodruff said, when asked about the chances of him being ready by the start of the season. “It’s up in the air right now. I know that term’s used a lot but, like I said, there’s one goal I have this year and that’s to be healthy… I want to be available at the end of the year when it matters most. What that looks like early on could be a little bit different. There’s nothing set in concrete. All I know is I threw 25 pitches today live. I feel good. I feel good after, sitting here talking to you guys. That’s a great sign, so I’ll just continue to build off that and progress.”
Woodruff was a mainstay of the club’s rotation for most of the 2019 to 2022 seasons but has been less reliable recently. Shoulder issues limited him to 11 starts in 2023 and ultimately required surgery, which wiped out his 2024 season. He was activated off the IL in July and made 12 starts. His velocity was a couple of ticks below his pre-surgery form but the results were still good. He allowed 3.20 earned runs per nine with a 32.3% strikeout rate and 5.4% walk rate. He hit the IL with a lat strain in September and missed the postseason.
Given the tumultuous nature of his past few years, it makes sense that he and the Brewers would be cautious and focused on the long season ahead as opposed to forcing the issue in late March. If Woodruff misses a few starts to begin the campaign, they have a lot of depth they can use in the interim.
Jacob Misiorowski and Quinn Priester probably have two spots locked up. Chad Patrick and Logan Henderson are strong candidates for two more. DL Hall, Aaron Ashby, Brandon Sproat, Robert Gasser, Ángel Zerpa, Kyle Harrison, Shane Drohan, Coleman Crow and Carlos Rodríguez are all on the roster. Some of those guys will end up in relief but they’re all optionable and could be in the majors or in the Triple-A rotation or they could be shuttled between the two throughout the year.
That huge pack of rotation options means that a non-roster arm like Gerson Garabito was going to be hard-pressed to earn a roster spot. That won’t even be his focus now, as he’ll have to prioritized his health for a while. Manager Pat Murphy recently told reporters, including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that Garabito had surgery to address a broken bone in his foot and will be out for four months.
It’s a tough break for the righty, who is looking to make a return to affiliated ball. He signed with the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization in June and posted a 2.64 ERA in 15 starts for that club. He parlayed that showing into a minor league deal with the Brewers. He’ll have to recover from his surgery before he can push for a roster spot. His major league career consists of 21 appearances with the Rangers with a 5.77 ERA.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images