The White Sox announced that they have claimed left-hander Ryan Rolison off waivers from the Braves. Atlanta designated him for assignment this week as the corresponding move for their signing of right-hander Robert Suarez. The Sox had multiple 40-man vacancies and didn’t need to make a corresponding move.
More to come.
The Marlins and infielder/outfielder Christopher Morel have agreed to a major league deal, according to reporter Mike Rodriguez. It’s a one-year deal, per Christina De Nicola of MLB.com, though Morel can be controlled beyond 2026 via arbitration. The salary for the ISE Baseball client hasn’t yet been publicly reported. Morel is expected to mostly play first base for the Fish, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Marlins have an open roster spot but this will fill the 40-man once it’s official.
Morel, 26, has occasionally thrust himself into the spotlight with his ability to put the ball over the fence. However, he also strikes out a lot and hasn’t been able to find a true defensive home. The end result has been a clearly talented player struggling to fully establish himself as a viable big league regular.
Coming up as a prospect, Morel played a lot of shortstop and third base, with some time in the outfield and at second base also mixed in. He debuted with the Cubs in 2022 and showed off his power by hitting 16 home runs in 425 plate appearances. However, he also struck out in 32.2% of those trips to the plate. In 2023, he added another 26 homers in just 429 plate appearances, an even better rate than the previous year. His strikeout rate dropped a bit but stayed quite high at 31%.
Defensively, the Cubs bounced him around the diamond but without him fully taking hold of any one spot. His glovework was graded as subpar at shortstop, third base and in the outfield. He was more passable at second but the Cubs didn’t have regular playing time there due to the presence of Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson up the middle.
At last year’s deadline, the Cubs acquired Isaac Paredes from the Rays, with Morel being one of three players going back to Tampa. The Cubs later flipped Paredes to the Astros as part of the Kyle Tucker deal. The Rays still have Ty Johnson and Hunter Bigge from that swap but the Morel pick-up did not work out for them.
From the time of the trade through the end of 2025, Morel took 495 plate appearances as a Ray. He was punched out in 165 of those, exactly one third, also known as 33.3%. He hit just 14 home runs and produced a .208/.277/.355 batting line. That translated to a 78 wRC+, indicating he was 22% worse than the league average hitter in that time. The Rays mostly kept him in left field, where he received poor grades for his defense.
Morel crossed three years of service time in 2025, qualifying him for arbitration for the first time. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a $2.6MM salary next year. The Rays decided to move on and non-tendered him, sending him to free agency.
It was reported back in October that the Marlins would be looking for a lineup upgrade this winter. The team had some positive developments in their position player group in 2025 but no one took hold of the first base position. Seven different players lined up at the position during the season but Eric Wagaman was the only one to get more than 100 plate appearances at a first baseman. He finished the year with a .250/.296/.378 line and 85 wRC+.
Upgrading at first base was a sensible goal for the offseason. No one expected them to make a run at Pete Alonso but there had been some rumblings that the club could be more aggressive in free agency than in years past. Going after someone like Ryan O’Hearn or Rhys Hoskins seemed within the realm of possibility.
Instead, they are taking a shot on Morel, who has no professional experience at the position. First base is generally considered the least-demanding position on the diamond, so perhaps Morel can be more viable there than at the other spots he has tried, but there’s still risk in going with an unproven option.
There’s also risk within the bat, as mentioned. Though Morel has power, he has yet to prove he can strike out at rate less than 30% for a meaningful stretch of time. It is possible to strike out that much and still be good. Guys like James Wood and Riley Greene did so in 2025. Morel himself had a combined 115 wRC+ with the Cubs in the 2022-23 seasons, but his production tailed off more recently.
It’s a fairly low-risk move for the Marlins. Salary figures haven’t been reported but he’s surely not being paid much above the league minimum. It was reported yesterday by Edwin Hernández Jr. that Morel was getting interest from clubs in Japan. It’s unclear if he gave serious consideration to going overseas but the calls coming from Asia are perhaps a sign that his MLB interest was muted.
Though the Fish aren’t going to break the bank with this move, it’s perhaps disappointing for any fans who may have dreamt bigger after a somewhat encouraging 2025 campaign. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes that no significant payroll increase is likely forthcoming. He adds that the Marlins will be looking to add another bat this winter but most likely via the trade market.
Morel is probably not guaranteed anything in terms of playing time. If he doesn’t thrive with his chance in Miami, they could go back to Wagaman and also have guys like Connor Norby, Agustín Ramírez, Liam Hicks, Griffin Conine, Graham Pauley, Deyvison De Los Santos and others in the mix. If Morel doesn’t pan out, he is out of options. If it does work, he could theoretically be retained through 2028 via arbitration.
It’s a defensible enough signing in a vacuum but seems to be an omen of another frugal offseason for the Marlins, which has become a habit under president of baseball operations Peter Bendix. Two years ago, their biggest deal was $5MM for Tim Anderson. Last winter, it was $3.5MM for Cal Quantrill. This is their first free agent deal of the 2025-26 offseason. Time will tell if they have anything bigger in the works.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Katie Stratman, Imagn Images
The Dodgers announced that they have claimed outfielder Michael Siani off waivers from the Braves. Atlanta designated him for assignment when they signed Mike Yastrzemski earlier this week. The Dodgers had a couple of 40-man roster vacancies. This move technically brings them to 39 but Edwin Díaz will take the final spot once his signing becomes official.
Siani, 26, is a glove-first depth outfielder. He has appeared in the past four major league seasons, spending time with the Reds and Cardinals. He was sent to the plate 383 times in that span. His 6.3% walk rate and 27.9% strikeout rate thus far in his career are both subpar figures. His .221/.277/.270 batting line is well below average. His minor league numbers aren’t much better. He has a .217/.329/.337 line on the farm over the past three years.
But he has been able to provide value elsewhere. He has stolen 21 bases in 26 attempts. He has logged 1,014 innings on the grass, playing all three spots. He has been credited with 17 Outs Above Average in that time and seven Defensive Runs Saved.
More to come.
The Royals and infielder Maikel Garcia are finalizing a five-year contract extension that’ll contain a club option for a sixth season, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Wasserman client will be guaranteed $57.5MM on the deal, reports Anne Rogers of MLB.com, though he can eventually earn something close to $85MM on the pact via the option and some escalators.
Garcia, who’ll turn 26 in March, had previously been under club control through 2029 but will now be on a guaranteed contract through 2030. Between that 2030 season and the 2031 club option, Kansas City is picking up control over two would-be free-agent seasons. Garcia was arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a $4.8MM salary on the heels of a breakout showing in 2025. As a Super Two player, Garcia would have been arb-eligible four times and thus due three more raises in subsequent seasons.
Though Garcia has been a regular with the Royals for three seasons now, the 2025 campaign was the first in which he provided any real value with the bat. He was a valuable player in 2023-24, but that was primarily due to plus speed (combined 60 steals) and quality defense at multiple infield positions.
The 2025 campaign brought a full-fledged breakout. After batting just .249/.300/.344 in 1141 plate appearances from ’23-’24, Garcia erupted with a .286/.351/.449 showing in a career-high 666 plate appearances. He posted career-best tallies in home runs (16) and doubles (39), tied a career-high with five triples, swiped another 23 bags and notched career-best walk and strikeout rates of 9.3% and 12.6%, respectively.
Garcia continued on as a plus, versatile defender this past season. He spent the bulk of his time at third base but also appeared at second base, shortstop and in center field. Third base has been his most frequent and best position, evidenced both by superlative defensive grades (15 Defensive Runs Saved, 18 Outs Above Average in 1144 innings) and the first of what could very well end up being multiple Gold Glove Awards.
Garcia profiles as the Royals’ long-term option at third base. With shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. also signed long-term, Kansas City should have an outstanding left side of the infield, on both sides of the ball, for the better part of the next half decade. It’s always possible that Garcia slides to a different position somewhere down the road, but the Royals tendered Jonathan India a contract this offseason and plan to deploy him regularly at second base after using him at multiple positions in 2025.
That left-side infield duo of Garcia and Witt will now be the Royals’ only players signed beyond the 2027 season, though right-handers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha can be retained via club options. Kansas City also controls lefty Cole Ragans and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino — another extension candidate — through the 2028 season. Team captain and franchise icon Salvador Perez is signed through 2027 and seems likely to continue re-signing in Kansas City until he opts to retire. That could increasingly be as a designated hitter, given the emergence of top catching prospect Carter Jensen (with fellow backstop Blake Mitchell not far behind him).
Between his previously projected $4.8MM salary in 2026 and what would have been three arbitration raises, it’s reasonable to think that Garcia’s four arbitration seasons might’ve cost somewhere in the vicinity of $35-40MM. That’s obviously just a rough approximation, but the extension seemingly values the free agent year around $17-22MM, depending on how bullish one is on Garcia’s earning power in free agency. In a best-case scenario, Garcia could have topped $40MM in earnings and hit free agency ahead of his age-30 campaign.
The Royals are clearly buying into him as a perennially productive regular, and if that proves to be the case, they’ll be rewarded handsomely with an extension that could play out like a bargain. For Garcia, this type of contract would’ve been unfathomable just nine months ago. As is the case in any extension scenario, it’s possible he could’ve earned more going year-to-year and reaching free agency at a younger age. However, it’s plenty understandable that a player who signed for under $100K as a 16-year-old back in 2016 and had well below-average offensive output in his first two MLB seasons would jump at the opportunity to lock in a deal that guarantees nearly $60MM and could top $80MM if that option is picked up.
More to come.
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When the Guardians originally hired Stephen Vogt as their new manager following the 2023 season, it was announced that he’d signed a three-year contract covering the 2024-26 seasons. Vogt, however, isn’t coming up on the final year of his contract as it might have seemed. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that the Guardians quietly signed Vogt to a multi-year extension following the 2024 campaign. The new contract was never announced, nor was it reported at the time.
Vogt, 41, has been named American League Manager of the Year in each of his two seasons as Cleveland’s skipper. Under his watch, the Guardians have twice enjoyed late-season rallies to force their way into the postseason. The ’24 Guardians won 88 games and topped the Tigers in the ALDS before falling to the Yankees in the ALCS. In 2025, Cleveland won 92 games but lost to the Tigers in a 2-1 Wild Card series defeat. Overall, Vogt is 180-143 as a big league manager.
It’s not entirely clear how long Vogt’s new contract runs, but he’s likely signed through at least the 2028 season now. He’ll continue overseeing a club that’s anchored by perennial MVP candidate José Ramirez and is on the cusp of welcoming a new wave of top prospects who could comprise the Guardians’ long-term core.
Outfield prospect Chase DeLauter made his big league debut in 2025. He’ll be joined by 2024 No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana at some point in 2026, and fellow top prospects like infielder Angel Genao and catcher Cooper Ingle could make their debuts this coming season as well. Bazzana and Ingle both reached Triple-A in 2025; Genao held his own as a 21-year-old in Double-A. Pitching prospect Khal Stephen, acquired from the Blue Jays in the deadline deal sending Shane Bieber to Toronto, dominated up through the Double-A level in ’25 and could be an option to join Vogt’s rotation in 2026.
Though the Guardians are unlikely to ever field a payroll that’s consistently in the top half of the league, the presence of Ramirez, some quality arms (e.g. Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee), looming young prospects and a perennially successful player development department should continue to put Vogt and the Guardians organization in position for success within the American League Central.
Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro has signed a five-year contract extension, Rogers Communications (which owns the Jays) announced Friday.
“The opportunity to lead the Blue Jays organization over the past 10 years has been incredibly fulfilling,” Shapiro said in a statement within today’s announcement. “Together we have built an organization with people who care deeply about baseball and take immense pride in being Canada’s team. I am grateful and honoured to be able to continue that work.”
Shapiro, 58, has spent the past decade as the Blue Jays’ president and CEO. He’d previously been the general manager and, eventually, team president in Cleveland. His past contract ran through the end of the calendar year. Current Jays general manager Ross Atkins was hired away from Cleveland by Shapiro; he’d previously been their vice president of player personnel.
Both Shapiro and Atkins have now signed multiple long-term extensions to remain in place as the top decision-makers for the Jays. Shapiro is now locked in through the 2030 season. Atkins signed a five-year extension back in 2021 and is currently signed through the end of the 2026 campaign. Given the Jays’ run to Game 7 of the World Series, it stands to reason that Atkins could be in line for an extension of his own at some point in the coming months.
Under Shapiro and Atkins, the Jays have won 89 or more games in four of the past five seasons. They hadn’t had any playoff success — save for the 2016 season, though that was a largely inherited club from the prior regime — but broke through in a major way in 2025 when they toppled the Yankees and Mariners in the ALDS and ALCS before coming just two outs away from the franchise’s first World Series victory since the 1992-93 repeat.
While the Jays have often been runners-up for prominent free agents in recent seasons (e.g. Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani), this year’s World Series push and the team’s $500MM investment in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have perhaps helped to establish the Jays as more of a free agent destination. Right-hander Dylan Cease just inked a seven-year contract, and Toronto has shown interest in both Kyle Tucker and in re-signing star infielder Bo Bichette, who reached the open market for the first time in his career this offseason. Ownership’s decision to commit to another extension with Shapiro is both a vote of confidence in the team’s current core and vision, as well as a signal that Toronto will be continuing in win-now mode for the foreseeable future.
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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:
1. Alonso’s introductory press conference:
The Orioles are holding an introductory press conference for newly-minted first baseman Pete Alonso today at 4pm local time in Baltimore. Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias, principal owner David Rubenstein, and agent Scott Boras will be on hand to give statements and take questions alongside Alonso. The presser should offer some insight into Alonso’s free agency and departure from the Mets, as well as the Orioles’ future plans — both this offseason and in the longer term.
2. Signings to be made official:
With this year’s Winter Meetings now in the rearview mirror, there’s a number of reported signings that have yet to be made official. Agreements between outfielder Lane Thomas and the Royals, reliever Mark Leiter Jr. and the Athletics, left-hander Hoby Milner and the Cubs, lefty Steven Matz and the Rays, right-hander Michael Soroka and the D-backs, closer Kyle Finnegan and the Tigers, and southpaw Gregory Soto and the Pirates have yet to be finalized and formally announced. Most notably, the Dodgers have yet to announce their signing of Edwin Diaz.
Most of those teams have spots available on their 40-man roster, so making the signing official is little more than a formality. For the Diamondbacks, Rays, and Tigers, however, their full rosters mean a corresponding move will be necessary in order for each club to finalize their respective additions. That will likely come by designating a player for assignment, though it’s also possible that those clubs could look to work out a minor trade to clear 40-man space.
3. Top relief options dwindling:
Right-hander Robert Suarez came off the board yesterday when he signed in Atlanta, and in doing so he joined Diaz, Devin Williams, Raisel Iglesias, Ryan Helsley and Kyle Finnegan as established closers who have already found a home this winter. That leaves the pickings as relatively slim for clubs interested in adding to the back of their bullpen at this point. Right-hander Brad Keller, who emerged as an outstanding setup man and part-time closer for the Cubs this past year, longtime Rays closer Pete Fairbanks, veteran submariner Tyler Rogers, and former Yankees righty Luke Weaver are among the top remaining arms on the market. Who will be next to sign?
The Braves further solidified the back of their bullpen Thursday, announcing the signing of former Padres closer Robert Suarez on a three-year, $45MM contract. Suarez, a client of Primo Sports Group, became a free agent at season’s end when he opted out of the final two years and $16MM on his five-year contract with San Diego. He’ll be paid $13MM in 2026 and $16MM in both 2027 and 2028, per the team. There are reportedly no deferrals in the contract. Atlanta designated lefty Ryan Rolison for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster (more on that move here).
The 34-year-old Suarez (35 in March) went directly from Mexico to Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball late last decade and, after establishing himself as one of the top relievers in NPB, has broken out as a top-tier reliever in the majors. Originally signed on a two-year deal with the Padres, he opted out after one year and inked a five-year, $46MM extension that afforded him another opt-out provision after the third year, which he took last month.
Now Atlanta-bound, Suarez has consistently posted quality numbers in high-leverage spots for the Friars. Dating back to his 2022 MLB debut, he’s posted a 2.91 ERA with a 26.5% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate in 210 innings. Suarez sits just under 99 mph with his four-seamer and complements the pitch with a changeup that got great results in ’22-’23 but has been hit hard the past two seasons. It hasn’t led to poor results, however, because Suarez’s fastball and sinker both grade out as dominant offerings.
Suarez joins right-hander Raisel Iglesias, who re-upped on a one-year, $16MM contract earlier in the offseason, to form a potent one-two punch at the back of new manager Walt Weiss’ bullpen. Notably, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that Iglesias will continue to serve as the closer in Atlanta. Suarez will operate as his primary setup man (and, of course, can handle save opportunities in the event that Iglesias is unavailable or suffers an injury). Setup work is nothing new for Suarez, who in 2022 helped set up for Taylor Rogers and in 2023 was a key setup arm for Josh Hader.
On the surface, a three-year, $45MM contract for a high-end reliever feels fairly well in line with contractual norms around the game. However, Suarez’s camp did quite well to get him the third guaranteed year. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, this is the first deal of three or more years for a 35-year-old (or older) reliever since Will Harris signed for $24MM with the Nationals prior to the 2020 season. Before that, you’d have to go all the way back to Ryan Madson’s three-year pact with the A’s back in 2015 to find another example of a bullpen arm being paid for this long of a term at Suarez’s age.
Adding Suarez brings Atlanta’s 2026 payroll up to about $241MM. RosterResource estimates that the team is carrying more than $236MM worth of luxury-tax considerations, which places them within $8MM of the 2026 season’s $244MM first-tier luxury threshold. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has already checked several items off his winter to-do list, though Atlanta still figures to be open to additions at shortstop, on the bench and/or on the pitching staff. That said, re-signing Iglesias, acquiring utilityman Mauricio Dubon and bringing in both Suarez and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski (on a two-year, $23MM deal) has removed some of the urgency to make further additions.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the agreement and the terms of the contract. The Athletic’s Will Sammon first reported the year-to-year breakdown.
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