The Diamondbacks have signed first baseman Luken Baker to a minors deal, Just Baseball Media’s Aram Leighton reports. Baker qualified for minor league free agency at the end of the season, and he chose to test the open market rather than stick in the Dodgers’ organization.
More to come…
The Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball announced that right-hander Carson Ragsdale has signed a one-year contract. Ragsdale hit the open market after being non-tendered by the Braves last month.
The move to Japan concludes a whirlwind five-month stretch for Ragsdale that saw the 27-year-old change teams four times on the waiver wire, and make his Major League debut. His breakthrough in the Show consisted of two appearances with the Orioles in September, with very different outcomes — Ragsdale was torched for eight earned runs over three innings in Baltimore’s 11-2 loss to the Blue Jays on September 14, but he rebounded for two scoreless innings in the Orioles’ 6-1 loss to the Yankees on September 27. As a result, Ragsdale’s career line as a big leaguer is a 14.40 ERA over five innings of work.
These two games represent two separate stints for Ragsdale in an Orioles uniform. Claimed off waivers from the Giants in early August, Ragsdale was designated for assignment by the O’s after his rough MLB debut, and then claimed by the Braves. He lasted just over a week in Atlanta’s organization since the Braves DFA’s Ragsdale in order to clear roster space for Charlie Morton, and Ragsdale was claimed again by the Orioles, paving the way for his second outing on a big league mound. The yo-yo continued for Ragsdale when he was designated at the start of November, and then claimed once more by the Braves.
Signing a guaranteed deal with the Tigers represents some stability for Ragsdale in the wake of this transactional flurry, and a chance to showcase that he can do as a starting pitcher. Ragsdale has a 5.15 ERA, 21.24% strikeout rate, and 11.73% walk rate over 143 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level, with most of that time spent in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League pitching with San Francisco’s top affiliate. The 2025 season saw Ragsdale post only a 19.5% strikeout rate, after he easily cleared the 30% threshold earlier in his career while pitching in the lower minors.
Eighty of Ragsdale’s 89 career games in the minors came as a starting pitcher, and it can be assumed that the Tigers will give Ragsdale a look in their rotation. The righty will try to become the latest hurler to re-invent himself with a move to Japan, and performing well in more of a generally pitcher-friendly environment could help boost Ragsdale’s stock for a possible return to North American baseball down the road.
Now that Santa has put away the sleigh for another year, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on today…
1. The Athletics lock up Soderstrom
In a rare bit of major news breaking on Christmas Day, the A’s have agreed to a seven-year, $86MM extension with left fielder Tyler Soderstrom. Between his increasingly strong numbers at the plate and the successful transition to left field, Soderstrom cemented his place as a building block for an Athletics team as they approach their next era in Las Vegas. The Soderstrom extension highlights a busy week for the A’s that has also included the Jeff McNeil trade and the Mark Leiter Jr. signed. The next step might be adding starting pitching, as the A’s have yet to do much to address a rotation that was a weak link in 2025.
2. Imai’s posting deadline approaches
January 2 at 4pm CT marks the end of the 45-day posting window for Tatsuya Imai, as the right-hander will be spending the 2026 season with the Seibu Lions if he can’t finalize a deal with a Major League team within the next week. Such teams as the Yankees, Phillies, Cubs, Orioles, Giants, and Mets have been linked to Imai’s market, though in the case of the latter two clubs in particular, it remains to be seen if the Giants or Mets are willing to make a long-term commitment to any starting pitcher. MLB Trade Rumors projected a six-year, $150MM for Imai as he makes the jump from Japan to North American baseball, and given the number of larger-market teams reportedly interested, it would seem like Imai should be able to land a substantial payday. The Jan. 2 deadline creates a bit of urgency for Imai’s suitors, and his situation might be resolved before other free agent starters (i.e. Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez, Zac Gallen) come off the board.
3. A busy end to 2025?
The final week of the year tends to be relatively quiet in terms of transactions, as many front office executives take the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day as something of an unofficial break. Of course, as we just saw with Soderstrom’s deal, the hot stove can suddenly heat up at any given time, so you never know when a big extension, trade, or signing might be just around the corner. A big free agent who spent the holidays weighing offers, for instance, might be ready to make a decision now that Christmas is over. Besides Imai’s posting period, Kazuma Okamoto’s posting deadline is also coming up on January 4, so that’s another Japanese star whose arrival in MLB could be determined in short order.
The Athletics aren’t taking the holiday off. They’re in agreement with outfielder Tyler Soderstrom on a seven-year, $86MM extension, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Passan adds that there’s a club option for 2033 and escalators that could push the contract value by another $45MM if the option is exercised. The deal buys out at least three free agent years and potentially a fourth, keeping him under club control through his age-31 season.
Soderstrom becomes the latest core offensive piece whom the A’s lock up on a long-term deal. They extended Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler on respective $60MM and $65.5MM guarantees last winter. Soderstrom tops those by a decent margin, becoming the largest contract in club history in the process. Their three-year, $67MM free agent deal with Luis Severino had previously been that high-water mark.
The lefty-hitting Soderstrom was a first-round pick in 2020. He’d been an excellent offensive player dating back to high school. The biggest question was where he’d fit on the other side of the ball. While Soderstrom was drafted as a catcher, most scouts felt he’d need to move off the position. That has essentially been borne out, as his only 15 MLB starts behind the dish came during his 2023 rookie season. The fallback for poor defensive catchers is generally first base, and that’s indeed where Soderstrom spent the early part of his big league tenure.
Soderstrom struggled over a 45-game sample as a rookie. His .233/.315/.429 slash across 213 plate appearances in 2024 was a significant step forward but hadn’t yet put him alongside Rooker, Butler and Shea Langeliers as clear members of the A’s core. Soderstrom entered this year with a little pressure in the form of 2024 fourth overall pick Nick Kurtz, a college first baseman who was expected to hit his way to the majors very quickly.
While Kurtz would do just that, Soderstrom’s breakout ’25 campaign ensured the A’s couldn’t afford to take him out of the lineup either. The 24-year-old was one of the league’s best hitters in the first few weeks of the season. He connected on nine home runs with a .284/.349/.560 slash before the end of April. Soderstrom was tied for fourth in MLB (behind only Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh and Eugenio Suárez) in homers through the season’s first month. By the time Kurtz forced his way to the majors on April 21, Soderstrom was locked into the middle of Mark Kotsay’s batting order.
That presented the A’s with a positional dilemma. Rooker is an everyday designated hitter. The 6’5″, 240-pound Kurtz wasn’t going to be able to play anywhere other than first base. Despite his catching/first base background, Soderstrom is a solid athlete and average runner. The A’s threw him into left field on the fly even though he’d had no professional experience there. They presumably expected to live with some defensive growing pains to keep his bat in the lineup.
Soderstrom dramatically exceeded those expectations. He graded 10 runs better than an average left fielder by measure of Defensive Runs Saved. Statcast graded his range five plays above average. Soderstrom ended the season as a Gold Glove finalist at a position he’d never played five months earlier. He joins Butler as core outfield pieces, ideally in a corner tandem flanking defensive specialist Denzel Clarke in center.
The increased defensive responsibility didn’t impact Soderstrom’s rhythm at the plate. He scuffled between May and June but rebounded with a .305/.359/.530 showing over the season’s final four months. Soderstrom finished with an overall .276/.346/.474 batting line while ranking fourth on the team with 25 homers. He improved his contact rate by six percentage points and held his own against same-handed pitching (.270/.315/.423) while teeing off on righties (.278/.356/.491). The breakout also wasn’t a product of the A’s playing half their games at the hitter-friendly Sutter Heath Park. Soderstrom had an OPS north of .800 both at home and on the road.
As recently as this past summer, there was speculation about the A’s potentially swapping Soderstrom for a controllable starting pitcher. The extension firmly takes that off the table and ensures he’ll remain alongside Kurtz, Rooker, Butler and Jacob Wilson in an excellent offensive corps. The first three are signed through at least 2029. Kurtz and Wilson are under team control for five seasons. Langeliers has another two seasons of arbitration eligibility.
Soderstrom was already under club control for four seasons. He was a year closer to free agency than Butler was at the time of his extension, which explains why the price was a little more than $20MM higher. Soderstrom tops the $57.5MM guarantee which Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia received in the same service class, but that deal only extended K.C.’s control window by two seasons.
The A’s backloaded the Rooker and Butler extensions, with the highest salaries corresponding to their planned move to Las Vegas in 2028. The salary breakdown on Soderstrom’s deal hasn’t yet been reported. The A’s had a projected payroll around $87MM before today, as calculated by RosterResource. That’s $12MM above where they opened the ’25 season. General manager David Forst told MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos last week that the team was looking to upgrade a rotation that ranked 27th in ERA and 25th in strikeout percentage.
Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images.
T.R. Sullivan was a legend on the Rangers beat. He retired in December 2020 after 32 years writing for the Denison Herald, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and MLB.com. T.R. is also a friend to MLBTR, and recently he kindly offered up a retrospective on the Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas trade. “I just felt like writing it,” T.R. explained. We’re proud to publish it!
Of all the thousands of baseball trades made down through the decades, only one was brought up by Annie Savoy in her opening soliloquy for the movie Bull Durham.
“But bad trades are part of baseball – now who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, for God’s sake?” Savoy said in discussing the off-the-field attributes of various Minor League players.
Such titillating comparisons aside, it is now 60 years since the Cincinnati Reds traded Robinson to the Orioles not only for Pappas but also reliever Jack Baldschun and young outfielder Dick Simpson.
It is one of the most significant and possibly lopsided trades in baseball history. Robinson, now in the Hall of Fame, was one of the best players in the National League, right up there with Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente.
When he went to Baltimore, he turned the Orioles from a contender into a dynasty by leading them to four pennants and two World Series titles in a six-year span. His 1966 season was the best year of his career as he won the Triple Crown by hitting .316 with 49 home runs and 122 RBI. Not only was he American League MVP but World Series MVP with two home runs in the Orioles four-game sweep of the Dodgers.
So, what were the Reds thinking in making such a foolish trade? Were they that stupid? Was it really because Robinson was going to be an “old 30” as Reds general manager Bill DeWitt suggested after the trade.
The Reds couldn’t have been too stupid. Earlier that year, in the first ever June amateur draft, they selected high school catcher Johnny Bench in the second round. They took Bernie Carbo in the first round and Hal McRae in the sixth round. The 1965 Reds already had two other future Hall of Famers in Pete Rose and Tony Perez in place.
It came down to one thing for a team that had finished 89-73 in 1965 and eight games out of first place.
“The name of the game is pitching,” DeWitt said in announcing the trade. “The lack of it, especially in the bullpen, beat us last season.”
Pitching was the name of the game for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1965. They won the World Series with a rotation led by Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Claude Osteen and Johnny Podres, plus relievers Ron Perranoski and Bob Miller.
The Dodgers had the best pitching across the board with a team ERA of 2.81 and WHIP of 1.117. The Reds had the second highest ERA (3.88) and WHIP (1.333) in the National League.
That’s where you start when you sit back on the 60th anniversary of one of baseball’s most famous trades and try to figure out how it went down.
Offensively, the Reds led the N.L. by scoring 5.09 runs per game. The Braves were second at 4.37. Robinson, who hit .296 with 33 home runs and 113 RBI, was just part of the Reds offensive arsenal.
Rose had a breakout season as the Reds 24-year-old second baseman, hitting .312 with 117 runs scored, 35 doubles, 11 triples and 11 home runs. He batted second most of the year behind outfielder Tommy Harper, who hit .257/.340/.393 while stealing 35 bases and leading the league with 126 runs scored.
Vada Pinson batted third, the center fielder who played 18 years in the big leagues and put up near-Hall of Fame career numbers. He hit .305/.352/.484 with 22 home runs and 94 RBI in 1965. He was also 27 at the time of the trade and perceived to be at the top of his game.
The big bat to replace Robinson in the middle of the lineup was third baseman Deron Johnson, a former failed Yankees and Athletics prospect. The Reds had bought him from Kansas City in April of 1963, and he spent that entire season at Triple A San Diego. He joined the Reds lineup in 1964 and had a career year in ’65, hitting .287/.340/.515 with 32 home runs and a league-leading 130 RBI.
In 1966, the Reds moved Johnson to left to join Pinson and Harper in the outfield. Tommy Helms took over at third base and was Rookie of the Year. Perez platooned with veteran Gordy Coleman at first.
Three-time All-Star catcher Johnny Edwards (two Gold Gloves) and shortstop Leo Cardenas, a five-time All-Star who had won a Gold Glove in ’65, also helped make it a formidable lineup. Behind all of this were two excellent hitting prospects in Lee May and Art Shamsky, and a highly regarded infielder in Chico Ruiz.
When you look at all that, the Reds had reason to believe they would be fine offensively without Robinson in their lineup. They wanted arms. They had two of them.
Jim Maloney and Sammy Ellis were top of the rotation starters. At least they presented that perception and with Maloney, there was no doubt. He was 25 years old and was 20-9 with a 2.54 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 1965. He struck out 244 in 255 1/3 innings with a fastball in the upper 90’s and a good curve.
On June 14, he struck out 18 and walked one in a 1-0 loss to the Mets in 11 innings. The Mets didn’t get a hit until the 11th. On Aug 19, he pitched a 10-inning no-hitter with a 1-0 victory over the Cubs. He walked 10 and struck out 12.
Ellis wasn’t in Maloney’s class. He was a 22-game winner in 1965 but with a 3.79 ERA. He gave up 111 earned runs, the most in the league and his ERA-plus was 99, slightly below average. That he benefitted from offensive support is obvious. But in 1965, if you won 22 games, you were considered an elite pitcher.
The Reds next two starters had once been elite pitchers until falling off in 1965. Left-hander Jim O’Toole had won 81 games from 1960-64, including 19 in 1961 when the Reds won the pennant. Joey Jay won 21 that season and 21 in ’62. But in 1965, O’Toole was 3-10 with a 5.92 ERA while Jay was 9-8 with a 4.22 ERA. Fifth starter Joh Tsitouris was 9-8 with a 4.95 ERA.
The Reds figured either O’Toole or Jay could bounce back in ’66. They still wanted one more prime starter in the era of four-man rotations.
Trading a hitter for a pitcher worked for the Dodgers the previous winter when a seven-player deal with the Senators sent power-hitting outfielder Frank Howard to Washington for left-hander Claude Osteen. That gave the Dodgers a reliable third starter and Osteen won 15 games. He also threw a five-hit shutout in Game 3 of the World Series after the Dodgers had lost the first two games in Minnesota.
“I’d still have say the Reds had the strongest starting lineup in our league last season,” Giants manager Herman Franks told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Outside of pitching, the Dodgers didn’t compare with the Reds position for position.”
Pappas had been a solid starter for the Orioles for eight years. He was 18 when he broke into the Orioles rotation in 1958 and had averaged 13.8 wins over seven seasons with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He was good for 200 innings a year but hardly overpowering. He averaged 5.2 strikeouts and 2.9 walks per nine innings.
The Orioles were willing to do the deal because they were loaded with young pitchers, many like Dave McNally, Wally Bunker, Jim Palmer, Dave Leonhard, Eddie Watt and Tom Phoebus who would become part of the budding dynasty in Baltimore.
Obviously, Pappas for Robinson was not a fair trade. But Annie Savoy forgot to mention the Reds also got reliever Jack Baldschun and outfielder Dick Simpson.
Point of interest: The Orioles had just acquired Baldschun and Simpson in separate trades earlier that month from the Phillies and Angels. Orioles general manager Harry Dalton later insisted those deals were not made so the two players could be included in a deal for Robinson.
The Reds had every reason to believe Baldschun, 29, would be a big help to their bullpen. He had spent five seasons in the Phillies bullpen, averaging 66 appearances and 108 innings per season. His ERA in that stretch was 3.18 with a 1.34 WHIP. A reliever of that quality was a valuable commodity. The trade was intended to reinforce both the Reds rotation and the bullpen.
Simpson, 22, was no throw-in. He spent 1965 at Triple A Seattle in the Angels organization and hit .301/380/.523 with 24 home runs and 29 stolen bases. Speed and power in a guy just 22 years old was not a bad addition to the trade. That he struck out 148 times might have been a red flag, but he was No. 3 in the deal. DeWitt compared him to Tommy Harper.
So, there you have it. For Frank Robinson, the Reds picked up a No. 3 starter behind Maloney and Ellis, proven relief help and an outfield prospect.
So what did everybody say to their local reporters.
“I am thrilled with the deal,” Dalton said in the Baltimore Sun. “Because it gives us the power hitter we have sought for so long.”
“We hated to give up Robby,” DeWitt said in the Cincinnati Post. “But you’ve got to give up something to get something good and we would rather sacrifice an older player than a younger player. A top-flight starter and a top-flight reliever was just too attractive a package to turn down.”
The trade turned out to be a disaster for the Reds. They went from winning 89 games in 1965 to 76-84 in ’66. Manager Don Heffner was fired after 83 games.
So what went wrong?
Pappas was not a top-of-the-rotation starter. He had a nice career, winning 209 games, but No. 2 or 3 at best. In 1966, he was barely that, going 12-11 with a 4.29 ERA in 209 innings. He won 16 in 1967, then was traded to the Braves in 1968. He was traded to the Cubs in 1970 where manager Leo Durocher founded him to be a “clubhouse lawyer” and disruptive personality.
Baldschun? The Reds discovered what everybody should understand in baseball. Relievers are a risk because of their heavy workloads and erratic usage over multiple seasons. Baldschun went 1-5 with a 5.49 ERA, either because of a tired arm or hitters were no longer fooled by his screwball. But he was done as an effective reliever.
Simpson was no Frank Robinson or Tommy Harper. He was a classic “4A player” who could run but couldn’t hit at the big-league level. His less than memorable seven-year career covered six organizations and ended with a .207 batting average.
The Reds offense suffered without Robinson, scoring 133 less runs. Their pitching wasn’t any better as the team ERA went up from 3.88 to 4.08. Ellis was 12-19 with a 5.29 ERA, a bigger disappointment than Pappas or even Baldschun.
But again, the Reds weren’t dumb. They were just a few years away from the greatest era in franchise history when the Big Red Machine won four pennants and two World Series from 1970-76. Over a 21-year period from 1961-81, the Reds had 19 winning seasons.
It just comes down to what Annie Savoy said. Bad trades are a part of baseball.
Marc Narducci spent 37 years covering all sports for The Philadelphia Inquirer before retiring in July 2021. He covered everything from high school sports to the Phillies winning the World Series and the Eagles winning the Super Bowl. A lifelong southern New Jersey resident, he remains a freelance writer and broadcaster. Once again, Marc reached out to see if MLB Trade Rumors would be interested in publishing his Hall of Fame ballot. I am happy to do it and hope it can be an interesting topic of debate for our readers. Here’s Marc…
Each year when we turn in our ballot, we are asked if we wish to make our votes public 14 days after the results are announced. Naturally, if this story appears, you know the answer.
One thing that you won’t see here is criticizing another person’s ballot. There are so many different ways to tackle this assignment.
The other thing is that in most cases, I don’t like putting why I didn’t vote for somebody, unless they are players such as Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez, who have failed tests for steroids.
The other person I am not voting for that needs to be mentioned is Carlos Beltran, who is worthy of induction with his performance, but was the mastermind of the 2017 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, which altered the perception of the World Series champions. His role was so huge that it cost him a managerial job.
Last year Beltran came the closest of those not elected by receiving 70.3% of the votes and he’ll likely get the 75% needed this year. He had a great career.
The argument against my stance on players such as Ramirez, Rodriguez and Beltran is that they were some of the best players and deserve a place in Cooperstown.
Again, I can respect that opinion, while not voting for those players.
One other thing – I won’t have a very big ballot but also won’t put why certain players other than the ones already mentioned aren’t on it. When doing that, it denigrates the great career that a player enjoyed. All these players on the ballot were great and there is no need to tear them down.
One other thing is that it’s the belief of this reporter that players should be judged by the position they play. The criteria for second basemen, is different than third basemen, etc.
That said, here is my ballot, which consists of just two players.
The holdovers
Nobody from the Phillies 2008 World Series champion team has made it to the Hall of Fame. Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins (now in his fifth year on the ballot) and Cole Hamels (now in his first season of eligibility) all had great careers.
Utley led that World Series team with a bWAR of 9.0.
He was a six-time all-star. The knock on him is that he didn’t produce enough, but at his peak, Utley was among the best players in baseball.
Utley, had a six-year stretch, where his bWAR average was 7.3. During those six years from 2005-2010, his slash line was .298/.388/.523 with an OPS+ of 133. He averaged 27.0 home runs, 95.3 RBI and 104.7 runs scored.
His career 64.6 career bWAR is 15th all-time among all second basemen. Among those 15 players, he had the fewest plate appearances (7,863) as injuries hampered him during the latter part of his career, although he still continued to produce, just not at the rate he did during the above-mentioned six-year period. He is 10th among all second basemen in wins above average (41.0).
His 259 career home runs rank seventh among all second baseman, six who have been elected to the Hall of Fame. There are just 11 Hall of Fame second baseman who produced a better OPS+ than Utley’s 117.
His career slash line was .275/.358/.465. That, along with his power numbers, are very good for second basemen. He was in the top 10 of MVP voting three times.
This is Utley’s third year on the ballot. He received 28.8% of the vote his first year and 39.8% last year. He still has a long way to go, but is moving in a positive direction.
Also in his third year on the ballot, Wright received just 8.1% of the vote a year ago. Injuries curtailed what had been an excellent career.
As a comparison, two years ago, Scott Rolen got my vote, and he was elected to the Hall of Fame. Wright was, in my opinion, certainly comparable to Rolen. Both earned seven All-Star appearances. Rolen was the better fielder, but Wright did win two Gold Gloves. Wright was a more consistent offensive player.
The reason Wright got this vote is that like Utley, he had a really strong peak. For Wright, that lasted nine years from 2005-2013. During that time his slash line was .302/.384/.505. He averaged 23.1 home runs and 92.9 RBI, 90.2 runs scored and 19.7 stolen bases. His OPS+ was 138.
After that 2013 season, which he played at the age of 30, Wright was never the same due to injury.
For his career, Wright hit .296/.376/491 with 242 home runs and 970 RBI with a 133 OPS+. He finished in the top 10 in MVP voting four times.
During his time, Wright was among the best players in baseball and while he faces an uphill battle for election, he will continue to get this vote.
This year’s players
Nobody got my vote from this year’s first-year eligible players. This year’s first-year eligible players were Ryan Braun, Shin-Soo Choo, Edwin Encarnación, Gio González, Alex Gordon, Cole Hamels, Matt Kemp, Howie Kendrick, Nick Markakis, Daniel Murphy, Hunter Pence and Rick Porcello.
Again, all were great players just to get on the ballot, but not enough to receive this vote.
And finally
The first-time players on next year’s ballot are: Jake Arrieta, Jay Bruce, Asdrubal Cabrera, Starlin Castro, Wade Davis, Dexter Fowler, Todd Frazier, Brett Gardner, J.A. Happ, Scott Kazmir, Jon Lester, Andrew Miller, Mitch Moreland, Buster Posey, Ervin Santana, Kyle Seager, Joakim Soria, Ryan Zimmerman, Jordan Zimmermann.
Below is our list of the 32 largest contracts in MLB history by average annual value (AAV). Please note that if a player was already under contract and signed an extension, only the new money counts. For our list of the largest contracts in total dollars, click here.
1. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers: $70,000,000. Free agent contract signed December 2023. 97.1% of the total is deferred from 2034-43. As a result, for luxury tax purposes, MLB calculated the AAV at $46.06MM. The MLBPA calculated the AAV at $43,783,056.30.
2. Juan Soto, Mets: $51,000,000. Free agent contract signed December 2024. Given the lack of deferred money, this should be treated as the true AAV record.
3. Max Scherzer, Mets: $43,333,333.33. Free agent contract signed November 2021
4. Justin Verlander, Mets: $43,330,000. Free agent contract signed December 2022
5. Zack Wheeler, Phillies: $42,000,000. Extension signed March 2024
t-6. Aaron Judge, Yankees: $40,000,000. Free agent contract signed December 2022
t-6. Alex Bregman, Red Sox: $40,000,000. Free agent contract signed February 2025. Considering deferrals, the AAV is considered $31.7MM for CBT purposes.
8. Jacob deGrom, Rangers: $37,000,000. Free agent contract signed December 2022
9. Blake Snell, Dodgers: $36,400,000. Free agent contract signed November 2024. Considering deferrals, the MLBPA calculated the AAV as $31,735,498
t-10. Mike Trout, Angels: $36,000,000. Extension signed March 2019
t-10. Gerrit Cole, Yankees: $36,000,000. Free agent contract signed December 2019
12. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays: $35,714,285.71. Extension signed April 2025
13. Carlos Correa, Twins: $35,100,000. Free agent contract signed March 2022
t-14. Stephen Strasburg, Nationals: $35,000,000. Free agent contract signed December 2019
t-14. Anthony Rendon, Angels: $35,000,000. Free agent contract signed December 2019
t-14. Corbin Burnes, Diamondbacks: $35,000,000. Free agent contract signed December 2024
17. Zack Greinke, Diamondbacks: $34,416,667. Free agent contract signed December 2015
18. Francisco Lindor, Mets: $34.1MM. Extension signed March 2021
19. Trevor Bauer, Dodgers: $34,000,000. Free agent contract signed February 2021
20. Nolan Arenado, Rockies: $33,428,571. Extension signed February 2019
21. Carlos Correa, Twins: $33,333,333.33. Free agent contract signed January 2023
22. Justin Verlander, Astros: $33,000,000. Extension signed March 2019
23. Corey Seager, Rangers: $32,500,000. Free agent contract signed November 2021
24. Rafael Devers, Red Sox: $31,350,000. Extension signed January 2023
t-25. Pete Alonso, Orioles: $31,000,000. Free agent contract signed December 2025
t-25. Blake Snell, Giants: $31,000,000. Free agent contract signed March 2024. Considering deferrals, the MLBPA calculated the AAV as $29,698,347
t-25. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: $31,000,000. Extension signed March 2014
t-25. David Price, Red Sox: $31,000,000. Free agent contract signed December 2015
t-25. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers: $31,000,000. Extension signed November 2018
t-25. Seth Lugo, Royals: $31,000,000. Extension signed July 2025
31. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers: $30,714,286. Extension signed January 2014
32. Mookie Betts, Dodgers: $30,416,667. Extension signed July 2020
33. Jacob deGrom, Mets: $30,125,000. Extension signed March 2019
t-34. Manny Machado, Padres: $30,000,000. Free agent contract signed February 2019
t-34. Kyle Schwarber, Phillies: $30,000,000. Free agent contract signed December 2025
t-34. Max Scherzer, Nationals: $30,000,000. Free agent contract signed January 2015. Counted as $28,689,376 for purposes of luxury tax.
t-34. Dylan Cease, Blue Jays; $30,000,000. Free agent contract signed November 2025. Counted as $26.37MM for purposes of luxury tax.
Here’s our list of the largest contract each of the 30 MLB teams has ever signed. Each contract is linked to its MLBTR post, with the exception of those that predate the site’s existence. The amounts denote the amount of new money guaranteed to the player, which is why they might differ from what you’ve seen in public reports.
The following players are currently free agents. The player’s 2026 age is in parentheses. The cutoff for this list is typically 50 plate appearances or 20 innings pitched in the Majors this year.
Updated 12-25-25
Catchers
Austin Barnes (36)
Victor Caratini (32)
Elias Diaz (35)
Mitch Garver (35)
Eric Haase (33)
Jonah Heim (31)
Sam Huff (28)
Luke Maile (35)
Reese McGuire (31)
Tom Murphy (35)
J.T. Realmuto (35)
Gary Sanchez (33)
Jacob Stallings (36)
Matt Thaiss (31)
Christian Vazquez (35)
First Basemen
Luis Arraez (29)
Cody Bellinger (30)
Wilmer Flores (34)
Ty France (31)
Paul Goldschmidt (38)
Enrique Hernandez (34)
Rhys Hoskins (33)
Connor Joe (33)
Nathaniel Lowe (30)
Matt Mervis (28)
Kazuma Okamoto (30)
Carlos Santana (40)
Dominic Smith (31)
Donovan Solano (38)
Rowdy Tellez (31)
Michael Toglia (27)
Justin Turner (41)
LaMonte Wade Jr. (32)
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Cavan Biggio (31)
Willi Castro (29)
Thairo Estrada (30)
Kyle Farmer (34)
Adam Frazier (34)
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DJ LeMahieu (37)
Dylan Moore (33)
Luis Rengifo (29)
Brendan Rodgers (29)
Luis Urias (29)
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Orlando Arcia (31)
Bo Bichette (28)
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (31)
Jorge Mateo (31)
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Jon Berti (36)
Alex Bregman (32)
Jeimer Candelario (32)
Willi Castro (29)
Paul DeJong (32)
Santiago Espinal (31)
Enrique Hernandez (34)
Andy Ibañez (33)
Yoan Moncada (31)
Kazuma Okamoto (30)
Luis Rengifo (29)
Emmanuel Rivera (30)
Eugenio Suarez (34)
Ramon Urias (32)
Gio Urshela (34)
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Harrison Bader (32)
Cody Bellinger (30)
Sean Bouchard (30)
Alexander Canario (26)
Mark Canha (37)
Willi Castro (29)
Michael Conforto (33)
Adam Frazier (34)
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Connor Joe (33)
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MJ Melendez (27)
Tommy Pham (38)
Chris Taylor (35)
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Jesse Winker (32)
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Chas McCormick (31)
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Randal Grichuk (34)
Jason Heyward (36)
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Starling Marte (37)
Joshua Palacios (30)
Hunter Renfroe (34)
Austin Slater (33)
Mike Tauchman (35)
Kyle Tucker (29)
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Victor Caratini (32)
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Rhys Hoskins (33)
Andrew McCutchen (39)
Marcell Ozuna (35)
Justin Turner (41)
Jesse Winker (32)
Starting Pitchers
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Chris Bassitt (37)
Walker Buehler (31)
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Tony Gonsolin (32)
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Ryan Pressly (37)
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Joe Ross (33)
Eduardo Salazar (28)
Tayler Scott (34)
Paul Sewald (36)
Lucas Sims (32)
Drew Smith (32)
Ryne Stanek (34)
Chris Stratton (35)
Hunter Strickland (37)
Trent Thornton (32)
Lou Trivino (34)
Jose Ureña (34)
Kirby Yates (39)
Left-Handed Relievers
Jalen Beeks (32)
Cam Booser (34)
Ryan Borucki (32)
Genesis Cabrera (29)
Andrew Chafin (36)
Danny Coulombe (36)
John King (31)
Joey Lucchesi (33)
Cionel Perez (30)
Taylor Rogers (35)
Brent Suter (36)
Justin Wilson (38)
The Marlins and reliever Pete Fairbanks are in agreement on a contract, according to Will Sammon of the Athletic. It is a one-year, $13MM contract for the Republik Sports client, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the deal includes a $1MM signing bonus and another $1MM in incentives based on appearances. Fairbanks will also receive a bonus of $500,000 if he is traded. The deal is pending a physical. The Marlins have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make this official.
Fairbanks, who turned 32 last week, is coming off a 2.83 ERA in 60 1/3 innings for the Rays in 2025. Tampa held an $11MM club option on his services for 2026, but they instead paid him a $1MM buyout. We at MLBTR ranked him No. 44 on our Top 50 Free Agents list and projected a two-year, $18MM contract. He now heads to the Marlins on a shorter deal with a higher annual salary and figures to be the team’s closer next year.
The right-hander debuted in 2019 and has pitched 265 1/3 innings with a 3.19 ERA in his seven seasons with the Rays. In that time, Fairbanks has struck out 30.0% of hitters against a 9.3% walk rate thanks to an upper-90s fastball and a mid-80s slider which he uses 44.1% of the time. He also gets groundballs at an above-average 45.1% rate and generally keeps the ball in the park, allowing just 0.81 HR/9.
He has also frequently dealt with injuries, making seven trips to the injured list from 2021-24. He had better health luck this year, as he avoided the injured list and set a career high with 60 1/3 innings pitched. When he’s healthy, Fairbanks is a dominant back-end reliever. In 151 innings as the Rays’ closer from 2023-25, he had a 2.98 ERA while posting a 18.9% K-BB rate and earning 75 saves, which was 12th-highest in the league in that span.
That largely continued in 2025, albeit with a drop in Fairbanks’ advanced metrics. After striking out 37.0% of hitters as recently as 2023, that has fallen to 23.8% in 2024 and 24.2% in 2025. That is still plenty effective, especially as he has lowered his walk rate from 10.9% in 2023 to 7.4% this year. However, it has also come with an uptick in average exit velocity. Hitters averaged 85.7 mph off the bat against Fairbanks in 2023, but that rose to 90.2 mph in 2025. Meanwhile, his four-seamer now sits at 97.3 mph after averaging 98.9 mph in 2023.
Nonetheless, the fact that the current version of Fairbanks has better-than-average strikeout and walk rates with 90th-percentile fastball velocity means that he is still an effective reliever. If anything, the move by the Rays to decline his option was financially motivated. Tampa Bay’s payroll usually ranks near the bottom of the league (29th out of 30 in 2025). They previously signed Fairbanks to a three-year, $12MM extension in January 2023. While $4MM was a comfortable price range for the team, $11MM may have simply been too high a price to commit to one reliever, even one as effective as Fairbanks.
Indeed, the club tried to trade Fairbanks after the season ended, but they couldn’t find any takers. That ended up being a moot point, as he garnered plenty of interest from teams around the league. The Marlins, Diamondbacks, White Sox, and Tigers were publicly known to be interested in the right-hander. Miami always seemed like a logical fit, given the connection between Fairbanks and president of baseball operations Peter Bendix from their time with the Rays.
With the addition of Fairbanks, the Marlins have fortified a bullpen which ranked 23rd in the league with a 4.27 ERA and 17th with a 14.1% K-BB rate in 2025. The best performer of the bunch was right-hander Ronny Henriquez. The 25-year-old pitched 73 innings over 69 appearances this year with a 2.22 ERA and a 32.3% strikeout rate. His 1.3 fWAR was a team high for relievers, while his peripheral stats were slightly higher than his ERA but still excellent. He also earned seven saves throughout the season. It was the best possible outcome for the Marlins, who acquired Henriquez as a waiver pickup last offseason. Unfortunately, news broke two days ago that the righty underwent an internal brace procedure on his throwing elbow. As a result, he will miss the entire 2026 season.
Including Henriquez, the team got a good amount of volume from its bullpen in 2025. Seven Marlins relievers pitched at least 50 innings, with Tyler Phillips’s 77 2/3 innings leading the group. He pitched to a 2.78 ERA and got groundballs at a well-above-average 55.6% rate, albeit with just a 16.6% strikeout rate and middling peripherals. Calvin Faucher and Lake Bachar had ERAs of 3.28 and 3.78, respectively, but with expected values in the mid-4.00s. Meanwhile, Anthony Bender, Cade Gibson, and Valente Bellozo had solid groundball rates but below-average strikeout numbers. The signing of Fairbanks upgrades the group with more velocity, strikeouts, and groundballs while covering for Henriquez’s injury and taking pressure off the younger arms.
According to RosterResource, the signing of Fairbanks brings the Marlins’ projected payroll to $73MM, a slight bump from $70MM in 2025. That figure includes just over $15MM for eight arbitration-eligible players, with $2MM of that going to the recently-signed Christopher Morel (previously non-tendered by the Rays). So far, Morel and Fairbanks have been the club’s only big-league free agent signings, though the club is reportedly willing to spend more than usual this offseason.
Photos courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck and Kim Klement, Imagn Images
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