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The Best Fits For Alex Bregman

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Each offseason at MLBTR, we take a look at the potential markets for some of the top names in free agency. We've already taken a look at both Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette and Framber Valdez. Let's move onto star third baseman Alex Bregman, who opted out of the remaining two years and $80MM on his Red Sox contract earlier in the offseason. Bregman was ineligible to receive a qualifying offer, having gotten one previously in his career, so he can be signed without any draft forfeitures.

Bregman was a free agent last winter as well, but when the market didn't produce a $200MM+ deal to his liking, he signed for three years and $120MM (with plenty of deferred money) in Boston. That contract allowed him to opt out after each season.

Early in 2025, Bregman played like an MVP candidate. Through May 23, he was hitting .299/.385/.553 with 11 home runs, 17 doubles, an 18.6% strikeout rate and a 9.7% walk rate. He suffered a quad strain that sidelined him for nearly two months, throwing a wrench into one of the hottest starts of his career.

There's a narrative that Bregman struggled down the stretch after returning from injury. That's not entirely true. For the first 130 plate appearances post-injury, Bregman picked up right where he left off. He hit .325/.408/.518 with more walks (11.5%) than strikeouts (8.5%). His bat tanked for the next three weeks (.151/.223/.215, 103 plate appearances), and Bregman then finished out the season hitting .276/.417/.414 in his final 36 trips to the batter's box. The concept of his post-injury "swoon" is largely a misnomer. Bregman was healthy for the final 11 weeks of the season and really only struggled for three of them -- the extent of those struggles was just alarming. Unsurprisingly, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said after the season that Bregman probably came back a bit earlier and wasn't playing at 100%.

On the whole, Bregman hit .273/.360/.462 (125 wRC+) with a revitalized walk rate and improved batted-ball metrics. His defense, even with an ailing quadriceps, graded out better than average. Both FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference peg him at 3.5 WAR in only 114 games. There’s a pretty easy case that Bregman is a bankable four- to five-WAR player, and while talk of veteran presence/clubhouse leadership/intangibles is often overstated, it seems genuine that front offices are captivated by his leadership skills and personality.

Bregman could have more demand than he did last winter. He's a year older now, but there's no QO attached to him and his plate discipline/approach rebounded after an uncharacteristic 6.9% walk rate and .315 OBP in 2024. Let’s run through Bregman's likeliest landing spots, based on roster composition and payroll outlook, and see if there are any viable dark horse candidates to bring him aboard.

Known/Likely Suitors (listed alphabetically)

Cubs: Pitching is the Cubs' primary focus this winter, even after Shota Imanaga accepted his qualifying offer and will now return for the 2026 season. However, the Cubs were in on Bregman last offseason and have already been linked to him again. The fit is clear. Top prospect Matt Shaw didn't solidify himself as an everyday option at the hot corner when handed the reins at the position in 2025. Shaw is still only 24 years old and did have an encouraging month following the All-Star break ... before cratering once again in his final 133 plate appearances (.220/.293/.373). Shaw hit .226/.295/.394 overall. He's still a promising young player, but promising young players don't always become solid big leaguers.

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Rockies Could Add Short-Term Help At First Base, Listen On Outfielders

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The Rockies are starting from scratch, and new baseball ops leaders Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes have a long list of issues to address. It’ll be a yearslong process, but in the short term, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes that it’s “likely” the team will bring in some short-term help at first base or second base. Saunders adds, as has been previously suggested, that the Rockies could listen on their young outfielders as they look to bring in controllable starting pitching. Center fielder Brenton Doyle was Colorado’s most sought-after player at this summer’s deadline, Saunders adds.

Both first base and second base are clear areas of need in Denver (as is third base, for what it’s worth). Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar is a solid everyday option who’s affordably signed through at least 2030 (with a club option for 2031). The rest of the infield is up in the air. Last year’s leader in reps at first base, Michael Toglia, was already non-tendered after a poor season. Second basemen Kyle Farmer and Thairo Estrada both struggled and became free agents. Prospect Adael Amador hit well in Triple-A but struggled immensely in 41 big league games. It’s a similar story with 23-year-old Kyle Karros at the hot corner.

The top end of the Rockies’ system does include recent high draft picks like Ethan Holliday and Charlie Condon, who could be options at the infield corners in the long run. Neither Amador nor Karros is as highly regarded, but both (Amador in particular) have drawn favorable scouting reports and placed well within public rankings of the Rockies’ minor leaguers. Both have hit well in the upper minors, and it’s easy to imagine both getting a further look in 2026.

With first base standing as a particular area of need (and one that lacks an in-house solution), the free-agent market possesses plenty of lower-cost names. Veterans like Nathaniel Lowe, Rhys Hoskins, Josh Bell and Paul Goldschmidt are all coming off relatively down seasons. More versatile options who could handle first as well as another infield spot include Wilmer Flores, Donovan Solano and perhaps Ty France. Someone like Jeimer Candelario could be had on a minor league pact, most likely.

With regard to the team’s outfielders, Doyle is the most obvious trade candidate. He’s entering his first season of arbitration eligibility and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn a highly affordable $3.2MM in 2026 as a Super Two player. The Rockies control him for another four seasons, all the way through 2029.

Doyle, 28 in May, is coming off a down year at the plate (one in which his family went through an awful tragedy). Doyle still connected on 15 homers and swiped 18 bags in 20 attempts, though his rate stats dropped. His .233/.274/.376 slash came out to a dismal 65 wRC+ (35% worse than league-average, when weighting for home park), but he turned in a solid .260/.317/.446 slash with 23 round-trippers and 30 steals as recently as 2024. He’s also drawn superlative grades for his defensive acumen in center field dating back to his 2023 MLB debut.

It’s an extremely thin market for center fielders in free agency this winter. Cody Bellinger has really only played the position part-time in recent seasons and will cost well over $100MM in free agency, taking him off the table for some smaller-payroll clubs. Harrison Bader is coming off a career year at the plate and reported to be looking for a three-year deal that some teams might find steep, given his inconsistent track record at the plate. The trade market includes names like Luis Robert Jr., Jarren Duran and Alek Thomas; the Twins are reportedly planning to keep Byron Buxton (and starters Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez).

Few center fielders in the sport possess Doyle’s blend of speed, power and defensive acumen. An above-average strikeout rate and below-average walk rate might mean he’ll always have fairly low marks in batting average and on-base percentage, but he’s extremely toolsy and was worth about four wins above replacement in that 2024 season. For the Rockies, it’s a question of whether to move him now or to hold and see if his value increases in subsequent seasons. With a big first half, he could be one of the prizes of the summer trade market. On the other hand, if Doyle incurs an injury or sees his offensive doldrums continue, it could further sap his value.

There’s no perfect solution, but with teams like the Royals, Marlins, Phillies, Guardians and Angels (among others) all potentially on the hunt for some center field help, it’s possible Doyle could draw strong enough interest to sway DePodesta and Byrnes as soon as this winter.

The other outfielders on the Rockies’ roster carry less value. Mickey Moniak belted 24 homers and hit .270/.306/.518 last season but did so with bottom-of-the scale defensive grades in the outfield (-23 Defensive Runs Saved, -8 Outs Above Average). Jordan Beck and Zac Veen were both top prospects at one point, but neither has solidified himself in the majors yet. Beck hit .258/.317/.416 with 16 homers and 19 steals but needed a .351 BABIP to get there, thanks largely to his near-30% strikeout rate. Veen struggled in his first 37 big league plate appearances and has yet to hit sufficiently in a pair of seasons at Triple-A. Either could be swapped out for a former top pitching prospect with similar struggles, speculatively speaking, but neither is going to bring back someone the Rockies can confidently plug into their rotation from the jump.

Blue Jays Interested In Robert Suarez

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The Blue Jays are known to be looking for bullpen upgrades and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that free agent Robert Suarez is a guy they have shown some interest in, though Nicholson-Smith suggests the interest may be preliminary. Suarez has also been connected to the Mets and Dodgers this offseason.

The relief market has been the fastest-moving segment of free agency so far in this offseason. Devin Williams, Emilio Pagán, Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, Raisel Iglesias and others have already come off the board. There are still some notable names still out there, including Suarez, Edwin Díaz and Pete Fairbanks.

The Blue Jays have been one of the most active teams so far this winter, having added Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce to their rotation via notable free agent deals. They have also been on the hunt for notable bullpen upgrades. Jeff Hoffman was the closer in 2025 but he posted a 4.37 earned run average and is apparently willing to be bumped into a setup role. The Jays were previously connected to the now-signed Helsley, Maton and Iglesias, in addition to being linked to Díaz and Fairbanks.

Suarez would also be a logical target for Toronto. He has been San Diego’s closer for the past two years. In 2024, he notched 36 saves while posting a 2.77 ERA. His 22.9% strikeout rate was only around average but he showed good control with a 6.2% walk rate. In 2025, he took his game to another level. His 2.97 ERA was technically a slight increase over the previous season but his walk rate dropped to 5.9% and his strikeout rate spiked up to 27.9% as he saved 40 contests for the Padres.

Despite the strong results, Suarez will have his earning power limited by his age. He has only been in the big leagues for four years but that’s because he broke out in Japan before coming over to join the Padres for the 2022 season. He’s now 34 years old and will turn 35 in March.

MLBTR predicted Suarez for a three-year, $48MM deal at the beginning of the season. Even getting to three years would require Suarez to break recent precedent. The last time a reliever got a three-year deal beginning at age-35 or later was Will Harris. His $24MM guarantee was half of what MLBTR predicted for Suarez. Mariano Rivera’s deal in 2007 was the last time a pitcher this age or older got three years with an average annual value more than $8MM.

Time will tell what kind of deal Suarez can earn and if the Jays are strongly involved. Though they have been connected to various relief targets, Toronto’s splashes thus far have been on the rotation side. Next up could be the lineup, as they have been frequently connected to both Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker, the top free agent position players available.

Nicholson-Smith also suggests the Jays might still be looking for more rotation depth, but on a lesser scale than their previous moves. At present, the Jays have an on-paper rotation consisting of Cease, Ponce, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and José Berríos. They also have guys like Eric Lauer, Ricky Tiedemann and Bowden Francis in the mix. Now that Yariel Rodríguez has been outrighted off the 40-man, it’s possible that he could get stretched out in the minors, since he was a starter in 2024.

That’s a lot of depth already but injuries are inevitable and the cliché about never having enough pitching exists for good reasons. It’s also possible that the Toronto rotation picture changes over the winter. There have been trade rumors around Berríos since the Cease and Ponce signings. Moving him would subtract from the depth but could perhaps free up some payroll space to for other pursuits.

A similar path could be taken with Rodríguez, though his remaining guarantee is far less than that of Berríos. Rodríguez is guaranteed $17MM over the next three seasons whereas Berríos is still owed $66MM over the same time period, with an opt-out after 2026. Moving Berríos would therefore open more spending capacity for the Jays but the Rodríguez deal may be easier to move.

RosterResource projects the Jays to spend $268MM on next year’s squad. That’s already above the $258MM figure they had at the end of 2025. It’s unclear how much more room they have but it seems their deep postseason run this year will lead to a bit of extra spending.

Photo courtesy of Denis Poroy, Imagn Images

Nationals Drawing Significant Interest In CJ Abrams

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The Nationals have been deep in a rebuild for quite some time, and that figures to continue under new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni. That’s meant plenty of trade rumors surrounding southpaw MacKenzie Gore, who is set to reach free agency after the 2027 season. He’s not the only trade chip that Toboni has to market, however, as Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report that the team is also “getting pushed aggressively” on infielder CJ Abrams. Sammon and Rosenthal write that the Nats are open to moving both players, though they’ve set a high bar to deal each of them.

Gore’s been all over the rumor mill in recent weeks, but the status of Abrams’s market is news. He’s long been a speculative trade candidate (even landing on MLBTR’s Top 40 Trade Candidates list last month) but has received much less buzz than Gore to this point in the winter. Some of that is because it would be easier for the Nationals to hold onto Abrams. The 25-year-old is under team control for three seasons and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a salary of just $5.6MM in 2026. That leaves the Nationals with minimal pressure to trade him this winter, as he’d still be one of the most controllable and affordable players available if held until the summer or even next offseason.

With that said, Abrams’s longer-term control and low price tag make him a player who would be fairly easy to fit onto virtually any club in need of infield help. Abrams plays shortstop in D.C. but has received poor grades from defensive metrics for his work there, suggesting that a move elsewhere on the dirt could behoove him. Teams like the Braves and Rays are known to be seeking help at shortstop, however, and in a thin market with few options beyond Bo Bichette and Ha-Seong Kim adding someone like Abrams despite defensive misgivings could make sense. Plenty of teams could look to use Abrams at either second or third base if they so chose. Teams like the Pirates, Mariners, Red Sox, Tigers, and Cubs have all been connected to the infield market this winter and there’s surely plenty of other teams who would be motivated to try and land Abrams to bolster their infield.

For all his defensive shortcomings, Abrams has the potential to be an impactful offensive player. Over the past two seasons, he’s slashed .252/.315/.433 with 114 extra-base hits and 62 stolen bases, good for a 107 wRC+ overall. The Diamondbacks were the only team in baseball last year to get a 107 wRC+ or better from each of third base, second base, and shortstop. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the other 28 teams in the league all have room for Abrams on their infield—the Dodgers, for example, certainly aren’t going to supplant Mookie Betts after just one down season with the bat—but it does highlight how many teams could upgrade their offense by bringing Abrams into the fold even if the 25-year-old doesn’t continue to develop in the coming years.

As good of a fit for a large number of teams as Abrams may be, however, it’s worth remembering that he’s arguably more of a complimentary player than a true star at this point. Abrams’s defensive lapses at shortstop severely limit his overall value, and while he turned in a three-win season this year it was the first of his career by fWAR. He also offers little in the way of on-base ability, with a career .306 OBP thanks to a walk rate that peaked at 6.6% in 2023. Even with those shortcomings, however, Abrams’s combination of power and speed are undeniable and should make him very intriguing to any infield-needy team as the Winter Meetings get underway.

Royals Hoping To Add Multiple Outfielders

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The Royals are known to be evaluating the trade market for outfielders, with president of baseball operations J.J. Picollo recently signaling a willingness to trade from his rotation depth to bring in some outfield help. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that Kansas City is looking to acquire multiple outfielders this offseason — ideally one via trade and another via free agency. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that free agent center fielder Harrison Bader is a target for the Royals. Austin Hays is also on the team’s radar, per Heyman.

While Heyman suggests that the Royals are particularly keen on adding some right-handed help to the lineup, manager Matt Quatraro downplayed any desire for specific handedness in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (video clip).

“Right-handed, left-handed — it’s who can give us the professional at-bats,” Quatraro said when asked about his team’s approach as it shops for upgrades this winter. “I don’t think it has to be one or the other. It’s who wants to be there, who can provide the most upside for us within the lineup to lengthen it out.” Quatraro did go on to call Bader a “great name” and a “top-notch free agent this offseason” when asked specifically about Heyman’s report, but he naturally sidestepped commenting on any specific interest from his club.

Unsurprisingly, Rosenthal suggests that the Royals aren’t pursuing top-end free agents like Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, both of whom will command nine-figure contracts that exceed Kansas City’s preferred price range. He also implies that there’s some reluctance to bet too heavily on rebound candidates, given that the team will already be banking on meaningful contributions from young players like catcher Carter Jensen and first baseman/outfielder Jac Caglianone.

Bader, according to Rosenthal, is seeking a three-year deal in free agency. Whether that proves too steep for the Royals remains to be seen, but the ask is understandable coming off a terrific season. The 31-year-old slashed a career-best .277/.347/.449 (122 wRC+) and also notched career-high marks in home runs (17), doubles (24) and plate appearances (501) in 146 games between the Twins and Phillies. Bader played more left field than usual, in deference to Byron Buxton during his time with the Twins, but provided his usual brand of plus defense in both spots.

Glove-first outfielders of this nature generally haven’t been able to command three-year contracts in free agency, typically settling for two-year arrangements, at best. Bader could be helped out by a thin and frankly bleak market for center field help, although recent offseasons with a similar lack of options at the position haven’t yielded overpays for the few credible candidates available.

Bader’s ability to land a three-year deal (or his lack thereof) will hinge on whether teams buy the offensive breakout. There are reasons to be skeptical. Bader’s production was buoyed by a huge .359 average on balls in play. Last year’s 27.1% strikeout rate, meanwhile, was his highest since 2020.

The uptick in power and overall production isn’t really supported by an increase in batted-ball quality; Bader’s 87.2 mph average exit velocity is well below the league-average and an exact match for his 2024 mark — a season in which he batted .236/.284/.373. Bader did barrel more balls than usual this season and enjoy a slight bump in hard-hit rate, but the uptick in whiffs and a career-high 45.7% ground-ball rate make it more than fair to question whether he can sustain this type of offense.

Hays, 30, would be another righty-swinging addition, albeit one who is coming off a lesser season at the plate and is not an option in center field at this stage of his career. He popped 15 homers for the Reds in 2025 while hitting .266/.315/.453 overall (105 wRC+). As usual, a disproportionate amount of Hays’ production came against left-handed pitchers, whom he crushed at a .319/.400/.549 clip. Against right-handers, Hays mustered a more tepid .249/.286/.422 output.

Hays has generally been a fine defensive left fielder. He does have some experience in center but hasn’t played there since 2023 and only has 483 total big league innings at the position (compared to more than 3600 in left field and more than 900 in right field). He’s battled myriad injuries in recent seasons, including calf, hamstring and foot ailments in 2025 and, far more concerningly, a severe kidney infection in 2024 that sapped every aspect of his game. Hays played last season on a one-year, $5MM deal in Cincinnati and is probably looking at another affordable one- or perhaps two-year deal in free agency.

The Royals’ 2026 payroll comes in at a projected $139MM, per RosterResource. That’s already considerably higher than the $126MM mark at which they opened the 2025 season. They’re within a few million dollars of the franchise-record $143MM — a mark that was set under the late David Glass, who sold the club to current owner John Sherman back in Nov. 2019.

That number could change a bit, depending on the type of outfielder the club targets via trade and whether they trade a somewhat established starter for said outfielder. Lefty Kris Bubic, for instance, has been the subject of trade talks and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $6MM next year. If he’s traded and the return includes a pre-arbitration outfielder, the Royals would trim more than $5MM off that expected payroll.

However it takes shape, upgrading the outfield is the clear priority for Kansas City this winter. Royals outfielders were far and away the least-productive group in Major League Baseball last year, slashing a combined .225/.285/.348. The resulting 73 wRC+ ranked last in the game. Kansas City’s 37 home runs from its outfield were the second-fewest of any team in the sport. None of the Royals’ best and/or most MLB-ready prospects play the outfield naturally. Caglianone is a first baseman who’s learning right field due the presence of Vinnie Pasquantino at his natural position. In addition to Bader and Hays, the Royals are also said to be interested in re-signing deadline acquisition Mike Yastrzemski.

Athletics, Michael Stefanic Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Athletics and infielder Michael Stefanic have agreed to a minor league deal, according to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. The deal comes with an invite to big league Spring Training for the upcoming season.

Stefanic, 30 in February, has made cameos at the big league level in each of the past four MLB seasons. Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Angels back in 2018, Stefanic played in the lower levels of the minors for a little over the year before the cancelled minor league season in 2020 wiped out a year of development. When he returned in 2021, he looked nothing short of excellent in the upper minors with a .336/.408/.493 slash line between the Double- and Triple-A levels. He struck out at just a 13.9% clip while walking 9.4% of the time. He hit for a bit of power in addition to that discipline, swatting 17 homers and 26 doubles in 125 games.

Stefanic’s minor league numbers have generally been more of the same; in five seasons at the Triple-A level, he’s a career .332/.427/.454 hitter. While he hasn’t come close to showing as much power as he did back in 2021, his contact and discipline has remained excellent for his level and allowed him to succeed with a contact-over-power profile while playing primarily second base but logging time all over the infield. Unfortunately for Stefanic, his game simply hasn’t translated at the big league level in the limited opportunities he’s received.

The 30-year-old is a career .227/.314/.267 hitter across 99 games and 289 plate appearances in the majors. His best stint at the big league level came with the Angels in 2023, when he slashed a solid .290/.380/.355 across 25 games. Those are excellent on-base numbers, but he was helped by a .333 BABIP he hasn’t been able to replicate since thanks to a paltry 22.2% Hard-Hit rate and a barrel rate of 0.0%. That complete lack of power is difficult to make work in the majors; Luis Arraez is virtually the only player in the modern game to find any sort of sustained success with that sort of approach, although others like Nick Madrigal have been able to hold their own in smaller samples.

The A’s will bring Stefanic in as some much-needed infield depth behind a group that is largely unproven outside of AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Jacob Wilson. Max Muncy was unable to make an impact in 63 games for the club this year, while Zack Gelof hasn’t impressed at the big league level since his debut 2023 season due to injuries and ineffectiveness. Players like Darell Hernaiz, Max Schuemann, and Brett Harris could provide depth behind that group, but adding another option like Stefanic makes some sense given a thin market for infield talent this winter and the Athletics’ typical lack of resources. If the A’s don’t manage to bring in another infield bat to their mix this winter, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Stefanic compete with someone like Schuemann for a bench job headed into camp this spring.

Friedman: Less “Heavy Lifting” To Do For Dodgers This Winter

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The Dodgers are back-to-back World Series champions thanks to a massive financial outlay over the past two offseasons that allowed them to bring in Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and a number of other pieces that were key to their current core. As they attempt to make it a threepeat, however, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes that president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman suggested to reporters that there’s “not as much heavy lifting required” this year as there was in previous winters, and acknowledged that the Dodgers may alter their approach somewhat as they look to avoid some of the perils that come with an aging core.

Andy Pages, Hyeseong Kim, and Dalton Rushing were the only three position players younger than 30 on the Dodgers’ roster this past year to appear in even 50 games. The pitching side has a bit more young talent thanks to the additions of Yamamoto and Sasaki, and homegrown arms like Emmet Sheehan, Ben Casparius, and Jack Dreyer all impacted the team as well. Even so, the Dodgers were already the oldest team in the majors this year (their Opening Day roster had an average age of 31.5). Freddie Freeman (36) and Mookie Betts (33) are under contract through their age-37 and -39 seasons, respectively. Snell is under contract through his age-36 campaign. Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani will play next year at age-31, but they’ll both be in Dodger blue until their age-38 seasons.

Long-term deals for free agents naturally come with a roster full of aging players as those deals progress. While Plunkett notes that the Dodgers feel the players they’ve invested in will age well, it’s not hard to see why concerns of eventual decline are present. That’s why Friedman said the age of the roster is something he’s keeping in mind as he makes decisions this winter. The Dodgers have a farm system rich with young talent, with seven top-100 prospects according to MLB.com including four at the Double-A level or higher. Friedman said that it will be important to be “thoughtful” about how those players are brought along at the big league level and made part of the team’s core.

It’s not always been easy for the team to find ways to plug in young talent. Rushing was viewed as ready to step into a big league role as early as last year by some in the industry, but has been blocked by Smith behind the plate. Pages was only able to step into an everyday role with the club this year thanks to a combination of injuries to Tommy Edman and ineffectiveness from Michael Conforto. Kim was signed primarily as a utility player and did not break out of that capacity. Alex Freeland is arguably big league ready at this point but is blocked by players like Edman, Betts, and Max Muncy headed into the 2026 season.

All of that is to say that there’s reason to believe reports that indicate the Dodgers may not be inclined to pursue a long-term deal with a star outfielder like Kyle Tucker. With well-regarded outfielders like Josue De Paula and Zyhir Hope coming up through the farm system, the outfield could be the team’s best opportunity to inject some youth into the roster. Signing Tucker (or even someone like old friend Cody Bellinger) on a deal that would last into his late thirties would be counter-productive to that goal, although the fit could make more sense if the Dodgers were to trade another aging player like Teoscar Hernandez, whose name has been rumored to be in play as part of trade talks this winter.

Of course, De Paula, Hope, and other young talents aren’t likely to be ready for the majors on Opening Day 2026. That means some sort of stopgap will be necessary, and Plunkett writes that the team could turn to the trade market to improve an outfield that stands out as the roster’s biggest weakness. Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan and Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan stand out as among the best fits, though the Dodgers reportedly had some interest in Luis Robert Jr. last winter as well.

Plunkett also notes that, while the bullpen figures to be a focus for the Dodgers this winter after the departure of Michael Kopech, adding a surefire closer isn’t necessarily a high priority. While Tanner Scott’s first year in L.A. did not go as planned, Plunkett writes that Friedman expressed plenty of confidence in the lefty to be a “huge part” of the Dodgers in 2026. The Dodgers have been connected to Edwin Diaz and Robert Suarez this winter, but as the team looks to avoid adding aging players on long-term deals it’s possible they could instead look to pieces who could be had on short-term arrangements like Luke Weaver and Pete Fairbanks.

Mets, Carl Edwards Jr. Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mets have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent reliever Carl Edwards Jr., reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. Edwards, a client of the Ballengee Group, will be in major league camp next spring as a non-roster invitee.

Edwards, 34, pitched just six big league innings last season between the Angels and Rangers, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks with six punchouts. He’s pitched for eight teams across parts of 11 major league seasons, totaling a 3.56 ERA, 28% strikeout rate and 12.7% walk rate in 286 frames.

Once regarded as a top pitching prospect, the 6’3″, 165-pound Edwards settled in as an important reliever with the Cubs back in their 2016 World Series run and in subsequent seasons. From 2016-18, the “Stringbean Slinger” tossed 154 1/3 innings of 3.03 ERA ball with a huge 34.2% strikeout rate but a hefty 13.5% walk rate.

Edwards slipped into journeyman status shortly thereafter, as his command troubles worsened and his struggles became untenable. He had a resurgence with the Nats in 2022-23, however, combining for 93 2/3 innings with a 3.07 earned run average. His 20.1% strikeout rate was a far cry from his Cubs peak, although his 10.6% walk rate was also an improvement.

Edwards spent the bulk of last season in Triple-A, working to a 4.44 ERA through 50 2/3 frames in an extremely hitter-friendly environment. He set down 25.8% of his opponents on strikes and posted a 7.2% walk rate that stands as the best mark of his career in any notable sample. He also induced grounders at a hearty 54.9% rate in Triple-A. He’ll be a veteran depth option with the Mets — one of several such additions surely on the docket this winter.

Padres Listening To Offers On Nick Pivetta, Jake Cronenworth

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As the Padres continue to try to build a competitive roster with minimal payroll wiggle room, they’re at least entertaining offers on righty Nick Pivetta, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic. They’re also listening on second baseman Jake Cronenworth, Lin writes, though the two are in different spots in terms of trade candidacy. Pivetta, despite an opt-out in his contract at season’s end, would presumably still be coveted by numerous clubs. Cronenworth, with five years and $60MM remaining on his contract as he heads into his age-32 season, has considerably less trade value. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote yesterday that San Diego isn’t merely listening but has been actively shopping Cronenworth.

The 32-year-old Pivetta (33 in January) is coming off a terrific season in which he logged a career-low 2.87 ERA over a career-high 181 2/3 innings. It was just the sort of season for which the Padres hoped when signing Pivetta to a four-year contract — a bet made on his durability and typically strong strikeout/walk rates. Pivetta had never posted an ERA under 4.00, but metrics like SIERA (3.78) and xFIP (3.92) liked him far better than the 4.33 ERA he’d posted across the four prior seasons.

San Diego found itself in a similar situation last winter to the one in which president of baseball operations A.J. Preller now resides. The team is still intent on going for it in a competitive NL West division, but payroll has been reduced since the untimely passing of late owner Peter Seidler back in 2023. Preller & Co. drew up a four-year, $55MM deal for Pivetta that paid him just $4MM in year on ($3MM signing bonus, $1MM salary) and then jumped to $19MM in 2026, $14MM in 2027 and $18MM in 2028. Pivetta also has the right to opt out of the final two years and $32MM on his contract following the current season. That seems like all but a given, provided he’s still healthy and even reasonably effective.

That unique contract structure complicates trade scenarios surrounding Pivetta. While he’s sure to command interest, teams will view him more as a one-year rental than as a long-term pickup. They’ll also need to price in the downside of Pivetta potentially sustaining a serious injury and/or performing so poorly that he forgoes that opt-out opportunity and thus saddles them with an unwanted two-year, $32MM commitment. Pivetta could probably still bring back a prospect or lower-cost big leaguer of some note, but the return wouldn’t be as strong as many might think for a sixth-place Cy Young finisher who is technically signed for three more affordable seasons.

All of that makes the trade calculus surrounding Pivetta more difficult for Preller and his staff. The Friars are hoping to add to their rotation, not subtract from it. Trading Pivetta for a strong return and reallocating the $19MM he’ll make this coming season sounds good in theory but would be harder to execute in practice. Perhaps a team with more financial flexibility would acquire Pivetta with an eye toward restructuring his contract (extending him but also removing the opt-out opportunities), though that’s a purely speculative scenario and not one that is typical throughout MLB as a whole.

With regard to Cronenworth, he’s coming off a productive season, but his contract is still generally underwater. The lefty-swinging infielder hit .246/.367/.377 in 2025, with the bulk of his offensive value coming via a career-high 13.4% walk rate and a whopping 15 hit-by-pitches, both of which inflated his on-base percentage to career-best levels. On a rate basis, Cronenworth’s power was at the lowest point of his career, however (.131 ISO). Statcast pegged his “expected” batting average at .227 and his “expected” slugging percentage at just .348.

Cronenworth’s versatility is a point in his favor, but he’s primarily played second base and first base — two positions that typically aren’t compensated especially well on the modern MLB market (with the exception of the game’s truly elite bats at either position). It’s feasible that Cronenworth could command something similar to his $12MM annual value if he were a free agent right now, but it certainly wouldn’t come over a five-year term. He’d be limited to a much shorter contract on the open market, and teams will price that into any trade offers. In all likelihood, San Diego would need to pay down a fair bit of Cronenworth’s contract or take back another unwelcome contract.

Broadly speaking, the circumstances surrounding both players serve as a portent for the type of moves the Padres will have to explore this offseason. Preller is always one of the most frenetic baseball operations leaders in the game, and his need to address multiple roster holes — two starters, at least one bat, perhaps some help at catcher — with minimal payroll flexibility amid a changing ownership landscape suggest that we’re in for another slate of creative, difficult-to-predict transactions for the Padres in the weeks ahead.

Diamondbacks To Sign Michael Soroka

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The Diamondbacks and free agent right-hander Michael Soroka are in agreement on a one-year deal that will reportedly pay the ISE Baseball client a guaranteed $7.5MM. Soroka can tack on an additional $2MM worth of incentives. The deal is pending a physical. Once complete, he’ll be penciled into the team’s rotation.

Soroka, still just 28 years old, is already signing the second free-agent contract of his career. He inked a one-year, $9MM deal with the Nats last offseason after an uneven year with the White Sox, wherein he struggled immensely as a starting pitcher before posting huge numbers as a reliever down the stretch. Washington plugged Soroka back into a starting role in 2025, eventually flipping him to the Cubs at the trade deadline. Soroka posted a middling 4.52 ERA in 89 2/3 innings (17 starts, six relief appearances) but continued to intrigue with sharp rate stats: 25.1% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate, 44.1% ground-ball rate.

Arizona is in need of help both in the rotation and in the bullpen, so even though Soroka is bound for the starting staff, he could be a fallback in the bullpen if the initial plan doesn’t work out. For now, he’ll join the trio of Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt as one of manager Torey Lovullo’s starters.

It still wasn’t that long ago that Soroka looked like one of the game’s most promising young arms. The 2015 first-round pick ranked as one of baseball’s top prospects prior to his debut with Atlanta, and the first two seasons of his career more than justified that billing. In 200 1/3 innings from his late-2018 callup through the end of the 2019 season, Soroka pitched to a sparkling 2.79 earned run average. His 20% strikeout rate was below-average, but he compensated for that with an excellent 5.9% walk rate, a 50.2% grounder rate and plenty of weak contact.

Injuries decimated the next several years of Soroka’s career and eventually pushed him out of the Braves’ plans. He’s twice torn his Achilles tendon and also missed time due to multiple shoulder injuries and a biceps strain. Soroka hasn’t reached even 100 innings in a major league season since that outstanding 2018-19 run; in fact, he’s pitched only 215 1/3 big league innings total since that time — just 15 more than he pitched in that initial MLB run.

Soroka will be one of multiple additions in general manager Mike Hazen’s rotation. The D-backs entered the offseason in dire need of pitching depth. Of the aforementioned trio of starters, only Nelson (3.39 ERA, 154 innings) posted quality bottom-line results last year. Both Rodriguez and Pfaadt posted ERAs north of 5.00, though each (Pfaadt in particular) was viewed more favorably by fielding-independent metrics.

Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick has already indicated that payroll will decline after last year’s mark topped $200MM for the first time in franchise history. However, he’s also made clear that the team is fully intent on striving to contend despite that reduction. It’s not clear exactly where the ultimate budget lies, but Hazen and his staff should have plenty of spending room even with the budget scaling down. The addition of Soroka pushes next year’s projected payroll to just over $151MM, per RosterResource.

Arizona has also been looking into a reunion with righty Merrill Kelly, whom they traded to the Rangers in July ahead of his free agent departure this offseason. There’s mutual interest there, though Kelly’s annual salary will likely more than double what Soroka just commanded. Pete Fairbanks is a known target on the bullpen side of things, though he’s surely just one of many. The D-backs are also at least hearing out other clubs who inquire on star second baseman Ketel Marte, though a trade is seen as unlikely, and they’re listening to offers on lefty-swinging outfielders Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy.

Suffice it to say, it’ll be a busy few days for the D-backs in Orlando at this week’s Winter Meetings, though it’s unlikely the check off every item on their to-do list before MLB’s premier offseason event concludes.

Jesse Rogers and Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the one-year agreement between the two parties. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic first reported the salary terms, incentives and Soroka’s role.

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