The Opener: World Baseball Classic, Berrios, Free Agency
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:
1. World Baseball Classic Quarterfinals:
The quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic are underway, and two games are scheduled for this evening. At 6:30pm local time in Miami, Korea will face the Dominican Republic. Former big leaguer and All-Star Hyun Jin Ryu will be on the mound for Korea opposite Phillies southpaw Cristopher Sanchez. Ryu is less than two weeks from his 39th birthday but has remained very effective in the KBO over the years, including a 3.23 ERA in 26 starts for the Hanwha Eagles in 2025. He allowed a solo home run but no other damage in his last WBC start, with three strikeouts in his three innings of work. Sanchez, meanwhile, is coming off a career year for Philadelphia where the 29-year-old finished second in NL Cy Young award voting behind Paul Skenes. He posted a 2.50 ERA with a 2.55 FIP in 202 innings of work last year, but got shelled for three runs on six hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings during his lone WBC start.
At 7:00pm local time in Houston, Team USA will be facing off against their neighbors to the north. Canada is sending right-hander Michael Soroka to the mound. He’s coming off a 4.52 ERA in 89 innings for the Nationals and Cubs last year. Soroka scattered four runs and a walk across his three innings of one-run ball during his last WBC start. Soroka’s opponent will be right-hander Logan Webb. The two-time All-Star finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting last year and struck out six in four innings of work during his last WBC start, allowing only a solo homer in terms of damage. The quarterfinals will continue tomorrow with matchups between Puerto Rico (Seth Lugo) and Italy (Pitcher TBA) as well as Venezuela (Ranger Suarez) against Samurai Japan (Yoshinobu Yamamoto).
2. Berrios battling elbow inflammation:
Blue Jays right-hander Jose Berrios was hoping to the Puerto Rican team for that game against Italy, but those hopes have been dashed. MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson writes that Berrios underwent an MRI recently that revealed inflammation in his right elbow. While there’s no structural damage, he was nonetheless scratched from his start yesterday and the Blue Jays are now gathering additional information. It’s an unusual situation given that Berrios has seemingly not feeling any soreness in his elbow. The MRI was scheduled not due to issues on the right-hander’s end, but for insurance purposes ahead of his planned WBC appearance. It’s unclear if the news puts Opening Day in jeopardy for Berrios, who was already in danger of losing a spot in the Jays rotation at some point this year due to an influx of talent (Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce, and the emergence of top prospect Trey Yesavage).
3. Free agency moving for stragglers:
Yesterday saw a pair of left-handed relief arms come off the board with big league deals: the Red Sox landed southpaw Danny Coulombe on a $1MM guarantee yesterday, while the Rangers landed lefty Jalen Beeks on a major league contract of his own. The two lefties coming off the board were among the best bullpen options still available on a dwindling market. With just two weeks to go until Opening Day, only a small handful of players are still available. Outfielder Jesse Winker, infielder Wilmer Flores, right-hander Lucas Giolito, and first baseman Rowdy Tellez are among the more notable names still available on the market, with a large group of veteran starters (Marcus Stroman, Patrick Corbin, Tyler Anderson) and relievers (Justin Wilson, Jose Leclerc, Jorge Lopez) also still available.
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Who Will Top Next Winter’s Free Agent Hitting Class?
Tarik Skubal is the overwhelming favorite to be next offseason's top free agent. The two-time defending AL Cy Young winner is probably the best pitcher on the planet. He's almost certainly not signing an extension with the Tigers. As long as he stays healthy during his walk year, Skubal should become MLB's first $400MM+ pitcher.
Clear as the top of the pitching market looks, the #1 spot in the hitting class is wide open. That's a rare position even in March. Each year at MLBTR, we publish our first power ranking of the following winter's free agent class not long after Opening Day.
Over the past five Aprils, the #1 players on our initial free agent ranking were: Corey Seager*, Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and Kyle Tucker. The first four players went on to sign for more than $300MM (well above in Ohtani's and Soto's cases). Tucker had at least one $350MM offer but opted for a shorter deal at a record average annual value. It's usually very easy to identify an upcoming free class's top hitter one or more years in advance.
Since that's not the case for the 2026-27 class, there's room for debate as to which player enters the season in pole position. Their respective '26 performances will naturally play a large role in determining future contracts, but there are only a handful of players who have a real chance to land the biggest deal among next offseason's hitters. Randy Arozarena, for example, is one of the best hitters in the class, but it's safe to assume he's not commanding the biggest contract as a left fielder who'll test the market in his age-32 season. That's just not a profile that lends itself to a nine-figure deal.
Let's run through the more realistic possibilities. The full list of 2026-27 free agents is available here.
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Caleb Ferguson To Begin Season On Injured List
Reds reliever Caleb Ferguson will open the season on the 15-day injured list, manager Terry Francona told reporters (link via Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). The southpaw strained his right oblique and will be shelved for at least a few weeks.
The injury will delay Ferguson’s team debut. The Reds signed him to a one-year, $4.5MM free agent contract. Ferguson is coming off a 3.58 earned run average over 65 1/3 innings split between the Pirates and Mariners. His 18.9% strikeout percentage was easily a career worst, but he compensated by allowing one of the lowest hard contact rates in the sport.
Ferguson hasn’t pitched well this spring, giving up five runs while allowing nine of 13 batters faced to reach base (six hits and three walks). His track record locked him into a bullpen role either way, of course. Ferguson and trade acquisition Brock Burke would have been the two left-handers guaranteed to be on the Opening Day roster.
His injury should increase Sam Moll’s chances of breaking camp. The 34-year-old is out of options and on the roster bubble as the #3 lefty reliever on the depth chart. Moll gave up a 6.38 ERA despite an impressive 27% strikeout rate across 23 big league appearances last year. He has worked six scoreless innings with only one hit allowed this spring, but he has walked six of 23 hitters.
Francona said the Reds aren’t committed to replacing Ferguson with a left-hander, so Moll still doesn’t seem fully assured of a roster spot. Cincinnati would need to trade him or place him on waivers if they squeeze him out.
There’s also at least one spot available for a hard-throwing righty like Luis Mey, Connor Phillips, Zach Maxwell or the recently acquired Kyle Nicolas. Southpaw Brandon Williamson makes sense for a long relief role. Tejay Antone, Hagen Danner and Yunior Marte are among the non-roster invitees vying for jobs.
Quinn Priester Dealing With Nerve Issue
Brewers starter Quinn Priester met with a specialist this afternoon after being nagged by wrist soreness. Testing revealed that the righty is dealing with a nerve issue in his shoulder, manager Pat Murphy told reporters (links via Curt Hogg of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com).
Murphy said the injury is “in that thoracic outlet syndrome family.” Any mention of TOS is concerning given how difficult it can be for some pitchers to overcome. The Brewers are still mostly downplaying their level of concern. Murphy expressed confidence Priester will be able to rehab without surgery. He’s continuing a light throwing program and is scheduled for a bullpen session next weekend.
The nerve pressure explains the recurring nature of Priester’s injury. He first felt the wrist discomfort in the second half of last season. He didn’t anticipate it being an issue this spring but battled it intermittently during his ramp-up period. Although it’s rooted in his shoulder, nerve pain can manifest throughout the arm. Max Scherzer, for example, battled an upper arm nerve injury between 2024-25 that mostly appeared as thumb soreness.
It was already apparent that Priester would open the season on the injured list. This diagnosis doesn’t inherently mean he’s facing an extended absence. However, it highlights the open-endedness of his recovery timeline. Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Misiorowski and Chad Patrick project as Milwaukee’s top three starters to begin the season — assuming Woodruff builds back fully from last year’s lat strain. Brandon Sproat and Kyle Harrison could round out the group if Logan Henderson’s minor elbow discomfort puts him behind schedule for Opening Day.
Murphy also provided an update on depth outfielder Akil Baddoo, who suffered a left quad strain this week. The injury is more serious than the Brewers initially anticipated. Baddoo will need multiple weeks before he’s able to resume baseball activity. He’s obviously going to begin the season on the injured list and could be a 60-day IL candidate. Baddoo wasn’t in line for an Opening Day roster spot, but the Brewers liked him enough to sign him to a big league split deal over the offseason.
Red Sox Sign Danny Coulombe
The Red Sox announced the signing of lefty reliever Danny Coulombe to a one-year deal. Boston placed utilityman Romy Gonzalez on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. Coulombe, a client of ALIGND Sports Agency, is reportedly guaranteed $1MM.
Coulombe lands a big league contract for his age-36 season. The southpaw is coming off an excellent 2.30 earned run average across 43 innings between the Twins and Rangers. Coulombe punched out an above-average 24.4% of batters faced behind an excellent 13.1% swinging strike rate.
It was the third consecutive sub-3.00 ERA showing for the veteran reliever. Coulombe’s age and lack of velocity have nevertheless limited him to a series of modest one-year contracts. With a fastball that checks in around 90 mph, Coulombe leans most heavily on a mid-80s cutter. It’s a relatively platoon neutral profile, though he was more aggressive in attacking the strike zone against left-handed hitters.
Assuming he’s able to ramp into game shape within the next two weeks, Coulombe will slot into Alex Cora’s middle relief group. Boston was light on left-handed bullpen help in front of Aroldis Chapman. The out-of-options Jovani Morán and trade pickup Tyler Samaniego, who has yet to make his MLB debut, are the other lefty relievers on the 40-man roster. Coulombe should raise the floor over the less established southpaws.
Boston still has up to three bullpen spots for grabs. Morán’s lack of options could give him a leg up on one of those. Rule 5 pick Ryan Watson can’t be optioned but seems a longer shot to break camp after giving up six runs in as many innings this spring.
Gonzalez will be out at least until late May. The Sox announced that the righty-hitting utilityman underwent an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his left shoulder. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports that it’s a cleanup surgery that could come with a 2-3 month recovery timeline. Gonzalez should be back midseason to reprise his role as a short side platoon bat.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported Coulombe and the Red Sox had a major league deal. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported the $1MM salary.
Image courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images.
Bryan Hoeing To Undergo Flexor Surgery
March 12: Hoeing will undergo flexor tendon surgery and miss the entire 2026 season, Acee reports. He’ll be paid around the MLB minimum and land on the 60-day injured list once the team needs a 40-man roster spot. Hoeing will qualify for arbitration next winter but could be a non-tender candidate.
March 9: Padres right-hander Bryan Hoeing may undergo some kind of elbow surgery. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the righty is rehabbing while he makes a decision about whether or not to go under the knife. Manager Craig Stammen tells Acee that the club expects the decision “relatively quickly.”
Just over a week ago, Hoeing was shut down due to some discomfort in his throwing elbow. Pitching coach Ruben Niebla seemed optimistic that it wouldn’t be a serious issue but perhaps new information has changed things.
Acee doesn’t specify exactly what kind of procedure is possible for Hoeing but most elbow surgeries require significant absences. On the extreme end, Tommy John surgery involves a recovery period of more than a year. Even something less serious like a procedure to remove bone spurs requires several months of recovery. Carlos Rodón underwent surgery for bone spurs in October and is targeting a return in April, a span of about six months.
There’s never a good time for a pitcher to have elbow surgery but right now would be particularly unfortunate for Hoeing. He seemed to have a breakout in 2024, posting a 2.18 earned run average in 53 2/3 innings, but he wasn’t able to build on that in 2025. A right shoulder strain put him on the shelf to start the year. He was activated off the IL in June but was mostly kept on optional assignment and struggled to get in a groove, posting a 4.70 ERA in Triple-A. He would be looking to bounce back in 2026 but surgery could get in the way of that.
Even if he can avoid surgery, Hoeing seems a lock to start the season on the IL. Even with him on the shelf, the bullpen competition looks tight. Acee writes that Kyle Hart is making a strong push for a spot. He has thrown 8 2/3 scoreless innings in spring training action thus far with seven strikeouts, allowing three hits and three walks while hitting one batter. He worked as a swingman last year but struggled, posting a 5.86 ERA in 43 innings.
Left-hander Yuki Matsui is a potential wild card, as he has been battling an adductor strain. Acee says Matsui has resumed defensive drills and throwing from a mound but is still questionable for Opening Day.
On paper, the Padres project to have eight bullpen spots taken by Mason Miller, Adrián Morejón, Jeremiah Estrada, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta, Bradgley Rodríguez, Ron Marinaccio and Matsui. Of those eight guys, Morejón, Peralta, Matsui and Marinaccio can’t be optioned. Of the four who can, Miller surely won’t be. Estrada and Morgan aren’t likely to be sent down either, given their strong results. Rodríguez is more plausible, since he has just seven big league appearances under his belt. Jason Adam is questionable for Opening Day. If he’s healthy, he would likely bump Rodríguez to the minors.
That would make it hard to squeeze in Hart, who does still have an option, unless Matsui starts the season on the IL. Things could also get tightened further when Matt Waldron returns. He is going to start the season on the IL but isn’t expected to miss too much time. He is out of options and would need to squeeze someone out or be squeezed himself, unless further injuries pop up.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images
Giants’ Hayden Birdsong Being Evaluated For Elbow Issue
Giants right-hander Hayden Birdsong is being evaluated for an elbow issue, reports Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle. President of baseball operations Buster Posey tells Slusser that the team is awaiting word from their medical staff.
At this point, it’s not clear if the team fears a potential long-term injury. Birdsong has had a brutal Spring Training, giving up eight runs over 2 1/3 innings. His velocity is intact, though, as he’s averaging 97.3 mph on his heater. He averaged 95-96 mph on his fastball while working multiple innings last year.
Birdsong was one of the organization’s better pitching prospects when he debuted in 2024. He has shown the ability to miss bats at the highest level, but subpar command has undercut his consistency. Birdsong excelled out of the bullpen early in the ’25 season.
The Giants moved him to the rotation towards the end of May. Birdsong’s first five starts were solid enough, if inefficient, but the wheels fell off in his latter five appearances. A July 21 outing in which Birdsong didn’t retire any of six batters faced was the final straw. The Giants optioned him to Triple-A. A 6.23 ERA across 10 Triple-A starts wasn’t enough to get back to the MLB level.
Birdsong entered the spring no higher than sixth on the rotation depth chart. He can continue to start in the minors or be an option for work in a wide open San Francisco bullpen. His Spring Training numbers hadn’t put him in a great position to break camp even before the potential for an injured list stint.
Rangers, Jalen Beeks Agree To Major League Deal
The Rangers are in agreement with lefty reliever Jalen Beeks on a major league contract, reports Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. The signing is pending a physical. Texas will need to create a 40-man roster spot once the deal is final. Beeks is represented by Frontline.
Beeks finds a guaranteed contract just two weeks from the beginning of the regular season. The southpaw spent the 2025 campaign with the Diamondbacks on a $1.25MM contract. He made 61 appearances, working to a 3.77 earned run average across 57 1/3 innings. There’s a decent chance he would have been traded at the deadline if not for a three-week injured list stint in July due to lower back inflammation.
The 32-year-old wound up finishing the season as one of the rare veteran pieces in Arizona’s bullpen. He allowed only four runs across his final 16 1/3 innings. Beeks’ underlying marks were middle of the road. He had a slightly below-average 20.3% strikeout rate with decent but unexceptional walk and ground-ball marks.
Unlike a lot of lefty relievers, Beeks doesn’t have a great breaking ball. He only used his cutter around 10% of the time last year. Beeks works mostly with a 94-95 mph fastball and an upper 80s changeup that serves as his best swing-and-miss pitch. He doesn’t have extreme platoon splits as a result. Beeks allowed similar slash lines to left-handed (.218/.266/.345) and righty (.190/.285/.339) bats alike last year, though his strikeout rate was quite a bit higher when he had the platoon advantage.
Beeks will have a couple weeks to get ready for the start of the regular season. It’ll be a patched together Texas bullpen for a second straight year. Robert Garcia is their one high-leverage lefty. There’s a decent chance he gets some save opportunities. Tyler Alexander will pitch in a long relief role. Beeks isn’t a pure specialist but can take some left on left matchups in the middle innings.
Garcia, Chris Martin, Cole Winn, Jakob Junis, Beeks and Alexander all seem assured of Opening Day bullpen spots. Former Reds closer Alexis Díaz signed a one-year deal, but he’s been bombed for eight runs in 1 2/3 innings this spring. He still has a couple options remaining and is probably headed to Triple-A.
Rule 5 draftee Carter Baumler needs to stick on the MLB team or be waived and offered back to the Orioles. He has only surrendered one unearned run with a 4-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 5 2/3 frames. Minor league signees Ryan Brasier and Josh Sborz are also in camp. Sborz has had the much more impressive spring.
As Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports observes, this may also tip the team’s hand on their rotation plans. Left-hander Jacob Latz will be on the big league roster in some capacity. Latz pitched mostly in relief last year but is competing with Kumar Rocker for the fifth starter job. Rocker has the higher pedigree, but Latz was the better pitcher in 2025. There hasn’t been a huge divide between the two this spring.
If the Rangers keep Rocker as the fifth starter, they’d have four left-handers in their projected Opening Day bullpen. Most teams prefer to carry two or three lefty relievers. That could point to Latz having the upper hand in the rotation competition and Rocker beginning the season in Triple-A.
Image courtesy of Rob Schumacher, Imagn Images.
Jay Groome, Nate Webb Sign With American Association’s Kansas City Monarchs
Left-hander Jay Groome and right-hander Nate Webb have signed with the Kansas City Monarchs of the independent American Association. The league itself announced the Groome transaction this week while the Monarchs announced the Webb deal.
Groome, 27, was once a prospect of some note. The Red Sox drafted him 12th overall in 2016 and he initially posted good numbers in the lower levels of the minors. Baseball America ranked him the #43 prospect in the league going into 2017.
His stock dipped from there. He posted a 5.69 earned run average on the farm in 2017 then missed all of 2018 and most of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery. The minor leagues were canceled by COVID-19 in 2020. Despite having a rough time in those years, the Sox still gave him a 40-man spot in November of 2020 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Groome then had a 4.81 ERA in 2021. He was a bit better in 2022, a season that saw him get flipped from the Red Sox to the Padres in the Eric Hosmer deal. Between the two clubs, he posted a 3.44 ERA in the minors that year.
But there were more speed bumps to come. He struggled badly in 2023, with an 8.55 ERA in Triple-A that year. In the summer of 2024, he was one of four players who received a one-year suspension for betting on major league games while playing in the minor leagues. When his suspension was up in June of 2025, the Padres non-tendered him. Groome is obviously not as enticing as he was a decade ago but he’s only 27, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he can pitch his way back into affiliated ball.
Like Groome, Webb has spent time on a 40-man roster but hasn’t appeared in a big league game. Now 28, he was a 34th round pick of the Royals in 2016. In 2021, he struck out 37.7% of the batters he faced in the minors. Even though he hadn’t yet cracked Double-A, the Royals didn’t want to lose him. They added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2021 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
Unfortunately, he battled some injuries in 2022 and posted an awful 9.99 ERA on the farm that year. The Royals non-tendered him after just one year on the 40-man. He signed a minor league deal with the Pirates but Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 season.
He signed a two-year deal with the Orioles for 2024 and 2025 but left Achilles tendon surgery prevented him from pitching in the first year. He was back on the mound in 2025 but his 17.1% walk rate was almost as high as his 17.6% strikeout rate as he posted a 4.70 ERA on the year. Like Groome, he is still a few years shy of his 30th birthday, so a strong showing in indy ball could lead to a return to the affiliated ranks.
Photo courtesy of Gaby Velasquez, Imagn Images