The Royals and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will avoid an arbitration hearing. Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that he and the club have agreed to a two-year deal worth more than $11MM, with a chance for him to max out close to $16MM via incentives.
More to come.
Veteran reliever David Robertson has decided to hang up his spikes. He announced the decision on his personal social media pages, issuing the following statement:
“I’ve decided it’s time for me to hang up my spikes and retire from the game I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. Baseball has given me more than I ever dreamed possible over the last 19 seasons. From winning a World Series, to pitching in an All-Star game, to representing the United States and bringing home a World Baseball Classic Gold and Olympic silver. I’ve had the privilege of playing alongside amazing teammates, learning from outstanding coaches, and being welcomed into organizations that felt like family. To the trainers, clubhouse staff, front offices, and everyone behind the scenes, thank you for all that you do. And to the fans who supported me, thank you, your passion fueled me every single day.
Most importantly, thank you to my wife and children. Your love, sacrifice, patience, and dedication made this career possible. As I step away from the game, I’m excited to be home with my family, to focus on our farms, and to continue growing High Socks for Hope. Helping families rebuild after disaster has been one of the most rewarding parts of my life outside baseball.
Saying goodbye isn’t easy, but I do so with deep gratitude for every opportunity, challenge, and memory. I’ll forever be thankful for the game and for everyone who made this journey extraordinary.”
Robertson retires after a two-decade run in professional baseball. He signed an overslot deal as a 17th-round pick of the Yankees in 2006. He was in the big leagues two years later. He began his career in middle relief but impressed with a 3.30 earned run average across 45 appearances in his first full season. Robertson added 5 1/3 scoreless innings and earned a pair of wins as the Yankees went on to win the World Series in 2009.
By the following season, the righty was a fixture in the Yankee bullpen in front of Mariano Rivera. He was exceptionally durable and consistently effective. Robertson reeled off a streak of 10 straight sub-4.00 ERA seasons between 2009-18. He surpassed 60 innings in the final nine of those years.
His most accomplished statistical season came in 2011, when he fired 66 2/3 frames with a career-low 1.08 ERA. Robertson picked up 34 holds against three blown leads. He earned his first and, somewhat surprisingly, only All-Star selection while receiving down-ballot Cy Young and MVP votes. He recorded a personal-best 100 strikeouts. He trailed only Craig Kimbrel and Tyler Clippard among relievers in punchouts, while Atlanta’s Eric O’Flaherty was the only pitcher with a lower earned run average.
Robertson remained in a setup role until Rivera ended his Hall of Fame career after the 2013 season. Robertson, an impending free agent, stepped seamlessly into the closer role. He recorded 39 saves with a 3.08 ERA in his walk year. He hit free agency at age 30 and rejected a qualifying offer before landing a four-year, $46MM deal from the White Sox.
He held up his end of the bargain, topping 30 saves in his two full seasons in Chicago. The Sox weren’t good overall, however, and they embarked on a teardown by 2017. They shipped Robertson back to the Bronx alongside Todd Frazier and Tommy Kahnle. Robertson played out the final season and a half of the contract and helped New York back to the postseason in both years. He was part of the 2017 national team that won the World Baseball Classic, tossing a scoreless inning to close an 8-0 win over Puerto Rico in the final.
A return trip to free agency was never going to be as lucrative as he entered his age-34 season. He signed a two-year, $23MM deal with the Phillies. That was a precursor to the first real setback of his entire career. Robertson’s elbow gave out seven appearances into his first season in Philadelphia. He missed most of the year rehabbing before it was revealed that he needed Tommy John surgery. Robertson lost all of 2020 and most of ’21 before making a comeback with the U.S. National Team at the Tokyo Olympics (which were held in ’21 because of the pandemic).
Robertson carved out an impressive final act after the surgery. He bounced around as a setup man, mostly on contending clubs. Robertson made the playoffs with the Rays in ’21 and returned to the World Series the following year. A $3.5MM free agent deal with the Cubs led to a midseason trade back to Philadelphia, and he wound up tossing 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in October for the pennant winning Phils. Robertson split the ’23 season between the Mets and Marlins — Miami was a deadline buyer who snuck into the playoffs — and remained an excellent leverage arm with the Rangers in 2024. He worked a career-high 72 innings of 3.00 ERA ball with 99 punchouts for Texas in what would be his final full season in the big leagues.
Despite his continued strong performance, Robertson didn’t find the contract he was seeking last offseason. He waited until July before signing a one-year deal for his third stint with the Phillies. Robertson made 20 regular season appearances and one final playoff outing in the Division Series loss to the Dodgers.
Robertson finishes his playing days with a 2.93 ERA in just shy of 900 regular season innings. Only Kenley Jansen has pitched in more games than his 881 going back to his debut. Robertson recorded nearly 1200 strikeouts. He saved 179 games and recorded 206 holds, ranking top 20 in both stats over his career. He had a 2.88 ERA in his first 10-year peak and came back from elbow surgery to add 230 2/3 frames of 3.00 ERA ball with a 31% strikeout rate from ages 36-40.
It’s a remarkable run of consistency at a position that is generally viewed as the sport’s most volatile. Robertson only had four seasons in which he allowed more than four earned runs per nine: his first and last years and the ’19 and ’21 campaigns that were shortened by the one significant injury he incurred. That’s all before considering his postseason résumé — 47 2/3 innings of 3.47 ERA ball in 10 different trips to October.
Robertson spent the majority of his career in the Bronx. He’ll be best remembered as a Yankee but appeared for eight clubs overall. Although he’s not going to get much consideration for induction into Cooperstown, he’s a lock to appear on the Hall of Fame ballot five years from now and could see his name checked by a few voters who want to honor his longevity and reliability. MLBTR congratulates him on an excellent career and sends our best wishes in whatever comes next.
Image courtesy of Thomas Shea, USA Today Sports.
The Mariners announced that right-hander Logan Evans has undergone surgery to reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligament in this throwing elbow with an internal brace. They announced his return timeline as 12 months, so he’ll miss the entire 2026 season.
It’s obviously rough news for both the club and Evans himself. The righty made his major league debut last year, tossing 81 1/3 innings for the Mariners, allowing 4.32 earned runs per nine. He struck out 16.9% of opponents faced, gave out walks at an 8.9% clip and induced grounders on 40% of balls in play. Instead of building on that in 2026, he’ll have to sit out the entire season while recovering. He’ll look to get back on track during the 2027 season. He’ll turn 26 in June of that year.
For the Mariners, they have now lost arguably their best optionable depth starter. Seattle has a strong core five in the rotation, including Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller, but things drop off after that. That’s especially true now that Evans is out for the year.
The Mariners acquired Cooper Criswell from the Mets a week ago. He is out of options and projects to be a long reliever to start the season if he’s still on the roster by Opening Day and everyone else is healthy. Without Evans, the optionable starters on the 40-man roster are Emerson Hancock and Blas Castano. Hancock was the sixth overall pick in 2020 but he hasn’t lived up that pedigree with a 4.81 ERA and 15.6% strikeout rate in his career so far. Castano is 27 years old, has just one major league appearance under his belt and had a 5.19 ERA in Triple-A last year.
In terms of non-roster depth, lefty Jhonathan Díaz was outrighted this week but his transactions tracker at MLB.com indicates he elected free agency yesterday. That leaves Randy Dobnak, Dane Dunning and Casey Lawrence as non-roster options with some big league experience. Switch-pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje is on the way but isn’t a near-term option since he hasn’t yet reached Triple-A and only has seven starts at the Double-A level. Perhaps the Evans surgery will lead the Mariners to add some more depth in the coming weeks.
Evans finished the 2025 campaign on optional assignment, so the Mariners could keep him there throughout 2026. Calling him up and placing him on the major league 60-day injured list would allow them to open up an extra 40-man roster spot but that would involve giving Evans a full year of big league pay and service time.
Photo courtesy of Joe Nicholson, Imagn Images
The Rangers and first baseman Nick Pratto are in agreement on a minor league contract, MLBTR has confirmed. He’ll be a non-roster invitee in spring training next month. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com first reported that Pratto, a Wasserman client, was expected to sign with Texas.
A first-round pick by the Royals back in 2017, Pratto struggled in his early minor league tenure and didn’t look like he’d emerge as a prospect of much note. That changed in 2021, four years after he was drafted. The 6’1″, 225-pound slugger erupted for a .265/.385/.602 batting line with 36 home runs and a massive 15.2% walk rate in 545 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A. His 28.8% strikeout rate was an obvious cause for concern, but Pratto had finally seen some of his prodigious raw power manifest in game settings, all while showing an ability to work deep counts and draw free passes, creating optimism that he could yet become a bat-first slugger at first base or DH.
That monster showing thrust Pratto onto several top-100 prospect rankings, but his path to regular at-bats in Kansas City was obfuscated somewhat by the fact that his breakout coincided with that of another young first baseman: Vinnie Pasquantino. Both players got looks in 2022, but it was Pasquantino who seized the opportunity and cemented himself as the Royals’ long-term first baseman. Pratto dabbled in the outfield and saw time at DH as well, but he also struggled to a .184/.271/.386 slash with a huge 36.3% strikeout rate in 182 plate appearances that year.
The Royals gave Pratto another chance in 2023, but the results didn’t improve. He came to the plate 345 times but mustered only a .232/.307/.353 slash while striking out in an even more alarming 40.4% of his plate appearances. Pratto appeared in only one big league game in 2024. He came to spring training out of minor league options in 2025 and was passed through waivers unclaimed. Pratto spent the ’25 season back in Triple-A Omaha — his fourth stint there — and turned in a career-worst .196/.289/.331 performance.
Now 27 years old, Pratto seems like a player who’ll benefit from a fresh start. The Rangers will provide that opportunity. Jake Burger and Joc Pederson are locked in at first base and designated hitter, respectively, but both players hit poorly in regular playing time with Texas last season — Pederson in particular. The Rangers traded first base prospect Abimelec Ortiz to the Nationals as part of the MacKenzie Gore swap earlier this month, removing some competition for Pratto.
The Red Sox seemingly have enough pitching depth to consider trading some. Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports that Patrick Sandoval, Brayan Bello and Jordan Hicks have been discussed in trade talks. Reporting back in December indicated that both Bello and Sandoval were garnering interest from other clubs.
It isn’t specified which party brought up Hicks in these trade talks but presumably the Sox have been trying to shop him, as opposed to other teams trying especially hard to acquire him. He has some good major league results on his track record but hasn’t been effective lately and his contract is not favorable.
Two years ago, the Giants signed him to a four-year, $44MM deal, hoping to convert him from the bullpen to the rotation. That experiment went well initially before Hicks seemingly ran out of gas. He posted a 1.59 earned run average through the end of April, but then had a 3.99 ERA in May, 5.24 in June and 8.40 in July.
He was moved back to the bullpen later in the year and also spent some time on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation. He didn’t get things on track in 2025. He was eventually included in the Rafael Devers trade as financial ballast and finished the season with a 6.95 ERA between the two clubs.
Prior to signing that deal, Hicks had some decent results out of the St. Louis bullpen, riding his triple-digit velocity to a groundball-heavy approach. At the end of the 2023 season, he had a career ERA of 3.85. His 12.8% walk rate was high but he struck out 24.5% of batters faced and induced grounders on 60.4% of balls in play. Some teams probably have interest in him as a bounceback candidate but he is still owed $24MM over the next two years, so Boston would have to pay down most of that in order to line up a deal.
The commonality with Sandoval, Bello and Hicks as that they’re all making decent money, with Bello still owed $50.5MM through 2029, including the $1MM buyout on a 2030 club option. Sandoval will make $12.75MM in 2026.
RosterResource currently projects the Sox for a payroll of $197MM and a competitive balance tax figure of $266MM. They finished 2025 with a pure payroll of $209MM and a $247MM CBT calculation. If they are willing to spend to last year’s levels, the pure payroll has some wiggle room but perhaps the upcoming higher tax budget eats up some of that difference.
Trading one of these contracts could create some extra payroll room. The Sox could use a second base upgrade, though free agency doesn’t really have any amazing solutions remaining. Guys like Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ramón Urías are out there but arguably don’t provide a huge upgrade over Boston’s current group of Romy González, Nick Sogard and David Hamilton. The Sox are also looking for catching upgrades and presumably want to add another reliever or two while leaving some wiggle room for in-season maneuvering.
Photo courtesy of Eric Canha, Imagn Images
The A’s have extended another member of their young core, announcing a seven-year contract, plus a club option for an eighth year, for shortstop Jacob Wilson. The PSI Sports Management client will reportedly be guaranteed $70MM.
Wilson, 23, was the sixth overall pick in the draft in 2023. He made his big league debut with a late cup of coffee the following season but broke out as an All-Star in 2025. The second-generation star — his father is longtime Pirates infielder Jack Wilson — finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting behind his own teammate, Nick Kurtz. Wilson slashed .311/.355/.444 with 13 home runs, 26 doubles, five steals and a tiny 7.2% strikeout rate.
Wilson’s pure hit tool is nearly unrivaled. Among the 560 big leaguers who took even 40 plate appearances this past season, his 7.5% strikeout rate was the second-lowest, behind multi-time batting champion Luis Arraez. Like Arraez, the quality of contact when Wilson puts the ball in play is generally not great. He averaged just 84.6 mph off the bat with a paltry 2.2% barrel rate and 24.1% hard-hit rate. That penchant for weak contact hasn’t stopped him from racking up singles. His hitter-friendly home park in West Sacramento probably overstates his modest power, but Wilson did connect on six round-trippers away from Sutter Health Park and could be reasonably projected to hit around 10 homers per season.
Though he doesn’t post off-the-charts chase rates, Wilson does swing more often than the average hitter (both off the plate and within the zone). He’s an aggressive hitter whose preternatural bat-to-ball skills lead and frequent swings lead to plenty of early contact. That limited Wilson to just a 5.2% walk rate in his first full season, which is pretty well in line with the 5.9% walk rate he’s posted in his limited minor league time thus far. Even if he never posts a high walk rate, though, Wilson figures to continue posting strong on-base percentages simply due to his knack for collecting hits.
Defensive metrics don’t paint him in an especially favorable light at shortstop. He was dinged for minus-10 Defensive Runs Saved and minus-2 Outs Above Average in his first full season of shortstop work at the major league level. Statcast credits him with well above-average arm strength but below-average range.
An eventual move to second or third base might yield better defensive results, but that likely won’t happen until lauded prospect Leo De Vries pushes for a look at shortstop. He’s still only 19 years old with just 21 Double-A games under his belt, so at least for the time being, Wilson will be expected to reprise his role as the Athletics’ shortstop. Questions about his range have persisted since his prospect days, but scouting reports praise his solid hands and he showed a clear knack for flashy, acrobatic plays during his debut campaign.
The A’s already controlled Wilson for another five seasons. Today’s agreement locks in two free-agent years and gives the team an option over what would have been a third. Wilson wouldn’t have been arbitration-eligible until the 2027-28 offseason.
The seven-year, $70MM term aligns closely with but also surpasses recent extensions for Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar (seven years, $63.5MM) and Wilson’s own teammate, Lawrence Butler (seven years, $66.5MM) when both were in the same service bucket in which Wilson currently resides (between one and two years). His $70MM guarantee falls a bit shy of Michael Harris II’s $72MM deal over in Atlanta, but that was an eight-year pact compared to Wilson’s seven.
As can be seen in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker (available to Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers), Wilson’s extension stands as the eighth-largest guarantee ever made to a player with under two years of big league service. It’s the second-largest deal in Athletics franchise history, trailing only the recent seven-year $86MM extension for teammate Tyler Soderstrom, who scored a larger deal due to the fact that he has an extra year of service time over Wilson.
Wilson’s extension is the latest step in the Athletics’ ongoing effort to lock up their exciting core of position players. Wilson, Soderstrom, Butler and slugger Brent Rooker (five years, $60MM) have all put pen to paper on long-term deals over the past 15 months. The A’s picked up control of multiple free agent years for each of those players.
The A’s have yet to come to terms on a deal with the aforementioned Kurtz, whose price tag will surely be higher. Kurtz played in just 117 games and took 489 plate appearances but still bashed 36 home runs while logging a sensational .290/.383/.619 slash line (170 wRC+). Even if the A’s can’t come to terms on a long-term deal with the 2024 No. 4 overall pick, he’s under control for another five seasons. Plus, this slate of affordable long-term deals for his young teammates will make it easier to stomach what will surely be enormous arbitration paydays if Kurtz continues on his current trajectory.
With several young players now under contract for the long haul, the Athletics shouldn’t have to worry about any potential grievances regarding their use of revenue-sharing funds. The A’s reportedly needed to push their CBT payroll up to $105MM or more last winter or else face potential ramifications, but they’re now at $139MM in that regard, per RosterResource.
Impressive as the Athletics’ collection of young bats is, the team’s pitching still leaves plenty to be desired. They’ll hope to change that this coming season when top prospects like Gage Jump and Jamie Arnold make their climbs through the system. Both rank within the game’s top 50 or so prospects. Jump, a 2024 second-rounder, already reached Double-A this past season. Arnold has yet to throw a professional pitch, but the Florida State standout was one of the top arms in last year’s draft class, coming off the board with the No. 11 pick.
The Athletics still have another two seasons to play in West Sacramento before their targeted 2028 move to their new home on the Las Vegas strip. So long as the group of Wilson, Soderstrom and Butler remain healthy, the A’s should have an exciting young core to market as they look to attract new fans in their new home.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the agreement and the terms of the contract.
The Mariners announced a slate of 34 non-roster invitees to spring training Friday. Most of the names were internal invitees or previously reported free agent signings, but infielder Will Wilson and catcher Jakson Reetz are new additions to the group.
Wilson, 27, was a first-round pick by the Angels back in 2019, coming off the board 15th overall. The NC State product was traded to the Giants just six months later, with the Angels effectively using him as a mechanism to dump the remainder of Zack Cozart’s contract on San Francisco.
Wilson spent several years in the Giants’ system but never advanced beyond Triple-A. He reached minor league free agency last winter, signed with the Guardians, and eventually made his MLB debut with Cleveland. Wilson posted a respectable .246/.325/.435 slash in Triple-A (102 wRC+) but struggled in the majors with a .192/.267/.244 slash and 37% strikeout rate in 91 trips to the plate.
The righty-swinging Wilson had even splits in 2025 but has typically been more productive against fellow righties than against lefties. With the glove, he has plenty of experience at shortstop (2360 innings), third base (1029 inning) and second base (992 innings). He’s more briefly appeared in the outfield throughout his pro career, logging a small sample of 138 innings (total) between all three slots.
Reetz, 30, has appeared in parts of two big league seasons but has only 17 plate appearances to his credit. He spent the 2025 campaign with the Triple-A clubs for the Mets and Orioles, combining for a .192/.307/.399 slash. That came in a relatively small sample of 228 plate appearances. Prior to 2025, Reetz had a much stronger track record in the upper minors. He’s a career .230/.331/.451 hitter in 983 Triple-A plate appearances and slashed .254/.368/.431 there as recently as 2024.
Reetz has strong framing marks and solid grades for his ability to block balls in the dirt, per Baseball Prospectus. He struggled to throw runners out on the bases in 2025, but even after posting a mere 15% caught-stealing rate this past season, his career mark is a robust 29%.
Both Wilson and Reetz will be long shots to win jobs with the Mariners, but both provide some experienced depth to stash in Triple-A Tacoma. Wilson will be behind bench options Leo Rivas, Ryan Bliss and Miles Mastrobuoni, to say nothing of young infielders Ben Williamson, Colt Emerson and Cole Young. All six are on the 40-man roster, and Emerson and Young are particularly touted prospects. As for Reetz, he’s at best fourth on the team’s catching depth chart. American League MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh leads the way, with veteran Andrew Knizner backing him up and recent waiver claim Jhonny Pereda also holding a 40-man roster spot.
The Nationals announced that they have claimed right-hander George Soriano off waivers from the Braves. Atlanta designated him for assignment earlier this week when they claimed José Suarez off waivers from the Orioles. To open a spot for Soriano today, Washington has designated infielder Tsung-Che Cheng for assignment.
Both players involved here have been riding the DFA carousel this winter. Soriano finished the 2025 season with the Marlins but has since gone to Baltimore, Atlanta and now Washington via waivers. Cheng was on the Pirates as of a few months ago but has gone to the Rays, Mets and Nationals via the waiver wire. For each of these two and many others this winter, it seems that several teams are hoping to pass the player through waivers, therefore keeping him as non-roster depth.
Soriano, 27 in March, hasn’t found major league success yet. He logged 118 innings for the Marlins over the past three years, allowing 5.95 earned runs per nine with a 22% strikeout rate, 10.3% walk rate and 38.7% ground ball rate. He exhausted his three option years in that time.
But he did just wrap up a strong season in the minors. He tossed 42 2/3 Triple-A innings last year with a 2.32 ERA. He struck out 28.8% of batters faced, gave out walks at an 8.8% clip and induced grounders on 55.7% of balls in play. He averages about 96 miles per hour with both his four-seamer and sinker while also featuring a slider and a changeup.
Teams are clearly intrigued by Soriano but seemingly prefer to have him aboard in a non-roster capacity. If he is passed through waivers at some point, he would not have the right to elect free agency since he has less than three years of service time and does not have a previous career outright.
Perhaps the Nats will put him back on waivers later but they could certainly use the arms. The Washington bullpen had a 5.59 ERA last year, worst in the majors. They subtracted from the group when they traded Jose A. Ferrer to the Mariners for catcher Harry Ford. If Soriano can hang onto his roster spot, he can be controlled for five full seasons.
Cheng, 24, still has an option remaining but his appeal is nonetheless borderline enough for him to be barely clinging to a 40-man spot. He appears to have a decent floor as a speed-and-defense infielder. Throughout his minor league career, he has played a bunch of the three infield spots to the left of first base, generally getting good reviews for his glovework. He’s been good for 20-ish steals per year in the minors as well.
The bat is more of a question. He hit well through Single-A but has struggled at the upper levels. Over the past two years, he has a combined .217/.319/.312 batting line on the farm, which translates to an 81 wRC+. He was also sent to the plate seven times in the majors and struck out three times without getting a hit.
It appears he has some appeal as a glove-first depth infielder but not enough for any club to put him firmly in their plans. The Nats will likely put him back on waivers soon. DFA limbo can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so he should be back on the wire at some point in the next five days.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images
January 30th: The Giants officially announced Bader’s signing today. They opened a 40-man spot by trading Kai-Wei Teng to the Astros yesterday.
January 26th: The Giants have a notable upgrade to their outfield defense in place, reportedly agreeing to a two-year, $20.5MM contract with free agent outfielder Harrison Bader. The Vayner Sports client can earn an additional $500K via incentives, bringing the deal’s maximum value to $21MM.
Bader, 31, has been a free agent for three consecutive offseasons but now lands the multi-year deal that’s previously eluded him. He signed one-year deals with the Mets and Twins, respectively, over the past two winters. Bader turned in a career-best performance in Minnesota and was red hot for the Phillies down the stretch after joining them in a deadline swap, and the market has rewarded that strong 2025 performance.
In 501 plate appearances between Minnesota and Philadelphia last year, Bader slashed .277/.347/.449 with 17 homers, 24 doubles, a triple and 11 steals (albeit in 18 attempts). His 7.8% walk rate was the second-best he’s posted in a 162-game season, though 2025’s bloated 27.1% strikeout rate was also his worst full-season mark since 2019. Much of Bader’s success can be attributed to an increase in playing time and a hefty .359 average on balls in play, but it bears mentioning that his 10.2% barrel rate and 40.3% hard-hit rate were personal bests in a full big league season.
Strong as last year’s performance was — 22% better than league-average, by measure of wRC+ — offense has never been Bader’s calling card. He’s been clearly above average in four of his nine MLB campaigns, but on the whole, Bader is a .247/.313/.401 hitter in a bit more than 3000 career plate appearances, which just barely shy of average. His glovework, however, is among the best in all of baseball, regardless of position.
Bader has played 5925 innings of center field defense in his career and been credited with a gaudy 51 Defensive Runs Saved and 67 Outs Above Average. He played more left field than center field in Minnesota, largely in deference to Byron Buxton, and notched positive marks in both DRS (7) and OAA (3) through 496 frames.
Overall, Bader has played 6799 innings of outfield defense in the majors, dating back to his 2017 MLB debut. In that time, only four outfielders — Mookie Betts, Kevin Kiermaier, Daulton Varsho, Michael A. Taylor — have bested his 67 DRS. No outfielder in that time has topped Bader’s 77 OAA. Francisco Lindor, Nick Ahmed, Nolan Arenado and Ke’Bryan Hayes are the only four majors leaguers at any position with a better OAA total in that time.
With Bader turning 32 in June, it’s fair to at least wonder whether he’ll begin to slow down over the next two seasons. However, there’s no reason to think that’ll be the case — at least based on recent history. This past season’s average sprint speed of 28.8 feet per second was actually an improvement over Bader’s 2024 mark of 28.2 ft/sec and right in line with his 2023 mark. He’s no longer covering the flat-out elite 30 ft/sec he did earlier in his career, but Bader’s 2025 sprint speed still landed in the 85th percentile of all big league position players. He’s a clear plus runner.
It’s a near certainty that Bader will take that plus speed and range to Oracle Park as the Giants’ new center fielder. Jung Hoo Lee handled the bulk of center field work in San Francisco this past offseason but ranked as one of the worst defenders in the game along the way (-18 DRS, -5 OAA). Lee’s arm strength sat in the 91st percentile of big league outfielders, per Statcast, but his range was near the bottom of the scale. Lee should have the arm to move to right field, where his lack of range would be better suited. Even if Bader’s bat regresses and checks in a bit shy of average, the defensive upgrade alone will be enormous for the Giants.
Assuming even distribution of that $20.5MM, Bader’s contract bumps San Francisco’s actual cash payroll to a projected $195MM, per RosterResource. Their luxury tax payroll is quite a bit higher, clocking in at about $221.5MM, but that still leaves more than $20MM between their current standing and the $244MM threshold at which luxury penalties begin. San Francisco has paid the tax in the past, but only rarely. They were over the line in 2024, which stands as their only time exceeding the threshold in recent memory.
For the time being, it doesn’t seem likely that the Giants will climb back to that level of spending. San Francisco is in the market for a second baseman but has been looking at the trade market — specifically, affordable targets like CJ Abrams and Brendan Donovan (“affordable” in terms of salary — not necessarily prospect capital). They’ve added Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle to the rotation and could continue to poke around the rotation and bullpen markets, but ownership has publicly expressed an aversion to signing any free agent pitcher to a long-term deal, making a run at a top free agent like Framber Valdez feel unlikely.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the two-year agreement. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the financial terms.
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