The Braves and former Padres closer Robert Suarez are in agreement on a three-year, $45MM contract, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Suarez opted out of the final two seasons of his five-year deal in San Diego at season’s end and became a free agent.
More to come.
The Athletics have reached an agreement with right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. on a contract, according to Robbie Hyde of Foul Territory. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic notes that the deal is pending a physical. According to Jesse Rogers of ESPN, the deal guarantees Leiter “around” $3MM.
Leiter, 35 in March, made his big league debut back in 2017 but didn’t fully establish himself at the big league level until joining the Cubs in 2022. He served as a swing man and long reliever for Chicago that year, with a 3.99 in 67 2/3 innings of work in that role, but moved to a short relief role full-time in 2023. In 100 2/3 innings of work for the Cubs over the next two seasons, Leiter pitched to a 3.75 ERA with a 3.12 FIP while striking out 30.9% of his opponents and walking 8.8%.
Those exciting peripherals were enough to convince the Yankees to swing a trade for the right-hander at the 2024 trade deadline, but he struggled in New York even as his peripheral numbers remained strong. In 70 innings of work for the Yankees over parts of two seasons with the club, Leiter posted a 4.89 ERA despite a 4.07 FIP. In 2025, Leiter struck out 24.7% against a 7.8% walk rate while generating grounders on 45.5% of his batted balls allowed. Unfortunately for the righty, the results weren’t there enough for the Yankees to tender him a contract last month, and he wound up reaching free agency a year earlier than anticipated.
Headed into 2026, the A’s can expect Leiter to be a solid middle relief arm at least. His 4.15 ERA over the past four seasons is exactly league average (100) by ERA+, and the right-hander’s impressive splitter actually makes him particularly effective against left-handed batters. In 104 2/3 innings of work against lefties the last three years, Leiter has posted a 2.49 ERA and 2.57 FIP with a 32.1% strikeout rate. With league average results overall and elite numbers against lefties, Leiter has a much higher floor than a typical non-tendered middle relief arm, which is surely why he was able to command a solid guarantee even coming off a tough year in New York.
Leiter hasn’t managed to play up to his peripherals throughout his career, but if he can do so he could wind up a valuable setup man for the A’s this year. The righty’s 3.13 SIERA over the past three seasons ranks 13th among relievers with at least 150 innings of work since the start of the 2023 season, and that puts him on a similar level to well-regarded late-inning arms like Luke Weaver. Leiter’s .359 BABIP and 66.5% strand rate over the past two years indicate extremely poor fortune when it comes to batted balls and sequencing; if those numbers experience enough positive regression to get within spitting distance of league average, Leiter’s a good bet to be impactful at the back of the A’s bullpen next year.
It’s been a quiet offseason for the A’s so far, though there’s certain reasons for optimism regarding the club’s future. Nick Kurtz emerged as a potential superstar this year, and he’s backed by a core of exciting positional talent like Brent Rooker, Shea Langeliers, Jacob Wilson, and Lawrence Butler. The club’s pitching staff needs plenty of work if the team is going to contend in 2026, but adding Leiter to a bullpen that already houses respectable arms like Hogan Harris and Michael Kelly should be a small step towards accomplishing that goal. Jeffrey Springs and Luis Severino remain in the fold as solid back-of-the-rotation veterans, though it remains to be seen how much A’s ownership is willing to spend in order to augment that group. Whether the A’s are facing significant budget constraints or not, however, bringing Leiter into the fold as a reliever with possible late-inning upside on a relative bargain can only be a good thing for the club.
Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner has come up in trade conversations, according to a report from Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. The report emphasizes that while president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer gauges the market value of virtually every player on the roster during the offseason, that shouldn’t be taken as an indication the Cubs intend to move Hoerner.
It’s easy to see why teams would be asking after the 28-year-old. Hoerner is coming off a career year where he won his second career Gold Glove for his defense at second base while slashing .297/.345/.394 (109 wRC+) with 40 extra-base hits and 29 steals in 156 games. He struck out at a career-best 7.6% clip while walking 6.0% of the time. Only Luis Arraez (3.1%) and Jacob Wilson (7.5%) struck out less often among qualified hitters, and that trio was joined by Steven Kwan and Caleb Durbin to make up the full list of batters to strike out less than 10% of the time in 2025.
That contact-oriented offense combined with arguably the best defense in the sport at second base, creates a consistent four-to-five win package according to Fangraphs. Over the past four seasons, Hoerner has posted a 105 wRC+. His 123 stolen bases are the fifth-highest total in the majors over that time, and his 17.5 fWAR ranks 18th, tied with Alex Bregman. That’s the sort of player that virtually any team with a hole at second base would like to add, and Hoerner’s $12MM salary for the 2026 campaign is entirely affordable as well for even smaller market clubs. While Hoerner has played second base in deference to Dansby Swanson during the latter’s years in Chicago, he served as the club’s everyday shortstop in 2022 with elite fielding metrics and could surely provide plus defense at the position again if needed.
Speculatively speaking, teams like the Braves, Yankees, and Red Sox would all surely love to bring Hoerner into the fold ahead of his final season before free agency, but it would be surprising to see the Cubs actually deal their star infielder. Hoerner was a key piece of the team that took the Cubs back to the playoffs for the first time in half a decade last year, and the club could be better off simply holding onto him with the hope of either working out an extension before free agency or making him a qualifying offer next winter. After all, the Cubs have no clear internal option to replace Hoerner at the keystone. Jefferson Rojas is the club’s top infield prospect, but the 20-year-old struggled badly in 39 games at Double-A last year and isn’t likely to be ready for the majors in 2026.
Perhaps dealing Hoerner could become a more serious consideration if the club’s rumored interest adding help at third base were to come to fruition. The Cubs have been connected to both Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suarez this winter, and signing one of them would displace Matt Shaw at third base. Shaw, of course, was worth just 1.5 fWAR with a 93 wRC+ last year. That’s hardly a player who needs to be in the lineup on an everyday basis, but Hoyer offered Shaw a vote of confidence earlier this week that would suggest he remains a key part of the club’s plans for 2026. If the Cubs were to add Bregman or Suarez at the hot corner, trading Hoerner and installing Shaw at second base might be the easiest way to keep Shaw in the lineup on a regular basis.
With that being said, Shaw could also simply back up the rest of the infield while splitting time at DH with Moises Ballesteros and Owen Caissie, serving as a right-handed complement to those big lefty bats. Even if an addition at third base happens, it certainly wouldn’t indicate that the Cubs would need to trade Hoerner. On the other hand, doing so could provide an alternative pathway to bringing in rotation help this winter if Chicago finds itself unable to lure in one of the top starters available in free agency. The Cubs have made no secret of their desire to bolster the club’s rotation this winter, and reuniting with Shota Imanaga after he accepted a qualifying offer won’t be enough.
December 11th: Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports that Weiss’s club option for 2027 is worth $5M with a $500K buyout.
December 9th: The Astros have now officially announced their signing of Weiss. The opened two roster spots last week by outrighting Taylor Trammell and Logan VanWey. Their 40-man count is now at 39.
December 2nd: The Astros have reportedly agreed to a major league deal with right-hander Ryan Weiss, who has been pitching in Korea lately. Weiss is guaranteed $2.6MM and there’s a club option for 2027. The Sports One Athlete Management client could potentially earn $10MM over the course of the pact. The Astros have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make this official.
It’s a bit of an early birthday present for Weiss, who turns 29 next Wednesday. A fourth-round draft pick of the Diamondbacks back in 2018, he showed enough promise as a minor leaguer that the Snakes added him to their 40-man in November of 2021 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He had just tossed 78 1/3 minor league innings in that 2021 season with a 4.60 earned run average and 9.5% walk rate but his 27% strikeout rate was quite good.
He struggled in the minors in 2022 and was placed on waivers, with the Royals placing a claim. Kansas City then passed him through waivers unclaimed in October of 2022. The Royals then released him in May of 2023. At that point, Weiss had tossed 76 1/3 innings on the farm, dating back to the start of 2022. In that time, he allowed 6.96 earned runs per nine.
That release kicked off a nomadic period for Weiss. He then landed with the High Point Rockers of the independent Atlantic League. After a few months there, with a 4.61 ERA, he signed with the Fubon Guardians of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League. He had a decent 2.32 ERA there, though in just 31 innings. He started 2024 back with the Rockers, posting a 4.61 ERA over nine starts.
In June of 2024, he signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. It was with that club that he seemed to unlock a new gear. In 2024, he gave the Eagles 16 starts with a 3.73 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 48.2% ground ball rate. He returned to the Eagles in 2025 and took the ball 30 more times. He logged 178 2/3 innings with a 2.87 ERA, 28.6% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 48.5% ground ball rate.
Weiss then pitched in relief for the Eagles in the playoffs but the Astros plan to utilize him as a starter. Houston has plenty of uncertainty in their rotation mix. They just lost Framber Valdez to free agency. Luis Garcia required another Tommy John surgery late in 2025 and has been jettisoned from the roster. Hayden Wesneski, Ronel Blanco and Brandon Walter also had TJS in 2025 and are slated to begin next year on the injured list.
That left the Astros going into 2026 with Hunter Brown and a heap of question marks behind him. Cristian Javier will be in the mix but he had a 4.62 ERA in 2025 after returning from his own lengthy surgery layoff. Lance McCullers Jr. has had all kind of injury troubles and put up a 6.51 ERA this year. Spencer Arrighetti was good in 2024 but spent most of 2025 on the IL and only made seven starts. Jason Alexander had some passable results this year but he’s a journeyman depth guy who’s about to turn 33. J.P. France spent most of 2025 recovering from shoulder surgery. Colton Gordon and AJ Blubaugh are on the 40-man but lacking in experience.
Upgrading the rotation for 2026 makes plenty of sense but it appears the club doesn’t have a ton of spending capacity. Reportedly, owner Jim Crane would prefer to avoid the competitive balance tax in 2026. RosterResource projects them for a $218MM CBT number next year. That’s more than $20MM below next year’s $244MM base threshold but the club also has other needs to address this winter. Trading someone like Christian Walker or Jake Meyers might free up some extra space but it’s somewhat tight for now.
So far, their rotation additions have been of the low-cost wild card variety. They took a flier on former top prospect Nate Pearson, signing him to a $1.35MM guarantee. Now they’ve added Weiss into the mix as well. Perhaps there’s a more surefire rotation upgrade over the horizon. For now, the Astros are making a modest bet that Weiss transfer some of his strong KBO results to the MLB level. For his part, Weiss gets a nice paycheck despite still having no major league experience.
Reporter Daniel Kim first reported that the two sides were close to a deal. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported that an agreement was in place for a major league pact and that Weiss will be a starter. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported the guarantee, the presence of a ’27 option and the possibility for the deal to go beyond $10MM. Chandler Rome of The Athletic specified that the option is a club option.
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Mets turn the page on an era:
The departures of Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso during the Winter Meetings, in conjunction with last month’s trade of Brandon Nimmo, mean that three of the Mets’ longest-tenured players will all play elsewhere in 2026. President of baseball operations David Stearns was already facing plenty of pressure this winter to improve the roster after a disappointing year where his club missed the postseason in Juan Soto’s first season on the roster. With Diaz and Alonso officially out of the organization, that pressure is rising even more.
How will the Mets respond to those losses? A pursuit of Munetaka Murakami or Kazuma Okamoto could make some sense to replace Alonso at first base, and Robert Suarez remains a logical replacement for Diaz (alongside Devin Williams) in the ninth inning next year. Those replacements won’t be enough by themselves, however. New York remains in desperate need of help in the outfield and continues to look for help at the front of their rotation. Bringing in a top free agent like Kyle Tucker in the outfield or Tatsuya Imai in the rotation would surely help fans in Queens get over the losses of franchise stalwarts like Alonso this winter.
2. What’s next for the Orioles?
On the other side of the coin, fans in Baltimore were jubilant as their club finally made the big splash they’ve been hoping to see for years. With Alonso now in the fold for the next five seasons, the Orioles seem unlikely to take their foot off the gas just yet. They remain involved in the market for high-end rotation pieces, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see them add someone like Framber Valdez to the front of their rotation in free agency alongside Alonso. Of course, the free agent market isn’t the only avenue for improvement available. The addition of Alonso displaces Coby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle on the team’s depth chart, and Mayo in particular could be the sort of high-end trade chip who makes landing a top starter in trade like Edward Cabrera or MacKenzie Gore (both of whom Baltimore has been connected to this winter) all the more feasible. What’s the next move for president of baseball operations Mike Elias?
3. When will the dam break in the rotation market?
For all the activity in and around this year’s winter meetings, things have remained quiet on the rotation front this winter. The market for relievers has been bustling all winter, with only a handful of the top closing options still available. The market for position players has been slower, but hitters did start to come off the board after Kyle Schwarber re-upped in Philadelphia, with Alonso and Mike Yastrzemski both signing yesterday. Every top free agent starter remains on the market besides Dylan Cease, however, and the trade market has seen no movement outside of the Red Sox adding Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo.
Will things get moving in the coming days? It’s certainly possible. This week’s meetings surely hosted a number of important conversations between buyers and sellers on the trade markets, giving teams like the Mets, Orioles, and Cubs a better idea of which starters could actually be attainable for them while allowing sellers like the Marlins and Nationals to see which teams might come closest to their asking prices. In free agency, meanwhile, some reporting has indicated that Imai will begin visiting teams now that the Winter Meetings have come to a close with an eye towards signing before the holidays. Given that Imai’s posting window closes on January 2, the right-hander’s free agency could potentially serve as a catalyst that kicks the larger market for starting pitching into gear.
The Orioles missed out on Kyle Schwarber yesterday but are getting their big bat today, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that they’re finalizing a five-year, $155MM deal with longtime Mets first baseman Pete Alonso. The agreement is in place with only a physical yet to be completed, Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds. There are no deferrals or opt-outs in the contract, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner adds that Alonso receives a limited no-trade clause. Alonso is represented by the Boras Corporation.
It’s the second major defection from the Mets in as many days. Edwin Diaz spurned Queens for a three-year, $69MM deal with the Dodgers just yesterday. Alonso now heads to the Orioles, with whom he met in person at this week’s Winter Meetings (which are being held in Orlando, not all that far from Alonso’s Tampa-area home).
Although bolstering the rotation has been the obvious goal for Baltimore all offseason, the O’s have also been in pursuit of a major upgrade to the lineup. They offered Kyle Schwarber the same five-year, $150MM terms to which he agreed in his return to the Phillies and have now pushed incrementally further to give Alonso a record-setting average annual value for a first baseman over that same five-year term.
Alonso, who turned 31 over the weekend, famously rejected a reported seven-year, $158MM extension offer from the Mets back in 2023. He drew a fair bit of criticism for that decision, particularly when his market didn’t develop as hoped during last offseason’s initial foray into free agency. Alonso wound up returning to the Mets on a two-year, $54MM deal that was frontloaded with a $30MM salary in 2025 and allowed him to opt back into free agency this winter.
Between that $30MM, the $20.5MM he earned in his final season of arbitration eligibility and the newly promised $155MM from the Orioles, Alonso will end up with $205.5MM over the same seven years that would’ve been covered under the extension offer he turned down.
In Alonso, the Orioles are adding one of the steadiest power hitters on the planet. He’s slugged at least 34 home runs in every 162-game season since his 2019 debut, plus another 16 round-trippers in the shortened 2020 campaign. Dating back to 2019, Schwarber (268) and Aaron Judge (285) are the only players with more home runs than Alonso’s 264.
Steady as his power output has been, Alonso needed a “rebound” campaign of sorts in order to get this type of long-term deal. While his market last offseason was surely weighed down by a qualifying offer — players can only receive one QO in their career, so that wasn’t an issue this time around — Alonso had slugged a career-low 34 home runs with an increase in strikeouts and a downturn in his batted-ball metrics. His .240/.329/.459 output in 2024 was more good than elite.
The 2025 campaign brought improvements across the board. Alonso belted 38 homers and 41 doubles (up from 31 the year prior) while slashing .272/.347/.524 (141 wRC+). He lopped two percentage points off his strikeout rate, cutting it to a roughly average 22.8%, and saw enormous upticks in his average exit velocity (93.5 mph in ’25, 89.8 mph in ’24), barrel rate (18.9% vs. 13.2%) and hard-hit rate (54.4% vs. 46.4%). Alonso struggled through a poor month of July, but as the Mets were fighting for their postseason lives (and ultimately falling short), Alonso put the team’s offense on his back alongside fellow stars Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor. From Aug. 1 onward, the “Polar Bear” raked at a .297/.339/.584 clip (153 wRC+) with 16 home runs and 15 doubles in 239 plate appearances.
Despite that Herculean finish to the season, Alonso received tepid interest from the only club he’s ever known. The Mets were reportedly reluctant to go beyond three years in their talks with Alonso, and the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported in the aftermath of today’s agreement that they never made a formal offer once it became clear where Alonso’s market was headed. That’s surely a point of frustration for the majority of Mets fans but also shouldn’t come as a major surprise; if the Mets were going to commit to Alonso long-term under president of baseball operations David Stearns and owner Steve Cohen, that likely would have happened last winter. The Mets were only comfortable with a short-term deal then and clearly didn’t change that thinking this time around.
Alonso is the second 30-homer slugger acquired by Baltimore president of baseball operations Mike Elias this winter. The O’s also picked up outfielder Taylor Ward (36 homers in 2025) in a trade sending talented but oft-injured righty Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels. The additions of Alonso and Ward should both add an influx of right-handed power to a team that hit just .231/.297/.364 against left-handed pitching in 2025 and also create myriad trade possibilities for Elias and his staff.
It’s feasible that the Orioles simply add a prominent starting pitcher via free agency as their primary means of addressing the rotation, but their newly acquired thumpers open the space for more creativity. Alonso’s addition could make it easier to trade young corner infielder Coby Mayo, while plugging Ward into a corner outfield spot makes one of Dylan Beavers or Colton Cowser easier to include in a trade for pitching help. Baltimore’s decision to tender a contract to Ryan Mountcastle, a defensively limited right-handed slugger coming off a poor season, now looks like all the more of a head-scratcher, though. The O’s could try to find a taker willing to buy low on him or, alternatively, hope that he can bounce back and be part of the solution between first base and designated hitter.
Payroll-wise, there was always clear runway to add a major contract to the books. The Orioles have spent the better part of the past decade in a rebuild and thus haven’t been handing out multi-year deals very often. The only players guaranteed anything beyond the upcoming 2026 season are Tyler O’Neill, Ryan Helsley and Samuel Basallo. O’Neill and Helsley are only signed through 2027, and Helsley can opt out of his contract following the 2026 season. (O’Neill’s $16.5MM salary in 2027 is all but immovable after his ugly 2025 showing.) Basallo’s eight-year, $67MM extension has just an $8.375MM average annual value. His salary will sit at just $1MM in each of the next three seasons and won’t top $10MM until 2031, at which point Alonso’s contract will have already wrapped up.
Alonso adds $31MM per year to the ledger — assuming an even distribution of his $155MM — but the rest of the books are so clean that it shouldn’t impede the Orioles from future additions of note and/or extensions for prominent young players. RosterResource now projects them for a payroll just under $148MM in 2026, but the 2027 books only have $62.5MM in guaranteed money ($48.5MM if Helsley turns down his player option). By 2028, Alonso and Basallo are the only players guaranteed anything.
Alonso’s contract becomes the second-largest in Orioles history, trailing only the seven-year, $161MM contract given to first baseman Chris Davis under a prior ownership and front office regime. That contract was laden with deferrals, too, which considerably weighed down the net present value.
When considering that wrinkle, the investment in Alonso can be considered the most significant expenditure in franchise history — but it’s also just one of several steps the Orioles will take this winter. Elias is still angling to upgrade his team’s rotation, and the O’s could still use help in the bullpen. This could very well end up being viewed as the signature move of the offseason — if not the entire Elias era to date — but the O’s aren’t likely to coast from here to spring training. There’s more on the horizon.
The biggest news of a relatively quiet Winter Meetings dropped on the final day. Pete Alonso is headed to Baltimore (pending a physical) on a massive five-year deal. His departure from the Mets had been telegraphed by the team's reported reluctance to go beyond three years. It's nevertheless jarring for a team that has spent at the top of the league to be comfortably outbid on the franchise's all-time home runs leader by a mid-market Orioles club.
Alonso's departure came one day after the Mets let Edwin Díaz walk to the Dodgers. They're a few weeks removed from trading Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien. Clearly, president of baseball operations David Stearns and his front office weren't happy to run it all back after the team melted down in the second half. They've signed Devin Williams to replace Díaz. We've yet to see how they'll respond to the losses on the position player side. There's plenty more to come -- no team is complete on December 10 -- but the 2026 Mets will look a lot different than the teams of the past few seasons.
At the beginning of the offseason, Stearns spoke about a need to improve the pitching and defense (link via Will Sammon of The Athletic). Aside from the Williams signing, they've waited out the pitching market so far. Their position player moves, or lack thereof, suggest they're indeed focused on getting more athletic. Semien remains an excellent defensive second baseman. Alonso's lack of defensive value is a big reason they were reluctant to pay him into his mid-30s.
Where do they go from here?
The Rockies announced the hiring of Tommy Tanous as assistant general manager today. Tanous has spent the past 15 years in the Mets’ scouting department. He will focus on scouting and player development with Colorado. Thomas Harding of MLB.com was first to report the hiring.
“Tommy brings a wealth of knowledge in coaching, amateur scouting, pro scouting, international, and special assignment work from his time in baseball, and I’m looking forward to using his experience and rare ability to connect with people to help build organizational consistency across all levels of our operation,” said president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta in a press release.
Tanous was most recently vice president of player evaluation and special advisor to the president of baseball operations in New York. He’d been with the club since 2010. Tanous’ tenure with the Mets crossed over with DePodesta’s time in the organization. DePodesta took over as vice president of player development and scouting for the Mets in 2010, around the same time Tanous was hired. The pair spent six seasons on the same staff until DePodesta left for the NFL.
Colorado continues to build out its front office since hiring DePodesta in early November. Tanous joins Josh Byrnes as a new executive coming over from a big-market organization. Byrnes had been senior vice president of baseball operations with the Dodgers.
On the player front, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported a role change for a veteran pitcher. Reliever Jimmy Herget is expected to prepare as a starter heading into next season. The 32-year-old was excellent out of the bullpen last year, posting a 2.48 ERA across 59 games. Herget racked up a career-high 83 1/3 innings in his first season with the Rockies. As Rosenthal and Sammon point out, Herget pitched more than an inning in 31 appearances.
Herget was drafted by the Reds and debuted with the team in 2019. He bounced around from there, pitching for the Rangers, Angels, and Braves over the next five seasons. Herget was claimed off waivers by the Cubs near the end of the 2024 season after eight games with Atlanta. He was designated for assignment shortly after and scooped up by the Rockies.
Despite the nomadic career, Herget has delivered solid results as a big leaguer. He has a 3.17 ERA over 238 1/3 innings. Herget’s 3.51 xERA and 3.69 SIERA are a bit higher than his actual ERA, but still suggest he’s a solid bullpen arm.
Herget throws from a true sidearm slot, with his arm angle being nearly perpendicular to his body. He ranks in the first percentile in extension. Herget typically relies on two breaking balls and a low-90s sinker. He led with the curveball last season, followed by the slider and sinker, to go with the occasional four-seamer and changeup. The unique look likely drives some of Herget’s success, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares facing hitters multiple times. He’s made just three starts in his career.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Kansas City missed out on bringing back Mike Yastrzemski, but the club might have its sights set on a bigger prize. Katie Woo and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic report the Royals are interested in Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez. The veteran’s name has come up in trade talks recently, though general manager Brandon Gomes has said a deal “doesn’t seem likely.”
Reports surfaced earlier this week that the Royals were looking to add multiple outfielders. President of baseball operations J.J. Picollo has already said he’d be willing to deal a pitcher for an outfielder. Kansas City had been interested in a reunion with trade deadline acquisition Yastrzemski, but he ultimately landed a two-year deal with Atlanta.
Finding an impact bat in the outfield has been an ongoing pursuit for the organization. Kansas City was linked to Jarren Duran ahead of the trade deadline. The club came up short in signing Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar last offseason. While the Royals aren’t expected to be shopping in the Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger tier this winter, they’ve been connected to Harrison Bader and Austin Hays. Jake Meyers and Brendan Donovan have been mentioned as trade targets.
Hernandez provided league-average production as LA’s primary right fielder last season. He failed to follow up on his 33-homer, 12-steal debut campaign with the team, slipping to a 102 wRC+ over 134 games. Hernandez hit .257 with one homer in the postseason for the eventual champions. The 33-year-old is entering the second season of a three-year, $66MM deal.
The main drawback with Hernandez in recent years has been his defense. He’s totaled -19 Outs Above Average over the past two seasons with the Dodgers. Statcast grades Hernandez’s arm as close to average, but his range has fallen significantly from the early days with Toronto, when he was capable of playing center field. The defensive shortcomings could lead the Dodgers to consider a more versatile alternative. The club certainly has the resources to make an outfield addition if they were to ship out Hernandez.
Kansas City’s outfielders ranked among the weakest offensive contributors last season. The club’s center fielders combined for a .645 OPS, and that was their best mark among the three outfield positions. The Royals did their best to find a righty slugger to add to the mix last year, but none of Randal Grichuk, Hunter Renfroe, or Mark Canha panned out. The lineup would likely have the left-handed trio of Jac Caglianone, Kyle Isbel, and John Rave manning the grass if the season started today.
The Royals scored the fifth-fewest runs last season. They were also bottom five in home runs. The top of the lineup is set, but there are plenty of question marks past Salvador Perez in the cleanup spot. An addition in the outfield seems like the easiest route to improve the club’s offensive outlook. Top prospect Caglianone will get a chance to stick as a regular, but Rave had middling results in the minors before struggling in his MLB debut, and Isbel has never hit for an extended stretch as a big leaguer. Isbel has routinely graded out as a stellar defender, so he could potentially alleviate some of the defensive issues that would come with acquiring Hernandez.
Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images
The Mets have grabbed headlines for the moves they haven’t made this offseason, namely watching Pete Alonso sign with Baltimore and Edwin Diaz head to Los Angeles. The club is actively working to add on the offensive side, though, with the Cardinals as a potential trade partner. Will Sammon of The Athletic reports the Mets have interest in outfielder Lars Nootbaar, while John Denton of MLB.com reports New York reached out about Willson Contreras.
Neither Contreras nor Nootbaar would replace the Alonso-sized void in the lineup, but both would fill holes in the roster. Contreras could slot right into Alonso’s vacated spot at first base, while Nootbaar would help cover the gap left by Brandon Nimmo, who was dealt to the Rangers.
Contreras and Nootbaar are just a couple of the many Cardinals popping up in trade conversations. Brendan Donovan is drawing widespread interest. JoJo Romero has intrigued several teams. Nolan Arenado has been a trade candidate for multiple seasons. Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson have been mentioned as possibly getting moved. Despite the interest around the league, nothing materialized during the Winter Meetings. “To some degree, it’s binary — either you have something or you don’t. Right now, we don’t,” president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom told reporters.
As Anthony Franco pointed out in this piece about replacing Alonso (Front Office subscription required), Contreras would be the most straightforward fit in the trade market. He has a no-trade clause, but is reportedly open to waiving it. Contreras is under contract for the next two seasons, with a club option for 2028. He’s slated to make $18MM next season and $18.5MM in 2027. The price tag isn’t exorbitant for his level of production, but it might be too costly for the rebuilding Cardinals to keep around.
Contreras has been a firmly above-average bat in his three seasons with St. Louis. He’s posted a wRC+ of at least 124 in each campaign. Contreras has a pair of 20-homer campaigns as a Cardinal, and the lone miss was his most productive year with the team. He hit 15 home runs in just 84 games in 2024, but a broken finger ended his season in late June.
The 33-year-old Contreras hasn’t missed a beat as he’s entered his 30s. His profile has arguably looked even better under the hood in recent years. Contreras posted a career-high 49% hard-hit rate this past season. He ranked 95th percentile in bat speed. Contreras has been one of the hardest swingers in the game since bat speed data became widely available.
The Nootbaar fit isn’t as seamless, largely due to availability. The outfielder had surgery on both heels in October and may miss the beginning of the 2026 season. The procedure may have already removed one team from contention for Nootbaar’s services. Replacing Nimmo’s strong on-base skills and steady all-around production will be difficult, but so will finding another option to match his durability. The former Met has topped 150 games in four straight seasons. The oft-injured Nootbaar has maxed out at 135 games in a season, and that came this past year, which ended with the double-heel surgery.
Nootbaar has generally been productive when available. He’s routinely posted well above-average walk rates and solid slugging numbers. Nootbaar is typically good for a dozen home runs, a handful of steals, and a respectable OBP. The 2025 season was a healthy one, but Nootbaar declined in production. He slashed just .234/.325/.361, recording his first sub-100 wRC+ since his rookie season in 2021.
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images
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