Blue Jays Acquire Tyler Fitzgerald
The Blue Jays and Giants have each announced that utilityman Tyler Fitzgerald has been traded to the Jays in exchange for cash considerations. Fitzgerald has been optioned to the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate. Toronto has an open spot on its 40-man roster, so no corresponding move was necessary.
San Francisco designated Fitzgerald for assignment earlier this week, and today’s deal officially ends a tenure that began when the Giants made Fitzgerald a fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft. He made his MLB debut in the form of 10 games in 2023, and seemingly had a breakout when he hit .280/.334/.497 over 341 plate appearances. Fitzgerald also hit 15 homers and stole 17 bases in 21 attempts, and he finished the season with a 132 wRC+ and 3.0 fWAR.
Perhaps the key statistic, however, was Fitzgerald’s .380 BABIP. Reality may have sunk in last season, as Fitzgerald’s BABIP fell to a more standard .299, and his offensive production cratered. Fitzgerald hit .217/.278/.327 over 243 PA in 2025, translating to a 72 wRC+. The Giants used Fitzgerald as their regular starting second baseman in the early part of the season, but he was optioned to Triple-A in June, and played in only 15 MLB games after June 29 after being repeatedly called up and sent back down to the minors.
More to come…
Rockies Claim Sammy Peralta From Brewers
The Rockies have claimed left-hander Sammy Peralta off the Brewers’ waiver wire, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Colorado has officially announced the move, and shifted right-hander McCade Brown to the 60-day injured list to create space for Peralta on the 40-man roster. Peralta has been optioned to the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate.
The Brew Crew designated Peralta for assignment earlier this week to open up a 40-man roster spot for the newly-acquired Luis Matos. Peralta’s tenure with the Brewers will end after two Triple-A appearances and zero big league games, as Milwaukee just claimed Peralta off waivers from the Angels last October.
Appearing in each of the last three MLB seasons, Peralta’s resume in the Show consists of 30 appearances and 45 2/3 innings with the White Sox and Angels from 2023-25. He has a 5.12 ERA, 17.3% strikeout rate, and 11.2% walk rate, and Peralta has averaged only 89.3mph on his fastball during his brief time in the majors.
Peralta drastically cut back on his fastball in 2025 and also cut back on his changeup usage, instead incorporating a sinker a third of the time and boosting his slider up to a 49% usage rate, without any real change in results. While his ERA jumped from 4.80 in 2024 with the Sox to 7.59 with the Angels in 2025, Peralta’s underlying metrics didn’t change much, so his change in pitch repertoire didn’t have any impact on his performance either under the hood or in terms of bottom-line results.
Peralta routinely pitches multiple innings in relief, making him a useful depth option for the Rockies’ bullpen. Brennan Bernardino is also the only left-hander in Colorado’s current relief mix, which could give Peralta some extra opportunity to stick with the team if and when he is eventually called up from Triple-A.
Brown started the season on Colorado’s 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation, and the move to the 60-day IL ensures that his 2026 debut won’t come until at least the last week of May. 2025 marked Brown’s first taste of the big leagues, as he posted a 7.36 ERA over 25 2/3 innings and seven starts for the Rockies.
Juan Soto To Undergo MRI For Possible Calf Injury
Juan Soto left yesterday’s 10-3 Mets win over the Giants with what the team described as right calf tightness. Manager Carlos Mendoza told the New York Post’s Mike Puma and other reporters postgame that Soto will undergo an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury.
Soto lasted just a half-inning into Friday’s game, as he picked up the injury while advancing from first to third on a Bo Bichette single in the first inning. Soto was retired on a force play at the plate later in the frame, and Tyrone Taylor took over for Soto in left field for the bottom half of the first.
Over 34 plate appearances, Soto has hit .355/.412/.516 with one home run in the early stages of the 2026 campaign. The superstar’s hot start has been a bright spot within an inconsistent Mets offense — beyond yesterday’s rout of the Giants and an 11-7 win over the Pirates on Opening Day, New York has scored only 14 runs over its other six games.
Needless to say, losing Soto for any amount of time would be a rough break for the Mets’ lineup. Brett Baty would likely get the bulk of playing time in left field if Soto is sidelined, with Taylor providing some platoon cover apart from his usual fourth-outfielder duties. Jorge Polanco has been limited mostly to DH duty due to his bothersome left Achilles, so Mark Vientos (who is also off to a hot start in limited playing time) would see more action at first base if Baty is needed more regularly in left field.
Soto’s durability is an underrated aspect of his standing as one of baseball’s best players. Over the 2021-25 seasons, Soto played in 783 of a possible 810 games, and he hasn’t been on the injured list since 2021 (when he missed two weeks with a left shoulder strain). The MRI results will determine whether or not this streak of good health will continue, though even if the tests are negative, the Mets could opt to give Soto a 10-day IL stint just as a precaution in order to let him fully heal up.
Tigers Place Justin Verlander On 15-Day Injured List
The Tigers announced that Justin Verlander has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to April 1) due to inflammation in his left hip. Right-hander Keider Montero was called up from Triple-A Toledo to take Verlander’s spot on the 26-man roster.
The IL stint adds to a tough first week in Verlander’s return to Detroit. The right-hander’s first start of the season saw Verlander last just 3 2/3 innings on Monday, and he gave up six hits and two homers to the Diamondbacks en route to being charged with five earned runs. Verlander was slated to start against the Cardinals on Sunday, which would’ve marked his first home appearance in a Tigers uniform since August 2017.
While there isn’t yet any indication that the hip problem is particularly serious, it does add to the lengthy list of injuries that have piled up for Verlander in recent years, which isn’t surprising given how the righty is now in his age-43 season. After missing almost all of the 2020-21 seasons due to Tommy John surgery, Verlander has been placed on the IL five times in the last four seasons. He missed about five weeks in 2023 due to a teres major strain and a month of the 2025 season due to pectoral soreness, and the 2024 campaign saw Verlander limited to 90 1/3 innings because of shoulder inflammation and then a lingering neck injury.
Verlander has still logged 579 2/3 innings from 2022-25 — a very respectable total for any pitcher, let alone a hurler of Verlander’s age. After winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2022, Verlander’s only truly rough year was his injury-plagued 2024 season, as he still posted a 3.85 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, and 7.9% walk rate over 152 innings for the Giants last year.
It was enough for Detroit to sign Verlander to a one-year, $13MM free agent contract in February, in a move that made sense for both nostalgic and practical reasons. Reese Olson‘s shoulder surgery ended his 2026 season before it even began, opening the door for Verlander to slot into the back end of the Tigers’ rotation.
Montero will now fill that role for the time being, and the righty has been a serviceable swingman over his two MLB seasons, delivering a 4.57 ERA over 189 innings. Montero has performed better as a starter (4.05 ERA in 144 1/3 IP) than as a reliever (6.25 ERA in 44 2/3 IP), and replicating that kind of rotation performance would be a great help for the Tigers in holding the fort until Verlander is back.
While the Tigers have a solid amount of rotation depth, that depth has already been tested between Olson’s surgery, Troy Melton‘s season-opening stint on the 60-day IL, Sawyer Gipson-Long is on the 15-day IL with an oblique strain, and now Verlander’s absence. Melton and Jackson Jobe (who had a Tommy John surgery last June) are expected back before season’s end, and perhaps most importantly, the top four in Detroit’s rotation — Tarik Skubal, Framber Valdez, Casey Mize, and Jack Flaherty — are all still healthy.
Blue Jays Place Alejandro Kirk On 10-Day Injured List, Recall Brandon Valenzuela
The Blue Jays are placing catcher Alejandro Kirk on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb fracture, according to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. Catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela is being recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move, per Hazel Mae of MLB International. Keegan Matheson of MLB.com was first to report that Valenzuela is in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse this morning.
Kirk exited last night’s game against the White Sox in the tenth inning after taking an Austin Hays foul tip off his thumb. Tyler Heineman took over behind the plate, and Kirk was promptly sent for X-rays. Although the results weren’t known until this morning, some kind of IL placement was expected for Kirk. In the end, the X-rays revealed the fracture as well as a dislocation, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Kirk will meet with a specialist on Monday to determine whether surgery is necessary. Based on similar injuries, the Jays can expect to lose Kirk for at least six to eight weeks if he undergoes surgery.
Any extended absence would be a blow to the Jays as they look to make another deep postseason run. The team is currently 4-3 and in second place in the AL East, although they’ve been outscored by their opponents 33-31. In addition, Kirk is arguably the team’s second-most valuable player behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. After below-average offensive seasons in 2023-24, he rebounded last year to post a 116 wRC+ along with career highs in home runs (15) and runs batted in (76). The 116 wRC+ was more in line with his 110 career wRC+ and makes him well above average for a catcher. Indeed, Kirk’s 4.7 fWAR was second only to AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh at that position.
As good as his offense is, Kirk is also an otherworldly defender. He was worth 9 Defensive Runs Saved in 2025, which tied for third among qualified catchers behind the Giants’ Patrick Bailey and the Red Sox’ Carlos Narváez. According to Statcast, he graded out in the 100th percentile in blocks above average (21) and in the 98th percentile for framing. While his caught stealing and pop time are closer to average, those are very minor points in what is otherwise an outstanding defensive profile. Altogether, Kirk was the second most-valuable defensive catcher in the majors last year, based on Statcast’s Fielding Run Value metric.
Further updates will come after Monday’s visit with the specialist. Obviously, the club will hope that surgery is not needed and that Kirk’s absence will be kept to a minimum. In the meantime, Toronto will rely on Heineman and Valenzuela behind the plate.
Heineman is purely a backup at this stage of his career, but the club may give him the lion’s share of starts in the short term. His offense last year was surprisingly strong, with Heineman posting a 120 wRC+ in 174 plate appearances. That was far off from his career norms and partly the product of good luck, as evidenced by his .342 batting average on balls in play. On the other hand, Heineman accrued 10 DRS behind the plate, and he ranked in the 80th percentile or better for blocks, caught stealing, and framing. Thus, even if his offense regresses, his defense should help him out as a temporary starting catcher.
As for Valenzuela, the 25-year-old was acquired in a trade with the Padres last July and is one of Toronto’s top 30 prospects according to MLB.com. The team added him to the 40-man roster in November. Manager John Schneider said yesterday that Valenzuela would be called up if Kirk needed to miss time. That has now come to pass, and Valenzuela will get his first taste of the big leagues.
Valenzuela participated in major-league Spring Training this year and performed admirably, batting .304/.370/.478 with a home run and three runs scored in 27 plate appearances. He first reached Triple-A in 2024 with the Padres and returned to that level following his trade to the Blue Jays. Valenzuela was slightly above average at Double-A, though his performance at Triple-A has not been quite as strong. That’s largely due to contact issues. In 105 PA with Toronto’s top affiliate last year, he struck out at a 30.5% clip and graded out 23% worse than average by wRC+. He has shown some improvement early in 2026, cutting his strikeout rate to 17.6%. Still, his offense hasn’t been his strong suit at the top level of the minors.
Rather, Valenzuela’s value comes from his work behind the plate. His MLB.com scouting report gives him well-above-average arm strength and control of the running game. He has a 33.8% caught-stealing rate since the start of 2024, including a 35.7% rate at Triple-A, and he is also noted for his ability to work with a pitching staff. His offense may keep him from being a big-league starting catcher, but his glovework gives him a decent ceiling as a backup. For now, Heineman’s stronger recent offense probably gives him the starting job. Valenzuela has three option years remaining and could easily return to Triple-A when Kirk eventually returns.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images
White Sox Return Jedixson Paez To Red Sox
White Sox Rule 5 right-hander Jedixson Paez has cleared waivers and been returned to the Red Sox, per Gabrielle Starr of The Boston Herald. Chicago designated Paez for assignment earlier this week, and since Paez cleared waivers without being claimed, the White Sox had to offer him back to the Red Sox for a $50K fee.
Paez had never pitched beyond the high-A level before he made his Major League debut for the Southsiders on March 26. Unfortunately for Paez, his first taste of the Show didn’t go smoothly, as he was charged with three runs in two of his three outings. The end result was an 18.00 ERA over three total innings of work, with two homers and two walks allowed without any strikeouts.
Rebuilding teams like the White Sox often view the R5 as a way of taking fliers on young talent, and Chicago’s addition of Shane Smith in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft is a prime example of how much selections can pay off in a big way. The much more common result, of course, is that players taken from the lower minors like Paez often struggle after the big jump up to facing MLB talent. Since Rule 5 picks must stay on their new team’s active roster for the entire season in order for their rights to be officially secured, the White Sox felt giving Paez more opportunities over the next six months wasn’t going to help his development.
Paez now returns to Boston’s organization, and is likely ticketed for high-A ball or Double-A. The 22-year-old is still an interesting prospect to keep an eye on down the road, as Paez has shown outstanding command while posting a 3.22 ERA over 307 2/3 career minor league innings.
Mets, Luke Jackson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mets and reliever Luke Jackson are in agreement on a minor league deal, per Will Sammon of The Athletic. The right-hander is a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council.
Jackson debuted with the Rangers in 2015 and has played in parts of 10 big-league seasons through 2025. He spent 2017-21 with the Braves but underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2022, causing him to miss that season. He returned with the Giants in 2023 and split the following year between San Francisco and a return trip to Atlanta. He became more of a journeyman in 2025, pitching 51 innings over 52 appearances with the Rangers, Tigers, and Mariners. He had a 4.06 ERA overall but finished strong with a 2.38 ERA in 11 1/3 innings for the Mariners. He also appeared three times for Seattle in the postseason, allowing one earned run in three innings.
The 34-year-old peaked with 18 saves and 1.3 fWAR for the Braves in 2019. He has not been especially dominant in the years since, but he has managed to stick around thanks to his talent for inducing groundballs. Since that 2019 season, Jackson has never posted a groundball rate below 50%. His 51.1% mark since the start of 2023 puts him in the top 20% of qualified relievers. That ability has helped him withstand a decline in velocity as well as a below-average walk rate as he pitches into his mid-30s. His strikeout rate also fell to 17.4% in 2025, although he has rebounded in that area before. Indeed, a look at his stats page shows a pattern of below-average strikeout seasons followed by a few above-average years.
Given his experience, it wouldn’t be a surprise for the Mets to select his contract at some point. With Devin Williams and Luke Weaver handling the late innings, the low and medium-leverage bullpen spots are covered by Huascar Brazobán, Tobias Myers, Richard Lovelady, and Sean Manaea. The latter has been a starter throughout his career and could regain that role in mid-April as the Mets shift to a six-man rotation. That would leave them with one less bullpen spot, so Jackson’s likeliest path to the roster is by replacing one of the other three relievers. Lovelady has been designated for assignment three times since September, including twice by the Mets. He could be the odd man out in a Jackson call-up, given his rough start to the year.
Photo courtesy of John Froschauer, Imagn Images
2026-27 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: April Edition
The 2026 season is underway and last offseason is officially in the books. While free agency hasn’t completely closed — Lucas Giolito continues to wait for an offer he and his camp find acceptable — we’ll take our first look at next winter’s class.
As a reminder, these lists are based on our predictions of a player’s market value. This isn’t strictly looking at the most valuable free agents. Players in their mid-to-late 30s are going to have a difficult time cracking the top 10 because they’re naturally limited to shorter-term deals. Even in what is shaping up as a weak class, everyone in the top five and arguably the top eight have a path to a nine-figure contract.
MLBTR publishes our first free agent power ranking each April. A player’s walk year performance is the biggest factor in what they make, but their play over one week of the ’26 season doesn’t have much of an impact on their initial ranking. At this point, we’re going more off age and career track record — particularly the past couple seasons. There’s a lot of volatility this far out.
That’s especially true for the 2026-27 class. In recent offseasons, it has been fairly easy to identify the top free agent hitter at least a year in advance. Over the past five years, the respective top free agents on our first in-season rankings were Kyle Tucker, Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, and Corey Seager. Seager signed for $325MM, while the other four all set records for overall guarantee and/or average annual value.
This year also features a clear No. 1 free agent, but it’s a pitcher for the first time in years. Pitchers occupy the top two spots, in fact, and Jesús Luzardo would have made three of the top four if not for his recent extension with Philadelphia. Pitchers are riskier bets than an elite free agent hitter because of the ever-present worry of an injury that could wipe out a season or more.
There simply isn’t an impending free agent position player of Tucker’s or Seager’s caliber, much less an Ohtani or Judge. Nico Hoerner had an argument as the best or second-best free agent position player before signing a six-year extension with the Cubs last week. It’s the weakest hitting class in recent memory.
[Related: Who Will Be The Top Free Agent Hitter?]
The likelihood of a lockout looms over any projection of the 2026-27 offseason. It seems inevitable that MLB and the Players Association will not reach agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement before the expiration of the current CBA on December 1. MLB would immediately implement a lockout, freezing all roster movement and communication between teams and players until a new agreement is reached. The 2021-22 lockout brought the sport to a halt for 99 days.
The anticipated lockout isn’t a factor for this list. It’s too early in the process to predict specific contracts. It also doesn’t seem that last winter’s group of free agents feared the work stoppage. Four players accepted qualifying offers, setting the stage for a return to the open market during the expected lockout offseason. A handful of others took short-term deals at higher annual values with opt-out opportunities this winter. The CBA will be the defining story of next offseason, but it has no bearing on the first ranking of the class.
We’ll refresh these rankings at least twice more during the season as injuries and players’ performances change their market value. There’s frequent turnover in the back half of these lists throughout the season. A lack of top-end talent means that’ll be particularly true this year.
One final note: players whose contracts contain opt-out clauses or mutual options are considered for these rankings. Those whose deals have club options are not. For instance, there’s no scenario in which Ronald Acuña Jr. signs a massive free agent contract next offseason. The Braves are all but certain to exercise their $17MM option for the 2027 season. It’d take some kind of catastrophic injury for Atlanta to buy him out.
Onto the rankings:
1. Tarik Skubal, LHP, Tigers
Skubal enters his walk year on track for the largest pitching contract of all time. He’s probably the best pitcher in the game right now, no lower than second after Paul Skenes. Skubal is the two-time defending Cy Young winner in the American League.
Going back to the start of the 2024 season, he carries a 2.25 earned run average that ranks second among qualified pitchers behind Skenes. He’s third in strikeout rate after Garrett Crochet and Chris Sale, each of whom has thrown fewer innings. Only Logan Webb has logged a heavier workload. Skubal has been even more dominant in October, turning in a 2.04 ERA while striking out 38% of opponents in six career playoff starts.
Skubal has a prototype workhorse build and sits in the 97-98 mph range on his fastball. He dominates hitters from either side of the plate and has no issue working deep into games. The only potential concern is that Skubal has twice undergone elbow surgeries: a 2017 Tommy John procedure while in college and a ’22 flexor repair that cost him a year. Skubal has not missed a start since returning from the latter surgery.
As long as he stays healthy, he should shatter the record for the largest pitching contract ever. Excluding the Ohtani deal, that’s currently held by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who got to $325MM over 12 years. Skubal turns 30 in November, so he’s not signing for 12 years, but he could land a nine- or 10-year pact that beats the $43.33MM record average annual value for a pitcher. We’re probably looking at the sport’s first $400MM arm and the clear prize of the winter.
Skubal and agent Scott Boras have already broken new contractual ground. They were rewarded for a bold arbitration filing, resulting in a record salary ($32MM) and the largest single-year jump (nearly $22MM) via that process. He’ll be attached to a qualifying offer unless the Tigers unexpectedly face plant and trade him at the deadline (which makes a player ineligible for the QO). That’s irrelevant for players this good. Teams will happily forfeit a couple draft choices and international bonus pool money to install Skubal atop their rotation for the better part of the next decade.
2. Freddy Peralta, RHP, Mets
Peralta has been one of the best and most consistent starting pitchers in the majors for over five years now. From 2021 to 2025, he has thrown 738 1/3 innings, allowing 3.30 earned runs per nine. His 9% walk rate in that time is around league average while his 29.6% strikeout rate is tied for 16th among 208 qualified pitchers. He has a four-pitch mix consisting of a four-seamer, changeup, slider and curveball, getting good results will all four.
For that span, he has been credited with 14.8 wins above replacement from FanGraphs, making him one of the 20 most valuable pitchers in the league. He hasn’t had a major injury in that time. A lat strain limited him to 18 appearances in 2022, but he has made at least 30 starts in each season since.
After the Mets acquired Peralta from the Brewers this offseason, many expected an extension to keep him in Queens. However, it seems there may be a misalignment of priorities. President of baseball operations David Stearns prefers short-term deals, for all players but especially for pitchers. Including his time with the Brewers as well as with the Mets, he has only twice gone beyond three years for a pitcher. In both cases, they were five-year extensions for pitchers early in their careers. One was for Peralta himself, a $15.5MM deal signed before he was established. The other was a $20.5MM deal for Aaron Ashby.
The Mets would presumably offer Peralta a very high average annual value, but it seems he would prefer a more traditional long-term deal. He has publicly said he is hoping to sign a deal of seven or eight years in length. He would have a case for such a pact. His profile lines up fairly nicely with Dylan Cease, who just got a seven-year deal worth $210MM from the Blue Jays, though deferrals knocked the net present value down to the $180-185MM range. Here are the two pitchers from 2023 to 2025:
Peralta: 95 starts, 516 innings, 28.9% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate, 38.5% ground ball rate, .265 BABIP, 79.8% strand rate, 13% HR/FB, 3.40 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 3.63 SIERA
Cease: 98 starts, 534 1/3 innings, 28.8% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate, 37.5% ground ball rate, .304 BABIP, 69.3% strand rate, 10.3% HR/FB, 4.18 ERA, 3.45 FIP, 3.72 SIERA
The strikeout, walk and ground-ball profiles are extremely close. Peralta had a bit better luck in terms of batted balls and sequencing, giving him an edge in the ERA department, but advanced metrics put them much closer together. Front offices these days tend to overlook ERA, as Cease’s deal shows.
Peralta will be one year older than Cease, in baseball terms. Cease signed his deal with the Jays going into his age-30 season. Peralta turns 30 this June, so 2026 will technically be his age-30 campaign. However, the difference is actually just six months. Cease turned 30 in late December, about three months before his first start with the Jays. Peralta will turn 30 about nine months before the start of the ’27 season. Like Cease, he’ll be attached to a qualifying offer but shouldn’t be impacted by draft forfeiture.
3. Bo Bichette, 3B, Mets
Bichette was just one of the top free agents of the past offseason but has a chance to be in that position again. Though he did receive at least one long-term offer — the Phillies reportedly bid around $200MM — he opted to go for a short-term deal with an extremely high average annual values and opt-outs.
With a healthy season, Bichette could return to the open market with fewer questions. He finished last season injured and with an uncertain defensive future. He was never considered an excellent shortstop and then suffered a sprained PCL in his left knee late in the 2025 season. He finished the campaign on the injured list and missed the first few rounds of the Blue Jays’ playoff run. He was activated for the World Series but was clearly not 100% and was limited to second base and designated hitter duty.
Despite the question marks, Bichette still had a robust market thanks to his bat. He doesn’t walk much but is also tough to strike out. He generally has 20-plus homer power, giving him an intriguing contact/power combo. He has a .292/.335/.466 batting line in his career, resulting in a 121 wRC+, indicating he’s been 21% better than league average overall. Before the knee injury in 2025, he hit 18 home runs and slashed .311/.357/.483 for a 134 wRC+.
Bichette’s largest total offer this winter came from the Phillies, who put forth a seven-year framework worth around $200MM. Instead, he signed a three-year deal with the Mets. The $126MM guarantee is well shy of the Philly offer but allows Bichette to bank $42MM this year. If he decides to opt-out, he will collect a $5MM buyout on his way out the door. While turning down $200MM isn’t easy, Bichette can return to free agency with about a quarter of that money already under his mattress.
It’s also theoretically possible he could get an even better long-term offer this coming winter. He will be a year older but still relatively young, as he will turn 29 in March of 2027. The Mets are playing him at third base this year. Moving down the defensive spectrum hurts his earning power, but that was already the expectation for him. Having one year of experience should at least give him some proof of concept at a new position. Ideally, he won’t go into the coming offseason with any health issues. He was a $200MM guy a few months ago and should still be that a few months into the future. He’s ineligible for the qualifying offer after receiving one from Toronto last winter.
4. Jazz Chisholm Jr., 2B, Yankees
There’s a clear tier break between the Nos. 3 and 4 players in the class. Chisholm seems to have the highest ceiling of the non-Bichette group of position players. He’s a lefty-hitting middle infielder with plus bat speed and athleticism. Chisholm was one of seven players to go 30-30 last season, setting a career-high with 31 home runs. His matching stolen base total was the second highest of his career.
The hangup is the amount of swing-and-miss in his game. Chisholm has fanned at a higher than average rate in every season of his career. He punched out in 28% of his plate appearances a year ago, batting .242 in the process. A personal-high 10.9% walk rate resulted in a solid .332 on-base percentage, but he has a more pedestrian .315 mark over his career. Chisholm’s career .247/.315/.451 batting line is around eight to nine points better than league average, in the eyes of park-adjusted metrics.
Free agency has generally been unkind to second basemen in recent years. Hoerner’s $141MM extension could be a nice boost for the position, but he may have gotten interest as a shortstop if the Cubs had let him hit free agency. That’s less likely for Chisholm, who is a solid but not elite second baseman and hasn’t played shortstop in five years. He could be an option for teams seeking third base or outfield help, though a downward trend in his sprint speed means he’s probably not returning to the everyday center field work he logged with Miami between 2023-24.
Chisholm will be eligible for qualifying offer. He wouldn’t have much delay in declining it if he repeats last season’s production. He’s one of the younger players in the class, not turning 29 until next February. Matching his 2025 numbers could set him up for a nine-figure contract.
5. Trevor Rogers, LHP, Orioles
The past 12 months have represented a remarkable turnaround for Rogers. Baltimore’s 2024 acquisition of the former All-Star lefty for Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby was heavily scrutinized. He was bombed over his first four starts as an Oriole and optioned to Triple-A to end the ’24 season. He began last season on the injured list and was on optional assignment to Triple-A into the middle of June.
From the time of his final recall through the end of the season, Rogers ripped off 17 starts with a 1.92 ERA. He fanned a slightly above-average 24.4% of opponents against a 7.2% walk rate while holding hitters to a .185/.246/.272 line. Within a half-season, Rogers went from a depth piece to Baltimore’s Opening Day starter. He has opened this season with a pair of quality starts, allowing two runs with an 8-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first 13 innings.
Rogers’ dominant run prevention hasn’t come with a huge amount of swing-and-miss. He has good but not elite strikeout and whiff rates. His 93 mph average fastball isn’t overpowering on the surface. He gets a lot of weak fly-balls on the heater while using his changeup and sinker as ground-ball offerings. Rogers picked up a sweeper last year to build out the arsenal.
There are obvious red flags to which Rogers’ detractors could point. He’s not going to match last season’s .226 average on balls in play, even if it’s reasonable to expect him to sustain a lower-than-average BABIP based on hitters’ struggles squaring him up. Durability is the other big concern. Rogers has yet to reach even 140 innings in a big league season. He missed time early in his career due to back, lat and biceps issues. A right knee subluxation cost him the first six weeks of the ’25 campaign.
Rogers is among the highest variance players in the class. He could hit the market as a 29-year-old coming off a season and a half of ace-caliber production. Another injury or a slight drop in velocity or whiffs could quickly drop him back into prove-it territory.
There’s a lot of projection in slotting him this high, but it’s also a reflection of how few pitchers in this class are hitting the market in their primes. There are a handful of pitchers below Rogers on this list who have much longer track records, but they’re mostly into their early-mid 30s. Rogers has a chance at a five-plus year deal that most of the older, more established arms do not. He’ll be eligible for a qualifying offer.
6. Michael King, RHP, Padres
King can return to the market by opting out of the final two seasons of his three-year, $75MM deal. The right-hander had a fairly robust market last winter despite being limited to 15 starts, largely by a nerve issue in his shoulder. However, King was unlikely to command five or six years coming off that platform, so he opted for three years with opt-outs to return to the Padres.
This is almost entirely dependent on health. King performed at a borderline ace level throughout 2024 and the first two months of the ’25 season. He struggled down the stretch after returning from the nerve injury and an August IL stay due to a minor knee issue. After a shaky spring, he worked around four walks across five scoreless frames versus the Tigers in his season debut. His 94 mph average fastball was at typical levels.
King won’t be eligible for another qualifying offer. He turns 31 in May, so a free agent deal would begin with his age-32 season. Five-year deals for starting pitchers at that age aren’t common. A healthy season could get him to four years at a strong enough annual value to reach nine figures. Injuries could take him off the market entirely by leading him to forego the opt-out.
7. Daulton Varsho, CF, Blue Jays
Varsho missed the final month of the 2024 season due to a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery. The rehab from that operation, coupled with a separate hamstring strain, limited him to only 71 games in 2025. Despite that considerable time off, he still ranks fifth among all major leaguers, at any position, in Defensive Runs Saved over the past three-plus seasons at 44. The four players above him have all played at least 1000 more innings. Varsho’s 22 Outs Above Average tie him for 23rd in baseball in that same span. The Ultimate Zone Rating metric isn’t as commonly used as it was 15 years ago, but no player in MLB (min. 1000 innings) has been a better defender than Varsho since 2023 by measure of UZR/150.
A former catcher, Varsho took shockingly well to center field and now stands as one of baseball’s premier defensive players. He’s far from a one-trick pony, however, even if his glove is his best asset. The second-generation big leaguer has been a perennial threat for 20-plus home runs, but his power output exploded in 2025. Varsho belted 20 round-trippers in only 271 turns at the plate. He chipped in three more homers in 81 postseason plate appearances. If he’d maintained that regular season pace over the same 562 plate appearances he averaged in the three preceding seasons, Varsho would’ve topped 40 home runs.
That type of power output was a new development, and whether he can sustain anything close to it will go a long way toward determining the extent of his earning potential this coming winter. If Varsho can somehow maintain anything close to last year’s breakout .310 ISO (slugging minus batting average), he could be in line for a nine-figure contract. If his power comes back down to Earth, things are less certain. Varsho is a good player, but he’s strikeout prone and typically has only an average walk rate. That’s led to a career .295 on-base percentage, which many teams will see as a glaring red flag.
There’s a wide range of outcomes here, but Varsho is going to reach free agency as a 30-year-old. He’ll turn 31 in July of year one on his new contract. A plus-plus center field defender with 20-homer pop should, at the very least, command three to four years in free agency. If he can sustain last year’s power output, Varsho can more credibly look for a contract of five years, which might be enough to push him into nine-figure territory. It’d be a big bet to place on someone with such paltry OBP skills, but 40-homer pop and a poor OBP netted Anthony Santander a $92.5MM deal (albeit with heavy deferrals). Varsho should be more appealing if he can stay healthy and deliver a career-best performance in the power department. He’ll be attached to a qualifying offer.
8. Tatsuya Imai, RHP, Astros
Imai’s market didn’t materialize the way many expected last offseason. Despite several predictions of a nine-figure contract — MLBTR included — the Japanese righty wound up settling for somewhat of a prove-it deal. He signed a three-year, $54MM guarantee with the Astros which included opt-outs after the first two seasons.
The Astros also paid a $9.975MM posting fee to NPB’s Seibu Lions. In a sense, Houston was willing to spend nearly $28MM for one year of Imai’s services. That’s a decent amount, but scouts had enough trepidations about Imai’s command and the quality of his secondary pitches that teams weren’t willing to make a long-term commitment.
That’d probably change if he pitches at a mid-rotation level as a rookie. Imai is the youngest starter of note in this class, as he won’t turn 28 until May. He has a plus fastball that averaged 95.6 mph in his MLB debut. It was a rocky start overall, as he walked four batters and couldn’t escape the third inning, but one poor outing doesn’t say much about the caliber of pitcher he’ll be moving forward. (Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up five runs and lasted all of one inning in his own MLB debut.)
Imai probably won’t be in this spot on the next iteration of the free agent rankings. If he’s pitching well, he could jump into the top five based on the youth and velocity. If he struggles, he could drop off the list equally quickly. He would be eligible for a qualifying offer if he opts out of his current contract.
9. Randy Arozarena, LF, Mariners
Arozarena is an above-average everyday left fielder. He has been between 14 and 27 percent better than average at the plate in five straight seasons. He hit a career-high 27 homers while stealing 31 bags last year. Arozarena has gone at least 20-20 in each of the last five years and is a lifetime .250/.344/.433 hitter.
That blend of power and speed comes with some swing and miss. Arozarena has struck out a near-26% clip in his career and punched out in 26.9% of his trips last year. Defensive Runs Saved has graded him as a league average left fielder, while he’s generally a little worse than par by measure of Outs Above Average.
Arozarena will hit the market at age 32, likely with a qualifying offer attached. A high-AAV three-year deal seems likelier than four guaranteed seasons. His camp would probably try to beat the $66MM Teoscar Hernández contract if he has his usual year.
10. Seiya Suzuki, RF/DH, Cubs
Much of the Arozarena writeup also applies to Suzuki. The righty-hitting slugger owns a .269/.346/.472 slash over four big league seasons since signing out of NPB. He popped 32 homers with a .245/.326/.478 mark over 651 plate appearances last season.
Suzuki has plus power and takes a lot of walks. It comes with some strikeouts but not enough to prevent him from slotting into the middle of a lineup. Suzuki is probably a slightly better offensive player than Arozarena, but he faces more questions about his position fit and injury history.
The Cubs have used Suzuki frequently as a designated hitter over the past couple seasons. He has the speed and arm strength to play right field, where the public metrics have graded him as a slightly below-average defender. He missed time in 2023 and ’24 with oblique strains and began this year on the shelf with a minor PCL sprain in his right knee suffered during the World Baseball Classic.
Suzuki will be eligible for a qualifying offer. Like Arozarena and teammate Ian Happ, he’ll hit free agency as a 32-year-old corner outfielder. They’re all consistently good but not top-tier hitters, and clubs could reasonably order them in any way. They each have a shot at three years and more than $20MM per season. A fourth year for any of the three isn’t a complete stretch but also shouldn’t be considered likely. As MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows, the only free agent deals of four or more years for outfielders 32 or older in the past decade have been for Starling Marte (four years, $78MM) and Lorenzo Cain (five years, $80MM) — both of whom played center field in their platform seasons.
Honorable Mentions (listed alphabetically): Bryan Abreu, David Bednar, Shane Bieber, Kris Bubic, Jack Flaherty, Zac Gallen, Kevin Gausman, Trent Grisham, Ian Happ, Shota Imanaga, Brandon Lowe, Casey Mize, Adrian Morejon, Nick Pivetta, Brady Singer, Gleyber Torres, Taylor Ward, Brandon Woodruff
Respective images courtesy of Imagn Images.
Braves Pitching Notes: Strider, Pérez, Fuentes
Spencer Strider threw a 20-pitch bullpen session on Friday as he works back from the oblique strain that shelved him to begin the season. Braves manager Walt Weiss tells reporters (including Chad Bishop of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that the righty will probably need a rehab start before he’s ready to return to the big league club.
There’s a decent chance Strider will need to throw a live batting practice session before he heads out on a minor league assignment. That’s usually the intervening step between a bullpen session and rehab stint. Strider seems to be progressing nicely, though, and he looks to be on track to make his season debut within the next couple weeks.
Strider worked 8 1/3 innings over three appearances during Spring Training. The final of those came on March 11 before he tweaked his left oblique. A healthy Strider would have followed Chris Sale in the season-opening rotation. Grant Holmes and Reynaldo López have stepped into the second and third spots, respectively. They’ve pitched well through the first two turns. López’s fastball velocity has ticked back up into the 94 mph range after sitting at worrisome levels in Spring Training.
The final two spots are still questionable. Bryce Elder had a nice season debut against the A’s earlier this week, working six scoreless innings with five punchouts. He’ll go against Michael Soroka tomorrow in the third game of their four-game set in Arizona. The Braves have yet to announce who’ll oppose Brandon Pfaadt in the series finale.
José Suarez took that spot the first time through the rotation. He didn’t escape the fourth inning, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks in a 5-2 loss to the A’s on Tuesday. Martín Pérez followed with 4 1/3 scoreless frames and three strikeouts in a mop-up role.
Neither pitcher has taken the ball since that appearance, and Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes that it likely sets up for the Braves to flip their roles in this turn. They could temporarily tab Pérez as the fifth starter while using Suarez in a low-leverage relief role. Dylan Lee is the only of their current 13 MLB pitchers who has minor league options. Barring intervening injuries, at least one of Pérez, Suarez or Osvaldo Bido will probably be pushed off the roster once Strider returns.
Didier Fuentes is something of a wild card in those pitching plans. The 20-year-old broke camp in long relief and reeled off four innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts in his only appearance. The Braves optioned him after that outing, a prearranged plan to allow him to build as a more traditional starter in the minors.
Fuentes made his first start of the season with Triple-A Gwinnett this evening. He struck out seven while allowing just two baserunners (one hit and walk apiece) across 3 1/3 innings. Fuentes got up to 72 pitches after a 56-pitch outing in his MLB appearance. He’s probably only one or two starts from being built up as a rotation candidate.
The Braves will need to decide how best to use Fuentes without overworking him. The Colombian-born righty tossed 70 innings last year between the minors and a four-start look in the big leagues. He has yet to reach 80 innings in a professional season.
Atlanta isn’t going to fully unleash him for 150+ innings and surely wants to see continued development in his command and secondary pitches. That said, Fuentes has an excellent fastball and has had a dominant few weeks going back to Spring Training, where he struck out 18 of the 43 batters he faced. After looking overmatched when the Braves hurried him to the majors last summer, he seems much better positioned to carve out an MLB role this year.
Ketel Marte Reaches 10 Years Of Service, Earns Full No-Trade Right
D-Backs second baseman Ketel Marte officially reached 10 years of major league service today. The three-time All-Star entered the season 10 days shy of that milestone.
It’s a significant achievement for any player. Marte’s impending 10-year milestone was more discussed than most because he found himself in trade rumors over the offseason. Players who have 10 years of service and have spent the past five seasons with one team automatically receive full no-trade protection under the collective bargaining agreement. Marte can no longer be traded by Arizona without his consent.
That doesn’t matter much in the short term. The D-Backs obviously weren’t trading Marte within the first couple months of the season either way. The front office ceased trade conversations about halfway through last offseason. General manager Mike Hazen has said a few times that talks never got especially close to a deal. He maintained throughout the winter that the front office didn’t want to move Marte but needed to consider all ways to improve their starting pitching.
If the Diamondbacks struggle this year, they could revisit the possibility at the deadline or next offseason. Marte turns 33 in October and is signed through 2031, albeit with an opt-out after the ’30 season. He’s still arguably the best second baseman in the league and is due below-market salaries for the next five years: $12MM in ’27, $20MM in ’28, $22MMM per season between 2029-30, and $11.5MM in ’31. He’d be a valuable trade chip if the D-Backs opt for any kind of retooling effort down the line.
Marte himself now has full control over his future. His contract had previously allowed him to block trades to five teams of his choice, which he could change each offseason. Marte said this evening that he thought he would be traded last offseason given all the rumors (video via Sports Illustrated), so he’s surely more comfortable now that the 10-and-5 rights are locked in.