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Ronny Henriquez Undergoes UCL Surgery

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Marlins breakout righty Ronny Henriquez underwent UCL reconstruction with an internal brace, reports MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola. He’ll miss the entire 2026 season. Miami subsequently announced the news and added that he’s expected to be ready for Spring Training in 2027.

Henriquez was an excellent waiver pickup during the 2024-25 offseason. The Fish grabbed him out of DFA limbo from the Twins in February. Henriquez was coming off an impressive Triple-A season but hadn’t missed many bats in 19 career big league appearances. He was an intriguing flier as a 25-year-old former prospect of note who sat around 96 MPH with his fastball.

Miami needed to carry Henriquez on the active roster, as he’s out of minor league options. It didn’t take long for him to emerge as one of Clayton McCullough’s most trusted arms. Henriquez reeled off 73 innings of 2.22 ERA ball over 69 appearances. He picked up seven saves and 26 holds while only blowing four leads. He punched out 32.4% of batters faced behind a massive 16.7% swinging strike percentage. Henriquez ranked among the game’s top 20 relievers (minimum 50 innings) in strikeouts and whiff rate.

Henriquez added a tick to his fastball and took a little off his slider. He spun the breaking ball at a higher rate and got a little more depth on what emerged as a plus pitch. He showed no signs of slowing down towards the end of the season, turning in a 1.61 ERA in 28 innings after the All-Star Break. That came on his heaviest workload since he moved to the bullpen during the ’22 campaign.

Miami only had two relievers with 20+ innings who struck out at least a quarter of opponents: Henriquez and Lake Bachar. They had five bullpen arms who managed a sub-3.00 ERA but need to miss more bats as a group. Miami relievers were 24th in strikeout rate and swinging strikes. They’ve been linked to free agent righty Pete Fairbanks a few times this offseason. His strikeout numbers have declined over the past couple seasons, but even his 24% rate of the last two years would make him one of their best swing-and-miss arms.

Henriquez can be placed on the 60-day injured list once Spring Training begins. He’ll collect a full service year and be paid around the $780K minimum. He’s unlikely to meet next winter’s Super Two cutoff, meaning he’ll be slated for another league minimum salary in 2027. He’s under club control through 2030.

Mariners Sign Rob Refsnyder

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The Mariners announced the signing of outfielder Rob Refsnyder to a one-year contract. It’s reportedly a $6.25M deal with another $250K available in incentives for the PSI Sports Management client. Seattle’s 40-man roster is now at capacity.

Refsnyder adds a potent right-handed platoon bat to Dan Wilson’s outfield. He has teed off on left-handed pitching as a member of the Red Sox. Refsnyder carries a .312/.407/.516 batting line with 19 home runs, 28 doubles, and one triple across 509 plate appearances with the platoon advantage over the past four seasons. He has a middling .235/.315/.355 slash in 435 trips to the dish against right-handers in that stretch.

It’s a limited profile, but few players are better in that role. Among hitters with 400+ PAs against southpaws going back to 2022, only Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt have a better on-base percentage. Refsnyder is sixth in batting average and 16th in slugging. He’s seventh in OPS — trailing Judge, Yordan Alvarez, Goldschmidt, Yandy Díaz, Jose Altuve and Ketel Marte.

That production has earned Refsnyder some decent earnings in the back half of his career. He was a journeyman minor league signee when the Sox added him over the 2021-22 offseason. Boston was the sixth team to give him some big league time when they called him up midway through June the following year. Refsnyder hit well enough to earn a little over $5MM on a pair of contracts covering the 2023-25 campaigns. He now secures his most significant payday for his age-35 season. Refsnyder is coming off a .269/.354/.484 showing in 70 games and had been a highly regarded clubhouse presence in Boston.

Refsnyder came up as an infielder in the Yankees system. He has been a full-time outfielder since 2020 and has been exclusively in the corners over the past two seasons. He could probably handle first base if the M’s wanted to give Josh Naylor an occasional breather against a tough left-handed opponent. Most of his work will come in right field and/or at designated hitter. Seattle has Randy Arozarena locked into left field, while righty-swinging Victor Robles should get a decent amount of right field playing time. Lefty hitters Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone could see time out there and are currently lined up for the bulk of the DH at-bats.

The signing pushes Seattle’s projected payroll to $157MM, as calculated by RosterResource. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said at the beginning of the offseason that the M’s were likely to open next season with a payroll close to this year’s season-ending mark around $166MM. The M’s don’t have a ton of glaring needs but could look for a multi-positional infielder who could provide a higher floor than Cole Young, Ryan Bliss, Ben Williamson and potentially top prospect Colt Emerson at second and third base.

Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported the $6.25MM base and $250K in incentives. Images courtesy of Mark Rebilas, Imagn Images.

Phillies Sign Zach Pop To Major League Deal

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The Phillies announced that they have signed right-hander Zach Pop to a major league deal. Their 40-man roster count jumps to 39. Salary figures haven’t been reported.

It’s a bit surprising to see Pop command a big league deal. He bounced around during the 2025 season. He opened the year with the Blue Jays but was released shortly after Opening Day. Pop got to the big leagues for four appearances with the Mariners and pitched one time as a member of the Mets. He allowed 12 runs (11 earned) in just 6 2/3 MLB innings. That pushed his career earned run average to 4.88 over 162 1/3 frames spanning five seasons.

The Canadian-born righty made 20 appearances in the minors this year. He allowed a 4.19 ERA over 19 1/3 innings. His underlying numbers were more encouraging. Pop fanned more than a quarter of opponents against a manageable 8.9% walk rate. He got ground-balls at a massive 75% clip while sitting in the 96-97 MPH range with his sinker. Pop has always done a good job keeping the ball down, running a career 55% grounder percentage in the big leagues.

Philadelphia was intrigued enough by the stuff to give Pop one of their two vacant roster spots. Assuming he remains on the 40-man into Spring Training, he’ll get an opportunity to battle for a middle relief job in camp. Pop has exhausted his minor league option years, so the Phils cannot send him down without running him through waivers.

Philly has six bullpen spots accounted for if everyone gets through camp healthy. Jhoan Duran, Brad Keller, José Alvarado, Tanner Banks and the out-of-options Jonathan Bowlan are locks. Right-hander Orion Kerkering should pretty safely be in there as well unless he has a terrible Spring Training. Pop and Rule 5 pick Zach McCambley either need to stick in the big leagues or be taken off the 40-man (and offered back to the Marlins after clearing waivers, in McCambley’s case).

Tigers Re-Sign Kyle Finnegan

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December 20: Detroit has officially announced the Finnegan deal. He’ll earn $8.75MM in 2026 and $8MM in 2027. The contract also includes a mutual option for 2028 at $10MM, with a $2.25MM buyout. Justyn-Henry Malloy was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Finnegan.

December 9: The Tigers are reportedly bringing back veteran reliever Kyle Finnegan on a two-year, $19MM contract. There are also $1MM in bonuses available for the Warner Sports Management client. Detroit’s 40-man roster is full, meaning they’ll need to make a corresponding move once the contract is finalized.

It’s yet another domino to fall in a quick-moving relief market. Detroit initially acquired Finnegan from the Nationals at the trade deadline. He carried a 4.38 earned run average with a sub-20% strikeout rate at the time. It frankly seemed underwhelming for the team’s biggest bullpen pickup. The Tigers correctly identified Finnegan as a player who had another level of upside with a change to his pitch mix, however.

In Washington, Finnegan had thrown his fastball around two-thirds of the time. He used his splitter at a roughly 30% clip and sporadically mixed in a slider. The Tigers encouraged him to dramatically scale up the use of the split-finger offering. It was about a 50-50 divide in August, and he used the splitter more than 55% of the time in September and into the postseason. The impact on his results was immediate.

Finnegan allowed only three runs in 16 regular season innings as a Tiger. He fanned 23 of 66 opponents, almost doubling his early-season strikeout rate. His swinging strike rate jumped by five percentage points. The righty secured four saves and three holds while surrendering just one lead. He missed a couple weeks in September with a groin strain but immediately stepped back into a high-leverage role for skipper A.J. Hinch. Finnegan added 7 1/3 frames of three-run ball in the postseason, albeit with only three strikeouts.

Between the two teams, Finnegan posted a 3.47 ERA with a 24% strikeout percentage across 57 innings. The overall numbers aren’t far off the marks he’d carried over the first five seasons of his career. Finnegan entered 2025 with a 3.56 earned run average and a 23.5% strikeout rate in nearly 300 major league outings.

The altered pitch mix and the strong finish to the season have certainly changed teams’ perceptions of him. At this time last offseason, Finnegan found himself non-tendered by the Nationals in lieu of a projected arbitration salary around $8MM. He waited until a week into Spring Training to return to Washington on a $6MM contract with deferrals. Finnegan commands the first multi-year deal of his career one offseason later. The terms essentially match MLBTR’s prediction of two years and $20MM.

Finnegan will again pair with Will Vest at the back of Hinch’s bullpen. He has plenty of closing experience from his time in Washington and could handle the ninth inning on days when the Tigers use Vest earlier in leverage situations. Detroit could stand to bring in another swing-and-miss arm at the back end. Even after acquiring Finnegan, the Tiger bullpen ranked 25th in strikeout rate. Assuming they build Troy Melton back up as a starter, Finnegan and Vest are their only two projected leverage relievers who sit around 96 MPH on average. They’re a little light from the left side, but Vest and Finnegan each excel against opposite-handed batters. That could allow them to pursue another righty and stick with Tyler Holton and Brant Hurter as their top southpaws.

The specific salary breakdown is unreported. Evenly distributed $9.5MM salaries would push Detroit’s projected payroll to roughly $157MM, according to RosterResource. That’s about $15MM north of where they opened this past season. The long-term books are still wide open. Javier Báez and Colt Keith are the only other players under contract for 2027. Keith’s respective $5MM salaries for 2028-29 and modest option buyout in 2030 are their only commitments after the ’27 campaign.

Edwin Díaz, Gregory Soto and Finnegan came off the board on Tuesday. Robert Suarez, Brad Keller, Luke Weaver, Tyler Rogers, Seranthony Domínguez and Pete Fairbanks are the remaining unsigned relievers who made MLBTR’s Top 50 free agents. Keller and Weaver could get consideration as starters, while Rogers and Domínguez are setup types. Suarez is the best reliever still available. Fairbanks and Kenley Jansen join him as unsigned established closers.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the Tigers and Finnegan were nearing a deal. Robert Murray of FanSided had the two-year, $19MM agreement with $1MM bonus. Image courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images.

Nine Teams Exceeded Luxury Tax Threshold In 2025

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Major League Baseball has finalized its calculations of teams’ competitive balance tax payrolls for the 2025 season. As first reported by The Associated Press, nine teams surpassed the $241MM base threshold. In a separate post, The AP lists the finalized CBT numbers for all 30 teams.

The payments are as follows:

  • Dodgers: $169.4MM
  • Mets: $91.6MM
  • Yankees: $61.8MM
  • Phillies: $56.1MM
  • Blue Jays: $13.6MM
  • Padres: $7MM
  • Astros: $1.5MM
  • Red Sox: $1.5MM
  • Rangers: $190K

Teams pay escalating penalties for exceeding the threshold in consecutive seasons. The Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Phillies and Rangers have all paid the tax in at least three straight years — subjecting them to the highest escalator fees. The Astros went over the line for the second straight season. The Blue Jays, Padres and Red Sox had gotten below in 2024 and are categorized as first-time payors.

This is the second straight year in which nine teams paid the CBT. The Braves, Giants and Cubs had gone over the line in ’24 but dipped below this year, which resets their status going into 2026. Atlanta’s active offseason puts them in position to go back into tax territory next year, when the base threshold climbs to $244MM. San Francisco and Chicago each have projected CBT numbers more than $40MM below that right now.

While public estimates from RosterResource and Cot’s Baseball Contracts offer an excellent approximation of teams’ payroll commitments, the official numbers are not available during the season. It’s not uncommon for rounding errors in those calculations to vary by a few million dollars. That generally isn’t a big deal but can matter for teams that are hovering very close to the tax line. Each of the Red Sox ($249MM payroll), Astros ($246MM) and Rangers ($241.38MM) were believed to have gone narrowly beyond the $241MM cutoff, but that wasn’t 100% established until this evening — particularly in the case of Texas.

The Dodgers ($417MM), Mets ($347MM), Yankees ($320MM), Phillies ($314MM) and Blue Jays ($286MM) all had payrolls above $281MM. That was the third tier of penalization and marked the point at which a team’s top draft pick is dropped by 10 spots. The Mets were the only of those five that didn’t make the playoffs. Their top pick drops from 17th to 27th. The Yankees, Philadelphia, Toronto and L.A. all have their first-round pick dropped to between 35th and 40th.

Teams that paid the CBT are entitled to the lowest level of compensation for losing free agents who declined a qualifying offer. They receive a draft choice after the fourth round for each qualified free agent who walks. They’re charged the heaviest penalty — their second- and fifth-highest picks in 2026 and $1MM from their ’27 international bonus pool — for signing a qualified free agent from another team.

San Diego and the Mets receive a pick after the fourth round for losing Dylan Cease and Edwin Díaz, respectively. Toronto (Bo Bichette), Houston (Framber Valdez) and Philadelphia (Ranger Suárez) would receive the same if their free agents sign elsewhere. The Dodgers surrendered their second- and fifth-round selections for Díaz. Toronto is slated to do the same for Cease, but if Bichette walks, they’d give up that compensatory pick instead and get their fifth-rounder back.

The Dodgers’ combined payroll and tax bill for the 2025 season lands north of $586MM. The two-time defending champions’ tax hit alone is higher than the payrolls of the bottom 12 teams in the league. There were 14 clubs that had a CBT number above $200MM. The Braves, Cubs, Giants, Angels, Diamondbacks and Mariners were the other six teams above the median. All but Seattle spent more than $200MM.

On the other end, the Marlins ($87MM) and White Sox ($92MM) were the two teams with payrolls below $100MM. The Rays ($103MM), Pirates ($109MM) and Athletics ($118MM) rounded out the bottom five — followed by the Guardians, Nationals, Twins, Brewers and Reds.

Overall, the league will collect just under $403MM in taxes. Teams must make the payments by January 21. The first $3.5MM will be used to fund player benefits. Half the remaining money goes to players’ retirement accounts, while the other half is used for revenue sharing distribution from MLB to teams.

Latest On Pete Fairbanks’ Market

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While most of the top free agent relievers are off the board, former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks remains unsigned. The Diamondbacks, Marlins and White Sox are among the teams that have been linked to the hard-throwing righty.

The connection with Miami has come up on a few occasions. The Marlins are looking for a high-leverage reliever. Fairbanks has ties to president of baseball operations Peter Bendix from their time in Tampa Bay. In an appearance on Foul Territory this week, Izaac Azout of Fish On First suggested that Miami has shown a willingness to offer a one-year deal in “the mid-teens” range and floated the possibility that Miami could make a $13-14MM proposal.

Tampa Bay could have retained Fairbanks on an $11MM club option. While it’s understandable the front office didn’t want to commit a sizable portion of their budget to a single inning reliever, it was more surprising that the Rays were unable to drum up trade interest. It should work out better for Fairbanks financially. He collected a $1MM buyout and seems well positioned to beat the $10MM difference. ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote on Thursday that Fairbanks was trending towards either a multi-year deal or a one-year contract worth more than $11MM.

While it’d seem counterintuitive for teams to pay more than the declined option price, that occasionally happens. Option calls are due within the first five days of the offseason. Teams may have preferred to maintain payroll flexibility until they had a better read on the market. Fairbanks was clearly behind the likes of Edwin Díaz, Devin Williams and Robert Suarez.

Clubs that missed out on those relievers — including Miami, who reportedly had shown interest in Williams — could more highly value Fairbanks now than they did six weeks ago. It’s also possible that they stretch to a two-year deal at a sub-$11MM annual rate to save some money in 2026 while giving the pitcher a larger overall guarantee.

The Cubs are another team that makes sense for Fairbanks on paper. They have added Phil Maton and Hoby Milner while re-signing Caleb Thielbar, but they lost arguably their best reliever when Brad Keller signed a $22MM contract with Philadelphia. Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic wrote earlier this week that the Cubs remain open to adding a clearer high-leverage arm. They’ve given some consideration to Fairbanks, per the report, though it’s not clear how seriously they’re involved.

Chicago has shied away from significant bullpen investments over the past few seasons. Their two-year, $14.5MM contract with Maton was already their biggest reliever signing in six years. Fairbanks would cost more than $7.25MM annually but will be looking at a short-term deal as he enters his age-32 season.

Phillies Evaluating Catching Trade Market With Realmuto Still Unsigned

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The Phillies have prioritized reunions with Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto. They succeeded in bringing back the MVP runner-up on a five-year deal at the Winter Meetings. Realmuto’s free agency has been more extended, leaving the Phils in a holding pattern behind the plate.

While a reunion with their longtime catcher remains the priority, Matt Gelb of The Athletic writes that it’s not a lock to come to fruition. The sides obviously have yet to align on contract terms despite Philadelphia’s willingness to offer multiple years. Gelb writes that the Phillies have been involved in trade conversations about potential alternatives. Although there’s no indication anything is close on that front, that highlights the biggest question for the front office.

Aside from Realmuto, the free agent catching market is bleak. Danny Jansen is off the board on a two-year deal with Texas. Victor Caratini is the only other potential starting option, and he has been more of a high-end #2 catcher over the course of his career. Everyone else is a backup or organizational depth type.

That’s also true of the two catchers currently on Philly’s roster, Rafael Marchán and Garrett Stubbs. Marchán was a promising enough prospect that it isn’t out of the question that he could be a solid glove-first starter if given the opportunity. That’d be a gamble for a win-now team, though, and clubs are sometimes reluctant to upgrade the position at the trade deadline because of the adjustment of learning a pitching staff in the middle of a pennant race. The worst case scenario for the Phils is that they wait out Realmuto’s market but get outbid after Caratini has already signed elsewhere. That’d leave them with little choice but to turn to the trade market.

At the same time, they’re probably reluctant to make a trade while Realmuto is still a free agent. Marchán and Stubbs are both out of minor league options. They’re already likely to expose one of them to waivers before Opening Day. Trading for a catcher and re-signing Realmuto could mean losing both of them, as there’s a good chance another team would claim Marchán. Realmuto’s heavy workloads don’t leave much playing time for his backup, so that’s not an ideal use of resources.

The Phils’ trade conversations may be due diligence for now. They still seem likelier than not to figure something out with Realmuto. If that doesn’t come together, speculative trade options include Pedro Pagés, J.C. Escarra, Connor Wong and Jose Trevino.

D-Backs, Ildemaro Vargas Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Diamondbacks are in agreement on a new minor league contract with infielder Ildemaro Vargas, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The MAS+ Agency client returns to the organization after being outrighted off the roster at the end of the season.

Vargas has plenty of familiarity with the D-Backs. The veteran utilityman has played three separate big league stints and parts of six seasons in the desert. He got into 38 games this past season. Vargas hit .270 but only walked twice in 121 plate appearances, leading to a modest .292 on-base percentage. He’s a .249/.289/.357 hitter over parts of nine MLB seasons.

Defensive versatility has been Vargas’ calling card. The majority of his experience has been at shortstop, but he saw more action between second and third base this year. He’s entering his age-34 season and likely headed to Triple-A Reno. The D-Backs also added glove-first shortstop Jacob Amaya as non-roster infield depth earlier this offseason.

Pirates Designate Marco Luciano, Tsung-Che Cheng For Assignment

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The Pirates are designating outfielder Marco Luciano and infielder Tsung-Che Cheng for assignment, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. Pittsburgh needed to open two spots on the 40-man roster after this morning’s three-team trade that netted Brandon Lowe, Mason Montgomery and Jake Mangum.

Luciano, 24, was a waiver claim from the Giants a couple weeks ago. It was a no-risk flier on a former top prospect who has yet to show much at the big league level. Luciano once ranked among the sport’s top 15 minor league talents at Baseball America. He was then a teenage shortstop with massive raw power upside in a 6’1″ frame. His bat has stalled against higher level pitching and he has moved to left field after struggling with errors on the dirt.

San Francisco gave Luciano limited looks in 2023 and ’24. He hit .217/.286/.304 while striking out 45 times in 126 trips to the plate. The Giants kept him in Triple-A for the entire 2025 season. Luciano connected on 23 home runs while walking more than 15% of the time, but he struck out at a near-31% rate. He whiffed on more than 35% of his swings against Triple-A pitching. While Luciano hits the ball hard when he makes contact, the swing-and-miss and limited defensive profile have dropped his stock. He’s also out of minor league options, so he’ll need to stick on an MLB roster or continue bouncing around via DFA limbo.

Cheng is also a 24-year-old who had some prospect attention not too long ago. He was never as well regarded as Luciano was early in his career, yet he ranked among Pittsburgh’s top 10 prospects as recently as 2024. A lefty-hitting infielder, he appeared in his first three big league contests in April. He went 0-7 with three strikeouts and was caught stealing in his only attempt. He spent the rest of the season at Triple-A Indianapolis, where he managed a .207/.305/.267 line with one home run in 406 plate appearances.

The Taiwanese-born Cheng is a good athlete and a versatile defender, but he has been a below-average hitter since reaching the Double-A level in 2023. He has one option year remaining. Pittsburgh has five days to trade or waive both players.

Braves Sign Ian Hamilton To Major League Deal

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The Braves announced the signing of reliever Ian Hamilton to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract. Atlanta opened a 40-man roster spot this afternoon when they ran Anthony Molina through waivers. Hamilton is represented by ALIGND Sports Agency.

Hamilton hit the market last month when he was non-tendered by the Yankees. His projected arbitration salary wasn’t far above the league minimum, but he had spent the final two months of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A. Hamilton made 36 appearances before being sent down. He pitched 40 innings of 4.28 ERA ball, striking out a quarter of opponents against a worrisome 13.3% walk rate.

The 30-year-old righty has pitched parts of six MLB seasons between the White Sox, Twins and Yankees. He had a career-best 2.64 ERA behind a 29% strikeout rate for New York back in 2023. His production hasn’t been as strong over the past couple years. Hamilton’s grounder rates have fallen while the free passes jumped this year. He gets plus swing-and-miss rates on his slider but hasn’t gotten great results on his 95-96 MPH sinker.

The 2025 season was Hamilton’s third and final minor league option year. He’ll battle for a middle relief spot in camp. If he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster, the Braves would need to take him off the 40-man and either trade him or run him through waivers.

Hamilton has between three and five years of MLB service time. He’d therefore have the right to decline an outright assignment and elect free agency if the Braves get him through waivers unclaimed, but doing so would mean forfeiting his salary. If he pitches well enough to stick on the roster, Atlanta could control him via arbitration through 2028.

Atlanta doesn’t have a ton of roster flexibility with regards to the bullpen. Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez and Aaron Bummer are locked in at the back end. Dylan Lee has two minor league options but is certainly going to be on the roster. Hamilton, Joel Payamps, Danny Young and swing types Bryce Elder, Grant Holmes, José Suarez and Joey Wentz are all out of options. While an injury or two in Spring Training could open roster space, they’re certainly not going to have room for all those pitchers on Opening Day.

Image courtesy of Dan Hamilton, Imagn Images.

Note: This post initially incorrectly referred to Hamilton’s contract as a split deal.

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