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Twins Trade Vidal Bruján To Mets

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The Twins announced they’ve traded infielder Vidal Bruján to the Mets for cash. Minnesota designated him for assignment yesterday when they acquired a different utility player, Tristan Gray, in a trade with Boston. The Mets have not announced the move and will need to designate someone themselves to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Bruján is on the move for the second time this offseason. He finished the season with Atlanta but was designated for assignment a couple weeks ago. The Twins snagged him off waivers. They’ll pick up a bit of cash out of the sequence but not much more, as they apparently prefer Gray as a depth infielder. That could be as much about roster flexibility as anything else. Bruján is out of minor league options, while Gray can be sent to Triple-A without going on waivers.

The switch-hitting Bruján was a top prospect during his time in the Tampa Bay system. His bat has stalled at the upper levels, and he’s a .199/.267/.276 hitter over parts of five seasons in the big leagues. Bruján has decent plate discipline and contact skills but rarely hits the ball hard. He has five home runs in 645 career plate appearances.

Bruján has shortstop experience but is stretched there defensively. He’s better suited at second base or bouncing around the outfield. While he was a plus runner as a prospect, Statcast graded his sprint speed as slightly below-average last year. The Mets subtracted infield depth when they swapped Luisangel Acuña to the White Sox for Luis Robert Jr. this week. Bruján backfills that to an extent even if he’s hardly guaranteed to stick on the roster.

Eligible for arbitration for the first time in his career, Bruján agreed to a split deal with Atlanta in November. He’d make $850K if he’s in the big leagues and be paid at a $500K rate in the minors. He can’t be sent to the minors without getting through waivers. Players who have less than five years of MLB service time would need to forfeit their salary if they reject an outright assignment. Bruján is unlikely to walk away from that higher than average Triple-A salary, so the Mets will probably try to get him through waivers before Opening Day and hope he sticks around in a non-roster capacity.

White Sox, LaMonte Wade Jr. Agree To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox are in agreement with first baseman/corner outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. A client of Covenant Sports Group, Wade will be in MLB camp as a non-roster invitee.

Wade is a veteran of parts of seven MLB seasons. He has spent most of the past few seasons as the Giants’ primary first baseman, at least against right-handed pitching. Wade was an above-average hitter as recently as 2024, when he put up a .260/.380/.381 slash line across 401 plate appearances. It was his second consecutive season with excellent on-base marks in a platoon role. Wade combined to hit .258/.376/.401 between 2023-24. Among hitters with 800+ trips to the plate, he ranked 11th in on-base percentage.

Everything went off the rails last year. Wade hit .167 with a .275 OBP over 50 games for San Francisco. They traded for Rafael Devers at designated hitter and eventually signed Dominic Smith to play first base. Wade was designated for assignment as the corresponding move for the Smith acquisition.

The Angels rolled the dice on a change of scenery, acquiring Wade out of DFA limbo in a small trade. They got him into 30 games over two months, but he hit .169/.260/.215 and was released in August. That ended his season with a .167/.271/.254 slash over 242 plate appearances. That kind of production obviously isn’t going to cut it, but there’s minimal risk for the Sox in giving him a look during camp to see if an offseason gets him back on track.

Munetaka Murakami will get everyday work at first base. The designated hitter spot will probably be divided between young catchers Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero. A rebuilding team isn’t going to press the 32-year-old Wade into the lineup over their younger hitters, but he could earn a spot as a left-handed bat on a bench that skews heavily to the right side. There’s also a wide open competition for playing time in right field, though GM Chris Getz left the door open to an outfield pickup after trading Luis Robert Jr. on Tuesday.

Brewers Trade Freddy Peralta To Mets

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The Mets make another splash, acquiring All-Star starter Freddy Peralta and swingman Tobias Myers from the Brewers for prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat. The teams announced the blockbuster trade on Wednesday night. New York designated right-hander Cooper Criswell for assignment in a corresponding move.

After losing out on Kyle Tucker, the Mets have signed Bo Bichette and traded for Luis Robert Jr. and Peralta. Tonight’s move is arguably the biggest of the three, as Peralta gives them a legitimate #1 starter atop what had been a talented but volatile rotation. He’s coming off a career season that landed him fifth in NL Cy Young balloting.

Peralta set a career mark with 176 2/3 innings while managing a personal-best 2.70 earned run average. He punched out 28.2% of opponents behind a near-13% swinging strike rate while issuing walks at a 9.1% clip. Peralta’s underlying marks have been consistently strong over his five seasons as a full-time starter. He misses bats at a plus rate with solid command. He had been a little susceptible to the longball between 2023-24, which elevated his ERA slightly (3.77) over that span. A dip in homer rate was the biggest factor in last year’s results, but estimators like FIP and SIERA feel he has been more or less the same pitcher five years running.

The 6’0″ righty challenges hitters with his fastball, a 94-95 MPH offering that plays up because of its plus spin and life. He backs that up with a changeup that he’ll throw to hitters of either handedness and a pair of breaking balls (though he only uses his slider against righties). His willingness to attack hitters up in the zone with the fastball leads to a fly-ball approach and the occasional home run, but it’s a worthwhile tradeoff for the few baserunners he’ll allow. Opposing hitters have mustered a .210/.288/.367 batting line over the past three seasons.

Peralta also brings an excellent durability track record to stabilize a rotation that was light on established innings sources. He hasn’t required a single stint on the injured list in three years. He’s tied for fifth with 95 starts and ranks 15th with 516 innings over that stretch. Only Dylan Cease and Zack Wheeler have more strikeouts in that time. Peralta and Cease are the only pitchers to record 200+ strikeouts in each of the past three seasons. He battled some shoulder issues in 2021-22, including a lat strain that limited him to 18 appearances four years ago, but his recent health record has been clean.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns knows Peralta well from his time running baseball operations with Milwaukee. He’s probably the best starting pitcher who’ll get traded this offseason, so the Mets would surely have been involved even without that connection, but the familiarity only made him a more natural fit. Stearns also brought back closer Devin Williams on a three-year free agent contract as his biggest bullpen move of the winter.

The Stearns-led front office wisely locked Peralta up on an extension before his breakout. Peralta had been an unheralded amateur signee by the Mariners whom the Brewers acquired as one of three prospects in an Adam Lind trade when he was in rookie ball. He worked in a swing role with mixed results over his first two seasons. Milwaukee secured him on a $15.5MM guarantee with a pair of $8MM club options over the 2019-20 offseason. It almost immediately became one of the sport’s most team-friendly contracts.

Peralta is headed into the final season of that deal and playing on the second of those $8MM options. The Mets will happily pick up that salary and the associated $8.8MM luxury tax hit. RosterResource projects them for a $365MM competitive balance tax payroll. They ended last season with $347MM in CBT commitments and paid another $91.6MM in taxes.

This is much more affordable from a salary perspective than were the Bichette and Robert acquisitions, though the pitcher is less than a year from a monster payday of his own. He’s on track to hit free agency before his age-31 season and could command the second-largest contract in the class after Tarik Skubal. He’s a lock to reject a qualifying offer barring a major injury. The Mets would receive a compensation pick after the fourth round in ’27 if he walks. As a revenue sharing recipient, Milwaukee would’ve gotten a pick after the first round had they kept him (assuming he signed elsewhere for $50MM+).

The Mets will presumably make an effort to keep him long term, but the main focus is on 2026. Peralta slots ahead of touted rookie Nolan McLean at the top of the staff. Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes, David Peterson and Kodai Senga are also penciled into what could be a six-man rotation — though the latter two have come up in trade rumors this offseason. Jonah Tong didn’t dominate the way McLean did after a late-season promotion, but he’s a top prospect who’ll be in the mix. They’re getting another touted arm, Christian Scott, back from elbow surgery.

Myers projects for a swing role but is likely to make some starts over the course of a 162-game season as well. The 27-year-old righty is more than a throw-in addition, as he has pitched well for Milwaukee over the past two years. Myers held a rotation spot for the majority of the ’24 season. He started 25 of 27 games as a rookie and posted an even 3.00 earned run average through 138 innings. He recorded a solid 22.3% strikeout rate while limiting his walks to a 6.3% clip.

An oblique strain sidelined Myers to open last season. The Brewers activated him in late April but optioned him to Triple-A after a handful of shaky appearances. Myers was up and down in a swing role for the remainder of the season. He was mostly squeezed out of the rotation by Milwaukee’s bigger arms, but he pitched well in the second half and finished the year with a 3.55 ERA across 50 2/3 frames. He had similar numbers over 12 starts with Triple-A Nashville.

Myers works in the 93-94 MPH range with his fastball. He uses a cutter and slider as his breaking balls and tweaked his changeup to more of a splitter midway through last season. The pitch got good results in a small sample, as opponents hit .108 while swinging through it almost 40% of the time. That should give him a better offering against left-handed hitters after he struggled with southpaws as a rookie.

The righty has between one and two years of service time. He won’t reach arbitration for another two seasons and is under club control through 2030. He has a minor league option remaining, which gives the Mets flexibility to move him between MLB and Triple-A Syracuse.

The Brewers deserve credit for helping Myers develop into a serviceable back-end starter. He’d once been a reasonably well-regarded prospect — Cleveland regrettably traded Junior Caminero to the Rays for him when the slugging infielder was in rookie ball — but he’d seemingly hit a wall in the upper minors. Milwaukee added him as a minor league free agent over the 2022-23 offseason, and he’s now a secondary but meaningful part of a trade that netted them a pair of top prospects.

Williams and Sproat each placed on the back half of Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects list, which was released this morning. BA had Williams as the slightly more highly regarded of the two, but they’re essentially within the same tier. Williams is a right-handed hitter whom the Mets took in the first round out of a Dallas-area high school in 2022. He’s on the shorter side at 5’7″ but has plus athleticism and an up-the-middle defensive profile. Scouts credit him with plus speed and a strong arm with more power than one might expect based on his size.

That athleticism was on display in the upper minors. Williams combined for 17 homers and 34 stolen bases while hitting .261/.363/.465 across 572 plate appearances. He looked no worse for wear after a right wrist surgery had cost him a good chunk of the ’24 season. Williams raked at a .281/.390/.477 clip in Double-A. He struggled after a second half promotion to Triple-A, where he hit .209 with a .285 on-base percentage across 34 games. That’s not a huge concern for a 21-year-old who would have been young for the level even if he’d spent the entire season in Double-A.

Williams is a patient hitter who has worked a lot of walks in the minors. Although big league pitchers will be better positioned to attack the smaller strike zone, he has the makings of a potential top-of-the-lineup spark plug. Williams has played mostly shortstop and has experience at second base and in center field. He’s likely to begin the season at Triple-A Nashville and could challenge Joey Ortiz or Garrett Mitchell/Blake Perkins for playing time midway through the season.

Sproat, 25, is a big league ready rotation option. A second-round pick out of the University of Florida in 2023, he debuted as a September call-up. The 6’3″ righty made four starts, giving up 11 runs across 20 2/3 innings. Sproat otherwise spent the season in Triple-A, where he worked to a 4.24 ERA across 121 frames. He fanned 22.1% of opponents while issuing walks at a slightly elevated 10.4% clip. He has a six-pitch mix and works in the 96-97 MPH range on his sinker and four-seam fastball.

Baseball America’s scouting report credits Sproat with a plus changeup and slider. They write that he has the upside of an average or better starter, albeit with some relief risk based on his average control. He’s not as highly-regarded as McLean or Tong, but it’s not surprising the Mets weren’t willing to part with either of those prospects for a rental. McLean seems categorically untouchable. Michael Marino reported that Milwaukee had tried to involve Tong in discussions on Peralta but were quickly rebuffed. They then turned to a Williams/Sproat framework. It seems they needed to part with Myers to push the deal over the top.

Milwaukee wasn’t going to move Peralta without landing a strong prospect return. His salary was affordable enough that they didn’t need to trade him for salary relief. They certainly weren’t going to re-sign him, though, and it’s their usual operating procedure to hear clubs out on veteran stars who are approaching free agency. It doesn’t make a trade inevitable — they held Willy Adames and let him walk for a compensatory draft pick — but Peralta joins Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes and Williams as recent stars traded within a year or two of reaching the open market.

The Brewers never go into a full rebuild. They’re coming off a 97-win season and advanced to the NLCS. They’ll expect to compete for a fourth consecutive NL Central title. Milwaukee won the division in ’24 after the Burnes trade, which was the most direct parallel for their decision on Peralta. They also landed two prospects in that deal, Ortiz and left-hander DL Hall, who were borderline Top 100 talents who were at the MLB level. Williams and Sproat are probably a little more highly-regarded than the players they got in the Burnes trade, though their deal with Baltimore also included a competitive balance draft pick and didn’t involve the secondary piece in Myers.

Brandon Woodruff will slot atop the rotation after accepting the qualifying offer. Quinn Priester, Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson, Chad Patrick, Robert Gasser and Sproat could all battle for jobs. The Brewers haven’t closed the door on giving Angel Zerpa or Aaron Ashby rotation looks, though they’re each likelier to end up in relief. President of baseball operations Matt Arnold acknowledged that getting Woodruff back made them more comfortable parting with Peralta (relayed by Curt Hogg of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

There’s a lot of upside with this group, but they’ll probably need to dip into the lower tiers of free agency for a back-end arm to provide innings. RosterResource projects their payroll around $126MM, roughly $11MM north of where they began the ’25 season. They should nevertheless be able to sign a starter for a few million dollars as Spring Training approaches. They wouldn’t have issued the QO to Woodruff if ownership weren’t willing to approve at least a slight payroll bump.

Milwaukee fans are familiar with the churn, but it’s surely a blow to lose another homegrown star and fan favorite. Peralta was third in franchise history in strikeouts and eighth in wins. He’s a two-time All-Star who has been a part of seven playoff teams over the past eight years. He’s out of the division but anchoring the rotation for what looks to be one of their top competitors in the National League.

Michael Marino first reported that the Brewers and Mets were discussing Peralta for Williams and Sproat. Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated indicated talks were accelerating, while Jeff Passan of ESPN first had the agreement. Joel Sherman of The New York Post reported Myers’ inclusion. Respective images courtesy of Benny Sieu, Michael McLoone, Sam Navarro and Brad Penner — Imagn Images.

Mets Designate Cooper Criswell For Assignment

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The Mets announced they’ve designated right-hander Cooper Criswell for assignment. They needed to clear a spot on the 40-man roster after tonight’s two-for-two trade because Jett Williams had not been on the roster.

Criswell has been a DFA casualty following a big trade twice this offseason. The Red Sox squeezed him out after the Jhostynxon Garcia/Johan Oviedo deal. The Mets grabbed him off waivers a day later but will now need to trade or waive him themselves. Criswell and the Red Sox had worked out an $800K contract early in the offseason.

While the righty locked in a fully guaranteed salary a little above the MLB minimum, that also pointed to a likely offseason DFA. It has become increasingly common for teams to work out slightly above minimum deals with players whom they’re considering dropping from the 40-man roster. The salary could serve as a minor deterrent for another team to place a waiver claim.

Perhaps more importantly, it gives the player incentive to accept a minor league assignment if they clear. The 29-year-old Criswell was outrighted by the Rays during the 2022 season. That gives him the right to decline future outrights in his career. It’s less likely that he’d walk away from guaranteed money, so the Mets could stash him in Triple-A if no other team places a claim.

Criswell had a decent season in a swing role in 2024. He logged a career-high 99 1/3 innings with a 4.08 earned run average. He doesn’t have huge velocity or swing-and-miss potential, but he threw strikes and got a decent number of ground-balls. He didn’t get nearly as much big league work last season. Criswell logged 17 2/3 frames with a 3.57 ERA over seven appearances. He spent the rest of the season at Triple-A Worcester, pitching to a 3.70 ERA with an above-average 24.5% strikeout rate across 65 2/3 frames.

Latest On Rays Stadium Plans

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The Rays continue their efforts to find a workable plan for a new stadium in the Tampa Bay area. They took a step in that direction on Tuesday, as the board of trustees at Hillsborough College voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with the team (link via Nina Moske, Colleen Wright and Lucy Marques of The Tampa Bay Times). It’s a non-binding agreement between the Rays and the college as the team pursues a stadium/mixed-use development plan at its Dale Mabry campus.

The team’s lease at Tropicana Field runs through 2028. They’re hopeful of having a new stadium built for the start of the ’29 season. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time to work out funding agreements with the city and county before getting construction underway. The team’s deal on Tuesday was with the college to zero in on a potential stadium site. They have not worked out any kind of public funding deals.

The Rays had a 2024 agreement on a stadium that would have been in St. Petersburg, which is located in Pinellas County. The deal collapsed after hurricane damage held up county approval of certain bonds, which led the Rays to argue they needed more money to cover cost overruns associated with the delay. Talks between the team and city/county officials became acrimonious enough that the Rays pivoted to working with Hillsborough County officials and the City of Tampa.

An inability to work out a stadium deal was seemingly the driving force in Stu Sternberg’s decision to sell his majority share in the franchise last year. Patrick Zalupski is now leading ownership and taking another crack at working out a deal within Tampa itself. City and county officials have given mixed signals on whether they’ll approve public money.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, a proponent of a deal in Tampa, suggested this afternoon that he believes the team would pursue opportunities in Orlando if they don’t make sufficient progress on the Dale Mabry site (link via Nicolas Villamil of The Tampa Bay Times). There has been growing support in Orlando for a team, either via relocation or expansion, but MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and Rays’ officials have maintained they’re focused on the Tampa area at the moment.

Angels To Re-Sign Yoan Moncada

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The Angels are reportedly in agreement with Yoán Moncada on a one-year deal. It’s a $4MM guarantee for the client of The Movement Baseball. The Angels have an opening on the 40-man roster and will not need to make a corresponding move to finalize the contract.

Moncada is back for a second season with the Halos. It’s a similar contract to the $5MM deal that he signed last February. Moncada played reasonably well when healthy but missed a third of the season to a pair of injured list stints. A right thumb sprain and inflammation in his right knee kept him out of action for the majority of the first half. He only played in 36 games before the All-Star Break, though he was available for the entire second half.

The 30-year-old Moncada put together a .234/.336/.448 showing across 289 plate appearances. He connected on 12 home runs and drew walks at a strong 11.1% rate while striking out a little more than a quarter of the time. It was a typical Moncada season — solid power and on-base skills with lots of strikeouts and a couple injury absences.

Moncada was once the top prospect in MLB. He had a couple star-level performances with the White Sox in 2019 and ’21 but didn’t become the franchise player they expected when they signed him to a $70MM extension in Spring Training 2020. Moncada combined for a .234/.288/.386 batting line between 2022-23. He barely played in ’24 because of a serious adductor (groin) strain, and the White Sox had an easy call to buy him out for $5MM instead of a $25MM club option.

A switch-hitter, Moncada has been better from the left side of the plate over his career. The Angels used mostly in a platoon capacity last year, as he only took 27 plate appearances against southpaws. He’ll get the majority of playing time at third base but could cede some at-bats against lefties, with righty-hitting Vaughn Grissom and Denzer Guzman options for at-bats.

Grissom, acquired from the Red Sox in a buy-low trade at the Winter Meetings, is a better fit at second base. The Angels are likely to give former first-round pick Christian Moore another look at the keystone, but he struggled to a .198/.284/.370 line in his first 53 MLB games. Moore has only 30 games of Triple-A experience and could need more time in the minors. Grissom is out of options and will be on the big league roster in some capacity. Former top prospect Oswald Peraza is also out of options but seems less assured to avoid landing on waivers out of Spring Training.

The Angels have signed five MLB free agent contracts this offseason, all via one-year deals. Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Jordan Romano and Alek Manoah came aboard for $5MM or less. They’ve spent a combined $16.95MM this offseason without making any moves that extend beyond 2026. RosterResource now calculates their payroll around $180MM, about $13MM south of where they opened the ’25 season. They still need to add at least one starter and would ideally upgrade in center field, where Josh Lowe, Bryce Teodosio and Wade Meckler are the top options.

Francys Romero first reported the agreement. Jon Heyman of The New York Post had the $4MM guarantee. Image courtesy of Peter Aiken, Imagn Images.

Mets, Brewers In Conversations About Freddy Peralta

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The Mets and Brewers are in discussions about star right-hander Freddy Peralta, according to reports from Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated and Jon Heyman of The New York Post. There’s no deal in place, but The Post’s Joel Sherman characterizes talks as “serious.” Ragazzo adds that middle infield/center field prospect Jett Williams has come up in conversations.

This morning, Michael Marino reported that Milwaukee was looking to acquire Williams and rookie right-hander Brandon Sproat in a Peralta deal. According to Marino, the Mets rebuffed earlier interest from the Brew Crew in top pitching prospect Jonah Tong. Meanwhile, Sherman adds that swingman Tobias Myers would likely head from Milwaukee to Queens if a deal gets across the finish line.

Peralta has been a top target for teams in need of rotation help. He’s coming off a fifth place Cy Young finish behind 176 2/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball. The Mets have been in the rotation market all offseason but haven’t been keen on making long-term free agent commitments. President of baseball operations David Stearns reiterated this morning that he still hoped to add a starter (link via Jorge Castillo of ESPN).

Braves Sign Tayler Scott, Tristin English To Minor League Deals

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The Braves signed right-handers Javy Guerra and Blayne Enlow to minor league contracts (h/t to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy). They also added first baseman Tristin English and reliever Tayler Scott on minor league deals last month, according to the MLB.com transaction log.

Scott, 33, is a well-traveled righty who made 24 appearances between the Astros and Diamondbacks last year. He struggled to a 7.90 earned run average over 27 1/3 innings. The South Africa-born pitcher is only a year removed from firing 68 2/3 frames of 2.23 ERA ball with Houston. He carries a 5.51 mark with a 21.2% strikeout percentage and 12.2% walk rate over parts of five MLB campaigns.

Guerra returns to affiliated ball after two seasons in Japan. The 30-year-old infielder turned reliever was employed by the Hanshin Tigers from 2024-25. Guerra pitched to a 1.55 ERA across 59 appearances two seasons ago. He nevertheless spent most of last year with the Tigers’ minor league affiliate, only pitching 4 2/3 innings at the NPB level. The Panamanian-born Guerra has a big arm but has struggled to throw strikes since making the mid-career move to pitching.

English, a 28-year-old first baseman, played seven games for the Diamondbacks last year. He went 2-22 with a walk and eight strikeouts. English had a good season for Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate, batting .324/.368/.524 with 16 homers across 428 plate appearances. That was better than average production even at a hitter’s paradise in Reno. English has good contact skills and reasonable power, but he’s prone to expanding the strike zone. The deal with the Braves is a homecoming for the Georgia Tech product, who’ll likely open the season at Triple-A Gwinnett.

Enlow, 27 in March, is a former third-round pick who was once a well-regarded prospect in the Minnesota system. The 6’3″ righty pitched well through Double-A but hit a wall at the Triple-A level. Enlow signed a minor league deal with the Giants going into 2024 but suffered a season-ending injury after two starts, then missed all of last season. He’s a pure depth add for the rotation who is still looking to reach the majors for the first time.

Dodgers Sign Kyle Tucker

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The two-time defending champions have done it again. The Dodgers officially announced their four-year, $240MM contract with Kyle Tucker on Wednesday afternoon. The deal includes $30MM in deferrals and will come with an approximate $57.1MM annual value for luxury tax purposes. Tucker, a client of Excel Sports Management, receives a $64MM signing bonus — all but $10MM of which is paid upfront — and can opt out after the second or third seasons. Outfielder Michael Siani was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Los Angeles will pay the first $54MM signing bonus next month. They’ll owe the remaining $10MM in February 2027, and the signing bonus is guaranteed even in the event of a work stoppage. Tucker will make a $1MM salary this year, followed by a $55MM salary in ’27 and $60MM annually for the final two years if he doesn’t opt out. The team is deferring $10MM annually in the final three years, which will be paid in installments between 2036-45.

Tucker, who turns 29 on Saturday, is the latest superstar addition to what was already MLB’s most feared offense. He slots into a lineup alongside Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Will Smith, Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman. He’ll join Hernández and Andy Pages as the primary outfielders, with Edman capable of logging center field action when he’s not at second base.

Los Angeles has four outfield prospects who rank prominently near the top of their farm system. They reportedly wanted to avoid locking in long-term commitments as a result. They’ve accomplished that with arguably the biggest annual value in the sport’s history.

It’s a $60MM average on the surface. Without adjusting for deferrals, Tucker’s deal would be the second-highest AAV ever. Ohtani landed a $70MM AAV on his 10-year, $700MM guarantee, though the massive deferrals meant it had a “true” annual value closer to $46MM. One should therefore view the $51MM annual salary on Juan Soto’s 15-year, $765M deal as the more accurate record holder until tonight. Tucker’s adjusted AAV beats that by more than $6MM.

Although Tucker was this offseason’s top free agent, he’s a clear step below the likes of Aaron Judge, Ohtani and Soto of the previous three winters. Tucker has been a consistent All-Star who’s a little outside the top tier of superstars. The fifth overall pick by the Astros in 2015, he broke out in the shortened 2020 season after logging limited big league action in the two preceding years. He connected on 29 or 30 home runs in each of his first three full campaigns, improving his approach along the way.

Tucker was already a great hitter and seemed to be on his way to pulling closer to Judge, Soto and Ohtani with a monster start to the 2024 season. He was out to a .266/.395/.584 slash with more walks than strikeouts through the first two months. He fouled a ball off his right leg and was placed on the injured list with what the Astros initially termed a shin contusion. It turned out to be more serious, as subsequent testing revealed a fracture that kept him out for three months.

The four-time All-Star returned no worse for wear and had a fantastic September. The Astros nevertheless decided to field trade calls after the season. They were never going to meet Tucker’s asking price on an extension and felt they could cash him in for help elsewhere on the roster. They lined up a deal with the Cubs around the Winter Meetings that sent Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, and prospect Cam Smith to Houston for Tucker’s final year of arbitration.

Tucker’s lone season in Chicago had its ups and downs. He got out to another blistering start, running a .284/.359/.524 slash with 12 homers through the first day of June. He jammed his right thumb diving into second on a stolen base attempt that day. He avoided the injured list, but subsequent testing revealed that he sustained a tiny fracture at the top of his hand between his ring finger and pinky.

The hand injury wasn’t viewed as a serious issue until Tucker’s performance began to suffer. That didn’t occur right away. His next few weeks were the finest of the season, in fact. Tucker slashed .311/.404/.578 across 25 games that month. Things went off the rails in July, as he batted .189/.325/.235 with just one home run over the next six weeks.

The existence of the hairline fracture wasn’t reported until the middle of August. Cubs officials acknowledged that Tucker had been injured in June but said that he was fully healthy by the time the injury was revealed publicly. Maybe the thumb became a retroactive explanation for what was actually a simple slump, though it’s possible he developed some subtle bad habits in June as he tried to mitigate the pain of hitting through the break. Manager Craig Counsell gave Tucker a three-game mental reset towards the end of August before plugging him back into the middle of the order.

Tucker appeared to be getting back into a groove when he hit another speed bump. He strained his left calf in early September and landed on the injured list, costing him three weeks in the season’s final month. He finished the regular season with a .266/.377/.464 slash line in a little under 600 trips to the plate. He hit .259 with one homer in eight postseason games as the Cubs advanced to the NL Division Series.

The uneven second half soured some Cubs fans on the Tucker acquisition. His overall numbers were in line with his career marks. The offense was 36 percentage points better than league average by wRC+. His lifetime .273/.358/.507 batting line is 38 points above par. Tucker has been in that range in four of the past five seasons. The only exception is his .289/.408/.585 showing over 78 games two years ago.

The ’24 season is probably an outlier, but the Dodgers should feel they’re adding one of the top 10-15 hitters in MLB. He doesn’t expand the strike zone and has a rare blend of plus contact skills and above-average power. Tucker has no issue hitting pitchers of either handedness. He doesn’t have the huge exit velocities of the sport’s premier sluggers, yet he’s a safe bet for 25-30 homers in a healthy season.

Tucker’s glove isn’t as strong at this stage of his career. He won a Gold Glove with Houston in 2022. His defensive grades and sprint speed have declined as he’s gotten into his late-20s. That presumably gave teams pause when considering a long-term investment. Tucker’s defense should remain serviceable in the short term. The Dodgers can comfortably plug him into right field and kick Hernández over to left if they don’t trade him.

The Cubs issued Tucker a qualifying offer but made little effort to retain him. The bidding seemingly came down to the Dodgers, Mets and Blue Jays. New York was similarly hesitant to make a long-term commitment, as they reportedly offered a four-year deal at $55MM per season. Toronto was seemingly willing to entertain a longer term at a lower annual value.

Tucker is L.A.’s second qualified free agent signing of the offseason. They added Edwin Díaz on a three-year, $69MM deal around the Winter Meetings. They surrendered their second- and fifth-round draft choices this summer, plus $1MM from their 2027 international bonus pool, to sign Díaz. They’ll forfeit their third- and sixth-round picks for Tucker. The Cubs receive a compensatory pick between Competitive Balance Round B and the start of the third round (currently slated to land 77th overall).

MLBTR had predicted an 11-year, $400MM deal for Tucker at the beginning of the offseason. It’s unclear if any team would have been willing to go to those lengths. He’s giving up some measure of long-term security in exchange for massive salaries over the next couple seasons and the chance to return to free agency at the tail end of his prime.

He’ll have the option of retesting the market before his age-31 and age-32 campaigns — and without being attached to draft compensation barring a change to the qualifying offer rules in the intervening CBA. A five- or six-year guarantee could be well within range at that point. He’ll collect a huge signing bonus, essentially shatter the record for average annual value, and join the team with the best chance to win the World Series in the interim.

While the specific salary breakdown hasn’t been reported, the Dodgers are reportedly paying $54MM of the signing bonus right away. RosterResource estimates their cash payroll obligations close to $428MM for the upcoming season. Tucker’s $57.1MM AAV will push their competitive balance tax projection north of $395MM.

They’re taxed at a 110% rate on spending above $304MM, so Tucker’s deal comes with a staggering $62.81MM tax hit in the first season. The Dodgers are essentially valuing Tucker’s 2026 season alone at $120MM. L.A. ended last season with a luxury tax payroll of $417MM, costing them another $169.4MM in taxes. Their tax bill alone was higher than the final payroll calculations of 12 teams. They’re trending towards a similar or potentially even greater amount in 2026 depending on what else they do this offseason and at the trade deadline. The aggressiveness continues as they aim for the first three-peat in MLB since the 1998-2000 Yankees.

Tucker’s deal is going to be the latest example for many fans and smaller-market owners who will argue for a salary cap in the upcoming round of collective bargaining negotiations. This level of spending also reaffirms why the MLB Players Association has steadfastly maintained that a cap is a non-starter. Next offseason’s CBA talks are expected to be similarly or even more contentious than those that froze the sport for 99 days during the 2022-23 lockout.

That’s not the concern of the Dodgers or their fans, who’ll be thrilled to add another star as they try to cement their dynastic run. They’ll be heavy favorites in the NL West, and it’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which this team doesn’t make the playoffs. A championship is far from guaranteed, however. The Jays were one swing away from beating them in Games 6 and 7 of last year’s World Series. An extra quarter-second on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s dash home or another few feet on Ernie Clement’s fly ball in the bottom of the ninth would have flipped the outcome. L.A. ownership and the front office aren’t getting complacent.

After missing on Tucker, the Jays seem likely to reengage with Bo Bichette. Their longtime shortstop is now the top unsigned player. He has reportedly had a productive meeting with the Phillies, but the Jays and Bichette have long expressed mutual interest in a reunion. Bichette wouldn’t be a great fit for the Mets, but they could conceivably pivot to challenging the Yankees for Cody Bellinger. The Mets still don’t have a left fielder after swapping Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien. Their reported offer to Tucker demonstrates there’s plenty of room for short-term spending, but president of baseball operations David Stearns has shied away from lengthy commitments this winter.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that Tucker was signing with the Dodgers. Jon Heyman of the New York Post had it as a short-term contract, while Robert Murray of FanSided was first on the four-year, $240MM guarantee. Murray reported the opt-out after the second season, and Passan had the third-year out. Heyman reported the $30MM in deferrals. Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News was first on the $57.1MM post-deferral AAV. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers had the signing bonus details. The Associated Press had the salary breakdown and deferral specifics.

Image courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel, Imagn Images.

White Sox Trade Luis Robert Jr. To Mets

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The long-awaited Luis Robert Jr. trade has arrived. The Mets announced they’ve acquired the former All-Star center fielder from the White Sox for young infielder/outfielder Luisangel Acuña and minor league right-hander Truman Pauley. There’s no cash involved and no corresponding moves because Robert and Acuña were each on the 40-man roster.

This brings an end to what had been years of Robert trade rumors. The White Sox have held their center fielder through multiple rebuilding seasons. In retrospect, they surely wish they’d moved him over the 2023-24 offseason. Robert was coming off a career year and looked like a budding star entering the prime of his career. The past two seasons have been more challenging, as he has battled injuries and struggled while fielding questions about when he would be traded.

Robert was a high-profile prospect when he signed with the Sox out of Cuba in 2017. He commanded a $26MM bonus, the kind of hefty sum for an international amateur that would subsequently be prohibited in the collective bargaining agreement. Robert’s dominant minor league performance further spurred optimism, and the White Sox signed him to a $50MM extension over the 2019-20 offseason. At the time, it was the largest extension for a player who had to make his MLB debut, and it ensured he’d break camp in 2020 without any kind of service time games.

While that year’s schedule would be shortened by the pandemic, Robert popped 11 homers and won a Gold Glove in center field. He placed second in Rookie of the Year balloting. Robert’s numbers jumped in year two, as he hit .338/.378/.567 across 296 plate appearances. A torn flexor tendon in his right hip cost him three months, however, and the blend of tantalizing talent and frustrating durability would be a recurring theme in his career.

Robert had a trio of injured list stints, albeit all for minor issues, the following season. He stayed healthy for almost all of the ’23 campaign and showed the star-level ceiling he possesses at full strength. Robert drilled 38 homers, 36 doubles and one triple across 595 plate appearances. He hit .264/.315/.542 to win a Silver Slugger Award. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each valued his season around five wins above replacement after accounting for his excellent center field defense.

The White Sox nevertheless went 61-101 and were outscored by 200 runs. It was clear they were amidst a multi-year teardown, but they elected to hang onto Robert when they had four years of affordable contractual control. They could have netted multiple top prospects if they’d shopped him.

Robert’s production has tanked as the team has slogged through two more terrible seasons. He’s a .223/.288/.372 hitter in 856 plate appearances since the start of 2024. He has struck out at a near-30% rate while continuing to battle injuries. The right hip flared up early in the ’24 season and kept him out for two months. A pair of left hamstring strains were the culprit last summer, with the latter costing him all of September.

The physical tools remain encouraging. Robert is one of the fastest players in the league despite the various lower body injuries. He ranks in the 92nd percentile in bat speed, according to Statcast. He’s an aggressive hitter who is always going to have his share of strikeouts. Teams would happily live with a lower on-base percentage if he’s making the kind of power and defensive impact he did during his best days in Chicago.

It’s largely a change-of-scenery bet from the Mets’ perspective. Robert only turned 28 in August and hasn’t shown signs of physical decline. He has spent the past three seasons on one of the worst teams in MLB, fully aware that he’d be traded at some point. A new environment could help him get back on track, although the durability concerns will persist even if his numbers improve.

Robert will at least upgrade the defense and bring some upside on the bases. He has stolen 20+ bags in three straight seasons and went 33-41 in stolen base attempts last year. He should also bring some juice against left-handed pitching, as he’s a career .293/.367/.505 hitter with the platoon advantage. His production against southpaws tanked in 2024 but rebounded last season.

The biggest risk for the Mets is financial. They’re assuming the entirety of Robert’s $20MM salary and committing to a $2MM buyout on a $20MM club option for the 2027 season. It’s not a small amount to spend on a player who hasn’t produced much over the past two years, and that’s before considering the tax implications.

The Mets pay a 110% tax on spending as a three-time repeat luxury tax payor whose CBT payroll is above $304MM. Robert is guaranteed $22MM for one season — the option buyout is guaranteed money — so they’re tagged with a $24.2MM tax hit. It’s a $46.2MM commitment overall, albeit one that comes with the upside of what could be a bargain option in ’27 if Robert hits his ceiling. RosterResource calculate their CBT number around $357MM, putting them on track to exceed last year’s season-ending $347MM mark — which required a $91.6MM tax payment. There’s a good chance they’ll have a tax bill north of $100MM by the end of the ’26 season.

They’ve taken on $64MM in AAV commitments for the 2026 season between the Robert trade and Bo Bichette signing over the past five days. The Mets haven’t wanted to lock themselves into lengthy deals one offseason after the Juan Soto signing. They’ve compensated with significant short-term investments to chase upside. Robert should be the everyday center fielder as long as he’s healthy. That’d push Tyrone Taylor either into a fourth outfield role or as a stopgap in left field if prospects Carson Benge and Jett Williams open the season in Triple-A. It seems likely to take them out of the running on Cody Bellinger, the top unsigned position player.

Although the White Sox missed their opportunity to trade Robert at the apex of his value, they deserve some credit for exercising this year’s option rather than cutting him loose for nothing in free agency. That at least netted them an intriguing depth piece in Acuña, who felt superfluous on the Mets but is a fine target for a rebuilding team.

The younger brother of Ronald Acuña Jr., Luisangel is a former Rangers signee whom the Mets acquired in the 2023 Max Scherzer deadline deal. His bloodlines and previous inclusion in one marquee trade have made him a more well-known prospect than his production probably warrants, but he’s not yet 24 and provides some multi-positional utility for skipper Will Venable.

Acuña signed as a shortstop and has the arm strength to profile on the left side of the infield. There weren’t many shortstop reps available on a team with Francisco Lindor, leading the Mets to bounce him around in a utility capacity. Acuña has plus-plus speed and could be an option in center field as well. He’s splitting his time between shortstop and center field in the Venezuelan winter league, but the majority of his MLB experience has come as a second baseman.

The White Sox shouldn’t have any issue getting Acuña in the lineup even if he’s not expected to push Colson Montgomery off shortstop. He could step into the everyday center field role vacated by the Robert trade or push for second/third base playing time alongside Chase Meidroth, Miguel Vargas and Lenyn Sosa.

The question is whether Acuña will bring enough to the table offensively to warrant playing time once the Sox are better positioned to contend. He’s a .248/.299/.341 hitter in his first 233 MLB plate appearances. Acuña has had a similarly light bat against Triple-A pitching. The right-handed hitter owns a .265/.307/.360 line in more than 700 trips to the plate at the top minor league level. Acuña has solid contact skills but puts a lot of balls on the ground without big exit velocities. He’s a slash-and-dash type hitter whose best current ability is as a runner, where he went 16-17 in stolen base tries over 95 MLB games last year.

Acuña is out of minor league options, so the White Sox will need to keep him on the MLB roster. They wouldn’t have traded Robert for him if they didn’t intend to do so. The lack of roster flexibility was a much bigger hangup for the Mets, who also cannot option Mark Vientos and are unlikely to send Brett Baty back to Triple-A. They knew they’d lose Acuña on waivers but weren’t positioned to offer him the playing time to take a step forward offensively. Chicago can control him through the 2031 season, as Acuña has yet to reach a year of MLB service.

The White Sox also add a low minors arm in Pauley, a 6’2″ righty whom the Mets took in the 12th round of last year’s draft. The Harvard product received an above-slot $400K signing bonus. Baseball America ranked him the #435 prospect in the draft, writing in June that teams like the riding life on his mid-90s fastball and plus spin rates on his breaking ball. Pauley walked more than 15% of opponents with a 4.61 ERA in his draft year. His command will need to take a significant leap if he’s to get to the majors, even as a reliever, but the Sox’s player development team is clearly intrigued by his raw stuff.

From a payroll standpoint, dealing Robert drops Chicago’s projected spending to $67MM. They opened last season around $81MM, so this could free them up for a late-offseason depth addition or two. The Sox could bring in a veteran middle reliever and/or a fourth outfielder whom they’d try to flip for another lottery ticket prospect in the Pauley mold at the deadline.

Jeff Passan of ESPN was first on the trade terms. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported that the Mets were assuming the full salary. Respective images courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Jay Biggerstaff of Imagn Images.

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