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Rays Claim Jake Fraley; DFA Kameron Misner, Bob Seymour

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The Rays claimed outfielder Jake Fraley off waivers from the Braves, according to an announcement from Atlanta. The Braves evidently weren’t planning to tender him an arbitration contract and put him on waivers this week.

Tampa Bay also confirmed their previously reported option decisions involving Brandon Lowe, Pete Fairbanks and Taylor Walls. They added Forrest Whitley to the 40-man roster to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency while designating four players for assignment: first baseman Bob Seymour, pitchers Brian Van Belle and Nate Lavender, and outfielder Kameron Misner. Meanwhile, three players who DFA’d earlier this week — Caleb Boushley, Alex Faedo and Stuart Fairchild — cleared waivers and are electing minor league free agency.

Atlanta had claimed Fraley off waivers from the Reds in August. The lefty-hitting outfielder collected seven hits in 23 at-bats but suffered a season-ending oblique strain in the middle of September. Atlanta was well out of contention by that point, so the claim was largely about getting an early look to see if they wanted to retain Fraley in arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $3.6MM salary if he’s tendered a contract for his last year of club control.

Fraley was a second-round pick by Tampa Bay back in 2016. They traded him to Seattle before he made his big league debut. Fraley has played parts of seven seasons in the majors, mostly with the Mariners and Reds, and is a career .261/.344/.432 hitter against right-handed pitching. He’s limited to the corners, where he’s a league average defender. This doesn’t guarantee he’ll stick with the Rays, who have a couple weeks to decide whether they want to tender him a contract. They could try to negotiate a deal lower than his projected salary before November 20 if they see him as a borderline non-tender candidate.

Whitley gets back onto the roster after being waived in early July. The former Houston first-round pick gave up 10 runs (eight earned) over five major league appearances with Tampa Bay. He has surrendered 22 runs in 15 1/3 career big league frames. Something appeared to click in Triple-A after the Rays demoted him, however. Whitley fired 55 1/3 innings of 2.60 ERA ball while striking out 30.4% of opponents with their top affiliate in Durham. He would’ve been a free agent if the Rays didn’t reselect his contract tonight. He’s out of options and could be on the roster bubble again next spring, but this suggests the Rays are open to the possibility of carrying him on the MLB roster.

The shuffling required a handful of cuts. Misner, 27, was a former supplemental first-round pick who has shown big physical tools with too much swing-and-miss. He has fanned in 34.1% of his career plate appearances and is a .203/.260/.325 hitter over 232 trips to the plate. Seymour, also 27, had a huge .263/.327/.553 showing with 30 homers in Durham. That got him an MLB opportunity at the end of the year, but the lefty batter struggled to a .205/.253/.282 line over his first 26 major league games.

Van Belle and Lavender were relatively new additions to the pitching staff who didn’t make much of an impact because of injury. Van Belle came over from the Reds in the Zack Littell trade. The 29-year-old made his first four MLB appearances before suffering a season-ending elbow injury.

Lavender was a Rule 5 pick out of the Mets’ system who never pitched with the Rays. He was rehabbing from an elbow procedure at the time he was taken in the Rule 5 and apparently didn’t progress as hoped. He collected a year of major league salary, though he surely wishes he’d had an opportunity to carve out a longer big league role. He’ll be placed on waivers and offered back to the Mets if he goes unclaimed.

Giants Claim Reiver Sanmartin, Justin Dean

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The Giants have claimed reliever Reiver Sanmartin and outfielder Justin Dean off waivers from the Reds and Dodgers, respectively. They opened a 40-man roster spot by designating righty Mason Black for assignment. The moves were relayed by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

Sanmartin, 29, has pitched parts of four MLB campaigns with Cincinnati. He has only made one big league appearance over the past two seasons, tossing 1 2/3 frames while allowing an unearned run against the Blue Jays on September 2. The Colombian-born southpaw otherwise pitched the entire season with Cincinnati’s top farm team in Louisville. He had a strong year, working 67 1/3 innings of 2.67 ERA ball behind a 58.7% ground-ball rate.

Dean is a speed and defense center fielder who just won a World Series with Los Angeles. He got into 18 regular season games and made 13 more appearances in the postseason. They only let him bat twice — he went 0-2 with a strikeout — but clearly valued him as a depth piece. The 28-year-old Dean (29 next month) has a full slate of minor league options and is coming off a .289/.378/.431 showing with 27 steals in Triple-A.

The moves probably spell the end of Black’s time in San Francisco. He’s a former third-round pick who was viewed as one of the organization’s more talented pitching prospects when he was called up in 2024. Black struggled to a 6.44 ERA across 36 1/3 innings during his debut season. He only pitched once in the big leagues this year, instead struggling to a 5.81 earned run average over 30 appearances (24 starts) in Triple-A.

Black will be traded or placed on waivers within the next five days. There’s a decent chance another team takes a flier. He turns 26 next month and still has a minor league option. Black sits around 93 MPH as a starter but could be a speculative relief target. He has posted middling Triple-A numbers in consecutive seasons but fanned nearly a third of opposing hitters in Double-A back in 2023.

Mariners Claim Ryan Loutos From Nationals

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The Mariners claimed reliever Ryan Loutos off waivers from the Nationals, per a team announcement. The move brings Seattle’s 40-man roster count to 38.

Loutos joins the fourth organization of his career. He’s a former undrafted free agent signee of the Cardinals who debuted with St. Louis in 2024. He made three appearances. The Cards designated him for assignment in April and traded him to the Dodgers for cash. Loutos didn’t spend much time in L.A. (though he’ll collect a World Series ring for his brief stop), as he made just two big league appearances. The Dodgers lost him on waivers to the Nats in June.

The 6’5″ righty pitched ten times for the Nationals. He allowed 16 runs (12 earned) with six walks and strikeouts apiece over nine innings. He had a better season in Triple-A, where he combined for 43 2/3 innings of 3.50 ERA ball. Loutos recorded a league average 22.8% strikeout rate while walking a little over 10% of opponents in the minors. He averages 95 MPH on his heater and has a slider and changeup.

There’s minimal cost for the Mariners in using an open roster spot to stash Loutos as bullpen depth. There’s no guarantee he’ll stick on the 40-man all offseason. If he does, he can be sent to Triple-A Tacoma without going on waivers. Loutos still has one minor league option remaining.

Blue Jays Discussing Extension With Manager John Schneider

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The Blue Jays have had conversations with manager John Schneider about a contract extension, GM Ross Atkins confirmed at today’s end-of-season press conference (relayed by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet). It seems likely that’ll get done at some point this offseason. For the moment, Atkins confirmed that the Jays have officially exercised their 2026 option on Schneider’s contract.

Schneider took over the position on an interim basis when Charlie Montoyo was fired halfway through the 2022 season. The Jays removed the interim tag and signed him to a three-year contract with an option over the offseason. The guaranteed portion of the deal expired at the end of this past season. The Jays weren’t going to make a managerial change on the heels of an American League title.

It was a formality that they’d exercise the option and entirely expected they’d open talks on a multi-year deal. Most teams prefer not to have their managers or top front office personnel working on expiring contracts. That’s especially true when the manager led the team tantalizingly close to a championship. The Jays pushed the Dodgers to the brink in Game 7 of the Fall Classic. They were a blown save and/or one timely hit away from their first title in more than 30 years.

As is the case with any manager, Schneider has made some decisions that came under fire with the fanbase. His handling of the pitching staff during the 2023 Wild Card series loss to the Twins was heavily criticized. One can quibble with how aggressively he pinch ran for many of his best hitters in Game 3 of this year’s World Series, which left the Jays with a mostly punchless lineup in a game that went 18 innings.

Still, the Jays have won just over 54% of their regular season games over three-plus years with Schneider at the helm. He has led the team to two postseason berths, an AL championship, and fostered what appears to be a close-knit clubhouse. That came into play when Shane Bieber exercised a below-market player option to give things another go in Toronto. The Jays’ offseason focus will be on getting a long-term deal done with Bo Bichette and further addressing the pitching staff.

Tigers To Decline Option On Jose Urquidy

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The Tigers informed right-hander José Urquidy that they’re declining his $4MM option, the pitcher told reporters in Mexico yesterday (video provided by Miguel Lugo). The team has not officially announced the decision. Detroit also has yet to announce their move on Paul Sewald, though they’re certainly going to buy him out for $1MM rather than exercise their end of a $10MM mutual option.

Urquidy was recovering from the second Tommy John surgery of his career when Detroit signed him to a $1MM deal last March. They knew he’d miss almost all of the 2025 campaign. They guaranteed him a little more than the league minimum for his rehab year while tacking on the club option to provide a potential source of cheap innings in 2026. The move also reunited Urquidy with A.J. Hinch, his former manager in Houston.

The 30-year-old righty did make it back to the mound at the end of the season. He pitched twice out of the bullpen in September, surrendering two runs with three strikeouts and walks apiece across 2 1/3 innings. His fastball averaged 93 MPH, which is right in line with his velocity from his days with the Astros. He didn’t need to hold that velocity over a full start, but it’s also not surprising that his stuff would be marginally down in his first couple outings back from elbow surgery.

In any case, the Tigers weren’t so impressed with his form that they wanted to commit $4MM at the beginning of the offseason. They could try to circle back later in the winter, but they’ll keep their options open for the time being. Tarik Skubal will anchor the staff barring a shocking trade. Jack Flaherty exercised his $20MM player option, though the Tigers could shop him if they want to clear payroll space for a bigger swing in the rotation. Reese Olson, Casey Mize and second-year righty Troy Melton project as the final three starters. Keider Montero and Sawyer Gipson-Long are their top depth arms. Jackson Jobe might return from Tommy John surgery in the second half.

Urquidy can now hear from all 30 teams as he looks for a rotation opportunity. He was a solid fourth starter before the injury. Urquidy turned in an earned run average just below 4.00 in more than 400 innings over parts of five seasons in Houston. He gave up a few too many home runs and didn’t miss a ton of bats, but he attacks the strike zone and has neutralized opposite-handed hitters behind an excellent changeup. He should be able to find an incentive-laden big league deal. A non-contender like the Nationals, Twins or White Sox might make the most sense by offering the clearest path to a rotation spot.

Padres To Exercise Option On Ramon Laureano

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The Padres are exercising their $6.5MM option on outfielder Ramón Laureano, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. That was an easy call coming off Laureano’s excellent 2025 season.

The righty-hitting outfielder put up a .281/.342/.512 batting line with 24 home runs over 488 plate appearances. He divided that between the Orioles and Padres, who acquired him alongside Ryan O’Hearn in a deadline deal that sent six prospects to Baltimore. Laureano and O’Hearn each continued to hit well down the stretch. Laureano posted a .269/.323/.489 line with nine longballs and doubles apiece and a pair of triples in 50 games with San Diego.

A broken index finger on his right hand kept Laureano off the Padres’ Wild Card Series roster. It’s not expected to impact his availability for Spring Training and certainly wasn’t going to lead them to reconsider a bargain option price. Laureano will be back as San Diego’s starting left fielder. He’ll slot alongside Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill in the outfield for new manager Craig Stammen.

O’Hearn and Luis Arraez are both hitting free agency, so the Padres will need to find an answer at first base or designated hitter. Laureano’s presence means the Padres won’t need Gavin Sheets to play much outfield if everyone’s healthy. The lefty-hitting Sheets had a bad September but was reasonably productive overall, batting .252/.317/.429 with 19 homers. He’s not going to keep the Padres from considering alternatives at first base but projects as the starter there for now — at least against right-handed pitching.

This was the seventh and final option decision for San Diego. Laureano and Wandy Peralta are back, as the lefty reliever decided not to opt out of the remaining two years on his contract. Robert Suarez, Michael King, Elias Díaz, Tyler Wade and Kyle Hart are all free agents. Suarez and King declined their options, while the Padres bought out Díaz, Hart and Wade.

Cubs Sign Colin Rea To One-Year Extension

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11:05am: The Cubs have officially announced Rea’s contract. MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian broke down the contract structure, noting that Rea will earn $5.5MM in 2026 with a $1MM buyout on a $7.5MM club option.

7:24am: The Cubs have hammered out a restructured deal with right-hander Colin Rea, reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams. It’s a $6.5MM guarantee that includes a club option for the 2027 season and maxes out at $13MM over two years if that option is exercised. Rea is represented by Joe Speed.

Chicago had previously held a $6MM option or a $750K buyout for the upcoming season. The new deal supersedes the buyout, so Rea technically picks up $5.75MM in new money. That’s more than the $5.25MM difference between the option price and the buyout. Rea gets an extra $500K overall, while the Cubs secure an extra year of team control.

The 35-year-old Rea is coming off a solid season. He signed as a swingman and was pressed into the rotation by the middle of April because of the season-ending injury to Justin Steele. Rea was generally good for 5-6 competitive innings each time out. He turned in a 3.95 earned run average while ranking second on the team with 159 1/3 innings. Rea had a pedestrian 19.2% strikeout rate but he rarely issues free passes and did a decent job keeping the ball in the yard.

It’s the third straight season in which Rea has been a capable fifth/sixth starter. He spent the 2023-24 campaigns with the Brewers, combining for a 4.40 ERA with a near-20% strikeout percentage in a little less than 300 innings. Only Freddy Peralta threw more innings for Milwaukee over that two-year stretch. Rea’s flexibility has clearly endeared him to Craig Counsell, who managed him with the Brewers in 2023 and this year with Chicago.

Second-year righty Cade Horton projects as the team’s top starter at the moment. They could get Steele back at some point in the first half. Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Rea are in the mix at the middle to back end. Javier Assad, Jordan Wicks and Ben Brown could compete for back-end spots (though the Cubs might commit to Brown as a full-time reliever sooner than later).

It’s clearly a light group for a playoff team. The Cubs figure to take a swing for at least a #2 or high-end #3 arm via trade or free agency. That’s all the more true after they declined their three-year option on Shota Imanaga. While there’s a slim chance Imanaga returns if the Cubs make him a qualifying offer, that decision seems to signal that the Cubs are aiming higher in their rotation targets.

The Cubs opened the ’25 season with a player payroll just under $193MM. RosterResource projects them around $154MM, including arbitration estimates, going into next season. They’re more than $70MM shy of the luxury tax threshold. The Rea extension nearly closes the book on the team’s option decisions. Their only remaining one is a $10MM mutual option for Justin Turner. The Cubs will easily decline their end in favor of a $2MM buyout.

Image courtesy of Michael McLoone, Imagn Images.

Diamondbacks Outright Four Players

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The D-Backs outrighted four players off the 40-man roster, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Right-handers John Curtiss and Casey Kelly, lefty Kyle Nelson, and infielder Connor Kaiser all went unclaimed on waivers. They can all elect free agency and will presumably do so within the next day or two.

Nelson is the only member of that group who spent more than one season with Arizona. The Snakes claimed the 29-year-old reliever off waivers from Cleveland over the 2021-22 offseason. Nelson pitched to a 2.19 ERA across 43 appearances during his first season in the desert. His numbers tailed off in 2023 and he hasn’t been much of a factor over the past two seasons. Nelson missed most of the ’24 campaign due to thoracic outlet syndrome. He only made three big league appearances while allowing more than a run per inning over 42 Triple-A games this year.

Curtiss signed a minor league contract with the Snakes over the offseason. They called him up in late June. He tossed 36 2/3 innings across 30 MLB appearances. Curtiss managed a respectable 3.93 ERA but only punched out 17% of batters faced. The 32-year-old righty carries a 4.03 ERA across 145 1/3 innings over parts of eight seasons. This amounts to an early non-tender instead of a projected $1.2MM arbitration salary.

Kelly and Kaiser got cups of coffee as late-season stopgaps. The 36-year-old Kelly pitched in a pair of games in August, pitching around a hit and a walk to work 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He spent most of the year working out of the rotation at Triple-A Reno, pitching to a 5.63 ERA with a well below-average 11.5% strikeout rate over 115 innings. Kaiser, who turns 29 in a few weeks, played in 11 games after his contract was selected in August. He picked up his first two big league knocks. The Vanderbilt product is a glove-only middle infielder who hit .236/.345/.406 with a 27.5% strikeout rate in Triple-A.

The cuts get Arizona’s 40-man roster to compliance for tomorrow’s deadline. Teams need to reinstate all players from the 60-day injured list by Thursday. The D-Backs had been at 44 players including those who’ll come off the injured list.

Joc Pederson Exercises Player Option

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Joc Pederson has officially exercised his $18.5MM player option for the 2026 season, according to a report from The Associated Press. The deal contains a matching mutual option for 2027. This was the only option decision for the Rangers this offseason.

It was also one of the easiest option calls of the winter. Pederson’s first season in Arlington was terrible. He signed as a near full-time designated hitter who was supposed to tee off on right-handed pitching. He instead hit .181/.285/.328 with nine home runs over 306 trips to the plate. He started the year slowly, fractured his right hand when he was hit by a pitch in May, and was only marginally better in the second half. Pederson had a strong August but otherwise struggled throughout the year.

He obviously wouldn’t have come close to an $18.5MM salary on the open market. That made it a no-brainer to stick around for what he hopes to be a rebound season. Pederson mashed at a .275/.393/.515 clip with the Diamondbacks two seasons ago. The Rangers probably don’t have much choice but to run it back with him as their primary DH. They’d be unable to offload more than a couple million dollars in a trade.

Texas is likely to reshape the offense via trades or non-tenders of the likes of Adolis García, Jonah Heim and Josh Jung. They’d have a tougher time finding a taker for the underwater Pederson and Marcus Semien deals. It’d be surprising if they trade Corey Seager, whose contract would be prohibitive for all but a handful of teams and who remains one of the team’s two or three best hitters.

A’s Outright Three Players

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The A’s announced that three pitchers have gone unclaimed on outright waivers: righty Anthony Maldonado and left-handers Ben Bowden and Jared Shuster. Maldonado and Bowden have each elected free agency, as is their right as players who have been outrighted more than once in their careers. This is the first outright for Shuster, so he’ll be assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas and remain in the system going into 2026.

These were three of five players whom the A’s placed on waivers this week. Righty Michel Otañez and catcher Willie MacIver were claimed by Texas. This gets their 40-man roster count down to 38. All teams need to be at or below 40 by Thursday, when they’re required to activate everyone from the 60-day injured list.

Maldonado was a waiver claim from Miami last winter. The A’s outrighted him shortly before the start of Spring Training but put him back on the roster in May. He held his 40-man spot for the remainder of the season but spent most of his time on optional assignment to Triple-A Las Vegas. The 27-year-old posted a 5.10 ERA despite an impressive 29% strikeout rate at the top minor league level. Maldonado walked almost 12% of opponents and gave up a decent number of home runs across 47 2/3 frames. He only pitched six times for the A’s at the MLB level, allowing eight runs on a trio of homers in six innings.

Bowden, 31, signed an offseason minor league contract. The 6’4″ southpaw had not pitched in the big leagues since his 2021 rookie season in Colorado. He made it back to the highest level early in the second half. Bowden posted a 1.36 ERA over 39 2/3 Triple-A innings to get an MLB look. He tossed 10 2/3 frames over 11 appearances, allowing six runs (five earned) with seven strikeouts and five walks. He went down with a season-ending lat strain in August.

Shuster, the only member of this trio who’ll stick with the organization, is probably the most well-known. That’s mostly a testament to his status as a former first-round pick of the Braves. He has pitched in parts of three MLB campaigns between Atlanta and the White Sox. The Wake Forest product carries a career 5.27 ERA with a well below-average 15.1% strikeout percentage in 141 2/3 innings. The A’s claimed him off waivers from Chicago around the trade deadline. He spent the rest of the season in Triple-A, where he was tagged for nearly a run per inning with seven strikeouts and walks apiece over 10 appearances.

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