Rockies Finalize Coaching Staff
The Rockies announced their full coaching staff this evening. The majority of Warren Schaeffer’s group had previously been reported, but Colorado’s hiring of first base coach Doug Bernier is a new development. Thomas Harding of MLB.com reported the hire shortly before the club finalized it.
Bernier had a brief run as a big league infielder, which began with four games with the Rox in 2008. He also played parts of three seasons with the Twins but was primarily an organizational depth player. While Bernier’s MLB career consisted of 46 games, he made exactly 1000 appearances at the Triple-A level over 11 seasons. Bernier ended his playing career after the 2017 season and jumped into scouting with the Rockies a year later.
The 45-year-old has been employed by Colorado for the past eight seasons. Bernier worked as a bridge between the coaching staff and analytics department as game planning coordinator from 2020-21. He worked as a defensive instructor for two seasons and has spent the last couple years as a minor league field coordinator.
Ron Gideon had been Colorado’s first base coach for the past seven seasons. The Rox announced last month that he was assuming the newly created role of assistant bench coach in 2026. Colorado had already announced that third base coach Andy González would be back in his previous role. Assistant hitting coach Jordan Pacheco is also returning. Bench coach Jeff Pickler, hitting coach Brett Pill, pitching coach Alon Leichman, assistant pitching coach Gabe Ribas, and bullpen coach Matt Buschmann are entering their first seasons with the club.
Royals Moving In Outfield Fences At Kauffman Stadium
The Royals announced they’re moving in the outfield fence in both corners (link via Anne Rogers of MLB.com). ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the decision before the club announcement. The dead center field wall will remain 410 feet from home plate, though the team is slightly reducing the wall height throughout the outfield. The corners are each being pulled in by nine feet, while they’re bringing in the center field alleys by 10 feet apiece.
General manager J.J. Picollo said it’s a calculated effort on the team’s part to improve their offense. “During the course of the season, we just started doing some research, running some numbers and trying to figure out how much this really impacts our offense. Consequently, how would it affect our pitching staff? Ultimately, we concluded that we would be a better team offensively,” Picollo told Rogers. “With our current pitching staff, the changes in the dimensions wouldn’t impact [pitching] negatively as much as it impacts our offense positively.”
Kauffman Stadium has a reputation as one of the harder parks in which to hit. Statcast’s Park Factor data has actually graded it as a decent hitter’s park over the past three years. It’s in a lopsided way, however. The spacious outfield has made the park more favorable for total hits, especially doubles and triples, but it’s a tough venue for power bats. Only Pittsburgh’s PNC Park and San Francisco’s Oracle Park have suppressed home runs more than Kauffman since 2023. Hitters at Kauffman Stadium have homered on 9.7% of their fly-balls. The MLB average is a couple points higher (11.8%).
It grades as the toughest park for left-handed home run power. The change in dimensions should be a nice boost for a team that has lefty-hitting Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen as two of their most important young bats. Left-handed hitting first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino is coming off a 32-homer season (14 of which came at home) that led the team.
There’s a “chicken or the egg” element to the park factor data. Kauffman has played unfavorably to home run hitters, so the Royals have tended to build their teams around contact-oriented bats and emphasized outfield defense. The Royals are aware of that, of course, and the ballpark changes aren’t a decision they made on a whim. Those interested in the topic are encouraged to read the full columns from Rogers and Passan, as both reporters speak with assistant GM Daniel Mack about the various factors (e.g. temperature, altitude, batted ball data, the stadium’s batter’s eye) that went into the decision.
Picollo and Mack each said they hope the park will play more neutral for home runs than exceedingly hitter friendly. They indicated they feel that could allow their hitters to be more comfortable adjusting between homestands and road trips without feeling they need to overhaul their approach.
“You don’t want to make the park so offensive that it hurts your pitchers,” Mack told Rogers. “But one of the things we know is that our fly balls, particularly in parts of this park — the run value per fly ball is significantly less than the league. … When they play at Kauffman, they don’t have to play one specific way, and then when they go to another ballpark, even if it’s way on the other extreme, all of a sudden, they’re thinking about, ‘Do I have to do something different offensively there in order to be successful versus what I do at Kauffman?’ (We’re) trying to find that fairness and consistency across the board.”
Rodolfo Castro To Sign With NPB’s Nippon-Ham Fighters
The Blue Jays released infielder Rodolfo Castro from his minor league contract, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. Ari Alexander of 7 News Boston reports that Castro is pursuing an opportunity with the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan.
Castro had just signed with Toronto a couple months ago. Rather than try to earn his way into a crowded infield picture as a non-roster invitee, he’ll collect a guaranteed salary and head to Asia for the first time in his career. Castro has played parts of four seasons in the big leagues. The majority of that has come with the Pirates, who traded him to Philadelphia at the 2023 deadline. He made just 14 appearances for the Phils down the stretch and has not played in the leagues within the past two years.
The righty-hitting infielder was in Triple-A when he suffered a season-ending thumb injury in 2024. Philadelphia dropped him from the 40-man roster that offseason. Castro played the entire ’25 season with their top affiliate in Lehigh Valley. He hit .235/.324/.421 with 19 homers and 18 stolen bases. Castro qualified for minor league free agency and would likely have been at Triple-A Buffalo had he not gotten the NPB opportunity.
Cardinals Sign Ryne Stanek
January 13: Bloom announced to the media today that the Stanek deal is official. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat was among those to pass it along. The Cards opened a 40-man spot by trading Nolan Arenado to the Diamondbacks earlier today.
January 10: Stanek will earn $3.5MM in 2026, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The deal also includes a $6MM club option for 2027.
January 9: The Cardinals are in agreement with free agent reliever Ryne Stanek, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Chris Cotillo of MassLive first reported that St. Louis was pursuing the hard-throwing righty. The Cardinals will need to open a 40-man roster spot once the MVP Sports Group client completes a physical.
Stanek gets a change of scenery after an inconsistent year and a half with the Mets. New York acquired him from the Mariners at the 2024 trade deadline. While he allowed 11 runs in 16 1/3 regular season innings down the stretch, Stanek’s plus strikeout rate and strong postseason work led the Mets to bring him back on a $4.5MM free agent deal.
That didn’t pan out, as the 34-year-old had an up-and-down season. Stanek had strong run prevention marks in May and July but was knocked around in the other four months. He finished with a 5.30 earned run average across 56 innings. ERA estimators were only slightly more bullish as Stanek’s strikeout and walk rates each went in the wrong direction.
A 22.7% strikeout rate was narrowly the lowest of his nine-year career. Stanek had fanned nearly 28% of opposing hitters one season earlier. It’s crucial that he miss bats because command has never been a strong suit. Stanek has walked at least 10% of batters faced in all but one year, including a 12.5% mark last season.
The Cardinals are taking what should be a low-cost bet that he’ll strike out more batters in 2026. Stanek still has the stuff to do that. He averaged 98.5 MPH on his heater, a top 15 mark in MLB. He backs that up with a plus slider and mixes in a splitter and sweeper as his third and fourth offerings. Stanek still missed bats at a slightly above-average rate on a per pitch basis.
St. Louis doesn’t have a ton of experienced arms in the late innings. Southpaw JoJo Romero had been their only reliever with even two years of MLB service. There’s a decent chance he’s traded before Opening Day. The Cardinals were looking for a veteran arm who can pitch in the back half of the bullpen. Stanek fits best in middle relief but could be in the high-leverage mix, perhaps even as a closer, on a rebuilding club. He’s a known commodity to president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who was in the Rays front office when Tampa Bay drafted him in the first round in 2013.
There’s also a geographic tie. Stanek was born in St. Louis and went to high school not far outside Missouri in Stilwell, Kansas. There’s a decent chance he’ll be traded midseason if he’s pitching well, but he’ll get a chance to play for his hometown club for at least a few months.
Image courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images.
Phillies, Genesis Cabrera Agree To Minor League Deal
The Phillies agreed to a minor league deal with lefty reliever Génesis Cabrera. The agreement was first reported last month by Mike Rodriguez but didn’t appear on the MiLB.com transaction log until this week. The log also indicates that the Phils have also added righty relievers Trevor Richards and Jonathan Hernández, infielder Christian Cairo, and catcher René Pinto in recent weeks.
Cabrera is the likeliest of the group to factor into the early-season plans. The southpaw has pitched in the big leagues in seven straight seasons. He suited up for four different teams last year but struggled to a 6.54 ERA across 40 combined appearances. Cabrera had a mediocre strikeout rate for a second straight season and allowed far too many home runs, which has become an increasing problem.
The 29-year-old Cabrera sits in the 95-96 MPH range with both his sinker and four-seam fastball. The velocity is down from when he was working 97-98 and pitched his way into high-leverage spots with the Cardinals earlier in his career. It’s still above-average for a lefty, though, and Cabrera’s cutter and curveball have each been successful pitches in the past. He backfills their lefty relief depth after the Matt Strahm trade but remains no higher than third on the organizational depth chart behind José Alvarado and Tanner Banks. Philadelphia also has Kyle Backhus, a soft-tossing grounder specialist, on the 40-man roster.
Richards, 33 in May, made five combined appearances last year between the Royals and Diamondbacks. The changeup specialist has pitched parts of eight seasons and topped 60 innings each year from 2021-24. Richards is coming off a 5.19 ERA despite solid strikeout and walk numbers between three Triple-A clubs. He’ll compete for a swing role in Spring Training.
Hernández was a high-leverage arm with the Rangers early in his career who struggled between 2023-24. The 29-year-old sinkerballer signed a minor league deal with Tampa Bay last winter. He was injured for most of the season and limited to 12 Triple-A appearances, in which he tossed 12 innings of three-run ball. He averaged 95.3 MPH on his fastball, down almost three ticks relative to his first few seasons in Texas.
Pinto is a veteran depth catcher who hit .231/.263/.404 over 83 games with the Rays from 2022-24. He spent last season in the minors, striking out at a 31% rate while batting .259/.309/.498 in 64 contests with Arizona and Toronto affiliates. Cairo, a slick-fielding utility player, was a Rule 5 pick by the Braves last offseason. He didn’t make the team and was offered back to the Guardians in Spring Training. He hit .237/.338/.331 across 416 Triple-A plate appearances and qualified for minor league free agency. He’s still looking to make his MLB debut.
A’s Hire Barry Enright As Pitching Coordinator
The Athletics are hiring Barry Enright as pitching coordinator and director of pitching in their player development department, reports Sam Blum of The Athletic. Enright has spent the past couple seasons as pitching coach of the Angels.
A former reliever who pitched parts of four seasons in the big leagues, Enright moved into coaching in 2019. He began as a minor league coach in the Arizona system before getting an MLB job as assistant pitching coach going into 2022. Enright held that role for two seasons before joining Ron Washington’s staff as lead pitching coach.
Enright worked in that capacity for two years. The Angels had one of the worst pitching staffs in MLB over that stretch, finishing 28th with a cumulative 4.73 earned run average. Their 20.4% strikeout rate was better only than Colorado’s 17.4% mark. The pitching staff wasn’t much better the season before Enright’s arrival, and the team’s performance over the past couple seasons is of course mostly a reflection on the roster itself.
The Angels made a managerial change, tabbing former A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki to lead the dugout. Suzuki overhauled the coaching staff and brought in veteran pitching coach Mike Maddux from the Rangers. Enright doesn’t jump directly back onto an MLB staff but will get to work with a farm system that’ll need steps forward from its talented arms in a challenging environment.
The A’s have an excellent offensive core but are light on established pitching. Four of their top five prospects at Baseball America are pitchers. They’ll need continued development from that group if they’re to compete for a playoff spot over the next two seasons at the hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park.
Tigers To Re-Sign Bryan Sammons To Minor League Deal
The Tigers are signing left-hander Bryan Sammons to a minor league contract, reports Jon Morosi of The MLB Network. The 6’4″ southpaw will be in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Sammons returns to the organization with which he spent the 2023-24 seasons. A former Twins draftee, Sammons signed with the Tigers out of the independent ranks. Sammons earned a big league look in July ’24 and made six MLB appearances as a long reliever. He posted a 3.62 ERA through 27 1/3 innings.
That earned the Western Carolina product a guaranteed contract from the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan last winter. Sammons had a decent year in NPB, working to a 3.78 ERA across 85 2/3 frames. That came with middling strikeout (19.6%) and walk (10.7%) rates, and the 30-year-old heads back to the affiliated ranks with a familiar team.
Sammons will likely head to Triple-A Toledo, where he posted a 4.15 ERA through 102 innings two seasons ago. He fanned 23.1% of batters faced against a 10% walk rate. Sammons uses a five-pitch mix to compensate for fringe velocity, as he sits around 91 MPH with the fastball.
Cubs, Corbin Martin Agree To Minor League Deal
The Cubs are in agreement with right-hander Corbin Martin on a minor league contract, reports Marquee’s Lance Brozdowski. The 30-year-old will presumably get a non-roster invite to MLB camp.
Martin was on and off Baltimore’s big league roster throughout the 2025 season. He wound up throwing 18 innings, allowing 15 runs (12 earned). That actually lowered his career earned run average to 6.54 across 75 2/3 frames over parts of four seasons. Martin had similarly rough numbers with Triple-A Norfolk, allowing a 5.82 ERA in 34 appearances. He recorded an average 22.5% strikeout percentage while issuing walks at a huge 13.6% clip.
A former second-round pick of the Astros, Martin was a highly-regarded prospect whom the Diamondbacks acquired in the Zack Greinke trade. Injuries threw him off track. The 6’2″ righty underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 and missed the entire ’23 season on account of a torn lat tendon. His control, which was solid enough early in his minor league career, has held him back at the upper levels. Martin has walked more than 12% of opponents in the big leagues and Triple-A alike.
The Cubs are intrigued enough by the raw stuff to give him a look on a non-roster deal. Martin’s heater sits in the 95-96 MPH range and he has a slider and curveball. It’s a good enough arsenal to miss bats but he’ll need to be around the strike zone more consistently to secure a spot in Craig Counsell’s relief group. Martin has exhausted his minor league option years, meaning the Cubs would need to keep him in the majors or expose him to waivers if they call him up.
How Will The Guardians’ Middle Infield Play Out?
The Guardians have had a quiet offseason, only re-signing backup catcher Austin Hedges and acquiring a handful of relievers on one-year deals. They’ve yet to add anyone to a lineup that ranked 28th in scoring. They were the only team in the bottom 10 that made the postseason, so it’s unlikely they’ll get back to October without improving the offense.
Cleveland’s budgetary restrictions mean they’re never going to accomplish much via free agency. They’re unlikely to often package top prospects for marquee trade chips. The Guardians should make a smaller move or two in the back half of the offseason. They opened last season with a $103MM payroll, and RosterResource calculates their ’26 obligations around $78MM. Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com wrote as part of a reader mailbag over the weekend that he expected some kind of lineup acquisition on a short-term deal. Adding a complementary right-handed outfield bat would make sense with Lane Thomas departing via free agency.
That said, the majority of the necessary offensive improvements will have to come internally. That’s especially true in the middle infield, where serviceable free agent options are slim. Cleveland middle infielders combined for a .225/.289/.359 slash line with a 27.6% strikeout rate that was 29th in MLB (marginally better than the Angels’ 27.8% mark). That’s clearly an area for upgrade as the 2024 first overall pick gets closer to making his debut. How will things shake out?
The Incumbents
Of the five players who logged any middle infield action for Stephen Vogt’s club last year, only Will Wilson is off the roster. Last year’s middle infield usually involved a three-player rotation: Gabriel Arias mostly at shortstop, Daniel Schneemann in a multi-position role with a lot of second base work, and Brayan Rocchio bouncing between the up-the-middle spots.
Angel Martínez also started 25 games at second base but was more frequently used in center field. The Guardians could push him back into a utility role this year depending on their outfield performance. Chase DeLauter made the ALDS roster and should be ticketed for his regular season MLB debut on Opening Day. They could add a center fielder in free agency. Harrison Bader would be an excellent fit but might be out of their price range. Even if that’s the case, taking a buy-low flier on Chas McCormick as a fourth outfielder makes sense.
None of Arias, Rocchio, Schneemann or Martínez contributed much offensively. By measure of wRC+, they were all between 21 and 26 points below league average. Rocchio led the pack with a subpar .233 batting average and .290 on-base percentage. He hit five home runs in 115 games. Schneemann, Martínez and Arias each had 11 or 12 longballs.
The season trend lines were most favorable to Rocchio. He was at least within range of league average in the second half, batting .257/.313/.376 over his final 241 plate appearances. Arias (.203/.247/.356), Schneemann (.194/.268/.309), and Martínez (.207/.283/.313) all had terrible numbers after the All-Star Break. Arias and Rocchio were the starters in the postseason, though Vogt was quick to hit for Arias and use Schneemann off the bench.
Rocchio is probably on the strongest ground of the group, yet he remains a .222/.293/.327 hitter in more than 900 career plate appearances. He turns 25 tomorrow and is out of minor league options. He’ll break camp but shouldn’t be a lock to remain on the roster all season if he doesn’t build off the second half promise. Public metrics have been divided on his defense, grading him highly in 2024 but looking less favorably on last year’s work.
Arias, 26 in February, is also out of options. He has huge physical tools: plus bat speed and raw power, a solid glove, and an excellent arm. That’s undercut by an untenable approach. Arias chases tons of pitches off the plate and too frequently gets beat within the strike zone. He had the fourth-highest strikeout rate among hitters with 300+ plate appearances. No one missed more often on a per-pitch basis. Aside from occasionally running into a fastball for a homer, he’s not going to provide any offense.
Schneemann is a utility player who is a couple weeks away from his 29th birthday. He’ll work some walks and pop a few home runs against right-handed pitching, but there’s also too much swing-and-miss in his game to be a regular. He’s a .210/.290/.358 hitter with 17 homers and a 29% strikeout rate in 643 career plate appearances. Schneemann has a full slate of minor league options and could therefore be the first one sent down if/when the Guardians bring up a higher-upside player from the minor leagues.
The Prospects
Guards fans have eagerly awaited the arrival of second baseman Travis Bazzana since the club announced his selection with the top pick in the ’24 draft. It has become increasingly common for top college draftees to get to the big leagues before the end of their first full professional season. Bazzana didn’t move that quickly, at least in part because of recurring oblique issues. The Oregon State product had decent numbers between the top two minor league levels (.245/.389/.424 including seven rehab games in the Complex League), but he was limited to 84 games by a pair of IL stints.
Bazzana will be one of the most important players to watch in Spring Training. He remains one of the better offensive talents in the minors. He has 26 games of Triple-A experience. The Guardians could justify sending him back there to begin the season but should leave the door open to him breaking camp. Bazzana’s minor league approach probably tipped over the line from patient to passive, leading both to a ton of walks (17.6%) and a decent amount of strikeouts (24.3%). He’s not a finished product, but there’s a good chance he’s already a better hitter than Arias or Schneemann would be.
Vogt said at the Winter Meetings that Rocchio would get a lot of shortstop work during Spring Training (link via Zack Meisel of The Athletic). That’d leave the door open for Bazzana at second with Arias and/or Schneemann in a utility role. It also magnifies camp’s importance for 24-year-old second base prospect Juan Brito.
Brito has held a spot on the 40-man roster for three years but has yet to make his MLB debut. He would have gotten that opportunity last year but for thumb and hamstring injuries that both required surgery. He was limited to 24 Triple-A contests. The Guardians were granted a fourth option year, so they’re not forced to carry Brito on the MLB roster.
If they give the Opening Day second base job to Bazzana, Brito probably needs an injury or the more highly-regarded prospect to struggle in order to find his way into the lineup. He’s not a great athlete and unlikely to be all that effective as a multi-positional defender. Yet Brito has hit throughout his career, posting an OPS above .800 at every stop. That includes a .255/.366/.442 mark across nearly 800 Triple-A plate appearances over parts of three seasons. That’s an appealing profile for a lineup that had far too many wasted at-bats.
Shortstop prospect Angel Genao is the only other middle infielder on the 40-man roster. He’s a 21-year-old who has yet to play a Triple-A game. Genao is coming off a solid but unspectacular .259/.323/.359 showing over 77 Double-A contests. Scouting reports peg him as a potential everyday player, but he remains a work in progress on both sides of the ball. While he’ll hopefully be an upgrade over Rocchio and Arias down the line, there’s little to no chance that he’s on the Opening Day roster. A second half debut is plausible but not guaranteed.
Red Sox, Seth Martinez Agree To Minor League Deal
The Red Sox agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Seth Martinez, as first reported by Andrew Parker of Sox Prospects. He’ll get a non-roster invitation to MLB camp.
Martinez has pitched in the majors in five straight seasons. He got a decent amount of run in the Astros’ middle relief corps from 2022-24. He didn’t get as much big league work last year, only making it into six games for the Marlins. Martinez gave up four runs with three walks and four strikeouts across 6 2/3 innings.
The 31-year-old righty spent the majority of the year with Miami’s Triple-A club. He pitched to a 3.71 ERA behind a 29% strikeout rate over 43 2/3 frames. Martinez routinely posts strong whiff numbers in the minors and has fanned more than 30% of opponents with a sub-3.00 ERA in five Triple-A seasons. His flat 4.00 earned run average and 20.5% strikeout percentage in 117 MLB appearances are more solid than great.
Martinez only sits around 90 MPH with his fastball. He frequently relies on his breaking ball while mixing in a changeup. He’s out of options, meaning the Sox would need to keep him on the big league roster or expose him to waivers if they call him up at any point.