Orioles, Rico Garcia Agree To Terms On 2026 Salary
The Orioles announced that they have agreed to terms with right-hander Rico Garcia on a one-year split deal for the 2026 season. The club didn’t announce salary figures but Josh Tolentino and Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun report that the righty will get a $900K salary while he’s in the majors. He’d make $225K for time spent in the minors, according to The Associated Press.
It’s an unusual deal. Garcia, 32 in January, was already on the Baltimore roster, having been claimed off waivers from the Mets in August. He has less than two years of service time. That means he hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration. The O’s could have set his salary around the league minimum, which will be $780K next year. Bumping up to $900K is obviously attractive to Garcia but the O’s also expect some kind of benefit from it as well.
It’s likely the first step in a plan to have Garcia serve as non-roster depth. The O’s could put him on waivers and hope that the slightly elevated salary dissuades the other 29 clubs from putting in a claim. If Garcia passed through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency since he has a previous career outright. However, since he has less than five years of service time, he would have to walk away from his remaining salary commitments in exercising that right. Since Garcia is out of options, this potentially gives the O’s a way to move him to Norfolk and back, while getting around his out-of-options status.
The O’s have tried similar things before, usually with arbitration-eligible players. They agreed to a $1MM salary with infielder Emmanuel Rivera for the 2025 season. He was outrighted off the roster before the season began. During the season, he was added back to the roster and then outrighted again on three further occasions, giving the O’s an extra depth option. It doesn’t always work this way, however. The O’s and Jake Cave avoided arbitration in November of 2022, agreeing to a $950K salary for 2023. About a month later, they tried to pass him through waivers but the Phillies claimed him.
Garcia has seen limited action in five big league seasons but 2025 was his largest workload and his best performance. He tossed 34 1/3 innings for three different clubs, allowing 3.15 earned runs per nine. His 26.8% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 48.4% ground ball rate were all above average. Since he’s out of options, he bounced around the waiver wire, pitching for the Mets, Yankees and O’s last year. Perhaps the increased salary will help the O’s keep him as an up-and-down arm but it’s also possible some other club claims him and he gets paid his slightly elevated salary somewhere else.
Photo courtesy of James A. Pittman, Imagn Images
Nationals Outright Four Players
The Nationals announced that four players have cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Rochester. They are right-handers Eduardo Salazar and Mason Thompson, left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara and catcher CJ Stubbs. Salazar and Thompson have already elected free agency.
These types of moves are common at this time of year. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the World Series, meaning players on the shelf need to be added back to the 40-man roster. Most teams have a few impending free agents, which can open a few spots, but there is often a squeeze. Prior to these moves, RosterResource projected the Nats to have 42 players for their 40 spots, so opening some breathing room was inevitable.
Thompson, 28 in February, is the most experienced of the bunch. He made his debut with the Padres back in 2021 and was traded to the Nationals at that year’s deadline as part of the Daniel Hudson deal. He has largely been an up-and-down reliever for the Nats since then, though he missed the 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Overall, he has thrown 114 big league innings, allowing 5.21 earned runs per nine. His 50.6% ground ball rate is good but his 17.8% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate are both subpar.
The righty exhausted his final option season in 2025, meaning he would have been out of options in 2026. Given his uninspiring numbers, he would have had a hard time hanging onto a roster spot going forward. Since he has at least three years of big league service time, he had the right to elect free agency.
Salazar, 28 in May, came to the Nats via a waiver claim last summer. Between the Reds, Dodgers and Nationals, he has thrown 70 2/3 innings with a 5.99 ERA. Similar to Thompson, his 52.8% ground ball rate is strong but his 16% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate are subpar figures. Also like Thompson, he just exhausted his final option season and will be out of options going forward. He was outrighted by the Reds in 2023, which gave him the right to reject this outright assignment.
Ogasawara, now 28, just wrapped up his first season in North America. After years of pitching in Japan, he was posted for MLB clubs last winter. The Nats gave him a two-year, $3.5MM deal, plus a $700K posting fee to the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.
They didn’t get much from that $4.2MM investment. The lefty spent a decent chunk of the 2025 season in the minors. When in the majors, he posted a 6.98 ERA over 38 2/3 innings. His 17.3% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 36.4% ground ball rate were all subpar.
Players normally require three years of service time or a previous career outright to have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. A player coming over from Asia will sometimes have special language in their contract allowing them to circumvent standard MLB rules. Unless Ogasawara’s deal has such language, he’ll stick with the Nats as non-roster depth.
Stubbs, 29 in November, was added to the roster late in the year in emergency fashion. At the time, Keibert Ruiz and Drew Millas were both injured, leaving the Nats with Riley Adams as their only healthy catcher. Stubbs got into one game, going hitless in three at-bats. Shortly thereafter, the Nats signed Jorge Alfaro and bumped Stubbs back to the minors.
Going into the winter, Stubbs was the least experienced of five catchers on the 40-man roster. He also has a 35% strikeout rate in his minor league career. The Nats bumped him off the roster and no club put in a claim. Since he has spent most of the past seven years in the minors, he should qualify for minor league free agency five days after the conclusion of the World Series.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images
Keith Beauregard Won’t Return To Tigers’ Coaching Staff
Hitting coach Keith Beauregard won’t be returning to the Tigers next year, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. His contract ran through 2025 and he has now decided to leave to pursue new opportunities in baseball.
For the past three seasons, the Tigers have had both Beauregard and Michael Brdar serving as hitting coaches. James Rowson worked alongside those two as an assistant in 2023, but he moved on and was replaced by Lance Zawadzki heading into 2024.
The Tigers were stuck in a rebuild at the time the Beauregard/Brdar duo was brought aboard. It’s always tough to parse how much credit goes to coaches or the players on the team, but for what it’s worth, Beauregard and Brdar oversaw the club as they emerged from a lengthy rebuild. The Tigers had a collective .236/.305/.382 line in 2023. That translated to a wRC+ of 89, putting them ahead of just four other clubs in the majors. The club jumped to a .234/.300/.385 line and 94 wRC+ last year, followed by a .247/.316/.413 line and 103 wRC+ in 2025.
Petzold suggests that Brdar and Zawadzki could stick around without Beauregard, but that doesn’t seem to be definite. Petzold notes that those two, like Beauregard, had contracts running through 2025. Even if they are staying, it’s unclear if the Tigers would hire someone to replace Beauregard or just let those two run the hitting department. There will be at least one other coaching change in Detroit, as it has been previously reported that first base coach Anthony Iapoce won’t be back next year.
There is going to be a high amount of turnover on coaching staffs this offseason. There are always a few moves and this winter could crank it up because of the unusually high number of managerial changes. Ten clubs are going to begin 2026 with a different manager than they had on Opening Day 2025. New managers often make a few coaching changes, either by bringing in a few of their own guys or just by taking things in new directions.
Beauregard, 42, could look to find a new gig as that game of musical chairs plays out. He started his coaching career in the college ranks before getting hired by the Dodgers to work in the minor leagues a few years ago. Getting hired by the Tigers three years ago was his first move to a big league staff.
Image courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
MLBTR Podcast: Bo Bichette’s Health, Kazuma Okamoto, And Dylan Cease’s Market
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Blue Jays getting Bo Bichette back for the World Series as he is on the cusp of free agency (2:45)
- Kazuma Okamoto to be posted for MLB clubs this offseason (10:45)
- The free agent market for Dylan Cease, who has interest from the Cubs (20:10)
- The Orioles hiring Craig Albernaz and the Angels hiring Kurt Suzuki for their managerial vacancies (34:45)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- If the Blue Jays were to extend Addison Barger, would the Lawrence Butler deal be a good comp? (40:35)
- If a veteran signs a minor league deal, are they eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 draft? (44:50)
- Will the Red Sox trade Jarren Duran? (46:25)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Phillies’ Outfield, Tarik Skubal, And Hiring College Coaches – listen here
- Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason, Managerial Vacancies, And More! – listen here
- Rockies’ Front Office Changes, Skip Schumaker, And ABS Talk – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Dan Hamilton, Imagn Images
Offseason Outlook: Seattle Mariners
The 2025 season was another heartbreaker for the Mariners. Thankfully, they have a lot of good things in place for the future.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Julio Rodríguez, CF: $162MM through 2034 (deal contains complicated option structure beginning after 2028)
- Cal Raleigh, C: $94MM through 2030 (deal includes 2031 vesting option)
- Luis Castillo, RHP: $45.5MM through 2027 (deal includes 2028 conditional club option/vesting option)
- J.P. Crawford, SS: $11MM through 2026
- Víctor Robles, OF: $5MM through 2026 (includes $500K buyout on $9MM club option for 2027)
Option Decisions
- IF Jorge Polanco has $6MM player option with $750K buyout
- Club has $7MM option for RHP Andrés Muñoz, plus two more club options for 2027-28
- Mitch Garver, C/DH: $12MM mutual option with $1MM buyout
2026 guarantees (assuming Polanco and Garver become free agents): $76.5MM
Total future commitments: $326.25MM
Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projected salaries courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Trent Thornton (5.148): $2.5MM
- Randy Arozarena (5.129): $18.2MM
- Logan Gilbert (4.144): $10MM
- Gabe Speier (4.000): $1.7MM
- George Kirby (3.151): $5.4MM
- Tayler Saucedo (3.146): $1.1MM
- Matt Brash (3.121): $1.8MM
- Luke Raley (3.106): $1.8MM
- Gregory Santos (3.055): $800K
- Bryce Miller (2.153): $2.4MM
- Jackson Kowar (2.139): $800K
Non-tender candidates: Thornton, Saucedo, Raley, Santos, Kowar
Free Agents
In many ways, it was a fantastic season for the Mariners. They got a historic performance from catcher Cal Raleigh. They won the American League West for the first time since 2001 and made it to the ALCS for the first time since that same season.
But the dream ended there. It seemed they were on the cusp of their first World Series appearance when they went up 2-0 on the Blue Jays in the ALCS. The Jays tied the series up 2-2 but the Mariners managed to win Game 5, putting them one victory away. Seattle lost Game 6 but had a 3-1 lead in Game 7, until George Springer's home run put the Jays over the top.
So often in recent history, the Mariners have been a strong team but not quite strong enough. In 2021, they finished two games back of a playoff spot. They made it to the playoffs in 2022 and survived the Wild Card round, before getting swept out of the ALDS in agonizing fashion. The third game went 18 innings with the Mariners unable to score, losing 1-0 to the division-rival Astros. In both 2023 and 2024, they missed the playoffs by a single game. In a sense, 2025 was a step forward, but it was yet another case of getting so close that the final blow was all the more crushing.
Though the pain is fresh for many fans, there's a lot to feel good about in the future. The division is wide open. The Angels haven't been good in years. The A's are on the rise but still have lots of question marks. The Astros and Rangers have some veteran talent but are starting to feel a bit old and creaky, with both clubs facing budget crunches. The Seattle roster, meanwhile, is loaded with talent. A few guys are set to depart via free agency but the M's have payroll space and one of the best farm systems in baseball.
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Sherman Johnson, Tommy Joseph Won’t Return To Orioles’ Coaching Staff
Orioles assistant hitting coach Sherman Johnson is moving to the White Sox as a minor league hitting coordinator, reports Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. Kostka also reports that Tommy Joseph, another assistant hitting coach, won’t be returning to the O’s next year. Those may not be the only changes for the Baltimore coaching staff, as Andy Martino of SNY reports that first base coach Anthony Sanders has been given permission to talk to other clubs.
The Orioles will have a new manager in 2026. Brandon Hyde was fired during the 2025 season. Third base coach Tony Mansolino took over as interim manager for the remainder of the campaign. It was announced yesterday that Craig Albernaz will now skipper the club. It’s common for managerial hirings to lead to coaching staff shake-ups, as the new bench boss will sometimes bring in his own guys or simply just have different ideas about the best way to move forward.
Johnson, 35, was just hired in November of last year. The 2025 season was his first on a big league staff. He had a brief playing career, with ten big league games for the Angels back in 2018. He played in the minors and independent ball through 2022 before transitioning into coaching. The O’s hired him to work as hitting coach for Double-A Bowie in 2023. He was a minor league hitting coordinator in 2024 before getting bumped up to the big leagues. He’ll now return to the minors in a role with the White Sox.
Joseph, 34, played for the Phillies in 2016 and 2017. He then transitioned to coaching, working in the minors with the Mets and Giants. He got a big league job with the Mariners in 2024, getting hired as an assistant hitting coach. He was hired away by the Orioles for the 2025 season but will be moving on after just one season in Baltimore.
Sanders, 51, played in the majors from 1999 to 2001. He later transitioned to coaching, working with the Rockies in the minor leagues. He worked his way up to the majors and then jumped to the Orioles as first base coach for the 2020 season. It’s not a foregone conclusion that he’ll be leaving the O’s but it seems he is at least exploring the possibility.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast
On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.
The 2025 regular season is now over and the World Series will be done soon as well. Do you have a question about the season which just ended? The postseason? The upcoming offseason? If you have a question on those topics or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.
Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.
In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Offseason Outlook: New York Yankees
The Yankees had another good season in 2025, but with the Yankees, good isn't good enough. Going into 2026, they will undoubtedly be looking to reload as they continue trying to take advantage of having a superhuman Aaron Judge on the roster.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Aaron Judge, OF: $240MM through 2031
- Max Fried, LHP: $196MM through 2032 (includes $10MM to be paid in January of 2026, half of $20MM signing bonus)
- Gerrit Cole, RHP: $108MM through 2028
- Carlos Rodón, LHP: $81MM through 2028
- Giancarlo Stanton, OF/DH: $64MM through 2027 (includes $10MM buyout on $25MM club option for 2028; Marlins covering $30MM of remaining guarantee as part of trade)
- Ryan McMahon, 3B: $32MM through 2027
Other Financial Commitments
- Owe $15MM to released IF DJ LeMahieu
- Owe $1MM option buyout to released OF Aaron Hicks
Option Decisions
- Cody Bellinger, OF: will opt out of one-year, $25MM, taking $5MM buyout
- Club has $5MM option on RHP Jonathan Loáisiga with no buyout
- Club has $3MM club option on LHP Tim Hill with $350K buyout
2026 guarantees, assuming Hill's option is picked up: $184MM
Total future commitments: $715MM
Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projected salaries courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. (5.075): $10.2MM
- David Bednar (5.073): $9MM
- Mark Leiter Jr. (5.031): $3MM
- Clarke Schmidt (4.148): $4.9MM
- Camilo Doval (4.071): $6.6MM
- Jake Cousins (3.091): $841K
- Ian Hamilton (3.081): $941K
- Luis Gil (3.073): $2.1MM
- Scott Effross (3.063): $800K
- Jake Bird (3.051): $1MM
- Oswaldo Cabrera (3.050): $1.2MM
- Fernando Cruz (3.035): $1.3MM
- Anthony Volpe (3.000): $3.9MM
- José Caballero (2.170): $1.9MM
Non-tender candidates: Leiter, Schmidt, Doval, Cousins, Hamilton, Effross, Bird, Cabrera
Free Agents
- Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Devin Williams, Trent Grisham, Luke Weaver, Amed Rosario, Ryan Yarbrough, Austin Slater, Paul Blackburn
The Yankees haven't had a losing season since 1992. They have missed the playoffs just five times in the past 31 years. But the expectations in the Bronx are higher than that. It's now been more than 15 years since the last parade.
There's always pressure for the Yankees to compete but that title drought should create extra urgency. There's also the ticking clock on Judge. He is still producing at an incredible level. Despite missing some time this year, FanGraphs credited him with 10.1 wins above replacement. But he can't keep that up forever and will turn 34 in April. Key contributors like Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodón are also in their 30s, adding to the sense that winning needs to come sooner than later.
A lot of good things still happened in 2025. In spring training, the club lost Cole to Tommy John surgery and Luis Gil to a lat strain. Despite losing two rotation building blocks, the team dominated early. They were 35-22 through the end of May, giving them a 5.5 game lead in the American League East. But a summer swoon took some wind out of the sails, allowing the Blue Jays to take over the top spot in the East. Those two clubs kept battling and ended up with the same record, though the Jays were given the nod via tiebreaker. They would then face off head-to-head in the ALDS, with the Jays emerging victorious.
Going into 2026, there is still a lot of talent on the Yankee roster, though there are questions. The rotation should be strong in the long run, though that's assuming improved health relative to now. There is certainly work to do in the outfield and bullpen, and maybe the infield too. There's also the question of how much the club can throw its weight around financially.
Historically, the Yankees have often been the biggest-spending club in the league. In 2025, they were third, according to RosterResource. The Yanks were at $294MM, well behind the Dodgers and Mets, and just barely ahead of the Phillies. Owner Hal Steinbrenner seems to feel that he shouldn't have to spend much more than $300MM, per Greg Joyce of The New York Post. The 2026 payroll is currently slated for $227MM, per RR. That gives the Yanks some breathing room even if they are going to be capped around $300MM, though that kind of powder can get used up pretty quickly when filling a roster with some notable holes. Is there enough pressure to push Steinbrenner beyond his comfort zone?
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Offseason Outlook: Cleveland Guardians
The Guardians pulled off one of the most incredible comebacks in baseball history to win the American League Central in 2025. Going into the winter, they have a lot of good pieces in place and will look to strengthen the roster as they try to win a third straight division title in 2026.
Guaranteed Contracts
- José Ramírez, 3B: $69MM through 2028.
- Tanner Bibee, RHP: $43MM through 2029, including $1MM buyout on 2030 club option.
- Emmanuel Clase, RHP: $8MM through 2026, including $2MM buyout on 2027 club option. Deal also includes 2028 club option.
- Trevor Stephan, RHP: $4.75MM through 2026, including $1.75MM buyout on 2027 club option. Deal also includes 2028 club option.
- Austin Hedges, C: $4MM through 2026.
Other Financial Commitments
- Owe $2.75MM to Blue Jays as part of Myles Straw trade
Option Decisions
- Club has $6MM option on LHP John Means with no buyout
2026 guarantees: $44.5MM
Total future commitments: $131.5MM
Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projected salaries courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Kolby Allard (5.004): $1.9MM
- Sam Hentges (4.157): $1.3375MM
- Steven Kwan (4.000): $8.8MM
- Ben Lively (3.133): $2.7MM
- Nolan Jones (3.007): $2MM
- Will Brennan (2.155): $900K
- David Fry (2.154): $1.2MM
- Matt Festa (2.153): $1MM
Non-tender candidates: Hentges, Lively, Jones, Brennan
Free Agents
2025 was quite the rollercoaster season for the Guardians. They were 31-26 at the end of May and in possession of a Wild Card spot. But then they hit a skid, going 9-16 in June, which included part of a ten-game losing streak that went from June 26th to July 6th. After that losing streak, they were 40-48 and seven games back of a playoff spot.
Amidst that losing streak, right-hander Luis Ortiz was placed on leave due to a gambling investigation. It seemed the season was slipping away, so trade rumors started to swirl around players like Emmanuel Clase, Steven Kwan and Shane Bieber. Then Clase himself was placed on leave alongside Ortiz, also due to that gambling investigation. That took him off the trading block but also harmed Cleveland's bullpen. As the deadline came and went, they did some modest selling. They flipped Bieber and Paul Sewald, who were both on the injured list at the time, but held Kwan and everyone else.
Amazingly, everything turned around from there. The Guards went 14-13 in August and then an incredible 20-7 in September. That latter month included a ten-game winning streak from September 11th to 20th. As the Guards were surging, the Tigers were scuffling. Cleveland managed to finish a game ahead of Detroit, winning the Central for a second straight season. The Tigers got the last laugh by beating the Guards in the Wild Card round, but it was still an incredible run for the Guards, and one that could give them momentum going into 2026.
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Fielding Bible Award Winners Announced
Sports Info Solutions announced the winners of the 2025 Fielding Bible Awards today, the 20th year the awards have been given out. The awards are voted on by a panel of experts who consider statistical analysis, the eye test, and any other factors that they wish to utilize.
This year’s winners are:
- Catcher: Patrick Bailey, Giants
- First base: Matt Olson, Braves
- Second base: Nico Hoerner, Cubs
- Third base: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Reds
- Shortstop: Mookie Betts, Dodgers
- Left field: Steven Kwan, Guardians
- Center field: Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox
- Right field: Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres
- Pitcher: Max Fried, Yankees
- Multi-position: Ernie Clement, Blue Jays
- Player of the year: Patrick Bailey, Giants
- Team of the Year: Cubs
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images