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Tigers To Sign Phil Bickford To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers and right-hander Phil Bickford have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group. The Klutch Sports client will presumably be in big league camp in spring training.

Bickford, 30, is coming off a couple of years in the wilderness but had some decent major league results prior to that. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 179 2/3 innings in the big leagues, allowing 4.26 earned runs per nine. His 9.5% walk rate was a bit on the high side but he struck out 26.6% of batters faced.

He finished the 2023 season on the Mets’ roster and qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player. He and the Mets couldn’t agree on a salary and went to a hearing with a tiny separation. Bickford filed at $900K and the team at $815K.

Bickford’s side won the hearing but it may have cost him his roster spot. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, arbitration salaries are not guaranteed if they are the result of a hearing. A little more than a month after Bickford’s win, he was designated for assignment and released. The Mets had to pay him about $217K in termination pay.

He then signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. He had some brief looks on that club’s roster, which is his only major league action of the past two years. He allowed eight earned runs in 8 1/3 innings. He spent 2025 with the Cubs and Phillies on minor league deals.

Even though he hasn’t seen a lot of major league action over the past couple of campaigns, his work on the farm has been strong. He has thrown 96 1/3 Triple-A innings since the start of 2024 with a 3.46 ERA, 29.3% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate.

For the Tigers, there’s no risk in bringing Bickford aboard via a non-roster pact. They can get a close-up look at him and see if there’s room for him on the roster at some point. Their current bullpen has a decent amount of fluidity. Kenley Jansen and Kyle Finnegan are the only two guys in the mix who can’t be optioned to the minors. If Bickford eventually gets a roster spot, he is out of options but can also be retained for future seasons via arbitration.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images

Mets Designate Tsung-Che Cheng For Assignment

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The Mets announced today that infielder Tsung-Che Cheng has been designated for assignment. That is the corresponding move to open a 40-man spot for right-hander Luis García, whose signing is now official.

Cheng, 24, has never played for the Mets. He has only ever played in the Pirates’ system but he has been making the transactional rounds this offseason. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment in December. He went to the Rays and then the Mets via waivers.

His major league track record is quite limited so far. He made seven plate appearances with the Pirates last year. He struck out three times and was only able to reach base once, which was due to an error.

The minor league work offers more encouragement and an explanation as to why so many teams have shown interest this offseason. He has extensive experience at the two middle infield positions and has played a decent amount of third base as well, with strong reviews for his glovework on the whole.

His offense has been less consistent. In 2023, splitting his time between High-A and Double-A, he had a 9.7% walk rate, 18.7% strikeout rate, .278/.352/.456 line and 116 wRC+. But over the past two seasons, he has a combined .217/.319/.312 line and a wRC+ of 81.

Cheng is still fairly young and has an option remaining. His ability to cover shortstop makes him an intriguing depth piece, even if his offense stays a bit light. Any kind of step forward with the bat is a potential bonus.

It might seem odd for a team to claim a player and then quickly cut him but this kind of sequence is becoming more common. The team is usually hoping the player clears waivers the next time, so that he can be kept without using a roster spot. The Mets themselves already did this once this winter, claiming Ji Hwan Bae and later outrighting him to the minors. Cheng doesn’t have a previous career outright nor does he have three years of service time, so he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency if he were outrighted.

With Cheng, they will have a week of DFA limbo to work with. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so they could hold him for five days and field trade interest. They could also put him on the wire sooner than that if they so choose.

Photo courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images

Cardinals Hire Yadier Molina As Special Assistant

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The Cardinals announced today that franchise legend Yadier Molina has been hired as special assistant to president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom. His duties will be focused on catching and game planning strategy.

“We are happy to welcome Yadi back to the Cardinals organization,” said Bloom in a statement, as relayed by John Denton of MLB.com. “He is an elite competitor, a consistent winner, and one of the greatest ever at his position, and we look forward to many contributions during his visits with us in this new role, both in and out of uniform. Yadi will provide input on our catching program, will advise our staff on catching and game planning strategy, and will give me and our front office valuable perspective from his unique vantage point. Perhaps most important, he will help us nurture in our players the high standards, attention to detail, and championship mindset that are so critical to winning.”

Fans in the St. Louis area are well familiar with Molina and his many accolades. He played for the Cardinals for nearly 20 years, beginning in 2004 and sticking around through 2022. His offense was up-and-down over his career but great at his peak. Even when his bat was on the lighter side, he provided value with his defense and intangible abilities as a team leader. Along the way, he made ten All-Star teams, won nine Gold Gloves and helped the Cards win titles in 2006 and 2011.

Due to those leadership qualities, he has long been seen as a future coach or manager, and he has expressed a desire to pursue those jobs. He has gained some managerial experience in a few Latin American leagues. He also managed the Puerto Rican team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and is slated to do the same for this year’s version.

He and the Cards have previously broached the subject of him returning to the organization for a dugout role with them. Per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, family commitments have been an obstacle to him taking on a full-time gig so far. Perhaps that will come to fruition in the future. For now, Molina will help the club in this role.

The Cards are in a rebuilding phase where they will be focusing on developing young players. That includes a cluster of catchers including Iván Herrera, Pedro Pagés, Yohel Pozo, Leonardo Bernal, Jimmy Crooks, Rainiel Rodriguez and others. Molina will presumably be working closely with those guys as they try to absorb some of what made him such a great backstop during his career. If he does eventually commit to a coaching job in the future, the building of relationships with those catchers will have a head-start.

Photo courtesy of Jake Roth, Imagn Images

Red Sox Sign Ranger Suárez

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The Red Sox officially announced the signing of left-hander Ranger Suárez to a five-year deal Wednesday. He’ll reportedly be guaranteed $130MM in total, and the contract contains a mutual option for the 2031 campaign. It’s a fairly straightforward deal that contains no deferrals, opt-outs or no-trade protection. Boston opened a 40-man spot for the veteran lefty this morning when trading infielder Tristan Gray to the Twins. Suárez is represented by the Boras Corporation.

Suárez’s contract is reportedly backloaded in significant fashion, paying him just a $3MM signing bonus and $7MM salary in 2026. He’ll earn $15MM in 2027 before his salary doubles to $30MM in each of the next two years (2028-29). Suárez will be paid $35MM in 2030 and is also guaranteed a $10MM buyout on that mutual option, which is valued at $35MM. Mutual options are never exercised by both parties, so the inclusion of one in this deal is little more than a mechanism to further backload the contract.

The Sox came into the offseason with a rotation headlined by Garrett Crochet, followed by a notable gap to their other starters. They had a lot of options for back-end types and depth but were looking to bolster the front end.

“Because of the depth that we’ve built up over the last couple of years, we feel pretty good about just overall starting pitching, maybe No. 3-ish through No. 10-ish,” was how chief baseball officer Craig Breslow framed the situation in November. “And that’s not to take away from guys who are certainly capable of doing more, and more just to say I don’t think we’re going to spend a ton of time trying to add a No. 4, No. 5 starter.”

Since then, Breslow has made a couple of moves to alter that rotation group. He acquired Sonny Gray from the Cardinals and Johan Oviedo from the Pirates. They subtracted a bit from the depth by including Richard Fitts in the Gray deal and Hunter Dobbins in a separate Cardinals trade that netted first baseman Willson Contreras.

Gray is arguably the kind of No. 2 starter the club was looking for. His 4.28 earned run average in 2025 has some Boston fans disputing that assessment but he has a 3.63 ERA, 27% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 44.6% ground ball rate in 531 innings dating back to the start of 2023. FanGraphs ranks him fifth in wins above replacement among pitchers in that time, behind only Tarik Skubal, Zack Wheeler, Logan Webb and Cristopher Sánchez.

Since the Gray deal, Boston has seemingly been more focused on upgrading its lineup and position player mix, targeting infielders like Alex Bregman, Bo Bichette, Ketel Marte, Brendan Donovan and Isaac Paredes. Clearly, Boston hit a wall in those efforts. Bregman signed with the Cubs, and Bichette landed with the Mets. The D-backs have reportedly taken Marte off the market. Paredes and Donovan could still be available, though Houston has shown minimal interest in dealing the former. Having come up empty (so far) in that pursuit of a marquee infielder, the Red Sox pivoted to further augment an already strong rotation.

Suárez’s contract is notable on a few fronts. For one, Breslow has generally avoided long-term free agent deals since becoming Boston’s chief baseball officer. Coming into today, his longest deal for a free agent was to give Bregman three years, which turned into a one-year relationship when Bregman opted out. The Sox came into today as the only one of the 30 major league clubs to not have signed a free agent this winter. This deal will be a new benchmark for Breslow in terms of years and guarantee given to a free agent, as well as erasing Boston’s status as the only team not to spend money on free agency this offseason.

It’s also a notable deal for Suárez in a few different ways. For one thing, he was a fairly low-profile international signing of the Phillies at the start of his professional career, securing a bonus of just $25K. As he has become a major leaguer, he has pushed his salary up in arbitration with his strong results but his lack of volume has limited him. He just made $8.8MM in his final year of arbitration, relatively modest by modern standards, but will now be securing a much bigger payday than ever before.

Speaking of his strong results but limited overall workload, that impacted the view of his market coming into this winter. Broadly speaking, Suárez has been really good on a rate basis, but he doesn’t throw especially hard and has dealt with some nagging injuries, impacting the overall quantity of his contributions.

He first became a full-time starter for the Phillies in 2022 and held a rotation job for four years. Over that span, he logged 588 1/3 innings with a 3.59 ERA. His 21.9% strikeout rate was around league average. His 7.5% walk rate was solid and his 50.8% ground ball rate quite good. He also earned a reputation as a cold-blooded playoff contributor, giving the Phils 42 2/3 postseason innings with a 1.48 ERA.

However, Suárez’s velocity has never been huge and has been trending down. His four-seam fastball averaged a bit over 93 miles per hour in 2022 and 2023. That dropped to 91.8 mph in 2024 and 91.3 mph last year. His primary pitch, his sinker, averaged just 90.1 mph in 2025.

Suárez also still hasn’t really pitched a full big league season. He hasn’t had any major injury concerns but has had scattered issues over the years, with lower back problems being a recurring thorn. Thanks to those sporadic health problems, he’s never hit the 30-start mark or the 160-inning plateau in any season as a big leaguer.

Given his clear skills but also his question marks, MLBTR predicted Suárez for a five-year, $115MM deal at the beginning of the offseason, $23MM in terms of average annual value. The top of the free agent starting pitching market has been slow to move this winter. Dylan Cease and the Blue Jays quickly found each other but it’s been a bit tepid otherwise.

Prior to this, no other starter apart from Cease signed a deal longer than than three years or for more than $75MM. Tatsuya Imai settled for three years and $54MM, significantly below the expectations from the outset of the offseason. As Suárez and Framber Valdez lingered unsigned into the new year, it was fair to wonder if they would meet the initial expectations. Suárez has not only met MLBTR’s prediction but surpassed it by a margin of $3MM per season.

Despite some concerns with Suárez, the move gives Boston one of the best rotations in baseball, if not the very best. Crochet is the clear ace. Suárez and Gray will have two spots behind him, followed by Brayan Bello. Oviedo seems to be in a decent position to land the No. 5 spot, but he would also have competition from injury returnees like Patrick Sandoval and Kutter Crawford. It’s possible Tanner Houck jumps into the mix late in the year, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in August.

Prospects Connelly Early and Payton Tolle made big league debuts late in 2025 and could push for jobs as well. Kyle Harrison, David Sandlin, Shane Drohan and Tyler Uberstine are also on the 40-man roster. Those latter six names all have minor league options and either have limited big league experience or none at all, so they could all be sent to the minors as depth. Crawford has a decent amount of big league experience but is still optionable, so it’s possible for him to be squeezed to Worcester as well.

It’s also fair to wonder if this Suárez deal sets the Red Sox up to trade some starting pitching for the infield upgrade they didn’t get when Bregman slipped through their fingers and Bichette signed with the Mets. They have been connected to Donovan many times and have already lined up a few trades with Chaim Bloom, Boston’s former chief baseball officer who is now president of baseball operations with the Cardinals.

Donovan isn’t the only option out there. The Sox were also connected to Marte as strongly as any club in baseball. While the Diamondbacks have reportedly taken him off the market, Breslow could always try to force the issue with an offer headlined by Tolle or Early (in addition to other young pieces). Nico Hoerner’s name has also come up in some trade rumors after the Cubs signing Bregman. Jake Cronenworth of the Padres has been in a few rumors.

All those players would have varying level of trade value due to their different salaries and years of control, but the same is also true of Boston’s pitchers. Early and Tolle are big prospects and would only be given up for a big return. Sandoval has one year left on his contract and has been injured for most of the past two years, so his trade value is marginal, at best. Bello has even been in some rumors and he would be somewhere in between, as he is owed $50.5MM over the next four years and has been more good than great.

Since it feels likely that at least one more significant move is coming, the club’s financial picture is probably still in flux. For now, RosterResource pegs the club’s payroll at $197.5MM with a competitive balance tax calculation just under $266MM.

The Sox avoided the tax in 2023 and 2024. They went narrowly over the line in 2025, paying a tax bill of just $1.5MM. That will make them second-time payors in 2026, giving them a base tax rate of 30% for going over the first threshold of $244MM. The second threshold is $264MM and the Sox would pay a 42% on further spending above that line. If they go beyond $284MM, the tax rate would jump to 75% for spending above that line and their top pick in the 2027 draft would be dropped by ten spots.

Speaking of the draft, the Sox are going to be impacted by this Suárez signing in 2026. Suárez rejected a qualifying offer from the Phillies, meaning the Sox are subject to the associated penalties for signing him. Since the Sox paid the tax last year, they have to forfeit their second- and fifth-highest draft picks this summer, in addition to losing $1MM in international bonus pool space. The Phillies will receive a compensation pick after the fourth round of the upcoming draft.

Prior to this deal with the Red Sox, Suárez was connected to the Orioles, Astros and Mets, though other clubs presumably had interest even if they weren’t connected to him in public reports. For the teams who missed out on Suárez, there are still some options they can turn to, despite the relatively late stage of the offseason.

Valdez and Zac Gallen are the top two free agents, with Chris Bassitt, Justin Verlander, Lucas Giolito and others still unsigned. The trade market still has some potential options, including MacKenzie Gore and Freddy Peralta. Valdez has to be pleased with Suárez getting a deal beyond expectations even at this part of the calendar. They are fairly similar pitchers as groundballers. Valdez is a bit older but throws harder and has the more impressive track record overall.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that the Sox would be signing Suárez. Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported the length and guarantee, as well as the lack of deferrals and opt-outs. Chris Cotillo of MassLive first reported the lack of a no-trade clause, the inclusion of a mutual option, and the annual breakdown of the contract. Photos courtesy of Bill Streicher, Brad Penner, Imagn Images

Rangers Re-Sign Josh Sborz To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers announced today that they have signed right-hander Josh Sborz to a minor league deal. The McNamara Baseball Group client also receives an invite to big league camp in spring training.

Sborz, 32, returns to the team he has spent the past five years with. The highlight of that tenure was 2023. Sborz had an unimpressive 5.50 earned run average that season but the underlying marks were better. His 7.9% walk rate was a bit better than average and his 30.7% strikeout rate was very strong. A small 56% strand rate seemed to push some extra runs across, which is why his 3.75 FIP and 3.05 SIERA were much more optimistic.

Things corrected in a big way in the postseason. Sborz gave the Rangers 12 innings over 10 appearances, only allowing one earned run while striking out 13, making him one of most impactful players in the club’s championship.

Things have been a bit more rocky since then, however. Rotator cuff/shoulder issues hampered him throughout 2024 and he only pitched 16 1/3 innings that season. He underwent a debridement surgery in November of that year, a procedure that was expected to sideline him for the first two or three months of the 2025 campaign. His rehab from that surgery didn’t progress as quickly as hoped and he ended up missing the entire season.

The Rangers could have retained Sborz for 2026 via arbitration. Players usually see their salary hold steady when they miss an entire season. As such, MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Sborz for the same $1.1MM figure he made in 2025. Texas decided not to tender him a contract, sending him to free agency instead.

For the club, there’s no harm in bringing Sborz back via a non-roster pact. They can bring him into camp and see if he can get some of his velocity back. That was an issue for him last year but he’s now further removed from the surgery.

This is the second straight offseason wherein the Rangers have tried to build a competitive bullpen while working around budgetary issues. Last year, they gave one-year deals worth $5.5MM or less to Chris Martin, Hoby Milner, Luke Jackson, Jacob Webb and Shawn Armstrong. Most of those pitchers performed fairly well but they also became free agents, putting the Rangers back in a similar spot this winter.

So far, they have reunited with Martin and also signed Jakob Junis, Alexis Díaz and Tyler Alexander. All of those deals have been worth $4MM or less. Those guys will be in the bullpen alongside incumbents like Robert Garcia and Cole Winn, with Rule 5 pick Carter Baumler in the mix. Sborz will try to force his way into the picture and back onto the Texas roster.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Rich Hill Not Planning To Play In 2026

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Left-hander Rich Hill doesn’t want to use the word but it seems to be leaning towards retirement. Appearing on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast, Hill was asked by host Rob Bradford if he was retiring and said “I don’t have any plans on playing next year.” The situation is somewhat analogous to that of Joe Kelly, who announced on the same podcast last month that he didn’t want to use the word “retire” but wasn’t planning on playing anymore.

“I’m looking for open possibilities to stay in the game of baseball and be a contributory factor,” Hill continued. “I enjoy the work aspect of whatever it might be that’s next. I think that’s one thing that… why athletes get hired in other positions and other… outside of sports is because they are highly-driven people that want to succeed. And that’s something that I’m looking forward to.”

It’s not shocking that Hill is slowly wafting into the next stage of his career. Though he did pitch in the 2025 season, he was easily the oldest player in the league. He was 45 years old when he suited up for the Royals and will turn 46 in March. Though he has continued pitching to an age when most other players have called it quits long ago, he did so with some unconventional approaches. He waited until midseason to sign in 2024 in a deliberate attempt to be more fresh for a stretch run.

If this is indeed the end, it will wrap up one of the more unique arcs of a player in recent history. Hill was drafted by the Cubs way back in 2002 and made his major league debut in 2005. He didn’t find immediate success but had a really good season in 2007, posting a 3.92 earned run average over 32 starts.

But from there, he went into a really challenging period of his career. He struggled with results and health for many years, leading him to be bounced between the majors and minors and between various different organizations. From 2008 to 2014, he tossed a total of 153 innings split between the Cubs, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, the Angels and Yankees. He posted a 5.41 ERA over that stretch.

2015 would turn out to be an incredible comeback season. He started the year on a minor league deal with the Nationals. He opted out of that contract in June and signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. He made just two starts for that club but struck out 21 opponents in 11 innings. That was enough to get him back into affiliated baseball via a minor league deal with the Red Sox.

Boston called him up in September and he made four starts as the season was winding down. In those, he logged 29 innings with a 1.55 ERA. He had a mammoth 34% strikeout rate, a tiny 4.7% walk rate and a strong 48.4% ground ball rate. That was a tiny sample size but the Athletics made a bet on it, signing Hill to a one-year, $6MM deal for 2016. That wager paid off handsomely, with Hill giving the A’s 14 starts with a 2.25 ERA.

At that year’s deadline, he was traded to the Dodgers alongside Josh Reddick, with the A’s getting Frankie Montas, Grant Holmes, and Jharel Cotton in return. Hill gave the Dodgers six starts with an ERA of 1.83 and then three postseason starts with a 3.46 ERA.

The Dodgers were happy enough with that showing to bring Hill back via a three-year, $48MM contract. That was a pretty staggering deal for a 37-year-old who was not too far removed from being in indy ball but it worked out well. He logged 327 innings over those three seasons with a 3.30 ERA, plus 37 postseason innings with a 2.43 ERA.

After that deal ran its course, Hill went into his 40s and mercenary mode. He signed a series of one-year deal with the Twins, Rays, Red Sox and Pirates. In 2023, he seemed to wear down as the season went along, not surprising for a 43-year-old. His 4.76 ERA with Pittsburgh was still respectable but he collapsed after a deadline deal to the Padres, posting an 8.23 ERA after the swap.

As mentioned, he then tried to think outside the box to continue as an effective big league pitcher. He planned to intentionally sign at midseason in 2024 in order to spend more time with his family and also save his bullets for the second half and postseason. He stayed unsigned until inking a minor league deal with the Red Sox in August. He did get called up but only for four relief appearances before being released. In 2025, he signed a minor league deal with the Royals in May. He got called up in July but was designated for assignment after just two starts.

Given the unusual shape of his career and his willingness to buck conventions, it’s possible he’ll change his mind and find his way back to the mound. But if Hill doesn’t make it back to the majors, he will finish with 1,418 innings tossed over 388 games for 14 different clubs. In that time, he posted a 4.02 ERA but will likely be best remembered for the 2015-2021 run which saw him post a 3.15 ERA in his late 30s and early 40s. Baseball Reference pegs his career earnings over $75MM, most of that coming to Hill in his late-career surge. We at MLB Trade Rumors salute him on a fine career, which may or may not be done, and wish him the best on whatever is next.

Photo courtesy of Peter Aiken, Imagn Images

Rangers Designate Dom Hamel For Assignment

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The Rangers announced that right-hander Dom Hamel has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding move for right-hander Jakob Junis, whose one-year deal with Texas is now official.

Hamel, 27 in March, has never pitched for the Rangers. He was just claimed off waivers from the Mets in late September, during the final weekend of the regular season. He stuck on the roster for a few months but has now been squeezed off.

His major league track record is one of the smallest possible. He tossed one scoreless inning for the Mets on September 17th. He was then designated for assignment and claimed by the Orioles. Baltimore put him back on waivers a few days later, which is when the Rangers claimed him.

Hamel came up as a starting pitcher in the Mets’ system but struggled with control. He was primarily used as a multi-inning reliever in 2025 with some encouraging results. He tossed 67 2/3 Triple-A innings over 31 appearances. 11 of those were technically starts but were mostly of the opener variety. His 5.32 earned run average wasn’t especially impressive but his 25.2% strikeout rate was above average. Perhaps more importantly, given his past issues with control, he only walked 7.4% of batters faced.

He did allow 12 home runs in that time, which helped push more runs across the board. Despite those issues with the long ball, he generated enough interest to be claimed off waivers twice late last season.

The Rangers will now have a week to determine his next steps. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so they could field trade interest over the next five days. Hamel still has a couple of options remaining, which could help him land elsewhere as a depth piece. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Rangers as non-roster depth since he does not have a previous career outright nor three years of big league service time.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Mariners, Bryce Miller Avoid Arbitration

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The Mariners announced that they have avoided arbitration with right-hander Bryce Miller by agreeing to a one-year deal with a club option for 2027. Miller will make a $2.4375MM salary in 2026, according to Adam Jude of The Seattle Times. The club option is worth $6.075MM and has a $15K buyout, so Miller is guaranteed $2.4525MM, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The club option is voided if Miller finishes in the top five of Cy Young voting in 2026. He will still be controllable via arbitration through 2029 regardless of how the contractual situation plays out.

Miller was one of 18 players who did not have a deal in place when the arbitration filing deadline passed earlier this month. He just qualified for arbitration for the first time this offseason as a Super Two player, meaning he will go through the process four times instead of the standard three. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a $2.4MM salary. Miller filed at $2.625MM and the Mariners at $2.25MM.

A gap of just $375K is a drop in the bucket for a major league baseball club but it compounds when looking at the bigger picture. A player’s subsequent trips through arbitration see his salary grow as a percentage of where he started. Therefore, a $375K gap can actually lead to a swing of millions over three years, or four in this case.

Most teams these days adopt a “file and trial” approach, which means they cut off negotiations of one-year deals after the filing deadline. This is to give them leverage in pre-deadline talks and also to prevent players from filing absurdly high numbers in an attempt to set out an aggressive bargaining stance. An arbiter can only pick the player’s or the team’s number, not a midpoint.

Even if a team does have a “file and trial” policy, exceptions are made for deals that are longer than one year, even if that extra year is an option. That gives the club a path to avoid a potentially contentious hearing while sticking to their policy, in a sense. A deal with an option can’t be used as a comparison point in future arb hearings as well, which is a factor.

Arbitration hearings are generally viewed as part of the business but occasional situations have cropped up where the relationships between a player and a team appeared to have been damaged. Three years ago, Corbin Burnes said as much in the wake of his hearing with the Brewers. Miller and the Mariners have staved off any possibility of that scenario by meeting roughly in the middle between their two filing numbers.

As mentioned, the club option is mostly a measure to avoid this agreement being used as a future comp. Even if it is voided or turned down, Miller would remain under club control through 2029 via arbitration.

There will now be no more than 16 hearings this year. Since the 18 players filed earlier this month, Cade Cavalli and the Nationals reached a new agreement and now Miller is off the list as well. Miller was the last Mariner in the arb class without a determined salary, so the club is now wrapped in that department.

Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images

Nationals Claim Mickey Gasper, Designate Andry Lara For Assignment

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The Nationals announced that they have claimed utility player Mickey Gasper off waivers from the Twins. Minnesota designated him for assignment last week when they claimed Vidal Bruján, another utility player. The Nats designated right-hander Andry Lara for assignment in a corresponding move.

Washington’s new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni is already familiar with Gasper. Toboni was an assistant general manager with the Red Sox when that club took Gasper from the Yankees in the minor league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 draft. Gasper made a brief debut with Boston in 2024 but was traded to the Twins last winter. Between the two clubs, he has a .133/.250/.195 line in 133 big league plate appearances.

Toboni and the Nats are putting more stock in his minor league track record, where he has generally had a strong approach at the plate and has also provided defensive versatility. He took 588 Triple-A plate appearances over the past two years with 22 home runs, a 13.8% walk rate and 13.6% strikeout rate. He produced a combined line of .312/.420/.531 in that sample, production which translated to a wRC+ of 154.

In terms of the glovework, Gasper has plenty of ability to move around. He has experience as a catcher, plus the three non-shortstop infield positions and has spent a bit of time in left field as well. He has even more versatility when considering he is a switch hitter who has options remaining.

Despite the strong numbers, Gasper isn’t likely viewed as a core piece. He was originally a 27th round draft pick back in 2018 and took a while to get to the majors. Though he has a short résumé, he’s already 30 years old.

But for the Nats, there’s a logic to bringing him aboard. Washington is rebuilding and has a roster in flux. They project to have CJ Abrams and Luis García Jr. on the infield but both are theoretical trade candidates, with Abrams controlled for three more seasons and García two. Brady House was once considered the third baseman of the future but he hit poorly in his first taste of the majors. Prospect Harry Ford could be the catcher of the future but he has just eight big league plate appearances.

Amid all that uncertainty, Gasper gives the club a bit of depth all over. As the season rolls along, there will be inevitable injuries and fluctuations in performance, plus potential transactions. Gasper can bounce around to multiple positions in the big leagues or be kept in the minors as depth, depending on what happens with others on the roster. He has less than a year of service time, meaning he can be cheaply retained for the foreseeable future, if he manages to hold onto a roster spot.

To bring aboard Gasper, the Nats have bumped Lara off the roster. Now 23, he was added to the 40-man roster in November of 2024 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. At that time, he had just wrapped up a strong minor league season. He tossed 134 2/3 innings between High-A and Double-A with a 3.34 earned run average, 24.3% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate. His 2025 didn’t go nearly as well. He made his major league debut but allowed 14 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings. He also struggled in the minors, with a 7.55 ERA in 56 inning across multiple levels.

Lara was an international signing of the previous front office. President of baseball operations Mike Rizzo was fired in 2025 and eventually replaced by Toboni. It seems that Lara’s poor season in 2025 and a shake-up in Washington have pushed him off the roster. The Nats will now have a week to figure out Lara’s fate. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so they could take five days to explore trade interest. Lara still has a couple of club options, which could help him land with another club as depth.

Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images

Padres Have Shown Interest In Freddy Peralta

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Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta is not a lock to be traded but plenty of other clubs are interested. He’s already been connected to the Astros, Giants, Mets, Orioles, Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers and Braves this offseason. Today, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Padres have checked in with the Brewers while Katie Woo of The Athletic reports that the Dodgers remain engaged.

The widespread appeal is understandable as Peralta is both good and cheap. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has given the Brewers 738 1/3 innings, allowing 3.30 earned runs per nine. His 9% walk rate in that time was close to league average while he struck out a big 29.6% of batters faced. He just wrapped up a 2025 season in which he posted a 2.70 ERA with a 28.2% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate.

Milwaukee signed Peralta back in 2020, before he was established as a viable big league starter. That deal turned into a massive win for the Brewers, as it was only a $15.5MM guarantee over five years. It also included $8MM club options for 2025 and 2026. By the time those options rolled around, they were obvious bargains and picked up without hesitation.

That salary on a one-year commitment is very appealing for all teams. The top starting pitchers often make in the range of $25MM to $45MM annually on multi-year deals. This offseason has seen Dylan Cease, Ranger Suárez and Michael King land average annual values in the $25-30MM range. In short, Peralta’s deal is a steal.

That makes him very appealing to all clubs. For big spending teams, Peralta is a theoretical rotation upgrade without the big contract. Most of the top spenders are also facing huge tax bills, in many cases more than doubling the cost of signing any free agent. For teams with payroll crunches, it’s also obviously helpful to be able to get a top arm without a big price.

It also makes Peralta valuable for the Brewers, who are never big spenders. But the fact that Peralta is nearing free agency puts them in a tricky spot. Their low payrolls usually make it hard for them to sign their players for the long term, which can lead to them being traded as free agency nears.

In recent years, players like Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader have been traded as their respective windows of control were shrinking. But with Willy Adames, Milwaukee decided to hold onto him until he hit the open market. They collected compensation in the form of an extra draft pick after he rejected a qualifying offer and then signed with the Giants.

Peralta could go either way. President of baseball operations Matt Arnold downplayed the trade possibility back in November but the club is also reportedly concerned about its payroll. Earlier this month, they were one of nine teams who terminated broadcast deals with Main Street Sports. It’s possible they could negotiate a new deal or pivot to having MLB handle things but they will almost certainly bring in less broadcast revenue in 2026 compared to the year prior.

Trading Peralta wouldn’t save the Brewers a ton of money but it would allow them to theoretically bolster other areas of the roster without having to spend on free agents. However, no offer has compelled them to pull the trigger yet, with pitchers and catchers set to report to spring training in less than three weeks.

The Padres make a lot of sense as a landing spot for Peralta. Rotation depth was a concern for them throughout 2025 and then they lost Cease and King to free agency at season’s end. Shortly thereafter, Yu Darvish underwent UCL surgery, ruling him out for the entire 2026 campaign.

They have since brought back King but further bolstering the rotation would make sense. Currently, they project to have King, Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove in three spots, followed by a cluster of potential depth options including Randy Vásquez, JP Sears, Kyle Hart and Matt Waldron.

Even within that group, there are notable questions. King is coming off a season impacted by injuries. Pivetta has been in some trade rumors due to his back-loaded contract. Musgrove will be coming back from missing 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery. Vásquez had a nice 3.84 ERA last year but just a 13.7% strikeout rate. Sears, Waldron and Hart all had poor seasons.

Adding to that group makes sense but the Friars have seemingly been walking a financial tightrope for a few years. Their payroll peaked in 2023 but the offseasons since then have seen them trying to work around an apparent lack of spending capacity. That seemed to motivate the Juan Soto trade two offseasons ago. Last winter, they were able to sign Pivetta but with an unusual structure. It was $55MM over four years but with just a $3MM signing bonus and $1MM signing bonus in the first year.

RosterResource projects the payroll for $220MM next year, which is a bit above last year’s spending. The competitive balance tax figure is pegged at $262MM, above the base threshold of $244MM. The Padres reset their tax status in 2024 but paid the tax last year. That means they would be second-time payors in 2026, which leads to a 30% base tax rate. Going above $264MM would increase the tax rate to 42% on spending beyond that line.

That presumably makes the Padres at least somewhat unwilling to spend big on a free agent like Framber Valdez, Zac Gallen or Chris Bassitt. Rosenthal writes that their preferred spending range is $8MM to $12MM and he floats Nick Martinez, Lucas Giolito and Justin Verlander as guys who could theoretically fall to that range.

Though Peralta’s $8MM salary would undoubtedly be appealing, especially if they move Pivetta and his $19MM salary in 2026, the Brewers would want something notable in return. Subtracting from the big league roster would be counterproductive and the Padres have also traded away a large number of prospects in recent years, including sending top prospect Leo De Vries to the Athletics in last year’s Mason Miller deal. Lining up on a deal with Milwaukee may be tricky.

Turning to the Dodgers, Woo notes that their interest presumably indicates at least some level of concern from the club in relation to the current rotation mix. The Dodgers have a great starting group on paper but questions with most of the individuals. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is only guy still on the roster who topped 91 innings pitched last year. Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Emmet Sheehan, Shohei Ohtani and Roki Sasaki all came in under that line due to various different health situations. The Dodgers presumably don’t expect the whole group to stay healthy for 2026.

They also seem better positioned than the Padres to offer the Brewers the kind of young, controllable pitching they would probably want in return. Sheehan and Sasaki are both still in their pre-arb years. The same is true of guys like Ben Casparius, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Justin Wrobleski, Gavin Stone, Landon Knack and others.

Woo also floats outfielder Ryan Ward as a possibility, with the recent Kyle Tucker signing blocking his path. She writes that the Dodgers were considering a platoon of the lefty-swinging Ward and righty Alex Call before landing Tucker, so Ward may now be expendable. The Brewers subtracted from their outfield this offseason when they traded Isaac Collins to the Royals alongside Nick Mears to acquire left-hander Ángel Zerpa. They still have a decent group including Christian Yelich, Sal Frelick, Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, Blake Perkins and others.

Whether the Brewers can be compelled to complete a trade remains to be seen. Without Peralta, their rotation would still consist of a pretty good group including Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Misiorowski, Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick, Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser, Tobias Myers and others, plus whatever they can get in return in the Peralta trade. But they could also just hold Peralta to make another run in 2026. If Peralta is healthy a season from now, he would be a lock to reject a QO, netting the Brewers a compensatory draft pick if he signs elsewhere.

Photo courtesy of Michael McLoone, Imagn Images

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