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Diamondbacks Select Garrett Hampson

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TODAY: The Diamondbacks announced that they have selected Hampson’s contract, keeping him in the organization and essentially assuring him of a spot on their Opening Day roster. Walston was transferred to the 60-day injured list in order to make room for Hampson on the 40-man roster.

March 21: Infielder/outfielder Garrett Hampson plans to exercise the upcoming opt-out in his minor league deal with the Diamondbacks, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The opt-out date is tomorrow and the Diamondbacks will then have 48 hours to decide whether to add Hampson to the roster or let him return to free agency.

Hampson is an Article XX(b) free agent, which is any player with at least six years of service who finished the previous season on a major league roster or injured list. Such players have guaranteed opt-out dates on minor league deals signed at least ten days prior to Opening Day. The first of those opt-out dates is five days prior to Opening Day, which will be tomorrow. The others are May 1 and June 1. When a player triggers an opt-out, the club has 48 hours to decide how to respond.

A veteran of seven big league seasons, Hampson has previously suited up for the Rockies, Marlins and Royals. He has generally served as a light-hitting utility player who provides some speed and versatility. His career batting line of .240/.301/.362 translates to a wRC+ of 69, indicating he’s been 31% below average overall. But he’s stolen 64 bases in 79 tries while playing every position except catcher.

He signed a minor league pact with the Snakes in January, a deal which will reportedly pay him $1.5MM if he cracks the big league roster. He’s had a decent showing in camp. His career walk rate is just 7.7% but he’s taken free passes at an 11.4% clip this spring. It’s a small sample of 44 plate appearances but his .289/.386/.368 line is solid, translating to a 107 wRC+.

The Diamondbacks likely need a multi-positional guy like Hampson. Of their four bench spots, one will be taken by a backup catcher, likely José Herrera. Another spot will go to outfielder Randal Grichuk. Of the two remaining bench spots, they will want at least one infielder, ideally one who can cover multiple spots.

On the 40-man roster at present, they have Jordan Lawlar, Blaze Alexander, Tim Tawa and Grae Kessinger. Alexander is out with an oblique strain. Lawlar is one of the top prospects in the league and missed a lot of 2024 due to injuries. The Diamondbacks surely want him playing regularly in Triple-A and optioned him earlier this week. Tawa and Kessinger have also been optioned to Triple-A already. The club could always recall them but it seems they have tipped their hand a bit.

The Diamondbacks also have Ildemaro Vargas in camp as a non-roster invitee. Whether it’s Hampson or Vargas getting a roster spot, the Snakes will need to make room. Blake Walston is out with Tommy John surgery and could be moved to the 60-day injured list to open one spot. If the club wants add both Hampson and Vargas, or perhaps an NRI pitcher like Shelby Miller, they would have to find a way to open another.

Photo courtesy Rob Schumacher, Imagn Images

Diamondbacks, Justin Martínez Agree To Extension

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TODAY: The Diamondbacks officially announced the deal, which per the club’s announcement also includes a conditional club option for the 2032 season. According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the conditional option is worth $3MM and triggers if Martinez has elbow surgery at any point in the deal or spends a certain number of days on the injured list.

March 21: Right-hander Justin Martínez and the Diamondbacks have reportedly agreed to a contract extension, pending a physical. The deal will pay him $18MM over five years, with a couple of club options as well. He’ll get a $2MM signing bonus and a $1.5MM salary this year. He’ll then make salaries of $2MM, $3MM, $4MM and $5.5MM in the remaining guaranteed years. The 2030 club option is valued at $7MM followed by a $9MM option for 2031. It can max out at $39MM via escalators and those options. The guaranteed portion of the deal covers his remaining pre-arbitration and arbitration seasons, while the options give the Diamondbacks two potential extra years of control.

Martínez, 23, has a limited major league track record but has impressed in that time. He had a rough debut in 2023, allowing 14 earned runs in a small sample of ten innings. But he firmly established himself last year. He tossed 72 2/3 innings over 64 appearances for the D’Backs, allowing just 2.48 earned runs per nine innings. His 11.7% walk rate was definitely on the high side but he struck out 29.5% of batters faced and got grounders on 58.9% of balls in play.

He accomplished all that with an impressive arsenal, turning his Statcast page into a sea of red. His four-seam fastball and sinker both averaged over 100 miles per hour with Martínez also mixing in a splitter and a slider. He earned seven holds and eight saves last year, cementing himself as a key leverage arm for the Snakes.

Given that eye-popping performance, it’s understandable that the Snakes would look to lock him up. It’s also easy to see why Martínez might prefer to lock up some life-changing money now. He had just converted from the outfield to the mound in 2018 prior to being signed as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic. He got a $50K bonus, relatively modest compared to some of the multi-million-dollar bonuses high-profile prospects get. He has struggled with control problems throughout his minor league career and also had Tommy John surgery in 2021.

While Martínez is surely confident in his obvious talents, his trajectory has been more rocky than many other young players. That perhaps made him less likely to bet on himself than a player who already had millions in the bank and a smooth ride to the majors.

The deal is roughly in line with previous pacts for pre-arbitration relievers, as shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker. Emmanuel Clase got $20MM over five years from the Guardians going into the 2022 season. Clase then had between one and two years of service time, as Martínez does now. In both cases, the player locked up guaranteed money for their pre-arb and arb years, while giving up two free agent seasons via options. The Clase deal is tops for a reliever in this service bracket with Martínez coming in just below him.

Clase is an apt comparison for Martínez and a good illustration of what the Diamondbacks are hoping for. Clase was clearly a talented pitcher but had some uncertainty after missing the 2020 season due to a PED suspension. He pitched his first full season in 2021 and posted a 1.29 ERA over 71 appearances. The Guardians banked on Clase repeating that kind of performance going forward, a bet that has paid off. Clase has emerged as one of the best closers in baseball with a 1.72 ERA over the first three years of that deal.

The bar doesn’t need to be that high for Martínez. Even by the end of the deal, his salary stays fairly modest. Decent setup pitchers like Paul Sewald, Yimi García and Tommy Kahnle signed deals with salaries in the $7-8MM range this winter. That means Martínez will be a bargain even if he’s producing in the realm of those guys. But clearly, the ceiling is quite high and the Diamondbacks are hoping Martínez is a key part of the bullpen for years to come.

What remains to be seen is how Martínez will be utilized in the short term. Manager Torey Lovullo said this week, in video relayed by Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports, that he would likely not name a strict closer. He has two key lefties in A.J. Puk and Joe Mantiply, as well as righties Martínez and Kevin Ginkel. Based on Lovullo’s comments, he seems likely to put his pitchers in optimal platoon settings, at least until a more clear hierarchy emerges.

Moises Fabian of Mega 97.9 in New York first reported the details in Spanish, relaying the $18MM guarantee over five years and the club options valued at $7MM and $9MM. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic later reported the same details in English. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 reported the specific annual salaries.

Photos courtesy of Rob Schumacher, Imagn Images.

Offseason In Review: New York Mets

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The Mets gave out the largest contract in the history of baseball and all professional sports, but they otherwise avoided the top guys and tried to spread their money around to a wide variety of targets.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $236.475MM (not including split deals or accounting for deferrals)
Total spending: $1.0066 billion

Option Decisions

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None.

Notable Losses

Going into the winter, it was still hard to get a firm grip on what the Steve Cohen and David Stearns relationship would really look like. Cohen had made the Mets one of the top-spending clubs in baseball. That would have been even more true if the Carlos Correa deal had gone through. But Cohen could easily sign top players on his own and presumably brought in Stearns to make wise decisions about how to allocate resources. Stearns, for his part, had previously been running the small-market Brewers. He had obviously been conservative with that club, only twice giving out a contract larger than $24MM, but how would he act with deeper pockets?

Stearns was hired prior to the 2023-24 offseason but it was hard to draw conclusions from that winter. The club had a disappointing 2023 and ended up having a midseason selloff, sending away Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, David Robertson and others. They ended up having a fairly modest winter ahead of 2024. They spent a decent amount of money but by signing multiple players to one- or two-year deals.

They went on to engineer a somewhat surprising season in 2024. They snuck into a playoff spot and then got by the Brewers and Phillies in the postseason before getting felled by the Dodgers in the NLCS.

On the heels of a better season and with the club in overall better shape, would Stearns and the Mets behave differently than they did in the previous winter? Many expected the aggression to be ramped up but it wasn't known for sure. It was an important wild card factor in an offseason that was highlighted by Juan Soto, the most sought-after free agent in recent baseball history, perhaps ever. But on top of that, the market also featured guys like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Blake Snell, Willy Adames, Alex Bregman and Mets legend Pete Alonso. Would Stearns use Cohen's resources to own the offseason?

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Marlins To Carry Rule 5 Picks Liam Hicks On Opening Day Roster

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The Marlins announced today that catcher/first baseman Liam Hicks has made the Opening Day roster, in the form of a video of manager Clayton McCullough telling the Rule 5 pick that he made the team.

Hicks, 26 in June, was drafted by the Rangers in 2021. However, he was flipped to the Tigers in July as part of the deal that sent catcher Carson Kelly to Texas. But the Tigers left Hicks unprotected in the Rule 5 draft, which allowed the Marlins to nab him.

His minor league track record has pluses and minuses. His defense isn’t considered especially strong, which is why he’s played a bit of first base in addition to his work behind the plate. Offensively, he has strong plate discipline but minimal power. He has stepped to the plate 1,097 times over various minor league levels with just 13 home runs. But his 15.1% walk rate and 13.4% strikeout rate are both excellent numbers. The overall result is a humpbacked slash line of .274/.405/.374, which translates to a 124 wRC+.

He came into camp with a fairly wide open path to a big league job. The Marlins only have two other catchers on their 40-man roster. Nick Fortes has hit just .222/.275/.344 in his career but should get a big league job based on his solid glovework. The other backstop on the roster is Agustín Ramírez. He’s a top 100 prospect with a strong bat but questionable defense, so the Fish presumably want him getting regular reps in Triple-A. He was optioned earlier this week.

Hicks has stepped to the plate 33 times in Grapefruit League action, with his numbers resembling his previous minor league work. He has six walks compared to just five strikeouts. His only extra-base hit is a double, leading to a .208/.424/.250 line.

That’s enough for him to get an Opening Day roster spot. The Marlins will roll with a Fortes/Hicks duo behind the plate. The club isn’t expecting to compete this year, so Hicks should get a decent amount of rope to prove himself. If he struggles, as a Rule 5 pick, he can’t be optioned to the minors this year. If the Marlins want him off the active roster, they would have to put him on waivers before offering him back to the Tigers. Any claiming club would be bound by the same Rule 5 parameters as the Marlins currently are.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Braves Acquire Nathan Wiles From Rays

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The Rays announced that right-hander Nathan Wiles has been traded to the Braves for cash considerations. The righty was not on Tampa’s 40-man roster and won’t need to take up a spot on Atlanta’s roster for now.

Wiles, 26, was an eighth-round pick of the Rays in 2019. Since then, he has pitched both out of the rotation and the bullpen in the minor leagues. Overall, he has thrown 325 1/3 innings across multiple levels, allowing 4.98 earned runs per nine. His 20.5% strikeout rate is on the low side but he’s shown strong control with a 5% walk rate.

He’s never been a top prospect but he got an honorable mention on the FanGraphs list of Rays prospects from Eric Longenhagen and Travis Ice in July. “Wiles commands his 90-94 mph fastball well and his 84-88 mph cutter stays off barrels with its late bite,” the FanGraphs reports says. “He throws his changeup to both left- and right-handed hitters and his best ones show significant depth.”

His numbers in the Grapefruit League look quite nice, with obvious small sample caveats. In 6 1/3 innings, he has 11 strikeouts compared to just two walks. 10 hits have led to five earned runs and a 7.11 ERA, but his .556 batting average on balls in play and 58.3% strand rate are both heavily to the unlucky side.

Perhaps Atlanta has seen something they liked from Wiles this spring and sent some cash to the Rays in order to bring him aboard. He’ll provide the club with some non-roster depth for its pitching staff.

Photo courtesy Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Julio Urías Suspended Through 2025 All-Star Break

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Major League Baseball has announced that free agent left-hander Julio Urías has been suspended through the 2025 All-Star break. He will be reinstated from the restricted list on July 17. “The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball has completed its investigation into allegations that free agent pitcher Julio Urías violated Major League Baseball’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy,” commissioner Rob Manfred says in the league statement. “Having reviewed all of the available evidence, I have concluded that Mr. Urías violated our Policy and that discipline is appropriate.” Urías becomes the first player to receive a second suspension for a violation of this policy.

In September of 2023, Urías was arrested and charged with felony domestic violence charges. An alleged altercation occurred outside BMO Stadium in downtown Los Angeles following a Major League Soccer game between LAFC and Inter Miami. Law enforcement obtained civilian video of the incident, which appeared to show Urías in a physical altercation with a woman. He was booked and released on a $50K bond. A member of the Dodgers at that time, he was placed on administrative leave shortly thereafter. He became a free agent at the end of the 2023 season.

In December of that year, it was reported that law enforcement official had completed their investigation and turned their findings over to the L.A. County District Attorney’s office to determine whether charges would be filed. In January of 2024, it was reported that no felony charges would be filed, with the investigation forwarded to the L.A. City Attorney’s Office to determine whether misdemeanor charges are warranted.

In April, he was charged with five misdemeanors: spousal battery, two counts of domestic battery involving dating relationship, one count of false imprisonment and one count of assault. In May, he pleaded no contest to one domestic battery charge, with the other charges dropped as a condition of his plea. At that time, the L.A. City Attorney’s office said that Urias would be placed on 36 months of probation, complete 30 days of community service, complete a year-long domestic violence counseling program, pay a fee to a domestic violence fund, pay restitution to the victim and abide by a protective order, in addition to being forbidden from possessing any weapons.

As mentioned, Urías is the first player to best twice suspended for violations of the domestic violence policy. In 2019, he was arrested after after reportedly shoving a female companion to the ground. The Los Angeles City Attorney ultimately deferred prosecution in that matter, conditional on Urías completing a 52-week domestic violence counseling program, among other criteria. Under the joint domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy agreed to by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association, the league can impose discipline even in the absence of charges and Urías ultimately received a 20-game suspension.

Photo courtesy Orlando Ramirez, Imagn Images.

Yu Darvish To Begin Season On Injured List

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Right-hander Yu Darvish will begin the season on the injured list. Manager Mike Shildt informed reporters today, including Dennis Lin of The Athletic and AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. The righty was diagnosed with elbow inflammation earlier this week. “We feel pretty comfortable that some rest and getting ramped back up will be the answer,” Shildt says. That doesn’t point to a long absence but it will leave two rotation spots for the trio of Kyle Hart, Stephen Kolek and Randy Vásquez.

Darvish has been dealing with occasional bouts of elbow inflammation for a while now. He finished the 2023 season on the IL due to inflammation in that right elbow. In 2024, he missed time due to various issues. He had some neck tightness, a groin strain, an undisclosed family issue and some more elbow inflammation. He was limited to 81 2/3 innings last year.

Though Shildt downplayed the severity, it’s a somewhat concerning situation. Any injury to a pitcher’s throwing elbow is somewhat alarming. In the case of Darvish, the elbow problems are becoming somewhat frequent and he’s going to turn 39 years old in August.

The San Diego rotation has been an ongoing point of focus. Joe Musgrove required Tommy John surgery in October, blowing a big hole in the 2025 staff. That left them with a front three of Darvish, Dylan Cease and Michael King. They signed Nick Pivetta in the offseason to take a fourth spot.

That left guys like Matt Waldron, Hart, Kolek and Vásquez as contenders for the final rotation spot. But Waldron is on the shelf due to an oblique strain and now Darvish is out. That appears to leave two rotation spots for the Hart/Kolek/Vásquez trio.

Hart has almost no major league experience but dominated in Korea last year. He tossed 157 innings in the KBO with a 2.69 earned run average, 28.8% strikeout rate, 6% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate. That led to a deal with the Padres but he was slowed in camp by the flu. He only made his spring debut on Sunday, tossing three innings.

Kolek just made his big league debut last year, as a Rule 5 pick out of the Mariners organization. He stuck in the San Diego bullpen all year and posted a 5.21 ERA, though with better peripherals. His .359 batting average on balls in play and 64.3% strand rate were both on the unlucky side, so he had a 3.57 FIP and and 3.41 SIERA. He has been getting stretched out in camp and has a 2.19 ERA in 12 1/3 innings.

Vásquez had a 4.87 ERA over 20 starts for the Friars last year. He has only thrown four innings of official Cactus League action, having allowed two earned runs with three strikeouts and one walk. His last official outing was March 2 but he has been throwing on backfields and in sim games.

Thairo Estrada To Miss Four To Eight Weeks With Broken Wrist

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Rockies infielder Thairo Estrada has a broken right wrist, suffered after being hit by a pitch yesterday, and will miss four to eight weeks. Manager Bud Black passed the information on to reporters, including Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Thomas Harding of MLB.com.

Estrada, 29, was set to be the club’s regular second baseman. They had Brendan Rodgers in that job for much of the past few seasons but non-tendered him after 2024. They signed Estrada to fill that opening, giving him a one-year, $3.25MM deal.

While he was coming off a down year, Estrada had a strong three-year run with the Giants prior to that. Over the 2021 to 2023 seasons, Estrada slashed .266/.320/.416 for a wRC+ of 105. He was mostly at the keystone in that time but also had enough versatility to play shortstop, third base and the outfield on occasion. He stole at least 21 bases in both 2022 and 2023.

But as mentioned, last year didn’t go well. He made multiple trips to the injured list due to left wrist sprains and hit .217/.247/.343 for a 64 wRC+. The Giants outrighted him off the roster at the end of August.

He and the Rockies were surely hoping he could bounce back in 2025 and he looked good in camp. He put up a line of .400/.421/.457 in 38 Cactus League plate appearances. Unfortunately, whatever momentum he was building for the regular season will now be put on hold for an extended stretch. Wrist problems are often tough to come back from, being obviously important for hitting. Estrada had left wrist problems last year and now has a broken right wrist, so it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll look like a few weeks from now.

With the schedule set to begin in a week, the Rockies will have to decide how to proceed. Harding reports that the first priority will be to try Kyle Farmer at second. Farmer also got a $3.25MM deal from the Rockies this winter, though he’s more of a glove-first player. He has hit .252/.313/.396 for a wRC+ of 93 over the past four years but with strong glovework at all four infield spots and the occasional appearance in left field.

Farmer was previously slated to serve in a multi-positional infield role. If he slides in as the regular second baseman, they will need to find another infielder for the bench. They only have four other regular infielders on the 40-man roster. Ryan McMahon is the regular third baseman, with Ezequiel Tovar at short. Michael Toglia will be in the first base job. Adael Amador is one of the club’s best prospects and has made a brief MLB debut, but he’s not yet 22 years old and hasn’t yet played at the Triple-A level. Greg Jones has some infield experience but played more in the outfield last year. Owen Miller isn’t on the roster but a non-roster depth option.

Nightengale suggests they could look to the open market, naming Nicky Lopez and Garrett Hampson as possibilities. Lopez was released by the Cubs today. Hampson has triggered an opt-out in his deal with the Diamondbacks, but they could add him to their roster this weekend. Players like Nick Ahmed and Jose Iglesias also have opt-outs in the coming days.

Photo courtesy Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Mets To Sign Billy McKinney To Minor League Deal

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The Mets and outfielder Billy McKinney have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. The Boras Corporation client had been spotted in camp earlier today by Tyler Boronski.

McKinney, 30, is a former first-round pick and top 100 prospect. That has led to many big league chances but he hasn’t hit enough to take advantage of them, which has pushed him into journeyman mode. He has appeared in each of the past seven seasons, suiting up for the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, Athletics and Pirates. He only once played more than 84 games in a season, which was 2021, a year in which he played roughly 40 games for three different clubs.

That’s a reflection of his lack of production. Overall, he’s had 943 big league plate appearances. His 9% walk rate is solid but he also has a high strikeout rate of 26.8%. His .209/.284/.386 batting line translates to a 79 wRC+, indicating he’s been 21% below league average overall.

He has continued to produce in the minor leagues, however. Over the past three seasons, he has hit .288/.398/.500 on the farm for a 128 wRC+. That performance, combined with his previous prospect pedigree, has kept him floating around.

Cracking the big league roster with the Mets will be a challenge. Their outfield mix consists of Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo, Jose Siri, Tyrone Taylor, Jesse Winker and Starling Marte. Once healthy, Jeff McNeil could be in that group as well, depending on what happens at second base. The Mets also have Alexander Canario and José Azocar on the roster at present, though both are out of options and might get squeezed in the coming days.

McKinney will give them some non-roster depth alongside Rafael Ortega, Gilberto Celestino and Travis Swaggerty. Even if he doesn’t have a great path to Queens, playing for Syracuse will give him a chance to showcase himself for the other 29 clubs.

Photo courtesy Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

Reds Sign Jose Trevino To Extension

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The Reds and catcher Jose Trevino have agreed to an extension. The Paragon Sports International client was already under contract for $3.425MM for 2025 and set to hit free agency after that. This new deal now runs through 2027 with a club option for 2028. Trevino will reportedly get $5.25MM in each of the two guaranteed years. The option is valued at $6.5MM with a $1MM buyout. That means it’s $11.5MM in new money over two years, though the club option means the Reds extend their potential window of control by three years.

Trevino, 32, still hasn’t played a regular season game for the Reds. He was just acquired from the Yankees in December, with reliever Fernando Cruz  and Alex Jackson going the other way. During his time with the Rangers and Yankees over the previous seven seasons, he was never much of a hitter but has emerged as a strong defender behind the plate.

The Yanks acquired Trevino from the Rangers in April of 2022, sending Albert Abreu and Robby Ahlstrom the other way. Through the end of the 2021 season, Trevino had a batting line of .245/.270/.364. That translated to a wRC+ of 65, indicating he was about 35% below league average at the plate. His defense was graded around par during his first few seasons but he seemed to take a leap forward in his final year with Texas. Publicly available metrics graded him as one of the best pitch framers in the league that year.

His first year in the Bronx went quite well and stands out as his best season yet. He hit 11 home runs, more than doubling his previous career high of five. His .248/.283/.388 batting line was still subpar overall, leading to a wRC+ of 90, but that’s about par for a catcher. When combined with his excellent framing and good work behind the plate overall, he was worth 3.8 wins above replacement, per the calculations of FanGraphs.

Injuries got in the way in the subsequent two seasons. A right wrist tear required surgery in 2023 and then a left quad strain sent him to the injured list last year. Over those two campaigns, he got into just 129 games total. His offense fell to a combined .213/.275/.336, wRC+ of 72, but he still produced 2.4 fWAR on the strength of his defense.

The Reds already had Tyler Stephenson as their primary catcher going into this year but clearly liked the idea of Trevino as a complement. They effectively have opposite profiles, since Stephenson is more of a bat-first guy with lesser work while donning the tools of ignorance. The Reds subtracted a big strikeout pitcher from their bullpen in order to get Trevino, sending Cruz to the Yankees. After a few weeks in camp, they are clearly comfortable enough to keep Trevino around into the future as well.

Trevino’s presence has become more important in the short term, as Stephenson is set to begin the season on the IL due to an oblique strain. Trevino himself got a bit of a scare, as he was recently hit on the hand by a foul tip, but his tests came back clean and he appears to be on track to start the season healthy.

Turning to the long term, the Reds are surely hoping this will solidify their catching corps, which was previously fairly uncertain. As mentioned, Trevino was set to hit free agency after 2025. Stephenson is only under club control through 2026.

The top catching prospect in the system is Alfredo Duno, but he’s not close to the majors. He’s only 19 years old, for one thing. His professional résumé consists of 45 games in the Dominican Summer League in 2023 and 32 Single-A games last year. All signs point to a bright future but he won’t be in Cincinnati for a while.

With this new deal, it’s possible for the club to roll with the Trevino/Stephenson pairing for the next two years. By then, perhaps Duno will have worked his way to the upper levels of the minors and put himself in position to replace Stephenson. Even if not, the Reds will have Trevino in place for 2027 and will just need to find a complementary player. If all is going well, they can bring Trevino back for 2028 as well.

The $5-8MM range is a fairly standard AAV for a veteran catcher in his mid-30s, as shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker. In recent years, Mitch Garver and Yadier Molina were the only two backstops age-33 or older to surpass that range. Garver was signed to be more of a bat-first catcher/designated hitter while Molina was a legend in St. Louis. Players like Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Higashioka, Yan Gomes, Martín Maldonado and Roberto Pérez have been in that $5-8MM window.

Looking ahead to next winter, this takes one of the more notable catchers off the board. For the 2025-26 offseason, the top free agent catchers are going to be J.T. Realmuto and Danny Jansen. Realmuto will be going into his age-35 season and might sign an extension with the Phillies before then. Jansen has had good numbers at times but has had a hard time staying healthy. Trevino would have been an interesting glove-first option for clubs but that won’t be the case now that he’s sticking in Cincinnati.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that the Reds and Trevino agreed to a deal running through 2027 with the 2028 club option. Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reported the full financial details. Photos courtesy of Sam Greene, Imagn Images.

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