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Royals Sign Connor Kaiser To Minor League Deal

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The Royals announced that Connor Kaiser has been signed to a minor league contract.  Kaiser was outrighted off the Diamondbacks’ 40-man roster two days ago and he then elected free agency, so it was a short stay on the open market for the infielder.

Kaiser is a local product who was born in nearby Overland Park and he played his high school ball in Stilwell, Kansas.  A contract with his hometown team is a nice early birthday gift for Kaiser (who turns 29 on November 20) and perhaps an opportunity to win a bench job in Spring Training.  His primary position of shortstop is obviously covered by Bobby Witt Jr., but Kaiser has experience at all four infield spots, and could work himself into the Royals’ uncertain second base picture.

A third-round pick for the Pirates in the 2018 draft, Kaiser’s MLB resume consists of three games with the Rockies in 2023, and 11 games with the Diamondbacks last season.  Arizona signed Kaiser to a minors contract last winter and he got some playing time in the Show after the D’Backs dealt away starters Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor at the trade deadline, and after Lourdes Gurriel Jr. suffered a torn ACL at the start of September.  Kaiser’s brief stint saw him record his first two career big league hits, but his career slash line over 23 plate appearances is only .091/.130/.136.

Over 1006 career PA at the Triple-A level, Kaiser has hit .230/.347/.378 with 21 homers and 23 steals (in 28 attempts).  These modest numbers are diminished a bit more given that most of Kaiser’s Triple-A career has been spent in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.  Known as a strong fielder, Kaiser’s defense and versatility may be the keys to whatever playing time he ends up earning with the Royals in 2026, though it helps that he has all three minor league options remaining.

Giants Part Ways With Coaches Garvin Alston, Damon Minor; Pat Burrell “Unlikely” To Return To MLB Staff

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The Giants’ coaching staff continues to be overhauled, as Shayna Rubin and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle report that assistant hitting coach Damon Minor and bullpen coach Garvin Alston won’t be part of the 2026 staff.  Hitting coach Pat Burrell is also “unlikely to be part of the major league staff” but he’ll remain in the organization in another capacity.

Alston has been the bullpen coach for the last two seasons, and was pitching coach for the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate from 2021-23.  Prior to arriving in San Francisco, Alston was the Twins’ pitching coach in 2018, a bullpen coach for the Diamondbacks in 2016 and the Athletics in 2017, and worked with the A’s in a variety of different minor league coaching and coordinator roles from 2005-15.

Minor will leave his role after just one season, but his time in the Giants’ organization stretches back a full decade due to nine years as the hitting coach at Triple-A Sacramento.  It isn’t known if Minor could also be retained in a different capacity, or if the Giants are moving on entirely.

Assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard will be the only member of the hitting coach trio remaining if Burrell also departs.  “Pat The Bat” was the first overall pick of the 1998 draft, and his 12-year playing career concluded with two seasons with the Giants (and a championship ring as part of their 2010 World Series squad).  Post-retirement, he remained with the Giants as a special assignment scout and then as a hitting coach with A-level San Jose beginning in the 2020 season.

San Francisco batters hit a collective .235/.311/.386 in 2025, with a 97 wRC+ that ranked 17th of 30 big league teams.  The Giants similarly finished below the league average in all three slash line categories, as well as 19th in home runs (173).  While the challenges of hitting at Oracle Park are well-known, a lot more was expected from a Giants lineup that added Willy Adames last winter, and Rafael Devers at midseason.

Bottom-line numbers aren’t always the reason why a team might be inspired to make a coaching change, yet the Giants’ decision to part ways with Alston is unusual since the team’s bullpen was a strength in 2025.  Even after Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers were dealt at the trade deadline, San Francisco still finished the season with the fourth-best bullpen ERA (3.48) in baseball.  One weak point, however, was the bullpen’s lack of strikeouts, as the relief corps’ 21% strikeout rate ranked 25th in the league.  This isn’t necessarily a strike again Alston’s work, of course, and if anything it could be viewed as a positive that he was able to get strong results out of a pen that didn’t miss many bats.

A managerial change usually leads to changes on the coaching end, so it isn’t too surprising that a lot of new personnel will be joining Tony Vitello as fresh faces in the San Francisco dugout.  Burrell, Minor, and Alston join J.P. Martinez, Ryan Christenson, and Matt Williams as coaches departing the staff.  Martinez is going from the Giants’ pitching coach to a bullpen coach job with the Braves, and Christenson is going from being the Giants’ bench coach to becoming the Athletics’ new first base coach.  In terms of incoming coaches, Jayce Tingler is the only new coach known to be joining the Giants’ ranks to date, with Tingler’s role yet to be revealed.

Diamondbacks Sign Aramis Garcia To Minors Contract

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The Diamondbacks have re-signed catcher Aramis Garcia to a new minor league deal, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.  Presumably the new contract contains an invitation for Garcia to attend Arizona’s big league Spring Training camp, just like the previous minors deal Garcia signed with the D’Backs almost exactly one year ago.

Gabriel Moreno’s hand injury last June opened the door for Garcia to twice have his contract selected to the Diamondbacks’ active roster, though both of those promotions were soon followed by Garcia being designated for assignment and then outrighted off the 40-man roster.  Garcia had the right to elect free agency after either of those outrights but he chose to remain in the organization on both occasions.  He also was on track for minor league free agency once the season was over, but his time on the open market was pretty short, as he’ll now head back to the Diamondbacks.

Garcia’s time on the big league roster saw him appear in just two games in 2025, and he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his only four plate appearances.  Between not playing in the majors at all in 2023 and going hitless in seven PA (over three games) with the Phillies in 2024, it has now been over three years since Garcia’s last MLB hit, which speaks to his career path as a journeyman.  The catcher has hit .208/.245/.321 with 10 home runs over 331 career PA in the majors, suiting up with five different teams at the MLB level (and three more at the minor league level) since Garcia debuted during the 2018 season.

The D’Backs apparently liked what they saw from Garcia, both in his cups of coffee in the majors and in his more extended time at Triple-A Reno.  With the caveat that the Pacific Coast League is a very hitter-friendly environment, Garcia had an impressive .266/.385/.481 slash line in 296 PA for Reno in 2025.

As it stands right now, Moreno and Garcia are the only two catchers in Arizona’s organization with any big league playing experience, since James McCann is a free agent.  This makes Garcia the default as Moreno’s backup, but the Diamondbacks will surely add to their catching ranks between now and Spring Training, likely sending Garcia back to a Triple-A depth role once again.

Orioles Promote Brendan Fournie To Assistant GM

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The Orioles have promoted Brendan Fournie to an assistant general manager position, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports.  Fournie has been with the O’s for just under four years, working as the team’s senior director of baseball strategy and operations.  His new portfolio, as per Kubatko, will have Fournie “oversee baseball economics, advanced scouting and salary arbitration, and also provide roster and transaction support.”

Fournie becomes Mike Elias’ third assistant GM, joining Sig Mejdal and Eve Rosenbaum.  It hasn’t exactly been clear who (if anyone) Elias views as his chief lieutenant within Baltimore’s front office, though when news broke two months ago that Elias had been promoted to president of baseball operations prior to the start of the 2025 season, it came with the added item that the O’s were planning to hire a general manager to act as Elias’ number two.  That said, Elias has since downplayed the idea that a GM hire might come this offseason, so Fournie’s promotion may not be a hint that the team is any closer to finding a general manager.

Some other promotions and role changes are coming within the front office, largely within the player development and scouting departments.  Kubatko reports that Matt Blood will go from VP of player development/domestic scouting to a new role as the VP of player and staff development.  Blood will now be providing “executive support” to manager Craig Albernaz, the big league coaching staff, and the sports medicine and performance departments.

In addition to these new duties, Blood will still be the leader of Baltimore’s minor league player development department.  His old scouting responsibilities appear to be divvied up between a few other staffers getting promotions.  Will Robertson will become the new VP of domestic scouting and will now oversee the Orioles’ draft operations.  Chad Tatum (domestic scouting), Hendrik Herz (draft operations), and Kevin Carter (pro scouting) were also promoted to assistant director roles within their respective divisions.

Players Entering Minor League Free Agency

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Major League free agents became eligible to sign with other teams on Thursday, but the minor league free agent market has technically been open since season’s end.  MLBTR has published several posts detailing players who had already elected to become minor free agents, but Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (multiple links) has the full account of all the minor league free agents that officially joined their big league counterparts on the open market on Thursday.

This list details only players who have played in the Major Leagues, and whose minor league free agency hasn’t already been covered on MLBTR in the last month.

Athletics: Aaron Brooks, Carlos Duran, CD Pelham, Bryan Lavastida, Nick Martini, Alejo Lopez

Braves: Ian Anderson, Davis Daniel, Enoli Paredes, Amos Willingham, Brian Moran, Jonathan Ornelas, Chandler Seagle, Matthew Batten, Conner Capel

Orioles: Jakson Reetz, Livan Soto, Thaddeus Ward

Red Sox: John Brebbia, Isaiah Campbell, Mark Kolozsvary, Chadwick Tromp, Seby Zavala, Trayce Thompson

Cubs: Yency Almonte, Zach Pop, Caleb Kilian, Austin Gomber, Forrest Wall, Billy Hamilton, Joe Ross, Tommy Romero, Antonio Santos, Tom Cosgrove, Dixon Machado, Nicky Lopez, Carlos Perez

White Sox: Elvis Peguero, Kyle Tyler, Vinny Capra, Chris Rodriguez, Caleb Freeman, Joe Perez, Owen White, Andre Lipcius

Reds: Tejay Antone, Alan Busenitz, Buck Farmer, Josh Staumont, P.J. Higgins, Eric Yang, Levi Jordan, Edwin Rios, Davis Wendzel, Evan Kravetz, Adam Plutko, Charlie Barnes, Alex Young

Guardians: Riley Pint, Tyler Naquin, Parker Mushinski

Rockies: Xzavion Curry, Sean Bouchard, Owen Miller, Karl Kauffmann,

Tigers: Kevin Newman, Brian Serven, Jordan Balazovic, Nick Margevicius, Blair Calvo

Astros: Jon Singleton, Joe Hudson, Kenedy Corona, Greg Jones, Matt Bowman, Luis Contreras, Tyler Ivey, John Rooney

Royals: John Gant, Sam Long, Spencer Turnbull, Bobby Dalbec, Diego Castillo, Geoff Hartlieb, Jordan Groshans, Nick Pratto, Isan Diaz, Stephen Nogosek, Nick Robertson, Joey Krehbiel, Noah Murdock, Ryan Hendrix

Angels: Shaun Anderson, Brandon Drury, Yolmer Sanchez, Ben Gamel, Evan White, Cavan Biggio, Logan Davidson, Travis Blankenhorn, Oscar Colas, Kelvin Caceres, Dakota Hudson, Chad Stevens, Angel Felipe, Jordan Holloway, Victor Gonzalez

Dodgers: Michael Grove, Luken Baker, Giovanny Gallegos, Kyle Funkhouser, Chris Okey, CJ Alexander, Zach Penrod

Marlins: Jack Winkler, Lane Ramsey

Brewers: Luis Urias, Oliver Dunn, Julian Merryweather, Daz Cameron, Drew Avans, Josh Maciejewski, Jared Oliva

Twins: Jose Miranda, Anthony Misiewicz, Jonah Bride, Thomas Hatch, Daniel Duarte, Connor Gillispie

Mets: Joey Meneses, Jose Azocar, Joe La Sorsa, Gilberto Celestino, Ty Adcock, Bryce Montes de Oca, Yacksel Rios, Oliver Ortega, Luis De Los Santos

Yankees: Kenta Maeda, Jeimer Candelario, Rob Brantly, Andrew Velazquez, Jose Rojas, Joel Kuhnel, Wilking Rodriguez

Phillies: Matt Manning, Adonis Medina, Lucas Sims, Jacob Waguespack, Phil Bickford, Rodolfo Castro, Oscar Mercado, Brewer Hicklen, Christian Arroyo, Payton Henry

Pirates: Brett Sullivan, Nick Solak, Nelson Velazquez, Beau Burrows, Ryder Ryan

Cardinals: Zach Plesac, Anthony Veneziano, Tyler Matzek, Zack Weiss, Drew Rom, Aaron Wilkerson

Padres: Eguy Rosario, Tim Locastro, Reiss Knehr, Nate Mondou

Giants: Sean Hjelle, Miguel Diaz, Max Stassi, Sam Huff, Cole Waites, Drew Ellis, Ethan Small

Mariners: Michael Fulmer, Casey Lawrence, Collin Snider, Jesse Hahn, Nick Anderson, Josh Fleming, Austin Shenton, Jacob Nottingham, Beau Taylor, Cade Marlowe, Jack Lopez, Michael Mariot, Hagen Danner

Rays: Cooper Hummel, Jonathan Hernandez, Jamie Westbrook, Tres Barrera

Rangers: Omar Narvaez, Cal Quantrill, Ty Blach, Alan Trejo, Joe Barlow, Cory Abbott, Michael Plassmeyer, Alex De Goti

Blue Jays: Eloy Jimenez, Buddy Kennedy, Joe Mantiply, Elieser Hernandez, Rene Pinto, Adam Kloffenstein

Nationals: Francisco Mejia, Juan Yepez, Joan Adon, CJ Stubbs, Parker Dunshee, Erick Mejia, Adrian Sampson, Delino DeShields

Braves Re-Sign Carlos Carrasco, Darius Vines To Minors Contracts

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The Braves have signed right-handers Carlos Carrasco and Darius Vines to new minor league deals, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.  Both players were eligible for minor league free agency and apparently elected for the open market, only to both head back to Atlanta’s organization.

After inking a minors deal with the Yankees last February, the righty earned a spot on the Opening Day roster due to some injuries on New York’s pitching staff, giving Carrasco a chance to bank a few starts.  Unfortunately, he posted a 5.91 ERA over 32 innings in the pinstripes, and was designated for assignment and outrighted twice during the next four months.

Carrasco twice passed on free agency after those outrights, but found himself changing teams again when the Braves acquired the veteran in a cash trade prior to the deadline.  The Braves were looking for all the pitching help they could find in the aftermath of a plague of injuries to their starting rotation, and Carrasco went onto post a 9.88 ERA over 13 2/3 innings in an Atlanta uniform.  He was DFA’ed and outrighted again in August and this time did elect free agency, only to quickly re-sign again with the Braves.

A staple of Cleveland’s rotation for most of his 16-year MLB career, Carrasco now heads into his age-39 season as just a depth option.  The right-hander has a 6.36 ERA and a 17.6% strikeout rate over 239 1/3 big league frames since the start of the 2023 season, with the highest homer rate (17.5%) of any pitcher in that timespan with at least 230 innings.

Vines has spent his entire pro career with the Braves since Atlanta made him a seventh-round draft pick in 2019.  He posted a 5.82 ERA over 34 innings in the Show during the 2023-24 seasons, dimming his potential as a possible rotation candidate for the team going forward.  Atlanta designated Vines for assignment and outrighted him off the 40-man roster in August 2024, and Vines then missed the entire 2025 season recovering from an undisclosed injury.

This new minors deal likely reflects the Braves’ confidence that Vines will be healthy in 2026, as he tries to get his career back on track heading into his age-28 season.  There’s no risk for the team in bringing Vines back on a minors deal to see what he has to offer, and a relief role could be in his future if he can’t find any consistency as a starting pitcher.

Padres, A.J. Preller Discussing Contract Extension

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A.J. Preller’s current contract with the Padres runs through the end of the 2026 season, but it appears as though Preller will the team’s president of baseball operations for quite a longer time to come.  The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports that Preller and team chairman John Seidler have had some talks about a new multi-year contract extension, and that deal could be officially in place within the next few days.  Club sources tell Lin that the team wants Preller’s new contract completed by Monday, when the team is set to introduce new manager Craig Stammen during a press conference.

The news isn’t surprising, as the Padres have enjoyed a lot of success during Preller’s 11-plus years in charge of the front office.  However, a report from Lin and Ken Rosenthal from a few weeks ago cast some doubt on Preller’s long-term future in San Diego, due to some apparent tension between Preller and team CEO Erik Greupner.  Preller downplayed any issue, telling Lin and Rosenthal that “Erik and I have been together my entire time here and enjoy a strong and productive working relationship,” though

The Padres gave Greupner a contract extension in late 2024, and around that same time, former manager Mike Shildt had also received a new deal covering the 2026-27 seasons.  There was curiosity over San Diego extending two notable organizational figures beyond Preller’s own tenure, plus Greupner and special advisor Eric Kutsenda reportedly pushed for Shildt’s hiring over Preller’s reported choice of Ryan Flaherty as the team’s latest manager.  In addition, Preller’s own hands-on approach to overseeing all facets of the organization has led to some criticisms about micro-management, and has possibly been a contributing factor to the revolving door in the manager’s office during Preller’s tenure.

If Preller is indeed nearing the finish line on a new extension, it would appear whatever disputes might’ve existed behind the scenes have been settled for now, and the team will press on ahead with Preller and new skipper Stammen now leading the charge to finally get the Padres back to the World Series.  Preller’s tenure has been marked by a lot of internal drama, managerial changes, big-ticket acquisitions, and a rebuild, yet the end result has been a steady diet of October baseball in San Diego.

The Padres have five winning records and four playoff appearances in the last six seasons, and the team made it as deep as the NLCS in 2022.  Petco Park attendance and local TV ratings have gone through the roof due to this run of success, helping fund a payroll that exploded under former owner Peter Seidler.  While the Padres have cut back on the spending to some extent since Seidler’s death in 2023, Preller’s penchant for bold acquisitions have helped keep the team in position to keep contending with both its established core (i.e. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr.) and some newer faces (i.e. Mason Miller, Nick Pivetta) joining the ride.

Offseason Outlook: Colorado Rockies

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The 119-loss Rockies were one of the worst teams in baseball history.  Can a front office shakeup (and an unexpected choice as the new baseball operations head) get the organization pointed in the right direction?

Guaranteed Contracts

  • Kris Bryant, 1B/OF: $78MM through 2028
  • Ezequiel Tovar, SS: $56.5MM through 2030 (includes $2.5MM buyout of $23MM club option for 2031)
  • Kyle Freeland, SP: $16MM through 2026 (deal contains conditional player option for 2027)
  • Antonio Senzatela, SP/RP: $12MM through 2026 ($14MM club option for 2027)

Option Decisions

2026 financial commitments: $59MM
Total future commitments: $162.5MM

Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projected salaries courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Free Agents

The fact that Colorado is the last Offseason Outlook entry published (even after the World Series teams) speaks to the unusual length of the team's front office search.  The free agent market opened yesterday, and the leaderless baseball operations department has already been making some transactions since the World Series officially ended, though the decisions to decline mutual options on Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer were both routine and expected.

The Rockies' struggles are usually attributed to owner Dick Monfort's extreme loyalty to longtime employees, resulting in an organization that has fallen behind the curve in fresh ideas and in most aspects of modern roster construction.  Three straight 100-loss seasons and a gruesome 43-119 record in 2025 was enough to make even the notoriously insular Monfort realize that changes needed to be made.  Manager Bud Black was fired back in May, and GM Bill Schmidt was let go at season's end.

This winter marked the first time that Monfort had actually done a formal external search for a head of baseball operations.  Dan O'Dowd was already the general manager when the Monfort brothers bought the team in 2005.  O'Dowd continued in the job until 2014, and successors Jeff Bridich and Schmidt were internal promotions.

Walker Monfort's new role as Colorado's executive VP led to some inevitable accusations of nepotism, though reports indicate that the younger Monfort (Dick's son) has been pushing for the Rox to adopt a new approach.  The impact could be seen in Paul DePodesta's hiring as president of baseball operations, plus the fact that the other known candidates for the top job in baseball ops -- Guardians assistant GM Matt Forman, Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye, Royals assistant GM Scott Sharp, and former Astros general manager James Click -- had no prior ties to Colorado's organization.

In classic Rockies fashion, however, the front office search wasn't exactly routine.  It seemed like Forman and Sawdaye were the finalists, except reports then emerged that the two were out of the running, with Sawdaye reportedly turning down a job offer and Forman taking himself out of the process.  Former Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino unexpectedly then emerged as a known candidate, throwing another curveball into the process that was ultimately ended when yesterday's news broke about DePodesta's hiring.

DePodesta has two decades of MLB front office experience with five different teams, including a two-year (2004-05) run as the Dodgers' general manager and five years working as Billy Beane's chief lieutenant with the Moneyball-era Athletics.  It's the kind of distinguished resume that most Colorado fans were probably hoping to see from the Rockies' hire....except for the oddity of DePodesta spending the last decade working outside of baseball as the Cleveland Browns' chief strategy officer.

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Trevor Story To Decline Opt-Out Clause, Will Remain With Red Sox

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Trevor Story will not be exercising the opt-out clause in his contract with the Red Sox, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports.  Story had the ability to leave after the fourth year of his six-year, $120MM deal, but he’ll remain with the Sox and collect the remaining $55MM owed to him rather than test free agency this winter.

The remaining salary breaks down as a $25MM salary in each of the 2026 and 2027 seasons, plus there is a $5MM buyout of a $25MM club option on Story’s services for 2028.  Story turns 33 in a couple of weeks and is coming off an okay but unspectacular 2025 campaign, so he has chosen to stick with the comfort and financial security of his current deal in Boston.

The fact that this decision was even somewhat debatable for Story is a testament to his bounce-back year.  The first three seasons of Story’s contract were essentially a disaster, as injuries limited the shortstop to 163 games and he hit only .232/.296/.397 over 670 plate appearances.  In 2025, however, Story was healthy and played in 157 games, batting .263/.308/.433 over 654 PA.  Story launched 25 home runs and also set a new career high with 31 stolen bases (against just one caught-stealing).

It was something of a comeback year within a comeback year, as Story had to overcome an ice-cold start before heating up considerably after the first two months of play.  The result was an almost exactly average 101 wRC+, and Story also had the lowest walk rate (five percent) of his career.  Story’s glovework had remained a constant even throughout his injury-plagued days in Boston, yet this season his public defensive metrics plummeted to a -7 Defensive Runs Saved and -9 Outs Above Average.

These less-favorable numbers were surely on the mind of Story and his representatives at Wasserman as they considered the opt-out decision.  Even with a lack of premium shortstop talent available in free agency, Story ultimately decided that testing the market wasn’t worth the risk.  Story also might have flashed back to his last time on the open market, when the lockout interrupted the 2021-22 offseason and kept Story from landing his Red Sox contract until more than halfway through March.

With Story now officially back in the fold, the Sox have one big piece of their infield set for 2026.  Alex Bregman did exercise his opt-out clause, so the third base position is a question mark for now unless Bregman re-signs or if the Red Sox install Marcelo Mayer at the hot corner.  The second base starter is also unclear and there have been rumors that Boston wants a first base upgrade over Triston Casas (who is returning from a 2025 season almost entirely lost to injury).

Yu Darvish Undergoes UCL Surgery, Will Miss Entire 2026 Season

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The Padres announced that right-hander Yu Darvish underwent surgery last Wednesday to fix a damaged right UCL and flexor tendon.  The procedure was an internal brace surgery instead of a full Tommy John surgery, yet the outcome is still the same — Darvish will miss the entire 2026 season while recovering.

This will be the second entirely lost year of Darvish’s career, as he missed all of 2015 due to a Tommy John procedure.  He has had some bouts of elbow soreness in the decade since that surgery, most prominently a stint on the 60-day injured list this season stemming from a bout of elbow inflammation that arose during Spring Training.

It wasn’t until July 7 that Darvish finally made his season debut for the Padres, and he clearly didn’t look 100 percent while posting a 5.38 ERA over 15 starts and 72 innings.  Small sample size notwithstanding, Darvish’s 23% strikeout rate was the lowest of his 13 MLB seasons, and his chase and whiff rates were far below average.  His 6.4% walk rate was still quite strong and Darvish did a very good job of limiting hard contact overall, but batters tended to thrive when actually squaring up on the veteran, as Darvish allowed 14 homers over his 72 frames.

Beyond these statistics, perhaps the most prominent numbers are 39 (Darvish’s age) and 3119.  The latter figure is the total number of innings Darvish has amassed over 20 total seasons pitching in the Major League regular season and postseason, as well as seven seasons in Japan with the Nippon-Ham Fighters.  Darvish will be 40 years old on Opening Day 2027 and it is anyone’s guess how he could perform after such a long layoff.

Last month, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune addressed the possibility of Darvish’s retirement, writing that “there has been talk for more than a year about the possibility he could retire at any time,” and that “Darvish has not made any assurances about completing his contract.”  The fact that Darvish has undergone this surgery would surely indicate that he wants to keep pitching, though any setbacks in rehab could perhaps create fresh doubt in the right-hander’s mind.

Darvish signed a contract extension with the Padres in April 2023, and he is still owed $43MM over the course of the 2026-28 seasons.  The $15MM owed to him in 2026 is now a wash, and retiring outright would mean that Darvish is voluntarily walking away from his remaining two years of salary.  The likelier outcome in the event that Darvish is unable to keep playing is that some kind of deferred buyout agreement is made with the Padres so that Darvish will still get his money over a longer period of time.

Given Darvish’s injury history, he was already viewed as a question mark for San Diego’s rotation heading into 2026.  Now that the question has been answered in the most unfortunate way possible, the Padres will go into next season with just two (Nick Pivetta and Randy Vasquez) of the seven pitchers who made the most starts for the team in 2025.  Dylan Cease and Michael King are free agents, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert were traded to the Royals at the deadline. and now Darvish has been sidelined by his UCL repair.

Next year’s rotation projects as Pivetta, Vasquez, deadline pickup JP Sears, Joe Musgrove in his return from Tommy John surgery, and a fifth starter role that could be contested between Matt Waldron, Kyle Hart, or (more intriguingly) star relievers Mason Miller or Adrian Morejon.  San Diego was already expected to add at least one starter to this mix even before Darvish’s injury news surfaced, so the team’s search for rotation help will now be even more pronounced.

Inset image courtesy of Denis Poroy — Imagn Images

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