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Mets Sign Daniel Duarte To Minor League Contract

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The Mets signed right-hander Daniel Duarte to a minor league deal, as first noted on Duarte’s MLB.com profile page earlier this week.  Duarte spent the 2025 season on a minors contract with the Twins but didn’t pitch while recovering from a May 2024 UCL revision surgery.

A veteran of three MLB seasons, the bulk of Duarte’s 38 1/3 career innings came as a member of the Reds bullpen in 2023, when he tossed 31 2/3 frames across 31 games.  Duarte has a respectable 3.99 ERA across his limited time in the Show, though with only a 17% strikeout rate and a troublingly comparable 14.5% walk rate.  An extreme groundball pitcher early in his minor league career, Duarte still has a 47.3% grounder rate in the majors, but batters have capitalized when they’ve been able to get the ball in the air — Duarte has given up seven homers across his 38 1/3 career innings.

It remains to be seen how Duarte will look after such a long absence, though his return to the mound in Mexican winter league play this offseason has resulted in 19 2/3 scoreless innings.  A 5.71 BB% and 21.43% strikeout rate are further steps in the right direction.

New York was impressed enough to extend a contract to the 29-year-old, and Duarte will get a chance to show the team his progress first-hand during Spring Training.  There’s no risk for the Mets in bringing Duarte and several other pitchers to camp on minors deals, and there figures to be plenty of opportunity given how the Mets so often cycle relievers up and down between Triple-A and the active roster.  Duarte has a minor league option year remaining, so this gives up some advantage over out-of-options players in the competition for roster spots.

Chris Martin Planning To Pitch In 2026

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In September 2024, Chris Martin said that he was “95%” sure that 2025 would be his final season before retirement.  It appears as that five percent chance of a return has now grown into a reality, as MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports that Martin is planning to return in 2026 for his 11th MLB season.  The Red Sox have interest in Martin for what would be a return engagement between the two sides, as Martin pitched for Boston during the 2023-24 seasons.

Martin spent the 2025 season with the Rangers on a one-year, $5.5MM deal, and the fact that the Arlington native turned down larger offers from the Red Sox and other teams to join the Rangers only added to the narrative of what seemed to be a farewell season.  The right-hander delivered yet another strong season, posting a 2.98 ERA, 24.7% strikeout rate, and an elite 4.6% walk rate over 42 1/3 innings out of the Texas bullpen.

For the second straight season, Martin made multiple trips to the injured list.  The righty missed time due to right shoulder fatigue, a left calf strain, and (most troublingly) thoracic outlet syndrome, with the TOS diagnosis emerging in September.  Since the assumption was that Martin was retiring, there wasn’t any word on whether or not Martin underwent TOS surgery, but it would appear he is foregoing the procedure or his diagnosis wasn’t serious enough to require surgery.

Between the TOS situation, Martin’s other recent injuries, or the simple fact that he turns 40 in June, there is certainly some question about whether Martin can continue to defy Father Time.  That said, Martin is still one of baseball’s best control pitchers and he is still getting strong results, so it makes sense that he would still want to keep playing as long as he still has gas in the tank.

Since he pitched for the Red Sox so recently, Boston has plenty of direct knowledge of Martin’s health, and the team is therefore ideally suited to perhaps manage Martin’s usage in order to keep him as healthy as possible in 2026.  A one-year deal for Martin on a modest salary wouldn’t represent much of a risk for the Red Sox, and the upside is high if Martin can stay off the IL and keep posting his usual numbers.  The Sox are known to be looking for experienced bullpen help, and Cotillo reported yesterday that other former Boston hurler Justin Wilson is another reunion candidate, plus left-hander Danny Coulombe drawing interest.

White Sox Sign Oliver Dunn, Tim Elko To Minor League Deals

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The White Sox have signed infielders Oliver Dunn and Tim Elko to minor league contracts (SoxMachine’s James Fegan was among the beat writers to report the news.)  Dunn’s deal contains an invitation to Chicago’s big league Spring Training camp, though Elko will presumably miss camp due to his ongoing recovery from ACL surgery in October.

Elko was a 10th-round pick for the White Sox in the 2022 draft, and he’ll continue his career with the organization after being non-tendered in November.  That move cleared a space on Chicago’s 40-man roster, and it is fair to guess that the two sides probably had a handshake deal to bring Elko back in relatively short order.  Elko’s surgery came with an eight-month recovery timeline, so he won’t be a factor for a potential return to the 26-man roster until at least July.

The torn right ACL was a sour end to Elko’s first big league season, as he made his debut in May.  Elko hit only .134/.194/.328 in 72 plate appearances over 23 games, while also spending four weeks on the injured list due to a right knee sprain that now seems like a precursor to his ACL problems.  The White Sox are expected to do something to address their first base position, but if they more or less stand pat, it could give Elko some more opportunity to see what he can do against MLB competition when he’s healthy.

Dunn’s MLB resume consists of 55 games with the Brewers over the last two seasons, and only a .206/.261/.290 slash line to show for 145 PA.  A large portion of Dunn’s 2024 rookie was spent on the injured list due to a back injury, but while Dunn was still in the mix for regular infield duty with Milwaukee going into this season, his lack of offensive made him an afterthought.  The Brewers designated Dunn for assignment and outrighted him off their 40-man roster in September, and Dunn elected minor league free agency at season’s end.

The 28-year-old Dunn has mostly played at second and third base during his pro career, but he has a handful of appearances as a left fielder, shortstop, and a couple of cameos at first base.  The White Sox will see what Dunn can do in competing for a bench job this spring, and he could be retained as minor league depth even if he doesn’t break camp.

Yankees Interested In JoJo Romero

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The Cardinals have been getting a lot of calls about left-hander JoJo Romero, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Yankees are one of the teams showing interest.  The Mariners were the only other team publicly known to be in on Romero, though it isn’t known if Seattle is still involved now that Jose A. Ferrer has been acquired from the Nationals.

Romero is projected to earn $4.4MM in 2026, which is his final season of arbitration control before free agency.  With the Cardinals in rebuild mode, Romero is a logical trade candidate, and moving him now rather than at the trade deadline allows St. Louis to both land a larger return and avoid the risk of an in-season injury to the 29-year-old southpaw.

From New York’s perspective, Devin Williams and Mark Leiter Jr. have both departed in free agency, and Luke Weaver is still on the open market.  Ryan Yarbrough was re-signed to add more left-handed depth to the pen, though Yarbrough is more of a swingman than a true reliever.  Veteran Tim Hill is expected to hold down one lefty spot in the relief corps, and Brent Headrick and Jayvien Sandridge are other left-handers on the 40-man roster.

There’s certainly room here for the Yankees to add some left-handed experience to the mix, and Romero would be a nice fit after three seasons of success in the Cardinals’ bullpen.  Romero began his career in the Phillies organization but didn’t start putting things together until he landed in St. Louis as the return in the trade deadline swap that brought Edmundo Sosa to Philadelphia in 2022.

Romero has a 2.93 ERA over 156 2/3 innings for the Cards since Opening Day 2023, and his ERA has gotten progressively better in each season.  His sparkling 2.07 ERA over 61 innings in 2025 was the highlight, though a 4.10 SIERA reflects Romero’s lack of strikeouts and his mediocre 11.4% walk rate.  The latter number was by far Romero’s highest over his three seasons with the Cards, and is something of an ominous callback to the control problems that clouded his time with the Phillies.

Still, Romero’s bread-and-butter is inducing grounders and soft contact.  Romero has a 53.7% grounder rate over his MLB career, and his 35.1% hard-hit ball rate in 2025 was a personal best over a full season.  While his homer rate has been known to fluctuate, Romero did a great job of keeping the ball in the park last year, with just two homers allowed over his 60 frames.  Romero’s 22.8% career strikeout rate is respectable enough that Romero isn’t a complete groundball specialist, even if he doesn’t miss a ton of bats.

Some teams may balk at the lack of strikeouts, but overall, it makes sense that there’s broad interest in an inexpensive left-handed reliever with Romero’s track record for leverage work.  That said, it isn’t a lock that Romero will be dealt, as Goold writes that the Cardinals themselves are looking for experienced relief help in their bullpen.  If none can be found in free agency or on the trade market, it is possible St. Louis might just stick with Romero in lieu of a particularly attractive trade offer, and perhaps wait until the season begins to restart trade talks.  Or, if the Cardinals land another veteran reliever sooner rather than later, the Cards might feel secure enough to start more readily shopping Romero.

Mets’ Trade Talks With Padres Involve Nick Pivetta, Ramon Laureano, Mason Miller

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The Mets and Padres have been discussing the possibility of a trade that would send established talent to New York while San Diego obtained MLB-ready younger talent and some salary relief.  According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin, and Will Sammon, right-hander Nick Pivetta, outfielder Ramon Laureano, and star relievers Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Jeremiah Estrada are players of interest for New York.  The Padres have shown interest in the Mets’ “young major leaguers and all of their top prospects, both pitchers and position players,” including Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and Jonah Tong.

The Athletic’s reporters made a point of noting that Francisco Lindor, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth weren’t brought up in these negotiations.  This only somewhat lessens the blockbuster potential here given all of the high-profile names already under discussion, though it is also possible that the talks remain somewhat exploratory in nature.  As Rosenthal/Lin/Sammon note, San Diego president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is always “weighing a dizzying number of possible moves and contingency plans,” and Mets PBO David Stearns is likewise no stranger to major trade concepts.

Pivetta’s name surfaced in trade rumors earlier this week, and Preller recently downplayed the idea that the Padres would trade any of their top bullpen arms.  San Diego had an elite relief corps in 2025, but one major name from that group is already gone since closer Robert Suarez left for the Braves in free agency.  The depleted nature of the Friars’ rotation also puts more pressure on the bullpen to pick up more of the run-prevention slack, and by that same token, makes it seemingly less likely that the Padres would trade Pivetta and further diminish the starting staff.

That said, Pivetta can opt out of his contract following the 2026 season.  The backloaded four-year, $55MM contract Pivetta signed last season still has $51MM remaining, which breaks down as $19MM in 2026, a $14MM player option for 2027, and an $18MM player option for 2028 if Pivetta chooses to remain in San Diego next winter.  The 2027 player option turns into a club option in the event of a long-term injury, but if Pivetta has the same kind of healthy and very effective season that he posted in 2025, he’ll surely trigger his opt-out.

If Preller could turn Pivetta into multiple controllable players who can still help the Padres win in 2026, that would be quite a way of threading the needle for the long-time executive.  The Mets wouldn’t have much interest in giving up one of their top young talents for what might well be just one year of Pivetta’s services, and McLean might not be available at any price — the Athletic trio write that “McLean is thought to be untouchable, or close to it.”  The New York Post’s Jon Heyman adds that outfield prospect Carson Benge is also considered to be virtually unavailable in trade talks.

By comparison, the likes of Tong, Sproat, and Jett Williams may be more available, though Stearns has been naturally hesitant about trading away any top minor leaguers.  A trade package of Pivetta, Laureano as a short-term outfield add for 2026, and a reliever with four seasons of control like Miller or Estrada might well convince Stearns to part ways with some premium prospect talent, but on the other hand, that would be a lot for the Padres to move in a single trade.

The Athletic’s writers note that the Padres might get a greater overall return by sending Pivetta, Laureano, etc. elsewhere in individual deals, so it would take a gigantic trade package for the club to include multiple trade chips into a single swap.  For Miller in particular, San Diego would want a ton back, given how much the Padres had to give up to land the closer from the A’s just last July.

Getting Pivetta’s salary off the books is one way for the Padres to shake up the roster given the team’s limited payroll flexibility, while short-term commitments to Pivetta and Laureano probably hold more appeal to Stearns than signing free agents to longer-term contracts.  The sky is the limit when two creative executives like Preller and Stearns are cooking up trade scenarios, so this is certainly a situation worth monitoring as the offseason progresses.

Tigers To Sign Kenley Jansen

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The Tigers have agreed to a one-year contract with veteran closer Kenley Jansen, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.  The deal pays Jansen $11MM, as per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, and The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen adds that the contract contains a club option on Jansen’s services for the 2027 season.  Earlier today, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reported that the two sides were “deep in talks” and heading towards the final stages of a deal.  Jansen is represented by the Wasserman Agency.

Will Vest is coming off a strong season as Detroit’s primary saves candidate, but Vest will now move back into a high-leverage setup role to accommodate one of baseball’s most experienced closers.  Jansen has 476 career saves, and is just three saves away from passing Lee Smith for third place on the all-time list.  It certainly seems possible that Jansen can reach the 500-save plateau this season, though catching Trevor Hoffman (601 saves) for the second-highest total in history doesn’t seem possible unless Jansen reaches his goal of pitching until at least through the 2029 season.

For now, however, the 38-year-old Jansen has a one-year commitment from Detroit, with the 2027 option representing a possible continuation into the right-hander’s age-39 campaign.  The Tigers entered the offseason looking to reinforce their bullpen, and the team has signed Jansen and re-signed Kyle Finnegan just within the last week.  Jansen’s deal probably takes the Tigers out of the running for another target in former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks.

Even after 16 Major League seasons, Jansen still has some gas in the tank, as evidenced by his 2.59 ERA over 59 innings with the Angels in 2025.  However, his secondary metrics left something to be desired, as Jansen’s 24.4% strikeout rate and 44.6% hard-hit ball rate were both easily the worst of his career.  A .195 BABIP and 85.2% strand rate helped Jansen’s bottom-line numbers remain in check, though his 3.94 SIERA was much higher than his actual ERA.

Jansen did post better numbers as the 2025 season went on, and the Tigers themselves were responsible for a big chunk of the damage on the righty’s ERA.  (Of the 17 earned runs charged to Jansen in 2025, Detroit scored six of them in an ugly meltdown for Jansen back on May 2 in a 9-1 Tigers win over the Angels.)  The stronger finish to the season provides some hope that Jansen can more fully get on track next year, and he might also be energized by again pitching for a contender after a year with the struggling Halos.

For a team that has thrived on “bullpen chaos” over the last couple of seasons, the Tigers will now move in a different direction by installing a true closer in place for the ninth inning.  If Jansen can come close to his 2025 production, that’s a nice plus for the team, as Vest’s move to a set-up role will strengthen things all the way down the depth chart.

More bullpen moves may still be coming, as between Finnegan and Jansen’s 2025 numbers, the Tigers still haven’t solved their primary goal of adding more punchout power to their bullpen.  Detroit had the second-lowest bullpen strikeout rate (20.1%) of any team in baseball in 2025, ahead of only the lowly Rockies.

Yankees To Re-Sign Amed Rosario

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The Yankees are re-signing infielder Amed Rosario to a one-year contract.  The deal pays Rosario $2.5MM in salary, plus another $225K is available in incentive bonuses.  Rosario is represented by Octagon.

Acquired from the Nationals at the trade deadline, Rosario hit .303/.303/.485 over 33 plate appearances and 16 games for New York, and his playing time was further limited by a 10-day injured list stint due to a left SC joint sprain.  Still, Rosario lived up to expectations by chipping in at second base, third base, and in right field, while providing the Yankees with a productive right-handed hitting bat.

That righty-swinging balance is a plus within a New York lineup that is heavy in left-handed batters, and having Rosario back will give the Yankees some platoon flexibility with either Ryan McMahon at third base or even Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base.  McMahon is a superb defender but a much lesser hitter than Chisholm, so Rosario will probably get most of his playing time spelling McMahon at least against southpaws.

Once regarded as one of baseball’s top prospects during his time in the Mets’ farm system, Rosario posted some okay offensive numbers as a regular with the Mets and Guardians.  His overall effectiveness was limited by a lack of walks, struggles against right-handed pitching, and subpar defending at the shortstop position.

Though he is only entering his age-30 season, Rosario now looks to have settled into a role as a part-time player who can fill in at multiple positions, though he doesn’t provide much defensive value anywhere.  His biggest plus is his ability to hit southpaws, as Rosario has a career .298/.336/.464 slash line in 1196 PA against left-handed pitching.

The Yankees clearly liked what they saw in Rosario last year, and after bouncing around to six different teams since the start of the 2023 season, Rosario probably appreciates some stability in returning to the Bronx for a full season in the pinstripes.  He receives a slight raise over the $2MM deal he received from Washington last winter.

With Rosario back in the fold, the Yankees have brought some experienced depth back into the infield mix.  Anthony Volpe will miss the start of the season recovering from shoulder surgery, so if Jose Caballero ends up getting a lot of the shortstop time in Volpe’s absence, Rosario’s presence helps fill the utility void on New York’s bench.  Brendan Donovan is another versatile player known to be on the Yankees’ trade radar, plus the club has also been more loosely linked to All-Star Bo Bichette, in what would be an even more seismic shake-up of the Bronx infield.

Jack Curry of YES Network was the first to report that Rosario was re-signing with the Yankees on a one-year deal.  Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Rosario’s $2.5MM salary, and ESPN’s Jorge Castillo added the news about the incentive bonuses.

Royals Exploring CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Jarren Duran In Trade Talks

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The Royals have had discussions with the Nationals about shortstop CJ Abrams and left-hander MacKenzie Gore, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.  Jarren Duran also continues to be a player of interest, as Passan writes that Kansas City is still considering the Red Sox outfielder after first being linked to Duran’s market prior to last summer’s trade deadline.

It is no secret that the Royals are looking to improve what has been arguably baseball’s least-productive outfield over the last couple of years.  Between Boston’s crowded outfield and Kansas City’s numerous rotation options, the two teams seem like natural and logical trade partners, especially given how the Red Sox have continued to pursue starting pitching even after landing both Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo.  Likewise, the Royals have added Lane Thomas to their outfield mix, yet an everyday starter like Duran would be a much more clearcut upgrade.

Acquiring Gore would represent a fascinating pivot for K.C., and perhaps a step in a somewhat more convoluted path to obtaining outfielders.  Gore would only add to the Royals’ rotation surplus, yet with Gore now in the mix as a front-of-the-rotation arm, Kansas City could be more open to sending a pitcher like Cole Ragans to the Red Sox in a hypothetical Duran deal.  Ragans has been cited as perhaps the most logical fit for Duran, as Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo both recently signed extensions with the Royals, Kris Bubic is only a year removed from free agency, and the Royals’ array of younger arms might not quite move the needle enough to pry Duran (who is team-controlled through the 2028 season) out of Fenway Park.

Perhaps complicating this idea is the fact that the Red Sox almost surely have interest in Gore themselves.  While the Sox haven’t been publicly linked to Gore’s market to date, their desire for frontline pitching and the fact that former Sox executive Paul Toboni is now Washington’s president of baseball operations makes it easy to connect the dots.  The Nationals have gotten so much interest in Gore that Toboni undoubtedly has plenty of creative offers to consider, and there still isn’t any direct urgency to deal Gore since he is under arbitration control through 2027.

Toboni’s hiring represented a fresh start for a rebuild that seemed to have stalled out under former Nationals PBO Mike Rizzo.  Washington hasn’t had a winning season since its 2019 World Series title year, yet even with impatience growing amongst District fans, the sense is that Toboni is more focused on adding more young talent than trying to contend.  That could mean dealing away such top players (and trade chips) like Gore and Abrams, who were supposed to be cornerstones of the rebuild process when acquired in the 2022 Juan Soto trade.

Abrams is controlled through the 2028 season, so the Nationals have even less reason to trade the shortstop immediately than Gore.  The Royals’ younger pitchers or more longer-term minor league prospects would likely have more appeal to the Nats than to a win-now team like the Red Sox, but Kansas City would have to pay a hefty price to extract Abrams given his team control and All-Star ceiling.

With that ceiling, however, comes a low floor.  The last two seasons have seen Abrams excel in the first half only to tail off badly after the All-Star break.  The lack of consistency also extends to Abrams’ splits, as the left-handed batter hasn’t been very productive against left-handed pitching.  Defensively, Abrams is a mixed bag at best — the Outs Above Average metric has long hated his work at shortstop, while the Defensive Runs Saved metric has been more positive in general but graded Abrams as a -6 in 2025.

A move to second base might be in Abrams’ future anyway, and that would work for a Royals team that already has Bobby Witt Jr. entrenched at shortstop.  Jonathan India is the incumbent at second base after K.C. agreed to a one-year, $8MM salary with India for 2026, which came as something of a surprise since India’s unimpressive 2025 season had made him a non-tender candidate.  In the event that Abrams did land in Kansas City, the Royals could look to trade India or just relegate him to bench duty, as inefficient as that would be for a team with a limited payroll.

Mets To Sign Jorge Polanco

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The Mets and free agent infielder Jorge Polanco have agreed to a two-year contract, The Athletic’s Will Sammon reports (multiple links).  The deal is worth $40MM, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.  Polanco is represented by the Octagon Agency.

It’s a big strike for a Mets team that lost Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz to free agency just within the last week, not to mention last month’s trade that sent another longtime Met in Brandon Nimmo to Texas.  New York acquired Marcus Semien in the Nimmo deal, and while Polanco also has a long history of playing second base, Passan writes that the Mets will deploy Polanco primarily as a first baseman and DH.  Polanco could also potentially chip in at third base, though it looks as it the Mets view Polanco a piece of the puzzle in replacing Alonso at first base.

The 32-year-old Polanco hit .265/.326/.495 with 26 home runs over 524 plate appearances for the Mariners last season, playing a huge role for a Seattle team that won the AL West and fell just short of reaching the World Series.  It was a fine bounce-back performance for Polanco after a down year in 2024, which still resulted in a one-year guarantee to return to the Mariners in 2025.  That deal paid Polanco $7.75MM in guaranteed money, and he made enough plate appearances to turn an $8MM mutual option for 2026 into a $6MM player option, and Polanco unsurprisingly rejected that player option to re-enter the market after his much improved platform year.

The 132 wRC+ Polanco posted in 2025 was the highest of his career, and he drastically cut back on his strikeouts after seeing his K% balloon in each of the previous four seasons.  While Polanco walked less than usual, his 45.8% hard-hit ball rate was a career best.  Overall, the advanced metrics suggest that Polanco’s resurgence in 2025 was legitimate, and if anything, his .269 BABIP indicates that he perhaps deserved even better numbers.

One concern within Polanco’s otherwise strong year was that he made 89 appearances as a designated hitter, after amassing only 45 DH days over his 11 previous big league seasons.  Polanco sustained an oblique injury early in the 2025 season that wasn’t quite serious enough to merit a trip to the injured list, but the Mariners compensated by using Polanco less frequently in the field, and cut back on the switch-hitter’s usage against left-handed pitching.

While there hasn’t been any concern that Polanco will be similarly limited going forward, the Mets’ plan to use him as a first baseman may also reflect Polanco’s age, his modest defensive numbers as a second or third baseman, and the fact that a stellar fielder like Semien is already in place at the keystone.  Throughout his long pro career, Polanco has made exactly one career appearance as a first baseman, and it was just a late-game cameo for a single at-bat in Seattle’s 5-4 loss to the Giants last April 6.

Polanco is an experienced enough infielder that the Mets obviously feel he’ll be able to learn the position in due course.  For all of Alonso’s pluses at the plate, he was a poor enough fielder that Polanco will be a defensive upgrade even if he’s just an average first baseman.  Because the DH spot is open and because Polanco could also be utilized at third base, this signing also doesn’t necessarily close the door on the Mets’ chances of signing other known targets like Cody Bellinger or even a more first base-specific player like the Cardinals’ Willson Contreras.

Between losing both Alonso and Nimmo, the Mets’ offense has taken a hit by essentially replacing the duo with Polanco and Semien, given how Semien struggled in 2025.  Run prevention has been a stated goal for Mets president of operations David Stearns, and upgrading the defense is another way of making the lineup better, even if the team will still need to add some more pop as the offseason develops.

MLB Trade Rumors ranked Polanco 23rd on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, and projected a three-year, $42MM deal for the veteran.  Polanco ended up just about matching that dollar figure on a two-year deal, as he opted for the higher average annual value rather than the extra security of the three-plus years he was seeking in his next deal.

The shorter term lines Polanco up for another free agent bid when he’s 34, and some continued production could line him up for another lucrative shorter-term pact.  Stearns is known to prefer shorter-term commitments for free agents, so this also aligns with the PBO’s ideal method of roster-building.

The Pirates and Red Sox were known to have interest in Polanco this winter, and the infielder was also drawing a lot of attention from the Mariners about a possible reunion.  Adam Jude of the Seattle Times hears from a source that the Mariners’ last offer to Polanco was also a two-year contract, and was “very competitive” price-wise with the Mets’ $40MM offer.

Seattle achieved its top offseason priority of re-signing Josh Naylor, and the team’s plan was then to explore Polanco and Eugenio Suarez as candidates to return.  With Polanco now in Queens, the Mariners could turn to Suarez as a DH candidate and part-time third baseman, or explore some other infield options on the free agent or trade fronts.  With plenty of internal candidates for third base, the M’s have been primarily looking at second basemen during their infield pursuits this winter.

Inset picture courtesy of Jordan Godfree — Imagn Images

David Dahl Announces Retirement

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Outfielder David Dahl announced his retirement on his X feed earlier this week, opting to end his playing career at age 31.  As Dahl wrote in his farewell post, “Baseball has been my life for as long as I can remember.  From being a kid in Alabama chasing a lifelong dream to stepping foot on a big-league field…after 13 seasons and several months to reflect on it, it’s officially time for the next chapter.  Thank you, baseball.”

Dahl appeared in parts of seven Major League seasons from 2016-24, playing in 350 games and hitting .268/.313/.460 with 46 home runs over 1311 career plate appearances.  The majority of Dahl’s pro career was spent in the Rockies organization, beginning when Colorado selected the outfielder with the 10th overall pick of the 2012 draft.

A regular on top-100 prospect rankings during his minor league career, Dahl’s progress hit an unexpected roadblock when he suffered a lacerated spleen after colliding with a teammate during a 2015 Double-A game.  Dahl opted to have his spleen removed entirely in order to get back onto the field before season’s end, as waiting for the spleen to heal would’ve likely cost him the entirety of the season.  This unusual situation in some ways defined Dahl’s career, highlighting his grit in trying to play through what ended up being a long list of injuries that set back his career.

Dahl had an impressive MLB debut in 2016, hitting .315/.359/.500 over his first 237 PA in the Show.  A stress fracture in his rib and then back spasms limited him to just 19 minor league games and no big league action in 2017, but Dahl was able to recover and appear in 177 games for Colorado over the 2018-19 seasons.  The outfielder batted .291/.342/.528 with 31 homers in 684 PA over this two-year stretch, helping the Rockies reach the postseason in 2018 and earning an All-Star nod for himself in 2019.

Even during those two seasons, however, Dahl missed a good deal of time recovering from a right foot fracture and then a right high ankle sprain.  2019 ended up being the high point of Dahl’s production, as after Opening Day 2020, he hit only .200/.237/.318 over the final 390 PA of his big league career.  Shoulder problems in 2020 led to a surgery after the season, and the Rockies chose to non-tender Dahl.  He bounced around to six different teams over the next four seasons, and saw some more MLB time with the Rangers, Padres, and Phillies.

After not playing at all in 2025, Dahl has now decided to hang up the cleats.  We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Dahl on a fine career and wish him all the best in his post-playing endeavors.

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