Francisco Lindor Increasingly Likely To Be Ready For Opening Day
Francisco Lindor was the starting shortstop and went 1-for-3 over four innings in the Mets’ rain-shortened 8-1 win over the Blue Jays today, as Lindor saw his first action of the spring against Major League competition. Just prior to the start of camp, Lindor suffered a left hamate bone injury that required surgery, creating some question as to whether or not the five-time All-Star would be available for New York’s Opening Day lineup.
While the Mets will continue to monitor Lindor in the lead-up to their March 26 game against the Pirates, all signs point to Lindor being fully ready to participate. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes that Lindor was slated to get two at-bats over four innings of work today as the Mets eased him back into action, but Lindor ended up getting a third trip to the plate (resulting in a single) since New York beat up on Toronto starter Grant Rogers.
The club’s plan is to continue to bring Lindor along somewhat slowly by playing him every other day, but the shortstop told DiComo and other reporters that today’s game was a step in the right direction.
“It was a really good experience,” Lindor said. “I felt like I was pretty much like myself, and I finished the game healthy. Overall, it was a good day for me.”
Hamate-related injuries usually have a recovery timeline of 4-to-8 weeks, and Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns put a six-week timetable on Lindor when he had his surgery on February 11. Lindor didn’t hit any setbacks and was able to start playing in minor league Spring Training games within a month of his surgery, and by being able to return to the Mets’ roster today, he’ll be able to bank a good amount of games in order to fully ramp up for March 26.
AL West Notes: Pena, Mastrobuoni, Crawford, Neto
Jeremy Pena provided The Athletic’s Chandler Rome with an update on the fingertip fracture that has put Pena’s Opening Day availability in question. The Astros shortstop has been able to partake in most baseball activities, with just throwing and swinging with both hands remaining on the checklist before he can consider a return to game action. Pena has played in four Spring Training games and two World Baseball Classic games with the Dominican Republic, and it remains to be seen how much more prep time he’ll need once he is cleared to play.
“If I get into a game and I feel like my swing is ready to go, then that’s all I need,” Pena said. “For me, it’s a feel thing. Maybe it takes me five games, maybe it takes me three, maybe it takes me one.”
It would appear as though Pena should at least be able to get into some games before the Cactus League is over, even if it remains unclear whether or not he’ll need (what may be a minimal) 10-day injured list stint to begin the season. A fuller re-evaluation of Pena’s status is still a couple of days away, though Rome writes that the shortstop felt good enough to postpone a planned doctor’s appointment.
More from around the AL West…
- Mariners utilityman Miles Mastrobuoni is dealing with a minor calf strain that cut short his participation on Italy’s team in the World Baseball Classic. Mastrobuoni is now back at the Mariners’ camp, and he told the Seattle Times’ Tim Booth that while he doesn’t feel his strain is too serious, he didn’t want to risk further aggravating the injury: “I just really don’t want to deal with this, having it nag throughout the year.” Given the timing, Mastrobuoni (who is out of minor league options) might begin the season on the 10-day injured list to allow him to both fully recover and ramp up for regular-season play.
- Staying in Seattle, J.P. Crawford has been bothered by a sore right shoulder for much of camp, and the shortstop hasn’t played in any of the Mariners‘ last four games. Despite the absence, Crawford isn’t worried about his readiness for Opening Day, telling the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other reporters that the team was just being cautious. Since the M’s have a off-day tomorrow, Crawford will get another full day of rest and rehab before making his planned return to Seattle’s lineup on Tuesday.
- The Angels received a scare when Zach Neto picked up a left hand injury while sliding into home plate yesterday, but the shortstop told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group) that tests revealed only a small hand sprain. Neto believes he’ll be back in action after just a few days. A critical piece of the Halos’ lineup, Neto has hit .253/.318/.458 with 49 homers and 56 steals (translating to a 115 wRC+) over 1156 plate appearances in 2024-25, despite undergoing a November 2024 shoulder surgery that delayed his 2025 debut until mid-April. Another left hand strain ended Neto’s 2025 campaign in late September.
Rangers Notes: McCutchen, Pederson, Higashioka
Andrew McCutchen has hit the ground running in his attempt to make the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, as the veteran has a blistering .583/.706/.833 slash line over 17 Cactus League plate appearances. Nothing is yet guaranteed for Cutch since he is in camp on a minor league contract, yet the 39-year-old is using the rather awkward end of his tenure with the Pirates as some extra incentive.
“I haven’t been in this position, in a place where there are a lot of doubts from other people in quite a long time. I’m motivated in a different way,” McCutchen told the Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant. “I remember getting invitations to spring training when I was 20-21 years old, knowing I wasn’t going to make the team, but had the approach that I wanted to showcase that I can do this here, no matter the age. This is kind of the same thing, only the ages are different. I want to show people that I can continue to play this game at a very high level.”
McCutchen’s second stint in Pittsburgh began with two above-average offensive seasons, but he hit a more modest .239/.333/.367 over 551 PA in 2025, translating to a 95 wRC+ and the first sub-replacement (-0.1 fWAR) performance of his 17-year Major League career. Hitting in a pitcher-friendly venue like PNC Park has never been easy for batters, though McCutchen observed that “we had some of the same ballpark effect the Rangers had last year, that the ball wasn’t really flying to left field. You weren’t getting rewarded as often and I was trying to find ways to improve the numbers. How can I get hits? How can I get on base? How can I work counts? I put my body into positions that weren’t ideal.”
“I needed to get back to basics and get myself in the most optimal position for 39 that I could get. And, honestly, I feel like I’m in a better spot than I have been in a number of years.”
Despite the subpar production, there was still an expectation that McCutchen would again re-sign with the Pirates, as there seemed to be an unofficial agreement in place that the veteran would end his career in a Pittsburgh uniform. As McCutchen puts it, “I was pretty vocal about doing that, and wanted that. The other side also was pretty vocal about wanting to do that too, but they wanted to do it a little sooner.”
The apparent lack of response or even communication on the Pirates’ part led to McCutchen going public with his frustrations on social media in late January. The Bucs then signed Marcell Ozuna in early February, and Ozuna’s usage in the DH role more or less closed the door on the chances of McCutchen remaining in Pittsburgh.
Should McCutchen break camp with the Rangers, he might get a bit more outfield time than he did with the Pirates, but he’d likely still be primarily used as the right-handed side of a DH platoon with Joc Pederson. Of course, this assumes that Pederson will hit well enough to hold his own spot in the lineup, which is no guarantee since the veteran slugger is also trying to bounce back from a disappointing year.
After signing a two-year, $37MM free agent deal with Texas last winter, Pederson hit only .181/.285/.328 over 306 PA. He was off to an ice-cold start even before he missed two months due to a hand fracture, and he hit only marginally better after his return from the injured list in late July.
Pederson told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry that “the mentals of not playing good for so long” contributed to his inability to get out of his funk. “Even the whole second half of when I came back, things started to trend in the right direction, but still I was not where I wanted to be….We have so many goals, so everything is going to be tailored around that, how to contribute to a winning team, how to be an above-average productive player.”
An offseason of work with Rangers hitting coach Justin Viele can hopefully get Pederson back on track, though the numbers haven’t yet been there for Pederson in Spring Training. The $18.5MM salary owed to Pederson in 2027 gives the Rangers incentive to give him plenty of time to find himself at the plate, though another extended slump might lead to some hard questions about Pederson’s playing time (or even a spot on the roster). Another DH candidate like McCutchen could emerge, or Texas might want to give multiple players a shot at DH at-bats to help keep people fresh.
In some injury news from the team’s camp, catcher Kyle Higashioka is expected to return to game action tomorrow, manager Skip Schumaker told Evan Grant and other reporters. Back stiffness has kept Higashioka sidelined from games since March 5, though he returned to catching and batting work against live pitching. Assuming no setbacks once he gets back on the field, Higashioka should have enough time to ramp up and be ready for Opening Day.
Higashioka and the newly-signed Danny Jansen will share the Rangers’ catching duties this season. Another free agent signing from the 2024-25 offseason, the first season of Higashioka’s two-year, $13.5MM contract resulted in a .241/.291/.403 slash line and 11 homers over 327 PA (93 wRC+).
MLBTR Chat Transcript
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Offseason In Review: Athletics
The Athletics continue to lock up their core their long-term extensions, but there’s a short-term focus as well, as the A’s seem to be aiming to return to contention this year.
Major League Signings
- Aaron Civale, SP: One year, $6MM
- Mark Leiter Jr., RHP: One year, $2.85MM
- Scott Barlow, RHP: One year, $2MM
2026 spending: $10.85MM
Total spending: $10.85MM
Trades And Claims
- Acquired 2B/OF Jeff McNeil and $5.75MM from Mets for RHP Yordan Rodriguez (Mets will also pay $2MM buyout of McNeil’s $15.75MM club option for 2027 if A’s decline the option)
- Acquired minor league RHP A.J. Causey from Royals for RHP Mitch Spence
- Acquired minor league RHP Luis Burgos from Yankees for IF Max Schuemann
- Claimed IF/OF Andy Ibanez off waivers from Dodgers
Option Decisions
- None
Notable Minor League Signings
- Nick Anderson, Joey Meneses, Wander Suero, Joel Kuhnel, Michael Stefanic, Geoff Hartlieb, Nick Hernandez, Chad Wallach, Brian Serven, Cade Marlowe, Brooks Kriske, Matt Krook, Ben Bowden, Bryan Lavastida
Extensions
- Tyler Soderstrom, OF: Seven years, $86MM (includes $2MM buyout of $27MM club option for 2033)
- Jacob Wilson, SS: Seven years, $70MM (includes $2MM buyout of $26MM club option for 2033)
Notable Losses
- Spence, Schuemann, Sean Newcomb, JJ Bleday, Osvaldo Bido, Grant Holman, Ken Waldichuk, Willie MacIver, Michel Otanez
After the 2024 A’s went 69-93 in their final season in Oakland, the 2025 squad improved to 76-86 in the first season of its temporary residency in West Sacramento. While the cities and ballparks were drastically different, both editions of the Athletics were much better in the second half of the season than in the first. Last year’s Athletics even got off to a 20-16 start before a brutal 3-24 stretch in May and June torpedoed their season, though the club then recovered to go 53-46 the rest of the way.
Obviously any team would seem a lot better if you erased their worst month from the ledger, but the evidence is growing that the A’s may have (once again) put together the pieces of a contender after a lengthy rebuild. The common belief was that the A’s were going to wait until they moved to Las Vegas before truly committing to winning, except the roster might be ahead of schedule.
A team planning to just tread water, after all, doesn’t try to land two former All-Star infielders at (by the Athletics’ standards) fairly substantial prices. The A’s obtained Jeff McNeil from the Mets before the club made its rather surprising bid to trade for Nolan Arenado, and the Athletics’ offer involved eating more of Arenado’s remaining salary than the $11MM taken on by the Diamondbacks once Arenado was ultimately dealt to Arizona.
Whatever the specifics of the Athletics offer were in terms of cash and prospects, it was reportedly enough to meet the Cardinals’ approval….but not Arenado’s. The third baseman’s no-trade protection gave him full approval over his next team, and while Arenado apparently didn’t expressly reject going to the A’s, moving to the D’Backs held more appeal. While the Diamondbacks were only 80-82 in 2025, they won the NL pennant in 2023, a good core of talent is still in place, and (perhaps more importantly) the Snakes aren’t spending the next two years in a minor league ballpark.
The four-year, $50MM extension McNeil signed with the Mets in January 2023 didn’t contain any no-trade language, so New York was able to freely move the veteran to West Sacramento. The cost to the Athletics was a lottery-ticket type of prospect in 18-year-old righty Yordan Rodriguez, and the Athletics’ willingness to pay $10MM of the $15.75MM McNeil is set to earn in the last guaranteed year of his contract. The Mets will also kick in $2MM to cover the buyout of McNeil’s $15.75MM club option for 2027 if the A’s decide against bringing McNeil back for his age-35 season.
As to what McNeill can do at age 34, the two-time All-Star should provide some needed help at second base. McNeil hit .243/.335/.411 with 12 home runs over 462 plate appearances in 2025, translating to a 111 wRC+. That’s a solid step up from his 98 wRC+ over the 2023-24 seasons, though not in the realm of the 140 wRC+ McNeil posted in his All-Star 2022 campaign. McNeil had a surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome after last season, though questions about his health status have seemingly been answered by the fact that he is playing regularly in Spring Training.
The A’s received only 0.3 bWAR from its second basemen in 2025, as well as -0.3 bWAR from the third base position. The two infield slots were therefore the obvious target areas for the Athletics this winter, and McNeil could possibly help at both positions since he has played some third base in the past (though not since 2022). The likelier scenario is that McNeil primarily stays at the keystone, with some part-time usage in center field platooning for Denzel Clarke.
Since the reports of the Arenado trade talks only surfaced after the Diamondbacks trade, it is fair to wonder what other infield options the A’s quietly pursued over the offseason. There wasn’t much public buzz in terms of specific free names linked to the A’s, apart from their interest in reuniting with Miguel Andujar (before he signed with the Padres) and a much more prominent offer to Ha-Seong Kim. The Athletics were reportedly willing to give Kim a four-year, $48MM pact before Kim chose a shorter-term commitment in the form of a one-year, $20MM to return to the Braves.
Maybe Kim has some regrets over his decision since he’ll miss at least the first month of the season recovering from a torn finger tendon. From the Athletics’ perspective, the offer may have held appeal to Kim if he wanted some security after injuries have dominated the last 18 months of his career, and Kim would’ve fit anywhere around the infield. That includes Kim’s usual shortstop position, if the A’s had moved Jacob Wilson to either second or third.
Had Kim accepted the offer, he would’ve become the second-priciest free agent signing in A’s history, after the club’s three-year, $67MM deal with Luis Severino last offseason. Between the Severino deal and the Athletics’ spate of contract extensions over the last year, it is becoming less unusual (if not entirely “normal”) to see such dollar figures attached to an organization that has long been associated with small payrolls.
To be clear, nobody is confusing the A’s for the Dodgers when it comes to financial might. But, RosterResource estimates the Athletics’ 2026 payroll at $94.6MM, with a $145.8MM luxury tax number. If the Athletics’ spending spree began last offseason as a way to avoid a players’ union grievance, the club has now gotten itself well beyond the $105MM minimum threshold, and also established two more players as roster cornerstones.
Tyler Soderstrom was first up on Christmas Day with an extension that will guarantee the left fielder at least $86MM over the next seven seasons. Wilson then agreed to a seven-year, $70MM in late January, establishing Wilson as a key piece of the Athletics’ infield over the long term. Between these two contracts and the Brent Rooker/Lawrence Butler deals from last offseason, that makes it four extensions in 14 months for a team that signed only one player (Khris Davis) to an extension between May 2014 and December 2024.
Most teams wait until the end of Spring Training to concentrate on extension talks, so more business may be yet to come, given reports of the Athletics’ interest in extending both first baseman Nick Kurtz (the reigning AL Rookie of the Year) and catcher Shea Langeliers. The duo are respectively represented by Excel Sports Management and the Boras Corporation, and both agencies are known for rarely pursuing early-career extensions for their clients. Langeliers may not fit the “early-career” designation since he has four MLB seasons under his belt and was arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter, but locking up Langeliers could be tricky regardless.
Even if no extensions are reached, Langeliers is arb-controlled through 2028 and Kurtz just completed his first MLB season. Between those two, Soderstrom in left field, Rooker at DH, Butler in right field, and Wilson somewhere in the infield, that’s six spots in the lineup already covered for at least the next three seasons. Clarke has already shown himself to be an superb defensive center fielder even if his bat is still a work in progress, and outfield prospect Henry Bolte is expected to make his big league debut at some point in 2026. The same could be true of 19-year-old shortstop prospect Leo De Vries, acclaimed as one of baseball’s top minor leaguers and a huge part of the Athletics’ future.
McNeil is part of the bridge to the De Vries era in the infield, but third base remains a question mark as Opening Day approaches. The A’s could certainly look to the trade market for more third base help before the end of Spring Training, or the hot corner could be a priority at the deadline if the team is in contention. A trade scenario could hinge somewhat on De Vries’ timeline, or if any of the current internal options for third base can step up.
“The Other” Max Muncy is probably the favorite for the starting job if his glovework is up to the task. Utilityman Andy Ibanez was claimed off the Dodgers’ waiver wire to provide some experienced depth at third base and around the infield in general, with Max Schuemann removed from the mix after he was designated for assignment and subsequently dealt to the Yankees. Darell Hernaiz and Brett Harris provide more depth, and at least one if not both will begin the season at Triple-A. Zack Gelof is still in the picture, as the 2023 breakout rookie is trying to rebound from a pair of rough seasons due to under-performance and injury.
Some of this group could also be used at second base, allowing McNeil to play the outfield if circumstances warrant. The A’s non-tendered JJ Bleday and thus created some need for outfield depth, but McNeil, Bolte, Ibanez, rookies Carlos Cortes and Colby Thomas, or even Gelof could all chip in.
Third base notwithstanding, the Athletics look solid enough around the diamond to make some noise in a pennant race. Playing at Sutter Health Park should give the offense an added boost, so if the A’s can get just an adequate amount of production from its pitching staff, that might be enough for the team to slug its way into playoff contention.
That outcome, of course, is a lot easier said than done. Both the Athletics’ rotation and bullpen struggled in 2025, as pitchers (understandably) had difficulty adjusting to the hitter-friendly West Sacramento ballpark. Better pitching is the team’s most obvious path to a winning record in 2026, yet the A’s will go into the new season with a lot of the same staff in place.
Last winter’s big investment in Severino didn’t pay off, as his public complaints over Sutter Health Park generated more of a stir than the 4.54 ERA he posted over 162 2/3 innings. There was some speculation that Severino could be traded in the wake of his comments, though the $42MM owed to the right-hander over the next two seasons was an obstacle to a deal, and Severino’s ability to opt out next offseason is another wrinkle. Moving Severino also would’ve created another hole to fill in the rotation, so the A’s can only hope year two for Severino brings more comfort in his home ballpark.
Severino and Jeffrey Springs account for two rotation slots, and Luis Morales is looking to build off a rookie season that saw the right-hander post a 3.14 ERA over his first 48 2/3 innings in the majors. Jacob Lopez looks to be ahead of J.T. Ginn and Jack Perkins in the battle for the fifth starter’s role, though all of this trio and Joey Estes, Gunnar Hoglund (who has been sidelined by injuries this spring) and top prospect Gage Jump could all make starts at some point in 2026.
The other rotation spot is going to the Athletics’ biggest free agent signing of the winter, as Aaron Civale joined the club for $6MM guaranteed on a one-year deal. Civale posted a 4.85 ERA over 102 combined innings with the Brewers, White Sox, and Cubs, and his last two seasons have seen some more homer-prone tendencies that might not play great in Sacramento. The A’s aren’t asking Civale to be an ace, but rather to eat some innings and provide some more veteran ballast since Lopez and Morales are still establishing themselves as big league pitchers.
Sean Newcomb was arguably the Athletics’ best reliever last season, but the left-hander departed in free agency to sign with the White Sox. The A’s also parted ways with Osvaldo Bido and Mitch Spence, who each struggled in swingman roles in 2025. Filling the gaps in the bullpen are veteran right-handers Mark Leiter Jr. and Scott Barlow, who signed for a combined $4.85MM on one-year deals.
The two will join with Hogan Harris, Justin Sterner, and perhaps others in what the A’s are planning to be a closer committee. Harris might be the favorite for the majority of save opportunities, but as maybe the only left-hander projected to be part of the Athletics’ pen, the team might need him for situational work more than the ninth inning. Luis Medina might be an intriguing name to watch in a closing capacity, as the former starter will be used as a reliever in order to ease him back to action since he missed all of 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
It’s not an imposing group on paper, yet the A’s may have been limited in what they could add to their pitching mix. Bringing a frontline starter wasn’t happening for both salary and ballpark-related reasons, and signing even a mid-tier starter might’ve also been a tough sell for those same reasons. Lucas Giolito is the most prominent starter still on the market in mid-March and could be available at a relative bargain price, yet even if Giolito is feeling some desperation after his long stint in free agency, even he might not want to pitch in Sacramento unless he is out of other alternatives.
On the trade front, the A’s reportedly weren’t willing to shop any of their more prominent hitters for a starter, further hampering their attempts to acquire pitching. If a particularly intriguing offer for a controllable arm was on the table, the Athletics might’ve thought differently, yet swinging such a trade would’ve meant that this hypothetical pitcher was using two of those controllable years at Sutter Health Park.
To again reference the possibility of the A’s adding at the deadline, pitching is certainly the clearest need. It should also be noted that any of the Athletics’ offseason additions could easily become deadline trade chips if the team doesn’t show any progress. Acquiring so many players on just one-year commitments makes it easy for A’s general manager David Forst to pivot if his club is again out of the running by midseason.
Forst’s own employment status isn’t officially known since his last contract expired after the 2025 season, yet he has been running the front office as per usual and it appears to be just a matter of time before he’s officially extended (if a new deal hasn’t already been quietly reached).
After over 25 years in a variety of roles within the A’s front office, Forst has dealt with all manner of challenges. He now faces the tricky decision about how to best proceed with a lineup that seems ready to contend, but a pitching staff that may not be able to seriously progress until the team moves to Las Vegas or until its next wave of prospects (Jump, Jamie Arnold, Wei-En Lin) are ready for the Show. The Athletics may need several things to break their way to score a playoff berth, but at least a winning record certainly seems feasible for 2026.
How would you grade the Athletics' offseason?
Astros Haven’t Yet Discussed Extension With Bryan Abreu
Bryan Abreu is slated to become a free agent at the end of the 2026 season, and the reliever told The Athletic’s Chandler Rome that the Astros hadn’t yet engaged in any extension talks with his representatives at ISE Baseball. Abreu indicated he would be open to such negotiations, saying that “the dream of any baseball player” is to “stay with one team forever.”
Abreu signed for just a $40K bonus as an international free agent in 2013, and he has joined Jose Altuve ($15K), Framber Valdez ($10K), Cristian Javier ($10K), and Luis Garcia ($20K) as lightly-regarded international signings who had a giant impact on the last decade of Astros baseball. Abreu emerged as a bullpen force during Houston’s World Series year in 2022, and over the last four seasons, the right-hander has delivered a 2.30 ERA, 34.3% strikeout rate, and 95 holds over 281 2/3 relief innings. He also has a 2.49 ERA over 21 2/3 career postseason innings, highlighted by a inning of work during the Astros’ combined no-hitter against the Phillies in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series.
Walks have been a persistent issue for Abreu, and opposing batters made a lot more hard contact than usual against his offerings in 2025 than in past seasons. Still, only two pitchers have made more appearances than Abreu’s 275 trips to the mound over the last four years, and this combination of durability, upper-90s velocity, elite strikeout power, and bottom-line results have quietly made Abreu one of the better relievers in the sport.
Assuming he keeps up his usual level of performance, a big multi-year payday awaits Abreu in free agency next winter, when he’ll hit the market in advance of his age-30 season. As Rome notes, the exact size of that contract could hinge on whether rival teams view Abreu as a set-up man or as a closer, which adds extra import to Abreu’s temporary role as Houston’s closer while Josh Hader begins the season on the injured list.
Abreu has 16 career saves on his resume, with seven of those saves coming last season after Hader’s season was ended in August by a capsule sprain in his throwing shoulder. In the 18 games and 18 2/3 innings after Hader’s final game on August 8, Abreu held opponents scoreless in 15 of those outings, though three multi-run outings boosted his ERA in that stretch to 3.86.
It is too small a sample size to draw any big conclusion, of course, and whatever Abreu does as the Astros’ fill-in closer this year probably won’t also move the needle in terms of gauging his next contract. As we’ve seen with reliever contracts in recent years, teams seem to be as willing to pay bigger money based on future projection than they are concrete past results. Abreu having both a strong track record and future upside in a closing role will likely serve him well in free agency.
This assumes that Abreu will test the market at all, as it isn’t too late for the Astros to explore negotiations. Teams generally wait until closer to the end of Spring Training to delve into extension-related business, though one would’ve imagined that the Astros might’ve broached the subject with Abreu’s camp at some point before now.
Houston has been active in locking up some members of their core over the years, while letting others (Valdez, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa, etc.) simply play out their contracts or team control, and then walk away to other teams. Most of the Astros’ extensions were struck well before a player was so close to hitting the open market, though another prominent reliever in Ryan Pressly twice signed extensions in advance of his final year before free agency. Both of Pressly’s deals, however, were two-year pacts — it would take at least three years and very likely four to convince Abreu to forego the open market and stay put.
Some money will drop off the Astros’ books when Lance McCullers Jr.‘s contract is up at season’s end, and Tatsuya Imai has the ability to opt out of the remaining two years of his contract. Whether or not that makes the Astros more open to re-signing Abreu remains to be seen, as Houston still has several other hefty salaries on their long-term ledger. Of those contracts, Hader is owed $57MM through the 2028 season, so re-signing Abreu means that the Astros would have to be okay with committing a hefty chunk of payroll towards two relief pitchers.
Mets Claim Richard Lovelady
The Mets announced that left-hander Richard Lovelady has been claimed off waivers from the Nationals. Right-hander Justin Hagenman was placed on New York’s 60-day injured list in the corresponding move, as Hagenman will now miss the first two months of the season recovering from a rib fracture.
It’s a quick return to Queens for Lovelady, who was designated for assignment by the Mets in late January and then claimed by the Nationals. After a little over a month in Washington’s spring camp, Lovelady was DFA’ed again since the Nats needed roster space for the newly-signed Zack Littell.
Lovelady broke into the majors with the Royals in 2019, and he spent his first three big league seasons in Kansas City before a Tommy John surgery cost him the entirety of the 2022 season. Since recovering from his surgery, Lovelady has become a regular on the transactions list, as he has bounced around to multiple clubs in a series of trades, waiver claims, signings and re-signings. Since the start of the 2023 campaign, Lovelady has a 5.19 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, and 9.0% walk rate over 69 1/3 innings with five different teams at the Major League level.
This nomadic stretch includes multiple stints with the Mets over the last year, beginning last June when New York signed Lovelady after he’d opted out of a minor league contract with the Twins. Lovelady ended up posting a 6.30 ERA over 10 innings with the Amazins, while also being DFA’ed and outrighted three different times. The southpaw refused the first of those outrights and elected free agency, but soon re-signed with the Mets.
Lovelady has been out of minor league options following the 2024 season, which is why he has been ping-ponged around without much roster security. While the Mets clearly see enough in Lovelady to keep re-acquiring him, he is likely viewed as no more than left-handed bullpen depth, and a possible candidate for another DFA if New York needs roster space. Lovelady is signed for 2026 on a split contract that he inked with the Mets in October, and is guaranteed a $350K salary in the minors and $1MM in the majors.
Hagenman was a 23rd-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2018 draft, and signing with the Mets last offseason helped pave the way for the righty to make his MLB debut in 2025 as part of the Mets’ revolving door of pitchers. Hagenman posted a 4.56 ERA across his first 23 2/3 innings in the Show, with an impressive 23 strikeouts against only two walks but also four homers allowed.
After spending most of his minor league career in a strict relief role, Hagenman has been used more as a swingman in Boston and New York’s Triple-A teams over the last two years. He was viewed as a longshot candidate to make the Mets’ Opening Day roster anyway, but this rib injury will now heavily delay Hagenman’s work even at Triple-A Syracuse. One minor silver lining is that the placement on the big league 60-day IL will earn Hagenman some Major League service time.
Robert Stephenson Sidelined With Possible UCL Damage
11:41AM: In what Stephenson described as “heartbreaking” news to Jeff Fletcher, the setback is related to possible UCL damage. Another surgery certainly appears to be a possibility, but Stephenson will first visit Dr. Keith Meister to discuss any non-surgical methods.
“There is concern right now for the state of my UCL, and my flexor,” Stephenson said. “I’m going to see if there’s a way we can rehab this thing and be able to pitch this year, but I don’t know what it looks like….It’s three years and I’ve got 10 innings to my name. It sucks. I just want to be on the field.”
9:52AM: Robert Stephenson is dealing with yet another injury concern, as Angels manager Kurt Suzuki told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) that the right-hander has sustained some type of unspecified setback during his throwing sessions. Suzuki described the issue only as “a little setback,” but Stephenson will undergo tests to determine the extent of the matter.
Given the timing of this apparent injury and Stephenson’s checkered health history, it now seems very possible that he’ll begin the season on the Angels’ 15-day injured list. Even if this current issue is just a speedbump and Stephenson is back throwing in a few days’ time, his throwing progression could be scaled back a bit, plus the reliever has yet to pitch in any Cactus League games.
In his own words, Stephenson already went into Spring Training “a little bit behind everybody” after receiving an injection during the offseason to deal with some symptoms related to thoracic outlet syndrome. Still, it was just a week ago that Stephenson was feeling confident about his chances of making the Opening Day roster, as he had progressed to facing hitters during live batting practice sessions.
It’s an unwelcome start to Stephenson’s third season with the Halos, as the right-hander has barely pitched over the first two seasons of what was initially a three-year, $33MM contract. As per a clause in the contract, the Angels gained a $2.5MM club option for 2027 because Stephenson suffered a major elbow ligament-related injury — namely the Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for the entirety of the 2024 season.
Stephenson returned to appear in two games in May 2025, but a nerve-related biceps problem forced him back to the IL for almost three more months. He made it back to pitch in 10 more games for Los Angeles before a bout of elbow inflammation ended his season. Stephenson’s Angels resume consists of just 10 innings in 2025, with a 2.70 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate.
While a small sample size, Stephenson’s solid numbers provided some hope that he could again flash the high-leverage form he showed (albeit on an inconsistent basis) in past seasons with the Reds, Rockies, Pirates, and Rays. On the other hand, the TOS symptoms provided a new injury scare, and it remains to be seen what imaging might reveal about this latest situation.
In better news for the Angels’ relief corps, Fletcher writes that Ben Joyce has added sliders to his throwing repertoire during bullpen sessions, and minor league signing Nick Sandlin is expected to soon move into game action after a pair of live BP sessions. One of the highest-velocity pitchers in baseball, Joyce had a seeming breakout season in 2024, but missed almost all of 2025 due to shoulder surgery. Sandlin also barely pitched in 2025, as a lat strain and elbow inflammation limited him to 16 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays.
Red Sox Haven’t Discussed Extension With Connelly Early
Connelly Early burst into the Red Sox rotation with a 2.33 ERA over his first 19 1/3 innings in the majors last September, enhancing his status as a key part of Boston’s pitching future. Cementing that future potential in the form of a contract extension, however, doesn’t yet appear to be in the team’s plans, as MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith and Chris Cotillo write that the Sox haven’t yet engaged with Early’s reps at Excel Sports Management about a long-term deal.
Part of the reason could be related to Early’s choice of agency, as Excel clients don’t usually pursue long-term extensions in general, and never so early in their big league careers. Using MLBTR’s Contract Tracker for reference, most of Excel’s extensions over the last two decades have been shorter-term deals covering two or three or a player’s arbitration years, without extending his team’s control. Former Excel client Freddie Freeman signed an eight-year, $135MM extension with the Braves back in February 2014, and Cal Raleigh signed his six-year, $105MM extension with the Mariners just under a year ago, but Freeman and Raleigh each had more than three years of MLB service at the times of those deals.
Early, by contrast, has only 20 official days on his service clock. Early and fellow southpaw Payton Tolle (31 days) each logged little enough time in their 2025 debut seasons that, as Smith and Cotillo note, the Red Sox can still gain an extra year of team control over the duo if they’re held in the minors for a certain amount of time in 2026 — Early 35 days, and Tolle 45 days.
Such considerations might factor into whether or not Early or Tolle make Boston’s Opening Day roster, but an extension would obviously overwrite things. Since Craig Breslow became the team’s chief baseball officer, the Red Sox have locked up Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Ceddanne Rafaela to long-term extensions when all three of those players had just a handful of MLB games under their belt.
Early didn’t quite have the same star-prospect status of that group, but the fifth-round pick from Boston’s 2023 draft class advanced to Double-A before the 2024 season was over. He really got himself on the radar with a 2.60 ERA, 31.9% strikeout rate, and 9.7% walk rate across 100 1/3 minor league innings (71 2/3 in Double-A, 28 2/3 in Triple-A) in 2025, leading to his late-season call-up.
If it wasn’t for the precedent of these other early-career extensions for Anthony and company, there probably wouldn’t be any discussion of a contract for Early given that he is still so new on the big league scene. The Red Sox may also want a bit more time to evaluate what they really have in Early, and if his promising development on the farm can truly translate to a good career in the majors.
Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray were new acquisitions this winter, and they’ll join Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello as the locks within the Sox pitching staff. Johan Oviedo is another new face acquired in a trade with the Pirates this winter, so he might have the edge on the fifth starter’s job even though Early and others are still competing. The likeliest scenario is that Early, Tolle, and (on rehab assignments) Patrick Sandoval and Kutter Crawford start the season at Triple-A, acting as rotation depth.
Hiromi Itoh, Teruaki Sato Expected To Be Posted For MLB Teams Next Winter
MLB teams believe Nippon Professional Baseball stars Hiromi Itoh and Teruaki Sato will both be posted into next offseason’s free agent market, according to ESPN.com’s Jorge Castillo. Itoh is a right-handed pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, while Sato is a slugging third baseman/outfielder for the Hanshin Tigers. Both are members of Japan’s World Baseball Classic team, who square off with Venezuela today in a quarter-final matchup in Miami.
Itoh turns 29 in August, and the righty has a 2.87 ERA, 21.73% strikeout rate, and 6.17% walk rate over 828 career innings with the Fighters from 2021-25. He is the reigning winner of the Sawamura Award, which is somewhat akin to the Cy Young Award except it is only given to a sole NPB pitcher (not one each from the Central and Pacific Leagues) and it isn’t awarded every year if no pitchers are deemed worthy of the honor.
Big league pitching coaches might well be intrigued by delving into Itoh’s seven-pitch arsenal, which is highlighted by a fastball that has hit 96mph. Castillo writes that Itoh’s primary pitches amidst his seven offerings are the fastball, a splitter, and a sweeper.
The fairly modest strikeout rate could be a bit of a red flag for Major League teams, plus Itoh is relatively short at only 5’9″. Still, a talent evaluator for an American League team tells Castillo that while Itoh is “smallish,” he has a “proven track record of durability. He should continue to strike out MLB hitters while allowing very few walks.”
Castillo names Sonny Gray as a comp for Itoh, while Ryan O’Hearn is the comp for Sato. The Hanshin slugger just celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday, and is coming off a 2025 season that saw him hit .277/.345/.579 over 597 plate appearances while bopping a career-high 40 home runs. This huge year earned him Central League MVP honors, plus his fourth All-Star nod in his five NPB seasons.
Sato’s resume also includes a Gold Glove for his work at third base, which has been Sato’s primary position over the last three seasons. He played a good deal of right field in 2021-22 and also got some work back in the outfield this past season, so Major League teams could view Sato as a versatile player able to capably toggle between the two positions, if he isn’t just kept at third base.
Since both Itoh and Sato are well short of the nine full years of NPB service to achieve full free agency, the Fighters and Tigers would have to agree to make an earlier-than-expected posting in order to allow the players to test the big league market. This is maybe more noteworthy in Sato’s case since the Tigers are traditionally reluctant to post their players early. Any number of factors can go into a team’s decision-making process about when (or if) to post star players for MLB clubs, but one argument in Sato’s favor might be that he has already helped the Tigers achieve some team success — the Tigers won the Japan Series in 2023 and reached the Series again in 2025.
As a reminder, the rules of MLB/NPB posting system state that when a player is posted, he has 45 days to agree to a contract with a Major League team. If no deal is reached within that time, the player returns to his Japanese team for the next season, though he can be posted again in a future offseason. If a player does agree to a contract to head to North America, his former NPB club will earn a posting fee related to the size of the contract. The NPB team’s fee would equal 20% of the first $25MM of the player’s guaranteed Major League contract, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and 15% of anything beyond the $50MM mark.
It is possible the posting system could be altered when the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is negotiated next offseason. Changing the system would naturally require input from NPB, and given all of the other major labor issues expected to dominate the talks between the Major League owners and players’ union, the posting system is probably a back-burner issue at best.
That said, it is a virtual guarantee that the league will lock out the players when the CBA expires on December 1, resulting in a transactions freeze. Since most NPB players aren’t officially posted until at least the second half of November, Itoh and Sato would almost surely have their 45-day windows interrupted, leaving them in limbo throughout however long a work stoppage might last. Either could prefer to stay in NPB for the 2027 season in order to wait out MLB’s labor uncertainty, though it should be noted that the 2021-22 lockout didn’t deter Seiya Suzuki from making the jump to the majors. Suzuki was comfortable waiting out what ended up being a 99-day lockout, and he landed his five-year, $85MM deal with the Cubs.
The markets for this year’s crop of high-profile NPB talent might also impact Itoh and Sato’s decisions. Kazuma Okamoto landed a four-year, $60MM deal from the Blue Jays that basically matched projections, but new Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai (three years, $54MM with two opt-out clauses) and new White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami (two years and $34MM) had to settle for lesser contracts than expected. While obviously players are always trying to post big numbers and correct any flaws in their game, there could be some extra pressure on Itoh and Sato in showcasing themselves during the 2026 season if their hope is to land a pricey MLB contract next winter.