Rockies Narrow Front Office Search To At Least Two Finalists
Reports emerged a few days ago that the Rockies were entering the finalist stage of their search for a new front office leader, and the field has now been whittled down to perhaps just two names. The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal report that Guardians assistant GM Matt Forman and Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye are under consideration for the job, though it is possible another unknown finalist may also still be in the mix. Former Astros GM James Click and Royals assistant GM Scott Sharp had been candidates for the Rockies job but are no longer in consideration.
Forman, Sharp, and Click were the only names linked to the Rockies’ search, though naturally the team has likely been speaking with other candidates like Sawdaye who weren’t publicly known until now. Sawdaye has previously been a candidate for top front office posts with the Giants (before Farhan Zaidi was hired) and Angels (who hired Perry Minasian), plus he was at least contacted by the Nationals about their president of baseball operations opening this offseason before Paul Toboni was hired. Sawdaye has never held the top post in a front office before, but he did take over day-to-day operations for the D’Backs in 2021 when GM Mike Hazen took a temporary leave of absence.
Sawdaye is a longtime executive who started his baseball career with a 15-year stint in the Red Sox front office, rising to the levels of VP of international and amateur scouting. He worked closely with Hazen for a decade of that time, and when Hazen was hired as Arizona’s GM in October 2016, Sawdaye followed as Hazen’s assistant GM and has since been the de facto chief lieutenant within the Diamondbacks front office.
All this time in the NL West has given Sawdaye plenty of familiarity with the Rockies, and thus Sawdaye may well have some insight into how the Rox can get their organization on track. Colorado’s search for a new front office head is particularly intriguing since owner Dick Monfort is finally looking at external hires, as a way of bringing some fresh perspective into an organization that has long been accused of being too insular and outmoded in its thinking.
Seven straight losing seasons will tend to convince a team that things need to be changed, especially after the particular embarrassment of the Rockies’ near-record 119-loss campaign in 2025. Whether it’s Sawdaye, Forman, or another finalist who gets the job, a massive task lies in front of them in simply modernizing the Rockies’ baseball operations department, before getting around to upgrading the on-field roster.
The latest round of interviews for the finalists will take place later this week, Ghiroli and Rosenthal write, with the assumption being that the Rockies will have someone hired before the GM Meetings in early November. Interim manager Warren Schaeffer technically remains a candidate for the full-time managerial position, but chances are the new GM/president of baseball operations would want to make their own choice as Colorado’s next skipper.
Latest On Braves’ Managerial Search
The Rangers and Angels each have new managers in place for 2026, but that still leaves seven other teams looking for a new dugout leader. Amidst all of the recent news and rumors about all of these simultaneously ongoing managerial searches, there hasn’t been much out of Atlanta, which is by design. The Braves generally operate with more secrecy than most clubs, and as president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told reporters during his year-end press conference, “if we do our job the way I want us to do it, you guys won’t have anything” on his club’s hunt for a new skipper.
A few details have emerged from MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, though more in regards to some speculated names that can perhaps be removed from consideration. Bowman hears from a source that former Blue Jays manager John Gibbons isn’t a candidate, and that “there has been no indication” that former Cubs manager David Ross or MLB Network and former player Mark DeRosa are being eyed for the manager’s job.
A follow-up message from Bowman on X specified that Gibbons, Ross, and DeRosa were the names he felt could be “confidently removed” from the running. His initial report didn’t eliminate bench coach Walt Weiss or coach Eddie Perez from consideration, but Bowman downplayed the idea of either man being elevated to the manager’s chair, writing that “their potential candidacies seemed to die when the Braves didn’t persuade [Brian] Snitker to manage at least one more year.” This implies that a succession plan might’ve been the initial concept for the team, but Snitker’s decision to step away from the job after the 2025 campaign might have the Braves leaning towards bringing an entirely fresh voice into the dugout.
Gibbons had the most MLB managerial experience of any of the names rumored to be involved in Atlanta’s search, as Gibbons logged parts of 11 seasons as the Blue Jays’ skipper over two separate tenures with the club. Anthopoulos was the Jays’ assistant GM during Gibbons’ first stint, and then after becoming general manager himself, made the unusual move of rehiring Gibbons back prior to the 2013 season, when Toronto was looking to replace John Farrell. Gibbons has spent the last two seasons as the Mets’ bench coach but stepped down from the job last month, creating speculation that he might emerge as Anthopoulos’ choice once more in Atlanta.
Ross seemed to be a natural candidate, as a Georgia native who both played for the Braves for four seasons and has four years of Major League managing experience on his resume. DeRosa is another former Brave who played seven seasons with the club from 1998-2004, and he has stuck mostly to broadcasting since his playing career ended in 2013. DeRosa hasn’t coached or managed in the majors or minors, though he was Team USA’s manager during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
In terms of which names might be on the Braves’ radar, Bowman writes that Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann’s “candidacy has seemingly strengthened over the past couple weeks.” The fact that the Dodgers are on their way to the World Series could be a complicating factor, though Lehmann could interview with the Braves during the interim periods between playoff rounds. This does mean that Atlanta might not announce a new hire until November, or at least until after the World Series is completed.
The 40-year-old Lehmann has been Dave Roberts’ bench coach for the last three years, and he has spent the last decade in the L.A. organization in such roles as a game planning/communication coach, a special assistant within the front office, and an advance video scout. Lehmann’s time with the Dodgers overlaps with Anthopoulos’ two-year (2016-17) tenure as the Dodgers’ vice-president of baseball operations, so there’s plenty of familiarity between the two men.
Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty and Tigers bench coach George Lombard are two other “potential candidates,” in Bowman’s words. The two have each been popular names in managerial searches in recent years, as Flaherty was a finalist for the Padres’ job in 2023 (before Mike Shildt was hired) and has been speculated as a candidate for the Padres’ current vacancy, as well as the Orioles’ and Twins’ open managerial positions. Lombard interviewed with the Marlins and White Sox last winter, and he was also in the running for past managerial vacancies with the Tigers and Pirates.
Lombard is an Atlanta native, and he also has some past L.A. history with Anthopoulos since Lombard was the Dodgers’ first base coach during the 2016-20 seasons. Both Lombard and Flaherty are former Braves players — Lombard during the 1998-99 seasons, and Flaherty in 2018.
Angels Hire Kurt Suzuki As Manager
The Angels’ managerial search is over, as the club announced that they’ve hired Kurt Suzuki as their new bench boss. The former MLB catcher had been a special assistant in the Halos’ front office. It’s only a one-year contract, though the Angels announced that the deal has multiple option years.
Suzuki was one of multiple former Angels players who was linked to the managerial vacancy. Albert Pujols emerged as the initial candidate for the job and was seen as the favorite, before news broke yesterday that Pujols wouldn’t be the hire. As per reports from both Heyman and The Athletic’s Sam Blum, Pujols and the Angels couldn’t line up on a contract, as well as on “coaches and resources,” in Heyman’s words. Longtime Angels outfielder Torii Hunter was another candidate for the job but he also fell out of race yesterday.
Other names linked to the search included candidates with past experience managing at the big league level, including Rocco Baldelli, Brandon Hyde, and Los Angeles’ own third base coach (and former Astros skipper) Bo Porter. It isn’t known if the Halos actually spoke with any of these speculative candidates, or if the team was impressed enough by what they heard from Suzuki that they went ahead and made the hire.
Like Pujols and Hunter, Suzuki has no experience managing or coaching at the Major League or minor league levels. Since his retirement following the 2022 season, Suzuki moved into his role as a special assistant to Angels GM Perry Minasian. This wasn’t Suzuki’s only foray into a managerial search, however, as the Giants interviewed him about their own dugout vacancy earlier this month. (It would appear that San Francisco is instead going with University of Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello for that job, though a deal between the two sides isn’t yet finalized.)
The 42-year-old Suzuki becomes the latest in a long line of ex-catchers to become MLB managers, and the Angels’ pick continues a more recent trend towards teams hiring fairly recently retired players without much or any of a managerial or coaching background. The Guardians’ Stephen Vogt is perhaps the most prominent example of this, as Vogt retired after the 2022 season, and then spent a year on the Mariners’ coaching staff before Cleveland tabbed him as Terry Francona’s replacement.
In regards to the Angels, Suzuki’s hire is a departure from the organization’s preference towards experienced managers under Arte Moreno’s ownership. Mike Scioscia was inherited as the skipper when Moreno bought the team in 2003 and Scioscia continued managing through the 2018 season. From there, the Halos hired Brad Ausmus and Joe Maddon as their next two skippers, before Maddon was fired partway through the 2022 campaign and replaced by interim manager Phil Nevin (who had never managed a big league club). Nevin remained in charge through 2023 before he too was let go, and longtime former Rangers manager Ron Washington was brought on board in advance of the 2024 campaign.
Washington’s own tenure was cut short by health reasons, as he went on a leave of absence this past June to recover from quadruple bypass surgery. Bench coach Ray Montgomery took over managerial duties for the remainder of this season, and while Washington hoped to return to the job in 2026, the Angels instead decided to go in an entirely new direction by hiring another manager.
The fact that Suzuki will be the seventh different person to manage the Angels within a nine-year span speaks to the difficult challenge facing Suzuki in his new job. Los Angeles has posted losing records in each of the last 10 seasons, and has been to the playoffs just once in their last 16 seasons. A number of ill-advised signings, lack of farm system help, and a general sense of instability has plagued the franchise, with Moreno’s heavy-handed interference in baseball operations often cited as the reason for the team’s lack of success. Minasian has been the general manager since November 2020 and is under contract through 2026, but he is also the Angels’ fifth GM under Moreno (Bill Stoneman had separate stints as the full-time GM and as an interim GM).
Suzuki naturally has an idea of what he’s getting into, having worked in the Halos’ front office for three years and spending his final two seasons as a player with the team. The Hawaii native’s ties to the Anaheim area date back to his college days as a player with Cal State Fullerton, and his playing career began as a second-round pick for the Athletics in the 2004 draft. Suzuki suited up for five different teams over his 16-year playing career, which was highlighted by an All-Star appearance with the Twins in 2014 and a World Series ring with the Nationals in 2019.
With the Angels’ position now filled, there are still seven other teams on the hunt for new managers in 2026. The Giants, Padres, Orioles, Braves, Twins, Nationals, and Rockies all need new skippers, though Colorado will first be hiring a new top front office executive before turning its attention to a managerial search.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported the Suzuki hiring. Sam Blum of The Athletic reported that it was a one-year deal. Photo courtesy of David Banks – Imagn Images
Franmil Reyes Re-Signs With NPB’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters On One-Year Deal
Former big leaguer Franmil Reyes has re-signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball, according to reports out of Japan (hat tip to Yakyu Cosmopolitan). Reyes’ agent has posted on X that it’s a one-year contract, so he will be a free agent after the 2026 season.
It is easy to see why the Fighters wanted to lock Reyes up, as he has provided some big pop over his two NPB seasons. Reyes has hit .282/.347/.535 with 57 home runs over 899 plate appearances with the Kitahiroshima-based club, helping carry the Fighters to second-place finishes in the Pacific League in each of the last two seasons. The Fighters’ 240 home runs over the last two seasons is the most of any NPB team, with Reyes’ power bat leading the way.
This slugging ability was evident over most of Reyes’ six Major League seasons, as he posted 108 big flies and a .264/.310/.464 slash line over 2078 PA with the Padres, Guardians, Cubs, and Royals from 2018-23. Unfortunately for Reyes, his production suddenly cratered in 2022, leading Cleveland to option him to Triple-A and then designate him for assignment that summer. Subsequent stints with the Cubs, Royals, and (on a minor league contract) Nationals didn’t see Reyes regain his stroke, so he opted to head overseas following the 2023 season.
MLBTR’s post initially indicated that Reyes signed a multi-year contract. We apologize for the error.
Padres Interview Brian Esposito For Managerial Job
The Padres’ managerial search has reached the interview stage, as The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports that the club spoke with bench coach Brian Esposito on Monday. The 46-year-old Esposito is the first candidate known to have an interview in the books with the Padres, though the team may have already sat down with other internal candidates like pitching coach Ruben Niebla or special assistant Mark Loretta. As far as external candidates, Albert Pujols is set to interview with San Diego on Wednesday, as the future Hall-of-Famer continues to explore his first foray into managing at the MLB level.
Esposito is technically a former teammate of Pujols, as one of Esposito’s three career Major League games as a player came with the 2007 Cardinals. That cup of coffee in St. Louis and two games with the 2010 Astros comprised the big league portion of Esposito’s 13-year playing career (2000-12) that was otherwise spent in the minors with seven different organizations.
After hanging up his glove, Esposito went on to manage at multiple levels of the Pirates’ farm system, including a five-year run as the skipper with Triple-A Indianapolis. Beginning with the 2022 season, Esposito joined the Padres first as a minor league manager, then as a catching coach and game strategy assistant on the big league staff in 2023-24. The Padres didn’t have a formal bench coach in 2024 (Mike Shildt’s first season as manager), but Esposito was promoted to the job prior to last season.
Unless he gets the manager’s job himself, Esposito’s status could be up in the air heading into 2026, along with the rest of the San Diego coaching staff. Naturally a new skipper will get some say in assembling his own staff, and for the bench coach role in particular, a manager usually prefers to assign that role to a long-time colleague. Esposito’s chances of remaining as bench coach could be improved if a familiar face like Niebla or Loretta gets the job, though since both would be first-time MLB managers, they could prefer to have a more seasoned voice or a former ex-skipper as their top lieutenant.
Hiring Esposito would be a way for San Diego to maintain some continuity in the dugout. The Padres are coming off consecutive trips to the playoffs and didn’t think they’d be making a managerial search at all, prior to Shildt’s surprising resignation. Bringing in an entirely new face like Pujols might be more of a shake-up than the Padres would necessarily want to make, which could be why the early stages of the team’s search has largely been centered around familiar names. Beyond Esposito, Niebla, and Loretta, former Padres bench coach Ryan Flaherty and ex-Padres catcher Nick Hundley have been linked to the job (though Hundley recently turned down the Giants’ managerial job due to family concerns).
Another known Padres figure has expressed interest, as longtime broadcaster and former big league catcher Carlos Hernandez tells Lin that he would like to be considered for the manager’s position or possibly a coaching role. Hernandez’s 10-year MLB playing career includes parts of three seasons in San Diego (1997-2000), and his post-playing endeavors included managing in the Mexican League and Venezuelan Winter League, as well as stints as a catching coordinator with the Padres and Diamondbacks. For the last 14 years, Hernandez has been calling Padres’ TV and radio broadcasts as a Spanish-language announcer.
Braves Sign Austin Nola To Minors Contract
The Braves have signed catcher Austin Nola to a minor league deal, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. The contract contains an invitation to Atlanta’s big league spring camp.
Nola appeared in 345 MLB games with the Padres and Mariners from 2019-2023, posting some very solid numbers at the plate before his production tailed off badly by the 2023 campaign. Nola spent the 2024 season with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate without getting any more playing time in the Show, and he moved on to sign a minor league deal with the Rockies last winter.
The early part of Nola’s 2025 campaign was spent battling injuries, but he played well enough at Triple-A to earn a selection to Colorado’s active roster. Nola didn’t fare nearly as well, hitting .184/.225/.211 over 41 plate appearances and 14 games with the Rox before being designated for assignment and then outrighted off the 40-man roster in August. He elected free agency rather than accept that outright assignment, so Nola has had a bit of extra time to line up his next stop.
Atlanta is set at the MLB level with Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy as their catchers, but Chuckie Robinson is the only other backstop in the system with any big league experience. Nola can provide some depth for the Braves in camp, and could even chip in as a reserve first baseman. Now entering his age-36 season, time may be running out for Nola to re-establish himself as even a backup in the majors, but a good showing in Spring Training could win him a Triple-A job with the Braves or perhaps a look elsewhere with a team with a less stable catching situation.
Orioles Interested In Scott Servais For Managerial Vacancy
Scott Servais is the latest name to surface in the Orioles’ search for a new manager. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports that the O’s have interest in the former Mariners skipper, but it isn’t known if Servais has been formally interviewed by the team.
Reports also emerged yesterday that the Twins were considering Servais for their own managerial opening. Minnesota and Baltimore are two of a whopping eight teams that don’t have managers in place for 2026, so it is certainly possible that Servais might also be a candidate with one of those other six clubs (though that number could narrow if the Giants finalize things with front-runner Tony Vitello.)
Interim Orioles manager Tony Mansolino, former Mets manager Luis Rojas, and future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols are the names publicly known to be on Baltimore’s list of candidates. Cubs bench coach and former Orioles player Ryan Flaherty has also been mentioned in a more speculative fashion. With Servais now included, it makes for an interesting mix of three candidates with past experience running a big league dugout, an experienced coach in Flaherty who has had “future manager” buzz surrounding him for a while, plus an all-time superstar player in Pujols who has never managed or coached in the majors or minors.
Servais is far and away the most seasoned candidate of the group, as he managed the Mariners for parts of nine seasons from 2016-2024. Seattle posted winning records in five of Servais’ eight full seasons, and he has a winning record (680-642) as a big league skipper. Only the 2022 Mariners squad reached the playoffs under Servais’ leadership, however, and the M’s fired Servais in August 2024 when the team was sitting at an even 64-64 record. The Mariners have since gone 111-85 under new manager Dan Wilson, including an AL West title this season and a playoff run that lasted until Game 7 of the ALCS.
Foster Griffin Looking To Return To MLB In Free Agency
Left-hander Foster Griffin‘s Major League resume consists of seven games and eight innings of 6.75 ERA ball with the Royals and Blue Jays during the 2020 and 2022 seasons. Looking for a change of scenery, Griffin signed with the Yomiuri Giants prior to the 2023 season, and the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports that the 30-year-old southpaw is now looking to return to North American baseball after three successful years in Japan.
While Griffin hadn’t shown much in his few cups of coffee in the majors, he posted a 2.10 ERA, 27.1% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate over 51 1/3 relief innings with the Royals’ and Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliates in 2022. Griffin had started almost all of his pro games prior to the 2022 campaign, but the move to full-time bullpen work seemed to unlock something for Griffin after some inconsistent results as a starter.
Injuries also played a role in Griffin’s career. Griffin’s tore his UCL in his very first big league game in 2020, resulting in a Tommy John procedure and a long stint on the shelf. His good numbers in 2022 seemed to indicate that he’d covered well from his surgery, but his decision to head overseas may have been inspired by a desire to get another crack at starting.
The decision to bet on himself looks to have paid off. Griffin had a 2.57 ERA, 25.07% strikeout rate, and 5.52% walk rate across 315 2/3 innings and 54 games with the Giants. His debut year in 2023 was so impressive that the Giants inked him to a two-year extension, which is notable since foreign-born players in NPB are usually given just one-year deals. Griffin’s work helped the Giants reach the postseason in each of the last two NPB seasons.
FanSided’s Robert Murray mentioned back in July that MLB teams had taken notice of Griffin’s numbers in Japan, so with his contract with the Giants now completed, it isn’t surprising that Griffin is aiming to get back to the bigs. Merrill Kelly or Erick Fedde are among the recent example of pitchers who reinvented themselves in foreign leagues and returned to land multi-year free agent commitments, and the same could be true for Griffin despite his thin track record in the Show. Teams are forever looking to add starting pitching, and Griffin is an interesting lower-cost option for any club in need of rotation help.
NL Notes: D’Backs, Goldschmidt, Giants, Scherzer, McEwing
Tyler Locklear will begin the season on the injured list while rehabbing from elbow and shoulder surgeries, leaving the Diamondbacks thin on the first base depth chart. The left-handed hitting Pavin Smith will get at least a share of the regular at-bats, but given Smith’s struggles against southpaws, a right-handed bat would be a useful platoon partner or a candidate for DH time. With this in mind, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7FM radio believes the D’Backs will “kick the tires on a reunion with Paul Goldschmidt” this winter.
Goldschmidt spent the first eight seasons of his outstanding career with the Snakes, making six All-Star appearances while hitting .297/.398/.532 with 209 homers over 4708 plate appearances. Traded to the Cardinals prior to the 2019 season, Goldschmidt kept up much of that form over his six-year run in St. Louis, but he has just about been a league-average bat (102 wRC+) over his last two seasons and 1188 PA with the Cardinals and Yankees. Playing with New York last year, Goldschmidt had a hot start but faded down the stretch, leading the Yankees to give Ben Rice an increasingly large share of the first base playing time.
Now entering his age-38 season, Goldschmidt may no longer be an ideal everyday option, but he had a .336/.411/.570 slash line in 168 PA against lefties in 2025. These splits will get him looks from multiple teams in free agency, and returning to his original team in a timeshare with Smith seems like a pretty decent fit for all parties.
More from around the National League…
- Joe McEwing and the Cardinals “mutually agreed to part ways,” according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. McEwing spent the first two years of his playing career in St. Louis in 1998-99, and returned to the organization as manager Oliver Marmol’s bench coach prior to the 2023 season after over a decade on the White Sox coaching staff. The bench coaching job lasted only one year, as McEwing spent the last two seasons as a special assistant to president of baseball operations John Mozeliak. With Chaim Bloom now taking over the PBO role, it could be that Bloom is looking to make some more organizational changes, or McEwing could be moving on to explore other coaching or front office roles.
- The Giants seem to be nearing an unique managerial choice in Tony Vitello, as it would represent the first time that a big league team has hired a college coach who had no prior experience in any aspect of pro baseball. The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly looks at some of the details involved in San Francisco’s pursuit, and suggests that Max Scherzer could be a free agent target if Vitello is indeed hired. Back when Vitello was an assistant coach at the University of Missouri, he recruited Scherzer to pitch at the school, and the two have stayed great friends over the last two decades. The Giants are known to be looking for pitching, and Scherzer could essentially replace Justin Verlander as the rotation’s seen-it-all veteran voice. As Baggarly puts it, “who better than Scherzer to ensure that Vitello gets full buy-in from even the most skeptical veteran player in the room?” The 41-year-old Scherzer posted only a 5.19 ERA over 85 innings in an injury-shortened regular season for the Blue Jays, but he delivered a strong start to get the win for Toronto in Game 4 of the ALCS.
Each Team’s Penalty For Signing A Qualifying Offer-Rejecting Free Agent
Since we just looked at what teams would stand to receive in draft compensation if they lost a free agent who rejected a qualifying offer, now it’s time to explore what each team would have to give up in order to sign a QO-rejecting free agent.
To recap the mechanics: if a free agent has played the entire 2024 season with a team and he has never received a qualifying offer in the past, he is eligible to be issued a QO within five days of the end of the World Series. The qualifying offer is a one-year deal worth the average of the salaries of the top 125 highest-paid players in the majors, and this winter, the QO is worth $22.025MM. An eligible free agent can simply accept the QO and thus avoid free agency entirely, but if he rejects the QO, his former team is now in line to receive some draft-pick compensation if the free agent signs elsewhere. This only relates to qualified free agents from other teams, as a club can re-sign its own qualified free agents with no penalty.
Here is the (mostly set) rundown of what every team will have to give up if they sign qualified free agent.…
Revenue Sharing Recipients: Diamondbacks, Rockies, Reds, Brewers, Pirates, Marlins, Athletics, Mariners, Tigers, Royals, Twins, Guardians, Orioles, Rays
Should one of these clubs sign a qualified free agent, they will have to give up their third-highest selection in the 2026 draft. Since most of these smaller-market teams are part of the Competitive Balance bonus rounds of the draft, their third-highest pick likely won’t mean their third-round pick, and the situation could be further complicated if any of the teams trade from their CBR picks. The Competitive Balance selections are the only draft picks eligible to be traded — for the 2025 draft, five total picks over the two CBR rounds were made by teams who acquired those selections in trades prior to draft day.
These lower-spending teams usually don’t splurge on bigger-name free agents in general, yet last offseason saw the Diamondbacks sign Corbin Burnes, and the Athletics (!) sign Luis Severino. The Tigers also made a push to land Alex Bregman, and Detroit might feel more pressure about sealing the deal on a splashy move this winter since Tarik Skubal is only a year away from free agency. The Orioles or Reds could be candidates to spend a little more than usual, with Cincinnati trying to build on a playoff appearance and Baltimore trying to bounce back from a disappointing 2025. Seattle could also explore qualified free agents, but the M’s are more likely to first focus on trying to re-sign one of their own guys in Josh Naylor, who isn’t eligible for a QO.
Teams Who Don’t Receive Revenue-Sharing Funds, And Who Didn’t Pay The Competitive Balance Tax: Giants, Cardinals, Cubs, Braves, Nationals, Angels, White Sox
For signing a qualified free agent, these teams would have to surrender their second-highest pick of the 2026 draft, and also $500K from their bonus pool during the next international signing period.
The rebuilding Cardinals and White Sox and won’t be spending big in free agency. The same is very likely true of the Nationals, whose own rebuild period is likely to be extended since new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni will need time to evaluate (and overhaul) the organization. Texas is planning to either stand pat on spending or reduce payroll.
Under Alex Anthopoulos, the Braves have generally been more inclined to build their roster through trades or their own farm system rather than long-term free agent deals, but Atlanta could change tactics after a losing season in 2025. The Angels figure to be active in free agency, even if spending bigger on a qualified free agent might not necessarily be on the radar. San Francisco signed qualified free agent Willy Adames last winter, and are again expected to at least check in many of the major free agent names. There doesn’t appear to be much optimism that the Cubs will re-sign Kyle Tucker, but they could respond to a Tucker departure by making some other prominent signings.
Part of the equation for these clubs and the clubs in the next two categories could be what other picks they’re receiving this winter, to balance out their draft capital. For instance, if Tucker rejects a QO and signs elsewhere, the Cubs would get a compensatory pick just before the start of the third round of the draft. While a lower selection than whatever Chicago’s second-highest pick would be, getting another draft pick back and then losing a pick to sign a qualified free agent somewhat makes it a wash for the Cubs.
Teams In Limbo: Astros, Rangers, Red Sox
As noted in the last post, it won’t be known until December (when the luxury tax numbers are officially calculated by the league) whether or not the Astros managed to sneak under the $241MM tax threshold. RosterResource has Houston slightly under the threshold while Cot’s Baseball Contracts has the Astros slightly over the line. Given this discrepancy and the narrow margins involved, we’ll keep the Astros in their own special grouping until the league issues the official Competitive Balance Tax numbers in December.
Since Houston were tax-payors in 2024, the Astros might have reset their CBT status if they were indeed able to stay under the $241MM line. Being a two-time payor means an escalating tax rate, and that tax bill would keep escalating if the Astros again finished over the $244MM threshold in 2026. Caveat: the collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2026 season, so the qualifying offer system or luxury tax system might very well be adjusted or even heavily changed in a new CBA, so a repeater-tax status might no longer be a concern to the Astros or other teams.
Staying under the 2025 tax line also means the Astros could be more willing to explore signing qualified free agents, though their tax-payor status last winter didn’t stop the team from signing Christian Walker.
As noted in the previous post, the Rangers could end up as tax-payors and the Red Sox may have ducked under the tax line, depending on the league’s final calculations. Boston seems the likelier of those two teams to sign a qualified free agent, as the Rangers are expected to reduce payroll this offseason.
Competitive Balance Tax Payors: Padres, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Yankees, Blue Jays
As one would expect, these teams face the stiffest penalties. For signing a QO-rejecting free agent, these clubs would have to give up $1MM in international bonus pool money, as well as two draft picks — their second- and fifth-highest selections in the 2026 draft.
All seven of these clubs are clearly in win-now mode, so the higher penalties shouldn’t be much of an obstacle towards a pursuit of qualified free agents in most cases. (The Padres are the probable exception since they’re operating within a narrower payroll margin.) Since every team would prefer to keep their draft picks if they can help it, the tax payors might target non-qualified free agents who aren’t tied to draft compensation. For instance, while the Dodgers are expected to at least check in Tucker’s market, Los Angeles could consider any number of other free agents before aiming at the outfielder that will cost the most in both contract size and additional draft penalties.
Since re-signing your own QO-rejecting free agent comes with no penalty, this could make some of these clubs more inclined to retain their own impending free agents rather than seek out new talent. The Phillies have been public with their desire to keep Kyle Schwarber, and the Blue Jays will undoubtedly be keeping tabs on Bo Bichette.
Should a club sign more than one qualified free agent, they will have to additionally forfeit their next-highest draft pick. For signing two QO-rejecting free agents, the revenue-sharing group would have to give up their third- and fourth-highest picks in the 2026 draft. The teams who didn’t exceed the CBT or receive revenue-sharing funds would have to give up their second- and third-highest picks, as well as $500K more of their international bonus pool. The luxury tax payors would face the heftier penalty of losing four draft picks — their second, third, fifth, and sixth-highest selections.