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The Opener: Extensions, Brewers, Reds, DFA Resolutions

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After a surprisingly busy Wednesday, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Extension season continues:

Extension season has bled into the regular season this year, and that’s never been more apparent than it was yesterday, when three long-term deals got hammered out: Jackson Merrill and the Padres hammered out a $135MM pact early yesterday morning, while the Red Sox and Kristian Campbell put the finishing touches on a $60MM deal that’s been anticipated since the weekend. The Diamondbacks also got in on the fun with their fourth extension of 2025, agreeing to a $116.5MM contract with franchise face Ketel Marte.

Given their proximity to Opening Day, each of these deals is in some ways more akin to a Spring Training extension, since the sides surely did the majority of the negotiating before the season began. Could other rumored possible extension targets be signed to deals in the coming days? The Phillies were known to have at least some interest in extensions with slugger Kyle Schwarber and catcher J.T. Realmuto, while the Blue Jays are of course hoping to sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to an extension despite the star’s public indications that he expects to test free agency.

2. Series Preview: Reds @ Brewers

The early days of the 2025 season have been tough on two expected potential contenders for the NL Central crown: the Brewers and Reds. Both clubs are 2-4 through their first six games of the season, with the Reds having suffered back-to-back 1-0 losses against the Rangers entering this series while the Brewers found themselves outscored bye an eye-popping 43-13 margin across three games against the Yankees and Royals from Saturday to Monday. Difficult as the start of the season has been for both clubs, however, one of the two clubs will make some progress the rest of the week as the two face off in a four-game set.

The series kicks off at 6:40pm local time in Milwaukee this evening, with southpaw Nestor Cortes (3.77 ERA in 2024) on the mound for the Brewers as he seeks redemption after surrendering five homers to the Yankees in just two innings during his first start of the year. He’ll be facing a fellow southpaw today, as the Reds are expected to go with Nick Lodolo (4.76 ERA in 2024) after a solid start against San Francisco his first time out. Tomorrow’s game will see veteran Nick Martinez (3.10 ERA in 2024) take the mound against an as-of-yet unannounced Brewers starter, while Saturday’s game will see Cincinnati’s Brady Singer (3.71 ERA in 2024) square off against Milwaukee’s Elvin Rodriguez (career 9.49 ERA in 37 MLB innings). On Sunday, the clubs will wrap things up as the Reds send swingman Carson Spiers (5.46 ERA in 2024) to the mound opposite Brewers rookie Chad Patrick, who has a 3.18 ERA in 5 2/3 innings of work so far this year.

3. DFA Resolutions expected:

When players are designated for assignment, clubs have one week to either trade the DFA’d player or attempt to pass them through waivers. That seven-day window is closing today for two players who have been in DFA limbo since the start of the season: catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel, and infielder Eguy Rosario. Hummel, 30, is a career .159/.255/.275 hitter in the majors who has bounced between the Diamondbacks, Mariners, and Astros over the years. He was in contention for a spot on Houston’s bench this spring but ultimately lost out on the job when the club opted to promote top prospect Cam Smith to the majors.

As for Rosario, the 25-year-old has spent his entire pro career in the Padres organization this point. He’s gotten just 100 plate appearances over three seasons with the club, but a .245/.283/.500 slash line with five homers, a triple, and seven doubles during that time suggests the versatile infielder has intriguing pop. If Hummel and Rosario go unclaimed on waivers today, their clubs will have the opportunity to outright them to the minor leagues and keep them in the fold as non-roster depth going forward this year. With that being said, Hummel has a previous outright assignment in his career and can reject a second assignment in favor of free agency should he so choose.

Diamondbacks Sign Ketel Marte To Extension

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The Diamondbacks announced a new seven-year contract with star second baseman Ketel Marte. It’s a reported $116.5MM guarantee that comes with $64MM in new money. Marte, who had already been under contract for three seasons, is now signed through 2031. He can opt out of the deal after the 2030 season, when there’ll be at least $11.5MM remaining. There are also $33MM in escalators and performance bonuses for the QC Sports client. Marte receives a five-team no-trade clause, though that’ll become moot when he gets 10-and-5 rights early in the 2026 season.

The contract takes effect this year and breaks down as follows: $14MM in 2025 ($5MM of which is deferred), $15MM in ’26, $12MM in ’27, $20MM in ’28, and $22MMM per season between 2029-30. Each top-three MVP finish would boost the following year’s salary by $3MM; it’d go up by $2MM if he finishes between fourth and seventh in MVP voting. The deal also includes $2.5MM annually from 2026-31 in plate appearance incentives.

The news surely comes as a delight to fans in Arizona. The face of the Diamondbacks franchise first flashed superstar potential back in 2019, when he was an All-Star and finished fourth in NL MVP voting after slashing .329/.389/.592 (150 wRC+) in 144 games. In the years since then, he’s generally been an above-average player but not necessarily a superstar, slashing .275/.347/.462 with a wRC+ of 118 from 2020 to 2023. That narrative changed in 2024, however, as Marte rediscovered his MVP-caliber form during his age-30 season with a phenomenal .292/.372/.560 (151 wRC+) slash line that earned Marte his first career Silver Slugger award, a second All-Star appearance, and a third place finish in MVP voting behind Shohei Ohtani and Francisco Lindor.

That’s the sort of elite production that makes for a phenomenal building block, so it’s not exactly a surprise that Arizona brass were interested in extending Marte’s stay with the club and making him a Diamondback for life. The club has often been aggressive about extending its top players under Mike Hazen, with this latest deal for Marte standing as the tenth extension agreed upon since he took over baseball operations in fall of 2016. It’s also the fourth of 2025, joining agreements the club reached with shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, reliever Justin Martinez, and right-hander Brandon Pfaadt.

More notably, it’s also the third extension of Marte’s career. His first came back in 2018 when he was a pre-arbitration player. The switch-hitter was guaranteed $24MM by that first deal, which ran through the end of his expected team control window but also afforded the Diamondbacks two option years on what otherwise would’ve been Marte’s first two years of free agency. Marte’s second deal came about just before the 2022 season began, ahead of his final year before those options would’ve kicked in. That deal overwrote those two option years and guaranteed Marte $76MM for the 2023-27 seasons, and also included a club option for 2028.

The second deal ended up covering just two seasons, as it has now already been overwritten to extend Marte’s stay in Arizona through at least 2030, with a player option that could push the deal into 2031. Given the fact that Marte was already under team control through the end of his age-34 season, it’s at least somewhat surprising that the Diamondbacks would decide to commit to their second baseman’s mid-30s this far ahead of time. After all, the club very easily could’ve waited to see how Marte would perform over the next two or three seasons before opening discussions with Marte prior to the 2028 season, when they would likely exercise their club option over his services.

With that being said, the deal not only extends Arizona’s years of control over their star, but also restructures his existing contract. Marte was slated to earn $50.8MM over the next three seasons on his existing contract. That number drops to just $41MM with his new deal, saving the club nearly $10MM over the next three seasons and $5MM in 2025 alone. That also does not factor in the $46MM in deferred money in the deal, which cuts down the amount of money owed to Marte in the short-term even further.

That the Diamondbacks would seek a restructured deal with Marte in order to save a bit of money in the short-term is understandable considering that the team is deep into uncharted financial waters. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the club opened the 2025 season with a payroll of nearly $187MM. That’s an increase of $24MM over 2024, which was already the highest payroll in franchise history by more than $30MM. The club’s aggressiveness this winter in adding Corbin Burnes and swinging a trade for Josh Naylor was certainly admirable, but it’s long appeared likely that the Diamondbacks were likely stretching the limits of owner Ken Kendrick’s comfort zone.

If Arizona is facing the upper limits of its baseball operations budget, that could also explain the club’s reported insistence on suitors for struggling southpaw Jordan Montgomery eating at least $13MM of his $25MM salary for 2025 in trade talks as well as the club falling short in its pursuit of a top-flight closer this winter. Perhaps this restructured deal with Marte will offer them a bit more breathing room to work with at the trade deadline during an important 2025 season. After the current campaign, Montgomery and Naylor are slated to be joined by Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, and Eugenio Suarez in departing for free agency. That’s a lot of significant players who will need to be re-signed or replaced to avoid a step back in 2026, and it’s possible today’s restructuring of Marte’s deal could help the club fill those upcoming holes as well.

Mike Rodriguez first reported last night that the D-Backs and Marte were working on a new nine-figure contract. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic was first on the $116.5MM guarantee, the $46MM in deferrals, the 2031 player option, and the salary structure. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers had the $11.5MM option value and the $149.5MM maximum after escalators. Piecoro had the escalator specifics.

Image courtesy of Imagn Images.

Poll: Who Will Win The AL Central?

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Opening Day has finally arrived, and teams all around the league are gearing up for another pennant chase in hopes of being crowned this year’s World Series champion. Of course, there’s still another seven months to go before someone raises the Commissioner’s Trophy. Until the playoffs begin, teams will be focused on a smaller goal: winning their division. We’ll be conducting a series of polls to gauge who MLBTR readers believe is the favorite in each division. That series has already covered the National League, with the Dodgers, Cubs, and Phillies each coming out on top in their respective divisions. In the American League, meanwhile, the Rangers were voted as the most likely AL West winner. Next up is a look at the AL Central. Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.

Cleveland Guardians (92-69)

The Guardians surprised the baseball world by not only storming back to the top of the AL Central in Stephen Vogt’s first year replacing Terry Francona as manager in Cleveland, but by pushing past the Astros to secure a playoff bye alongside the Yankees. Though the club ultimately fell to New York in the ALCS, their strong showing inspired plenty of optimism about the club’s future. The offseason saw some major changes come to the organization as Andres Gimenez departed the club in a series of moves that ultimately brought back righty Luis Ortiz. The addition of Ortiz should help bolster a rotation that was the club’s clear weakness last year, as should getting more out of Shane Bieber after he returned to the club in free agency over the offseason.

Aside from that stronger rotation mix and the aforementioned loss of Gimenez, the 2025 Guardians don’t look much different than the 2024 club. Josh Naylor departed via trade but was swiftly replaced with Carlos Santana in his third stint with the club, and the club swapped Tyler Freeman for Nolan Jones just before Opening Day. Meanwhile, Jakob Junis and Paul Sewald add depth to a bullpen that was already baseball’s best last season. A stronger rotation mix should help the Guardians stay at the top of the AL Central this year, though they’ll need strong performances from players like Jones, Brayan Rocchio, and Kyle Manzardo in order to match last year’s output in the lineup without Naylor’s bat and Gimenez’s glove in the fold.

Kansas City Royals (86-76)

After making it back to the playoffs for the first time since their World Series championship in 2015, the Royals stayed busy in the offseason. They retained their strong front three of Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, and Michael Wacha in the rotation while trading fourth starter Brady Singer to the Reds to land Jonathan India, who has split time between left field and third base for the club so far this year. Meanwhile, the Royals made a splash at the back of their bullpen by signing closer Carlos Estevez to handle the ninth inning, bolstering a relief group that was a big source of frustration last year. Overall, the pitching staff seems to be in an even better place than 2024 with Singer set to be replaced in the rotation by some combination of Kris Bubic, who excelled in a short stint with the bullpen last year, the eventual return of Kyle Wright from the injured list.

Less certain is how the club will stack up on offense. India was the club’s only major addition to the lineup, though swinging a trade for Mark Canha just before Opening Day should raise the floor offensively and bringing in Cavan Biggio could also improve the club’s depth. India and Canha should help to balance out a lineup that was far too reliant on Bobby Witt Jr. last year. Even so, the club will either need Witt to repeat his otherworldly production or significant steps forward from players like MJ Melendez and Maikel Franco if they’re going to be even an average offense in 2025, given that last year’s club managed a wRC+ of just 96. Will the club’s modest improvements be enough to take control of the Central?

Detroit Tigers (86-76)

As is a theme throughout the AL Central, the Tigers were relatively quiet this winter. The lineup is largely unchanged from last year, with second baseman Gleyber Torres and outfielder Manuel Margot standing as the club’s only additions of significance. The duo’s right-handed bats should help to balance out a Tigers lineup that leans heavily to the left, but the more significant additions to the Tigers this year are in the rotation. The return of Jack Flaherty after the club traded him to the Dodgers over the summer should give the club an impressive prospective playoff rotation, with Flaherty joining reigning AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal, 2024 breakout righty Reese Olson, and perhaps top prospect Jackson Jobe to make what could rival the Royals for the division’s best rotation. Alex Cobb, meanwhile, should add some veteran depth to the rotation and has been extremely effective when healthy in recent years.

Impressive as the rotation mix might be, the Tigers’ lackluster offensive additions mean a lot will need to go right for the club in the lineup if they’re going to make it back to October. Strong, healthy seasons from Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter will be a must, and steps forward from youngsters like Colt Keith and the ever-streaky Spencer Torkelson would go a long way to getting the club back to the postseason. As for the club’s bullpen, little changed outside of the addition of right-hander Tommy Kahnle, so the club will once again need strong performances from pieces like Tyler Holton and Will Vest in 2025. Will all of that be enough to overcome the Royals and Guardians in 2025?

Minnesota Twins (82-80)

After a disappointing season where the club appeared poised to make the postseason before collapsing in dramatic fashion down the stretch, the Twins are more or less running back the same club they put forward in 2024. Carlos Santana, Max Kepler, and Caleb Thielbar all departed the club with reasonable facsimiles of their expected production entering the door in their place when the club signed Ty France, Harrison Bader, and Danny Coulombe. Aside from that trio of modest additions to replace outgoing free agents, the Twins did very little to augment the club this winter. That’s not to say another weak season should be expected, however. On paper, the Twins have long been the most talented club in the AL Central and that figures to once again be the case in 2025.

Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, and Byron Buxton all have star potential when healthy, though Lewis has already opened the season on the injured list. Brooks Lee (also on the IL) and Matt Wallner provide plenty of upside to the club’s lineup, and steady contributors like Willi Castro, Ryan Jeffers, and Jose Miranda should help make for a strong offensive nucleus. The rotation, meanwhile, has a solid front three in the form of Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, and Bailey Ober to go along with a handful of interesting back-end options like Simeon Woods Richardson and David Festa. Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax make for a frightening combo at the back of the bullpen, leaving the club without any clear holes. With that being said, health and consistency have always been difficult to come by in Minnesota despite a deep and talented group of players. Will they be able to put it all together in 2025?

Chicago White Sox (41-121)

After the worst season in MLB history, the White Sox did little to inspire optimism about the 2025 season. Arguably, the club is weaker on paper than it was last year after losing Erick Fedde at the trade deadline and Garrett Crochet over the offseason. Kyle Teel and Colson Montgomery should arrive sometime this year to pick up the slack, and a fully healthy and productive season from Luis Robert Jr. would go a long way to getting the White Sox away from that 120-loss threshold. Even with those potential upsides, however, it would be perhaps the most shocking turnaround in baseball history if this club managed to bring a division title back to the south side of Chicago in 2025.

__________________________________________

The offseason didn’t see any status-quo-altering changes in the AL Central. While the three postseason clubs from last year all made at least some modest additions, the story of the division is not all that dissimilar from 2025. After a 92-win season in 2025, the Guardians’ pitching additions seem likely to be enough to make them a potential favorite as long as Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan continue to play up to lofty expectations, though the additions Detroit and Kansas City made can’t be ignored. The Twins lurk in the background, meanwhile, even after a quiet offseason thanks to their strong in-house group of talent. With four of the division’s five clubs likely to be in the mix for the AL Central crown once again, who do you think is most likely to come out on top? Have your say in the poll below:

Offseason In Review: Detroit Tigers

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After Detroit surprised the baseball world by sneaking into the playoffs off the back of a late-season surge and wound up making it within a game of the ALCS, the club entered the offseason looking to assert itself as a contender but fell short in many of its most significant pursuits.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $67.8MM
Total spending: $77.8MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Waiver Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

Fans in Detroit and many around the game believed that 2024's surprise success would spur the Tigers to act more aggressively this winter than they had during president of baseball operations Scott Harris's previous seasons at the helm. Those expectations made plenty of sense on paper. After all, Detroit had just made the postseason for the first time since 2014 amid a season where they enjoyed a breakout from superstar southpaw Tarik Skubal. He asserted himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball, winning both the Cy Young award and the Triple Crown in the American League, but now has just two seasons remaining before he's scheduled to reach free agency.

When the final years of team control over a breakout superstar were combined with an excellent season from Riley Greene, positive signs from other foundational youngsters like Colt Keith and Reese Olson, and a barren payroll that featured less than $40MM in guaranteed salary commitments for 2025, it seemed clear that this offseason was as good of an opportunity as the Tigers could expect to push their chips in and build a World Series contender. That's not how the 2024-25 offseason panned out for the club, however. While the Tigers were involved on at least some level with a number of potentially impactful players on the market, the vast majority of those efforts to acquire impact talent did not pan out.

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The Opener: Braves, Dodgers, Padres, Tucker

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On the heels of a huge extension in San Diego, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Dodgers, Braves streaking:

The reigning World Series champions are off to a phenomenal start, having won their first seven games in a row. After sweeping the Cubs out of Tokyo last month, the Dodgers then swept the Tigers out of Dodger Stadium and since then have taken two of three from the Braves. As noted by Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, the 7-0 start to the season matches the 1933 Yankees for the strongest start to a season of any reigning World Series champion in history, and is also the Dodgers’ best start to the regular season since they relocated to Los Angeles in 1958.

On the other side of things, Atlanta can’t buy a win. They’re the only club that’s yet to win a game this season, and their nine runs scored across six games is tied for the fewest in the majors. The Dodgers will attempt to keep the good times rolling at 5:38pm local time tonight with lefty Blake Snell (3.12 ERA in 2024) on the mound, while Atlanta will counter with righty Bryce Elder (6.52 ERA in 2024) as they try to stop the bleeding.

2. Padres also streaking:

Phenomenal as the Dodgers’ start to the 2025 campaign has been, they’ve not been able to put away their division rivals. The Padres have gotten off to almost as strong of a start, winning all six of their games to this point in the season. They were the beneficiaries of Atlanta’s struggles for the first four games of the year, and since then have taken the first two games of their series against the Guardians to run up a 6-0 record on the season. They’ll be going for their second consecutive sweep today at 1:10pm local time in San Diego with right-hander Dylan Cease (3.47 ERA in 2024) on the mound. Cleveland, meanwhile, will counter with righty Ben Lively (3.81 ERA in 2024). Fortunately for the Guardians, they’re not in as dire straits as the Braves are after taking two of three in their opening series against the Royals.

3. Tucker looks to continue homer streak:

There’s a fourth noteworthy streak going on in the National League at the moment, although this one isn’t about the club’s records. After scuffling during the Tokyo Series, newly-acquired Cubs star Kyle Tucker has looked more like himself at the plate since the club returned stateside. Overall, he’s hitting an incredible .353/.450/.853 in 40 trips to the plate across eight games. He leads all of baseball with 12 hits, five doubles, 11 RBI, and 29 total bases, but the streak in question has to do with the long ball.

Tucker’s homered in four consecutive games after hitting a long ball off newly-minted A’s starter Luis Severino last night, and he’ll go for a fifth straight homer against A’s lefty Jeffrey Springs at 12:35pm local time in West Sacramento this afternoon. He’d become just the fifth Cubs player in history to have five games in a row with a homer, joining Sammy Sosa in 1998, Ryne Sandberg in 1989, and Hack Wilson in 1928… as well as teammate Michael Busch, who accomplished the feat just last year.

The Opener: Braves, Red Sox, Debuts

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On the heels of some early morning news, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Outfield uncertainty in Atlanta:

Yesterday, the Braves received some tough news when their biggest offseason addition, outfielder Jurickson Profar, was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for PEDs. The 32-year-old will miss the remainder of the first half and be ineligible for the postseason this year due to the suspension. The news leaves the Braves scrambling to fill out an outfield that looked solid entering the year. Ronald Acuna Jr. is still about a month away from returning to action after last year’s torn ACL, which has left Jarred Kelenic to handle right field on an everyday basis. With Kelenic in right, Bryan De La Cuz and recent waiver claim Stuart Fairchild appear most likely to be tasked with handling left field for the time being, though the club did sign outfielder Alex Verdugo late last month and could lean on him once he gets up to speed after missing most of Spring Training.

2. Extension season in Boston:

The other big news yesterday was a report that the Red Sox and left-hander Garrett Crochet have reached an agreement on a six-year extension that guarantees the southpaw $170MM. The news came as something of a shock after the sides reportedly tabled extension talks when the start of the season came and went without an agreement, but Crochet will now put pen to paper on an agreement a week after the regular season begins. The Red Sox have not yet officially announced Crochet’s extension, though that can be expected to happen in relatively short order. With Crochet locked up long-term, the question remains if any other key pieces of the club’s future will land long-term deals of their own. In particular, eyes will be on second baseman Kristian Campbell after reports over the weekend indicated that Campbell’s camp and the Red Sox are deep into discussions regarding an extension for the well-regarded prospect.

3. Harrington, Smith to debut today:

The morning began with some news on the prospect front, as the Pirates are poised to select the contract of right-hander Thomas Harrington ahead of his big league debut against the Rays later today. The 23-year-old is set to take on righty Shane Baz in Tampa at 7:05pm local time this evening, but he’s not the only player scheduled to make his big league debut today. On the south side of Chicago, right-hander Shane Smith is poised to debut against the Twins at 6:40pm local time this evening. The club’s pick in December’s Rule 5 draft is just a few days shy of his 25th birthday and will celebrate by making his first big league start opposite Minnesota right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson, a former consensus top-100 prospect who pitched to a 4.17 ERA and 4.12 FIP in 28 starts for the Twins last year.

Pirates To Select Thomas Harrington

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The Pirates are poised to promote right-hander Thomas Harrington to the majors for today’s start against the Rays in Tampa, according to a report from Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Harrington is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the club will need to make a corresponding move to open up a spot for Harrington before he can officially be selected.

Harrington, 23, was a first-round pick by the Pirates in the 2022 draft. He was the 36th selection in the draft, the Pirates’ second pick after infielder Termarr Johnson went number four overall. After he posted an impressive 2.53 ERA and 30% strikeout rate in 15 starts for Campbell during his draft year, the Pirates held off on putting Harrington in pro games until 2023. He more or less picked up right where he left off despite the layoff with a 2.77 ERA and 26.7% strikeout rate in eight starts at the Single-A level. That got him a quick promotion to High-A, where he faced a bit more adversity but still managed a solid 3.87 ERA in 127 1/3 innings across 18 starts while punching out 28.2% of his opponents.

The right-hander built on that solid first season as a pro with a dominant one in 2024. Though a rotator cuff injury cost him some of his 2024 campaign, Harrington made the most of his opportunities when he was healthy enough to take the mound, with an incredible 2.24 ERA and a 27.4% strikeout rate in 68 1/3 innings of work at the Double-A level. That earned him a promotion to Triple-A, where his strikeout rate dropped to just 21.2% but he nonetheless managed to post a solid 3.33 ERA across eight starts. Harrington’s breakout performance last season and success at the highest level of the minors put him on the radar for a big league debut this year, and he’s now set to get that opportunity later today.

The righty’s strong performance in 2024 was also enough to make him a consensus top-100 prospect, rated as the #74 prospect in the sport by Baseball America and #79 by MLB Pipeline at the outset of the 2025 season. He’s since moved up a spot on both lists following the graduation of Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews yesterday. Harrington features a deep pitch mix headlined by a fastball that tops out at 95mph and an above-average slider, though he also features a cutter and curveball, both of which grade out as roughly average. The main selling point of Harrington’s overall package is pinpoint control, however; he walked just eight batters in 46 innings at Triple-A last year and has a tidy 6.1% walk rate across all levels of the minors.

When Jared Jones went on the injured list to open the season, Harrington was in the mix for the fifth starter job with the Pirates but ultimately lost out to right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski, a former first-round pick in his own right with a 2.91 ERA in 86 1/3 career innings at the big league level entering the 2025 season. With that being said, it still did not take long for Harrington’s call to the big leagues to occur. It’s unclear whether today’s appearance will strictly be a spot start for the youngster or a more significant opportunity, though it should be noted that Mlodzinski surrendered four runs on seven hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings of work during his first start of the season last night.

That’s the sort of performance that could, at least in theory, open the door for Harrington to claim a rotation spot with a dominant outing. As a consensus top-100 prospect called up in the early days of the season, Harrington would be eligible to earn the Pirates a prospect promotion incentive draft pick if he sticks on the active roster for the rest of the 2025 campaign. Harrington would need to win the NL Rookie of the Year award or finish in the top three of NL Cy Young award (or MVP) voting during his pre-arbitration years in order to bring back a PPI pick for Pittsburgh.

Rotation depth is perhaps the biggest strength of the Pirates’ roster. An on-paper starting five of Paul Skenes, Jones, Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney, and Bailey Falter is already one of the most solid rotations in the National League, and the presence of youngsters like Harrington, Mlodzinski, Braxton Ashcraft, and star pitching prospect Bubba Chandler serve to lengthen out the club’s depth chart significantly. That rotation depth is robust enough that the Pirates felt comfortable trading a controllable young arm in Luis Ortiz even after a season where he posted a 3.32 ERA in 137 2/3 innings of work. That trade netted the Pirates a comparably controllable young hitter in Spencer Horwitz, who opened the season on the injured list due to wrist surgery but figures to settle in as the club’s everyday first baseman once healthy.

Offseason In Review: Boston Red Sox

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After finishing 2024 with an 81-81 record, the Red Sox rose from their lengthy slumber to once again assert themselves as a force in the offseason market with substantial upgrades all around the roster. Will it be enough to get back to the postseason?

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $79.55MM
Total spending: $172.3MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Waiver Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

After four straight seasons without a playoff berth, the Red Sox entered the winter with plenty of positive signs. Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, and Richard Fitts looked like an enviable nucleus of young rotation talent under team control, while Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu enjoyed breakout seasons in the outfield. With the best young talent, including baseball's #1 prospect Roman Anthony, and three other top-50 talents in Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell, and Kyle Teel knocking on the door, it seemed clear that the time was now for the club to push its chips in and force open a new competitive window.

While there was some skepticism about the club's intentions at the outset of the offseason, particularly after last winter's "full-throttle" comments led to a quiet offseason that brought little new talent into the fold, the club quickly showed itself to be a legitimate threat to spend when it emerged as a surprise finalist for the services of Juan Soto alongside expected contenders like the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, and Blue Jays. The Red Sox ultimately fell short of that pursuit, finishing alongside Toronto ahead of L.A. but behind the two New York teams. Even as Soto landed in Queens, however, Boston's apparent willingness to give out a contract in the range of $700MM made clear they were serious about improving this winter.

In the aftermath of Soto signing elsewhere, the Red Sox had two main priorities to address: adding a big right-handed bat to the lineup, and bringing in an ace (preferably one that throws left-handed) to lead their young but talented pitching staff. Initial attempts to bring in players like Max Fried (who eventually signed in the Bronx) and Teoscar Hernandez (who eventually returned to the Dodgers) fell apart, but the Red Sox didn't let the league's biggest spenders nabbing their top targets stop them from addressing their needs in a big way. During the Winter Meetings, the Red Sox echoed the Chris Sale trade by swinging a blockbuster with the White Sox that saw them surrender a bevy of talented prospects in exchange for an extremely talented southpaw.

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Poll: Who Will Win The AL West?

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Opening Day has finally arrived, and teams all around the league are gearing up for another pennant chase in hopes of being crowned this year’s World Series champion. Of course, there’s still another seven months to go before someone raises the Commissioner’s Trophy. Until the playoffs begin, teams will be focused on a smaller goal: winning their division. We’ll be conducting a series of polls to gauge who MLBTR readers believe is the favorite in each division. That series has already covered the National League, with the Dodgers, Cubs, and Phillies each coming out on top in their respective divisions. Now, the series moved on to the American League with a look at the AL West. Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.

Houston Astros (88-73)

The only club to make the playoffs from the AL West last year, the Astros enter the 2025 season on the heels of a postseason that snapped their nearly decade-long run of trips to the ALCS. After a winter where the team parted ways with longtime franchise stalwarts such as Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Justin Verlander, and Ryan Pressly, the team is looking very different than it has in previous years. There’s some clear signs of weakness, most notably the fact that the club’s outfield depth is thin enough that their starters in the outfield corners are two infielders: longtime second baseman Jose Altuve has moved to left, while top third base prospect Cam Smith is patrolling right field with just five games of experience outside of A-ball.

Flawed as the club’s roster may be, there’s still plenty to like about the Astros in 2025. Christian Walker is an upgrade at first base and Isaac Paredes is an All-Star caliber hitter who should benefit greatly from the Crawford Boxes as he steps into the third base job vacated by Bregman. Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown have a chance to form a strong front-of-the-rotation duo, while few teams boast a pair of arms better than Josh Hader and Bryan Abreu at the back of their bullpen. Whether that will be enough to maintain a stranglehold over the AL West in 2025 even after this winter’s departures remains to be seen, however.

Seattle Mariners (85-77)

2025 ended in soul-crushing fashion for Mariners fans as they missed the playoffs by just one game for the second consecutive season. The club’s offseason was similarly disappointing as well; despite rumors of trades that would’ve sent players like Triston Casas, Nico Hoerner, and Alec Bohm to the Pacific Northwest making their way through the rumor mill this winter, the club was content to simply re-sign Jorge Polanco and bring in veteran infielder Donovan Solano to augment a lineup that was in the bottom ten for runs scored last year.

Fortunately, there’s still some reason for optimism headed into 2025. The club’s elite rotation remains in place, and a quintet of Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller, and Luis Castillo should still give them an excellent chance to win on any given day, particularly with a strong bullpen that features fireballers like Andres Munoz and Matt Brash on the back end. A big year from Julio Rodriguez would go a long way to correcting last season’s offensive woes, but even if Rodriguez starts out slowly again in 2025 he’ll have support from a full season of deadline addition Randy Arozarena, who posted strong numbers down the stretch after being acquired from the Rays last summer. Will that be enough to get the club their first division title since 2001?

Texas Rangers (78-84)

When looking at clubs that finished below .500 in 2024, there’s arguably no team with more helium entering the 2025 campaign than the Rangers. The 2023 champs didn’t have the most explosive offseason, but nonetheless enter the season with an overhauled bullpen highlighted by Chris Martin and Robert Garcia as well as a pair of solid additions to the lineup in Joc Pederson and Jake Burger. The upside a healthy season from Jacob deGrom could offer the rotation is impossible to overstate, and the middle infield tandem of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien once again figures to be among the best in the sport.

If there’s a flaw in the club’s present construction, it’s a heavy reliance on youth. The club’s vaunted Vanderbilt duo of Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker are supremely talented and were always expected to be a big part of the team in 2025, but leaning on both youngsters as members of the Opening Day rotation is a tall ask given the pair’s inconsistency and inexperience at the major league level and highlights the lack of reliability in the club’s rotation outside of Nathan Eovaldi. In the lineup, meanwhile, Wyatt Langford appears to be as good as bet as any sophomore player can be to have a big year, but both he and Evan Carter struggled to stay healthy in 2024. Will those youngsters be able to carry the Rangers back to the playoffs?

Athletics (69-93)

West Sacramento’s temporary baseball team showed signs of life for the first time in a while during their final months in Oakland, even ending the season with a solid 32-32 record after the All-Star break. After departing Oakland, the club aggressively attempted to improve this winter. They signed right-hander Luis Severino and traded for southpaw Jeffrey Springs to bolster the rotation while adding Gio Urshela to the lineup and Jose Leclerc to the bullpen. That group of additions join a solid core featuring Lawrence Butler, Brent Rooker, Mason Miller, and Shea Langeliers.

As solid as that collection of talent is, however, the A’s will need a lot more to go right in order to compete this year. Steps forward from homegrown arms like JP Sears and Joey Estes would go a long way, as would former and current top prospects in the lineup like Tyler Soderstrom, Max Muncy, and Jacob Wilson breaking out and playing up to their ceilings. It’s certainly not impossible to imagine most of that happening. And if it did, the team surprising and making it back to the postseason for the first time since they tore down their core from the late 2010s should be on the table.

Los Angeles Angels (63-99)

Anaheim’s first year post-Shohei Ohtani could hardly have gone worse. Franchise face Mike Trout played just 29 games last year, and very few things went right for the club as they narrowly avoided a 100-loss season. That didn’t stop them from making an effort to improve this offseason, however. The club added Jorge Soler to the lineup for a stable source of power, with Yoan Moncada, Travis d’Arnaud, and Tim Anderson filling out the bench. Meanwhile, Yusei Kikuchi, Kyle Hendricks, and Kenley Jansen were added to the pitching staff to deepen the rotation and bring a proper closer into the bullpen.

Kikuchi, Soler, and Jansen are all solid pieces, but the club will need more than those ancillary additions to bounce back from a dreadful 2024 campaign. Trout putting together his first fully healthy season in half a decade would go a long way, and the club’s decision to shift him to right field could help in that goal. Outside of that, the club will need its young position players like Nolan Schanuel, Zach Neto, and Logan O’Hoppe to step up and put together big seasons if it has any hope of catching up to the top dogs in the AL West.

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Just two seasons after the top three AL West clubs finished within a game of each other in 2023, that same trio appear set to jockey for the top spot in the division once again. After years of being the prohibitive favorite on paper, the Astros look more vulnerable than ever. Will their offseason additions be enough to keep them on top, or will the Mariners’ impressive rotation or the Rangers’ infusion of young talent be enough to finally overtake Houston? Or, perhaps, you think the Athletics or Angels will surprise with their respective collections of offseason additions and talented youngsters. Have your say in the poll below:

The Opener: Campbell, Twins, A’s

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As the early days of the 2025 regular season continue, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. Campbell, Red Sox nearing agreement?

Over the weekend, it was reported that the Red Sox and star prospect Kristian Campbell were “deep” into talks regarding a contract extension. If a deal were to be finalized, it would guarantee the 22-year-old a life-changing sum while allowing Boston to keep a potential star beyond his years under team control, which are currently slated to expire following the 2030 campaign. Campbell himself briefly commented on the report following Saturday night’s game, confirming to reporters that his camp has been discussing a contract with Red Sox brass but declining to say whether he considered the sides close to a deal.

2. Twins roster move incoming:

Yesterday, it was reported that right-hander Randy Dobnak is set to be designated for assignment by the Twins as the club looks to freshen up its bullpen prior to today’s game against the White Sox in Chicago. It’s not yet known which player will be joining the club’s roster in Dobnak’s stead. Southpaw Kody Funderburk is the only pure reliever on the 40-man roster in the minors right now, but it’s possible Minnesota will instead opt to carry a non-roster pitcher like Alex Speas or Scott Blewett given the 40-man roster spot Dobnak’s DFA will open. Starters like David Festa and Zebby Matthews could also be called up to offer the Twins some length out of the bullpen.

The decision to DFA Dobnak isn’t exactly a shocking one. The right-hander lacks the requisite service time to reject an outright assignment while still being paid the remaining $4MM on his contract. That salary makes Dobnak unlikely to be plucked off of waivers by a rival club and makes Dobnak himself highly unlikely to reject an outright assignment, meaning that despite a lack of minor league options, the Twins can shuttle him between Triple-A and the majors via DFA without much risk of losing him.

3. A’s hosting first home opener in West Sacramento:

The Athletics and Cubs are set to play the first home game of the former’s season tonight at 7:05pm local time. For the first time in decades, said home opener will not occur in Oakland. Instead, tonight will officially kick off the era of Major League Baseball in West Sacramento as the A’s call Sutter Health Park their home for the next three seasons before they can move into their planned long-term home in Las Vegas.

Some visiting players (including Cubs reliever Ryan Brasier) have voiced discomfort and frustration with the situation, as noted by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who writes that the visiting clubhouse has drawn particular ire for its cramped accommodations that don’t measure up to the typical major league standard. Regardless, big league games will be played at the Triple-A ballpark for at least the next three seasons. That starts tonight, when Cubs right-hander Ben Brown (3.58 ERA in 2024) takes on A’s righty Joey Estes (5.01 ERA in 2024).

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