Twins’ David Festa Likely To Begin Season On Injured List
The hits for the Twins’ rotation keep coming. Right-hander David Festa, who entered camp hopeful of securing a spot on the starting staff, has been diagnosed with a shoulder impingement and will be shut down from throwing for at least two to three weeks, per Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune. He’s received an injection and is likely to open the season on the 15-day injured list.
Since camp opened just two weeks ago, Minnesota has lost Pablo López for the entire season (internal brace surgery) and seen No. 2 starter Joe Ryan slowed by inflammation in his lower back. Ryan has already resumed throwing, but what looked like a quietly crowded Twins’ rotation mix has begun to thin out rather quickly.
Assuming Ryan’s back issue proves minor, the Twins will enter the season with him and right-hander Bailey Ober locked into spots. Righty Simeon Woods Richardson is out of minor league options and pitched well down the stretch in 2025, so he’s likely to grab a third spot. Festa had been competing with homegrown righty Zebby Matthews and 2025 trade acquisitions Taj Bradley (acquired for Griffin Jax) and Mick Abel (acquired for Jhoan Duran) for spots at the back of the group. All four were top-100 prospects in the game prior to their respective debuts.
For now, the competition for those two remaining spots appears to have been whittled down to three (Matthews, Bradley, Abel). There are some longshot options in camp, like southpaw prospects Connor Prielipp and Kendry Rojas, as well as righty Andrew Morris. All three are on the 40-man roster, but no one from that trio has made his big league debut yet. Prielipp and Rojas have barely pitched in Triple-A.
Festa’s injury is the latest health-related setback in the lanky righty’s development. The 2021 13th-rounder has had the look of a late-round steal thanks to terrific strikeout and run-prevention numbers as he climbed through the minors, but he’s now been slowed by two different injuries within the same shoulder over the past year. Festa has started 25 career games in Triple-A, pitching to a 3.46 ERA with a 33.2% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate and a swinging-strike rate north of 16%. He’s had some nice starts in the majors but lacked consistency, working to an overall 5.12 ERA in 117 2/3 frames dating back to his 2024 debut.
With injuries mounting for the Twins’ staff, it’ll be telling to see whether they look outside the organization. New executive chair Tom Pohlad, who took that post from younger brother Joe when the Twins introduced a trio of new minority owners in December, has said since assuming that new position that the Twins “want to be aggressive” and believe they can compete despite last summer’s July sell-off. Pohlad publicly confirmed that his club made a run at Framber Valdez before he signed in Detroit, hoping to capitalize on the opportunity presented by Valdez lingering on the market.
None of the remaining starters in free agency — Lucas Giolito, Zack Littell, Tyler Anderson among them — can match Valdez’s output, but someone like Giolito or Littell would at least give the Twins some credible mid-rotation innings to help offset the loss of López and provide insurance while Ryan and Festa deal with what will hopefully prove to be relatively minor injury issues. The Twins’ payroll currently projects to come in about $30MM shy of last year’s levels and around $50MM shy of its 2023 peak. That, coupled with their purported interest in Valdez, certainly suggests that there’s room in the budget for another established arm.
Turning back to Festa specifically, it’s a frustrating setback for the lanky 6’6″, 185-pound righty, but there’s no immediate indication that it could be a long-term issue. He enters the 2026 season with 1.052 years of big league service and a pair of minor league option years remaining. The Twins control the 25-year-old for at least five more years. If a rotation role doesn’t work out, Festa’s 94.5 mph heater and above-average slider and changeup could all play up in a relief role. Minnesota’s bullpen looks even more uncertain than the rotation and will need several young, unproven contributors to seize key roles in order to avoid being one of the weakest groups in the sport (barring some late veteran signings).
Pablo López Undergoes Internal Brace Procedure
Feb. 26: López wound up “only” requiring an internal brace procedure rather than a full Tommy John surgery/ligament reconstruction, Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune writes. López will still miss the entire 2026 season, but the internal brace route comes with a slightly shorter timeline than a full reconstruction. López now has a better chance of being available for Opening Day 2027.
Feb. 20: Twins right-hander Pablo López will have Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic. Earlier this week, the Twins revealed that he had tearing in his right elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament. He took a few days to explore a second opinion but it seems there was no avoiding the worst-case scenario.
It’ll be the second Tommy John procedure for López. His first was more than a decade ago. He’ll miss the entire 2026 season and hope to be ready early in the 2027 campaign, which will be the final season of his four-year, $73.5MM contract with the Twins. López is being paid $21.75MM both this season and next.
The Twins acquired López and a pair of prospects from the Marlins in the Jan. 2023 trade that sent Luis Arraez to Miami. He’s been a rocksteady performer near the top of Minnesota’s rotation for the past three seasons, pitching to a combined 3.68 ERA with even more impressive rate stats (26.8 K%, 5.8 BB%, 43.1 GB%). Metrics like SIERA (3.48) and FIP (3.44) feel he’s been a hair better than his already solid earned run average would indicate.
In 2025, López raced out of the gates with a 2.82 ERA and his typically strong rate stats through his first 11 starts (60 2/3 innings). A Grade 2 strain of his teres major suffered in early June wound up costing him about three months, however. López returned with three sharp starts in September, allowing four runs in 15 innings, before ending the season on the injured list due to a minor forearm strain.
The Twins said after the season that López could have pitched through the injury had the team been in the playoff hunt but opted to shut him down with their season already lost. He received a clean bill of health not long after and had a generally normal offseason. The UCL tear seemingly popped up during his first bullpen session this spring.
Although Minnesota tore the bullpen down last summer at the deadline and sold off several impending free agents (a total of 11 players), they opted not to completely rebuild this winter. After some early uncertainty about how they’d approach the offseason, the team’s sale of a minority stake to three new shareholders gave the front office the necessary space to make some modest additions. Victor Caratini, Josh Bell and Taylor Rogers all signed as free agents, and the Twins opted not to trade López, rotationmate Joe Ryan, catcher Ryan Jeffers (a free agent next winter) or franchise center fielder Byron Buxton.
New executive chair Tom Pohlad has been vocal about his desire to compete and his belief that the roster has a better chance at doing so than those outside the organization think. The Twins made a late run at Framber Valdez and also jumped into the Freddy Peralta bidding, with both of those late-offseason overtures coming after the ownership situation had gained some clarity. Obviously, neither came to fruition, but it stands to reason based on those two efforts that the Twins could at least consider going outside the organization, where Lucas Giolito and old friend Zack Littell are among the notable veterans who’ve yet to sign a contract.
With López formally out for the year, it’ll almost certainly fall to fellow right-hander Joe Ryan to take the mound on Opening Day. Right-hander Bailey Ober will look to bounce back from a season that was torched by an awful June (after which he went on the injured list due to a hip injury). Simeon Woods Richardson is out of minor league options and logged a 4.04 ERA in 111 1/3 innings last year (including a flat 3.00 ERA over his final 14 starts). He should be all but assured a rotation spot as well.
Homegrown former top prospects Zebby Matthews and David Festa will join deadline pickups Taj Bradley and Mick Abel in competing for Opening Day rotation spots, while prospects like Connor Prielipp, Kendry Rojas and Andrew Morris could challenge for innings as the season wears on, depending on health and performance in Triple-A.
Merrill Kelly Unlikely To Be Ready For Opening Day
D-backs righty Merrill Kelly has been slowed by back discomfort in recent days and has undergone multiple waves of testing to get to the root of the issue. It seems the Snakes still haven’t determined the exact problem, but Kelly tells the team’s beat that he’s not expecting to be ready to take the mound on Opening Day (link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Tests thus far have fortunately not revealed any major issues in his back, but doctors are still working to ascertain what’s hobbling him. Piecoro adds that Kelly played catch today but still felt pain in his back while doing so.
If the D-backs feel Kelly only needs to be pushed back a few days or skip one start, it’s possible he could avoid a trip to the 15-day IL, but obviously today’s comments firmly put an IL stint on the table as a possibility. If he heads to the injured list to begin the season, Arizona will open the year with Zac Gallen, Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Michael Soroka in the rotation. One would imagine Gallen’s standing with the team would make him the Opening Day favorite, even on the heels of a down season, though that much will be determined as camp plays out.
Kelly, 37, spent six and a half seasons in the Diamondbacks’ rotation from 2019-25 but was traded to the Rangers at last summer’s deadline. Asked about his time with the D-backs following that trade, Kelly said he’d be open to a return in free agency after calling Phoenix home for so long and setting down some roots there. Though he didn’t perform as well as hoped in his two months with Texas, he still finished out the season with a sharp 3.52 ERA in 184 innings, fanning a roughly average 22.3% of his opponents against a strong 6.4% walk rate.
The Diamondbacks entered the offseason looking to scale back payroll but still managed to find common ground with Kelly, making a two-year offer worth $40MM that sold the righty on heading back to the desert. The D-backs are effectively trotting out the same rotation that struggled last year — plus an affordable one-year flier on the talented but injury-prone Soroka — so they’ll be counting on Pfaadt, Rodriguez and especially Gallen (who als0 re-signed as a free agent) to bounce back after rough showings.
It’s clearly not ideal for the team’s steadiest starter to already be dealing with an injury in camp — even if it proves minor — though the Snakes should have better rotation depth this year. Part of that is due to the very trade that shipped Kelly out of town. The Rangers sent pitching prospects Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt and David Hagaman to Arizona to rent Kelly for the remainder of the ’25 season. Drake and Bratt are now both on the team’s 40-man roster and could make their big league debuts this season as they look to stake their claim to a long-term rotation spot.
Other depth options in camp include prospects Yilber Diaz and Cristian Mena, both of whom have made brief MLB debuts but struggled through down showings in 2025. Righty Dylan Ray was also selected to the 40-man roster this past offseason, and veterans Joe Ross and Thomas Hatch are in camp as non-roster invitees as well.
Cubs’ Tyler Austin Out “Months” Following Knee Surgery
First baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin recently underwent a debridement procedure on the patellar tendon in his right knee, which will leave him sidelined for “months,” Cubs skipper Craig Counsell announced to the team’s beat this morning (link via Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times). That suggests he’ll be a 60-day IL candidate the next time Chicago needs a 40-man roster spot.
Austin, 34, has spent the past six seasons with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He originally signed in NPB after spending parts of four big league seasons with the Yankees, Twins, Giants and Brewers, during which he posted a .219/.292/.451 slash with 33 homers in 583 turns at the plate.
While Austin showed plenty of power over his relatively limited MLB tenure, he was far too prone to strikeouts, fanning in a grisly 36.9% of his career plate appearances in the majors. He’s radically cut down on his strikeouts in Japan and has been especially productive the past two seasons, combining for a .299/.370/.559 slash with a 10.3% walk rate against a 19.2% strikeout rate.
Clearly, Austin is not facing as strong of competition in NPB as he would in MLB, but it’s still a notably more encouraging strikeout rate. Even it can be reasonably expected to climb several points back in North American ball, it’s unlikely to practically double; Austin seems to have made some clear gains in terms of contact and pitch selection.
For now, the well-traveled veteran’s MLB comeback will be on hold. The Cubs signed him to a one-year, $1.25MM contract over the winter, putting him on the 40-man roster in the process. The hope was that he could spell Michael Busch against tough lefties after Busch hit just .207/.274/.368 in left-on-left matchups this past season (and .230/.295/.366 in his career). Austin also has plenty of corner outfield experience and could’ve made occasional appearances there or at designated hitter versus southpaws.
Perhaps that role will still be waiting for him when he’s sufficiently rehabbed this knee injury, but a firm timetable is tougher to ascertain. In the meantime, non-roster invitees like Chas McCormick, Dylan Carlson and Michael Conforto now stand a better chance of breaking camp with the club.
Counsell also revealed that lefty Jordan Wicks has been slowed by forearm inflammation, but the team has already ordered an MRI which did not show structural damage to the southpaw’s ulnar collateral ligament. It’s unclear when he’ll get into games.
The 26-year-old Wicks is a former first-round pick and top prospect but has been pushed way down the depth chart for the Cubs, who’ll open the season with Edward Cabrera, Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Shota Imanaga in the rotation. Righty Colin Rea is back to hold down a swing role and could get the first crack at spot starts as needed. The Cubs also have Javier Assad and Ben Brown on the active roster, while ace Justin Steele should be back from last year’s UCL repair at some point in the season’s first few months, barring setbacks.
Wicks is somewhere around eighth or ninth on the rotation depth chart at the moment. He pitched only out of the bullpen in the majors last year (8 1/3 innings), and that role might give him a better crack at eventually carving out some staying power on the big league roster. He’s pitched 95 big league innings across the past three seasons and owns a lackluster 5.21 earned run average with a sub-par 18.5% strikeout rate but solid walk and ground-ball rates of 7.5% and 43%, respectively. He notched a 3.55 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate in 71 Triple-A frames last year (16 starts, four relief appearances).
Romy Gonzalez Unlikely To Be Ready For Opening Day
Red Sox utilityman Romy Gonzalez has been behind in camp due to shoulder troubles. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection a couple weeks ago in hopes of being ready for Opening Day, but the righty-swinging infielder now tells Christopher Smith of MassLive.com that he doesn’t think it’s realistic. Gonzalez is running and doing agility work but isn’t fielding, throwing or swinging a bat yet. He says he won’t begin hitting until next Friday (March 6) at the earliest.
“At this point, I think the ramp-up would be a little too quick and it’d be a disservice I feel like to myself and the team if I’m not ready to roll and have a good build up,” Gonzalez tells Smith.
The 29-year-old Gonzalez suffered a shoulder injury in one of the final games of the 2025 regular season. He spent the offseason rehabbing the injury and thought he was in a good place when the calendar flipped to 2026, but he began experiencing renewed discomfort after ramping up his hitting program last month in preparation for spring training.
Gonzalez is a key part of Boston’s lineup, specifically against left-handed pitching. He’s fresh off a career-best .305/.343/.483 showing that saw him pop nine homers in a career-high 341 plate appearances. The overwhelming amount of Gonzalez’s damage came against left-handed pitching, which he torched for a .331/.378/.600 batting line (162 wRC+) in 143 plate appearances. His .286/.318/.400 line against righties (198 plate appearances) was solid as well, but even including that performance, Gonzalez is just a .243/.267/.349 hitter (65 wRC+) in 439 plate appearances versus fellow righties.
If Gonzalez is indeed unavailable when the Red Sox’ season opener rolls around on March 26, that would likely improve the chances that one of Nate Eaton, Andruw Monasterio, Kristian Campbell or Anthony Seigler makes the roster. Smith calls Monasterio the early favorite, but it’ll obviously hinge on spring performances from the group. They’re all vying for the final bench spot alongside backup catcher Connor Wong, veteran utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa and outfielder/designated hitter Masataka Yoshida.
A healthy Gonzalez perhaps renders that competition moot, but it increasingly sounds as though there’ll be at least one bench spot open — possibly more, depending on health or other transactions. The Red Sox have discussed their outfield glut in trades throughout the winter, with Jarren Duran standing as the most commonly cited trade possibility. However, Boston has established a high asking price — understandably so — which has not yet been met. There’s also been plenty of speculation about Boston trying to find a taker for a portion of Yoshida’s contract, but with two years and $36MM yet to be paid out, that’s a tall order.
While the potential loss of Gonzalez is a blow to the team’s depth and potency against lefties, there’s no indication he’s suffered any kind of setback or that he’s looking at an especially long-term absence. He’s making $1.6MM this season in the first of three arbitration seasons and is under club control through 2028.
The Red Sox open with three games in Cincinnati, where they’ll likely face a pair of lefties (Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo). They’ll then head to Houston, where the Astros will deploy an all-righty rotation, before playing host to a Padres team that also looks set for an entirely right-handed starting staff.
Offseason In Review: Miami Marlins
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Marlins dipped a toe into free agency but didn’t commit to anything substantial. Their larger moves were trades of established pitchers for controllable young talent, as the team continues to chase the ever-elusive idea of a “sustainable,” cost-controlled core.
Major League Free Agent Signings
- Pete Fairbanks, RHP: One year, $13MM
- Chris Paddack, RHP: One year, $4MM
- Christopher Morel, INF/OF: One year, $2MM
- John King, LHP: One year, $1.5MM
- Total spending: $20.5MM
Trades and Waiver Claims
- Traded RHP Edward Cabrera to Cubs in exchange for OF Owen Caissie and minor league INFs Cristian Hernandez and Edgardo De Leon
- Traded LHP Ryan Weathers to Yankees in exchange for minor league OFs Dillon Lewis and Brendan Jones and minor league INFs Dylan Jasso and Juan Matheus
- Traded OF Dane Myers to Reds in exchange for minor league OF Ethan O’Donnell
- Traded INF Eric Wagaman to Twins in exchange for minor league RHP Kade Bragg
- Traded OF Victor Mesa Jr. to Rays in exchange for minor league INF Angel Brachi
- Traded LHP Josh Simpson to Mariners in exchange for cash
- Traded OF Joey Wiemer to Giants in exchange for cash
- Acquired OF Esteury Ruiz from Dodgers in exchange for minor league RHP Adriano Marrero
- Acquired RHP Bradley Blalock from Rockies in exchange for minor league RHP Jake Brooks
- Claimed RHP Garrett Acton off waivers from Rockies
- Claimed RHP Osvaldo Bido off waivers from Rays (later lost to Angels via waivers)
- Claimed RHP Zach Brzykcy off waivers from Nationals (later outrighted to Triple-A)
Minor League Signings
Extensions
- None yet (team has had discussions with OF Kyle Stowers and with OF Jakob Marsee)
Notable Losses
- Cabrera, Weathers, Myers, Wagaman, Mesa Jr., Simpson, Wiemer, Troy Johnston (claimed by Rockies), George Soriano (claimed by Orioles)
The Marlins closed out the 2025 season with a 56-50 record over the final four months of the year. That wasn’t enough to erase a poor start to the season, but Miami’s 79-83 record overall was good for a third-place finish in the National League East — a surprisingly strong result for a club whose biggest moves of the preceding offseason were trading away Jesus Luzardo and Jake Burger. Right-hander Cal Quantrill, who didn’t even finish the season on the roster due to his significant struggles, was the only veteran free agent addition for Miami last winter.
That strong four-month stretch ensured at least something of a different tone this winter, though the Marlins didn’t fully commit to pushing into a win-now mentality. The third offseason for president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and second for manager Clayton McCullough was punctuated by a handful of free agent pickups but also saw the Fish continue trading from their perennially strong collection of starting pitching depth.
Miami entered the offseason with needs at first base, in the bullpen and in the outfield. They were each addressed to varying extents, but in typical Marlins fashion, those solutions generally came in the form of low-budget transactions. Miami jumped early to bring slugger Christopher Morel into the fold after he was non-tendered by Bendix’s former Rays club. Bendix was the general manager in Tampa Bay, but he was out the door by the time the Cubs traded Morel to the Rays as part of the Isaac Paredes return in 2024. It stands to reason that the Rays’ interest in Morel dated back several years to when Bendix was their GM, and he’ll now get his hands on a player with big power but also alarming strikeout concerns and no true defensive home.
The Marlins are rolling the dice on Morel as their primary first baseman — a position he’s never played before. (Insert your “Tell ’em, Wash” jokes here.) Morel has huge pull-side power and comes to Miami on just a $2MM salary with three seasons of club control remaining. If they can coax a breakout, he’ll be a bargain for them, though it’s also fair to wonder whether he’d play out all three seasons with the perennially frugal Fish in that scenario. Tapping into that raw power and unlocking a full-fledged breakout would likely lead to substantial arbitration raises, so even if Morel can finally put it all together, his price tag down the road in 2028 might prove steep enough that Miami deals him before his final arbitration season.
While Morel was the first to sign, the Bendix-led Marlins made it clear early on that former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks was a target. Fairbanks’ $11MM club option being declined by Tampa Bay rated as at least a mild surprise, and he was met with robust interest early on. In the end, it was the Marlins who bid $13MM to install Fairbanks at the back of their ‘pen, giving McCullough the sort of established closer he lacked in 2025, when six Marlins players logged between three and 15 saves. It’s the largest one-year salary the Marlins have ever given to a reliever. Fairbanks will be able to remain in Florida and continue piling up saves in a pitcher-friendly setting, making it a sensible move for all parties.
Also joining the Miami pitching staff are right-hander Chris Paddack — a former Marlins prospect — and lefty John King. Paddack will step into the rotation on the heels of a career-high 158 innings pitched but also the second-worst ERA (5.35) of his seven-year run in the big leagues. The former top prospect’s brilliant 2019 debut with the Padres is a distant memory, but he’ll pitch all of 2026 at 30 years old and brings some of the best command in baseball (career 5.2% walk rate) to South Florida.
The 31-year-old King was a quality middle reliever for the Rangers and Cardinals from 2021-24 before a tough season in 2025. He has one of the game’s lowest strikeout rates among relievers but also boasts plus command and one of the top ground-ball rates in the sport: 61.8% over the past half decade. Southpaw Cade Gibson gave Miami a strong rookie showing out of the bullpen in 2025, but the only other left-handed relievers to make an appearance were Josh Simpson (7.34 ERA, 30 2/3 innings), Anthony Veneziano (4.71 ERA, 21 innings) and Patrick Monteverde (four runs in 3 2/3 innings). Veneziano is no longer with the organization. Simpson was designated for assignment and traded to the Mariners (for cash) after Miami signed King.
All of Miami’s free-agent additions were, in some way or another, buy-low acquisitions. Morel and King were non-tendered despite affordable arbitration projections. Fairbanks’ club option, which looked fairly reasonable, was declined (partly due to budget constraints for the Rays). Paddack was traded from Minnesota to Detroit at the deadline and quickly lost his rotation spot. He has a 5.23 ERA over the past three seasons. All four have traits on which Miami can dream — Morel’s power, Fairbanks’ velocity/strikeouts, King’s grounders, Paddack’s plus command/formerly plus changeup — but they’re all projects.
Beyond the level of aggression the Marlins would or wouldn’t show with respect to their veteran additions, the biggest question surrounding the club was whether they’d once again deal from their stock of talented young starters. As we’ve seen so often in the past, even under prior front office regimes, Miami isn’t afraid to deal away young arms, trusting in the development staff’s ability to continue to turn more out.
If you’d told most fans, pundits and even other teams at the end of the 2025 season that Miami would trade two starters, most would have assumed longtime ace Sandy Alcantara would be one of them. He had a rough year overall in his return from Tommy John surgery, but the former NL Cy Young winner finished strong and is heading into the final guaranteed season of a contract that guarantees him at least $19MM more ($17MM salary, $2MM buyout on a $21MM club option for 2027). That’s a reasonable price for most clubs but a steep one for the ever-cost-conscious Marlins.
Instead, it was 27-year-old righty Edward Cabrera — long rumored as a trade candidate in his own right — and 26-year-old southpaw Ryan Weathers. While many expected Cabrera to be a popular trade target this winter, the Weathers trade came somewhat out of the blue, given that he only made eight starts last year due to injury and had three years of club control remaining.
Weathers’ trade to the Yankees netted the Marlins a quartet of prospects, none of whom are expected to be immediate contributors. Outfielder Dillon Lewis was the most highly touted prospect in the swap but hasn’t even played in Double-A yet — nor has young infielder Juan Matheus. Outfielder Brendan Jones and infielder Dylan Jasso reached Double-A in 2025, but both will presumably require further development time in Triple-A.
Weathers originally came to the Fish in what’s now a clearly lopsided trade sending Garrett Cooper to the Padres — a swap put together by former general manager Kim Ng. That acquisition gave way to a 2024 breakout and enough promise in 2025’s limited sample for Bendix to cash in on a four-prospect package that deepens the Marlins’ position player pool.
The trade of Cabrera was both more expected and more consequential in terms of 2026 impact. While he was far from a lock to change hands, Cabrera has been discussed frequently in recent years. Interest in the former top prospect’s electric arsenal has been widespread, and his 2025 breakout was enough to push it over the top. There are big durability concerns with the 6’5″ flamethrower, but Cabrera’s 3.53 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate, career-best 8.3% walk rate, 97 mph average heater, 12.6% swinging-strike rate and three remaining years of club control pushed the Cubs to part with a three-prospect package headlined by Owen Caissie, who’s now the favorite to break camp as Miami’s right fielder.
Caissie, 23, is a 2020 second-rounder who has spent several seasons ranked among baseball’s top-100 prospects but had no clear path to regular at-bats at Wrigley Field (at least not this year). He’s a three-true-outcomes lefty slugger with a big arm — a prototypical right field mold whom the Marlins hope can pair with 2025 breakout bopper Kyle Stowers to give the Fish some genuine middle-of-the-order thunder for the foreseeable future.
Caissie mashed at a .286/.386/.551 rate and popped 22 homers in only 99 Triple-A games, but he also fanned in 28% of his Triple-A plate appearances (against a 13.2% walk rate). The Marlins also added minor league infielders Cristian Hernández and Edgardo De Leon in that swap, but they’re both down-the-road considerations; Hernández hasn’t played above A-ball, and De Leon is only 19. Caissie is the headliner, and he gives the Fish a potential lineup cornerstone with six full seasons of club control and two minor league option years remaining. In Caissie, Stowers and center fielder Jakob Marsee (.292/.363/.478 in 55 games as a rookie), Miami has the makings of an excellent young outfield — no small feat considering the years of turnover they underwent on the grass prior to the arrival of this trio.
Most of Miami’s other dealings centered around role players. Dane Myers is a solid fourth outfielder who runs well, but he’s entering his final minor league option year and was shipped to the Reds for minor league outfielder Ethan O’Donnell, who’s not yet on the 40-man roster. Another fourth outfield option, Victor Mesa Jr., went to the Rays for lottery ticket teenage infielder Angel Brachi. Utilityman Eric Wagaman was traded to the Twins for minor league reliever Kade Bragg, who could make his debut at some point in 2026 — a nice bit of business considering Wagaman was a minor league free agent who signed a big league deal with Miami last winter.
In addition to selling off that trio of role players, the Marlins brought in some depth pieces by acquiring righty Bradley Blalock from the Rockies and speedster Esteury Ruiz from the Dodgers. Blalock replenishes a bit of rotation depth. He’s coming off a brutal year in the Rockies organization but had some decent results in the minors with the Brewers before that. Ruiz is in his final minor league option year and offers more speed than Myers. He could fill a similar fourth outfield role.
Setting aside the trades of Cabrera and Weathers as well as the signing of Fairbanks, most of Miami’s moves amount to tinkering around the margins. The 2026 season will be pivotal to determining their identity. They’ll see if a combination of Morel, Graham Pauley and Connor Norby can handle the infield corners. The middle infield is set for now with defensive standout Otto Lopez at shortstop and exciting leadoff man Xavier Edwards at second base. Stowers, Marsee and Caissie are the outfield hopefuls. Former top prospect Agustin Ramirez will try to improve behind the plate, but top-100 prospect Joe Mack is nipping at his heels in Triple-A, so Ramirez could eventually move to more of a first base/designated hitter/third catcher role.
On the pitching side, it’ll be Alcantara, Eury Pérez and the veteran Paddack, with former top prospects Max Meyer and Braxton Garrett returning from injury-lost seasons. Miami has two of the game’s top-ranked pitching prospects in Thomas White and Robby Snelling. Both could debut in 2026. Former prospects Dax Fulton and Adam Mazur are both still on the 40-man roster and have minor league options remaining, which gives the Fish some more depth. The bullpen already lost Ronny Henriquez to Tommy John surgery in December, but Fairbanks and King join holdovers like Gibson, Calvin Faucher and Anthony Bender to form a decent nucleus. If any of Meyer, Garrett, Fulton or Mazur don’t pan out as starters, they could shift there.
The Marlins thinned out their rotation but did so by shipping out a pair of starters who had durability issues — an all-too-common problem that seems to regularly plague their always impressive groups of young arms. Alcantara’s name could come up as a summer trade candidate, but if Miami is contending he’s not likely to go anywhere. The thought of a rotation including Alcantara, Pérez, White and Snelling is tantalizing regardless of who the fifth option would be.
Miami has the feel of an up-and-coming team, but it’s hard not to wonder what they’d look like with even a shred of payroll support from ownership. They’re currently projected to spend about $73MM on the 2026 payroll — a basement-level mark even by their standards and one of the lowest figures in the league. A bit more money on the bullpen or the infield could’ve made this club all the more compelling, and with only $83MM of luxury-tax obligations on the books, they’re running the risk of a grievance regarding the allocation of the reported $70MM or so of revenue-sharing funds they receive. Extensions for Marsee and/or Stowers — they’ve broached the subject with both young outfielders — could mitigate some of those concerns, but as MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows, Alcantara’s five-year, $56MM deal is the only extension of five or more years the Fish have given out in the past decade. It’s hard to imagine them going to the lengths necessary to sign one of their young outfielders for the long haul.
How would MLBTR readers grade the Marlins’ offseason? Have your say in the poll below:
How would you grade the Marlins' offseason?
-
C 38% (510)
-
B 27% (366)
-
D 22% (288)
-
F 9% (122)
-
A 4% (51)
Total votes: 1,337
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Good morning! We’ll get going at 1pm CT, give or take a couple minutes, but feel free to start sending questions in anytime.
- Good afternoon! Let’s get this started up
Sox Fan
- Could the White Sox just release Benintendi? I think he’s taking up at bats from others
Steve Adams
- Doubtful with two years and $32MM to go. He was at least a league-average hitter last year. They’ll hope for a decent enough first half to be able to trade him and save a few million bucks. If he really struggles at the plate this season though, I can see it happening midyear.
Wayward
- The Bucs standing pat now? Things have gone quiet at 3B, and it seems that they want to see what Urquidy and some of the young arms in Barco and Harrington can give them potentially, especially since it appears Jones could be ready in late May. I really thought they would have signed Anderson or Corbin.
Bucco Basement
- What is up with these minor league deals for guys who can still impact a team? Did they just wait around too long to see if they could increase their salary or are they much worse than I’m assuming? I want my Pirates to get Tyler Anderson or Patrick Corbin and I’m wondering if either could be gotten on a MiLB deal.
Pirates1Fan
- I think the Bucs need another arm – Patrick Corbin a fit?
Steve Adams
- So, Pirates fans really want them to sign another cheap starter. I feel like they already did this with Urquidy. I get that they’ve signed a cheap lefty pretty much every spring under Cherington (Quintana, Heaney, Martin Perez, Tyler Anderson the first time around)
- But I don’t think it’s a big need with the depth they have already.You’ve got Skenes, Chandler, Keller, Ashcraft, Urquidy … Jared Jones on the mend and maybe back late April/May. Thomas Harrington, Hunter Barco in Triple-A. Mike Clevinger as a non-roster guy.
- I do think it’s feasible that either Anderson or Corbin has to settle for a non-roster deal, and if it’s with the Bucs, sure, great. More depth is never bad. But I don’t think it’s super appealing for one of those guys to jump into a rotation mix that has like 8-10 options already — at least not on a non-guaranteed deal.
Padres Shut Matt Waldron Down
Padres right-hander Matt Waldron has been shut down for the time being and is considered week to week, manager Craig Stammen told the team’s beat (via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune). The right-hander recently underwent a procedure for a hemorrhoid.
Waldron, 29, made only one big league appearance last season, pitching 4 2/3 innings and being tagged for four runs. He tallied 26 starts for the Friars the year prior, turning in a 4.91 ERA with a 21.3% strikeout rate against a 6.4% walk rate. He posted a solid 3.79 ERA through his first 23 starts of the season in 2024 before being clobbered for 26 runs in only 18 1/3 frames over his final few appearances, ballooning his ERA by more than a full run in the process.
One of the only active knuckleballers in the majors or minors, Waldron struggled through 21 Triple-A starts last year, serving up a 6.48 earned run average. He maintained respectable strikeout and walk rates, however (20.7% and 7.1%, respectively). A .368 average on balls in play and well below-average 59% strand rate both dogged him.
Waldron is out of minor league options and thus cannot be sent to Triple-A without first clearing waivers. He can, however, open the season on the 15-day injured list and embark on a 30-day minor league rehab assignment once cleared to pitch, if the recovery from his recent procedure necessitates such an absence.
Following a late flurry of low-cost additions, the Padres’ 2026 rotation includes a returning Joe Musgrove (from 2024 Tommy John surgery), the re-signed Michael King, veteran Nick Pivetta, out-of-options righty Randy Vásquez and free agent newcomer Germán Márquez. San Diego also added Griffin Canning on a one-year deal, though he’s still on the mend from last year’s torn Achilles tendon. Lefties JP Sears and Kyle Hart are on the 40-man roster but could be depth options in Triple-A El Paso to begin the year, given Vásquez’s lack of options. Veterans Walker Buehler, Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie all inked a minor league deals with invitations to spring and could factor into the mix as well.
Rangers Top Prospect Sebastian Walcott Undergoes Internal Brace Procedure
Feb. 24: Walcott underwent an internal brace procedure and not a full UCL reconstruction (Tommy John surgery), MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry reports. That’s relatively good news, in that it’s possible he could be cleared to start hitting before the end the season. He’s looking at a timetable of five to six months, Landry adds.
Feb. 12: Rangers top prospect Sebastian Walcott, one of the most touted prospects in the entire sport, could miss the entire 2026 season due to an elbow injury that will require surgery, president of baseball operations Chris Young announced to the team’s beat this morning (link via Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). Walcott could potentially get at-bats late in the season, and if he’s healthy, he’ll be a prime candidate to make up some lost reps in the Arizona Fall League and/or in winter ball. Young added that righty Nabil Crismatt, who’s in camp as a non-roster invitee, is also headed for elbow surgery (via Wilson).
Walcott appeared in last year’s Arizona Fall League, but his time there was cut short by elbow inflammation. Surgery was not recommended at the time. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes that Walcott spent the offseason rehabbing and felt strong entering camp, but he recently experienced renewed discomfort when throwing.
A consultation with renowned surgeon Dr. Keith Meister revealed “structural changes.” Walcott will have surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, it seems, but it has not yet been determined whether he’ll require a full Tommy John procedure (i.e. ligament reconstruction) or an internal brace procedure to repair/strengthen the existing ligament. The latter comes with a shorter timetable for recovery.
It’s a brutal blow to the Rangers and their farm. Walcott is only 19 years old (20 next month) but already appeared on the cusp of MLB readiness. The Bahamian-born shortstop spent the 2025 campaign in Double-A and hit .255/.355/.386 (110 wRC+) despite being the youngest player in the league.
In 552 plate appearances, Walcott hit 13 home runs, 19 doubles and two triples. He also went 32-for-42 in stolen base attempts, walked at a huge 12.7% clip and only struck out in 19.6% of his plate appearances. That’d be a productive season even for a more physically developed 23- or 24-year-old, but Walcott enjoyed that success in spite of being five years younger than the average Texas League player.
Virtually every prospect list one can find will include Walcott within its top 20. He’s currently No. 16 at Baseball America, 16th on Keith Law’s list at The Athletic, seventh at MLB.com, and all the way up to fifth on Kiley McDaniel’s list at ESPN. Scouting reports laud him for possessing enormous, plus-plus raw power with good plate discipline, a feel to hit, plus speed and a plus arm. There’s some concern that he’ll outgrow shortstop — he’s already listed at 6’4″ and 190 pounds before turning 20 — but he has plenty of bat to stick at third base or in the outfield if such a shift is eventually needed.
It’s plausible that a healthy Walcott, with a big enough start to his season, could have emerged as an option in the majors for Texas. He’s not going to displace Corey Seager at shortstop, but third base, second base and (to a lesser extent) the outfield are all less settled in Arlington. All of that will be put on hold for the time being now, and Walcott’s debut will surely be pushed back into at least the 2027 season, as he’ll need to ease back into things as he rehabs from this health setback.
On the plus side, Walcott’s meteoric rise through the system means that youth is still very much on his side. He could miss the entire 2026 season, play well in the AFL and winter ball, open next season back at Double-A and still push to make his MLB debut during his age-21 season. The injury is a clear development setback, but for a player who has accomplished so much at such a young age, the outlook remains quite bright.
As for Crismatt, the upcoming elbow procedure scuttles any hope of cracking the big league roster. It’s not yet clear what type of procedure he’ll require. He’d been slated to pitch for his native Colombia in the World Baseball Classic, but those plans are obviously dashed as well.
The 31-year-old Crismatt spent part of the 2024 season with the Rangers’ Triple-A club and returned on a minor league deal this winter. He pitched in the majors with the D-backs last year and recorded a 3.71 ERA, 16.3% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate in 34 innings. Crismatt has suited up for four clubs across parts of six MLB seasons and carries a lifetime 3.71 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate in 211 innings — most of them coming in relief.
Marlins’ Graham Pauley Avoids Major Injury
Feb. 24: Pauley and the Marlins received good news on the infielder’s imaging. While Pauley didn’t provide a specific diagnosis, he told the Marlins’ beat that it was “all good news” and that he’s hoping to be back in games late this week or, at the latest, within the next two weeks (link via Barral).
Feb. 23: Marlins infielder Graham Pauley has been shut down from all baseball activity due to ongoing tightness in his forearm, manager Clayton McCullough told the team’s beat this morning (via Kevin Barral of Fish On First). Pauley has been sent for imaging to get a better idea of what’s causing the discomfort, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com adds. The team should have an update within the next couple days.
The 25-year-old Pauley has a chance to break camp as Miami’s everyday third baseman, so any injury requiring him to miss time would be particularly noteworthy. The former Padres farmhand came to Miami in the Tanner Scott swap two years ago. He didn’t hit much in the 184 plate appearances he logged in the majors this past season (.224/.311/.366) but showed quality defensive skills and the same keen eye at the plate (11.4%) for which he’s gotten praise throughout his minor league tenure. Pauley hit well in 37 Triple-A games last year, slashing .263/.342/.511 with eight homers and five steals.
Pauley’s primary competition at the hot corner is fellow 25-year-old Connor Norby — another trade acquisition (Trevor Rogers) who’s hoping to solidify himself in the majors. Norby, a former top prospect with the Orioles, has hit .245/.298/.407 in 531 MLB plate appearances so far. He has more power than Pauley but with a more concerning strikeout/walk profile and lesser defense. He hasn’t put it all together in the majors yet, but Norby has torched minor league pitching, including a .296/.371/.502 line in 1155 plate appearances at the Triple-A level between the Baltimore and Miami organizations.
Additional options for the Marlins at third base are few and far between. Both Christopher Morel and Deyvison De Los Santos have considerable experience at the position, but neither is a good defender. Morel will move to first base after signing as a free agent; De Los Santos (acquired from the D-backs a couple years ago in the A.J. Puk trade) played 556 innings at first base last year and only 229 at third base. He was exclusively a first baseman in winter ball this offseason. Utilityman Javier Sanoja looked solid with the glove in 41 games at third last year but hit just .243/.287/.396 in 342 plate appearances.
If Pauley winds up having to miss time and the Marlins feel their third base depth is insufficient, there are still a handful of options on the market. Jon Berti, Emmanuel Rivera, Luis Urías and Jose Iglesias are among the still-unsigned infielders capable of handling the hot corner. Other options will surely present themselves in the weeks ahead, either as veterans opt out of minor league deals or as players are designated for assignment to make room for non-roster veterans, thus leading them to waivers or the trade market.