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Cardinals Claim Zak Kent

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The Cardinals announced Friday that they’ve claimed right-hander Zak Kent off waivers from the Guardians. The Cards already had a pair of 40-man vacancies and are now up to 39 players on the roster.

Kent, 28 in February, made his big league debut in Cleveland this past season. He tossed 17 2/3 innings out of the Guards’ bullpen and yielded nine earned runs (4.58 ERA) with a 21.1% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate. Kent averaged 92.6 mph on his four-seamer and 93.6 mph on a sparsely used sinker. His breaking offerings include a mid-80s slider and a low-80s curveball.

Though Kent didn’t show much in his relatively limited run at the MLB level, he turned in a sharp 2.84 ERA in 38 Triple-A frames last year. Command issues still plagued him, evidenced by 13.2% walk rate, but he also set down more than 31% of his opponents on strikes. He’s long been credited as having a pair of plus breaking pitches, but his sub-par fastball velocity and poor command have undercut the quality of both those breaking pitches.

Kent is out of minor league options, so the Cardinals can’t send him to Triple-A Memphis next season without first passing him through waivers. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Kent is eligible for a fourth option, so perhaps the Cards will apply for that and be granted another option for Kent. There’s no guarantee he makes it to spring training on the 40-man roster, but if he does stick on the roster all winter, Kent should have an opportunity to win a job in what should be a wide-open competition for at least four bullpen spots (five, if the Cardinals trade JoJo Romero, as expected).

Rangers Likely To Fill Second Base Internally

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Last month’s Marcus Semien-for-Brandon Nimmo swap created a hole at second base in Arlington, but the Rangers don’t plan on going outside the organization to find help at the position. Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports reports that Texas currently plans to fill that void internally.

That should be good news for 28-year-old Josh Smith, who’s bounced all over the diamond in a utility role over the past few seasons but now looks like a strong candidate for regular work at second base — at least against right-handed pitching. The lefty-swinging former second-round pick was a roughly average hitter in 2025 and a fair bit better than that in 2024. Over the past two seasons, he’s slashed a combined .254/.336/.380 (107 wRC+) with 23 homers, 53 doubles, three triples and 23 stolen bases in 1155 plate appearances (293 games).

Second base has actually been Smith’s least-frequent position of the many in which he’s dabbled at the MLB level. He’s played just 41 innings there, although part of the reason for that is Semien’s iron man status at the position. Semien missed a total of four games over his first three seasons in Texas, leaving few opportunities for anyone else at second base. He “only” appeared in 127 games this season, but Texas was also using Smith at the hot corner and in the outfield to help cover for other injuries, so he appeared in just four games at second base. Cody Freeman, Dylan Moore and Ezequiel Duran were more frequent options there in place of Semien.

Duran and Freeman both remain with the organization and are on the 40-man roster. That’s also true of former first-round pick Justin Foscue. Anyone from that group could step up and grab a more prominent role at second base, but none of that group has hit nearly as well as Smith in the majors.

Duran showed some promise in 2023 but has hit just .237/.278/.309 in 504 plate appearances dating back to 2024. Freeman had a terrific showing in Triple-A last year, hitting .336/.382/.549 with just an 8.7% strikeout rate in 97 games. That didn’t carry over to the majors, though. Freeman hit .228/.258/.342 with a 15.7% strikeout rate in 121 turns at the plate. Foscue posted league-average offense in Triple-A this past season but has a bleak .059/.094/.098 slash in an admittedly tiny sample of 53 plate appearances. He’s also long faced defensive questions and has been splitting time between second base and first base in recent seasons.

The most exciting option is likely still a ways down the road. Sebastian Walcott is widely regarded as one of the ten best prospects in the sport. He’s just 19 years old but already held his own against much more advanced Double-A pitching last year, hitting .255/.355/.386 with 13 homers, 32 steals, a 12.7% walk rate and an 18.9% strikeout rate. Walcott, who’ll turn 20 in March, is a shortstop but could move to second base with Corey Seager entrenched at shortstop.

Regardless of exactly what shape it takes, it seems the Rangers will avoid bringing in free agents or trade candidates of note to plug that gap at second base. Given the team’s stated goal of reducing payroll, signing someone like Bo Bichette never seemed viable, but this latest report also strongly suggests that second-tier infield targets like Jorge Polanco and trade targets like Brendan Donovan or Brandon Lowe aren’t going to be a priority.

Adding some additional depth on minor league deals and/or an opportunistic one-year deal for a bargain-bin pickup late in the offseason don’t seem out of the question. Wilson notes that GM Ross Fenstermaker said the club will be opportunistic on that front. For now, however, a splash of any real note doesn’t appear to be in the cards.

In a smaller but notable bit of Rangers news, president of baseball operations Chris Young made clear that he hopes to re-sign reliever Josh Sborz after non-tendering him last week, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Young said his team is “extremely” interested in bringing Sborz back but prefers it to be on a minor league deal.

Sborz didn’t pitch this season after undergoing shoulder surgery in November 2024. The hope was that he’d make his way back to the mound at some point in 2025. He set out on a minor league rehab stint in mid-July but struggled both with results and velocity; Sborz’s fastball was down more than three miles per hour. Texas started and stopped his rehab stint multiple times before shutting him down entirely in early September.

The 31-year-old Sborz (32 in a couple weeks) had a bizarre campaign in 2023, pitching well for much of the season (3.83 ERA through mid-August) before being torched for 13 runs in 7 2/3 frames down the stretch, thereby ballooning his ERA to 5.50. Sborz then bounced all the way back — and then some — in the playoffs, serving as one of then-manager Bruce Bochy’s most trusted relievers. He pitched a dozen innings and allowed only one run (0.75 ERA) on four hits and four walks. He fanned 13.

If another club is willing to put Sborz on its 40-man roster — or offer him a larger salary on a non-guaranteed contract — the Rangers might be hard-pressed to retain the right-hander. Coming off a lost season, however, that’s far from a sure thing. If Sborz does ultimately re-sign on a minor league pact, his track record and familiarity with the organization could give him an inside track on winning a roster spot — provided his shoulder is back up to full strength.

Pirates Claim Marco Luciano

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The Pirates have claimed infielder/outfielder Marco Luciano off waivers from the Giants, per a team announcement. Pittsburgh’s claim of the former top prospect fills their 40-man roster. The Giants hadn’t previously announced a DFA for Luciano but were clearly trying to pass him through waivers to free up some roster space.

Originally signed as a teenager out of his native Dominican Republic, the now-24-year-old Luciano spent five consecutive seasons on Baseball America’s top-100 prospect lists, topping out at No. 12 in the game in the 2020-21 offseason. He was a steady producer throughout much of his time in the low minors, but Luciano’s bat stalled out in Triple-A and strikeouts have become a major concern.

In 226 games (1017 plate appearances) at the Triple-A level, Luciano has managed only a .227/.351/.401 batting line — despite those plate appearances coming in an exorbitantly hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League environment. He’s also struck out an alarming 29.6% of the time in Triple-A, including a 30.6% clip this past season. He hasn’t fared any better in brief major league looks, hitting a combined .217/.286/.304 with a 35.7% strikeout rate in 126 plate appearances between the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He spent all of 2025 in Triple-A.

Luciano was at one point considered the potential shortstop of the future in San Francisco — an heir to longtime shortstop Brandon Crawford. The Giants began to shift away from that possibility in 2024 when they got Luciano some time at second base in Triple-A. Last offseason’s signing of Willy Adames to a seven-year deal officially pulled the plug on any hope that Luciano could eventually claim that spot. The Giants gave him one Triple-A game at first base in 2025 and otherwise played him exclusively as a left fielder or designated hitter.

Luciano is out of minor league options, so the Pirates won’t be able to send him to Triple-A without first passing him through waivers themselves. If he makes it to spring training on the 40-man roster, he’ll have a chance to claim a bench role in Pittsburgh if he can put together a strong performance during Grapefruit League play.

The Pirates don’t have set options at shortstop, second base or in left field, so Luciano could theoretically compete for playing time at any of those spots — though Pittsburgh’s press release announcing the move referred to him solely as an outfielder. He’ll join newly acquired Jhostynxon Garcia as a righty-swinging corner outfield option on the depth chart, though Garcia has a far better chance of carving out regular playing time.

Giants, Angels, Tigers Among Teams Interested In Zac Gallen

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Right-hander Zac Gallen didn’t have the platform season he envisioned heading into free agency, but the former Cy Young finalist and All-Star nevertheless turned down a qualifying offer from the D-backs and hit the open market last month. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Giants have had conversations with Gallen’s camp (video link). MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adds the Angels and Tigers to the list of teams with interest in Gallen. He also indicates that the Orioles, Cubs and Braves have at least looked into Gallen. Meanwhile, John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports recently suggested a D-backs reunion was unlikely.

Gallen, who turned 30 in August, struggled through four brutal months to begin the 2025 season but ended with a flourish. Through the time of the trade deadline, the right-hander was lugging a 5.60 ERA toward the finish line. That ugly ERA came despite roughly average strikeout and walk rates (22.1% and 8.6%, respectively). He was getting hammered by the long ball, yielding 23 homers in his first 127 frames of the season (1.63 HR/9).

From August onward, Gallen looked more like his typical self. His strikeout rate dipped two percentage points, to a below-average 20.3%, but his walk rate improved to 7.1%. Most importantly, he cut back on the home runs. Gallen yielded just eight round-trippers in his final 65 innings — a rate of 1.11 per nine innings, which falls far more closely in line with his career mark (1.05).

Even with a 3.32 earned run average over his final 11 starts, Gallen closed out the year with an unsightly 4.83 ERA overall. It’s not a strong mark, but Gallen and Boras are surely hoping that track record and impeccable durability will carry his market. Gallen started 33 games in 2025 and is tied with Jose Berrios for the fourth-most starts in MLB (126) dating back to 2022. His 734 innings rank third in the sport during that time, trailing only Logan Webb and Framber Valdez. Gallen has only been on the major league injured list three times in his career — a pair of short stints due to hamstring strains in 2024 and 2021 and a month-long IL stay for a mild elbow sprain back in ’21.

The Giants are a sensible fit. They’re looking for rotation help but not keen on handing out the type of six- and seven-year deals we’ll see for many of the market’s top names. Giants brass has seen him more than most pitchers over the years, as an ultra-durable stalwart in a division rival’s rotation. President of baseball operations Buster Posey even personally faced Gallen eight times, going 2-for-6 with a pair of walks and a home run.

San Francisco has the aforementioned Webb atop the rotation and signed through 2028. No. 2 starter Robbie Ray is signed only through the 2026 season. Right-hander Landen Roupp positioned himself for a rotation spot with a nice showing through 22 starts in his age-26 season. Other candidates at the moment include Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, Kai-Wei Teng, Trevor McDonald and Carson Seymour. It’s a fine collection of depth, but there’s also plenty of uncertainty (hence the focus on rotation upgrades).

Gallen wouldn’t need to be the Giants’ ace but would give them a reliable source of innings and a big track record on which to dream. The Giants’ projected payroll, per RosterResource, is a bit under $169MM. That’s right about the same level at which they opened the 2025 season, but Giants ownership has topped $200MM payrolls in the past — even as recently as 2024. There’s room to add to the budget.

The Angels’ projected payroll is in a near-identical spot to that of the Giants, but the Angels trotted out a $203MM Opening Day mark just this past season. Mike Trout and Yusei Kikuchi are the only players signed beyond the 2026 season, and only Trout is signed beyond 2027.

In Anaheim, Gallen would join a rotation currently fronted by Kikuchi and Jose Soriano. Beyond that duo, the Angels are likely to give former top prospect Reid Detmers, who had a strong season in the bullpen in ’25, another look in the rotation next season. They’ve also acquired Grayson Rodriguez from the Orioles and signed Alek Manoah to a one-year deal this winter. Former top prospect Caden Dana headlines the depth options — a group also including Mitch Farris, Sam Aldegheri, Walbert Urena, Jack Kochanowicz and prospect George Klassen, who has not yet been added to the 40-man roster. There are some talented arms in the mix, but as with the Giants, the Halos simply lack stability behind a pair of generally established veterans atop the rotation.

Over in Detroit, the Tigers have some more stability but less depth. Having the best pitcher on the planet on the roster is a nice start, of course, and the Tigers can follow Tarik Skubal with Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Reese Olson and sophomore Troy Melton. Adding Gallen would push Melton to the top depth option, presumably in Triple-A, alongside Keider Montero, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Ty Madden and prospect Jaden Hamm (not yet on the 40-man roster).

The Tigers have one of the cleanest long-term payroll sheets of any club in MLB. Javier Baez’s six-year contract runs through 2027. He and Colt Keith — playing on a six-year, $28.6425MM extension — are the only two players guaranteed anything beyond the 2026 season. Adding Gallen would give the Tigers some 2026 stability and protect them in the event that Skubal, Flaherty and/or Mize all depart in free agency next winter.

The other clubs listed by Feinsand are all known to be in the market for rotation help, too, so none of the bunch is particularly surprising. It’d be out of character for the Braves to sign Gallen, unless his market collapses and he signs a short-term pillow deal (either one year or two years with an opt-out). Atlanta hasn’t given more than $30MM to a free agent starting pitcher under president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos. The Orioles are likely searching for ceiling over stability, so unless they’re confident they can get Gallen back to his 2022-23 form, he’s probably not Plan A or B in Baltimore. The Cubs are already counting on one bounceback from a notable starter (Shota Imanaga), though Gallen fits the spending profile they’ve pursued in offseasons more than the other names at the top of the market.

Even coming off a down year, Gallen will likely find a multi-year pact. Even if he prefers to bet on himself with a shorter-term deal, he’s precisely the type of former All-Star for whom the Boras Corporation has frequently negotiated two-year deals with opt-out pacts. We predicted a four-year deal for Gallen on our annual ranking of the sport’s Top 50 free agents, believing that the market will value his durability and track record enough to get him paid nicely — albeit not to the extent he’d have enjoyed coming off a more typical season. Gallen will presumably be presented a variety of contract structures, many of which will have opt-out opportunities or convoluted multi-year player and club options alike. The deal he ultimately accepts will hinge on his personal level of risk aversion.

Mets Claim Cooper Criswell

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The Mets have claimed righty Cooper Criswell off waivers from the Red Sox, reports ESPN’s Jorge Castillo. Boston designated him for assignment just yesterday as a corresponding move after acquiring Johan Oviedo from the Pirates. (Boston needed 40-man spots for both Oviedo and minor league lefty Tyler Samaniego.) The Mets have not yet announced the claim, but they currently have a pair of 40-man vacancies, so they won’t need to make a corresponding move.

Though Criswell isn’t yet eligible for arbitration, the Sox had signed the right-hander to a fully guaranteed $800K deal for the upcoming season. As noted here at the time he signed, Boston’s hope in doing so was likely that Criswell’s lack of minor league options and a slightly higher-than-usual salary for a pre-arbitration player would help him pass through waivers so they could keep him as non-roster depth.

That didn’t work out for the Red Sox, but we’ve increasingly seen clubs take this tactic with fringe 40-man players who lack minor league options as a means of attempting to bolster their stash of experienced players in the upper minors. The Mets themselves could very well try the same with Criswell later in the offseason as their 40-man roster fills up.

The 29-year-old Criswell appeared in seven games for the Sox in 2025, logging 17 2/3 innings of 3.57 ERA ball but with only an 11.3% strikeout rate. He’s totaled 154 2/3 innings across parts of five major league seasons and carries a career 4.48 ERA, 16.7% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate between the Angels, Rays and Red Sox. He also tossed 65 2/3 innings of 3.70 ERA ball for the Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Worcester this past season, working primarily as a starter.

If Criswell survives the offseason and spring training on the 40-man roster, he’d likely be looking at a swingman role if the Mets consider carrying him on the Opening Day squad. New York currently has Nolan McLean, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Jonah Tong, Brandon Sproat and Christian Scott ahead of Criswell on the rotation depth chart. The Mets are also likely to further add to that group via free agency and/or trade, though it’s also possible that some of those names could be subtracted via trade. Senga, in particular, has seen his name pop up in recent rumors.

D-backs Have Shown Interest In Reunions With Kelly, Goldschmidt

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The D-backs are in the market for rotation help this offseason, and there’s mutual interest between the team and longtime right-hander Merrill Kelly, reports John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. A reunion with righty Zac Gallen is seen as less likely, he adds. Beyond the “definite” interest in re-signing Kelly, Gambadoro adds that Arizona is open to the idea of bringing Paul Goldschmidt back to Phoenix —  albeit in more of a part-time/platoon role at first base.

Kelly, 37, spent six and a half seasons in the Arizona rotation before being traded to the Rangers at this summer’s deadline. The former Rays farmhand broke out in the Korea Baseball Organization from 2015-18 and had never pitched in the majors before the D-backs took a two-year flier on him in the 2018-19 offseason.

That modest investment proved to be a masterstroke. Kelly went on to sign an extension with the Snakes and ultimately made 162 starts with a 3.74 ERA over the course of 953 innings during his time in Arizona. All three of the pitching prospects the Snakes picked up in the trade sending Kelly to Texas now rank among the top 20 or so within the Diamondbacks’ system; Baseball America recently ranked righty David Hagaman their No. 5 prospect. Lefty Kohl Drake and righty Mitch Bratt are further down BA’s list of D-backs prospects but are also closer to the majors. Both could debut in 2026.

Bringing Kelly back to Chase Field after receiving a solid trade return would be a nice sequence for the D-backs. Even when the season was still ongoing, Kelly was asked (during a return series to Arizona as a visitor) about whether he’d be open to returning as a free agent.

“I’ve voiced my love for this place,” Kelly said at the time (video link via 98.7’s Jake Garcia). “I’ve talked to the front office tirelessly about being a D-back for life. That was really my plan. That was real. That was genuine. … So it’s never off the table. Coming home is very attractive, not only for me but also for the family aspect of it. But at the same time, I’ve put myself in a position to have what I hope to be a decent market, so I’m going to have to make a hard decision, business-wise, but coming back and being a D-back is never off the table.”

The D-backs have made no secret about the fact that they’re cutting payroll after topping $200MM for the first time in franchise history last year. With multiple rotation spots and several bullpen roles to fill, that could be a tall order. However, Kelly isn’t going to command the type of long-term megadeal that some of his free agent counterparts can seek, given that he’ll pitch next year at age 37. He’s likely capped at a two-year deal on the open market, which surely only enhances his appeal to the Diamondbacks. Arizona currently projects for a payroll around $145MM, per RosterResource.

With that in mind, a Goldschmidt reunion also makes some sense for a team that could use a right-handed platoon bat at first base. Pavin Smith seems likely to enter the season as Arizona’s primary option at either first base or designated hitter (depending on how righty-swinging Tyler Locklear looks next spring). Smith has hit .262/.357/.475 with 17 homers in 446 plate appearances across the past two seasons, but he’s been limited by injury and nearly all of that production came versus right-handed pitching. The lefty-swinging Smith has just 47 left-on-left plate appearances since 2024 and is a career .222/.296/.301 hitter versus southpaws.

Goldschmidt, at 38 years old, is no longer the annual MVP threat he once was. He spent 2025 with the Yankees and got out to a torrid start before limping to a sub-par finish over the final four months of play. His .274/.328/.403 batting line was about league average, but Goldschmidt batted only .226/.277/.333 (69 wRC+) from June 1 onward.

One thing he managed to do all season, however, was to pummel left-handed pitching, just as he always has. Goldschmidt posted an awful .247/.289/.329 line against righties but decimated lefties at a .336/.411/.570 clip in 168 turns at the plate. He earned $12MM last year, and coming off a poor finish with glaring platoon splits, he’s probably looking at a further pay cut. Critics might label a reunion as a nostalgia bid for a player who is past his prime, but Goldschmidt can still provide value in a limited role. And, with someone this talented, a rebound to better numbers against righties can never be expressly ruled out; Goldschmidt didn’t hit right-handers at all in 2024-25, but he slashed .259/.359/.446 against them as recently as 2023.

Cubs, Phillies, Yankees Among Teams Interested In Tatsuya Imai

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The Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball posted ace Tatsuya Imai for major league teams back on Nov. 19. The flamethrowing 27-year-old has until Jan. 2 to negotiate a deal with interested MLB clubs. The Mets, Cubs and Orioles have each been linked to the right-hander so far. The Cubs, in particular, are expected to be a “strong” player in Imai’s market, per Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. They also made an offer to Dylan Cease before the former Cy Young runner-up (and former Cubs draftee) signed with the Blue Jays last week, according to Levine.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post adds the Phillies and Yankees as another pair of teams in the running for Imai. He adds that Imai’s camp could schedule in-person visits with interested teams following next week’s Winter Meetings — if he hasn’t already agreed to a deal by that point.

The Cubs make a sensible fit for Imai, even after countryman Shota Imanaga accepted Chicago’s $22.025MM qualifying offer, opting to forgo free agency in the process. Manager Craig Counsell’s rotation currently includes Imanaga, Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Colin Rea. Ace Justin Steele is still on the mend from UCL surgery performed last April. He won’t be ready for Opening Day. Javier Assad and Ben Brown could both factor in, too, but both have bullpen experience and minor league options remaining.

Chicago’s interest in bolstering the rotation is well-known. Even after Imanaga opted to return, the Cubs have reportedly been seeking a playoff-caliber starter to add to the top portion of their staff. Imai isn’t necessarily a slam-dunk to fit that description, but his electric stuff and recent performance in NPB suggest he has that ceiling.

Imai, who’ll turn 28 next May, has posted a sub-3.00 ERA in each of the past four NPB seasons — headlined by a career-low 1.92 mark in 163 innings in 2025. Along the way, he’s steadily increased his strikeout rate while at the same time lowering his walk rate. Those improvements culminated in last year’s dominant season, wherein Imai punched out 27.8% of the batters he faced and cut his walk rate to a tidy 7%. He’s one of NPB’s hardest throwers, topping out around 99 mph and sitting more comfortably in the mid-90s. Imai complements that pitch with a slider, splitter and changeup.

Signing Imai would push Rea back into his familiar swingman role and could even create a logjam if everyone is healthy once Steele finishes off his rehab from surgery. That’s wishful thinking, however, given the proliferation of pitching injuries throughout the sport. And if the Cubs do manage to have a full contingent of healthy rotation arms at that point, it’d fall under the “good problem to have” cliche. A playoff rotation including a healthy Steele, Horton and Imai could be formidable.

The Phillies, meanwhile, haven’t been big players in free agency for pitchers — at least not to the extent they have with hitters — outside of retaining homegrown Aaron Nola on a seven-year contract. However, that decision is now one of many contributing to a far shakier outlook than we’re used to seeing with the Philadelphia rotation.

Left-hander Cristopher Sanchez broke out as a top-tier arm with this year’s runner-up finish in Cy Young voting, but the rest of the staff has more questions and/or dwindling club control. Ranger Suarez is already a free agent. Zack Wheeler underwent thoracic outlet surgery late in the season. He’s owed $84MM over the next two seasons. Nola struggled to the worst extent of his career, posting an ERA north of 6.00 in 2025. Jesus Luzardo is a quality mid-rotation arm but will be a free agent next winter. Taijuan Walker is also entering the final season of a four-year deal. He rebounded to an extent in 2025, but the first two seasons of that $72MM pact were a disaster. Andrew Painter has long been one of the game’s top pitching prospects, but he was hit hard in Triple-A during his return from 2024 Tommy John surgery.

Obviously, the Phillies already have a lot of money on the long-term books — but perhaps not to the extent some might think. Nola, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper are the only players signed beyond the 2027 season. A backloaded deal for Imai — likely one including at least one opt-out opportunity — could make his salary more manageable in years one and two. Those seasons would dovetail with the remaining years on the contracts of Wheeler (through 2027) as well as Walker (through 2026), Nick Castellanos (through ’26), Jose Alvarado (through ’26) and Matt Strahm (through ’26).

Signing Imai would give the Phillies another large contract on the books but also offers protection against a potentially thinned-out starting group come 2027. Luzardo and Walker are free agents at that point. Painter hasn’t pitched in the majors yet. It’s hard to know what to expect from Wheeler and Nola in 2026 — let alone 2027. Imai (or another multi-year rotation acquisition) could provide some protection, although he’s obviously an untested commodity himself (at least against MLB opposition).

On paper, the Yankees’ rotation need is the least acute of this group. Gerrit Cole could be back relatively early in 2026. Max Fried was dominant in his first season in Yankee Pinstripes. Carlos Rodon was outstanding in 33 starts. Luis Gil, Cam Schlittler and Will Warren are all impressive-looking young starters. Clarke Schmidt could be back late in the season after July Tommy John surgery.

The Yankees already have three pitchers on contracts valued at $162MM or more. Imai would very likely require a fourth commitment of over $100MM and do so at a time when the team is facing questions in the infield and in the outfield. If the Yankees believe Imai can pitch at or near the top of a major league rotation, however, they could sign him and use some of their young pitching and/or prospect depth to make compelling offers for bats on the trade market. It’s a thin offseason with regard to free-agent hitters, after all.

Whoever signs Imai will need to do so within the next four weeks. His posting window closes Jan. 2. The team to sign him will also owe a separate release fee to the Lions in NPB. That fee will equal 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any guaranteed money thereafter. Additional earnings unlocked via incentives, escalators and club option years would also be subject to that 15% rate once they become guaranteed.

Mets Interested In Joe Ryan

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The Mets have been perusing the trade market in hopes of bolstering their rotation and have their eye on Twins right-hander Joe Ryan as one of several targets, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. He adds that the Twins like young Mets righty Jonah Tong — hardly a surprise, given that Tong is widely regarded as one of the sport’s top pitching prospects.

As recently as the All-Star break, the idea of the Twins trading Ryan seemed far-fetched. Minnesota spent the entirety of the first half hovering around .500 and keeping themselves in the AL Central/Wild Card races. The Twins cratered coming out of the Midsummer Classic enough to push ownership and the front office into sell mode. What was originally thought to be a soft sale of primarily rental players instead turned into a staggering dismantle of the roster. The Twins traded 11 players in the final week of July.

Notably absent from that swath of trades was the 29-year-old Ryan. He drew plenty of interest, with the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers among those reported to be in pursuit. But given his affordable salary and multiple years of remaining club control, the asking price was understandably steep. No deal materialized.

Ryan is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn an eminently affordable $5.8MM in 2026 — his penultimate season of club control. He’d be owed one more raise next winter before reaching free agency post-2027. It’s an unequivocal bargain for a pitcher who’s logged a 3.50 ERA with a 27.8% strikeout rate and just a 5.1% walk rate across the past two seasons (3.79, 27.6% and 5.7% in his career, respectively).

What’s not yet clear, however, is how aggressively the Twins will explore trades for Ryan — if they do at all. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey suggested earlier in the offseason that he’d yet to be given a firm budget by ownership. That seems hard to believe, but the Twins have ostensibly been in the process of finalizing the addition of two significant minority investors for months now. To this point, there’s been no firm indication that the addition of those partial stakeholders — and any influx of cash they might bring to the table — has been finalized.

Falvey plainly stated that unless or until he hears otherwise, his offseason focus will be on adding pieces to help the 2026 Twins — not further subtracting from the roster. It’s been quiet for the Twins all offseason with the exception of some small-scale moves leading up to the non-tender deadline and Rule 5 protection deadline. Minnesota acquired Alex Jackson from the Orioles, giving them a backup to starting catcher Ryan Jeffers, and they also nabbed reliever Eric Orze in another small trade with the Rays.

That’s the extent of the Twins’ activity thus far, making it tough to get a read on whether Falvey & Co. might genuinely be given the green light to add to the club or whether a further teardown will take place. If Ryan and/or Pablo Lopez (owed $43.5MM through 2027) are traded this winter, then it’s only logical that Jeffers (entering his final year of club control) would be on the table as well. And though star center fielder Byron Buxton said on record in August (even after the deadline sell-off) that he wanted to stay in Minnesota and had no desire to waive his no-trade clause, offseason reporting has suggested that if the Twins further subtract from the roster, he may change his tune.

Ultimately, Ryan’s availability (or lack thereof) will come down to the Pohlad family’s willingness to invest some of those deadline cost-savings back into the roster. The Twins’ current payroll projection ($95MM, per RosterResource) is nearly $50MM south of last season’s Opening Day figure. In theory, there’s room for Falvey to turn around and spend a fair bit of money, even if payroll won’t climb back into the $140-145MM range, but he doesn’t have final say over the budget.

If the Twins do make Ryan available, Tong is a sensible target as a potential headliner in the trade. The 22-year-old righty was hit hard in his first 18 2/3 MLB frames late in the season, but Tong’s blazing ascension up the Mets’ minor league ranks in 2024-25 catapulted him into the game’s top 50 overall prospects at Baseball America, MLB.com and FanGraphs.

Tong, a 2022 seventh-rounder, has laid waste to minor league lineups in each of the past two seasons, climbing from Low-A in early ’24 to the Mets’ big league rotation this past September. In 2024, the wiry right-hander pitched 131 innings with a 3.03 ERA, 34.2% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate as he climbed to Double-A. Tong returned to Double-A to begin the ’25 campaign and was bumped to Triple-A late in the season. He pitched a combined 113 2/3 minor league frames and recorded an immaculate 1.43 ERA with an eye-popping 40.5% strikeout rate against a 10.6% walk rate.

One way or another, next week’s Winter Meetings figure to bring some clarity on the Twins’ direction. No one is expecting them to dive headlong into the deep end of free agency, but if ownership is comfortable with even a diminished $120-125MM payroll, that might be enough to spur the front office into some midlevel additions in hopes that with some steps forward from a deluge of young big leaguers, a return to Wild Card contention is possible. If payroll is mandated to be kept under $100MM or pared back even further, however, then the prospect of trades involving Ryan, Lopez, Jeffers and even Buxton become far more realistic — if not likely.

Dodgers Have Discussed Teoscar Hernandez In Trade Talks

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Though the Dodgers are in the market for an outfielder, they’ve also discussed the possibility of dealing from their current group. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that Teoscar Hernandez’s name has popped up in some of the front office’s trade talks with other clubs, though the team doesn’t feel a deal is likely.

Hernandez, who turned 33 in October, is coming off a down season at the plate. His .247/.284/.454 batting line (102 wRC+) was his weakest since establishing himself as a major leaguer. He bounced back somewhat with a nice overall postseason showing, though, and Hernandez still ripped 25 home runs during 134 regular season games (546 plate appearances). This year’s 24.5% strikeout rate, while higher than league average, was the lowest of Hernandez’s career. Then again — that’s also true of his lowly 4.8% walk rate.

Hernandez’s batted-ball profile is still solid; his average exit velocity, hard-hit rate and barrel rate are all better than league average. However, he’s seen noticeable dips in each area over the past two seasons, which corresponds with a decline in his bat speed, as measured by Statcast. As someone who’s practically an all-bat player at this point in his career, the trend lines are fairly concerning.

That’s particularly true for a Dodgers club that can’t transition Hernandez to designated hitter, due to the presence of Shohei Ohtani. Hernandez drew roughly average marks for his right field glovework in the eyes of Defensive Runs Saved, but Statcast was far more bearish, dinging him for negative-9 Outs Above Average. Statcast pegged Hernandez’s range in just the third percentile of MLB outfielders. He’s never had a positive OAA mark dating back to his 2016 MLB debut, nor has he ever topped a +1 DRS mark in his ten big league seasons.

Hernandez is entering the second season of a three-year, $66MM contract signed in free agency last winter. He’s still owed $33MM over the next two seasons — $12MM in ’26, $14.5MM in ’27 and a $6.5MM buyout on a 2028 club option — though $16MM of that sum is deferred and will not begin to be paid out until 2031.

Home runs notwithstanding, Hernandez is a questionable corner-only defender whose OBP flatlined at a career-worst .284 in 2025. By measure of wRC+, he was only 2% better than the average big league hitter in 2025. It’s fair to wonder whether he could match that $33MM guarantee if he were a free agent at the moment. Hernandez is a prominent name, and the five dingers he smacked in the playoffs are fresh in everyone’s memory, but his stock isn’t exactly at a high point. In terms of WAR, both FanGraphs (0.6) and Baseball-Reference (1.5) felt this was his worst or second-worst performance in a full season.

Trading Hernandez would create a bevy of possibilities for Los Angeles as they look to improve their defense. With so many versatile players on the roster (e.g. Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman, Andy Pages, the recently re-signed Miguel Rojas), the Dodgers boast innumerable potential defensive alignment and could thus pursue a wide range of free agent and trade targets.

Notably, Rosenthal echoes previous reporting from colleague Fabian Ardaya, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and others in suggesting that Kyle Tucker will likely command more than the Dodgers prefer to spend; they’d reportedly be amenable to a shorter-than-expected deal, but Tucker still seems likely to command a significant long-term pact.

Even if a (still very hypothetical) Hernandez trade wouldn’t pave the way for an earnest pursuit of Tucker, shedding his salary and freeing up roster space would bring about ample room for creativity. Speculatively speaking, the Dodgers could rekindle their deadline interest in Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan, make a run at one of the Red Sox’ likely available outfielders (Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu) or once again jump into the fray for a versatile Cardinals utilityman (Brendan Donovan). If they’re open to shifting Betts back to the outfield, the possibilities expand even further.

Giants To Hire Ron Washington As Infield Coach

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The Giants are hiring former Rangers/Angels manager and former Athletics/Braves coach Ron Washington as their infield coach for the upcoming season, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports.

Washington, 73, was a first base coach, third base coach and infield coach with the Athletics from 1996 to 2006. He left the A’s for an eight-year stint as the manager for the division-rival Rangers, guiding Texas to consecutive World Series appearances in 2010-11 — though the Rangers ultimately fell short in both instances. The Giants won a 4-1 World Series in 2010, and Washington’s Rangers fell to the Cardinals in a seven-game classic in 2011. One of the key factors in that 2010 World Series was then-rookie catcher Buster Posey, who’s now San Francisco’s president of baseball operations.

After his run as the Rangers’ skipper, Washington returned to Oakland for the 2015-16 seasons, stepping back into his old role of third base coach. The Braves interviewed Washington for their managerial vacancy in the 2016-17 offseason and were impressed enough to hire Washington to the coaching staff despite ultimately giving the skipper’s role to Brian Snitker. Washington spent seven seasons in Atlanta as third base and infield coach, winning a World Series ring in 2021, before being hired as the new Angels manager in the 2023-24 offseason.

Washington’s time in Anaheim would only last one-plus seasons. The 2024 Halos lost 99 games and finished in last place in the AL West. In 2025, Washington only managed 74 of the team’s 162 games. He stepped away from the club due to health reasons in mid-June and revealed a couple months later that he’d undergone a quadruple bypass procedure. Bench coach Ray Montgomery took over for him on an interim basis. Washington had said he hoped to return to his managerial post with the Angels in 2026, but the team opted to make a change and hire someone from the opposite end of the experience spectrum: former big league catcher Kurt Suzuki, who’ll be in his first year as a coach or manager next season.

This will be Washington’s 21st overall as a major league coach. Add in his decade of managerial experience, and Washington has spent more than 30 years as one of the game’s most respected coaching/managerial minds. He’ll inherit a pair of talented defenders on the left side of the infield in Matt Chapman and Willy Adames, but Washington will be a vital piece of the puzzle as the Giants continue familiarizing Rafael Devers and young slugger Bryce Eldridge with the intricacies of first base. He’ll also give new skipper Tony Vitello an experienced ear on which to rely as he makes the transition from college ball to managing at the professional level.

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