NPB’s Chunichi Dragons To Post Shinnosuke Ogasawara
The Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball have granted left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara‘s request to be posted for MLB teams, per a report from Yahoo Japan. He’ll be available to big league clubs in free agency this winter and is being represented by WME. A formal date for his posting has not yet been determined, but he’ll have 45 days to negotiate with MLB clubs once posted. If no deal is reached, Ogasawara will return to the Dragons for the 2025 season.
Ogasawara just turned 27 years old earlier this month. He’s already a veteran of parts of nine NPB seasons, having made his Central League debut as an 18-year-old back in 2016. Listed at 5’11” and 183 pounds, he’s of slighter frame than the typical big league starter but has started at least 23 games and topped 140 innings in each of the past four seasons. That includes a career-high 160 2/3 innings with the Dragons in 2023.
This past season, Ogasawara tossed 144 1/3 innings and notched a solid 3.12 ERA with an outstanding 3.7% walk rate — the best mark of his career. Unfortunately, that pinpoint command came with a career-worst 13.6% strikeout rate that will limit Ogasawara’s appeal. To his credit, Ogasawara has missed far more bats in the past, punching out 24% of opponents as recently as 2022 and fanning 20.1% of opponents in 2023. In both instances, he had higher but nevertheless strong walk rates (6.7% and 6.1%, respectively).
Video of Ogasawara reveals a pitcher who sits in the 91-93 mph range with his four-seamer, complementing the pitch with a low-80s changeup and a slow knuckle curve that sits in the low 70s. Neither Ogasawara’s frame nor velocity stand out, but both are relatively comparable to those of 5’10”, 175-pound Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga. Ogasawara’s camp may try to make that comparison, but Imanaga consistently posted lower earned run averages and far superior strikeout rates in NPB (29.5% in his final season with the BayStars). That said, Ogasawara is three years younger than Imanaga was at the time of posting. A multi-year deal seems plausible, though likely not at the same levels as Imanaga’s $53MM guarantee (which can grow to $79MM based on club/player options).
For those in need of a reminder or an introduction to the NPB/MLB posting system, NPB clubs are allowed to “post” players for MLB teams to bid on prior to those players reaching free agency for the first time (nine years of service, under NPB rules). Any major league team can negotiate with the player and his representatives to negotiate a contract for any amount — provided the player is at least 25 years old and has at least six seasons of professional experience. (Players under 25 and/or with fewer than six years of experience are deemed “amateurs” by MLB and restricted to minor league deals and hard-capped signing bonuses.)
The posting window lasts 45 days but can reach a conclusion earlier, depending on when the player in question strikes a deal to his liking. In addition to paying the player the agreed-upon guarantees in the contract, the MLB team will also be on the hook for a release fee to the player’s former team. That fee is equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter. Contractual factors like club options, incentives based on innings/plate appearances, awards bonuses, etc. are all subject to being included in the release fee as well, once those earnings are unlocked.
Paul Blackburn Undergoes Spinal Procedure
The Mets announced Tuesday that right-hander Paul Blackburn underwent a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak repair procedure on October 11. The typical timeframe to return to play from a procedure of this nature is four to five months, per the club.
A timetable of four to five months would put Blackburn on track to be ready early or midway through spring training, assuming all goes according to plan with his rehab. That said, it’s a notable enough procedure that it calls into question whether that spring opportunity will come with the Mets or another club. Blackburn is eligible for arbitration this winter and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn a $4.4MM salary for the 2025 campaign — his last one before free agency. That’s a reasonable enough price to pay for a fourth/fifth starter of Blackburn’s caliber, but the Mets are also expected to carry a weighty luxury tax bill. If they again return to the top penalty bracket, Blackburn could wind up costing them more like $9.25MM, given the team’s tax status.
Blackburn might’ve been a non-tender candidate anyhow and unfortunately now seems likelier to fall into that category. If nothing else, the Mets could explore the possibility of trading him to a team in need of back-of-the-rotation depth, though his murky health status would surely prove a sticking point in any such negotiations.
The Mets acquired Blackburn, 31 next month, prior to the trade deadline in a deal sending minor league righty Kade Morris (whom they’d selected in the third round of the 2023 draft) back to the A’s. He only made five starts with the Mets, however, three of them with excellent results (six innings, two or one earned run allowed) and two with disastrous results (combined 11 earned runs in 6 1/3 innings). On the whole, he pitched 24 1/3 innings with a 5.18 ERA during his time with the Mets. Blackburn was placed on the injured list in late August after taking a comebacker off his wrist. Prior to the postseason, the Mets placed Blackburn on the 60-day IL with a spinal fluid leak.
Starting pitching was always going to be one of the focal points of the Mets’ offseason (presumably, along with a pursuit of Juan Soto and an effort to re-sign Pete Alonso). Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and Jose Quintana are all free agents following the World Series (or at least they will be, once Manaea declines a $13.5MM player option). Blackburn could’ve been a key depth arm — a potential fifth starter or swingman — but his health now calls that role into question and only furthers the Mets’ need to add both high-end pitching talent and quality big league depth.
Offseason Outlook: Tampa Bay Rays
Despite significant injuries on the pitching front, the Rays spent much of the season's first half in or on the periphery of the Wild Card chase. The front office took advantage of a seller's market at the deadline even though the club was hovering around .500, bolstering the farm, reducing payroll and setting the stage for what could be a quick turnaround.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Jeffrey Springs, LHP: $21.75MM through 2026 (includes $750K buyout of $15MM club option for 2027)
- Yandy Diaz, 1B: $10MM through 2025 (contract contains $12MM club option for 2026, with no buyout)
- Pete Fairbanks, RHP: $4.667MM through 2025 (includes $1MM buyout of $7MM club option for 2026)
- Shane McClanahan, LHP: $3.6MM through 2026 (McClanahan is arb-eligible for two more years thereafter)
2025 financial commitment: $27.766MM
Total long-term financial commitments: $40MM
Other Financial Obligations
- Wander Franco owed $172MM through 2032; Rays unlikely to pay remainder of contract due to abhorrent allegations against Franco and subsequent legal proceedings in Dominican Republic
- $2MM to Twins for buyout of Manuel Margot's 2025 club option
Option Decisions
- Brandon Lowe, 2B/OF: $10.5MM club option with $1MM buyout (contract also contains $11.5MM club option for 2026 with $500K buyout)
Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projected salaries via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Colin Poche (5.114): $3.4MM
- Zack Littell (5.043): $4.8MM
- Tyler Alexander (5.011): $2.8MM
- Drew Rasmussen (4.111): $2MM
- Dylan Carlson (4.104): $2.7MM
- Cole Sulser (4.031): $1MM
- Taylor Walls (3.092): $1.3MM
- Garrett Cleavinger (3.060): $1.4MM
- Ben Rortvedt (3.043): $1.1MM
- Jose Siri (3.015): $2.3MM
- Richard Lovelady (3.008): $900K
- Shane Baz (2.158): $1.9MM
- Non-tender candidates: Poche, Alexander, Carlson, Sulser, Walls, Lovelady
Free Agents
- None
As we began this year's Offseason Outlook series, the top focus for the Rays was understandably on the team's roster and reshaping an offense that lacked balance, struggled against righties and was far too whiff-prone. While the series was being written, however, a far broader-reaching issue arose. The awful damage stemming from Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene has wrought incalculable, heartbreaking levels of damage on the country's southeast region. The big-picture focus, of course, is on helping those impacted and rebuilding those ravaged communities. In the grand scheme of things, the logistical challenges a natural disaster of this magnitude presents to a baseball team are trivial, at best.
Nonetheless, for the Rays themselves, Hurricane Milton created an unexpected and undeniable challenge the team will have to address. The roof of Tropicana Field was shredded, exposing a stadium interior that does not have a drainage system. It's not yet clear when the facility could return to a serviceable state, but the Rays aren't likely to have their home field available to them to begin the 2025 season. They'll spend as much time and energy this offseason determining where they'll play their home games as they will augmenting their roster. We at MLBTR extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to all affected by the tragedy in the southeast.
Turning to the baseball operations side of the offseason, the Rays have a clear picture of what went wrong. Tampa Bay entered the 2024 campaign with an injury-ravaged rotation. Starters Shane McClanahan (Tommy John surgery), Drew Rasmussen (flexor tendon surgery) and Jeffrey Springs (Tommy John surgery) were set to miss some or all of the 2024 season while recovering from surgery. Former top pitching prospect Shane Baz was finishing off recovery from his own Tommy John procedure, performed late in the 2022 season.
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Padres Plan To Discuss Extension With Mike Shildt
Padres skipper Mike Shildt originally signed a two-year contract when hired to manage the club last offseason, but the club already has interest in keeping him around for a longer period. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller tells the Padres beat that the front office will sit down with Shildt and several members of the coaching staff to see if they can “line up” on a deal to keep them around on longer-term deals (X link via Annie Heilbrunn).
Under the 56-year-old Shildt, the Padres played at a 93-69 pace, good for second in the National League West and a Wild Card berth in the postseason. Shildt’s Padres topped the Braves 2-0 in the first round of postseason play before taking the archrival Dodgers to their limit in a thrilling, back-and-forth five-game National League Division Series. Ultimately, a Friars club that scored 21 runs over the first three games of the series was held scoreless in Games 4 and 5 alike.
Despite that disheartening finish to the season, Shildt’s first year in San Diego has to be considered a success. The Padres’ record improved by 11 games, and San Diego returned to postseason play after missing out on the heels of an 82-80 showing a year prior. As importantly, Shildt quickly won the clubhouse over. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune spoke to several Padres veterans late in the season — many of whom have been with the team for multiple prior managers — and each took the opportunity to heap praise onto the environment and culture that Shildt had brought to the clubhouse. Joe Musgrove, Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado have all played under three different managers in San Diego (four, in Machado’s case), and all effused praise for the job Shildt has done in his first season at the helm.
Of course, while Shildt was new to the Padres organization this season, this certainly wasn’t his first experience managing. He spent three and a half seasons leading the Cardinals’ dugout, and his dismissal in St. Louis registered as a legitimate shock following the 2021 season. Shildt had originally joined the Cardinals as a scout in 2003 before getting into minor league coaching and managing. In 2017, he was added to the big league staff as a quality control coach. He eventually became the team’s third base coach, then bench coach, and then interim manager following Mike Matheny’s firing. He soon shed the “interim” label and was extended on a three-year deal. He was named National League Manager of the Year in 2019.
In the weeks prior to Shildt’s own firing in St. Louis, the Cardinals had gone on an astonishing 17-game September winning streak to come roaring back into postseason contention. They lost a then one-game Wild Card date with the Dodgers, but Shildt was generally seen as an extension candidate following that 2021 campaign. Instead, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak cited “philosophical differences” in cutting ties with Shildt and promoting current skipper Oli Marmol to the post.
Shildt landed on his feet quickly. He took a job in the Commissioner’s Office, working in on-field operations alongside former Marlins general manager Michael Hill. Just six weeks later, he was hired as a player development consultant for the Padres and allowed to work in both roles simultaneously. San Diego had previously interviewed him for their managerial vacancy which wound up going to Bob Melvin, but Shildt received another interview two years later and this time landed the job on his current two-year contract.
Barring an extension, Shildt would head into next year as the proverbial and dreaded “lame duck” manager on an expiring contract, so it’s sensible enough that the Padres — who’ve now employed Shildt in some capacity for three years — are hopeful of solidifying his standing within the organization.
Mets Notes: JDM, Quintana, Manaea
A season filled with OMGs and Grimace memes came to an end this weekend when the Dodgers toppled the Mets in a 10-5 win that propelled L.A. to a World Series showdown and left the Mets looking ahead to the 2025 campaign. New York’s roster is teeming with veteran free agents, and president of baseball operations David Stearns and his staff will have their work cut out for them in reshaping the roster this offseason. Several outgoing Mets free agents made clear they’d have interest in returning, including some aging vets who are getting into the latter stages of their career.
Designated hitter J.D. Martinez joked “pickleball” when asked what the future held for him (video link via SNY). The 37-year-old slugger said first and foremost, his future includes heading home to be with his new daughter, who he has barely seen since she was born in September. Beyond the family time, Martinez made clear that he hopes to continue his playing career but only if teams take the initiative. “I’m not going to come back because I’m begging to come back,” said Martinez. “I’m going to come back because it makes sense. At the end of the day, time is the most valuable thing.”
Presumably, that means there’s a price point at which Martinez won’t feel compelled to commit to further time away from his growing young family. But the slugger also recently appeared on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast and told host Rob Bradford that frustration over a general lack of interest last offseason led him to ponder retirement.
“I felt like it was just an awkward year,” said Martinez (video link). “Here I am, the team’s breaking in five days, and I don’t even have a team yet. Your brain goes into a weird mode, where you’re like ‘Am I playing? Am I not? Am I playing? Am I not? Is this it? Am I retired? … We weren’t asking for anything that, at the time, I feel like other players hadn’t gotten.”
Martinez went on to say that he waited all offseason for offers to materialize and “100%” considered retiring, even telling his best friend: “I think this it. I’m staying home. This is dumb. I’m begging for a job, and I had a .900 OPS last year.”
Heading into the 2024-25 offseason, Martinez won’t be coming off the same type of campaign he enjoyed with the Dodgers in 2023. During his lone year in L.A., he bashed 33 homers and hit .271/.321/.572 in 479 plate appearances. Martinez was still a clearly above-average bat this past season, but a sluggish start after signing late (March 23) and a dismal finish to the season left him with a .235/.320/.406 batting line. That was about eight percent better than average, by measure of wRC+ (108).
An optimist could toss out a slow two weeks to start the season and overlook that finish to see that from mid-May through late August, Martinez hit .251/.336/.459 with 16 homers in 387 plate appearances, but teams won’t be so charitable as to just write those struggles off and focus only on his peak in-season production. Martinez did note that he’s encouraged by his batted-ball metrics even though the ultimate production wasn’t in line with his best work, and to his credit, he maintained excellent marks in terms of exit velocity, barrel rate and hard-hit rate. He also cut back on his career-worst 2023 strikeout rate and improved his walk rate to its highest level since 2019.
Teammate Jose Quintana was more direct and more straightforward in his intentions to return next year. The 35-year-old lefty told reporters (link via ESPN’s Jesse Rogers): “I’m healthy. I feel good. I want to try one more time to win a championship. This was the closest I’ve been in my career. One day I’m going to get the opportunity.”
Quintana, 36 in January, pitched 170 1/3 innings of 3.75 ERA ball for the Mets in 2024 — the second season of a two-year, $26MM free agent deal. His 18.8% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate don’t necessarily support that level of success, but Quintana was a reliable source of innings and has a lengthy track record of quality rotation work in the majors. Starting pitching is always in demand, and he has a good chance at commanding another eight-figure salary on a one-year deal — if not potential to find a similar two-year deal to the one he just completed.
Age considerations aren’t as prominent for 32-year-old Sean Manaea, who’s all but a lock to decline a $13.5MM player option in search of a multi-year deal in free agency. Manaea has signed back-to-back “prove it” deals, so to speak, signing consecutive two-year deals with opt-out opportunities. He opted out of his deal with the Giants following the 2023 season, will opt out of his Mets deal next month, and is now finally in position to command the type of lengthier multi-year deal that’s eluded him to this point in free agency. The Mets will very likely make him a qualifying offer, but even with draft compensation attached to his name, Manaea could command a three-year pact this time around.
The left-hander pitched a career-high 181 2/3 innings, plus another 19 in the postseason. His regular season ended with a 3.47 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. He was hit hard in his final start — the one that ended the Mets’ season — but held opponents to five runs in 17 innings across his first three postseason starts (2.65 ERA).
Time will tell whether Manaea is back in New York, but the southpaw emphasized how much he loved his time with the organization and called the 2024 campaign the best season of his career (link via Christina De Nicola of MLB.com). “I love my time here,” said Manaea. “I love New York. I love the organization. I love all the people here. Definitely give it a couple of days, let the body rest and then we’ll go from there.”
In addition to the trio of Martinez, Manaea and Quintana, the Mets will also see Pete Alonso, Luis Severino, Harrison Bader, Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino, Jesse Winker, Jose Iglesias, Drew Smith and Ryne Stanek all become free agents after the World Series.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of Wednesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Shintaro Fujinami To Play Winter Ball, Plans To Pursue MLB Opportunity
Right-hander Shintaro Fujinami is planning to play in the Puerto Rican Winter League this offseason as he looks to demonstrate his health for interested clubs, he revealed in an interview with Japanese news outlet Sponichi. He hopes to continue playing in the United States for the 2025 season.
Fujinami’s one-year, $3.35MM deal with the Mets for the 2024 season was derailed by injuries. The hard-throwing 30-year-old (31 in April) was expected to have a place in New York’s bullpen but landed on the injured list in spring training due to shoulder troubles and never wound up pitching in the majors. He pitched four scoreless rehab innings between Rookie ball, Class-A and Double-A but was hit hard in 32 frames with the Mets’ Triple-A club. In those 32 frames, he yielded a 6.68 ERA and walked just over 22% of his opponents. Fujinami still sat at a hearty 97.3 mph with his heater and fanned 25.7% of his opponents, but that velocity was down from the prior season and his command was a disaster even relative to his own shaky standards.
Many Mets fans raised an eyebrow at the time of the Fujinami signing. A big league deal for a reliever coming off a combined 7.18 ERA in 79 innings between the A’s and Orioles in 2023 indeed looked curious absent more context. But that ghastly earned run average was skewed by a woeful run of four starts with the A’s to begin his big league career. Fujinami pitched just 15 innings in Oakland’s rotation but yielded 24 runs on 19 hits and 12 walks. He was dropped to the bullpen and, after a rough start in that role as well, found his groove.
Over his final 51 1/3 innings of the 2023 campaign, Fujinami posted a far more palatable 4.21 ERA. That’s still hardly an eye-catching mark, but that earned run average was accompanied by a 25.5% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate — vast improvements from his earlier work. He also averaged a blazing 99.2 mph on his heater during that stretch and coupled that with a sharp 12.7% swinging-strike rate. Fujinami was showing an ability to miss bats both off the plate and in the zone and, at times, looking flat-out dominant (as can be seen in GIF form, courtesy of the indispensable Rob Friedman). A modest one-year deal for a then 29-year-old righty who was once a top pick and prospect alongside Shohei Ohtani in NPB seemed perfectly sensible, particularly for a deep-pocketed club like the Mets.
This time around, a big league deal seems less likely (though not impossible, depending how he looks in Puerto Rico). He’ll be showcasing his health in hopes of generating interest among big league clubs. If he looks healthy and regains some the roughly two miles per hour he lost off his heater in the wake of that shoulder injury with the Mets, he could land an invite to spring training next year and compete for a job in a big league bullpen. MLB clubs are constantly drawn to power arms of this nature, so a non-guaranteed deal should be there if Fujinami is healthy and shows some semblance of improved command.
Twins To Name Matt Borgschulte Hitting Coach
The Twins are hiring Orioles co-hitting coach Matt Borgschulte as their new hitting coach, replacing the recently dismissed David Popkins, as first reported by Brandon Warne. It’s a return to his first professional organization, as Borgschulte was a hitting coach in the Twins’ minor league ranks from 2018-21 before being hired to Baltimore’s big league staff for the 2022 season. Prior to his days as a coach in the Twins system, Borgschulte had been coaching at Southeast Missouri State University.
Borgschulte’s departure is the latest in a shakeup of the Orioles’ coaching staff on the heels of a second-half decline for the club, during which many of the team’s hitters struggled to produce at prior levels. His co-hitting coach, Ryan Fuller, was one of three coaches from whom the club moved on last week. Baltimore still has former big leaguer Cody Asche on manager Brandon Hyde’s staff as the “offensive strategy coordinator,” but it seems there’ll be a change of note in the organization’s messaging to a young core of hitters.
The Twins are plenty familiar with Borgschulte, of course, and will now install him on the club’s big league staff after declining to do so heading into the 2022 campaign. Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets that Borgschulte was a finalist for what was then a vacant hitting coach position that ultimately went to Popkins.
Minnesota is undergoing a similar overhaul to its organizational hitting strategy. Popkins was one of four coaches the Twins cut loose. They also moved on from assistant hitting coaches Rudy Hernandez and Derek Shomon. Hernandez had been at his post as assistant hitting coach for nine years.
Though the second half of the season didn’t go well in Baltimore, Borgschulte clearly had a role in working with the Orioles’ impressive core of young hitters in recent years. It’s impossible to pin an entire organization’s successes or failures on one singular coach, but the O’s have churned out quality hitters like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser in recent seasons while seeing veterans like Anthony Santander and Ryan O’Hearn take their offensive games to new levels. Minnesota will hope for similar strides among its own impressive core of young hitters, including Matt Wallner, Royce Lewis, Edouard Julien and Brooks Lee (among others).
Tigers To Pursue Right-Handed Bat, Additional Pitching Help In Offseason
The clock struck midnight on the Tigers’ Cinderella run in Game 5 of the American League Division Series when Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas swatted a backbreaking grand slam off likely American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, fueling what would eventually become a 7-3 Cleveland victory.
Detroit’s blazing finish to the regular season and spirited postseason run that saw them sweep the Astros in the Wild Card round of play raised expectations surrounding the club and left no doubt about their status as hopeful contenders heading into the offseason. President of baseball operations Scott Harris met with the Tigers’ beat today, discussing the team’s sensational second half and taking a look at the offseason to come (links via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com and Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic).
Among the more prominent takeaways are that the Tigers will pursue a right-handed bat to augment a lineup that Harris believes became too left-handed, as well as additional support on the pitching side of things — both in the rotation and in the bullpen. Harris also downplayed the possibility of cutting ties with struggling veterans Javier Baez and Kenta Maeda. The third-year Detroit president suggested he expects Baez to be in spring training and added that he can see a role for him on the 2025 roster. He added that the Tigers “could have done a better job preparing” Maeda for the 2024 season and that there’s “absolutely” a place for him on the 2025 roster.
Tigers fans have already bristled at the idea of Baez and Maeda returning, although there’d be little point in Harris broadcasting that one or both will be cut loose at this time. Maeda, in particular, is only a year removed from a nice season. With just a year and $10MM remaining on his deal, he could potentially be swapped for another onerous veteran contract if such an opportunity presents itself. The Tigers won’t find a taker for Baez after he’s floundered throughout the first three years of his six-year contract in Detroit, but releasing the remaining $73MM left on that deal is likely more an ownership call anyhow.
Neither of the items atop Detroit’s offseason wishlist should come as a surprise. Detroit struggled against southpaws for much of the season, finishing in the bottom-third of the league in terms of overall production against left-handed opponents. As a collective unit, they slashed .229/.298/.362 versus lefties. The resulting 88 wRC+ indicates that Tigers hitters were 12% worse than league-average against southpaws.
Matt Vierling, Parker Meadows, Colt Keith, Spencer Torkelson, Andy Ibanez and Justyn-Henry Malloy were the only current Tigers with at least 50 plate appearances and better-than-average output against lefties. Each of Keith (27.3%), Meadows (32.3%) and Malloy (34.4%) found that success despite massive strikeout rates against lefties. Each posted a BABIP of .385 or better in those matchups. Some regression should be expected. Among Tigers expected regulars, all of Meadows, Keith, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Trey Sweeney swing from the left side of the plate. That’s also true of top prospect Jace Jung, who’ll be in the mix for third base reps next year, depending on how the offseason shakes out.
The good news for Harris and the Tigers is that the upcoming class of free agent bats is far superior to last year’s crop. Among the notable right-handed bats on the market are Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, Willy Adames, Teoscar Hernandez, Christian Walker, Tyler O’Neill and switch-hitters Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar.
Broadly, Harris voiced confidence that ownership would afford him resources to be active in the market, though he also cautioned that he’s less concerned with pursuing payroll upgrades than he is talent upgrades; put another way, the trade market could well come into play as the club seeks upgrades in the lineup and on the pitching staff. Further, the Tigers’ baseball ops leader touted the flexibility that someone like Vierling gives him in looking to address the lineup. The versatile Vierling’s ability to handle both third base and any spot in the outfield means Harris can pursue upgrades at multiple positions. Hypothetically, Vierling could man the outfield in the event that the Tigers took a massive swing and signed Bregman to handle third base. Similarly, Vierling could take a significant portion of the workload at the hot corner if the Tigers instead wind up adding an outfielder like Hernandez, Santander or O’Neill.
On the pitching side of the coin, additions have seemed like a foregone conclusion. The Tigers utilized only one traditional starter during the playoffs — Skubal — and otherwise went with an all-hands-on-deck approach that manager A.J. Hinch termed “pitching chaos.” Bullpen games were the norm throughout September and into October, with relievers like Tyler Holton, Beau Brieske and Brenan Hanifee all getting into the act. While that made for an entertaining brand of baseball, it also puts a lot of strain on the staff as a whole and requires leaning heavily on a typically volatile group of pitchers (relievers) in terms of year-to-year performance.
Entering 2025, Skubal will be back to reprise his role atop the rotation. He’ll presumably be joined by Reese Olson and Casey Mize, with other rotation candidates including Maeda, Matt Manning, Keider Montero, Ty Madden, Brant Hurter and top prospect Jackson Jobe. Even though the club surely anticipates a huge role for Jobe in the very near future, there’s still room for upgrades while keeping those other arms involved. Hurter has shown plenty of aptitude for relief work during the “pitching chaos” experiment, and he has minor league options remaining — as do Hurter, Montero, Madden and Jobe. Manning will be out of options next season and will be in something of a make-or-break scenario next spring. Speculatively, he could also be someone who draws trade interest if/when Detroit adds to the rotation via free agency or trade.
As is the case with position players, the 2024-25 crop of free agents offers a relatively deep class of arms. Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Max Fried and old friend Jack Flaherty headline the pitching class, but there are other notable free agents including Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, Yusei Kikuchi and Nathan Eovaldi — to say nothing of older short-term vets who know a thing or two about pitching at Comerica Park (i.e. Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer).
From a pure payroll vantage point, there shouldn’t be much that’s off the table for Detroit. The Tigers have previously run player payroll up to the $200MM mark — albeit under the late Mike Ilitch’s ownership; his son, Chris, is now the team’s control person — and currently have only $38.5MM on the books in player salary next year. That comes in the form of a $25MM salary for Baez under his ill-fated six-year deal, a $10MM salary for Maeda and a $3.5MM salary for Keith.
Detroit’s arbitration class features 11 players and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to cost $27.4MM, though a couple non-tender candidates in the group could cut that by a few million. Add in a slate of league-minimum salaries (or close to it) to round out the roster, and the Tigers are looking at about $75-78MM in player salary as things currently stand. That’s not to say fans should expect an all-out blitz in free agency and earnest pursuits of Juan Soto, Burnes and Bregman in conjunction with one another. At the same time, the team’s wide-open payroll outlook would make a legitimate run at Bregman or any other free agent possible.
That applies to potential extension talks as well. Asked specifically about Skubal, Harris instead spoke in generalities about his desire to avoid publicly commenting on individual players’ contract statuses (X link via Woodbery). “You saw what we did with Colt Keith,” said Harris. “We started discussions privately, came to an agreement, and announced it. I don’t think it’s constructive to comment on individuals, and it’s not fair to the players given the sensitivity of those talks.”
Beyond Skubal, there are a handful of logical extension candidates on the Tigers. Brieske and Vierling are reaching arbitration for the first time this winter, and the Tigers could look into modest deals to secure cost certainty and perhaps buy out a free agent year or two. Players like Carpenter, Meadows, Greene, Olson or even Jobe could all be targets as the front office looks to establish a core of long-term contributors in the Motor City. More broadly, Harris emphasized the importance of some of those young players taking the very same type of step that Skubal did in 2024.
“There are too many young players on this roster that can and must improve this offseason,” said Harris. “The gains that they access this offseason with the help of this coaching staff; when we add all those things up when we get to Lakeland in February, they have to outweigh anything we do via external additions. Because there is just too much opportunity on our roster.”
Gary Pettis Won’t Return To Astros’ Staff In 2025
The Astros are parting ways with third base/outfield coach Gary Pettis after 10 seasons, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Pettis hasn’t technically been fired, but his contract expired at the end of the 2024 season and will not be renewed for the 2025 campaign.
Pettis, 66, played in parts of 11 big league seasons, spending the bulk of his time with the Angels but also appearing in three seasons as a Tiger, two as a Ranger and one as a Padre. He never provided a ton of offense, hitting .236/.332/.310 in more than 4200 MLB plate appearances, but he swiped 354 bags and won five Gold Gloves in center field. Those 354 steals are currently tied with Starling Marte for 106th in big league history.
After wrapping up his playing career, Pettis held coaching gigs with the Halos, White Sox, Mets and Rangers from 1995 through 2014. His decade-long stint with the Astros has been the lengthiest stop of his coaching career by far. He’s worked under three general managers (Jeff Luhnow, James Click, Dana Brown) and three managers as well (A.J. Hinch, Dusty Baker, Joe Espada). If he wants to continue his coaching work, he should have ample interest from other clubs given his background in the area.
Moving on from Pettis is, thus far, the only change to Houston’s coaching staff. The club has not yet formally announced its 2025 staff, so it’s possible there will be more turnover revealed in the weeks ahead. The 2024 season was Espada’s first year as manager after six seasons as the bench coach — first under Hinch and later under Baker. Espada retained Baker’s entire coaching staff after taking the reins in Houston heading into the current season, with first base coach Omar Lopez being promoted to bench coach duties, replacing Espada in that regard. Dave Clark, who’d been managing in the Astros’ minor league ranks, joined the big league staff and took over Lopez’s duties as first base coach.