MLBTR Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Good afternoon! I’ll get going in a few minutes, but opening the queue now to let people start asking questions.
- Let’s begin!
Bernie Brewer
- Luis Rengifo signed with the brewers the other day. How do you view this fit?
Steve Adams
- I think the fit is fine. I’d have liked to have seen a bigger swing via the trade market, but I have little doubt that the Brewers will find a way to get Rengifo back to decent-ish form. There aren’t many guys who’ve gone there recently and gotten worse, and they’ve helped plenty of players restore their stock in recent years.It’s a cheap deal, and Rengifo was a solid 1.5 to 2 WAR guy for a few years until this past season. They’re probably a win or so better, maybe two, with improved depth and without spending much.
Jays Fan
- Jays could use a righty bat. Mountcastle rumoured to be on the block. Rare inter-division trade perhaps?
Steve Adams
- Don’t know that I’d feel all that confident that he’d outperform Davis Schneider, who has more defensive utility. Plus, Mountcastle would cost Toronto more than $12MM after the luxury tax. I don’t think it’s a great fit.
Mayo
- Would you be willing to trade a prospect like Mayo for an injured prospect with more of a track record? Like Jones from the Pirates
Steve Adams
- I’m a Jared Jones guy and not as bullish on Mayo as a lot of people in general, so I would absolutely give Mayo up to get Jones.I wouldn’t make that swap if I were the Pirates unless they have some reason to think the stuff won’t come all the way back or that Jones is just going to be constantly injured.
Bounty
- QO for Happ after 2026? Suzuki? Both? Neither? I can see an extension for Happ and the Cubs let Suzuki go for the QO
Steve Adams
- Both are easy QO guys for me if their 2026 season looks like their past few years have
James
- Why woild the Dodgers risk losing both Ibánez and Rortvedt while keeping a player like Ward who they wouldnt even give a cup of coffee to last yr when they had injuries? Seems like they dont trust him.
Steve Adams
- The Dodgers only ever wanted Ibanez/Rortvedt to try to pass them through waivers. Signing them both to one-year deals worth just over $1MM apiece was designed expressly to help each guy pass through waivers, knowing he wouldn’t reject an outright assignment upon clearing because doing so would mean forfeiting the guaranteed salary.
- Ward has options and is thus seen as flexible depth, which they don’t want to give up
Cute Lady
- But is Rengfio really that much better than Durbin?
Steve Adams
- He might be worse, but that’s not the point. Milwaukee clearly wanted to get its hands on Harrison and/or Drohan (and probably feels Hamilton’s floor isn’t that far removed from what they expect from Durbin after some ’26 regression)
Bob Casey
- Does the UCL injury to Pablo Lopez get the Twins to make a move and sign pitcher?
Pablo López Diagnosed With UCL Tear
The Twins received brutal injury news this morning, as right-hander Pablo López has been diagnosed with tearing in his right elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament, general manager Jeremy Zoll announced to reporters (via Dan Hayes of The Athletic). He’s going for a second opinion, but season-ending surgery is on the table for López.
López felt some elbow discomfort following a recent bullpen session. The Twins sent him for imaging but framed that as a precautionary measure. The situation has obviously taken a dramatic turn for the worse. The vast majority of UCL tears require surgical repair, whether it’s an internal brace to repair/strengthen the existing ligament or a full reconstruction (“Tommy John”) procedure. Either situation would end López’s season before it begins.
The 29-year-old López missed considerable time with injury in 2025, making it into only 14 games and pitching 75 2/3 innings. A Grade 2 strain of López’s teres major muscle was the primary issue, but he finished the 2025 campaign on the shelf due to a forearm strain. He was excellent when on the field, working to a 2.74 ERA with a 23.4% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate in 75 2/3 frames.
Now-former president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said early in the offseason that López could have kept pitching through what the team described as a mild forearm strain had the club been in postseason contention. The veteran righty, who’ll be 30 early next month, had a normal offseason. It seems the UCL tear is a new injury that popped up in camp (although even if there was a quiet inkling of a UCL issue late last season, the timing would remain largely unchanged; López would’ve been expected to miss the 2026 season regardless).
López’s injury is a gut-punch to an already thin Twins roster. Starting pitching depth is an organizational strength, but many of the options in camp are well-regarded young hurlers who’ve not yet established themselves in the big leagues. The López injury puts righty Joe Ryan in line as Minnesota’s Opening Day starter. He’ll be followed by bounceback hopeful Bailey Ober (who was hobbled by a hip injury last year) and out-of-options righty Simeon Woods Richardson — a former top prospect who had a nice 14-start finish to his 2025 season after being optioned earlier in the year.
The Twins are deep in rotation upside beyond that trio. Right-handers David Festa, Zebby Matthews, Taj Bradley (acquired at the deadline for Griffin Jax) and Mick Abel (acquired at the deadline for Jhoan Duran) ranked as top-100 prospects prior to their big league debuts. Left-hander Connor Prielipp is currently on a handful of top-100 lists himself. Righty Andrew Morris (the Twins’ fourth-rounder in 2022) and southpaw Kendry Rojas (the headliner in the Twins’ trade of Louis Varland) are both well-regarded arms who rank among the top 15 or so of the team’s prospects and aren’t terribly far from MLB readiness.
Any of those younger arms could step up as a contributor in one of the final two spots in Minnesota’s rotation, but it’s unlikely any of the bunch can replace what a healthy López would bring to the table. The right-hander has a solid 3.61 ERA over his past 141 major league starts (795 innings) and has fanned 26% of opponents against a 6.3% walk rate in that time. López’s blend of plus strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates with the Twins has led to slightly better marks from metrics like SIERA (3.41) and FIP (3.44). The 2023 All-Star hasn’t put everything together for a truly dominant ace-caliber season yet, but most fans and pundits believed him to be capable of doing so; he finished seventh in AL Cy Young voting during that ’23 campaign.
The Twins signed López to a four-year, $73.5MM extension shortly after acquiring him. That deal covered the 2024-27 seasons. López is signed for 2026 and 2027 at $21.75MM apiece, making him the highest-paid player on a stripped-down Twins roster that traded 11 players at last year’s deadline and has only made modest (at best) additions to the roster this winter. The Twins have signed Josh Bell, Victor Caratini and Taylor Rogers to big league deals and also added relievers Anthony Banda and Eric Orze via trade. They have a long list of recognizable veterans in camp on non-roster deals: Gio Urshela, Orlando Arcia, Andrew Chafin, Liam Hendriks, Dan Altavilla, Matt Bowman and Julian Merryweather.
Newly installed executive chair Tom Pohlad, who took over for his younger brother Joe earlier in the winter, has recently spoken openly about the Twins’ ability to further add to the payroll. He recently confirmed to The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman that his club took a late run at Framber Valdez after the lefty lingered on the market and put forth a multi-year offer that was outbid by the division-favorite Tigers.
That certainly doesn’t mean the Twins will go out and make an external addition, but there are still some options if they hope to do so. Right-handers Lucas Giolito and former Twin Zack Littell are among the more notable names who do not yet have a home for the upcoming 2026 season. The Twins are deep in lefty-swinging outfielders and could try to strike up a deal with an Astros club that has long been trying to acquire just that, and there’s a handful of other veteran starters whose names have at least loosely surfaced in trade chatter throughout the winter (e.g. Brady Singer, Patrick Sandoval).
It’s not clear how high the newest Pohlad family member holding the executive chair position is willing to bump the team’s payroll, but the late run at Valdez at least suggests some openness. That should only be natural, however, as the Twins’ payroll is down more than $30MM from last season and more than $50MM from its 2023 peak, when they approached $160MM. There ought to be room to add someone like Giolito, Littell, Sandoval, etc. without breaking the bank. If the team doesn’t stay afloat in the standings through the first few months, that player could be marketed ahead of the trade deadline alongside other veteran trade options.
Braves, Dominic Smith Agree To Minor League Deal
The Braves have agreed to a minor league deal with first baseman Dominic Smith, per Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Roc Nation client will be a non-roster invitee in big league camp.
A former first-round pick and top prospect, Smith looked to be breaking out in 2019-20, when he slashed a combined .299/.366/.571 with 21 homers in only 396 plate appearances for the Mets. He tried to play through a small tear in his right shoulder’s labrum the following season and saw his numbers unsurprisingly crater. In 2024, Smith suffered a broken hamate bone in his right hand that required surgical repair, and surgeons suggested at the time that he may have had a stress reaction in that hand for several seasons, based on the way things looked in the aftermath of the injury.
From 2021-24, Smith tallied 1538 major league plate appearances but hit only .241/.311/.360 — nowhere close to that 2019-20 peak. Some degree of regression always seemed likely, but a decline so precipitous was nonetheless a bit surprising. Knowing with the benefit of hindsight that Smith was playing through multiple injuries of note help to explain that yearslong dip.
The 2025 season wasn’t back to peak levels, but Smith took 225 plate appearances with the Giants and posted an above-average .284/.333/.417 batting line (111 wRC+). He was heavily shielded from lefties and hit only .200/.259/.280 in 27 plate appearances versus southpaws, but Smith tagged righties at a stout .296/.343/.436 clip. He also posted a respectable .255/.333/.448 line in 45 games with the Yankees’ Triple-A club before landing in San Francisco.
There’s no obvious path to regular playing time in Atlanta for Smith — not with Matt Olson entrenched at first base and a rotation of four veterans to split time between the outfield and designated hitter (Jurickson Profar, Ronald Acuña Jr., Mike Yastrzemski and Michael Harris II). Smith gives Atlanta some depth at first base in the event of an Olson injury, however, and he could step into a more prominent DH role if there’s an injury to any of those four outfielders.
The Braves’ bench is also pretty light on offense, with utilityman Brett Wisely and fourth outfielder Eli White penciled into roles at present due to both being out of minor league options. Smith isn’t your quintessential big lefty bat off the bench, but he’s coming off an above-average season at the plate (particularly against righties) and at least has some minimal experience in left field in addition to his large sample of work at first base.
The Braves only just reacquired Wisely last week (for cash) and as such certainly are not fully committed to giving him a roster spot. White can handle all three outfield positions while Jorge Mateo and Mauricio Dubon (who’ll start at shortstop while Ha-Seong Kim is on the injured list) give the Braves plenty of defensive versatility if they want to carry a more limited lefty bat like Smith on the bench to begin the season.
Pirates Sign Marcell Ozuna
Feb. 16: Pittsburgh has officially announced the Ozuna deal. Outfielder Jack Suwinski was designated for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot for the new DH.
Feb. 9: The Pirates and slugger Marcell Ozuna are reportedly in agreement on a one-year, $12MM contract, pending a physical. The CAA client will be paid a $10.5MM salary this year, plus a $1.5MM buyout on a $16MM mutual option for the 2027 season. A mutual option hasn’t been exercised by both parties since 2014, so that option effectively just kicks a portion of the guarantee down the road by a year.
Ozuna turned 35 in November. The 2025 season was a down showing by his standards, but he was still a better-than-average offensive performer overall down in Atlanta. He batted .232/.355/.400 with a career-high 15.9% walk rate, a 24.3% strikeout rate, 21 homers and 19 doubles in 592 plate appearances. That overall line was weighed down by a brutal stretch in the middle of a roller-coaster season. Ozuna raced out to a scorching start in April and May, was one of the league’s worst hitters in June, and then settled in as a slightly above-average hitter for the season’s final three months.
The downturn in production dovetailed with a hip injury through which Ozuna continued to play at less than 100%. It’s impossible to say for certain whether that, age, or a combination of both was the driving factor in last season’s dip in bat speed, but Statcast measured his bat speed at 75 mph in 2023 (86th percentile of MLB hitters), 74 mph in 2024 (81st percentile) and 72.9 mph in 2025 (64th percentile). Accordingly, his typically elite exit velocity and hard-hit rate both fell. Ozuna averaged 89.9 mph off the bat and logged a 44.4% hard-hit rate in 2025. Both are still decent marks, but they’re down considerably from the 92.2 mph and 53.3% marks he posted as recently as 2024.
While Ozuna ought to be an upgrade to Pittsburgh’s lineup overall, the fit isn’t exactly perfect. Beyond the fact that PNC Park is perhaps the worst environment in MLB for right-handed power, the Buccos’ roster is a bit cluttered with corner bats who could use some of the DH time that Ozuna will now command on an everyday basis. Spencer Horwitz and Ryan O’Hearn had been lined up to share time at first base and designated hitter, with O’Hearn perhaps seeing some time in left. Horwitz, after a slow start to his season in 2025, finished the year out on a blistering .314/.402/.539 tear in his final two-plus months of play. He’s locked into an everyday role. O’Hearn can play in the outfield corners, but Bryan Reynolds has one of those two spots locked down.
Signing Ozuna, who has hasn’t played in the field at all in either of the past two seasons (and only logged 14 innings in 2023), likely pushes O’Hearn into an everyday role in the outfield. He has plenty of experience on the grass but rates as a sub-par defender there, whereas he’s an above-average defender at first base. Horwitz does have 604 professional innings in left field to his credit, so he could perhaps be on option in left as well, but all 604 of those frames have been in the minors — half of them back in 2019 and 2021. He’s played some second base, too, but that was a short experiment and the Pirates already acquired Brandon Lowe to man that position.
Presumably, the primary alignment moving forward will have O’Hearn in left field, Lowe at second, Horwitz at first base and Ozuna at designated hitter. It’s not Pittsburgh’s ideal setup from a defensive standpoint, but the Pirates will make that sacrifice in the name of getting some quality bats into the middle of what has typically been one of MLB’s weakest lineups over the past decade-plus. Newcomers O’Hearn, Lowe and Ozuna will join holdovers like Reynolds, Horwitz and Oneil Cruz, giving the Bucs a potentially strong top six in their order at the very least — and that’s before counting shortstop Konnor Griffin, who is the sport’s consensus No. 1 overall prospect and should debut in 2026.
Bringing Ozuna into the fold also seems to formally put an end to Andrew McCutchen‘s second act in Pittsburgh. He could feasibly be a right-handed bench bat who takes some occasional corner outfield reps, but McCutchen played 120 games at designated hitter in 2025. Signing Ozuna clearly displaces him from that role, and it’s hard to see the two fitting together on the same roster. McCutchen recently met with Pirates owner Bob Nutting, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported last week — a meeting that came on the heels of the franchise icon voicing some frustration with the manner in which the team had handled offseason talks.
Adding Ozuna pushes the Pirates’ payroll to $102.25MM, per Ethan Hullihen, which will somewhat remarkably establish a new franchise-record for Opening Day payroll. It’s still a very modest total relative to the rest of the league, but the Bucs have spent more than $50MM in free agency overall and also taken on Lowe’s $11.5MM salary in a trade with the Rays. It’s possible there are additional moves to come. The Pirates have been in the market for third base upgrades as well. That market has been largely picked over, but there are still surely some creative options they can pursue on the trade market.
It’s not clear exactly how much more ownership is willing to boost the payroll, but the team’s reported four-year, $120-125MM offer to Kyle Schwarber and the flurry of subsequent additions pretty clearly indicates that Nutting is willing to spend at levels he has not considered approaching in the past. The Bucs currently have a plus defender at the hot corner in Jared Triolo, but he’s a well below-average hitter who’s capable of fielding multiple spots around the infield, so he could fit nicely in a utility/bench role if GM Ben Cherington can find a third base acquisition to his liking on the trade market.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported Ozuna and the Pirates agreed to a $12MM deal. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the $10.5MM salary and $1.5MM buyout on a $16MM mutual option.
Cubs Sign Shelby Miller
FEBRUARY 15: The Cubs made Miller’s deal official today, and designated Ben Cowles for assignment.
FEBRUARY 13: The Cubs and right-hander Shelby Miller are finalizing a multi-year, major league contract, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that a deal is in place and that Miller is guaranteed $2.5MM over two years but can boost that further based on 2027 incentives. The Excel Sports client is expected to miss the 2026 season after undergoing UCL and flexor surgery in mid-October. As such, it’ll likely be a backloaded two-year arrangement that allows Miller to rehab with the Cubs in 2026 with an eye toward joining their bullpen in 2027.
Miller, 35, has had an unusual career arc. The 2009 first-rounder was a top prospect with the Cardinals and finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting back in 2013. He spent two seasons with St. Louis before being traded to Atlanta for Jason Heyward in the 2014-15 offseason. The Braves got 33 excellent starts out of Miller in 2015 before trading him to the D-backs in a lopsided blockbuster that sent Dansby Swanson — just six months removed from being the No. 1 overall pick in the draft — Ender Inciarte, and former first-rounder Aaron Blair back to Atlanta. Miller’s time in Arizona was an injury-plagued nightmare; he pitched to a 6.35 ERA in 139 innings over the course of three seasons before being cut loose.
Miller bounced around the league for several seasons without much success — including a two-inning stint with the 2021 Cubs, where he was tagged for seven runs — but he’s found a second act to his career as a late-inning reliever. Over the past three seasons, he’s suited up for four clubs, including a much more successful return tour with the D-backs in 2025. Since Opening Day ’23, he’s posted a 3.13 ERA with a strong 25.3% strikeout rate, an 8.2% walk rate, 13 saves and 17 holds in 143 2/3 innings.
Last offseason, Miller and the D-backs agreed to a one-year pact that yielded outstanding results. He pitched 36 1/3 innings for Arizona and turned in a dominant 1.98 earned run average with a 28% strikeout rate. The reunion was cut short by a forearm injury, and the Brewers traded for Miller at the deadline while he was still on the 15-day IL.
Miller went on to make 11 appearances with Milwaukee, pitching well in August before making one lone appearance in September. He faced two hitters, allowing both to reach base, and called for a trainer after feeling what he described as a “pop” in his elbow. Miller later told the Brewers’ beat that an internal brace procedure and flexor repair was presented as an option when he was first placed on the injured list with the Diamondbacks. He wanted to continue to try to pitch that season, knowing he’d likely need eventual surgery and that doing so could mean a full Tommy John procedure, which comes with an even longer rehab window than an internal brace.
The Brewers were aware of the risk at the time they traded for Miller, which is why they didn’t send a prospect back to Arizona but rather just took on $2MM of the $22.5MM Arizona was paying left-hander Jordan Montgomery last year (while Montgomery was rehabbing his own Tommy John procedure). Miller ultimately had Tommy John surgery in October — the second of his career. His first came during that original run with Arizona.
Miller will turn 36 in October, right around the one-year anniversary of his second UCL reconstruction. He’ll have to go on the Cubs’ 40-man roster when the deal is finalized — players cannot be signed and placed directly on the 60-day injured list — but he’ll move to the 60-day IL as soon as Chicago needs to free up another roster spot. He’ll be 16 months removed from surgery by the time pitchers and catchers report to spring training in 2027 (pending a potential lockout related to the expiring 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement).
Brewers Sign Gary Sánchez
Feb. 14: Milwaukee has officially announced the Sánchez deal. The Brewers had room on the 40-man roster, so no corresponding move was needed.
Feb. 11: The Brewers have agreed to terms on a deal with veteran catcher Gary Sánchez, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The MDR Sports client will be guaranteed $1.75MM on the deal.
Sánchez, 33, spent the 2025 season with the Orioles organization but was limited to just 30 games and 101 plate appearances due to wrist inflammation and, more seriously, a sprain of the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He was reasonably productive when healthy, popping five homers and turning in a .231/.297/.418 batting line (100 wRC+).
This will be Sánchez’s second stint with the Brewers in the past three seasons. He spent the 2024 campaign in Milwaukee as well, hitting .220/.307/.392 with 11 homers in 280 plate appearances. He served as a backup to William Contreras and a part-time (40 games) designated hitter that season and figures to reprise that role in 2026.
A former top prospect and an All-Star earlier with the Yankees early in his career, Sánchez has settled into a backup/part-time role in recent seasons. He appeared in 128 games and totaled 471 plate appearances with the Twins in 2022 after being traded from the Bronx to Minnesota, but he’s taken only 648 plate appearances combined in the three subsequent seasons (albeit, in part due to last year’s injuries).
Sánchez developed a reputation as a defensive liability earlier in his career but progressed to the point that he turned in solid defensive marks behind the dish in both 2022 and 2023. He was closer to average in ’24 and slipped back below average in 2025, per both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast, though that was obviously a small sample (175 innings). He’ll return to a Milwaukee club where he’s familiar with some members of the staff (e.g. Brandon Woodruff, Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, Aaron Ashby, Jared Koenig), but the Brewers’ staff has turned over a fair bit even in the roughly 18 months since Sánchez’s initial departure.
The Brewers recently signed veteran catcher Reese McGuire to a minor league deal and invited him to spring training. He’d been in line to serve as the backup to Contreras but now seems likely to be ticketed for Triple-A Nashville — if he doesn’t have an out clause in his contract that allows him to explore other opportunities late in camp.
The addition of those two veterans gives the Brewers the ability to be more patient with top prospect Jeferson Quero, who is widely regarded as the heir to Contreras behind the plate but still has just 59 games and 251 plate appearances of Triple-A ball under his belt. He could push his way into the mix with a big enough season in Nashville, and it’s feasible that he’ll be ready for a full-time look in 2027, when Contreras will be entering his final season of club control (and likely be an offseason trade candidate, as is often the case with top Brewers players who are a year from reaching free agency).
Dodgers, Max Muncy Agree To Extension
TODAY: Muncy’s extension includes escalators based on plate appearances, as outlined by FanSided’s Robert Murray. He can earn up to $2.25MM in bonus money in 2026, as once he makes his 401st trip to the plate this season, Muncy will earn $15K for every PA up to his 550th plate appearance. His $7MM salary for 2027 can be boosted by an additional $3.75MM, since Muncy will earn $20K for each of his 401st through 500th plate appearance of the 2026 season, and $35K for each PA from 501-550. This same $3.75MM bonus structure also applies to the 2028 club option, based on his plate appearances in 2027.
FEBRUARY 12: The Dodgers announced Thursday that they’ve agreed to a one-year contract extension with third baseman Max Muncy. He’s now guaranteed an additional $10MM in the form of a $7MM salary in 2027 and a $3MM buyout on a $10MM club option for the 2028 campaign. Muncy is repped by Hub Sports Management.
As can be seen in a quick look at MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, this is the fourth extension of the past six years between the two parties. Muncy signed a three-year. $26MM contract covering his arbitration years back in 2020 and gave up control over his first free-agent season via a club option in that process. In Aug. 2022, he agreed to a new deal that saw his 2023 club option picked up in advance, with the Dodgers tacking on another year of control via a club option for the 2024 season. Following the 2023 campaign, the Dodgers renegotiated a two-year, $24MM deal with a $10MM club option for the 2026 season, which the club exercised back in November.
The new deal now covers Muncy’s age-36 season (2027) and gives the Dodgers a net $7MM decision on his age-37 campaign. With this contract, he’s effectively locked into spending an entire decade with L.A., as he made his Dodgers debut in 2018 after being cut loose by the A’s and signing a minor league deal.
Muncy will go down as one of the best minor league pickups in recent memory. He immediately broke out in Los Angeles, slashing .263/.391/.582 with 35 home runs in his debut Dodger campaign. He’s been a well above-average offensive performer in each of his eight seasons with L.A. so far, save for the 2020 campaign when his .192/.331/.398 slash checked in a bit shy of average overall (98 wRC+).
Injuries have hobbled Muncy in recent seasons, but he’s remained a threat in the batter’s box whenever healthy. He was limited to 100 games last season thanks to a bone bruise in his knee and an oblique strain, but Muncy still delivered a .243/.376/.470 slash with 19 home runs and a massive (career-high) 16.5% walk rate in the 388 plate appearances he was able to take. He’s averaged just 111 games per season over the past four years and regularly hits for a low average, but his impeccable patience and well above-average power continue to make him a productive player.
Muncy will reach 10 years of major league service on the 145th day of the 2026 season. At that point, he’ll gain 10-and-5 rights (10 years of service, the past five with the same team), granting him full veto rights over any potential trade scenario. Today’s extension all but locks him into third base at Dodger Stadium for the next two seasons. Muncy hasn’t been an option at second base in years now, and across the infield Freddie Freeman is signed through the 2027 season. Shohei Ohtani, of course, will continue to take the team’s at-bats at designated hitter.
Muncy’s glovework has always drawn mixed reviews, and that’s been no different in recent seasons. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged him as an above-average third baseman in each of the past two seasons, while Statcast felt he was average in 2024 and a fair bit below average in 2025. The Dodgers, clearly, are comfortable with any defensive concessions they’ll need to make to keep Muncy’s perpetually excellent on-base percentage and plus power in the lineup — at least against right-handed pitching.
While Muncy crushed fellow lefties early in his career, his numbers in left-on-left matchups have gone south recently. He still held his own against southpaws in 2024 but was well below average in 2023 and again in 2025, when he hit just .157/.250/.314 in 80 plate appearances. Platoon options at third base for the Dodgers include veteran Miguel Rojas and switch-hitting top infield prospect Alex Freeland.
Reds, Nathaniel Lowe Agree To Minor League Deal
TODAY: The Reds officially announced Lowe’s contract. Sheldon reports that Lowe will earn $1.75MM if he makes Cincinnati’s active roster, with another $250K available in contract incentives.
FEBRUARY 13: The Reds and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe are in agreement on a minor league deal, per Mark Feinsand and Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. The SportsMeter client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.
A year ago, the notion of Lowe settling for a non-roster deal would’ve seemed far-fetched. From 2021-24, the now-30-year-old Lowe was the Rangers’ everyday first baseman — and a good one, at that. He slashed a combined .274/.359/.432 (124 wRC+) with 78 home runs, 104 doubles, 10 triples, 13 steals, a strong 11.3% walk rate and a 23.3% strikeout rate that was only a bit north of average. Defensive metrics were bearish on his glove early in his MLB run, but he posted quality marks in both Defensive Runs Saved (4) and Outs Above Average (10) in 2023-24.
As the Rangers began the process of paring down their payroll, they traded Lowe and his $10.3MM salary to the Nationals for left-hander Robert Garcia. The change of scenery didn’t work out whatsoever for Lowe. He appeared in 119 games and tallied 490 plate appearances with a .216/.292/.373 batting line (86 wRC+) before being designated for assignment and released in August. Lowe’s walk rate in D.C. dipped to 9.6%, and his strikeout rate climbed to 26.5%. He was also a bit more prone to pop-ups and hit fewer line drives than he had during his Texas stint.
The Red Sox, needing help at first base, quickly scooped Lowe up and got better production out of the veteran’s left-handed bat. In a smaller sample of 119 plate appearances with Boston, Lowe turned in a .280/.370/.420 slash that pretty closely resembled the production from his time in Arlington. His production was buoyed by a .361 average on balls in play that he’s highly unlikely to sustain, but Lowe was also dogged by a .267 BABIP with the Nationals — a whopping 72 points south of the .339 mark he carried into the season.
With the Reds, Lowe will have a chance to win a prominent role in the lineup. Top prospect Sal Stewart is the presumptive front-runner at first base, but he has all of 18 big league games under his belt. The 2022 No. 32 overall pick belted five homers in that time and had a big year in Triple-A as well (.309/.383/.524, 152 wRC+) but some veteran competition for him won’t hurt. Also in the mix at first base are Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer. The former hasn’t hit in the majors since 2023 and has minor league options remaining, while the latter can play all over the diamond.
There could be occasional DH at-bats available, although the returning Eugenio Suárez will likely take the bulk of those reps in 2026. Suárez could also see time at the hot corner if the oft-injured Ke’Bryan Hayes hits the injured list, which would open up additional avenues to get both Stewart and Lowe into the lineup — assuming Lowe performs well enough to make the roster, of course.
Diamondbacks Sign Paul Sewald
TODAY: Arizona officially announced the Sewald signing, and Justin Martinez was placed on the 60-day injured list in the corresponding 40-man roster move.
FEBRUARY 12: The D-backs are bringing right-hander Paul Sewald back to Arizona on a one-year, $1.5MM contract, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. The agreement is pending a physical. Sewald is represented by ISE Baseball.
Sewald, who’ll be 36 in May, spent the second half of the 2023 season and all of the 2024 season in Arizona after coming over in a deadline trade that shipped outfielder Dominic Canzone, infielder Josh Rojas and infielder Ryan Bliss back to the Mariners. The veteran right-hander battled unusually shaky command but posted solid results down the stretch in ’23 before seeing his overall production take a step back in a 2024 season that was truncated by oblique and neck injuries.
After becoming a free agent following the 2024 campaign, Sewald signed a one-year, $7MM deal in Cleveland. He pitched only 15 1/3 innings for the Guardians, this time due to a shoulder strain. The Tigers picked him up in a small deadline deal despite the fact that he was on the injured list, and he pitched 4 1/3 innings for Detroit late in the year.
Sewald was a tenth-round pick by the Mets back in 2012 and had an unremarkable four-year stint in Queens, pitching to a 5.50 ERA in 147 1/3 innings. He was a minor league free agent gem for the Mariners, however, signing with Seattle ahead of the 2021 season and quickly emerging as a go-to reliever. In two-plus seasons as a Mariner, Sewald pitched 171 2/3 innings with a 2.88 ERA, 52 saves, 24 holds, an enormous 35% strikeout rate and a solid 8.1% walk rate.
We’re now a few years removed from that peak. Sewald’s average fastball sat at just 90.4 mph last season, down 2.1 mph from its peak, and he’s posted a 4.40 ERA over his past 59 1/3 MLB frames. That said, he’s still fanned more than one quarter of his opponents while posting a strong 6.5% walk rate in that time. His slider still grades out as at least an average pitch, if not slightly better, and it’s possible that improved health could add a bit more life back to his heater or bring some additional whiffs back on that breaking ball.
For an Arizona club in dire need of bullpen help, it’s hard to fault the addition of an experienced, generally successful reliever at less than two times the $780K league minimum. Sewald probably won’t return to peak levels, but he doesn’t need to in order to benefit this version of manager Torey Lovullo’s bullpen. The Snakes are without Martinez, A.J. Puk, and Andrew Saalfrank, all of whom will open the season on the injured list. Saalfrank won’t pitch at all this year. Puk is probably out until at least June. Martinez may not be back until late in the summer.
At the moment, the Diamondbacks’ bullpen includes Kevin Ginkel, Ryan Thompson, trade acquisition Kade Strowd and another bargain pickup in righty Taylor Clarke. There’s no shortage of candidates to compete for the final few spots. Brandyn Garcia, Drey Jameson, Philip Abner, Juan Morillo, Andrew Hoffmann and non-roster invitees Jonathan Loaisiga, John Curtiss and Shawn Dubin are among the candidates. Sewald will add some low-cost stability — a veteran reliever who even as his numbers have taken a step back in recent seasons has at least remained serviceable. If things don’t pan out, the Snakes can cut him and move on, but the Sewald reunion is a sensible one, given the team’s lack of bullpen certainty and minimal capacity to further add to the payroll.
Rangers Designate Zak Kent For Assignment
The Rangers announced Friday that they’ve designated right-hander Zak Kent for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to left-hander Jordan Montgomery, whose one-year deal to return to Texas is now official.
The 27-year-old Kent was just claimed off waivers last month, but he’s no stranger to the organization. Texas selected him in the ninth round of the 2019 draft, and the right-hander pitched in their system all the way through 2023 before being traded to Cleveland just prior to Opening Day 2024.
Kent made his big league debut with the Guards in 2025, tossing 17 2/3 innings with a 4.58 ERA, 21.1% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate in that small sample. He spent the bulk of the season in Triple-A Columbus, where he logged a tidy 2.84 earned run average with a huge 31.4% strikeout rate … and also a huge 13.2% walk rate. He sat 93.1 mph with his four-seamer, complementing the pitch with an 85.7 mph slider and an 81.3 mph curveball.
Since the 2025 season ended, Kent has bounced from the Guardians, to the Cardinals, to the Rangers via waivers. He’ll now very likely find himself on waivers once again, though the Rangers could also spend the next five days searching for a trade partner as well. Kent has exhausted his three minor league option years, but Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in December that he’s eligible for a fourth option year (which are typically granted for players who miss significant minor league time with injury or exhaust their first three option years within their first five professional seasons).