MLBTR Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Good morning! Chatting a bit early today, as I have some afternoon commitments. Feel free to send in questions ahead of time, as always. We’ll get going at 11am CT!
- Hello! I’ll get going in a minute. Feel free to start adding questions to the pile!
Question
- How many questions do you guys usually get on these chats?
Steve Adams
- Several hundred. More as we get closer to the Winter Meetings, trade deadline, busier times of year in general. I think last week topped out around 800 participants, and I imagine we’ll hit similar or greater levels this time around
Leave it to Beavers
- Is Bubic available? Would Heston Kjerstad be enough for a 1 for 1 or has his stock fallen too far?
Steve Adams
- The Royals are open to moving a starting pitcher for an outfielder. President of baseball ops JJ Picollo has publicly said as much. Bubic only has one year left before free agency, so he’s certainly someone they’ll listen on.That doesn’t mean they’re outright shopping him, however. And while Kjerstad was a high-profile prospect for several years, I think his stock has cratered so much that I wouldn’t give much consideration to trading Bubic for him. I’m not convinced Kjerstad even makes it through the offseason on Baltimore’s 40-man roster.
DC Fan
- Odds CJ Abrams gets traded? Nunez is pretty good.
Willson Contreras Becoming More Open To Waiving No-Trade Clause
Entering the offseason, two of the Cardinals’ three pricey veterans — Sonny Gray and Nolan Arenado — made clear that they were more willing to waive their no-trade clause this winter than they were last. Gray said he’d “definitely” consider the possibility after chatting with new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom about the team’s direction. He’s already been shipped to the Red Sox. Arenado said he’d consider a broader range of teams this winter than last. He remains with St. Louis and will be extremely challenging to trade given his multiyear decline at the plate and the two expensive years left on his contract.
The Cardinals’ third spendy veteran, first baseman Willson Contreras, said on the final weekend of the season that he’d be open to trade scenarios if they made sense for both the organization and his own personal future but emphasized that his preference was to remain in St. Louis. Now, however, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports that Contreras has become increasingly open to waiving his no-trade protection to greenlight a deal if he deems the new club to be a good fit.
Perhaps seeing Gray moved and witnessing a deluge of rumors about teammates like Arenado, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero, Nolan Gorman and others has proven eye-opening for Contreras. Maybe watching the 2025 postseason simply reignited his aspirations to return to the playoffs. Whatever the reason, it’s notable that Contreras is now signaling a greater willingness to approve a deal.
That doesn’t make it a foregone conclusion that he’ll be traded. Contreras’ contract isn’t as complicated as that of Gray or Arenado, but it’s not exactly a raucous bargain in its own right. He’s guaranteed $36.5MM over the next two seasons, plus a $5MM buyout on a club option for the 2028 season. That’s $41.5MM still guaranteed to him overall. Would a 33-year-old Contreras (34 in May) command that type of contract in free agency right now? It’s possible, but he likely wouldn’t earn much beyond that.
Contreras is coming off a strong overall season. He hit .257/.344/.447 with 20 home runs, 31 doubles, a triple, five steals, a 25.2% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate. By measure of wRC+, he was 24% better than league-average at the plate. His defense at first base — his first year at the new position — drew strong marks from Statcast (6 Outs Above Average) and a roughly average grade from Defensive Runs Saved (-1). It’s not far-fetched to think his glove will improve as he gains more seasoning at his new defensive home.
The Astros signed Christian Walker for three years and $60MM last offseason, a contract that began with his age-34 season. In that sense, one could argue that Contreras’ contract is about market value from an AAV vantage point ($20.75MM AAV on the remaining guarantee) but is more appealing in that it’s a year shorter. Then again, Walker was an elite defensive first baseman who’d his 95 home runs across the three prior seasons; Contreras was a good-not-great defender in ’25 and has hit 55 home runs over the three prior seasons.
The Cards were willing to pay down around half the money remaining on Gray’s contract to get a decent return. They wouldn’t need to eat as much of the Contreras deal to move him, but the more money they absorb, the better the return they can seek. Trading him without paying down any of the remaining salary likely wouldn’t net much of a return at all.
If the Cardinals are willing to eat some of that cash, there should be no shortage of interest in the three-time All-Star. Clubs like the Red Sox (again!), Rangers, Orioles, Guardians, Mets, Marlins and Padres are lacking certainty at first base and/or designated hitter. The Cardinals appear willing to deal within the division, too, which could make Cincinnati or Pittsburgh viable on-paper fits. Could a catching-needy team go outside the box and acquire Contreras with an eye toward putting him back behind the plate? That might be a reach, but it’s a very thin market for catching both in free agency and trade this offseason.
For the Cards, the benefit of trading Contreras is straightforward. Obviously, trimming payroll ahead of a season (likely multiple seasons) where the team doesn’t expect to compete for a World Series would be preferable for ownership. Moving Contreras and including cash in the deal could also net prospect talent of some note, furthering the clear rebuilding efforts.
Trading Contreras would also open first base full-time for Alec Burleson, thereby creating more room in the outfield for players like Joshua Baez, Nathan Church and the seemingly stalled out Jordan Walker (among others). They could also continue giving Burleson some occasional reps in left field and at DH, thus opening more first base reps for Gorman, whose playing time elsewhere in the infield is going to be cut into by top prospect JJ Wetherholt. Then again, Gorman himself could be traded this winter.
Contreras is just one of many Cardinals who could find himself on the move before too long this winter. Bloom & Co. are known to be working to trade Arenado while listening to offers on Donovan, Romero, Nootbaar, Gorman and others. At this point, Contreras and Arenado are the only two Cardinals who are guaranteed any money beyond the current season.
Braves Sign Danny Young
The Braves announced Tuesday morning that they’ve signed left-handed reliever Danny Young to a one-year, major league contract. It’s a split deal, paying the 31-year-old at different rates for time spent in the majors versus time in the minors. Young, a client of Dynamic Sports Group, goes onto Atlanta’s 40-man roster. He’ll be paid at a $925K rate in the majors, MLBTR has learned.
This will be Young’s second stint in Atlanta. He spent the 2023 season with the Braves organization as well, pitching 8 1/3 terrific innings in the majors and struggling in 15 2/3 minor league frames. Injuries limited his time on the field that year, and that’ll be the case in 2026 as well. Young has spent the past two seasons pitching well out of the Mets’ bullpen but underwent Tommy John surgery last May. By signing in Atlanta, he’ll reunite with Jeremy Hefner — his pitching coach with the Mets who has left and taken the same title with the Braves.
Young will open the ’26 season on the injured list as he finishes off the rehab from that Tommy John procedure. A source tells MLBTR that he began throwing last month and is targeting a return to game action before the All-Star break.
Young has pitched in parts of four major league seasons. He’s totaled 60 2/3 innings in that time and logged a 4.01 earned run average with far more intriguing rate stats: 29% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate, 53.3% ground-ball rate. Metrics like SIERA (3.02) and FIP (3.23) feel he’s been far better than his ERA would indicate, which isn’t a surprise considering his solid rate stats but bloated .344 average on balls in play.
Once spring training opens, Young will very likely be transferred to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. If Atlanta needs that spot sooner, they could run him through waivers in the offseason. The salary terms might allow Young to go unclaimed, and while he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, doing so would require forfeiting the guaranteed money on his split major league and minor league rates of pay.
If Young stays on the 40-man roster/60-day injured list until the time of his activation, he’ll give Atlanta another southpaw option in a bullpen that already includes Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer. Out-of-options lefties Dylan Dodd and Joey Wentz are also penciled into bullpen spots at the moment.
Should Young bounce back to form, he’s a potential long-term piece in the Atlanta ‘pen. He enters the 2026 season with only 1.160 years of major league service time, meaning he can be controlled for five more seasons — all the way through 2030. Obviously, there’s a long way to go before that long-term control comes into play, but the fact that the Braves put him directly onto the 40-man roster suggests an openness to plugging Young into the mix beyond the current season if he performs well; notably, Bummer is a free agent following the 2026 campaign.
Shawn Armstrong Hoping To Return To Rangers
Free agent reliever Shawn Armstrong is coming off a career-best season with the Rangers and is hopeful of returning to Texas this offseason, per Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports. Wilson adds that the 35-year-old Armstrong is “likely” seeking a two-year deal, which comes as little surprise given the quality of the season he just had.
The journeyman Armstrong has pitched for four teams in the past two seasons and eight in his big league career. Seeking out some more certainty and stability is understandable, particularly on the heels of a year in which he posted a career-high 74 innings with a sparkling 2.31 ERA. Armstrong punched out 26.1% of his opponents, though his 10.3% swinging-strike rate and 23.3% opponents’ chase rate don’t necessarily support a return to that level of bat-missing. The right-hander’s 7% walk rate was also strong, however, and opponents averaged just 88 mph off the bat against him with a paltry 34.2% hard-hit rate.
Armstrong has had a tumultuous career in terms of year-to-year results. He’s pitched at least eight MLB frames in each of the past 11 seasons but has had trouble sticking in one spot and repeating his best seasons. His ERA marks fluctuate wildly on a year-to-year basis, but in the aggregate, Armstrong has been a quality big league reliever. In 421 1/3 frames, the former 18th-round pick has turned in a 3.82 ERA with a 24.3% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate. That includes a 2.94 ERA over the past three seasons, though that’s broken down in the form of a 1.83 ERA in 2023, a 4.86 mark in 2024 and this past season’s 2.31 level.
In terms of velocity, Armstrong topped out with a 95.3 mph average fastball back in 2022. He was down to 93.5 mph in 2025, but that mark was slightly better than last year’s 93.3 mph mark. As with his run-prevention numbers, Armstrong’s velocity readings have oscillated over the years. He complements his four-seamer with a cutter, sinker and slider, using the four at similar clips (between 23.4% and 29.1%).
The Rangers entered the 2024-25 offseason in desperate need of a bullpen overhaul. They achieved that goal almost exclusively via one-year deals in free agency. Beyond trading Nathaniel Lowe for Robert Garcia, Texas signed Armstrong, Chris Martin, Hoby Milner, Luke Jackson and Jacob Webb to one-year contracts. All of those deals, other than Jackson, paid off handsomely. It was an impressive run of bargain-level success stories, but because Texas operated primarily in the one-year deal bin, the Rangers watched nearly their entire bullpen hit free agency this offseason. They’ll need to similarly restock the shelves this offseason, and replicating that level of success will be a tall order.
Whether Texas will shell out the type of money necessary to retain Armstrong at peak value is entirely unclear. The Rangers haven’t been shy about the fact that payroll is going down. They already traded the final three seasons of Marcus Semien‘s contract for five years of Brandon Nimmo, who has a lighter annual luxury-tax hit. Nimmo said he only agreed to waive his no-trade clause with the Mets after talking to Rangers president of baseball ops Chris Young and being assured that Texas is not heading into a rebuild. Be that as it may, the Rangers are spending less.
Wilson speculates that if Armstrong is seeking a two-year deal similar to the one signed by former Rangers bullpen-mate Phil Maton — the Rangers added Maton and Danny Coulombe at the trade deadline — that might be too steep. Maton landed two years and a total of $14.5MM with the Cubs. He adds that both Milner and Coulombe live in the area and thus might be more amenable to signing back in Texas at slightly on affordable deals.
Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Steve Adams
- Good afternoon! Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. I'll get going at 3pm CT today, but as always, feel free to send in some questions in advance if you prefer!
- Hey there! We'll get started a few minutes early today
JeDi Mind trick
- Is Tatis really available? What kind of package from the M’s would it take?
Steve Adams
- Tatis isn't going to be moved, no. The Padres have payroll concerns, but the idea of them trading Tatis isn't really rooted in much more than wishcasting.Plus, he still has nine years and $286MM to go on his contract. Moving a contract of that size and lining up on younger talent going back to San Diego would be an immense undertaking. And I don't know that the Mariners are looking to add another $250MM+ outfielder alongside Julio.
Next Rangers moves?
- What are the chances of the Rangers signing Luis Arraez for 3B and getting either Yates or Robertson back to close?
Steve Adams
- I have seen fans -- Rangers, in particular -- suggest Arraez at second base and third base. I cannot fathom a team playing him regularly at third base, and second is only moderately more likely. If you sign Arraez, just play him at first base.I also doubt Texas is spending that type of one-year money on a reliever, though I suppose maybe Robertson's price isn't all that high after a so-so run in his return to Philly
Cody Ponce should sign with...
- Plenty of teams need pitching. Cody Ponce is a very interesting name for a variety of teams; especially those that would be more comfortable with handing out shorter term contracts to starters. Given that Ponce appears in line for a contract worth $10M to $14M a year over 3 or 4 years, which teams do you see as being the most aggressive/better fits for him?I could see the Brewers, Orioles, and Giants being the most aggressive for him due to need and cost.
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Latest On Cody Ponce
Right-hander Cody Ponce left South Korea this past weekend to travel back to the United States, per a report from Bae Young-Uen of the Korea JoongAng Daily. Ponce and his wife welcomed a daughter in early November and had been planning to remain in South Korea through the end of the year as a result, but interest in the right-hander has picked up enough that he’s traveling back to North America earlier than anticipated (presumably for some in-person meetings).
Interest in the 6’6″ righty indeed appears strong. Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo of The Athletic reported this morning that Ponce could more than double the $15MM guarantee secured by Erick Fedde in his return to Major League Baseball from the Korea Baseball Organization two offseasons ago. Clubs are generally expecting Ponce to command a three-year contract, per The Athletic report. Fedde’s $15MM guarantee is the largest a North American pitcher has received upon returning from the KBO, so doubling that (or more) would establish a new precedent.
Topping $30MM would be fairly sizable risk on a 31-year-old (32 in April) who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2021 and has never had much big league success. Ponce, however, was recently named the KBO MVP after a historically dominant season. Pitching to a 1.89 ERA in 180 2/3 innings with the Hanwha Eagles, Ponce set the single-season strikeout record (252) and the single-game strikeout record (18) in South Korea’s top league. He fanned a comical 36.2% of his opponents with a mammoth 16.5% swinging-strike rate and just a 5.9% walk rate.
Back in 2020-21, Ponce threw 55 1/3 innings for the Pirates, who’d acquired him from the division-rival Brewers. The former second-round pick was roughed up for a 5.86 ERA in 55 1/3 innings and struck out only 19.6% of his opponents.
Things have changed for Ponce since that first MLB run. He’s spent three years pitching in Japan and a fourth (2025) in Korea. The 255-pound righty has added substantial velocity, jumping from a 93.2 mph average fastball with the Pirates to what The Athletic’s Eno Sarris suggests was a 95 mph average with the Eagles.
Evaluators who spoke to MLBTR last month ahead of our Top 50 Free Agent List (where Ponce ranked 39th) offered similar reviews, noting that he sat 94-96 mph and topped out at 98 mph. Ponce has also added a splitter and kick changeup that have missed bats. A scout who spoke to MLBTR brought Ponce up unprompted when discussing other free agents from Japan’s NPB and the KBO, opining that he might top $20MM. That was before free agency opened in earnest.
If there was any doubt about Ponce’s looming return to MLB, the Eagles’ actions since season’s end likely erase that. The JoongAng Daily report indicates that Hanwha has already effectively replaced Ponce by signing 26-year-old righty Wilkel Hernandez, who spent the past several seasons pitching with the Tigers’ Triple-A club. If the Eagles felt there was any chance of retaining their ace and reigning MVP, they’d surely have waited, as KBO teams are restricted on the number of foreign players they can roster.
Rays Hire Brandon Hyde As Senior Advisor To Baseball Operations
Dec. 1: The Rays announced Monday that Hyde has joined the organization as a senior advisor to the baseball operations department.
Nov. 26: Former Orioles skipper Brandon Hyde is in talks with the Rays about taking a position within the organization, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. The two parties have been discussing a senior advisor role that would see Hyde work with both the major league club and various minor league affiliates, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times adds. Murray indicates that while an agreement has not yet been finalized, Hyde is expected to end up working for the Rays for the upcoming season.
Hyde, 52, managed the Orioles from 2019-25. In his seven seasons with Baltimore, his clubs produced a 421-491 record. Judging any manager based on wins and losses alone is a frivolous endeavor, though, and that’s especially true of Hyde, whose first season in Baltimore coincided with a complete teardown and rebuild of the organization. Following the 2018 season, the Orioles dismissed general manager Dan Duquette, hiring current president of baseball operations Mike Elias in his place. Elias installed Hyde as his new skipper but also gutted the roster and spent several seasons tanking while working to rebuild the farm system and modernize the infrastructure of the organization.
Hyde oversaw winning teams each season from 2022-24 and was named 2023 AL Manager of the Year after the O’s won the American League East and piled up 101 victories. The Orioles went to the postseason in both 2023 and 2024 but were swept out of the playoffs both times — first in the ALDS by the eventual World Series champion Rangers and next by the Royals in the 2024 Wild Card round of play.
The Orioles entered 2025 with big expectations but floundered out of the gates thanks to a clear lack of starting pitching and a lineup that wasn’t performing as expected. By mid-May, the 15-28 Orioles had seen their season already slip away. Hyde was dismissed from his managerial post and replaced by third base coach Tony Mansolino on an interim basis.
Prior to his time at the helm in Baltimore, Hyde was a bench coach and first base coach with the Cubs. Before that, he spent two seasons as the Marlins’ bench coach plus several years as a manager, hitting coach and field coordinator in Miami’s minor league ranks. A catcher and first baseman in his playing days, Hyde also spent four years playing in the White Sox’ system before moving onto the coaching and managerial phase of his career.
Tigers Interested In Re-Signing Kyle Finnegan
Right-hander Kyle Finnegan was quick to say after the season that he enjoyed his time in Detroit after coming over in a deadline deal with the Nationals and that he’d be open to a return. Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg tells Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press that the interest is mutual, citing Finnegan’s open-mindedness to the adjustments the Tigers suggested as well as his strong results and his “impact” in the clubhouse.
A year ago at this time, Finnegan was coming off a brutal finish to his 2024 season and was actually non-tendered by the Nats. Petzold reports that the Tigers had interest in him last offseason, but Finnegan opted to return to Washington on a lesser guarantee ($6MM) than his projected arbitration price — particularly when factoring in some deferred money. Finnegan bounced back with a solid first four months in D.C., but it was the trade to the Tigers that really seemed to elevate his status. New coaching and a much heavier slate of data tailored to his strengths and weaknesses coaxed a new level of performance out of Finnegan. He’s always thrown hard but never missed bats like one might expect from someone sitting 97 mph with his heater.
The Tigers had Finnegan throw his splitter at career-high rates and slightly raised the horizontal release point on both his four-seamer and splitter. He rattled off 18 innings with a 1.50 ERA, 34.8% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate. Finnegan didn’t miss many bats in the postseason but was clearly one of A.J. Hinch’s most trusted relievers both in the regular season and in the playoffs.
Detroit’s bullpen is in dire need of upgrades. Will Vest, Tyler Holton, Brant Hurter and Brenan Hanifee all posted quality earned run averages, but Holton and Hanifee both logged well below-average strikeout rates. Neither Hanifee nor Hurter was used regularly in high-leverage spots. Meanwhile, veteran relievers Rafael Montero, Tommy Kahnle and Paul Sewald all hit free agency alongside Finnegan.
The Tigers have been linked to both Devin Williams and Ryan Helsley thus far in the offseason, though their interest in Helsley was reportedly as a starting pitcher and he’s since signed on as the Orioles’ new closer. President of baseball operations Scott Harris has spoken openly about a desire to improve the lineup’s contact rate, but Greenberg has publicly stated that pitching is the top priority early in the offseason. The Tigers are looking around the rotation market even after Jack Flaherty exercised his 2026 player option to return, and the GM has been frank in stating that he and Harris “certainly” need to add some quality relief arms.
Astros Open To Moving Jake Meyers In Search For Rotation Help
The Astros don’t have a ton of breathing room between their current payroll figures and the first tier of the luxury tax threshold — a line owner Jim Crane is once again reportedly loath to cross. With a prominent need in the rotation, they’ve been exploring both the free agent and trade markets. One scenario in play, per Ken Rosenthal and Chandler Rome of The Athletic, is to trade center fielder Jake Meyers for pitching help. Meyers is drawing plenty trade interest, per the report, and Houston brass is open to moving him if it’d mean adding a starter with multiple years of club control remaining.
The 29-year-old Meyers (30 next June) isn’t necessarily a household name, but the defensive standout is coming off a strong all-around season. In 381 trips to the plate, Meyers hit .292/.354/.373 with a career-best 8.1% walk rate and career-low 17.6% strikeout rate. He hit three home runs, 15 doubles and two triples and added 16 steals in 21 attempts.
Meyers’ power output in 2025 was a career-low, but he didn’t experience an especially alarming dip in his quality of contact. He averaged 88.1 mph off the bat, which is south of the league average but right in line with the 88.2 mph he averaged in 2024, when he hit a career-high 13 homers in 513 plate appearances. His 38.9% hard-hit rate was actually higher than the 37% mark he posted in ’24. Meyers hit more line drives and grounders in 2025, however. His 28.4% fly-ball rate was his lowest since 2022, and his percentage of fly-balls that left the yard — just 3.8% — was a career-low mark. A .353 average on balls in play boosted his production but also feels ripe for regression.
Even if there’s some regression in store, though, Meyers is a potentially impactful player when considering the totality of his skill set. He’s never posted a below-average (or even average) season in center in the eyes of Statcast, Defensive Runs Saved or Ultimate Zone Rating. In nearly 3500 career innings in center, Meyers has posted 22 DRS and 41 Outs Above Average.
Meyers has had elite sprint speed in the past, sitting as high as the 92nd percentile of big league position players as recently as 2023. His sprint speed wilted in a 2025 season that saw him endure a pair of IL stints due to calf injuries, though it still sat well above average (71st percentile). It’s feasible that with better health in his legs, his speed and defensive grades could trend upward. Notably, he’d already swiped 14 bags by the end of June but stole only twice more the rest of the way; his first IL placement due to a calf strain came in early July.
It seems fair to infer that Meyers wasn’t operating at full speed at any point down the stretch. He was out from early July through early September and hit just .204/.271/.204 in 59 plate appearances following his return from the IL. He was sporting a .308/.369/.405 batting line (buoyed by a .374 BABIP) at the time of his injury.
Meyers is controllable for another two seasons via arbitration. He’s also quite affordable, projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn just $3.5MM in 2026. His availability comes at a time when the center field market is otherwise paper-thin. Trent Grisham accepted his qualifying offer from the Yankees. Cody Bellinger is a free agent but is more of a corner outfielder/first baseman and occasional center fielder than an everyday option in center. Harrison Bader is a free agent but has an inconsistent track record at the plate. Free agents Cedric Mullins and Lane Thomas are pure rebound candidates. The trade market offers names like Alek Thomas and Jarren Duran, but the former has never hit in the majors and the latter played primarily left field in 2025. Duran would also have a steeper acquisition cost than Meyers.
Of course, trading Meyers would create a center field void for the Astros themselves. They got some nice production out of 25-year-old Zach Cole in his 15-game debut late in the season, but it’s worth taking with a heavy grain of salt. Cole hit .255/.327/.553 with four homers in just 52 plate appearances, but he also fanned at a 38.5% clip. If that alarming strikeout rate were unique to his big league tenure, perhaps it could be chalked up to simple small-sample noise — but that’s not the case. Cole went down on strikes in a colossal 35.1% of his 416 minor league plate appearances in 2025 as well. He punched out in more than 38% of his Double-A plate appearances in 2024, too.
Impressive as Cole’s brief debut was, he’s not going to be able to cut it as a big league regular with such a glaringly deficient hit tool. Former top prospect Jacob Melton gives the ‘Stros another potential option, but he was limited to just 67 games between Triple-A and the majors thanks to injuries this past season. He hit very well in 150 Triple-A plate appearances (.286/.389/.556) and quite poorly in 78 major league turns at the plate (.157/.234/.186, 37.7 K%). Taylor Trammell, an older and more traveled former top prospect, didn’t fare much better in 135 plate appearances (.197/.296/.333).
The Astros gave 2023 first-round pick Brice Matthews nine games in center field at the Triple-A level last season. He’s traditionally been a middle infielder, but with Carlos Correa joining an infield mix that also includes Jeremy Pena, Isaac Paredes and Jose Altuve, there’s no room in the middle infield. Matthews hit .260/.371/.458 (118 wRC+) in 498 Triple-A plate appearances last year but just .167/.222/.452 with a 42.6% strikeout rate in 47 MLB plate appearances.
If the Astros feel confident that some combination of Matthews, Melton and Cole can hold down the fort in center field next season, then trading Meyers becomes easier to stomach. However, it’s also fair to wonder what type of arm Houston could acquire in return for Meyers. He certainly has trade value, but two years of a slick-fielding, light-hitting center fielder isn’t likely to net a pitcher who can fill the shoes of the outgoing Framber Valdez. The Astros could likely bring in a back-of-the-rotation arm or perhaps some kind of rebound/upside play with multiple seasons of club control, but even if they deepen the rotation by way of a Meyers trade, they’ll be counting on Cristian Javier and/or Lance McCullers Jr. to return to their pre-injury form after shaky 2025 comebacks.
Caleb Boushley Signs With KBO’s KT Wiz
The KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization announced this week that they’ve signed former Brewers, Twins and Rangers righty Caleb Boushley to a one-year contract. He’ll be guaranteed $900K on the contract and can pick up an additional $100K via incentives.
Boushley, who turned 32 in October, has pitched in parts of three big league seasons, totaling 49 2/3 innings. He has an ugly 5.80 ERA to show for it despite generally solid rate stats. Boushley’s 21.1% strikeout rate is only about one percentage point shy of average, and his 8.1% walk rate is lower than the league average. He’s also yielded only 1.09 homers per nine innings pitched. However, Boushley has been dogged by a sky-high .367 average on balls in play, which has contributed to a 62% strand rate that’s more than 10 percentage points lower than the MLB average. Metrics like SIERA (3.95) and FIP (4.03) feel Boushley has pitched far better than his more rudimentary earned run average would suggest.
In parts of six Triple-A seasons, Boushley has totaled 512 innings with a 4.61 ERA. As in the majors, he’s displayed a lower-than-average strikeout rate but better-than-average command. Boushley has generally been a durable source of Triple-A innings. Though he spent most of the 2025 season in the Rangers’ bullpen, the lanky 6’3″, 190-pound Boushley averaged 25 starts and 130 innings per season from 2021-24, despite spending a portion of that time (2023-24) shuttling between the majors and minors.
This will be Boushley’s first work overseas and will easily be the largest guaranteed payday in what’ll be ten professional seasons. Boushley was a 33rd-round pick by the Padres out of Division-II University of Wisconsin La Crosse back in 2017. He signed for just $1,000 out of the draft. After years of middling minor league pay and shuffling back and forth between the majors and Triple-A, he’ll take home a salary that tops the MLB minimum by $120K and land a chance at the first seven-figure salary of his career (if he can max out his incentives package).