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Mariners Reluctant To Deal From Major League Roster

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The Mariners are still hoping to make at least one more notable splash between now and Opening Day, but Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times suggests that they’re reluctant to deal anyone from their big league roster to make it happen. Divish writes that the M’s are willing to move top pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje in a package for Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan but are less inclined to trade anyone from the big league roster to get him. He adds that president of baseball ops Jerry Dipoto and GM Justin Hollander have both “been adamant” about not wanting to trade an established big league starter as they look to bolster the lineup.

It’s a fairly similar approach to the one taken by Dipoto, Hollander & Co. last offseason. In the winter of 2024-25, the Mariners pursued multiple big-ticket trade items but found many clubs with players available in trade were seeking young big leaguers — not the top prospects that proliferate the top of a stacked Seattle farm system. There are more pure rebuilding clubs this winter, at least on paper, but the Cardinals have prioritized MLB-ready pitching in trades of Sonny Gray (Richard Fitts) and Willson Contreras (Hunter Dobbins). The D-backs reportedly want to add major league pitching (presumably multiple rotation candidates) in any deal for star infielder Ketel Marte.

While Seattle’s system is deep in high-end prospects — the M’s had eight players on Baseball America’s end-of-season top-100 prospect list, though they’ve since traded Harry Ford — the actual depth beyond the big league rotation is relatively thin. Each of Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo and George Kirby started at least 23 games in 2025. All pitched well — Kirby had a couple brutal outings but was largely strong — but only Castillo did so while avoiding an IL stint. Bryce Miller missed more than half the season due to elbow inflammation. The options beyond that pair are less encouraging.

Emerson Hancock is a former No. 6 overall pick but spent the latter part of the season as a reliever. He’ll head into camp as a starter but has been viewed as a more of a fifth starter candidate than one would expect based on that lofty draft billing. He’ll turn 27 in May and has a career 4.81 ERA with a poor 15.6% strikeout rate in 162 MLB innings. Twenty-four-year-old Logan Evans tossed 81 1/3 innings with a 4.32 ERA as a rookie this past season and briefly drew some top-100 fanfare before his own promotion to the majors. Like Hancock, he struggled to miss bats in the big leagues (16.9 K%, 7.8% swinging-strike rate). He also was hit hard in 11 Triple-A starts last year.

Depth options beyond those seven are thin. Jhonathan Diaz and Blas Castano are both on the 40-man roster but are already in their late 20s with no MLB track record of which to speak. The Mariners have plenty of notable pitching prospects, including Cijntje, Ryan Sloan and 2025 No. 3 overall pick Kade Anderson. Cijntje has all of seven Double-A starts under his belt, though, and could require more development time than most prospects given his status as an extremely uncommon switch-pitcher. Sloan hasn’t pitched above A-ball. Anderson didn’t pitch for a Mariners affiliate after last summer’s draft. Former prospects like Taylor Dollard and Michael Morales went unselected in this year’s Rule 5 Draft despite being eligible. The former has battled injury troubles. The latter was hit fairly hard and notched just a 16% strikeout rate in Double-A this season.

The Mariners could certainly deal from their rotation to improve the lineup and backfill with a lower-cost free agent signing, but it’s understandable if the front office is reluctant to at all jeopardize the team’s depth, given the shaky performances of Miller, Hancock and (to a lesser extent) Evans in 2025. If anything, one could argue that it’d be prudent to add to the current group by signing/acquiring some optionable depth or a swingman/sixth starter to plug into a long relief role to begin the year.

Joe Kelly Announces End Of His Playing Career

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After 13 Major League seasons, reliever Joe Kelly has decided to call a career, as the right-hander told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford on a recent edition (audio link) of the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast.  In his usual irreverent fashion, the 37-year-old Kelly declined to say he was officially retiring, taking issue with the term itself.

“Retiring is like, something that my grandmother did….I’m sorry all you people out there watching this that work a real job.  You guys deserve to retire, athletes don’t,” Kelly said.  “We just stop [expletive] playing, okay?  Let’s cancel the word ’retirement.’  It’s used for people who [expletive] served in the military, used for people who worked until 65…When athletes are done playing, just say ’congratulations, they’re no longer playing.’ ”

Kelly last played during the 2024 season, tossing 32 regular-season innings for the Dodgers.  He didn’t sign a contract last winter, and stated last July that he was planning to showcase himself in a throwing session for the Dodgers alone, saying that he only wanted to pitch for Los Angeles if he returned at all.  That session came and went without any fanfare, and Kelly told Bradford that continued injury problems convinced him to hang up the glove.  “I can throw 98 [mph] like nothing…[but] I threw a pitch and like strained again, so like ’nah, I’m done,’ ” Kelly said.

High velocity has been a bedrock of Kelly’s career, as he averaged 95mph on his fastball in his MLB debut season with the Cardinals in 2012.  A move to the bullpen added even more heat, as Kelly had an average velo of 98.2mph over the final eight seasons of his career, and he topped the 102mph mark at his peak.  While Kelly’s fastball drew the most attention, however, his sinker (which also regularly sat in the upper 90s) and curveball were his most effective pitches at finishing off batters after Kelly set them up with his standard fastball.

A third-round pick for the Cardinals in the 2009 draft, Kelly made his MLB debut with St. Louis in 2012 and he tossed his first 266 big league innings in a Cards uniform.  A notable swap at the 2014 trade deadline saw Kelly and Allen Craig sent to the Red Sox in exchange for John Lackey, and while the trade was panned by Boston fans at the time, Kelly’s development into a valued member of the Red Sox pen has made the deal a little more palatable for Red Sox Nation in hindsight.

Kelly struggled with injuries and consistency over his first two full seasons as a starter with the Sox, and a move to relief pitching in 2016 helped him at least spend less time on the injured list.  Kelly had a 4.33 ERA over his entire 359 1/3 inning tenure with the Red Sox, but he shone brightest when posting a 0.79 ERA over 11 1/3 frames during the 2018 postseason, playing a big role in Boston’s World Series championship victory.

After helping beat the Dodgers in that Fall Classic, Kelly then went to L.A. on a three-year, $25MM free agent deal.  Some early struggles made that signing look like a potential bust, but Kelly righted the ship and finished with a 3.59 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, 59.9% grounder rate, and 9.8% walk rate over 105 1/3 innings in that three-season span.  The highlight was another postseason success and a ring in 2020, with Kelly allowing one earned run over 4 2/3 innings during the Dodgers’ title run.

A two-year, $17MM contract with the White Sox followed for Kelly in advance of the 2022 season, but the injuries started to really pile up, leading to a only a 5.59 ERA over 66 innings in a Chicago uniform.  Acquired again by the Dodgers at the 2023 trade deadline, Kelly suddenly regained some of his old form in posting a 1.74 ERA the rest of the way.  Los Angeles brought him back for a one-year, $8MM contract for the 2024 season, but Kelly’s health problems continued and he managed just a 4.78 ERA in his final 32 innings in the Show.  While he wasn’t part of the Dodgers’ playoff roster, Los Angeles’ World Series victory meant that Kelly earned his third ring in what ended up as his farewell season.

Over 485 games and 839 career innings in the majors, Kelly had a 3.98 ERA, 51.8% grounder rate, 21.1% strikeout rate, and a 9.8% walk rate.  His postseason resume consists of a 3.45 ERA over 60 innings, and a particularly impressive 2.03 ERA across 13 1/3 innings in the World Series.

Along the way, Kelly created quite a reputation for himself as a character.  Kelly’s competitiveness sometimes led to a pair of high-profile suspensions, but his willingness to defend teammates only added to the fuel of the rivalries between the Red Sox and Yankees, and the sign-stealing scandal inspired feud between the Dodgers and Astros.  Between his big fastball, erratic control, and eccentric personality, Kelly welcomed all comparisons to “Wild Thing” Rick Vaughn, to the point of wearing #99 with the Dodgers after giving his #17 jersey to the incoming Shohei Ohtani.  (This gesture resulted in Ohtani gifting a Porsche to Kelly’s wife Ashley.)

We at MLBTR congratulate Kelly on a fine career, and we wish him all the best in retir….er, his post-playing endeavors.

MLBTR Podcast: Three-Way Trade, Murakami’s Short-Term Deal, And Willson Contreras To Boston

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

  • The Mets Sign Jorge Polanco, And The Braves, Blue Jays And Royals Make Moves – listen here
  • Winter Meetings Recap – listen here
  • An Agent’s Perspective with B.B. Abbott – Also, Cease, Williams, Helsley, And Gray – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images

Cardinals Looking To Add Right-Handed Hitting Outfielder

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The Cardinals’ offseason is focused mostly on the players they’re trading away. Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras have already been shipped out, and it’s possible that each of Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado and JoJo Romero will also find themselves on the move. That doesn’t mean they won’t make some short-term pickups. They’ve added Dustin May on a $12.5MM deal in the rotation, and president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom identified a profile they’re pursuing on the position player side.

Bloom told reporters that the Cardinals would like to add an outfielder, ideally one who brings right-handed power (links via John Denton of MLB.com and Daniel Guerrero of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch). That’s an indirect consequence of the Contreras trade. Alec Burleson only made 38 starts at first base this past season. That’s likely to rise in 2026, as Bloom implied that Burleson could replace Contreras as the primary first baseman. Burleson made 72 starts in the corner outfield and 18 at designated hitter.

St. Louis has Lars Nootbaar and Jordan Walker as their projected corner outfield tandem. Nootbaar is down to two years of arbitration control and could be traded this offseason. Walker was a well below replacement level performer in 2025 and still has a minor league option remaining. A righty corner bat could also spell the lefty Burleson.

There aren’t a ton of options remaining in free agency. The Cards could kick the tires on a one-year deal for Miguel Andujar or Austin Hays, each of whom is coming off a big season with the platoon advantage. Old friend Tommy Pham is coming off a middling season against lefties but carries a .261/.368/.434 line in those situations over his career. Chas McCormick hasn’t hit in either of the past two years. He has a 20-homer season with a .273/.353/.489 showing in 2023 on his résumé.

The Cardinals could also look into a switch-hitting utility option like Willi Castro or Luis Rengifo. They’d have the added benefit of being able to fill in at second or third base if the Cardinals line up Donovan and/or Arenado trades. Nolan Gorman would be in line for the bulk of the third base playing time if Arenado is moved. Top prospect JJ Wetherholt should be up as the everyday second baseman at some point, assuming they trade Donovan, but the 23-year-old seems likely to open the season in Triple-A.

Cardinals, Jared Shuster Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals have agreed to a minor league contract with lefty Jared Shuster, reports MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. He’ll invited to major league camp next spring.

A first-round pick by Atlanta back in 2020, Shuster has pitched in parts of three big league seasons between the Braves and White Sox, combining to toss 141 2/3 frames. He’s been tagged for an ugly 5.27 ERA in that time. The 6’3″ southpaw has done a nice job avoiding hard contact to this point in his career (87.7 mph average exit velocity, 34% hard-hit rate) but doesn’t miss bats or limit walks at even average levels. He’s fanned only 15.5% of his opponents and issued walks at a 10.1% clip in the bigs.

Shuster, 27, sits 90-92 mph with his four-seamer as a starter and couples the pitch with a slider and changeup, both checking into the low 80s with their respective average velocities. He was averaging 92.6 mph on his fastball as a full-time reliever last year, but his results both in the majors and upper minors were rough.

The Cardinals have plenty of opportunity on the pitching staff, be it in the bullpen or the rotation. For now, the rotation figures to include Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Dustin May and Kyle Leahy. Andre Pallante will be a candidate to make starts but has also pitched in relief.

Trade acquisitions Richard Fitts (Sonny Gray) and Hunter Dobbins (Willson Contreras) join prospects Quinn Mathews, Brycen Mautz and Tink Hence as possible 2026 rotation candidates. In the bullpen, veteran JoJo Romero and 30-year-old rookie Nick Raquet (who tossed his first two MLB frames in 2025) are the only options on the 40-man roster — and Romero is very likely to be traded prior to spring training.

Red Sox Acquire Willson Contreras

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Less than a month after landing Sonny Gray, the Red Sox have acquired another prominent veteran talent from St. Louis.  Boston has landed first baseman Willson Contreras and $8MM in cash considerations from the Cardinals in exchange for a package of three right-handed pitchers — Hunter Dobbins and prospects Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita.

Contreras and his agents at Octagon negotiated an extra $1MM bonus for Contreras to approve the trade, as the veteran’s contract includes a full no-trade clause.  The final two guaranteed seasons of Contreras’ contract and the club option on his services for 2028 have been slightly reworked, so he’ll now receive $18MM in 2026, $17MM in 2027, and the Red Sox hold a $20MM club option on his services in 2028, with a $7.5MM buyout.  (The previous terms included salaries of $18MM and $18.5MM in 2026-27, plus a $5MM buyout on a 2028 club option valued at$17.5MM.)

The final accounting works out to $42.5MM in guaranteed money for Contreras over the remainder of his deal.  Factoring in the Cardinals’ $8MM contribution, Boston’s commitment to Contreras is $34.5MM in salary, and his luxury tax number is $17.25MM.

When the Cards were first exploring a rebuild last winter, neither Contreras or Gray was open to waiving their no-trade protection.  After a lackluster 78-84 season sent the Cards more firmly looking towards the future, Gray, Contreras, and Nolan Arenado (who blocked a deal to the Astros last winter) all indicated in recent months that they were more open to accepting a trade.

In Contreras’ case, he cracked the door open at the end of season by saying that “if something comes up…and it makes sense for me and my future, how about we talk about that?” Contreras said.  The first baseman stressed that he was still eager to contribute as a veteran leader within the Cardinals’ rebuild, though reports emerged a few weeks ago that Contreras was showing an increased willingness to waive his no-trade clause and move on to a new challenge.

Contreras (who turns 34 in May) ends his St. Louis tenure with a .261/.358/.459 slash line and 55 home runs over 1416 plate appearances from 2023-25.  Signed to a five-year, $87.5MM free agent deal back in December 2022, the idea was that Contreras would take over from Yadier Molina as the team’s regular catcher, yet in somewhat awkward fashion, the Cardinals reduced Contreras’ playing time behind the plate and used him regularly as a DH.  Heading into the 2025 season, Contreras became a full-time first baseman, returning to a position he’d played only a handful of times earlier in his career with the Cubs.  The Outs Above Average metric gave Contreras a positive +6 grade for his first base work in 2025, but he also received -1 Defensive Runs Saved.

Regardless, it would seem like Contreras is at least a passable defender at the cold corner, and the Red Sox can live with only so-so defense as long as the former All-Star continues to hit.  Contreras batted .257/.344/.447 with 20 home runs over 563 PA in 2025, translating to a 124 wRC+.  A career-low 7.8% walk rate was a concern and Contreras has always been prone to strikeouts, but he continued to make consistently hard and productive contact.  Contreras is a right-handed batter, which helps balance out a Boston lineup that tilts to the left side.

Contreras’ final four seasons in Chicago overlapped with Craig Breslow’s time working in the Cubs’ front office, before Breslow was hired to take over Boston’s baseball operations department following the 2023 season.  Breslow’s tenure has thus far been defined by significant trades, ranging from the deals that brought Gray, Garrett Crochet, and now Contreras to Fenway Park, and last June’s surprising move that sent Rafael Devers to the Giants.

One of the many factors involved in the Devers trade was Devers’ displeasure over being asked to move to first base in the wake of Triston Casas’ season-ending knee surgery in early May.  While Romy Gonzalez and deadline pickup Nathaniel Lowe helped fill the first base void, there was little doubt the Sox were going to address the position in a larger fashion this winter.  Pete Alonso, Isaac Paredes, Kazuma Okamoto, Munetaka Murakami, and Bryce Eldridge were among the first base candidates on Boston’s radar on the free agent and trade fronts this winter, and Cotillo reported last week that Contreras was another name under consideration.

With Contreras now in the fold, a Casas trade now looks increasingly likely.  Casas has been floated in trade talks even dating back to last winter and prior to his knee surgery, and despite his injury-shortened season, rival clubs figure to have interest in the former top prospect.  Conversely, if the Sox could figure out a way to dump Masataka Yoshida’s contract, Casas could share first base/DH duties with Contreras.

Adding a first baseman solves another piece of Boston’s infield puzzle, and turns a position from a weak link into a strength.  The Red Sox remain linked to such other major infield names as Bo Bichette or old friend Alex Bregman, and Contreras’ $36MM price tag shouldn’t prevent the Sox from spending big on either of those names, even considering Boston’s recent wariness about major financial commitments.  Trading an outfielder could further shake up the position-player mix, and there have been consistent rumors about the possibility of the Sox moving an outfielder for pitching.

The Red Sox entered the winter with a lot of pitching depth in terms of young arms, yet were lacking proven frontline hurlers that could join Crochet and Brayan Bello in the rotation.  Gray was one answer, and fellow trade pickup Johan Oviedo could be another after Oviedo was acquired from the Pirates.  This has made Breslow more comfortable in trading from further down his pitching depth chart, and after moving Richard Fitts and prospect Brandon Clarke to St. Louis for Gray, Breslow has now parted ways with Dobbins, Fajardo, and Aida.

The equation has been pretty simple for Breslow.  The CBO has been willing to move some (i.e. Jhostynxon Garcia, Kyle Teel) of Boston’s more highly-touted prospects while hanging onto the likes of Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kristian Campbell, and also moving some pitchers that no longer seem to be in Boston’s plans.  In Dobbins’ case, he isn’t even going to be available for the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster, as the righty tore his right ACL last July.  This was the second right ACL tear Dobbins has endured, plus he has a Tommy John surgery on his checkered health history.

Dobbins made his MLB debut in 2025, and posted a 4.13 ERA, 6.6% walk rate, and 17.6% strikeout rate over his first 61 innings in the Show.  An eighth round pick for the Sox in the 2021 draft, Dobbins is more of grounder-heavy pitcher than a big strikeout arm, but his slider and curveball have good whiff rates as complements to his 95.5mph fastball.  Significant questions remain about Dobbins’ durability, but the 26-year-old right-hander has less than a year of MLB service time and now projects to be a longer-term add to the St. Louis rotation.

Cardinals president of baseball ops Chaim Bloom is plenty familiar with Dobbins, as Bloom was running Boston’s front office when Dobbins came into the organization.  Interestingly, of the five pitchers obtained by the Cardinals in the Contreras and Gray trades, Dobbins is the only one who was part of Boston’s organization when Bloom was still there.

Fitts and (when healthy) Dobbins can factor in the Cardinals’ rotation picture as early as 2026.  Dobbins doesn’t at all fit Bloom’s desire to add another veteran arm to the rotation, yet finding an innings-eater is a short-term goal, whereas Dobbins is part of the bigger picture.  That has been the story of this offseason in St. Louis, as with Bloom now fully installed atop the decision-making pyramid, the Cardinals are embarking on the rebuild they considered but then backed away from last winter.

Trading Contreras removes another big chunk of salary from the Cards’ books.  An Arenado deal could be the next step, though that trade will be trickier due to both Arenado’s salary and the fact that (unlike Contreras or Gray) Arenado is coming off a rough 2025 season.  Other players like Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero have also been regularly mentioned in trade rumors.  One player St. Louis wasn’t very willing to move is Alec Burleson, who now looks to step right into the everyday first base role with Contreras gone.

Fajardo was an international signing for the White Sox in 2024, and he has now been traded twice before his 20th birthday.  Fajardo changed his Sox when Chicago sent him Boston a year ago in the Cam Booser trade, and the righty had a 2.25 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, and a 9.4% walk rate over 72 innings in rookie ball and with A-level Salem in 2025.  MLB Pipeline ranked Fajardo 23rd on their ranking of the top 30 Red Sox prospects, describing the teenager as “a potential mid-rotation starter” whose four-seam fastball can hit 97mph.

Aita was a sixth-round pick for the Red Sox in the 2024 draft.  His first pro season saw the 22-year-old right-hander post a 3.98 ERA in 115 1/3 combined innings in Salem and at high-A Greenville, with a 21.4% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate.  As per Geoff Pontes of Baseball America, Aita technically has a five-pitch arsenal but he rarely throws his slider.  Aita’s fastball is in the 92-93mph range but with plenty of movement, and there’s also a lot of movement and spin on his sweeper and cutter.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan (multiple links) was the first to report that Contreras was going to Boston for Dobbins and multiple minor league pitchers, with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal later identifying Fajardo and Aita.  ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported the detail of Contreras’ $1MM bonus for waiving his no-trade clause.  MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported the $8MM heading from St. Louis to Boston, and Cotillo and The Athletic’s Katie Woo had the details on the reworked money in Contreras’ contract. 

Inset picture courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing — Imagn Images

Details On Ketel Marte’s No-Trade Protection

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The seven-year contract extension Ketel Marte signed with the Diamondbacks last April included a five-team no-trade clause, which adds an interesting wrinkle to the trade rumors that have swirled around the former NLCS MVP in recent weeks.  As reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Athletics, Cardinals, Giants, Pirates, and Yankees are the five teams included on Marte’s current list, which can be updated every offseason.

There are any number of reasons why a player may include a particular team on a no-trade list, and it is worth noting that Marte could still ultimately approve a deal to any of these clubs.  There is no obvious geographic link between the five teams, and while the Yankees were the only member of the group to reach the 2025 playoffs, the Giants, Pirates, and even the A’s are all looking to compete in 2026.  The Cardinals are in rebuild mode, so it is safe to say they weren’t in the running to acquire Marte anyway.

Interestingly, the Pirates and Giants have been linked to Marte’s trade market.  Now that Pittsburgh has landed Brandon Lowe from the Rays in yesterday’s big three-team swap, the Bucs may feel their second base needs have been addressed, though there is a world where Lowe could be a primary DH and Marte could still be brought aboard.  Still, there’s such a hefty amount of money remaining on Marte’s contract that a trade to the budget-conscious Pirates always seemed like an imperfect fit, and Marte’s no-trade list might well underline his own reservations about joining a team with just one winning season in the last decade.

San Francisco has also topped the .500 mark only once in the last nine seasons, but the Giants have been much more willing to spend in their bid to return to consistent contention.  While ownership is wary about making another long-term financial commitment, Marte’s deal could be viewed as a relative bargain, since he would land way more than $102.5MM on a six-year deal if he was a free agent this winter.

Second base is a need position for the Giants, though perhaps not as pressing as the club’s need for more rotation help.  Making a big splash in acquiring Marte might not be as big a priority, in that case, plus there are the added obstacles of Marte’s no-trade protection and the Diamondbacks’ probable reluctance to move the All-Star to a division rival.  San Francisco is considered to be one of the favorites to pry Brendan Donovan away from the Cardinals, so that might end up being the Giants’ big move to address the keystone.

The Giants and Pirates each play in pitcher-friendly ballparks, which might factor into Marte’s reasoning for including the teams on his list.  Sutter Health Park is extremely hitter-friendly, yet it is fair to wonder if Marte just doesn’t want to play in a minor league stadium for at least the next two seasons while the A’s await the construction of their new ballpark in Las Vegas.

The A’s have a big hole at second base, and acquiring Marte would add another top-tier bat to a lineup that already includes Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom, Jacob Wilson, and Shea Langeliers.  While the A’s have been a bit more willing to spend over the last year, Marte’s remaining salary would represent a new spending frontier for the traditionally low-payroll team.  Hypothetically, Luis Severino could be included in a Marte trade as salary offset, but that assumes Arizona (who needs rotation help) has any interest in Severino in the wake of his uninspiring 2025 season.

The Yankees are the most interesting inclusion on Marte’s list, as one would think he would welcome a chance to join a perennial contender.  Jazz Chisholm Jr. is already playing second base in the Bronx, but Chisholm is a free agent next winter, so Marte would represent a longer-term answer at the position.  Purely speculatively, any kind of Diamondbacks/Yankees trade involving Marte could see Chisholm going the other way, to give Arizona a one-year stopgap at second or third base.

Re-signing Cody Bellinger is thought be the Yankees’ top offseason priority, though New York might pivot to other backup plans should Bellinger sign elsewhere.  Landing Marte would certainly qualify as a substantial Plan B, yet his no-trade clause might make any potential trade a moot point.

Amidst all of the reports and speculation, it remains unclear if the Diamondbacks actually will trade away a star player who received such a lengthy contract extension less than a year ago.  With Lowe now in Pittsburgh, however, one big second-base trade chip has been removed from the board, leaving other teams in need of keystone help perhaps more open to meeting Arizona’s demands for Marte.  Beyond the Pirates and Giants, such teams as the Mariners, Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Phillies, and Tigers have all reportedly shown some degree of interest in a Marte trade this winter.

Cardinals Outright Matt Koperniak

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December 19th: The Cards announced that Koperniak has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Memphis.

December 17th: The Cardinals announced that outfielder Matt Koperniak has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man move for right-hander Dustin May, whose signing is now official.

Koperniak, 28 in February, has been with the Cards since signing with them as an undrafted free agent in 2020. From 2021 to 2023, he produced pretty solid results as he climbed the minor league ladder. Across those three seasons, he stepped to the plate 1,399 times. His 10.1% walk rate and 16.1% strikeout rate were both solid figures. He produced a combined line of .293/.375/.441, which translated to a wRC of 112, indicating he was 12% better than league average at the plate.

He seemed to find a new gear in 2024, his first full season at Triple-A. He hit 20 homers and slashed .309/.370/.512 for a 128 wRC+. That may have been a bit fluky, as he got some help from a .351 batting average on balls in play, but the Cards seemed to believe in him. They added him to the 40-man roster in November of that year to keep Koperniak out of the Rule 5 draft.

He spent 2025 back at Triple-A on optional assignment and his results backed up. His home run tally dropped to 14, despite taking 23 extra plate appearances. His BABIP dropped to a more average-ish .283. He finished the season with a .246/.317/.382 line and 85 wRC+.

The Cards are rebuilding and will be giving playing time to younger players in 2026 but Koperniak wouldn’t have been at the front of the line after that performance. He’s instead been bumped off the roster and into DFA limbo. The Cards will now see if there’s any trade interest in him. If not, he’ll be put on waivers. He does still have a couple of options remaining and is considered a strong defensive outfielder, with experience at all three spots. If some club out there likes him, they could acquire him and keep in Triple-A as depth as they hope for a bounceback at the plate.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Orioles Interested In JoJo Romero

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The Orioles have shown interest in Cardinals left-hander JoJo Romero, reports Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The O’s join the Yankees and Mariners as club connected to Romero this month.

Romero, 29, is one of the most straightforward trade candidates of the offseason. He is slated for free agency after the upcoming campaign. With the Cardinals rebuilding, there’s little sense in hanging onto him. They could wait to trade him at the deadline but that path carries risks, as the Cards know. They held onto Erick Fedde and Ryan Helsley going into 2025 and saw both pitchers decrease their respective trade values with poor performances. Even if Romero keeps performing, any pitcher can get hurt at any time, which is another reason to cash him in now.

Since being acquired from the Phillies in 2022, Romero has tossed 171 innings for the Cards, allowing exactly three earned runs per nine. His 23.4% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate in that time are both pretty close to typical league averages but his 53.7% ground ball rate is quite strong. He averages around 94 miles per hour with his four-seamer and sinker while also mixing in a slider, cutter, curveball and changeup. He has recorded 12 saves and 64 holds.

Romero isn’t an overpowering bullpen arm by today’s standards but his results have been consistently solid. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $4.4MM salary next year, very affordable in the current landscape.

The Baltimore bullpen has changed a lot in the past six months. They fell out of contention this year and went into seller mode at the deadline. They flipped Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge to other clubs. In August, Félix Bautista required shoulder surgery, a procedure with an estimated recovery time of 12 months. This offseason, they have re-acquired Kittredge from the Cubs and signed Helsley.

They currently have four lefty relievers on the 40-man roster, in Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns, Grant Wolfram and Josh Walker. Akin has had some solid years with the Orioles but had an uncharacteristic 12.3% walk rate this year. Enns is about to turn 35 and worked as a swingman in 2025 after a few years pitching in Asia. Wolfram and Walker each have fewer than 30 big league innings pitched. Romero would immediately jump to the top of that group if the O’s were able to acquire him.

The lefty relief market has been surging a bit lately. In the past two weeks, Soto, Hoby Milner, Tyler Alexander, Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Ferguson and Caleb Thielbar have signed free agent deals. On the trade market, Jose A. Ferrer, Ángel Zerpa and Matt Strahm have been flipped. Free agency still features guys like Sean Newcomb, Justin Wilson, Danny Coulombe, Andrew Chafin, Brent Suter and others. There are many theoretical trade candidates but Romero is the most obvious one.

Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images

Cardinals Still Interested In Rotation Addition

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The Cardinals added a fresh arm to their rotation this week by signing Dustin May. Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Cards are still interested in adding another starter, but it would likely be more of an innings-eating veteran type to provide stability.

May doesn’t fit the bill of a veteran innings eater. He’s had notable injury problems in his career. From 2019 to 2024, he never topped 56 innings in any individual season and also missed the entirety of the 2024 campaign. He was healthy-ish in 2025, getting to 132 1/3 innings, but finished the season on the injured list due to right elbow neuritis.

The St. Louis rotation is lacking in certainty overall at the moment. Erick Fedde was traded to Atlanta in July. Miles Mikolas became a free agent at season’s end. Sonny Gray was recently traded to the Red Sox. That means they’ve lost three of the five guys who gave them 100 innings or more in 2025.

The other two were Matthew Liberatore and Andre Pallante. Liberatore had a decent 4.21 earned run average in his first full season in the majors. Pallante had a decent first half but then faded and ended the season with a 5.31 ERA.

Michael McGreevy will probably get a rotation spot after he posted a 4.42 ERA in 95 2/3 innings this year but his 14.5% strikeout rate was quite low. Richard Fitts, acquired in the Gray deal, has some okay numbers so far but in just 65 2/3 big league innings. Kyle Leahy may get a rotation audition but he has been a reliever to this point in his big league career. Tink Hence and Brycen Mautz are on the 40-man but haven’t made major league debuts yet. Prospect Quinn Mathews has reached Triple-A but walked 17.5% of batters he faced at that level this year.

Mathews isn’t on the 40-man yet. Of everyone else mentioned, May and Leahy are the only two who can’t be optioned to the minors. As of right now, three spots would probably go to May, Liberatore and Pallante. If they make an external addition, that would leave one spot available for McGreevy, Leahy, Fitts, Hence, Mautz or Mathews. If Leahy doesn’t win a job out of camp, he can be in the bullpen. Anyone else who doesn’t get a job can go to the Triple-A rotation.

This is all theoretical and assuming everyone is healthy. These days, no team makes it through a season with just five starters. Injuries are inevitable and will open up further opportunities for anyone who doesn’t have a rotation spot initially. May is on a one-year deal and will likely be traded this summer if he’s pitching well. The same could be true of whichever veteran is added in the coming months. That would leave more starts for the unproven guys in the final months of the 2026 season.

As for who the Cards add, there are many possibilities. Guys like Jose Quintana, Patrick Corbin, Tyler Anderson, Tomoyuki Sugano, Nick Martinez, Martín Pérez, Andrew Heaney, Michael Lorenzen and many others are free agents.

The trade market has fewer of these types. The Cubs may look to move a back-end guy if they sign a front-end type but intra-divisional trades are always tricky to pull off. The Red Sox may be looking to flip Patrick Sandoval but he’s not exactly stable as he missed all of 2025 recovering from surgery. The Jays may be looking to get out from under the José Berríos deal but the Cards don’t make sense as a landing spot for that contract unless the Jays are willing to give up meaningful prospect talent just to make the deal go away. The Rockies may be willing to trade Kyle Freeland but they need innings themselves.

Time will tell how it pans out but it’s a sensible goal for the Cards. Their offseason to-do list is mostly about subtracting, having already traded Gray and with potential deals for Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero and others still possible. But they do need to get through the 2026 and have a lot of question marks in their rotation mix. They will want to have chances available for their in-house guys but having a sturdy veteran presence to keep things steady is logical.

Photo courtesy of Paul Rutherford, Imagn Images

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