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Managers & Top Front Office Executives On Expiring Contracts

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In the same way that players feel extra pressure to produce entering their last season before free agency, managers and front office bosses similarly feel the heat when entering the final year of their contracts.  The difference is that even if a player has a rough season, they’re usually still in position to land at least a one-year deal in some fashion for the next year — a manager or a GM could find themselves fired in the wake of a bad year, with no guarantee about when (or even if) they’ll get another shot at leading a dugout or a front office.

This list details the baseball operations bosses (whatever their specific title) and managers who are entering the final year of their contracts, as well as the personnel whose contractual situations aren’t publicly known.  Some clubs don’t publicize the terms of employee contracts, so it is entirely possible that some of these names signed extensions months ago but the teams have chosen to keep these new deals quiet for the time being.  And, of course, the length of a contract doesn’t always correlate to job security.  One bad season or even a poor start could suddenly threaten the status of a manager or head of baseball ops that seemingly seems safe right now.

As always, thanks to Cot’s Baseball Contracts for reference information on some of these contracts.

Angels: It’s pretty unusual to see a newly-hired manager already on this list, yet that is the situation Kurt Suzuki finds himself in after signing just a one-year guarantee to become the Halos’ new skipper.  The deal has multiple club option years attached, and while one would imagine Suzuki wouldn’t be let go so quickly, the Angels’ manager’s office has been enough of a revolving door in recent years that it is hard to guess what owner Arte Moreno might do next.  GM Perry Minasian is also entering the final guaranteed year of his contract, with a club option for the 2027 season.  Ten consecutive losing seasons has led to a lot of discord in Anaheim, and an eleventh sub-.500 year might get both Suzuki and Minasian sent packing by next offseason.

Astros: GM Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada are each entering their final season under contract, with Brown hired in January 2023 and Espada in November 2023.  Earlier this month, Astros owner Jim Crane didn’t entirely close the door on the possibility of an extension for either Brown or Espada, but said “I think we’ll go through this year like we always do, evaluate it and then make the decision at the end of the year.”  Reading between the lines, it certainly seems like the spotlight will be on Brown and Espada, especially since the Astros are coming off their first non-playoff season since 2016.  While the team’s laundry list of injuries is a valid excuse for their 2025 letdown, some personnel changes might well be coming if Houston can’t get back into the postseason hunt this year.

Athletics: General manager David Forst’s contract has already expired, as his most recent deal with the team was up following the 2025 campaign.  Owner John Fisher has stated that “conversations are ongoing” about another extension, and since it has apparently been business as usual for the A’s this offseason, it seems like it’s just a matter of time before Forst formally extends his long stint in the team’s front office.  Forst only officially took over the baseball operations department in the 2022-23 offseason, but he has been with the Athletics since 2000, first working as a scout and then becoming one of Billy Beane’s top lieutenants.

Blue Jays: GM Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider are both entering the final year of their contracts, as the Jays exercised their 2026 club option on Schneider’s deal back in November.  This duo was facing heavy pressure heading into the 2025 season, yet Toronto’s AL pennant and near-miss in the World Series has entirely changed the narrative for both Atkins and Schneider.  The Blue Jays already extended team president/CEO Mark Shapiro a few weeks ago, and extensions for Atkins and Schneider should follow before Opening Day.

Brewers: Pat Murphy is entering the final season of his three-year contract, but it is hard to believe the Brew Crew won’t have the manager soon locked up on another deal.  Murphy has been named NL Manager of the Year in each of the first two seasons, won consecutive NL Central titles, and this October led the Brewers to their first NLCS appearance since 2018.  October also saw Matt Arnold receive a promotion from GM to president of baseball operations, even though Arnold has already been the Brewers’ top baseball exec for the last three seasons.  Arnold’s specific contract situation hasn’t been made clear for a few years now, but it would surely seem like Milwaukee’s continued success and his new job title probably landed the PBO an extension at some point.  Regardless, Arnold seems in no danger of being fired even if 2026 is his last year under contract.

Cardinals: Oli Marmol is headed into his final year, but the manger and the Cardinals have already started discussing an extension to retain Marmol beyond the 2026 campaign.  It seems like something should be finalized in due course, with St. Louis continuing to entrust Marmol with the reins as the team now moves into a full-on rebuild phase.

Diamondbacks: Torey Lovullo has quietly become one of baseball’s longer-tenured managers, as Lovullo has been running Arizona’s dugout since the 2016-17 offseason.  He has signed multiple extensions (none for more than two guaranteed years) since his initial three-year pact, yet while 2026 represents the final year of Lovullo’s current deal, the Diamondbacks are reportedly going to let Lovullo enter the season without an extension in place.  Owner Ken Kendrick did praise Lovullo’s efforts in keeping the D’Backs competitive amidst a swath of pitching injuries and a partial trade deadline selloff in 2025, but it is intriguing that the vote of confidence wasn’t backed up by another contract.  This will be a storyline to watch as the Diamondbacks’ season progresses, and a change in the dugout might well be coming if the D’Backs can’t get back into the postseason.

Dodgers: President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman first came to Los Angeles on a five-year, $35MM pact covering the 2015-19 seasons, and he signed an extension back in November 2019.  Terms of that deal weren’t known, yet it is clear that if Friedman hasn’t already signed another new deal in the last six years, the Dodgers are almost surely keen in retaining the executive.  The Dodgers have reached the playoffs in every single season of Friedman’s tenure, have won three World Series championships under his leadership, and have become baseball’s dominant franchise due to both their record-high payrolls and their ability to draft and develop minor league talent.

Guardians: Chris Antonetti gets an obligatory mention since the Guardians haven’t publicly addressed his contract status since he signed an extension with the team back in 2013.  Following the 2015 season, Antonetti was promoted to the president of baseball operations title, and his decade in charge has seen Cleveland make seven postseason appearances.  As the Guards are coming off their sixth AL Central crown of Antonetti’s tenure, there is no sense ownership is looking to make a change, nor is there any sense Antonetti (who has turned down overtures from other teams in the past) is looking to leave.

Mariners: Dan Wilson’s contract terms weren’t made public when he was hired as manager in August 2024, and president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto’s status hasn’t been addressed since he signed a contract extension of an unknown length back in September 2021.  It may very well be that Dipoto has quietly signed another deal in the last four-plus years, but regardless, the Mariners’ success in 2025 very likely means neither Dipoto or Wilson are going anywhere, even if the M’s don’t feel the need to publicize any extensions.

Marlins: Previous Miami GM Kim Ng was signed to a three-year contract with a club option for the 2024 season, and the Marlins chose to pass on that option in order to hire Peter Bendix as the new president of baseball operations.  Terms of Bendix’s contract weren’t disclosed, so given the length of Ng’s contract, it is possible Bendix could also be entering his final guaranteed year if Miami pursued the same structure with another first-time front office boss.  While Ng’s dismissal caught many in baseball by surprise, Bendix’s job appears to be a lot safer, as the Marlins’ surprising surge to 79 wins in 2025 is a promising step forward for the team’s (latest) rebuild.

Mets: Carlos Mendoza is entering the final guaranteed year of his three-year contract, and New York holds a club option on the manager’s services for the 2027 season.  The Mets have overhauled both Mendoza’s coaching staff and a good chunk of the roster in the wake of the slow-motion collapse that left the team outside the playoff picture in 2025, so far more is expected than just an 83-79 record this year.  The club option probably means that the Mets will wait until after the season (if at all) to discuss an extension, and given the Mets’ high payroll and expectations, even a slow start might put Mendoza’s status in jeopardy.

Orioles: Mike Elias’ contract terms were never publicized when he was hired to lead Baltimore’s front office in November 2018, though he did receive a title change from general manager to president of baseball operations last offseason.  Elias’ specific contract status remains unspecified, and it is possible he could be facing more heat if the O’s have another subpar season.  Consecutive playoff appearances were followed by the thud of a 75-87 record in 2025, though ownership appears to have given Elias some support in the form of bigger budget, as the Orioles’ busy offseason has been highlighted by the blockbuster Pete Alonso signing.

Padres: Reports in early November suggested that A.J. Preller was close to signing a new extension to remain as San Diego’s PBO, though close to three months later, there hasn’t been any word of a deal between the two sides.  It could be that a contract was signed but simply not publicly announced, or perhaps Preller and the team agreed to table the negotiations until after most of the Padres’ offseason business was complete.  Considering all the reports of discord within the Padres’ ownership situation and some possible tension between Preller and team CEO Erik Greupner, a contract extension probably shouldn’t be considered a sure thing until a deal is actually done, though things still seem to be leaning in the direction of Preller getting re-upped.  For all of the off-the-field drama that has frequently defined Preller’s long tenure in San Diego, the Padres are coming off their fourth playoff appearance in the last six seasons.

Reds: As Cincinnati is coming off its first playoff berth since 2020, president of baseball operations Nick Krall looks to have a decent amount of job security, and might be in line for an extension depending on his current contract status.  Krall has been in charge of the Reds’ front office for the last five seasons, and he received an extension of an unspecified length when he was promoted to the president of baseball operations title following the 2023 campaign.

Tigers: Scott Harris has now finished three full seasons as Detroit’s PBO, so if a four-year contract might be considered the usual minimum for a first-time president of baseball ops, 2026 might be Harris’ final year under contract.  It’s all speculative, of course, since Harris’ terms weren’t made public, and it might also be a moot point since Harris could be an extension candidate, if anything.  The Tigers have made the second round of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, though the team’s late-season collapse in 2025 and the uncertainty over Tarik Skubal’s future remain areas of concern.

Twins: Derek Falvey’s shocking decision to step down as Minnesota’s president of baseball (and business) operations has unexpectedly made GM Jeremy Zoll the top voice in the team’s front office.  Zoll was promoted to the GM role in November 2024 to become Falvey’s chief lieutenant, and the length of Zoll’s contract isn’t known.  It is fair to guess that Zoll might’ve gotten an extension after becoming general manager, so he probably remains under team control through at least 2027 even after this sudden elevation to the head of the baseball ops department.

White Sox: Chris Getz has been the team’s GM since August 2023, and his tenure has included a record 121-loss season in 2024 and an improvement to “only” 102 losses in 2025.  Getz’s contract term wasn’t publicized at the time of his hiring so this is just a speculative entry in case his first deal was only a three-year pact.  There doesn’t appear to be any sense that ownership is displeased with the Pale Hose’s progress during the rebuild, so if Getz actually did sign a three-year deal, the Sox might look to extend him at some point this season.

Yankees: Brian Cashman is the longest-tenured front office boss in baseball, acting as the Yankees’ GM since February 1998.  That remarkable 28-year run has included 28 winning records and four World Series titles, though the team hasn’t won the Series since 2009.  Owner Hal Steinbrenner appears to trust Cashman as much as ever, so it seems very likely that Cashman’s tenure will stretch into a third decade barring an utter disaster of a 2026 season.  Cashman’s last deal covered the 2023-26 seasons, but since the Yankees’ aversion to extensions also extends to personnel as well as players, he might not sign his next contract until after his current deal actually expires.  It’s a sign of Cashman’s job security that he has waited until December to sign each of his last two contracts to remain with the club.

Astros, Tom Cosgrove Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Astros are in agreement with lefty reliever Tom Cosgrove on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The CAA client gets a non-roster invite to MLB camp and would be paid at a $900K rate if he makes the team.

Cosgrove has pitched in the majors in each of the past three seasons. The majority of his experience came in his rookie year with the Padres. He tallied 51 1/3 innings of 1.75 ERA ball in 2023. His underlying numbers weren’t nearly as impressive, and Cosgrove hasn’t gotten much of an MLB look in the past two seasons. He was blitzed for 19 runs across 14 2/3 innings in ’24. The Padres designated him for assignment and sold his contract to the Cubs last April.

The 29-year-old only made two appearances in a Cubs uniform. He worked four innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts and a walk. Chicago ran him through waivers in early September. Cosgrove finished the season with a 4.53 ERA across 49 2/3 Triple-A frames. He punched out a quarter of opponents but walked almost 13% of batters faced. He elected minor league free agency at year’s end.

While Houston has lacked left-handed relief depth over the past few seasons, that looks like a strength after last year. Josh Hader will be back in the ninth inning. Steven Okert and Bennett Sousa are coming off career years, while Bryan King had an impressive first full season in his own right. Cosgrove probably doesn’t have a path to an Opening Day job barring multiple Spring Training injuries. All of Houston’s previous non-roster invitees were right-handed, though, so it’s sensible to add at least one southpaw to the camp mix.

Giants Trade Kai-Wei Teng To Astros

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8:12pm: The teams announced the deal, which also sends an undisclosed amount of international bonus money to the Giants.

7:51pm: The Giants and Astros are in agreement on a trade that’ll send swingman Kai-Wei Teng to the Astros for catching prospect Jancel Villarroel, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. San Francisco needed to create a 40-man roster spot in order to finalize their two-year deal with Harrison Bader. It appears a Teng trade will be that corresponding move. Houston designated J.P. France for assignment to open a roster spot.

Teng, a Taiwanese-born righty, has made 12 MLB appearances over the past two seasons. They haven’t gone well, as he has been tagged for 7.30 earned runs per nine across 40 2/3 innings. Teng has managed a solid 23.7% strikeout rate but has been plagued by a lack of command. He has walked nearly 13% of opponents and plunked eight more (4.1%). That’s far too many free passes around which to work even with decent swing-and-miss stuff.

The 27-year-old has shown a similar approach in the minors, though he’s coming off a much better season in Triple-A. He worked mostly in a relief role and managed a 3.63 ERA behind a fantastic 37.1% strikeout percentage across 57 innings. Teng trimmed his walk rate to 9.2% at the level last season, but he has walked at least 10% of opponents at every other stop since he was in Low-A.

Teng throws five pitches and sits in the 93 MPH range with his four-seam fastball and sinker. A mid-80s sweeper is his preferred secondary pitch and got good results in a small sample of big league work. Teng has a couple minor league options remaining and can work as rotation depth or in long relief. The Astros evidently preferred his higher swing-and-miss ceiling to France after the latter has battled shoulder issues for a couple seasons.

San Francisco has a deeper rotation mix than Houston does. Teng, whom they non-tendered after the ’24 season before re-signing to a minor league deal, was a candidate to again be designated for assignment. It’s a nice bit of business to acquire a prospect for a pure depth arm. Villorroel, a 5’8″ backstop out of Venezuela, ranked as Houston’s 20th-best prospect at Baseball America. That comes with a caveat that the Astros’ system is as thin as any in the league.

The 20-year-old Villarroel is coming off a solid .259/.351/.388 line with eight homers in 100 games in A-ball. He walked at a 10.4% rate while striking out roughly 18% of the time. He also stole 20 bases in 27 attempts, though he’s unlikely to be a huge threat on the bases as he climbs the minor league ladder. Baseball America credits him with advanced pure hitting ability and plus arm strength, though his strike zone discipline and finer defensive skills are works in progress. He’s a development flier who appears to project as a future backup.

Astros To Designate J.P. France For Assignment

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The Astros are designating right-hander J.P. France for assignment, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. That’ll open a 40-man roster spot to finalize their acquisition of righty Kai-Wei Teng from San Francisco.

A 14th-round senior draftee who signed for $1,000 as an amateur, France overcame significant odds to reach the majors at all. Injuries pushed him into a more prominent role than anticipated as a 28-year-old rookie three years ago. France stepped up with a 3.83 earned run average across 136 1/3 innings. He started 23 of 24 appearances and was included on Houston’s playoff rosters.

Unfortunately, France hasn’t been able to contribute much over the past two seasons. He battled a shoulder injury during Spring Training 2024. France pitched through it but was hit around in five starts and optioned to Triple-A. He suffered a setback while pitching in the minors and underwent surgery in June that came with a recovery time longer than a full calendar year. He remained on the injured list until last August.

France made it back to the mound at the end of the season. He was tagged for 17 earned runs across 24 innings in Triple-A. The Astros called him up in September as a low-leverage reliever. He tossed a scoreless inning in mop-up work on September 14. His only other appearance consisted of three innings of one-run ball to pick up a win once the Astros were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

The Astros have five days to trade the 30-year-old France or expose him to waivers. He has a little over two years of big league service and one minor league option remaining. If the Astros get him through waivers unclaimed, they’ll be able to keep him in the organization as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.

Astros Interested In Christian Vázquez

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The Astros’ focus this offseason has been on bolstering the pitching staff, and they’ve done that in a meaningful way with acquisitions of Tatsuya Imai, Mike Burrows and KBO standout Ryan Weiss. They’re not entirely done tweaking the roster yet, however. Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports that Houston has interest in a reunion with veteran catcher Christian Vázquez following Victor Caratini’s free agent departure. A deal between the two parties isn’t seen as close, Rome adds, but the interest is nonetheless notable in that it signifies interest in adding a veteran backup to 27-year-old Yainer Diaz.

At the moment, the out-of-options César Salazar is the only other catcher on Houston’s 40-man roster. Salazar will turn 30 in March and has 67 major league plate appearances under his belt. He’s a .232/.318/.268 hitter in that minuscule sample and hasn’t fared too much better in the upper minors. He slashed .213/.353/.353 in 186 Triple-A plate appearances last year and is a lifetime .226/.361/.348 hitter in 799 trips to the plate at that level.

Salazar is a fine defender who draws enough walks in Triple-A to post solid on-base numbers. However, the bit of power he showed earlier in his career — 27 home runs in 639 minor league plate appearances from 2021-22 — has completely dried up in recent seasons. Salazar has come to the plate 796 times between the majors and minors across the past three seasons and connected on 15 home runs. His 2025 season in the majors consisted of only 11 games and 16 plate appearances, but Statcast measured his average sprint speed at 22.4 feet per second — the second-slowest mark in Major League Baseball.

Vázquez, 35, isn’t much fleeter of foot (24.7 ft/sec) and has a long track record of sub-par to poor offense. He hit .189/.271/.274 in 214 plate appearances with Minnesota last season and slashed only .215/.267/.311 in 884 turns at the plate over his three years as a Twin. Vázquez is an elite defender, however, and he draws plenty of praise for his game-calling and ability to manage a pitching staff.

While Vázquez wouldn’t move the needle much in terms of Houston’s overall chances at contending, there’s something to be said for bringing in a veteran who can at least handle a bigger workload while providing plus glovework in the event of a Diaz injury. Presently, if Houston were to lose Diaz to an injury, they’d be looking at Salazar and either 2022 sixth-rounder Collin Price or non-roster invitee Carlos Pérez as their catching tandem. Price has split his time between catching, first base and the outfield. He draws decent framing marks but poor grades for his throwing and ability to block balls in the dirt. Pérez is a 35-year-old journeyman who hasn’t played in the majors since 2023 and carries a career .218/.267/.327 line in 859 plate appearances.

Vázquez spent the second half of the 2022 season with the ’Stros and still has some familiarity with several members of the staff. He caught Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu and Lance McCullers Jr. that season, and current ace Hunter Brown made his MLB debut late in the ’22 campaign as well. Vázquez also knows Astros lefty Steven Okert from the pair’s time together in Minnesota during the 2024 season.

If not Vázquez, some kind of low-cost catching acquisition feels prudent. Alternate options in free agency include Jonah Heim, Gary Sánchez, Elias Díaz, Luke Maile, Mitch Garver and Matt Thaiss. It’s also likely that there will be some catchers passed around the waiver carousel over the course of spring training, and Houston could jump on any of those names as they become available as well.

The Astros want to remain under the luxury tax threshold in 2026. RosterResource pegs their current CBT obligations at about $238.5MM — $5.5MM shy of the $244MM threshold. Bringing in another catcher should be doable while still leaving some modest breathing room for in-season additions.

Astros Notes: Altuve, Infield, Left-Handed Bats

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The Astros held their annual FanFest event on Saturday. Aside from the autograph sessions and photo opportunities, the main theme was trying to sort out the crowded infield mix. With Jose Altuve, Jeremy Pena, Isaac Paredes, Carlos Correa, and Christian Walker all vying for playing time, not to mention Yordan Alvarez manning DH, it’s a difficult puzzle to tackle.

“We have to be creative,” manager Joe Espada told reporters, including Chandler Rome of The Athletic. “And I have to find ways to get them all in the lineup and keep everyone healthy.”

Altuve, a career second baseman, began last season as Houston’s primary left fielder. The results were about what you’d expect from a 35-year-old playing the outfield for the first time. Altuve posted a miserable -10 Defensive Runs Saved and -5 Outs Above Average in his 47 appearances on the grass. Espada maintained the stance that Altuve would be back at second base in 2026, with only the occasional start in the outfield.

While his batting average dipped, Altuve remained a productive offensive player last season. He swatted 26 home runs and chipped in 10 steals. Perhaps more importantly, he stayed on the field. Altuve appeared in 155 games, his most since 2016.

Altuve won’t be the only Astro getting a chance at second base this season. Paredes and Brice Matthews will get reps at the position, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Matthews will also get opportunities in center field.

Paredes played strictly third base in his first season in Houston, but he has experience at all four infield spots. The majority of his second base appearances came during his two full seasons with the Rays. Paredes made 44 starts at the keystone from 2022 to 2023. He’s never been a standout defender at any spot, but his work at second base has been passable. Paredes has recorded -1 Defensive Runs Saved in his 456 2/3 innings there.

Getting Paredes’ bat in the lineup, regardless of where he fits, will be key. The righty’s pull-heavy, fly ball-driven approach worked just as expected when he made Daikin Park his home. Paredes launched 20 home runs in just 102 games in 2025. A hamstring injury robbed him of the chance to attack the Crawford Boxes for a full season, but the initial returns were promising.

MLB.com has Matthews as Houston’s top prospect. The 23-year-old was a first-round pick in 2023. He put up 17 home runs and 41 steals at Triple-A last year, earning a brief MLB call-up. Matthews has primarily played second base in his minor league career. He also has experience at third base and shortstop, plus a handful of appearances in the outfield.

Baseball America labeled Matthews the best defensive infielder in Houston’s system. Even with his lack of an MLB track record, he’s likely the best glove the Astros could utilize at the position. Adding Matthews to the infield mix would further muddle a crowded situation. There’s also the question of whether he could make enough contact to earn regular at-bats. Matthews had a 27.9% strikeout rate with Sugar Land last season. It was 31.4% across four minor league levels in 2024. Matthews fanned 20 times in 47 MLB plate appearances.

The infield glut could be sorted out by a trade or two, and general manager Dana Brown told reporters several players are drawing interest. Rome cited Walker and Jesus Sanchez as two names that fall into that bucket. He also mentioned Boston has interest in Paredes, though a deal isn’t believed to be close. In terms of additions, Brown mentioned looking for a left-handed hitter to offset the righty-laden lineup. “If that opportunity presents itself and we can make some sort of trade to do that, it would be intriguing for us to make the team better.”

As Rome points out, the Angels were the only team to have fewer left-handed at-bats than the Astros last season. Victor Caratini accounted for nearly half of those plate appearances, and he’s now a Twin. Alvarez is the only lefty penciled in for regular work, with Sanchez and Zach Cole also factoring into the outfield group.

Steve Adams recently covered Houston’s outfield issues in a Front Office article. The free agent market for lefty-swinging outfielders is barren, especially with Max Kepler missing the first half of the year. Michael Conforto, Adam Frazier, and Mike Tauchman are among the remaining options who earned semi-regular playing time in 2025. The trade market would yield more interesting candidates. Rome tossed out Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu, adding that Houston finds the latter more intriguing than the former.

Brown still has a couple of months to make adjustments to a team that missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2016. “We’re going to continue to grind all the way up until spring training and maybe even in spring training. We don’t want to leave any stone unturned for making this team a better team.”

Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images

The Astros Have Work To Do In The Outfield

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For much of the offseason, the focus surrounding the Astros was how they'd improve their rotation and general starting pitching depth. It was an understandable qualm. Framber Valdez became a free agent, and while he's still lingering on the market, a reunion with Houston never felt all that likely, given the contract he'll likely command and the team's aversion to long-term deals of that magnitude. Hayden Wesneski had Tommy John surgery late last May. Ronel Blanco followed a couple weeks later. Lefty Brandon Walter was an out-of-the-blue success story ... at least until he also underwent Tommy John surgery -- his in mid-September.

The 'Stros have done well to bolster the starting staff. Their surprise deal with NPB star Tatsuya Imai gives them a potential high-end arm to replace Valdez. A trade acquisition of Pittsburgh righty Mike Burrows plugged a young, controllable arm into the fourth spot on the staff. Cheap rolls of the dice on former top prospect Nate Pearson and former D-backs/Royals farmhand Ryan Weiss, who's coming back over after a terrific two years in the Korea Baseball Organization, added some depth.

A six-man group consisting of Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, Imai, Burrows, Weiss and Lance McCullers Jr. could be solid -- particularly if McCullers can be even serviceable. Depth arms abound. Spencer Arrighetti, J.P. France, AJ Blubaugh, Colton Gordon, Jason Alexander and Miguel Ullola are all on the 40-man roster and all have minor league options remaining. Twenty-three-year-old Ethan Pecko had a nice season between Double-A and Triple-A last season and could get a look in 2026.

There are still clearly some question marks, but the Astros added an intriguing young arm (Burrows), a high-upside international star (Imai) and an under-the-radar 29-year-old coming off a big KBO showing (Weiss). Things look much better than they did a few months back.

The same can't be said in the outfield. To this point in the offseason, the biggest move the Astros have made, outfield-wise, is non-tendering Chas McCormick. Unless the Astros plan to use Yordan Alvarez in left field on the regular -- which is very unlikely to be the case -- it's easy to argue that they don't have even one everyday outfielder who can be confidently projected as a league-average hitter.

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Carlos Beltran, Andruw Jones Elected To Hall Of Fame

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The Baseball Writers Association of America announced that Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones have been elected to the Hall of Fame. They’ll be inducted into Cooperstown alongside Jeff Kent, who was elected by the Era Committee, on July 26. Beltrán appeared on 84.2% of ballots, while Jones got to a 78.4% vote share.

Beltrán gets the honor in his fourth year. The switch-hitting outfielder was the only player who fell between 70% and 75% on last year’s ballot. His positive trend lines made it a near lock that he’d surpass the 75% threshold this winter.

The Royals drafted Beltrán, a native of Puerto Rico, in the second round in 1995. He reached the big leagues as a September call-up three years later and ranked as one of the sport’s top prospects going into his first full season in 1999. Scouting reports projected him as a potential five-tool center fielder, and Beltrán lived up to that billing immediately.

He hit .293/.337/.454 with 22 homers and 27 stolen bases during his debut campaign. Beltrán was the runaway choice for American League Rookie of the Year, the first of many accolades he’d accrue over the next two decades. Injuries and a sophomore slump limited his playing time in 2000, but Beltrán reestablished himself as one of the sport’s best outfielders the following year. He’d hit above .300 in two of the next three seasons, earning his first top 10 MVP finish behind a .307/.389/.522 showing in 2003.

The roster around Beltrán was not nearly as strong. A small-market Kansas City franchise was unlikely to re-sign him, making him a top trade chip as he entered his final season of club control. The Royals dealt Beltrán, a first-time All-Star, to the Astros midway through the ’04 season. He appeared on the National League roster — Houston was then an NL team — and finished 12th in MVP balloting despite spending the first three months in the American League. Beltrán hit .258/.368/.559 with 23 homers in 90 regular season games for Houston.

His introduction to the postseason couldn’t have gone any better. Beltrán batted .435 with eight homers in 12 playoff games, helping Houston to within one game of a trip to the World Series. The Astros would go on to win the pennant one year later, but Beltrán had moved on in free agency by that point. He signed what was then a franchise-record deal with the Mets: seven years and $119MM.

Beltrán’s first season in Queens was a bit of a disappointment, but he rebounded with arguably the best season of his career in 2006. He hit a career-best 41 home runs and drove in a personal-high 116 runs with a .275/.388/.594 slash line. Beltrán won his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards while finishing fourth in MVP voting. Baseball Reference credited him with eight wins above replacement, the best mark of his career. He remained a force into the playoffs, batting .278 with a .422 on-base percentage over 10 games.

For the second time in three years, Beltrán’s team lost the seventh game of an NLCS battle with the Cardinals. The ’07 Mets famously melted down in September to squander the NL East title to the Phillies. They wouldn’t return to the playoffs during Beltrán’s tenure, yet there’s no doubt they got their money’s worth from the free agent investment. Beltrán played in 839 games while hitting .280/.369/.500 with 149 homers over six and a half seasons in a Mets uniform.

The club also netted a top pitching prospect named Zack Wheeler when they traded the impending free agent to the Giants in 2011. He raked down the stretch with San Francisco, but they narrowly missed the postseason between their World Series wins in 2010 and ’12. Beltrán signed a two-year deal with the Cardinals the following year. He hit .282/.343/.493 over his time in St. Louis, but his impact again was brightest in the postseason. Beltrán was a stellar playoff performer in both years.

Beltrán signed a three-year contract with the Yankees over the 2013-14 offseason. He remained an above-average hitter over his time in the Bronx, albeit without the defensive value he’d had for the majority of his career. He made it back to the playoffs in 2016 after being dealt to the Rangers at the deadline. Beltrán finished his career on a one-year contract to return to the Astros.

The final season in Houston wound up leaving Beltrán with a complicated legacy. He was an integral part of the team’s sign-stealing operation that wasn’t publicly revealed until a few seasons thereafter. Beltrán wasn’t much of an on-field contributor at age 40, but he collected his first World Series ring when the Astros won their first title in franchise history.

Beltrán’s role in the sign-stealing scandal became public over the 2019-20 offseason. He had just been hired by the Mets as manager a few months earlier. He stepped down and forfeited his salary once the operation became public. Beltrán has remained involved in the game in less prominent roles, working as a television analyst with the YES Network and spending the past few seasons as a special assistant in the Mets’ front office. He’s also in charge of building the roster for the Puerto Rican national team at the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

The sign-stealing scandal probably delayed Beltrán’s entry to Cooperstown. His statistical résumé made him a very strong candidate to get in on the first ballot. He finished his playing days with a .279/.350/.486 batting line. He hit 435 home runs, stole 312 bases, and drove in nearly 1600. Baseball Reference valued his career at 70 WAR, which doesn’t even account for his playoff excellence. Jay Jaffe’s JAWS metric has him as a top 10 center fielder of all time. Whatever trepidation some voters may have had about honoring him within the first couple years on the ballot, the end result is that he’s headed to Cooperstown to cement his legacy as one of the best center fielders to play the game.

That’s also the case for Jones, who ranks 11th among center fielders by the same JAWS calculation. He gets in on his ninth year on the ballot, one season after receiving 66% of the vote. A native of Curacao, Jones signed with the Braves as an international amateur and flew through the minor leagues. He was the #1 prospect in the game when he reached the majors in the second half of the 1996 season. Jones stepped seamlessly onto a loaded Atlanta roster that was midway through their run of dominance in the National League. They were coming off a championship and would head back to the Fall Classic in ’96.

A 19-year-old Jones embraced the big stage, hitting .345 with a trio of home runs in October. That included a two-homer showing in Game 1 against the Yankees, and he remains the youngest player ever to hit a World Series home run. The Braves won the first game but wound up dropping the series in six.

Jones played mostly right field during his first full season. He hit .231 with 18 homers in 153 games and finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year balloting. He really took off the following year, kicking off a decade-long run as the sport’s best defensive outfielder and a premier power threat. Jones hit 31 homers while batting .271/.321/.515 and earning his first Gold Glove in 1998. That was his first of seven 30-homer campaigns and, more remarkably, the start of a streak of 10 consecutive Gold Glove awards.

He’d start all 162 games for the Braves in 1999, playing elite defense while batting .275/.365/.483 with 26 homers and 35 doubles. The Braves made it back to the World Series after losing the NLCS in the prior two seasons. They were again knocked off by the Yankees, this time in a sweep. Jones didn’t have great playoff numbers over that stretch but remained one of the league’s best players in the regular season. He hit 36 homers in a 2000 season which Baseball Reference valued at eight wins above replacement, a career high that ranked fourth in MLB among position players.

Jones earned an eighth-place MVP finish in 2000 and very likely would have finished higher had today’s defensive metrics been around at the time. He reeled off another three 30-plus homer seasons after that, narrowly dropping below that cutoff with a 29-homer showing in 2004. He rebounded with his most impressive offensive performance in ’05, as he slugged an MLB-best 51 longballs and led the National League with 128 runs batted in. Jones won a Silver Slugger for the first and only time and finished as the MVP runner-up behind Albert Pujols. It was a narrow split, as Pujols received 18 first-place votes against Jones’ 13. (Third-place finisher Derrek Lee received the other one.)

The righty hitter remained an impact run producer the following season, as he slugged 41 more home runs with a career-high 129 RBI. That was his last impact season, as his rate stats dropped in 2007. The Braves let him depart in free agency at season’s end, and he was essentially finished as an everyday player at age 31. Jones played parts of five more seasons between the Dodgers, Rangers, White Sox and Yankees. He didn’t record more than 64 hits in any of his final five campaigns.

While it was a precipitous decline, Jones had one of the more impressive peaks in baseball history. He hit 368 home runs with a .263/.342/.497 batting line between his debut and the end of his age-30 season. Retroactive defensive metrics come with significant error bars, but FanGraphs estimates he was roughly 134 runs better than an average defender during that stretch. That’s 25 runs clear of the second-place finisher at any position (Adrian Beltré) and certainly aligns with both his impressive accolades and scouting evaluations that consider him among the best outfield defenders in MLB history. Jones is one of six outfielders to win 10 Gold Gloves. He’s alongside Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Al Kaline and Ichiro in that company and now, in Cooperstown.

Jones finished his career as a .254/.337/.486 hitter. His 434 homers place him one behind Beltrán for sixth among center fielders and tied with Juan González for 49th regardless of position. He nevertheless had a lengthy stay on the ballot as some voters struggled with his lack of production after he left Atlanta. Others may have withheld a vote on moral grounds, as Jones pleaded guilty to domestic battery charges and paid a fine after his wife alleged that he put his hands around her neck in December 2012. That came after the end of Jones’ MLB career, though he subsequently played two seasons in Japan to finish his professional playing days.

While Jones will certainly go into the Hall as a Brave, Beltrán had a nomadic enough career to consider a few options for his plaque. The Hall of Fame has final say but works with the player to choose which cap they’ll don. Beltrán tells Bob Nightengale of USA Today that while no decision has been finalized, he’s likely to go into Cooperstown as a Met.

Looking further down the ballot, Chase Utley’s 59% vote share was the highest among the candidates who were not elected. That’s up 20 points relative to last winter. It puts Utley, who has been on the ballot for three years, on track for eventual enshrinement — with an outside chance that he gets in as soon as next year. No other candidate appeared on more than half the ballots.

Of this year’s first-time candidates, only Cole Hamels (23.8%) received more than the 5% necessary to remain under consideration. All but one player who fell off the ballot was up for consideration for the first time. The lone exception is Manny Ramírez, who drops off after coming up short in his 10th year. Ramírez’s history of performance-enhancing drug use (including a failed test) made him a non-starter for many voters, and he appeared on fewer than 40% of ballots in his final year. His only path to enshrinement is via the Era Committees, and their decision last month on Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens makes it difficult to see a scenario where Ramírez ever gets in.

Next year will be the final consideration for Omar Vizquel, who has no chance of jumping from 18% to induction. Buster Posey and Jon Lester headline a class of first-time candidates that’ll also include Ryan Zimmerman, Kyle Seager, Brett Gardner and Jake Arrieta. Posey seems likely to get serious consideration for first-ballot induction, while Lester should easily have enough support to get more than 5% and remain on the ballot for future seasons.

Full voter breakdown courtesy of BBWAA. Respective images via USA Today Sports.

Ryan Pressly Announces Retirement

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Two-time All-Star reliever Ryan Pressly has decided to retire after 13 Major League seasons.  In a statement to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal, Pressly said his decision is “bittersweet, but what a ride it’s been….The friendships — from bullpen brothers to vets who mentored me along the way — those bonds last a lifetime.  I’ll miss the banter in the ‘pen, the inside jokes that kept us loose on those high-leverage nights.  But I’m fired up for this next chapter with my family, and chasing whatever adventure comes next.”

Pressly retires with a 3.33 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, 48.5% grounder rate, and 7.2% walk rate over 691 1/3 career innings with the Twins, Astros, and Cubs.  Since the start of the 2013 season, only six pitchers have appeared in more games than Pressly, who made 667 trips from the bullpen to the mound.

Never a big velocity pitcher, Pressly succeeded thanks to an excellent slider-curveball combination, and a ton of spin on both his curve and fastball.  From 2017-25, Pressly ranked in no less than the 99th percentile of all pitchers in curveball spin, and no less than the 95th percentile in fastball spin rate.  These fantastic spin rates helped Pressly miss a lot of bats, and turn a lot of hard contact into easy outs on the ground.

Originally an 11th-round pick for the Red Sox back in the 2007 draft, Pressly never pitched for Boston at the MLB level, as the Twins plucked him out of Boston’s farm system in the 2012 Rule 5 Draft.  Pressly had never even pitched at the Triple-A level before making his big league debut with Minnesota in 2013, but he hit the ground running with a 3.87 ERA over 49 games and 76 2/3 frames, immediately establishing himself as a multi-inning bullpen workhorse.

Injuries and a couple of stints in the minors interrupted Pressly’s time with the Twins, but his solid work saw him receive more high-leverage opportunities.  By the time Minnesota dealt Pressly to Houston at the 2018 trade deadline, the right-hander was acting as the Twins’ set-up man, and he continued that role in the Astros’ relief corps.  Pressly was outstanding down the stretch for the Astros in 2018, and his excellent work as a set-up man in 2019 earned Pressly his first All-Star nod.

This led to another promotion to the closer’s job in 2020, kicking off a four-year stint that saw Pressly record 102 saves in 118 chances while recording a 2.99 ERA, 31.5% strikeout rate, and 6.2% walk rate.  Despite this high-profile role on a playoff regular, Pressly’s success flew somewhat under the radar — perhaps because he never received many free agent headlines since the Astros kept (wisely) extending him.

Pressly inked a two-year, $17.5MM deal in advance of the 2019 season that became a three-year, $27.5MM deal after he reached enough appearances to trigger a vesting option for the third year.  In April 2022, Pressly signed another extension that ended up paying him $42MM over a three-year span (2023-25) once he hit another vesting threshold.  While it’s possible Pressly might’ve banked a bit more money if he’d tested the open market, he was very happy playing close to home (Pressly hails from Dallas and his wife is from Houston) and playing for a frequent contender.

The Astros’ regular trips to the postseason allowed Pressly the chance to shine on the biggest stages in baseball, and he delivered with a 2.78 ERA over 45 1/3 career playoff innings, including a streak of 22 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run.  Pressly’s run in Houston was highlighted by the team’s World Series title in 2022, and he threw the final inning of the Astros’ combined no-hitter in Game 4, and he picked up the save in both Game 5 and the clinching Game 6.

Despite Pressly’s continued success at closer, the Astros chose to double down on their relief depth by acquiring Josh Hader during the 2023-24 offseason, which resulted in Pressly’s return to a set-up role.  While he continued to pitch well, his $14MM price tag got a bit too hefty for an Astros team trying to limit its luxury tax bill, and Pressly agreed to waive his no-trade protection to approve a deal to the Cubs last winter.  Unfortunately for Pressly, he struggled in what ended up being his final MLB season, and Chicago released the reliever in August.

It was a little surprising that Pressly didn’t catch on anywhere following the release, and both the Twins and Astros were reportedly considering reunions.  Retirement was apparently an option for Pressly even over the summer, however, and after some time to weigh the decision, he has decided to walk away from the game at age 37.

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Pressly on an excellent career, and we wish him the best in his post-playing endeavors.

Astros Sign Carlos Perez, Amos Willingham To Minors Deals

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The Astros released their list of non-roster Spring Training invitees yesterday, and two of the names heading to camp are catcher Carlos Perez and right-hander Amos Willingham, who signed minor league deals with Houston back in November.

Now entering his age-35 season, Perez will look to continue his tour of the AL West by winning a job on the Astros’ roster.  Perez played 184 of his 278 career big league games with the Angels, and he has also suited up for the Rangers and Athletics during his five MLB seasons.  Most of Perez’s time in the majors came during the 2015-18 seasons, as he didn’t resurface again in the Show until he played in 66 games with the A’s in 2023.

Perez was non-tendered after the season but returned to the A’s on a minor league deal for 2024, and he then moved onto the Cubs last offseason on another minor league pact, with neither agreement resulting in any MLB playing time.  Over 859 career plate appearances in the majors, Perez has hit only .218/.265/.327.  His all-time Triple-A numbers (.279/.353/.505 over 3055 PA) are far superior, with the caveat that Perez has played most of his Triple-A career in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Yainer Diaz is Houston’s starting catcher but the backup role is now in flux since Victor Caratini signed with the Twins.  Cesar Salazar is the top current choice as Diaz’s understudy and Perez is the only other catcher in the organization with any big league experience.  Perez could push Salazar for a roster spot in Spring Training, though since Astros GM Dana Brown said earlier this month that the team was still on the lookout for backup catching help, both Salazar and Perez could be pushed down the depth chart.

Willingham made his MLB debut by pitching 24 1/3 innings over 18 appearances with the Nationals in 2023, but he tossed just a single inning in one game for Washington in 2024.  The righty has a 7.11 ERA to show for his brief time in the bigs, but he has a 3.62 ERA and 23% strikeout rate to show for his 104 1/3 innings in Triple-A, albeit with a 10.27% walk rate that is on the high side.  The Georgia native signed a minor league deal with the Braves last offseason that didn’t lead to a call-up, and Willingham actually spent most of his year at the Double-A level while also battling injuries.

Willingham made some changes to his pitching repertoire last year.  After previously using a fastball-slider combo as his two primary pitches, he threw his cutter over half the time in 2025, with his 94.4mph fastball reduced to a 37.3% usage rate.  He’ll head to Spring Training with the hopes that this revamped arsenal can lead to a job in the Astros’ bullpen, and Willingham has a minor league option remaining.

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