Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Front Office Originals

Offseason In Review: Arizona Diamondbacks

By | at

The D-backs followed up their 2023 World Series appearance with a narrow playoff miss and responded by making the biggest free agent signing in franchise history. Now brandishing one of the best one-two starting pitching punches in the sport, they'll look to ride a powerhouse rotation back into October baseball.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $46.35MM
Total spending: $216.35MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Waiver Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

Notable Losses

Arizona's playoff hopes in the 2024 season stayed alive until the very end, but they ultimately watched from home after missing the postseason by the literal narrowest margin possible. It was a bitter pill for the club and its fans to swallow -- particularly since the offseason promised considerable turnover. Star first baseman Christian Walker hit free agency, as did slugger Joc Pederson on the heels of what was arguably a career-best season. Closer Paul Sewald and key role players like Randal Grichuk and Kevin Newman also returned to the open market.

That all left plenty of work to be done, and not a ton of payroll space to make it happen -- or so it seemed initially, anyhow. General manager Mike Hazen publicly stated in November that he anticipated a payroll in the same range as 2024's $173MM figure. With Jordan Montgomery exercising a $22.5MM player option on the heels of a down year, the D-backs lost plenty of flexibility. There was still a decent amount of room, but they ostensibly needed to replace their first baseman, designated hitter, closer and multiple bench pieces.

As he set those payroll expectations, Hazen also made clear that bolstering the back end of his bullpen was a key priority. For the first third or even half of the offseason, the general expectation was that Arizona would seek high-end bullpen help and perhaps a more affordable replacement for Walker, who seemed destined for multiple years with an average annual value in the $20MM range.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Offseason In Review: Chicago Cubs

By | at

The Cubs added star power in the Kyle Tucker trade, but otherwise made modest additions despite several other big swings.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $33.25MM
Total spending: $56.25MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

Much like the previous winter with Marcus Stroman, this Cubs offseason kicked off with a pivotal player option decision that would affect their financial flexibility.  This time, Cody Bellinger elected to take the $27.5MM owed to him in 2025 in lieu of a $2.5MM buyout, which also preserves a $25MM option on 2026 with a $5MM buyout.  Bellinger's decision was not surprising, as he's now positioned himself to decline the '26 option having collected a total of $32.5MM for '25.

The Athletic's Patrick Mooney suggested a couple of times early in the offseason that the Cubs were seeking a starting pitcher who "could be trusted in a playoff game."  Nonetheless, it wasn't long before Mooney's colleague Sahadev Sharma wrote that "the top tier of the starting pitching market has been ruled out" for the club.  Blake Snell, Max Fried, and Corbin Burnes would go on to sign contracts ranging from $182-218MM (though some included deferred money), and the Cubs were seemingly never a factor on them due to what I assume are philosophical objections to five-plus year commitments to thirty-something-aged free agent starters.

Instead, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer made a pre-Winter Meetings strike for 34-year-old southpaw Matthew Boyd.  Boyd was available on a two-year contract because of his age and injury history.  After totaling 355 2/3 innings for the 2018-19 Tigers, Boyd has not reached 80 innings in a season since.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Offseason In Review: Miami Marlins

By | at

The rebuild continued in South Beach, as the Marlins continued to move experienced talent for prospects.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $3.5MM
Total spending: $3.5MM

Option Decisions

  • None

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Miami's offseason began with a big internal housecleaning, as the Marlins parted ways with their entire coaching staff, and several behind-the-scenes employees ranging from the team's dietician to the traveling secretary.  The headline name among all the Marlins' new hires was Clayton McCullough, chosen for his first big league managerial position after a long career as a coach and coordinator in the Dodgers' organization, and as a manager at multiple levels of the Blue Jays' farm system.

McCullough's history of working in player development and with players at both the Major and minor league levels bodes well for his stewardship of a Marlins team that continues to look towards the future.  Of all the players on the Marlins' 40-man roster, only Sandy Alcantara and new signing Cal Quantrill have more than four years of MLB service time, as president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has already significantly overhauled the roster after a little over 16 months on the job.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

By | at

MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today, exclusively for Front Office subscribers!

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Offseason In Review: San Francisco Giants

By | at

While not the blockbuster offseason some fans expected from the Giants' new front office, a couple of big names landed in San Francisco.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $36MM
Total spending: $197MM

Option Decisions

  • Blake Snell, SP: Opted out of final year of contract ($30MM in 2025)
  • Robbie Ray, SP: Declined to opt out of final two years of contract ($50MM over 2025-26 seasons)
  • Wilmer Flores, IF: Exercises $3.5MM player option for the 2025 season

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

Willy Adames' $182MM contract represents the largest deal in Giants history, and perhaps marks an end to the narrative that the franchise is unable to attract top-tier talent to the Bay Area.  Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa (though that situation was rather unique), and Shohei Ohtani are a few of the major free agents who the Giants pursued but were unable to sign when Farhan Zaidi was the club's president of baseball operations, leaving fans perpetually frustrated at Zaidi's roster-building endeavors.

Things changed even before Zaidi was officially replaced by Buster Posey last September, as Posey (then acting in his capacity as a member of the Giants board of directors) took a very direct role in negotiating Matt Chapman's six-year, $151MM contract extension.  It is rare to see such extensions signed when a player is as close to Chapman was to the open market, and finalizing that deal indicated that Posey might be moving with more aggressiveness once he took the reins as the new PBO.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Dodgers

By | at

The Dodgers followed up their World Series win with another aggressive offseason, making many headline-grabbing additions as well as some less splashy moves. Despite years of playoff disappointments, they now go into 2025 viewed as a juggernaut that is despised by all other fan bases around the league.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $185.5MM
Total spending: $398.5MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

Notable Losses

Things change fast in baseball. The Dodgers finished 2023 on a down note, having been swept out of the NLDS by the Diamondbacks. Though that was their 11th consecutive postseason appearance, many of them had ended in heartbreaking fashion. Fans of the club were in MLBTR's mentions, calling for manager Dave Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman to be fired. Fans of other clubs were taunting them for their failed attempts to "buy" a World Series. But they then signed Shohei Ohtani to a heavily-deferred deal, as well as grabbing Yoshinobu Yamamoto and many others, eventually winning it all in 2024.

The club therefore went into the 2024-25 offseason with the wind in their sails and they didn't slow down. Within a few months of their parade, they had signed one of the top free agent starters, a few of the top relievers, some solid outfielders and the most notable international amateur since Ohtani.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

By | at

MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today for Front Office subscribers.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

MLB Mailbag: Skenes, Bregman, Nationals, Alcantara

By | at

This week's mailbag gets into how long Paul Skenes will stay a Pirate, Alex Bregman opt-out scenarios, the NL East favorite, extensions for young Nationals players, potential Sandy Alcantara trade returns, the automated ball-strike system, and much more.

John asks:

I figure the Bucs' cheap owner will trade Skenes before his first arbitration year because he will never pay that kind of salary. If I'm right, when is his final year in Pittsburgh?

After the 2026 season, Paul Skenes will have three years of Major League service time and will be eligible for arbitration.  Barring an extension, Skenes and the Pirates will go through the arbitration process early in 2027, and his salary will take a huge leap that season.

How much of a leap is hard to predict not knowing what numbers Skenes will put up in 2025 and '26.  Remarkably, the first-time arbitration record for a starting pitcher remains Dallas Keuchel's $7.25MM from 2015, though prior to that Tim Lincecum at least topped $10MM as the midpoint between his $13MM filing figure and the Giants' $8MM.  Clayton Kershaw had a midpoint of $8.25MM once as well.  But the first-time starting pitcher arbitration market is not one that moves easily.

Arbitration eligible players are tendered contracts because they offer surplus value to their teams, star players included.  Corbin Burnes, for example, won the NL Cy Young award in 2021 and was paid $6.55MM in 2022, $10.01MM in '23 (after losing a hearing to the Brewers), and $15,637,500 in '24.

A healthy Skenes should be able to top Burnes' $32.2MM in total arbitration earnings, but even $45MM for that three-year period might represent a single season of what he could earn in free agency.

Say Skenes is a 6-WAR type player.  Bob Nutting has owned the Pirates since January 2007; what has happened with this team and similar players since he took over?

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Offseason In Review: Washington Nationals

By | at

The Nationals made a few acquisitions, most notably with a trade for their new first baseman. They eschewed any investments longer than two years. They're probably still a season away from pulling out of the rebuild. If they take a step forward from last season's 71 wins, they should be positioned for a much more aggressive winter going into 2026.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $38.5MM ($4MM deferred)
Total spending: $47.5MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

The Nationals finished 71-91 last season, their second straight year landing 20 games under .500. Still, they feel closer to contention than they did 12 months ago. Top outfield prospects James Wood and Dylan Crews made it to the big leagues. The middle infield tandem of CJ Abrams and Luis García Jr. each took steps forward, even if Abrams' season ended with an unceremonious disciplinary demotion. Center fielder Jacob Young had a nice season headlined by Gold Glove-caliber defense. A controllable rotation group of MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz pitched reasonably well.

One can start to see the light at the end of the five-year rebuild. Yet the Nationals entered the offseason with a handful of huge holes. GM Mike Rizzo said in September that the front office was looking to add one or two middle-of-the-order bats. The Nats got very little from their corner infield or designated hitter positions, making those obvious target areas. They're still lacking a true top-of-the-rotation starter, nor did they have much in the way of middle relief depth.

They didn't fix all of it. There was never much hope of ownership allowing the front office to jump back in on Juan Soto. They seemingly didn't look at the top of the rotation market, uninterested in making a $200MM+ investment for Corbin Burnes or Max Fried. While they technically did add two middle-of-the-order hitters, they weren't on significant free agent splashes. The Nationals showed some interest in Christian Walker and made sense as an on-paper fit for Pete Alonso, but they ended up taking a volume approach to free agency.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Offseason In Review: Cleveland Guardians

By | at

The Guardians kept their longtime ace but traded their everyday first baseman ahead of his final season of club control. Their offseason featured a blend of creative trades to trim payroll and acquire controllable talent, plus some short-term spending on veterans to replace some of the big leaguers they traded away. It was a vintage Cleveland offseason that should keep them in the mix in what'll be a tightly contested AL Central.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $37.5MM
Total spending: $54.5MM

Option Decisions

  • None

Trades and Waiver Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

The Guardians entered the 2024-25 offseason looking to bolster a roster that made an unexpected run to the American League Championship Series. Cleveland faced decisions on some players with dwindling club control and, as is always the case, some notable payroll limitations. In a departure from most offseasons, however, the Guards found themselves in an unfamiliar position: needing to acquire starting pitching.

Cleveland has emerged as one of the industry leaders in maximizing its rotation output. At times, it feels as though they have an almost magical ability to produce quality starting pitchers out of thin air. In fact, when the Guardians signed righty Ben Lively to a one-year, $800K deal in the 2023-24 offseason, it was the first time they'd signed any free agent starter to a major league contract since inking Gavin Floyd back in 2014. Midway through the 2024 season, they did so again, signing Matthew Boyd to a major league contract.

Both moves worked out splendidly. Boyd started eight games down the stretch and produced a sub-3.00 ERA. Lively finished second on the club with 151 innings and notched a 3.81 ERA and stuck with the club as an arbitration-eligible player. He'll be back in the 2025 rotation. Boyd, however, hit free agency and did so alongside former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber and trade deadline acquisition Alex Cobb.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top