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Shohei Ohtani Wins NL MVP Award

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Shohei Ohtani has his fourth MVP award. As expected, the two-way superstar repeated as NL MVP and has now won the award twice in each league. He’s the second player in MLB history to win a fourth MVP. Barry Bonds won the award seven times. Until tonight, he’d been the only player to earn that title more than thrice. Ohtani won the award unanimously for the third consecutive season and has gotten all 30 first-place votes in all four of his wins.

It’s a third consecutive MVP for the Dodgers slugger. He won the AL version in 2023 during his final season as a member of the Angels. He has taken the crown in both seasons as a Dodger, winning a World Series in each. His $700MM free agent contract is already among the most successful in league history. He’ll have the opportunity to match Bonds’ record of four consecutive MVP wins next season. Bonds won the award as a member of the Giants each season from 2001-04.

Ohtani beats out Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto, the other NL finalists. He led the majors with 146 runs scored while slashing .282/.392/.622 across 727 plate appearances. Ohtani paced the NL in slugging percentage and OPS. He hit a career-high 55 home runs, one back of Schwarber for the Senior Circuit lead. Ohtani’s 102 runs batted in were “only” good for sixth in the NL, though that’s partially because he spent all but one week of the season working out of the leadoff spot.

While Schwarber matched Ohtani from a power perspective, the latter had the advantage of more than .040 points of batting average and .025 points in OBP. He also stole 20 bases and was a far more valuable overall baserunner. That’s before considering his achievements on the mound.

Ohtani finally returned after an extended layoff from pitching following his second career elbow surgery. He chipped in 47 innings of 2.84 ERA ball with 62 strikeouts over 14 starts. Ohtani probably would have won the MVP even if he were simply a DH, as he did in 2024. That he’s also capable of pitching at a top-of-the-rotation level when healthy only reaffirms his status as the sport’s greatest player today and arguably ever.

The award voting takes place at the end of the regular season. Ohtani added another eight homers with a .265/.405/.691 slash over 84 plate appearances in the postseason. He’d been only average during the Dodgers’ World Series run in 2024. That changed this October. Ohtani leveled up when the lights were brightest, hitting .333 with a .500 on-base percentage during the Fall Classic. He set a playoff record with nine times on base during the marathon Game 3, when a couple early homers led Jays manager John Schneider to intentionally walk him every time he came up in extra innings.

Ohtani’s monster showing shouldn’t take away from Schwarber’s phenomenal year. He led the NL in homers and took home the major league RBI crown by driving in 132 runs. Schwarber hit .240/.365/.563 across 724 plate appearances while starting all 162 games for the Phillies. He hit 187 home runs over the course of his four-year, $79MM free agent deal with the Phils and is now set to cash in during a return trip to free agency. Schwarber and Ohtani are tied for second in the majors in homers over the past four seasons, trailing only Aaron Judge. He has received MVP votes in four straight seasons, but this is his first time as a finalist.

Soto just wrapped up the first season of his free agent mega deal with the Mets. It was a disappointing year for the team, as they melted down in September and lost out on a playoff berth to an 83-win Cincinnati club. Soto came under some fire early after getting out to a slow start, but he was a monster from June onward. He finished the year with a .263/.396/.525 slash across 715 trips to the plate. Soto led the majors with 127 walks and paced the NL in on-base percentage. That’s to be expected for the hitter with the game’s best eye. Far more surprising is that he also tied for the NL lead with 38 stolen bases after entering the season with 57 steals over his first six and a half seasons. Soto has never won an MVP but has finished in the top three on three occasions.

FanGraphs credited Ohtani with an NL-best 9.4 wins above replacement between his pitching and hitting. Baseball Reference had him in second place at 7.7 WAR, narrowly behind Cy Young runner-up Cristopher Sánchez at eight WAR. BRef actually had Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo as the WAR leader solely among position players, excluding Ohtani’s pitching stats. Perdomo was second in fWAR behind Ohtani.

Schwarber received 23 of the 30 second-place votes. Four voters had Soto second on their ballot, while the other three placed Perdomo in that spot. The three finalists were the only players who appeared among the top five on all 30 ballots. Trea Turner, Pete Alonso and Freddie Freeman all received one third-place vote, with the rest split between Schwarber, Soto and Perdomo. Perdomo finished in fourth place, while Turner landed in fifth. Cy Young winner Paul Skenes came in sixth and was the top pitcher on the ballot. Corbin Carroll, Fernando Tatis Jr., Pete Crow-Armstrong and Francisco Lindor rounded out the top 10. Twenty three players received at least one vote.

Image courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images. Full vote breakdown available via BBWAA.

Reds Claim Ben Rortvedt

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November 13th: Prior to being put on waivers, Rortvedt and the Dodgers avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $1.25MM deal, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. The Dodgers presumably hoped that Rortvedt would clear waivers and accept an outright assignment, therefore staying as depth without taking up a roster spot. However, the Reds prevented that from happening.

November 12th: The Dodgers announced that catcher Ben Rortvedt has been claimed off waivers by the Reds. There was no previous indication that Rortvedt had been designated for assignment, so this drops the Los Angeles 40-man roster count to 39. The Reds, meanwhile, go from 37 to 38.

Rortvedt, 28, has bounced around the league quite a bit. He has just 227 big league games under his belt but those have come with four different teams. He has suited up for the Twins, Yankees, Rays and Dodgers. He has put up good defensive numbers in that time but hasn’t hit much. Overall, he has a .190/.279/.270 batting line in 633 plate appearances.

Given the strength of his glovework, even a bit more offense can make him a valuable player. He showed that with the Rays in 2024. His .228/.317/.303 slash wasn’t great in a vacuum. It led to an 87 wRC, indicating he was 13% below league average overall. However, that’s not so bad for a catchers, as backstops are usually about 10% below par. Thanks to his glovework and that passable offense, FanGraphs credited him with 1.4 wins above replacement on the year.

He couldn’t keep it going into 2025. He started the year with a .095/.186/.111 performance and was outrighted to the minors by early June. He was then flipped to the Dodgers as part of the three-team deadline deal which sent Zack Littell to Cincinnati. Rortvedt was called up when Will Smith was injured and hit a more serviceable .224/.309/.327 down the stretch. With Smith still injured as the playoffs began, Rortvedt was the club’s regular behind the plate. He put up a hilarious .429/.500/.571 line in four games before Smith took over. Rortvedt stayed on the roster through the rest of the playoffs but didn’t play in the NLCS or World Series.

Going into 2026, Smith and Dalton Rushing project as the Dodgers’ top two catchers. Rortvedt is out of options. He’s also eligible for arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $1.3MM salary. Presumably, the Dodgers weren’t planning to tender him a contract. They put him on waivers and gave him a chance to land somewhere else.

The Reds are an interesting landing spot for Rortvedt. They had Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino as their primary catchers in 2025. Trevino has been a strong defender in his career but was closer to average in 2025. His bat has never been great but his .238/.272/.351 line in 2025 was below his own standards. He is signed through 2027 with a club option for 2028.

Stephenson, meanwhile, has never received strong grades for his work behind the plate. He has been a good hitter in his career, however. He was league average in 2025 but has shown the potential for more. He slashed .296/.369/.454 for a 120 wRC+ from 2020 to 2022. Over the past three years, he has a .246/.325/.414 line and 99 wRC+. Stephenson is heading into his final arbitration season with a projected salary of $6.4MM.

With Rortvedt now in the fold, the Reds have some options. Since Stephenson isn’t a strong defender, perhaps he could spend more time at first base this year, while leaving the catching duties to Trevino and Rortvedt. It’s also possible the Reds look to see if there’s any trade interest in Stephenson or Trevino. Alternatively, they could hold all three. They could tender Rortvedt a contract and then try to pass him through waivers later. Since his service time is between three and five years, he would have the right to elect free agency but would have to forfeit his salary commitments in exercising that right.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

Dodgers Among Teams Interested In Raisel Iglesias

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The Dodgers are among several teams that have been showing early interest in free agent reliever Raisel Iglesias, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. Romero noted earlier in the day that talks on the relief market have been active at the GM Meetings, so much so that there could be some early movement.

Iglesias, who’ll turn 36 in January, has spent the past three and a half seasons closing games in Atlanta. He originally signed a four-year, $58MM with the Angels but was dumped off to the Braves just a few months into that contract after the ’22 Halos got out to an awful start.

The 2025 season began in rocky fashion for Iglesias. While he was still missing bats and limiting walks early in the year, he was wildly and uncharacteristically homer-prone. Iglesias allowed seven round-trippers through his first 24 innings (2.63 HR/9) en route to a grisly 6.75 ERA. He looked to be potentially on his way to a lost season, but the former All-Star not only righted the ship in early June — he went on to pitch as one of MLB’s most effective relievers the rest of the way.

In his final 43 1/3 innings, Iglesias posted a dominant 1.25 earned run average. He punched out 30.4% of his opponents in that time and issued walks at a tidy 6.3% clip. The home run pendulum swung in the other direction, as he yielded just one long ball from June 9 onward (0.21 HR/9).

It was a season of extremes, but Iglesias finished the year with a strong 3.21 ERA, a 27.4% strikeout rate, a 6% walk rate and a 1.07 HR/9 mark. All of those rate stats are loosely in line with his career marks. His 14.7% swinging-strike rate on the season is down a bit from previous years but still several percentage points north of average (tied for 26th among 147 qualified relievers in 2025).

A lack of bullpen depth nearly cost the Dodgers in the World Series. They advanced through the first few rounds of postseason play on the back of dominant starting pitching from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow, which helped to mask a bullpen that was hampered by injuries to relievers like Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Brock Stewart and Tanner Scott (who had a disappointing first year in Los Angeles overall). Roki Sasaki stepped up as a vital late-inning arm, and the club got terrific work out of lefty Alex Vesia as well — at least until a family emergency kept him from appearing in the World Series. In the end, with everything on the line, it was Yamamoto recording the final out — just one day after tossing 96 pitches in a Game 6 start.

As such, it’s hardly a surprise to see the Dodgers linked to some high-profile bullpen arms in the early stages of the offseason. In addition to Iglesias, they’ve already been tied to Devin Williams. With the length of Iglesias’ contract likely capped by age in a way that’s not the case with Williams, Iglesias seems a likelier candidate to sign early in the offseason. Signing Iglesias certainly wouldn’t preclude the deep-pocketed Dodgers for other significant investments in the bullpen, but he’d be a quick first step to deepening a relief corps that felt too thin throughout the playoffs.

Royals, Guardians Among Teams Interested In Brendan Donovan

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Cardinals infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan figures to be one of the most sought after trade candidates this offseason. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Royals and Guardians are two of the clubs interested in acquiring him. Goold also mentions that the Yankees and Dodgers had interest prior to the deadline, which perhaps indicates they would be interested again.

Donovan, 29 in January, has a strong major league track record. He has appeared in 492 games and stepped to the plate 2,006 times. His 9.1% walk rate is solid while his 13.5% strikeout rate is much better than par. He has slashed .282/.361/.411 for a 119 wRC+, indicating he’s been 19% better than league average overall. He has also bounced around the diamond, having played all four infield positions as well as the outfield corners.

He is now two years from free agency. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $5.4MM salary in 2026. He’ll be due a raise in 2027 before hitting the open market. The Cards are reportedly planning to engage in a multi-year rebuild and likely won’t be competitive in Donovan’s window of control.

Today, a report from Ken Rosenthal, Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic says the Cards are willing to entertain offers on many of their players but would prefer to hold Alec Burleson and Iván Herrera. Burleson is controlled for three more seasons and Herrera four. That perhaps gives some insight into what the Cards are envisioning as their rebuilding timeline.

That situation alone makes Donovan a trade candidate but there’s also the club’s broader infield picture to consider. Infielder JJ Wetherholt is one of the top prospects in the sport and is knocking on the door of the majors. Masyn Winn, controlled for four more years, is a strong glove-first shortstop. Wetherholt is also a shortstop but his defense is not at Winn’s level, so he’s likely to be moved to second or third base. The Cards also have Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman and Thomas Saggese in the mix for playing time at those spots.

Arenado and Gorman are coming off some poor seasons and don’t have huge trade value right now. That’s especially true for Arenado, considering his contract, which features a large salary and a no-trade clause. Trading Donovan is the best path for the Cards to both recoup some meaningful young talent, likely on the pitching side, while also freeing up more playing time for others.

President of baseball operations Chaim Bloom admitted to Goold this week that he would likely be focused on acquiring rotation options. That could be controllable young guys or even veterans to eat innings. That will be especially true if they trade Sonny Gray, who is getting interest.

“We’ve definitely been listening on him,” Bloom said. “And definitely, as you would imagine, any time you have a good player, you’re probably going to get some attention and people who are interested. That’s not a surprise. He’s still one of the better pitchers in the league. We value him very highly. Just where we are and thinking long term, we’ve talked to him and we feel there might be something that makes sense. We’ll continue to explore that.”

Without Gray, the projected rotation includes Andre Pallante, Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy and Kyle Leahy. Even a rebuilding club will want to do better than that. Bloom also spoke of a desire to add a veteran or two to the bullpen, though that would likely come via free agency rather than trade.

Given Donovan’s defensive flexibility, he could make sense for almost any contending club, but the Royals are certainly a good fit. “Right now we don’t have somebody who can play infield and right field, and that’s something we’ve got to look at,” Royals president of baseball operations J.J. Picollo said to Goold, speaking generally, not of Donovan specifically. “If we had somebody who could go from the infield to the outfield that’s very beneficial.”

The Royals have had problems in the outfield for years. In 2025, they got a collective .225/.285/.348 line from their outfielders. That resulted in a wRC+ of 73, dead last in the majors. Second base was also a problem this year. Jonathan India and Michael Massey were the primary options at the keystone. India hit .233/.323/.346 on the year for a wRC+ of 89. Massey was even worse, with a .244/.268/.313 line and 57 wRC+. India is going into his final arbitration season, with a projected $7.4MM salary. Massey is projected for just $2MM and can be controlled through 2028.

The payroll appears to be tight in Kansas City but moving on from India and replacing him with Donovan would actually save money. It would, however, require the Royals to give up something of value to the Cardinals. Thankfully, the Cards need controllable pitching more than anything and that’s something the Royals have. Kansas City currently projects to have a rotation of Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Kris Bubic and Michael Wacha. That leaves just one spot for Noah Cameron, Stephen Kolek, Ryan Bergert, Luinder Avila or Ben Kudrna.

Since pitching injuries are inevitable, the Royals would presumably prefer to hang onto that depth. However, without a lot of money to spend, there’s an argument for using those arms on the trade block to address their needs on the position player side. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that they are also looking for a left fielder and righty-swinging guy to platoon with Jac Caglianone.

Donovan swings from the left side and wouldn’t help with the latter need, though he could help in left field if he is acquired and either Massey, India or someone like Nick Loftin takes hold of the second base job. Some righty platoon bats who wouldn’t break the bank include Lane Thomas, Miguel Andujar, Randal Grichuk, Austin Hays, Rob Refsnyder and Austin Slater .

The Guards are also a sensible fit. Similar to the Royals, they have been struggling to get strong production from their outfield. As mentioned, the Royals had the worst outfield production in the league in 2025. The Guards were barely above them on that list with a .225/.288/.341 line and 77 wRC+. Second base was also a weak spot, with Brayan Rocchio and Daniel Schneemann getting most of the playing time this year. Rocchio finished the season with a .233/.290/.340 line and 77 wRC+, with Schneemann posting a .206/.283/.354 line and 79 wRC+.

For both the outfield and second base, there are some potential in-house solutions. Travis Bazzana, one of the club’s top prospects, is a second baseman who is closing in on his major league debut. In the outfield, Chase DeLauter and George Valera both got late promotions in 2025. Given Donovan’s versatility, he could move around the field depending on which of those young guys are healthy and productive. His modest projected salary is also an obvious highlight for a low-spending club like the Guardians.

There’s often an abundance of controllable pitching depth in Cleveland but that’s less the case than usual right now. Their rotation was middling in 2025, but they did just bolster their pipeline by adding Khal Stephen in the Shane Bieber trade.

For the Yankees and Dodgers, their situations have changed since their reported interest in Donovan in July. The Yanks grabbed Ryan McMahon from the Rockies ahead of the deadline, moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. to second. They could still fit Donovan in the outfield but they will probably try to reunite with Cody Bellinger and/or Trent Grisham, while perhaps pursuing Kyle Tucker as well.

The Dodgers, they had Max Muncy on the injured list in July and Tommy Edman was banged up as well. Muncy got healthy by the end of the year. Edman recently underwent surgery to address his ankle and should be good to go by spring training. Both Edman and Donovan are capable of playing both second base and the outfield, so perhaps there’s a way they can co-exist. Donovan’s two-year window of control would line up with recent reporting that the Dodgers might look for a short-term outfield solution since they have so many prospects on the way. Donovan could fit into that plan but the Dodgers could also target more of a straightforward outfielder.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

Tony Gonsolin Elects Free Agency

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The Dodgers announced Wednesday that right-hander Tony Gonsolin went unclaimed on waivers and elected free agency. He was designated for assignment last week. Gonsolin underwent a flexor repair and internal brace procedure on his right UCL back in August. The procedure came with a recovery timetable of eight to ten months.

Now 31 years old, Gonsolin looked like a potential rotation stalwart with the Dodgers early in his career. From 2019-22, he pitched a combined 272 2/3 innings with a 2.51 ERA while fanning nearly one quarter of his opponents and posting a solid 8.5% walk rate. A pair of IL stints due to shoulder inflammation, plus time off due to an ankle sprain and forearm inflammation, limited Gonsolin’s workload in that four-year period. (As did the shortened 2020 season, of course.)

Still, Gonsolin avoided major injury until the 2023 season, when recurring elbow troubles limited him to 103 frames with a 4.98 ERA. He eventually required Tommy John surgery, sidelining him for the entire 2024 campaign. A back injury hobbled him early in 2025, but Gonsolin did return to the mound for the Dodgers in late April. He started seven games, totaled 36 innings and posted a 5.00 ERA before landing back on the injured list with renewed elbow discomfort in early July. By mid-August, he was going back under the knife.

The 93.5 mph Gonsolin averaged on his fastball in this year’s return is a ways off from its 95.1 mph peak in 2020, but it’s also a bit higher than the right-hander managed to average in 2022-23. This year’s 12.2% swinging-strike rate and 24.2% strikeout rate were both comfortably better than league average. Gonsolin struggled with his command, both in terms of missing the strike zone entirely (11.5% walk rate) and lacking precision within the zone itself (2.25 HR/9), but there were some moderately encouraging signs even amid his struggles.

Given that he’s now facing another lengthy rehab that will extend from somewhere between next April and June, he’ll be capped on a short-term deal. Opportunistic clubs may look to buy low on a one-year deal, and we’ve seen pitchers in similar situations command even modest two year pacts.

Two years would be a surprise, given Gonsolin’s recent injury track record and just 36 MLB innings over the past two seasons, but it’s not entirely implausible. He could opt to increase his earning potential by waiting until he’s healthy to re-sign, but he should have interest from clubs this offseason and will be viewed as someone who could be a midseason reinforcement to a club’s pitching staff and/or a trade chip for a rebuilding club.

Mets Interested In Cody Bellinger

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The Mets have interest in free agent Cody Bellinger, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Heyman also downplays the possibility of the Dodgers making a strong run at free agent Edwin Díaz, which he suggests could be good for the Mets.

Bellinger would fit well with the Mets, given the current roster makeup. Center field was a big hole in 2025. Jose Siri spent most of the season on the injured list. He was outrighted off the roster in September and later became a free agent. Tyrone Taylor’s performance was lacking. The club tried to address the situation by acquiring Cedric Mullins at the deadline but he struggled to the end of the season and then became a free agent.

There is the possibility of an internal solution to the problem. Taylor is still on the roster. President of baseball operations David Stearns also tells Joel Sherman of The New York Post that Carson Benge will have a chance to make the team out of camp next year.

Benge was the club’s first-round pick, taken 19th overall, in the 2024 draft. In 2025, he hit his way through High-A and Double-A. In 416 plate appearances across those two levels, he drew a walk in 14.2% of them while only striking out at a 17.5% clip. He produced a .308/.413/.513 line and 174 wRC+. He got bumped up to Triple-A in mid-August. He slashed just .178/.272/.311 at that level but in a tiny sample of 103 plate appearances with a .188 batting average on balls in play.

Ideally, he would have some Triple-A success before cracking the majors but it seems the Mets aren’t dimming his stock based on that fluky end to a strong season. He played all three outfield spots but the Mets have Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo in the corners. If March rolls around and Benge is the best center field option, perhaps he will get the job. They likely can’t bank on that, however. Benge is still fairly inexperienced and won’t be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until after the 2027 season, so they don’t need to put him on the 40-man until he earns it.

Signing Bellinger would give them a strong Plan A. Bellinger hasn’t been an everyday center fielder for a few years but the plan would presumably be for him to move off that position whenever Benge forces the issue. Even if that doesn’t happen by Opening Day 2026, it could happen during the campaign. Bellinger could then move to a corner, with the designated hitter spot used in a rotation between himself, Soto and Nimmo. It’s also possible that Bellinger could end up at first base, depending on what happens with Pete Alonso.

Bellinger is heading to free agency for the third time but he should have far more earning power than in the first two trips. He was non-tendered by the Dodgers after 2022, his second straight dismal season on the heels of a shoulder injury. He secured a one-year, $17.5MM deal with the Cubs and bounced back with a strong season before heading to free agency for a second time. His market wasn’t strong, seemingly due to the memories of his poor 2021 and 2022 seasons still being fresh. He returned to the Cubs on a three-year, $80MM deal with opt-outs after each season.

His 2024 wasn’t quite as strong as his 2023 campaign, so he decided to skip his first opt-out chance. He was traded to the Yankees and then had a really strong performance in 2025. He hit 29 home runs, slashed .272/.334/.480 for a 125 wRC+ and got strong grades for his glovework, playing all three outfield spots and a bit of first. There were some flags under there, as he seemingly benefited from the short porch at Yankee Stadium. He had a 152 wRC+ at home and 97 on the road. Still, he made the easy decision to walk away from his $25MM salary in 2026, taking the $5MM buyout instead.

MLBTR predicted Bellinger to secure a five-year, $140MM deal this time. The Mets are one of the top-spending clubs in the league and could certainly make that happen if they wanted to, though Bellinger will have interest elsewhere, including from the Yankees.

At the end of the season, Stearns spoke of a desire to improve the Mets’ run prevention, per Tim Britton of The Athletic. Perhaps that would suggest Bellinger would be a better fit than bringing back Alonso, as the Polar Bear is not a great defender. Rostering both is theoretically possible but a bit clunky, as it closes off the possibility of Bellinger moving to first once Benge takes over center.

Turning to Díaz, he is the top reliever available this winter. The last time he was headed to free agency, the Mets signed him before he got there. It was a five-year, $102MM pact with an opt-out after three seasons. A major knee injury wiped out 2023 for Díaz but he bounced back in the two subsequent seasons. He just posted a 1.63 earned run average. His 38% strikeout rate wasn’t quite as gaudy as his 50% mark in 2022 but it was still very good. He triggered his opt out and is now a free agent for the first time.

Any club would be interested in adding him but he’s likely going to command another hefty deal. That puts clubs like the Dodgers in play, though Heyman’s suggestion that they aren’t likely to be aggressive with Díaz could help the Mets. That doesn’t mean he will be cheap, however. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reports that Díaz is looking to get roughly the same deal he got last time.

That’s a bit of a tall ask. Díaz is still quite good but he’s turning 32 in March. As mentioned, his strikeout rate is still very strong but not quite as insane as it was a few years ago. MLBTR predicted him for $82MM over four years this time, roughly the same average annual value as his last deal but on a shorter term since he’s now three years older. Time will tell if he can match his previous pact but it should be a notable deal either way.

The Mets issued him a qualifying offer, which he will decline. The Mets presumably want to bring Díaz back but Stearns has generally opted for shorter-term commitments to pitchers since he took over the front office. If he lets Díaz sign elsewhere, it would hurt the bullpen but the Mets would receive a compensatory draft pick.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images

Latest On Blue Jays’ Pursuits

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The Jays came so close to winning it all in 2025 and all signs point to them being aggressive in reloading for 2026. From the General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas, Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet as well as Mitch Bannon of The Athletic report that all signs point to the Jays being strongly involved in various markets, including starting pitchers, relievers and position players.

That’s not surprising framing. The Jays have been one of the more active clubs in recent winters, which has included pursuits of big names like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and others. Though they missed on those guys, they have signed seven different free agents to deals of at least three years in length over the past five years. Those were George Springer, Anthony Santander, Kevin Gausman, Yariel Rodríguez, Jeff Hoffman, Yusei Kikuchi and Chris Bassitt. They are fresh off a deep playoff run that presumably swelled the coffers a bit and could reinvest some of that into the roster.

Adding to the bullpen would be a logical move, as Toronto’s relief corps was middling this year. The club’s relievers had a collective 3.98 earned run average, which placed them 16th out of the 30 major league teams. They added Seranthony Domínguez and Louis Varland at the deadline but Domínguez is now a free agent. The closer, Hoffman, posted a 4.37 ERA and could be open to moving to a setup role.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Jays and Dodgers are two clubs expected to pursue Pete Fairbanks, who just became a free agent when the Rays declined his player option. Though the Dodgers just won the title, they did so despite their bullpen falling apart throughout the year. Manager Dave Roberts leaned heavily on his starters through the playoffs, which included using all of Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game Seven of the World Series.

Fairbanks would make sense on a lot of clubs but the Dodgers and Jays are certainly two of them. He spent the last three years as the closer in Tampa, saving at least 23 games in each of those seasons. He also finished each season with an ERA below 3.58, including a 2.83 mark in 2025.

However, there are some yellow flags with Fairbanks. Injuries have been a big part of his career. 2025 was the first time he ever reached the 50-inning plateau in a season. Though he has continued to have good results in the ERA department, other numbers are less encouraging. Over 2022 and 2023, he struck out 39.1% of batters faced, but he was down to 24% over the two most recent seasons. His velocity also dropped two ticks, as he was around 99 miles per hour with his fastball in 2022-23 but has been closer to 97 mph since then.

Teams should still be interested in Fairbanks but the declines have presumably impacted his market. The Rays had an $11MM club option with a $1MM buyout, a net $10MM decision. They presumably tried to trade Fairbanks before declining that and didn’t find too much interest. Teams are usually wary of committing money so early in the offseason but someone would have jumped if they felt that was a bargain.

He could get a one-year deal somewhere in the vicinity of that option price but a multi-year pact at a similar annual value is also possible. The Dodgers and Jays, as well as almost any other club, could easily afford that.

But Fairbanks is just one of dozens of options on the relief market. Bannon mentions Phil Maton and Tyler Kinley as possible fits, seemingly in speculative fashion. Maton has been putting up good numbers for years but the market hasn’t paid him, presumably because he barely gets his velo over 90 mph. His past two trips to free agency have led to modest one-year deals. He got $6.5MM from the Rays going into 2024 and $2MM from the Cardinals last winter.

Dating back to the start of 2022, Maton has thrown 257 innings with a 3.33 ERA, 27% strikeout rate, 9% walk rate and 43% ground ball rate. He was even better in 2025, with a 2.79 ERA, 32.7% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 44.4% grounder rate. He’s generally one of the best pitchers in the league in terms of minimizing hard contract, which was still the case this year. His average exit velocity, barrel rate and hard hit rate were all in at least the 98th percentile of pitchers, according to Statcast. That strong season should earn him a raise but the market has already shrugged him off twice, so he shouldn’t break the bank.

Kinley has spent most of his career pitching for the Rockies, so he has some big ERAs on his track record. However, he finished 2025 strong. Atlanta acquired him at the deadline and then Kinley posted a 0.72 ERA over 25 innings once he was away from Coors Field. There was some good luck in there but his 23.4% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate were decent figures. Despite that finish, Atlanta turned down a $5.5MM club option, going for a $750K buyout instead. If that’s any indication of how the market perceives him, he should be very affordable for the Jays or any club.

Turning to the rotation, general manager Ross Atkins has already indicated that starting pitching will be a target. There are many ways to do that and Bannon reports that the Jays are going after the guys at the top of the market.

As Bannon mentions, the top free agent starters available are guys like Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez and Tatsuya Imai. MLBTR predicted those four to each get deals of at least five years with a guarantee of at least $115MM. The Jays have gone to that range with a pitcher before, as their aforementioned Gausman deal was for $110MM over five years. Depending on how the markets for these pitchers play out, landing one might require stretching a bit farther. MLBTR predicted Cease to get $189MM over seven years, while Valdez and Imai each got $150MM predictions, Valdez over five and Imai over six.

The Jays got a gift when Shane Bieber decided not to opt out of his deal. He took a $16MM salary for 2026 instead of a $4MM buyout, effectively taking $12MM while spurning the chance to head to free agency in search of more. That leaves the Jays with a rotation core of Gausman, Bieber and Trey Yesavage. They should have José Berríos at the back somewhere, as he is expected to be healthy by next year.

Guys like Eric Lauer, Bowden Francis, Ricky Tiedemann, Adam Macko, Lázaro Estrada and others could compete for a final spot, but the club would be in a better position if they brought in someone else. Lauer could be bumped to #6 and a long relief role if everyone is healthy, while the others could pitch in Triple-A. It would also make sense to sign someone beyond 2026, as Gausman and Bieber are slated for free agency a year from now, while Berríos will have an opt-out chance at that point as well.

A big strike on the position player side is also an option. Bringing back Bo Bichette is already known to be on the table. Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported this week that Bichette is getting a lot of interest as a shortstop but also from clubs who need help at second and third base. Bichette’s shortstop defense has never been strong and he has dealt with numerous lower-body injuries in recent years. He finished 2025 playing second base for the Jays in the World Series, after missing several weeks due to a knee injury.

It’s unknown if Bichette will have strong preferences about his defensive home or if he just wants to secure the biggest payday. For the Jays, they probably prefer to keep Andrés Giménez at short since he’s a slick defender, but it’s unknown if they would be willing to put Bichette back at that spot in order to lure him back to Toronto.

There’s also a bit of smoke about a run at Kyle Tucker. Bob Nightengale of USA Today mentioned the possibility a few times in a column earlier this week. Both Bannon and Nicholson-Smith/Davidi column address the Tucker rumors but both suggest pitching is likely to be a bigger priority.

The Jays certainly could go after Tucker, even though he is likely to be quite expensive. MLBTR predicted he could land a $400MM guarantee over 11 years. As mentioned up top, the Jays have made strong runs at players above that stratosphere before and they gave Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a $500MM extension.

The current outfield mix includes Springer, Santander, Daulton Varsho, Nathan Lukes, Myles Straw, Joey Loperfido, Addison Barger and Davis Schneider. They don’t need Tucker in there but he would make the group stronger. Loperfido still has options while Barger and Schneider can play the infield. Springer, Varsho and Straw are all slated for free agency after 2026. Straw’s deal has club options for 2027 and 2028 but they might be a bit pricey for a bench outfielder like him. By 2027, it’s possible those three are gone with Santander moving into the designated hitter spot. It’s possible that guys like Yohendrick Pinango or RJ Schreck could come up and fill the void by then but Tucker would give the Jays more long-term certainty on the grass/turf.

At this stage of the offseason, there are still many paths available to the Jays. The report from Nicholson-Smith and Davidi characterizes them as involved everywhere but not desperate, so perhaps it’s not wise to expect their aggression to lead to a quick deal. They may slow-play things and look for opportunities to open up to them, depending on how the various markets develop.

An unknown factor is how much they will have to spend. RosterResource projects them for a $235MM payroll in 2026, which gives them more than $20MM of wiggle room relative to the $258MM payroll they had at the end of 2025. President Mark Shapiro has said that he doesn’t expect the payroll to go down next year. Around $20MM would not be enough to do everything mentioned here, but it’s possible the deep playoff run in 2025 will prompt the Jays to nudge the payroll up a bit.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Dodgers Have Interest In Devin Williams

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The Dodgers have shown interest in Devin Williams as they pursue a high-leverage righty reliever, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. They join the Marlins as teams known to be interested in the two-time All-Star.

Williams was one of the three to five best relievers in MLB throughout his time with the Brewers. He pitched to a 1.83 earned run average over parts of six seasons in Milwaukee. That included three straight sub-2.00 ERA showings between 2022-24. Among relievers with 100+ innings over that stretch, Williams trailed only Edwin Díaz and Félix Bautista with a 39.5% strikeout rate. The only real concern were the back fractures that cost him the first half of the ’24 season.

Milwaukee traded Williams to the Yankees before his final year of arbitration. He had the worst season of his career in the Bronx. Williams turned in a 4.79 ERA over 62 innings. He started the year poorly enough that he lost the closer role in April. Williams reclaimed it in June when Luke Weaver went on the injured list but scuffled again in July. The Yankees acquired David Bednar at the deadline to push Williams into a setup role for the remainder of the season.

While it was clearly an uneven season, there’s still reason to expect a return to form. Williams fanned an excellent 34.7% of batters faced while getting swinging strikes nearly 17% of the time. Those aren’t quite at the same level as his Milwaukee days, but they’re still top 15 marks in MLB. His 94.1 MPH average four-seam fastball speed was in line with his career levels. Williams continues to get ridiculous movement on the changeup/screwball that has been his signature pitch throughout his career. Opposing hitters had a lofty .339 average on balls in play when runners were on base. Some teams could chalk that up as poor sequencing luck and continue to project Williams as a top 10 reliever moving forward.

The poor season meant the Yankees weren’t willing to risk Williams accepting a $22.025MM qualifying offer to return to the Bronx. MLBTR ranked his earning potential second among relievers behind Díaz, predicting that the strong peripherals would lead a club to offer him a four-year, $68MM deal. That’d require a team to overlook the unsightly ERA, though, so it’s certainly not out of the question that he’s forced to settle for a shorter-term contract. Robert Suárez, Kyle Finnegan and Pete Fairbanks are among other closers available on the free agent market.

The Dodgers made the biggest free agent reliever move of last offseason. Their four-year, $72MM investment in Tanner Scott did not look good in the first season. Neither did bringing back Blake Treinen on a two-year deal or the one-year contract for Kirby Yates. Among their traditional relievers, the Dodgers were essentially down to Alex Vesia as their lone reliable late-game arm in the postseason.

Converted starters Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki were their top righty relievers in October. Both pitchers are expected to be back in the rotation mix next spring. General manager Brandon Gomes said this evening that the team “absolutely” still views Sasaki as a starter (link via Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register). Gomes nevertheless said the Dodgers don’t feel they need to land a top-tier reliever this offseason. He expressed optimism in a Scott bounce back, and they could get Brusdar Graterol and Brock Stewart back from injuries. Neither Graterol nor Stewart has shown much ability to stay healthy, though, so there’s presumably a measure of “GM speak” in Gomes downplaying the need for a high-octane arm.

Latest On Dodgers, Kyle Tucker

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Kyle Tucker is the top free agent in this year’s class. That more or less guarantees that he’ll be linked to the two-time defending champions. Jon Heyman of The New York Post wrote last month that the Dodgers were likely to make a run at Tucker this offseason.

That may well be the case, but Jeff Passan of ESPN writes that the Dodgers don’t seem inclined to make a decade-long commitment to the star outfielder. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic wrote last night that while the Dodgers aren’t ruling out a Tucker pursuit, they’re also not opposed to making a short-term outfield move while awaiting the arrival of internal reinforcements.

In the short term, the Dodgers’ biggest weaknesses are the outfield and late-inning relief. Michael Conforto certainly won’t be back after his one-year free agent deal busted. Kiké Hernández, their primary left fielder in the postseason, is also a free agent. Andy Pages had a poor second half that carried into a dreadful playoffs. Tommy Edman battled an ankle injury late in the season that led the Dodgers to prefer him at second base. (He’s undergoing surgery and is expected to be full go for Spring Training.) Even Teoscar Hernández was a relative weak point in right field. He hit .247/.284/.454 while playing very poor defense.

Assuming the Dodgers intend to keep Mookie Betts at shortstop, the outfield isn’t currently in great shape. It’d probably line up with Pages, Edman and Hernández as the primary options. Alex Call and Ryan Ward — the latter of whom was just added to the 40-man roster to keep him out of minor league free agency — could platoon in left field if the Dodgers want Edman in the infield.

They’ll need to make some kind of external acquisition, but it’s understandable if they don’t want to make an extended free agent play. The long-term outfield picture is more promising than the current mix. In August, Baseball America included four Dodgers outfielders (Josue De Paula, Zyhir Hope, Mike Sirota and Eduardo Quintero) among the sport’s top 60 overall prospects. That doesn’t include top catching prospect Dalton Rushing, whose path to playing time behind the plate is blocked by Will Smith. Rushing didn’t play any outfield during his rookie season but has logged a little less than 300 career innings as a left fielder in the minors.

Of the aforementioned prospects, only Rushing will be in the mix for an MLB roster spot early in 2026. Sirota and Quintero have yet to reach Double-A. De Paula and Hope have played a combined 10 games at that level. None of the four have any Triple-A experience. It’s unlikely all four will pan out given the attrition rate of prospects who are that far from the majors, but the Dodgers will want to have long-term opportunities available for each of them.

The balance could be to turn to the trade market. Steven Kwan, Lars Nootbaar (recovering from heel surgeries), Brendan Donovan and Wilyer Abreu are among the outfield-capable players who might be available. The Dodgers were tied  to Kwan and Donovan at last summer’s deadline. They certainly have the farm system to make a strong offer for a controllable outfielder. Rushing could be a trade chip if the Dodgers don’t feel he’d be an above-average regular in left field, for instance.

The Dodgers obviously have the spending capacity to make a run at any free agent as well. They’ve generally preferred making shorter-term commitments at huge annual rates to offering decade-long deals, though. They’ve broken that precedent for Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but both were special cases. Ohtani is the best player in the world and Yamamoto was a 25-year-old ace. Tucker is an excellent player but not that kind of unique free agent. The Dodgers would probably be more amenable to a five- or six-year deal at a premium AAV if Tucker winds up going that route, but it stands to reason his camp will try to pull a ten-plus year commitment in the early part of the offseason.

Tommy Edman To Undergo Ankle Surgery, Expected To Be Ready For Spring Training

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Dodgers infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman will undergo surgery on his right ankle next week. General manager Brandon Gomes provided the news to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. No details on the surgery were provided but Gomes says Edman is expected to be ready around the start of spring training.

The ankle issue seemed to hamper Edman throughout the 2025 season. Inflammation in that right ankle put him on the injured list at the end of April. He returned a few weeks later but landed back on the IL with a right ankle sprain in August. The second IL stint lasted a little longer than a month.

Though the missed time was fairly minimal, it’s possible the injury impacted Edman’s performance on the field. He hit .225/.274/.382 this year. That translated to an 81 wRC+, the lowest such mark of his career. He had a .252/.295/.523 line and 120 wRC+ through April, when he first landed on the IL. He slashed .213/.264/.315 for a 62 wRC+ the rest of the way. He only attempted four stolen bases, with three successful steals, far less than previous seasons.

It’s possible that we haven’t seen a fully healthy Edman for a while. Back in 2022, with the Cardinals, he slashed .265/.324/.400 for a 106 wRC+, stole 32 bases and received strong defensive grades. FanGraphs credited him with 5.4 wins above replacement that year. In 2023, right wrist issues popped up, dragging down his offense. He underwent surgery after that season. He was rehabbing from that wrist surgery in June of 2024 when a right ankle sprain set him back. The Dodgers acquired him at the 2024 deadline while he was still on the IL. He got into 37 games down the stretch.

Despite the nagging injury issues in 2024, the Dodgers felt comfortable enough with Edman to make a big bet on him. Edman and the Dodgers agreed to a five-year, $74MM extension for the 2025 to 2029 seasons. The first year didn’t really work out so well, but the hope will be that Edman can be healthy and back to his old self in 2026.

Edman is capable of playing multiple positions. In 2025, when on the field, he split his time between second base, third base and center field. As of right now, the easiest spot to slot him in for 2026 is second base. The Dodgers have Max Muncy at third and Andy Pages in center. Edman’s main competition at the keystone would be light-hitting Hyeseong Kim, with Alex Freeland also in the mix. Of course, the offseason is still in its early stages and it’s possible things look different a few months from now, depending on what moves the club makes.

Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst, Imagn Images

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