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Nine Teams Terminate Contracts With Main Street Sports

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The nine MLB teams who had contracts with Main Street Sports have terminated those contracts with the company. It’s possible that some of them eventually work out new deals with the broadcaster, which operates channels under the FanDuel Sports Network banner. The teams are the Braves, Reds, Tigers, Royals, Angels, Marlins, Brewers, Cardinals and Rays. Talks between the company and the teams are ongoing. Various elements of this developing story were reported by Evan Drellich of The Athletic, Alden González of ESPN, Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

The issue is due to the poor financial state of the company. They have recently missed payments to several teams, including the Cardinals and Marlins, but possibly others. The nine teams have cut ties with the company for now to keep them away from potential bankruptcy proceedings and explore other options, but it’s possible some teams will eventually sign new pacts with the company. Main Street is trying to find a buyer, though the reporting indicates talks with DAZN have fizzled out. Fubo TV might have stepped into the bidding but there are conflicting reports about that.

This is just the latest chapter in a saga that goes back quite a while, with cord cutting and streaming having chipped away the regional sports network (RSN) model. The company was previously known as Diamond Sports Group with channels marketed as Bally Sports. Going into 2023, 14 MLB clubs and many teams in other sports leagues had RSN deals with the company. But trouble emerged early that year when the company missed some payments. They filed for bankruptcy in March of 2023.

The company eventually emerged from bankruptcy in November of 2024 and then rebranded. Along the way, many of their deals with MLB clubs fell apart. In some cases, new deals were worked out. In other cases, the league took over broadcasting duties. The Rangers went a different route and launched their own RSN. Coming into 2026, Main Street has 29 deals with teams across MLB, the NBA and NHL.

The path of MLB handling the broadcasts will be available for all the clubs involved here. “No matter what happens, whether it’s Main Street, a third party or MLB media, fans are going to have the games,” commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday, per Blum.

The MLB path is largely inconsequential for fans. If anything, it’s a better arrangement. MLB still puts the games on cable. For cord-cutters, they have the option of streaming the club by paying the league directly, with no local blackouts.

For the teams, however, it’s not a great situation. RSN deals have been a big source of revenue over the years. The bankruptcy of Diamond/Main Street put many of them in a tough position. Renegotiating with the company meant accepting lower fees than they had been receiving on their previous deals. Going with MLB would allow them to potentially reach more fans but the revenue in that path is both lesser and not guaranteed, as the money is contingent on how many people sign up to stream.

MLB handled the broadcasts of five clubs in 2025: the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins and Guardians. It was reported in September that the Mariners would go down this route in 2026. This week’s reporting suggests the Nationals will likely leave MASN and join with the league as well.

In the cases of at least a few of these teams, the situation seems to had on-field implications by reducing the club’s spending capacity when it comes to player payroll. The Padres and Twins, for instance, have been trying to strike a delicate balance of staying in contention while having less to spend on players than the front office may have once anticipated.

That’s obviously a disadvantage compared to some big-market clubs, many of whom are co-owners in RSNs which are relatively healthy in larger population areas. In July of 2024, it was reported that the league and the MLB Players Association had agreed to redirect some competitive balance tax money to teams impacted by the television situation. This week’s reporting indicates that arrangement was for 2024 alone. There was no such deal in place for 2025 and there’s currently nothing lined up for 2026 either.

“The clubs have control over the timing,” Manfred said this week. “They can make a decision to move to MLB Media because of the contractual status now. I think that what’s happening right now clubs are evaluating their alternatives. Obviously they’ve made significant payroll commitments already and they’re evaluating the alternatives to find the best revenue source for the year and the best outlet in terms of providing quality broadcasts to their fans.”

With this situation and other disruptive developments in terms of MLB’s broadcast landscape, the league’s preference has been to not sign any new contracts that go beyond the 2028 season. It has been reported that many of MLB’s broadcast deals expire after that season. Manfred hopes to put together a league-wide streaming service with no blackouts and/or have a big auction of rights to various games, with multiple broadcasters bidding against each other.

A mini version of this happened recently when MLB’s deal with ESPN fell apart. The league then split up ESPN’s previous package, selling some of it back to ESPN along with other elements. Netflix bought the rights to Opening Day, the Home Run Derby and some other special events. NBC/Peacock bought Sunday Night Baseball and the Wild Card round from 2026 to 2028, as well as other events. ESPN acquired the local rights for the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Guardians and Twins as part of their new deal.

All of this figures to hang over the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The current CBA expires after the 2026 season. Another lockout, like the one in 2021-22, is widely expected. Manfred has essentially admitted that one will occur by speaking positively about the lockout process.

Whether that lockout extends long enough to cancel games in 2027 remains to be seen. The players and the union are already concerned by a lack of spending from some clubs and the RSN situation will likely only exacerbate that. Some of the impacted clubs would likely welcome more revenue sharing but the bigger clubs wouldn’t be as keen on that. The owners are expected to push for a salary cap but the players are strongly opposed to that.

Manfred has made plenty of unpopular moves in his time as commissioner but he can currently point to a legacy that includes no games missed due to labor strife. Baseball’s popularity is also on the rise, despite the aforementioned TV disruption. Game Seven of the 2025 World Series was the most-watched game around the world since 1991. The uptick in ratings and attendance has been attributed by many to recent rule changes, particularly the pitch clock.

Disrupting the 2027 season would impact that legacy and also cut into baseball’s recent surge, which would be inopportune timing with the aforementioned future broadcast plans. Manfred is signed through 2029 and does not plan to seek another term after that.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

18 Players Exchange Filing Figures

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Teams and arbitration-eligible players had until 7:00 pm Central to agree to terms or exchange filing figures. The vast majority agreed to salaries, either this afternoon or before November’s non-tender deadline to ensure they were offered contracts at all.

There were 18 cases where team and player did not align — none bigger than the record $13MM gap between the Tigers and Tarik Skubal. Nothing formally prevents players and teams from continuing negotiations. However, virtually every team takes a “file-and-trial” approach to the process. Clubs will mostly refuse to continue talks about one-year deals after this date. They’ll often make exceptions for discussions involving multi-year contracts or one-year deals with a club/mutual option. It’s unlikely that all of these players will end up getting to a hearing, but the majority probably will.

If the sides go to a hearing, a three-person arbitration panel will either choose the player’s or the team’s filing figure. (Hearings will run between January 26 and February 13.) The arbitrators cannot pick a midpoint. That’s designed to prevent the parties from anchoring by filing at extremely high or low figures. Teams’ preferences for the file-and-trial approach follows a similar logic. The idea is to deter players from submitting a higher number from which they could continue to negotiate until the hearing begins.

Unless otherwise noted, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported all filing figures for those who didn’t reach agreements. The list of players who could go to a hearing this winter (service time in parentheses):

Angels

  • Reid Detmers (3.159): Filed at $2.925MM, team filed at $2.625MM

Astros

  • Isaac Paredes (4.160): Filed at $9.95MM, team filed at $8.75MM
  • Yainer Diaz (3.035): Filed at $4.5MM, team filed at $3MM

Blue Jays

  • Eric Lauer (5.091): Filed at $5.75MM, team filed at $4.4MM (first reported by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet)

Braves

  • Dylan Lee (3.150): Filed at $2.2MM, team filed at $2MM

Brewers

Marlins

Mariners

  • Bryce Miller (2.153): Filed at $2.625MM, team filed at $2.25MM

Nationals

Orioles

  • Keegan Akin (5.083): Filed at $3.375MM, team filed at $2.975MM
  • Kyle Bradish (3.160): Filed at $3.55MM, team filed at $2.875MM

Rays

  • Edwin Uceta (2.150): Filed at $1.525MM, team filed at $1.2MM

Reds

Royals

Tigers

Twins

  • Joe Ryan (4.033): Filed at $6.35MM, team filed at $5.85MM

Brewers Hire Thad Levine As Special Advisor

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The Brewers have hired former Twins general manager Thad Levine as a special advisor in baseball operations, relays Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. This is Levine’s first job in MLB since he stepped down as Minnesota GM at the end of the 2024 season.

Although Levine held the GM title, he was never atop the baseball operations department. He worked as top lieutenant under chief baseball officer/president of baseball operations Derek Falvey from 2017-24. The Twins made four playoff appearances, three of which were behind AL Central titles, within the first seven seasons. They looked on their way to another postseason berth in 2024 before a late-season collapse dropped them to an 82-80 record and put them on the outside looking in.

Before his time in Minnesota, Levine spent more than a decade with the Rangers as an assistant GM. He’d worked in the Colorado front office prior to that. There was some thought that the Rockies could circle back to Levine when they dismissed GM Bill Schmidt at the beginning of the offseason, but there’s no indication he wound up receiving serious consideration.

The Brewers have three assistant GMs under president of baseball operations Matt Arnold: Will Hudgins, Matt Kleine and Karl Mueller. Levine joins Doug Melvin and Matt Klentak as former general managers with advisory titles.

Dodgers, Braves Among Teams To Show Interest In Freddy Peralta

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Though the Brewers have continually downplayed the possibility of actually trading him, ace right-hander Freddy Peralta continues to draw a wide array of interest. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic include the Dodgers and Braves among a list of teams to inquire with the Brewers, joining a group of previously reported clubs that includes the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox. All of those clubs are still believed to have interest in the righty.

Peralta’s appeal is obvious. He’s a durable 29-year-old righty with a 3.30 ERA over his past five seasons, including a career-low 2.70 earned run average this past season (albeit with rate stats and fielding-independent marks that suggest it’s more reasonable to expect a low-3.00s ERA than another sub-3.00 mark). Peralta averages nearly 95 mph on his heater, misses bats at a high level, has only slightly worse-than-average command and, crucially, is earning just $8MM next season. That’s his final year before free agency, but even as a one-year rental, a team surrendering young talent to acquire Peralta would know that he’ll likely net a 2027 draft pick, as he’s a virtual lock to receive and reject a qualifying offer.

For luxury-paying clubs, Peralta’s modest salary is particularly enticing. That’s all the truer for teams like the Yankees, Mets and Dodgers, who figure to be in the top penalty tier for at least a third consecutive season. Those clubs are effectively paying double for any subsequent additions to the payroll. The Dodgers are already in the top tax bracket and thus would pay a 110% tax on any new additions to the payroll. The two New York clubs are just shy of the top tax bracket, but even while sitting in the third penalty tier, they’d be subject to a 95% tax. And both are close enough to the fourth-tier threshold that Peralta would put them right up against it or push them over.

For the Braves and Red Sox, the penalties would be far less severe. Atlanta didn’t pay the tax at all last year and is currently in the first penalty tier. They’d receive only a 20% ($1.6MM) slap on the wrist for adding Peralta’s salary to the ledger. The Red Sox would be crossing the tax line for just the second straight season, as they were under the threshold in 2024. They’re currently about $3MM shy of the tax cutoff, per RosterResource. As a second-time offender they’d pay a 30% tax on the first $20MM by which they exceed the limit. For Peralta, that’d be only a hair over $1.5MM.

In terms of roster fit, it’s pretty easy to see how Peralta would fit onto any of the listed clubs. Atlanta currently has Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Reynaldo Lopez and Hurston Waldrep lined up as its likely top five. Each of Sale, Strider, Schwellenbach and Lopez missed time with injuries in 2025. Lopez started only one game. Sale missed more than two months with fractures in his ribcage. Schwellenbach’s season ended in late June when he suffered a fracture in his right elbow. Strider posted a 4.45 ERA in his first season back from UCL surgery. Waldrep was impressive as a rookie but tossed only 56 1/3 innings in the majors.

The Dodgers certainly don’t “need” more starting pitching, but the old “no such thing as too much pitching” adage applies to veritably any club. Adding Peralta would be about further deepening the club’s October options. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski give the Dodgers an embarrassment of riches, and high-upside younger arms like River Ryan, Gavin Stone and Kyle Hurt are all on the mend from 2024 surgeries. Top prospect Jackson Ferris isn’t far from MLB readiness. It’s a deep group, but the Dodgers probably don’t want to simply presume that all of their more established arms will be healthy for the postseason. Bringing in another top-tier arm to join the group would further bolster their choices as they pursue an elusive threepeat.

The Yankees have yet to make an addition to the big league roster, beyond re-signing Ryan Yarbrough on a cheap one-year deal and selecting righty Cade Winquest from the Cardinals in the Rule 5 Draft. With Carlos Rodon, Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt all ticketed to open the season on the injured list, they could use some rotation help. The Mets, meanwhile, have subtracted more big names than they’ve added this winter. President of baseball ops David Stearns knows Peralta well from his Milwaukee days. The current Mets rotation is heavily reliant on rebounds from Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea as well as notable steps forward from prospects like Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat. The Red Sox have added Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo to what was already a pretty deep mix, but Peralta would be a clearer No. 2 option behind ace Garrett Crochet than Gray or right-hander Brayan Bello.

Other teams have surely shown interest in Peralta. Earlier in the offseason, it was reported that the Astros had looked into him, but they’ve since added Mike Burrows in a trade and Tatsuya Imai in free agency. The Orioles have shown interest as well, though Baltimore acquired Shane Baz and re-signed Zach Eflin, at least reducing some urgency. (Peralta would still be a notable and needed upgrade to the top end of the staff.) The Athletic’s report notes that some lower-payroll clubs are also looking into Peralta, given that his $8MM price point is affordable for any team.

Broadly speaking, it stands to reason that any 2026 postseason hopeful in the sport has probably at least gauged the asking price on Peralta. Rosenthal and Sammon suggest that a major league-ready starting pitcher is very likely to be a starting point in any talks regarding Peralta. Milwaukee won an MLB-best 97 games in 2025 and is seen as a favorite in the NL Central as a result. The Brewers know they could also get a compensatory pick in the 2027 draft if and when Peralta departs via free agency. They’re a revenue sharing recipient who doesn’t pay the luxury tax, so that pick would come at the end of the first round. That establishes a pretty reasonable base line that needs to be exceeded in any trade talks, and targeting MLB-ready help for a win-now club is only natural.

A Peralta trade shouldn’t be seen as likely. Milwaukee brass has publicly downplayed the possibility, but the Brewers will never fully close themselves off to trades of any notable stars as they approach free agency. Milwaukee traded Corbin Burnes, Devin Williams and Josh Hader near the end of their original windows of club control, after all. However, the Brewers also held onto Willy Adames for the 2024 season, knowing he’d likely reject a qualifying offer and depart via free agency, which is precisely how things played out. Keeping Peralta would give Milwaukee a deep and talented rotation, as he’d be joined by Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Misiorowski, Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick, with depth options including Logan Henderson, Tobias Myers and former top prospect Robert Gasser, who’ll be returning from Tommy John surgery.

Brewers Add Daniel Vogelbach To Coaching Staff

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The Brewers announced their coaching staff for the upcoming 2026 season, and includes a familiar name. Former major league first baseman Daniel Vogelbach, who played with the Brewers from 2020-21, has been hired as a hitting coach. That’s part of a broader shakeup of the hitting coach staff. Lead hitting coach Al LeBoeuf, who was away from the team for part of the 2025 season after a prostate cancer diagnosis, is not returning to the major league staff but is staying in the organization. Assistant hitting coach Eric Theisen has been elevated to the lead hitting coach role. Vogelbach and former Blue Jays hitting coach Guillermo Martinez (another new hire to the staff) will be Theisen’s assistants.

Further changes in the staff are afoot. Third base coach Jason Lane has been promoted to the title of “offense and strategy coordinator.” Infield coach Matt Erickson will now also be the club’s third base coach. Assistant pitching coach Jim Henderson is being promoted to the title of “pitching coordinator.” In his old assistant pitching coach role, the Brewers will elevate Juan Sandoval, who’d previously been a minor league pitching coach and coordinator.

Spencer Allen, who’d been Milwaukee’s director of player development, joins the major league staff as a first base coach, replacing Julio Borbon. Allen was the head coach at Northwestern prior to joining the Brewers organization prior to the 2022 season. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports that both Borbon and LeBoeuf are remaining in the Brewers’ organization in roles that have yet to be specified.

It’s a major shakeup of the coaching staff, though much of the turnover is due to internal promotions. Vogelbach is the most recognizable newcomer. He played in parts of nine major league seasons from 2016-24, hitting a combined .219/.340/.405 with 81 home runs in just under 2000 plate appearances. Vogelbach rarely hit for average but always possessed superlative pitch recognition (career 15.1% walk rate) and considerable raw power. This marks his first coaching assignment since concluding his playing career last offseason, when he joined the Pirates as a special assistant in their baseball operations department.

Martinez, 41, was the Blue Jays’ hitting coach from 2019-24. He’s spent several seasons as a minor league hitting coach and hitting coordinator with both the Jays and the Cubs. After departing Toronto’s major league staff following the 2024 season, he returned for a second stint in the Cubs’ ranks, serving as a hitting coach with their Double-A club. He’s now back in the majors with just the third organization as he heads into his 15th season of professional coaching.

The Brewers’ First Base Possibilities

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The Brewers have struggled to find competent first base play for the entirety of this decade. Not since Prince Fielder in the early 2010s has the club had a standout contributor at the position for more than a season. Milwaukee’s regular first baseman (by games played) hasn’t exceeded 1.0 WAR (per Baseball Reference) in a season since Eric Thames in 2019. The team has won the NL Central in four of the last five years, but they’ve shuffled through journeymen and platoon bats at the cold corner during that span.

Andrew Vaughn might be the answer. A mid-June trade from the White Sox seemed to revive the former third overall pick. Vaughn’s underwhelming career hit rock bottom in May, when he was demoted by Chicago after hitting .189 over the first two months of the season. The White Sox dealt him to the Brewers for Aaron Civale, which says a lot about his value at the time.

Rhys Hoskins sprained his thumb in early July, opening the door for a Vaughn promotion. He joined the big-league club and immediately hit the ground running. Vaughn launched a three-run homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto in his first at-bat with the Brewers. He went on to post a 1.157 OPS in July. After hitting five home runs in 48 games with the White Sox to start the season, Vaughn left the yard five times in his first 15 games with the Brewers.

Vaughn cooled off considerably in August, slashing .250/.320/.375. He managed just six extra-base hits in 29 games. A day off to begin September seemed to do Vaughn some good, as he heated back up to close the season. The 27-year-old hit .368 with a .509 SLG over the last month of the campaign. His performance was enough to bump Hoskins off the NLDS roster. Vaughn had a solid series against the Cubs, popping two homers and driving in four runs. He then went 0-for-12 in a four-game NLCS sweep by the Dodgers.

Despite the hitless series against the L.A., Vaughn heads into 2026 as the top candidate to hold down first base for the Brewers. The club didn’t pick up its end of the mutual option with Hoskins, so Vaughn and Jake Bauers are the only primary first basemen on the roster. Catcher William Contreras and utilityman Andruw Monasterio also have a bit of experience at the position. It seems like Vaughn’s job to lose, but he’s got a lengthy MLB track record of mediocrity. Here’s how first base could play out for Milwaukee in 2026…

Vaughn runs away with the job

The reason behind Vaughn’s takeoff in Milwaukee could be as simple as a change of scenery for a former top pick on a struggling team. However, he did make some clear improvements this past season. He’d always hit the ball hard (46.6% career hard-hit rate), it just hadn’t translated into much production. The guy getting 60 raw power grades as Chicago’s top prospect never hit more than 21 home runs with the club.

Milwaukee was able to get Vaughn to turn his hard contact into better results in multiple ways. The young slugger posted career bests in line drive rate (25.2%), pull rate (37.5%), and pulled air rate (18%) this past season. Those marks are still right around league average, but they’re a solid improvement on Vaughn’s previous work. He also ranked in the 85th percentile in launch angle sweet spot rate and in the 92nd percentile in squared-up rate.

It wasn’t just the batted balls, either. Vaughn took significant steps forward in terms of plate discipline with Milwaukee. After striking out a career-worst 22.3% of the time with Chicago to open the year, he cut that number to 14.6% with the Brewers. He also pushed his walk rate up to 9.4%. Vaughn hasn’t had a walk rate above 7% since his rookie season in 2021.

There’s a chance July and September were the “new” Vaughn, and he’s just going to be a high-.800s OPS bat for the duration of his prime. The pedigree was evident, considering his legendary college career and the draft capital invested in acquiring him. It just took five years and a new home to make good on it.

Vaughn regresses, but the lineup makes up for it

Milwaukee’s offense took a unique shape in 2025. The club didn’t have a regular with an OPS over .800 for the full season, but also had just one everyday player with a mark below .700 (glove-first Joey Ortiz at .593). The result was a team that finished third in scoring behind only the Yankees and Dodgers. Isaac Collins was dealt to Kansas City, but the rest of the group should be back next season. Barring an offseason addition, some combination of Bauers, Garrett Mitchell, and Blake Perkins will fill the void left by Collins in the outfield.

The supportive offensive environment could allow Vaughn to exist in the lineup as a moderately productive piece. That’s basically what he was in Chicago. He never had a truly standout season, but his worst year with the team still resulted in a 93 wRC+. At the very least, he could form a strong platoon with Bauers at first base. Vaughn has always hit lefties, even in his White Sox days. He has a career .787 OPS against southpaws, compared to .702 versus righties.

This outcome hasn’t hindered Milwaukee in the past, as they’ve gotten by with decent contributions from the likes of Hoskins, Rowdy Tellez, and Daniel Vogelbach. Vaughn is set to hit free agency after the 2027 season. Milwaukee could ride this out at a reasonable price and let him walk when the time comes. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Vaughn to make $7.8MM in arbitration this year.

Tyler Black, come on down

Vaughn was unplayable as recently as May of this past season. Those struggles briefly returned in August with the Brewers. A player getting a jolt after going from the cellar to a competitive club, then reverting to previous form, certainly wouldn’t be an unheard-of outcome.

A Vaughn flameout would likely lead to a renewed opportunity for Black. The 25-year-old has put together solid results in the minors, but has only made 23 appearances in the majors. Black struggled in his brief 2024 debut, then only played a handful of games with the Brewers this past season.

There are questions about Black’s ability to consistently make contact at the highest level. He also might not be a long-term defensive fit at first base (or anywhere else). It just seems like Milwaukee needs to exhaust Black as a possibility before it’s too late. He’s down to one minor league option. He’s already in his mid-20s. MLB.com had Black ranked fourth among the Brewers prospects as recently as 2024. He had a 117 wRC+ at Triple-A that year. He’s shown enough to get an extended look in the big leagues.

If it’s not Black waiting in the wings, maybe it’s Luke Adams? The 21-year-old reached Double-A by the end of last season. He put up a stellar 157 wRC+ across three minor league levels in 2025. Adams kept it rolling in the Arizona Fall League, posting a 1.039 OPS in 16 games. MLB.com has Adams at No. 8 in Milwaukee’s prospect rankings heading into next season. He could be next up if Vaughn falters and Black doesn’t get the nod.

Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images

Brewers Notes: Backup Catcher, Quero, Henderson

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The Brewers got through the 2025 season relying on only three catchers. William Contreras was second in MLB with 128 starts behind the dish. Eric Haase backed him up for the first half of the season. Milwaukee acquired Danny Jansen at the deadline and outrighted Haase off the 40-man roster in the corresponding move.

Haase elected minor league free agency at the end of the season. Jansen returned to the open market when the Brewers declined their end of a $12MM mutual option. He officially signed a two-year, $14.5MM deal with Texas last week. That leaves Milwaukee with only two catchers on the 40-man roster: Contreras and 23-year-old prospect Jeferson Quero, whose contract was selected over the 2023-24 offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.

The Venezuelan-born Quero suffered a labrum tear in his throwing shoulder one game into the ’24 Triple-A season. He underwent surgery and missed the rest of the year. Quero missed the first couple months of the ’25 campaign because of a hamstring strain. He didn’t return to Triple-A action until the beginning of June. The right-handed hitter turned in a league average .255/.336/.412 batting line in 250 plate appearances the rest of the way.

At the moment, Quero stands as the favorite for the #2 catcher job by default. Contreras is the only catcher in the organization who has played in an MLB game. Curt Hogg of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Brewers have evaluated the market for a veteran backup but aren’t closing the door to Quero potentially breaking camp in that role. Assistant director of baseball administration Brenton Del Chiaro told Hogg that the young catcher is “pretty close” to big league readiness.

Quero showed promising contact skills against Triple-A pitching, albeit with a tendency to expand the strike zone. His combination of bat control and average pop gives him a reasonably high offensive ceiling for a #2 catcher. Quero’s calling card as a prospect had been his defense, particularly an arm that had been a weapon before the labrum injury. Baseball America’s scouting report notes that Quero’s pop times suffered in his first year back from the surgery. That’s reflected in an 18.9% caught stealing percentage that is well below the fantastic 34.6% mark he posted in Double-A in 2023.

The Brewers can option Quero to Triple-A for at least one more season. He’d be a candidate for a fourth option year as well because of the missed time in 2024. If they feel he’d benefit from more minor league time to hone his approach (or they want to see how his arm strength looks another year removed from the injury), they’d need to add someone from outside the organization. It’s not a position to which they’ll devote many resources given Contreras’ durability, but a player like Reese McGuire, Christian Vázquez or old friend Luke Maile could sign for slightly more than the league minimum. They’ll at least bring in an experienced catcher on a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite.

Quero isn’t the only prospect who’ll be looking to establish himself in camp. Right-hander Logan Henderson impressed over his first five MLB starts but suffered a season-ending elbow injury in August. Henderson was able to resume throwing bullpen sessions by the postseason and did not require surgery. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com writes that he’s following a normal offseason plan and will return to working off a mound within the next couple weeks.

Henderson will enter camp battling for a spot at the back of the rotation. Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff are lined up for the top two spots, barring a trade of the former. Quinn Priester is locked into the #3 role. Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, Robert Gasser, Tobias Myers and potentially Angel Zerpa could be in the mix for back-end jobs. Zerpa would be in the bullpen if he doesn’t win a rotation role. Everyone from that group aside from Woodruff and Peralta have minor league options remaining, so the Brewers have a lot of flexibility in moving pitchers up and down from Triple-A Nashville.

Brewers Sign Gerson Garabito, Drew Rom To Minor League Deals

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The Brewers announced the signings of righty Gerson Garabito and left-hander Drew Rom to minor league contracts. Both players receive non-roster invitations to big league camp, according to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy.

Garabito, 30, returns to affiliated ball after a brief stint in Korea. The 6’0″ righty made 15 starts for the Samsung Lions after signing in June. Garabito pitched well, turning in a 2.64 earned run average with a 26% strikeout rate. That makes it a bit surprising that the sides didn’t work out an agreement for the 2026 season. Garabito instead will try to pitch his way back to the big leagues in Spring Training. He has a bit of major league experience, working 34 1/3 frames of 5.77 ERA ball for the Rangers between 2024-25.

The new landing spot is a nice birthday gift for Rom, who turned 26 on Monday. He’s a former fourth-round pick by Baltimore who was traded to the Cardinals in the 2023 Jack Flaherty deadline deal. Rom started eight games for St. Louis down the stretch but was bombed for an 8.02 ERA. He required shoulder surgery the following spring, leading the Cardinals to outright him off the 40-man roster at the end of the ’24 season.

Rom remained in the St. Louis system but suffered through another injury-riddled year. He began the season on the injured list as he rehabbed from the operation. Rom returned to Triple-A Memphis in the middle of May. He made four starts, giving up nine runs in 14 1/3 innings, before going back on the injured list for the remainder of the season.

MLBTR Podcast: The Mets Sign Jorge Polanco, And The Braves, Blue Jays And Royals Make Moves

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

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

Check out our past episodes!

  • Winter Meetings Recap – listen here
  • An Agent’s Perspective with B.B. Abbott – Also, Cease, Williams, Helsley, And Gray – listen here
  • Some “Classic Baseball Trades,” Nimmo For Semien, And Ward For Rodriguez – listen here

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Brewers “Open To” Using Angel Zerpa As A Starter

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The Brewers and Royals officially announced the three-player trade (reported yesterday) that sent Isaac Collins and Nick Mears to Kansas City in exchange for Angel Zerpa.  Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold spoke to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the trade today, and revealed the interesting detail that the club was “open to” the idea of Zerpa moving from the bullpen back to rotation work.

“We have some scouts that think he can do it.  He has done it in the past,” Arnold said.  “This guy also has postseason experience, too, which we obviously value a lot.  Having a guy with that kind of versatility and experience in big games is something we think will really help us.”

As we’ve seen teams move away from traditional pitching roles in recent years, there has been an increased willingness to explore turning relievers (sometimes even career relievers) into starting pitchers.  If clubs no longer expressly need their starters to throw more than five innings or take more than two turns through an opposing lineup, stretching a reliever out to handle this increased workload is more of a realistic goal than stretching a reliever to handle seven-plus innings.

Zerpa began his pro career as a starting pitcher, and worked as a starter in three of his first four career games in the majors (in 2021-22).  He started only three of his 15 appearances for the Royals in 2023, however, and hasn’t since started a game in anything outside of an opener capacity.  Instead, K.C. used Zerpa as a southpaw bullpen weapon, and the hurler posted a 4.03 ERA, 20.8% strikeout rate, 8.0% walk rate, and a whopping 60.6% groundball rate over 118 1/3 innings in 2024-25.

Right-handed hitters were quite productive against Zerpa even as he mostly dominated lefty swingers, and he allowed a lot of hard contact along with his uninspiring strikeout and walk numbers.  Zerpa is a hard thrower whose fastball averaged 96.2mph in 2025, but his standard four-seamer hasn’t been very effective over the last two years, while his 96.6mph sinker is his top pitch.  The slider was thrown 44.6% of the time in 2025, with a slider used 31.9% of the time and the four-seamer 19.8% of the time.  As Hogg noted, increased usage of a changeup might be necessary to help the 26-year-old Zerpa adjust back to starting pitching.

It isn’t the kind of arsenal that immediately stands out as a rotation candidate, and it might be that Zerpa just winds up as a reliever if the Brewers decide against the role change in Spring Training.  That said, the fact that the Brewers in particular see starting potential in Zerpa is probably a plus in favor of the experiment working.  Milwaukee’s ability to turn unheralded pitchers into capable or even elite starters or relievers has been perhaps the key element of the team’s success over the last decade, so nobody should rule out the possibility that the Brew Crew could help Zerpa unlock another level of performance no matter his role.

Arnold said the Brewers had “been trying to access [in a trade] for a long time,” as “I think that our group felt like this was a really strong arm to access with really, really good ingredients.  We’re very excited to get him with our coaches who have done a great job tapping into arms like this for a number of years.”

Zerpa is arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason, and is arb-controlled through the 2028 season.  Because he has primarily operated as a non-closer, Zerpa’s first-year arbitration projection is only $1.2MM.  This is a solid price tag even if the left-hander stays in the pen, but he can successfully move into the rotation, he’ll be even more of a bargain over Milwaukee’s period of team control.

One reason why Zerpa may remain in the Brewers’ pen is the club’s current rotation surplus.  Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick, and Jacob Misiorowski line up as the projected starting five, and plenty of other starting candidates (i.e. Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser, Carlos Rodriguez, Tobias Myers) are depth options.  The “you can never have too much pitching” mantra applies here since this group is likely to be naturally thinned out by injuries, plus Woodruff and Peralta are both set to become free agents next winter.  As trade rumors persist about Peralta, it is even possible the Brewers could suddenly have a big hole atop their rotation this offseason.

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