Do The Brewers Have Another Move Up Their Sleeve?
Monday's surprise trade sending Rookie of the Year finalist Caleb Durbin from Milwaukee to Boston plugged a hole in the Red Sox' infield while ostensibly opening one for the Brewers. Not only did the Brewers trade their incumbent third baseman, the deal also sent Andruw Monasterio and Anthony Seigler to Boston -- two of Milwaukee's top options on the third base depth chart. The Brewers picked up speedster David Hamilton in that swap and will give him some spring reps at the hot corner, but he's played all of one game professionally at third base. Hamilton's value is derived primarily from plus second base glovework and his abilities on the basepaths. He's not a natural fit to take the reins at third base.
Though the Durbin trade opened up a hole at third base, it also further deepened the Brewers' already deep collection of starting pitchers. Even after trading ace Freddy Peralta to the Mets for top prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams, the Brewers boast a starting staff that'll include Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Misiorowski, Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick in the top four spots. Plausible candidates for the fifth spot include Sproat, Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser, DL Hall, Aaron Ashby and newly acquired lefties Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan, who came to Milwaukee alongside Hamilton.
The Brewers are no strangers to putting the finishing touches on their big league roster once spring training is already underway. In fact, it's become almost something of an annual tradition. In 2025, Milwaukee didn't sign Jose Quintana until early March. Even their trade for Priester came a week or so into the season. In 2024, they signed Gary Sánchez and re-signed Brandon Woodruff after camp had opened. Their late signings in 2023 included Luke Voit, Justin Wilson and Jon Singleton.
By the time camp opens, many clubs have finished conducting the bulk of their heavy lifting. That hasn't been the case for the Brewers, and with at least one open question in their infield, it's fair to think president of baseball operations Matt Arnold and his staff are looking into one more finishing piece even as pitchers and catchers travel south to Arizona for the beginning of the Cactus League season.
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Brewers, William Contreras Avoid Arbitration
The Brewers and star catcher William Contreras avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal with a club option for the 2027 season, per a team announcement. The Octagon client will earn $9.4MM in 2026, and the 2027 option is valued at $14.5MM, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Contreras’ camp had filed for a $9.9MM salary. The team filed at $8.5MM.
Contreras wasn’t eligible for free agency until the 2027-28 offseason, so the option doesn’t give the Brewers any additional club control. It does provide some potential cost certainty, however, while ensuring that this deal to avoid arbitration can’t be used as a data point in future arbitration cases; one-year arrangements with option years are considered multi-year deals for arbitration purposes and thus aren’t eligible to be cited as comps (by the Brewers or other clubs).
If Milwaukee ends up declining that option, Contreras would still be under club control. He’d simply be arbitration-eligible again. The Brewers declined a $12MM club option on Contreras for the upcoming season back in November. The two parties went back to negotiations, exchanged figures, and narrowly avoided a hearing.
Contreras’ $9.4MM salary lands just above the $9.2MM midpoint between the figures exchanged by team and player. If he has a big season and projects for a salary in the $14-15MM range, that 2027 option may end up being exercised, but if not, he’ll likely find himself in a similar boat next winter.
The 2025 season was a solid one but still a down year by Contreras’ lofty standards. After slashing .283/.363/.472 in three seasons from 2022-24, he hit “just” .260/.355/.399 in 659 trips to the plate this past season. Health was a factor, to be sure; Contreras played through a fracture in his left middle finger for the majority of the season — an injury originally revealed in May but not addressed in full until he underwent surgery following the season. In that sense, suiting up for 150 games, including 128 behind the plate, and delivering above-average offense is an impressive feat in and of itself.
The 2026 season will be Contreras’ penultimate year of club control. He’ll head into the year with a cleaner bill of health and look to get back to that 2022-24 form as the Brewers defend their NL Central crown. The general expectation is that Milwaukee will be in the thick of the division race — or at least the Wild Card chase — once again this season, even after trading ace Freddy Peralta and 2025 breakout rookies Isaac Collins and Caleb Durbin.
If that doesn’t come to pass, Contreras could well see his name surface in trade rumors this summer. Milwaukee tends to listen to offers on its best players as those players approach free agency. Josh Hader was traded at the deadline in his own penultimate season with the Brew Crew. This offseason, Peralta joined Corbin Burnes, Devin Williams and others as the latest Brewers star to be traded as his control window waned. It’s likelier than not that Contreras will stick in Milwaukee through the current season, but his name will assuredly pop up on the rumor mill next offseason, regardless of what happens with that club option.
Red Sox Acquire Caleb Durbin In Six-Player Trade
The Red Sox and Brewers pulled off a six-player trade on Monday. Boston acquired infielders Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio and Anthony Seigler, as well as Milwaukee’s Competitive Balance Round B pick in exchange for pitchers Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan and infielder David Hamilton. All six players in question were on their clubs’ 40-man roster, so no corresponding moves were necessary.
Durbin is a notable pickup for the Boston infield and should be penciled in for everyday at-bats — presumably at third base, though he can also handle second base if the Red Sox prefer Marcelo Mayer at the hot corner from a defensive standpoint. The 25-year-old Durbin (26 in a couple weeks) finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2025 after he batted .256/.334/.387 with 11 home runs, 25 doubles, 18 steals (24 attempts), a 5.9% walk rate and a tiny 9.9% strikeout rate. He turned in above-average marks for his glovework at third in the estimation of both Defensive Runs Saved (5) and Outs Above Average (2).
He’s not the big middle-of-the-order presence many Sox fans have coveted, but Durbin is an affordable, controllable and versatile defender who’ll further the Red Sox’ pivot toward run prevention and help to lower a team strikeout rate that was 10th-highest in the sport last year at 22.9%. He’s a right-handed hitter whose pull percentage (43.3%) is a bit higher than league average (40.6%), which should play well with the Green Monster at Fenway Park. Durbin comes to the Red Sox with five full seasons of club control and two minor league option years remaining (not that there’ll be any thought of optioning him to the minors anytime soon after last year’s strong performance).
If Durbin is ticketed for the hot corner, that’ll leave second base to a combination of the left-handed-hitting Mayer and righty-swinging Romy Gonzalez. Recently signed utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa can back up both those positions as well as shortstop.
The 28-year-old Monasterio could also factor in at either second or third base, although like Gonzalez and Kiner-Falefa, he’s a right-handed hitter. As is the case with Gonzalez, Monasterio also carries notable platoon splits. He’s a career .255/.352/.375 batter against lefties but a .246/.303/.338 hitter against fellow righties. He’s coming off a career-best showing in the majors — albeit in a limited sample of 135 plate appearances — having slashed .270/.319/.437 (111 wRC+) with four homers. He’s controllable for another four seasons and won’t be arbitration-eligible until at least next offseason (possibly later, depending on how much time he spends in the minors this year).
Monasterio also has nearly 3500 professional innings at shortstop under his belt, so he gives Boston another backup option to oft-injured Trevor Story at shortstop (alongside Kiner-Falefa). He also has a full slate of three minor league option years remaining, so there’s no guarantee he’ll open the season on Boston’s major league roster. He’ll have the opportunity to win a role in camp, but barring injury and/or trade, Boston’s bench seems likely to include Gonzalez, Kiner-Falefa, catcher Connor Wong and outfielder/designated hitter Masataka Yoshida.
All of that assumes that Mayer makes the Opening Day roster, but it’s possible that the former No. 4 overall pick could open the season in Triple-A Worcester, too. Mayer’s .228/.272/.402 slash was well below league-average in 2025, but he only turned 23 in December and has an impressive minor league track record. That includes a .271/.347/.471 showing in Triple-A last year. He’ll have every opportunity to win a starting job in camp with the Red Sox, but late additions of Durbin and Kiner-Falefa lessen the team’s reliance on the still largely untested top prospect.
Boston also picks up the 26-year-old Seigler, who’ll provide some depth in the upper minors and could be a frequently used bench piece over the course of the coming season. He’s batted just .194/.292/.210 in an insignificant sample of 73 major league plate appearances, but Seigler hit .285/.414/.478 with eight homers, 16 doubles, four triples, 23 steals (27 attempts), a 16.9% walk rate and a 19.2% strikeout rate in 307 Triple-A plate appearances this past season. He’s been used as an infielder (second base, specifically) far more frequently than a catcher in recent seasons due to troubles controlling the run game and a susceptibility to passed balls.
Even if he’s rarely deployed behind the plate, Seigler is at the very least an interesting third catcher option who also is comfortable at second base and third base. He has two minor league option years remaining and doesn’t even have a full season of major league service, making him controllable for at least the next six full seasons.
The Red Sox also add a Competitive Balance draft choice — the only picks permissible to be traded under MLB rules. Milwaukee’s Round B selection is the first in that round, currently 67th overall (although that could change by a spot or two depending on what happens with Zac Gallen, the final remaining free agent who rejected a qualifying offer and is thus subject to draft pick compensation). They’ll not only get to add an extra player but will also add that selection’s slot value to their draft bonus pool. Last year’s No. 67 selection came with a $1.285MM value. This year’s should be up from that a bit. The Red Sox don’t need to spend that amount on this pick specifically; the slot value will be added to their bonus pool, which they can freely divide up among their picks how they see fit.
Turning to Milwaukee’s side of the swap, it feels like a precursor to another acquisition. The Brewers not only traded their incumbent starter at third base — they traded two of the top depth options behind him in the same swap. Perhaps there’s some infield shuffling on the horizon, but it feels like the Brewers will need to add some help on the dirt. Hamilton could see reps at the hot corner this spring but has spent far more time at second base in the Red Sox organization. Shortstop Joey Ortiz and second baseman Brice Turang are plus defenders who could both slide one position over to the left, but doing so might weaken the overall defensive aptitude of the group.
Bringing in some help at third base seems prudent, but options there are few and far between. Time will tell if president of baseball operations Matt Arnold has another move up his sleeve, but for right now, the Brewers look thin at third base.
Their pitching depth, however, continues to grow — even after trading ace Freddy Peralta to the Mets last month. Today’s trade brings in a pair of big league-ready arms. Harrison, 24, already has 42 big league games (37 starts) under his belt. He’s pitched to a 4.39 ERA with a 22.9% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate in that time.
At the moment, Harrison profiles as a fifth starter option for the Brewers, but he carries more upside than most back-of-the-rotation candidates. The 2020 third-round pick ranked as one of the top minor league talents in all of baseball for several years, peaking as the No. 26 prospect in the entire sport on Baseball America’s top-100 prior to the 2023 season. He’s yet to put it all together in the majors, but Harrison has fanned better than 30% of his opponents in parts of two Triple-A seasons.
The Brewers have developed a reputation as one of the sport’s top “pitch labs.” They worked wonders with righty Quinn Priester in 2025 and have helped to facilitate turnarounds or breakouts from relievers like Trevor Megill, Joel Payamps, Bryse Wilson, Colin Rea, Nick Mears, Jared Koenig and others. There are plenty of parallels between Priester’s trajectory and that of Harrison; both were former top prospects traded to Boston and quickly buried on the Red Sox depth chart. The Brewers will hope to convert on that same profile for a second consecutive season now.
Drohan just turned 27 last month, making him old for a “prospect,” but he nonetheless sat 15th on Baseball America’s recent update of Boston’s system. His path to big leagues has been slowed both by injury and a selection in the Rule 5 Draft. The White Sox took Drohan back in 2023 after Boston left him unprotected. He required a nerve decompression surgery in his shoulder that spring, however, which limited him to 16 1/3 rehab innings that season. A forearm injury in 2025 limited him to 54 minor league frames.
When he’s been healthy, Drohan has looked the part of an interesting prospect. His Triple-A numbers are skewed by a rough showing late in 2023 and during some rehab work in 2024 — both potentially impacted by his shoulder — but he was excellent last season, tossing 47 2/3 innings with Worcester and recording a 2.27 ERA, a 35.3% strikeout rate, an 8.4% walk rate and a massive 17.3% swinging-strike rate. He also posted a 2.17 ERA in parts of two Double-A seasons and was part of the 2023 Futures Game. Drohan sat 93.3 mph with his four-seamer in Triple-A in 2025, complementing the pitch with an 84.7 mph slider, an 88.8 mph cutter, an 84.3 mph changeup and a 77.9 mph curveball (listed in order of usage rate).
Hamilton, 28, returns to the club that originally drafted him but traded him to Boston as part of 2021’s Hunter Renfroe swap. He’s played in parts of three seasons with Boston and totaled 550 plate appearances with a .222/.283/.359 batting line.
Hamilton hasn’t hit much but is a plus runner with 95th percentile sprint speed, per Statcast, and 57 career steals in 68 attempts (83.8%). On a rate basis, he’s been one of the game’s elite defensive second basemen during his time in the majors, piling up 16 Defensive Runs Saved and 8 Outs Above Average in only 679 innings.
The Brewers originally drafted Hamilton in the eighth round of the 2019 draft out of the University of Texas. Arnold and top lieutenants like AGMs Matt Kleine, Will Hudgins and Karl Mueller were all in the Milwaukee front office when they first signed Hamilton out of the draft. That familiarity with him both as a player and as a person presumably played a role in this morning’s trade.
Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports that Hamilton will see plenty of reps at third base this spring. Whether his stellar second base defense carries over to third base and whether Hamilton performs well enough to secure a job will determine his roster status come Opening Day. He has a minor league option year remaining, so if the Brewers do make another acquisition or if Hamilton simply struggles to a great enough extent this spring, he can be sent to Triple-A Nashville without needing to pass through waivers. The Brewers can control him for at least four additional seasons — five if he spends more than 25 days in the minors this year.
For the Red Sox, today’s trade seems to largely round out the infield. With Kiner-Falefa also aboard as a glove-first utility option, there doesn’t appear to be much more room to add. Durbin should be an upgrade of a couple wins, and his extreme put-the-ball-in-play approach and defensive aptitude should help to raise Boston’s floor quite a bit, even if the offense as a whole looks suspect beyond the top few hitters.
The Brewers are now 10 to 12 deep in their rotation mix, which could set the stage for another trade. They could also simply hold onto that depth, knowing they’ll need an army of pitchers to get through a 162-game season and that many of their current arms have less than a full year of experience in the majors, but some form of additional infield depth seems likely to be on the horizon after today’s trade thinned them out.
Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report Durbin, Harrison, Drohan and Hamilton’s inclusions. Will Sammon of The Athletic first reported Seigler, Monasterio and the draft choice.
Brewers To Sign Peter Strzelecki To A Minor League Deal
The Brewers are expected to add reliever Peter Strzelecki on a minor league deal, per multiple reports (including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). The righty debuted with the club in 2022. Strzelecki last appeared in the big leagues with the Guardians in 2024. He’s a client of O’Connell Sports Management.
The 31-year-old Strzelecki spent last season at Triple-A with the Rays and Pirates. He scuffled to a 9.41 ERA across 22 innings. Strzelecki has pitched in parts of three MLB seasons with a trio of clubs. He posted a 2.31 ERA in 10 appearances with Cleveland in his most recent big-league stint.
Strzelecki emerged as a strong contributor in the Brewers ‘pen when he first arrived in the big leagues. He notched a 2.83 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning across 35 frames. The lone mark against Strzelecki was a double-digit walk rate, but keeping the ball in the yard helped him limit the impact of the traffic on the base paths.
The 2023 season did not go as well. Strzelecki stumbled to a mid-4.00s ERA and found himself bumped back to Triple-A by the end of June. He was dealt to the Diamondbacks for fellow reliever Andrew Chafin at the trade deadline. Strzelecki appeared in just one game with Arizona. He latched on with Cleveland the following season, providing solid results in his brief time in the majors.
Strzelecki was a four-seam/changeup/sweeper guy when he first came up with the Brewers. He added a sinker in 2023, which he used nearly 20% of the time. Strzelecki introduced a cutter to lefties during his stretch with the Guardians. The changeup missed bats at a 35.7% clip in his rookie year, but it’s ticked down since then. The rest of his arsenal has also trended in the wrong direction. Strzelecki posted a meager 5.7% swinging-strike rate with Cleveland. For a pitcher who gets ground balls at a below-average rate, failing to miss bats tends to be an issue.
Photo courtesy of Michael McLoone, Imagn Images
Brewers Sign Jacob Hurtubise To Minor League Contract
The Brewers signed Jacob Hurtubise to a minor league deal earlier this week, according to the outfielder’s MLB.com profile page. Hurtubise has been assigned to Triple-A Nashville, and his contract doesn’t appear to include an invitation to the Brew Crew’s big league spring camp.
An undrafted free agent who started his pro career by signing with the Reds in 2020, Hurtubise has appeared in 41 MLB games, all with Cincinnati over the last two seasons. The Reds designated Hurtubise for assignment in June, starting a whirl of transactions that saw the outfielder claimed by the Mariners, outrighted and released in July, and then Hurtubise joined the Astros on a minor league deal before being released again in September.
The 28-year-old Hurtubise will now look to return to the Show on another NL Central team. Even after trading Isaac Collins to the Royals earlier this winter, the Brewers still have a decent amount of outfield depth beyond starters Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, and Sal Frelick. Hurtubise joins Akil Baddoo, Brandon Lockridge, and Greg Jones as outfielders providing depth behind fourth outfielder Blake Perkins. Though Hurtubise has a minor league option remaining, being an outfield-only player might hamper his roster chances since the Brewers tend to favor more versatile players for their bench.
Hurtubise does have plenty of experience at all three outfield positions, plus his strong speed and baserunning ability makes him a pinch-running candidate. Hurtubise has stolen 130 bases in 153 attempts over his minor league career, while hitting .260/.411/.324 over 576 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. This on-base ability hasn’t manifested itself over the small sample size of Hurtubise’s time in the majors, as he has hit just .167/.291/.212 over 83 PA for the Reds.
Brewers Agree To Deal With Jordyn Adams
Outfielder Jordyn Adams has an agreement with the Brewers, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. That’ll almost certainly be a minor league contract with a non-roster invite to MLB camp once the signing is finalized. Adams is a CAA client.
The 26-year-old Adams was the 17th overall pick by the Angels out of high school in 2018. He’s an elite athlete who covers a lot of ground in center field but has never been a consistently productive hitter. Adams’ strikeout rates hit alarming levels by the time he reached Double-A. That swing-and-miss remains the biggest impediment for the speedster, though he has gotten brief looks at the MLB level over the past three seasons.
Adams combined for 28 games with the Halos between 2023-24. The Angels non-tendered him last winter. Adams signed a minor league deal with Baltimore and cracked the big league club at the end of May. He got into 10 games but only picked up five plate appearances, as he was mostly a late-game defensive substitute. Baltimore outrighted him off the 40-man roster in August. He finished the season at Triple-A Norfolk, where he batted .213/.291/.379 with a 30.3% strikeout rate over 310 plate appearances.
Milwaukee places a lot of emphasis on athleticism and defense in the outfield. Adams fits that role as a non-roster depth piece. The Brewers have Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins lined up to split the majority of the outfield reps. Christian Yelich will get some work as a left fielder while serving mostly as a designated hitter, and Jake Bauers will rotate between the corners and first base. Brandon Lockridge, Steward Berroa and Akil Baddoo are potential center fielders with minor league options who all occupy 40-man roster spots. Adams joins Greg Jones, another elite runner and former first-round pick, as offseason depth adds.
Avisail Garcia Announces Retirement
Avisail Garcia announced his retirement on Monday afternoon. That concludes a career which spanned parts of 13 MLB seasons and included an All-Star appearance in 2017.
“Today I formally announce the end of my career in Major League Baseball after 12 seasons of dedication and hard work. Thank you to God for the blessing of fulfilling my childhood dream—of playing baseball at its highest level,” the 34-year-old outfielder wrote on social media. He goes on to thank his family, representation at Mato Sports Management, and former teammates and coaches.
Garcia began his career with the Tigers. An under-the-radar signee out of Venezuela as a 16-year-old, he developed into one of the better offensive prospects in the game by the time he reached the big leagues in 2012. Comparisons to teammate and Hall of Fame countryman Miguel Cabrera were always ill-advised, but the 6’4″ Garcia had the physique and power potential to fit in the middle of a lineup.
Although Garcia made a brief MLB debut and factored into a 2012 pennant run in Detroit, he didn’t get a regular look until he was traded to White Sox the following year. He was the headliner for Chicago in the three-team trade that sent Jake Peavy to the Red Sox. Detroit picked up Jose Iglesias from Boston on their end. Garcia took over as Chicago’s everyday right fielder, a job he would hold for most of the next five seasons.
Garcia lost most of the ’14 season to a labrum injury. He kicked off a run of five consecutive double digit homer seasons the following year. The aforementioned All-Star campaign was the best of his career, as Garcia batted .330/.380/.506 with 18 longballs across 561 plate appearances. Only Jose Altuve’s MVP season stood in his way of winning the AL batting title.
That was the lone above-average season of Garcia’s tenure with the Sox. He otherwise hit between .236 and .257 with an on-base percentage between .281 and .309 over his full seasons there. Garcia’s free-swinging approach would be an issue throughout his career, though it didn’t stop him from turning in two solid years after the White Sox non-tendered him at the end of the 2018 season.
One of those came with the Rays, who signed Garcia to a $3.5MM contract after the Sox cut him. He managed a 20-homer campaign while batting .282/.332/.464 in the regular season. The Rays secured a Wild Card berth, and Garcia hit .300 with a homer in five playoff games in his first October action since his rookie year. He returned to free agency in a much better position that offseason, leading to a two-year deal with Milwaukee that guaranteed $20MM.
Garcia’s first year with the Brewers was a disappointment, as he hit .238 with only two homers during the shortened season. He made up for it by popping a career-best 29 longballs a year later, slashing .262/.330/.490 and driving in 86 runs. He helped Milwaukee to a 95-win campaign and an NL Central title. Garcia hit the market at age 31. The Marlins bought into his power production and strong batted ball metrics and signed him to a four-year, $53MM deal.
That was a strong deal for the player but a big misfire for the team. Garcia’s production immediately tanked and he’d only play out a little more than half the contract. He hit .217/.260/.322 with 13 homers in 549 plate appearances in a Miami uniform. The Marlins released him in June 2024. Garcia underwent postseason surgery to address a fracture and a disc injury in his lower back. That sidelined him for the entire ’25 campaign and ultimately ended his career. He would have been limited to minor league offers even if he came back fully healthy, so it doesn’t come as a huge surprise that he decided to move on to his post-playing days.
Garcia played in a little over 1100 big league games divided among five clubs. He topped 1000 hits and 500 RBI while connecting on 140 home runs. He was a lifetime .263/.316/.417 hitter. While it came with plenty of peaks and valleys, that amounts to league average offense overall. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference credited him around 8-9 wins above replacement, with both outlets valuing his 2017 season above 4 WAR. According to Baseball Reference, he earned more than $84MM and logged more than 11 years of major league service time. MLBTR congratulates Garcia on his career and wishes him the best in retirement.
Image courtesy of Imagn Images.
MLB To Take Over Broadcasts For Six Additional Teams
4:37pm: Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reports that the Tigers, Angels and Braves are all moving on from Main Street Sports as well. Friend writes that it’s likely that the Detroit and Los Angeles clubs will also turn their broadcasts over to MLB, although they haven’t closed the door on working out some kind of independent streaming deal on a different platform than MLB.tv.
Friend’s reporting is most interesting regarding the Braves. He writes that the team could launch its own network rather than turning distribution to the league. The Rangers went that route when their deal with Diamond collapsed last offseason. The Texas franchise created its own network that negotiated directly with distributors to set up cable, satellite and streaming deals on different platforms.
The Braves haven’t made anything official, though they’ve more or less confirmed they won’t be returning to Main Street. “The Atlanta Braves are aware of the reports regarding Main Street Sports Group,” the team said in a statement. “While disappointed with this development, we have been actively preparing for this outcome and are well on our way towards launching a new era in Braves broadcasting. … We look forward to sharing our path forward in the coming weeks.”
1:10pm: Major League Baseball will take over the broadcasts of six new teams in 2026, reports John Ourand of Puck. The six clubs are the Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Royals, Cardinals and Reds. That represents six of the nine clubs who terminated deals with Main Street Sports last month. That leaves the Braves, Tigers and Angels as the three clubs from that group of nine who still need to formalize broadcast plans for this year.
The company has seemingly been hanging by a thread for a long time. Cord cutting and streaming have been eroding the regional sports network (RSN) model for years. Previously known as Diamond Sports Group and operating under the Bally Sports logo, the company was in bankruptcy for most of 2023 and 2024. When they emerged from bankruptcy late in 2024, they changed the company name and switched to the FanDuel Sports branding. More trouble emerged recently as they reportedly missed payments to several teams, which is what prompted the nine teams to walk away last month.
In recent years, MLB has handled the broadcasts of several other clubs who saw RSN deals collapse. The Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins and Guardians were with the league in 2025. In those instances, the league largely kept TV broadcasts the same, retaining most of the personnel. For fans, this arrangement worked better as it did not involve local blackouts. Customers without cable packages could buy streaming packages directly from the league.
For teams, this expanded viewership but the financial situation wasn’t as good. Instead of a guaranteed fee from the RSN, they instead got a fungible amount of money based on streaming numbers. Clear numbers haven’t been made available but the industry consensus is that teams bring in less money via this model than they did via the previous RSN system. Travis Sawchik of MLB.com says the new model only brings in about 50% of the previous RSN set-up.
This often has on-field implications. Some of those teams, particularly the Padres and Twins, saw their player payrolls decrease in recent years. The lower spending capacity seemingly had an impact on Juan Soto being traded from the Padres to the Yankees a couple of years ago and Carlos Correa getting traded from the Twins to the Astros last summer, among other moves.
It was reported in September that ESPN would be acquiring the local rights for those five teams for the next three years. It’s unclear how that will impact local customers who have been paying the league directly to stream games. Also in September, it was reported that the Mariners would also be moving to the league. Last month, the Nationals announced that they would be moving to the MLB model.
Assuming the league will still be selling streaming packages for the five teams it was handling last year, then the league will have at least 13 teams in its portfolio in the coming season. With three clubs still outstanding, it’s possible MLB could get to more than half the league.
Commissioner Rob Manfred has previously spoken of his desire to market a streaming package like MLB.TV but without local blackouts. Controlling the rights for roughly half the league will make that more viable. Expanding the portfolio even further will be challenging. Most of the larger-market clubs still have pretty healthy RSN situations and would have less interest in jumping into a pooled system with these clubs.
That is part of a broader league strategy that will come into play in the next few years. A large number of the league’s broadcast deals expire after 2028. Manfred’s hope is to maintain as much flexibility as possible until then, at which point he could try to sell companies packages of combined rights. As an example of how this might play out, ESPN’s deal recently fell apart but then MLB pivoted to split it up and sell it to various companies. ESPN bought back some bits and acquired some new ones, while Netflix and NBC/Peacock acquired other components.
It will take a few years to see how that all plays out. In the shorter term, it could impact the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The current CBA expires December 1st of this year. Presumably, MLB doesn’t want those talks to lead to canceled games in 2027. Ratings and attendance have been up lately, with the faster pace of the pitch clock a possible explanation. Missed games due to a lockout would hurt that momentum, which wouldn’t help the league in selling rights the following year.
For fans of the teams involved in today’s news, new information about broadcast options should be forthcoming. The Cardinals already announced their streaming prices, which are $19.99 monthly or $99.99 for the full season. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald outlined the situation for Marlins fans today, with some more details still to be determined.
This could also impact player payroll for some clubs. Though the streaming model is a less certain source of revenue, these teams now at least have some clarity on what kind of money should be coming in this year. As of less than two weeks ago, the Reds were reportedly interested in players like Eugenio Suárez but reluctant to make more moves until they figured out the broadcast puzzle. They reportedly reached an agreement with Suárez yesterday.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
Managers & Top Front Office Executives On Expiring Contracts
In the same way that players feel extra pressure to produce entering their last season before free agency, managers and front office bosses similarly feel the heat when entering the final year of their contracts. The difference is that even if a player has a rough season, they’re usually still in position to land at least a one-year deal in some fashion for the next year — a manager or a GM could find themselves fired in the wake of a bad year, with no guarantee about when (or even if) they’ll get another shot at leading a dugout or a front office.
This list details the baseball operations bosses (whatever their specific title) and managers who are entering the final year of their contracts, as well as the personnel whose contractual situations aren’t publicly known. Some clubs don’t publicize the terms of employee contracts, so it is entirely possible that some of these names signed extensions months ago but the teams have chosen to keep these new deals quiet for the time being. And, of course, the length of a contract doesn’t always correlate to job security. One bad season or even a poor start could suddenly threaten the status of a manager or head of baseball ops that seemingly seems safe right now.
As always, thanks to Cot’s Baseball Contracts for reference information on some of these contracts.
Angels: It’s pretty unusual to see a newly-hired manager already on this list, yet that is the situation Kurt Suzuki finds himself in after signing just a one-year guarantee to become the Halos’ new skipper. The deal has multiple club option years attached, and while one would imagine Suzuki wouldn’t be let go so quickly, the Angels’ manager’s office has been enough of a revolving door in recent years that it is hard to guess what owner Arte Moreno might do next. GM Perry Minasian is also entering the final guaranteed year of his contract, with a club option for the 2027 season. Ten consecutive losing seasons has led to a lot of discord in Anaheim, and an eleventh sub-.500 year might get both Suzuki and Minasian sent packing by next offseason.
Astros: GM Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada are each entering their final season under contract, with Brown hired in January 2023 and Espada in November 2023. Earlier this month, Astros owner Jim Crane didn’t entirely close the door on the possibility of an extension for either Brown or Espada, but said “I think we’ll go through this year like we always do, evaluate it and then make the decision at the end of the year.” Reading between the lines, it certainly seems like the spotlight will be on Brown and Espada, especially since the Astros are coming off their first non-playoff season since 2016. While the team’s laundry list of injuries is a valid excuse for their 2025 letdown, some personnel changes might well be coming if Houston can’t get back into the postseason hunt this year.
Athletics: General manager David Forst’s contract has already expired, as his most recent deal with the team was up following the 2025 campaign. Owner John Fisher has stated that “conversations are ongoing” about another extension, and since it has apparently been business as usual for the A’s this offseason, it seems like it’s just a matter of time before Forst formally extends his long stint in the team’s front office. Forst only officially took over the baseball operations department in the 2022-23 offseason, but he has been with the Athletics since 2000, first working as a scout and then becoming one of Billy Beane’s top lieutenants.
Blue Jays: GM Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider are both entering the final year of their contracts, as the Jays exercised their 2026 club option on Schneider’s deal back in November. This duo was facing heavy pressure heading into the 2025 season, yet Toronto’s AL pennant and near-miss in the World Series has entirely changed the narrative for both Atkins and Schneider. The Blue Jays already extended team president/CEO Mark Shapiro a few weeks ago, and extensions for Atkins and Schneider should follow before Opening Day.
Brewers: Pat Murphy is entering the final season of his three-year contract, but it is hard to believe the Brew Crew won’t have the manager soon locked up on another deal. Murphy has been named NL Manager of the Year in each of the first two seasons, won consecutive NL Central titles, and this October led the Brewers to their first NLCS appearance since 2018. October also saw Matt Arnold receive a promotion from GM to president of baseball operations, even though Arnold has already been the Brewers’ top baseball exec for the last three seasons. Arnold’s specific contract situation hasn’t been made clear for a few years now, but it would surely seem like Milwaukee’s continued success and his new job title probably landed the PBO an extension at some point. Regardless, Arnold seems in no danger of being fired even if 2026 is his last year under contract.
Cardinals: Oli Marmol is headed into his final year, but the manger and the Cardinals have already started discussing an extension to retain Marmol beyond the 2026 campaign. It seems like something should be finalized in due course, with St. Louis continuing to entrust Marmol with the reins as the team now moves into a full-on rebuild phase.
Diamondbacks: Torey Lovullo has quietly become one of baseball’s longer-tenured managers, as Lovullo has been running Arizona’s dugout since the 2016-17 offseason. He has signed multiple extensions (none for more than two guaranteed years) since his initial three-year pact, yet while 2026 represents the final year of Lovullo’s current deal, the Diamondbacks are reportedly going to let Lovullo enter the season without an extension in place. Owner Ken Kendrick did praise Lovullo’s efforts in keeping the D’Backs competitive amidst a swath of pitching injuries and a partial trade deadline selloff in 2025, but it is intriguing that the vote of confidence wasn’t backed up by another contract. This will be a storyline to watch as the Diamondbacks’ season progresses, and a change in the dugout might well be coming if the D’Backs can’t get back into the postseason.
Dodgers: President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman first came to Los Angeles on a five-year, $35MM pact covering the 2015-19 seasons, and he signed an extension back in November 2019. Terms of that deal weren’t known, yet it is clear that if Friedman hasn’t already signed another new deal in the last six years, the Dodgers are almost surely keen in retaining the executive. The Dodgers have reached the playoffs in every single season of Friedman’s tenure, have won three World Series championships under his leadership, and have become baseball’s dominant franchise due to both their record-high payrolls and their ability to draft and develop minor league talent.
Guardians: Chris Antonetti gets an obligatory mention since the Guardians haven’t publicly addressed his contract status since he signed an extension with the team back in 2013. Following the 2015 season, Antonetti was promoted to the president of baseball operations title, and his decade in charge has seen Cleveland make seven postseason appearances. As the Guards are coming off their sixth AL Central crown of Antonetti’s tenure, there is no sense ownership is looking to make a change, nor is there any sense Antonetti (who has turned down overtures from other teams in the past) is looking to leave.
Mariners: Dan Wilson’s contract terms weren’t made public when he was hired as manager in August 2024, and president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto’s status hasn’t been addressed since he signed a contract extension of an unknown length back in September 2021. It may very well be that Dipoto has quietly signed another deal in the last four-plus years, but regardless, the Mariners’ success in 2025 very likely means neither Dipoto or Wilson are going anywhere, even if the M’s don’t feel the need to publicize any extensions.
Marlins: Previous Miami GM Kim Ng was signed to a three-year contract with a club option for the 2024 season, and the Marlins chose to pass on that option in order to hire Peter Bendix as the new president of baseball operations. Terms of Bendix’s contract weren’t disclosed, so given the length of Ng’s contract, it is possible Bendix could also be entering his final guaranteed year if Miami pursued the same structure with another first-time front office boss. While Ng’s dismissal caught many in baseball by surprise, Bendix’s job appears to be a lot safer, as the Marlins’ surprising surge to 79 wins in 2025 is a promising step forward for the team’s (latest) rebuild.
Mets: Carlos Mendoza is entering the final guaranteed year of his three-year contract, and New York holds a club option on the manager’s services for the 2027 season. The Mets have overhauled both Mendoza’s coaching staff and a good chunk of the roster in the wake of the slow-motion collapse that left the team outside the playoff picture in 2025, so far more is expected than just an 83-79 record this year. The club option probably means that the Mets will wait until after the season (if at all) to discuss an extension, and given the Mets’ high payroll and expectations, even a slow start might put Mendoza’s status in jeopardy.
Orioles: Mike Elias’ contract terms were never publicized when he was hired to lead Baltimore’s front office in November 2018, though he did receive a title change from general manager to president of baseball operations last offseason. Elias’ specific contract status remains unspecified, and it is possible he could be facing more heat if the O’s have another subpar season. Consecutive playoff appearances were followed by the thud of a 75-87 record in 2025, though ownership appears to have given Elias some support in the form of bigger budget, as the Orioles’ busy offseason has been highlighted by the blockbuster Pete Alonso signing.
Padres: Reports in early November suggested that A.J. Preller was close to signing a new extension to remain as San Diego’s PBO, though close to three months later, there hasn’t been any word of a deal between the two sides. It could be that a contract was signed but simply not publicly announced, or perhaps Preller and the team agreed to table the negotiations until after most of the Padres’ offseason business was complete. Considering all the reports of discord within the Padres’ ownership situation and some possible tension between Preller and team CEO Erik Greupner, a contract extension probably shouldn’t be considered a sure thing until a deal is actually done, though things still seem to be leaning in the direction of Preller getting re-upped. For all of the off-the-field drama that has frequently defined Preller’s long tenure in San Diego, the Padres are coming off their fourth playoff appearance in the last six seasons.
Reds: As Cincinnati is coming off its first playoff berth since 2020, president of baseball operations Nick Krall looks to have a decent amount of job security, and might be in line for an extension depending on his current contract status. Krall has been in charge of the Reds’ front office for the last five seasons, and he received an extension of an unspecified length when he was promoted to the president of baseball operations title following the 2023 campaign.
Tigers: Scott Harris has now finished three full seasons as Detroit’s PBO, so if a four-year contract might be considered the usual minimum for a first-time president of baseball ops, 2026 might be Harris’ final year under contract. It’s all speculative, of course, since Harris’ terms weren’t made public, and it might also be a moot point since Harris could be an extension candidate, if anything. The Tigers have made the second round of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, though the team’s late-season collapse in 2025 and the uncertainty over Tarik Skubal’s future remain areas of concern.
Twins: Derek Falvey’s shocking decision to step down as Minnesota’s president of baseball (and business) operations has unexpectedly made GM Jeremy Zoll the top voice in the team’s front office. Zoll was promoted to the GM role in November 2024 to become Falvey’s chief lieutenant, and the length of Zoll’s contract isn’t known. It is fair to guess that Zoll might’ve gotten an extension after becoming general manager, so he probably remains under team control through at least 2027 even after this sudden elevation to the head of the baseball ops department.
White Sox: Chris Getz has been the team’s GM since August 2023, and his tenure has included a record 121-loss season in 2024 and an improvement to “only” 102 losses in 2025. Getz’s contract term wasn’t publicized at the time of his hiring so this is just a speculative entry in case his first deal was only a three-year pact. There doesn’t appear to be any sense that ownership is displeased with the Pale Hose’s progress during the rebuild, so if Getz actually did sign a three-year deal, the Sox might look to extend him at some point this season.
Yankees: Brian Cashman is the longest-tenured front office boss in baseball, acting as the Yankees’ GM since February 1998. That remarkable 28-year run has included 28 winning records and four World Series titles, though the team hasn’t won the Series since 2009. Owner Hal Steinbrenner appears to trust Cashman as much as ever, so it seems very likely that Cashman’s tenure will stretch into a third decade barring an utter disaster of a 2026 season. Cashman’s last deal covered the 2023-26 seasons, but since the Yankees’ aversion to extensions also extends to personnel as well as players, he might not sign his next contract until after his current deal actually expires. It’s a sign of Cashman’s job security that he has waited until December to sign each of his last two contracts to remain with the club.
Brewers, Jacob Waguespack Agree To Minor League Deal
The Brewers and right-hander Jacob Waguespack are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The Wasserman client receives a non-roster invitation to major league spring training.
Waguespack has pitched in parts of three major league seasons and a pair of NPB campaigns over in Japan. The 32-year-old righty has a 5.11 earned run average in 105 2/3 big league frames. He’s fanned 18.9% of opponents against a 10.1% walk rate and kept 41.4% of the batted balls against him on the ground. Waguespack has split the past two seasons between the Rays and Phillies organizations but didn’t reach the majors in 2025. He totaled 33 Triple-A frames between Tampa Bay and Philly, recording a combined 2.45 ERA, 24.4% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate. He spent about half the season on the injured list.
In two seasons over in Japan, Waguespack notched a 4.02 ERA in 116 1/3 innings with strong strikeout numbers and shakier command. He’s had similar results in parts of five Triple-A campaigns, combining for a 4.24 ERA, 23.4% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate in 269 2/3 innings.
Waguespack has experience as both a starter and a reliever but worked exclusively out of the bullpen when he was healthy in 2025. He’s a four-pitch righty with a four-seamer sitting 93 mph, a cutter averaging about 86 mph, a changeup in the low 80s and a seldom-used curveball that typically clocks in around 76 mph.
Milwaukee’s rotation took a hit with the trade of Freddy Peralta to the Mets, though they picked up a potential option to backfill that spot by landing top prospect Brandon Sproat as part of the return (alongside top infield/outfield prospect Jett Williams). With Peralta out the door, the rotation currently includes Brandon Woodruff, Quinn Priester, Jacob Misiorowski and Chad Patrick. Candidates for the fifth spot include Sproat, fellow top prospect Logan Henderson, and southpaws Robert Gasser, Aaron Ashby and DL Hall (the latter two of whom have been used more in relief in recent seasons).
In the bullpen, the Brewers have Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, Jared Koenig, Angel Zerpa, Grant Anderson, Ashby and Hall more or less locked into spots. It’s a lefty-heavy group, particularly when counting journeyman Rob Zastryzny, who pitched well in 22 1/3 innings for the Crew last year. Righty Craig Yoho and his dominant minor league track record will also be in the mix for a spot.
Waguespack gives the Brewers some depth in both areas or a possible candidate to work in a swingman role. He’s out of minor league options, so if the Brewers do select him to the 40-man roster at any point, he’ll have to stick or else be exposed to waivers before he can be sent back to the minors. Even at that point, he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment upon clearing waivers.