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Twins Have Listened To Trade Offers On Pablo López

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The Twins have listened to trade offers on right-hander Pablo López, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Twins are likely to move him, but it suggests it’s at least possible.

As recently as the middle of November, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey downplayed the idea of the Twins subtracting a notable player from their roster via a blockbuster trade. He identified López, Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton as “key” pieces of the roster that were unlikely to move. “Everyone is always going to ask when you’re a team in the payroll bracket that we are,” Falvey said. “I feel really confident those guys are going to be part of the ability for us to do what we want on the field. They’re going to fuel us hopefully to some of the success we want to have. … I feel really good about those players.”

Despite that public framing, it’s understandable why the front office might at least consider alternative possibilities. It’s been reported that the Twins are likely going to have a payroll around $130MM next year, the same as they had in 2024. RosterResource currently projects them for $142MM in 2025, suggesting they may need to find some cuts.

Guys like Chris Paddack and Christian Vázquez have been floated as potential trade candidates who could help the club get down to their preferred level, though neither is likely to have massive trade value. Paddack is going to make $7.5MM next year, the final year on his deal, but he hasn’t been at his sharpest in a while. He had a strong 3.33 earned run average in his 2019 rookie season, but his ERA was closer to 5.00 in the next two seasons. He then missed most of 2022 and 2023 due to Tommy John surgery. He was back on the mound in 2024 but finished the year with a 4.99 ERA.

Vázquez also has just one year left on his deal, with a $10MM salary. He’s a strong defender behind the plate but has hit just .222/.265/.322 over the past two seasons. That production translates to a wRC+ of 63, indicating he was 37% worse than league average.

Trading one or both of those players could help the Twins with their budget crunch but likely wouldn’t bring back massive returns. López, on the other hand, should have lots of appeal. He’s set to make $21.5MM in each of the next three years, leaving $64.5MM remaining on his contract.

That’s a very nice price for a pitcher who is going into his age-29 season and has been one of the better hurlers in baseball over the past five years. From 2020 to the present, he has thrown 719 1/3 innings with a 3.70 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate and 45.6% ground ball rate. FanGraphs has credited him with 14.7 wins above replacement in that time, which puts him 13th out of all pitchers in the majors for that stretch.

The price of starting pitching has been especially strong so far this winter. Nathan Eovaldi just got three years and $75MM. His numbers have been fairly similar to López in recent years but he’s far older, going into his age-35 season. Pitchers like Yusei Kikuchi and Luis Severino have had notably worse results than López/Eovaldi but both got three-year deals, Kikuchi getting a $63MM guarantee and Severino $67MM.

It seems fair to conclude that the strong market might lead to the Twins getting some interesting offers that could at least make them reconsider their stance on López. Of course, the same things that make him appealing to other clubs also make him very valuable in Minnesota. The club can certainly hold onto him and trade guys like Paddack and/or Vázquez, but perhaps they will receive an offer for López that allows them to both get their payroll down to the desired level while also adding a notable return that helps the franchise in the short and long term.

As of now, the rotation group consists of López, Paddack, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson. Trading López or Paddack would weaken the group but would also open a spot for young pitchers like Zebby Matthews or David Festa, both of whom debuted in 2024. The Twins also have some non-roster options like Huascar Ynoa and Darren McCaughan in the mix.

Subtracting López is surely not what the front office wants and there’s no indication that they are shopping him around. But the hot starting pitching market seems to be making various clubs ponder trades of starting pitchers a bit harder than they expected to. Names like Luis Castillo, Dylan Cease, Jesús Luzardo and Framber Valdez have somewhat surprisingly been in rumors of late. A team being willing to listen doesn’t mean a trade is going to happen, as shown with Valdez and the Astros, as he is now apparently off the table. However, it’s an interesting twist on the offseason, with free agents like Corbin Burnes, Jack Flaherty and Sean Manaea still available.

Twins, Darren McCaughan Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Twins and righty Darren McCaughan agreed to a minor league contract earlier this month, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll presumably head to big league camp as a non-roster invitee this coming spring.

McCaughan, 28, has spent the vast majority of his career with the Mariners, who selected him in the 12th round of the 2017 draft. He made his big league debut with the 2021 M’s and also pitched briefly for Seattle in 2023. The Mariners traded him to the Marlins for cash back in February, and McCaughan pitched a career-high 42 big league innings between Miami and Cleveland this past season.

In 56 major league innings, McCaughan has been hit hard. He carries a career 6.43 ERA with just a 15.3% strikeout rate. He’s done a fine job limiting walks (8.4%) and has avoided hard contact on a rate basis, but the hard contact he does allow is often of the maximum-damage variety. He’s yielded an average of 2.09 homers per nine innings in the big leagues.

Homers have been an issue for McCaughan throughout his pro career, as one might expect from a soft-tossing righty who averages about 90 mph on his fastball. He’s displayed decent strikeout and walk rates in the upper minors (21.7 K%, 6.4 BB%), but McCaughan has been tagged for 1.60 homers per nine frames even in Triple-A. He posted a 4.73 ERA with a 25.2% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate in 85 2/3 Triple-A frames last year.

What McCaughan can bring is some stability and durability to the Twins’ Triple-A staff. He’s pitched at least 127 innings in all of his pro seasons (and even in his 2017 draft year, if combining his NCAA and minor league innings). McCaughan has somewhat incredibly never gone on the injured list in the minors or in the big leagues.

The Twins have enough starters that McCaughan isn’t likely to crack the roster this spring unless it’s in a long-relief capacity. Minnesota’s rotation includes Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack and Simeon Woods Richardson, although Paddack was widely regarded as a trade candidate even before the extremely player-friendly market for starting pitchers this winter made his $7.5MM salary look all the more affordable. David Festa, Zebby Matthews, Louie Varland, Marco Raya and Travis Adams are on the Twins’ 40-man already, giving them further options ahead of McCaughan.

Twins Interested In Re-Signing Carlos Santana, Adding Right-Handed Hitting Outfielder

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The Twins’ offseason checklist includes finding a right-handed hitting outfielder and a first baseman, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune).  In regards to the latter need, Nightengale writes that team still has interest in bringing Carlos Santana back for another stint in the Twin Cities.

Santana signed a one-year, $5.25MM free agent deal with Minnesota last winter, and at age 38 delivered one of the best all-around seasons of his 15-year career.  Santana hit .238/.320/.420 with 23 home runs in 594 plate appearances (translating to a 114 wRC+) and displayed outstanding defense at first base, earning him his very first Gold Glove.  While his hard-contact numbers remained below average for the second straight year, Santana still made a lot of contact and avoided strikeouts, while drawing his customary large share of walks.

Between these numbers and his off-the-field presence in Minnesota’s clubhouse, it is easy to see why the Twins would want him back.  Re-signing Santana for a relatively modest raise also seems feasible, as despite his production, teams are likely to zone in on Santana’s age as a reason to not commit too much money on another one-year deal.  There’s also the fact that 2024 was essentially a bounce-back for Santana after he posted a 94 wRC+ and 2.3 combined fWAR over his previous four seasons, so this last year might be viewed as an outlier.

Santana had 3.0 fWAR in 2024, a number topped by only six hitters in this winter’s free agent class.  Santana tied Christian Walker with a 3.0 fWAR and both were ahead of Pete Alonso’s 2.1 fWAR, to compare Santana to the two top first-base names.  Needless to say, Walker and Alonso will still command much larger contracts than Santana, and Santana’s market might not fully develop until the bigger free agents (and trade targets) have landed on their next teams.  The Twins’ pre-existing relationship with Santana could give them an in, but Santana has also drawn interest from the Mariners, another of his former clubs.

Turning to the Twins’ needs on the grass, Minnesota’s ideal right-handed bat would be a corner outfielder, able to complement left-handed hitters Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach.  Nightengale suggests that Austin Hays might be a fit, as hitting coach Matt Borgschulte is familiar with Hays from their shared time together with the Orioles.

Seeking out only a platoon bat will limit the price tag on a new acquisition, which again fits for a Minnesota team that doesn’t have much available in payroll space.  Technically, the Twins might first have to move some money, as their projected $142.1MM payroll (estimate from RosterResource) is over their $129.6MM payroll from last season, and Falvey has already said that Minnesota will be spending at a similar level in 2025.

Justin, Mat Ishbia Interested In Buying Twins Franchise

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It has been over two months since the Pohlad family announced they were looking into selling the Twins, and a prominent potential buyer has now been identified.  According to Bloomberg’s Isis Almeida, Miranda Davis, and Randall Williams, a group led by billionaire Justin Ishbia has expressed interest in purchasing the franchise, and Ishbia has been “meeting with local community leaders across the state to learn more about the community and the opportunity to carry on the Twins legacy.”

The Athletic’s Sam Amick, Dan Hayes, and Dennis Lin have more details, specifying that both Justin and Mat Ishbia would be involved in the ownership group, with Justin acting as the lead investor.  The brothers already own the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, with Mat acting as governor for those franchises and Justin the alternate governor.  Presumably in the same manner that Mat Ishbia is considered the chief “owner” of the Suns and Mercury, Justin Ishbia would take a similar head role in overseeing the Twins, with his brother in a secondary capacity.  Justin Ishbia’s sports interests also include a minority ownership stake in Major League Soccer’s Nashville SC franchise.

There is no sense that the Ishbia or any other potential bidders are close to completing a purchase, as Amick/Hayes/Lin write that the sale process will take a minimum of six months.  Minnesota president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters at the Winter Meetings that the franchise in the initial information-gathering phase of the process, and that the Twins had yet to move onto identifying or vetting potential buyers.

Carl Pohlad bought the Twins in 1984, with the role of day-to-day ownership oversight going to Carl’s son Jim Pohlad in 2009, and then to Jim’s nephew Joe Pohlad in November 2022.  The Pohlad family’s tenure has seen the Twins capture two World Series titles (1987 and 1991) and 11 division titles, but those high points have also been somewhat obscured by consistently limited spending over most of the four decades the Pohlads have been in charge.  The Twins were under consideration to be contracted by MLB in 2001, and the opening of Target Field in 2010 only temporarily boosted the club’s payroll.

Most recently, the team’s decision to slash payroll in the wake of a successful 2023 season (and the abrupt end of the Twins’ broadcast deal with Diamond Sports Group) left Minnesota fans upset, and those feelings only hardened when a late-season collapse cost the Twins a playoff berth.  MLB itself will be running Twins broadcasts in 2025, though with lower fees than the Diamond deal, and thus less revenue coming back to the organization.

It is far too early to speculate on whether or not the Ishbias or any owner would suddenly push a lot more money into roster construction.  The payroll structures of pro baseball and basketball are vastly different, of course, but for some reference, Amick/Hayes/Lee note that Mat Ishbia was almost instantly aggressive after buying the Suns.  Within just a few days after that sale was official in February 2023, Ishbia pushed his front office to swing a blockbuster trade for superstar Kevin Durant.

2024 Rule 5 Draft Results

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The 2024 Rule 5 draft took place this afternoon at the Winter Meetings in Dallas. The results of the draft are below.

As a refresher, the Rule 5 draft is a way for players potentially talented enough for the big leagues but blocked by their current clubs to find opportunities elsewhere. Any players that were 18 and under at the time of their original signing and have played five professional seasons, and any players who signed at 19 years of age or older at signing that now have four professional seasons, who are not on a club’s 40-man roster are eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft.

Though the amateur (Rule 4) draft now has a lottery to determine the selection order, the Rule 5 draft still goes the old-fashioned way of reverse order of standings from the season that just ended. Clubs need to have an open 40-man roster spot in order to make a pick but aren’t obligated to make a selection on their turn. If they do make a pick, they will have to pay $100K to the team they select from. The selected players must stay on the active roster (or injured list) for the entire 2025 season or else be placed on waivers. If they clear waivers, they must be offered back to their original team. They cannot be optioned to the minors.

Last year’s edition saw some key players change clubs. The A’s took Mitch Spence from the Yankees with the top pick and kept him all year. Justin Slaten was plucked from the Rangers by the Mets and then traded to the Red Sox. Players like Anthony Santander and Ryan Pressly have been notable picks in other recent years while guys like George Bell and Roberto Clemente are found deeper in the history books.

Here are this year’s picks…

  1. White Sox: RHP Shane Smith (Brewers) (Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline relayed the pick on Bluesky prior to the draft)
  2. Rockies: pass
  3. Marlins: C Liam Hicks (Tigers)
  4. Angels: LHP Garrett McDaniels (Dodgers)
  5. Athletics: RHP Noah Murdock (Royals)
  6. Nationals: RHP Evan Reifert (Rays)
  7. Blue Jays: RHP Angel Bastardo (Red Sox)
  8. Pirates: pass
  9. Reds: 2B Cooper Bowman (Athletics)
  10. Rangers: pass
  11. Giants: pass
  12. Rays: LHP Nate Lavender (Mets)
  13. Red Sox: pass
  14. Twins: RHP Eiberson Castellano (Phillies)
  15. Cardinals: pass
  16. Cubs: 3B Gage Workman (Tigers)
  17. Mariners: pass
  18. Royals: pass
  19. Tigers: pass
  20. Astros: pass
  21. Mets: pass
  22. D-backs: pass
  23. Braves: RHP Anderson Pilar (Marlins)
  24. Orioles: pass
  25. Guardians: pass
  26. Padres: RHP Juan Nunez (Orioles)
  27. Brewers: LHP Connor Thomas (Cardinals)
  28. Yankees: pass
  29. Phillies: RHP Mike Vasil (Mets); Phillies later traded Vasil to Rays for cash considerations, per announcements from both clubs.
  30. Dodgers: pass

Second round (all but one club passed)

The minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft also occurred this afternoon. Those players will not go onto the selecting teams’ 40-man roster. Right-hander Hobie Harris, who pitched for the Nationals in 2023 and signed a minor league deal with the Mets last month, was taken by the Red Sox.

Twins Have Received Calls Regarding Carlos Correa

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The Twins are facing tight payroll restrictions this offseason as they look to improve after narrowly missing the playoffs thanks to a brutal collapse back in September. With the club’s budget for 2025 reportedly set at $130MM and a payroll that RosterResource currently projects at $142MM, it’s hardly a secret that the club figures to make trades that will shed payroll this winter. Per Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune, that’s led some clubs to inquire with the Twins about the availability of star shortstop Carlos Correa. While Nightengale goes on to emphasize that there’s been no indication those inquiries have become more serious than a preliminary phone call, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey nonetheless addressed the possibility of a Correa trade during Day 1 of the Winter Meetings on Monday.

“Obviously, you expect teams to call on players like that, especially with where we are and some of the conversations we’re having with other clubs,” Falvey said of Correa, as relayed by Nightengale. “But we want to win, so a high bar is set.”

That’s a notable change in tone from last month, when Falvey emphasized that a Correa trade wasn’t something the club was “focused on” and called Correa a “key” part of the club’s plans alongside Byron Buxton and Pablo Lopez. Even so, The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reported Monday that multiple sources with the Twins indicated that it’s “hard to envision” the club parting with Correa. Given that apparent reluctance to deal their star shortstop and the apparently extremely preliminary nature of inquiries into his availability, it still seems more likely than not that Correa will remain in a Twins uniform for Opening Day 2025.

With that being said, the idea of a Correa trade is certainly intriguing. Correa’s recent history has been extremely tumultuous. After signing with Minnesota on a short-term deal during the 2021-22 offseason, Correa re-entered free agency the following year after a strong platform season and reached agreements with both the Giants and Mets before those deals ultimately fell through due to medical concerns. That led Correa to re-up with the Twins on his current deal, which calls for him to earn $128MM over the next four seasons before a series of four team options that Correa can vest into guaranteed years by reaching certain plate appearance thresholds or earning a top-5 MVP finish, a Silver Slugger award, or an LCS/World Series MVP award in the season prior to the option.

Correa’s complex contract also comes with a full no-trade clause, meaning that he would have to approve of any deal that shipped him out of Minnesota. Further complicating any trade talks involving Correa is his up-and-down performance since re-signing in the Twin Cities; the shortstop’s 2023 season saw him post just 1.8 fWAR and a 95 wRC+ in a full workload of 135 games as he played through plantar fasciitis. His performance bounced back to its previous impressive level in 2024 as he hit .310/.388/.517 with a 155 wRC+, but plantar fasciitis once again hobbled him and limited the shortstop to just 86 games. Overall, the 30-year-old has hit .261/.341/.444 (119 wRC+) in 221 games over the past two seasons.

Given Correa’s tantalizing value when healthy, it’s easy to imagine at least some high-revenue clubs being willing to gamble on his contract. That’s clearly not going to be enough to get a deal done, however, as Falvey has made clear that he isn’t interested in merely dealing Correa for the sake of salary relief. Even if Correa were willing to waive his no-trade clause to depart Minnesota, it’s unclear if interested clubs would be willing to part ways with the sort of package that would entice Falvey to make a deal in order to land him. While the club has 2022 first-rounder Brooks Lee as an option potentially capable of taking over shortstop in the event that Correa is traded, he struggled to a .221/.265/.320 slash line in his first taste of big league action and may not be ready for an everyday job to start the 2025 season.

With the apparent unlikelihood of a Correa deal coming together in mind, it still seems as though the Twins will have to shed salary somewhere. To that end, Nightengale highlights utility man Willi Castro, right-hander Chris Paddack, and catcher Christian Vazquez as “obvious trade candidates,” though he suggests that none of the three would bring back much of significance in return beyond salary relief. It’s not the first time that trio has come up as potential trade candidates this winter, but if the Twins managed to clear all three of them off the books entirely that would free up a combined estimate of $23.7MM using the $6.2MM projection of Castro’s final trip through arbitration offered by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

If Minnesota were able to free up all of that money, they’d seemingly have around $10.5MM to invest in other areas of the roster. To that end, Nightengale notes that Falvey described adding a first baseman “has some appeal” with Carlos Santana having elected free agency last month, and that a right-handed complement to lefty outfielders Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach could also make plenty of sense for a club that lost Manuel Margot to free agency in November as well. Ramon Laureano, Mark Canha, and Austin Hays are among the interesting budget options available on the right-handed outfield market, while Santana is joined by the likes of Josh Bell, Anthony Rizzo, and Paul Goldschmidt in the lower tiers of the first base market this winter.

Twins Sign Huascar Ynoa To Minor League Deal

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The Twins have signed Huascar Ynoa to a minors contract, according to Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein (X link).  The right-hander will receive an invitation to Minnesota’s big league Spring Training camp as part of the non-guaranteed deal.

Ynoa appeared in parts of four MLB seasons with the Braves from 2019-22, topping out at 91 innings during the 2021 campaign.  Ynoa posted a 4.05 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, and 6.7% walk rate while stepping into Atlanta’s rotation as an injury replacement, helping set the theme of unexpected contributors emerging to help lead the Braves to an unlikely World Series title.  A shoulder injury forced Ynoa’s removal from the Braves’ NLCS roster, however, and he also missed three months of the regular season after breaking his hand while punching the dugout in frustration after a tough start.

More setbacks awaited the next season, as Ynoa only pitched 6 2/3 MLB innings in 2022 and spent most of the year at Triple-A.  Ynoa then underwent a Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2023 campaign, and he returned to pitch only 29 2/3 minor league innings this year before being sidelined again by a stress reaction in his right elbow.  Atlanta opted to non-tender Ynoa, as despite a modest $825K projected arbitration salary, the Braves still preferred to open up a roster spot and move on from the righty.

Ynoa will now return to his original franchise at this turning point of this career.  The Twins signed Ynoa during the 2014 international signing period and he pitched in parts of three minor league seasons in Minnesota’s farm system before being dealt to the Braves in July 2017.  Ynoa is overdue for some good health as he tries to get his career on track, and there’s no risk for the Twins in taking a flier on a pitcher who is still just 26 years old.

Twins Finalize Coaching Staff

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The Twins announced their finalized coaching staff Thursday, including three new hires: assistant hitting coaches Trevor Amicone and Rayden Sierra, and first base/infield coach Ramon Borrego. Former first base/catching coach Hank Conger is now the team’s assistant bench coach and catching coach.

Amicone comes to the Twins from the Yankees organization. He’s spent the past five seasons there, breaking into professional coaching as an instructor at their alternate site in 2020 and spending the 2021-22 seasons as a hitting coach with the Yankees’ affiliates in the Dominican Summer League. He’s been the hitting coach for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders for the past two seasons. He’ll serve as the Twins’ No. 2 hitting coach behind Matt Borgschulte, whom the Twins hired away from the Orioles earlier this offseason. (Borgschulte had been a coach in the Twins’ minor league ranks prior to his time in Baltimore.)

Both Sierra and Borrego were in-house minor league coaches who are now joining the big league staff. Sierra has spent the past five seasons in a variety of roles within the system. He’s been a hitting coach in Class-A Fort Myers, served as an assistant hitting and development coach, and spent the 2024 season as the Twins’ assistant minor league hitting coordinator. Borrego has been with the Twins for more than two decades, including 14 seasons as a manager. He’s been managing the Twins’ Double-A affiliate since 2019 and thus has an existing relationship with a number of Minnesota’s homegrown players, including Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda, Matt Wallner, Edouard Julien, Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax and others. He was also a coach on Venezuela’s staff in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

That trio will work with manager Rocco Baldelli, bench coach Jayce Tingler, Borgschulte, pitching coach Pete Maki, bullpen coach Colby Suggs, third base/outfield coach Tommy Watkins, assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez and quality control coach Nate Dammann for the 2025 season.

Twins Sign Alex Speas To Minor League Contract

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The Twins have signed right-hander Alex Speas, as initially announced by Speas’ agency, Munger English Sports Management (X link).  Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune confirmed that it is a minor league deal, and SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson adds that Speas will get an invitation to the Twins’ big league Spring Training camp.

Minnesota becomes Speas’ sixth different MLB organization within the last 14 months.  A second-round pick for the Rangers in the 2016 draft, Speas spent his entire pro career with Texas until October 2023, when the White Sox claimed the righty off waivers.  The A’s traded for Speas last April, and he subsequently went to the Astros and then the Red Sox on other waiver claims after being designated for assignment.  Boston DFA’ed Speas as well and outrighted him off their 40-man roster in August, and Speas finished out the season pitching with Triple-A Worcester.

Speas’ transactional whirlwind resulted in just a single game at the Major League level, as he tossed two relief innings for the Astros on May 31 (in a 6-1 loss to his new team, the Twins).  Speas’ overall MLB resume consists of four games, as he first reached the Show with three appearances for Texas during the 2023 season.  Speas has a 9.00 ERA in that small sample size as a big leaguer, and an 8.69 ERA in 58 career innings at the Triple-A level.

Those struggles can be directly traced to a garish 23.05% walk rate, as Speas’ inability to find the plate has left him unable to claim any sort of foothold in the majors.  Since Speas has a 28.13% strikeout rate at Triple-A and a fastball in the 100mph range, it is easy to see why teams keep taking chances on Speas, and the Twins will become the latest club to see if it can harness Speas’ control and turn him into a useful relief pitcher.  Speas turns 27 in March, so it isn’t too late for him to break out if he can deliver even a passable walk rate.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 11/22/24

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The deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7pm CT. Throughout the day, we’ll surely see a handful of arb-eligible players agree to terms with their clubs to avoid a hearing.

These so-called “pre-tender deals” usually, although not always, involve players who were borderline non-tender candidates. Rather than run the risk of being cut loose, they can look to sign in the lead-up to the deadline. Those salaries often come in a little below projections, since these players tend to have less leverage because of the uncertainty about whether they’ll be offered a contract at all.

Under the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement, players who sign to avoid an arbitration hearing are guaranteed full termination pay. That’s a change from prior CBAs, when teams could release an arb-eligible player before the season began and would only owe a prorated portion of the contract. This was done to incentivize teams and players to get deals done without going to a hearing.

All salary projections in this post come via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. This post will be updated throughout the day/evening as deals are announced and/or reported.

  • The Mets announced that they have agreed to a one-year contract with right-hander Sean Reid-Foley, though salary figures have not yet been reported. He was projected for a $900K salary next year after posting a 1.66 ERA but in just 21 2/3 innings due to injury.
  • The Rangers announced they avoided arbitration with right-hander Josh Sborz, who was projected for a $1.3MM salary next year. He’ll come in just shy of that at $1.1MM, per Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today (X link). He underwent a shoulder debridement procedure recently, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (X link) and will likely miss the first two or three months of 2025.
  • The Tigers and infielder Andy Ibanez have agreed to a salary of $1.4MM next year, per Francys Romero (X link). That’s a shade below his $1.5MM projection. Ibanez hit .241/.295/.357 in 99 games for the Tigers in 2024.
  • The Guardians avoided arbitration with right-hander Ben Lively, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com (X link). He’ll make $2.25MM next year, below his $3.2MM projection. Lively had a 3.81 ERA in 151 innings for the Guards this year.
  • The Cubs and right-hander Julian Merryweather have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a salary of $1.225MM, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN (X link). That’s just shy of his $1.3MM projection. Merryweather had a 6.60 ERA in 2024 but was injured most of the time and only made 15 appearances. He had a solid 3.38 ERA the year prior in 72 innings. The Cubs also agreed to terms with catcher Matt Thaiss and righty Keegan Thompson, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune (X link), though salary figures have not yet been reported.
  • The Blue Jays got a deal done with right-hander Erik Swanson, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet on X. The righty was projected for $3.2MM next year but will make a smidge less than that, with Keegan Matheson of MLB.com (X link) relaying that Swanson will make $3MM. He had a 5.03 ERA in 2024 but was at 2.97 the year prior and also finished this year strong, with a 2.55 ERA in the second half.
  • The Yankees reached agreement with center fielder Trent Grisham on a $5MM salary, reports Jorge Castillo of ESPN (on X). The deal contains another $250K in incentives. The two-time Gold Glove winner had been projected at $5.7MM. Grisham had an underwhelming .190/.290/.385 showing during his first season in the Bronx. The Yankees will nevertheless keep him around for his final year of arbitration, presumably in a fourth outfield capacity. The Yankees also announced that they have a deal with righty JT Brubaker, though figures haven’t been reported. He was projected for a salary of $2.275MM, the same figure he made in 2023 and 2024, two seasons he missed while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
  • The Rockies reached deals with outfielder Sam Hilliard and lefty reliever Lucas Gilbreath, Feinsand reports (on X). Hilliard gets $1MM, while Gilbreath signed for $785K. Both figures come in shy of the respective $1.7MM and $900K projections. Hilliard popped 10 home runs over 58 games as a depth outfielder. Gilbreath only made three appearances after missing the entire ’23 season to Tommy John surgery. He posted a 4.19 ERA across 43 innings two years ago.

Earlier Agreements

  • The Dodgers and right-hander Tony Gonsolin have agreed to a $5.4MM salary for 2025, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link), an exact match for his projection. He had signed a two-year, $6.65MM deal to cover the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He made 20 starts for the Dodgers in the first year of that pact but he missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
  • The Guardians and Sam Hentges have agreed to a $1.337MM deal, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. That’s right in line with his projected $1.4MM salary. The left-hander has been an effective reliever for Cleveland over the past three seasons (2.93 ERA, 2.82 SIERA, 138 IP), but he missed the latter half of 2024 with a shoulder injury. After undergoing surgery in September, he will miss the entire 2025 season.
  • The Orioles and infielder Emmanuel Rivera agreed to a $1MM deal, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He’d been projected at $1.4MM. He hit .238/.312/.343 this year.
  • Right-hander Brock Stewart and the Twins agreed to a one-year deal worth $870K, MLBTR has learned. He’d been projected at $800K. Stewart, who missed much of the season due to injury, can earn another $30K via incentives. He’s been lights-out for the Twins when healthy over the past two seasons (2.28 ERA, 33.5 K%, 10.8 BB%). Minnesota and righty Michael Tonkin also agreed to a $1MM deal, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’d been projected at $1.5MM. The Twins later announced that they had reached deals with Stewart, Tonkin and righty Justin Topa. Hewas projected for $1.3MM next year but will come in just shy of that in terms of guarantee. Per Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune (Bluesky link), it’s a $1.225MM guarantee in the form of a $1MM salary and then a $225K buyout on a $2MM club option for 2026.
  • The Padres and Tyler Wade agreed to a one-year deal worth $900K, Heyman tweets. There’s a club option for an additional season. Wade, who hit .217/.285/.239 in 2024, was projected for that same $900K figure.
  • Infielder Santiago Espinal and the Reds settled on a one-year deal at $2.4MM, Heyman tweets. That’s well shy of his $4MM projection and actually represents a slight pay cut after Espinal hit .246/.295/.356 for Cincinnati.
  • The Rangers and righty Dane Dunning agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.66MM, Heyman reports. It’s a 19% cut after Dunning struggled to a 5.31 ERA in 95 innings this past season. He was projected at $4.4MM.
  • The Giants and right-hander Austin Warren agreed to terms on a one-year deal, reports Justice de los Santos of the San Jose Mercury News. He missed most of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery but returned late with 10 2/3 innings of two-run ball out of the bullpen.
  • The Brewers announced that they’ve signed catcher/outfielder Eric Haase to a one-year deal for the upcoming season. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that the deal guarantees Haase $1.35MM with the chance to earn more via incentives. He’d been projected for a $1.8MM salary. Haase will fill the backup catcher role in Milwaukee next season. He’s controllable through the 2027 season.
  • The Dodgers and right-hander Dustin May settled at $2.135MM, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (X link). That’s the exact same salary he had in 2024. May will be looking to bounce back after spending all of this year on the injured list.
  • The Phillies and right-hander José Ruiz settled at $1.225MM, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). That’s slightly above his $1.2MM projection. The righty can also unlock a $20K bonus for pitching in 30 games and $25K for pitching in 40. He made 52 appearances for the Phils in 2024 with a 3.71 ERA. Philadelphia also announced agreement with backup catcher Garrett Stubbs on a one-year deal. The Phils did not reveal the salary figure. Stubbs hit .207 in 54 games this year.
  • The Tigers and infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry agreed to a $1.65MM salary for 2025, per Robert Murray of FanSided (hat tip to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press on X). That’s slightly ahead of his $1.3MM projection. He hit .215/.277/.337 this year while stealing 16 bases and playing each position except or first base and catcher,
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