Pete Alonso Meeting With Red Sox, Orioles At Winter Meetings
Free agent first baseman Pete Alonso is attending the Winter Meetings and will have in-person sit-downs with the Red Sox and Orioles, among other interested clubs, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Both the Red Sox and the O’s have already been at least loosely linked to the Polar Bear, but it’s nevertheless notable that Alonso is both attending the event himself — it’s located within driving distance of his Florida home — and that both are interested enough to meet with the player directly. Presumably, Alonso will be meeting with other clubs this week as well.
Boston has long stood as a logical fit. Triston Casas missed almost the entire 2025 season due to a knee injury. Replacements Romy Gonzalez, Abraham Toro and Nathaniel Lowe held their own, but Toro (outrighted, elected free agency) and Lowe (designated for assignment, non-tendered) are no longer with the club. The vast majority of Gonzalez’s production came against left-handed pitching. He was a below-average hitter versus righties — albeit not by that much, but with the help of a BABIP north of .370.
Casas is hoping to be ready for the beginning of the season, but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow sidestepped when asked after the season whether it was fair to expect Casas to be his first baseman in 2026. If the Red Sox want to go cheaper at the position, they could look at a Casas/Gonzalez platoon. But there’s been speculation about trading Casas going back more than a year now, and Gonzalez — who’s played every position on the diamond other than catcher — makes for a fine utility piece even if the Sox go with more of an everyday option at first. Alonso is also open to some DH work, though that’d come into play more if Boston could finally find a taker for what’s left of Masataka Yoshida‘s ill-fated five-year contract.
The Red Sox already have about $178MM of payroll obligations for the upcoming season, per RosterResource, and their luxury-tax obligations total more than $224MM (putting about around $23MM shy of the first-tier threshold). Signing Alonso would very likely put Boston over that line, though trades of other veterans (e.g. Yoshida, Jarren Duran) could bring that number back down to an extent.
The Orioles are a less-obvious fit, at least at first glance. Baltimore is dead-set on adding prominent help to the starting rotation and is deep in young position players. However, Coby Mayo is the heir-apparent at first base and has yet to prove that he can hit major league pitching on a consistent basis. Signing Alonso could free the Orioles to more seriously explore trading some of its crop of young bats to bring in an arm via the trade market.
That’s a rather circuitous route to improving the rotation, but if the Orioles are more comfortable betting on Alonso’s bat holding up over the long run than they are a prominent pitcher’s elbow/shoulder, it’d be a sensible enough course of action. To date, the O’s seem to be casting a wide net. They’ve been linked to Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez, Tatsuya Imai and Michael King, to name a few. They’re also hoping to bring in a big bat to fill out the offense — even after acquiring Taylor Ward and his 36 home runs in last month’s trade with the Angels.
Payroll-wise, there’s basically nothing that should be off limits for Baltimore this winter. Outfielder Tyler O’Neill, young catcher Samuel Basallo and newly signed closer Ryan Helsley are the only players guaranteed anything beyond the current season. The 2027 season is a player option for Helsley, however, and Basallo’s extension carries an $8.375MM annual value. His salary doesn’t climb beyond $8MM until 2031.
Alonso enjoyed a much stronger 2025 season than he did in 2024, boosting his batting line from .240/.329/.459 (121 wRC+) to a stout .272/.347/.524 line (141 wRC+). He clubbed 38 homers, lopped two percentage points off his strikeout rate (down to a roughly league-average 22.8%) and saw massive bumps in average exit velocity, hard-hit rate and barrel rate. He also has the benefit of hitting free agency without a qualifying offer this time around, given that he rejected a QO following the 2024 season and players can only receive a QO once in their careers under the system’s current rules.
Padres Listening To Offers On Nick Pivetta, Jake Cronenworth
As the Padres continue to try to build a competitive roster with minimal payroll wiggle room, they’re at least entertaining offers on righty Nick Pivetta, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic. They’re also listening on second baseman Jake Cronenworth, Lin writes, though the two are in different spots in terms of trade candidacy. Pivetta, despite an opt-out in his contract at season’s end, would presumably still be coveted by numerous clubs. Cronenworth, with five years and $60MM remaining on his contract as he heads into his age-32 season, has considerably less trade value. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote yesterday that San Diego isn’t merely listening but has been actively shopping Cronenworth.
The 32-year-old Pivetta (33 in January) is coming off a terrific season in which he logged a career-low 2.87 ERA over a career-high 181 2/3 innings. It was just the sort of season for which the Padres hoped when signing Pivetta to a four-year contract — a bet made on his durability and typically strong strikeout/walk rates. Pivetta had never posted an ERA under 4.00, but metrics like SIERA (3.78) and xFIP (3.92) liked him far better than the 4.33 ERA he’d posted across the four prior seasons.
San Diego found itself in a similar situation last winter to the one in which president of baseball operations A.J. Preller now resides. The team is still intent on going for it in a competitive NL West division, but payroll has been reduced since the untimely passing of late owner Peter Seidler back in 2023. Preller & Co. drew up a four-year, $55MM deal for Pivetta that paid him just $4MM in year on ($3MM signing bonus, $1MM salary) and then jumped to $19MM in 2026, $14MM in 2027 and $18MM in 2028. Pivetta also has the right to opt out of the final two years and $32MM on his contract following the current season. That seems like all but a given, provided he’s still healthy and even reasonably effective.
That unique contract structure complicates trade scenarios surrounding Pivetta. While he’s sure to command interest, teams will view him more as a one-year rental than as a long-term pickup. They’ll also need to price in the downside of Pivetta potentially sustaining a serious injury and/or performing so poorly that he forgoes that opt-out opportunity and thus saddles them with an unwanted two-year, $32MM commitment. Pivetta could probably still bring back a prospect or lower-cost big leaguer of some note, but the return wouldn’t be as strong as many might think for a sixth-place Cy Young finisher who is technically signed for three more affordable seasons.
All of that makes the trade calculus surrounding Pivetta more difficult for Preller and his staff. The Friars are hoping to add to their rotation, not subtract from it. Trading Pivetta for a strong return and reallocating the $19MM he’ll make this coming season sounds good in theory but would be harder to execute in practice. Perhaps a team with more financial flexibility would acquire Pivetta with an eye toward restructuring his contract (extending him but also removing the opt-out opportunities), though that’s a purely speculative scenario and not one that is typical throughout MLB as a whole.
With regard to Cronenworth, he’s coming off a productive season, but his contract is still generally underwater. The lefty-swinging infielder hit .246/.367/.377 in 2025, with the bulk of his offensive value coming via a career-high 13.4% walk rate and a whopping 15 hit-by-pitches, both of which inflated his on-base percentage to career-best levels. On a rate basis, Cronenworth’s power was at the lowest point of his career, however (.131 ISO). Statcast pegged his “expected” batting average at .227 and his “expected” slugging percentage at just .348.
Cronenworth’s versatility is a point in his favor, but he’s primarily played second base and first base — two positions that typically aren’t compensated especially well on the modern MLB market (with the exception of the game’s truly elite bats at either position). It’s feasible that Cronenworth could command something similar to his $12MM annual value if he were a free agent right now, but it certainly wouldn’t come over a five-year term. He’d be limited to a much shorter contract on the open market, and teams will price that into any trade offers. In all likelihood, San Diego would need to pay down a fair bit of Cronenworth’s contract or take back another unwelcome contract.
Broadly speaking, the circumstances surrounding both players serve as a portent for the type of moves the Padres will have to explore this offseason. Preller is always one of the most frenetic baseball operations leaders in the game, and his need to address multiple roster holes — two starters, at least one bat, perhaps some help at catcher — with minimal payroll flexibility amid a changing ownership landscape suggest that we’re in for another slate of creative, difficult-to-predict transactions for the Padres in the weeks ahead.
Jeff Kent Elected To Baseball Hall Of Fame
Jeff Kent was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, as revealed by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee tonight. Kent received 14 of a possible 16 votes from the Era Committee, easily topping the 75% (12 of 16) threshold needed for induction to Cooperstown. Of the other seven candidates under consideration, Carlos Delgado was the next-closest candidate with nine votes, and Dale Murphy and Don Mattingly each received six votes. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela all received less than five votes.
A veteran of 17 Major League seasons with the Blue Jays, Mets, Indians, Giants, Astros, and Dodgers from 1992-2008, Kent hit more homers as a second baseman than any other player in history, going yard 351 times from the position. His resume includes four Silver Slugger awards and five All-Star nods, as well as the 2000 NL MVP Award when Kent was a member of the Giants.
Kent is primarily remembered for his six seasons in San Francisco and five seasons with the Mets. Beginning his career as a well-regarded prospect in the Blue Jays’ farm system, Roberto Alomar’s presence in Toronto made Kent expendable, and the Jays dealt Kent for David Cone in August 1992. Cone’s presence helped the Blue Jays capture the 1992 World Series, while Kent went onto establish himself as a solid regular during his time in New York.
The 1996 trade deadline saw Kent again on the move, this time to Cleveland. During the 1996-97 offseason, the Tribe flipped Kent to San Francisco, where he truly rose to stardom. Kent hit .297/.368/.535 with 175 homers over 3903 plate appearances and an even 900 games with the Giants from 1997-2002, teaming with Bonds to form a devastating one-two punch in the lineup. The 2002 Giants reached the World Series for Kent’s only appearance in the Fall Classic, as the team fell just short in a seven-game loss to the Angels. For his career in the postseason, Kent hit a solid .276/.340/.500 over 189 PA.
Kent spent his final six seasons with the Astros (2003-04) and Dodgers (05-08), and remained an offensive force at the plate until his production finally trailed off in his 17th and final MLB season. Over 2298 career games and 9537 PA, Kent hit .290/.356/.500 with 377 home runs, 1518 RBI, and 1320 runs scored.
Despite his impressive career numbers, Kent didn’t gain much traction during his 10 years on the writers’ ballot, as he never received more than 46.5% of the vote. A crowded ballot during Kent’s era didn’t help, yet his subpar defense and surly reputation probably also didn’t help curry much favor with voters. Clubhouse controversy followed Kent during his time with the Mets and Giants, and his stint in San Francisco included a well-publicized feud with Bonds. There is some irony, therefore, in the fact that Kent is finally making it into Cooperstown while on the same Era Committee ballot as his former Giants teammate.
Formerly known as the Veterans Committee, the Era Committee is the latest incarnation of the process that for decades has given some fresh evaluation and a second chance to players initially overlooked on the writers’ ballot. This year’s version of the Era Committee focused on players whose greatest contributions came during the “Contemporary Baseball” (1980-present) era. Next year’s ballot will focus on managers, executives, and umpires from the Contemporary Baseball era, and the 2027 ballot will consider candidates from the “Classic Baseball” era (prior to 1980) before Contemporary Players are again considered in 2028.
A rule change introduced this year added an extra layer of intrigue (or even controversy) to this year’s proceedings. Because they received less than five votes on this year’s ballot, Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield, and Valenzuela must be omitted from the next voting cycle, and can’t return to the Contemporary Players ballot until at least 2031. If any of these four players then don’t receive at least five votes in 2031 or on any future ballot, they are no longer eligible for inclusion on any Contemporary Players ballot.
The aim of this new rule is to allow more candidates to be included on Era Committee ballots on a regular basis. The concept of permanent disqualification from ballots, however, has been viewed by some as a way for the Hall of Fame to sidestep the ongoing controversy about Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield, or other prominent superstars (i.e. Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro) who were linked to PEDs. While obviously Era Committee rules could again be altered down the road, for now, the path to Cooperstown has gotten even narrower for Bonds, Clemens, or Sheffield.
The results of the writers’ ballot will be announced on January 20, with such players as Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones seen as strong candidates to finally get over the 75% threshold after multiple years on the ballot (nine years for Jones, four years for Beltran). Any players elected on January 20 will join Kent in being officially inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 26 in Cooperstown.
The 16 members of this year’s Era Committee could vote for as many as three players, and as few as zero players. This year’s Era Committee was comprised of seven Hall of Famers (Ferguson Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Juan Marichal, Tony Perez, Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell, Robin Yount), four former MLB general managers (Doug Melvin, Kim Ng, Tony Reagins, Terry Ryan), two current MLB owners (the Brewers’ Mark Attansio and the Angels’ Arte Moreno), two media members (the Athletic’s Tyler Kepner and Jayson Stark), and historian Steve Hirdt.
Rays Sign Cedric Mullins To One-Year Deal
December 6: The team has officially announced the signing. Right-hander Yoniel Curet was designated for assignment to make room for Mullins on the 40-man. Mullins’ one-year deal also includes a mutual option for 2027. Topkin reported the option is for $10MM, with a $500K buyout.
December 3: The Rays and outfielder Cedric Mullins are in agreement on a one-year deal, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. It’s worth $7MM, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Mullins is represented by Cope Sports Management. The Rays have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move for this Mullins deal to become official.
Mullins and the Rays will both be hoping that he can engineer a bounceback season in 2026. Now 31, he has spent the past few seasons primarily with the Orioles, serving as a well-rounded center fielder capable of providing a bit of pop, some speed and quality defense. However, 2025 was his worst season since he became a full-time major leaguer.
Back in 2021, he had a tremendous breakout year. He hit 30 home runs, stole 30 bases and ran the ball down in the outfield. He slashed .291/.360/.518 for a 136 wRC+. FanGraphs credited him with six wins above replacement.
That season now looks like an outlier. His subsequent campaigns haven’t been quite as good but he’s still been a very useful well-rounded contributor. The past four seasons have seen Mullins finish with a home run tally between 15 and 18, barely half of his 2021 total but still nothing to sneeze at. His stolen base numbers have oscillated but stayed near the 30ish range. He only swiped 19 in 2023 but he was limited to 116 games that year.
From 2022 to 2024, even with the diminished power, he slashed .244/.311/.407 for a 103 wRC+. He stole 85 bases and mostly got good review for his glovework. He tallied 7.7 fWAR, about two to three wins per season.
He got out to a hot start at the plate in 2025. At the end of April, he had six home runs, a .278/.412/.515 line and 163 wRC+. With free agency just a few months away, he seemed to have a shot at a nine-figure deal. Unfortunately, he went cold after that and never really recovered. From May 1st to the end of the season, he put up a dismal .198/.263/.355 line. A deadline deal to the Mets didn’t help get him back on track.
Ultimately, his full 2025 line of .216/.299/.391 isn’t too bad. The 94 wRC+ indicates he was only 6% below league average, but it’s obviously not ideal for a free agent to hit the open market riding a five-month slump.
His glovework is also arguably less stable now, perhaps not shocking for a guy who is now 31 years old. Outs Above Average still considers him an above average fielder but by a smaller margin now. He was credited with at least 10 OAA in both 2021 and 2022 but was below five in each of the two most recent seasons. Defensive Runs Saved ranked him as a strong defender a few years ago but tagged him with a -4 grade in 2024 and -14 in 2025, dropping him to -11 DRS for his career.
The combination of trends left Mullins with diminished earning power but he’s a sensible flier for the Rays to take. They used a mishmash of different guys in their outfield group in 2025. Each of Chandler Simpson, Jake Mangum, Josh Lowe, Christopher Morel and Kameron Misner took between 216 and 429 plate appearances as an outfielder for Tampa this year, with others appearing for smaller samples as well. None of those five guys had even league average offense this year. Misner and Morel were designated for assignment at the end of the season. Misner was traded to the Royals. Morel was non-tendered and is now a free agent. The Rays recently brought in another outfielder by signing Jake Fraley.
Last month, Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander admitted that upgrading the outfield would be a target for this offseason. However, spending big has never really been the club’s style. That’s presumably extra true after a season in which they had to move to a minor league park, which led to extra expenses and then smaller crowds. The Rays decided to pass on picking up an $11MM club option for Pete Fairbanks, despite a fairly affordable $10MM price difference between that option and the $1MM buyout.
The Rays wouldn’t be serious contenders for signing someone like Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger. Even if they were willing to splurge on a mid-market free agent, this year doesn’t really have any outfielders who fit the description. Trent Grisham would have been in there but he accepted a qualifying offer from the Yankees. That left the Rays with the trade market and then free agents like Mullins, Harrison Bader, Mike Yastrzemski and others.
RosterResource currently estimates the Rays for a $77MM payroll in 2026, before factoring in Mullins. They finished 2025 at $88MM. It’s unknown how much they plan to spend next year but they will be pretty close to last year’s outlay once Mullins is officially on the books.
Presumably, Mullins will be penciled in as the everyday center fielder as the Rays hope he finds a way to return to form. Their remaining outfielders can battle over the playing time in the corners, with Mullins perhaps acting as a veteran mentor for them.
Photos courtesy of Jeff Hanisch, Mitch Stringer, Imagn Images
Nationals Trade Jose Ferrer To Mariners For Harry Ford
The Nationals and Mariners lined up on a trade sending lefty reliever Jose A. Ferrer to Seattle for rookie catcher Harry Ford and minor league pitcher Isaac Lyon. Both teams have announced the trade.
Seattle adds a flamethrower from the left side to complement Andres Munoz and Matt Brash in the backend of the bullpen. The price is somewhat steep, as Ford ranks 42nd in MLB.com’s top 100 prospect rankings. Lyon was taken in the 10th round of the 2025 draft. He made a handful of appearances at Single-A this past season.
Ferrer emerged as Washington’s closer after Kyle Finnegan was shipped to Detroit at the trade deadline. He picked up 11 saves over the final two months of the season. The 25-year-old’s 21.9% strikeout rate and mid-4.00s ERA don’t scream shutdown closer, but he had an excellent 2.85 SIERA and an elite 4.9% walk rate on the year. Ferrer put together a stretch of 14 straight scoreless appearances shortly after taking over as closer, though he did falter over his final few appearances.
Ferrer has made 142 appearances out of the Nationals’ bullpen since his debut in 2023. He has a career 4.36 ERA, but his xERA and xFIP are both below 3.50. While he hasn’t piled up strikeouts, Ferrer’s upper-90s sinker has helped him rank among the best relievers in ground ball rate. Ferrer is under team control through 2029. He won’t reach arbitration until the 2027 campaign.
Ford has been a top 5 prospect in Seattle’s system since getting taken in the first round of the 2021 draft. The 12th overall pick slotted in at fifth among the Mariners’ prospects in 2022, per MLB.com. He reached the top spot in 2023, and most recently slotted in at fourth. Ford has hit at every minor league stop, while also providing significant contributions as a base stealer.
The 22-year-old Ford slashed .283/.408/.460 with 16 home runs and seven steals at Triple-A this past year. He struck out less than 20% of the time while posting a massive 16.2% walk rate. Ford briefly debuted with the big-league club, mostly operating as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement. He went 1-for-6 in eight appearances.
The 16 home runs with Tacoma were a career high for Ford, though the seven steals were a disappointing total after he swiped 35 bags at Double-A in 2024. Ford’s elite walk rate has allowed him to consistently put up huge on-base numbers. Outside of a .377 OBP in 2024, he’s been at or above .400 in each season of his minor league tenure. Ford’s power outlook is more gap-to-gap than over-the-fence, but his combination of speed and on-base skills gives him a unique offensive profile, particularly for a catcher.
With Cal Raleigh landing a six-year extension before the 2025 campaign, Ford was going to be blocked in Seattle for the foreseeable future. He’ll head to Washington to join a catching group that struggled with injuries and production last season. Recurring concussion issues limited Keibert Ruiz to 68 games in 2025. He briefly returned to the team in early July, then went right back on the IL and never made it back to the big-league squad. Riley Adams handled the majority of the reps behind the plate, along with brief cameos from Drew Millas and Jorge Alfaro. Washington’s backstops ranked 29th in OPS. Adams is back on a one-year split deal, while Alfaro is a free agent.
Lyon made four starts with Modesto this past year. The 21-year-old righty will head to Fredericksburg to continue honing his craft. Lyon is the son of former pitcher Brandon Lyon.
Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reported the Mariners were nearing a Ferrer deal. Robert Murray of FanSided reported that Ford was heading to Washington. Golden was first with Lyon’s inclusion. Photos courtesy of Imagn Images.
Twins Planning To Keep Joe Ryan, Byron Buxton, Pablo López
The Twins just underwent a big sell-off at the summer trade deadline. That led to plenty of speculation about further selling this winter but that appears not to be in the cards. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the club plans to hold onto trade candidates like Joe Ryan, Byron Buxton and Pablo López as they try to return to contention in 2026. Rosenthal doesn’t mention Ryan Jeffers but this presumably applies to him as well.
Minnesota was in contention for a decent amount of the 2025 season. They fell down the standings in the summer and pivoted into seller position ahead of the July deadline. Many expected them to do modest selling of impending free agents but they went far deeper than that. They flipped controllable relievers Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland and Brock Stewart. They also sent infielder Carlos Correa back to Houston, an effective salary dump. It was clearly financially motivated from the get-go and then the player they acquired in return, pitcher Matt Mikulski, was released in October.
After such an aggressive teardown, the expectation has been that they would continue selling this winter. Ryan, López and Buxton were all the subject of trade rumors. Buxton and López are the two highest-paid players on the team but would still be attractive to other clubs. Buxton is signed through 2028 and López 2027. Ryan isn’t expensive, as he’s still in his arbitration seasons. But with just two years of club control, he wouldn’t fit on a rebuilding club. With his modest projected salary, he likely would have had the highest trade value of the trio. Jeffers is an impending free agent and would have found lots of interest, especially considering the weak catching market.
There were at least some signs that the Twins didn’t plan for their deadline sell-off to lead to multi-year rebuilding project. Their returns in their summer trades were largely major league-ready players and upper level prospects. Across various trades, they acquired Mick Abel, Taj Bradley, Alan Roden, James Outman and Kendry Rojas, among others. The first four of those guys already had some major league experience. Rojas still hasn’t appeared in the big leagues but reached the Triple-A level prior to being acquired. If the club were planning a yearslong rebuilding effort, those would have been odd choices.
In the background of all this was the Pohlad family looking to sell the club, something they announced in October of 2024. But in August of 2025, just a few weeks after the deadline, it was announced that the family was taking the club off the market. They would instead be taking on some minority partners, whose investments would help the club deal with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.
As the winter began, many still expected the club to be selling this winter. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey pushed back on that a bit in November, saying that he had not yet been given any directions about further lowering the payroll and that his plans would be to add to the 2026 roster until told otherwise.
None of their moves this offseason have clearly pushed them in one direction or another. They have made a few very small trades, having picked up relief pitcher Eric Orze and catcher Alex Jackson. But now it seems the club has picked a lane and will be trying to put their best foot forward in 2026.
Perhaps the heavy lifting on the financial front was accomplished at the deadline, primarily by the Correa deal. The situation with the new investors is still a bit foggy but it’s possible the debt is gone or least a much smaller concern. RosterResource projects the Twins for a payroll of $96MM next year, about $40MM below where they finished in 2025. They may not get all the way back to those 2025 levels but it doesn’t seem there’s any need to further subtract. Rosenthal’s source says the club has “mild flexibility” to make additions. The Twins already have one of the top farm systems in the league, so perhaps adding more prospects to the stockpile isn’t a high priority.
Though the Twins believe they can contend in 2026, they will have work to do. The rotation looks to be in decent shape. In addition to Ryan and López, they have Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Abel, Bradley, Rojas and others. But the lineup was subpar last year. In addition to Correa, they also traded impending free agents Harrison Bader, Ty France and Willi Castro. They traded almost their entire bullpen and will have a big to-do list there.
Before even considering the flexibility to make external additions, they will need internal improvements. In the lineup, guys like Royce Lewis, Luke Keaschall, Brooks Lee and other young players will need to either break out or return to form. It will be a similar situation for rotation options like Ober, Matthews, Festa, Abel and Bradley.
This is also a big development for other teams. Many of the other 29 clubs surely would have been calling about Ryan, López, Buxton and others if the Twins were going to continue to sell. If those players aren’t available, that could have domino effects elsewhere. Demand for the remaining free agents should increase somewhat. The same should apply for players that are available in trades, such as MacKenzie Gore of the Nationals or various players on the Cardinals.
It’s an interesting shake-up to the offseason. For the Twins, they will keep their top guys and see how things go in 2026. If they fall short in their attempt to compete, they could pivot to trading these players at the deadline. As mentioned, they have a strong farm system already, so perhaps returning to contention in 2027 would be possible even if 2026 comes up a bit short. For now, it dries up the trade market for other clubs, as the Twins will look for ways to utilize the bit of payroll flexibility they have.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
Red Sox, Pirates Swap Johan Oviedo And Jhostynxon García In Five-Player Trade
The Red Sox and Pirates announced a five-player trade on Thursday evening. Starter Johan Oviedo heads to Boston alongside lefty reliever Tyler Samaniego and minor league catcher Adonys Guzman. Pittsburgh gets rookie outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia and A-ball pitching prospect Jesus Travieso. Boston needed to open a spot on the 40-man roster, so they designated righty Cooper Criswell for assignment. Pittsburgh’s roster count drops to 39.
Oviedo and Garcia are the centerpieces of the deal on either side. The 27-year-old Oviedo is a 6’6″ right-hander who has been a capable back-end starter since the Pirates acquired him at the 2022 trade deadline. He’d been a swingman with the Cardinals for his first couple seasons but has stepped into a full-time rotation role for the Bucs. Oviedo took the ball 32 times and ranked second on the team with 177 2/3 innings in 2023. He posted a 4.31 earned run average with slightly worse than average strikeout and walk rates.
While Oviedo stayed healthy throughout the ’23 season, he reported elbow soreness at year’s end. That proved a precursor to Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2024 campaign. Oviedo had a shot to return for the start of ’25 but suffered a lat strain while building up early in Spring Training. He was shut down for a few months and didn’t make his season debut until the beginning of August. He took the ball nine times down the stretch, turning in a 3.57 ERA over 40 1/3 innings.
Oviedo’s return was a mixed bag. He recorded a career-best 24.7% strikeout rate while getting whiffs at a solid 11.7% clip. The stuff looked as sharp as it’d been before his successive arm injuries. Oviedo averaged 95.5 MPH on his fastball and got good results on both an upper-80s slider and mid-70s curveball. The slider has been a plus pitch throughout his career and had a little more glove-side movement. His height also allows him to get more than seven feet of extension, so his already above-average velocity should play up.
While there are clearly things to like, Oviedo remains a work in progress. He walked three batters in seven of his nine starts, issuing free passes at an untenable 13.5% rate overall. That inefficiency kept him from working deep into games. Oviedo only once pitched into the sixth inning and didn’t complete six full frames in any appearance. It’s fair to expect some rust in his command after an 18-month absence, but throwing strikes has always been an issue. Oviedo routinely posted double-digit walk rates in the minors and issued free passes at a 10.6% rate over a full season in 2023.
The other question is whether he’ll be able to handle left-handed hitters. His changeup is a clear fourth pitch. Lefties managed a solid .244/.341/.436 line with 14 home runs in 419 plate appearances a couple years ago. Oviedo had much better results against lefties in 2025 (.151/.259/.301), but that came in a small sample with an unimpressive 19:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Oviedo has four-plus years of MLB service. He’s under arbitration control for two seasons and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $2MM salary. He still has a minor league option remaining and doesn’t need to open the season on the active roster. He’ll cross the five-year service threshold when he logs another 93 days on the big league active roster or injured list. The Sox would no longer be able to send him to the minors without his consent at that point.
They hope that won’t be a consideration. They liked Oviedo enough to give up one of their top upper minors hitting talents, gambling that they can unlock another level of consistency in the process. That suggests he’s got a good chance to slot behind Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray and Brayan Bello in Alex Cora’s rotation. The Sox should welcome Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval back from injury. Prospects Payton Tolle and Connelly Early debuted late in the season, while former top prospect Kyle Harrison remains in the mix.
Garcia, 23 next week, should get everyday at-bats in Pittsburgh. He didn’t have a clear path to playing time in a crowded Boston outfield but projects as the starting left fielder for the Pirates. The right-handed hitter got a cup of coffee at Fenway Park last August, picking up a hit and two walks over nine plate appearances. He otherwise divided the season between the top two levels of the minor leagues.
Known for his excellent nickname “The Password,” Garcia combined for 21 home runs with a robust .267/.340/.470 batting line across 489 plate appearances. It’s strong bottom line production for a 22-year-old, though the Sox might have had concerns about his approach. The Venezuela native struck out at a 29.1% clip while chasing more than 35% of pitches outside the strike zone over his 81 Triple-A games. The pure hit tool is a red flag, but he has topped 20 homers in consecutive minor league seasons.
Baseball America credited Garcia with above-average power and bat speed in recently ranking him the #6 prospect in the Boston system. BA writes that Garcia is a serviceable defensive center fielder despite having only average speed. He’s probably better suited in the corner opposite Bryan Reynolds but could play up the middle on days when Oneil Cruz is unavailable.
The Pirates control Garcia for at least six seasons. He still has a pair of minor league options, so they could send him back to Triple-A without issue if his approach needs further refinement. There are some parallels to last winter’s acquisition of Spencer Horwitz and the 2024 Quinn Priester/Nick Yorke deadline swap (also with the Red Sox). Pittsburgh leverages their rotation depth for a controllable upper level bat. Garcia arguably has the highest ceiling of that trio, and this surely won’t be the only lineup addition of the winter for GM Ben Cherington and his staff.
While it’s mostly an Oviedo/Garcia framework, the teams also swapped a few prospects. Samaniego, who turns 27 in January, might factor into the Boston bullpen next season. The former 15th-round pick tossed 26 1/3 innings of 3.08 ERA ball at the Double-A level this year. He fanned 28% of opponents with a sub-6% walk rate. Pittsburgh selected him onto the 40-man roster last month to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He still has a full slate of options and is probably ticketed for Triple-A Worcester.
Guzman, who turned 22 today, was Pittsburgh’s fifth-round pick out of the University of Arizona over the summer. The right-handed hitting catcher has only played one game in Low-A. Baseball America credited him with plus arm strength and some power to left field in their draft report. He’s a long-term development play behind the dish.
The Pirates round out their side of the deal with Travieso. He’s an 18-year-old righty who signed with Boston as an amateur out of Venezuela in 2024. He’s listed at 5’11” and has yet to garner much prospect attention, but he struck out nearly 32% of opponents over seven games in Low-A late in the season.
Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that the Red Sox and Pirates agreed to a five-player deal involving Oviedo and Garcia. Robert Murray of FanSided reported the full trade. Respective images courtesy of Charles Leclaire and Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images.
Reds Re-Sign Emilio Pagán
December 4th: The Reds officially announced the Pagán signing today.
December 3rd: The Reds are reportedly bringing back closer Emilio Pagán on a two-year, $20MM contract. The deal, which is pending a physical, allows the Ballengee Group client to opt out after next season. Cincinnati’s 40-man roster count will climb to 39 once the signing is finalized.
Pagán returns on another two-year deal after one of the best seasons of his career. The Reds surprisingly signed him to a $16MM contract over the 2023-24 offseason. There was obvious risk in adding a fly-ball pitcher to work in high-leverage spots at one of the sport’s most hitter-friendly parks. Pagán didn’t post great numbers and missed a couple months with a lat injury in 2024, so he had an easy call to bypass an opt-out and return to Cincinnati.
This year went a lot more smoothly. Pagán took over the closer role from Alexis Díaz and recorded a career-high 32 saves. He did blow six save chances but had a strong season overall, pitching to a 2.88 earned run average across 68 2/3 innings. He punched out 30% of opponents against a solid 8.1% walk rate. Pagán avoided any injuries and pitched well against left- and right-handed batters alike. He got swinging strikes at a strong 14.6% clip while sitting in the 95-96 MPH range with his fastball.
Pagán has always had an elite strikeout and walk profile. He hasn’t had the year-by-year consistency of the sport’s best closers, though. The fly-ball approach still leaves him vulnerable to the home run ball. Pagán has only had one season in his nine-year career in which he has allowed fewer home runs than the average reliever. He has surrendered 85 home runs since entering the league in 2017. That’s 19 more than any other reliever over that stretch.
The longball is always going to be an issue, but Pagán sticking around as a high-leverage reliever despite the homers is a testament to his effectiveness in other areas. He’s a reliable control artist with above-average velocity. His splitter gives him an option to attack opposite-handed hitters, while he mixes in a cutter as his main offspeed pitch versus righty batters. Pagán has generally been durable outside of the aforementioned lat strain. He has topped 50 innings in every other full schedule of his career, including six years with 60+ frames.
Pagán’s strong walk year earns him a nice contract for his age 35-36 seasons. The guarantee narrowly beats our two-year, $16MM prediction. Pagán also gets the upside of the out clause, which allows him to get back to free agency if he has an equally strong ’26 season. Another two-year deal at age 36 would be rare but not unprecedented, so it’s not out of the question that he pitches well enough to consider that route.
Assuming Terry Francona slots Pagán back in the ninth inning, he’ll pitch behind a solid setup group that includes Tony Santillan, Connor Phillips and Graham Ashcraft. Cincinnati should add a left-hander at some point. The only southpaw who’d be in their bullpen at the moment is Sam Moll, who was up and down from Triple-A Louisville throughout the year.
Cincinnati has $32.275MM in guaranteed contracts to six players: Pagán, Hunter Greene, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Jose Trevino, Ben Rortvedt, and Moll. They owe $15MM in dead money ($12MM salary and a $3MM option buyout payable after the World Series) to Jeimer Candelario. Cincinnati has a sizable arbitration class which MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects to cost around $45MM. They’d owe another $8-10MM in minimum salary players, which puts their current commitments in the $100-105MM range. President of baseball operations Nick Krall said he expects payroll to be around the $116MM at which they opened the 2025 season.
That’d leave them with roughly $15-20MM to spend. They’re in the market for an impact bat and reportedly trying to bring Kyle Schwarber back to the Cincinnati area. That would surely cost more than $20MM annually. It’s possible ownership would make an exception for someone like Schwarber or Pete Alonso. The front office could also look to trade a player or two from the arbitration class to free up more spending capacity if they feel they’ve got a strong chance to sign an elite hitter.
Ken Rosenthal and C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic first reported that the Reds and Pagán had reached a two-year, $20MM deal with an out. Image courtesy of Imagn Images.
Dodgers To Re-Sign Miguel Rojas
Miguel Rojas will play his final season as a Dodger. The World Series hero is reportedly in agreement with Los Angeles on a one-year, $5.5MM contract. Rojas, a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council, announced in October that he would retire after the 2026 season. He’ll reportedly jump right into a player development position with the Dodgers once his playing career is finished. That’ll push the team’s 40-man roster count to 38 once it’s official.
It’ll be Rojas’ fourth consecutive season in L.A. and his fifth as a Dodger overall. He broke into the majors with the team in 2014 but was traded to the Marlins after his rookie year. Rojas spent eight seasons in Miami, much of it as an everyday shortstop, until the Fish traded him back to the Dodgers over the 2022-23 offseason. He has worked in a utility role for the past three seasons and has been a strong contributor off the bench for Dave Roberts in the most recent two years.
Rojas owns a .273/.328/.404 batting line across 654 plate appearances in the past two seasons. He remains one of the toughest players in the league to strike out. Rojas is no longer an everyday shortstop but can back up Mookie Betts while logging more time between second and third base. He remains a quality utility piece who has also been regarded as a clubhouse leader in Miami and Los Angeles. The Dodgers intend to keep him in the organization beyond his playing days, which reflects his clearly strong relationship with the coaching staff and front office.
That all made it likely that the Dodgers would bring Rojas back regardless of what happened in the postseason. He then cemented himself in franchise lore and baseball history with one of the most dramatic, improbable home runs of all time.
Roberts penciled Rojas into the starting lineup for Games 6 and 7 of the World Series. He came up with one out in the ninth inning of the decider against Jeff Hoffman. With the Dodgers trailing by one, Rojas (who has never hit more than 11 home runs in a season) took Hoffman deep to left field to tie the game. It was one of the most impactful single plays ever, and the Dodgers went on to win in extras when Will Smith homered off Shane Bieber.
That one swing probably doesn’t have much bearing on Rojas’ contract. His $5.5MM salary is narrowly above the $5MM that he made in both 2024 and ’25. The Dodgers were very likely to bring him back to continue playing a utility role regardless. He’ll offer a right-handed complement to lefty hitting Max Muncy and Hyeseong Kim around the infield. The Dodgers could look to re-sign Kiké Hernández for a similar job, though that again wouldn’t leave much playing time for well-regarded prospect Alex Freeland.
The Dodgers have a projected payroll of $337MM for next season, according to RosterResource. A good portion of that money is deferred, of course. Their competitive balance tax number — which adjusts for contracts’ post-deferral values — sits at an estimated $319MM. They’re already in the top tax bracket and pay the highest fees as three-time repeat payors, meaning they’re hit with a 110% tax on any additions. They’ll pay $6.05MM in taxes on this deal, bringing the overall investment to $11.55MM. That’s not much by Dodgers standards, and they’ll hope Rojas plays a role in becoming the first team to win three straight titles since the 1998-2000 Yankees.
Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase first reported the signing and terms. Image courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images.
Kyle Tucker Visits Blue Jays’ Spring Facility
The Blue Jays welcomed Kyle Tucker to their Dunedin complex this afternoon, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Murray writes that the Jays continue to have interest in both Tucker and Bo Bichette.
Toronto has been the most aggressive team in the first month of the offseason. Their seven-year deal with Dylan Cease is the biggest signing to date. They agreed to a three-year contract with KBO MVP Cody Ponce to deepen the rotation. None of that is expected to take them out of the mix on a top free agent hitter. It’d be stunning to see them sign Tucker and Bichette — who’ll probably join Cease in receiving the three largest contracts of the offseason — but the Jays appear firmly in play for either of free agency’s two best hitters.
Re-signing Bichette would be the more straightforward move, but Tucker is the better all-around player. He’s a lifetime .273/.358/.507 hitter and is coming off a .266/.377/.464 showing in his lone season with the Cubs. Even if the Jays don’t really need a corner outfielder, Tucker is the caliber of player for whom any team can make room. ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote last month that some executives with other clubs considered the Jays the likeliest landing spot. That preceded the Cease signing but hasn’t closed the door on the possibility.
MLBTR predicted Tucker to receive an 11-year, $400MM contract as he enters his age-29 season. He declined a qualifying offer and is attached to draft pick compensation. The Jays already forfeited their second- and fifth-highest picks in next year’s draft, plus $1MM from their 2027 international bonus pool, to sign Cease. Signing another qualified free agent would cost them their third- and sixth-highest picks as well. That would not apply to their own qualified free agent in Bichette (though they’d give up their right to receive a compensatory pick after the fourth round).
RosterResource projects the Jays around a $282MM competitive balance tax figure. They’re already on track for the highest payroll in team history. Adding another top free agent would push them beyond the $304MM final luxury tax threshold. There’s no indication that the budget is tight at this point, though the Jays could try to shed some of the remaining three years and $66MM on the José Berríos deal. Toronto is seeking a high-leverage reliever on top of their pursuit for a big bat.