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Rays Trade Tristan Peters To White Sox

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The Rays traded outfielder Tristan Peters to the White Sox for cash or a player to be named later, according to announcements from both clubs. Tampa Bay had designated Peters for assignment on Tuesday when they finalized their two-year deal with Steven Matz. Chicago had a couple openings on the 40-man roster and didn’t need to make another move.

Peters, 26, entered the professional ranks as a seventh-round pick by Milwaukee in 2021. The lefty-hitting outfielder was traded twice as a prospect — first to the Giants for reliever Trevor Rosenthal, then to Tampa Bay for infielder Brett Wisely. Peters got his first major league call this past August. He spent a week on the active roster and got into four games, going 0-12 with seven strikeouts. He otherwise spent his second straight full season with Triple-A Durham, batting .266/.355/.429 with 15 home runs across 555 plate appearances.

That was an improvement over Peters’ first season at the top minor league level. He’d hit .238/.344/.402 and connected on 12 homers in 2024. Peters has posted subpar exit velocities but shown solid strike zone awareness while making a decent amount of contact. He’s capable of playing anywhere in the outfield and has a couple minor league options remaining. The Sox can keep him in Triple-A without exposing him to waivers so long as they continue carrying him on the 40-man roster.

Barring a surprise trade of either player, the White Sox will open 2026 with Andrew Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. as their respective left and center fielder. The out-of-options Everson Pereira, himself an offseason trade pickup from Tampa Bay, probably enters Spring Training as the favorite in right field. Chicago has journeyman speedster Derek Hill penciled in for a bench role, while utilityman Brooks Baldwin could factor into either corner spot. It’s one of the weakest outfield groups in MLB and would be especially barren if the Sox finally line up a Robert trade by next summer’s deadline.

Yankees’ Allan Winans Granted Release To Pursue Opportunity In Japan

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December 18th: Winans is signing with the Seibu Lions, according to various sources.

December 17th: The Yankees have granted right-hander Allan Winans his release so that he can sign with a team in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. It’s not yet clear which team the 30-year-old righty will be joining. His release opens a spot on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, which is now down to 36 players.

Situations such as this one tend to benefit all parties. The Yankees will lose some depth, but Winans wasn’t a lock to last the whole offseason on their 40-man roster anyhow — particularly since he’s out of minor league options. Japanese teams typically pay a release fee of a few hundred thousand dollars to a player’s MLB club in order to facilitate the release. Winans, meanwhile, will earn far more pitching overseas than he would on a split big league deal that sees him oscillate between Triple-A and the majors.

Winans has pitched in each of the past three major league seasons, albeit sparingly. He’s totaled 49 1/3 innings between Atlanta and New York but been roughed up for a 7.48 ERA in that time. His track record in Triple-A is superlative, however. He’s spent parts of fours seasons between the Braves’ top affiliate in Gwinnett and the Yankees’ top affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, combining for a 2.79 ERA with a 23.1% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate in 355 1/3 innings.

Despite that success at the top minor league level, Winans has been hit quite hard in the majors. The flat 90 mph he’s averaged on his four-seamer in the big leagues is well below the average in today’s era of increased velocity but is more common in NPB, where the average heater sits closer to 91 mph. Given his sharp command and strong track record in the minors, Winans should command a rotation spot in NPB and could fare quite well.

It’s increasingly common to see pitchers thrive overseas and come back to North America on notable free agent deals, though most typically throw harder than Winans. Pitching well in Japan could also position him to re-sign on a more lucrative deal in subsequent seasons. There are plenty of former fringe 40-man players in the majors who’ve gone overseas and enjoyed lengthy, lucrative careers pitching in NPB, the Korea Baseball Organization and/or Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Poll: Who Will Sign Kyle Tucker?

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As the New Year approaches, star outfielder Kyle Tucker is reaching rarely-charted territory as this winter’s top free agent. Juan Soto signed just before the Winter Meetings last year, while two years ago Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers shortly thereafter. Aaron Judge signed with the Yankees on the final day of the Winter Meetings three years ago, and Carlos Correa agreed to $300MM deals with both the Giants and Mets in December 2021, though both of those deals ultimately ended up falling through.

If Tucker is going to follow in the trend of top free agents finding a new home in December, he’s running out of time to do so. It’s been an unusually quiet free agency for the offseason’s biggest star. While any lineup would be significantly better off for adding someone who’s hit .277/.365/.514 over the past five seasons, few teams have actually been connected to Tucker directly. Some of that could be due to a lack of interest from the teams that know Tucker best. While Ohtani, Judge, and Soto were all pursued by the teams they were departing in free agency, that’s not so for Tucker.

The incumbent Cubs have made it extremely clear this offseason that they don’t have much intention of reuniting with Tucker, instead preferring to peruse the high-end rotation market and go with youngsters like Moises Ballesteros and Owen Caissie to replace Tucker’s big lefty bat in the lineup. Tucker’s previous team, the Astros, have never spent anywhere close to what it would take to bring Tucker back to Houston on a free agent deal and seem unlikely to start now. While both clubs’ lack of interest in Tucker seems to be more about a hesitance regarding long-term deals than anything regarding Tucker specifically, it still takes two logical fits out of his marketplace.

That doesn’t mean there’s been zero interest in Tucker, of course. The Blue Jays reportedly invited Tucker to their Spring Training facility earlier this month and have been by far the team most frequently connected to the outfielder. With that being said, Toronto is also known to have interest in retaining star infielder Bo Bichette. After signing Dylan Cease last month, the club may not have the appetite to add two more megadeals to the books. The Orioles are in a similar boat, having been expressly connected to Tucker on multiple occasions but now appear to be more or less out of that market after bringing in Taylor Ward and Pete Alonso.

Other more speculative suitors have few clear obstacles to signing Tucker but come with their own caveats. The Dodgers have space in their outfield and were connected to Tucker early in the winter but have expressed concerns about the aging nature of their roster, have a stable of intriguing outfield prospects, and seem to prefer to go smaller this winter than they have in recent years. That doesn’t mean they won’t sign Tucker, but it seems as though they might only have interest in him on a shorter-term deal (or perhaps following a trade of Teoscar Hernandez, though that appears unlikely).

The New York teams appear to be in a similar boat to Los Angeles. The Yankees pursued Tucker on the trade market last winter and have space in their outfield for another big bat, but appear to be focused on Cody Bellinger at this point. Even if they miss on Bellinger, GM Brian Cashman has expressed concerns over their lineup being too left-handed. The Mets, meanwhile, cleared a spot in their outfield mix when they dealt Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers. With owner Steve Cohen’s willingness to spend, a big contract for a star can never be entirely ruled out. With that said, president of baseball operations David Stearns has mostly shied away from longer term deals. While exceptions were made for pursuits of Soto and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, both of those stars were three years younger than the soon-to-be 29-year-old Tucker.

It’s always possible a surprising team steps up and makes a big offer, but there aren’t many clear candidates for that sort of bid looking around the league. The Giants are known to be interested in adding to their outfield, but they just landed a big contract over the summer when they traded for Rafael Devers and might not want to add Tucker to books that already include Devers, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and Jung Hoo Lee long-term. The Phillies seemed like a fit at one point, but their reunion with Kyle Schwarber and their signing of Adolis Garcia make that difficult to see now. The Tigers once spent at a high level with big deals for players like Miguel Cabrera, but haven’t done so under Chris Ilitch even while competitive. The Angels have made big splashes in free agency for position players before but might not want to add another big contract as they negotiate a buyout for the player they brought in on their last megadeal.

Where do MLBTR readers think Tucker will ultimately land? Will the Blue Jays pony up for him, even if it means spurning Bichette? Will he be the latest star to fall into Andrew Friedman’s lap in free agency? Will a New York team step up? Or could a surprise contender swoop in and sign him? Have your say in the poll below:

Reds Sign Caleb Ferguson

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December 18th: The Reds officially announced Ferguson’s signing today. He’ll make $4.5MM, per Wittenmyer.

December 16th: The Reds are reportedly in agreement with reliever Caleb Ferguson on a one-year contract, pending a physical. Salary terms for the Excel Sports Management client have not been reported. Cincinnati has an opening on the 40-man roster.

Ferguson adds a needed left-handed option to Terry Francona’s bullpen. The Reds bought out Brent Suter at the beginning of the offseason. That left them with Sam Moll as their only lefty reliever. He had been up-and-down from Triple-A this year and gave up 16 runs across 18 1/3 MLB innings. Moll gets a decent number of whiffs and ground-balls and was a solid middle reliever between 2022-24, but the Reds couldn’t enter the season relying on him as their best option.

The 29-year-old Ferguson is coming off a solid season split between the Pirates and Mariners. He made a career-high 70 appearances and posted a 3.58 earned run average through 65 1/3 innings. He recorded 14 holds while relinquishing five leads. Ferguson got a lot of weak contact, but he benefitted from an unsustainably low home run rate and batting average on balls in play. That will probably tick back up in 2026, though it’s possible he compensates by missing more bats than he did this past season.

Ferguson is coming off an 18.9% strikeout rate that is by far the worst mark of his career. He had punched out at least a quarter of opposing hitters in each of his first six seasons. That’d be greater cause for concern if it were accompanied by a drop in his raw stuff. Ferguson’s 94 MPH average fastball speed was in line with that of prior years. He cut back on the four-seam fastball to more frequently use a sinker against left-handed batters. The result, as one might expect, was a drop in whiffs but a spike in ground-balls. Ferguson also did a much better job throwing strikes against southpaws, whom he held to a .184/.261/.204 line with zero home runs in 115 plate appearances.

Against left-handed opposition, Ferguson used his sinker roughly half the time and threw his four-seam fastball and cutter at a near-25% clip. He only sporadically mixed in a slurve. That was a much more frequent pitch for him without the platoon advantage. Ferguson almost never threw the sinker to righties, against whom the pitch’s arm-side run could leak back out over the heart of the plate. He instead mixed the four-seam, slurve and cutter versus opposite-handed opponents.

Ferguson is the second addition to Cincinnati’s bullpen this offseason. They also brought in out-of-options swingman Keegan Thompson on a split deal to compete for a long relief role. Their biggest move was to re-sign closer Emilio Pagán to a two-year, $20MM contract. He’ll be joined in the late innings by Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan and Ferguson. Power righties Connor Phillips and Zach Maxwell have the stuff to pitch their way into leverage roles as well, though it’s questionable whether either pitcher will throw enough strikes to earn that level of responsibility.

An already thin free agent lefty relief class is dwindling. The Pirates finalized their contract with Gregory Soto this morning, while Caleb Thielbar agreed to a new deal with the Cubs. Sean Newcomb, Danny Coulombe, Drew Pomeranz, Justin Wilson and Taylor Rogers are among those who remain unsigned.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the sides had an agreement, which Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer specified was for one year. Image courtesy of Jordan Godfree, Imagn Images.

A’s, Joel Kuhnel Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Athletics have agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Joel Kuhnel, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The Octagon client will compete for a bullpen spot during spring training.

Kuhnel has appeared in parts of four major league seasons. He’ll turn 31 in February. In 93 2/3 big league frames, he’s pitched to a 5.86 earned run average. That’s not an appealing mark, of course, but Kuhnel has averaged 95.6 mph on his four-seamer and 95.7 mph on his sinker in his career while regularly posting quality walk and ground-ball rates. His 18.7% strikeout rate is below-average, but he’s also walked only 5.9% of his career opponents and kept 52% of batted balls against him on the ground.

In 2025, Kuhnel split the season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Yankees and Phillies, pitching quite well in both spots. He combined for a 3.53 ERA in 63 2/3 innings of work with a 21.6% strikeout rate, 4.2% walk rate and massive 65.4% ground-ball rate.

Kuhnel has typically used his four-seamer and sinker at nearly even rates in the past but far more heavily favored his sinker in ’25, tossing it at a 37% clip to just an 18% usage rate on the four-seamer. That’s far and away the highest rate at which he’s ever used his sinker, and the corresponding ground-ball rate is a career-high as well. Keeping the ball on the ground should be paramount for any A’s pitcher, given the manner in which Sutter Health Park played like a launching pad this past season.

Kuhnel is out of minor league options, so if he’s selected to the big league roster at any point, he’ll need to stick or else be exposed to waivers before he can be sent back down. He’d have the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency even if he went unclaimed on waivers, too. The A’s should have plenty of innings up for grabs in the 2026 bullpen. Recent free agent acquisition Mark Leiter Jr. is the only reliever on the roster with even two years of major league service time.

Giants Have Shown Interest In Nico Hoerner

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The Giants are known to be looking for upgrades at second base. Earlier this week, they were reported as one of the frontrunners for Brendan Donovan of the Cardinals and were also connected to Ketel Marte of the Diamondbacks. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that they have checked in on Nico Hoerner of the Cubs. She also lists Brandon Lowe of the Rays as one of their targets.

It’s an understandable target for the Giants. Most of their playing time at the keystone went to Tyler Fitzgerald, Casey Schmitt and Christian Koss in 2025. All three of those guys had underwhelming seasons at the plate. Schmitt was the closest the league average offensively but with the weakest defensive grades.

Free agency doesn’t offer huge upgrades over that group. Bo Bichette is out there and reportedly willing to play second, but the Giants have downplayed their desire to sign another long-term deal this winter. Ha-Seong Kim, Jorge Polanco and Gleyber Torres are all off the board. Utility types like Ramón Urías, Willi Castro and Isiah Kiner-Falefa don’t move the needle much over the in-house options.

On the trade market, Marte has been in plenty of rumors but it’s still unclear if the Diamondbacks will move him. Even if they decide to pull the trigger, it would be a surprise to see him sent to their division rivals in San Francisco. Donovan is widely expected to move since he is on a rebuilding club and two years from free agency, but the asking price should be huge. Since he can play all over the diamond, he can fit on many clubs and the demand is widespread. Though the Giants are apparently one of the finalists, half the teams in the league have shown in interest.

Hoerner and Lowe have very similar contractual situations. Both players are only signed through 2026 and would therefore be rentals. Lowe will make a $11.5MM salary next year and Hoerner $12MM.

But they have opposite profiles and their team situations are very different. Lowe is injury prone, doesn’t run well and isn’t a great defender. His strikeout and walk profile has been poor in each of the past two years. However, he’s a clear source of power. He has hit 21 home runs four separate times, including a 31-homer season in 2025. It’s common for the Rays to trade away players as they get more expensive and closer to free agency. Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Tommy Pham are some of the many examples.

Hoerner, however, does not have huge power. He has never hit more than ten home runs in a season. However, he’s better than Lowe in basically every other aspect. He hasn’t been on the injured list in years. He’s one of the faster guys in the game and is generally good for 30ish steals a year. He’s one of the toughest guys in the game to strike out. He’s a good enough defender to play shortstop. The only reason he’s at second is because the Cubs have Dansby Swanson.

The Cubs shouldn’t be especially motivated to move him. He is affordable and has been good for about four to five wins above replacement per year, according to FanGraphs. He has reportedly drawn trade interest but the Cubs should be able to set a high asking price since he’s valuable to them as well. His salary isn’t onerous and the Cubs don’t appear to have any kind of payroll crunch.

It’s at least possible to imagine a scenario where the Cubs think about it. As mentioned, Hoerner is an impending free agent. The Cubs could extend him again but he also could get more interest elsewhere. Looking at next year’s free agent class, Hoerner could potentially market himself as the best available shortstop. His competition would be J.P. Crawford and Kim. Crawford is a decent player but his glovework has been poor in recent years and he’ll be going into his age-32 season in 2027. Kim could bounce back from an injury-marred 2025 but he has a similar profile to Hoerner and is a year older. Kim will be 31 in 2027. Hoerner will turn 30 in May of that year.

Perhaps Hoerner expects to get paid big shortstop bucks next winter and the Cubs don’t see a path to keeping him with Swanson signed through 2029. They have been connected to free agent third basemen Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suárez. In that scenario, perhaps Matt Shaw becomes available on the trade market or he could move to second with Hoerner traded. Shaw mostly played third in the majors this year but has second base experience. He got six big league innings at the keystone in 2025 and has close to 300 minor league innings there in his career.

Trading Hoerner and moving to Shaw to second would be a defensive downgrade. That’s not really a knock on Shaw, who graded out well at third this year, just a reflection of Hoerner being arguably the best defensive second baseman in the game today. But adding a big bat like Bregman or Suárez could make up for the Cubs losing Kyle Tucker to free agency. Whether that upgrades the club in 2026 would be debatable but it would certainly help in the long run if the Cubs don’t expect to retain Hoerner beyond 2026.

It’s unknown whether the Cubs have any interest in such a scenario. It also doesn’t seem like the Giants are primarily focused on second base. Slusser writes that pitching and the outfield are the club’s current priorities. Since Donovan can also play the outfield, the Giants probably have him above Hoerner on their target list. With the number of moving pieces in the second base trade market, perhaps someone needs to blink and knock over the first domino. If the Cardinals pull the trigger on Donovan, for instance, teams could then pivot to the other options.

Photo courtesy of Sergio Estrada, Imagn Images

KBO’s Doosan Bears Sign Chris Flexen, Zach Logue

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Veteran right-hander Chris Flexen is headed back to the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization, the team announced. The Bears also announced the re-signing former big league lefty Zach Logue. Flexen, a client of O’Connell Sports Management, is guaranteed $1MM. Logue, an MSM Sports Management client, is guaranteed $1.1MM.

Flexen, 31, parlayed his first KBO stint into a two-year, $4.75MM contract with the Mariners. That contract included a club/vesting option that Flexen vested at $8MM with a strong performance in 2021-22, when he tossed a combined 317 1/3 innings of 3.66 ERA ball. His 16.5% strikeout rate was well below average, but Flexen showed good command (6.8% walk rate) and did a decent job avoiding hard contact.

The 2023 season proved to be a nightmare. Flexen was rocked for a 7.71 ERA in 42 innings with the Mariners before being designated for assignment. He was traded to the Mets, but New York only took on his contract as a financial counterweight to add reliever Trevor Gott without giving up much in the way of a return. Flexen was immediately designated for assignment by the Mets, who released him the following week.

Flexen has since signed with the Rockies, White Sox and Cubs. He was hit hard in 12 starts for the Rox down the stretch in ’23 but still landed a big league deal with the White Sox the following offseason. The South Siders gave Flexen 30 starts, during which he was a durable fifth starter, logging 160 frames with a 4.95 ERA. The Cubs added Flexen ahead of the 2025 campaign, and while he pitched to a tidy 3.09 ERA in 43 2/3 frames there, the right-hander did so with a 12.4% strikeout rate. The Cubs released Flexen in August, and he didn’t sign anywhere down the stretch.

Overall, Flexen parlayed his strong 2020 season in South Korea into another 147 MLB games and 623 1/3 innings of 4.48 ERA ball. He earned more than $15MM along the way and will now head back to the Bears, for whom he previously notched a 3.01 ERA in 21 starts (116 1/3 innings pitched).

As for Logue, this’ll be his second straight season with the Bears. He racked up 176 innings out of the Doosan rotation in 2025, turning in a tidy 2.81 earned run average. Logue doesn’t throw hard — he averaged 90.3 mph on his heater during parts of three MLB seasons — or miss bats at a particularly high level, but he used strong command and ground-ball tendencies to navigate a hitter-friendly league quite nicely. He set down 21.6% of opponents on strikes against a 5.4% walk rate and with a 53.8% grounder rate.

Logue, 30 in April, was a 2017 ninth-rounder by the Jays, who flipped him to the A’s in their four-player package to acquire Matt Chapman. He lasted only one season (2022) in Oakland, stumbling to a 6.79 ERA in his first 57 MLB frames. He’s since made brief appearances with the Tigers and Dodgers. In 70 MLB innings, he has a 7.20 ERA, a 17.6% strikeout rate and a 6.9% walk rate. ESPN’s Jeff Passan notes that Logue at least explored the possibility of coming back to North America before re-signing in the KBO. Another strong season could put him in line for a major league look next winter, particularly if he adds some velocity and/or noticeably ups his strikeout and swinging-strike rates.

Angels Sign Angel Perdomo, Huascar Ynoa To Minor League Deals

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The Angels have signed left-hander Angel Perdomo and righty Huascar Ynoa to minor league contracts, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Both are former big leaguers and both will presumably be in major league camp next spring.

Perdomo, 31, has pitched in parts of four big league seasons — including a brief 2025 appearance with the A’s. He’s totaled 52 major league frames and has an ugly 5.54 ERA in that time, though there are plenty of under-the-hood numbers to like. The towering 6’8″ southpaw sits 94.1 mph with his heater and gets great extension on the pitch due to his long levers. He’s punched out a massive 34.2% of his opponents in the majors but also struggles to command those lanky limbs, evidenced by a career 16% walk rate.

In parts of five Triple-A seasons, Perdomo has a 3.74 ERA, 35.7% strikeout rate and 15% walk rate. That ERA is slightly skewed from a rough showing this past season (5.52 ERA in 14 1/3 innings) as he returned from Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2024 season and a portion of the ’25 campaign. Perdomo is just shy of three years of major league service. If he’s called to the big leagues at any point and pitches like he did in 2023 before blowing out his elbow (29 innings, 3.72 ERA, 37.6 K%, 9.4 BB%), the Halos would be able to control him for another three seasons. He’s out of minor league options though, so if the Angels do add him to the major league roster, he’ll have to stick or else be designated for assignment.

Ynoa, 27, was a notable international signing by the Twins as a teenager out of his native Dominican Republic, way back in 2014. The Twins eventually traded him to Atlanta in exchange for lefty Jaime Garcia. Ynoa made his big league debut with the Braves in 2019 but posted uninspiring numbers in brief looks in both ’19 and ’20.

In 2021, Ynoa looked the part of a potential breakout arm. He logged a 2.90 ERA through his first 11 starts and 62 innings but stumbled through a poor finish that bloated his season-long earned run average to 4.05. It was a solid showing for a then-23-year-old righty all the same, but injuries halted his development. Ynoa pitched only 6 2/3 innings in the majors in 2022. He struggled to a 5.68 in 77 2/3 Triple-A frames as well before undergoing Tommy John surgery that wiped out his entire 2023 campaign.

Upon returning in 2024, Ynoa’s struggles continued. He posted an ERA north of 6.00 in limited action and became a minor league free agent at season’s end. He then inked a minor league deal to go back to the Twins but was cut loose after five very rough minor league relief outings. Ynoa closed out the season pitching in the Mexican League, and he’s had a decent run in the Dominican Winter League this offseason (2.16 ERA, 18-to-10 K/BB ratio in 16 2/3 relief innings). Like Perdomo, Ynoa is out of minor league options, so if he makes the roster he’d need to stick or else be exposed to waivers in order to be sent back down.

The Opener: Bichette, Relief Market, Noel

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. How would Bichette’s market change as a second baseman?

Reporting yesterday indicated that star infielder Bo Bichette is open to moving off shortstop and playing second base for interested clubs. That’s not necessarily a surprise, as free agents such as Willy Adames and Alex Bregman have suggested a similar level of positional flexibility in recent free agent classes, and Bichette of course played second base during the World Series after returning from a knee injury. Bichette’s defensive metrics at shortstop have ranged from slightly below average to well below average throughout his career, and a move to the keystone could make him a stronger defender overall.

The market for second base help has been rather hot this winter. Brendan Donovan and Ketel Marte have been two of the most talked-about names on the trade market, and other second basemen like Brandon Lowe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. have also drawn interest. Given the questions about Bichette’s glove at shortstop and the lack of big-spending teams looking for a new starting shortstop, voicing a willingness to play second base should open up Bichette’s market a bit more.

2. High-leverage relievers continue to dwindle:

The relief market has been bustling all winter, and yesterday was no exception. Right-handers Brad Keller and Luke Weaver signed identical two-year, $22MM contracts with NL East clubs as Weaver joined the Mets and Keller joined the Phillies. That leaves precious few high-end relievers available for teams like the Yankees, Cubs, and Marlins to pursue. Pete Fairbanks and Seranthony Dominguez are among the best options remaining on the market at this point, with hurlers like Shawn Armstrong and Pierce Johnson sitting a tier below those two.

3. Big Christmas in DFA limbo:

The Guardians parted ways with Jhonkensy Noel yesterday, designating the outfielder for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for southpaw Justin Bruihl. It’s not necessarily a shock to see Noel lose his roster spot given his brutal 2025 season; the 24-year-old slashed just .162/.183/.297 across 69 games with Cleveland last year. With that said, fans surely remember Noel’s far stronger 2024 campaign where he slugged 13 homers in 67 games with a wRC+ of 118 before going on to hit a game-tying home run against the Yankees in the ALDS. Will any clubs look past Noel’s strikeouts and approach and bet on his immense raw power with a small trade or waiver claim?

MLB Mailbag: Tucker, Rays, Mariners, Tigers, Dustin May

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This week's mailbag gets into whether Kyle Tucker will sign a shorter-term deal, options for the Rays at catcher, the trade value of controllable Mariners starters, the Tigers' offseason thus far, Dustin May's potential impact with the Cardinals, and much more.

Dave asks:

At this point do you think Kyle Tucker will take a high AAV deal — example: 5 years $250 million with opt outs after years 2 and 4?

I'm writing this on December 17th, and I don't think we're at that point with Tucker.  It's true that long-term free agent deals usually happen in December.  The last free agent deal of 8+ years that didn't happen in December was Bryce Harper in March 2019, with his 13-year deal coming a few weeks after Manny Machado's ten-year pact.

Eric Hosmer got an eight-year deal in February 2018, and Prince Fielder signed for nine years in January 2012.

That's about it, though, so if we get to the new year without a Tucker deal, the odds start shifting toward a shorter term.

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