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Angels, Anthony Rendon Discussing Contract Buyout With Rendon Expected To Retire

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The Angels and third baseman Anthony Rendon are discussing a buyout plan with Rendon expected to retire, reports Alden González of ESPN. Rendon’s seven-year, $245MM deal still has one year and $38MM remaining.

Rendon’s deal has been a punchline for a long time now and will certainly go down as one of the biggest busts of this era, perhaps even of all time. The Angels have gotten almost no return on their massive investment. Rendon was still a very good player in the first year of the pact, but that happened to be the 202o season, which was shortened to just 60 games on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Rendon has been largely injured. Even when he has been able to take the field, he hasn’t been terribly useful.

When the deal was signed, Rendon was coming off an excellent stretch with the Nationals. From 2013 to 2019, he slashed .290/.369/.490 for a wRC+ of 128. He dabbled at second base but mostly provided strong defense at third. He had a well-timed career year in 2019, though that year would later become infamous for its juiced balls. His 34 home runs were a career high. He slashed .319/.412/.598 for a wRC+ of 155. He hit .328/.413/.590 in the postseason, helping the Nats win their first ever World Series title.

It was then that the Rendon headed to California. As mentioned, he was still quite good in his first season as an Angel. He played in 52 of the club’s 60 games, hitting nine home runs. His 16.4% walk rate was a few ticks higher than his 13.4% strikeout rate. He hit .286/.418/.497 for a 152 wRC+. FanGraphs credited him with 2.5 wins above replacement in that truncated campaign.

But in the five seasons since, mounting injuries have prevented from doing much of anything. From 2021 to 2024, he finished each season with between 43 and 58 appearances. He had stints on the injured list due to a left groin strain, a left knee contusion, a left hamstring strain, a right hip impingement, right wrist inflammation, right wrist surgery, another left groin strain, a left wrist contusion, a left shin contusion, a left hip impingement, a left hamstring strain, low back inflammation and a left oblique strain. He hit .231/.329/.336 for an 89 wRC+ over those seasons. In February of 2025, he underwent left hip surgery and eventually missed the entire season.

A lengthy injury history may be out of a player’s control but Rendon has been followed by questions about his attitude and commitment. Back in 2014, he said he doesn’t watch baseball because it’s “too long and boring,” per Jason Butt of The Washington Post. In 2022, he got a five-game suspension for getting involved in a brawl with the Mariners, even though he was on the IL recovering from wrist surgery at the time. Early in the 2023 season, he received another suspension for an altercation with an Athletics fan, which was caught on video. Rendon grabbed the fan’s shirt, cursed at him and swiped at him. In January of 2024, on the Jack Vita Show, he said the baseball season was too long and needed to be shortened.

Shortly thereafter, as rounded up by Sam Blum of The Athletic, Rendon was asked about these concerns. “It’s never been a top priority for me,” Rendon said of baseball. “This is a job. I do this to make a living. My faith, my family come first before this job.” He seemed to take umbrage with reporters for continuing to question him on the subject. “I have answered your question,” he said. “So why do keep picking at it?”

The combination of Rendon’s contract, his injury absences and his reputation have made him a frequent target for criticism from fans. The money owed to him has also been an obvious obstacle for the Angels, who have had a decent chunk of their payroll tied up in one rarely-available player. Despite having Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Rendon on the roster for many years, the Angels haven’t been a serious contender in a long time.

If some kind of buyout arrangement can be worked out, it could work for both sides. Rendon could walk away from the game after years of injuries, including a 2025 lost to hip surgery, as opposed to trying to get back into game shape. The Angels could open up some more payroll flexibility for the 2026 season.

As it currently stands, RosterResource has them slated for a $166MM payroll, with Rendon taking up almost a quarter of that. They are looking to bolster the pitching staff and their lineup ahead of next season. Speculatively speaking, a plan could perhaps be worked out which defers Rendon’s 2026 salary so he gets paid in the long run but the Angels have more near-term ability to spend on other players. Time will tell how the chips fall on that.

Assuming Rendon doesn’t play another major league game, he will retire with 5,022 plate appearances over 1,173 games. He notched 1,218 hits, including 295 doubles, 16 triples and 158 home runs. He scored 683 runs, drove in 671 and stole 55 bases. FanGraphs credits him with 33.8 wins above replacement and Baseball Reference 34.2. MLBTR salutes him on his accomplishments and wishes him the best in his non-baseball life.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Tommy Gilligan, Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images

Cardinals Have Had Preliminary Extension Talks With Manager Oli Marmol

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The Cardinals and manager Oli Marmol have opened early extension conversations, writes Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It seems likely that some kind of multi-year agreement will be reached this offseason. Marmol is headed into the final guaranteed year of his contract. Most teams prefer to have their skipper and top front office personnel signed beyond the upcoming season.

This is the first year atop baseball operations for Chaim Bloom. He immediately confirmed that Marmol would be back for his fifth season at the helm. Bloom said in late September that the sides had yet to begin extension talks but noted those were likely to take place over the offseason.

The Cardinals have gone 325-323 in the regular season over the first four seasons of Marmol’s tenure. They won 93 games and an NL Central crown in 2022, his first year at the helm. Philadelphia swept them in the Wild Card Series and they haven’t returned to the playoffs since then. The Cardinals had a dismal 71-91 showing in 2023 and played right around .500 ball over the past two seasons.

Marmol’s managerial record is unlikely to improve in the short term. The Cardinals are cutting payroll and more fully committing to a rebuild after doing very little last offseason. They’ve already sent Sonny Gray to Boston. Nolan Arenado has probably played his final game in a St. Louis uniform as well. Brendan Donovan is one of the prizes of the offseason trade market. Willson Contreras, JoJo Romero, Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson have all come up in trade rumors. The Cardinals aren’t going to move everyone from that group, but Gray was the first of what should be multiple dominoes to fall.

Bloom and ownership clearly believe the 39-year-old Marmol remains the right choice to oversee the team’s next phase. Their main focus for at least the next season or two is on player development. They’ll need someone to join Masyn Winn and Iván Herrera among their core position player group, but the biggest factor is whether they can reinvigorate a pitching staff that has not missed enough bats. Only the Rockies have a lower strikeout rate over the last three years.

Ironing out an extension with Marmol would be the team’s final bit of coaching business for this offseason. Their 2026 staff is in place, as they announced the full slate of hires this afternoon. Casey Chenoweth and Kyle Driscoll join the group as assistant hitting coach and assistant pitching coach, respectively.

Chenoweth, 33, is promoted to the MLB staff after spending three seasons coaching minor league hitters in the organization. He has spent the last two seasons at Double-A Springfield, where he worked with notable prospects including JJ Wetherholt, Joshua Baez and Leonardo Bernal — the latter two of whom were added to the 40-man roster last week. The 31-year-old Driscoll is a former college relief pitcher (Rutgers) who spent the ’25 season as a minor league pitching coordinator with the Diamondbacks. He’d previously worked in the Mets’ system as a Triple-A pitching coach. This is his first job on a big league staff.

The rest of the group are holdovers from a largely unchanged 2025 staff. Bench coach Daniel Descalso, pitching coach Dusty Blake, hitting coach Brant Brown, base coaches Stubby Clapp (first) and Pop Warner (third), outfield coach Jon Jay, assistant hitting coach Brandon Allen, bullpen coach Julio Rangel, and assistant coach Jamie Pogue are all back. Former assistant pitching coach Dean Kiekhefer and game planning coach Packy Elkins will respectively work as pitching and offense strategists to bridge the gap between the analytics department and on-field staff, Goold writes.

George Altman Passes Away

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Former All-Star outfielder George Altman has passed away at age 92. The news was announced last night by Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Altman was a dual sport athlete (baseball and basketball) at Tennessee State University. He began his professional career with the Negro American League’s Kansas City Monarchs in 1955. Altman played for Hall of Fame player-manager Buck O’Neil that year. The Cubs hired O’Neil as a scout in 1956. On the legendary evaluator’s recommendation, Chicago signed the 6’4″ Altman to a minor league contract.

After his first minor league season, Altman was forced to pause his career upon being conscripted into the Army. He returned to professional baseball in 1958 and made his big league debut the following season when he started in center field on Opening Day. Altman hit .245 with 12 home runs as a rookie but would improve over the next few years.

His average ticked up to .266 in year two before a career season in 1961. Altman batted .303/.350/.560 with a personal-high 27 home runs across 573 trips to the plate. He led the National League with 12 triples and tied for 19th in the majors in homers. Altman finished 14th in MLB in average, 12th in slugging percentage, and tied for 16th in OPS (min. 500 plate appearances). He drove in 96 runs, leading a Chicago team that — despite finishing 64-90-2 on the year — had future Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and Billy Williams in the lineup.

Altman was named to both the midseason and postseason National League All-Star teams. (Between 1959-62, Major League Baseball played two All-Star Games annually.) He finished 14th in MVP voting. Altman had an equally impressive ’62 campaign, batting .318/.393/.511 with 22 homers and 74 RBI to earn another All-Star nod. He was one of 13 qualified hitters with a combined OPS above .900 over that two-year run. Eight of those players would eventually wind up in Cooperstown, and the group of non-Hall of Famers included star hitters Norm Cash, Rocky Colavito and Roger Maris.

Obviously, Altman didn’t maintain that star pace into his 30s. His numbers dropped off as he played through injuries after he was traded to the Cardinals over the 1962-63 offseason. Altman wound up playing parts of five more MLB seasons between the Cards, Mets, and a second stint with the Cubs.

The second half of his big league career wasn’t especially impressive, but he seemed reinvigorated by a move to Japan in 1968. Altman had a second act as a star hitter in Nippon Professional Baseball, where he hit .309 while slugging 205 homers over eight seasons. He played through age 43 and might have been an even more accomplished NPB player were it not for a colon cancer diagnosis in 1974. Altman beat the disease and lived another five decades, working as a commodities trader in Chicago before moving to the St. Louis area in retirement.

Altman finished his MLB career with a .269 average in just under 1000 games. He topped 100 homers and 400 RBI and stole 52 bases. He was among the best hitters in the game over a two-year peak and played professionally for 20 years between the Negro League, the National League, and NPB. MLBTR sends our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.

Caleb Boushley Signs With KBO’s KT Wiz

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The KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization announced this week that they’ve signed former Brewers, Twins and Rangers righty Caleb Boushley to a one-year contract. He’ll be guaranteed $900K on the contract and can pick up an additional $100K via incentives.

Boushley, who turned 32 in October, has pitched in parts of three big league seasons, totaling 49 2/3 innings. He has an ugly 5.80 ERA to show for it despite generally solid rate stats. Boushley’s 21.1% strikeout rate is only about one percentage point shy of average, and his 8.1% walk rate is lower than the league average. He’s also yielded only 1.09 homers per nine innings pitched. However, Boushley has been dogged by a sky-high .367 average on balls in play, which has contributed to a 62% strand rate that’s more than 10 percentage points lower than the MLB average. Metrics like SIERA (3.95) and FIP (4.03) feel Boushley has pitched far better than his more rudimentary earned run average would suggest.

In parts of six Triple-A seasons, Boushley has totaled 512 innings with a 4.61 ERA. As in the majors, he’s displayed a lower-than-average strikeout rate but better-than-average command. Boushley has generally been a durable source of Triple-A innings. Though he spent most of the 2025 season in the Rangers’ bullpen, the lanky 6’3″, 190-pound Boushley averaged 25 starts and 130 innings per season from 2021-24, despite spending a portion of that time (2023-24) shuttling between the majors and minors.

This will be Boushley’s first work overseas and will easily be the largest guaranteed payday in what’ll be ten professional seasons. Boushley was a 33rd-round pick by the Padres out of Division-II University of Wisconsin La Crosse back in 2017. He signed for just $1,000 out of the draft. After years of middling minor league pay and shuffling back and forth between the majors and Triple-A, he’ll take home a salary that tops the MLB minimum by $120K and land a chance at the first seven-figure salary of his career (if he can max out his incentives package).

Sean Newcomb Receiving Interest As Starting Pitcher

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Free agent left-hander Sean Newcomb has gotten attention from teams both as a starter and reliever, write Will Sammon, Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The 32-year-old began the season in the Red Sox’s rotation but moved to relief after five starts.

Newcomb is coming off his best season in at least six years. A former first-round pick who held a rotation spot with the Braves between 2017-18, Newcomb moved primarily to the bullpen in 2019. He pitched well that year but struggled with both injuries and a lack of command over the next few seasons. He combined for 98 2/3 MLB innings between 2020-24 and took a minor league contract with Boston last winter.

The Massachusetts native surprisingly nabbed the fifth starter spot out of camp. He only once completed five innings and allowed four-plus runs in three out of five outings. The Sox moved him to a long relief role when Lucas Giolito returned from a hamstring injury in late April. Newcomb was solid out of the bullpen but was nevertheless pushed off the roster. The Sox traded him to the Athletics, for whom he’d logged some time as a depth reliever in 2023-24.

Newcomb turned into an unexpectedly important bullpen piece for Mark Kotsay. He fired 51 1/3 frames of 1.75 ERA ball while working 1-2 innings at a time. Newcomb punched out a quarter of opponents against a career-best 7% walk rate. He worked in the 93-94 MPH range with both his four-seam fastball and sinker while using a low-80s curveball as his best secondary pitch. Newcomb dabbled with a cutter and changeup against right-handed batters, but the fastball/curve combination was where he found most of his success.

The 6’5″ southpaw pitched particularly well down the stretch, turning in a 0.96 ERA over 28 innings after the All-Star Break. His season ended a couple weeks early because of elbow inflammation, but there’s no indication that’ll be an issue going into next season. Durability has generally been a concern, albeit mostly with lower half injuries. Newcomb missed time with a sprained ankle in 2022 and battled knee problems over the following two seasons.

Newcomb’s strong year was enough to land a big league contract this time around. A one-year deal seems likely, though it’s not out of the question he commands a modest two-year guarantee. Sixth starters and swing types like Griffin Canning, Joe Ross, Jakob Junis, Colin Rea and Michael Lorenzen landed contracts between $4-7MM last winter. Newcomb’s former teammate Michael Soroka pulled a $9MM deal from the Nationals at the higher end of that range, though he’s five years younger and had shown more strikeout potential in the bullpen.

Poll: Will The Cubs Sign A Big Bat This Winter?

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It’s not often that the top free agent doesn’t get much attention from the team they’re departing but that might end up being the case this winter. Even amid an up-and-down season where he was dogged by injuries, Kyle Tucker was a key piece of the team that got the Cubs back into the NLDS for the first time since 2017. While Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer praised Tucker and suggested he’d be in contact with the outfielder’s camp this winter, virtually all reporting on the subject suggests the Cubs aren’t going to pursue a reunion in a serious manner.

The team’s focus appears to be on pitching, at least for the time being. They’ve already signed right-hander Phil Maton to help bolster their bullpen. After bringing southpaw Shota Imanaga back on a qualifying offer, they still figure to explore the market for top-of-the-rotation pitching options. A deal for someone like Michael King, Ranger Suarez, or Tatsuya Imai would certainly make sense for a team that ran out of pitching in October due to injuries to Cade Horton and Justin Steele. A trade also can’t be ruled out, with players like Edward Cabrera, Sandy Alcantara, Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez, and MacKenzie Gore all expected to be at least somewhat available this winter.

Even as the focus appears to be on the top of the rotation, however, the void Tucker figures to leave in the lineup is undeniable. The superstar delivered his fifth consecutive season worth at least 4.0 fWAR in 2025 as he slashed .266/.377/.464 with a 136 wRC+ in 136 games. That sort of production would be very difficult to replace internally, even with talented youngsters like Moises Ballesteros, Owen Caissie, and Kevin Alcantara knocking on the door of the majors. Ballesteros looked the best of the bunch in his cup of coffee with the big league club last year, hitting an impressive .298/.394/.474 across 66 trips to the plate in 20 games. Strong as that production was, however, it would be unreasonable to expect a 22-year-old rookie to replicate that over a full season.

Perhaps it would be understandable to roll the dice on those internal options if the Cubs had more certainty around the rest of the diamond, but the question marks are undeniable. Carson Kelly seems unlikely to recreate his career year at the plate (115 wRC+) from 2025 headed into his age-31 campaign. Matt Shaw began to show signs of life in the second half but his 93 wRC+ on the season was subpar. Dansby Swanson (99 wRC+) delivered his second consecutive below-average offensive season last year.

One big x-factor is Pete Crow-Armstrong. The budding superstar delivered a 30-30 season in 2025 and finished 9th in NL MVP voting off the back of a brilliant campaign, but his OPS dropped more than 200 points between the first half and the second half. Counting on the 23-year-old to lead the Cubs’ offense in place of Tucker next year would be a risky gamble. Also, Hoerner, Happ and Seiya Suzuki are slated for free agency next winter. Adding a reliable bat to the lineup could go a long way to preventing a step back headed into the 2027 season while also providing reinforcements for a 2026 team that will face lots of questions without Tucker in the fold.

The question, of course, becomes the team’s budget. The Cubs have been very hesitant to spend beyond the competitive balance tax for the past several years, treating it as a soft cap on spending. RosterResource projects them for a $197MM CBT figure in 2026 as things stand. The base threshold of the tax will be $244MM next year, giving them a bit more than $45MM of wiggle room.

With needs in the bullpen and the rotation, that could dry up in a hurry. Signing someone like Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman, or Kyle Schwarber wouldn’t leave a ton of room for pitching additions. Even a less expensive addition like Kazuma Okamoto or Eugenio Suarez might be challenge to make work if the team is unwilling to spend beyond the first threshold of the luxury tax.

How do MLBTR readers think the Cubs will proceed with their offense headed into 2026? Will they hope an offensive nucleus of Crow-Armstrong, Suzuki, and Michael Busch will be enough to weather the loss of Tucker? Or will they bring in an impact hitter to improve the lineup? Have your say in the poll below:

Astros Hire Ethan Katz As Assistant Pitching Coach

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The Astros finalized their 2026 coaching staff. Ethan Katz has been hired as an assistant pitching coach, which was first reported by Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Houston also hired Tim Cossins as catching coach, a move that Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported last week.

The rest of Joe Espada’s staff had been previously reported. Victor Rodriguez comes over from the Padres as hitting coach, with Anthony Iapoce tabbed as his assistant. Dan Hennigan has officially been hired as director of hitting/offensive coordinator, which GM Dana Brown announced alongside the Iapoce hiring.

Josh Miller will be the team’s sole lead pitching coach after jointly holding that role with Bill Murphy for the past three seasons. Murphy left to take the same job with the Pirates last month. Bench coach Omar Lopez, base coaches Dave Clark (first) and Tony Perezchica (third), quality assurance coach Jason Bell, and game planning coach Tommy Kawamura are back in their previous positions.

Katz, 42, heads to Houston after five seasons as the top pitching coach with the White Sox. He’d previously worked in the minors with the Angels and Mariners and spent one year as an assistant pitching coach with the Giants. Chicago got excellent seasons from Dylan Cease and Lucas Giolito early in Katz’s tenure. They’ve predictably gone downhill since kicking off a rebuild in 2022. Only the Angels, Athletics, Nationals and Rockies have a higher ERA than the White Sox’s 4.61 mark over the past three seasons.

The Sox parted ways with Katz at the end of the ’25 campaign. Second-year manager Will Venable tabbed Royals assistant Zach Bove as their new pitching coach. Cossins, who’ll work with Yainer Diaz and quite likely an outside acquisition behind the plate, has spent the past seven seasons with the Orioles as catching instructor/field coordinator. He was dismissed in May 2025 when the Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde.

Rays, Brandon Hyde Discussing Advisor Role

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Former Orioles skipper Brandon Hyde is in talks with the Rays about taking a position within the organization, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. The two parties have been discussing a senior advisor role that would see Hyde work with both the major league club and various minor league affiliates, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times adds. Murray indicates that while an agreement has not yet been finalized, Hyde is expected to end up working for the Rays for the upcoming season.

Hyde, 52, managed the Orioles from 2019-25. In his seven seasons with Baltimore, his clubs produced a 421-491 record. Judging any manager based on wins and losses alone is a frivolous endeavor, though, and that’s especially true of Hyde, whose first season in Baltimore coincided with a complete teardown and rebuild of the organization. Following the 2018 season, the Orioles dismissed general manager Dan Duquette, hiring current president of baseball operations Mike Elias in his place. Elias installed Hyde as his new skipper but also gutted the roster and spent several seasons tanking while working to rebuild the farm system and modernize the infrastructure of the organization.

Hyde oversaw winning teams each season from 2022-24 and was named 2023 AL Manager of the Year after the O’s won the American League East and piled up 101 victories. The Orioles went to the postseason in both 2023 and 2024 but were swept out of the playoffs both times — first in the ALDS by the eventual World Series champion Rangers and next by the Royals in the 2024 Wild Card round of play.

The Orioles entered 2025 with big expectations but floundered out of the gates thanks to a clear lack of starting pitching and a lineup that wasn’t performing as expected. By mid-May, the 15-28 Orioles had seen their season already slip away. Hyde was dismissed from his managerial post and replaced by third base coach Tony Mansolino on an interim basis.

Prior to his time at the helm in Baltimore, Hyde was a bench coach and first base coach with the Cubs. Before that, he spent two seasons as the Marlins’ bench coach plus several years as a manager, hitting coach and field coordinator in Miami’s minor league ranks. A catcher and first baseman in his playing days, Hyde also spent four years playing in the White Sox’ system before moving onto the coaching and managerial phase of his career.

Rockies, Parker Mushinski Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies have agreed to a minor league contract with left-handed reliever Parker Mushinski, reports Kevin Henry of the Denver Gazette. The Ballengee Group client will be in camp next spring as a non-roster invitee.

Mushinski, 30, has spent parts of three seasons in the majors — all of them as a member of the Astros. He’s pitched 33 big league frames and worked to a 5.45 ERA with a 17.4% strikeout rate, 8.1% walk rate and 45.2% ground-ball rate. Mushinski has done a nice job avoiding hard contact overall (average 88.4 mph exit velocity, 35.2% hard-hit rate), but much of the hard contact he’s allowed has been of the maximum-damage variety, especially against righties. He’s faced 83 right-handed opponents in the majors and served up five home runs.

Houston originally selected Mushinski out of Texas Tech in the seventh round of the 2017 draft. He spent his entire career in the Astros organization until this past season. Mushinski became a minor league free agent following the 2024 campaign and signed a minor league deal with the Guardians. The 6’0″, 225-pound southpaw spent last year in Triple-A Columbus, tossing 50 innings of 3.78 ERA ball. Mushinski fanned almost 30% of his opponents there but also walked nearly 15% of the batters he faced. In parts of five Triple-A seasons, Mushinski has a 3.71 ERA in 179 2/3 innings pitched.

Signing with the Rockies is a double-edged sword for any pitcher. On the one hand, the utter dearth of established big league arms on the staff creates plenty of opportunity, particularly for a non-roster player hoping to secure a bullpen spot. On the other hand, winning that roster spot means pitching home games at altitude and at the notoriously hitter-friendly Coors Field.

Mushinski becomes the second left-handed relief addition for Colorado in the past week. The Rox, under new president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta, acquired lefty Brennan Bernardino from the Red Sox last week. Bernardino, unlike Mushinski, is already on the 40-man roster. However, he’s the only established lefty reliever the Rockies have on the 40-man roster. Luis Peralta and Welinton Herrera are both on the 40-man, but Peralta has a 6.03 ERA in 31 MLB frames and Herrera has yet to pitch above Double-A.

Marlins, Eury Pérez Had Extension Discussions In The Spring

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The Marlins and right-hander Eury Pérez discussed an extension earlier this year, according to reporting from Will Sammon, Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo of The Athletic. However, they didn’t come close to getting something done. These talks occurred when the team approached the righty’s representatives in the spring and the two sides were about $15MM apart, according to Isaac Azout of Fish on First. Both Azout and Christina De Nicola of MLB.com say that the talks are expected to continue this offseason.

It’s the second time this week that reports have emerged of the Marlins trying to extend one of their young players. Earlier this week, it was reported that they recently had some talks with outfielder Kyle Stowers. The Fish were even farther from a deal with Stowers, with a reported $50MM gap in those talks.

The situations have a few things in common but are also wildly different. Both players have between two and three years of service time, meaning each is a year from qualifying for arbitration and four years from free agency. However, they are far apart in age. Stowers is going into his age-28 season and therefore won’t be a free agent until he’s going into his age-32 campaign. Pérez is only 22 years old right now, turning 23 in April. He is therefore slated for the open market after his age-26 campaign.

That’s a reflection of his quick rise to the majors. Pérez shot through the minors and was in the big leagues by his age-20 season. Despite his youth, he was immediately successful. He tossed 91 1/3 innings that year with a 3.15 earned run average. His 8.3% walk rate was around average while he punched out a strong 28.9% of batters faced.

He missed the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Since the Marlins approached him about an extension in the spring, he was still recovering at that time and had fewer than 100 innings under his belt. He was able to get back on the mound in June and finished the year with 95 1/3 innings, a 4.25 ERA, 27.3% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate.

Pérez is still fairly inexperienced, with under 200 big league innings to his name so far. However, he was confident enough to turn down extension overtures a year ago while still on the mend. Now he’s a year closer to free agency and has returned to health.

It’s quite rare for a player to be on track to hit free agency so young. When it does happen, teams have shown a strong willingness to pay for that youth. Back in the 2018-19 offseason, both Bryce Harper and Manny Machado reached free agency ahead of their age-26 seasons, with each hitting the $300MM plateau on their free agent deals. More recently, Juan Soto hit free agency at the same age and blew those two out of the water. His $765MM deal was more than Harper and Machado combined. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was also able to get a $325MM guarantee ahead of his age-25 season, despite having no MLB experience. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signed a $500MM extension with the Blue Jays just a few months before he was about to become a free ahead ahead of his age-27 campaign. Rafael Devers got to $313.5MM under similar circumstances to Guerrero, two years earlier.

For players in their early 20s, teams have made massive commitments to position players. Players like Fernando Tatis Jr., Julio Rodríguez and Bobby Witt Jr. all got at least $210MM guarantees in their pre-arbitration years. The same can’t be said for pitchers. Spencer Strider currently holds the record for a pre-arb pitcher with his six-year, $75MM deal. Like all players, getting closer to free agency will increase his earning power. Arms such as Clayton Kershaw, Stephen Strasburg, Garrett Crochet, José Berríos, Jacob deGrom, Luis Castillo and Homer Bailey have signed nine-figure deals in their arb years. Dozens of guys have been able to crack nine figures after reaching the open market.

If Pérez bets on himself, he could keep increasing his earning power, but that would also run the risk of him getting hurt or simply struggling to put up good numbers. Since he’s so young, perhaps there’s a nice middle ground where he can bank some early earnings while still having a good path to free agency. For example, he could sign away two years of club control and still become a free agent ahead of his age-29 season.

For the Marlins, they had an encouraging finish in 2025. They were 23-33 at the end of May but went 56-50 the rest of the way and narrowly missed the playoffs. They have almost no money on the books. Sandy Alcantara is signed through 2026 with a club option for 2027. That’s literally it for now, though they have tendered contracts to seven arb-eligible players. Even though the Marlins don’t have huge payrolls, they have lots of room for long-term deals if they want to lock up a few core players.

That will also help them with their reported desire to increase their competitive balance tax number in 2026. The idea would be to pre-emptively stave off drama when the collective bargaining agreement expires next offseason. If the Marlins spend a bit more next year, it could reduce the chances that the MLB Players Association or other owners take umbrage with how the Fish are using their revenue sharing money.

The Athletics were in a similar position last winter and ended up getting more aggressive than in previous years. They gave notable free agent deals to Luis Severino and José Leclerc and signed extensions with Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler. Extensions are quite good for bumping up the CBT since that number calculates contracts based on the average annual value of the whole deal. For instance, Alcantara’s $56MM extension over five years gave him an $11.2MM CBT hit for every season of that deal, even though he was paid far less than that in the first three years. He made $3.5MM in 2022, followed by $6MM and $9MM in the two subsequent seasons.

Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images

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