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Rays Decline Option On Pete Fairbanks

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The Rays have declined their $11MM option on reliever Pete Fairbanks, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He’s now a free agent.

Fairbanks has spent almost all of his big league career in Tampa Bay. The Rays acquired him from the Rangers in a swap for outfield prospect Nick Solak in 2019. It worked out beautifully for the Rays, as Fairbanks has been one of the better late-game arms in the sport over the past six seasons. He carries a 2.87 earned run average in nearly 250 innings going back to the start of the 2020 season.

Earlier in his career, Fairbanks posted massive strikeout rates to match the excellent run prevention. He punched out nearly 35% of batters faced from 2020-23, fanning no fewer than 29% of opponents in each season. That has dropped significantly over the last two seasons. Fairbanks has posted a strikeout rate around 24% in consecutive years. He got swinging strikes on 12.6% of his offerings this past season. Both marks are still good but only a little higher than the league average 22.8% strikeout rate and 11.5% swinging strike percentage for relievers.

Fairbanks remains a very good closer despite the drop in whiffs. He’s coming off a 2.83 ERA across 60 1/3 innings. He went 27-32 in save chances and has picked up at least 23 saves in each of the past three years. Fairbanks’ velocity has backed up slightly from his 2022-23 peak when he was averaging north of 99 MPH on his heater. Even with that “regression,” he throws harder than 97 on average with a plus mid-80s slider. Fairbanks has missed time in his career with lat and forearm issues but didn’t spend any time on the injured list this year.

The dip in strikeouts evidently deterred teams enough that they didn’t want to invest in Fairbanks this early in the offseason. His $11MM option always seemed likely to be too rich for the Rays’ taste. Still, it registers as a surprise that the Rays were apparently unable to find a trade partner. Fairbanks was never going to net a huge return as a pricey rental reliever, but it seems no one was even willing to part with a mid-tier prospect to exercise the option themselves.

That instead sends him to free agency in advance of his age-32 season. It’s rare but not entirely unheard of for a player to sign for more money as a free agent than he would’ve made had he been tendered an arbitration contract. Fairbanks could find a two-year deal that pays less than $11MM annually but comes with a higher overall guarantee.

A one-year deal in the $11MM range is also possible. Fairbanks is better than José Leclerc, who commanded $10MM from the A’s last winter. The Orioles have made consecutive $9MM commitments to Andrew Kittredge. There may be teams that value Fairbanks as a $10-12MM arm but didn’t want to tie that money up within the first five days of the offseason. He joins Ryan Helsley, Devin Williams, Kyle Finnegan and Luke Weaver among the middle tiers of free agent closers.

Astros’ Chas McCormick Clears Waivers, Elects Free Agency

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Astros outfielder Chas McCormick has cleared waivers and rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. McCormick and four other Astros had been placed on outright waivers earlier this week. With more than three years of MLB service time, McCormick had the right to reject the assignment.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had McCormick projected to get $3.4MM in arbitration next season. While that projected salary may have been too high to entice suitors as a waiver claim, teams can now pursue McCormick as a bounce-back candidate at a cheaper price. The 30-year-old is under team control through the 2027 season and was quite productive in the not-too-distant past.

McCormick debuted in 2021 and immediately emerged as a steady producer for Houston. He popped 14 home runs in just 320 plate appearances as a rookie, while providing strong defense. McCormick took a step forward in terms of plate discipline the following season, cutting his strikeout rate by 6.5% and bumping his walk rate to an elite 11.3%. His power numbers took a step back, but the improved contact skills made up for it. The 2023 campaign was McCormick’s breakout year. He fell a stolen base shy of a 20/20 season, slashing .273/.353/.489 over a career-high 457 plate appearances.

Injuries limited McCormick to 267 plate appearances in 2024, and he struggled mightily when healthy. McCormick’s wRC+ was more than cut in half compared to 2023, falling from 132 to 65. He continued to scuffle in 2025, slashing .210/.279/.290 in 66 games. An oblique injury cost him a month of action. McCormick was demoted in September and finished the season at Triple-A Sugar Land.

Houston will have Yordan Alvarez and Cam Smith holding down the corner outfield spots in 2026. Center field is a bit of a question mark, though prospect Zach Cole held his own in his brief debut. Jake Meyers was also having a solid season before a calf injury derailed him.

 

Athletics, Austin Wynns Avoid Arbitration

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The Athletics have agreed to a one-year, $1.1MM deal with catcher Austin Wynns, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The team has yet to officially announce the move. Wynns is represented by Klutch Sports.

Matt Swartz’s arbitration projections had Wynns receiving $1.8MM. While he fell short of that mark, his deal includes some incentives, notes Murray.

The Athletics acquired Wynns in June after the Reds designated him for assignment. They were in need of catching depth after Shea Langeliers went down with an oblique injury. Wynns hit .222 in 22 games with the team. An abdominal strain in early August cost him the rest of the season.

Wynns was drafted by Baltimore in 2013. He debuted with the Orioles in 2018. After a few seasons as a part-time player, Wynns elected free agency. He latched on with the Phillies in March 2022. Wynns was dealt to San Francisco in June of that season. The Giants gave him his longest opportunity to date, running him out there for 66 games. Wynns passed through multiple organizations over the next couple of years, finally landing in Cincinnati in 2024.

Wynns had several productive offensive seasons in the minors, but it never translated to major-league success. That changed when he got to the Reds. Wynns went 7-for-19 with four extra-base hits in his first year in Cincinnati, though a shoulder injury cut his season short. He posted a 35.7% hard-hit rate in that brief sample, which was more than 8% better than his previous career-best mark. Wynns maintained those gains in 2025, slashing .400/.442/.700 in 18 games with the Reds. He wasn’t as productive with the Athletics, but in 40 games between the two teams, he notched a hefty 46.6% hard-hit rate. Wynns’ barrel rate was an excellent 9.6% over 110 plate appearances.

Langeliers is coming off a breakout campaign and will handle the majority of the catching reps. If Wynns can keep up the improvement he’s shown at the plate, he’ll be a serviceable backup option. The Athletics may need to add a bit more depth at the position after losing Willie MacIver to the Rangers via waiver claim.

Diamondbacks Make Multiple Roster Changes

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The Diamondbacks have announced a handful of roster moves. Infielder Ildemaro Vargas, catcher James McCann, and left-hander Jalen Beeks have elected free agency. Right-handers Austin Pope, John Curtiss, and Casey Kelly, left-hander Kyle Nelson, and infielder Connor Kaiser were outrighted off the 40-man roster. Arizona’s 40-man roster now sits at 38 players.

Vargas just wrapped up his third stint with the team. The versatile utilityman debuted with the Diamondbacks in 2017. After playing a minor role across three seasons, Arizona designated him for assignment in 2020. The DFA led to a trade to the Twins, though Minnesota would also designate Vargas for assignment less than a month after acquiring him. The Cubs scooped him up off waivers for the final month of the season. Vargas went through a similar set of transactions in 2021, just in a different order. He was claimed off waivers by the Pirates in May, then designated for assignment a couple of weeks later. Pittsburgh worked out a trade that sent Vargas back to Arizona.

Washington gave Vargas his longest look to date. The Nationals signed him as a minor league free agent in May of 2022. He hit .280 in 53 games with the team. Washington gave Vargas semi-regular playing time over the next two seasons. He topped 300 plate appearances for the first time in 2024. Vargas signed a minor league deal to return to Arizona this past offseason. He appeared in 38 games with the team in 2025. Vargas has spent time at all four infield positions, plus left field and right field. He’s also made five appearances in mop-up duty on the mound, hilariously allowing just two earned runs in five innings. The 34-year-old’s extreme versatility could get him another gig this offseason.

Arizona added McCann after Atlanta cut him loose in June. He appeared in 42 games for the team, filling in behind the plate after Gabriel Moreno went down with a hand injury. The 34-year-old posted a solid 110 wRC+ in limited action.

Beeks ended up being a decent find for the Diamondbacks. They signed him just before the season began, and the veteran lefty contributed a 3.77 ERA over 57 1/3 innings. Beeks missed time with a back injury, but still managed to make 61 appearances, including two as an opener.

Curtiss is the only member of the DFA group to make a significant impact at the MLB level in 2025. He appeared in 30 games with the big-league club, recording a 3.93 ERA. Curtiss has bounced around frequently since debuting in 2017, pitching for eight different teams.

Nelson has been a part of Arizona’s bullpen in recent years, but he only appeared in three games this past season. Pope debuted in September, making a two-inning appearance against the Dodgers before heading back to Triple-A Reno. Kelly pitched in two games in August. Kaiser had a couple of brief stints with the big-league club, going 2-for-18 across 11 games.

Orioles Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Orioles announced a series of roster tweaks on Thursday. Baltimore has selected right-hander Anthony Nunez to their 40-man roster. Right-hander Shawn Dubin and outfielders Dylan Carlson and Daniel Johnson have been outrighted off the roster. Left-hander Josh Walker and right-hander Carson Ragsdale were designated for assignment. Baltimore claimed outfielder Pedro Leon off waivers from the Astros, while left-hander Jose Castillo was claimed by the Mets.

The team also exercised its club option on right-hander Andrew Kittredge, whom they acquired from the Cubs earlier this week. The Orioles declined their club option on utilityman Jorge Mateo, who is now a free agent. They also announced the signing of outfielder Leody Taveras, a deal that had been reported yesterday. The litany of moves brought Baltimore’s 40-man roster to 40 players.

Nunez came over at the trade deadline in the Cedric Mullins deal, along with fellow pitching prospects Raimon Gómez and Chandler Marsh. The 24-year-old was originally signed as a shortstop by San Diego in 2019. After a pair of uninspiring seasons at the lowest rungs of the minors, he converted to pitching. The Mets signed Nunez in 2024. He tossed 10 innings between the Complex league and Single-A that season. High-A hitters were no match for Nunez in 2025, as he dominated with a 0.63 ERA and a 46.2% strikeout rate over 14 1/3 innings. Nunez moved to Double-A in May and continued to pitch well, recording a 2.10 ERA over 22 outings. After the trade, he pitched a game for Double-A Chesapeake before heading to Triple-A. Nunez held hitters to a .125 batting average while striking them out at a 32.3% clip over 16 games with Norfolk.

Carlson and Johnson cleared waivers and elected free agency. Dubin also made it through waivers and is a minor league free agent. Carlson is the biggest name of the bunch, but it’s been a while since his days as a top prospect for the Cardinals. Since a strong 2021 campaign with St. Louis, he’s steadily declined at the plate. The 27-year-old bottomed out with a 67 wRC+ over 96 games split between the Cardinals and Rays in 2024. Baltimore took a flyer on him, but he scuffled to a .203/.278/.336 slash line across 241 plate appearances. He’ll now be looking for his fourth team in three seasons.

Johnson has spent parts of four MLB seasons with three teams. Baltimore grabbed him off waivers from San Francisco in August. He went 5-for-24 in 17 games with the Orioles. Dubin was also an August waiver claim, coming over from the Astros. He threw eight innings with Baltimore, pitching to a 3.38 ERA.

Walker has bounced around plenty over the last year and a half. The Mets traded him to the Pirates midway through 2024. He signed with Toronto as a minor league free agent last offseason. The Blue Jays traded him to the Phillies at the end of May. After Philadelphia designated him for assignment in August, the Orioles claimed him off waivers. Walker has a 6.59 ERA across 26 big-league appearances over the past three seasons.

Ragsdale and Castillo are no strangers to waiver claims, including moves that involved each other. Baltimore claimed Ragsdale from San Francisco in August, only to toss him back on the waiver pile when they grabbed Castillo. The Orioles claimed Ragsdale again in September, this time from the Braves.

Houston signed Leon in 2021. He reached Triple-A that same season. Leon slashed .299/.372/.514 with Sugar Land in 2024, leading to a brief call-up. He recorded a pair of hits over seven games with the Astros before heading back to Triple-A. An MCL sprain cost Leon the majority of the 2025 campaign. He played just 25 games this past season.

Enter The MLBTR Free Agent Prediction Contest

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The MLB Trade Rumors Free Agent Prediction Contest is now open!  Click here to enter your picks for the destinations for our top 50 free agents.  The deadline for entry is Thursday, November 13th at 11pm central time.  You can edit your picks until then.  Further contest info:

  • After the window to make picks has closed, we’ll post a public leaderboard page so you can see who’s winning the contest as players sign with teams.  We’re going to use entrants’ full names on it.  So, if that concerns you, please do not enter the contest.  Entries with inappropriate names will be deleted.
  • We are also collecting email addresses, which I will use to notify winners.
  • If a player signs between now and the close of the contest, that player will be excluded from the contest.
  • After you submit your picks, you’ll receive an email from Google Forms.  In that email, you’ll see a button that allows you to edit your picks.
  • We will announce the winners on MLBTR once all 50 free agents have signed.  We will award $500 to first place, $300 to second place, and $100 to third place.  We will also be giving  one-year memberships to Trade Rumors Front Office for everyone who finishes in the top 15.  Winners must respond to an email within one week.
  • The winners of this contest will be declared on March 25th, 2026, and any unsigned players will be excluded from the competition.
  • Ties in the correct number of picks will be broken by summing up the rankings of the free agents of the correct picks and taking the lower total.  For example: Tim and Steve each get two picks correct.  Tim gets Kyle Tucker (#1 ranking) and Robert Suarez (#21 ranking) for a total of 22 points.  Steve gets Framber Valdez (#6) and Michael King (#14) for a total of 20 points.  Steve’s total is lower and he’s ahead of Tim for tiebreaker purposes.

If you have any further questions, ask us in the comment section of this post!  Otherwise, make your picks now!

Rafael Lantigua Becomes Free Agent

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The Phillies announced that infielder Rafael Lantigua has been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and has become a free agent. Right-handers Zack Wheeler and Daniel Robert have been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Philadelphia’s 40-man roster count is now at 30.

Lantigua had spent his entire career in Toronto’s organization prior to this past season. He signed with Philadelphia as a minor league free agent in December 2024. Lantigua briefly joined the big-league club in September, though he spent just three days on the roster and didn’t appear in a game. He’ll now head back to minor league free agency looking for another opportunity.

The Blue Jays signed Lantigua back in 2016. He’s logged considerable time in the minor leagues, racking up 3,357 plate appearances across eight seasons. Lantigua reached Triple-A Buffalo in 2022, where he played through the 2024 season. Despite the ample time on the verge of the majors, he never got the call with Toronto.

Lantigua has shown elite on-base skills at every level of the minors. He’s had an OBP above .345 in each of the past five seasons. A massive walk rate has helped Lantigua reach base at such a high clip. He posted a 17% walk rate in his first full season at Triple-A in 2023. He was at a strong 13.4% in 2024, before notching a 15.6% mark with Lehigh Valley this past season.

The 2025 promotion actually came after one of Lantigua’s weaker minor league seasons. He slashed .230/.356/.330 with the Iron Pigs in 2025. His 90 wRC+ matched the lowest for a full season in his career. Lantigua did steal 17 bases and walked more than he struck out, but his call-up was more of a need-based decision. The Phillies were missing all of Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, and Edmundo Sosa, necessitating a move for an infielder. Lantigua headed back to Lehigh Valley when Bohm returned from the IL.

Guardians Decline Club Option On John Means

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The Guardians have declined their $6MM option on left-hander John Means, per Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors. Means is now a free agent. Additionally, left-handers Kolby Allard and Matt Krook, right-hander Ben Lively, catcher Dom Nuñez and infielder Will Wilson have been outrighted off the roster and elected free agency, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic.

Means signed a one-year, $1MM free agent deal last winter. He was rehabbing his second career Tommy John procedure and hoped to make it back for the final few weeks of the ’25 season. That didn’t happen. Means was able to make five rehab starts with Triple-A Columbus but struggled to a 7.97 earned run average over 20 1/3 innings. The Guards weren’t going to make a $6MM commitment off that limited body of work.

The 32-year-old Means was an All-Star with the Orioles in 2019. He pitched to a 3.68 ERA over parts of seven seasons as a generally reliable mid-rotation arm with Baltimore. Injuries have unfortunately robbed him of most of the past four years. He’s looking at minor league offers or an incentive-laden MLB deal.

Of the outrighted players, Allard made the most significant contributions to the 2025 Guardians. He put up a 2.63 ERA across 65 innings as a long reliever. Allard throws roughly 90 MPH and doesn’t miss bats, though, so there’s generally been skepticism about his ability to churn out strong results. This is the second time this year that he went unclaimed on waivers.

Lively was Cleveland’s Opening Day starter this year. He carried a 3.22 ERA over his first nine outings but blew out in May. He underwent Tommy John surgery that’ll cost him the bulk of the ’26 season. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Lively for a $2.7MM arbitration salary. That’s not outlandish but not exactly a drop in the bucket for a low-payroll franchise to devote to a journeyman starter who’ll miss the majority of the season. This serves essentially as an early non-tender, but it’s possible Lively has shown enough to command a cheap big league deal from another club.

Krook was claimed off waivers from the A’s in May. Cleveland kept him in Triple-A for the rest of the season. He turned in 34 innings of 3.18 ERA ball with Columbus. Nuñez is a depth catcher who only made it into two games behind Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges. The former Rockies backstop hit .176 in 76 Triple-A contests. Wilson is a former first-round pick of the Angels who never panned out with the Halos. The North Carolina State product earned his first big league look this year with Cleveland, batting .192/.267/.244 in 34 games.

Braves Claim Michael Siani From Cardinals

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The Braves claimed outfielder Michael Siani off waivers from the Cardinals, relays Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat. St. Louis also outrighted left-handed pitchers Anthony Veneziano and Zack Thompson while selecting Bryan Torres onto the 40-man roster.

Siani, 26, is a glove-first center fielder. He has played in parts of four big league seasons but only got significant action in 2024. The lefty batter turned in a .228/.285/.285 slash with two homers and 20 steals over 124 games that year. Siani made just 19 big league appearances this past season. He spent the bulk of the season at Triple-A Memphis, where he slumped to a .209/.307/.329 batting line across 430 trips to the plate. Siani stole 28 bases and plays excellent outfield defense, but the bat is a significant question. He has one minor league option remanning.

Torres, 28, gets a 40-man roster spot after a decade in the professional ranks. He’s a 5’7″ utility player who moved between second base and the corner outfield spots. The lefty-hitting Torres had a breakout season with Memphis, batting .328/.441/.464 while walking more often than he struck out. He would have become a seven-year minor league free agent tonight if the Cardinals hadn’t put him on the 40-man roster.

Veneziano and Thompson will each become minor league free agents after going unclaimed on waivers. The 28-year-old Veneziano was a late-season waiver claim from Miami who pitched four innings of two-run ball for the Cards. He owns a 3.98 ERA over 40 2/3 career frames. Thompson, 28, was a first-round pick out of the University of Kentucky back in 2019. He missed the entire 2025 season with a torn lat.

Yankees Select Kervin Castro

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The Yankees announced that they have selected right-hander Kervin Castro to their 40-man roster. The move prevents him from becoming a minor league free agent. They had several 40-man spaces available due to players recently becoming free agents.

New York took Castro in the second round of the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 draft in 2023 from Houston. He missed the entire 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Castro made 35 appearances for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this past season, pitching to a 1.53 ERA with a solid 27.4% strikeout rate. He earned four saves and five wins as a member of the RailRiders’ bullpen.

The 26-year-old Castro has pitched in pro ball for the past decade. He signed with San Francisco as a 16-year-old in 2015. He made his debut in Rookie ball the following year. Injuries cost Castro all of 2017 and most of 2018, but he put together a solid 2019 at Single-A. The right-hander made 14 starts, posting a 2.66 ERA across 67 2/3 innings. The strong season bumped Castro all the way to Triple-A in 2021 (the 2020 minor league season was canceled).

Castro, now operating strictly as a reliever, struck out 32.8% of batters with Triple-A Sacramento. Opponents hit just .195 over 44 innings against him. San Francisco called up Castro in the final weeks of the 2021 campaign. He excelled in his first taste of the highest level, blanking opponents across 10 appearances. His 13 1/3 scoreless innings came with nearly a strikeout per frame. Castro was back with the big-league club in April the following season, but he was pounded for five earned runs over 1 2/3 innings. He spent the next three months with Sacramento before being scooped up off waivers by the Cubs. Castro continued to struggle with Chicago, recording a 7.59 ERA across eight outings.

Detroit grabbed Castro as a minor league free agent following the 2022 campaign. He made 10 appearances with Triple-A Toledo before going down with an injury. Detroit let him go in August. Houston added Castro in minor league free agency, but he would only spend a couple of weeks in the organization.

Castro is still young and has shown enough flashes when healthy to be worth keeping in the organization. It might take an injury or two, but he could factor in as a multi-inning reliever with the Yankees at some point this season.

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