Guardians Select Codi Heuer, Re-Sign Pedro Avila To MiLB Deal
The Guardians announced this afternoon that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Codi Heuer and optioned him to Triple-A. The Guardians had space available on their 40-man roster, so a corresponding move was not necessary to complete the transaction. In addition, the club announced that they’ve re-signed right-hander Pedro Avila to a minor league deal.
Heuer, 29, was a sixth-round pick by the White Sox back in 2018. He made it to the majors with Chicago during the shortened 2020 campaign an impressed with a 1.52 ERA in 21 appearances, but struggled early in the 2021 season. He was ultimately shipped across town to the Cubs as part of the Craig Kimbrel/Nick Madrigal trade at the 2021 trade deadline, and seemed to regain some of his earlier success upon arriving in Chicago with a 3.14 ERA in 25 appearances down the stretch. Heuer was in strong position to be a key piece of the bullpen on the north side of Chicago as they entered their rebuild.
That wasn’t meant to be, however, as Spring Training 2022 set off a series of injury-marred campaigns for the right-hander. Heuer underwent Tommy John surgery in 2022 and followed that up by suffering a broken elbow midway through the 2023 season, while he was still rehabbing from surgery. He made just 15 appearances total from 2022-24 before finally returning to health as a member of the Rangers in 2025. Between the Rangers and Tigers organizations, Heuer posted a 3.14 ERA in 48 2/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level and struck out 30.5% of his opponents. The results at the major league level didn’t return right away, however, and the righty surrendered three runs, all earned across 4 2/3 innings in the majors last year.
He returned to the open market this offseason and caught on with the Guardians on a minor league deal. He struggled this spring, with a 9.00 ERA in eight innings of work, but did strike out 11 against five walks. It was an intriguing enough performance to Cleveland that they decided to add him to their 40-man roster before the season begins, though Heuer will still begin the year at Triple-A as an up-and-down depth option rather than as part of the Opening Day roster. If Heuer can produce at a level similar to what he offered at Triple-A last year, it seems like a safe bet to expect to see him in the majors with the Guardians sometime this year.
In other Guardians bullpen news, right-hander Pedro Avila is returning to the club on a minor league pact after previously being released by the club to pursue other opportunities when he did not make the roster. Avila evidently decided that his best opportunity to make it back to the majors is with Cleveland on a minor league pact, and so he’ll head to Triple-A alongside Heuer and wait for a big league opportunity as a non-roster veteran. Avila has five years of major league experience under his belt, mostly with the Padres, but joined the Guardians during the 2024 season and posted a solid 3.25 ERA across 50 appearances for the club. He spent 2025 with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yakult Swallows before returning to the Guardians on a split contract back in December. He pitched solidly in Spring Training, with a 3.24 ERA across 8 1/3 innings of work, but his paltry 11.8% strikeout rate likely stopped the Guardians from including him in their Opening Day roster mix.
Mike Tauchman To Undergo Surgery After Meniscus Tear
Veteran outfielder Mike Tauchman has suffered a meniscus tear, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. The injury will require surgery, though a timeline for his return to action has not yet been announced.
It’s devastating news for the 35-year-old, who signed with the Mets this offseason on a minor league deal. Tauchman entered camp as the primary competition for top prospect Carson Benge as the club’s starting right fielder, but played so well in Spring Training (with a .241/.371/.448 slash line across 13 spring games) that he was in serious consideration for a roster spot even as Benge began to prove he was ready for the majors. Now, any hope of contributing to the Mets (or any other club) this year will be put on hold for the foreseeable future. Meniscus surgery can require only a few weeks of recovery for minor procedures, but more significant injuries often take months of recovery and can even be season-ending. With minimal information about the severity of Tauchman’s injury known, it’s possible a more clear timeline for his return won’t be clear until he goes under the knife.
A tenth-round pick by the Rockies back in 2013, Tauchman made it to the majors in 2017 but first received widespread attention as a member of the Yankees during the 2019 season. Tauchman burst onto the scene alongside other little-known players like Gio Urshela and Luke Voit to help carry New York to a 103-win season, though they ultimately lost the ALCS to the Astros in six games. Tauchman’s performance that year was one to remember, as he slashed an incredible .277/.361/.504 with 13 homers and 18 doubles in just 87 games. When Tauchman struggled during the 2020 and ’21 seasons, it was easy to view his strong 2019 campaign as little more than a blip. He departed stateside ball in 2022 to play for the KBO’s Hanhwa Eagles, and that year went well enough for him that the Cubs decided to take a shot on him with a minor league deal.
Tauchman’s tenure with the Cubs revived his MLB career headed into his mid-30s. The then-32-year-old aptly filled in for Cody Bellinger in center field when the star was injured and wound up making himself a key piece of Chicago’s offense for the 2023-24 seasons. He hit .250/.360/.372 (109 wRC+) across 217 games on the north side, but saw his role shrink in 2024 with the emergence of star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and ultimately found himself squeezed off the roster by the addition of Kyle Tucker during the 2024-25 offseason. After being non-tendered by the Cubs, Tauchman headed to the south side to play for the White Sox and managed to continue his resurgence there. While injuries limited Tauchman to just 93 games with the White Sox, he hit an impressive .263/.356/.400 (115 wRC+) and was a surprising non-tender for Chicago this past offseason.
Tauchman seemed to be in good position to impact an outfield-needy club this offseason for a relatively low cost, and while the Mets were the team to take advantage of his availability it seems they won’t be able to benefit from his on-base skills and steady bat for at least the start of the season. With Tauchman sidelined, utility man Vidal Brujan could be the favorite to take the last spot on the Mets’ bench headed into Opening Day while Benge will surely get every opportunity to establish himself in right field for New York.
Diamondbacks To Add Jonathan Loaisiga To Opening Day Roster
The Diamondbacks are adding right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga to their Opening Day roster, according to a report from Jorge Castillo of ESPN. Arizona’s 40-man roster is full, so a corresponding move will be necessary to officially select Loaisiga’s contract.
Loaisiga, 31, is joining a new club for the first time after spending his first eight MLB seasons with the Yankees. Signed by the Giants out of Nicaragua back in 2013, Loaisiga made just 13 starts for San Francisco’s Dominican Summer League affiliate before suffering injuries that sidelined him for the next two years. He was released by the organization in 2015 and caught on with the Yankees ahead of the 2016 season, where he continued to climb the minor league ladder as a starter and actually began his MLB career in a swing role.
The right-hander didn’t convert to short relief full-time until 2021, but looked utterly dominant once he did. Loaisiga turned in a 2.17 ERA with a 2.58 FIP and 3.01 SIERA in 70 2/3 innings of work for the Yankees that year. He struck out a respectable 24.4% of his opponents while walking just 5.7% and generating ground balls at a 60.9% clip. That dominant showing was enough to push Loaisiga into New York’s high leverage mix, and headed into 2022 it was easy to dream on him as the next dominant Yankees reliever. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way. His 2022 campaign was a struggle and saw him post below league average results (4.13 ERA) with only slightly better peripheral numbers (3.57 FIP, 3.76 SIERA). In the three years since then, he’s managed just 50 total appearances at the big league level due to a laundry list of injuries.
Those 50 appearances work out to a combined 3.51 ERA that’s decent enough, but his grounder rate has dropped to 52.0%, his strikeout rate now sits at a concerning 15.2%, and the righty’s 5.13 FIP (4.09 SIERA) both suggest those solid run prevention numbers are the result more of good luck on batted balls and sequencing than his underlying performance. With so many health and performance related red flags, it wasn’t a shock that Loaisiga needed to take a minor league deal this offseason. The one he landed with the Diamondbacks figured to give him a strong shot to make the roster, however, as the majority of their late-inning mix is set to start the season on the injured list.
A solid showing this spring further sealed the deal, as Loaisiga posted a 3.86 ERA in seven outings with seven strikeouts against just two walks. That’ll be enough to earn him a spot in the Diamondbacks bullpen to open the year, and he should have every opportunity to earn a high leverage role. Paul Sewald, Ryan Thompson, and Kevin Ginkel are among the other arms who will be vying for late inning roles as the season begins, though both A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez are expected back in the mix at some point this year.
Kyle Stowers, Esteury Ruiz To Open Season On Injured List
Marlins fans received tough news regarding their outfield mix today, as Christina De Nicola of MLB.com was among those to relay that star outfielder Kyle Stowers will open the season on the injured list. Stowers has been diagnosed with a grade 1 hamstring strain, an injury that comes with a timeline of between three and four weeks. Meanwhile, Craig Mish of SportsGrid reports that outfielder Esteury Ruiz is also headed to the injured list. Mish notes that Ruiz is suffering from an oblique strain and figures to be shelved for longer than Stowers.
It’s a brutal blow to Miami’s outfield depth, at least for the start of the season. Stowers’s diagnosis leaves open the possibility that he could be back on the field with the Marlins as soon as mid-April, but it could be longer than that if his recovery is on the longer end of that 3-4 week timeline and he winds up requiring a rehab assignment. Ruiz doesn’t have an exact timeline, but from Mish’s description of the situation it seems unlikely he’d be available to play in Miami before May at the earliest.
While Stowers will be back sooner, losing him is undoubtedly the bigger blow for the Marlins. The outfielder was the breakout star of the Marlins’ 2025 campaign as he hit .288/.368/.544 with a 149 wRC+ in 117 games. While a 27.4% strikeout rate is certainly cause for concern, Stowers’s big time power and 10.5% walk rate were more than enough to make him a middle-of-the-order threat for Miami last year. The club will need a similar performance from him this season if they’re going to have any hopes of making it to the postseason in a crowded NL East division, and this latest injury news will put even more pressure on him to perform when he does return to action.
As for Ruiz, the 27-year-old was acquired from the Dodgers in trade over the offseason and is a career .241/.296/.343 hitter in the majors, and a middling defender in the outfield. Ruiz’s most notable tool is his speed. He turned in a 67-steal campaign for the A’s in 2023, but any hopes of racking up big stolen base totals with the Marlins this year are now put on hold indefinitely. He seemed likely to be part of Miami’s Opening Day roster in a bench/platoon capacity, offering a right-handed complement to the team’s lefty-heavy outfield mix.
With both Stowers and Ruiz out of commission, the Marlins’ Opening Day roster will look very different in the outfield. Youngsters Jakob Marsee and Owen Caissie were already poised to start in center and right field on Opening Day, respectively. Those two will now be joined by Griffin Conine in the outfield as Conine returns from a 2025 season mostly lost to injury. The now 28-year-old outfielder has an above average slash line of .261/.320/.435 for his career in the majors, though that amounts to just 54 games thanks to various injuries. This unproven outfield trio will be backed up by utility man Javier Sanoja, outfielder Heriberto Hernandez, and perhaps first baseman Christopher Morel, who has spent time in center field with the Cubs and left field with the Rays in the past despite poor defensive numbers.
Rays Roster Notes: Vilade, Palacios, Boyle
Utilityman Ryan Vilade has made the Rays’ Opening Day roster, manager Kevin Cash told reporters, including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The 27-year-old was acquired in a trade with the Reds early in the offseason. Vilade could fill in around the infield while shortstop Taylor Walls is sidelined.
Vilade has spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues. He’s stumbled to a .141/.200/.188 in 71 plate appearances. Vilade has shown more promise with the bat in the minors, including a 135 wRC+ in 113 games at Triple-A between the Cardinals and Reds organizations last year.
The main draw for Vilade is his flexibility as a defender. He’s played every position except pitcher and catcher in the minors. Vilade hasn’t played shortstop since 2019, but he appeared at every other infield spot and all three outfield positions at Triple-A this past season.
The Rays sent outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy and infielder/outfielder Richie Palacios to minor league camp on Friday. Both players were candidates for a bench role alongside infielder Ben Williamson, outfielder Jonny DeLuca, and backup catcher Hunter Feduccia. Prospect Carson Williams was sent to minor league camp earlier this week, only to be brought back after Walls went down. He’s likely headed toward the majority of the shortstop playing time as Walls recovers from a strained oblique.
Malloy came over in a minor trade with the Tigers after getting designated for assignment in late December. His lack of defensive value made him a peculiar fit for a Tampa Bay roster that typically prioritizes versatility. Malloy kept the strikeouts in check this spring, but he hit just .222 with just two extra-base hits.
Palacios is the more surprising cut. He stole 19 bases while providing league-average production with the bat in 2024. He bounced all over the field, spending most of his time at second base and right field. Palacios got off to a hot start this past season, posting a 138 wRC through mid-April. He then went down with a knee sprain that kept him out until September. The additions of Cedric Mullins and Gavin Lux were suboptimal for the lefty-swinging Palacios, given the platoon tendencies of the Rays.
“Richie, he’s a really good player,” manager Kevin Cash said. “It’s tough to see a scenario where he’s not helping us at some point, (with) his versatility. Just there wasn’t really a lane for him of the gate, as we are right now, coming out with health.”
On the pitching side, Joe Boyle will join Palacios and Malloy in minor league camp. As has become a theme in his career, the hard-throwing righty had a phenomenal 34.0% strikeout rate this spring, but it came with a 17.0% walk rate. Boyle got up to 74 pitches in his most recent outing, so he was preparing as a starter. Tampa Bay didn’t have an obvious spot in the rotation with free agents Nick Martinez and Steven Matz joining incumbents Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, and Shane McClanahan.
Topkin also notes that left-hander Cam Booser was informed he won’t make the big-league squad. He came to Tampa Bay on a minor league deal back in January. Booser’s deal includes an upward mobility clause. If he triggers it, he’ll be offered to the rest of the teams in the league. If another team is willing to give Booser a place on the roster, the Rays will be forced to do the same or work out a trade.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Reds To Select Nathaniel Lowe’s Contract
Nathaniel Lowe has earned a spot on the Reds’ roster, reports C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. The veteran first baseman signed a minor league deal with the club in mid-February. He’s set to make $1.75MM with the big-league squad, with an additional $250K available in incentives. Rosecrans notes that Lowe is expected to take the 40-man roster spot of Hunter Greene, who is headed to the 60-day IL after undergoing elbow surgery.
Cincinnati announced outfielders Rece Hinds and J.J. Bleday were optioned to Triple-A. Lowe and Dane Myers will round out the bench, along with backup catcher Jose Trevino and utilityman Spencer Steer. The Reds also sent right-hander Zach Maxwell to Triple-A. Left-hander Sam Moll has secured the final bullpen spot, per Rosecrans.
Lowe was dealt from the Rangers to the Nationals for reliever Robert Garcia last offseason. He hit just .216 in 119 games with Washington and was cut in mid-August. Lowe then latched on with the Red Sox. He recovered some value in Boston, slashing .280/.370/.420 across 119 plate appearances. The final result was still a career-worst 91 wRC+. The 30-year-old received minimal interest this winter, but a strong Spring Training will propel him to a major league gig. Lowe posted a 143 wRC+ in 15 spring games. He racked up seven extra-base hits, including three home runs.
Hinds did all he could to earn a job in the spring. He belted five home runs and drove in 11 across 43 plate appearances. The 25-year-old is known for his big power, but he also hit .410 in the limited Spring Training sample.
The Reds didn’t necessarily need to keep another first baseman, with Steer a capable backup behind Sal Stewart, but the decision came down to getting Hinds regular reps. “I was very careful with how I worded it with him,” manager Terry Francona said about breaking the news to the outfielder. “(Hinds) did enough to make the team, but the role is a bench role, and we want you to play.”
Bleday signed a one-year deal in late December. He made a strong case for a roster spot himself, launching four home runs and getting on base at a .364 clip. Bleday had seemingly emerged as a consistent contributor with the Athletics, slashing .243/.324/.437 with a career-best 20 home runs in 2024. He stumbled to a .656 OPS over the first two months of the 2025 campaign and found himself back in Triple-A. Bleday returned to the big-league club in August, but was designated for assignment at the end of the season. He and Hinds both have a minor league option remaining.
Maxwell, affectionately known as Big Sugar, will head back to the minors as the Reds opt for another lefty in the pen. The 6’6″, 275-pound righty with the triple-digit fastball delivered solid results in his first taste of the majors last year. Maxwell posted a 30.2% strikeout rate with an xFIP and SIERA just above 3.00. He punched out hitters at a 31% clip this spring, though a few shaky outings to begin Cactus League action led to a 5.40 ERA.
Moll is out of options, while Maxwell still has three left. The veteran gives the Reds another left-handed middle reliever while Caleb Ferguson is sidelined. Cincinnati also added Brock Burke in a trade this offseason. Brandon Williamson is in the pen, though he’ll be more of a long relief/piggyback starter option.
Photo courtesy of Frank Bowen IV of The Enquirer via Imagn Images
Cardinals Notes: Pushard, Graceffo, Soriano
The Cardinals finalized their 13-man pitching staff today by filling out their last few bullpen spots. Per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, relievers Chris Roycroft, George Soriano, and Matt Pushard have all been informed that they’ve made the team.
The selection of Pushard is arguably the most notable of the three. St. Louis selected him out of the Marlins organization in the Rule 5 Draft back in December. In order to keep Pushard’s rights, the Cardinals would need to keep him on the active roster or major-league injured list for the entire 2026 season, without optioning him to the minors. Otherwise, he would need to be placed on waivers and potentially offered back to the Marlins.
Pushard was originally signed by the Marlins as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He reached the Double-A level in 2023, then Triple-A in 2024 as a 26-year-old. In 62 1/3 innings at that level in 2025, Pushard carried a 3.61 ERA along with a 28.5% strikeout rate and a 9.0% walk rate. He has always kept the ball in the yard and allowed just 0.43 home runs per nine innings last year. The strikeouts and walks were mostly there during his seven Spring Training appearances, although he allowed two home runs in 6 2/3 innings.
Ultimately, Pushard’s minor league track record and intriguing pitch mix were enough for the Cardinals to take a flier on him. The 6’4″ righty added a mile and a half to his four-seam fastball in 2025, averaging 95.0 MPH with the pitch. He also added velocity to his slider and curveball and increased his usage of both pitches, throwing them a combined 51.1% of the time.
Pushard will be slotting into the multi-inning role previously held by Gordon Graceffo. The righty was optioned to Triple-A following Saturday’s spring game. “[We want Graceffo to] continue to build up,” manager Oli Marmol told reporters, including Bill Ladson of MLB.com. “If he is going to help us, he is going [to pitch multiple innings]. Being able to do that is going to be important.”
Graceffo briefly debuted with the Cardinals in 2024. He was up and down with the club this past season, ultimately compiling 43 innings across 26 appearances. Graceffo struggled to a 6.28 ERA, though a .353 BABIP was likely to blame. The right-hander had a sub-4.00 xFIP and SIERA. Graceffo struck out nearly a batter per inning while posting a tidy 6.7% walk rate. He was one of nine Cardinals’ relievers to earn a save in 2025.
Soriano was acquired from the Nationals straight up for fellow reliever Andre Granillo. St. Louis is his fourth organization of the offseason. The right-hander bounced between the Marlins, Braves, and Nats after a series of waiver claims and designations. He’s now found a home on the Cardinals, where he’ll look to improve on his 5.95 ERA in the big leagues.
A dazzling Spring Training likely played a role in Soriano earning a job. The fact that he’s out of options might’ve also helped. The soon-to-be 27-year-old tossed seven scoreless innings with a 34.6% strikeout rate this spring. “The stuff coming out of the hand is impressive,” Marmol said. “He did a lot of things well.”
Roycroft made his debut in 2024. He contributed 34 1/3 innings of a 4.19 ERA that season. The righty spent another partial season in St. Louis this past year, though the results waned. Roycroft’s ERA ballooned to 7.84 in 20 games. He posted his second straight season with a walk rate above 11%, while taking a step back in the strikeout department. Roycroft punched out hitters at a 14.9% clip in 2025, after notching a 21.3% mark in his first MLB campaign.
Goold relayed that Roycroft spent time this offseason working on recovering the arm slot and pitch movement that he had as a rookie. The spring results suggest the time in the lab paid off. Roycroft tossed seven scoreless frames, walking just one.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Cubs To Add Michael Conforto To Opening Day Roster
Veteran outfielder Michael Conforto has been informed he will be on the Cubs’ Opening Day roster, according to Patrick Mooney of the Athletic. In related news, outfielder Seiya Suzuki will not be ready for Opening Day, according to manager Craig Counsell (link via Mooney). The club has not decided if Suzuki will start the year on the injured list, though it is increasingly likely, per Mooney.
Conforto, 33, had been in camp on a minor-league deal with a big-league Spring Training invite. On the heels of a rough 2025 season with the Dodgers, both offensively and defensively, he seemed like a long shot to make the big-league roster in Chicago. Center field was never an option. The North Siders have one of the game’s best defensive center fielders in Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Conforto has not played up the middle since 2019. That left the two corner outfield spots, DH, and the bench as potential landing spots, though he seemed blocked by the presence of Suzuki, Ian Happ, Moises Ballesteros, and Tyler Austin.
With the recent injury to Austin and today’s update on Suzuki, Conforto may get some outfield reps in the early going. Austin was brought in on a one-year, $1.25MM deal this offseason to shore up the bench, though he’ll now miss several months following knee surgery at the end of February. That leaves Matt Shaw, who was forced out of a starting spot by the Alex Bregman signing, as the main infield backup on the roster. In the outfield, Conforto and Dylan Carlson are projected as the backups according to RosterResource. With Suzuki currently injured, the team may use Conforto and Carlson in a right field platoon in the short term.
Conforto enters 2026 with 11 years of big-league experience. His peak came with the Mets from 2017-20. In that time, he batted .265/.369/.495 and graded out 33% better than average by wRC+. His 24.4% strikeout rate was less than ideal, but he compensated through a combination of power and on-base ability. Conforto hit 97 home runs in that four-year span and only once posted an isolated slugging percentage below .200 (.193 in the pandemic season). Meanwhile, he got on base regularly thanks in part to an excellent 12.7% walk rate.
His performance fell off from 2021 onward. He was roughly average (104 wRC+) in his final year with the Mets. He underwent shoulder surgery in April 2022 while still a free agent, knocking him out for that campaign. In 391 games from 2023-25 with the Giants and Dodgers, Conforto was average overall, but inconsistent from year to year. In 2023, his strikeout, walk, and power numbers were only slightly down from 2021, resulting in a 99 wRC+. The following year saw him bounce back to 12% above average. The Dodgers bought into that rebound with a one-year, $17MM deal for Conforto in December 2024. Unfortunately, despite a roughly average hard-hit rate, Conforto’s power and contact were diminished, and he finished the year with a career-worst 83 wRC+.
Though he has a 121 career wRC+ against right-handed pitchers, the lefty-swinging Conforto has actually shown reverse platoon splits from 2024-25. In that time, he has been 11% worse than average against righties, compared to 35% better than average against southpaws. That could make for an interesting platoon with the switch-hitting Carlson. The latter has been a poor hitter overall since the start of 2023, although he performed significantly better against righties (85 wRC+) than lefties (49 wRC+) in 2025. Starting Conforto against lefties and Carlson against righties wouldn’t be a perfect fit, but it could be the temporary arrangement until Suzuki is ready to return.
Conforto’s deal came with a $2MM base salary if he made the big-league roster. RosterResource has the Cubs’ 2026 payroll at $231MM, with a projected luxury tax payroll of $243.999MM. That is just barely below the first threshold of luxury tax penalization. Since the club dipped below the threshold in 2025, they would be treated as first-time payors in 2026. As such, the addition of Conforto’s salary will cost the team an additional $400k, barring any changes to payroll over the course of the season.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Mariners Assign Colt Emerson To Minor League Camp
Top prospect Colt Emerson has been reassigned to minor league camp, the Mariners announced. The move likely ends the infielder’s bid for an Opening Day roster spot. Despite his youth, the 20-year-old was said to be in the mix for a big-league job. He’ll now head back to Tacoma for more seasoning.
Emerson held his own during spring action with Seattle. He posted a 111 wRC+ with a pair of home runs and a stolen base. The shortstop kept the strikeout rate at a reasonable 21.3% while walking more than 10% of the time. It’s a tiny 18-game sample, but Emerson held his own in his brief opportunity against MLB-caliber talent.
Seattle had multiple spots to fill in the infield heading into the offseason, with Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez hitting free agency. The club brought back Josh Naylor to handle first base, then traded for Brendan Donovan. The former Cardinal seems to be heading for regular reps at third base. J.P. Crawford has been a mainstay at shortstop. A shoulder injury to the veteran offered a glimpse of hope for Emerson, but it’ll now be someone else who fills in for Crawford if he can’t get ready in time for the opener. Leo Rivas is the most likely candidate.
Cole Young paced the Mariners in plate appearances at second base last season with 254. He scuffled to a .612 OPS in those opportunities. Young finished with an 80 wRC+ over 77 games in his first taste of the big leagues. Spring Training has been a completely different story. The 22-year-old has slashed .294/.368/.725 across 17 spring contests. After hitting four home runs in the big leagues last year, he’s already popped six in Cactus League play. Young has also chipped in four steals.
It probably would’ve taken an undeniable spring performance for Emerson to snag an Opening Day job. While he did reach Triple-A to close 2025, it was only for six games. The likeliest scenario was always that he’d begin the year in the minors. Young’s tremendous Spring Training made it an easier decision for Seattle.
Emerson is the consensus top prospect in the Mariners’ system. He’s in the top 10 overall at ESPN, MLB.com, and The Athletic. The latter has him all the way up at No. 4, behind only Konnor Griffin, Kevin McGonigle, and Jesus Made. Griffin met a similar fate today, getting sent back to minor league camp. McGonigle remains in big-league camp with the Tigers.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Giants, Ryan Borucki Agree To Major-League Deal
The Giants and left-hander Ryan Borucki are in agreement on a one-year, major-league deal. Right-hander Hayden Birdsong has been placed on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. Borucki is a client of ISE Baseball.
Borucki, who turns 32 on March 31, joins a new organization just a day after being released by the White Sox. Since debuting with the Blue Jays in 2018, he owns a 4.28 ERA, a 19.7% strikeout rate, and an 8.9% walk rate in 256 1/3 innings. His strikeout and walk numbers are worse than average, though Borucki has shown flashes of success thanks to a strong 48.3% career groundball rate. His most recent above-average season came in 2023 with the Pirates. He posted a 2.45 ERA in 40 1/3 innings that year while walking just 2.6% of hitters and allowing less than one home run per nine innings for the first time since the pandemic season.
He has struggled mightily since then. In 46 innings from 2024-25, Borucki has a 5.28 ERA and a slightly more generous (but still not great) 4.32 FIP. His pinpoint control from 2023 now appears to be an outlier, as Borucki has walked 10.2% of hitters since the start of 2024. His hard-hit rate had reached a career-low 29.7% in 2023, though that returned to a more typical 38.5% in 2025. He missed most of 2024 with left triceps inflammation, then a month and a half of 2025 with lower back inflammation. Indeed, the 2023 season was his most recent injury-free year.
Recent track record aside, Borucki did very well in Spring Training with the White Sox. Leading up to his release yesterday, he had pitched six innings over an equal number of appearances without allowing an earned run. He also struck out eight hitters while allowing just a single walk and no home runs. As usual, spring stats should be taken with a grain of salt, though Borucki’s performance was enough to garner interest from several teams upon his release from Chicago. The Giants, who showed interest in Borucki earlier this offseason, now bring him in on what is undoubtedly a low-cost deal.
With this signing, San Francisco figures to carry three lefties in their season-opening bullpen. Erik Miller and Matt Gage come with less experience than Borucki, though they have intriguing profiles on their own. Miller’s four-seam velocity is in the 89th percentile, while his sinker, slider, and changeup all grade slightly above average by Statcast’s run value metric. He pitched 30 innings with a shiny 1.50 ERA in 2025, albeit with less encouraging peripherals and significant time missed due to a left elbow sprain. Gage does not throw as hard as Miller, but he did well last year with a 3.19 ERA in 31 innings between the Tigers and Giants. Although he doesn’t strike out many hitters, he makes up for it with a groundball rate in the upper 40s.
Assuming he sticks on the roster, Borucki will serve as a veteran complement to those two, as well as a potential trade piece should the Giants be out of contention by the deadline. Per RosterResource, the Giants’ 2026 payroll stands at $203MM, with a projected luxury tax number of $232.89MM. That puts them under the first tier of luxury tax threshold of $244MM, so Borucki won’t cost them anything beyond his modest salary.
Meanwhile, Birdsong’s IL placement was entirely expected after Thursday’s announcement that he is set to undergo Tommy John surgery. The procedure will keep him out for all of 2026 and a good part of 2027 as well. He will earn one year of service time while he is on the IL. Birdsong turns 25 in August and will have over two years of service time upon his return, leaving the Giants with four additional years of club control.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post was first to announce that the Giants and Borucki were close to a deal. Robert Murray of FanSided reported that the two sides were in agreement. Justice de los Santos of Mercury News added Birdsong’s IL placement as the corresponding move.
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