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A’s Could Explore Second/Third Base Markets

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The A’s have around two-thirds of their starting lineup in place going into the offseason. While starting pitching should be the primary focus, they have some questions on the infield that may need to be addressed externally.

Second baseman Zack Gelof underwent surgery after dislocating his left shoulder with two weeks remaining in the regular season. Meanwhile, the team announced last week that third baseman Brett Harris underwent surgery to repair the UCL in his left thumb (link via Jason Burke of Sports Illustrated). The injuries cloud what were already the two weakest positions in the lineup heading into the winter.

Martín Gallegos of MLB.com writes that Harris is expected to be ready for Spring Training. General manager David Forst was noncommittal about Gelof’s timeline, telling Gallegos that they’ll need to “wait further in the offseason to know exactly what [that] is.” It doesn’t appear that Gelof is locked into the starting second base job even once he’s healthy. Forst told Gallegos that the A’s will “be open to a lot of possibilities” at each of second and third base.

That presumably includes looking outside the organization. The A’s don’t have great internal options at either spot. Darell Hernaiz got some late-season run at all three infield positions to the left of first base (including everyday shortstop work while Jacob Wilson was out with a broken arm). Hernaiz put a lot of balls in play but didn’t hit the ball hard enough to make an impact, batting .231/.292/.306 across 197 plate appearances.

[Related: A’s Offseason Outlook]

Former first-round pick Max Muncy had a tough rookie season, hitting .214/.259/.379 over 220 trips to the plate. He struck out in more than 30% of his plate appearances and lost most of the second half to a broken hand. The 27-year-old Harris got regular third base reps over the final six weeks of the season. He hit .274 with a .349 on-base percentage but didn’t connect on a home run in 32 games. Max Schuemann is the only other utility infielder on the 40-man roster. He’s coming off a .197/.295/.273 showing and isn’t guaranteed to hold his roster spot all winter.

Gelof has shown the most promise of that group. The former second-round pick hit 14 homers with a .267/.337/.504 slash line over 69 games as a rookie in 2023. He has followed that up with consecutive tough years. Gelof led the American League with 188 strikeouts in ’24, causing his average (.211) and on-base percentage (.270) to plummet.

Injuries limited him to 30 MLB games this past season. He sustained a wrist fracture on a Spring Training hit-by-pitch and underwent hamate surgery. A stress reaction in his ribs set him back when he was on a rehab assignment six weeks later. Gelof didn’t make his season debut until July 4. The A’s optioned him to Triple-A a week later and kept him in the minors until late August. He got a few weeks of run before suffering the dislocated shoulder. While the stop and start nature of his season didn’t do him any favors, Gelof’s contact issues worsened. He struck out 46 times in 101 plate appearances while whiffing on more than 40% of his swings.

Top prospect Leo De Vries, the centerpiece of the Mason Miller return, may be the long-term answer at second base. De Vries has come up as a shortstop but could eventually move to the other side of the bag to play alongside Wilson in the middle infield. He’s coming off a .255/.355/.451 showing as an 18-year-old between High-A and Double-A. De Vries has a chance to get to the big leagues next year, but it’s hard to imagine the A’s would carry him on the Opening Day roster. He only has 21 games at Double-A and has no Triple-A experience. A second half debut is more reasonable and would still be remarkable for a player who turned 19 two weeks ago.

The A’s will want to keep one long-term infield spot available for De Vries. Their needs at second and third base mean they could pursue a controllable infielder at one spot while looking for a stopgap at the other. Brendan Donovan and Ozzie Albies each have two years of club control remaining and could be available on the trade market. Josh Jung and Alec Bohm are change-of-scenery candidates at third base. Jung has three years of remaining control and is projected at a $2.9MM salary, though it’s possible the Rangers would prefer to trade him outside the division. Bohm is projected for a salary in the $10MM range for his last arbitration season.

This isn’t a great class for free agent infielders. The A’s obviously aren’t signing Bo Bichette or Alex Bregman. Each of Jorge Polanco, Gleyber Torres and Ha-Seong Kim (if he opts out) could be available for two or three years, but they’re all going to command eight-figure salaries on an annual basis. Willi Castro, Yoán Moncada, Luis Rengifo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa will be available on one-year or cheap two-year deals at most. Signing someone from that group would aim a little higher than last winter’s deals with Luis Urías and Gio Urshela but would be broadly similar pickups.

Previewing Qualifying Offer Decisions: Pitchers

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The World Series looms and the offseason will begin around two weeks from now. One of the first key decisions for teams is whether to issue a qualifying offer to any of their impending free agents. Clubs have until the fifth day after the conclusion of the World Series to make QO decisions.

The QO is a one-year offer calculated by averaging the 125 highest salaries in MLB. This year’s price is $22.025MM. Players who receive the QO have around two weeks to get an early feel for the market before deciding whether to accept. If they do, they cannot be traded without their consent until at least June 15 of the following season — as is the case for any MLB free agent who signs a major league deal.

If the player rejects and signs elsewhere, his former team would receive draft compensation. The signing club would forfeit a pick (or picks) and potentially international signing bonus space. The compensation and penalties vary depending on teams’ revenue sharing and luxury tax statuses. MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently examined what each team would receive if they lose a qualified free agent, and the penalties they’d pay to sign one.

Yesterday, MLBTR looked at a relatively light class of expected recipients on the position player side. There’s more intrigue with the pitching, which could feature a handful of borderline cases depending on option decisions and health questions.

No-Doubters

This group is straightforward. Valdez and Suárez should easily land nine-figure contracts. Cease will probably begin the offseason with a nine-figure ask of his own based on his durability, plus stuff, and excellent strikeout potential. His 4.55 ERA and general inefficiency in the second half might prevent him from cashing in to that level, but he’d at least be able to command a two- or three-year deal with opt-outs even if his market doesn’t materialize as hoped. There’s no reason for him to accept a one-year deal.

Díaz is expected to opt out of the remaining two years and $38MM on his contract. He wouldn’t do that only to accept a one-year offer at $22MM. He’ll decline the qualifying offer and could look for a four-year deal that pays around $20MM annually.

Likely Recipients

All of these pitchers seem like comfortable recipients as well, though it’s not 100% certain they’d each decline as the top tier would. Gallen had an up-and-down season that concluded with a 4.83 earned run average over 192 innings. His 21.5% strikeout rate was the lowest of his career, and he struggled with the home run ball for the first time in four seasons. It’s not an encouraging walk year, but he’s only 30 years old and is a few months removed from having a case for a $150MM contract. While he’s not going to get there now, he should be able to land a two-year deal with an opt-out if no team is willing to pay nine figures.

King and Woodruff would’ve been locks to reject the QO had they finished the season at full stride. King missed a couple months with a pesky nerve injury in his throwing shoulder, then lost a few weeks to a knee issue. He returned in the middle of September but didn’t make it beyond five innings in any of his final four starts. The Padres carried him on the playoff roster but had pushed him far enough down the depth chart that they turned to a diminished Yu Darvish to start an elimination game while keeping King in the bullpen. It’s still likely that he’ll decline the qualifying offer and command a multi-year deal, but it’s an uphill battle to the nine-figure money that once seemed to be in the cards.

Woodruff finished the season on the injured list with a lat strain. He’d missed all of 2024 and the first half of this past season rehabbing from a shoulder surgery. In between, he was one of the best pitchers on the planet. He turned in a 3.20 ERA with a 32% strikeout rate across 12 starts. Teams are always on the hunt for playoff-caliber starters, and Woodruff certainly has that kind of ceiling. The durability questions and his age (33 in February) are likely to keep him at two or three years, but he should command a multi-year contract that pays at or above the qualifying offer price.

Borderline Calls

Flaherty has a $20MM player option. He’ll only become a free agent if he believes he’s going to beat that on the open market. Would he decline the option just to accept a qualifying offer for an extra $2MM if the Tigers offered it? That seems unlikely but isn’t impossible. He’d have the approximate two-week window after receiving the QO to gauge the market, and if he’s not finding the kind of early interest he’d hope, it could make sense to accept the offer.

The Tigers would need to decide whether it’s worthwhile to take that chance. Flaherty is coming off a middling 4.64 ERA but took the ball 31 times and struck out 27.6% of opponents. There are some similarities to where Nick Pivetta was at this time last year: a reliable source of innings with a plus strikeout/walk profile but concerns about his home run tendency. It was a little surprising that the Red Sox made Pivetta a qualifying offer and even more so that he turned it down. That gamble ended up netting the Sox the #75 pick in the draft. The Tigers, as revenue sharing recipients, would get a pick after the first round if Flaherty declines a QO and still pulls a $50MM+ guarantee from another team (as Pivetta did).

Giolito lost the 2024 season to internal brace surgery. He began this year on the injured list after suffering a Spring Training hamstring strain. He posted an ERA near 5.00 in May before settling in as a productive mid-rotation arm over the next few months. Giolito turned in a 3.03 earned run average across 20 starts and 113 innings from June onward.

A sub-20% strikeout rate raised some doubts about the sustainability of that kind of run prevention. Still, he looked like a reliable third starter who would do well on the open market once he crossed the 140-inning threshold to convert a $14MM team option into a $19MM mutual provision. Luis Severino had a similar profile and commanded three years and $67MM with an opt-out after declining a qualifying offer last winter. While that contract was an overpay to get a free agent starter to pitch at Sutter Health Park, a three-year deal in the mid-$50MM range is still preferable to accepting a QO.

Then came another injury. Giolito suffered flexor irritation and a bone issue in his throwing elbow at the end of the regular season. He did not make the Wild Card roster and would not have been available even if the Red Sox had made a deep postseason run. Giolito told Chris Cotillo of MassLive that there’s no ligament damage and the issue should heal with rest. Whether to make the QO will come down to Boston’s risk tolerance on the elbow.

The Sox’s luxury tax status should also be a consideration. Unofficial public estimates have them narrowly above the $241MM base threshold. If that’s the case, they’d only get a compensatory pick after the fourth round if Giolito rejects a QO and signs elsewhere. It’d fall in the #75 overall range — like the Pivetta pick — if they had stayed below the tax threshold. That won’t be known publicly until MLB releases its final payroll tallies in December, but the team surely has an idea of where they stand.

Imanaga has a complex option setup that might keep him from getting to free agency. The Cubs first need to decide whether to exercise a three-year, $57MM option covering the 2026-28 seasons. If they decline, Imanaga has the right to opt out of the remaining two years and $30MM on his deal. If both sides decline their end of the option structure, he’ll be a free agent. The Cubs would then need to decide whether to make the qualifying offer or be content to let Imanaga walk.

The longstanding assumption has been that the team would exercise the three-year option. Imanaga was fantastic in 2024 and carried a 3.08 ERA over 20 starts through the end of August this season. Then he got torched in September (6.51 ERA) and gave up six runs over 6 2/3 innings during two postseason starts. He gave up at least one home run in each of his last nine regular season starts, as well as in both playoff outings. Imanaga surrendered an MLB-worst 20 longballs in the second half.

That’s likely to continue to be a problem. Imanaga’s fastball sits around 90 MPH and he’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher. After striking out more than a quarter of batters faced during his rookie season, that dropped to a slightly below-average 20.6% mark this year. There are a lot of red flags, but he also owns a 3.28 ERA over 318 MLB innings in the last two seasons. How much has the final six weeks soured the Cubs on his future projection?

Unlikely/Long Shots

This group gets a cursory mention largely because there’s often one or two long shot recipients each year. Pivetta and especially Nick Martinez fell into this bucket last winter. Still, it’d register as a major surprise if anyone from this group receives the QO.

Suarez probably has the best chance. He’s one of the game’s best closers and should command a strong two-year deal for his age 35-36 seasons. The Padres have been navigating short-term payroll questions for the past few years, though, and they have Mason Miller as an obvious alternative to handle the ninth inning. Even if they want to give Miller a chance to start, Jeremiah Estrada or Adrian Morejon could close. With bigger needs in the rotation and at first base, they should let Suarez walk.

Mahle had a sterling 2.18 ERA across 16 starts but didn’t miss many bats. He then suffered a rotator cuff strain that cost him three months between mid-June and September. He has battled various shoulder injuries over the past two seasons and underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023. The Rangers are cutting payroll and need to overhaul their lineup. Committing $22MM to Mahle wouldn’t make much sense.

Williams, Keller and Weaver are three of the top relievers in the class. Teams generally reserve the QO for established high-end closers (e.g. Josh Hader, Raisel Iglesias). Williams would’ve been in that group if he’d had a typical platform year, but he finishes his first and probably only season in the Bronx with an ERA near-5.00.

Ineligible

Players who have previously received a qualifying offer in their careers cannot be tagged with a second one. That rules out Bassitt, Iglesias, Martinez and Verlander. Teams can only make the offer to players who spent the entire preceding season on their roster. Bieber, Kelly and Littell (who would’ve been unlikely anyway) were all traded at the deadline.

Previewing The 2025-26 Free Agent Class: Designated Hitter

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MLBTR continues its position-by-position look at the upcoming free agent class. Before we move on to the pitching, we’ll wrap up the offensive group by looking at the designated hitters. Every position player technically could play DH, of course, but the vast majority of the class has been covered in one of our prior positional previews. We’ll limit this look to players who are either primary designated hitters or took at least 200 plate appearances at the position this year. Player ages, listed in parenthesis, are for the 2026 season.

Previous entries in this series: catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, center field, corner outfield

Top of the Class

Kyle Schwarber (33)

With the exception of Shohei Ohtani, Schwarber is the top free agent designated hitter in years. He’s going to become the first pure DH to sign a nine-figure contract after blasting an NL-best 56 home runs and leading MLB with 132 runs driven in. Schwarber played in all 162 games and batted .240/.365/.563 over 724 trips to the plate.

Schwarber hit 38+ homers in all four seasons of the free agent contract he’d signed with Philadelphia. He’s going to strike out a lot, but he’s among the five best power hitters in the sport. He’s also adored in the Philly clubhouse, and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has made no secret about their desire to keep him. Schwarber is going to decline a qualifying offer and should be in position for a four-year contract that pays more than $25MM annually. There’s a non-zero chance that a team stretches to five years to push the overall guarantee above $130MM.

Regular DH Options

Josh Bell (33)

The ever streaky Bell alternated bad and excellent months throughout the season. He had a .730 OPS or below in each of April, June and August while posting an .860 or better in May, July and September. The end result was a .239/.326/.421 batting line with 22 home runs across 533 plate appearances. For all his inconsistency within seasons, Bell has reliably ended up as a slightly above-average hitter in each of the past three years. He should command another one-year deal.

Starling Marte (37)

After consecutive seasons of declining production, Marte had a bit of a rebound in a part-time role for the Mets. He hit .270/.335/.410 over 329 plate appearances. Marte only hit seven homers and isn’t the kind of power bat that teams will want as an everyday DH, but he can take 250-300 at-bats while playing a part-time corner outfield role.

Andrew McCutchen (39)

Cutch has signed a series of one-year, $5MM deals with the Pirates over the past few seasons. This year’s .239/.333/.367 line with 13 homers is his worst production of his three-year second stint in Pittsburgh. McCutchen still has a strong awareness of the strike zone, but he’s no longer a threat for 25-30 homers at this stage of his career. It seems likely he’ll work out another cheap one-year deal with the Bucs.

Marcell Ozuna (35)

Ozuna is the cheap alternative to Schwarber as a true everyday designated hitter. He’s only one season removed from being one of the sport’s best offensive players. Ozuna combined for 79 home runs with a .289/.364/.552 slash between 2023-24. He’s coming off an underwhelming walk year at age 34, as he regressed to a .232/.355/.400 batting line with 21 homers over 592 trips to the plate. It’s still above-average offensive output but not great production for a player who hasn’t logged a single inning on defense in two years.

The in-season trend lines were not encouraging. Ozuna hit .280/.426/.457 with nearly as many walks as strikeouts through the end of May. For a while, he looked as if he’d be one of the best rental hitters available at the trade deadline. He then went through a three-month slog in which he hit .185/.300/.362 over 278 plate appearances. That killed any chance of the Braves getting more than marginal salary relief, so they kept him for the stretch run. Ozuna rebounded somewhat to hit .261 in September, but he struck out at a 32% clip and only connected on one home run in the season’s final month. He’ll be limited to a one-year deal that might be half of the $16MM salary he collected this past season.

Jorge Polanco (32)

Polanco’s contract technically contains a $6MM player option, but he’s going to decline that and hit free agency. The Mariners surprisingly re-signed him on the heels of a disappointing 2024 season. Seattle attributed the down year to a knee injury through which he’d played that required postseason meniscus surgery. They’ve been proven right with a resurgent year from the switch-hitting infielder. Polanco drilled 26 homers and 30 doubles with a .265/.326/.495 line.

While Polanco can still hit, he’ll face questions about his defensive workload over 162 games. Seattle initially planned to play him at third base, believing that not needing to navigate the second base bag would be easier on his knee. That lasted five games before renewed soreness and an oblique injury led the M’s to use him as a full-time designated hitter for a while. He began mixing in second base work in June and played there regularly for the final three weeks of the season. He’s a long shot candidate for a qualifying offer but will likely hit free agency without draft compensation. He should get at least a two-year deal and has a chance for three.

Bench Bats

Wilmer Flores (34)

Flores got out to a strong start to the season, popping seven home runs with a penchant for clutch hits in April. He had a pedestrian .245/.315/.365 batting line from the beginning of May onwards. Flores has made a career as a versatile defender who hits left-handed pitching, but he’s essentially limited to DH and first base at this point. He only has a .228/.278/.371 slash against southpaws over the past two seasons and may need to take a minor league deal.

Mitch Garver (35)

Garver logged nearly 400 innings behind the plate as Cal Raleigh’s backup. The Mariners signed him with the expectation that he’d be their primary designated hitter, but he hit .187/.290/.341 in 201 games over two seasons in the Pacific Northwest.

Justin Turner (41)

Turner got $6MM from the Cubs last offseason to work as a veteran righty bat off the bench. He hit .219/.288/.314 over 80 games in his age-40 season and is probably looking at a minor league deal if he continues playing.

Jesse Winker (32)

Winker landed a $7.5MM guarantee to re-sign with the Mets last offseason. He’ll probably be limited to minor league offers this winter after oblique and back injuries limited him to 26 games.

Player Options

Joc Pederson (34)

Pederson will exercise a $16.5MM player option with Texas after hitting .181/.285/.328 over 306 plate appearances. The Rangers will need a huge rebound from a player who’d hit .275/.393/.515 with the Diamondbacks in 2024.

Offseason Outlook: Baltimore Orioles

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The Orioles came into 2025 as contenders but their season fell apart quickly. They have the pieces to bounce back in 2026 but what remains to be seen is how aggressive they will be in making offseason upgrades.

Guaranteed Contracts

Option Decisions

2026 guarantees (assuming the Enns option is picked up): $20.5MM
Total future commitments: $103MM

Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projected salaries courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Non-tender candidates: Mountcastle, Akin, Carlson, Castillo, Cano, Jackson

Free Agents

As seen up top, the O's have almost no long-term commitments. They have a large arbitration class but none of the projections are particularly onerous. Even with those arb players, RosterResource projects the club for a paltry $69MM payroll next year, almost $100MM below what they spent in 2025. A few non-tenders should give them even more breathing room.

All that potential payroll capacity doesn't guarantee of aggressive moves, however. They also had lots of dry powder last winter and still kept things fairly modest. The only multi-year pact was a three-year deal for Tyler O'Neill with an opt-out after the first season. Otherwise, it was one-year deals for veteran players like Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, Andrew Kittredge, Gary Sánchez and Ramón Laureano.

The starting pitching investments were particularly underwhelming. The O's clearly needed more in the rotation. Since it was the first offseason under new owner David Rubenstein, some fans believed a new level of spending was possible. In November, then-general manager Mike Elias set the expectations fairly high. "You’re certainly wanting to keep the whole menu of player acquisition open," he said. "That involves high-end free agent deals over many years. We’ve been engaged in those conversations already.”

But the O's ended up with a 41-year-old Morton and a 35-year-old Sugano. The rotation ended up being a source of frustration for the O's all year. A spring injury to Grayson Rodriguez quickly cut into the depth and led the O's to a mid-March signing of Kyle Gibson. In April, Zach Eflin hit the injured list and Morton struggled enough to get bumped to the bullpen. Gibson came up to try to patch the holes but he was torched in four starts and released in May. Plenty of other guys struggled to put good numbers together as well.

The season quickly slipped away. They were 12-18 at the end of April and then went 9-18 in May. They were better the rest of the way but it was too late to get the season back on track. They went into the deadline as sellers and were aggressive in trading away veterans for prospects.

Going into 2026, the rotation again needs some work, though there have been some positive developments. Trevor Rogers took a while to get on track in 2025, starting the season on the IL with a knee injury, but had an amazing finish. He posted a 1.81 earned run average over 18 starts. It's not realistic to expect him to stay that good over a longer sample but the numbers under the hood are promising. Kyle Bradish got back on the mound after his 2024 Tommy John surgery. He only made six starts in the majors but also made six more as part of his rehab.

Rogers and Bradish make for a strong one-two punch atop the rotation. Rodriguez would be another front-of-rotation option but he missed the entire season due to elbow and shoulder issues. He's expected to be ready for spring training but the O's will probably have to be mindful of his workload for a while. Guys like Dean Kremer, Cade Povich and Tyler Wells can fill in the back but adding another front-end guy makes sense, something Elias has admitted. Will the poor 2025 season prompt a bolder strike this offseason?

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Astros Sign Nate Pearson

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October 21: Houston officially announced their one-year deal with Pearson on Tuesday. According to The Associated Press, the deal includes $150K in incentives. He’d earn $50K for reaching 50 innings and $50K apiece at 20 and 25 starts.

October 17: The Astros are in agreement with right-hander Nate Pearson on a one-year, $1.35MM guarantee, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Pearson, a client of Excel Sports Management, is expected to work as a starter. The deal also includes performance bonuses.

Pearson will get the opportunity to pitch out of the rotation for the first time since his brief MLB debut in 2020. The hard-throwing righty made four starts as a rookie with Toronto. He’s made 118 appearances over the past five seasons, and all but two have been out of the bullpen. Pearson spent the last season and a half with the Cubs. He came to Chicago in 2024 via a midseason trade from Toronto.

Pearson made 11 appearances with the Cubs this past season. He broke camp with the team, but gave up 10 earned runs over his first 8 2/3 innings and soon found himself back at Triple-A. Pearson made it back up for a weekend in June, only to be hammered for five earned runs in his lone appearance. His final stint with the big-league club would be two solid outings in August, when he tossed four scoreless innings. In total, Pearson posted a 9.20 ERA across 14 2/3 MLB innings, including an untenable 7:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Chicago released Pearson during the final week of the regular season.

A major-league agreement for Pearson might seem surprising given his recent output at the highest level, but his results were much better at Triple-A Iowa. Pearson recorded a 2.22 ERA with a stellar 30.6% K% across 38 minor-league outings. Free passes remained a problem (12.9% walk rate), but Triple-A batters hit just .170 against Pearson.

Houston is likely betting on pedigree here. Pearson was a first-round selection for Toronto back in 2017. His development was delayed by a broken arm and an oblique injury in 2018, but he broke through with a tremendous 2019 season in the minors. Pearson tossed 101 2/3 innings across three levels, notching a 2.30 ERA with a 30.7% strikeout rate over 25 starts. He entered the 2020 campaign as a top 10 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline and Baseball America.

Pearson made five appearances with the Blue Jays in the shortened 2020 season before an elbow injury cut his year short. Injuries would continue to derail him moving forward. A litany of health issues capped Pearson at 45 2/3 innings in 2021 and 30 2/3 frames in 2022. He stayed healthy for 2023 and 2024, working exclusively as a reliever with the Blue Jays before being dealt to Chicago.

Houston has some uncertainty in the rotation heading into 2026. Framber Valdez is a free agent. The club lost Ronel Blanco, Luis Garcia, and Brandon Walter to Tommy John surgery. Spencer Arrighetti’s season ended prematurely due to elbow concerns. Cristian Javier and Lance McCullers Jr. were healthy to close the season, but have dealt with injuries of their own. Jason Alexander went from depth option to rotation mainstay after getting scooped up as a waiver claim. Hunter Brown is the only rock-solid member of the staff at the moment. Pearson comes with plenty of his own question marks, but the risk is minimal. He could return to a bullpen role if starting doesn’t work out.

Image courtesy of Allan Henry, Imagn Images.

Previewing The 2025-26 Free Agent Class: Corner Outfield

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A number of teams (and their fanbases) have already turned their attention towards the offseason. Identifying free agent targets is a big part of that prep work, so it’s worth taking a look at the players who’ll be available at each position.

We’re moving to the outfield corners, where there are a couple of strong everyday guys but then a huge drop-off to the lower tiers. Ages listed are for the 2026 season.

Previous entries in this series: catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, center field

Top of the Class

Tucker isn’t going into free agency with the ideal amount of momentum. His 2024 season was truncated by a shin fracture. His 2025 campaign was dragged down by a finger fracture and a calf strain. He missed some time and didn’t perform up to expectations in the last few months before hitting the open market.

Regardless, he’s head and shoulders above everyone else listed here. Even with the recent hiccups, he’s been one of the best players in baseball for a few years now. Dating back to the start of 2020, he has a combined .276/.362/.513 batting line and 141 wRC+. He has stolen 113 bases in that time and generally been given strong grades for his defense. FanGraphs has credited him with 25.2 wins above replacement in that stretch, a mark that puts him behind only ten position players.

The injuries may create a bit of uncertainty but his record is otherwise very solid, well-rounded and consistent. For teams looking for a clear and immediate corner outfield upgrade, he’s the obvious choice. Big spenders like the Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays, Angels, Rangers and Giants have outfield questions and could push the bidding up. Re-signing with the Cubs would be out of character for that club but they clearly love him, since they gave up a lot to get him a year ago. A dark-horse team like the Mariners, Orioles, Tigers or Rays could also be possible. He will receive and reject a qualifying offer from the Cubs and will therefore be attached to the associated penalties, though that will be a small consideration for a player like this.

Everyday Regulars

It has already been reported that Bellinger will be opting out of his deal, which should come as no surprise. He’ll take a $5MM buyout instead of next year’s $25MM salary, leaving $20MM on the table. That’s an easy decision, as he should be able to top that handily. His previous trips to free agency haven’t yielded the desired long-term deal, but he should be in a better spot this time around. His dismal 2021 and 2022 seasons now seem like distant memories. That’s also true of his 2019 MVP form, but he has settled in as a solid everyday player.

With the Yankees this year, Bellinger hit 29 home runs. He only struck out 13.7% of the time, and he stole 13 bases. His defense was passable in center but above-average in the corners. He slashed .272/.334/.480 for a 125 wRC+. FanGraphs gave him 4.9 fWAR for the season.

There are some questions under the hood. The offense might not be totally sustainable. His batted ball metrics are relatively pedestrian, and he likely benefitted from the short porch at Yankee Stadium. All of this year’s homers were to the pull side. He slashed .302/.365/.544 at home but .241/.301/.414 on the road. He probably won’t be considered an everyday center fielder since he hasn’t done that since 2022. Still, he’s the best corner outfield option apart from Tucker, and there’s a big drop to the next tier. Bellinger won’t receive a QO because he’s already received one in his career and is therefore ineligible. He should get a strong multi-year deal.

After Tucker and Bellinger, there’s a clear drop. Guys like Trent Grisham, Cedric Mullins and Harrison Bader may get consideration for corner jobs but the center field market is also not strong, so they can probably find up-the-middle gigs.

That leaves Yaz as arguably the best solid regular after Tucker and Bellinger. He’s been a decent player for years now. He’s not a superstar but has generally been above-average at the plate and in the field. He’s had five straight seasons with a wRC+ between 99 and 111. He has produced between 3 and 9 Defensive Runs Saved in each of those seasons while Outs Above Average has had him a bit closer to par. FanGraphs has given him between 1.5 and 2.4 WAR in each of those five campaigns.

Despite that track record of reliably decent production, his earning power won’t be huge. A late bloomer, he didn’t break out until his age-28 season. He’s now reaching free agency for the first time just after his 35th birthday. He’ll probably be limited to one-year offers, but a two-year pact isn’t totally out of the question.

Platoon/Bounceback Bats

Andujar just wrapped up a good season between the Athletics and Reds. He slashed .318/.352/.470 for a 125 wRC+. Most of that damage came against southpaws. The righty bat slashed .290/.331/.429 for a 108 wRC+ against righties but .389/.409/.578 and a 171 wRC+ against lefties. His 2024 production was even more lopsided, with a 192 wRC+ with the platoon advantage and 82 without. In addition to the outfield corners, he also played first and third base this year, so he should find a home somewhere as a lefty masher with some defensive versatility.

Last winter, the Dodgers gave Conforto $17MM on a one-year deal, but it didn’t work out. He hit .199/.305/.333 and was left off the club’s playoff roster. The track record is still decent enough that he could find some club willing to take a bounceback flier. He oddly had reverse splits in 2025, but his career splits are traditional. The lefty swinger has a .249/.351/.460 line and 121 wRC+ against righties in his career and a .233/.318/.391 line and 98 wRC+ against southpaws.

Grichuk didn’t have a great campaign in 2025, hitting just .228/.273/.401. Even against lefties, he had a subpar .227/.273/.430 slash and 89 wRC+. However, he’s just one year removed from posting a .319/.386/.528 line and 152 wRC+ against southpaws. Even on the heels of that strong showing, he was only able to secure a $5MM guarantee to return to the Diamondbacks, so he should be even more affordable this time.

For his career, the righty-swinging Hays has a .282/.340/.479 line against lefties and .253/.301/.416 otherwise, leading to respective wRC+ tallies of 124 and 97. This year was even more extreme, with a .319/.400/.549 line and 155 wRC+ against southpaws and a .249/.286/.422 line and 88 wRC+ without the platoon advantage. Beyond the offense, Hays is considered a strong defender but has been fairly injury prone in the past two seasons.

Kepler signed a one-year, $10MM deal with the Phillies last offseason. He thought he was going to be an everyday player, but the Phils mostly shielded him from lefties. He was only sent up to face a southpaw 76 times this year and didn’t fare well. He also didn’t hit righties, turning in a .216/.305/.399 line and 93 wRC+. However, his career numbers are better, with a .240/.324/.446 line and 107 wRC+ with the platoon advantage. He’s solid with the glove, but his rough season at the plate should give him less earning power compared to a year ago.

Marte had a good season at the plate, slashing .270/.335/.410 for a 112 wRC+, but mostly as a designated hitter. The Mets only put him out on the grass for 65 innings. Given his age and injury history, he probably can’t be counted on for much more than that going forward.

Refsnyder is turning 35 in March but he just keeps hitting lefties. For his career, he has a .281/.383/.443 line and 129 wRC+ with the platoon advantage. In 2025, he was even better, putting up a .302/.399/.560 line and 159 wRC+ against southpaws. There was previously some suggestion he was flirting with retirement, but he plans to play in 2026.

Slater has generally been solid against lefties in his career, but his past two seasons have been rough. Overall, he hit .212/.299/.314 for a 77 wRC+ during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. That included some league-average production against southpaws in 2025, but injuries limited him to just 65 games on the year. His career .267/.357/.430 line and 119 wRC+ against lefties will get him some interest, but his recent struggles and injuries will tamp down his earning power.

Thomas is coming off an injury-marred season. He only appeared in 39 games. He underwent surgery to address his plantar fasciitis in September, a procedure that comes with a recovery timeline of three to four months. He’s not too far removed from a 28-homer season in 2023, but even at his best, he did most of his damage against lefties. He has a career .292/.359/.500 line and 135 wRC+ versus southpaws and a .220/.287/.383 line and 84 wRC+ when facing righties. In addition to his bat, he can steal bases and play a passable center field, but his health situation clouds his status somewhat.

Winker’s a good hitter but his health comes and goes. He only played 61 games in 2023 due to back problems. He bounced back in 2024, showing enough that the Mets gave him $7.5MM on a one-year deal for 2025. However, oblique and back issues limited him to just 26 contests this past year. His track record enough to get him interest, but he’s never been a good defender and the injuries keep pushing him more firmly towards full-time designated hitter status.

Depth Types

Options/Opt-Outs

Gurriel can opt out of his deal, walking away from the one year and $18MM guarantee he’s still owed. He won’t do it though. He suffered a torn right ACL in September. The surgery comes with a recovery timeline of nine to ten months, putting him out of action through at least the first half of 2026.

The Padres can retain Laureano for 2026 via a $6.5MM club option. That’s a bargain, considering he just hit .281/.342/.512 for a 138 wRC+ and was credited with three wins above replacement by FanGraphs. The Padres have ongoing financial issues but should pick up the option without much thought. Even if they don’t want to pay Laureano themselves, he’d have plenty of trade value (though it’s likely he’s their regular left fielder next year).

O’Neill can opt out of his deal, walking away from the two years and $33MM he is still owed. But injuries limited him to 54 games and a dismal .199/.292/.392 showing in 2025, so it would be silly of him to trigger that opt-out.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Franmil Reyes Re-Signs With NPB’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters On One-Year Deal

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Former big leaguer Franmil Reyes has re-signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball, according to reports out of Japan (hat tip to Yakyu Cosmopolitan).  Reyes’ agent has posted on X that it’s a one-year contract, so he will be a free agent after the 2026 season.

It is easy to see why the Fighters wanted to lock Reyes up, as he has provided some big pop over his two NPB seasons.  Reyes has hit .282/.347/.535 with 57 home runs over 899 plate appearances with the Kitahiroshima-based club, helping carry the Fighters to second-place finishes in the Pacific League in each of the last two seasons.  The Fighters’ 240 home runs over the last two seasons is the most of any NPB team, with Reyes’ power bat leading the way.

This slugging ability was evident over most of Reyes’ six Major League seasons, as he posted 108 big flies and a .264/.310/.464 slash line over 2078 PA with the Padres, Guardians, Cubs, and Royals from 2018-23.  Unfortunately for Reyes, his production suddenly cratered in 2022, leading Cleveland to option him to Triple-A and then designate him for assignment that summer.  Subsequent stints with the Cubs, Royals, and (on a minor league contract) Nationals didn’t see Reyes regain his stroke, so he opted to head overseas following the 2023 season.

MLBTR’s post initially indicated that Reyes signed a multi-year contract. We apologize for the error.

The Ultimate Daily Sports Trivia Experience! (Sponsored)

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Introducing The Winfield Game

What is it?

Sharing a name with the only player ever to be drafted in the first round of the MLB, NBA, and NFL drafts. The Winfield Game is a daily challenge to name that day’s current or former NBA
All-Star, MLB All-Star, or NFL Pro Bowl player in as few guesses as possible. Each guess will provide clues to that day’s player and will help inform your next guess.

In the example below, the player started their game with Rich Hill. Using the clues provided from Rich Hill – we know the answer: 1) played their most games in the 2000s (green capsule)
and also played in the 2010s, 2) played for the Yankees and Dodgers – though neither was the team for which they played their most games (no green capsule), and the player was not a pitcher as no position match is shown. That led the player to guess Bobby Abreu, which provided several more clues, including a position match and we know the answer won a Gold Glove.

Use hints (optionally) — if the puzzle hasn’t been solved after 5 guesses, users can opt for a hint (at the cost of counting as a guess). Hints might reveal a team, decade, or achievement clue
the user doesn’t yet have.

Results Page — after the user completes the game (or fails), their score is shown along with that day’s average score. In addition, there is a lifetime average score leaderboard. And there is a full
archive of all previous games as well!

Secrets of the game:

Like any puzzle, there is a strategy involved. For baseball lovers here are some fun initial guesses to make based on the categories that will give the best chance to win!

Players to Play in Four or more Decades:

  • Jamie Moyer: Pitched from 1986 to 2012 and was an all-star 1x in 2003 (at 40 years old!)
  • Omar Vizquel: Played from 1989 to 2012 and was a 3x all-star. He also won 11 gold gloves which is only helpful if the guess for the day is a MLB player
  • Rickey Henderson: Played from 1979 to 2003
  • Ken Griffey Jr.: Played from 1989 to 2010
  • Nolan Ryan: Played from 1966 to 1993

Henderson, Griffey Jr., and Ryan will check additional boxes if the player of the day has won an MVP award (Henderson and Griffey Jr.), as well as in their respective sport’s Hall of Fame.

BONUS: The only all-star MLB player to appear in FIVE decades is Hall of Famer Minnie Minoso (1949-1980).

Players to Play for Multiple Franchises:

Additionally, the game rewards guesses of players who played for many franchises. These players give the best shot at matching a team or metro area with the answer. Here are a few MLB players that could be valuable guesses.

  • Edwin Jackson: Pitched from 2003 to 2019 and appeared for an MLB record 14 teams.. The teams are: Dodgers, Rays, Tigers, Diamondbacks, White Sox, Cardinals, Nationals,
    Cubs, Braves, Marlins, Padres, Orioles, A’s, and Blue Jays. So a nice mix of cities represented that have other major sports teams
  • Mike Morgan: Pitched from 1978 to 2002 and made 1x All-Star in 1991. Bonus points that he also picks up four decades too! Morgan played for the A’s, Yankees, Blue Jays,
    Mariners, Orioles, Dodgers, Cubs, Cardinals, Reds, Twins, Rangers, and Diamondbacks)
  • Fernando Rodney: Pitched from 2002 to 2019 and made 3x All-Star teams. While he played seven years in Detroit he also appeared for Angels, Rays, Mariners, Cubs, Padres,
    Marlins, D-backs, Twins, A’s and Nationals

While the game of course will let player’s guess non-All Stars, unfortunately, Rich Hill would not be recommended here as he never made an All-Star team. He did appear for 14 MLB teams,
a record.

Play Today!

Make sure to check out The Winfield Game daily and share with friends for ultimate bragging rights.

This is a sponsored post from The Winfield Game.

Padres Interview Brian Esposito For Managerial Job

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The Padres’ managerial search has reached the interview stage, as The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports that the club spoke with bench coach Brian Esposito on Monday.  The 46-year-old Esposito is the first candidate known to have an interview in the books with the Padres, though the team may have already sat down with other internal candidates like pitching coach Ruben Niebla or special assistant Mark Loretta.  As far as external candidates, Albert Pujols is set to interview with San Diego on Wednesday, as the future Hall-of-Famer continues to explore his first foray into managing at the MLB level.

Esposito is technically a former teammate of Pujols, as one of Esposito’s three career Major League games as a player came with the 2007 Cardinals.  That cup of coffee in St. Louis and two games with the 2010 Astros comprised the big league portion of Esposito’s 13-year playing career (2000-12) that was otherwise spent in the minors with seven different organizations.

After hanging up his glove, Esposito went on to manage at multiple levels of the Pirates’ farm system, including a five-year run as the skipper with Triple-A Indianapolis.  Beginning with the 2022 season, Esposito joined the Padres first as a minor league manager, then as a catching coach and game strategy assistant on the big league staff in 2023-24.  The Padres didn’t have a formal bench coach in 2024 (Mike Shildt’s first season as manager), but Esposito was promoted to the job prior to last season.

Unless he gets the manager’s job himself, Esposito’s status could be up in the air heading into 2026, along with the rest of the San Diego coaching staff.  Naturally a new skipper will get some say in assembling his own staff, and for the bench coach role in particular, a manager usually prefers to assign that role to a long-time colleague.  Esposito’s chances of remaining as bench coach could be improved if a familiar face like Niebla or Loretta gets the job, though since both would be first-time MLB managers, they could prefer to have a more seasoned voice or a former ex-skipper as their top lieutenant.

Hiring Esposito would be a way for San Diego to maintain some continuity in the dugout.  The Padres are coming off consecutive trips to the playoffs and didn’t think they’d be making a managerial search at all, prior to Shildt’s surprising resignation.  Bringing in an entirely new face like Pujols might be more of a shake-up than the Padres would necessarily want to make, which could be why the early stages of the team’s search has largely been centered around familiar names.  Beyond Esposito, Niebla, and Loretta, former Padres bench coach Ryan Flaherty and ex-Padres catcher Nick Hundley have been linked to the job (though Hundley recently turned down the Giants’ managerial job due to family concerns).

Another known Padres figure has expressed interest, as longtime broadcaster and former big league catcher Carlos Hernandez tells Lin that he would like to be considered for the manager’s position or possibly a coaching role.  Hernandez’s 10-year MLB playing career includes parts of three seasons in San Diego (1997-2000), and his post-playing endeavors included managing in the Mexican League and Venezuelan Winter League, as well as stints as a catching coordinator with the Padres and Diamondbacks.  For the last 14 years, Hernandez has been calling Padres’ TV and radio broadcasts as a Spanish-language announcer.

Braves Sign Austin Nola To Minors Contract

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The Braves have signed catcher Austin Nola to a minor league deal, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.  The contract contains an invitation to Atlanta’s big league spring camp.

Nola appeared in 345 MLB games with the Padres and Mariners from 2019-2023, posting some very solid numbers at the plate before his production tailed off badly by the 2023 campaign.  Nola spent the 2024 season with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate without getting any more playing time in the Show, and he moved on to sign a minor league deal with the Rockies last winter.

The early part of Nola’s 2025 campaign was spent battling injuries, but he played well enough at Triple-A to earn a selection to Colorado’s active roster.  Nola didn’t fare nearly as well, hitting .184/.225/.211 over 41 plate appearances and 14 games with the Rox before being designated for assignment and then outrighted off the 40-man roster in August.  He elected free agency rather than accept that outright assignment, so Nola has had a bit of extra time to line up his next stop.

Atlanta is set at the MLB level with Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy as their catchers, but Chuckie Robinson is the only other backstop in the system with any big league experience.  Nola can provide some depth for the Braves in camp, and could even chip in as a reserve first baseman.  Now entering his age-36 season, time may be running out for Nola to re-establish himself as even a backup in the majors, but a good showing in Spring Training could win him a Triple-A job with the Braves or perhaps a look elsewhere with a team with a less stable catching situation.

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