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Braves Designate Ryan Rolison For Assignment

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The Braves announced today that left-hander Ryan Rolison has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man roster move for the club’s signing of right-hander Robert Suarez.

Rolison, 28, has never pitched for Atlanta. He spent his entire professional career with the Rockies until a few weeks ago. Colorado needed to open some roster space for new additions and designated him for assignment. The next day, he was traded to Atlanta for cash considerations.

The Rockies had selected him 22nd overall in the 2018 draft and he was a notable prospect for a few years but he hasn’t yet delivered on that pedigree. He lost some time on his way up the minor league ladder. The pandemic wiped out the minors in 2020 and then Rolison dealt with some injuries, mostly shoulder problems.

He finally made it to the big leagues in 2025 but didn’t find immediate success. He logged 42 1/3 innings for the Rockies this year, allowing 7.02 earned runs per nine. His 47.9% ground ball rate was pretty good but his 10.4% walk rate was subpar and his 13% strikeout rate very low. His minor league numbers this year were far better. He tossed 29 2/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League with a 3.34 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 48.8% ground ball rate.

Rolison still has an option remaining, so he doesn’t need to be guaranteed a major league roster spot. Atlanta was intrigued enough to grab him in a cash deal but he has been squeezed off the roster.

Atlanta will now have seven days of DFA limbo to work with. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so they could take up to five days to explore trades. Rolison has a previous career outright and would therefore have the right to elect free agency if he is passed through waivers unclaimed. If any other club acquires him, he has between two and three years of service time, meaning he comes with four years of potential club control.

Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images

Braves Sign Robert Suarez

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The Braves further solidified the back of their bullpen Thursday, announcing the signing of former Padres closer Robert Suarez on a three-year, $45MM contract. Suarez, a client of Primo Sports Group, became a free agent at season’s end when he opted out of the final two years and $16MM on his five-year contract with San Diego. He’ll be paid $13MM in 2026 and $16MM in both 2027 and 2028, per the team. There are reportedly no deferrals in the contract. Atlanta designated lefty Ryan Rolison for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster (more on that move here).

The 34-year-old Suarez (35 in March) went directly from Mexico to Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball late last decade and, after establishing himself as one of the top relievers in NPB, has broken out as a top-tier reliever in the majors. Originally signed on a two-year deal with the Padres, he opted out after one year and inked a five-year, $46MM extension that afforded him another opt-out provision after the third year, which he took last month.

Now Atlanta-bound, Suarez has consistently posted quality numbers in high-leverage spots for the Friars. Dating back to his 2022 MLB debut, he’s posted a 2.91 ERA with a 26.5% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate in 210 innings. Suarez sits just under 99 mph with his four-seamer and complements the pitch with a changeup that got great results in ’22-’23 but has been hit hard the past two seasons. It hasn’t led to poor results, however, because Suarez’s fastball and sinker both grade out as dominant offerings.

Suarez joins right-hander Raisel Iglesias, who re-upped on a one-year, $16MM contract earlier in the offseason, to form a potent one-two punch at the back of new manager Walt Weiss’ bullpen. Notably, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that Iglesias will continue to serve as the closer in Atlanta. Suarez will operate as his primary setup man (and, of course, can handle save opportunities in the event that Iglesias is unavailable or suffers an injury). Setup work is nothing new for Suarez, who in 2022 helped set up for Taylor Rogers and in 2023 was a key setup arm for Josh Hader.

On the surface, a three-year, $45MM contract for a high-end reliever feels fairly well in line with contractual norms around the game. However, Suarez’s camp did quite well to get him the third guaranteed year. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, this is the first deal of three or more years for a 35-year-old (or older) reliever since Will Harris signed for $24MM with the Nationals prior to the 2020 season. Before that, you’d have to go all the way back to Ryan Madson’s three-year pact with the A’s back in 2015 to find another example of a bullpen arm being paid for this long of a term at Suarez’s age.

Adding Suarez brings Atlanta’s 2026 payroll up to about $241MM. RosterResource estimates that the team is carrying more than $236MM worth of luxury-tax considerations, which places them within $8MM of the 2026 season’s $244MM first-tier luxury threshold. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has already checked several items off his winter to-do list, though Atlanta still figures to be open to additions at shortstop, on the bench and/or on the pitching staff. That said, re-signing Iglesias, acquiring utilityman Mauricio Dubon and bringing in both Suarez and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski (on a two-year, $23MM deal) has removed some of the urgency to make further additions.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the agreement and the terms of the contract. The Athletic’s Will Sammon first reported the year-to-year breakdown.

Athletics To Sign Mark Leiter Jr.

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The Athletics have reached an agreement with right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. on a contract, according to Robbie Hyde of Foul Territory. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic notes that the deal is pending a physical. According to Jesse Rogers of ESPN, the deal guarantees Leiter “around” $3MM.

Leiter, 35 in March, made his big league debut back in 2017 but didn’t fully establish himself at the big league level until joining the Cubs in 2022. He served as a swing man and long reliever for Chicago that year, with a 3.99 in 67 2/3 innings of work in that role, but moved to a short relief role full-time in 2023. In 100 2/3 innings of work for the Cubs over the next two seasons, Leiter pitched to a 3.75 ERA with a 3.12 FIP while striking out 30.9% of his opponents and walking 8.8%.

Those exciting peripherals were enough to convince the Yankees to swing a trade for the right-hander at the 2024 trade deadline, but he struggled in New York even as his peripheral numbers remained strong. In 70 innings of work for the Yankees over parts of two seasons with the club, Leiter posted a 4.89 ERA despite a 4.07 FIP. In 2025, Leiter struck out 24.7% against a 7.8% walk rate while generating grounders on 45.5% of his batted balls allowed. Unfortunately for the righty, the results weren’t there enough for the Yankees to tender him a contract last month, and he wound up reaching free agency a year earlier than anticipated.

Headed into 2026, the A’s can expect Leiter to be a solid middle relief arm at least. His 4.15 ERA over the past four seasons is exactly league average (100) by ERA+, and the right-hander’s impressive splitter actually makes him particularly effective against left-handed batters. In 104 2/3 innings of work against lefties the last three years, Leiter has posted a 2.49 ERA and 2.57 FIP with a 32.1% strikeout rate. With league average results overall and elite numbers against lefties, Leiter has a much higher floor than a typical non-tendered middle relief arm, which is surely why he was able to command a solid guarantee even coming off a tough year in New York.

Leiter hasn’t managed to play up to his peripherals throughout his career, but if he can do so he could wind up a valuable setup man for the A’s this year. The righty’s 3.13 SIERA over the past three seasons ranks 13th among relievers with at least 150 innings of work since the start of the 2023 season, and that puts him on a similar level to well-regarded late-inning arms like Luke Weaver. Leiter’s .359 BABIP and 66.5% strand rate over the past two years indicate extremely poor fortune when it comes to batted balls and sequencing; if those numbers experience enough positive regression to get within spitting distance of league average, Leiter’s a good bet to be impactful at the back of the A’s bullpen next year.

It’s been a quiet offseason for the A’s so far, though there’s certain reasons for optimism regarding the club’s future. Nick Kurtz emerged as a potential superstar this year, and he’s backed by a core of exciting positional talent like Brent Rooker, Shea Langeliers, Jacob Wilson, and Lawrence Butler. The club’s pitching staff needs plenty of work if the team is going to contend in 2026, but adding Leiter to a bullpen that already houses respectable arms like Hogan Harris and Michael Kelly should be a small step towards accomplishing that goal. Jeffrey Springs and Luis Severino remain in the fold as solid back-of-the-rotation veterans, though it remains to be seen how much A’s ownership is willing to spend in order to augment that group. Whether the A’s are facing significant budget constraints or not, however, bringing Leiter into the fold as a reliever with possible late-inning upside on a relative bargain can only be a good thing for the club.

Nico Hoerner Drawing Trade Interest

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Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner has come up in trade conversations, according to a report from Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. The report emphasizes that while president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer gauges the market value of virtually every player on the roster during the offseason, that shouldn’t be taken as an indication the Cubs intend to move Hoerner.

It’s easy to see why teams would be asking after the 28-year-old. Hoerner is coming off a career year where he won his second career Gold Glove for his defense at second base while slashing .297/.345/.394 (109 wRC+) with 40 extra-base hits and 29 steals in 156 games. He struck out at a career-best 7.6% clip while walking 6.0% of the time. Only Luis Arraez (3.1%) and Jacob Wilson (7.5%) struck out less often among qualified hitters, and that trio was joined by Steven Kwan and Caleb Durbin to make up the full list of batters to strike out less than 10% of the time in 2025.

That contact-oriented offense combined with arguably the best defense in the sport at second base, creates a consistent four-to-five win package according to Fangraphs. Over the past four seasons, Hoerner has posted a 105 wRC+. His 123 stolen bases are the fifth-highest total in the majors over that time, and his 17.5 fWAR ranks 18th, tied with Alex Bregman. That’s the sort of player that virtually any team with a hole at second base would like to add, and Hoerner’s $12MM salary for the 2026 campaign is entirely affordable as well for even smaller market clubs. While Hoerner has played second base in deference to Dansby Swanson during the latter’s years in Chicago, he served as the club’s everyday shortstop in 2022 with elite fielding metrics and could surely provide plus defense at the position again if needed.

Speculatively speaking, teams like the Braves, Yankees, and Red Sox would all surely love to bring Hoerner into the fold ahead of his final season before free agency, but it would be surprising to see the Cubs actually deal their star infielder. Hoerner was a key piece of the team that took the Cubs back to the playoffs for the first time in half a decade last year, and the club could be better off simply holding onto him with the hope of either working out an extension before free agency or making him a qualifying offer next winter. After all, the Cubs have no clear internal option to replace Hoerner at the keystone. Jefferson Rojas is the club’s top infield prospect, but the 20-year-old struggled badly in 39 games at Double-A last year and isn’t likely to be ready for the majors in 2026.

Perhaps dealing Hoerner could become a more serious consideration if the club’s rumored interest adding help at third base were to come to fruition. The Cubs have been connected to both Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suarez this winter, and signing one of them would displace Matt Shaw at third base. Shaw, of course, was worth just 1.5 fWAR with a 93 wRC+ last year. That’s hardly a player who needs to be in the lineup on an everyday basis, but Hoyer offered Shaw a vote of confidence earlier this week that would suggest he remains a key part of the club’s plans for 2026. If the Cubs were to add Bregman or Suarez at the hot corner, trading Hoerner and installing Shaw at second base might be the easiest way to keep Shaw in the lineup on a regular basis.

With that being said, Shaw could also simply back up the rest of the infield while splitting time at DH with Moises Ballesteros and Owen Caissie, serving as a right-handed complement to those big lefty bats. Even if an addition at third base happens, it certainly wouldn’t indicate that the Cubs would need to trade Hoerner. On the other hand, doing so could provide an alternative pathway to bringing in rotation help this winter if Chicago finds itself unable to lure in one of the top starters available in free agency. The Cubs have made no secret of their desire to bolster the club’s rotation this winter, and reuniting with Shota Imanaga after he accepted a qualifying offer won’t be enough.

Astros Sign Ryan Weiss To Major League Deal

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December 11th: Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports that Weiss’s club option for 2027 is worth $5M with a $500K buyout.

December 9th: The Astros have now officially announced their signing of Weiss. The opened two roster spots last week by outrighting Taylor Trammell and Logan VanWey. Their 40-man count is now at 39.

December 2nd: The Astros have reportedly agreed to a major league deal with right-hander Ryan Weiss, who has been pitching in Korea lately. Weiss is guaranteed $2.6MM and there’s a club option for 2027. The Sports One Athlete Management client could potentially earn $10MM over the course of the pact. The Astros have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make this official.

It’s a bit of an early birthday present for Weiss, who turns 29 next Wednesday. A fourth-round draft pick of the Diamondbacks back in 2018, he showed enough promise as a minor leaguer that the Snakes added him to their 40-man in November of 2021 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He had just tossed 78 1/3 minor league innings in that 2021 season with a 4.60 earned run average and 9.5% walk rate but his 27% strikeout rate was quite good.

He struggled in the minors in 2022 and was placed on waivers, with the Royals placing a claim. Kansas City then passed him through waivers unclaimed in October of 2022. The Royals then released him in May of 2023. At that point, Weiss had tossed 76 1/3 innings on the farm, dating back to the start of 2022. In that time, he allowed 6.96 earned runs per nine.

That release kicked off a nomadic period for Weiss. He then landed with the High Point Rockers of the independent Atlantic League. After a few months there, with a 4.61 ERA, he signed with the Fubon Guardians of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League. He had a decent 2.32 ERA there, though in just 31 innings. He started 2024 back with the Rockers, posting a 4.61 ERA over nine starts.

In June of 2024, he signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. It was with that club that he seemed to unlock a new gear. In 2024, he gave the Eagles 16 starts with a 3.73 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 48.2% ground ball rate. He returned to the Eagles in 2025 and took the ball 30 more times. He logged 178 2/3 innings with a 2.87 ERA, 28.6% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 48.5% ground ball rate.

Weiss then pitched in relief for the Eagles in the playoffs but the Astros plan to utilize him as a starter. Houston has plenty of uncertainty in their rotation mix. They just lost Framber Valdez to free agency. Luis Garcia required another Tommy John surgery late in 2025 and has been jettisoned from the roster. Hayden Wesneski, Ronel Blanco and Brandon Walter also had TJS in 2025 and are slated to begin next year on the injured list.

That left the Astros going into 2026 with Hunter Brown and a heap of question marks behind him. Cristian Javier will be in the mix but he had a 4.62 ERA in 2025 after returning from his own lengthy surgery layoff. Lance McCullers Jr. has had all kind of injury troubles and put up a 6.51 ERA this year. Spencer Arrighetti was good in 2024 but spent most of 2025 on the IL and only made seven starts. Jason Alexander had some passable results this year but he’s a journeyman depth guy who’s about to turn 33. J.P. France spent most of 2025 recovering from shoulder surgery. Colton Gordon and AJ Blubaugh are on the 40-man but lacking in experience.

Upgrading the rotation for 2026 makes plenty of sense but it appears the club doesn’t have a ton of spending capacity. Reportedly, owner Jim Crane would prefer to avoid the competitive balance tax in 2026. RosterResource projects them for a $218MM CBT number next year. That’s more than $20MM below next year’s $244MM base threshold but the club also has other needs to address this winter. Trading someone like Christian Walker or Jake Meyers might free up some extra space but it’s somewhat tight for now.

So far, their rotation additions have been of the low-cost wild card variety. They took a flier on former top prospect Nate Pearson, signing him to a $1.35MM guarantee. Now they’ve added Weiss into the mix as well. Perhaps there’s a more surefire rotation upgrade over the horizon. For now, the Astros are making a modest bet that Weiss transfer some of his strong KBO results to the MLB level. For his part, Weiss gets a nice paycheck despite still having no major league experience.

Reporter Daniel Kim first reported that the two sides were close to a deal. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported that an agreement was in place for a major league pact and that Weiss will be a starter. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported the guarantee, the presence of a ’27 option and the possibility for the deal to go beyond $10MM. Chandler Rome of The Athletic specified that the option is a club option.

Blue Jays Sign Cody Ponce To Three-Year Deal

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December 11th: The Jays officially announced the Ponce signing today.

December 2nd: The Blue Jays are reportedly in agreement with free agent starter Cody Ponce on a three-year, $30MM contract. The deal is pending a physical and has yet to be announced by the team. The Jays have two openings on the 40-man roster and do not need to make a corresponding move. Ponce, a client of Excel Sports Management, returns to the majors after an MVP-winning season in the Korea Baseball Organization.

Toronto continues to load up in the rotation on the same day they finalized their seven-year contract with Dylan Cease. They already had a strong top four with Cease, Trey Yesavage, Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber. Ponce and José Berríos project as the fifth and sixth starters in what looks like one of the strongest rotations in baseball. Eric Lauer, who pitched to a 3.18 ERA over 104 2/3 innings in a swing role this year, is down to seventh on the depth chart.

The three-year deal and $10MM average annual value suggests the Jays view Ponce as a starter. He doesn’t have much rotation experience in the big leagues, starting five of 20 appearances with the Pirates between 2020-21. Ponce struggled in that first look but has reinvented himself since moving to Asia. He pitched parts of three seasons in Japan before a breakout 2025 season with the KBO’s Hanwha Eagles.

Ponce took the ball 29 times and turned in a 1.89 earned run average across 180 2/3 innings. He recorded a league-best 36.2% strikeout percentage against a tidy 6% walk rate. Ponce led the league with 252 strikeouts overall and was the only KBO pitcher with a sub-2.00 ERA in more than 100 innings.

The numbers alone would have been enough for Ponce to get back on the MLB radar. The more important factor for his contract was that his stuff has taken a matching jump. Ponce averaged 93.2 MPH on his fastball during his big league look, but a scout with a non-Toronto team told MLBTR in October that his velocity had climbed into the mid-90s. Eno Sarris of The Athletic wrote earlier this week that his average heater was in the 95 MPH range, and he has been clocked up to 98. Ponce has reportedly picked up a splitter — the carrying pitch for Yesavage and Gausman as well — and mixes in a cutter and curveball.

Ponce throws harder and has better secondary stuff than Erick Fedde did when he returned to North America after his own MVP season in Korea. As a result, the 31-year-old gets an extra year and doubled the $15MM guarantee that Fedde received from the White Sox over the 2023-24 offseason. Fedde, for what it’s worth, pitched well in his first year back before his numbers cratered this past season.

It’s a strong deal for Ponce, who tops MLBTR’s prediction of two years and $22MM. It’s by far the biggest payday of his career. Ponce received a signing bonus a little north of $1MM as a second-round pick by the Brewers in the 2015 draft. He did not come close to the service time to qualify for arbitration in his first stint in MLB and played on a $1MM contract with the Eagles.

The salary breakdown hasn’t been reported, but an even distribution of $10MM annually would push Toronto’s projected payroll to roughly $272MM (courtesy of RosterResource). The $10MM average annual value pushes their luxury tax projection above $280MM. The Jays are in the second tier and are taxed at a 42% rate on spending between $264MM and $284MM. That means they’ll pay $4.2MM in taxes for the first season of the Ponce contract. That’s a relative drop in the bucket given the amount the Jays are spending, but the payroll only seems likely to climb. They’d like to re-sign Bo Bichette and will almost certainly add a high-leverage reliever to join Jeff Hoffman and Louis Varland at the back end.

Spending beyond the $284MM mark would raise their tax penalties and result in their top pick in the 2027 draft being moved back 10 spots. That doesn’t appear to be much of a deterrent for a team that forfeited its second and fifth-highest picks in next summer’s draft and $1MM from its international bonus pool to sign Cease. The Jays are all in after coming tantalizingly close to their first World Series in three decades.

If payroll does become an obstacle to re-signing Bichette or adding to the bullpen, the Jays could look to shop Berríos. He’s making $18MM next season and will need to decide whether to opt out of the remaining two years and $48MM on the deal after 2026. It’s not an egregious contract but looks above market for what’ll be ages 32-34 on a pitcher who has struck out fewer than 20% of batters faced in consecutive seasons. Berríos is a solid source of back-of-the-rotation innings, but the Jays would probably need to pay down some of the money and/or take back a slightly underwater deal in a trade.

The simpler path would be to keep everyone and open the season with a six-man rotation if no one suffers an injury during Spring Training. No team gets through an entire season using only five starters. The pitching staff logged a lot of innings this fall. Gausman and Bieber will be free agents after next season, and while Berríos doesn’t look like he’s trending towards an opt-out, that could change with a strong platform year. Lauer will also return to the open market next winter.

Aside from Yesavage, the Jays don’t have much in the way of upper level pitching prospects. Former top prospect Ricky Tiedemann is on the 40-man roster and will probably make his MLB debut in 2026, but he missed the entire ’25 season and has pitched 140 innings since being drafted in 2021. The durability concerns might push him to the bullpen, and even if the Jays want to give him another chance as a starter, they’re certainly not going to let him throw 150 innings. Jake Bloss is unlikely to be a factor until the second half after undergoing elbow surgery in May. The Ponce signing probably rules the Jays out on bringing back Chris Bassitt or Max Scherzer but doesn’t make a Berríos trade a foregone conclusion.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that Ponce and the Jays were finalizing a three-year deal. ESPN’s Jeff Passan had the $30MM guarantee.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

The Opener: Mets, Orioles, Rotation Market

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

1. Mets turn the page on an era:

The departures of Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso during the Winter Meetings, in conjunction with last month’s trade of Brandon Nimmo, mean that three of the Mets’ longest-tenured players will all play elsewhere in 2026. President of baseball operations David Stearns was already facing plenty of pressure this winter to improve the roster after a disappointing year where his club missed the postseason in Juan Soto’s first season on the roster. With Diaz and Alonso officially out of the organization, that pressure is rising even more.

How will the Mets respond to those losses? A pursuit of Munetaka Murakami or Kazuma Okamoto could make some sense to replace Alonso at first base, and Robert Suarez remains a logical replacement for Diaz (alongside Devin Williams) in the ninth inning next year. Those replacements won’t be enough by themselves, however. New York remains in desperate need of help in the outfield and continues to look for help at the front of their rotation. Bringing in a top free agent like Kyle Tucker in the outfield or Tatsuya Imai in the rotation would surely help fans in Queens get over the losses of franchise stalwarts like Alonso this winter.

2. What’s next for the Orioles?

On the other side of the coin, fans in Baltimore were jubilant as their club finally made the big splash they’ve been hoping to see for years. With Alonso now in the fold for the next five seasons, the Orioles seem unlikely to take their foot off the gas just yet. They remain involved in the market for high-end rotation pieces, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see them add someone like Framber Valdez to the front of their rotation in free agency alongside Alonso. Of course, the free agent market isn’t the only avenue for improvement available. The addition of Alonso displaces Coby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle on the team’s depth chart, and Mayo in particular could be the sort of high-end trade chip who makes landing a top starter in trade like Edward Cabrera or MacKenzie Gore (both of whom Baltimore has been connected to this winter) all the more feasible. What’s the next move for president of baseball operations Mike Elias?

3. When will the dam break in the rotation market?

For all the activity in and around this year’s winter meetings, things have remained quiet on the rotation front this winter. The market for relievers has been bustling all winter, with only a handful of the top closing options still available. The market for position players has been slower, but hitters did start to come off the board after Kyle Schwarber re-upped in Philadelphia, with Alonso and Mike Yastrzemski both signing yesterday. Every top free agent starter remains on the market besides Dylan Cease, however, and the trade market has seen no movement outside of the Red Sox adding Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo.

Will things get moving in the coming days? It’s certainly possible. This week’s meetings surely hosted a number of important conversations between buyers and sellers on the trade markets, giving teams like the Mets, Orioles, and Cubs a better idea of which starters could actually be attainable for them while allowing sellers like the Marlins and Nationals to see which teams might come closest to their asking prices. In free agency, meanwhile, some reporting has indicated that Imai will begin visiting teams now that the Winter Meetings have come to a close with an eye towards signing before the holidays. Given that Imai’s posting window closes on January 2, the right-hander’s free agency could potentially serve as a catalyst that kicks the larger market for starting pitching into gear.

How Might The Mets Replace Pete Alonso?

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The biggest news of a relatively quiet Winter Meetings dropped on the final day. Pete Alonso is headed to Baltimore (pending a physical) on a massive five-year deal. His departure from the Mets had been telegraphed by the team's reported reluctance to go beyond three years. It's nevertheless jarring for a team that has spent at the top of the league to be comfortably outbid on the franchise's all-time home runs leader by a mid-market Orioles club.

Alonso's departure came one day after the Mets let Edwin Díaz walk to the Dodgers. They're a few weeks removed from trading Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien. Clearly, president of baseball operations David Stearns and his front office weren't happy to run it all back after the team melted down in the second half. They've signed Devin Williams to replace Díaz. We've yet to see how they'll respond to the losses on the position player side. There's plenty more to come -- no team is complete on December 10 -- but the 2026 Mets will look a lot different than the teams of the past few seasons.

At the beginning of the offseason, Stearns spoke about a need to improve the pitching and defense (link via Will Sammon of The Athletic). Aside from the Williams signing, they've waited out the pitching market so far. Their position player moves, or lack thereof, suggest they're indeed focused on getting more athletic. Semien remains an excellent defensive second baseman. Alonso's lack of defensive value is a big reason they were reluctant to pay him into his mid-30s.

Where do they go from here?

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Rockies Notes: New Assistant GM, Herget’s Role

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The Rockies announced the hiring of Tommy Tanous as assistant general manager today. Tanous has spent the past 15 years in the Mets’ scouting department. He will focus on scouting and player development with Colorado. Thomas Harding of MLB.com was first to report the hiring.

“Tommy brings a wealth of knowledge in coaching, amateur scouting, pro scouting, international, and special assignment work from his time in baseball, and I’m looking forward to using his experience and rare ability to connect with people to help build organizational consistency across all levels of our operation,” said president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta in a press release.

Tanous was most recently vice president of player evaluation and special advisor to the president of baseball operations in New York. He’d been with the club since 2010. Tanous’ tenure with the Mets crossed over with DePodesta’s time in the organization. DePodesta took over as vice president of player development and scouting for the Mets in 2010, around the same time Tanous was hired. The pair spent six seasons on the same staff until DePodesta left for the NFL.

Colorado continues to build out its front office since hiring DePodesta in early November. Tanous joins Josh Byrnes as a new executive coming over from a big-market organization. Byrnes had been senior vice president of baseball operations with the Dodgers.

On the player front, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported a role change for a veteran pitcher. Reliever Jimmy Herget is expected to prepare as a starter heading into next season. The 32-year-old was excellent out of the bullpen last year, posting a 2.48 ERA across 59 games. Herget racked up a career-high 83 1/3 innings in his first season with the Rockies. As Rosenthal and Sammon point out, Herget pitched more than an inning in 31 appearances.

Herget was drafted by the Reds and debuted with the team in 2019. He bounced around from there, pitching for the Rangers, Angels, and Braves over the next five seasons. Herget was claimed off waivers by the Cubs near the end of the 2024 season after eight games with Atlanta. He was designated for assignment shortly after and scooped up by the Rockies.

Despite the nomadic career, Herget has delivered solid results as a big leaguer. He has a 3.17 ERA over 238 1/3 innings. Herget’s 3.51 xERA and 3.69 SIERA are a bit higher than his actual ERA, but still suggest he’s a solid bullpen arm.

Herget throws from a true sidearm slot, with his arm angle being nearly perpendicular to his body. He ranks in the first percentile in extension. Herget typically relies on two breaking balls and a low-90s sinker. He led with the curveball last season, followed by the slider and sinker, to go with the occasional four-seamer and changeup. The unique look likely drives some of Herget’s success, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares facing hitters multiple times. He’s made just three starts in his career.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Royals Interested In Teoscar Hernandez

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Kansas City missed out on bringing back Mike Yastrzemski, but the club might have its sights set on a bigger prize. Katie Woo and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic report the Royals are interested in Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez. The veteran’s name has come up in trade talks recently, though general manager Brandon Gomes has said a deal “doesn’t seem likely.”

Reports surfaced earlier this week that the Royals were looking to add multiple outfielders. President of baseball operations J.J. Picollo has already said he’d be willing to deal a pitcher for an outfielder. Kansas City had been interested in a reunion with trade deadline acquisition Yastrzemski, but he ultimately landed a two-year deal with Atlanta.

Finding an impact bat in the outfield has been an ongoing pursuit for the organization. Kansas City was linked to Jarren Duran ahead of the trade deadline. The club came up short in signing Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar last offseason. While the Royals aren’t expected to be shopping in the Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger tier this winter, they’ve been connected to Harrison Bader and Austin Hays. Jake Meyers and Brendan Donovan have been mentioned as trade targets.

Hernandez provided league-average production as LA’s primary right fielder last season. He failed to follow up on his 33-homer, 12-steal debut campaign with the team, slipping to a 102 wRC+ over 134 games. Hernandez hit .257 with one homer in the postseason for the eventual champions. The 33-year-old is entering the second season of a three-year, $66MM deal.

The main drawback with Hernandez in recent years has been his defense. He’s totaled -19 Outs Above Average over the past two seasons with the Dodgers. Statcast grades Hernandez’s arm as close to average, but his range has fallen significantly from the early days with Toronto, when he was capable of playing center field. The defensive shortcomings could lead the Dodgers to consider a more versatile alternative. The club certainly has the resources to make an outfield addition if they were to ship out Hernandez.

Kansas City’s outfielders ranked among the weakest offensive contributors last season. The club’s center fielders combined for a .645 OPS, and that was their best mark among the three outfield positions. The Royals did their best to find a righty slugger to add to the mix last year, but none of Randal Grichuk, Hunter Renfroe, or Mark Canha panned out. The lineup would likely have the left-handed trio of Jac Caglianone, Kyle Isbel, and John Rave manning the grass if the season started today.

The Royals scored the fifth-fewest runs last season. They were also bottom five in home runs. The top of the lineup is set, but there are plenty of question marks past Salvador Perez in the cleanup spot. An addition in the outfield seems like the easiest route to improve the club’s offensive outlook. Top prospect Caglianone will get a chance to stick as a regular, but Rave had middling results in the minors before struggling in his MLB debut, and Isbel has never hit for an extended stretch as a big leaguer. Isbel has routinely graded out as a stellar defender, so he could potentially alleviate some of the defensive issues that would come with acquiring Hernandez.

Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images

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