The Opener: Free Agent Power Rankings, Griffin, Fitzgerald
Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye out for headed into the weekend:
1. MLBTR’s Free Agent Power Rankings:
The 2026 season is only just getting underway, but we at MLB Trade Rumors are always preparing for the next offseason. Much of the talk surrounding this coming winter is focused on the impending lockout, but just like any other year there will be a class of talented players reaching the open market. With the season still in its early stages, we’re taking the opportunity to take a temperature check of this year’s class with the first edition of our Free Agent Power Rankings. Some of those choices were obvious — spoiler: Tarik Skubal made the cut! — but there’s plenty of room for change in the pecking order as the season progresses, especially on the hitting side of things. MLBTR readers can look forward to the March/April installment of our Free Agent Power Rankings going live later today.
2. Griffin to make his debut:
While the sides are still deep in extension talks, the Pirates are calling up No. 1 overall prospect Konnor Griffin to the majors today. Griffin, 19, is now poised to debut three weeks shy of his 20th birthday after posting a .749 OPS in Spring Training and following that up with a 7-for-16 showing at Triple-A with three doubles and three steals. It remains to be seen if Griffin will hit the ground running in the majors or if he’ll need some time to adjust to the highest level, but fans in Pittsburgh are ecstatic to get to watch a potential cornerstone player on a daily basis either way. Griffin’s first assignment will come against the Orioles and right-hander Kyle Bradish at 4:12pm local time in Pittsburgh.
3. Fitzgerald on the move?
Giants utilityman Tyler Fitzgerald remains in DFA limbo after being designated for assignment earlier this week. He’s coming off a tough year in 2025 where he struggled to hit at the big league level, but his speed, versatility and strong 2024 season could still make him an interesting pickup for a club with a less crowded bench mix than the Giants. San Francisco will try to find a trade before placing Fitzgerald on waivers, and if a swap is to come together it’ll need to happen in the near future. Fitzgerald was designated on Monday, and at the five-day mark he’ll need to be placed on waivers so that 48-hour process could conclude within the maximum one-week window for DFA resolution. It’s unlikely the Giants would find a huge return for a player who’s been designated for assignment, but a swap for a low-level prospect or even just a cash deal is entirely feasible. Will the club find a deal to its liking, or will Fitzgerald simply hit waivers?
Will Any Pre-Arbitration Pitchers Sign Extensions?
From a transaction perspective, this time of the baseball calendar is defined by extensions. Within the past month, we've seen two impending free agents (Nico Hoerner and Jesús Luzardo) come off the board. The Cubs got a deal done with pre-arbitration center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. Philadelphia extended Cristopher Sánchez even though he was already potentially signed through 2030.
The Orioles extended arbitration-eligible starter Shane Baz. The Mariners reached the largest pre-debut extension with shortstop prospect Colt Emerson. That's likely to be a brief record with the Pirates reportedly working on a deal with #1 overall prospect Konnor Griffin. Milwaukee infield prospect Cooper Pratt is nearing an eight-year contract of his own despite being a couple tiers below Griffin and Emerson according to scouts.
Despite all that activity, there's one demographic that has stayed out of the early-season extension run. There have not been any long-term deals for pre-arbitration pitchers this spring. Teams aren't quite as aggressive in extending pitchers early in their careers as they are with elite position player talents. There's more injury uncertainty with young arms.
However, there are generally a few extensions for pre-arbitration hurlers each season. Tanner Bibee, Brandon Pfaadt and Arizona closer Justin Martinez signed extensions last spring. Brayan Bello agreed to a six-year deal the year before that. Hunter Greene, Spencer Strider, Aaron Ashby, Garrett Whitlock and Emmanuel Clase were among those to sign between 2022-23.
Will any young pitchers sign extensions within the next few weeks? Let's run through a few speculative possibilities in each service class and the kind of money which those pitchers could command.
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Reds Notes: Lodolo, Outfield, Friedl
Reds lefty Nick Lodolo left tonight’s rehab start with Low-A Daytona in the third inning due to more blister issues on his left index finger, relays Manny Randhawa of MLB.com. Lodolo cruised through the first eight hitters with four strikeouts before coming out of the game.
It’s an all too familiar problem for the former seventh overall pick. Lodolo developed his most recent blister in his final start of Spring Training, leading to a season-opening injured list stint. It’s the third straight season in which blisters have shelved him. He missed most of August last year and a couple weeks between June and July in 2024.
The index finger has bothered him off and on dating back to his time in the minor leagues. He has also had major league injured list stints with back, calf and groin injuries — plus a sprain of his middle finger that ended his ’24 season. He’s a mid-rotation starter when healthy and coming off a career season. Lodolo tossed 156 2/3 innings of 3.33 ERA ball while striking out 24% of opponents a year ago.
This flareup should be a minor problem, but it’s no doubt frustrating for player and team alike. The hope had been for Lodolo to get through 60-65 pitches tonight and only need one rehab start before rejoining the MLB rotation next week. That’s probably not happening now. He left after 40 pitches and it’s unclear whether he’ll need a brief rest period before giving it another go in a game.
Brandon Williamson has stepped into the rotation behind Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer, Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns. Lodolo’s injury led the Reds to promote rookie righty Jose Franco as a long reliever. After tonight’s off day, Cincinnati has 10 consecutive game days.
The Reds haven’t made any changes to their 13-man position player group since Opening Day. Their infield of Sal Stewart, Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz and Ke’Bryan Hayes has been set in stone, as has Eugenio Suárez as the primary designated hitter. Manager Terry Francona has played more matchups around the outfield, where no one has been locked into an everyday position.
TJ Friedl has been in the lineup regularly, but he’s not quite as settled as a full-time center fielder as he was last season. The Reds have kicked Friedl over to left field on five occasions, including his first start in left since 2023. Francona said this week he has liked what he’s seen from Friedl as a left fielder (via Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now). The 30-year-old’s fringy speed and arm strength probably fit better in left than in center all things considered.
Dane Myers is a better runner with a stronger arm. He’s probably the best defensive center fielder on the roster. Playing Friedl more often in left would open opportunities to draw Myers into the lineup, though that’d be a leap of faith in his bat. Myers is already a lock to play against left-handed pitching, against whom he’s a .294/.356/.449 hitter in his career.
Myers has just a .220/.266/.296 line against right-handers. His only start of the season came against Boston lefty Connelly Early over the weekend. The rest of his appearances have come as a late-game substitute with Friedl sliding to left field.
They’ve had a three-man rotation through the corner spots between Spencer Steer, Will Benson and Noelvi Marte. Steer has been the primary starter in left. He’s out to a slow start this season after hitting at a league average level in each of the past two years. Benson and Marte are splitting time in right field, though the Reds probably won’t use a strict platoon that limits the 24-year-old Marte to work against left-handed pitching.
Rockies Place Jose Quintana On Injured List
The Rockies announced they’ve placed starter Jose Quintana on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. The move is retroactive to March 30, meaning he’ll be eligible to return on April 14. Colorado recalled righty Valente Bellozo from Triple-A Albuquerque in a corresponding move.
Colorado also optioned infielder Ryan Ritter this evening. They haven’t replaced him on the active roster but will do so tomorrow. Outfielder Mickey Moniak will be eligible for reinstatement from his 10-day injured list stint; he’ll presumably be the corresponding move.
The Rox are idle tonight before hosting Philadelphia for a three-game weekend series. Teams don’t typically announce minor transactions like this during off days. Injured list placements can be backdated by a maximum of three days, however, so the Rox would have delayed Quintana’s eligibility for reinstatement if they waited to make that move until tomorrow.
Quintana made his team debut on Monday against the Marlins. He allowed four hits and walked four batters in 4 1/3 innings. The veteran southpaw mostly managed to work around the traffic and only allowed two runs. He departed with a one-run lead, though Miami would win 4-3 on Owen Caissie’s walk-off two-run homer with two outs in the ninth.
There was no indication that Quintana was injured during the game. It’s unclear if the issue developed during a midweek throwing session. Michael Lorenzen will open the series against Aaron Nola tomorrow. Quintana was slated to oppose Jesús Luzardo on Saturday evening. Bellozo would be on six days rest after throwing three Triple-A frames on Sunday. He could step into Quintana’s rotation spot or work in long relief if they want to give Chase Dollander a couple turns as a starter.
Twins Acquire Garrett Acton
The Marlins announced that they have traded right-hander Garrett Acton to the Twins for minor league righty Logan Whitaker. Acton was designated for assignment by Miami a few days ago when they acquired infielder Leo Jiménez. Minnesota transferred righty David Festa to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding 40-man roster move.
Acton, 28 in June, has a very limited major league track record. He made six appearances for the Athletics in 2023 and then one more with the Rays last year, with Tommy John surgery wiping out his 2024. He has allowed eight earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. In the offseason, he went to the Rockies and then Marlins via waivers.
The Twins are surely more focused on his minor league track record, where he has shown intriguing strikeout stuff, though home run troubles have led to lot of runs crossing the plate. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has thrown 160 minor league innings, mostly at the Triple-A level. In that time, he has a 4.56 earned run average. His 10% walk rate was a bit high but he managed to strike out 29.5% of batters faced.
Acton still has a pair of options, meaning the Twins can send him to the minors for some extra bullpen depth or add him immediately to the active roster. In either case, he may shuttle between the majors and minors throughout the season whenever the Twins need to freshen up the relief corps.
For the Marlins, they just claimed Acton off waivers two months ago. They are presumably happy with that sequence of events, which has netted them Whitaker. Minnesota took Whitaker with a 19th-round pick in 2024. Last year, he tossed 38 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A. His 2.11 ERA in 2025 looks good but he only punched out a pedestrian 21% of batters faced. His 6.4% walk rate and 44.5% ground ball rate were a bit better than average. He seemed to get some help from a 78.9% strand rate. He doesn’t really show up on prospect lists but, as mentioned, Miami should be pleased to get a lottery ticket prospect for a guy they just grabbed from the waiver wire two months ago.
As for Festa, he was injured in February and began the season on the 15-day injured list. The Twins listed his injury as a triceps strain and shoulder impingement. His current timeline is unclear but this transaction indicates the Twins don’t expect him back before late May, which would be 60 days from his initial IL placement.
That doesn’t necessarily indicate bad news about his recovery. Even if he were declared healthy today, since he missed all of spring training, he would effectively have to start ramping up from scratch. The Twins should provide more details about his status in the future.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Tigers Release Phil Bickford, Colin Poche
The Tigers have released right-hander Phil Bickford and left-hander Colin Poche, reports Jason Beck of MLB.com. Both pitchers signed minor league deals with Detroit this offseason. They will now head back to the open market to search for their next opportunities.
Bickford, 30, was invited to big league camp but wasn’t able to pitch in any official spring action. He was diagnosed with a triceps strain in late February. He was reassigned to minor league camp a few days later. His current health status is not known.
He has 189 innings of big league experience under his belt, split between the Brewers, Dodgers, Mets and Yankees. Overall, he has allowed 4.62 earned runs per nine frames with a 26.1% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate.
His last big league appearance was in 2024. He spent 2025 in Triple-A, signing minor league deals with the Cubs and Phillies. Between those two organizations, he had a 3.52 ERA, 28.5% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate in 46 Triple-A innings. That wasn’t enough to get him to the big leagues last year. He did get a camp invite with the Tigers a few months ago but the injury scuttle any chance of him making the team.
Poche, 32, has a better overall track record but has fallen on hard times lately. At the end of 2023, he had 171 career innings pitched with a 3.58 ERA. His 9.3% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 28.2% of batters faced. In 2024, his strikeout rate fell to 21.6%. His ERA didn’t suffer greatly, as he finished that year with a 3.86 mark, but the Rays non-tendered him.
He signed a minor league deal with the Nationals for 2025 and made the Opening Day roster but was designated for assignment on May 1st after 13 appearances. He had allowed 11 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings while giving out walks to 12 of the 46 batters he faced, an awful 26.1% clip. He spent most of the rest of the year with the Mets at the Triple-A level, where he walked 17.3% of opponents.
The Tigers gave Poche a minor league deal but didn’t invite him to big league camp. His transaction tracker at MLB.com says he was placed on the Triple-A Toledo injured list last week, without specifying the issue.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
Mariners Notes: Crawford, Emerson, Shortstop
The Mariners recently signed a record extension with infield prospect Colt Emerson. President of Jerry Dipoto spoke to members of the media in the wake of that deal. Per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, Dipoto said that J.P. Crawford will remain the club’s shortstop this year. If Emerson is recalled to the active roster at some point, he will likely play third base, which will bump Brendan Donovan into a utility role.
Though the Mariners signed Emerson to that long-term deal, they immediately optioned him to Triple-A Tacoma. That’s an unprecedented sequence of events but it also has some logic to it. Emerson is 20 years old and only has ten Triple-A games under his belt so far. The Mariners clearly believe in his long-term future but he is still a prospect and they will have to make the choices that they feel are in the best interest of his development.
They also have a fairly crowded infield at the moment. Crawford started the season in the injured list due to some shoulder inflammation but he was reinstated today. Fellow infielder Ryan Bliss was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma as the corresponding move. Crawford will retake his shortstop position with Cole Young at second and Donovan at third.
Perhaps Emerson will force his way onto the roster at some point via his bat, since his offense is his true calling card. He went from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A last year, slashing .285/.383/.458 along the way. His 11.8% walk rate and 17.5% strikeout rate were both a few ticks better than average and he hit 16 home runs, despite being very young for each level.
His defense has generally been considered a bit behind his offense. He has made strides in recent years and many evaluators think he has a chance to be a serviceable shortstop, but it’s understandable that the Mariners would opt for Crawford for now. Crawford’s defensive reviews are mixed, with Outs Above Average putting him at minus-29 for his career while he’s been credited with five Defensive Runs Saved. Despite that imbalance, he has almost 8,000 big league innings at the position, while Emerson has none and is questionable at the spot for now.
Crawford is slated for free agency after 2026, so perhaps Emerson will get a crack at the shortstop job next year. That is perhaps another reason to keep him in Triple-A for now, as he will have greater ability to continue getting reps at shortstop in the minors. His third base experience is also still fairly limited, so he’ll need to keep working at that spot as well, if that’s his current path to a big league job.
As for Donovan, his potential move is another illustration of why he was such a perfect fit for the Mariners this offseason. His versatility means that he can be moved around the diamond depending on what happens with other guys. Young only hit .211/.302/.305 last year and therefore wasn’t a sure thing at second base, while Emerson seemingly had some small chance to break camp at third.
Young went on to hit .281/.349/.667 in spring and seize the job at the keystone. He has carried that over in the season so far, as he’s currently sporting a .320/.346/.520 line. That pushed Donovan to third base for now, though his outfield experience means Emerson could push him to the grass at some point. That could take playing time away from the Luke Raley, Dominic Canzone, Rob Refsnyder, Víctor Robles group, depending on how things go between now and then.
Dipoto also expressed broad openness to doing more extensions. “I can’t tell you that there’s any likelihood we’ll get anything else done in this season, but it won’t be because we’re not interested,” Dipoto said, per Adam Jude of The Seattle Times. “It’s always an open door.” It was recently reported that the Mariners have broached the subject of contract extensions with both Logan Gilbert and Bryan Woo, though it doesn’t appear the club got close to an agreement with either pitcher.
Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian, Imagn Images
Latest On MLBPA’s Funds
The Major League Baseball Players Association is putting aside money in anticipation of the end of the collective bargaining agreement, as it routinely does. Jorge Castillo of ESPN and Evan Drellich of The Athletic report that the union has about $519MM in total assets, as of the start of this year.
It is standard practice for both MLB and the MLBPA to set aside money in a CBA year, as having a war chest could be needed for a work stoppage or for leverage in negotiations. Back in February, it was reported that the league had set aside about $2 billion. No details on the MLBPA’s funds were available until this week.
As both Castillo and Drellich point out, the MLBPA war chest has more than doubled relative to the last round of CBA talks. In 2021, just after the COVID-impacted 2020 season, the union had under $200MM on hand. Castillo reports they had $171MM ahead of the last round of negotiations, though Drellich puts them slightly higher at $192MM. Both reports note that the players have allowed the union to withhold licensing checks since 2024, in order to bolster the available funds.
After more than 25 years without a work stoppage, the league locked out the players in December of 2021. That lockout lasted 99 days until a new agreement was reached in early March, just in time to still play a full 162-game season, with some creative scheduling.
Many in the industry are expecting yet another lockout after the CBA expires on December 1st this year, with the bargaining perhaps becoming even more contentious. The game’s economic imbalances have seemingly widened. Clubs like the Dodgers and Mets continue to ramp up spending to record highs. Other clubs have been clutching the purse strings tightly, pointing to the decreased broadcast revenues as many fans cut cable cords and pivot to streaming.
The owners are expected to push for a salary cap, as they have done in the past. The players are opposed to a salary cap and will likely push for alternatives involving greater revenue sharing between clubs. Any salary cap proposal would be accompanied by a salary floor, which would likely require the smaller clubs to receive more money from the bigger clubs, in order to meet that floor. A notable shake-up of baseball’s finances seems inevitable, though the league and union will have different ideas about which changes are acceptable.
If the two sides can’t reach consensus on an acceptable framework, the possibility of losing games in 2027 would grow. Such an outcome would have negative consequences for baseball at a time when its popularity is on the upswing. Ratings and attendance have been increasing in recent years, with Game Seven of the 2025 World Series the most-watched game since 1991. The recent World Baseball Classic had TV ratings comparable with the most recent NBA finals. Cutting into that popularity could be costly since a large number of the league’s broadcast deals expire after the 2028 season.
Even if the two sides can avoid cancelling games in 2027, a lockout is still widely expected. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has spoken positively about how a lockout affects negotiations. In the wake of those comments, then-executive director of the MLBPA Tony Clark said the union expects to be locked out. Clark recently resigned under the shroud of scandal with deputy director Bruce Meyer taking over on an interim basis.
Speaking of Clark, during his tenure, concerns were raised about an MLBPA-owned company called Players Way. The company came under federal investigation as the union seemed to be diverting millions of dollars to it without the company doing much with that money. The union hired a law firm to conduct an internal investigation in response to those concerns, as well as the investigation of OneTeam Partners, a joint venture with the NFLPA. That internal probe reportedly uncovered messages between Clark and his sister-in-law, an MLBPA employee, which led the union to seek his resignation. This week, both Castillo and Drellich report that Players Way has now been shut down.
Photo courtesy of Evan Petzold, Imagn Images
Pirates, Konnor Griffin Reportedly Working On Extension
April 2nd: Olney now reports that the sides are working on a nine-year deal worth $140MM, though he cautions that the deal isn’t done as they are still working on some things.
April 1st: The Pirates and prospect Konnor Griffin are reportedly deep into extension negotiations, per Buster Olney of ESPN.
It doesn’t appear that anything is done or agreed to yet but it seems the two sides aren’t too far apart. Olney’s report frames Pittsburgh as hoping to get something done that is comparable to Corbin Carroll‘s $111MM eight-year deal with Arizona while Griffin’s camp is targeting Roman Anthony‘s $130MM eight-year pact with Boston. Given that the gap is less than $20MM, perhaps something can get done. A couple of weeks ago, Jon Heyman of The New York Post suggested the Pirates could be willing to get to the $110MM range. Last week, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the two sides had indeed discussed an eight-year deal worth $110MM.
Griffin is not yet 20 years old and hasn’t played in the majors yet but he is the top prospect in the game right now and many consider him the best prospect seen in years. Last year, he slashed .333/.415/.527 while hitting 21 home runs and stealing 65 bases.
He topped out at Double-A yet seemed to have a chance at breaking camp with the club here in 2026. He hit four home runs in spring training but his other numbers were not great, as he slashed .171/.261/.488. Part of that was a .125 batting average on balls in play but Griffin also struck out at a 28.3% clip and only drew a walk in 4.3% of his plate appearances.
That surely didn’t do anything to dampen the club’s long-term hopes for Griffin but the Pirates decided to start the season with him at the Triple-A level. He has a .462/.588/.692 slash in four games to start the season.
Extensions for players with little or no major league experience have become far more common in recent years. Earlier this week, Colt Emerson and the Mariners set a new benchmark for pre-debut guys, signing an eight-year deal with a $92MM guarantee.
Emerson is one of the 10 to 15 top prospects in the league but, as mentioned, Griffin is the clear #1 and is perhaps the best prospect in quite some time. With that in mind, he should sail past Emerson’s guarantee and it seems like the talks are already past that point.
For extensions signed quite early in a player’s career, Carroll and Anthony are some of the most notable. Carroll and Anthony each signed within two months of their respective debuts. Julio Rodríguez has the record for a deal for a player with less than a year of service time. Towards the end of his rookie season, he and the Mariners signed a convoluted deal with a $210MM guarantee and multiple club/player options.
The largest contract in Pittsburgh’s franchise history is the $100MM deal they signed with Bryan Reynolds a few years back. It seems they are willing and hoping to break that record to lock up Griffin as part of their core. The longer they wait, the harder that will become. Young players generally gain earning power as they push further into their careers and closer to free agency, as the Rodríguez deal shows. For guys with two years of service time, Bobby Witt Jr. got a $288.8MM guarantee while Fernando Tatis Jr. got $340MM. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got $500MM when he was just a few months from free agency.
It’s been over a decade since the Pirates last made the playoffs but it’s possible better days are ahead. They have already graduated a number of exciting young players onto their major league roster in recent years, headlined by Paul Skenes. Their farm system is currently ranked by many outlets as the best in the majors. That’s in large part due to Griffin but they also have Edward Florentino, Seth Hernandez and other exciting young prospects on the way. They had a busy offseason, adding Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn, Marcell Ozuna and others as they try to take a step forward.
Griffin will be a key part of the competitive window that appears to be opening but the Bucs would naturally love to extend the relationship if they can. From Griffin’s perspective, he would have to be willing to delay his path to free agency. Going year to year could potentially mean hitting the open market after his age-25 or -26 season. Signing a deal now would lock in an upfront guarantee while perhaps still giving him a chance to become a free agent before his 30th birthday.
Without a deal officially signed, there’s a notable ticking clock with Griffin’s service time. A major league season is 187 days long but a player only needs 172 days in the majors to be credited with a full year of service time. That means Griffin can still hit that one-year mark if called up in the next week. If he does so without an extension in place, he would be eligible to earn the Pirates an extra draft pick via the Prospect Promotion Incentive, though players who sign pre-debut extensions are not PPI eligible. If Griffin is still in the minors by the end of next week, he wouldn’t be able to get a full year of service the old-fashioned way but would be credited with one year retroactively if he is eventually called up and places in the top two in National League Rookie of the Year voting.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Mariners Request Release Waivers On Ryan Loutos
April 2: The Mariners announced Thursday that they’ve requested release waivers on Loutos, who’s out with an undisclosed injury. Since injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers, Seattle will opt for release waivers. It’s common in these situations for the player to quickly re-sign on a minor league deal, but that’s not a given. Loutos will be able to talk to all 29 other clubs now.
March 31: The Mariners announced they’ve designated reliever Ryan Loutos for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man roster move for the now official Colt Emerson extension. Although Emerson will remain in Triple-A on an optional assignment, the M’s needed to carry him on the 40-man once he signed a major league contract.
That roster quirk is an unfortunate development for Loutos, who gets pushed into DFA limbo as a result. The 27-year-old righty hasn’t pitched in a regular season game with Seattle. The Mariners claimed him off waivers from Washington at the beginning of the offseason. He made four appearances in Spring Training, allowing seven runs (six earned) through three innings.
A former undrafted free agent, Loutos has pitched for three teams at the MLB level. He has a total of 15 career appearances divided between the Cardinals, Dodgers and Nationals. Loutos had a tough go against MLB hitters, who have put up 21 runs with more walks than strikeouts across 14 1/3 innings. The 27-year-old righty has an ERA just under 5.00 while striking out 24% of opponents over parts of four Triple-A campaigns.
The M’s have five days to trade Loutos or place him on waivers. He sits in the 95 mph range with his four-seam fastball and sinker while mixing in a slider and changeup. Loutos has a minor league option remaining and could be sent to Triple-A if another team is willing to carry him on the 40-man roster.