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The Largest MLB Contracts By AAV

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Below is our list of the 40 largest contracts in MLB history by average annual value (AAV). Please note that if a player was already under contract and signed an extension, only the new money counts.  For our list of the largest contracts in total dollars, click here.

1.  Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers: $70,000,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2023.  97.1% of the total is deferred from 2034-43.  As a result, for luxury tax purposes, MLB calculated the AAV at $46.06MM.  The MLBPA calculated the AAV at $43,783,056.30.

2.  Kyle Tucker, Dodgers: $60,000,000.  Free agent contract signed January 2026.   Considering deferrals, the AAV is considered to be $57.1MM and thus is the true AAV record.

3.  Juan Soto, Mets: $51,000,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2024.

4.  Max Scherzer, Mets: $43,333,333.33.  Free agent contract signed November 2021

5.  Justin Verlander, Mets: $43,330,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2022

t-6.  Bo Bichette, Mets: $42,000,000.  Free agent contract signed January 2026

t-6.  Zack Wheeler, Phillies: $42,000,000.  Extension signed March 2024

t-8.  Aaron Judge, Yankees: $40,000,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2022

t-8. Alex Bregman, Red Sox: $40,000,000.  Free agent contract signed February 2025.  Considering deferrals, the AAV is considered $31.7MM for CBT purposes.

10.  Jacob deGrom, Rangers: $37,000,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2022

11.  Blake Snell, Dodgers: $36,400,000.  Free agent contract signed November 2024.  Considering deferrals, the MLBPA calculated the AAV as $31,735,498

t-12.  Mike Trout, Angels: $36,000,000.  Extension signed March 2019

t-12.  Gerrit Cole, Yankees: $36,000,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2019

14.  Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays: $35,714,285.71.  Extension signed April 2025

15.  Carlos Correa, Twins: $35,100,000.  Free agent contract signed March 2022

t-16.  Alex Bregman, Cubs: $35,000,000.  Free agent contract signed January 2026

t-16.  Stephen Strasburg, Nationals: $35,000,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2019

t-16.  Anthony Rendon, Angels: $35,000,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2019

t-16.  Corbin Burnes, Diamondbacks: $35,000,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2024

20.  Zack Greinke, Diamondbacks: $34,416,667.  Free agent contract signed December 2015

21.  Francisco Lindor, Mets: $34.1MM.  Extension signed March 2021

22.  Trevor Bauer, Dodgers: $34,000,000.  Free agent contract signed February 2021

23.  Nolan Arenado, Rockies: $33,428,571.  Extension signed February 2019

24.  Carlos Correa, Twins: $33,333,333.33.  Free agent contract signed January 2023

25.  Justin Verlander, Astros: $33,000,000.  Extension signed March 2019

26.  Corey Seager, Rangers: $32,500,000.  Free agent contract signed November 2021

27.  Rafael Devers, Red Sox: $31,350,000.  Extension signed January 2023

t-28.  Pete Alonso, Orioles: $31,000,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2025

t-28.  Blake Snell, Giants: $31,000,000.  Free agent contract signed March 2024.  Considering deferrals, the MLBPA calculated the AAV as $29,698,347

t-28.  Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: $31,000,000.  Extension signed March 2014

t-28.  David Price, Red Sox: $31,000,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2015

t-28.  Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers: $31,000,000.  Extension signed November 2018

t-28.  Seth Lugo, Royals: $31,000,000.  Extension signed July 2025

34.  Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers: $30,714,286.  Extension signed January 2014

35.  Mookie Betts, Dodgers: $30,416,667.  Extension signed July 2020.  $25,554,824 for purposes of luxury tax.

36.  Jacob deGrom, Mets: $30,125,000.  Extension signed March 2019

t-37.  Manny Machado, Padres: $30,000,000.  Free agent contract signed February 2019

t-37.  Kyle Schwarber, Phillies: $30,000,000.  Free agent contract signed December 2025

t-37.  Max Scherzer, Nationals: $30,000,000.  Free agent contract signed January 2015.  Counted as $28,689,376 for purposes of luxury tax.

t-37.   Dylan Cease, Blue Jays; $30,000,000.  Free agent contract signed November 2025.  Counted as $26.37MM for purposes of luxury tax.

Largest Contract In Franchise History For Each MLB Team

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Here’s our list of the largest contract each of the 30 MLB teams has ever signed. Each contract is linked to its MLBTR post, with the exception of those that predate the site’s existence.  The amounts denote the amount of new money guaranteed to the player, which is why they might differ from what you’ve seen in public reports.

2025-26 MLB Free Agents

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The following players are currently free agents.  The player’s 2026 age is in parentheses.  The cutoff for this list is typically 50 plate appearances or 20 innings pitched in the Majors this year.

Updated 1-16-26

Catchers

Austin Barnes (36)
Victor Caratini (32)
Elias Diaz (35)
Mitch Garver (35)
Jonah Heim (31)
Luke Maile (35)
Reese McGuire (31)
Tom Murphy (35)
J.T. Realmuto (35)
Gary Sanchez (33)
Jacob Stallings (36)
Matt Thaiss (31)
Christian Vazquez (35)

First Basemen

Luis Arraez (29)
Cody Bellinger (30)
Wilmer Flores (34)
Ty France (31)
Paul Goldschmidt (38)
Enrique Hernandez (34)
Rhys Hoskins (33)
Connor Joe (33)
Nathaniel Lowe (30)
Carlos Santana (40)
Dominic Smith (31)
Donovan Solano (38)
Rowdy Tellez (31)
Justin Turner (41)
LaMonte Wade Jr. (32)

Second Basemen

Cavan Biggio (31)
Thairo Estrada (30)
Kyle Farmer (34)
Adam Frazier (34)
Jose Iglesias (36)
DJ LeMahieu (37)
Dylan Moore (33)
Luis Rengifo (29)
Brendan Rodgers (29)
Luis Urias (29)

Shortstops

Tim Anderson (33)
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (31)
Jorge Mateo (31)

Third Basemen

Jon Berti (36)
Jeimer Candelario (32)
Willi Castro (29)
Santiago Espinal (31)
Enrique Hernandez (34)
Yoan Moncada (31)
Luis Rengifo (29)
Emmanuel Rivera (30)
Eugenio Suarez (34)
Ramon Urias (32)
Gio Urshela (34)

Left Fielders

Miguel Andujar (31)
Harrison Bader (32)
Cody Bellinger (30)
Sean Bouchard (30)
Mark Canha (37)
Willi Castro (29)
Michael Conforto (33)
Adam Frazier (34)
Austin Hays (30)
Sam Hilliard (32)
Connor Joe (33)
Max Kepler (33)
Nick Martini (36)
MJ Melendez (27)
Tommy Pham (38)
Chris Taylor (35)
Alex Verdugo (30)
Jesse Winker (32)

Center Fielders

Harrison Bader (32)
Cody Bellinger (30)
Chas McCormick (31)

Right Fielders

Cody Bellinger (30)
Willi Castro (29)
Randal Grichuk (34)
Jason Heyward (36)
Max Kepler (33)
Starling Marte (37)
Joshua Palacios (30)
Hunter Renfroe (34)
Austin Slater (33)
Mike Tauchman (35)

Designated Hitters

Miguel Andujar (31)
Victor Caratini (32)
Mitch Garver (35)
Rhys Hoskins (33)
Andrew McCutchen (39)
Marcell Ozuna (35)
Justin Turner (41)
Jesse Winker (32)

Starting Pitchers

Tyler Anderson (36)
Chris Bassitt (37)
Walker Buehler (31)
Griffin Canning (30)
Aaron Civale (31)
Alex Cobb (38)
Patrick Corbin (36)
Nestor Cortes (31)
Anthony DeSclafani (36)
Erick Fedde (33)
Zac Gallen (30)
Connor Gillispie (28)
Lucas Giolito (30)
Austin Gomber (32)
Tony Gonsolin (32)
Jon Gray (34)
Andre Jackson (30)
Jakob Junis (33)
Zack Littell (30)
German Marquez (31)
Nick Martinez (35)
John Means (33)
Miles Mikolas (37)
Wade Miley (39)
Frankie Montas (33)
Jordan Montgomery (33)
Chris Paddack (30)
Martin Perez (35)
Cal Quantrill (31)
Jose Quintana (37)
Max Scherzer (41)
Marcus Stroman (35)
Tomoyuki Sugano (36)
Kona Takahashi (29)
Jose Urquidy (31)
Framber Valdez (32)
Justin Verlander (43)

Right-Handed Relievers

Scott Barlow (33)
Valente Bellozo (26)
Matt Bowman (35)
Ryan Brasier (38)
Seranthony Dominguez (31)
Dane Dunning (31)
Carson Fulmer (32)
Luis Garcia (39)
Kendall Graveman (35)
Chad Green (35)
Liam Hendriks (36)
Luke Jackson (32)
Jakob Junis (33)
Tommy Kahnle (36)
Michael Kopech (30)
Max Kranick (28)
Derek Law (35)
Jose Leclerc (32)
Jorge Lopez (33)
Nick Martinez (35)
Shelby Miller (35)
Rafael Montero (35)
Hector Neris (37)
Adam Ottavino (40)
Evan Phillips (31)
Ryan Pressly (37)
Erasmo Ramirez (36)
David Robertson (41)
Joe Ross (33)
Eduardo Salazar (28)
Tayler Scott (34)
Paul Sewald (36)
Lucas Sims (32)
Drew Smith (32)
Chris Stratton (35)
Hunter Strickland (37)
Trent Thornton (32)
Lou Trivino (34)
Jose Ureña (34)

Left-Handed Relievers

Jalen Beeks (32)
Cam Booser (34)
Ryan Borucki (32)
Andrew Chafin (36)
Danny Coulombe (36)
John King (31)
Joey Lucchesi (33)
Cionel Perez (30)
Taylor Rogers (35)
Brent Suter (36)
Justin Wilson (38)

Players In DFA Limbo

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When a team designates a player for assignment, he is removed from that club’s 40-man roster. The team then has a period of time with some ability to impact what is next for that player. This is colloquially referred to as “DFA limbo”.

The team can trade the player to another club, unless the trade deadline has passed and the new offseason has not yet begun. The team can also place the player on outright or release waivers. This limbo period can last as long as seven days. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the team has a maximum of five days to work out a trade.

Or at least that’s the case for most of the year. It’s different around the holidays, with several instances in recent years of players being in DFA limbo for longer than two weeks. For instance, catcher Sam Huff was designated for assignment by the Rangers on December 23rd of 2024. He stayed in DFA limbo until he was claimed off waivers by the Giants on January 8th of 2025, 16 days later.

There has never been an official announcement made about what the rules are but it’s clear there’s some sort of freeze on the DFA clock around the holidays in late December and early January.

In this morning’s edition of The Opener, MLBTR mentioned two players who had been designated for assignment on December 17th, expecting those situations to be resolved today. There have been no updates as of the publication of this post. It’s possible the situations have been resolved but just haven’t been reported publicly because of media/communications people taking time off for the holidays. It’s also possible that those players have had their DFA clocks frozen and will remain in limbo into January.

Below is a list of players who have been designated for assignment in the past week without resolution, listed chronologically.

December 17th

December 19th

December 20th

December 22nd

December 23rd

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

Rockies Retain Several Coaches

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The Rockies announced a few coaching decisions this week. Third base coach Andy Gonzalez and assistant hitting coach Jordan Pacheco will return in their prior roles. Ron Gideon, who previously served as first base and outfield coach, transitions to a newly-created role of assistant bench coach.

The decisions provide a small amount of continuity for a club that has otherwise overhauled quite a bit. The Rockies have been losing a lot in recent years, which prompted them to fire manager Bud Black in May. He was replaced by third base coach Warren Schaeffer on an interim basis. Gonzalez then moved from his assistant hitting coach role to Schaeffer’s previous gig as third base coach. Pacheco began the season as hitting coach for Triple-A Albuquerque but was brought up to the big league squad as an assistant hitting coach at that time.

Once the season was over, the club parted ways with general manager Bill Schmidt. With the vacuum of the top of the front office, everything else was on hold. The new front office leader would eventually have some say in whether or not Schaeffer would be back. The coaching decisions would also have to wait until there was clarity on the front office and managerial situations.

In early November, Paul DePodesta was hired as Colorado’s new front office leader, with the title of president of baseball operations. Later that month, the club announced that Schaeffer would indeed continue as skipper.

In the past two-plus weeks, Schaeffer has been filling out his staff with new faces. Alon Leichman will be the pitching coach, Gabe Ribas assistant pitching coach, Matt Buschmann bullpen coach, Brett Pill hitting coach and Jeff Pickler bench coach.

This week’s hirings mean that at least a few familiar faces are returning. However, as mentioned, Gonzalez and Pacheco both got their current titles in May as part of the shake-up when Black was fired. With Gideon now changing roles, it means each job has been rolled over in some way in the past eight months.

Gonzalez has been with the Rockies for 11 seasons, spending much of that time in the minors. He became assistant hitting coach with the big league club in the 2022 season. As mentioned, he changed roles before completing his fourth campaign with that title. He played in the majors from 2007 to 2009, with the White Sox, Cleveland and the Marlins.

Pacheco played in the majors from 2011 to 2016, spending a lot of that time with the Rockies, plus stints with the Diamondbacks and Reds. Colorado brought him aboard as a minor league hitting coach in 2022.

Gideon has been with the Rockies for 30 years, mostly in the minors, spending the last nine seasons on the big league staff. He had been the first base coach since the 2019 campaign. His role change means that the Rockies still have one vacancy. They will have to find a first base coach at some point before the season ramps up.

Photo courtesy of Allan Henry, Imagn Images

Reds To Sign Michael Chavis To Minor League Deal

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The Reds and infielder Michael Chavis have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. The CAA Sports client also receives an invite to big league camp in spring training.

Chavis, 30, returns to North America after a brief stint overseas. He signed with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball in July. However, he hit just .171/.267/.352 in 38 games for the Dragons.

The Reds have overlooked that small-sample disappointment and brought him aboard via a non-roster pact. Chavis was once a notable prospect, getting selected by the Red Sox in the first round of the 2014 draft. He had a breakout season in 2017 when he launched 31 home runs in the minors. Baseball America ranked him as the #85 prospect in the league going into the 2018 season.

He made a major league debut with a bit of a splash in 2019, hitting 18 home runs in just 382 plate appearances, but with some asterisks. That was the juiced-ball season, so Chavis was one of 151 players to reach the 18-homer mark that year. He also struck out in 33.2% of his plate appearances.

The strikeouts would continue to be a problem and bumped his stock down. In the coming years, he would bounce from Boston to Pittsburgh and Washington while continuing to whiff. He currently has 1,186 big league plate appearances on his statsheet with a 31.9% strikeout rate in those. His 5.4% walk rate is also subpar. Despite launching 42 home runs, his .238/.283/.401 batting line translates to an 80 wRC+, indicating he’s been 20% below average overall.

For the Reds, there’s no real harm in bringing him aboard via a minor league deal. For what it’s worth, his minor league production has been more viable. Dating back to the start of 2024, he has 740 Triple-A plate appearances, only striking out 22.3% of the time. He slashed .270/.339/.483 in that sample for a 103 wRC.

He can also provide plenty of defensive flexibility. He has big league experience at the three non-shortstop infield positions as well as the outfield corners.

The Reds have a lot of moving parts in their position player mix. Matt McLain could be the second baseman but he missed all of 2024 while injured and then had poor offensive results in 2025. Sal Stewart has second base experience in the minors but the Reds utilized him at first and third in the big leagues. Though he performed well down the stretch, he still has just 58 big league plate appearances. The hot corner should be locked down by Ke’Bryan Hayes after he was acquired at the deadline in 2025. If Stewart takes over at first, that could push Spencer Steer to the grass, the same way that Gavin Lux and Noelvi Marté have been largely pushed from the infield to the outfield. Steer, Lux and Marté were all around league average at the plate in 2025. Christian Encarnacion-Strand is also in the corner infield mix but is coming off two straight challenging seasons.

Chavis gives Cincy a bit of experience depth behind that group and can step in if there are openings due to injuries or underperformance. Chavis still has an option remaining, meaning he could be easily sent back to the minors if he gets a 40-man spot at some point.

Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images

Owen White Signs With KBO’s Hanwha Eagles

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The Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization announced that they have signed right-hander Owen White. The Wasserman client will make $1MM in the form of a $200K signing bonus and a salary of $800K. Hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net for relaying the news, translated into English.

White, now 26, was a notable prospect a couple of years ago. The Rangers drafted him 55th overall in 2018 but his professional debut wouldn’t come until a few years later. He missed 2019 due to Tommy John surgery and then the Covid-19 pandemic wiped out the minor leagues in 2020.

Once he was back in action, he hit the mound running. Between 2021 and 2022, he tossed 115 2/3 innings in the minors, allowing 3.42 earned runs per nine. His 7.5% walk rate was strong and his 34.1% strikeout rate excellent.

The Rangers gave him a 40-man spot in the 2022-23 offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Going into the 2023 campaign, Baseball America ranked White as the #59 prospect in the league.

Since then, however, White has hit a number of speed bumps. He got shelled in his first major league appearances and his results also backed up in the minors. He tossed 207 2/3 innings for the Triple-A Round Rock Express over 2023 and 2024 with a 4.90 ERA. The Express play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but White’s 18.3% strikeout rate and 11.3% walk rate were both poor figures.

That performance pushed White to the fringe of the Texas roster. He was designated for assignment in December 2024. His past prospect status still attracted a number of teams. Prior to the 2025 season, he went to the Reds, Yankees and White Sox via small deals or waiver claims.

He spent 2025 with the Sox but was mostly kept on optional assignment. He threw only seven big league innings, allowing seven earned runs. Combined with his brief MLB appearances with the Rangers, he now has an unfortunate 12.86 ERA in 14 total innings in the majors.

He also tossed 81 Triple-A innings in Chicago’s system. His 4.44 ERA wasn’t awful and he got grounders on 46.7% of balls in play but his 18.8% strikeout rate and 12.4% walk rate were subpar.

He exhausted his final option season in 2025, meaning he will be out of options going forward, making it harder for him to cling to a roster spot. The Sox passed him through waivers unclaimed in October and he became a minor league free agent shortly thereafter.

If White had stayed in North America, he surely would have been limited to minor league deals. Even if he earned a roster spot with some club in 2026, his salary likely would have been near the $780K league minimum. By heading overseas, he gets a bigger guarantee and an opportunity to showcase himself on a notable stage.

It has become quite common for pitchers to reinvent themselves in Asia and return to North America for big paydays. This offseason alone has seen Cody Ponce, Anthony Kay, Drew Anderson, Foster Griffin and Ryan Weiss get deals with MLB clubs after pitching in Japan or South Korea in 2025. They all got at least a $2.6MM guarantee with Ponce getting all the way up to $30MM. White is still quite young and could go down this path if he’s able to find a new gear with the Eagles.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

Nationals To Sign Matt Mervis To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals and first baseman Matt Mervis have agreed to a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp in spring training. Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that Mervis and the Nats had a deal in place. Andrew Golden of The Washington Post specified that it was a minor league deal with a camp invite.

Mervis, 28 in April, hasn’t found much major league success yet. He has appeared in 78 big league games over the past three seasons, stepping to the plate 261 times split between the Cubs and Marlins. He hit ten home runs in that time but also had a subpar 7.7% walk rate and an awful 34.5% strikeout rate. He currently sports a career batting line of .165/.238/.322.

That lack of offense is deadly for his viability. He is one of the slowest players in the majors and can only play first base. He needs to hit to provide value.

The reason he has been given a few major league chances is because his minor league production is vastly superior to what he’s done in the big leagues. He first gained attention as a minor leaguer with the Cubs in 2022. That year, he went from High-A to Double-A and Triple-A, hitting 36 homers on the year.

Since then, even as he has floundered in the majors, he has continued hitting fairly well on the farm. From 2023 to 2025, he has stepped to the plate 1,058 times at the Triple-A level with various clubs. His 25.8% strikeout rate in that time is still a bit high but far better than his big league work. He has also drawn walks at a strong 11.9% clip and hit 56 home runs. He has a combined .257/.354/.510 line and 112 wRC+ in that span, indicating he’s been 12% above league average.

The Cubs traded him to the Marlins last offseason. The Fish outrighted him off their 40-man in June and released him in August. He then landed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks but didn’t get called up down the stretch and became a minor league free agent at season’s end.

The Nats are a sensible landing spot for him. Not only was he born and raised in the D.C. area but the first base spot is fairly wide open in Washington. They had Nathaniel Lowe as their regular at that position this year but released him in August. They mostly used Josh Bell the rest of the way. He became a free agent after the season and subsequently signed with the Twins.

As of now, Washington’s top first basemen are Andrés Chaparro and Luis García Jr. Chaparro has a .203/.268/.358 batting line in 205 big league plate appearances. García has mostly been a second baseman in his career but his poor defensive grades might get him bumped to first, where he has only 16 big league innings of experience. Even if he can stick at first defensively, he probably doesn’t have the bat for the position, with a career .266/.299/.410 line and 93 wRC+.

With that situation, the Nats clearly need upgrades. Since they are rebuilding, they probably won’t make a big splash there. As spring training approaches, they could perhaps take a low-cost flier on a free agent, depending on who remains unsigned. Guys like Ty France, Rhys Hoskins, Dominic Smith, Carlos Santana, Rowdy Tellez or Justin Turner are some theoretical possibilities.

For now, they have added some non-roster depth. They signed Warming Bernabel to a minor league deal not too long ago and have now brought Mervis into the fold as well. If Mervis can earn a roster spot, he still has an option season remaining and also has less than a year of service time. If he finally clicks in the majors with his hometown team, he can be cheaply retained into the foreseeable future.

Photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images

Mets To Sign Mike Baumann

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The Mets and right-hander Mike Baumann have agreed to a deal, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman doesn’t specify whether it’s a major or minor league deal for the CAA Sports client. The Mets have a full 40-man roster and would need to open a spot for Baumann if he’s going on there.

It would be quite a shock if Baumann landed a major league deal. The 30-year-old spent the 2025 season with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He wasn’t exactly dominant over there. He tossed 15 innings at the top NPB level with a 4.20 earned run average and 11 innings in the minors with a 4.09 ERA.

At the top level, he did strike out 25.3% of batters faced in that small sample but he also gave out walks to 16% of opponents. In the minors, he had a 20.9% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate.

If it’s just a minor league deal, then it’s fine for the Mets. It adds some depth without using up a roster spot. Baumann has a bit of major league experience. He tossed 167 1/3 innings over the 2021 to 2024 seasons with a 4.95 ERA, 20% strikeout rate, 10.3% walk rate and 42.7% ground ball rate.

Those numbers weren’t elite but Baumann’s arsenal clearly intrigued teams. His four-seamer and sinker both averaged in the upper 90s. He also featured a low-90s slider in addition to a knuckle curve and a changeup which both averaged in the high-80s.

He began the 2024 season with the Orioles, the club he had played for since being drafted in 2017. But he exhausted his final option season in 2023, meaning his grip on a roster spot had loosened. Over the course of the 2024 season, he went from the O’s to the Mariners, Giants, Angels and Marlins via small trades or waiver claims.

After that hot-potato season, he tried to find a bit more security by heading to Japan. It didn’t pan out, so he has come back to North America and will join the Mets. Assuming this is a non-roster pact, he will try to pitch his way onto the club’s roster. Even if he does so, hanging onto his spot will be tricky on account of his aforementioned out-of-options status.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Harold Castro Signs With KBO’s Kia Tigers

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The Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization have confirmed the four foreign players who will join their team for the 2026 season (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO). The foursome includes right-hander James Naile, who is entering his third year with the Tigers and whose signing was announced last month; right-hander Adam Oller, who re-signed for a second year with the club; infielder Jarryd Dale, a former Padres prospect and Australian Baseball League player who spent 2025 with NPB’s Orix Buffaloes; and utility player Harold Castro, a six-year MLB veteran who is heading overseas for the first time in his career.

Castro, a client of the MAS+ Agency, spent more than a decade in the Detroit Tigers organization. He signed in 2010 as an international free agent out of Venezuela, and eight years later, he made his big league debut at Comerica Park. Over parts of five seasons with MLB’s Tigers, he played in 351 games, appearing at every position except catcher. His .286 batting average was impressive, and his defensive versatility was valuable, but that was about all he contributed. He didn’t hit for power, he rarely walked, and his defense graded out poorly (albeit in small samples) wherever he played. 

Detroit non-tendered Castro after the 2022 season, and he signed a minor league deal with the Rockies. The utility man cracked Colorado’s roster out of camp and stuck around all season, though he struggled to hit even at Coors Field. Finishing with a .589 OPS and 45 wRC+, Castro produced a -1.5 FanGraphs WAR, third-last among all MLB players in 2023.

The Rockies cut Castro soon after the season ended, and he would eventually sign with the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. He hit well with the Toros in 2024 and even better for Leones del Caracas of the Venezuelan Winter League the following offseason, enough so that he landed a minor league offer from the Royals for the 2025 campaign. Despite Castro’s best efforts at Triple-A  – 21 home runs, a .307 batting average, and a 129 wRC+ in 99 contests – he never got the call to the majors. Yet, he clearly impressed the Kia Tigers, who signed the 32-year-old to a contract worth $1MM USD for 2026. He replaces Patrick Wisdom on their roster, who was no slouch in his first KBO season, hitting 35 home runs with a 126 wRC+.

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