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Angels Still Seeking Multiple Relievers

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The Angels are positioned as well as any team to make some late-winter additions as free agents linger on the market — arguably even better-positioned than most. They’ve primarily been adding depth on minor league deals over the past couple weeks, but they’re still looking to improve the big league roster. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that they’ve told “at least one agent” that they have two or even three bullpen spots they’d still like to fill.

A look at the current composition of manager Ron Washington’s relief corps underlines that area of opportunity. Presumptive closer Ben Joyce is the game’s hardest-throwing pitcher by a wide margin, averaging 102.1 mph on his four-seamer. He enjoyed a breakout showing with a 2.08 ERA in 34 2/3 innings this past season and is all but assured a spot, barring injury. Veteran lefties Brock Burke, Jose Quijada and Jose Suarez are all out of minor league options and were all tendered contracts in arbitration. Health permitting, they’ll be on the Opening Day roster as well.

Beyond that quartet, there’s basically no certainty. Righty Chase Silseth, with 1.071 years of MLB service, is next up in terms of “experience.” The aforementioned trio of lefties are the only relievers on the Halos’ roster with even two years of MLB service time. Right-hander Robert Stephenson, signed to a three-year deal last winter, will of course take over one spot once he’s healthy, but he had Tommy John surgery on April 30. He could miss most or all of the season’s first half.

The Halos have their share of interesting candidates for relief spots. Righty Ryan Zeferjahn, acquired from the Red Sox in exchange for Luis Garcia, looked outstanding … in a sample of 17 big league innings. He’s had substantial command problems in the minors, however. Sam Bachman is a former top-10 pick with a sinker that sat nearly 97 mph in relief in 2023, but the Angels have continued to work him as a starter in the minors (to mixed results). Rule 5 pick Garrett McDaniels posted gaudy minor league numbers with the Dodgers last year but topped out in Double-A (where he only pitched three innings).

Suffice it to say, there’s room for multiple veterans to supplement the group — or at the very least for one more veteran arm. The Angels are nowhere close to the luxury tax barrier at the moment, sitting a bit under $206MM in CBT obligations, per RosterResource. That gives them more than $35MM, assuming the luxury tax is some form of hard barrier that owner Arte Moreno would prefer not to cross. The Angels have only paid the luxury tax once under Moreno’s ownership, which came way back in 2004 and saw the team pay out under $1MM in total penalties. The Angels were close to the tax threshold in 2023 but narrowly ducked under the line thanks to a massive late-August waiver purge after a failed deadline push for contention.

The relief market has been the slowest corner of free agency this winter, although it’s picked up steam in recent weeks with Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, A.J. Minter, Jose Leclerc, Andrew Kittredge, Paul Sewald and Chris Martin (among others) all coming off the board since Jan. 10. Kirby Yates and the Dodgers have reportedly been working to finalize their own deal, though as of yet nothing has been formally announced.

The remaining collection of free agents still features several notable names, headlined by Carlos Estevez, David Robertson, Kenley Jansen, Kyle Finnegan, Tommy Kahnle, Phil Maton, Andrew Chafin and Tim Hill, among many others. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the Angels took a similar bulk approach to rounding out the bullpen last offseason, signing six relievers to big league deals — three of which came in mid-January or later. That didn’t work out as hoped, but it nonetheless seems they’ll take another run at using the late stages of the market to build out the bullpen this winter.

The Opener: Cubs, Bregman, DFA Resolution

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With just two weeks until pitchers and catchers begin to report for Spring Training, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Cubs 40-man roster moves incoming:

The Cubs and Astros have reached an agreement on a trade sending veteran reliever Ryan Pressly (and $5.5MM cash) to Chicago in exchange for minor leaguer Juan Bello. Last night, Pressly agreed to waive his no-trade clause, receiving both a new no-trade clause and an assignment bonus (to cover the difference in state taxes) as part of the deal. That trade has not yet been formally announced by the teams, but when it is the Cubs will need to clear space on the 40-man roster. Pressly isn’t the only player the club needs to make room for on the roster. Utilityman Jon Berti agreed to a one-year deal with the Cubs last week. Like the Pressly trade, that signing has also yet to be made official and will require the Cubs to open a 40-man roster spot.

2. Bregman headed home?

Longtime Astros third baseman Alex Bregman was the talk of baseball over the weekend. Late last week, reports began to percolate that the Astros and Bregman had reengaged despite Houston’s acquisitions of Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes to handle the infield corners seemingly signaling a split. The Astros held their annual FanFest over the weekend and, while comments from GM Dana Brown described a Bregman reunion as a “longshot,” franchise face Jose Altuve emphasized the importance of Bregman to the team and made clear he would be willing to move to the outfield if it meant bringing Bregman back into the fold. Will a deal reach the finish line soon, or could another suitor for Bregman like the Tigers or Blue Jays swoop in and get something done instead?

3. DFA resolution incoming:

Last week, the Pirates designated infielder Tristan Gray for assignment to make room for veteran DH Andrew McCutchen on the 40-man roster. Gray, 29 in March, has just 17 games of big league experience under his belt between the Rays, Marlins, and Athletics over the past two seasons but was claimed off waivers by the Pirates back in October as a first base depth option. He’s since been pushed further down the depth chart by the acquisition of Spencer Horwitz, leading the club to cut him from the 40-man roster. That move was a week ago to the day, and as such the one-week window for a DFA’d player to either be moved or clear waivers is closing. There should be an announcement regarding Gray’s future at some point today, whether that’s a waiver claim or him clearing waivers and being outrighted to the minor leagues.

Diamondbacks Continue To Look For Bullpen Help, Right-Handed Hitting

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The Diamondbacks’ two biggest offseason moves took place in late December, as the team surprisingly landed Corbin Burnes on a six-year, $210MM deal and acquired Josh Naylor in a trade with the Guardians.  Those headline-grabbing transactions, however, only reinforced an already-deep rotation and filled a hole at first base that was left open when Christian Walker signed with the Astros.

As such, two of the Snakes’ chief offseason goals remain unaddressed, as president of baseball operations Mike Hazen told the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro that the D’Backs are still looking to add a high-leverage arm to the bullpen and a right-handed hitter to help balance out the lineup.  Adding the left-handed hitting Naylor in for the right-handed hitting Walker tilted Arizona’s lineup a bit further to the left side, and the Diamondbacks have been linked to such free agent relievers and trade targets as Devin Williams, Ryan Helsley, and Kirby Yates over the course of the offseason.

Interestingly, Hazen implied that the D’Backs could address these needs in free agency, saying “I still am in a position to add to the team, yes” when asked if more payroll space was available.  The unexpected Burnes signing sent the Diamondbacks’ payroll beyond the $193MM mark (as per RosterResource’s estimates), which is easily the highest payroll in franchise history.  This spending increase comes on the heels of another payroll surge, as Arizona’s Opening Day payroll went from $116.1MM in 2023 to $163.3MM last season.

It is probably safe to assume that Hazen’s remaining payroll flexibility is fairly limited, as he noted that “I don’t have that ability to just go, you know, take care of it with one swipe of the pen.  So those are probably the complicating factors relative to what we’re trying to get done, but there’s still opportunity.”  This could make trades the more likely path to further roster upgrades, though Hazen said that rival teams have been asking for too much in return.

Still, Hazen said that the D’Backs might be willing to use its rotation depth for trade-chip purposes, noting “that could be in some of the areas where your reliever trade comes in.”  Arizona’s starting pitchers had been drawing trade interest even before Burnes joined the roster, and one arm has already been dealt, as Slade Cecconi was sent to Cleveland as part of the Naylor deal.

This being said, Hazen is reluctant to move too much pitching, whether from the more established veterans in the rotation to younger arms slated for Triple-A or the bullpen.  Injuries concerns are omnipresent, since “as you know in starting pitching, it could be as much as missing a couple of bullpens somewhere in camp,” Hazen said.  “And that sometimes takes the potential ability for somebody to make the team on Opening Day impossible, and that happens pretty frequently.”

The Diamondbacks are therefore fine taking all seven of their starting pitching candidates into the start of Spring Training, Hazen said, but Piecoro notes that Jordan Montgomery is still available in trade talks.  Arizona’s efforts to move Montgomery have been a well-documented subplot of the team’s offseason, but there hasn’t been much public buzz around specific teams interested in the left-hander’s services.  Granted, that isn’t a shock given Montgomery’s $22.5MM salary in 2025 and his injury-hampered 6.23 ERA over 117 innings in 2024.

Williams was traded from the Brewers to the Yankees, Yates is seemingly close to a deal with the Dodgers, and the Cardinals (somewhat curiously) aren’t planning to trade Helsley, even though the closer is a free agent next winter and hasn’t had any extension talks with the St. Louis front office.  The D’Backs also had some interest in re-signing old friend Paul Sewald, but Arizona’s ex-closer signed with the Guardians earlier this week.  Among the remaining members of the free agent bullpen market, Carlos Estevez, Kenley Jansen, David Robertson, and Craig Kimbrel are among the more notable pitchers with closing experience, plus any number of relievers might be available in trade talks.

Arizona had arguably the league’s top offense last season, but even with Naylor replacing Walker, the D’Backs are missing a couple of key contributors.  Joc Pederson signed with the Rangers, though Randal Grichuk is still a free agent, and a reunion with the outfielder would directly address the Diamondbacks’ need for a righty bat.  Grichuk’s ability to play the outfield also makes him a fit, as Hazen said the team isn’t looking specifically for a right-handed hitting DH option.  Pavin Smith figures to take Pederson’s spot as the left-handed hitting side of the DH platoon, but Hazen wants to keep the designated hitter position relatively open in order to give multiple players possible rest days.

Rockies Notes: Marquez, Relief Pitching, Condon

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Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt spoke with reporters (including the Denver Post’s Kyle Newman and Just Baseball Media’s Patrick Lyons) at the “Rockies Fest” fan event this weekend, addressing such topics as the health of several notable Colorado players.  German Marquez was one of those players, as Schmidt said the right-hander is recovered from the stress reaction in his right elbow that prematurely ended Marquez’s 2024 season.

Injuries have limited Marquez to five starts and just 24 innings for the Rox over the last two seasons.  The bulk of that injury layoff came in the form of Tommy John rehab, after Marquez underwent the procedure in May 2023.  He made it back to the big leagues by July of last season, but Marquez’s return lasted just a single game, and four innings in Colorado’s 8-5 win over the Mets on July 14.  Elbow inflammation soon sent Marquez to the 15-day IL after that one outing, and the stress reaction was discovered shortly thereafter.

Marquez has spent all nine of his Major League seasons with the Rockies, posting a 4.40 ERA over 996 innings from 2016-22.  The Rockies acknowledged Marquez’s durability and success at handling Coors Field with a five-year, $43MM contract extension in April 2019, with a $16MM club option for the 2024 campaign.  The option never ended up coming into play, as Marquez inked a new two-year, $20MM deal with Colorado in September 2023 that covered the 2024-25 seasons, and gave both sides a little more flexibility as Marquez recovered from his TJ surgery.

With the first season of that deal unfortunately going down as a wash, Marquez now faces extra pressure as an impending free agent.  Marquez’s first priority is just getting healthy and getting back onto a mound, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rockies make a move to lock him up on another extension if he pitches well in the early part of the season.  Despite his lengthy track record in the majors, Marquez doesn’t turn 30 years old until next month.

Any kind of rotation stability is sorely needed in Denver, both due to the infamous thin-air conditions and because of how hard the Rox have been hit by pitching injuries over the last few years.  Marquez is penciled into a rotation that also includes Austin Gomber, Ryan Feltner, Kyle Freeland, and Antonio Senzatela (who also missed most of 2023-24 due to Tommy John rehab).  Between this group and some Triple-A arms nearing their big league debuts, Schmidt is hopeful the Rockies have amassed enough depth to withstand any further injuries or any struggles from the regular starters.

Some more pitching could be on the way in the form of relievers, as Schmidt indicated that the Rockies could yet add to their bullpen before Spring Training.  Diego Castillo, Jimmy Herget, Tommy Doyle, and Jake Woodford are among the pitchers with MLB experience who have been brought into the organization on minor league deals or waiver claims, and it remains to be seen if the Rockies’ pitching explorations will lead to any guaranteed contracts for bullpen help.

Infielders Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer are the only players the Rox have signed to guaranteed deals, both brought into the fold on one-year contracts.  It isn’t necessarily surprising that a team coming off 204 losses in the last two seasons isn’t aggressively spending, but the Rockies are continuing their unusual path of not entirely rebuilding, but also clearly focusing on younger talent.

Charlie Condon is one of those key building blocks for the future, and Schmidt said the team hadn’t yet decided where Charlie Condon will play in the minor leagues next season.  The third overall pick of the 2024 draft began his pro career in inauspicious fashion by hitting only .180/.248/.270 over 109 plate appearances for high-A Spokane, but Schmidt said Condon was trying to play through a bruised thumb that “he kind of didn’t tell us” about.

This injury could well explain those struggles, even though it isn’t unusual for even star prospects to face some growing pains in their first taste of professional baseball.  Condon was also moving right into his pro career on the heels of 60 games with Georgia during the 2024 NCAA season, with Condon crushing college pitching to the tune of a .433/.556/1.009 slash line and 37 homers over 304 PA.  In recently-released top-100 lists, MLB Pipeline rated Condon as the 29th-best prospect in the sport, and Baseball America ranked him 42nd.

NPB’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars To Sign Trevor Bauer

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The Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professonal Baseball have agreed to a deal with right-hander Trevor Bauer, according to multiple reports out of Japan (including from Nikkan Sports).  The BayStars are expected to soon officially announce the signing.

It will mark Bauer’s second season in NPB and second with the BayStars, after posting a 2.76 ERA over 130 2/3 innings with Yokohama in 2023.  In between his two stints in Japan, Bauer pitched with Diablos Rojos del Mexico in 2024, delivering a 2.48 ERA over 83 1/3 frames.  He signed with the Mexican League club after first exploring the possibility of a return to the majors, as his representatives spoke with some unnamed MLB teams in November 2023.

Bauer pitched in parts of 10 Major League seasons from 2012-21 with the Diamondbacks, Cleveland, Reds, and Dodgers, averaging 181 innings per season from 2014-19.  In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Bauer won the NL Cy Young Award after posting a 1.73 ERA over 73 innings with Cincinnati.  Bauer then signed a three-year, $102MM free agent contract with the Dodgers during the 2020-21 offseason, but this tenure in Los Angeles ended after three months and 107 2/3 innings when he was placed on administrative leave pending a league investigation.

That summer, a woman accused Bauer of sexual assault and filed a restraining order against him in California.  Two other women in Ohio later came forward with similar accusations.  In August 2021, a California judge denied the restraining order request, and the Los Angeles district attorney’s office later declined to pursue criminal charges.  As per a statement from the DA’s office, “after a thorough review of the available evidence, including the civil restraining order proceedings, witness statements and the physical evidence, the People are unable to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Because the MLB/MLBPA Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy doesn’t require criminal charges for the league to take action, Bauer was issued a 324-game suspension (the equivalent of two full seasons) in April 2022.  This record-long suspension was later reduced to 192 games in December 2022 after Bauer appealed the ruling, and the Dodgers released him the next month and ate the $22.5MM remaining on his contract.  Also in 2023, Bauer and his first accuser settled their mutual lawsuits out of court, and another woman reportedly filed a civil action against Bauer accusing him of a sexual assault that took place in Arizona in 2020.

Cristian Javier Targeting Second Half Return From Tommy John Surgery

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The Astros figure to enter the season plagued by a number of rotation injuries this winter. Both Cristian Javier and J.P. France underwent season-ending surgery last year and are locks to start 2025 on the injured list, while reporting yesterday revealed that both Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. are also slated to miss at least the start of the upcoming campaign. France indicated earlier this month that he was targeting a return from shoulder surgery in July of this year, while Ari Alexander of KPRC2 reports that Javier suggested during the club’s FanFest event yesterday that he’s eyeing a return at some point in the second half.

That’s a somewhat vague timetable, though it could still fall within the 12 to 14 month timeline that’s typically associated with UCL surgery. GM Dana Brown indicated back in October (as noted by MLB.com) that Javier could return as soon as late July. That would be shortly after the All-Star break and roughly 14 months after he went under the knife, though Javier’s more general second half timetable suggests at least some possibility of him returning later than previously anticipated. It’s surely not how the Astros were hoping things would go when they signed Javier to a five-year, $64MM extension prior to the 2023 campaign. The righty is due to make $10.4MM in 2025 as part of that contract before his salary jumps to $21.4MM for the final two years of the deal.

The Astros are surely hoping the right-hander will be able to return to the form he flashed in 2022, when he posted a 2.54 ERA (150 ERA+) and a 3.16 FIP in 148 2/3 innings of work before turning in a strong performance during the club’s championship run in October. He hasn’t been quite the same pitcher in the years since then, with a pedestrian 4.44 ERA (95 ERA+ and 4.61 FIP in 38 starts since the start of the 2023 season, but it’s not hard to imagine the soon to be 28-year-old hurler getting things back on track once he’s fully healthy. With Framber Valdez set to hit free agency following the 2025 season while both McCullers and Garcia are schedule to enter the open market the following winter, it would make sense if Houston decides to take things slowly with Javier as he works his way back from surgery given his importance to the long-term outlook of the club’s rotation.

Fortunately for Houston, they figure to be reasonably well-equipped to handle an extended absence for Javier should his time on the injured list bleed into August. The club’s projected Opening Day rotation figures to feature Valdez, Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti, Ronel Blanco, and freshly acquired youngster Hayden Wesneski. Reinforcements should become available to the club throughout the season, as well. While Garcia and McCullers are no longer expected to be ready for Opening Day, Alexander notes that the latter has already resumed throwing off a mound and GM Dana Brown indicated yesterday that Garcia has resumed throwing as well. That would make a return early in the season feasible for both players, with France also seemingly likely to return over the summer and buy Javier extra time to rehab if necessary.

Cardinals Reluctant To Make Long-Term Commitments This Winter

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The Cardinals have been among the league’s quietest teams this winter as they’ve to this point failed in their attempts to trade third baseman Nolan Arenado despite both sides preferring he play elsewhere in 2025. That difficulty in trading Arenado won’t force other cost-cutting moves according to club brass, but it does seem to have forced them to take a passive approach to the offseason with limited budget space available until and unless Arenado or another significant salary is traded. Recent comments from president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, as reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, have further illuminated the club’s goals this winter.

During last weekend’s Winter Warmup fan event, Mozeliak told reporters that his goal for the winter has been to create a “clean slate” for incoming president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who will replace him at the head of baseball operations when Mozeliak’s contract expires after the 2025 season. That desire to offer Bloom maximum flexibility as he takes over baseball operations has seemingly informed the club’s attempts to move Arenado. As Goold notes, Arenado is one of just three players who have a guaranteed contract in place beyond the 2025 season. The other two veterans, slugger Willson Contreras and right-hander Sonny Gray, both declined to waive their no-trade clauses earlier this winter and plan to stick in St. Louis going forward.

Aside from attempting to shed long-term commitments where possible, Goold adds that the Cardinals appear similarly reluctant to make new ones this winter. While the club is reportedly in the market for a late-inning reliever to replace Andrew Kittredge, it appears they club is hoping to avoid a longer-term agreement with a bullpen arm. That shouldn’t be too much of an obstacle given that the majority of the winter’s top relievers are already off the market and most veteran leverage relievers still available such as David Robertson, Kenley Jansen, and Tommy Kahnle are at an age where the vast majority of players are already limited to one-year offers on the open market. Filling the club’s reported desire for a right-handed bench bat who can complement a heavily left-handed lineup should be similarly easy to do on a one-year deal, as multi-year deals for projected bench players are few and far between.

Given the nature of the club’s external needs this winter, Mozeliak’s preference to avoid longer-term commitments this offseason appears likely to have more of an impact on the club’s approach to extensions. Closer Ryan Helsley, a free agent after the 2025 season, spoke candidly last weekend about the lack of extension talks between his camp and the Cardinals to this point. Meanwhile, reporting earlier this month suggested that the Cardinals were discussing a multi-year extension with utility man Brendan Donovan but no deal ultimately came together. Goold sheds some light on that situation, writing that the Cardinals have previously expressed interest in a multi-year deal with Donovan but did not “aggressively pursue” long-term deals with either him or any of the club’s other arbitration-eligible players this winter.

With one president of baseball operations finishing out the final year of his contract and his successor already both in the organization and announced as the future head of baseball ops, the Cardinals find themselves in an unusual position when it comes to committing to longer-term contracts even in the case of their own players. When asked about the possibility of extensions this offseason, Mozeliak indicated to Goold that the club remains open to conversation this spring but that Bloom would be involved in any negotiations given that he would be the person inheriting those longer-term commitments. Given that two top decision-makers would be involved in any negotiations this winter, it’s easy to imagine both sides preferring to table any extension talks until next year for players under team control beyond the 2025 season. At that point, Bloom will be fully in charge of baseball operations and have another year of direct evaluation under his belt with which he can make decisions.

Speculatively speaking, the Cardinals’ desire to provide Bloom with as much flexibility as possible when he takes over baseball operations after the 2025 season may also influence their decision to resist the idea of trading players who aren’t veterans on long-term, guaranteed deals. By keeping players with a handful of years of team control remaining like Donovan and Lars Nootbaar in the fold for 2025, Mozeliak offers Bloom the opportunity to decide whether or not the club should entertain an extension or trade for those players next winter.

Even rebuffing interest from rival clubs in players like Helsley and Erick Fedde could be a decision made in order to maximize flexibility when Bloom takes over, offering him the opportunity to extend the Qualifying Offer to either player if they turn in a sufficiently strong performance in 2025. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco discussed the Cardinals’ “half-measure” offseason in an exclusive article for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers earlier this month, and the club’s apparent goal of maximizing the options at Bloom’s disposal when he takes over next winter could be an explanation for their apparent lack of urgency.

Jack Flaherty Discusses Free Agency

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Free agent righty Jack Flaherty appeared on the Foul Territory podcast recently to discuss his ongoing trip through free agency and made some revealing comments about the state of his market. Notably, the right-hander indicated that while a handful of teams have continued to check in with him throughout the offseason, clubs have been reluctant to make him a formal offer to this point.

“It’s like, ’What are you up to?’ [and] ’When is the market gonna move?’… You have to make an offer and then it’ll go, but just calling and checking in… I don’t know. It’s weird,” Flaherty said. He then went on to suggest that clubs might have some level of complacency about improving beyond the level needed to have a chance at getting into the playoffs.

“It’s not that I don’t think teams want to win, I just think you have a lot of teams that look at their rosters and they’re happy with it… teams just want to get into the playoffs. Maybe it’s not World Series or bust, it’s just hope we can get into the playoffs and then kind of see what happens.”

Since the league expanded the postseason to include 12 teams back in 2022, there’s been a trend away from the tear-down method of rebuilding used by teams like the Cubs, Nationals, and Orioles in recent years. Entering the 2025 season, only the White Sox and Marlins are rebuilding in that sort of aggressive fashion with the rest of the league’s clubs generally looking to maintain at least some level of baseline competitiveness. That’s a strategy incentivized by the new playoff format, which not only added another playoff team in both leagues but also allows Wild Card teams to participate in a three-game series rather than the one-game, win-or-go-home playoff the 10-team format utilized in the past.

That guarantee of a postseason series for any club that can make the playoffs at all, when combined with the inherit randomness of baseball’s playoffs, has arguably weakened the incentive for teams to maximize their odds of winning their division at the expense of the franchise’s longer-term outlook. Some evidence for this is relatively easy to see: 2024 was the first season in a decade where no club won 100 games, and the first three seasons of the 12-team playoff format have seen five teams that won 86 games or less make the postseason after just two such teams made the playoffs during the entire 10-team playoff era that spanned from 2012 to 2021.

That includes 84-win campaigns by the Diamondbacks and Marlins in 2023, which were tied for the lowest win total for any playoff team since 83-win Cardinals won the World Series back in 2006. Only one other team, the 2005 Padres, has made it to the playoffs with less than 84 wins in a 162-game season since the 1973 Mets won the AL East with 82 wins. To what extent that increased ability for teams with win totals in the mid-80’s to make the postseason can be traced back to the struggles some higher-end free agents such as Flaherty have faced in finding free agent deals that are commensurate with their perceived value is difficult to pin down, however.

Regardless of the cause of Flaherty’s depressed market, it was reported earlier this month that the right-hander is now open to short-term offers as he looks to find his new home with the start of Spring Training just two over two weeks away. The Tigers, Cubs, Orioles, and Blue Jays are among the teams that have been connected to Flaherty this winter. The right-hander expressed a desire to return to the Dodgers early in the offseason, but that door has long appeared closed in the aftermath of Los Angeles striking early to sign Blake Snell back in November. The Dodgers have also added Roki Sasaki since then, further crowding their rotation mix. Flaherty acknowledged the long odds of a reunion during the interview, noting that he “can do the math” and surmise that he’s “most likely” not returning to LA. He also has interest in returning to his other 2024 club this year, however, and spoke positively of the Tigers during the interview.

“You know, I wanted to stay in Detroit,” Flaherty said. “We had conversations, and I loved it there. And I thought the combo of me and Skub was incredible… we’ve been talking to them and talking to other teams… Hey, you know, it would be fun to go back there.”

The Tigers appear to be one of the more active teams at the top of the remaining free agent market at this point, as they’ve remained engaged not only with Flaherty but also with third baseman Alex Bregman. Bregman has appeared to be the club’s priority to this point, but those are reportedly at a “standstill.” If Bregman ultimately signs elsewhere, it’s easy to imagine Detroit redirecting those funds to Flaherty where the righty would reclaim his role at the top of the club’s rotation alongside Tarik Skubal. That signing would push the club’s potential fifth starter options like Kenta Maeda, Matt Manning, Casey Mize, and Keider Montero into depth roles entering the season.

Padres Expect To Carry A Top 10 Payroll In 2025

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The Padres have been among the quietest teams in baseball this winter, which is unusual given that president of baseball operations AJ Preller is one of the most aggressive front office executives in the sport. The club’s inaction this winter has largely been informed by reports of significant payroll constraints, but Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported last night that those constraints might not be quite as stringent as once believed. While the club was previously thought to be angling towards lowering its 2025 payroll to something closer to the $169MM level they ran with in 2024, Acee now reports that the club plans to carry a payroll in or around the league’s top 10 for this season.

San Diego’s payroll currently ranks ninth in the sport at $208MM according to RosterResource, although some clubs on the outside of the top 10 such as the Cubs, Red Sox, Giants, and Angels are rumored to be involved in the markets of significant free agents like Alex Bregman, Jack Flaherty, and Pete Alonso who would likely catapult any of them into the top ten if signed. Even so, it stands to reason that the Padres are at least somewhat unlikely to increase payroll beyond its current level, a thought that Acee more or less confirms by noting that the club does not appear to be able to add payroll without first making room in the budget elsewhere.

That’s not necessarily exciting news for Padres fans, given the club’s clear needs at catcher, in the rotation, in left field, and at DH. It’s a lot of holes for Preller to try and plug without increasing payroll, and that’s led the Padres to listen to offers on key pieces such as Luis Arraez, Dylan Cease, and Robert Suarez this winter. While trading any of those players would create another hole on the roster, the return package combined with the payroll flexibility created by moving salary could allow San Diego to come out ahead on those moves as they did when they shipped Juan Soto to the Yankees last winter.

That makes the club’s plan to carry a payroll in or around the top ten potentially game changing for the front office. When the club was believed to be operating under a mandate to cut payroll, it seemed as though the Padres may have to execute multiple trades in order to make even modest additions via free agency. Now, however, it appears any dollars freed up by any trades they make can be reinvested directly back into the roster. That should make trading a high-end player like Cease much easier to turn into a net positive for the roster overall than it would have been if the club was forced to rely entirely on the return package for upgrades. It could also make the possibility of dumping a contract like that of Jake Cronenworth more attractive for the front office even in the event they’re unable to secure a significant return, as the roughly $11.3M is slated to earn in 2025 could then be spent on addressing more critical needs.

What remains unclear is whether or not the Padres are willing to exceed the first luxury tax threshold this year after avoiding the tax last season. San Diego is currently just over the first $241MM threshold with a projected payroll of roughly $243MM for CBT purposes. Preller has shown a willingness to get creative with his additions in order to lower a player’s AAV for luxury tax purposes in the past, and it’s certainly feasible to imagine the Padres finding a way to sneak under that first threshold while maintaining a similar or even identical payroll in terms of actual dollars spent. Moving a pricey arbitration level player like Cease or Arraez would be particularly valuable if ducking under the luxury tax is a goal, as their one-year salaries count fully against the luxury tax while even a similarly-priced free agent could be signed to a more complicated contract structure that offers San Diego additional wiggle room.

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