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Reds Hire Mike Napoli

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November 25: Per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com (Bluesky link), Napoli will be a staff assistant who is not officially on the coaching staff.

November 23: The Reds have hired Mike Napoli for an unspecified role within the organization, WEEI’s Rob Bradford reports (Bluesky link).  Napoli spent the previous five seasons on the Cubs’ staff as a quality assurance coach and then as first base coach before being let go in October.

New Reds manager Terry Francona is quite familiar with Napoli, as Napoli played under Francona on the 2016 Indians team that fell just short of winning the World Series.  Napoli hit .239/.335/.465 with 34 homers in 645 plate appearances as Cleveland’s everyday first baseman/DH, bringing plenty of pop to the club’s run to the American League pennant.  That ended up being the second-last season of Napoli’s 12-year career in the majors, as his production fell off with the Rangers in 2017, and a return to Cleveland in 2018 didn’t result in any time at the big league level.

It isn’t yet known what Napoli’s duties will entail with the Reds, as the team has already announced its coaching staff for Francona’s first season as the club’s skipper.  Co-bench coach Brad Mills and hitting coach Chris Valaika are new hires who also have past Cleveland ties to Francona, though the majority of the coaching staff are holdovers from former manager David Bell’s staff.  Since there hasn’t yet been word of any sudden departures from the Cincinnati staff, a new position could be created for Napoli to join the mix, or is it possible Napoli is taking on a non-coaching job.

Brewers, Thomas Pannone Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers agreed to a minor league deal with lefty Thomas Pannone, reports Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The BHSC client will be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee to spring training in 2025.

It’ll be the second Brewers stint of Pannone’s career. He was also with the organization in 2023. While the 30-year-old’s broader track record in Triple-A doesn’t necessarily stand out, he’s been sharp against non-MLB competition in recent seasons. Pannone tossed 53 1/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball with the Brewers’ Triple-A club in 2023, and he also spent parts of the 2022-23 seasons with the KBO’s Kia Tigers, pitching to a combined 3.49 ERA in 165 innings across those two seasons. Most recently, Pannone hurled 152 1/3 innings of 3.54 ERA ball between the Triple-A affiliates for the Cubs and Yankees in 2024. He fanned 21.9% of opponents against a 5.9% walk rate this past season.

All of that should allow Pannone to head to camp with the Brewers and compete for a rotation spot or long relief role. He’s stretched out and built up, meaning workload wouldn’t be an issue if the Brewers need to utilize him as a starter between Nashville and Milwaukee. (Notably, he’s out of minor league options, so if he’s added to the 40-man at any point, he’d have to stick or else be placed on waivers.)

For a Brewers club that is currently light on rotation depth, adding a lefty who’s pitched well for the past three seasons in the upper minors and in the KBO makes good sense. At the moment, Milwaukee’s rotation likely includes Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff (likely on an innings limit after missing 2024 due to shoulder surgery), Aaron Civale, Tobias Myers and one of Aaron Ashby or DL Hall. That group could change, of course, depending on how the rest of the offseason plays out. Each of Myers, Ashby and Hall can be optioned. Civale has been a speculative trade candidate (as is the case with most Brewers veterans when they’re down to one final season of club control remaining). Lefty Robert Gasser could join the bunch late in 2025, but he’s recovering from UCL surgery performed in June.

Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

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On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.

The hot stove is starting to warm up, with a multi-year free agent signing and a notable trade in recent days. If you have a question about a past transaction, a look ahead to the rest of the winter or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.

Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.

In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Orioles Name Robinson Chirinos Bench Coach

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The Orioles finalized their 2025 coaching staff, announcing Monday morning that they’ve named former big league catcher Robinson Chirinos their new bench coach. Chirinos announced his retirement as a player in May 2023. Baltimore also added Triple-A skipper Buck Britton to the big league coaching staff with the generic title of “major league coach.”

It’ll be the first professional coaching assignment for the 40-year-old Chirinos, who was often referred to as a future managerial candidate during his playing days. The O’s were also reported to have some interest in former Cubs skipper David Ross (like Chirinos, primarily a backup catcher during his playing days) for the role of bench coach. It’s not known whether Ross interviewed for the post or even reciprocated the interest. Regardless, the O’s will move forward with Chirinos in this role as the former catcher starts the next chapter of his baseball career.

Chirinos’ final season as a player came with the Orioles in 2022. He appeared in 67 games and hit just .179/.265/.287 in what was his age-38 campaign. For much of Chirinos’ peak, however, he was a quality bat for his position. From 2014-21, Chirinos hit .232/.327/.438 in 2147 plate appearances, good for a 104 wRC+. He hit .226/.319/.419 in his career overall, spending time with the Rangers, Astros, Rays, Cubs, Orioles and Mets along the way.

That 2022 stint with the O’s should make Chirinos a familiar face in the dugout and clubhouse. He was teammates with a large portion of Baltimore’s expected 2025 roster that year, including Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins, Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Felix Bautista, Jorge Mateo, Ramon Urias and more.

Britton, 38, should have a similar rapport with a number of the Orioles’ young players. He’s been managing their Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk for the past three seasons and managed at lower levels in the system in the three prior seasons. The older brother of former Orioles reliever Zack Britton, Buck enjoyed a nine-year minor league career himself, most of which was spent in the Orioles’ system. He’s long been viewed as a future coach and potential manager at the MLB level as well.

The Orioles’ final 2025 staff breaks down as follows: Brandon Hyde (manager), Chirinos (bench coach), Cody Asche (hitting coach), Sherman Johnson (asst. hitting coach), Tommy Joseph (asst. hitting coach), Drew French (pitching coach), Mitch Plassmyer (asst. pitching coach), Ryan Klimek (pitching strategy coach), Anthony Sanders (first base coach), Tony Mansolino (third base coach), Grant Anders (major league development coach), Tim Cossins (catching coach/field coordinator) and Britton (major league coach).

The Opener: Soto Market, Non-Tenders, Royals

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On the heels of a notable early-morning signing, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. Soto beginning to take offers?

The early part of the offseason has been littered with reports about teams meeting with or planning to meet with superstar outfielder Juan Soto. The Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Dodgers are all known to have met with Soto at this point. The Phillies were reportedly planning to meet with the slugger as well. Other teams, including the Giants and Royals, are known to have at least checked in on Soto, but the star’s free agent process is seemingly moving past the introductory stage as a report yesterday indicated teams are expected to start making offers this week. Given that Soto’s contract is widely expected to mark a new record in terms of net-present value, the coming stage of the process could quickly weed out teams that were remaining involved in hopes that Soto’s market would prove softer than some of the sky-high numbers thrown around so far. Could things begin to progress quickly for Soto once he begins receiving offers?

2. Non-tendered players enter the free agent pool:

Friday night saw a number of interesting players enter the free agent pool after being non-tendered by their clubs. These players generally occupy the lower tiers of free agency, as teams with substantial interest in them at their arbitration price point could have just traded for them in the days leading up to their non-tender. That said, interesting players such as Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Woodruff, and Cody Bellinger have found themselves in the non-tender pile in recent years. This year’s class lacks that sort of big name talent, but longtime Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano, Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan, Angels starter Patrick Sandoval (recovering from Tommy John surgery), and former Mariners infielder Josh Rojas are among the intriguing potential options that are now available to teams. Romano was an All-Star in 2022-23 before injuries ruined his 2024 season. Finnegan was an All-Star this past season but struggled through an awful final two months of the year.

3. What’s next for the Royals following the India trade?

Over the weekend, the Royals and Reds got together on a previously-rumored trade that sent Brady Singer to Cincinnati in exchange for Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer. Wiemer’s fit in Kansas City as a short-side platoon partner for center fielder Kyle Isbel is a fairly straightforward one, but the acquisition of India is a bit more complicated. India is seemingly poised to play everyday as a potential leadoff option for the club ahead of Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez, but it remains to be seen how the club’s defensive alignment will shake out now that both India and incumbent second baseman Michael Massey are in the mix.

Both India and Massey have played second base almost exclusively in the majors, but India came up as a third baseman and both players could surely handle either left field. Is a position change in the cards for either player headed into Spring Training, or are there more deals on the horizon that could clarify the club’s infield picture? Maikel Garcia and Massey were the club’s primary options on the infield alongside Witt and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino last year. Could Garcia or Massey be relegated to a utility role or even on the move in a future deal to upgrade the club’s questionable outfield mix now that India is in the fold?

Teams Expected To Make Offers To Juan Soto This Week

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The sweepstakes to land superstar free agent Juan Soto is set to enter its next phase, as ESPN’s Buster Olney reported this afternoon that teams are expected to begin sending offers to the outfielder’s camp this week. Olney adds that to this point in the process, Soto has been meeting with teams and allowing Soto and the officials of interested clubs to get to know each other. The Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Dodgers are all known to have met with Soto at this point. The Phillies have also been reported to be planning a meeting with Soto, while the Giants, Rays, and Royals are all known to be among the teams to have reached out to Soto as well, though no meetings between Soto and any of those clubs are publicly known to have occurred and the Royals already reportedly view the offseason’s top free agent as outside of their comfort zone.

Of course, that aforementioned list of teams is surely not exhaustive. As-of-yet unreported clubs have surely contacted and perhaps even met with Soto as he prepares to sign what figures to be the largest contract in MLB history in terms of net present value this winter. As a two-time MVP finalist and career .285/.421/.532 hitter who’s hitting the market ahead of his age-26 season, Soto stands as the rare free agent who would make sense for virtually any contention timeline and stand as an upgrade to all 30 ball clubs, leaving his market to be limited more by teams’ willingness to spend enough to land him rather than positional or competitive fit.

The general consensus around the game seems to be that the Yankees and Mets are the favorites for Soto’s services, as both deep-pocketed New York teams appear motivated as the Yankees look to retain their key addition from last offseason who helped take the club from missing the playoffs in 2023 to an AL pennant this past season while the Mets hope to build on a 2024 campaign that saw them reach the NLCS for the first time since 2015. Soto naturally has a place in the Yankees lineup as their incumbent right fielder, though he might make even more sense for a Mets club that could push Starling Marte to DH in order to accommodate the addition of Soto given the fact that the acquisition of Soto forced the Yankees to use Aaron Judge as their everyday center fielder last year.

That doesn’t mean the other teams in the mix should be counted out, however. The Phillies and Dodgers both already need outfield help this winter and could further bolster the already-excellent lineups that made them the class of the NL this year by landing Soto. The Blue Jays figure to be especially motivated after falling just short in last winter’s Ohtani sweepstakes and subsequently missing the playoffs in 2024, while the Red Sox appear ready to resume spending in accordance with their market size this winter after spending the past several winters on the periphery of free agency. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a look at all 30 clubs in the context of the Soto sweepstakes of Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers.

While Soto has emphasized the importance of team competitiveness in his decision-making and there have been questions about whether he may prefer a team on the east coast given his offseason homes in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and the Dominican Republic, the ultimate factor that figures to separate Soto’s suitors is money. With offers expected to be made over the course of the next week, it’s possible that previously-unknown suitors emerge as contenders for the star’s services or currently reported upon suitors fall behind in the bidding process. It’s also possible that the process begins to move quickly once offers begin to roll in; MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported earlier this week that the belief around the game is that Soto could sign during or even before the Winter Meetings, which run from December 9-12 in Dallas next month.

Free Agent Notes: Stratton, Martin, Hill, De Jesus

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The Pirates have non-tendered Hunter Stratton in each of the last two offseasons, and after re-signing him to a minor league contract last winter, a team source tells Justin Guerriero of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the Bucs want to do the same this time around.  Stratton suffered a ruptured patellar tendon in late August after a freak injury that saw the right-hander stumble into the stone wall behind home plate at PNC Park while pursuing a loose ball.

A subsequent knee surgery ended Stratton’s season, and he was given a recovery timeline of 7-10 months.  In the very best-case scenario, Stratton would be able to return on Opening Day, but the longer end of that timeline would keep him out until the end of June.  A clearer return date might emerge once Stratton gets deeper into his rehab, which also might impact when the Pirates or any other team might ink him to a new contract.  Stratton has a 3.26 ERA over 49 2/3 career bullpen innings over the last two seasons with Pittsburgh, with an impressive 4.9% walk rate and excellent soft-contact numbers.

More notes on some other players on the open market….

  • Chris Martin has suggested that 2025 will almost certainly be the final season of his career, and MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam believes Martin “likely looking to pitch closer to his Texas home.”  The 38-year-old Martin has spoken about his desire to spend more time with his growing family, so this could factor more into his decision-making process than necessarily chasing the biggest offers available.  Martin was born in Arlington and already pitched with his hometown Rangers during the 2017-18 seasons, and naturally the Astros would also be a logical destination if geography is Martin’s chief concern.  Martin figures to draw a lot of attention from teams all over the map, as he posted a 3.45 ERA and an elite 1.7% walk rate in 44 1/3 innings for the Red Sox in 2024.
  • Speaking of pitching close to home, Rich Hill told MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (X link) that he is open to pitching anywhere as he weighs whether or not to return for a 21st Major League season.  Hill lives in the greater Boston area and he pitched for the Red Sox in 2024, though the locale didn’t directly factor into Hill’s decision to join the Sox for the fourth different time in his career.  Hill’s desire to coach his son’s Little League team did impact his strategy of waiting until the second half of the 2024 season to sign, as he only landed a minors deal with the Sox in August.  When discussing his future plans earlier this month, Hill hinted that he would likely pursue a full-season schedule this time, though he hadn’t yet decided if he was going to pitch into his age-45 campaign.
  • Also from Morosi in another X entry, left-hander Enmanuel De Jesus is drawing interest from two unnamed Major League teams.  De Jesus posted a 3.68 ERA, 24.45% strikeout rate, and 6.04% walk rate over 171 1/3 innings with the KBO League’s Kiwoom Heroes in 2024, but the Heroes won’t be offering him a new contract for the coming KBO season.  The southpaw has a 4.01 ERA across 749 1/3 career innings and nine seasons in the affiliated minors, mostly with the Red Sox before pitching in the Giants organization in 2022 and the Marlins organization in 2023.  De Jesus’ only MLB experience came with Miami during that 2023 season, as he pitched 6 1/3 innings over two appearances and was hit hard for an 11.57 ERA.  While De Jesus worked more as a swingman in 2021-22, he has largely pitched as a starter throughout his career, including starting all 30 of his games with the Heroes.  A return to the KBO League with another team might be in the cards if De Jesus strictly wanted to start, or he could be open to a variety of roles if he is pursuing a path back to North American baseball.

Red Sox Interested In Corbin Burnes

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The Red Sox have already been linked to a wide range of big-name free agents this winter, including most of the top available pitchers.  It comes as no surprise that Corbin Burnes also appears to be on Boston’s radar, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that the Sox are “in on” Burnes.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said earlier this month at the GM Meetings that the Red Sox “need to raise the ceiling of the rotation” by adding a front-of-the-rotation No. 1 starter type.  Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, and Brayan Bello project as the top three members of Boston’s current pitching staff, Lucas Giolito is expected to be back from an internal brace surgery relatively close to the start of the season, and the likes of Cooper Criswell, Richard Fitts, or Quinn Priester are the top candidates for the fifth’s starter role.

Adding a pitcher like Burnes naturally makes that group much stronger, as suddenly the Red Sox would have an ace to push everyone down one slot in the rotation, and the younger starters become key depth options if Giolito has any setbacks (or if any of the starters run into injury problems).  In theory, the Sox could even look to turn one of the younger starters into a trade chip, even if it’s probably likelier that Boston just retains all of its pitchers just for the sake of having as much depth as possible.

The Red Sox to have interest in Garrett Crochet’s market, so it is possible the Sox will address their rotation needs via trade rather than via free agency.  Boston’s relatively limited free agent spending in recent years has been well-documented, as Trevor Story’s six-year, $140MM contract is the only nine-figure free agent deal the Red Sox have finalized in the last six offseasons.  That said, the Sox have explored so many premium free agents this winter that it appears the team is again willing to shop on the top shelf of the market — four non-winning records in the last five seasons has undoubtedly spurred some extra aggressiveness.

Burnes is ranked behind only Juan Soto on MLBTR’s list of the top 50 free agents in this year’s class, and the right-hander is projected for a seven-year, $200MM pact.  Just a month removed from his 30th birthday, Burnes hits the open market on the heels of four straight All-Star appearances, and five straight top-eight finishes in the NL and AL Cy Young races.  Burnes took the Cy home in 2021 when he posted a Major League-leading 2.43 ERA in 167 innings with the Brewers.

That innings total was actually the lowest of Burnes’ last four seasons, as he has averaged 197 frames over the 2022-24 seasons.  Beyond the durability, Burnes has a 3.08 ERA, 26.4% strikeout rate, and seven percent walk rate over the last three seasons, as he remained productive in a new environment after the Brewers traded him to the Orioles last offseason.  Burnes’ 23.1% strikeout rate this season was only a tick above league average, but the rest of his Statcast metrics were impressive, and he added a 48.2% grounder rate to boot.

Because Burnes rejected the Orioles’ qualifying offer, any team that signs him would have to face some type of penalty.  In Boston’s case, they would have to surrender $500K in international signing pool money, as well as their second-highest pick in the 2025 draft.  This might be a relatively acceptable loss for the Red Sox, especially since they’d be getting a compensatory pick of their own just before the start of the third round if Nick Pivetta (their own qualified free agent) signed elsewhere.

AL East Notes: Romano, Loaisiga, Hays, Rays

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The Blue Jays didn’t make Jordan Romano a contract offer before the closer was non-tendered this week, the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm reports.  This apparent lack of interest in retaining Romano at any price (let alone his projected $7.75MM arbitration salary) probably closes the door on any chance of a reunion between Romano and the Jays, so the two-time All-Star will almost surely be pitching elsewhere in 2025.  It wasn’t necessarily a surprise that Romano was non-tendered, given his high price tag and the uncertainty over his health situation after his injury-riddled 2024 campaign.

Romano didn’t pitch after May 29 and he underwent an arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in July.  As Chisholm notes, Romano told the Toronto Star’s Mike Wilner earlier in November that he was soon going to start throwing off a mound, and “that he was feeling great” in the recovery from his surgery.  While more specifics on Romano’s health are sure to emerge over the offseason, it is clear that the Jays didn’t share the reliever’s confidence in his elbow.  Finding a new closer is now the latest item on Toronto’s lengthy winter to-do list, and the Jays already had a lot of work to do in fixing a bullpen that was one of baseball’s worst last season.

More from around the AL East….

  • The Yankees are open to a reunion with Jonathan Loaisiga, though Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post reports that the Bombers are one of 14 teams that have shown interest in the reliever.  Loaisiga has pitched only 21 2/3 big league innings over the last two seasons, as elbow problems (including a bone spur removal surgery) limited him to 17 2/3 frames in 2023, and he tossed only four innings before a UCL surgery brought his 2024 season to a quick end.  Loaisiga’s procedure wasn’t a Tommy John procedure, and he was throwing from 90-foot distances for scouts earlier this week, with the Yankees among the clubs with an evaluator on hand.  All 163 of Loaisiga’s MLB games have come in a Yankees uniform, so the team has plenty of familiarity with the right-hander’s ability when healthy, and also the inside scoop on his health status.  Signing Loaisiga wouldn’t be expensive for the Yankees or any team that might offer him a contract this winter, making him an interesting buy-low candidate on the bullpen market.
  • Austin Hays was traded from the Orioles to the Phillies prior to the trade deadline, but now that Hays is a free agent after being non-tendered, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com thinks there’s a chance Hays could return to Baltimore.  Hays had an injury-plagued 2024 season that included a severe kidney infection that emerged during his time in Philadelphia, and he wound up with a below-average 98 wRC+ from a .255/.303/.396 slash line in 255 total plate appearances.  The outfielder was significantly better both offensively and defensively during the 2021-23 seasons when healthy, and Baltimore has a clear need for right-handed hitting outfielders (and right-handed hitting in general).
  • It remains to be seen if the Rays will ever again play at Tropicana Field, but for at least the 2025 season, the club will play at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.  The move will impact the Rays’ roster construction plans, as some adjustment is naturally necessary simply by dint of the fact that the Rays will now be playing outdoors during the Florida summer rather than within the confines of a domed stadium.  With multiple rainouts now a likelihood, president of baseball operations Erik Neander is looking to add multi-inning pitching depth at both the Major and minor league levels.  As Neander told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, “it’s…making sure that we can protect our arms and maneuver the roster in a way where if a game gets disrupted and delayed after two innings and you lose a starter, and then you’ve got to cover four or five [innings] as it comes back before you can go to the bullpen, that you have the ability to maneuver day to day as needed, to cover that and do it in a way that’s responsible for the well-being of the group.”  More pitching will also be needed since the Stein is expected to be a much more hitter-friendly environment than the Trop, though the Rays’ own hitters can also benefit from the situation.

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