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National League Non-Tenders: 11/21/25

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Every National League team has officially announced their non-tender decisions. It was a quiet evening in terms of subtractions, with only the Rangers parting with any marquee players. All players who were non-tendered are free agents without going on waivers. A few teams dropped pre-arbitration players from the back of the 40-man roster. It’s possible they preferred not to expose them to waivers and are hopeful of re-signing them to non-roster deals.

Here’s a full list of today’s activity in the NL, while the American League moves are available here. All projected salaries are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

  • The Braves announced that right-handers Alek Manoah and Carson Ragsdale were not tendered contracts. Both had been acquired earlier in the offseason via waivers, and both are now free agents. Manoah was projected to earn $2.2MM. Ragsdale was not arb-eligible.
  • The Brewers tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
  • The Cardinals chose not to tender contracts to lefty John King, catcher Yohel Pozo and righty Sem Robberse, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Jorge Alcala, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, was also non-tendered, John Denton of MLB.com adds. King and Alcala were both projected for a $2.1MM salary. The others were not arb-eligible.
  • The Cubs non-tendered catcher Reese McGuire, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. He hit .226/.245/.444 through 140 plate appearances in a backup catcher role and was arb-eligible for the final time. He’d been projected to earn $1.9MM. Right-hander Eli Morgan, who was projected to earn $1.1MM, was also non-tendered, according to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian.
  • The D-backs non-tendered left-hander Tommy Henry, who’d already been designated for assignment, and right-hander Taylor Rashi. Neither was eligible for arbitration. They tendered contracts to their entire arb class.
  • The Dodgers did not tender a contract to closer Evan Phillips, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He was only under club control for one more season and projected for a $6.1MM salary but underwent Tommy John surgery in June. Dodgers righty Nick Frasso, who was not arb-eligible and finished the season on the 60-day IL, was also non-tendered, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
  • The Giants non-tendered left-hander Joey Lucchesi, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Lucchesi pitched to a solid 3.76 ERA with a below-average 18.8% strikeout rate and strong 7.3% walk rate in 38 1/3 innings and had been projected for a $2MM salary. San Francisco also non-tendered catcher Andrew Knizner, who was designated for assignment this afternoon when the Giants acquired Joey Wiemer from Miami.
  • The Marlins tendered contracts to all of their eligible players, per Isaac Azout of Fish On First.
  • The Mets are non-tendering right-hander Max Kranick, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic. Kranick, 28, posted a 3.65 ERA in 37 innings with the Mets this year. It was his first big league opportunity since a five-inning cameo with the Pirates back in 2022. Kranick’s season came to an abrupt end back in July due to flexor tendon repair surgery. Southpaws Jose Castillo and Danny Young were also non-tendered, Sammon adds. Young had Tommy John surgery back in May. Castillo was a waiver claim who pitched for four different teams in 2025.
  • The Nationals tendered contracts to their entire roster, per a team announcement.
  • The Padres announced that lefty Omar Cruz and righty Sean Reynolds were non-tendered. Neither was arbitration-eligible. They tendered contracts to every member of their arbitration class.
  • The Phillies non-tendered righties Michael Mercado and Daniel Robert, neither of whom was arbitration-eligible. They’re both free agents. The Phils tendered contracts to all of their arb-eligible players otherwise.
  • The Pirates non-tendered outfielders Alexander Canario and Ronny Simon, as well as righties Colin Holderman and Dauri Moreta. All four were designated for assignment earlier in the week. Holderman was projected for a $1.7MM salary and Moreta for $800K. The others weren’t arb-eligible.
  • The Reds announced that catcher Will Banfield and right-handers Carson Spiers and Roddery Munoz were not tendered contracts. They’re all free agents. None of the three were arbitration-eligible, but by non-tendering them rather than designating them for assignment, Cincinnati bypasses the need to place them on waivers and can try to quickly re-sign any of the bunch to minor league deals, if the Reds are so inclined.
  • The Rockies non-tendered first baseman Michael Toglia, the team announced. He’d been designated for assignment earlier in the week, making today’s non-tender all but a formality.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 11/21/25

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The deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is this afternoon at 4pm CT. Throughout the day, we’ll surely see a handful of arb-eligible players agree to terms with their clubs to avoid a hearing.

These so-called “pre-tender deals” usually, although not always, involve players who were borderline non-tender candidates. Rather than run the risk of being cut loose, they can look to sign in the lead-up to the deadline. Those salaries often come in a little below projections, since these players tend to have less leverage because of the uncertainty about whether they’ll be offered a contract at all.

Under the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement, players who sign to avoid an arbitration hearing are guaranteed full termination pay. That’s a change from prior CBAs, when teams could release an arb-eligible player before the season began and would only owe a prorated portion of the contract. This was done to incentivize teams and players to get deals done without going to a hearing.

All salary projections in this post come via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. This post will be updated throughout the day as deals are announced and/or reported. Salary figures are from The Associated Press unless otherwise noted.

Photo courtesy of William Liang, Imagn Images

Phillies Claim Pedro León

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The Phillies announced they have claimed outfielder Pedro León off waivers from the Orioles. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reported the claim prior to the official announcement. The O’s had designated him for assignment a few days ago. Philadelphia’s roster count climbs from 33 to 34.

León, 28 in May, was once a notable prospect but his stock has fallen in recent years. After he defected from Cuba, the Astros signed him via a $4MM signing bonus in January of 2021. He featured prominently on prospect lists for a few years but has hit a few roadblocks.

From 2021 to 2023, his results in the minors were passable but unexciting. He struck out in 29% of his plate appearances and produced a combined line of .233/.350/.419. That resulted in a 104 wRC+, indicating he was above league average but barely.

In 2024, he still struck out 27% of the time put up a huge .299/.372/.514 line in Triple-A. Even in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, was good enough for a 130 wRC+, or 30% better than league average. He got to make his major league debut that year but hit just .100/.143/.100 in a tiny sample of 21 plate appearances. 2025 was mostly a lost year, as he sprained the MCL in his left knee and was limited to just 22 Triple-A contests, with a .241/.312/.422 and wRC+ of 89 in 94 plate appearances.

The Astros had a roster crunch at season’s end, which bumped León to the waiver wire. The O’s grabbed him but bumped him off less than two weeks later due to their own roster crunch. For the Phils, it’s a pretty sensible addition. They have tons of roster space to work with at the moment. León still has options, meaning he doesn’t need to be guaranteed a spot on the big league roster. They are planning to remake their outfield this winter. Time will tell how that plays out, but it seems likely they will move on from Nick Castellanos while pursuing external additions. Even if there’s no spot for León when the dust settles, they can send him to Triple-A to see if he engineers a post-hype breakout.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images

Phillies, Bryan De La Cruz Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies signed outfielder Bryan De La Cruz to a minor league contract earlier this month, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Reporter Mike Rodriguez first mentioned the two sides were in agreement and noted that the client of Premier Talent Sports & Entertainment received an invite to major league camp next spring. The team hasn’t formally announced the pickup, though many clubs wait to announce their minor league deals and non-roster invitees in bulk later in the offseason.

De La Cruz showed promise early in his career with Miami, hitting .269/.318/.430 with 18 homers, 27 doubles and a pair of triples in his first 574 plate appearances from 2021-22. He popped 19 homers in 2023, but poor glovework and an OBP barely north of .300 made him a roughly replacement-level player. De La Cruz had a better start in ’24, connecting on 18 long balls through his first 454 turns at the plate. The Pirates, in need of affordable power as they hoped to make a Wild Card push, acquired him in a deal that immediately went south.

Pittsburgh, at the time, was acquiring a player with three-plus years of club control remaining. However, he hit so poorly with the Bucs (.200/.220/.294 in 168 plate appearances) that the Pirates simply moved on after the season. De La Cruz landed in Atlanta but struggled badly in 50 big league plate appearances and in 11 Triple-A games. He eventually went to the Yankees on a minor league deal and posted solid, if unspectacular numbers with their Triple-A club in Scranton: 368 plate appearances, 15 homers, eight steals, .271/.340/.456 (111 wRC+).

The righty-swinging De La Cruz has some power but an over-aggressive approach and suspect defensive skills in the corners. He also lacks the track record against left-handed pitching you’d prefer to see out of a corner outfielder. He decimated southpaws in a small sample during his rookie season, but dating back to 2022 he’s actually been slightly better versus righties (and well below-average against both overall).

There’s no harm in taking a non-roster look at an experienced outfielder who’ll play all of next season at 29, but De La Cruz is more of a depth signing than anything else. The Phils will be in the market for outfielders this winter, but it’d probably take multiple spring injuries and a big performance from De La Cruz for him to make the club. The likeliest scenario is that he heads to Triple-A Lehigh Valley next season with a shot to mash his way into the big league picture. If he’s able to do that, he’d be controllable through at least 2028, but there’s a long way to go before that future control is any kind of consideration.

Latest On Kyle Tucker’s Market

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We’re still in the nascent stages of the MLB offseason, with only a handful of notable free-agent signings and trades thus far. Still, with the GM Meetings now in the rearview mirror, teams have laid a fair bit of groundwork for the weeks and months ahead, both on the free agent and trade markets. Kyle Tucker stands as the offseason’s top free agent, and while there’s no indication he’s close to signing, there are also some hints falling into place about his potential market.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote this week that some rival teams feel the Blue Jays are the likeliest landing spot for the four-time All-Star. They’ve been a popular speculative pick early on after a deep World Series run and with only one other major long-term commitment (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) on the books. Of course, Bo Bichette could be the priority, and it’s rare for any team to sign two free agents of that magnitude in a single offseason.

Tucker is a prominent enough star that some unexpected suitors figure to jump into the fray. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote this morning that while the Orioles are prioritizing pitching this winter, they haven’t ruled out a run at Tucker. Having already acquired Taylor Ward from the Angels, the addition of Tucker would free Baltimore to dangle young outfielders Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers on the trade market in hopes of securing some controllable arms. There are quite a few pitchers of note who could be on the block this winter, and both Cowser and Beavers would intrigue clubs looking to move arms. Both are former first-round picks. Cowser has four more seasons of club control, while Beavers only debuted late in 2025 and thus has a full slate of six years of club control remaining.

Baltimore stands as a fascinating fit. President of baseball operations Mike Elias was the Astros’ scouting director when Tucker was selected with the No. 5 overall pick. The O’s don’t have anything on the books long-term, other than Samuel Basallo’s eight-year, $67MM extension. That $8.375MM annual value isn’t going to be stand in the way of any other long-term deals. Beyond Basallo, Tyler O’Neill is the only other player signed to a guaranteed deal beyond the 2026 season. His three-year, $49.5MM contract runs through 2027.

The Orioles’ long-term financial outlook is so clean that there’s no true impediment to them signing Tucker and a notable a free agent starter. That’s not to say such a scenario is likely, of course, but Baltimore’s 2026 payroll currently projects for about $105MM, per RosterResource, and that’s before potential non-tenders or trades of Ryan Mountcastle ($7.8MM projected salary), Keegan Akin ($3MM projection), Yennier Cano ($1.8MM projection) and/or Alex Jackson ($1.8MM projection) prior to tomorrow’s 5pm ET non-tender deadline.

Depending on what happens with the Orioles’ arbitration class, they could realistically see next year’s projected payroll drop into the $93-100MM range by tomorrow evening. The opened the 2025 season with a payroll around $164.5MM. We’re certainly not accustomed to seeing Baltimore spend like this, but this is also only the second offseason under new owner David Rubenstein. Elias has already publicly stated that he is “fully prepared” to sacrifice draft picks by signing free agents who rejected qualifying offers, and for all the focus on pitching, it was reported more than a month ago that the O’s also covet an impact bat — likely in the outfield.

None of this is intended to frame the Orioles as any sort of favorite to sign Tucker, to be clear. Far from it. However, the fit and logic behind it are probably more sensible than one might think at first glance.

Other clubs will still loom in the market. Passan cites the Phillies as a possible landing spot, should Kyle Schwarber sign elsewhere. The Yankees have been linked to both Tucker and a Cody Bellinger reunion. GM Brian Cashman indicated this week that Trent Grisham’s decision to accept his qualifying offer will not impact the team’s pursuit of Bellinger. Presumably, then, that thinking extends to Tucker as well. The Dodgers have also been linked to Tucker, though Passan doubles down on his prior reporting that their interest would “likely” be on a shorter-term but high-AAV deal — the type we rarely see taken by the consensus top free agent in a given offseason.

Phillies, Liover Peguero Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies have agreed to a minor league contract with former Pirates infielder Liover Peguero, reports Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. He’ll presumably be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee next spring.

Peguero was once a touted young infielder whom the Pirates acquired from the D-backs in exchange for Starling Marte. He’s a former top-100 prospect who was once viewed as a possible shortstop of the future in Pittsburgh. Peguero’s bat has never come around, however. He’s seen action in four big league seasons but has mustered only a .227/.278/.368 slash line in 315 turns at the plate.

Peguero has also looked overmatched at the top minor league level. Outside of a late-2023 cameo in Triple-A where he smacked a pair of homers in 30 promising plate appearances, he’s produced well below-average numbers with the Pirates’ top affiliate in Indianapolis. He’s a .253/.317/.403 hitter in 888 plate appearances there, including a career-worst .247/.313/.375 showing in 75 games with Indy this season. Baseball America and other outlets have lauded his quality defensive tools but also noted a penchant for slipping into poor mechanical stretches that lead to far too many throwing errors.

For the Phillies, Peguero is a simple depth add — a roll of the dice on a former top prospect who doesn’t have a clear path to playing time with the big league club. Peguero could vie for a bench job if he has a big showing in camp, but with Trea Turner and Bryson Stott in the middle infield and Edmundo Sosa in a key utility role, he’ll head to spring training a ways down the depth chart.

Phillies Select Andrew Painter, Two Others

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The Phillies added three prospects to their 40-man roster on Rule 5 protection day: pitchers Andrew Painter and Alex McFarlane and outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. Their roster count sits at 33.

Painter, 23 in April, was one of the most obvious calls to be kept out of the Rule 5 draft. The 6’7″ right-hander was arguably the best pitching prospect in MLB a couple seasons ago. Painter’s stock has dropped over the last two and a half seasons because of injuries and an underwhelming performance at Triple-A. The Phillies were never going to let an arm as talented as Painter go in the Rule 5 draft, though.

A first-round pick out of high school in 2021, Painter turned in a 1.56 earned run average over 22 starts during his first full professional season. Painter reached Double-A in his age-19 season. The Phillies were open to him pitching his way to the big leagues by the end of the ’23 campaign, but an elbow injury intervened. Painter eventually required Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2024 minor league campaign (though he returned to get 15 2/3 innings of Arizona Fall League action).

Painter’s first season at the Triple-A level didn’t go well. He was tagged for a 5.40 ERA while walking almost 10% of batters faced. Painter gave up more than 1.5 home runs per nine innings. It wasn’t enough to earn a late-season debut, but he still sits around 97 MPH on his fastball and struck out a solid 23.4% of Triple-A opponents. He’s one of the better pitching prospects in the game and should debut next season. Baseball America ranks him the #2 prospect in the Philly system.

Rincones, 25 in March, is seventh on that list. He’s a left-handed hitting outfielder who turned in a .240/.370/.430 line across 506 Triple-A plate appearances. Rincones is a limited defender with concerns about his ability to hit lefty pitching, but he has big power in a 6’3″ frame and is clearly willing to wait until pitchers come into the zone.

McFarlane, a 24-year-old righty, is a former fourth-round pick out of the University of Miami. He spent much of the season in High-A, where he struggled to a 4.72 ERA through 74 1/3 frames. The minor league numbers aren’t encouraging, but the Phils still clearly like McFarlane as a developmental play and had plenty of roster space with which to work.

Nine Players Reject Qualifying Offer

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The deadline to accept the qualifying offer has passed. Four players — Trent Grisham, Gleyber Torres, Brandon Woodruff, and Shota Imanaga — chose to accept the one-year, $22.025MM deal and remain with their current clubs. The remaining nine players rejected the deal. They are: Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker, Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber, Blue Jays infielder Bo Bichette, Astros lefty Framber Valdez, Padres righty Dylan Cease, Phillies lefty Ranger Suarez, Mets closer Edwin Diaz, Diamondbacks righty Zac Gallen, and Padres righty Michael King. All nine are now free agents.

There’s not much surprise in any of the nine players who rejected. Tucker, Schwarber, Bichette, Valdez, Cease, Suarez and Diaz were all locks. Gallen may have given some brief thought to accepting after a rough showing in 2025, but he finished strong and has a track record as a high-end starter who’s garnered multiple top-five finishes in NL Cy Young balloting. King was hobbled by nerve and knee injuries in an odd season but was dominant in 2023-24 and through the first two months of the current season. He was healthy late in the year and fanned three in his lone inning of postseason work. He’ll test the waters in search of a multi-year deal as well.

Now that this nonet has rejected qualifying offers, they’ll all be subject to draft compensation. Interested teams will need to surrender a draft pick (or multiple picks) and, in some cases, space from their bonus pool for international amateurs in order to sign any of this group. The extent of that draft compensation depends on the revenue-sharing and luxury tax status of the new team. MLBTR broke down which pick(s) each club would forfeit by signing a “qualified” free agent last month.

Similarly, the compensation for each player’s former club is dependent on revenue-sharing and luxury tax status — as well as the size of the contract signed by the player in question. MLBTR also ran through the compensation each team would receive if their qualified free agents turned down the offer and signed elsewhere.

Phillies Interested In Re-Signing Harrison Bader

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After a disappointing seasons that saw them earn a bye through the Wild Card series but immediately fall to the Dodgers in the NLDS, the Phillies are in an uncertain spot as the team figures to look very different by the time Opening Day rolls around. Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto are free agents, while Nick Castellanos is expected to play elsewhere next year. While the team’s roster is in flux more than usual this winter, it’s long seemed likely that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski would look to engage with some of those outgoing free agents.

That includes some players who haven’t been around quite as long as the team’s veteran core, as Dombrowski indicated to reporters (including Lochlan March of The Philadelphia Inquirer) that the team not only has interest in bringing free agent outfielder Harrison Bader back into the fold, but has also conveyed that to Bader’s camp already this winter.

“They know we’d like to bring him back,” Dombrowski said during last week’s GM Meetings, as relayed by March. “They also had expressed that they want to see what’s out there, because this was the best year he’s had, I think, in quite a while.”

That would seem to indicate that Bader won’t be jumping the market to sign right away, the way Josh Naylor did last night when he re-upped with the Mariners. Still, a reunion between Bader and the Phillies would make plenty of sense. After being dealt to the Phillies from the Twins at the trade deadline, Bader found another gear amid what was already a career year. In 50 games with Philadelphia, Bader slashed .300/.361/.463 (129 wRC+) to boost his season-long slash line to .277/.347/.449 (122 wRC+). Bader’s 7.8% walk rate was his best full-season mark since 2019, and while he struck out at an elevated 27.1% clip he made up for it by slugging a career-high 17 homers and 24 doubles.

This year’s performance from Bader was enough for him to profile as a solid regular in an outfield corner offensively, but even as his defensive metrics have slipped from once-elite levels he remains a solidly above average defender all across the grass, including center field. That adds a solid floor of production to the upside Bader flashed this year, and it’s been widely speculated that the 31-year-old will be able to land a multi-year guarantee this year on the back of his strong 2025, and MLBTR’s own prediction is that he’ll secure a two-year, $26MM guarantee.

For a team that enters the offseason with only Brandon Marsh locked into its outfield for next year, it’s easy to see why bringing back Bader would make plenty of sense. With that said, the Phillies are far from the only team that Bader could be a fit for. His old stomping grounds in both Queens and the Bronx could both use a center fielder, and teams like the Angels, Orioles, Guardians, Giants, and Royals are all known to be on the prowl for help either in center or the outfield generally this winter.

Some of those teams may be priced out of Bader’s market when all is said and done, and not all of them are perfect fits, but it’s a large enough cast of potential suitors that even with Philadelphia’s interest in a reunion Bader could have some incentive to wait out the market for at least a little while yet. Meanwhile, the Phillies will need to prioritize bigger ticket free agents like Schwarber and Realmuto themselves, whether that comes by way of re-signing them outright or finding another way to replace their production for 2026.

Phillies Receiving Trade Interest In Lefty Relievers

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The Phillies have gotten trade calls on left-handed relievers Matt Strahm, José Alvarado and Tanner Banks, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Philadelphia could leverage their bullpen depth for help in a different area of the roster.

All three pitchers are affordable and above-average performers. Alvarado, who’ll make $9MM next season, is the most talented of the group. He’s the hardest-throwing lefty reliever in the game, averaging more than 99 MPH on his fastball. The 30-year-old dominated early in the season and took over the closer role until MLB suspended him for 80 games because of a failed performance-enhancing drug test. That made him ineligible for postseason play, but the Phillies welcomed Alvarado back for the end of the regular season and were confident enough in his ability to exercise a 2026 club option.

Jhoan Duran is locked into the ninth inning now. Alvarado projects as Philly’s top lefty setup arm. He’ll be eligible for the playoffs in future seasons, so it’s unlikely the Phillies are putting much stock in the PED suspension moving forward. Alvarado also finished the year on the injured list with a forearm strain but is expected to be fine going into Spring Training.

An Alvarado trade would be relatively surprising. It’s easier to see the Phils swapping one of Strahm or Banks for someone at a position of greater need. Strahm, who turned 34 on Wednesday, vested a $7.5MM salary for the upcoming season. He’s coming off a 2.74 ERA with an above-average 27.3% strikeout rate across 66 appearances. Strahm owns a 2.71 mark over three seasons in Philadelphia and led the team with 22 holds this year.

While Strahm remains a quality leverage option, the Phillies could have some concern about his trend lines. His strikeout rate dropped six percentage points relative to 2024, when he fanned a third of opponents. He averaged a career-low 92.3 MPH on his fastball and has seen his swinging strike rate dip in consecutive years.

Banks, also 34, is the least well known of the Phils’ lefty trio. He didn’t reach the big leagues until his age-30 season and spent his first couple seasons on a rebuilding White Sox team. Banks was an under-the-radar deadline pickup in 2024 and has turned in a 3.24 ERA with a league average 22.5% strikeout rate over 91 2/3 innings in Philadelphia.

His fastball sits in the low-90s, but he attacks the strike zone with a pair of breaking pitches and held lefty batters to a putrid .172/.213/.243 slash line this year. Banks has held his own against right-handed hitters as well, but he’s the kind of pitcher whom teams generally prefer in a middle relief/specialist role rather than as a true high-leverage arm. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $1.2MM salary in his first of three seasons of arbitration eligibility.

Teams seeking lefty relief help don’t have many free agent options. Gregory Soto is probably in line for the largest contract. He’s a power arm but has inconsistent command and has allowed more than four earned runs per nine in each of the past three seasons. Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Thielbar, Hoby Milner, Justin Wilson, Taylor Rogers and Danny Coulombe should be limited to one-year deals based on their age. Sean Newcomb or Caleb Ferguson could command a cheap two-year deal but aren’t ideal high-leverage options. Steven Matz, Ryan Yarbrough and NPB returnees Anthony Kay and Foster Griffin are swing types.

It’s a weak group, which could lead teams to turn to the trade market. The Cardinals are likely to move former Phillie JoJo Romero, who is going into his final season of arbitration. The rebuilding Nationals could hear teams out on grounder specialist Jose A. Ferrer. The Rays are down to two years of control on Garrett Cleavinger and would surely entertain offers, but they’re going to have a huge asking price. Every contender could evaluate the bullpen market. The Blue Jays, Giants, Mariners, Diamondbacks and Cubs are among the teams that could use another left-handed arm in particular.

While the Phillies have a good group of southpaws, they could use a more reliable right-handed setup arm than Orion Kerkering in front of Duran. They’re also in the market for outfield help and potentially a depth starter/swingman with Harrison Bader and Ranger Suárez hitting free agency. They’re prioritizing re-signing Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto. They’d need to go outside the organization for a catcher if Realmuto signs elsewhere, as a Rafael Marchán/Garrett Stubbs pairing would be one of the worst offensive duos in the game. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski acknowledged at the GM Meetings that they’re evaluating an otherwise weak catching market as a backup plan in case Realmuto doesn’t return (link via Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer).

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