MLBTR Podcast: The Rays’ Stadium Deal Is Dead, Rangers’ Rotation Issues, And More!
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Rays no longer having a deal to build a new stadium (2:15)
- If the league is pressuring Stu Sternberg to sell the Rays, but why didn’t they do the same with John Fisher and the Athletics? (6:40)
- The Rangers dealing with injuries to Jon Gray and Cody Bradford (recorded prior to the Patrick Corbin signing) (14:05)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Who is a more likely trade acquisition for the Mets, Sandy Alcántara of the Marlins or Dylan Cease of the Padres? And who would command a larger trade package? (20:50)
- Should the Pirates trade one of their catchers? (24:20)
- How realistic is it that the Mariners have better offense than last year and are in position to use their prospects for deadline upgrades? (28:40)
- Should the Yankees try to plug holes with veterans or give playing time to younger guys? (34:25)
- The Tigers are trying Javier Báez and Spencer Torkelson at different positions. Are they trying to increase the trade appeal of these players or delude themselves into thinking they could actually provide value? (38:25)
Check out our past episodes!
- Lawrence Butler’s Extension, Gerrit Cole’s TJ, And Rays’ Ownership Pressured To Sell – listen here
- Jose Quintana, Luis Gil’s Injury, The Nats’ TV Situation, Salary Floor Talk, And More! – listen here
- Atlanta’s Pitching Depth, Iglesias, Jobe, Castillo, And More! – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy Bill Streicher, Imagn Images
Poll: Padres’ Rotation Battle
Shortly after the 2024 regular season concluded, the Padres were hit with a brutal blow when Joe Musgrove underwent Tommy John surgery, wiping out his 2025 campaign before the offseason even began. That left the Padres with major question marks at the back of their rotation behind Dylan Cease, Michael King, and Yu Darvish. While the late-winter addition of Nick Pivetta into the fold helped stabilize things, that still left one spot open in the club’s rotation headed into Spring Training. Darvish is now battling elbow inflammation himself, though the Padres haven’t ruled him out for the beginning of the season.
Knuckleballer Matt Waldron appeared to be the favorite for the final rotation job after he made 26 solid starts for the Padres last year, but he’s out of commission due to an oblique injury and expected to begin the season on the injured list. With Waldron out of the mix for the Opening Day rotation, that leaves left-hander Kyle Hart as well as righties Randy Vasquez and Stephen Kolek in the mix for the club’s fifth starter spot. Hart, 32, was brought into the organization last month on a one-year deal worth $1.5MM guaranteed. The southpaw has just 11 MLB innings under his belt, where he got blown up to the tune of a 15.55 ERA with the Red Sox during the 2020 season. After toiling in the minor leagues for years in an attempt to get back to the majors, Hart tried his hand in the Korea Baseball Organization last year.
The results were extremely impressive. Hart’s first and only year overseas saw him pitch to a sterling 2.69 ERA in 157 innings of work across 26 starts. He struck out an excellent 28.8% of his opponents while maintaining a strong 6.0% walk rate. That dominant work in Korea was somewhat reminiscent of the success right-hander Erick Fedde found in KBO play during the 2023 season, when he pitched to a 2.00 ERA in 180 1/3 innings and struck out 29.5% of his opponents. Hart’s numbers don’t quite match up with those of Fedde, but given Fedde’s excellent 2024 season where he posted a 3.30 ERA in 31 starts for the White Sox and Cardinals, even a significant step back from Fedde’s major league production would still make Hart a solid starting option in the majors.
It might seem reasonable, then, to assume that Hart is the favorite for the job. Things may not be that simple, however, as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote over the weekend that Hart may be falling out of the race for the fifth starter job due to an illness that has limited him to just two appearances this spring. Acee noted that the Padres have been impressed by what they’ve seen from him so far, but much like Waldron, it’s possible that he simply won’t have time to build up enough to be the club’s fifth starter out of the gate this year. That could open the door for Vasquez or Kolek to jump in and take the job despite résumés that pale in comparison to Hart’s platform campaign.
Vasquez, 26, made 20 starts for the Padres last year. The results left something to be desired, as his 4.87 ERA and 4.70 FIP were both well below league average. With that being said, Vasquez improved throughout the 2024 campaign. After surrendering ten homers in his first nine starts last year, he settled into a rhythm in late June and posted a respectable 4.23 ERA with an even better 3.94 FIP in 55 1/3 innings of work over his final 11 starts. While Vasquez’s ceiling isn’t especially high, it’s not hard to imagine him being a perfectly viable fifth starter this year, particularly if his improved ability to keep the ball in the park throughout the second half last year proves to be sustainable.
Kolek, meanwhile, is something of a wild card in the mix. Drafted in the 11th round by the Dodgers back in 2018, the right-hander was traded to the Mariners in 2021 but did not make his big league debut until last year as a Rule 5 pick of the Padres. San Diego used him out of the bullpen, where he posted lackluster numbers despite strong peripherals. Kolek’s fantastic 55.9% ground ball rate and impressive 5.7% walk rate were overshadowed by a strikeout rate of just 18.5%, a massive .359 BABIP, and a lackluster 64.3% strand rate that left him with a 5.21 ERA despite a 3.57 FIP and a 3.41 SIERA.
Still, the right-hander showed enough that he not only stuck with the Padres all season, but club brass also decided to convert him back to a starting job despite him not pitching out of the rotation since 2022 at the Double-A level. His spring results have been impressive to this point, with a 1.00 ERA in 9 innings of work and five strikeouts against just one walk, but Kolek’s pedestrian results last year and lack of a track record as a starter in the majors or even at Triple-A could give San Diego pause about committing to him as a starter to open the season.
If Darvish avoids the injured list, who would you assign to the fifth spot in the Padres rotation to open the season? Would you give the nod to Hart despite his minimal work during Spring Training? Would you stick with the reliable Vasquez despite his relatively low ceiling? Or would you take a chance on a reliever conversion in Kolek? Have your say in the poll below:
Who should the Padres put in their rotation to start the season?
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Kyle Hart 44% (1,057)
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Stephen Kolek 28% (660)
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Randy Vasquez 28% (659)
Total votes: 2,376
Yu Darvish Questionable For Opening Day Due To Elbow Inflammation
Padres right-hander Yu Darvish has recently been slowed in camp. While it was initially conveyed that he had some general fatigue, manager Mike Shildt today provided a more specific and more ominous diagnosis. The skipper told members of the media, including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, that the veteran righty experienced elbow inflammation after his last start.
Shildt stopped short of saying Darvish would start the season on the injured list, describing him as day-to-day. Opening Day is just over a week away, so it’s a tight window. Any time a pitcher’s throwing elbow is involved, it’s a cause for some concern. In the case of Darvish, there may be even more concern than with some other hurlers.
Darvish has dealt with some elbow problems in the past. Tommy John surgery wiped out his entire 2015 season. He was largely health for years after that, though he hasn’t logged a huge workload in the past two seasons. He was capped at 24 starts and 136 1/3 innings in 2023. He landed on the IL in late August due to right elbow inflammation and stayed there to finish the year. In 2024, he only made 16 starts and tossed 81 2/3 innings. He missed time due to neck tightness, a groin strain, some more inflammation in that throwing elbow and an undisclosed personal issue.
That makes this the third straight season that Darvish has battled some elbow inflammation. For a pitcher who is now 38 years old, that’s less than ideal. It’s especially worrisome since rotation depth is one of the key issues on the San Diego roster. The Friars already lost Joe Musgrove for the entire season, as he required Tommy John surgery in October.
Losing Musgrove left the Padres with a rotation core of Darvish, Michael King and Dylan Cease. They signed Nick Pivetta to fill one of the back-end spots. Coming into camp, candidates for the final spot including Matt Waldron, Kyle Hart, Randy Vásquez and Stephen Kolek. However, Waldron is out of commission due to an oblique strain. Hart has also been delayed by the flu and is behind the rest of the group in terms of building up. If Darvish needs to miss some time at the start of the season, that would seemingly leave two spots open behind the King/Cease/Pivetta trio.
If it’s just a short-term absence, the overall group could look stronger in a few weeks, with both Waldron and Darvish perhaps back in the mix. A more serious issue would naturally have bigger impacts. Both Cease and King are impending free agents. That means Pivetta and Darvish are the on-paper rotation nucleus for 2026. Musgrove could be back in the mix by then but may have some workload issues after missing all of 2025. Darvish is still under contract through 2028, as part of the extension he signed with the club in 2023.
It’s also possible this could impact the trade market. San Diego has notable budgetary concerns and various parts of the roster they would like to upgrade. That has led to rumors about Cease or King being available, though Cease’s name has come up far more often. It would be a tricky balance for San Diego to strike, as they would have to feel that reducing their rotation depth is worth it for multiple upgrades at left field, first base or designated hitter.
Presumably, Darvish being hurt would reduce the chances of a Cease deal in the short term, as it would be even harder to justify a rotation subtraction. Closer to the deadline, that calculus could change if the Padres don’t manage to compete. As mentioned, both Cease and King are impending free agents and would be natural trade candidates this summer if San Diego slips behind the other National League contenders.
Photo courtesy Mark J. Rebilas of Imagn Images
Matt Waldron Suffers Oblique Strain, May Begin Season On IL
Right-hander Matt Waldron sustained a mild oblique strain yesterday, Padres manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell and other reporters. Waldron suffered the injury while warming up in the bullpen for a scheduled relief appearance in the Padres’ Cactus League game.
While Waldron is officially considered day-to-day, Shildt said the knuckleballer is “going to need some rest for some period of time, which will be determined.” Simply given the nature of oblique injuries and the timing, Shildt admitted that Waldron’s chances of making the Opening Day roster “would seem like it would be in jeopardy.”
The news would seem to erase any chance Waldron had of winning the fifth spot in San Diego’s rotation. An 8.68 ERA over 9 1/3 spring innings wasn’t helping his cause, and Waldron’s planned usage out of the pen on Friday might’ve hinted that the Padres were considering a long relief role for the right-hander. Naturally the first order of business will simply be for Waldron to get healthy, giving the team time to decide whether Waldron could be used as a reliever, or as a Triple-A depth starter.
Waldron has worked almost exclusively as a starter in the minors since the Padres acquired him in the 2020-21 offseason, and he has started 32 of his 35 career MLB games, posting a 4.79 ERA over his 188 innings in the Show. Injuries within the Padres’ rotation opened the door for Waldron to get a good amount of playing time, including 146 2/3 frames last season, though a 12.76 ERA over his last four starts suggested that Waldron ran into some fatigue.
Assuming a late trade doesn’t change the equation, Dylan Cease, Michael King, Yu Darvish, and Nick Pivetta are slated to be the Padres’ top four starters. Stephen Kolek, Randy Vasquez, and Kyle Hart are the remaining candidates for the fifth starter’s job now that Waldron has seemingly been removed from the competition.
Padres Have Received Interest From Around Nine Teams On Dylan Cease
Around nine teams have been in contact with the Padres to express interest in Dylan Cease, writes Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Heyman lists the Cubs, Mets and all five AL East teams among that group. The remaining two clubs are unknown, though The Athletic reported in January that the Twins had shown interest.
A pre-Opening Day trade still seems highly unlikely. Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote earlier this week that the Padres were only willing to entertain trading their top starter if they received a significant offensive upgrade in the return package. They’d almost certainly want a controllable starting pitcher who could immediately replace Cease in the rotation as well. That’s a difficult asking price for another team to meet, especially without impactful hitters remaining in free agency to backfill the lineup.
Cease was traded midway through last year’s Spring Training. That was a different situation, as the White Sox were in full rebuild mode when they dealt him to the Padres. San Diego expects to compete for a playoff spot despite budget limitations that kept them from doing much of significance until they added Nick Pivetta on a backloaded four-year deal. Cease worked 189 1/3 innings of 3.47 ERA ball during his first season in San Diego. He struck out 29.4% of opponents and fanned 224 hitters overall — his fourth consecutive season above the 200 mark.
The Padres and Cease agreed to a $13.75MM salary for his final arbitration season. He’d be a lock for a qualifying offer when he hits free agency next winter unless the Friars deal him midseason, which would make him ineligible to receive the QO. Cease will be heading into his age-30 season and could command a contract above $200MM. While the Padres don’t seem optimistic about their chances of re-signing him, they’d obviously take a major downgrade to this year’s rotation if they trade him.
Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reported earlier this week that the Orioles and Cubs were monitoring the rotation market. Baltimore will begin the season without Grayson Rodriguez. Chicago’s rotation hasn’t taken any huge injury hits, though they’ll be without Javier Assad for a few weeks. They’re reportedly in talks with free agent Lance Lynn, who’d be a much less costly but far lower-upside addition at the back of the rotation.
The Mets (Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea) and Yankees (Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil) have each lost multiple starters to injuries this spring. It has been particularly rough in the Bronx. Gil will likely miss the first half of the season with a lat strain. Cole will be out into the middle of 2026 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Nevertheless, respective baseball operations leaders David Stearns and Brian Cashman have indicated the New York teams are content with their internal options to weather those losses.
Boston already parted with two top prospects to add an impact starter in the Garrett Crochet deal. Toronto and Tampa Bay have rotations that arguably each run six deep. The Jays are likely to use Yariel Rodríguez in long relief. The Rays could consider trading one of their starters to settle on a five-man group. That could theoretically position Toronto or Tampa Bay to include a controllable starter in a Cease package, though there’s nothing to suggest the Padres are in anything more than due diligence mode with Opening Day two weeks off.
NL West Notes: Graveman, Seidler, Murphy
Diamondbacks right-hander Kendall Graveman has been battling some back tightness in camp and still hasn’t appeared in a Spring Training game. Manager Torey Lovullo tells Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports that the issue cropped up again yesterday after throwing live batting practice. Weiner relays that Graveman appears to be questionable for Opening Day.
The Snakes signed Graveman to a one-year, $1.35MM deal less than a month ago. The modest price is a reflection of the fact that Graveman missed the 2024 season recovering from shoulder surgery. The D’Backs have made a modest bet that he could bounce back to his pre-surgery form. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 187 1/3 relief innings with a 2.74 earned run average, 24.5% strikeout rate, 10.4% walk rate and 48.9% ground ball rate.
If healthy, Graveman would be one of the club’s key leverage relievers, alongside guys like A.J. Puk, Kevin Ginkel and Justin Martínez. This back issue doesn’t seem to be a major concern but isn’t the ideal way for him to start down the comeback trail. Opening Day is still two weeks away, which gives him some time, but it will be a situation to watch for the Diamondbacks and their fans.
More notes from around the National League West…
- John Seidler is now officially the control person of the Padres, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic. The brother of the later Peter Seidler, John was approved by the league as control person over a month ago. Despite the league approval, it was noted at that time that the transfer would not become official until all the paperwork was complete on John becoming the trustee of Peter’s trust. Lin relays that the process with the trust is now complete, making John the official control person. After Peter’s death, the duties of control person were handled by his previous business partner Eric Kutsenda on an interim basis. There is an ongoing legal dispute over control of the club in the wake of Peter’s passing, with his widow Sheel filing suit against his brothers.
- Giants catcher Tom Murphy continues to be on the shelf. The club informed reporters, including Justice delos Santos of The Mercury News, that Murphy would require another epidural injection this week. He’ll be doing rehab only for the next two weeks, meaning no baseball activities. That makes him a lock for the injured list to start the season. That’s not a shock, since it was reported in late February that he has a herniated disc in his mid-back area and would be getting an epidural injection that would sideline him for weeks. He’s now getting a second shot and is still not close. Murphy has flashed a potent bat in his career but injuries have often stood in the way. He has nine MLB seasons but only appeared in 50 or more games in two of those. The Giants have Patrick Bailey as their primary catcher. With Murphy out, the backup job could fall to Sam Huff. Non-roster options in camp include Logan Porter and Max Stassi.
Padres Keeping Jhony Brito In Relief
The Padres are keeping Jhony Brito in long relief, manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). While not especially surprising, that takes him out of the competition for the fifth starter spot.
Brito has spent most of his career in the Yankees organization. He reached the big leagues with New York in 2023 after seven seasons in the minors. The righty started 13 of 25 appearances as a rookie, working to a 4.28 ERA through 90 1/3 innings. The Padres acquired him during the following offseason as one of the ancillary players in their five-player return for Juan Soto. San Diego prioritized upper level starting pitching. Michael King jumped right into their rotation, while prospect Drew Thorpe was flipped a few months later in the Dylan Cease trade.
Randy Vásquez and Brito profiled as upper level rotation depth. Vásquez started 20 games last year, turning in a 4.87 ERA over 98 frames. Brito never cracked the big league rotation. He made 26 appearances out of Shildt’s bullpen. He allowed 4.12 earned runs per nine with a well below-average 15.7% strikeout rate over 43 2/3 innings. Brito did start all six appearances that he made with Triple-A El Paso. Opposing lineups tagged him for 17 runs over 14 innings. An elbow strain ended his season in August.
Brito is back to health and has taken the ball three times this spring. He has given up three runs in as many innings with one strikeout and walk apiece. The 27-year-old is vying for a multi-inning role, which opened up with Bryan Hoeing expected to begin the season on the injured list. Hoeing is battling shoulder soreness and hasn’t pitched this spring. Brito still has an option remaining and would head back to El Paso if he doesn’t win the long relief job.
Barring a long shot trade of Cease or King, they’ll lead Shildt’s starting staff. Yu Darvish and Nick Pivetta are locked into the next two spots. The competition for the #5 role is seemingly down to Kyle Hart, Matt Waldron, Vásquez, and Stephen Kolek. The Friars signed Hart to a $1.5MM free agent deal after he posted a 2.69 ERA in Korea. Waldron, a knuckleballer, held a rotation spot for most of last year. He pitched well early on but was rocked for nearly a run per inning after the All-Star Break. Kolek allowed a 5.21 ERA while working out of the bullpen as a Rule 5 pick. He’s building back up as a starter and can be optioned after the Padres carried him on their MLB roster for all of last season.
Latest On Dylan Cease, Michael King
As is the case every year, Spring Training has brought a handful of significant pitching injuries. The Yankees have been hit the hardest. They confirmed this evening that they’re losing Gerrit Cole to Tommy John surgery — a week after Luis Gil went down for months with a lat strain. The Mets will open the season without Sean Manaea or Frankie Montas. The Mariners (George Kirby) and Orioles (Grayson Rodriguez) will each begin the year without a pitcher who would’ve been in the upper half of their respective rotations.
The injuries have reignited speculation about a Spring Training jolt to the trade market. A few fanbases are surely hoping their teams can line up with the Padres. San Diego entertained interest in impending free agents Dylan Cease and Michael King early in the offseason. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller has shown a willingness to make significant trades at unconventional times on the calendar, including last spring’s deal to land Cease from the White Sox.
That still seems unlikely. Preller indicated at the start of camp that the team’s focus was on retaining its rotation. That hasn’t stopped teams from calling about the Padres’ top two starters. However, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune writes that King is “virtually assured” of sticking with San Diego into the regular season. The door seems just slightly more open on Cease. Acee reports that the Padres would only consider moving Cease if the return includes a significant upgrade in one or more of their weakest lineup positions: catcher, left field, and designated hitter.
Budgetary constraints limited the Padres’ free agent activity for most of the offseason. They moved late to add Nick Pivetta on an extremely backloaded four-year free agent deal. A few days later, they brought in Kyle Hart on a $1.5MM contract. They could round out the rotation behind Cease, King, and Yu Darvish. San Diego opted for low-cost acquisitions to fill out the lineup. Elias Díaz is back on a $3.5MM contract to catch. They added Jason Heyward and Connor Joe for a combined $2MM to work as the left field platoon. The Padres don’t have a set designated hitter.
Rotation depth is still a question. Hart is coming off a strong season in Korea, but he has 11 career MLB innings (which came five years ago). Injuries will force them to rely on the likes of Randy Vásquez, Stephen Kolek and Matt Waldron throughout the season. It’s hard to envision them trading Cease without netting at least one starting pitcher who’d jump directly into their rotation. Other teams are presumably reluctant to part with a controllable starter and a significant lineup upgrade. That’s especially true at a stage of the offseason when they wouldn’t have many options to backfill the lineup in free agency.
King and Cease could be the subject of more realistic trade rumors in a few months depending on the team’s place in the standings. They’d be highly sought after rental targets if the Padres underperform in the first half. San Diego will almost certainly make qualifying offers to both pitchers if they don’t deal them, but they’d land much stronger prospect returns in trade if they fall out of contention.
Padres, Jose Iglesias Agree To Minor League Deal
The Padres and free agent infielder Jose Iglesias are reportedly in agreement on a minor league contract. The Boras Corporation client will earn a $3MM base salary if he makes the roster and can take home another $1MM via incentives. That’s a bit heavier base than the standard minor league pact, which seems reflective of Iglesias’ 2024 season and perhaps strong interest on non-guaranteed deals of this nature.
Iglesias, 35, enjoyed a tremendous comeback season in 2024 after not appearing in the majors at all in 2023. (He spent a portion of that season with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate.) Originally signed to a minor league deal by the Mets, Iglesias was summoned to the big leagues in late May as a scuffling Mets club shuffled up a roster that had produced a 24-33 record through the season’s first two months. The 12-year veteran went on to appear in 85 games and slash .337/.381/.448 in 291 turns at the plate. He also became a key figure in the Mets’ clubhouse and a fan favorite whose “OMG” song became an anthem for the Mets as they turned their season around and marched to an NLCS appearance that looked wildly improbable at the time of Iglesias’ call to the majors.
Impressive as Iglesias’ numbers were in 2024, the Mets haven’t been keen on bringing him back. That’s in part due to a largely inflexible roster; catcher Francisco Alvarez and likely backup infielder Luisangel Acuña are the only two projected position players on the Mets’ roster who can be optioned. Re-signing Iglesias would’ve effectively left the Mets with a static 13-player position core, as Alvarez isn’t likely to be optioned at any point in the near future. That would leave the Mets playing with a short bench anytime a position player needed a couple days off with a minor injury or illness.
Furthermore, there’s simply good reason to believe that Iglesias’ output was unsustainable. He benefited from a sky-high .382 average on balls in play that sat 72 points higher than his career mark entering the 2024 season. That surge in batted-ball results came despite Iglesias producing bottom-of-the-scale marks in terms of average exit velocity (85.8 mph), barrel rate (2.2%) and hard-hit rate (30.6%). The Mets — and presumably, based on his eventual contract — other clubs around the league clearly didn’t expect him to replicate or even approximate his 2024 results.
While some regression is to be expected, that shouldn’t take away the entirety of what Iglesias did with the Mets. He continued to demonstrate superlative contact skills, fanning in only 12.4% of his plate appearances. He’s also retained plus sprint speed even as he’s entered his mid-30s, clocking in at 28.6 ft/sec, per Statcast, and landing in the 83rd percentile of big leaguers as a result. Iglesias also played strong defense at both third base and second base, per Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. He’s not going to be the batting title contender that a cursory look at his 2024 line might suggest, but even a dip to his “expected” .314 weighted on-base average (via Statcast) would make him a useful utility infielder.
That could well be Iglesias’ role with the Padres, but it’s possible he emerges in a more significant capacity. San Diego presently expects to have Jake Cronenworth at second base and Luis Arraez at first base. If the Friars want to affordably bolster their infield defense, however, shifting Arraez to a DH role and moving Cronenworth back to first base could open second for Iglesias.
It’s also possible that he’s only in the mix for a bench spot, which would place him in something of an unofficial competition with infielders Eguy Rosario and Tyler Wade. Rosario is out of minor league options — one of the more intriguing out-of-options players in the league this spring — whereas Wade can’t be sent down without his consent due to his status as a veteran with more than five years of MLB service. The Padres aren’t going to carry all three on the roster. Iglesias could beat out either player, given his ability to handle any infield spot other than first base. Rosario isn’t yet arbitration-eligible and is thus earning roughly the league minimum. Wade’s $850K salary is barely north of the minimum. He has a $1MM club option, however, suggesting the Friars would prefer to keep him around.
Iglesias is an Article XX(b) free agent — meaning he’s a free agent with more than six years of MLB service who finished the preceding season on a major league roster or injured list. The 2022-26 CBA stipulates that such free agents who sign minor league contracts have three uniform opt-out opportunities baked into the contract: the first being five days prior to Opening Day, the second on May 1 and the third on June 1. As such, if Iglesias is informed late in camp that the Padres don’t plan to carry him on the Opening Day roster, he can trigger that out clause and explore opportunities with other clubs.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the agreement between Iglesias and the Padres. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported it was a minor league deal and also was first on the terms of the contract.
10 Out Of Options Players To Watch This Spring
One of the most interesting elements of spring training every year, at least for those of us who feast on roster construction minutiae, is the collection of players who are out of minor league options. MLBTR just released a full list of such players earlier today.
In many instances, a player being out of minor league options is inconsequential. Justin Steele, Isaac Paredes and Evan Phillips are among the players who fit that description but are in no risk of losing their MLB roster spot. They're all key players on big league rosters who'd never be in danger of being sent down to the minors anyhow.
However, there are typically a handful of players every spring who are on the roster bubble with their current club but who could be a better fit on a team with less competition in their current position. Most of these players have already had big league opportunities with their current club but whether due to injury or poor performance (or both) have yet to firmly seize hold of a roster spot. As players exhaust their minor league options, they'll tend to face increased competition from younger players progressing through the minor league ranks and/or external additions made via trade or free agency. An out-of-options player who doesn't fit his current roster can still go on to find a more solid role and some success elsewhere. Joey Bart was in just this spot last year and after being squeezed out in San Francisco has emerged as Pittsburgh's starting catcher. The Yankees didn't have a spot for Ben Rortvedt, but he's the Rays' clear No. 2 catcher now.
Let's run through 10 names to keep an eye on this spring. Not all of these players will lose their roster spots, and even some who do might not wind up making an impact elsewhere. But each of the names listed here has some reason to hold a bit more intrigue than many of their out-of-options brethren (players listed alphabetically)...
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