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Rich Hill Not Planning To Play In 2026

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Left-hander Rich Hill doesn’t want to use the word but it seems to be leaning towards retirement. Appearing on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast, Hill was asked by host Rob Bradford if he was retiring and said “I don’t have any plans on playing next year.” The situation is somewhat analogous to that of Joe Kelly, who announced on the same podcast last month that he didn’t want to use the word “retire” but wasn’t planning on playing anymore.

“I’m looking for open possibilities to stay in the game of baseball and be a contributory factor,” Hill continued. “I enjoy the work aspect of whatever it might be that’s next. I think that’s one thing that… why athletes get hired in other positions and other… outside of sports is because they are highly-driven people that want to succeed. And that’s something that I’m looking forward to.”

It’s not shocking that Hill is slowly wafting into the next stage of his career. Though he did pitch in the 2025 season, he was easily the oldest player in the league. He was 45 years old when he suited up for the Royals and will turn 46 in March. Though he has continued pitching to an age when most other players have called it quits long ago, he did so with some unconventional approaches. He waited until midseason to sign in 2024 in a deliberate attempt to be more fresh for a stretch run.

If this is indeed the end, it will wrap up one of the more unique arcs of a player in recent history. Hill was drafted by the Cubs way back in 2002 and made his major league debut in 2005. He didn’t find immediate success but had a really good season in 2007, posting a 3.92 earned run average over 32 starts.

But from there, he went into a really challenging period of his career. He struggled with results and health for many years, leading him to be bounced between the majors and minors and between various different organizations. From 2008 to 2014, he tossed a total of 153 innings split between the Cubs, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, the Angels and Yankees. He posted a 5.41 ERA over that stretch.

2015 would turn out to be an incredible comeback season. He started the year on a minor league deal with the Nationals. He opted out of that contract in June and signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. He made just two starts for that club but struck out 21 opponents in 11 innings. That was enough to get him back into affiliated baseball via a minor league deal with the Red Sox.

Boston called him up in September and he made four starts as the season was winding down. In those, he logged 29 innings with a 1.55 ERA. He had a mammoth 34% strikeout rate, a tiny 4.7% walk rate and a strong 48.4% ground ball rate. That was a tiny sample size but the Athletics made a bet on it, signing Hill to a one-year, $6MM deal for 2016. That wager paid off handsomely, with Hill giving the A’s 14 starts with a 2.25 ERA.

At that year’s deadline, he was traded to the Dodgers alongside Josh Reddick, with the A’s getting Frankie Montas, Grant Holmes, and Jharel Cotton in return. Hill gave the Dodgers six starts with an ERA of 1.83 and then three postseason starts with a 3.46 ERA.

The Dodgers were happy enough with that showing to bring Hill back via a three-year, $48MM contract. That was a pretty staggering deal for a 37-year-old who was not too far removed from being in indy ball but it worked out well. He logged 327 innings over those three seasons with a 3.30 ERA, plus 37 postseason innings with a 2.43 ERA.

After that deal ran its course, Hill went into his 40s and mercenary mode. He signed a series of one-year deal with the Twins, Rays, Red Sox and Pirates. In 2023, he seemed to wear down as the season went along, not surprising for a 43-year-old. His 4.76 ERA with Pittsburgh was still respectable but he collapsed after a deadline deal to the Padres, posting an 8.23 ERA after the swap.

As mentioned, he then tried to think outside the box to continue as an effective big league pitcher. He planned to intentionally sign at midseason in 2024 in order to spend more time with his family and also save his bullets for the second half and postseason. He stayed unsigned until inking a minor league deal with the Red Sox in August. He did get called up but only for four relief appearances before being released. In 2025, he signed a minor league deal with the Royals in May. He got called up in July but was designated for assignment after just two starts.

Given the unusual shape of his career and his willingness to buck conventions, it’s possible he’ll change his mind and find his way back to the mound. But if Hill doesn’t make it back to the majors, he will finish with 1,418 innings tossed over 388 games for 14 different clubs. In that time, he posted a 4.02 ERA but will likely be best remembered for the 2015-2021 run which saw him post a 3.15 ERA in his late 30s and early 40s. Baseball Reference pegs his career earnings over $75MM, most of that coming to Hill in his late-career surge. We at MLB Trade Rumors salute him on a fine career, which may or may not be done, and wish him the best on whatever is next.

Photo courtesy of Peter Aiken, Imagn Images

Rays Looking To Trade For Catchers, Had Interest In J.T. Realmuto

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The catching position has long been a weak link in Tampa Bay, and the Rays at least considered making a big move to solidify the position this winter.  The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that Tampa showed some interest in signing J.T. Realmuto before Realmuto re-signed with the Phillies yesterday for three years and $45MM.

The Rays rarely make major forays into the free agent market, and it was widely assumed that Realmuto would eventually return to Philadelphia.  Beyond these two points, however, it makes plenty of sense why the Rays would’ve checked in Realmuto, given both their needs behind the plate and the fact that Realmuto lingered on the open market until mid-January.  Had the Phillies successfully signed Bo Bichette, for instance, Realmuto’s chances of a reunion might’ve gotten a lot slimmer, leaving the door open for the Rays (or another catcher-needy team) to swoop in with an offer.

Zach Eflin’s three-year, $40MM deal from the 2022-23 offseason represents the biggest contract the Rays have ever given to a free agent.  This isn’t far under what Realmuto got from the Phillies, and if Philadelphia had dropped out of the Realmuto market altogether, there might’ve been opportunity for the Rays to make a similar offer, or perhaps even a matching average annual value on a two-year deal.  In fact, MLB Trade Rumors projected a two-year, $30MM deal for Realmuto, but the Phils ended up adding a third year with the same $15MM average annual value.

Besides the Phillies, the Red Sox were the only other team known to have interest in Realmuto this winter.  The Rangers were a speculative suitor, but reports indicated that the team’s limited budget wouldn’t allow for such a pursuit.  Among other contenders or would-be contenders, the Giants, Reds, Pirates, or Marlins might’ve made sense, but there wasn’t any indication that any of these clubs (several of whom are also operating within reduced payrolls) made any push for Realmuto.

As per usual in Tampa Bay, there has been a lot of offseason roster shuffling, with some relatively pricier players moved out and other players brought in to fill holes in a somewhat less expensive manner.  Steven Matz, Cedric Mullins, and Jake Fraley were all signed for a combined $25MM, so the Rays added three players for slightly more than the $22.5MM they would’ve owed Brandon Lowe and Pete Fairbanks had the two been retained.  The end result is a payroll that will probably look pretty similar to last year — RosterResource estimates the Rays’ 2026 payroll at around $80.1MM, in comparison to their $78.9MM payroll from 2025.

Signing Realmuto might well have resulted in the Rays having to unload another prominent salary to make the numbers fit.  Losing someone like Yandy Diaz to add Realmuto might not have been a welcome tradeoff for Tampa’s lineup, but since Diaz is entering the last guaranteed year of his contract, perhaps that’s a move the Rays would’ve been open to making making in order to finally shore up the catching position.

President of baseball operations Erik Neander said in November that the Rays were keeping an open mind about catchers, saying that “if we can find a way to be better at that position, we will, but those are two guys [Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia] we appreciate.  If we roll into next year and that’s where we are — a lot of players, we’re counting on development from where they were, and that certainly applies to those two and [we] think that they can give us more than they did this year.”

Fortes and Feduccia are currently lined up as the Rays’ top two catchers, with Logan Driscoll and non-roster invite Blake Sabol as the only other backstops in the organization with any MLB experience.  In a sign of how the position has been a revolving door for the Rays, Fortes and Feduccia have each been with the team just since July, as the duo were respectively acquired from the Marlins and Dodgers in deadline trades.

Fortes is a glove-first catcher who has hit only .224/.280/.345 over 1174 plate appearances in the majors.  Feduccia also hasn’t hit in the Show but only in the limited sample of 119 PA, with 102 of those trips to the plate coming after the trade from Los Angeles.  Formerly a well-regarded prospect in the L.A. farm system, Feduccia has strong Triple-A numbers and might be something of an untapped resource as a hitter, though he is already 28 years old.

With Realmuto back in Philadelphia and Victor Caratini now signed by the Twins, the top two options on the free agent catching market quickly left the board in 24 hours’ time.  Rather than sort through other free agents who might not represent clear upgrades, the Rays seem to prefer looking for trade help, as Rosenthal writes.  The pickings are pretty slim on this front as well, but teams like the Royals, Cardinals, or Pirates could conceivably have enough available catching depth to match up with Tampa Bay as trade partners.

Rays View Gavin Lux As Full-Time Second Baseman

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The Rays swapped Josh Lowe for Gavin Lux as part of last night’s three-team trade. President of baseball operations Erik Neander discussed the move with Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times after it was finalized this morning.

Neander indicated the Rays were likely to narrow Lux’s defensive focus to his traditional second base position. The former top prospect worked in a utility role with Cincinnati last year, only starting 16 games at the keystone. He spent the majority of his defensive work in left field and started more games at designated hitter than any individual position.

“In our opinion, second base is his best position, and he plays it at his best when the entirety of his time is focused there,” Neander told Topkin. “The way things played out in Cincinnati last year, there was more opportunity in left field, more DH, more pinch-hit, a little bit of second base, but his work was not focused at second base. I think Gavin is someone that we can give him some clarity that, ‘Hey, second base, put your work in there, build your routines there, prepare for that, and basically that only.’ And I think that’s how we’re going to get the best out of him.”

Lux has played more second base than any other position in his career. He graded as a slightly above-average gloveman by both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average between 2019-22. Lux missed the entire ’23 season with a torn ACL. The Dodgers initially planned to move him up the defensive spectrum to shortstop when he returned. They scrapped that when he struggled with his throwing accuracy during Spring Training. Lux’s arm is less of an issue on the right side of the infield, but his overall defensive grades have dipped in the last two years.

The Rays apparently feel that last year’s metrics are attributable to the multi-position role. Committing to Lux as an everyday second baseman would have trickle-down effects for the rest of the roster. That probably locks Taylor Walls in at shortstop to open the season, allowing them to send Carson Williams back to Triple-A to work through contact concerns.

Richie Palacios had been the in-house favorite for second base playing time after the Brandon Lowe trade. He’s most adversely impacted by the acquisition of Lux, who has a similar skillset. They’re each left-handed bats whose games are built around strong on-base ability despite limited power. Palacios hit well in a tiny sample last year but was limited to 17 games by a pair of injuries — a broken right ring finger and a more significant knee sprain that cost him the bulk of the season.

Palacios still has a minor league option and could head to Triple-A for another season. His best path to MLB playing time now is probably in the corner outfield. Palacios has played nearly 500 innings as a left fielder over parts of four MLB campaigns. The Rays have a wide open outfield around Cedric Mullins, who is likely to be the everyday center fielder. Jake Fraley, Jonny DeLuca, Chandler Simpson, Justyn-Henry Malloy, Ryan Vilade and trade pickup Jacob Melton will also compete for playing time. Fraley, Palacios, Simpson and Melton are all left-handed hitters.

Mets Claim Tsung-Che Cheng

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The Mets claimed infielder Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Rays, per announcements from both clubs. Tampa Bay designated Cheng for assignment last week. New York had open 40-man space and thus doesn’t need to make a corresponding roster move at this time.

Cheng, 24, made his big league debut with the Pirates in 2025 but went hitless in seven plate appearances. He didn’t fare all that well in Triple-A last year either, hitting just .207/.305/.267 with one homer, 12 doubles and three triples in 410 turns at the plate. However, Cheng is a plus runner who swiped 20 bags despite that paltry OBP, and he’s also a capable defender at shortstop, second base and third base. The 5’8″ lefty swinger also has an excellent eye at the plate, evidenced by a career 12.5% walk rate in the minors.

Pittsburgh designated Cheng for assignment last month. The Rays added him via waivers recently but designated him again upon acquiring lefty Ken Waldichuk. Cheng still has a minor league option year remaining, so he adds some fleet-footed depth that can play decent defense at multiple positions while providing quality plate discipline. There’s no guarantee he sticks with the Mets all the way through spring training, but for now he can provide some cover in the event of injuries or the trade of a young infielder such as Mark Vientos, Luisangel Acuña or Ronny Mauricio.

Marlins Claim Osvaldo Bido

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The Marlins have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Rays, reports Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Tampa Bay designated Bido for assignment last week. Miami has an open spot on the 40-man roster after trading lefty Ryan Weathers to the Yankees, so a corresponding move won’t be necessary.

Bido turned 30 this past October. He spent seven seasons in the minors with the Pirates prior to making his debut as a 27-year-old rookie in 2023, and he’s spent the past two seasons pitching with the A’s, who signed him to a big league deal in the 2023-24 winter after Pittsburgh cut him loose. The wiry 6’3″, 175-pound righty has had an up-and-down run in the majors across the past three seasons, posting ugly numbers in 2023 and 2025 but logging 63 1/3 innings of 3.41 ERA ball with solid rate stats in 2024.

Overall, Bido has pitched 193 2/3 innings as a big leaguer. In that time, he carries a collective 5.07 earned run average. Metrics like SIERA (4.60) and FIP (4.67) are a bit kinder, but he’s pitched like a serviceable swingman/sixth starter for much of his time in the league. Bido averages 94.7 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker. His strikeout rate (20.9%) and walk rate (9.6%) are both worse than league average, but not by much. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher but hadn’t been especially prone to home runs until the 2025 season — though that was surely due to the Athletics’ temporary home at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento playing like an absolute launching pad; Bido surrendered 13 home runs in 44 1/3 home innings but just six in 35 1/3 frames on the road.

Bido is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to either break camp with the Fish — presumably in a long relief role — or else clear waivers before he can be sent to Triple-A. Miami has been on the lookout for some rotation depth after trading not only Weathers but also righty Edward Cabrera. Bido provides some for the time being, but an out-of-options journeyman coming off a 5.87 ERA is far from a lock to stick on the roster.

At the moment, Miami’s rotation will include Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez and (health-permitting) Braxton Garrett. There’s no shortage of other arms to compete for starting jobs. Former top prospect Max Meyer will be healthy after a long injury layoff. Janson Junk, like Bido, came to the Marlins as a journeyman long reliever last year but pitched well enough to carve out a spot on the big league roster in ’26 — whether as a starter or swingman. Righty Ryan Gusto, acquired last July for Jesus Sanchez, offers a similar skill set. Former top prospects Dax Fulton and Adam Mazur have missed time with injury but should be healthy and in the mix for innings. Most notably, top prospects Thomas White and Robby Snelling — two of MLB’s most highly regarded left-handers — are both on the cusp of the majors.

There’s plenty of talent in the mix for Miami’s rotation but also a lot of injury risk and uncertainty. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them bring in a veteran starter, even if only on a non-roster invitation to spring training, in order to add some stability to the current group.

Rays, Angels, Reds Agree To Three-Team Trade Involving Josh Lowe, Gavin Lux

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While Kyle Tucker dominated baseball’s headlines, the Rays, Angels and Reds worked out a three-team trade. Outfielder Josh Lowe heads from Tampa Bay to the Angels. The Rays acquire utilityman Gavin Lux from Cincinnati and minor league pitcher Chris Clark from the Halos. The Reds get left-handed reliever Brock Burke from Los Angeles. The deal was finalized on Friday morning.

It’s the second trade involving an everyday outfielder for the Angels this offseason. This time, the player is coming their way. Lowe will fill the outfield void left by Taylor Ward, who was shipped to Baltimore for Grayson Rodriguez. Tampa Bay entered the winter with a pair of Lowes, but the club will head into 2026 without either one. The versatile Lux can fill the void left by the Brandon Lowe deal. Cincinnati nets a veteran southpaw, while also getting off the $5.525MM contract Lux received in arbitration. Burke will make about half of that this season.

Lowe seemed like a fixture in Tampa Bay’s lineup after a massive 20/30 campaign in 2023. He posted a 135 wRC+ in his first season as a regular. Injuries would stifle his production the next two seasons. Oblique and hamstring issues delayed the start of his 2024 season. The oblique cost him time later that year, and then again at the beginning of this past season. He wasn’t productive when healthy this year, stumbling to a career-worst 79 wRC+ behind a .220/.283/.366 batting line. Lowe hit .139 with a 35.3% strikeout rate in his final month with the team.

With Ward gone and Mike Trout penciled in at DH, the Angels had limited options in the outfield prior to the move. Lowe will now slot in alongside Jo Adell and Jorge Soler. The Rays shielded him from lefties for much of his time there, and with good reason. Lowe has a .504 OPS and a 33% strikeout rate in his limited work against same-handed pitching (288 plate appearances). He could be ticketed for regular at-bats given the lack of a platoon partner. The right-handed bench outfielder is currently Bryce Teodosio, a glove-first option. Trout only made 22 starts in the outfield last season, but that could change considering the alternatives.

A former first-round pick, Lowe is a plus runner who has slightly above-average bat speed. The aforementioned 20-30 season hints at his physical upside, but the durability and strikeout concerns kept him from establishing himself as a cornerstone player. He has only once reached 500 plate appearances in a season.

Lowe played a little bit of center field early in his career. The vast majority of his experience has come in right, and he has only logged seven innings up the middle over the past two seasons. He’d be stretched in center defensively, yet that’s also true of Trout and Adell. The Halos will probably need to live with rough up-the-middle defense from Lowe or Adell to get a better bat than Teodosio’s in the lineup, at least until 20-year-old center field prospect Nelson Rada arrives.

Tampa Bay and Lowe settled on a $2.6MM deal to avoid arbitration this year. It was his first trip through the process. He’s controlled for three seasons and still has a minor league option remaining, so the Halos could send him down without putting him on waivers. The Angels’ estimated payroll on RosterResource still sits at about $30MM below last year’s mark.

The Reds acquired Lux last offseason in a trade with the Dodgers. He delivered league-average results at the plate in his lone season in Cincinnati, hitting .269/.350/.374 with five homers over a career-high 503 plate appearances. Lux made most of his appearances in left field, while also spending time at second base and third base. He was also used frequently as a pinch hitter.

Lux was one of Cincinnati’s more reliable on-base hitters, but he has never developed into much of a power threat. The former top prospect hasn’t hit more than 10 homers in any of his five-plus MLB seasons. Last winter’s change of scenery trade and move to Great American Ball Park didn’t really move the needle. The left-handed hitter has a solid offensive floor but probably doesn’t have much untapped upside as he enters his age-28 season.

The bigger drawback is that Lux has never settled into a clear positional home. He has moved around less because he’s an incredibly versatile and more due to his defensive struggles at various positions. His throwing accuracy has been an intermittent issue on the infield, even at second base. Defensive metrics haven’t looked favorably upon his work in the corner outfield.

The Rays had a clear gap at second base after the (first) Lowe trade. The internal choices were uninspiring, though Richie Palacios has some similarities as a left-handed hitter whose game is built around his on-base skills. Lux should step into a near-everyday role, with Tampa Bay’s typical platoon shenanigans likely capping his reps against left-handed pitching. He could also get some rotational corner outfield work, replacing Josh Lowe as a lefty bat in an outfield that remains without much certainty. Lux is a one-year addition who’ll reach free agency for the first time next winter.

The Angels claimed Burke, coincidentally a former Rays’ draftee, off waivers from the Rangers in August 2024. His one-and-a-half years with the club represented one of the better stretches of his big league career. Burke put together a 3.40 ERA across 90 appearances as an Angel. He pitched in a career-high 69 games last year. The 29-year-old is in his final year of arbitration and will hit free agency next season.

Burke was able to tap into more velocity after joining the Angels. He sat 94-95 mph after transitioning from the rotation to the bullpen with the Rangers. In L.A., Burke bumped his heater to 96 mph. He also upped his slider usage with the club. Burke had a career-high 30.5% strikeout rate with the Angels in 2024. That number fell by more than 10 points in 2025, but he counteracted it with a career-best 53.3% ground-ball rate. Burke doesn’t have huge platoon splits and isn’t a situational specialist so much as a generally steady arm whom Terry Francona can use in the middle innings.

Cincinnati relied on Taylor Rogers as its primary lefty last season, until he was sent to the Cubs at the deadline. The Reds have added Burke and Caleb Ferguson to fill the role for 2026. They also tendered a contract to the out-of-options Sam Moll, so it seems they’ll begin the season with three veteran lefties in the relief corps.

Clark was a fifth-round pick by the Angels in 2023. He posted a 4.73 ERA across 28 minor league appearances this past season. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs praised Clark’s developing changeup and loose arm action heading into the 2025 campaign. The righty uses a sinker and sweeper as his two main pitches. A changeup would fit in nicely. The 24-year-old Clark topped out at Double-A last year. He made just one start at the level and will likely be back there to open the 2026 season.

Jeff Passan of ESPN was first on the trade. Respective images via Chris Tilley, Gary A. Vasquez of Imagn Images.

Rays Finalize Coaching Staff

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The Rays announced their full coaching staff on Tuesday, tabbing Will Bradley as an assistant hitting coach to round out the group. He had spent the 2025 season as a minor league hitting coordinator.

Bradley is a former college player and coach who moved into the professional ranks with the Angels in 2019. He began his Rays tenure as a Triple-A hitting coach before moving into the coordinator role. Bradley has also coached for the Australian national team. This is his first season on an MLB staff, and he’ll split the assistant hitting coach duties with Ozzie Timmons.

Tampa Bay announced last month that former All-Star Corey Dickerson would take over as first base coach. He replaces Michael Johns, who left the organization to become Blake Butera’s bench coach in Washington.

The majority of Kevin Cash’s staff is intact from the 2025 season. Bench coach Rodney Linares, pitching coach Kyle Snyder, hitting coach Chad Mottola, third base coach Brady Williams, assistant pitching coach Rick Knapp, bullpen coach Jorge Moncada, field coordinator Tomas Francisco, and process/development coach Kris Goodman are all back.

Rays Acquire Ken Waldichuk, Brett Wisely

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The Rays have acquired left-hander Ken Waldichuk and infielder Brett Wisely from the Braves, according to announcements from both clubs. Atlanta receives cash considerations or a player to be named later in return. Tampa designated right-hander Osvaldo Bido and infielder Tsung-Che Cheng for assignment to open 40-man spots for their new acquisitions.

All four players involved here have been riding the DFA carousel in recent months, to varying extents. Wisely was put on waivers by the Giants in September. Atlanta claimed him at that time but designated him for assignment last week when they claimed right-hander George Soriano. Waldichuk was DFA’d by the Athletics when they acquired Jeff McNeil and then claimed by Atlanta, then DFA’d again recently when Atlanta re-signed Tyler Kinley. Now Atlanta will convert those two players, who were already off the roster, into some cash or perhaps another player down the line.

The Rays will take advantage of Atlanta’s roster crunch to upgrade their pitching staff and infield. They are losing some cash, or maybe a PTBNL, as well as potentially losing Bido and Cheng. However, those two players were only recently acquired. The A’s put Bido on waivers in December, with Atlanta claiming him at that time, but he went to Tampa a couple of weeks later on another waiver claim. Cheng was claimed off waivers from the Pirates last month.

Waldichuk, 28, is coming off some recent struggles but was once a notable prospect with the Yankees. They traded him to the A’s as part of the 2022 deadline deal which saw them acquire Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino. Waldichuk made his major league debut with the A’s in 2022 and showed a bit of promise. His 4.93 earned run average was a bit on the high side but his 22.6% strikeout rate was around average and his 6.8% walk rate was strong.

But in 2023, he posted a 5.36 ERA in 141 frames. Tommy John surgery in May of 2024 put him out of action for a long time. He got back on the mound in 2025 but was optioned to the minors. He walked 15.9% of batters he faced on the farm last year, which led to an ugly 8.17 ERA. He qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player. He and the A’s avoided arbitration by agreeing to a salary of $825K for 2026, a bit above the $780K league minimum.

His poor 2025 season and slight salary bump haven’t dissuaded teams from being interested. Tampa could use some cheap rotation help. They always have some budgetary concerns and have subtracted some notable starting pitchers in the past year. They sent Taj Bradley to the Twins at last year’s deadline and Shane Baz to the Orioles this offseason. They currently project to have Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Shane McClanahan, Steven Matz, Joe Boyle and Yoendrys Gómez in the season-opening rotation mix, health permitting.

Waldichuk still has options, so the Rays could send him to Triple-A and try to get him back on track. If it works out, there would be a long-term payoff. He can still be retained via arbitration for another four seasons. It’s also possible they try to pass him through waivers later in the offseason, which would allow him to stick around without taking up a roster spot.

Wisely should help in the middle infield, a clear area of weakness for the Rays. They traded second baseman Brandon Lowe to the Pirates this winter, which led to Cheng losing his roster spot in Pittsburgh. The Rays also moved on from Ha-Seong Kim last year.

Tampa has Taylor Walls, Carson Williams and Richie Palacios in their middle infield mix, though that group doesn’t provide much certainty. Walls has some chops with the glove but has been a poor hitter in his career. Williams was and is a notable prospect but he struck out in 41.5% of his plate appearances in his first taste of the big leagues last year. Palacios has been on the injured list for much of the past two years.

Claiming Cheng gave the Rays some optionable middle infield depth. Wisely is out of options but has a bit more big league experience. While Cheng has only appeared in three big league contests, Wisely has 168 games under his belt, with solid defense at all four infield spots and some experience in the outfield as well. He has only hit .214/.265/.319 in his big league career but has a more impressive .276/.375/.436 line at Triple-A over the past three seasons.

Wisely jumps into Tampa’s infield group for now but it’s also possible they put him back on waivers between now and the start of the season in an attempt to retain him as non-roster depth, depending on what other moves they have in store. If he holds onto his roster spot, he comes with five full seasons of club control.

Cheng, 24, has shown some abilities as a low-power, high-contact hitter who has a solid floor in terms of speed and defense. In 2023, between High-A and Double-A, he stole 26 bases with a 9.7% walk rate and 18.7% strikeout rate. He slashed .278/.352/.456 for a 116 wRC+. That got him a 40-man roster spot with Pittsburgh going into the 2024 season but his offense tailed off in the past two seasons. He slashed just .217/.319/.312 in the minors in that time.

The Rays will have five days to either trade him or put him on waivers. He does still have an option remaining, which could appeal to clubs in need of infield depth. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, Tampa could keep him around.

Bido, 30, showed a bit of promise with the A’s in 2024. He posted a 3.41 ERA in 63 1/3 innings. His 10% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 24.3% of batters faced. He regressed last year, finishing the season with a 5.87 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate.

He’s now out of options, which is making it tougher for him to cling to a roster spot. He has five years of club control, so there’s still enough interest for him to have been claimed off waivers twice this winter. Like Cheng, he’ll have to be back on the wire or be traded in the next five days.

Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images.

Nine Teams Terminate Contracts With Main Street Sports

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The nine MLB teams who had contracts with Main Street Sports have terminated those contracts with the company. It’s possible that some of them eventually work out new deals with the broadcaster, which operates channels under the FanDuel Sports Network banner. The teams are the Braves, Reds, Tigers, Royals, Angels, Marlins, Brewers, Cardinals and Rays. Talks between the company and the teams are ongoing. Various elements of this developing story were reported by Evan Drellich of The Athletic, Alden González of ESPN, Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

The issue is due to the poor financial state of the company. They have recently missed payments to several teams, including the Cardinals and Marlins, but possibly others. The nine teams have cut ties with the company for now to keep them away from potential bankruptcy proceedings and explore other options, but it’s possible some teams will eventually sign new pacts with the company. Main Street is trying to find a buyer, though the reporting indicates talks with DAZN have fizzled out. Fubo TV might have stepped into the bidding but there are conflicting reports about that.

This is just the latest chapter in a saga that goes back quite a while, with cord cutting and streaming having chipped away the regional sports network (RSN) model. The company was previously known as Diamond Sports Group with channels marketed as Bally Sports. Going into 2023, 14 MLB clubs and many teams in other sports leagues had RSN deals with the company. But trouble emerged early that year when the company missed some payments. They filed for bankruptcy in March of 2023.

The company eventually emerged from bankruptcy in November of 2024 and then rebranded. Along the way, many of their deals with MLB clubs fell apart. In some cases, new deals were worked out. In other cases, the league took over broadcasting duties. The Rangers went a different route and launched their own RSN. Coming into 2026, Main Street has 29 deals with teams across MLB, the NBA and NHL.

The path of MLB handling the broadcasts will be available for all the clubs involved here. “No matter what happens, whether it’s Main Street, a third party or MLB media, fans are going to have the games,” commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday, per Blum.

The MLB path is largely inconsequential for fans. If anything, it’s a better arrangement. MLB still puts the games on cable. For cord-cutters, they have the option of streaming the club by paying the league directly, with no local blackouts.

For the teams, however, it’s not a great situation. RSN deals have been a big source of revenue over the years. The bankruptcy of Diamond/Main Street put many of them in a tough position. Renegotiating with the company meant accepting lower fees than they had been receiving on their previous deals. Going with MLB would allow them to potentially reach more fans but the revenue in that path is both lesser and not guaranteed, as the money is contingent on how many people sign up to stream.

MLB handled the broadcasts of five clubs in 2025: the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins and Guardians. It was reported in September that the Mariners would go down this route in 2026. This week’s reporting suggests the Nationals will likely leave MASN and join with the league as well.

In the cases of at least a few of these teams, the situation seems to had on-field implications by reducing the club’s spending capacity when it comes to player payroll. The Padres and Twins, for instance, have been trying to strike a delicate balance of staying in contention while having less to spend on players than the front office may have once anticipated.

That’s obviously a disadvantage compared to some big-market clubs, many of whom are co-owners in RSNs which are relatively healthy in larger population areas. In July of 2024, it was reported that the league and the MLB Players Association had agreed to redirect some competitive balance tax money to teams impacted by the television situation. This week’s reporting indicates that arrangement was for 2024 alone. There was no such deal in place for 2025 and there’s currently nothing lined up for 2026 either.

“The clubs have control over the timing,” Manfred said this week. “They can make a decision to move to MLB Media because of the contractual status now. I think that what’s happening right now clubs are evaluating their alternatives. Obviously they’ve made significant payroll commitments already and they’re evaluating the alternatives to find the best revenue source for the year and the best outlet in terms of providing quality broadcasts to their fans.”

With this situation and other disruptive developments in terms of MLB’s broadcast landscape, the league’s preference has been to not sign any new contracts that go beyond the 2028 season. It has been reported that many of MLB’s broadcast deals expire after that season. Manfred hopes to put together a league-wide streaming service with no blackouts and/or have a big auction of rights to various games, with multiple broadcasters bidding against each other.

A mini version of this happened recently when MLB’s deal with ESPN fell apart. The league then split up ESPN’s previous package, selling some of it back to ESPN along with other elements. Netflix bought the rights to Opening Day, the Home Run Derby and some other special events. NBC/Peacock bought Sunday Night Baseball and the Wild Card round from 2026 to 2028, as well as other events. ESPN acquired the local rights for the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Guardians and Twins as part of their new deal.

All of this figures to hang over the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The current CBA expires after the 2026 season. Another lockout, like the one in 2021-22, is widely expected. Manfred has essentially admitted that one will occur by speaking positively about the lockout process.

Whether that lockout extends long enough to cancel games in 2027 remains to be seen. The players and the union are already concerned by a lack of spending from some clubs and the RSN situation will likely only exacerbate that. Some of the impacted clubs would likely welcome more revenue sharing but the bigger clubs wouldn’t be as keen on that. The owners are expected to push for a salary cap but the players are strongly opposed to that.

Manfred has made plenty of unpopular moves in his time as commissioner but he can currently point to a legacy that includes no games missed due to labor strife. Baseball’s popularity is also on the rise, despite the aforementioned TV disruption. Game Seven of the 2025 World Series was the most-watched game around the world since 1991. The uptick in ratings and attendance has been attributed by many to recent rule changes, particularly the pitch clock.

Disrupting the 2027 season would impact that legacy and also cut into baseball’s recent surge, which would be inopportune timing with the aforementioned future broadcast plans. Manfred is signed through 2029 and does not plan to seek another term after that.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

18 Players Exchange Filing Figures

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Teams and arbitration-eligible players had until 7:00 pm Central to agree to terms or exchange filing figures. The vast majority agreed to salaries, either this afternoon or before November’s non-tender deadline to ensure they were offered contracts at all.

There were 18 cases where team and player did not align — none bigger than the record $13MM gap between the Tigers and Tarik Skubal. Nothing formally prevents players and teams from continuing negotiations. However, virtually every team takes a “file-and-trial” approach to the process. Clubs will mostly refuse to continue talks about one-year deals after this date. They’ll often make exceptions for discussions involving multi-year contracts or one-year deals with a club/mutual option. It’s unlikely that all of these players will end up getting to a hearing, but the majority probably will.

If the sides go to a hearing, a three-person arbitration panel will either choose the player’s or the team’s filing figure. (Hearings will run between January 26 and February 13.) The arbitrators cannot pick a midpoint. That’s designed to prevent the parties from anchoring by filing at extremely high or low figures. Teams’ preferences for the file-and-trial approach follows a similar logic. The idea is to deter players from submitting a higher number from which they could continue to negotiate until the hearing begins.

Unless otherwise noted, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported all filing figures for those who didn’t reach agreements. The list of players who could go to a hearing this winter (service time in parentheses):

Angels

  • Reid Detmers (3.159): Filed at $2.925MM, team filed at $2.625MM

Astros

  • Isaac Paredes (4.160): Filed at $9.95MM, team filed at $8.75MM
  • Yainer Diaz (3.035): Filed at $4.5MM, team filed at $3MM

Blue Jays

  • Eric Lauer (5.091): Filed at $5.75MM, team filed at $4.4MM (first reported by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet)

Braves

  • Dylan Lee (3.150): Filed at $2.2MM, team filed at $2MM

Brewers

Marlins

Mariners

  • Bryce Miller (2.153): Filed at $2.625MM, team filed at $2.25MM

Nationals

Orioles

  • Keegan Akin (5.083): Filed at $3.375MM, team filed at $2.975MM
  • Kyle Bradish (3.160): Filed at $3.55MM, team filed at $2.875MM

Rays

  • Edwin Uceta (2.150): Filed at $1.525MM, team filed at $1.2MM

Reds

Royals

Tigers

Twins

  • Joe Ryan (4.033): Filed at $6.35MM, team filed at $5.85MM
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