The Opener News & Rumors

Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Deadline for qualifying offer decisions:

Today’s the deadline for players who were extended the qualifying offer to make their decisions on whether to accept the QO or head into free agency encumbered by draft pick compensation. The majority of the 13 players who received a QO will reject it without much thought, but there are a handful of edge cases who could at least consider accepting the one-year, $22.05MM deal rather than testing the open market. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco conducted a poll of MLBTR readers last night that suggested fans believe Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres is the most likely player to accept. That’s MLBTR’s own judgment, as well; Torres was the only player we predicted would accept the QO in our Top 50 MLB free agents list. Shota Imanaga, Zac Gallen, and Trent Grisham are among the other players who could plausibly opt to accept the QO today.

2. Rule 5 protection deadline:

Today isn’t just the deadline for QO decisions. While the QO decisions get much of the attention, today’s deadline on protecting prospects from the Rule 5 draft by adding them to the 40-man roster figures to impact every club in the league. Teams with cluttered 40-man rosters will be looking to either trade Rule 5 eligible prospects they can’t fit on the roster or discard players already on the 40-man to make room for those prospects. Meanwhile, teams with plenty of 40-man roster space will be looking for the opportunity to add players squeezed out of other organizations to their own rosters. While the Rule 5 draft itself won’t occur until the Winter Meetings next month, today’s efforts to protect players from it figure to spark plenty of movement around the league.

3. Naylor introductory press conference:

Josh Naylor‘s five-year deal with the Mariners is now official. As a result, the Mariners are hosting a press conference to officially re-introduce Naylor to the media as a long-term member of the organization later today. Naylor himself will be present, of course, as well as his agent, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and GM Justin Hollander. Dipoto and Hollander’s presence could leave the door open for hints towards the Mariners’ plans for the rest of their offseason, which could offer insight onto how they’ll continue to build on this year’s team after missing the World Series by just one game and making one of the largest free agent investments of Dipoto’s tenure with the organization into Naylor.

As the first major piece of the offseason puzzle shakes loose, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Naylor nearing deal:

The big news from this weekend was the Mariners and first baseman Josh Naylor getting together on what’s expected to be a five-year deal in the range of $90MM-$100MM. That Naylor re-upped in Seattle is hardly a surprise given that president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto had made it extremely clear that retaining Naylor was a “priority” for his front office headed into the winter. Naylor himself was candid about enjoying his stay in town as well, as well. Even if it was an expected outcome, however, a deal coming together so quickly and at a level that seems likely to meet or slightly exceed MLBTR’s five-year $90MM prediction for his eventual contract seems like a good sign for the players on the market this winter. The deal figures to be made official at some point in the near future, and a more specific breakdown of the contract structure is likely to be revealed in the coming days as well.

2. What’s next for Seattle?

Now that Seattle has landed their top priority of the winter, it’s fair to wonder what a team that came just one game from the World Series this season will do moving forward. It would make sense for them to continue looking for ways to bolster their infield, given that Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez both hit free agency alongside Naylor to open up holes at second and third base. The Mariners are also known to be looking into the high leverage relief market this winter. One other question would be about the future of Harry Ford, who showed himself to be ready for the big leagues but is blocked from everyday playing time by Cal Raleigh behind the plate. Perhaps Ford could be tabbed as the team’s backup catcher and get semi-regular starts elsewhere in the lineup, though it also seems as though a trade may not be off the table.

3. Nationals to introduce Blake Butera:

As noted by Bobby Blanco of MASN, newly-minted Nationals manager Blake Butera will be available to the media later today in an introductory press conference scheduled for 1:30pm local time. Butera, 33, is the youngest manager in MLB as he steps into his new role and is arguably among the most unorthodox in a sea of unusual managerial hires this winter. President of baseball operations Paul Toboni will presumably be in attendance as well and has spoken effusively of his new skipper in previous comments to the media. Prior to being hired by Toboni, Butera had served as the Rays’ senior director of player development and was a manager in the minor leagues for four seasons.

Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:

1. Trade market buzzing:

On the heels of this week’s GM Meetings, there’s been plenty of rumors about the trade market that will be worth monitoring as the offseason progresses. Cardinals super utility man Brendan Donovan, Royals southpaw Kris Bubic, and Mets veteran Jeff McNeil have all drawn interest from rival teams in recent days. All of those pieces appear to have real potential to move this offseason, but there are other longer shot trade candidates floating around the rumor mill as well. The Diamondbacks are getting plenty of calls on star infielder Ketel Marte, and the Mets are getting interest on mercurial right-hander Kodai Senga. Even with teams like the Reds and Astros publicly taking big names like Hunter Greene and Isaac Paredes off the table, there’s still plenty of early intrigue on the market.

2. Bullpen market heating up?

Yesterday, a report from Francys Romero of BeisbolFR suggested that the market for relievers could start moving in the early part of the offseason. That would be a sharp contrast to last winter, when top relief arms like Tanner Scott lingered on the market into January and even the earliest signings for veteran closers didn’t start until the Winter Meetings. There have already been plenty of rumors about the offseason’s top relief arms this winter.

Right-hander Brad Keller is garnering interest as a starter after a dominant year in the bullpen with the Cubs. The Red Sox, Reds, Dodgers and Marlins have been connected to Devin Williams, and the Dodgers have also been connected to Raisel Iglesias as they look to bolster a middling bullpen that forced them to move Roki Sasaki into a ninth inning role this October. One other interesting wrinkle in the bullpen market this year is the presence of Edwin Diaz, who wasted no time in signing during his last trip to free agency when he inked a deal with the Mets in early November back in 2022. Could he or another top relief arm follow suit with a November deal this year?

3. Coaching staff additions continue:

While most of the focus is on free agency and the trade market at this point, teams are still doing the little things in the background to prepare for the 2026 season. That includes making alterations to and finalizing their coaching staffs. Just in the past few days, the Orioles, Twins, Reds, and Astros have all made significant coaching moves. More will surely continue to trickle in throughout the offseason, especially from the many teams that have hired new managers this winter. That’s also to say nothing of the Rockies, who still have to hire a manager after naming Paul DePodesta their president of baseball operations last week.

Don’t forget to enter MLBTR’s annual Free Agent Prediction Contest! Submissions close at 11pm central time this evening. Without further ado, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. GM Meetings wrapping up:

It’s the final day of the GM Meetings, but there’s still time for the league’s 30 front office heads to add fuel to the rumor mill before they depart Las Vegas. While a handful of minor transactions have occurred, for the most part the GM Meetings have been about laying groundwork and providing hints on the direction some clubs could look to take this winter (such as the Pirates’ potentially expanded payroll capacity). We’ve also seen comments from GMs downplaying their interest in dealing away speculative trade candidates (such as Dana Brown’s comments on Isaac Paredes). A noteworthy trade or signing could still happen before the GM Meetings wrap up, but the focus is likely to be on movement that could occur in the coming days as qualifying offer decisions come due and the non-tender deadline approaches. Next month’s Winter Meetings figure to have far more fireworks in terms of hot stove activity.

2. 2025 MVPs to be crowned:

As awards week wraps up, the winners of this year’s MVP Awards in both leagues are set to be announced this evening. There’s little intrigue in the NL, where Shohei Ohtani is widely expected to cruise to his fourth career MVP trophy despite banner years from fellow finalists Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto. In the AL, this year’s season-long battle between Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh will finally come to a close, with Jose Ramirez joining that duo as a finalist following his second consecutive 30-homer, 40-steal season. Whether Judge’s otherworldly offensive numbers will be enough to overcome Raleigh’s 60 home runs and status as a quality defender at the game’s most difficult defensive position will be revealed at 6pm CT.

3. Additional awards to be announced:

While the main event this evening is the Most Valuable Player announcement, that’s not the only award set to be announced throughout the day. The 2025 All-MLB team will be announced today at the GM Meetings, while winners of the Comeback Players of the Year, Relievers of the Year, Outstanding DH, Executive of the Year, and Hank Aaron Awards will also be revealed as well. All of those awards will have their results announced on MLB Network’s awards show this evening, which runs from 8pm to 10pm CT. As noted by MLB.com, more than 70 current and former MLB players are expected to be in attendance for the show.

As the offseason continues, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day:

1. GM Meetings continue:

The GM Meetings began yesterday, and with the league’s top decision-makers all in one place the rumor mill is sure to stay busy. Some teams (e.g. Pirates, D-backs) took the opportunity to try and stamp out trade rumors surrounding their top players. For many others (e.g. Mets, Dodgers, Braves, Royals) there have already been some hints to where their priorities in free agency and/or on the trade market lie. As this week’s meetings continue, more information should come forward in the form of both public-facing comments from MLB’s front office bosses and sourced reports from behind the scenes. While it’s unusual for substantial transactions to happen this early in the calendar — next month’s Winter Meetings are a much larger source of actual action — its not impossible that an early move or two could occur this week in addition to the usual rumors and intrigue.

2. Cy Young Awards to be announced:

This year’s Cy Young Award winners will be announced tonight, though there doesn’t seem to be much debate as to who’ll win this year’s hardware. Pirates righty Paul Skenes and Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal have seemed likely to lock up the awards for quite some time now, and there’s little reason to expect an upset in either case. It would be Skenes’ first career Cy Young Award after he won the NL Rookie of the Year award and finished as a finalist in Cy Young voting last season. For Skubal, this would be his second consecutive AL Cy Young win. The other finalists in the NL are Phillies southpaw Cristopher Sanchez and Dodgers right-hander (and 2025 World Series MVP) Yoshinobu Yamamoto. In the AL, Skubal is joined by Red Sox lefty Garrett Crochet and Astros ace Hunter Brown.

3. Join the MLBTR Free Agent Prediction Contest!

Last week, we here at MLBTR published our 2025-26 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions list. As is the case every year, that list coincides with the announcement of our annual Free Agent Prediction Contest! $900 in cash prizes, as well as one-year memberships to Trade Rumors Front Office are available to the contestants who have the most success in guessing where the league’s top free agents will ultimately land this winter. The contest closes tomorrow night, so be sure to get your predictions in while you still can!

Here’s a few things to monitor around the baseball world today:

1. GM Meetings continue in Las Vegas

Baseball’s annual General Manager Meetings are this week in Las Vegas, Nevada. While they typically don’t feature as many transactions as the more well known Winter Meetings, the GM Meetings still see executives laying the groundwork for offseason trades and free agent signings. With all 30 teams as well as many player agents in attendance, there might be some interesting rumors trickling through later in the day. Among the new leaders this year are Paul DePodesta, Chaim Bloom, and Paul Toboni. Of course, all three have significant baseball experience, but DePodesta is returning to the sport as the Rockies’ president of baseball operations after spending a decade in the front office for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. Bloom recently took over as president of baseball ops for the Cardinals, while Toboni assumed that role for the Nationals back in September.

2. Manager of the Year Awards announced tonight

Awards season continues with the Manager of the Year winners set to be announced tonight at 6 pm CT. The American League finalists are Blue Jays manager John Schneider, Mariners skipper Dan Wilson, and Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, who won the award last year. Schneider took the Blue Jays from last place in 2024 to Game 7 of the World Series this year, while Wilson’s Mariners and Vogt’s Guardians both won their respective divisions, with the Guardians mounting a historic comeback to overtake the Tigers on the final day of the regular season. Meanwhile, the National League contenders are the Brewers’ Pat Murphy, the Phillies’ Rob Thomson, and the Reds’ Terry Francona. The Brewers under Murphy had the best record in the majors at 97-65 (.599), while Thomson took the Phillies to the NLDS and Francona took the Reds to the playoffs in his first year at the helm.

3. MLBTR chat today

The offseason continues with the GM meetings running through November 13, the deadline for qualifying offer acceptance coming on the 18th, and the non-tender deadline a few days later on the 21st. Whether your team is planning an active offseason or merely looking to improve the margins of their roster, MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat at 1 pm CT later today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.

Here are a few things to monitor around the baseball world heading into this week:

1. Rookie of the Year awards announced tonight

It’s awards week! The league’s top honors will be handed out each day, starting with Rookie of the Year tonight and concluding with Most Valuable Player on Thursday. The ROY finalists on the American League side are first baseman Nick Kurtz of the Athletics, shortstop Jacob Wilson, also of the Athletics, and outfielder Roman Anthony of the Red Sox. Catcher Drake Baldwin of the Braves leads the way on the National League side, followed by Cade Horton of the Cubs and Caleb Durbin of the Brewers. Kurtz and his 36 home runs are considered the favorite for the AL. Baldwin, who slashed .274/.341/.469 as Atlanta’s primary backstop, is considered the favorite in the NL. The winners will be announced on MLB Network at 6 pm CT.

2. Big Japanese stars headed to the big leagues

A pair of NPB heavyweights are making the jump to MLB. The Yakult Swallows officially posted third baseman Munetaka Murakami on Friday. The 25-year-old has been one of the top power hitters in Japan over the past seven seasons. Murakami hit a single-season record 56 home runs in 2022. Contact has been an issue at times, and it’s unclear whether he’ll stick at third base, but Murakami immediately becomes one of the top bats on the market. The Saitama Seibu Lions announced they have accepted right-hander Tatsuya Imai‘s request to be posted. The 27-year-old has a fastball approaching triple digits and a plus slider. Imai posted a 3.15 ERA over 963 2/3 innings across eight NPB seasons. He earned three All-Star selections. Imai will join Dylan Cease and Framber Valdez as one of the top starters on the market. Murakami, and Imai once officially posted, will have 45 days to work out a contract with an MLB team.

3. Cleveland pitchers indicted on gambling charges

It had been a couple of months since we had an update on the sports betting investigation regarding Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz. The big news dropped on Sunday, as Clase and Ortiz were indicted by prosecutors on charges including “wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy, for their alleged roles in a scheme to rig bets on pitches thrown.” The alleged scheme involved Clase and Ortiz purposely throwing balls so gamblers could bet on pitches being balls or strikes, per the indictment. The pitchers face up to 65 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images.

On the heels of free agency’s quiet period coming to a close yesterday, here are three things for MLBTR readers to watch out for today:

1. Rockies get their man:

After a lengthy and tumultuous search for their next front office head, the Rockies went outside the box to land former Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta, who had spent the past decade working for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. DePodesta’s first task now that he’s in place will be deciding what to do with the Rockies’ managerial chair. Warren Schaeffer served as interim manager after Bud Black was fired earlier this year, and now it will be up to DePodesta whether Schaeffer is retained or if he’ll search for his own managerial hire. Plenty of possible candidates remain available even after the recent round of hirings, including former MLB skippers like John Gibbons, David Ross, Brandon Hyde, and Don Mattingly.

2. Silver Sluggers announced:

In all of the hubbub surrounding yesterday’s offseason news and transactions, the NL’s Silver Slugger awards were quietly announced. Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman, Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte, Padres third baseman Manny Machado, Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll, Mets outfielder Juan Soto, Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker, and Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani all took home the awards at their respective positions, while the award for a utility player went to Cardinals first baseman/outfielder Alec Burleson. The Dodgers, meanwhile, were named the NL’s team of the year. With the NL awards already announced, the AL’s awards are expected to be announced later today. Who will win these same awards in the junior circuit this year?

3. Live Chat On MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents:

MLBTR released its Top 50 MLB Free Agents List, complete with contract projections as well as landing spot predictions. If you have any questions about those projections, then you’re in luck: MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes and Steve Adams will be available at 9am central time for a live chat with readers centered around this year’s Top 50. If you miss the live chat, a transcript will be available so you can read through the conversation after the fact. Also, don’t forget to enter the MLBTR Free Agent Prediction Contest, where you can make your own attempt to predict player landing spots in what is sure to be a busy and unpredictable offseason.

As one of the busiest days of the offseason gets underway, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents List:

With the 2025-26 class of free agents on the verge of being mostly set in stone this afternoon, we here at MLBTR are excited to unveil our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list later today. Some outlets have already published theirs, but we like to wait until Qualifying Offer decisions have been revealed because they can have such a significant impact on a free agent’s market. This makes us a little bit late to the party, but allows us to provide a bit more analysis and (hopefully) more accuracy. It’s our biggest post of the year and you should keep an eye out for it later today! Shortly after that comes out, we will also launch our annual prediction contest, where you can do your best to try and predict the events of an unpredictable offseason.

2. Option, QO Decisions Come Due:

We’re now five days out from the end of the World Series. That means that, later today, free agents will be free to negotiate with all other teams and that any outstanding option decisions will need to be made today. Some of those option decisions could be a catalyst for talks about a larger deal, as was the case for the Colin Rea extension reported by MLBTR’s Steve Adams earlier today.

Also due today are each clubs’ decisions on whether or not to give their outgoing free agents a Qualifying Offer. For those unfamiliar, the QO is a one-year, $22.025MM contract that a club can offer to outgoing free agents who began the year with the team and haven’t previously received one. If that offer is declined, the free agent will enter the market tied to draft pick compensation. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco previewed the upcoming QO decisions for both pitchers and position players last month.

3. 40-man Roster Housekeeping:

As the offseason gets fully underway today, MLB’s 30 teams are faced with a handful of other, smaller moves that need to be made independent of free agency. The 60-day injured list goes away during the offseason, so teams must activate all players currently on the 60-day IL and get their 40-man rosters down to 40 players or less today. That likely means that a number of players will be exposed to waivers today, though it’s also possible teams with excess 40-man roster space could look to work out small trades with teams that need to clear space. The Rays have already participated in two such trades this winter as they landed outfielder Ryan Vilade from the Reds and shipped right-hander Joey Gerber to the Mets.

On the heels of an early morning posting announcement from Nippon Professional Baseball, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Blue Jays get to keep Bieber:

Right-hander Shane Bieber made the surprising call to exercise his $16MM player option with the Blue Jays rather than take a $4MM buyout and head into free agency yesterday. It’s a move that leaves the Toronto rotation in much better shape than previously anticipated headed into free agency, as Bieber will now join Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, and Jose Berrios in the club’s 2026 rotation. With Bieber under contract for 2026 at a bargain rate, could the Jays be more aggressive in their pursuit of a reunion with star infielder Bo Bichette or pursue another top arm to join Bieber, Yesavage, and Gausman in the team’s projected playoff rotation for next year? Yesterday’s news creates an opportunity for the Blue Jays to potentially get creative in free agency as they’ve preemptively filled out a need in their rotation without using up much of their budget.

2. Imanaga heads to free agency:

The Cubs and left-hander Shota Imanaga both declined their sides of a complex option structure that could’ve kept Imanaga in Chicago through either 2026 or 2028. Now, the southpaw is a free agent coming off an uneven season where he posted mid-rotation results with lackluster peripherals and struggled badly in the final months of the year. While the rest of the league will get the opportunity to evaluate a starting pitching option who was not expected to be available as recently as a few months ago, this may not necessarily be the end of the story between the Cubs and Imanaga. Chicago’s front office will now need to decide whether to extend the 2024 All-Star a Qualifying Offer or let him walk away into free agency unencumbered without a chance at draft pick compensation.

3. Option Decisions continue to pour in:

A number of option decisions, including the two highlighted above, have already been made. But more contracts will still need to be decided on before tomorrow’s deadline. Most of those decisions will be straightforward, with a player or club either exercising or declining their option. Some, however, could lead to some creativity. The Royals signed Salvador Perez to an extension yesterday rather than exercising his club option, while the Cubs traded Andrew Kittredge to the Orioles instead of declining his club option and paying the subsequent buyout on that option. Could any other creative moves in a similar vein emerge today?