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Nationals Sign Trevor Gott To Minor League Contract

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The Nationals have signed right-hander Trevor Gott to a minor league deal, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports.  The contract presumably contains an invitation for Gott to attend Washington’s big league Spring Training camp.

Gott returns to the District for the second time in his career, as he posted a 7.39 ERA over 28 innings with the Nats from 2016-18.  This disappointing performance came on the heels of Gott’s strong 2015 rookie season with the Angels, but after the Nationals acquired the righty in a trade for Yunel Escobar during the 2015-16 offseason, Gott battled injuries and ineffectiveness while being shuttled up and down from the majors and Triple-A.

After being dealt to the Giants prior to the 2019 season, Gott struggled again in 2020 and didn’t pitch in the big leagues at all until resurfacing with the Brewers in 2022.  The 2022-23 seasons saw Gott establish himself as a solid innings eater out of the Brewers, Mariners, and Mets bullpens, as Gott delivered a 4.17 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, and 6.9% walk rate over 103 2/3 innings.

Despite this success, the Mets chose to non-tender Gott following the 2023 campaign, and he caught on with the Athletics on a one-year, $1.5MM deal for the 2024 season.  Unfortunately for Gott, he had to undergo a Tommy John surgery in March 2024, and it has now been over two years since his last appearance in a Major League game.  He inked a minor league deal with the Mariners last winter, but after returning to game action at the start of May, Gott had a 7.40 ERA over 20 2/3 innings in the minors.

Now entering his age-33 season and more fully recovered from his TJ procedure, Gott heads to Washington’s camp looking to show what he still has left in the tank.  A strong Spring Training might well win Gott a job, as the Nationals have plenty of openings in the bullpen after their relief corps was the league’s worst in 2025.  Gott could be one of many veteran pitchers the Nats bring to camp on non-roster invites as they look for some bargains or hidden gems to help round out their pen.

Astros Sign Carlos Perez, Amos Willingham To Minors Deals

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The Astros released their list of non-roster Spring Training invitees yesterday, and two of the names heading to camp are catcher Carlos Perez and right-hander Amos Willingham, who signed minor league deals with Houston back in November.

Now entering his age-35 season, Perez will look to continue his tour of the AL West by winning a job on the Astros’ roster.  Perez played 184 of his 278 career big league games with the Angels, and he has also suited up for the Rangers and Athletics during his five MLB seasons.  Most of Perez’s time in the majors came during the 2015-18 seasons, as he didn’t resurface again in the Show until he played in 66 games with the A’s in 2023.

Perez was non-tendered after the season but returned to the A’s on a minor league deal for 2024, and he then moved onto the Cubs last offseason on another minor league pact, with neither agreement resulting in any MLB playing time.  Over 859 career plate appearances in the majors, Perez has hit only .218/.265/.327.  His all-time Triple-A numbers (.279/.353/.505 over 3055 PA) are far superior, with the caveat that Perez has played most of his Triple-A career in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Yainer Diaz is Houston’s starting catcher but the backup role is now in flux since Victor Caratini signed with the Twins.  Cesar Salazar is the top current choice as Diaz’s understudy and Perez is the only other catcher in the organization with any big league experience.  Perez could push Salazar for a roster spot in Spring Training, though since Astros GM Dana Brown said earlier this month that the team was still on the lookout for backup catching help, both Salazar and Perez could be pushed down the depth chart.

Willingham made his MLB debut by pitching 24 1/3 innings over 18 appearances with the Nationals in 2023, but he tossed just a single inning in one game for Washington in 2024.  The righty has a 7.11 ERA to show for his brief time in the bigs, but he has a 3.62 ERA and 23% strikeout rate to show for his 104 1/3 innings in Triple-A, albeit with a 10.27% walk rate that is on the high side.  The Georgia native signed a minor league deal with the Braves last offseason that didn’t lead to a call-up, and Willingham actually spent most of his year at the Double-A level while also battling injuries.

Willingham made some changes to his pitching repertoire last year.  After previously using a fastball-slider combo as his two primary pitches, he threw his cutter over half the time in 2025, with his 94.4mph fastball reduced to a 37.3% usage rate.  He’ll head to Spring Training with the hopes that this revamped arsenal can lead to a job in the Astros’ bullpen, and Willingham has a minor league option remaining.

Mets To Sign Bo Bichette

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The Mets wasted little time in changing gears after missing out on the offseason’s top free agent. They’ve reportedly agreed to a massive three-year, $126MM contract with free agent infielder Bo Bichette. The Vayner Sports client can opt out of the contract after this season and after the 2027 campaign, and if he chooses to do so he’ll pick up an additional $5MM bonus. The contract, which does not contain any deferred money and affords Bichette a full no-trade clause, is pending the completion of a physical.

It’s a stunning and near-immediate pivot for a Mets club that is barely 12 hours removed from losing out on Kyle Tucker, who just last night went to the Dodgers. Los Angeles outbid the Mets’ reported four-year, $220MM deal with a four-year, $240MM contract that gives Tucker two opt-out opportunities (post-2027 and post-2028). Having missed on that big swing, the Mets now pivot to the market’s next-best bat and next-best all-around free agent, bringing Bichette in on a $42MM annual value that ties Zack Wheeler for the sixth-largest in MLB history.

In landing Bichette, the Mets are not only pivoting from Tucker in arguably the most notable way possible — they’re also keeping him from a division rival that had emerged as the ostensible frontrunner. Bichette met with the Phillies earlier this week, and made him a seven-year offer worth around $200MM. They believed they were close to a deal last night, but the Tucker decision prompted a pivot from the Mets, who swooped in and stole him from their rivals. Bichette now lands a mammoth annual value that could grow even further (via that $5MM bonus) if he opts out and returns to the market next winter, ahead of what would still be only his age-29 season.

Though the fit isn’t necessarily as clean as Tucker would have been for a Mets club that already had a deep infield and was lacking in outfielders, Bichette adds a clear plus bat to manager Carlos Mendoza’s lineup. The 27-year-old (28 in March) has been a well above-average hitter in all but one of his seven major league campaigns — a 2024 season that was cut short by multiple calf injuries and a broken finger standing as the lone exception.

Bichette hit just .225/.277/.322 in 80 games during that awful 2024 campaign. He not only bounced back in 2025 but turned in arguably the best performance of his career on a rate basis, slashing .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs in 628 plate appearances. By measure of wRC+ (134), it was Bichette’s best season since his late call-up during the 2019 campaign (MLB’s juiced-ball season).

Even on its surface, Bichette’s 2025 season looks excellent. It doesn’t tell the tale of his finish, though, which had both positives and one very obvious negative. Bichette actually had a tepid start to his 2025 campaign. The underlying batted-ball data through his first month-plus was strong, but he hit just .275/.316/.363 through the first week of May. From that point forth, Bichette caught fire. Over his next 457 plate appearances, he laid waste to opposing pitchers at a .325/.372/.528 clip. That was 50% better than league-average, by measure of wRC+, and even that doesn’t fully do justice to Bichette’s jaw-dropping summer; over his final 238 plate appearances, the second-generation All-Star went supernova with a .381/.437/.591 slash (187 wRC+).

Unfortunately for both Bichette and the Blue Jays, that previously mentioned “very obvious negative” struck in early September when he suffered a sprained posterior cruciate ligament in his knee and missed the remainder of the regular season. He was also inactive for the early rounds of postseason play, only returning in the World Series. Bichette was clearly hobbled during the Fall Classic, limping to first base with ’88 Gibson-esque speed when putting the ball in play and displaying a lack of range at a new position: second base. Bichette’s shortstop glovework has been panned for years, and the Jays took the downtime as an opportunity to shift the defensively superior Andres Gimenez over to shortstop in his absence.

Despite the clearly injured knee, Bichette’s bat didn’t miss a beat in the World Series. He went 8-for-23 with seven singles and a titanic three-run homer off Shohei Ohtani in Game 7 of the World Series. Had the Jays’ bullpen managed to hold the lead, that would-be game-winner would have trailed only Joe Carter’s walk-off blast in franchise lore. Of course, that’s not how the game turned out, but Bichette’s 442-foot bomb still served to further underscore that even at less than 100%, he was a clear impact bat.

Bichette now carries a lifetime .294/.337/.469 batting line with him to Queens. He’s been 20-35% better than an average hitter every season of his career with the exception of that 2024 outlier, and this past season’s 14.5% strikeout rate was a career-low. He couples those plus-plus contact skills with above-average power and high-end batted-ball data; Bichette averaged 91 mph off the bat this past season (72nd percentile), and his 48.8% hard-hit rate sat in the 83rd percentile of big league hitters.

The question for Bichette and the Mets is how well he can handle a move to third base. His shortstop deficiencies were largely due to sub-par range. He doesn’t have a plus throwing arm necessarily, but it’s closer to average — at least in terms of the average velocity on his throws, as measured by Statcast — than was the case with his bottom-of-the-scale lateral movement. Bichette averaged 82.3 mph on his throws across the diamond last year — below par in MLB but still an upgrade (at least in terms of pure arm strength) over the man he’ll be replacing at the hot corner, Brett Baty (81.2 mph). Bichette may not be a plus defender at third, but even average defense coupled with his bat and good health would result in All-Star output.

Baty could now bounce between multiple positions. He’s played second base and left field in the past, and the Mets would surely be open to experimenting with him at first base, too. The designated hitter slot provides more opportunities for all. It’s a similar range of possibilities to the one faced by Jorge Polanco, who inked a two-year, $40MM deal last month. Polanco will reportedly be used extensively at first base and designated hitter despite having virtually no prior first base experience.

For a team that has preached run prevention for much of the offseason, lining up with Bichette at third base and Polanco/Baty at first probably isn’t how they drew things up originally — but the offseason is a layered beast that rarely unfolds in alignment with even the best-laid plans. Even if the Mets’ infield defense (and outfield defense, for that matter) is lacking, it’ll be solid up the middle thanks to Francisco Lindor and Marcus Semien. It should also be a highly productive offensive unit — particularly if Semien’s bat can bounce back at all.

Of course, the addition of Bichette also makes a potential trade of Baty — and several other infielders — more likely. Clubs seeking third base help include the Mariners, Angels and Pirates (as explored at length yesterday), among others. Any could show interest in Baty, Mark Vientos, Luisangel Acuña and/or Ronny Mauricio. Acuña, Vientos and Mauricio have all reportedly been available throughout the offseason anyhow. Some form of move seems likely, especially when considering both Acuña and Vientos are out of minor league options and looking to bounce back from poor seasons.

From a payroll vantage point, the Bichette contract is all the more staggering. Not only is the $42MM annual value the sixth-largest ever, it’s also only a fraction of what the Mets will actually have to pay due to this signing. New York was already on the cusp of the top tier of luxury penalization. Bichette catapults them $33MM north of that final cutoff point, per RosterResource’s estimates. They’ll pay a 95% tax on the first roughly $9MM of his annual value and a full-freight 110% tax on the remaining $33MM. Assuming an even distribution of his $126MM over the three-year term, the Mets would be paying more than $86MM for Bichette in 2026 alone. If he triggers that $5MM bonus upon opting out next winter, that’d also be subject to a 110% tax, bringing the Mets’ total bill on Bichette to about $97MM for just one year.

Moreover, the signing underscores the minimal amount that many big-market, CBT-paying clubs care about paying the 110% tax on short-term deals marquee players. The Dodgers’ signing of Tucker — just as will be the case with Bichette’s deal — has rekindled public outcry for a salary cap, but the players will likely only use these deals to illustrate the discrepancy between the middle and upper class of free agents; the union will surely argue that a cap would only further expand that gap and point out that half the money paid by CBT offenders is redistributed to other teams (in addition to standard revenue-sharing). That won’t fly with small-market owners, who’ll argue that they can’t compete with this type of expenditure. Both sides will dig in their heels.

It’s also fair to wonder whether this is a short-term blip or a burgeoning trend. Even big-market clubs seem increasingly against long-term contracts. For years, it was the Dodgers who tended to prefer short-term, high-AAV deals. But we’ve now seen the Mets limit their Tucker offer to four years and go three super-premium years on Bichette — while also declining to go beyond three years for Pete Alonso or Edwin Diaz. The Red Sox clearly prefer the trade market to free agency and surprised onlookers by even extending to five years to sign Ranger Suárez. The Yankees have reportedly been stuck on five years for their offer to Cody Bellinger while he seeks a seven-year term. Giants ownership publicly voiced an aversion to signing any pitchers to long-term contracts.

If baseball is indeed moving more toward NBA-style contracts — short term, ultra-high annual value — it’d mark a dramatic shift for a sport whose top players have overwhelmingly (albeit not always) preferred the stability of long-term arrangements, even if that means sacrificing some money on an annual basis. Time will tell, but that will all factor into both parties’ approach at the negotiating table next winter in an offseason that is widely expected to be impacted by a lockout and transaction freeze.

Turning back to the teams directly impacted by today’s signing, the Mets will part with their second- and fifth-highest selections in the 2026 draft as well as $1MM of space from next year’s bonus pool for international amateur free agents. That’s due to the fact that Bichette declined a $22.025MM qualifying offer. By that same token, the Blue Jays will be compensated with an extra pick. That selection will come after the fourth round of this summer’s draft — the lowest possible compensation — due to Toronto’s status as a luxury tax payor.

For the Jays, parting with Bichette has at least seemed possible throughout the winter but began to look more certain once they signed star NPB third baseman Kazuma Okamoto and plugged him into an already crowded infield. There was still some room for Bichette to return, but Toronto’s focus has reportedly been on Tucker. With Bichette now formally out of the picture, they’re lined up to go with Ernie Clement at second base, Gimenez at shortstop and Okamoto/Addison Barger at third base.

As for the Phillies, they’ve made their own immediate pivot, upping their offer to give longtime catcher J.T. Realmuto the third year he’s sought. Less than two hours after the Bichette agreement broke, Realmuto and the Phillies had a new deal in place. Philadelphia had reportedly only been comfortable signing one of Bichette or Realmuto, with the recent preference seeming to be the former. A Bichette signing would likely have led to Realmuto going elsewhere and one of Alec Bohm or Bryson Stott being traded. Trading either feels less likely — but certainly not impossible — now that Bichette is in Queens and Realmuto is staying put.

Even Bichette himself will now have major questions to consider in the near-term future. With a big season, he’ll assuredly opt out of his contract, cashing in $47MM (or thereabouts, depending on the division of salary) for one year and re-entering the market as a 28-year-old who can’t receive a qualifying offer. If he can do that and prove himself capable of playing an average or better third base, he could come out hundreds of millions ahead. That’s far from a given, though, and he’ll need to make that decision against the backdrop of a looming work stoppage.

It’s a dizzying sequence of interwoven, high-priced payouts for star players — the ramifications of which will reach further than we can accurately predict at this time. It seems clear that the Mets have at least one move coming with regard to their infield glut, and they’re still in search of help both in the rotation and in the outfield. With Tucker and Bichette coming off the board within a matter of 15 hours, Cody Bellinger suddenly stands as the top position player available — possibly with several clubs now keying in on him and providing more pressure for the incumbent Yankees to bridge the gap between their five-year offer and his seven-year ask. Will Bellinger similarly pivot to a short-term, high-AAV contract? If so, will that be in the Bronx or with a new club?

Questions abound, and there are surely several moves yet to be made, but the Mets are a more talented and more dangerous team now than they were this time yesterday — even if it’s not due to the player they were originally targeting. Their pivot is likely only just beginning, but adding a prime-aged, multi-time All-Star who has twice led the American League in hits is a pretty good first step in a pivot.

Will Sammon of The Athletic first reported the agreement and contract length. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman added the total guarantee and no-trade clause. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic added details regarding the opt-outs and lack of deferrals. Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reported that Bichette was likely to play third base in Queens.

Phillies To Re-Sign J.T. Realmuto

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The Phillies and J.T. Realmuto have an agreement in place to reunite on a new deal. It’s reportedly a $45MM guarantee over three years for the CAA Sports client, with incentives worth $5MM annually. The Phils have a full 40-man roster and will need a corresponding move to make this official.

At the beginning of the offseason, it seemed likely that Realmuto and the Phils would get back together. That has come to pass but there were some notable twists and turns along the way.

Back in early December, it was reported that the Phils had an offer out to Realmuto. No specifics of that offer were reported but it the two sides were apparently far enough apart to explore other options. Just over a week later, it was reported that the Phils were looking into other potential solutions behind the plate. An even more ambitious pivot came to light in January. With infielder Bo Bichette unsigned, the Phils seemed to genuinely pursue him. Various reports suggested that if the Phils signed Bichette, they would have to move on from Realmuto and third baseman Alec Bohm.

That appears to check out from a financial point of view. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Phils thought they were going to sign Bichette for $200MM over seven years, an average annual value of $28.57MM. Realmuto was projected for something around $15MM annually, with MLBTR predicting him for a $30MM deal over two years at the beginning of the offseason. Bohm is going to make $10.2MM in his final season of club control.

Essentially, it seems the Phils were willing to spend another $15MM to $20MM on upgrading the lineup. Signing Bichette and then trading Bohm would have added about that much. But the Mets swooped in and have an agreement in place with Bichette, a three-year deal with huge average annual values and opt-outs after each season. That not only deprived the Phillies of Bichette but also landed him with a division rival. Barely an hour later, the Phils have quickly pivoted to the more straightforward path, bringing back their longtime stalwart behind the plate.

Though it is somewhat straightforward to bring back Realmuto, this is still a notable commitment. Realmuto turns 35 in March and will therefore play this deal through his age-37 season. There’s decline risk with any position player that age but particularly with catchers. Every backstop in the majors in 2025 was in his age-36 season or younger, except for Martín Maldonado, who is now retired. Realmuto was already one of the oldest full-time catchers in the league last year. Salvador Perez is one year older but even he has started to spend more time at first base or as the designated hitter in recent seasons.

Realmuto and Perez have been the two workhorses of the position over the past decade-plus. Dating back to the start of the 2015, Realmuto has appeared in 1362 games and Perez 1304. However, Realmuto actually appeared as a catcher in 1,252 of those contests whereas Perez only put on the gear for 980. That kind of workload can be an argument for or against Realmuto. His ability to shoulder a massive workload relative to his peers is right there in the numbers but that could also be the very thing that works against him as he ages.

The signs of decline are already somewhat apparent. At the plate, Realmuto has clearly fallen from his peak. From 2018 to 2022, when he was in his late 20s and early 30s, he produced a combined .272/.339/.476 batting line. That resulted in a 118 wRC+, indicating he was 18% better than the league average hitter for that span. Over the past three years, he has slashed .257/.315/.421 for a wRC+ of 100. In 2025, he hit .257/.315/.384 for a wRC+ of 94. That’s still pretty good for a catcher, as backstops generally hit about 10% worse than the league-wide average, but the trend lines aren’t great.

There are yellow flags on the defensive side as well. Outlets like FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus and Statcast ranked him as an above-average pitch framer from 2018 to 2022 but with negative grades over the past three years. His grades for controlling the running game and blocking pitches haven’t declined as consistently across all out those outlets but there has been a bit of downward creep. Statcast, for instance, had him as a subpar blocker in the past two years.

Taking the Perez route and coming out from behind the plate isn’t a likely in Philadelphia. As mentioned, Realmuto’s offense has been declining, which wouldn’t be ideal for him if he were at first base or in the designated hitter slot. The Phils don’t have those opportunities available for him regardless, with Bryce Harper locked in at first base and Kyle Schwarber essentially a full-time DH. Harper is signed through 2031 and Schwarber 2030.

All those concerns are presumably things the Phillies are aware of, thus explaining why they toyed with the idea of a future without Realmuto. But despite all the concerns, Realmuto was still the best free agent catcher available this winter and the Phils clearly needed to do something. Rafael Marchán and Garrett Stubbs are on the roster but neither would have been an ideal everyday option behind the plate. Stubbs has 203 big league games under his belt with subpar offense and defense. Marchan’s big league numbers are a bit more encouraging but he has just 82 games under his belt.

In the end, the Phils are sticking with the devil they know. Though there are real concerns in the numbers, there are also the unquantifiable things to consider with a catcher. The Phils have seen Realmuto work with their pitchers for seven years now and presumably are happy to have him continue doing that for another three years.

It appears the 2026 Phillies are going to look a lot like the previous versions of the team, with a few modifications. Adolis García will take over in right field, with Nick Castellanos likely to be jettisoned at some point. Ranger Suárez is gone, having an agreement in place with the Red Sox, but the Phils will hope Andrew Painter can step up to replace him on the pitching chart. Justin Crawford will hopefully take over center field. Their two big free agents this winter, Schwarber and Realmuto, have been re-signed.

That leaves the Phils with the same core, which can be argued to be good or bad going forward. It has certainly been a good core in the past. They’ve won at least 87 games in four straight seasons. They made the World Series in 2022 and won the National League East in the past two campaigns. But Schwarber will turn 33 this year, as will Trea Turner and Aaron Nola. Harper’s already that age. Zack Wheeler turns 36 this year. As mentioned, Realmuto will be 35 in a few months. Everyone in that group is signed for at least two more seasons but often far more.

Spending so much money on that veteran core has pushed the payroll up. RosterResource estimates the Phils to have a $281MM payroll and $317MM competitive balance tax figure. The annual breakdown of Realmuto’s deal hasn’t yet been reported but the CBT won’t be impacted by that, since that number is calculated based on AAV. The Phillies are in the highest possible realm of taxation, both because they have paid the tax in at least three straight years and because their CBT number is above the top threshold of $304MM.

They were just under that top line coming into today, facing a 95% tax rate. The Realmuto deal has blown them past it, well into the area where they pay a 110% tax on new spending. This will therefore add roughly $15MM to their tax bill this year on top of the money going to Realmuto himself.

Realmuto had a fairly quiet market but was connected to the Red Sox at one point. With Realmuto and Danny Jansen signed, the top remaining catcher free agents include Victor Caratini, Jonah Heim and others.

Ken Rosenthal and Matt Gelb of The Athletic first reported the two sides were close. Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Robert Murray of FanSided reported the agreement was in place and provided specifics of the contract. Photos courtesy of Kyle Ross, Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

Dodgers, Nick Robertson Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers agreed to a minor league deal with reliever Nick Robertson, reports Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News. The righty returns to the organization that drafted him in the seventh round in 2019.

Robertson briefly reached the majors with Los Angeles. He made nine appearances before being traded to the Red Sox alongside minor league pitcher Justin Hagenman in the deal that brought Kiké Hernández back to the Dodgers. Robertson didn’t spend much time in Boston, as he only pitched for them at the big league level on nine occasions. The Sox dealt him to St. Louis in the Tyler O’Neill deal over the 2023-24 offseason.

The James Madison product then bounced around the league via a series of waiver transactions. He spent time with the Angels, Blue Jays (a claim that was met with some fanfare because the Maple Leafs have a player of the same name), and Astros. Robertson made one MLB appearance with Toronto and did not get to the highest level with Los Angeles or Houston. The Astros released him in August, and he closed the season on a minor league contract with the Royals.

Robertson has logged 35 2/3 major league innings overall. He carries a 5.30 earned run average despite better than average strikeout and walk numbers. He has allowed 4.46 earned runs per nine over parts of four Triple-A seasons. Robertson has punched out 26.2% of hitters at the top minor league level, but that comes alongside a lofty 11.3% walk percentage. He has a three-pitch mix (four-seam, slider and changeup) and averaged 93.4 MPH on the fastball in Triple-A last year. That’s down a couple ticks from the velocity he showed during his first stint in the L.A. organization.

Twins To Sign Victor Caratini

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The Twins and catcher Victor Caratini are reportedly in agreement on a two-year, $14MM deal. Minnesota has a full 40-man roster and will need a corresponding move to make this official. Caratini is an ACES client.

Caratini, now 32, was a free agent a couple of years ago. He signed a two-year, $12MM deal with the Astros at that time. That pact ended up working out fairly well for Houston. The switch hitter got into 201 games over those two seasons and stepped to the plate 660 times. His 7% walk rate was on the low side but he hit 20 home runs and kept his strikeout rate down to a modest 17.9% clip. He had a combined .263 /.329/.406 line with the Astros, production which translated to a wRC+ of 108.

His work behind the plate has been more of a mixed bag. Outlets like FanGraphs, Statcast and Baseball Prospectus give him solid framing grades. FanGraphs and Statcast don’t look kindly on his work with the running game but both BP and Statcast are fond of his blocking skills.

The overall package was still worth 2.7 wins above replacement over the past two seasons, according to FanGraphs. At the beginning of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Caratini for a $14MM deal over two years. He has hit that mark exactly.

The Twins already have a pretty strong catcher in Ryan Jeffers but it’s possible to see how he and Caratini could co-exist on the same roster. Jeffers hits from the right side and has pretty noticeable platoon splits in his career. He has a .270/.371/.475 line and 138 wRC+ against southpaws but a .226/.299/.396 line and 94 wRC+ otherwise. The switch-hitting Caratini has generally been more balanced. He had a .208/.306/.434 line and 108 wRC+ against lefties last year and a .268/.327/.399 line and 104 wRC+ against righties.

Caratini has also dabbled at first base, with 463 2/3 innings at that spot in his career, including 97 last year. The Twins project to have Josh Bell at first base, another switch hitter. Bell has pretty neutral career splits but hit just .151/.250/.302 against lefties last year. A tiny .162 batting average on balls in play surely hurt him in the split but the Twins might want to at least have a contingency plan in place in case Bell’s struggles against southpaws continue.

Perhaps the plan is for Caratini to share time with Jeffers behind the plate, occasionally protecting him from tough righties, while also playing first on occasion. With Jeffers an impending free agent, Caratini could then take on a more prominent role in 2027.

It’s also possible that Jeffers ends up on the trade block. He will make $6.7MM in his final year before hitting the open market. Signing Caratini and then flipping Jeffers would be a relatively cash-neutral move for the Twins, which would bring back whatever Jeffers could get on the trade market.

The Twins also have Alex Jackson on the roster. He was acquired from the Orioles in November. He and the Twins avoided arbitration earlier this month by agreeing to a $1.35MM salary. Jhonny Pereda is also on the 40-man but he is still optionable and could be kept in Triple-A.

If the Twins plan to hang onto both Caratini and Jeffers, then Jackson could get squeezed from the roster, since he is out of options. If he were to be passed through waivers, he would likely stick around as non-roster depth. He has more than three years of service time but less than five. That means he would have the right to elect free agency but would have to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in exercising that right.

Time will tell about the domino effects. For now, the Twins have made a modest upgrade to their roster. Minnesota is looking to scale back payroll relative to 2025 but have some powder dry. They cut a lot of money from the budget last year by trading Carlos Correa and almost their entire bullpen. It’s been suggested they could look to start the 2026 season in the range of $115MM. RosterResource pegs them at $107MM, assuming the Caratini guarantee is evenly distributed.

The bullpen could still use a bit of help and maybe they still have some spending capacity for that. Trading Jeffers would give them a bit more breathing room, while also potentially bringing back something useful.

For the catching market more generally, it’s possible there’s a mini run happening here in the middle of January. The offseason started with J.T. Realmuto as the top available free agent, followed by Caratini and Danny Jansen. The Rangers non-tendered Jonah Heim in November and then signed Jansen in December but the market stayed on the quiet side for a while, perhaps due to the Phillies exploring the possibility of signing Bo Bichette. Going down that road likely would have prevented the Phils from having enough money to re-sign Realmuto.

In the past 24 hours, a lot has changed. The Dodgers reached a deal with Kyle Tucker. The Mets, who were hoping to sign Tucker, pivoted to Bichette via a short-term deal with big average annual values. The Phils, who offered Bichette a longer deal with less annually, then pivoted to reaching a new agreement with Realmuto.

That left Caratini as the clear top option remaining in free agency. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Phils viewed him as a backup plan if they didn’t get something done with Realmuto. It is perhaps not a coincidence then that the Twins have snatched up Caratini just a few hours after the reported of Realmuto going back to Philly.

The Astros had some interest in bringing Caratini back but figured he would get a better paycheck and a bigger role elsewhere, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Just before this reported agreement with the Twins, Chris Cotillo of MassLive floated Caratini as a potential fit for the Red Sox. There are presumably other teams looking for catching upgrades as well.

With Realmuto and Caratini both coming off the board today, the market looks noticeably less exciting. Heim is one of the more notable free agents still available, alongside Luke Maile, Elias Díaz, Reese McGuire, Christian Vázquez, Mitch Garver and Gary Sánchez. Perhaps that will work to Minnesota’s advantage if they are looking to make Jeffers available.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Twins and Caratini had a two-year deal. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the $14MM guarantee. Photos courtesy of Brett Davis, Tim Heitman, Imagn Images

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.

Dodgers To Sign Kyle Tucker

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The two-time defending champions have done it again. The Dodgers are reportedly in agreement with Kyle Tucker on a four-year, $240MM contract. The deal includes $30MM in deferrals and will come with an approximate $57.1MM annual value for luxury tax purposes. Tucker, a client of Excel Sports Management, receives a $64MM signing bonus — all but $10MM of which is paid upfront — and can opt out after the second or third seasons. The team has not officially announced the signing, which is pending a physical, and will need to create a 40-man roster spot once it’s official.

Tucker, who turns 29 on Saturday, is the latest superstar addition to what was already MLB’s most feared offense. He slots into a lineup alongside Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Will Smith, Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman. He’ll join Hernández and Andy Pages as the primary outfielders, with Edman capable of logging center field action when he’s not at second base.

Los Angeles has four outfield prospects who rank prominently near the top of their farm system. They reportedly wanted to avoid locking in long-term commitments as a result. They’ve accomplished that with arguably the biggest annual value in the sport’s history.

It’s a $60MM average on the surface. Without adjusting for deferrals, Tucker’s deal would be the second-highest AAV ever. Ohtani landed a $70MM AAV on his 10-year, $700MM guarantee, though the massive deferrals meant it had a “true” annual value closer to $46MM. One should therefore view the $51MM annual salary on Juan Soto’s 15-year, $765M deal as the more accurate record holder until tonight. Tucker’s adjusted AAV beats that by more than $6MM.

Although Tucker was this offseason’s top free agent, he’s a clear step below the likes of Aaron Judge, Ohtani and Soto of the previous three winters. Tucker has been a consistent All-Star who’s a little outside the top tier of superstars. The fifth overall pick by the Astros in 2015, he broke out in the shortened 2020 season after logging limited big league action in the two preceding years. He connected on 29 or 30 home runs in each of his first three full campaigns, improving his approach along the way.

Tucker was already a great hitter and seemed to be on his way to pulling closer to Judge, Soto and Ohtani with a monster start to the 2024 season. He was out to a .266/.395/.584 slash with more walks than strikeouts through the first two months. He fouled a ball off his right leg and was placed on the injured list with what the Astros initially termed a shin contusion. It turned out to be more serious, as subsequent testing revealed a fracture that kept him out for three months.

The four-time All-Star returned no worse for wear and had a fantastic September. The Astros nevertheless decided to field trade calls after the season. They were never going to meet Tucker’s asking price on an extension and felt they could cash him in for help elsewhere on the roster. They lined up a deal with the Cubs around the Winter Meetings that sent Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, and prospect Cam Smith to Houston for Tucker’s final year of arbitration.

Tucker’s lone season in Chicago had its ups and downs. He got out to another blistering start, running a .284/.359/.524 slash with 12 homers through the first day of June. He jammed his right thumb diving into second on a stolen base attempt that day. He avoided the injured list, but subsequent testing revealed that he sustained a tiny fracture at the top of his hand between his ring finger and pinky.

The hand injury wasn’t viewed as a serious issue until Tucker’s performance began to suffer. That didn’t occur right away. His next few weeks were the finest of the season, in fact. Tucker slashed .311/.404/.578 across 25 games that month. Things went off the rails in July, as he batted .189/.325/.235 with just one home run over the next six weeks.

The existence of the hairline fracture wasn’t reported until the middle of August. Cubs officials acknowledged that Tucker had been injured in June but said that he was fully healthy by the time the injury was revealed publicly. Maybe the thumb became a retroactive explanation for what was actually a simple slump, though it’s possible he developed some subtle bad habits in June as he tried to mitigate the pain of hitting through the break. Manager Craig Counsell gave Tucker a three-game mental reset towards the end of August before plugging him back into the middle of the order.

Tucker appeared to be getting back into a groove when he hit another speed bump. He strained his left calf in early September and landed on the injured list, costing him three weeks in the season’s final month. He finished the regular season with a .266/.377/.464 slash line in a little under 600 trips to the plate. He hit .259 with one homer in eight postseason games as the Cubs advanced to the NL Division Series.

The uneven second half soured some Cubs fans on the Tucker acquisition. His overall numbers were in line with his career marks. The offense was 36 percentage points better than league average by wRC+. His lifetime .273/.358/.507 batting line is 38 points above par. Tucker has been in that range in four of the past five seasons. The only exception is his .289/.408/.585 showing over 78 games two years ago.

The ’24 season is probably an outlier, but the Dodgers should feel they’re adding one of the top 10-15 hitters in MLB. He doesn’t expand the strike zone and has a rare blend of plus contact skills and above-average power. Tucker has no issue hitting pitchers of either handedness. He doesn’t have the huge exit velocities of the sport’s premier sluggers, yet he’s a safe bet for 25-30 homers in a healthy season.

Tucker’s glove isn’t as strong at this stage of his career. He won a Gold Glove with Houston in 2022. His defensive grades and sprint speed have declined as he’s gotten into his late-20s. That presumably gave teams pause when considering a long-term investment. Tucker’s defense should remain serviceable in the short term. The Dodgers can comfortably plug him into right field and kick Hernández over to left if they don’t trade him.

The Cubs issued Tucker a qualifying offer but made little effort to retain him. The bidding seemingly came down to the Dodgers, Mets and Blue Jays. New York was similarly hesitant to make a long-term commitment, as they reportedly offered a four-year deal at $55MM per season. Toronto was seemingly willing to entertain a longer term at a lower annual value.

Tucker is L.A.’s second qualified free agent signing of the offseason. They added Edwin Díaz on a three-year, $69MM deal around the Winter Meetings. They surrendered their second- and fifth-round draft choices this summer, plus $1MM from their 2027 international bonus pool, to sign Díaz. They’ll forfeit their third- and sixth-round picks for Tucker. The Cubs receive a compensatory pick between Competitive Balance Round B and the start of the third round (currently slated to land 77th overall).

MLBTR had predicted an 11-year, $400MM deal for Tucker at the beginning of the offseason. It’s unclear if any team would have been willing to go to those lengths. He’s giving up some measure of long-term security in exchange for massive salaries over the next couple seasons and the chance to return to free agency at the tail end of his prime.

He’ll have the option of retesting the market before his age-31 and age-32 campaigns — and without being attached to draft compensation barring a change to the qualifying offer rules in the intervening CBA. A five- or six-year guarantee could be well within range at that point. He’ll collect a huge signing bonus, essentially shatter the record for average annual value, and join the team with the best chance to win the World Series in the interim.

While the specific salary breakdown hasn’t been reported, the Dodgers are reportedly paying $54MM of the signing bonus right away. RosterResource estimates their cash payroll obligations close to $428MM for the upcoming season. Tucker’s $57.1MM AAV will push their competitive balance tax projection north of $395MM.

They’re taxed at a 110% rate on spending above $304MM, so Tucker’s deal comes with a staggering $62.81MM tax hit in the first season. The Dodgers are essentially valuing Tucker’s 2026 season alone at $120MM. L.A. ended last season with a luxury tax payroll of $417MM, costing them another $169.4MM in taxes. Their tax bill alone was higher than the final payroll calculations of 12 teams. They’re trending towards a similar or potentially even greater amount in 2026 depending on what else they do this offseason and at the trade deadline. The aggressiveness continues as they aim for the first three-peat in MLB since the 1998-2000 Yankees.

Tucker’s deal is going to be the latest example for many fans and smaller-market owners who will argue for a salary cap in the upcoming round of collective bargaining negotiations. This level of spending also reaffirms why the MLB Players Association has steadfastly maintained that a cap is a non-starter. Next offseason’s CBA talks are expected to be similarly or even more contentious than those that froze the sport for 99 days during the 2022-23 lockout.

That’s not the concern of the Dodgers or their fans, who’ll be thrilled to add another star as they try to cement their dynastic run. They’ll be heavy favorites in the NL West, and it’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which this team doesn’t make the playoffs. A championship is far from guaranteed, however. The Jays were one swing away from beating them in Games 6 and 7 of last year’s World Series. An extra quarter-second on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s dash home or another few feet on Ernie Clement’s fly ball in the bottom of the ninth would have flipped the outcome. L.A. ownership and the front office aren’t getting complacent.

After missing on Tucker, the Jays seem likely to reengage with Bo Bichette. Their longtime shortstop is now the top unsigned player. He has reportedly had a productive meeting with the Phillies, but the Jays and Bichette have long expressed mutual interest in a reunion. Bichette wouldn’t be a great fit for the Mets, but they could conceivably pivot to challenging the Yankees for Cody Bellinger. The Mets still don’t have a left fielder after swapping Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien. Their reported offer to Tucker demonstrates there’s plenty of room for short-term spending, but president of baseball operations David Stearns has shied away from lengthy commitments this winter.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that Tucker was signing with the Dodgers. Jon Heyman of the New York Post had it as a short-term contract, while Robert Murray of FanSided was first on the four-year, $240MM guarantee. Murray reported the opt-out after the second season, and Passan had the third-year out. Heyman reported the $30MM in deferrals. Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News was first on the $57.1MM post-deferral AAV. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers had the signing bonus details.

Image courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel, Imagn Images.

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.

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