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Jake Cave To Sign With Mexican League’s Tecolotes De Los Dos Laredos

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Former big league outfielder Jake Cave has an agreement in place with the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos in the Mexican League, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. Cave is represented by the Ballengee Group.

Cave, 33, appeared in seven major league seasons from 2018 to 2024, mostly with the Twins but also suiting up for the Phillies and Rockies. He appeared in 523 contests and stepped to the plate 1,564 times, producing a .236/.292/.400 batting line. He hit 45 home runs and stole 13 bases. He played all three outfield spots and a bit of first base.

The Rockies outrighted him off the roster after the 2024 season and he elected free agency. He headed overseas for the 2025 season, signing with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization. He had a good campaign over there, getting into 136 games for the Bears. He hit 16 home runs and slashed .299/.351/.463 for a 125 wRC+.

Cave will now add another stamp to his passport and join one of the most hitter-friendly leagues in the world. The league-wide slash line in the Mexican League was .295/.378/.465 in 2025. That’s roughly equivalent to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’2 2025 batting line of .292/.381/.467.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Orioles Claim Bryan Ramos

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2:36pm: The Orioles have formally announced the Ramos waiver claim. Bautista was indeed moved to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster, which remains at capacity.

12:50pm: The Orioles have acquired infielder Bryan Ramos from the Cardinals, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. This is a waiver claim and not a trade, reports Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner. The Cards designated Ramos for assignment earlier this week when they claimed Zak Kent off waivers. Baltimore will need to open a 40-man roster spot but could easily do so by moving Félix Bautista to the 60-day injured list, since he is slated to miss most of the upcoming season.

This is the second time this month that the O’s have acquired Ramos. The White Sox designated him for assignment in late January and Baltimore sent cash considerations to Chicago to get him on February 1st. Five days later, the Orioles tried to pass Ramos through waivers but the Cards claimed him.

It may seem odd to trade for a player and put him on waivers almost immediately but the Orioles are the most aggressive club in trying to pass players through waivers to keep them as non-roster depth. There’s no 60-day injured list from five days after the World Series until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, so the O’s tried to get him through before other teams got some extra roster spots. The Cards intervened but now the Orioles have grabbed Ramos a second time.

When Ramos was first on the Baltimore roster, his path to playing time with the O’s wasn’t great. He has primarily been a third baseman in his career, with a bit of experience at second base, first base and left field as well. Baltimore’s infield was slated to include Jordan Westburg, Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday and Pete Alonso from left to right, with several corner outfielders on the roster as well. The O’s acquired Blaze Alexander in early February to serve as depth all over.

But the infield has quickly taken a few significant blows in the early days of spring training. Holliday suffered a hamate fracture and will start the season on the injured list. Westburg has a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. He is trying to avoid surgery for now but is going to miss time regardless and could still end up under the knife in the future.

With those injuries, half the infield is now up in the air. Coby Mayo may ultimately take over the third base job but his defense there has been questionable enough that he spent more time at first base last year. Alexander could move from a bench role into the regular second base job while Holliday is out.

Ramos is out of options. He could perhaps give the O’s a bit of extra infield depth on the bench while they sort out the injury situation. They could also bring in further reinforcements and squeeze Ramos to the waiver wire again in the future. For now, he has a roster spot and is in the mix for a big league bench job alongside Jeremiah Jackson and non-roster invitees like Jose Barrero and Luis Vázquez.

During his time with the White Sox, Ramos was a notable prospect. Over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he slashed .265/.346/.453 on the farm for 116 wRC+, getting as high as Double-A. But his stock has dipped since then. He hit .228/.314/.392 in the minors over the past two years, mostly at Triple-A, with that performance translating to an 82 wRC+. He has also produced a tepid .198/.244/.333 line in his major league plate appearances.

Ramos has exhausted his option status, so his recent struggles have pushed him to a fringe roster position. If he can carve out a role in Baltimore’s injury-battered infield, he can be controlled for six full seasons before reaching free agency.

Photo courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images

Royals Sign Elias Díaz To Minor League Deal

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The Royals have signed catcher Elias Díaz to a minor league contract, per a club announcement. The ACES client is expected to report to major league camp next week, the team added.

The 35-year-old Díaz is a veteran of 11 big league seasons split between the Pirates, Rockies and Padres. He’s a career .247/.300/.383 hitter in exactly 2800 plate appearances but batted just .204/.270/.337 (74 wRC+) in 283 plate appearances with the Padres in 2025.

Despite his struggles on a rate basis, Díaz still popped nine homers last year. He’s logged three double-digit homer totals in his big league career, including a career-best 18 round-trippers in 371 plate appearances with the 2021 Rockies, for whom he slashed .246/.310/.464.

From a defensive perspective, Díaz has long drawn average or better marks for his ability to block balls in the dirt and for his throwing. He sports a hearty 26.8% caught-stealing rate in his career, and last year’s 24% mark was effectively right in line with the 23.8% league average. His framing grades drew anywhere from poor to bottom-of-the-scale marks earlier in his career, but he’s made significant strides over the past couple years, with Statcast now crediting him as slightly above average in both 2024 and 2025.

The Royals don’t have an immediate, pressing need behind the plate. Franchise icon Salvador Perez, of course, is still in the fold. He’ll spend some time at DH and first base, but top prospect Carter Jensen is likely to get the nod behind the dish on days when Perez isn’t back there. The 2021 third-round pick made his big league debut in 2025 after hitting .290/.377/.501 between Double-A and Triple-A, and he didn’t miss a beat in the big leagues; Jensen appeared in 20 MLB games (69 plate appearances) and slashed .300/.391/.550 with three homers.

Díaz is the third veteran catcher to sign a minor league deal/non-roster invite with the Royals, joining Luke Maile and Jorge Alfaro in that regard. However, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reported last week that Maile was removed from the camp roster so he could tend to a personal matter. Kansas City remains open to welcoming him back, but that ball seems to be in Maile’s court.

Dodgers, Yency Almonte Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers are bringing right-handed reliever Yency Almonte back on a minor league contract, The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reports. The Wasserman client will presumably be in big league camp.

It’s the second stint with the Dodgers for the 31-year-old Almonte. He was with Los Angeles in 2022-23, combining for 83 1/3 innings with a 3.35 ERA, 23.9% strikeout rate and 11.9% walk rate out of manager Dave Roberts’ bullpen. That production came in quite uneven fashion, however; Almonte delivered 35 1/3 innings of immaculate 1.02 ERA ball in 2022 but was roughed up for a 5.06 mark in 48 innings in 2023. The Dodgers traded Almonte to the Cubs alongside Michael Busch in a 2024 swap that brought prospects Zyhir Hope and Jackson Ferris back to Los Angeles. (Neither has made his MLB debut yet, but Hope currently sits No. 63 on Baseball America’s Top 100 list.)

Almonte’s two years in Chicago didn’t go as either he or the team hoped. He posted a 3.45 ERA in 2024 but was limited to just 15 2/3 innings due to a shoulder strain that wiped out the bulk of his season. The Cubs passed Almonte through outright waivers in November 2024. He subsequently elected free agency but returned on a minor league contract. Injuries again derailed his season, as he pitched just 19 1/3 frames in Chicago’s minor league ranks in 2025.

In 223 major league innings, Almonte carries a 4.44 ERA, 22.5% strikeout rate, 9.9% walk rate and 43.5% ground-ball rate. He struggled with the Rockies earlier in his career (5.30 ERA in four seasons) but carries a more encouraging 3.36 mark in 99 innings since moving away from Coors Field. Almonte sat at or just shy of 96 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker during his time with the Dodgers but was down about two miles per hour on each pitch with the Cubs prior to hitting the injured list with that shoulder strain.

The Dodgers don’t have a clear need for another arm in a deep bullpen that’s headlined by Edwin Diaz, Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia, but Almonte could fight for a job in camp and, failing that, provide some experienced depth with their Triple-A club in Oklahoma City.

Mariners, Mitch Garver Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners and catcher Mitch Garver have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The ISE Baseball client will arrive in camp tomorrow to undergo his physical and will be paid at a $2.25MM rate if he cracks the MLB roster, reports Daniel Kramer of MLB.com.

Garver, 35, returns to the club he has spent the past two years with. The Mariners signed him to a $24MM deal for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. At that time, Garver had the reputation of being injury prone but one of the league’s best offensive catchers when on the field. From 2018 to 2023, he only played 428 games over those six seasons but slashed .254/.343/.488 for a 126 wRC+. Among primary catchers with at least 40 plate appearances in that span, only Adley Rutschman and Will Smith barely outperformed him, with Rutschman having a 129 wRC+ and Smith 128.

The Mariners were hoping Garver could add a potent bat to the lineup via the designated hitter spot while also serving as Cal Raleigh’s backup behind the plate. It didn’t really work out they had hoped. Over the past two years, Garver stepped to the plate 720 times for Seattle. He hit 24 home runs and drew walks at an 11.5% clip but struck out in 29.6% of his plate appearances, leading to a .187/.290/.341 batting line and 88 wRC+.

That production wasn’t disastrous, as catchers are usually about 10% below league average on the whole. For a backup catcher to be in that range isn’t too shabby in a vacuum but the Mariners don’t usually spend on free agent bats and were surely hoping for more, especially since his defense isn’t especially well rated. At the time of the Garver deal, that was actually the biggest guarantee given to a free agent hitter in the tenure of Jerry Dipoto, who started leading the front office in September of 2015. The recent signing of Josh Naylor has since broken that record.

Despite the underwhelming return on that investment, there’s little harm in trying again with this pact. Garver isn’t even guaranteed a roster spot at this point and presumably wouldn’t make a huge salary if he does eventually get a spot.

The M’s have Raleigh signed for years to come but the backup gig is somewhat open. The Mariners traded Harry Ford to the Nationals as part of the trade which brought reliever Jose A. Ferrer to Seattle. Andrew Knizner was signed to a one-year deal worth $1MM in December but doesn’t have the same ceiling as Garver. Jhonny Pereda is also on the 40-man roster but he has just 50 big league games under his belt and can still be optioned to the minors.

With Pereda likely ticketed for Triple-A, Garver will try to push Knizner for the backup job. If Garver doesn’t get it, the Mariners would presumably like him to head to Triple-A as non-roster depth, but he would have some say in the matter.

Garver is an Article XX(b) free agent, which means a player with six years of service time who finished the previous season on an MLB roster. Those players who sign minor league deals at least 10 days before Opening Day have a trio of opt-out dates under the collective bargaining agreement: five days before Opening Day, May 1, and June 1. If the M’s don’t commit to Garver as camp is winding down, he could look for better opportunities elsewhere.

Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images

Astros Sign CJ Alexander To Minor League Deal

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The Astros have signed infielder/outfielder CJ Alexander to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The PSI Sports Management client has been assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land but could be invited to big league camp in spring training.

Alexander, 29, has a limited major league track record. He has 25 plate appearances over 10 games with four hits, all singles. He has not drawn a walk and has been struck out 11 times. He has had better showings in the minors, particularly in 2024, when he slashed .302/.361/.559 in Triple-A for a 130 wRC+. But his 2025 was a bit of a swoon, as he slashed .254/.335/.448 in the minors for a 91 wRC+.

Even if his offensive contributions are muted, Alexander can provide defensive versatility, as he has experience at all four corner spots. The Royals designated Alexander late in 2024, at which point he was claimed by the Athletics. He lasted on that roster until June of 2025, before going to the Yankees and Dodgers via subsequent waiver claims. The Dodgers passed him through waivers in July and he became a free agent at season’s end.

Alexander hits from the left side, which is something the Astros are looking for, with Yordan Alvarez the only lefty locked into an Opening Day roster spot. Alexander won’t solve that problem but there’s nothing wrong with a bit more depth.

The Houston infield is fairly crowded, with Carlos Correa at third, Christian Walker at first and Isaac Paredes backing both of them up. Unless a spring trade comes together, Alexander’s best path to playing time is the outfield corners. Houston projects to have Jake Meyers in center while Cam Smith, Joey Loperfido, Zach Cole, Zach Dezenzo and others battle for playing time in the corners. If Alexander can earn his way onto the roster at some point, he still has a minor league option remaining.

Photo courtesy of Neville E. Guard, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Claim Ben Cowles

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The Blue Jays announced that they have claimed infielder Ben Cowles off waivers from the Cubs. Chicago had designated him for assignment a few days ago when they signed Shelby Miller. Toronto has placed Bowden Francis on the 60-day injured list to open a spot for this claim.

Cowles, 26, is still looking to make his major league debut. The Cubs added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2024 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He was kept in the minors on optional assignment until being designated for assignment in early September. He went to the White Sox via waivers but then the Cubs claimed him back in January. Now the Cubs have lost him via the wire a second time.

He has a decent floor as a speed-and-defense type. He has lots of minor league experience at the three infield spots to the left of first base. He has posted double-digit stolen base totals in each of the past four minor league seasons.

The bat is more of a question mark. He had a really good year at the plate in 2024, slashing .286/.372/.457 at the Double-A level for a 141 wRC+. The Cubs acquired him from the Yankees that summer as part of the Mark Leiter Jr. trade and then gave him a roster spot at season’s end. His 2025 was far less impressive, as he slashed .235/.300/.371 at the Triple-A level for a 71 wRC+. Though he had drawn walks at a 10.4% rate in 2024, that figure dropped to 7.2% last year. His strikeout rate also jumped from 17.7% to 28.8%.

That dip at the plate has pushed Cowles to the waiver wire a few times but clubs clearly still like the profile enough to keep picking him up. For the Jays, they had a roster spot to use since Francis is going to miss 2026 due to Tommy John surgery, so they’ve used it to add some infield depth.

It’s possible Cowles ends up back on waivers at some point, but for now, he provides the Jays with some optionable depth for an infield that should look different than last year. Bo Bichette departed via free agency, signing with the Mets. Andrés Giménez should take over the shortstop job, as he did while Bichette was hurt late in 2025. Ernie Clement will likely become the regular at second base. The Jays signed Kazuma Okamoto to cover third base, which should push Addison Barger into a more regular corner outfield role. Davis Schneider should be on the bench in a short-side platoon role, able to play second base or an outfield corner.

Leo Jiménez is still on the 40-man roster but is out of options, meaning he’d need to be kept on the big league squad or passed through waivers. Since Cowles still has options, that could give him a leg up over Jiménez in hanging onto a roster spot as a depth infielder.

As for Francis, he’ll spend the entire season on the 60-day IL. No pitcher wants to miss an entire season but the upside is that he’ll collect a full year of big league pay and service time. He’ll cross three years of service this year and will be eligible for arbitration going into 2026, but he’ll be a non-tender candidate after so much missed time. He also missed the second half of 2025 due to a shoulder impingement.

Photo courtesy of Cody Scanlen, Imagn Images

Padres, Walker Buehler Agree To Minor League Deal

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February 17th: According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Buehler will make $1.5MM if added to the roster and could also access performance bonuses worth $2.5MM on the deal.

February 16th: The Padres are adding Walker Buehler on a minor league contract, reports Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune. The Excel Sports Management client will aim to win a rotation job during Spring Training.

San Diego continues to stockpile potential back-end starters. The Padres agreed to big league deals with Griffin Canning and Germán Márquez over the weekend. Buehler settles for a non-roster invitation, which seemingly puts him behind the other two veteran righties as camp gets underway. Canning is coming back from a June Achilles tear. He might begin the season on the injured list but should be in the rotation once he’s healthy.

The Friars have three locks for the Opening Day rotation: Nick Pivetta, Michael King and Joe Musgrove. First-year skipper Craig Stammen implied last week that righty Randy Vásquez has a leg up on the fourth starter role after a solid finish last year. Márquez, Canning (if healthy) and JP Sears are the top options on the 40-man roster for the fifth starter job. Matt Waldron also remains on the 40-man but is out of options and coming off a rough season in Triple-A. Buehler joins Triston McKenzie and Marco Gonzales among the non-roster invitees.

A two-time All-Star, Buehler was a borderline ace for most of his time with the Dodgers. He hasn’t been the same since undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career in 2022. The surgery cost him the entire ’23 season, and he returned with a 5.38 ERA across 16 regular season starts the following year. Buehler pitched well in the postseason and wound up closing out the 2024 World Series. The Red Sox bet that was the beginning of a return to form, but his $21.05MM free agent deal with Boston was a disappointment.

Buehler was rocked for a 5.45 ERA across 23 appearances with the Red Sox. They flirted with a move to the bullpen before pulling the plug altogether, releasing him at the end of August. Buehler latched on with the Phillies and made three appearances to close the regular season. While he tossed 13 2/3 innings of one-run ball in Philadelphia, he only struck out eight of 57 batters faced (14%).

Opponents destroyed his four-seam fastball, hitting .277 with a .553 slugging percentage against the pitch. Buehler’s 94 mph average velocity was down a tick from the previous season and almost three miles per hour below where it had been between 2019-20. The spin rates on his four-seam fastball and knuckle-curve have dropped precipitously since his peak. He has had a much more difficult time missing bats, both within and outside the strike zone. Hitters have done a better job laying off stuff outside the zone, leading to a career-high 10.8% walk rate last season.

Although the trend lines aren’t encouraging, Buehler is only 31 and still has league average velocity. The Padres aren’t committed to a roster spot or a guaranteed salary, so there’s no harm in gauging his form during Spring Training. It should be mostly an open competition for at least one rotation spot.

Buehler might not begin the season in Triple-A if he doesn’t win the job. He was an Article XX(b) free agent — a player with six years of service time who finished last season on an MLB roster. Those players who sign minor league deals at least 10 days before Opening Day have a trio of opt-out dates under the collective bargaining agreement: five days before Opening Day, May 1, and June 1. Buehler can trigger an out clause and explore other opportunities during the final week of Spring Training if the Padres don’t commit to carrying him on the active roster.

Padres Sign Germán Márquez

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February 17th: According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Marquez gets a $1MM salary followed by a $750K buyout on the mutual option. Marquez will also have the chance to unlock an extra $3.25MM in performance bonuses.

February 16th: The Padres announced Monday that they’ve signed right-hander Germán Márquez to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2027. The L.A. Sports Management client is reportedly guaranteed $1.75MM. San Diego placed righty Jhony Brito, who underwent internal brace surgery last May, on the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

The team was known to be looking for low-cost rotation pieces and a complementary bat, per comments from president of baseball operations A.J. Preller a few days ago. They achieved the latter by bringing in Nick Castellanos on a one-year deal upon his release from the Phillies. Now, they’ve addressed the rotation side through one-year-deals for Márquez and fellow right-hander Griffin Canning. Canning is coming off an Achilles injury and projects as a back-end starter once he is healthy enough to return. Márquez figures to serve as back-of-the-rotation depth as well.

The 30-year-old (31 later this month) is coming off a ten-year major-league run with the Rockies. After a brief debut in 2016, he settled in as one of the team’s most reliable starters from 2017-21. In that span, he totaled 793 2/3 innings over 135 starts and posted a 4.25 ERA, a 24.0% strikeout rate, and a 6.9% walk rate. Márquez excelled through a combination of control and strong groundball tendencies. He was worth 15.5 fWAR in those five years and continually posted groundball rates in the mid-40s and low-50s, including a career-high 51.6% in 180 innings in 2021.

His performance began to wane from 2022 onward. He still made 31 starts in 2022, but his strikeout rate fell below 20% for the first time since his 20 2/3-inning sample in 2016. His run prevention slipped as well, with Márquez posting a below-average 4.95 ERA and elevated peripheral stats. He then underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2023, costing him the rest of that year and the first few months of 2024. His return in July 2024 only lasted one start, and he spent the rest of the season on the injured list with elbow inflammation, although his UCL was reportedly fine.

In 2025, Márquez pitched 126 1/3 innings over 26 starts but was clearly working with diminished stuff. His four-seamer was down to 94.8 MPH after averaging 95.6 MPH in his most recent healthy season in 2022. His sinker, which used over 20% of the time, also slipped from 95.1 MPH to 94.3 MPH. Statcast graded his fastballs in just the first percentile by run value, while his knuckle curve, formerly his best pitch, also earned career-worst grades. The strikeouts dried up even further, with Márquez’s 14.0% strikeout rate ranking third-worst among starters with at least 100 innings. The Rockies decided to move on as Márquez reached free agency.

Perhaps a change of scenery will help Márquez recover some of his strikeout and groundball tendencies as he moves further from injury. He’ll get that chance with the Padres, who now have a decent amount of rotation depth. The team saw Dylan Cease depart for the Blue Jays but re-signed Michael King on a three-year deal in December. Yu Darvish will miss 2026 while recovering from an internal brace procedure, and he is reportedly contemplating retirement. Joe Musgrove is returning from Tommy John surgery and will be guaranteed a spot if healthy. That leaves King, Nick Pivetta, and Musgrove in the top three spots, with some combination of Márquez, Canning (when healthy), Randy Vásquez, and JP Sears taking the last two spots.

Each of King, Musgrove, Márquez and Canning comes with injury risk, though the Padres always seemed likelier to stockpile depth than bring a big-name starter at this stage in the offseason. Zac Gallen was the last impact starter in free agency before re-signing with the Diamondbacks. Either way, his $18.7MM luxury tax number might have been too much given the team’s reported payroll constraints. Low-cost signings like Canning and Márquez seem easier to accommodate, barring a potential buyout agreement for Darvish.

RosterResource has the team at a $264.7MM luxury tax payroll for 2026, putting them in the second tier of penalization. The Padres paid the luxury tax in 2025 and would count as second-time payors in 2026. Thus, any money guaranteed to Canning and Márquez would come with an additional 42% surcharge.

Alden González of ESPN first reported the Padres were signing Márquez to a one-year deal. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the mutual option. The Associated Press reported the $1.75MM guarantee. Photo courtesy of Kelley Cox, Imagn Images

Padres Sign Griffin Canning

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February 17th: The Padres made it official today, announcing that they have signed Canning to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2027. Mutual options are almost never picked up by both sides, so that provision just allows the Padres to kick part of the payment into the future in the form of a buyout. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Canning is guaranteed $2.5MM in the form of a $1MM salary and $1.5MM buyout on that option, with another $1.5MM available via performance bonuses. Outfielder Tirso Ornelas has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move for Canning.

February 14th: The Padres have signed right-hander Griffin Canning, as initially reported overnight by the Divine Sports Gospel.  Canning’s deal will be official once he passes a physical, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray.  San Diego has a full 40-man roster in the wake of the Nick Castellanos signing, so the Padres will have to make another move to open up 40-man space for Canning, who is represented by Wasserman.

It’s something of a SoCal homecoming for Canning, who was born in Mission Viejo and played his college ball at UCLA.  The 29-year-old also spent his first first Major League seasons with the Angels, posting a 4.78 ERA over 508 innings (starting 94 of 99 games).  This was less than was expected of a pitcher who was once viewed as a top-100 prospect, and the Angels parted ways with Canning via a trade with the Braves last offseason for Jorge Soler.  Atlanta then chose to non-tender Canning, since the Braves’ chief goal of the trade was to unload Soler’s contract.

Canning then signed a one-year, $4.25MM contract with the Mets that initially looked like it was going to be a steal, as the righty posted a 2.47 ERA over his first nine starts in New York.  Some struggles over his next seven outings boosted his ERA to 3.77, yet that’s unfortunately where Canning’s story ended, as he suffered a season-ending ruptured Achilles tendon in late June.

Reports from earlier this offseason suggested that Canning is hoping to be ready for Opening Day, or at least relatively early in April.  He was feeling good enough to throw for scouts in a showcase last week, and his velocity was up to 93mph even at this relatively early stage in the preseason ramp-up process.  The Mets, Cardinals, and White Sox were all linked to Canning earlier this winter, but he’ll now be part of San Diego’s rotation mix.

The Padres’ starting pitching situation has been a key issue for the team all winter, as Dylan Cease left for the Blue Jays in free agency and Yu Darvish will miss all of 2026 while recovering from an internal brace procedure.  Re-signing Michael King helped the Padres restore some stability, and Canning joins a list of arms that consists of King, Nick Pivetta, Randy Vasquez, JP Sears, and Joe Musgrove in his return from Tommy John surgery.  Assuming everyone is healthy, Canning will probably push Vasquez or Sears into a relief or depth role once Canning is ready to pitch.

While 76 1/3 innings isn’t the largest of sample sizes, Canning’s 2025 season saw him post a 50.9% grounder rate, in a marked change for a pitcher who had only a 39.5% groundball rate during his time in Anaheim.  Keeping the ball out of the air helped somewhat counter-act all of the hard contact Canning was allowing, as his 45.7% hard-hit ball rate was only in the 11th percentile of all pitchers.  Canning’s 10.7% walk rate was the highest of his career, and his 21.3% strikeout rate was nothing special.

Pivetta’s breakout in 2025 is evidence that the Padres can help pitchers unlock their potential, but for now, Canning projects as a back-end starter with some upside.  How Canning responds to his Achilles injury is another x-factor, and his health history also includes a stress fracture in his back that cost him the entire 2022 season.

Terms of Canning’s deal aren’t yet known, though it is fair to assume he’ll earn something close to the $4.5MM he received from New York in 2025.  The price tag was surely attractive to the Padres, who have been operating within a seemingly limited budget this offseason.  Not counting Canning’s deal, San Diego is projected (by RosterResource) for roughly a $220.9MM payroll and a $265.48MM luxury tax number — both are slightly up from 2025, when the Padres had a $211.1MM payroll in 2025 and a $263MM tax number.  The addition of Canning’s contract now puts San Diego over the second tier ($264MM) of tax penalization.

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