Orioles Avoid Arbitration With Taylor Ward
The Orioles and outfielder Taylor Ward have agreed to a $12.175MM salary for the 2026 season, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports. The two sides avoided arbitration with a figure that comes in lower than Ward’s $13.7MM projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, but it’s still a big raise over the $7.825MM Ward earned in 2025. Ward is represented by Wasserman.
In what ended up as his final season with the Angels, Ward hit .228/.317/.475 over 663 plate appearances, with a career-high 36 home runs and 103 RBI. Ward’s 117 wRC+ in 2025 wasn’t much higher than his 112 wRC+ in 2024, and his batting average and OBP actually declined from the previous year. However, since arbitors tend to favor traditional counting stats over advanced metrics, Ward’s big increase in homers and RBI meant that he was in line for a hefty increase.
Since Ward is a Super Two player, he had four years of arbitration eligibility instead of the standard three. With his 2026 figure now established, Ward will have made $27.5MM over his four arb years, which included winning an arbitration hearing with the Angels entering the 2024 season. (The panel gave Ward his desired $4.8MM salary rather than the Angels’ price of $4.3MM.)
Ward will hit free agency next winter in advance of his age-33 season, and on the heels of what Ward hopes is a productive first season in Baltimore. After years of trade rumors, the Angels finally dealt Ward in an intriguing one-for-one deal in November that sent Grayson Rodriguez to Anaheim. The move to a more hitter-friendly ballpark may well boost Ward’s numbers in his platform year, and he’ll surely welcome the chance to play for a potential contender after never playing on a winning team over his eight years with the Angels.
Phillies Avoid Arbitration With Jesus Luzardo
The Phillies and left-hander Jesus Luzardo have avoided arbitration by agreeing to an $11MM salary for the 2026 season, 7News’ Ari Alexander reports. This is Luzardo’s final year of arb eligibility, as he is slated to become a free agent next winter.
The $11MM agreement beats the $10.4MM salary projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and it represents a sizeable raise over the $6.625MM that Luzardo earned in 2025 (via another arb-avoiding deal with the Phillies). That agreement came just a couple of weeks after the Phils acquired Luzardo as part of a noteworthy four-player trade with the Marlins.
Philadelphia swung the deal in the hopes that Luzardo would rebound from an injury-marred 2024 season to deliver the type of frontline results he showed during Miami’s 2023 season. It ended up being a canny move on the Phillies’ part, as Luzardo finished seventh in NL Cy Young Award voting. The southpaw posted a 3.92 ERA, 28.5% strikeout rate, and 7.5% walk rate over a career-best 183 2/3 innings, with above-average showings in virtually every Statcast category.
Another season like this will line Luzardo up for a hefty multi-year free agent deal next winter. Age is also on his side — Luzardo just turned 28 last September, so he’ll be hitting the open market in advance of his age-29 season. The Phillies still have time to pursue a contract extension to make Luzardo a long-term piece of the rotation, yet since Luzardo is represented by Scott Boras, chances are much higher that Luzardo will test free agency rather than ink an extension.
Cubs Sign Jeff Brigham To Minors Contract
The Cubs signed right-hander Jeff Brigham to a minor league contract, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports. Brigham’s deal includes an invitation to Chicago’s big league Spring Training camp.
Brigham (who turns 34 in February) is a veteran of six Major League seasons, with 120 2/3 innings pitched over 94 total games with the Marlins, Mets, and Diamondbacks. Three of Brigham’s six seasons included four or fewer appearances, including his work with Arizona in 2025 — the righty posted an 8.10 ERA over four games and 3 1/3 innings.
The D’Backs signed Brigham to a minors deal last winter, and he hasn’t pitched since being released by the team last August while on the minor league injured list. Injuries plagued Brigham for a good deal of the 2025 season, as he only pitched in 18 games (21 2/3 IP) in Arizona’s farm system in addition to his brief time in the majors. This Cubs contract presumably indicates that Brigham is healthy and ready to vie for a bullpen job in Spring Training.
The bullpen has been a heavy focus for the Cubs this winter, with Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey, Hoby Milner, and Jacob Webb all signed to free agent deals. Between this group and swingmen/backup starting options like Colin Rea and Javier Assad also in the mix, Brigham or any other non-roster invites face a tough competition to break camp with the team. Brigham is also out of minor league options, which adds another layer of difficulty in his quest to both make the cut and remain on the 26-man roster.
Brigham has a career 4.85 ERA, with a 10.7% walk rate and an inflated home run rate contributing to his uninspiring ERA. The right-hander has had trouble keeping the ball on the ground in the big leagues, though his 23.8% strikeout rate is respectable. Over 191 2/3 career innings at Triple-A, Brigham has a 4.09 ERA, 30.27% strikeout rate, and 10.7% walk rate, with much better grounder rates but still some issues at limiting the long ball.
Rays Claim Tsung-Che Cheng
The Rays announced Thursday morning that they have claimed infielder Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Pirates. The Bucs designated him for assignment last month. Tampa had an open spot on the 40-man roster and didn’t need to make a corresponding move.
Cheng, 24, changes teams for the first time in his career. The Pirates signed him as an international amateur out of Taiwan in 2019. By the end of the 2023 season, he had climbed to Double-A. He found some offensive success with a low-power, low-strikeout approach. He was also considered a solid defender at either middle infield spot and showed a knack for stealing bases. Splitting 2023 between High-A and Double-A, he hit 13 home runs, swiped 26 bags, had a 9.7% walk rate and 18.7% strikeout rate. He slashed .278/.352/.456 for a 116 wRC+.
The total package was enough that the Bucs added him to their 40-man roster that November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. His offense declined over the past two years, with a combined .217/.319/.312 line and 81 wRC+. He drew walks at a strong 12.2% clip in that time but was also punched out in 23.8% of his plate appearances. He got to make his major league debut last year but went hitless in seven plate appearances with three strikeouts.
The Pirates bumped him off their roster December 19th. DFA limbo normally only lasts a week but there’s more wiggle room over the holidays, so Cheng was out there for almost three weeks. The Rays are a good landing spot for him, as their middle infield is pretty unsettled. They traded second baseman Brandon Lowe to the Pirates last month, the deal which led to Cheng losing his roster spot with Pittsburgh. Ha-Seong Kim was put on waivers late last year and claimed by Atlanta. He opted out of that deal but wound up re-signing with Atlanta.
Taylor Walls is perhaps the favorite for shortstop right now but he has a career batting line of .195/.286/.298. Carson Williams made his debut last year but struck out in 41.5% of his first 106 big league plate appearances. Richie Palacios might be the frontrunner at second base but he is a wild card as he has been injured for most of the past two years.
The club may make further moves between now and Opening Day but there’s a path to playing time for Cheng if he can earn it. He still has an option remaining, so the Rays can send him to Triple-A as depth if they don’t need him in the big leagues or prefer him to get regular reps. He has just ten big league service days, so he can be cheaply retained for the foreseeable future if he’s able to carve out a role in Tampa.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Tigers, Burch Smith Agree To Minor League Deal
The Tigers signed reliever Burch Smith to a minor league contract, reports Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press. The righty receives an invitation to MLB camp and will be guaranteed a $1.5MM base salary if he makes the big league roster.
Smith, 36 in April, has played for seven big league clubs over a 15-year career that has taken him around the globe. Smith has pitched in Japan and Korea in addition to seven seasons at the Triple-A level. He has gotten to the majors in parts of six campaigns, working to a 5.79 ERA through 247 1/3 career innings.
The Oklahoma product’s most recent MLB action came in 2024. He divided that season evenly between the Marlins and Orioles, allowing just under five earned runs per nine over 56 1/3 frames. He spent last year on a minor league contract with the Pirates. Working for their Triple-A club in Indianapolis, Smith was tagged for a 7.08 ERA in 19 outings. He struck out nearly 27% of batters faced against an elevated 12.2% walk rate. The Pirates released him at the end of July.
Smith remained unsigned for the rest of the ’25 season. He has made a comeback in winter ball in the Dominican Republic, recording a 20:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio with three runs allowed in 15 1/3 innings. The Tigers add him to a deep collection of non-roster bullpen arms. Tanner Rainey, Sean Guenther, Scott Effross, Dugan Darnell, Jack Little, Tyler Mattison and Cole Waites have also signed minor league deals.
Rays Agree To Minor League Deals With Edward Olivares, Blake Sabol
The Rays agreed to minor league deals with outfielder Edward Olivares and catcher Blake Sabol, reports Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. Both players will be in camp as non-roster invitees. Additionally, Topkin reports that right-hander Brian Van Belle signed a two-year minor league contract after being released last month.
Olivares, a veteran of parts of five MLB seasons, is back stateside after a year in Japan. The righty-hitting outfielder signed with the Orix Buffaloes last offseason. Olivares only made it into 11 games at the NPB level, batting .182 without a home run. He appeared in 61 games with the Buffaloes’ minor league club, hitting .213/.327/.301 over 165 plate appearances.
The 29-year-old Olivares has played for the Royals, Padres and Pirates. He’s a .254/.306/.407 hitter in a little under 1000 big league plate appearances. He has solid tools headlined by above-average speed and a plus arm. A sub-6% walk rate has limited his on-base upside, and he doesn’t have the power to play everyday in a corner outfield spot.
Sabol gets a new job on his 28th birthday. A left-handed hitter, he played in 110 games for the Giants as a Rule 5 pick in 2023. Sabol connected on 13 homers and hit .235/.301/.394. That’s not bad for a rookie catcher, but a lack of defensive polish has mostly kept him in the minors since that season. Sabol combined for 19 MLB appearances with the Giants and Red Sox between 2024-25. He hit at a league average level in Triple-A two seasons ago but limped to a .183/.296/.326 showing in 66 minor league games last year.
The Rays have Hunter Feduccia and Nick Fortes lined up to split the catching work. Prospect Dominic Keegan is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. Evaluators have questions about Keegan’s defense, especially his arm. That has been the primary issue for Sabol as well, but he’ll provide some experience as a non-roster player in camp.
Van Belle will miss the entire 2026 season after undergoing late-season elbow surgery. The Rays outrighted him at the beginning of the offseason, then released him entirely in mid-December. Van Belle had been on track to qualify for minor league free agency at the end of next season. The transactional sequence allows the Rays to get a look at him in Spring Training ’27. Van Belle debuted last year with four appearances, tossing 8 1/3 innings of five-run ball.
Mariners To Sign Patrick Wisdom To Minor League Deal
The Mariners and infielder Patrick Wisdom are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. The Apex Baseball client will receive an invite to big league spring training.
Wisdom, now 34, had a strong run with the Cubs from 2021 to 2023. His production was fairly predictable. He would strike out a ton but would usually put the ball over the fence when he did connect. He hit at least 23 home runs in each of those three seasons but struck out in at least 34% of his plate appearances in all three.
Put together, he had 76 home runs in 1,211 plate appearances over those years while striking out at a 36.9% clip. That led to a lopsided .214/.298/.473 line. Despite the strikeouts and low batting average, he was 11% better than league average for that span, according to wRC+.
He got bumped into a bench role in 2024 but hit just .171/.237/.392 174 plate appearances. Since he was never an especially gifted defender, the drop-off at the plate became untenable and he was non-tendered at season’s end.
He signed with the the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization and revered back to his previous form. He struck out in 29.2% of his plate appearances in South Korea last year but launched 35 homers. He finished the year with a .236/.321/.535 line and 126 wRC+. He got brief stints in the outfield corners but mostly split his time between third and first base.
The Mariners will bring him aboard in a non-roster capacity and get a look at him. They have Josh Naylor as their regular at first base. The hot corner is a bit more open. The club has some interest in bringing back Eugenio Suárez, another power-hitting third baseman with big strikeouts, but he remains unsigned as a free agent.
It’s possible that prospect Colt Emerson could take over the job this year but he’s currently only 20 years old and hasn’t yet made it to the majors, with just six games of Triple-A experience. Ben Williamson currently projects as a glove-first regular at third, at least until Emerson forces his way in. Wisdom gives them another option without taking up a roster spot. It’s also possible Wisdom could earn his way into a bench role as a right-handed bat, providing platoon coverage for lefties like Naylor, Dominic Canzone, J.P. Crawford, Cole Young and Luke Raley.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Dodgers, Brusdar Graterol Avoid Arbitration
The Dodgers and right-hander Brusdar Graterol have avoided arbitration, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The righty will make $2.8MM this year, the same salary he made in 2025. He missed the entire season due to injury.
This isn’t an especially surprising result. The arb system generally sees player salaries rise each year. In cases where a player misses an entire season, their salary usually holds steady. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz therefore projected Graterol to make the same $2.8MM salary as he did in 2025, which has indeed come to pass.
By agreeing to the number now, the Dodgers will have a slightly shorter to-do list tomorrow. Thursday is the deadline for teams and players to file arbitration figures if they don’t come to an agreement. The Dodgers started the offseason with nine arbitration-eligible players but that’s now down to three for the deadline day tomorrow.
Tony Gonsolin and Michael Grove were designated for assignment and became free agents. Evan Phillips was non-tendered. Ben Rortvedt was claimed off waivers by the Reds. The Dodgers picked up a club option on Alex Vesia. With Graterol now settled, the Dodgers will have just Anthony Banda, Brock Stewart and Alex Call undetermined going into tomorrow.
2026 will be Graterol’s final season before he’s slated for free agency. He’ll be looking to bounce back after a couple of injury-marred seasons. He spent many years as a key setup arm for the Dodgers, with big velocity and huge ground ball rates. From 2020 to 2023, he posted a 2.69 earned run average over 173 2/3 innings. His four-seamer and sinker both averaged about 99 miles per hour. That oddly didn’t translate to many strikeouts, just an 18.9% clip, but he got grounders on a massive 62.5% of balls in play.
Shoulder problems and then a hamstring strain limited him to just seven appearances in 2024. He underwent surgery on that shoulder in November of that year. It was initially hoped that he could return in the second half of 2025 but that didn’t come to pass. Despite the injuries, he could go into free agency with good momentum since he won’t turn 28 years old until August, though he’ll obviously need much better health to boost his earning power.
Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images
Angels Claim Wade Meckler
The Angels announced that they have claimed outfielder Wade Meckler off waivers from the Giants. He had been designated for assignment by San Francisco last month. The Halos had a couple of 40-man vacancies and didn’t need to make a corresponding move.
Meckler, 26 in April, changes teams for the first time. The Giants drafted him in 2022 and he has been with that club until today. Generally speaking, he has a contact-based approach at the plate with limited power. He stepped to the plate 1,157 times in the minors over the past three years with just 16 home runs but his 13.1% walk rate and 16.7% strikeout rate in that span were both excellent figures. Even with the lack of power, his combined line of .311/.403/.431 in those seasons translated to a 127 wRC+, with some help from a .371 batting average on balls in play.
Despite the solid numbers, the Giants never gave him much time in the majors. He got a brief look in 2023, hitting .232/.328/.250 in 64 plate appearances, but wasn’t called up in either of the past two campaigns.
Whether his offensive approach can work against big league pitching isn’t really known at this point. According to Baseball America, he does well with fastballs but whiffs on a lot of breaking pitches. He does have a solid floor thanks to his speed and defense, however. BA describes his speed as “double-plus”. During his brief stint in the majors in 2023, Statcast ranked his sprint speed in the 95th percentile of big leaguers. He has played all three outfield spots in his professional career.
The Angels don’t really have a clear solution in center field right now. Jo Adell got most of the playing time there in 2025 but his defensive grades were poor. The Halos opened a corner for him by trading Taylor Ward to the Orioles for Grayson Rodriguez. The club has some willingness to let Mike Trout play center field going forward, after limiting him to right field and the designated hitter spot in 2025, but that likely wouldn’t be for more than an occasional appearance.
Bryce Teodosio got into 50 games in center for the Angels last year and got good grades for his glovework, but he hit just .193/.236/.287. Matthew Lugo is in the mix but he’s a converted infielder without the same defensive acumen. He hasn’t hit yet in the majors either. Kyren Paris is in a somewhat similar position. Nelson Rada might take over the position in the long run but he’s only 20 years old and hasn’t made his major league debut yet.
Considering that group, the Angels have been understandably linked to the center field market this offseason, but they haven’t really done anything about it. Perhaps that will change before Opening Day but it’s a good landing spot for Meckler now. He can battle for playing time either as the regular center fielder or for a role as a fourth outfielder. He also has an option remaining and could be sent to Triple-A as depth.
If things go well, the Angels can keep him around for a while. He has just 24 days of big league service time, that means he is still years away from qualifying for arbitration and even further from free agency.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
Orioles Designate Jhonkensy Noel For Assignment
The Orioles announced that they have claimed outfielder Marco Luciano off waivers from the Pirates, a move which was previously reported. To open a 40-man spot, outfielder Jhonkensy Noel has been designated for assignment. The O’s also announced that left-hander Josh Walker, who was designated for assignment last month, has cleared waivers and been sent to Triple-A Norfolk.
Noel, 24, was just claimed off waivers two days ago. It may seem strange to acquire a player and then immediately cut him from the roster but this sequence of events is becoming more common in baseball and the Orioles are one of the more aggressive teams in attempting it. The ideal outcome for the team is that the player eventually clears waivers and stays in the organization as depth without taking up a roster spot.
Baltimore fans should be familiar with the upside of the move. The O’s acquired Ryan O’Hearn from the Royals in January of 2023. He was designated for assignment two days later and cleared waivers. A few months after that, he hit his way back onto the roster and was a productive member of the club for over two years.
Up until he was claimed by the Orioles, Noel had spent his entire career with the Guardians. With that club, he has shown huge power potential but also a poor approach at the plate. He has 351 big league plate appearances to this point with 19 home runs but his 4.8% walk rate and 32.8% strikeout rate are both awful numbers. Despite the long balls, he has a .193/.242/.401 batting line and 79 wRC+, indicating he’s been 21% worse than the league average hitter.
He exhausted his final option season in 2025, which has pushed him into fringe roster territory. The Guards nudged him off and the O’s scooped him up. He’s now back into DFA limbo again, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the O’s could field trade interest for the next five days, but the Guards weren’t able to line up a trade in the previous weeks. Most likely, Noel will be back on the waiver wire.
Despite the rough major league results, he could draw interest from the raw power and also his better minor league numbers. Over the past two years, he has stepped to the plate 536 times at Triple-A. His 7.5% walk rate and 23.7% strikeout rate at that level are still not great but much closer to average. That’s helped him put up a .285/.349/.538 line and 130 wRC+.
If some other club scoops him up, Noel has just over a year of big league service time. That means he can be controlled for five full seasons and is still two years away from an arbitration raise. If he clears waivers, the O’s can keep him. Since he doesn’t have three years of service nor a previous career outright, he doesn’t have the right to reject an outright assignment.
The situation with Walker is somewhat similar. The O’s claimed him off waivers from the Phillies in August. The O’s then signed him to a major league deal in November. Salary terms of that pact haven’t been reported but it presumably pays Walker something slightly above the $780K league minimum, since he still hasn’t qualified for arbitration.
He was designated for assignment two days later. Like with the O’Hearn and Noel situations, the O’s were hoping Walker would clear waivers and stick with the club in a non-roster capacity. It didn’t work initially, as Atlanta claimed him. But that club designated him for assignment a few weeks later, which allowed the Orioles to claim him back. The O’s then tried again, designating Walker for assignment once more on December 19th.
DFA limbo normally only lasts a week at most, but there are different rules around the holidays, so Walker lingered in the ether for a few weeks. Today, he finally has clarity on his status. While he probably isn’t glad to lose his roster spot, he now at least knows which spring training location he’ll be reporting to.
Walker will try to win in the Baltimore bullpen at some point in 2026. His major league track record isn’t amazing, as he has a 6.59 earned run average in 27 1/3 innings. However, he just posted some intriguing minor league numbers in 2025. Split between the Blue Jays, Phillies and Orioles, he logged 42 2/3 Triple-A frames. His 4.64 ERA in that sample isn’t too exciting but he struck out 24.1% of batters faced and got grounders on 52.1% of balls in play.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images