Rockies Sign Vimael Machin To Minor League Deal
The Rockies have signed infielder Vimael Machin to a minor league contract, according to ESPN’s Jorge Castillo. The agreement contains an invite for Machin to attend Colorado’s big league Spring Training camp.
Machin heads to the Cactus League in a bid to win a bench spot on the Rockies’ Opening Day roster. He’ll join Nicky Lopez and Chad Stevens as other MLB-experienced players the Rockies have recently signed as non-roster invitees, as Colorado looks to add some veteran depth as a complement to its young infield core.
The 32-year-old Machin played in 112 games with the Athletics from 2020-22, with 73 of those appearances coming in 2022 when the A’s used Machin regularly at third base. This marked the end of Machin’s MLB playing time for the next two seasons, as Machin spent the 2023-24 campaigns playing in the Phillies’ farm system and in the Mexican League.
After inking a minor league deal with the Orioles last winter, Machin hit .286/.347/.476 over 505 plate appearances with Triple-A Norfolk in 2025. This strong production earned him another ticket to the Show when Jordan Westburg hit the injured list in August, and Machin appeared in four games for Baltimore before he was designated for assignment and then outrighted off the 40-man roster.
Machin’s career slash line is only .204/.286/.264 over 373 PA, but he can handle all four infield positions, and he has spent some time as a corner outfielder. Machin isn’t considered to be much of a defender at any spot on the diamond, but his versatility allows him to be plugged into any position in a pinch. He also has two minor league options years remaining, giving Colorado the flexibility to move him back and forth from Triple-A if his contract is selected.
White Sox To Sign Munetaka Murakami
The White Sox have officially announced their signing of infielder Munetaka Murakami to a two-year deal worth $34MM. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to break the news. Murakami, a client of Excel Sports Management, will be officially introduced as a member of the Sox roster during a press conference tomorrow.
Beyond the $34MM in salary, the White Sox will also owe a $6.575MM posting fee to the Yakult Swallows, as per the rules of the MLB/NPB posting system. The fee is determined by the size of the player’s eventual Major League contract, so the $6.575MM figure is determined by 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, and then 17.5% of anything between $25MM and $50MM.
Murakami, 26 in February, arrives in the majors as perhaps the most anticipated NPB hitter to move stateside since Shohei Ohtani. The slugger set an NPB record with 56 home runs in a single season at 22 years old, and he continued to make an international name for himself with Team Japan during the 2023 World Baseball Classic. A career .270/.394/.557 hitter across 892 Central League games for the Swallows, Murakami boasts true 80-grade power that could completely change an up-and-coming White Sox lineup that already includes highly regarded youngsters like Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel.
That combination of power and unusual youth for a free agent led many to believe that Murakami would be able to secure one of the most lucrative contracts of the offseason. On MLBTR’s annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list published at the outset of the offseason, Murakami landed as the #4 free agent available with a predicted contract of $180MM over eight years. It was easy to imagine at least one team being willing to roll the dice on Murakami’s tantalizing upside in order to lock him up for his entire prime, but teams were more hesitant to commit to Murakami than expected. Few teams were publicly connected to the slugger, and reports from all corners of the baseball world indicated that teams were feeling gun-shy about his contact rate in NPB, which would’ve been the lowest in baseball in the majors last year if carried over.
While teams weren’t willing to go to the high levels expected when Murakami was first posted, it does appear that he may have left some guaranteed money on the table in taking this deal. Passan reports that some teams did try to get involved in Murakami’s market by offering long-term deals with lower annual salaries. That sort of deal would have guaranteed Murakami a longer runway to work things out at the big league level, but would have limited the financial upside available to him. Instead, he took a short-term deal that will offer him a healthy annual guarantee that’s on par with the AAV of the five-year deal Murakami’s countryman Seiya Suzuki signed with the Cubs across town five years ago.
That comes with just two guaranteed years in the majors, but if Murakami is able to establish himself he’ll head into free agency ahead of his age-28 season. That should leave him in line for a far more substantial payday during the 2027-28 offseason, should he prove himself capable as the sort of middle-of-the-order power bat he has the potential to be. For a player looking to adjust to the majors, it’s hard to imagine a more forgiving environment than the south side of Chicago. The White Sox have average 108 losses per season over the last three years and posted arguably the worst season in MLB history back in 2024. While young players like Montgomery and Teel have begun to impact the major league roster, expectations for the club could hardly be lower at this point.
While any dreams Murakami may have had of hoisting a World Series trophy in his rookie season as a big leaguer are likely to be dashed by his decision to sign with the White Sox, playing on a team with low expectations for this year should allow him a low-pressure environment to make any adjustments to his game that might be necessary in order to maximize his success without the risk of losing his spot in the lineup to another player in the midst of a pennant race.
The White Sox seem to want Murakami to be able to focus on maximizing his offense as much as possible, as the longtime NPB third baseman will be moving to first base in Chicago. Scouts nearly universally expressed skepticism about is ability to handle the hot corner at the big league level, so a move to first base should put less pressure on Murakami to prove himself as a defender and allow him to focus more fully on his work at the plate.
Should Murakami successfully prove himself in the majors, he would help anchor a budding core of young hitters for the White Sox. Montgomery and Teel both enjoyed excited seasons at up-the-middle positions last year, and they’ll be joined in the lineup by players like third baseman Miguel Vargas, second baseman Chase Meidroth, and catcher/DH Edgar Quero who enjoyed seasons last year that made them look like solid complementary pieces for the future. Luis Robert Jr. also figures to offer the Sox some star power alongside Murakami if he’s healthy enough to handle something close to a full slate of games in center field and remains on the team amid persistent trade rumors.
Taken together, it’s easy to see Murakami as the centerpiece of an offseason that has seen the White Sox take small steps towards a return to competitiveness at the big league level. The NPB star isn’t the only player the White Sox have deigned to add to the roster this winter; lefty Anthony Kay signed a two-year deal worth $12MM after his own successful stint in Japan, and the club is reportedly among the teams interested in former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks, as well. Those moves are unlikely to vault Chicago into a playoff spot by themselves, especially in a competitive AL Central where the Tigers and Guardians made it to October with Kansas City putting together a very aggressive offseason in their own right.
Immediate playoff contention, however, isn’t likely to be the expectation. Instead, these additions should allow the White Sox to foster a more competitive environment for their young core as they reach the majors and build towards playoff contention in 2027 and beyond. There’s also the plus of reinvigorating fans who have been left wanting by the team’s latest rebuild, which saw the club part with beloved players like Lucas Giolito and Garrett Crochet.
These steps forward allow the White Sox to pull their payroll out of the league’s basement. Following the Murakami signing, RosterResource projects the club for an $84MM payroll in 2026, a figure that jumps up to nearly $102MM for luxury tax purposes. That’s more or less in line with last year’s $85MM payroll and pulls the White Sox just out of the bottom five in the majors at this point. Of course, that figure is still extremely modest and leaves plenty of room for a team in a large market like Chicago to add additional salary, whether that’s a late-inning arm like Fairbanks or perhaps a veteran starting pitcher who can help anchor the club’s rotation.
Guardians Designate Justin Bruihl For Assignment
The Guardians have designated left-hander Justin Bruihl for assignment, the team announced. Bruihl’s removal from the 40-man roster opened up a spot for right-hander Shawn Armstrong, who was signed earlier this week.
Cleveland acquired Bruihl for cash considerations on Wednesday after Toronto designated him for assignment. The Blue Jays were also making room for a reliever addition, designating Bruihl as the corresponding move after signing Tyler Rogers.
Bruihl joined the Blue Jays as a minor league free agent in March. He put together 42 solid innings at Triple-A, earning a promotion to the big-league club. The 28-year-old lefty made 15 appearances with Toronto, recording a 5.27 ERA over 13 2/3 innings. Bruihl punched out 27.7% of the hitters he faced, though it came with a 10.8% walk rate. The brief stint was enough to earn Bruihl a postseason roster spot. He made one appearance in the ALDS, getting knocked around for a couple of runs on three hits while securing just one out. Bruihl was not on the postseason roster following the series against the Yankees.
Bruihl has pitched in parts of five MLB seasons for four teams. He’s put together a 4.72 ERA across 94 appearances. The lefty debuted with the Dodgers in 2021. He maintained a semi-regular role in the bullpen over the next three seasons. Bruihl was dealt to Colorado in August 2023. He had brief stints with the Rockies and Pirates before landing in Toronto.
The Blue Jays made a notable arsenal change, having Bruihl emphasize his sinker instead of his cutter. He’d typically prioritized a cut fastball, though he did lean on his sweeper as his primary pitch in his time with Pittsburgh. Bruihl had never used the sinker more than 31.7% of the time in the big leagues heading into 2025. He pushed it to 51.1% this past season, while basically scrapping the cutter (7.3% usage). Sinker/sweeper isn’t a typical swing-and-miss combo, so it’s interesting that Bruihl posted the best strikeout numbers of his career. Toronto may have unlocked something in terms of sequencing or location, in addition to the arsenal adjustment, that led to better strikeout results.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
Tigers Designate Justyn-Henry Malloy For Assignment
To clear a 40-man roster spot for reliever Kyle Finnegan, the Tigers have designated outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy for assignment. It’s the first DFA in Malloy’s young career. He appeared in 52 games with Detroit last season.
Detroit acquired Malloy and lefty Jake Higginbotham from Atlanta in a December 2022 trade that sent right-hander Joe Jimenez to the Braves. Jimenez has dealt with injury issues, but has provided strong work in the Atlanta bullpen when healthy. The Tigers haven’t had much to show for their end of the deal. Malloy has hit .209 across 357 plate appearances in his two big-league stints with the club. He’s struck out at a massive 32.8% rate at the MLB level. Higginbotham spent two seasons in Detroit’s minor league system, topping out at Triple-A (one game). He signed with San Diego as a minor league free agent last offseason.
The Braves took Malloy in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. He zoomed through the system, reaching Triple-A in 2022. Malloy compiled a sterling 144 wRC+ across three levels that season. MLB.com ranked him seventh among Detroit’s prospects in 2023. He slugged 23 home runs at Triple-A in his first season in the organization. Malloy continued to do damage with Toledo in 2024, though his strikeout rate ticked up to 28%. He earned a promotion in June and spent the majority of the remainder of the season with the Tigers. Malloy showed some power with eight home runs, but he struck out at a massive 37% clip.
Malloy has a good sense of the strike zone, as evidenced by a career 12% walk rate and a sub-20% chase rate. It’s making contact when he does choose to swing that’s been the problem. Malloy had a hefty 36.6% whiff rate in 2024. He improved that number to 29.1% this past season, though that mark was still well below average. Malloy trimmed his strikeout rate to a reasonable 25.2% in 2025. Unfortunately, his batted ball metrics fell off. Malloy posted a decent 37.8% hard-hit rate in his debut year, but it tumbled to 31.1% this season. After recording a double-digit barrel rate in 2024, that mark plummeted to 4.1% this year.
Most of Malloy’s at-bats came as a DH or pinch-hitter in 2025. He’s totaled -4 Outs Above Average in his career. Malloy came up as a third baseman, but he’s only played the outfield since joining the Detroit organization. He was a bat-first prospect, and he’s trending toward a DH-only future.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
Guardians Sign Shawn Armstrong
December 20: Cleveland has officially announced the addition of Armstrong. The right-hander will earn $4MM in 2026, reports Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. The deal also includes an $8MM mutual option for 2027, with a $1.5MM buyout. Left-hander Justin Bruihl was designated for assignment to clear space on the 40-man for Armstrong.
December 18: The Guardians and right-hander Shawn Armstrong have agreed to a deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The ISE Baseball client will be guaranteed $5.5MM on a one-year pact with a mutual option. The Guards have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make this deal official.
Armstrong returns to his original organization. He was drafted by Cleveland back in 2011 and pitched for them in the majors from 2015 to 2017. In the almost decade since then, he has spent time with the Mariners, Orioles, Rays, Marlins, Cardinals, Cubs and Rangers.
Despite that nomadic journey, his performance has been fairly steady in some respects. His earned run average has wobbled from year to year, but that’s not unusual for relief pitchers, who pitch a small number of innings annually and can have ERA swings from a few bad games. From 2019 to 2025, Armstrong tossed at least 36 innings in each full season with at least 52 frames in five out of six. His strikeout rate finished between 22% and 27% in each of those. His walk rate has finished below 9.2% in six straight seasons.
Put it all together and Armstrong has thrown 363 1/3 innings since the start of 2019 with a 3.96 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate. Despite that fairly solid trajectory, he settled for a modest $1.25MM deal with the Rangers for the 2025 season.
Texas was surely pleased with that investment. Armstrong averaged about 94 miles per hour on both his four-seamer and sinker while also mixing in a cutter, slider and curveball. He tossed 74 innings on the year with a 2.31 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate. His .196 batting average on balls in play and 76.3% strand rate were unsustainably fortunate but his 3.07 FIP and 3.36 SIERA suggest he would have fared well even with neutral luck. He saved nine games and registered 12 holds for the Rangers.
Armstrong has parlayed that into a new deal worth more than four times his last one, the biggest payday of the 35-year-old’s career. The Guardians had a strong bullpen in 2025, as their collective 3.44 ERA was third in the majors behind only the Padres and Red Sox. They are down one key member, as Emmanuel Clase is under investigation for a gambling scandal and may never pitch in the majors again.
The Guards don’t usually have tons of money to throw around but have been busy augmenting their bullpen with minor moves. They have signed Colin Holderman and Connor Brogdon to big league deals. They acquired Justin Bruihl from the Blue Jays and selected Peyton Pallette from the White Sox in the Rule 5 draft. Those new arms will add to a group which includes incumbents Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and others.
Photo courtesy of William Purnell, Imagn Images
Tigers Re-Sign Kyle Finnegan
December 20: Detroit has officially announced the Finnegan deal. He’ll earn $8.75MM in 2026 and $8MM in 2027. The contract also includes a mutual option for 2028 at $10MM, with a $2.25MM buyout. Justyn-Henry Malloy was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Finnegan.
December 9: The Tigers are reportedly bringing back veteran reliever Kyle Finnegan on a two-year, $19MM contract. There are also $1MM in bonuses available for the Warner Sports Management client. Detroit’s 40-man roster is full, meaning they’ll need to make a corresponding move once the contract is finalized.
It’s yet another domino to fall in a quick-moving relief market. Detroit initially acquired Finnegan from the Nationals at the trade deadline. He carried a 4.38 earned run average with a sub-20% strikeout rate at the time. It frankly seemed underwhelming for the team’s biggest bullpen pickup. The Tigers correctly identified Finnegan as a player who had another level of upside with a change to his pitch mix, however.
In Washington, Finnegan had thrown his fastball around two-thirds of the time. He used his splitter at a roughly 30% clip and sporadically mixed in a slider. The Tigers encouraged him to dramatically scale up the use of the split-finger offering. It was about a 50-50 divide in August, and he used the splitter more than 55% of the time in September and into the postseason. The impact on his results was immediate.
Finnegan allowed only three runs in 16 regular season innings as a Tiger. He fanned 23 of 66 opponents, almost doubling his early-season strikeout rate. His swinging strike rate jumped by five percentage points. The righty secured four saves and three holds while surrendering just one lead. He missed a couple weeks in September with a groin strain but immediately stepped back into a high-leverage role for skipper A.J. Hinch. Finnegan added 7 1/3 frames of three-run ball in the postseason, albeit with only three strikeouts.
Between the two teams, Finnegan posted a 3.47 ERA with a 24% strikeout percentage across 57 innings. The overall numbers aren’t far off the marks he’d carried over the first five seasons of his career. Finnegan entered 2025 with a 3.56 earned run average and a 23.5% strikeout rate in nearly 300 major league outings.
The altered pitch mix and the strong finish to the season have certainly changed teams’ perceptions of him. At this time last offseason, Finnegan found himself non-tendered by the Nationals in lieu of a projected arbitration salary around $8MM. He waited until a week into Spring Training to return to Washington on a $6MM contract with deferrals. Finnegan commands the first multi-year deal of his career one offseason later. The terms essentially match MLBTR’s prediction of two years and $20MM.
Finnegan will again pair with Will Vest at the back of Hinch’s bullpen. He has plenty of closing experience from his time in Washington and could handle the ninth inning on days when the Tigers use Vest earlier in leverage situations. Detroit could stand to bring in another swing-and-miss arm at the back end. Even after acquiring Finnegan, the Tiger bullpen ranked 25th in strikeout rate. Assuming they build Troy Melton back up as a starter, Finnegan and Vest are their only two projected leverage relievers who sit around 96 MPH on average. They’re a little light from the left side, but Vest and Finnegan each excel against opposite-handed batters. That could allow them to pursue another righty and stick with Tyler Holton and Brant Hurter as their top southpaws.
The specific salary breakdown is unreported. Evenly distributed $9.5MM salaries would push Detroit’s projected payroll to roughly $157MM, according to RosterResource. That’s about $15MM north of where they opened this past season. The long-term books are still wide open. Javier Báez and Colt Keith are the only other players under contract for 2027. Keith’s respective $5MM salaries for 2028-29 and modest option buyout in 2030 are their only commitments after the ’27 campaign.
Edwin Díaz, Gregory Soto and Finnegan came off the board on Tuesday. Robert Suarez, Brad Keller, Luke Weaver, Tyler Rogers, Seranthony Domínguez and Pete Fairbanks are the remaining unsigned relievers who made MLBTR’s Top 50 free agents. Keller and Weaver could get consideration as starters, while Rogers and Domínguez are setup types. Suarez is the best reliever still available. Fairbanks and Kenley Jansen join him as unsigned established closers.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the Tigers and Finnegan were nearing a deal. Robert Murray of FanSided had the two-year, $19MM agreement with $1MM bonus. Image courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images.
Rangers Sign Andrew Velazquez To Minor League Deal
The Rangers have agreed to terms with infielder Andrew Velazquez on a minor league deal, the club announced this week. The pact includes an invitation to MLB Spring Training. Velazquez is represented by CAA Sports.
The 31-year-old Velazquez spent the 2025 campaign in the Yankees organization. He put together a standout season on the basepaths with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, swiping 25 bags in 106 games. Velazquez hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2023, but he’s piled up 58 steals over the past two seasons at Triple-A.
Arizona took Velazquez in the seventh round of the 2012 draft. After a couple of seasons in the low levels of the Diamondbacks system, he was traded to Tampa Bay along with Justin Williams for Jeremy Hellickson. Velazquez slowly moved up the ladder with the Rays, debuting with the big-league club in 2018. He appeared in 23 games with Tampa Bay from 2018 to 2019, before being dealt again, this time to Cleveland. Velazquez would continue to bounce around from there, spending time with the Orioles, Yankees, and Angels over the next few seasons.
Velazquez has never contributed much as a hitter at the highest level, recording a 48 wRC+ across 624 plate appearances. Speed is his main contribution on the offensive side, as he has 40 steals in 275 games. The Angels gave Velazquez the longest look, as he operated as their primary shortstop in 2022. The light-hitting Velazquez popped nine of his 12 career homers that season, though he slashed a meager .196/.236/.304 over 125 games. The defining moment of Velazquez’s career came the year prior, when the Bronx native was playing for his hometown squad. The light-hitting infielder slugged his first career home run in front of several family members at Yankee Stadium.
While he’s mostly played shortstop, Velazquez has experience at second base, third base, and all three outfield positions. He’s seldom graded as a plus defender, but his versatility could allow him to provide value to a big-league team. With Marcus Semien now in New York, utilityman Josh Smith is expected to step into an everyday role for the Rangers. Considering the extensive injury histories of Corey Seager and Josh Jung, Texas could use some reliable infield depth.
Photo courtesy of Mike Watters, Imagn Images
Mariners Sign Brennen Davis To Minor League Deal
The Mariners have signed outfielder Brennen Davis to a minor league deal, as reported by Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. The deal includes an invite to MLB Spring Training.
Once a consensus top-20 prospect in baseball, the 26-year-old Davis has yet to make his MLB debut. A second-round pick by the Cubs back in 2018, Davis broke out at the age of 19 in 2019 with a with a .305/.381/.525 slash line in 50 games at the Single-A level. Following the cancelled minor league season in 2020, Davis got the bump to High-A to start the 2021 season but lasted just eight games at the level before being promoted to Double-A. After hitting a solid .252/.367/.474 for the Cubs’ Tennessee affiliate in 76 games, Davis got his second promotion of the year with a late-season cup of coffee at Triple-A, where he impressed with a .268/.397/.536 slash line in 16 games.
All of that was enough to position Davis as one of the game’s most exciting prospects, and he seemed poised to make his MLB debut during the 2022 season as the Cubs began a rebuilding phase following their fire sale the prior year that shipped out core players like Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez. Unfortunately for Davis, however, those dreams of an early debut were scuttled when he struggled badly in the early weeks of the season before undergoing back surgery in early May of that year. While he returned before the end of the year from that surgery and posted solid on-base numbers, a lack of power kept him from earning a coveted September call-up.
By 2023, the Cubs were once again trying to make the playoffs and had a mostly full outfield thanks to the offseason addition of Cody Bellinger. That made Davis’s path to the big leagues a bit harder, and he was unable to force the issue due to continued injury woes. Core surgery and a fractured ankle limited him over the next two seasons, and even when he did play the field results at Triple-A were mixed. That led Chicago to non-tender Davis last November, cutting him from the 40-man roster and sending him into free agency.
He found a minor league pact with the Yankees this past year. He didn’t debut with his new organization until late May as he rehabbed the aforementioned fractured ankle, and suffered another injury over the summer that caused him to miss two months. In all, he made it into just 36 games with New York’s Triple-A affiliate, but when he did so he raked with an excellent .271/.324/.576 slash line including 12 home runs in just 142 trips to the plate.
While injuries have led him to stop stealing bases as he had when he was a top prospect vaunted for his speed, the 26-year-old still offers intriguing power and could be an impactful addition to the Mariners organization if he can finally remain healthy for a full season for the first time in half a decade. Seattle’s outfield mix currently features Julio Rodriguez in center, flanked by Randy Arozarena and Victor Robles in the corners. If Davis can prove himself healthy and remain as effective as he’s looking in short bursts the past two years, it wouldn’t be hard to see him pushing for a call-up to the majors at some point this year.
Guardians Sign Stuart Fairchild To Minor League Deal
The Guardians announced this afternoon that they’ve signed outfielder Stuart Fairchild to a minor league deal. The deal includes a non-roster invite to MLB Spring Training.
Fairchild, 30 in March, was a second-round pick by the Reds back in 2017. He was traded to Arizona as part of the Archie Bradley deal back at the 2020 trade deadline and made his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks in 2021, but made his way back to Cincinnati (after brief pit stops in Seattle and San Francisco) by the end of the 2022. He’d spend the next few years in the Reds’ outfield mix and ultimately appeared in 223 games across parts of three seasons.
The outfielder hit fairly well during his time in Cincinnati, with a .232/.316/.403 slash line that was good for a 94 wRC+ overall. He split time between all three outfield spots with the Reds and managed to go a respectable 23-for-29 on the base paths during his time in the organization. While his overall production was slightly below league average, his ability to handle center field and swipe bases was valuable enough to keep him on the roster in a part-time role. Fairchild’s main draw was his ability to hit left-handed pitching as his .256/.354/.424 (114 wRC+) slash line against southpaws made him a solid complement to the team’s lefty outfield bats like Jake Fraley and Will Benson.
Headed into the 2025 season, however, the Reds lacked a clear path to a roster spot for Fairchild following the club’s acquisition of Austin Hays as well as the decision to move Spencer Steer into the outfield. With those righty bats in the club’s outfield plans, Fairchild became expendable and was designated for assignment. With a need for additional outfield depth while Ronald Acuna Jr. was on the injured list, the Braves traded for him not long afterwards. Between Acuna’s injury rehab and the early-season suspension of Jurickson Profar, there was plenty of playing time to be had in the Atlanta outfield mix. Fairchild took on some of that load, ultimately appearing in 28 games for the club where he hit a paltry .216/.273/.333 with a 27.3% strikeout rate across 55 plate appearances.
A dislocated pinkie finger cost Fairchild around a month of the 2025 season, and between that injury and poor performance when healthy he found himself DFA’d by Atlanta back in July. He was scooped up by the Rays in a minor trade but did not make an appearance for the MLB club before being designated for assignment once again at the outset of the offseason. He cleared waivers successfully and elected free agency, leading to the Guardians being able to add him on this non-roster pact.
For Cleveland, Fairchild’s addition means they’ve found a decent right-handed depth option for an outfield that lost Lane Thomas to the Royals in free agency this year. The Guardians have a heavily left-handed outfield mix as things stand, with Steven Kwan in left field, Chase DeLauter in center, and George Valera in right. Johnathan Rodriguez and Angel Martinez should serve as decent right-handed complements, but Fairchild offers some additional depth behind that group and protection against the possibility that the Guardians, whose 87 wRC+ in the outfield ranked 26th in the majors last year, don’t make a more significant addition on the grass.
Mets Outright Brandon Waddell
The Mets assigned left-hander Brandon Waddell outright to Triple-A yesterday, as noted by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Waddell had been designated for assignment earlier this week to make room for catcher Drew Romo on the 40-man roster.
Waddell, 31, returned to the majors for the first time since 2021 this year. Prior to the 2025 season, Waddell had pitched 12 2/3 MLB innings across four different organizations during the 2020-21 seasons. He posted a 5.68 ERA and 6.41 FIP during that time. His results were much better this time around, as he delivered a solid enough 3.45 ERA with a 4.54 FIP across 31 1/3 innings of work as a long relief arm for the Mets this year. While Waddell’s top-level run prevention numbers weren’t bad, the peripherals told a different story. A 16.4% strikeout rate left much to be desired, and the lefty’s 37.4% ground ball rate, 10.0% barrel rate, and 8.2% walk rate were nothing to write home about either.
Waddell’s time with the Mets came on the heels of a three-year run of solid work in the KBO league, where he pitched for the Doosan Bears. In 43 KBO starts, Waddell posted a 2.98 ERA while posting a respectable 21.1% strikeout rate and generating grounders on more than 50% of his batted balls. It was a much more encouraging profile over all than the one he flashed in the majors with the Mets this past year, and Waddell’s 5.02 ERA in 75 1/3 Triple-A innings in 2025 offer little encouragement headed into 2026. While the lefty might not look to be a solid rotation option like other KBO pitchers (such as Erick Fedde and his quality performance for the White Sox and Cardinals in 2024) have proven themselves to be in the past, he’s a perfectly useful non-roster depth piece for the Mets.
That’s what he’ll be headed into 2026, though given the uncertain state of the Mets’ pitching staff it’s not impossible to imagine injuries allowing Waddell to force his way back onto the MLB roster at some point next year if he can turn his numbers at Triple-A around. Of course, that will depend on the club’s moves going forward this winter. It’s possible the team could make rotation additions that would push youngsters like Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat into depth roles themselves, minimizing Waddell’s opportunities to get back to the majors. With that said, it’s also not impossible to imagine those same young hurlers getting discussed in trade talks, and a trade of one or both of those young righties could make Waddell one of the team’s top non-roster depth arms alongside Robert Stock.