Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

The Atlanta Braves made yet another move this week, this time signing infielder Vidal Brujan to a split contract for the 2026 season. Brujan was acquired by the Braves in August. From there, he appeared in 24 games with a .268 batting average and a perfect fielding percentage. This split contract allows the Braves to gain position player depth while maintaining roster and financial flexibility if he's needed at the major league level.

Rooney elected minor league free agency after being outrighted by the Astros at the beginning of the offseason. The 28-year-old had a brief stint with Houston, who acquired him from the Marlins in a small trade in August. The Astros called him up for his big league debut three weeks later. Rooney struck out two of six batters faced while giving up a solo home run to Luis Vázquez in his only appearance.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays combined to provide an all-time World Series matchup, as evident by viewership records in the United States and Canada. There were 27.3 million viewers who tuned in to watch the winner-take-all Game 7 on Fox, making it the most-watched World Series game since 2017. The Fall Classic and MLB postseason as a whole also had their highest viewership in eight years.

It's been widely reported that the Toronto Blue Jays are looking to add a starting pitcher via free agency this offseason - and Michael King should be the guy. The 30-year-old pitched to a 3.44 ERA and 1.20 WHIP across 73 ⅓ innings in 2025. He landed on the injured list in May due to a shoulder injury, then returned in August but only threw two innings before being sidelined again with a knee issue.

FOCO is selling new Shohei Ohtani bobbleheads that commemorate his four career MVP Awards and back-to-back World Series titles with the Los Angeles Dodgers. One of the Ohtani MVP bobbleheads portrays him in a white Dodgers uniform and holding four MVP plaques. He's won them equally with the Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers, each time in unanimous fashion, to make MLB history.

The Blue Jays enjoyed an incredible amount of success in 2025 with contributions from every corner of their roster. While there will be new additions to the team this winter, there will be existing players who will have more opportunities to extend the Blue Jays' contention window next season. Toronto found many wild cards that ultimately helped the team shine in some of the biggest moments during the regular season and the playoffs.

Edwin Díaz is, without question, the best reliever on the market. In fact, it's already been reported that the Jays have spoken to his camp, showing that they're willing to go big for the bullpen this season. Adding Díaz to an already solid bullpen would be game-changing. Last season with the New York Mets, Díaz had a 1.63 ERA and 2.28 FIP in 66.1 innings pitched, with a 38 K% and 8.1 BB%.

Cedric first appeared in mid-May in the FCL and made two starts there, before being sent to Rome for his final 13 starts of the season. He had a 0.00 ERA and 1.09 WHIP with 13 strikeouts to two walks in 7.1 innings with the FCL team before he pitched to a 3.74 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in Rome, striking out 66 and walking 41 in 53 innings.

Braves reliever Joe Jiménez underwent a "cleanup" surgery on his left knee, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told reporters (Including David O'Brien of The Athletic). The right-hander missed the entire '25 season after undergoing surgery to repair cartilage damage in that same knee last November. While the framing of the surgery as a "cleanup" doesn't sound especially alarming, the timeline isn't clear.

There was also a former Blue Jays' prospect released on Tuesday, as the Boston Red Sox designated Josh Winckowski for assignment, as well as Nathaniel Lowe. His best season with the American League East team was in 2023, where he had a 2.88 ERA and 3.91 FIP in 84.1 innings pitched. Unfortunately, Winckowski missed most of the 2025 season due to an elbow injury, only throwing 11.2 innings in six outings.

Fans love a good comeback story, and baseball arguably produces the most of any sport. Each season, there are at least a handful of players who once built strong reputations, only to fall on hard times -- through underperformance or, more often, injury -- and are forced to start fresh with a new club. Then, somehow, they manage to rediscover what made them great in the first place.

Signed out of Venezuela as part of the 2023 international signing class, Reyes received a bonus of $250,000 to join the Braves organization. What were the 2025 expectations? Coming into the 2025 season, Jeremy Reyes received plenty of hype - and rightfully so. All the 19-year-old has done since he came stateside in 2024 has put up stellar numbers on the mound.

Peguero was once a touted young infielder whom the Pirates acquired from the D-backs in exchange for Starling Marte. He's a former top-100 prospect who was once viewed as a possible shortstop of the future in Pittsburgh. Peguero's bat has never come around, however. He's seen action in four big league seasons but has mustered only a .227/.278/.368 slash line in 315 turns at the plate.

Patrick finished the week with a 2-for-10 performance across a pair of games. He went 2-for-5 with a triple in his first game, and went 0-for-5 in the Division Series games. On the season, Patrick showed up with a .772 OPS and went 22-for-24 in the stolen base department. He showed a good approach with 13 walks and just 12 strikeouts, continuing a trend from the season. For the full year Patrick had 101 stolen bases on 120 attempts (84%)

O'Hearn was an eighth-round draft choice of the Kansas City Royals in 2014, and he made his MLB debut on July 31st, 2018. He fared well in his first taste of major league action and finished the year batting .262 with 10 doubles, 12 homers, 30 RBI, and a .950 OPS. He was seen as a potential core piece for the rebuilding Royals.

Cruz gets a 40-man spot for the first time going into his age-27 season. The Tigers had left the former third-round pick unprotected in the past two offseasons. The switch-hitting infielder, the son of former big league outfielder José Cruz, earned his way onto the roster with a breakout year in the upper minors. Cruz hit .279/.411/.456 while leading all minor league hitters with 102 walks between the top two levels.

The Reds announced that they have added three players to the 40-man roster. Infielders Edwin Arroyo and Leo Balcazar had their contracts selected from Double-A Chattanooga, while outfielder Hector Rodriguez was selected from Triple-A Louisville. All three are now protected from the Rule 5 Draft. In addition, right-hander Carson Spiers was designated for assignment. The club's 40-man roster now stands at an even 40.