Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

MLB's winter meetings begin Monday in Orlando, Florida, signaling the time when baseball's offseason activity is likely to take off. What's the latest on free agent hitters, including coveted sluggers Kyle Schwarber and Kyle Tucker? Will Framber Valdez find a new home now that fellow top free agent pitcher Dylan Cease is off the board? What's the latest on a trade market featuring stars such as Ketel Marte and Steven Kwan? And which teams could surprise the sport by making a big splash in Florida?

Those three teams were the final suitors for Bregman last offseason. Detroit reportedly put forth a six-year, $171.5MM offer - albeit with deferred money that would have reduced the net present value - with an opt-out after the second season. The Cubs offered a four-year contract which various reports put at either $115MM or $120MM that included opt-out chances after the second and third season.

The Toronto Blue Jays addressed their pitching by signing Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce and also had Shane Bieber take the option on his contract to play with Toronto in 2026. Both the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles have also made moves with the former grabbing Sonny Gray in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, and the latter picking up reliever Ryan Helsley off the free agent market while also getting Taylor Ward in a trade with the LA Angels.

Throughout Springer's 2024 season, he just couldn't find his rhythm offensively, and it certainly looked like the six-year, $150-million contract was trending in the wrong direction. To his credit though, his defensive excellence never wavered. He finished 2024 with a career-worst .220/.303/.371 slash line and a .674 OPS across 145 games, placing him among the least productive qualified hitters in the league.

Mariners general manager Justin Hollander publicly admitted a few weeks back that the club would be looking for bullpen upgrades. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports that Seattle plans to add two relievers and hopes to have one locked down by the end of the Winter Meetings next week. Adding a lefty is a priority and Jude lists five names they are considering, with four of them being southpaws.

The Mets have been perusing the trade market in hopes of bolstering their rotation and have their eye on Twins right-hander as one of several targets, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. He adds that the Twins like young Mets righty - hardly a surprise, given that Tong is widely regarded as one of the sport's top pitching prospects.

However, the Blue Jays hope in landing an elite bullpen arm could significantly take a bigger hit if the latest prediction by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com ends up coming to fruition. Feinsand has top free agent closer Edwin Diaz signing with the reigning World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers this winter. Blue Jays fans should roll their eyes at this Dodgers prediction

Hartwig, 28 this month, has a limited big league track record. He tossed 42 innings for the Mets over the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He allowed 24 earned runs, giving him a 5.14 ERA. He struck out 18% of batters faced and issued walks at a 10.1% rate, both subpar figures, but induced grounders on 46.5% of balls in play. He averaged in the mid-90s with his four-seamer and sinker while also mixing in a cutter, slider and changeup.

No player inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame has ever done so representing the Miami Marlins. That much is common knowledge to anyone reading this, and to much of baseball fandom. Fve players- Andre Dawson, Mike Piaza, Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez, and Ichiro Suzuki- enshrined in Cooperstown suited up for the Miami Marlins at some point in their careers.

On Dec. 3, 2007, longtime Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley earned the minimum amount of votes necessary for induction and was posthumously elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the veterans committee. The famed owner, who entered the Hall of Fame officially during an induction ceremony in 2008, oversaw the Dodgers organization from 1950 until his death in 1979 at the age of 75.

With Blake, one thing that's really exciting for us is, as much success as he's had, we feel like there's more in there and a lot of upside beyond what he's done to this point and the impact that can have on us in our quest to win a World Series this year and as many years as we can see out.

The Atlanta Braves made a minor move (literally) on Tuesday morning, signing left-hander Danny Young to a one-year, split deal. The 31-year-old was previously with the New York Mets, who recently outrighted him, giving Atlanta the opportunity to pick him up. He did undergo Tommy John surgery in May, so he won't be on the mound at the beginning of the season.

Astros 40-man roster move incoming: The Astros are reportedly signing right-hander to a major league deal, bringing him over from the Korea Baseball Organization. The Astros have a full 40-man roster, so they'll need to make a move in order to accommodate their new signing. The most common way to accomplish that is simply by designating a player for assignment, but it's also possible Houston could look to work out a trade that clears 40-man roster space instead.

The Rockies are set to hire Dodgers senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes away as their new general manager, per Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic. Though he'll have the GM title, Byrnes will be second in command in the new-look Rox front office that's headed up by recently hired president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta. Byrnes, 55, is a seasoned front office veteran who has previously run baseball operations for both the Padres and D-backs, holding the title of general manager with each club. Byrnes is also a former assistant GM within the Rockies organization itself, having held that role in Denver from 1999 through 2002, so he's something of a known commodity for owner Dick Monfort.

Cody Bellinger, a very popular name right now across Major League Baseball. I was told that no fewer than three large-market teams are actively courting Cody Bellinger. Yes, the two New York teams, and then potentially also the Phillies and the Dodgers. So maybe actually four big-market teams are showing interest in Bellinger.

Since Ross Atkins has taken over the Toronto Blue Jays general manager position over a decade ago, he has managed to give out some of the biggest contracts in franchise history. In doing so, Atkins had been able to secure some massive talent to play for the Blue Jays. His latest signing just so happens to be the biggest, a $210 million contract that he used to land star free agent right-hander Dylan Cease just this past week.

Drew showed some promise in 2024, hitting .289/.394/.414 in 110 games across Augusta and Rome. Because of it, and his good production in college, there were some expectations brewing for Drew because of his ability to switch hit and hit for some decent power. Because of this strong performance, Drew was named the starting first baseman for the Columbus Clingstones in 2025 with some promise.

Joining Cease in the starting five are Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, and Jose Berrios, a formidable group that each brings something a little bit different to the table in how they get the job done. It's a good mix of youth and veteran status that should be pretty strikeout-heavy while beating you with offspeed pitches, whether it's a fastball, splitter, changeup, or slider.

At any given moment during the baseball season between Opening Day and August 31, there are 780 active players on major league rosters - 30 clubs, each with 26 players. Maybe a few more are scattered about if the 27th Man clause is invoked for a day-night doubleheader or neutral-site contest. On September 1, when rosters expand to 28, the total rises to 840+. Given the steady stream of personnel promotions and corresponding demotions over the course of a campaign, it seems certain that MLB never encompasses the same 780 or 840 players from one day to the next. For example, the team we root for used 63 different players across 162 games in its most recent season, and activated two others who never saw action.

Historically, Cade Smith has taken the fWAR-for-relievers crown in each of the last two seasons, by a nose. Before that, you have a procession of Tanner Scott, Edwin Diaz, Liam Hendriks (three seasons in a row), Blake Treinen, and Kenley Jansen (twice in a row). Projections-wise, Steamer has Mason Miller as the preseason/on-paper champ in this regard right now,