Category: Baseball

Bo Bichette has been a Blue Jay since we drafted him in the second round of the 2016 draft, so ten years now, seven of them with the major league team.

He was a top prospect, reaching number eight on Baseball America’s top 100 prospect list. In 2017 he was number on nine our top 40 list (mistakes were made, TJ Zeuch and Conner Greene were in the two spots ahead of him), moving up to number two in 2018 (you can guess who was number one).

In 2018 I wrote:

Bo’s second pro season went as well as his first. He hit .362/.423/.564 splitting time between Lansing and Dunedin with 14 home runs.

Bo is on everyone’s list of Top 100 MLB prospects, 8th on Baseball America’s, 14th on MLB’s and 19th on Baseball Prospectus.

About the only question is can he stay at short. Some think he’ll have to move to second, but if he continues to hit as well as he has, we’ll be ok with a little less than terrific range. He has been working at his defense. It might come down to which position is open when it is time to call him up.

He was called up at the end of July in 2019, and started his MLB career with an 11 game hitting streak and finished the season with a .311/.358/.571 line with 11 home runs in 46 games. 2021 was COVID shortened, but he hit .301/.328/.512 in 29 games, and the Jays made it to the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

In 2021, he finally got to play a full season, and he showed us what he could do, leading the league in hits with 191, slugging 29 home runs and made the All-Star team for the first time

And he would do, pretty much, the same for the just of his time with the Jays (excepting the 2024 season), putting up OPS numbers in the lower .800s. Being at or near the top of the league in hits, getting his 20ish home runs a year.

It was strange, he was consistently about the same in OPS, but he would get there in different ways, sometimes he would start out slow and save his season in the last month. Sometimes he would start hot and slump near the end, finishing in that same area. Last year, he had a .738 OPS at the end of June, but then had a terrific second half, getting it up to .840 before the injury that ended his regular season.

2024 was the outlier, he had a .225/.277/.322 after 81 games. I was sure he’d have a terrific second half to bring his numbers back to his career norms, but then an injury took away his chance.

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In a way, it is too bad that he came up at the same time as Vlad. Vlad has charisma, an obvious sense of humour, and a sense of fun. Bo didn’t always show those things, or at least not to the point where they weren’t overshadowed by Vlad.

Bo seemed more guarded, I guess more business-like. He didn’t have the interview answers with Hazel that made you smile or made you like him more. Maybe if Vlad wasn’t so…..Vlad like we’d feel more connected to Bo.

But then Bo seemed great with his teammates. He always seemed to be chatting with someone on the bench and there were moments when he’d allow himself a little smile or something that showed us there was a personality in there.

If they had come up together 40 years ago (well, maybe 60 years ago), everyone would say that Bo was serious about the game, that he was a student of the game and was always looking to get better, and Vlad would be written off (at least a bit) for being a clown, for not being serious about the game.

I put in ‘Bo Bichette personality’ in Google and the AI summery said

…a mix of fiery competitiveness, perfectionism, infectious energy, and surprising sincerity, known for his aggressive play style, leadership by example (always early, working hard), and growing willingness to discuss mental health, contrasting a seemingly carefree exterior with a deep internal drive for success. He’s charismatic, connects with fans, and leads with an intense desire to win, viewing baseball as a mental battle, yet remains grounded and focused on his craft.

That seems very fair. Everything seems ‘on field’ with him. You don’t see Bichette commercials between innings. When there is an interview with him, he keeps it focused on baseball, there is very little personal stuff involved.

Among the bullet points:

Authentic & Vulnerable (Increasingly): He’s opening up about the pressures of the game, viewing it as true strength, a shift from stoicism.

He did talk about the pressures, some last year, when he was struggling.

I think the Mets were smart to offer a shorter-term contract (though $42 million a year seems a lot of money). I’ve often thought he was unlikely to age well, since he doesn’t control the strike zone, but then he is smart and driven, perhaps he’ll figure out how to continue to be great as his reflexes slow a bit.

I’m not sure that third base is the right spot for him. I think he’d be much better at second base, but again, he’s a hard worker and smart, so he’ll figure out how to play it to the best of his abilities.

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As much as I have worries that he won’t age well, I’m sorry to see him go. I’m not tired of watching him play. I’d like to see how he deals with playing into his 30s. See if he can remake himself. See if he can gain some control over the strike zone. And I’d like to watch him learn a new position.

I’m not too worried about the loss of his leadership skills. We seem to have a number of good leaders on the team. And I think we’ll be ok with the loss of his bat. But we’ve been following him up close for seven seasons (and following his rise through the minors before that). I’m going to miss watching him play (as much as I’m not going to miss Buck praising his two-strike approach when the stats don’t show that he is great with two strikes).

Best of luck with the Mets, Bo. Thanks for all the great memories. Thanks, especially, for the home run in the World Series.

It’s the dream of all baseball players to have a singular, meteoric rise from the moment they turn professional until their on top of the baseball world. It’s surely the dream of the teams that select them, too.

More often than not, it’s a rockier road, and certainly not a linear one. That’s been the case with Cam Collier so far in his still nascent professional career, though through the right lens even some of his bumps in the road still come out looking pretty optimistic.

Take, for instance, his 2025 season. He busted his thumb in spring camp, and it set him back for months. He began the year back in Arizona playing in Rookie Ball to get reps, not starting a game there until May 19th. He eventually returned to High-A Dayton the first week of June and didn’t sock his first homer there until June 14th, after which he’d go all the way until August 26th before hitting another.

All that from the guy whose 20 homers with Dayton the previous season led the entire Midwest League.

Clearly, the thumb issue impacted his swing, his bat speed, his overall power. Yet as Collier advanced up to AA Chattanooga in the Southern League, he still found a way to post a .377 OBP that tied for 11th best in the league with two others, one of whom being top Reds prospect Sal Stewart (who obviously moved right on up after doing that). This, all in Collier’s age-2o season.

So, we’ve got a guy who has a) shown enough in-game power to lead a league in homers, b) overcome a serious injury mid-season to get back on the field, and c) shown burgeoning excellence in commanding the strike zone and getting on-base, all while being one of the youngest guys at each level.

Yeah, he might be just a 1B-only guy defensively, but that’s the makings of an offense powerhouse of a prospect, one who is surely aching to put it all on display in a healthy 2026 season that should see him rise to AAA Louisville. And as we all know, if you’re at AAA Louisville, you’re just a sniff away from being a big leaguer, something he’s very much on the cusp of becoming despite a big speed-bump in 2025.

(Man, look at that potential 1B/DH logjam the Reds have looming…)

Collier’s your #6 prospect in this year’s Community Prospect Rankings, running away with the voting over the weekend over a talented field. If I were a gamblin’ man, I’d wager that Cam’s about to have the kind of breakout 2026 that shoots him right back in Top 100 overall prospect conversations, as that bat is simply going to continue to play.

He’s just now 21!

In a series of events that developed fast enough to give fans whiplash, the Mets went from missing on Kyle Tucker to inking Bo Bichette less than 24 hours later. The 27-year-old shortstop spurned a long-term deal from the Phillies to sign an extremely player-friendly deal in New York; three years, $126 million, and—most critically—opt-outs after both year one and year two.

You’re no doubt familiar with Bichette, if for nothing other than his nearly-series-defining home run in last year’s World Series. Outside of that moment, he’s been one of the better shortstops in baseball since debuting in 2019, posting a cumulative 120 wRC+ and cresting 3.8 fWAR in all but one season. The one outlier—2024—was an injury plagued year in which Bichette struggled with a calf injury. He’s a good player, at times bordering on a great one, and you usually want to add that kind of guy when you can.

At the same time, Bichette’s profile is not typical. Ten years ago, we’d have looked at the top of the scale swing rates and ~10th percentile chase rates and flatly said that Bichette’s approach is problematic. Now we can recognize that he does a good enough job of swinging at the pitches he can damage such that his overall approach is broadly fine (as measured by SEAGER). Similarly, we might’ve assumed his high BABIP was unsustainable, and his offense as a result was fake. Now we have batted ball data that largely backs up his outlier ability to find open grass.

Even with that better understanding, you can see the warts. It’d be better if Bichette swung and chased less. It’d be better if he pulled the ball in the air more than 6.8% of the time. It’s also great that he’s a young free agent, but his exit velocities have already begun to decline, both in terms of max EV and 90th percentile. The recent history of lower body injuries—the aforementioned calf problems and a wonky knee injury last season—are concerning as well. We’ve also not mentioned the defense, which has gone from bad at shortstop to unplayable. Not a direct problem for the Mets of course, but something that should be noted.

Perhaps you’re more optimistic about the above, which is valid. The roster fit, however, is undeniably odd. Prior to this move, the Mets had a solid starting infield—Baty, Lindor, Semien, Polanco left to right—and an obvious hole in the outfield. Now, Bichette is slated to play a position he’s never played before (he’ll probably be fine there) while Baty has been bumped into a super utility role. It’s an odd allocation of resources, one that diminishes the net impact of the move.

The cost here could be described as anything from “high” to “astronomical.” We already mentioned the contract terms, but here’s what that actually translates to:

• $42 million in direct salary for 2026
• $30-35 million in CBT penalties
• 2nd and 5th highest selections in the 2026 draft, worth something like $1.5-2 million in pool space
• $1 million in IFA

On top of that, the opt-out structure gives the Mets all the downside and none of the upside. If Bichette has a good season, demonstrating that his knee is healthy and he can play another position well, he opts out for a bigger deal as a 28-year-old free agent with no QO attached. If the injuries linger or if the defensive decline is not ameliorated by the move down the spectrum, the Mets are left holding the bag.

Our view on this move might change when we get to the end of the offseason and consider the totality of moves. Maybe Baty gets traded for a big-name player (Jarren Duran, Tarik Skubal, and Cole Ragans are some options). Maybe another starter and/or outfielder gets added and Baty becomes a valuable super-utility guy in the mold of Jeff McNeil. Right now, though, this looks like a very expensive move that doesn’t align at all with the roster’s needs.

We’d also be remiss if we didn’t discuss the narrative surrounding this deal. It sure seemed like the Mets were confident that they were going to get Kyle Tucker, or at least Steve Cohen’s tweet suggested that. Objectively, declining to give Tucker the highest AAV ever is a fine baseball decision; subjectively, acting like you’ve got a player in the bag and then coming up second (not the first time this has happened, either) makes you something of a laughing stock, particularly when you’re loud about it.

It’s dangerous to assume that we know more than a front office that is regarded as one of the more forward thinking in baseball. Nevertheless, even with a healthy amount of self-doubt and a good deal of squinting, this looks like a move that is imperfect at best and panicky at worst. The Bichette signing receives a C-.

On Tuesday, January 20, 2026, the Baseball Hall of Fame will likely gain new inductees when the results of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote will be announced at 6PM Eastern on the MLB Network. These possible inductees will join second baseman Jeff Kent who was some-what surprisingly elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee last December.

Long-time big league outfielder Carlos Beltran is considered a near-lock to be elected. Joining him could be one of the icons of the Atlanta Braves post-1990 era, as center fielder Andruw Jones seems increasingly likely to gain election in his ninth year on the ballot.

Here are a look at the former Atlanta Braves who are on this year’s ballot.

Andruw Jones

Considered to be among the best defensive center fielders in the history of the game – and often the argument is between Jones and inner-circle Hall of Famer Willie Mays – Jones’ defensive runs saved are almost otherworldly and proof that his 10-consecutive Gold Gloves were much-deserved. Jones debuted with Atlanta at age 19 in 1996 and played with the Braves through the 2007 season.

His career declined significantly as he spent the next five seasons with four different organizations before heading to Japan for the final two season he played professionally. He was a five-time All-Star, a Silver Slugger and Player of the Year in 2005 when he hit a career-best 51 home runs. He hit 368 of his 434 career MLB home runs with Atlanta. He also hit 50 home runs in Japan.

Jones, with a career 67.o fWAR, is trending forward election in 2026, although the final vote will be close to the 75-percent threshold needed for induction.

Cole Hamels

Starting pitcher Cole Hamels pitched in one game for Atlanta in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. That ended up being his final big league appearance although he didn’t officially retire for the final time until 2024 after multiple failed come-back bids.

Although his time with the Braves did elicit a far number of jokes, Hamels is gaining notice for his overall career work, 10 years of which were as a starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was a four-time All-Star and a World Series and NLCS MVP.

This is his first time on the ballot and he is going to safely make it to the 2027 ballot despite fall far short of induction in year-one. Hamels’ case for election will likely see him stay on the ballot for each of the years he is eligible, but he seems unlikely to gain election with stronger candidate on the ballot struggling to be voted into the Hall.

Nick Markakis

Outfielder Nick Markakis won’t get elected and will likley drop off the ballot after this year, his first of eligibility. Markakis played six of his 15 seasons with the Braves and appeared in his only All-Star game with the Braves in 2018.

He was a three-time Gold Glove winner – once with Atlanta – and also won is only Silver Slugger with the Braves. A solid big leaguer, he pounded more than 500 doubles in his nearly 2,400 career hits. He was a Brave from 2015 through the 2020 season.

Matt Kemp

Outfielder Matt Kemp is also a first-time eligible player who will also drop off after this year. Kemp had one stand-out season in his career – 2011 when he posted 8.3 fWAR and led the National League in multiple offensive categories but finished second in the NL MVP to Ryan Braun.

Kemp’s injury-plagued career was up-and-down after 2011. He played part of the 2016 season with the Braves as well as the 2017 season. He hit 31 home runs with Atlanta and 287 in his career.

Félix Hernández

Starting pitcher Félix Hernández is included here because if not for the COVID-season of 2020, he would have been an Atlanta Brave. “King Félix” came to Spring Training in 2020 and made four starts with the Braves, tossing 13.3 innings while striking out 14 and allowing on three runs before Spring Training ended and he decided to opt out of the shortened 2020 season.

As it stands, all 15 years of his big league career were with the Seattle Mariners where he was the 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner and finished second in the Cy Young twice. He won’t be elected in this cycle, but his vote totals are trended up as the six-time All-Star and two-time AL leader in ERA looks-to-be on pace for eventual election by the writers.

Looking ahead to the 2027 ballot, there a several other former Braves who could find their way on to the ballot for the first time, but none-of-which would be likley to be more than a one-and-done option.

Attendance at Royals games has waxed and waned throughout the years, mirroring the fortunes of the team on the field. Periods of contention have reliably driven crowds well above the franchise’s baseline, while prolonged rebuilding cycles have pushed attendance toward the bottom of the league.

Here’s a look at how Royals attendance has evolved over the years compared to MLB averages.

The Municipal Stadium Years (1969-1972)

Baseball was America’s #1 sport in the 1950s and 60s, but average per-game attendance was only about half what it is today. Baseball added four new teams in 1969 – the Royals, Seattle Pilots (who moved to Milwaukee after one year), San Diego Padres, and Montreal Expos. And yet attendance league-wide actually dipped by 1 percent to 13,992 fans per-game. The Expos were the only one of the four new teams to finish above-average in attendance, and the Padres were dead-last with just 6,333 fans per game.

The Royals finished 15th out of 24 clubs in per-game attendance, playing games in old Municipal Stadium at 22nd and Brooklyn. Just 17,688 fans came out on a cold and windy night to the first game in club history, half the stadium capacity of 34,164. They finished with the third-worst attendance in baseball the next year, but had a mild attendance bump by 1971 during the team’s first winning season. That didn’t carry over to 1972, as the Royals were one of eight clubs to draw fewer than 10,000 fans per game.

Here are ticket prices back in 1969, from the Royals team yearbook.

Early Royals Stadium (1973-1975)

The Royals enjoyed a pretty significant attendance bump after moving into brand new Royals Stadium, finishing tenth among all clubs in attendance in 1973, drawing more fans to the gate than the Yankees or either of the first-place AL clubs – the Orioles and Athletics. Attendance fell slightly the next two years as the team had a losing record in 1974, but bounced back with a then-club record 91 wins in 1975.

Here are 1975 ticket prices, from the team yearbook.

Western Division Dynasty (1976-1985)

The Royals soon became a fixture in the postseason, reaching the playoffs seven times in ten years. They became one of the top draws in baseball, finishing among the top six clubs in attendance every year between 1976 and 1982, except for 1979, when they finished seventh. But the Dodgers emerged as the top-drawing club in the game, becoming the first team ever to draw 3 million fans in a season in 1978.

Attendance actually went down in 1984, when the Royals went on a very late charge and won an unexpected division title. They got their attendance bump the next year, an 18 percent increase as they went on to win the first championship in club history.

Here is the ticket information for the 1980 season.

Post-first championship (1986-1994)

The Royals enjoyed another attendance bump in the year after their title, a 9 percent increase despite a losing season in which they lost popular manager Dick Howser to cancer. Attendance would continue to increase through 1989, when they topped 30,000 fans per-game for the first time in franchise history, a mark they wouldn’t reach again until 2015.

MLB attendance really began to take off in the mid-80s, going from 22,589 fans per game league-wide when the Royals won the 1985 title to 31,256 fans per-game when the players went on strike in 1994. New stadiums brought large new crowds in Baltimore, Cleveland, Texas, and Toronto, and new expansion teams in Colorado and Florida initially drew massive crowds in temporary homes in NFL stadiums.

Here are Royals ticket prices from the 1990 team yearbook.

Post-Kauffman (1995-2006)

Team founder and longtime owner Ewing Kauffman died in 1993, and his wife, Muriel, died a year later, leaving the team in the hands of a non-profit. Small market teams cut costs in the post-work-stoppage environment, leaving the Royals to flounder in the standings. Large market clubs like the Yankees and Dodgers were huge gate draws, while the Pirates, Royals, and Expos drew much smaller crowds. The Rays and Marlins also quickly sunk to the bottom of the league in attendance.

Here are ticket prices for the 2006 season.

Dayton Moore years (2007-2022)

The Royals had the sixth-lowest attendance the year they made a late run and won a surprise pennant in 2014. But fans came out in droves the next year, giving the Royals a 38 percent bump in attendance. That year, 2.7 million fans came to the K, tenth-most in baseball. The team averaged 33,439 fans per game, still the most well-attended season in club history.

Attendance league-wide was at its healthiest in the first 15 years of the century, with all but a handful of clubs averaging at least 20,000 fans per-game. MLB attendance peaked in 2008, with an average of 32,382 fans attending big league games that year. But by the end of this period, several clubs began “tanking” or were just plain lousy, leading to sparse crowds. In 2020, no fans were permitted due to the COVID pandemic, and crowds were restricted the following season.

The Royals began “dynamic pricing” in 2013, with ticket prices fluctuating based on demand. According to Statista, the average ticket price at Kauffman Stadium went from $19.83 in 2013 to $24.73 in 2014, when the Royals won the pennant, to $29.76 in their championship 2015 season.

J.J. Picollo years (2023-present)

After years of rebuilding after the championship core departed after 2017, the Royals began to build attendance back up once J.J. Picollo took over in 2023. A playoff run in 2024 boosted attendance, and that increase continued to 2025 when the team drew 21,590 fans per game, their best numbers since 2017.

Baseball recovered from the pandemic, although with slightly lower attendance numbers than before. The Athletics and Rays each played in minor league stadiums in 2025, limiting their already small attendance figures. The league overall has not averaged 30,000+ fans per game since 2016.

The people have spoken and Ralphy Velazquez is our No. 4 Guardians prospect. Velazquez won with a whopping 84.4% of the vote despite competing against six other prospects. He moves up five spots from No. 9 last year (and also No. 9 in 2024).

Velazquez was Cleveland’s first round draft pick in 2023, selected No. 23 overall out of Huntington Beach High School. Initially drafted as a catcher, it didn’t take long for Velazquez to be converted to first baseman. His bat was what mattered however, and he has hit at every level he’s played.

Velazquez made his pro debut at in the Arizona Complex League the year he was drafted, smacking a pair of home runs in the six games he played while sporting an impressive 153 wRC+.

In his first full season in the Cleveland system, Velazquez debuted at Single-A Lynchburg, where he blasted 10 home runs while slashing .243/.362.414 with a 131 wRC+ over 82 games, good enough to earn an invite to represent Cleveland in the Futures Game. While there, he put on a prodigious display in the home run derby and wowed scouts with his exit velocity. He finished the season with a 19-game stint at High-A Lake County.

The powerful prospect got off to a slow start to the 2024 season, which began at Lake County. After a rough first two months where he experienced a brutal .212 BABIP, although all of his other underlying data spoke otherwise. He broke out of his unlucky streak with an incredible two and a half months, slashing .287/.357/.522 with 10 home runs and a 143 wRC+. This earned him a promotion to Double-A Akron, where he made one of the most impressive Double-A debuts in recent memory, collecting 12 hits in 22 at bats with four home runs, four doubles and four walks, earning Eastern League player of the week. In his 28 games at Akron, he slashed .330/.405/.589, posting a career-best 188 wRC+.

Velazquez possesses a unique combination of power, athleticism, patience and contact. With improvements to his physical ability made over the past few years, he was able to withstand a full season of baseball in 2025, performing even better in his final month of the season.

Now, it’s time to determine who is number five in the Guardians’ loaded farm system! Your options are below:

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Jaison Chourio, OF (Age 20)
2025 (CPX) 27 PA, .261/.370/.304, 0 HR, 1 SB, 14.8 BB%, 37.0 K%, 95 wRC+
2025 (A+): 353 PA, .235/.380/.284, 2 HR, 9 SB, 18.7 BB%, 21.8 K%, 103 wRC+

Chourio was lining up to be Cleveland’s top prospect after a sensational 2024, but he was slowed in 2025 by a nagging shoulder injury and had a very average season. He’s looking to bounce back in 2026.

Braylon Doughty, RHP (Age 20)
2025 (A): 22 GS, 85.1 IP, 3.48 ERA, 2.84 FIP, 27.3%, 6.4%, 1.25 WHIP

Cleveland’s competitive balance first round pick in 2024, Doughty debuted in full-season ball and put up solid numbers in his age-19 season at Single-A, showcasing elite control.

Angel Genao, SS (Age 21)
2025 (CPX) 32 PA, .308/.438/.654, 3 HR, 0 SB, 18.8 BB%, 12.5 K%, 177 wRC+
2025 (AA): 341 PA, .259/.323/.359, 2 HR, 6 SB, 8.5 BB%, 15.8 K%, 103 wRC+

Had an average regular season in 2025 after missing the first two months with a shoulder sprain, which likely sapped his power after he came back in June.

Cooper Ingle, C (Age 23)
2025 (AA) 403 PA, .273/.391/.443, 9 HR, 0 SB, 16.1 BB%, 17.4 K%, 148 wRC+
2025 (AAA) 107 PA, .207/.383/.329, 1 HR, 0 SB, 19.6 BB%, 16.7K%, 105 wRC+

Ingle has shown excellent offensive tendencies for a catcher. Will his defense and power be enough to earn an opportunity in Cleveland this year?

Jace LaViolette, OF (Age 22)
2025 (NCAA) 262 PA, .258/.427/.576, 18 HR, 7 SB, 21.8 BB%, 25.2K%, 120 wRC+

Cleveland’s first round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, the 6-foot-6 LaViolette instantly becomes one of the top power hitting prospects in the system. Strikeouts and contact have been an issue, however.

Alfonsin Rosario, OF (Age 21)
2025 (A+) 354 PA, .268/.362/.490, 16 HR, 12 SB, 10.8 BB%, 25.1 K%, 139 wRC+
2025 (AA): 145 PA, .211/.303/.391, 5 HR, 2 SB, 10.3 BB%, 33.1 K%, 105 wRC+

One of Cleveland’s most impressive hitters in its minor league system during his stint at High-A Lake County as a 20-year-old. Rosario has a unique combination of speed and power, but will need to overcome his strikeouts.

Khal Stephen, RHP (Age 23)
w/ TOR 2025 (A) 7 GS, 39.1 IP, 2.06 ERA, 1.97 FIP, 31.4 K%, 4.6 BB%, 0.92 WHIP
w/ TOR 2025 (A+): 9 GS, 48.1 IP, 1.49 ERA, 2.70 FIP, 26.6 K%, 5.4 BB%, 0.85 WHIP
w/ TOR 2025 (AA): 1 GS, 4.0 IP, 6.35 ERA, 1.88 FIP, 11.1 K%, 5.6 BB%, 1.68 WHIP
2025 (AA): 4 GS, 11.1 IP, 9.00 ERA, 9.54 FIP, 21.9 K%, 3.9 BB%, 1.50 WHIP

Acquired from Toronto in the Shane Bieber trade, Stephen rocketed through the minor league system in 2025 before hitting a wall in Double-A.He instantly became one of Cleveland’s top pitching prospects.

NOTE ON POLL: We have moved to Google Forms Surveys in an attempt to eliminate vote spammers. Please vote below. Voting will close at 11:59PM ET

The thumb went on the scale, folks.

There is no result because the results were skewed. How skewed? When closing responses, there were 548 collected. 86.6% of people claimed Dante Nori was the team’s third best prospect. No disrespect to Nori intended, but there is a consensus among the scouting community who the team’s top three prospects are, so let’s just learn from this and move on.

There is a decent amount of pressure on Justin Crawford now. He’s taken the methodical route to the majors, the team preferring him to find success at levels over an entire season as opposed to being rushed to Philadelphia before he was ready. Many scouting gurus have talked about his swing not being conducive to major league success no matter how well he performed in the minors, yet perform well in the minors he has.

The time has come for him to show what he can do in the majors and it seems the Phillies are primed to do just that. Judging from their offseason moves, the runway has been cleared for his to hit in the bottom third of the lineup and play left field full time.

Let’s see how he does.

2025 stats (with Lehigh Valley)

112 G, 506 PA, .334/.411/.452, 7 HR, 47 RBI, 46 SB, 11.5 BB%, 18.0 K%, 135 wRC+

Baseball Prospectus scouting report ($)

Offensively, we could pretty much cut and paste any report we’ve written about Crawford since he was drafted here. He still hits the ball on the ground way too much, he still runs like the wind, he still puts the ball in play a lot, and he still swings at way too many pitches for a guy who has what is otherwise a 1990s leadoff man profile. He made some real improvements around the edges of his very durable broad profile in 2025—he cut his chase rate by over five points year-over-year, which got it from catastrophic to merely bad, while turning a few grounders into line drives—but for the most part what you think about his offensive game still depends on whether you think his reliance on nine-hopper singles can sustain a plus-or-better hit tool outcome in the majors.

With each new post, we’ll reveal who won the voting for that particular slot, then post new players for you to vote on, adding another one to the list each time until we get to our final tally of 20. Once we get to 20 top prospects, we’ll do an honorable mention post at the end. If a player gets traded to another team, we’ll just chuck him right on outta here and all the players will move up a spot. If a prospect gets acquired, we’ll ask where he should go on the list.

Probably the most important thing about this whole process – please vote. Give us a few minutes of your time, just click a button and then we can discuss other players and things in the comment section, but don’t forget – VOTE!

Inspired by Mike Carlucci at Over the Monster (and, perhaps, an Instagram trend) I thought it would be a fun exercise to look back at Detroit Tigers teams from ten, twenty and thirty years ago and put myself in the shoes of the average fan in the winters just before those seasons.

Some of you here may be relative newcomers to the Tigers; in that case, welcome aboard, and just know that being a serious playoff contender isn’t always a frequent occurrence. But sometimes things line up just right – and, of course, a certain pizza-chain-owning mogul decides to blow his entire bank account on the team for which he once played in the organization.

Some of you have followed the Tigers for decades longer than others; in that case, feel free to fill things in for forty, fifty or more years in the past down in the comments. To that end, fifty years ago marked the debut of one of the singular sensations in baseball history, Mark Fidrych. He’d put together a good year across three minor-league levels in 1975 at age 20, capping things off with six very good starts at Triple-A Evansville (completing four of them; ah, different times, then). Did anyone see his 1976 coming? I doubt anyone would’ve, including Fidrych himself, may he rest in peace.

Anyway, on with the exercise at hand.

Ten Years Ago: 2016

A sense of dread hung over Tigers fans that offseason, as the window for a realistic shot at a World Series title appeared to have mostly snapped shut in the second year of Brad Ausmus’ tenure in 2015. Core stars like Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martínez were aging, Justin Verlander had re-emerged as one of the best pitchers in the league in the second half of the season but most weren’t yet convinced and they’d failed to build back around him, and it became clear that Ausmus was not the guy to reassemble the Tigers into anything ressembling a good team. Plus, Dave Dombrowski quit as General Manager and his longtime deputy, Al Avila, was expected to pilot the ship along roughly the same course as before.

And, let’s face it, the less said about Alfredo “Big Pasta” Simón’s season in Detroit, the better. Yikes. (How did that trade with the Reds turn out? I hope what’s-his-name turned out alright. You know, ol’ Jonathon Crawford.)

But, like all good baseball movies, the aging veterans surely had to have one last turn in the Sun in them, right? Besides, J.D. Martinez had a great season with 38 home runs and 33 doubles, and while he wasn’t so hot with the glove, you could stick him in right field and have him occassionally DH, you could get away with some suspicious defence now and again. Al Alburquerque and his amazing slider could baffle hitters in the late innings, and Bruce Rondón was going to be the Closer of the Future.

While the 2016 Tigers finished with 86 wins – short of a Wild Card spot after a wretched August and September in which they went 23–32 – it was pretty clear that the extended run of consistently good teams, stretching back to 2011, was over. Ausmus was kept around for another year in which the Tigers struggled, traded away all the veteran they could, including Verlander, and finished last. Things look pretty bleak for years afterwards.

Twenty Years Ago: 2006

I’ve always felt that Alan Trammell got a raw deal as manager of the Tigers for three years in the early 2000s. He was handed a truly horrible team in 2003 and, unsurpsingly, they did terribly; nearly-historically-terribly, as it turned out. When your starting lineup features Dmitri Young as, by far, its most valuable hitter (with a nice 3.4 bWAR but a glove as strange as you’ll ever see), and a starting rotation in which one starter had an ERA below 5 (Nate Cornejo, ladies and gentlemen), there’s only so much you can do.

Since things can’t stay that bad for that long, they won 29 more games in 2004 than they did the year before: no pitcher lost twenty games, Iván Rodriguez and Carlos Guillén were solid free-agent pickups, and Dombrowski had a full season on the job to build the kind of team we’d desperately wanted for years. With high hopes and an interesting young rotation, what would 2005 bring?

A slight regression, as it turned out. They won one fewer game, the bullpen was a mess (although they managed to get rid of Ugueth Urbina just in time and flip him for the impossible-to-whiff Plácido Polanco), and while the young starters stayed healthy and ate up a whole lot of innings, they didn’t take the huge step forward that many were hoping for. They had a 61-62 record near the end of August, but the bottom fell out and that was that.

Thus, ol’ Tram “got the ziggy,” and Jim Leyland was brought in to scream and yell and occasionally cry and the room you were sitting in sure got a little dusty when that happened for the 2006 season. As we all know, the Tigers got a Wild Card after skidding backwards into the playoffs, losing the AL Central title to Minnesota, but they made it all the way to the World Series in a run that none of us could have truly predicted. Breakout or standout seasons were all over the place, and some young punk kid named Verlander decided he’d go out and win himself seventeen games as a 23-year-old rookie. Not bad at all.

Thirty Years Ago: 1996

Here’s where a lot of us start to have slightly fuzzy memories, myself included.

Sparky Anderson retired at the end of the 1995 season. He’d been the manager in Detroit since mid-1979, which is the kind of managerial tenure you rarely see in baseball. He’d turned a boatload of ridiculously talented prospects into a World Series winner and kept things going for a while as those prospects aged into veterans. But the strike in 1994, and management asking him to possibly guide replacement players in 1995 (before the strike was resolved) suggested to Sparky that it might be time to hang ‘em up.

Lou Whitaker also retired at the end of 1995, but Trammell decided he had one more season in him as Travis Fryman was clearly going to be the starting shortstop going forward. Kirk Gibson had also squeezed one final campaign out of his body and reitred a Tiger, after memorable seasons in Los Angeles (and not-so-memorable ones in Kansas City and Pittsburgh). Chad Curtis looked to be a solid pickup from the Angels, but the less said about him the better, too, as it turned out.

Add Mike Moore’s name to the list of fresh retirees, too: he’d lost 15 games in the Tigers rotation in 1995, and at age 35 and after fourteen seasons, he probably figured he’d had enough. The rotation in ‘95 had Felipe Lira and José Lima, two promising young pitchers, and the Tigers picked up Omar Olivares as a free agent; he’d had some good seasons in St. Louis. Gregg Olson was brought in to be their closer, and he’d had a nice run in the early-’90s in Baltimore. Could this patchwork pitching staff get the Tigers some wins, picking up the slack for a questionable starting lineup?

Nope. The Tigers in 1996 had the worst team ERA in American League history, they lost 109 games under Buddy Bell, and it kicked off a ten-season stretch in which they wouldn’t win 80 games in a season, and indeed only cracked 75 wins twice. Bobby Higginson sure deserved better than this.

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Again, feel free to add your recollections of any of these past offseasons, a decade apart – or if you’re of a more refined vintage, something from a previous ending-in-six offseason.

Signed by the Mets on the January 15, 2025, Peña was the organization’s crown jewel for the 2025-2026 international free agent signing period. Considered one of the best position players available in the class, and potentially the best position player available, the Mets and Peña agreed to a $5 million dollar signing bonus, shattering the prior organizational record (Yovanny Rodriguez, $2.85 million) and eating up the majority of the $6,261,600 that the team had in their 2025-2026 pool.

Assigned to the Dominican Summer League, Peña has had an interesting start to his career so far. The 17-year-old shortstop started his career on June 2 for the DSL Mets Orange and went 0-2 with a strikeout and a hit-by-pitch. He would go 0-fer for roughly two weeks before logging his first professional hit on June 14th, going 1-3. After finally getting over that hurtle, Peña hit an incredible .351/.467/.635 over the course of the rest of the season. In total, he ended up hitting .292/.421/.528 in 178 at-bats over 55 games with 13 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs, 21 stolen bases in 25 attempts, and drew an even 36 walks to 36 strikeouts. Not just once, but twice, Peña hit three home runs in a single game; on June 26 when he went 4-5 with a double and three homers, and on August 18, when he went 4-5 with a single and three homers.

Listed a 5’11”, 170-pounds, Peña is almost certainly a little bigger and heavier than that now. He stands slightly open at the plate, holding his hands at the shoulders and wrapping his bat behind his head angled at 10:30. He swings with a slight leg lift but no real load or weight shift, primarily pulling the ball right now at a 48.5% rate and going back up the middle and to the opposite field at a 22.1% and 29.4% rate, respectively. His swing has natural uppercut and is designed towards putting the ball in the air, but was a bit slow and stiff according to scouts and evaluators early on in the season; whether it was just because he was still getting accustomed to professional baseball or not remains to be seen.

Despite the current lack of explosivity, Peña still makes loud contact, with a high-water exit velocity mark of 99.8 MPH as per public broadcasts of DSL contests where data is available. He does not expand the zone much, either. Peña was marketed as a hitter with his advanced pitch recognition and plate discipline for his age, and while that may be true broadly, the level of pitching he has been facing so far may simply be too embryonic to really get a good gauge on whether or not he actually is, or whether or not he only is currently for his cohort, relative to their current pitching abilities.

Peña’s lower half has thickened since first being scouted professionally, and he seemingly is still far from being physically maxed out. Defensively, he has the tools and ability to play shortstop but may be better suited at third base in the future depending on how quick-twitch athletic he remains. His range at shortstop is not currently an issue, but it may be taxed if he slows down in the future. His plus arm, smooth hands, and strong instincts work at either position.

Danny Rohl has re-energised Ibrox by instilling a winning mentality while "carrying himself like a Rangers manager should", says former midfielder Charlie Adam.

The former Sheffield Wednesday boss took over the Govan club during a period of turmoil following Russell Martin's calamitous tenure.

With 11 wins in 14 league games, the German coach has dragged the Ibrox side back into contention for the Scottish Premiership title.

Former Rangers player Adam says Rohl has not won matches by playing the best football, but by adjusting and understanding the predicament the club were in when he arrived.

"Danny's done a brilliant job," said Adam. "He's understood where Rangers are [and] he's carried himself like a Rangers manager should.

"I think you have to be a certain type to be the Rangers manager - how you carry yourself, how you speak to the media. I think he's done that really well.

"Has he played the best football? Probably not, but he's got results. That's key and that's the important bit. He's done that quickly.

"Now there's a lot of good feeling around the club and the supporters and the owners are trying to do the right things."

With leaders Hearts welcoming Celtic to Tynecastle on Saturday, Rangers could be presented with the chance to further close the gap at the summit when they host Dundee.

Adam, who was a Rangers player between 2003 and 2009, added: "Inside the club and inside that dressing room, they'll know that there's an opportunity to really kick on for the end of the season.

"A couple of signings from now to the end of the January window will help them, and as long as you come out of the window better than you started, it will give you an opportunity for the last part of the season."

Danny Rohl has re-energised Ibrox by instilling a winning mentality while "carrying himself like a Rangers manager should", says former midfielder Charlie Adam.

The former Sheffield Wednesday boss took over the Govan club during a period of turmoil following Russell Martin's calamitous tenure.

With 11 wins in 14 league games, the German coach has dragged the Ibrox side back into contention for the Scottish Premiership title.

Former Rangers player Adam says Rohl has not won matches by playing the best football, but by adjusting and understanding the predicament the club were in when he arrived.

"Danny's done a brilliant job," said Adam. "He's understood where Rangers are [and] he's carried himself like a Rangers manager should.

"I think you have to be a certain type to be the Rangers manager - how you carry yourself, how you speak to the media. I think he's done that really well.

"Has he played the best football? Probably not, but he's got results. That's key and that's the important bit. He's done that quickly.

"Now there's a lot of good feeling around the club and the supporters and the owners are trying to do the right things."

With leaders Hearts welcoming Celtic to Tynecastle on Saturday, Rangers could be presented with the chance to further close the gap at the summit when they host Dundee.

Adam, who was a Rangers player between 2003 and 2009, added: "Inside the club and inside that dressing room, they'll know that there's an opportunity to really kick on for the end of the season.

"A couple of signings from now to the end of the January window will help them, and as long as you come out of the window better than you started, it will give you an opportunity for the last part of the season."

Over the weekend, Ken Rosenthal dropped a little nugget on Royals fans about their outlook for the remainder of the offseason:

The Kansas City Royals are increasingly unlikely to land either of the two hitters they pursued in trades: the St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan and Boston Red Sox’s Jarren Duran.

Barring further moves, the Royals expect to rely heavily on offseason acquisitions Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas in their outfield, as well as rookie Jac Caglianone and holdover Kyle Isbel.

Let’s break down that last sentence a little bit more, though. Another way of saying that would be, “Unless something changes, it will remain the same.” This is a tautology, a logical statement that cannot be negated. If you try to negate his statement, you get, “Unless things remain the same, they will change.” It’s utterly useless. It’s also, simply, incorrect.

The baseball offseason is a game of dominoes. Each move made reduces opportunities and options. This causes teams and players to change the calculus constantly.

Last week, the Red Sox signed their first free agent of the offseason, Ranger Suárez. This has massive repercussions for the Royals. First of all, it made the Red Sox’s desire for Cole Ragans or Kris Bubic fall to basically nil. This made the chances that the Royals could acquire Jarren Duran similarly low.

Or, for a less Royals-oriented move but one which highlights this phenomenon even better, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker signed deals last week and suddenly Bo Bichette, who had found himself so lacking in team attention that he started leaking news about his willingness to change positions, got a huge short-term deal from the Mets who saw their options evaporating in front of their eyes.

But of course, that deal has implications for the Royals, too. Some of us were hoping Bichette’s value would fall far enough for the Royals to sneak in and swipe him. That’s not happening now. But with so many second basemen in the fold, the Mets probably need to trade away one or both of Brett Baty and Mark Vientos. Either could become a Royals target – I prefer Baty – or their availability could water down Donovan’s market to the point where he falls back into range for the Royals.

Whenever Framber Valdez signs, Kris Bubic should become a lot more appealing to the teams who missed out on Valdez and Suárez. Maybe Donovan and Duran are still off the table, but someone else could become available. Or a three-team deal that had seemed impossible could suddenly manifest for a team that wants Bubic but only wants to trade prospects that the Royals aren’t willing to wait for.

With all that in mind, here are several moves I think the Royals could make and what they’re waiting to happen before they make them.

Kris Bubic gets traded for Brett Baty

• Framber Valdez has to sign somewhere other than with the Mets
• Cody Bellinger has to sign with the Mets (this doesn’t have to happen, but it makes it easier)
• Bubic may need to pitch in Spring Training to show he’s healthy

Rumor has it that the Mets are considering playing Baty in left field, but that doesn’t really make a ton of sense when they have top prospect Carson Benge about ready to debut, and would make even less sense if they get Bellinger, too. We already discussed this deal a bit above and a few months ago when I wrote my first trade proposal. I don’t know if the Royals can get Kodai Senga, too, but they probably don’t want to have to give up Blake Mitchell. Five years of Baty for one year of Bubic would be a pretty big overpay, so I’d expect the Royals to have to kick in another piece or two to finish the deal, but if the Mets are as desperate as people seem to think they must have been to do the Bichette deal, maybe they’d go straight up.

Bailey Falter gets traded

• Spring Training has to start, and teams need to develop holes in their rotations due to injury

I don’t know how much of a return Falter will bring, probably not much, but the Royals could get out from under the $3.6 million they owe him by dealing him and as a reasonably competent starting pitcher – no matter how he looked for KC after the deadline last year – there should be multiple teams willing to give up a real prospect to patch a hole in their rotation. Not a top one, but one who has some kind of real value.

Adam Frazier gets signed

• Spring Training needs to start, and competitive teams need to be comfortable with their starting 2B/Corner Outfielders

Many have expressed shock that Frazier hasn’t already returned to KC. The most likely reason for this is that the Royals can’t guarantee him playing time. It makes all the sense in the world for him to wait until a couple of weeks into Spring Training to see if anyone finds themselves in need of his services that will guarantee him more money or more playing time than what the Royals have offered. Once it becomes clear that no one really wants him, he’ll come back to KC for whatever deal they’ve left on the table for him.

John Schreiber gets traded

• Nothing needs to happen, but there’s no rush either.

You may recall that the Royals first acquired John Schreiber in the middle part of Spring Training two years ago. He’s a talented enough relief pitcher to have value, but not one that has teams clamoring to add him immediately. Much like the Royals in 2024, someone will call KC a couple of weeks into Spring Training wanting to boost the front end of their bullpen just a smidge, and the Royals will be able to offload his $3.715 million contract.

The Royals gave up David Sandlin for him; Sandlin was a low-level prospect with some projectability who looked awful last year, but saw the Red Sox add him to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule-5 draft all the same. The Royals could likely get a similar style of prospect in return for him now, though hopefully they’ll scout them a bit better.

Over on the Royals Rundown podcast, Jacob and I have been ranking the most interesting players in the Royals’ system at each position. One thing has become clear as we have ranked the entire infield and begun to prepare to do the outfield next: The Royals desperately lack upper-level talent of any kind. Trading Schreiber and Falter could help them fill in some of those gaps while also freeing up payroll to add another left-handed reliever or some other piece to help them find their way to their second-ever Central Division title.

29. Ethan Hedges (58 points, 12 ballots)

Colorado’s third round pick in the 2025 draft (77th overall) out of the University of Southern California was Hedges. The 6’1” 21-year-old righty was a two-way player during his draft year but will be a third baseman as a professional. Hedges signed for $950k, about $110k below the slot value for the pick. As a prospect, Hedges boasts an elite arm (as a college pitcher, you’d hope so) and some good athleticism on defense, though there isn’t another standout tool.

Hedges was a three-year starter with USC, accumulating a combined batting line of .308/.413/.488. In 2025 he hit a very strong .346/.462/.619 with 14 HR among his 30 extra-base hits and 10/10 steals in 288 plate appearances, which equates to a 147 wRC+. In addition, he appeared in 15 games as USC’s closer, throwing 15 innings and getting 9 saves with a 2.40 ERA and 1.13 WHIP.

After signing, Hedges was assigned to High-A Spokane to begin his professional career, where he was 1.3 years younger than league average. In 20 games with Spokane down the stretch, Hedges struggled with the adjustment to pro ball, hitting .195/.303/.234 with three doubles in 89 plate appearances (just a 50 wRC+). Propping those numbers up was an 11% walk rate, which tracked with his college stats.

Here’s the video commentary on Hedges when he was drafted last year (and here he is taking grounders at the MLB Draft Combine):

MLB Pipeline ranked Hedges 159th overall in the draft (well below where he was picked) and now places him 17th in the system as a 40 FV player with a 60 arm and 55 field grades:

Hedges has a very good feel for the game, and while he doesn’t necessarily have any “wow” tools, he maximizes what he has thanks to outstanding makeup. It’s a line-drive approach from the right side of the plate, and he routinely finds the barrel, enabling him to post elite-level numbers in batting average and wOBA. He can drive the ball, and while he reached double figures in home runs this past spring, he profiles more as a guy with some extra-base doubles pop than huge over-the-fence thump in the future.

An average runner, Hedges has the chance to be a very solid defender with good instincts at the hot corner. He also has a plus arm, one that sits 93 mph with a fastball as a reliever to go along with a slider and a changeup. The hope is some more power can be teased out of him as a pro so that he can profile at third.

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Hedges 109th in the draft class as a 40 FV player and lists him 26th in the system with a 60 arm and 60 future field tool:

Excellent third base defender with plus range, hands, actions, and arm. Quick-footed in on the grass, makes strong accurate feeds to second base, value-altering defense. All fields doubles spray. Slightly chase-prone but contact pieces of profile are closer to average. Hands load really late and there might be more in the tank on offense if Hedges makes adjustments to be better on time. His bat speed looks better than his measurable power. Below-average everyday third baseman as currently constituted, defensive ability might portend competence at other positions that would allow for a utility role.

Keith Law of the Athletic wrote this about Hedges after the draft:

USC third baseman Ethan Hedges (3) went from two homers last year for the Trojans to 14 this year, although his batted-ball data points more to average power. He doesn’t hit spin well at all, and projects as a lower-OBP guy with maybe 15-18 homers at his peak. He also threw 15 innings in relief this year, topping out at 95 with a high-effort delivery, so he clearly has the arm to play anywhere on the field.

Hedges should be able to handle the hot corner defensively, but it’s his offensive projection that’s more of a question for scouts. The draft pedigree and prospect profile were enough for me to rank Hedges 28th on my ballot as a 35+ FV player. Hedges will likely start 2026 back with Spokane where he will be at league average age and with an off-season as a professional under his belt.

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The Texas Rangers and free agent reliever Jakob Junis have agreed to terms on a one year, $4 million deal with a mutual option, per reports.

Junis, 33, is a righthander who originally came up with the Kansas City Royals as a starting pitcher in 2017. After a bad 2020 campaign, he moved between the rotation and the bullpen with the Royals and then San Francisco from 2021-23. He split the 2024 season between the Brewers and the Reds, getting sent to Cincinnati at the deadline in the Frankie Montas deal.

Junis signed a one year deal last winter with the Cleveland Guardians and worked exclusively out of the pen, putting up a 2.97 ERA, 3.45 FIP and 4.04 xERA. He throws four pitches — unusual for a reliever, but not unexpected given how much of his career was spent as a starter — with his slider being his best pitch, featuring a lot of horizontal break. He had a lot of success with his changeup in 2025, but both his sinker and fastball were hammered.

Junis doesn’t throw hard and doesn’t strike a lot of batters out. He does, however, throw strikes, and in 2025, anyway, did a good job avoiding hard contact.

The Rangers’ 40 man roster is currently full, and so a move will have to be made to clear a roster spot once the Junis deal is official. Dom Hamel, Zak Kent, and Michael Otanez are guys who were acquired on waivers earlier this winter, and would seem to be the guys most likely on the bubble.

After making a couple trades in early December, the Nationals have been pretty quiet. There have been some smaller signings and a couple waiver claims, but no big moves. That has led some to wonder whether the Nats are done with their major moves. However, Paul Toboni indicated that there will be more activity coming.

In a radio interview, Toboni said the team is not set for Spring Training yet. That is music to the ears of Nationals fans. Even for a team with low expectations, there are some glaring holes on the roster. Most notably, first base and the bullpen are very unsettled. The Nats could also use more rotation help, especially if MacKenzie Gore gets traded.

Let's go to the videotape. pic.twitter.com/eMrMzvZpqZ

— Talk Nats (@TalkNats) January 19, 2026

It is reassuring to hear that Toboni is not done. If there are more moves to make, what would some realistic targets be though? Well, one guy that has made a ton of sense all offseason is Rhys Hoskins. The Nats desperately need right handed power, and Hoskins provides that. He has five 25-homer seasons in his career and is also a very patient hitter.

Hoskins only played 90 games last year, but he hit 12 homers and posted a solid .748 OPS. The Nats will be able to sign him to a fairly cheap one-year deal as well. He checks a lot of boxes with his power, leadership and ability to get on base. There are other older options like Paul Goldschmidt and Carlos Santana, but I think Hoskins has more in the tank.

Another position the Nats could explore is the relief market. All of the top guys are off the board now, but there are some interesting names out there. Seranthony Dominguez, Jalen Beeks and Michael Kopech are three options that intrigue me. Dominguez would be the most expensive, but he has closer stuff and could be a strong trade chip at the deadline. 

While the Nats have bodies in the rotation, they could use some more reliability. Most of the mid-tier free agent starters are still available. A reunion with Max Scherzer would warm my heart, but he is injury prone at this point in his career. If the Nats wanted to spend more money while not breaking the bank, guys like Zack Littell or Lucas Giolito would make sense. 

Interestingly, Toboni also said that the Nats continue to have trade conversations with other teams. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but it is nice that he is working the phones. MacKenzie Gore is the most obvious trade candidate, but I wonder if there could be any last minute surprises.

"We're an attractive landing spot for folks who want to compete."

Are the #Nationals planning to make more moves this offseason? 👀

🔗 https://t.co/iXax8hx4iOpic.twitter.com/obhewi8Mg3

— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) January 18, 2026

We did not expect the Jose A. Ferrer or Jake Bennett trades when they happened. Could Toboni have one more trick up his sleeve? At this point, I would be very surprised if CJ Abrams was traded. There was some buzz around his name earlier this offseason, but that has really died down. Jacob Young or Luis Garcia Jr. are guys I would not be totally stunned to see traded.

I am less confident that a MacKenzie Gore trade happens than I was earlier this offseason. However, it is clearly still on the table. A lot of pitching needy teams have made their big moves already, but there are still some suitors for Gore. The Giants, the A’s and the Mets are three teams that come to mind. All of them have solid farm systems and need frontline pitching.

Toboni seems content with the idea of holding on to Gore if the right offer does not come. Personally, I would have a bit more urgency to move him, but I understand where he is coming from. If Gore makes some adjustments and has a big first half, his value could be even higher. However, if he gets hurt or struggles, his value could really crater. 

Given the prices for starters this offseason, I would cash in, but I do not know the offers Toboni is getting. I would assume there have been competitive packages, but none that have blown Toboni away. The new front office has my trust, but a Gore trade would be my preference.

Unless the Nats trade Gore, I don’t think any crazy moves are coming. However, there will be more bodies coming through the door. Rhys Hoskins just makes so much sense to me. Maybe I am just talking myself into it, but I think that is a move that will happen. I also think that the Nats will add a pitcher or two into the fold.

There will also be more minor league free agent deals. Yesterday, they picked up Trevor Gott. With how much organizational depth they lost this offseason, we are likely to see more moves like that. We could also see another waiver claim or two. One thing is clear though, the Washington Nationals are not done yet.