Category: MLB

When the 2025 MLB Draft was approaching, Texas Longhorns head coach Jim Schlossnagle was hopeful to keep his standout catcher, Rylan Galvan, on the Forty Acres for another season.

Instead, the Buster Posey Award finalist signed with the Chicago White Sox after he was selected in the 13th round, sending Schlossnagle and his staff into the NCAA transfer portal to find an impact replacement.

That search turned into a resounding success story when Texas landed a commitment from star Notre Dame transfer Carson Tinney, also a finalist for the Buster Posey Award as the nation’s best catcher, and the only D1 Baseball All-American to enter the NCAA transfer portal last offseason.

“There’s never been a good baseball team with a bad catcher, ever,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said this week on the On Second Thought podcast. “We had to go get a great one and, luckily, Carson was out there and he had a real great interest in Texas.”

The program’s history of producing elite catchers was appealing for the 6’4, 240-pound Colorado product as he battles to place his name among the top players at the position in the 2026 MLB Draft — Just Baseball ranks Tinney as the No. 3 college catcher heading into the season.

“They proved to develop guys. They proved, obviously, to develop catchers,” Tinney said of his commitment. “I got along with the coaches very well. The area is great. And I was on campus, and it felt like the right place for me, so I pulled the trigger.”

A first-team All-American in 2025 by the NCBWA and Baseball American, Tinney elevated his stock with a breakout season, leading the Fighting Irish in batting average (.348), runs (52), homers (17), RBI (53), total bases (119), walks (34), on-base percentage (.498), slugging (.753), and multi-RBI performances (17) after battling injuries as a freshman that limited him to 15 starts in 28 appearances during which he batted .268 with three home runs and nine RBI.

In the batter’s box, Tinney’s prodigious pull-side power is elite, producing a top-10 average exit velocity in college baseball last season. This offseason, Tinney’s exit velocity has reached 112 to 114 miles per hour at Texas and up to nearly 120 miles per hour in training.

PR after PR after PR 🚨

Top college prospect Carson Tinney caps his PR streak at 119.5 MPH EV, landing #2 on the FL college leaderboard 💪 pic.twitter.com/Mn9zC26oMo

— Driveline Baseball (@DrivelineBB) January 2, 2026

“He has that big, big power — when he comes to the plate, the crowd is going to pay attention because you never know what you’re going to see,” Schlossnagle said.

WELCOME BACK, CARSON TINNEY! #GoIrish ☘️ pic.twitter.com/5TYXzYWbLg

— Notre Dame Baseball (@NDBaseball) February 15, 2025

Legend has it that @carson_tinney was reppin’ “𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐒 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓” before he even joined @TexasBaseball.

He’ll fit in perfectly in Austin. 🤘🏼⚾️😉pic.twitter.com/cGc6QHKMFd

— Occupy LF (@OccupyLF) June 23, 2025

“He gets ahold of that ball, it’s going a long way,” Texas sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis said.

At Notre Dame, Tinney combined that power with the command of the strike zone expected from a catcher in drawing 34 walks for an on-base percentage of .498 and a solid strikeout rate of 25 percent. In comparison, Galvan had a strikeout rate of 35.5 percent, as he was more prone to take close pitches late in the count and swing and miss.

“He’s improved as an overall hitter, which is what he has to continue to do to be the draft pick that he wants to be and to be the hitter that we want him to be,” Schlossnagle said.

Since arriving on the Forty Acres, Schlossnagle praised the development of Tinney’s leadership ability and his improvement behind the plate after throwing out 17-of-25 attempted base stealers in 2025.

“He’s a really good catcher. He’s got unique receiving abilities. He throws well,” Schlossnagle said.

A little “and-one” on this caught stealing from Carson Tinney (@TexasBaseball).@carson_tinney nails the potential go-ahead runner in the seventh — batter’s interference and all.#Rollcapspic.twitter.com/EwciexiXsR

— 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐬 (@BrewsterCaps) July 29, 2025

Longhorns pitchers like Volantis appreciate the big target that Tinney presents behind the plate and his coach in the Cape Cod league last summer praised the way that Tinney is able to frame pitches.

“He makes our pitchers better,” Jamie Shevchik said. “He steals strikes. There’s pitches that are probably two, three balls off the plate that he’s pulling back in and getting calls on.”

This is what a catcher’s system looks like.

Answers for whatever the game demands.

Simple. Fluid. Efficient. Consistent. Effective.

Build the system. Challenge the system. Refine the system.

Structure➡️Freedom@carson_tinney ⚡️📈 pic.twitter.com/Gxee6TwHdl

— Turner Pruitt (@turnerpru8) February 3, 2026

Despite adding 40 pounds since high school, when he reached 87 miles per hour throwing from behind the plate with a pop time of 1.80 seconds, Tinney has maintained his athleticism.

But no matter how much athleticism and toughness Tinney has, one certainty for the 2026 season is that he’ll suffer some knocks playing catcher and need some games off or at designated hitter to stay fresh, so he wasn’t the only important addition at the position.

With the departures of Oliver Service and Cole Chamberlain, backup options for Schlossnagle last season, landing a catcher with experience was paramount to allow some development time for signee Presley Courville.

Texas looked to the junior-college ranks to fill that need by signing San Antonio product Andrew Ermis, who made big strides as a hitter last season at Temple, improving his batting average from .255 to .338 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI. According to Schlossnagle, that offensive improvement has continued in Austin, but his floor is set by his advanced catching ability.

“He’s a really good catch-and-throw guy. I mean, really good,” said the Texas head coach.

The other certainty for the 2026 season is that if the Horns are going to make a run to Omaha, Tinney’s power in the middle of the lineup and play behind the plate will play crucial roles.

The Diamondbacks traded infielder Blaze Alexander to the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, Feb. 5, in exchange for right-handed reliever Kade Strowd and a pair of minor leaguers, a deal that represents the club’s biggest addition to its bullpen yet this winter.

Strowd, 28, enjoyed a strong debut in the big leagues last season, posting a 1.71 ERA in 25 games, allowing only one homer, walking 13 and striking out 24 in 26⅓ innings. He arrives in Arizona with six full years of club control.

Strowd, who averages 96 mph with his fastball, pitches predominantly off his cutter, a pitch he threw 41.1 percent of the time. He also throws a sinker, curveball and sweeper.

The Diamondbacks are also getting two prospects: right-hander Wellington Aracena and infielder Jose Mejia.

In exchange, the Diamondbacks had to part with Alexander, who had a breakout second half after taking over at third base following the trade deadline. He hit .230/.323/.383 with seven homers while playing excellent defense at third base.

Alexander became somewhat expendable after the Diamondbacks acquired third baseman Nolan Arenado in a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals last month. The Diamondbacks still have infield depth in the form of Jordan Lawlar.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks trade Blaze Alexander for reliever in deal with Orioles

The offseason trudges onward, and while the Yankees have likely made their splash by bringing back Cody Bellinger, there is always more work to do. One potential move could be to add another right-handed bat on the infield to provide a counterbalance to their lefty-heavy lineup. It would be a supplementary move, though depth is certainly never a bad thing, and Ty France could fit that bill quite well for the Yankees.

The veteran has been a very good Major League hitter for stretches, and is coming off of his first career Gold Glove award. It would be risky to think his best days are ahead of him, but France could prove to be a valuable addition to plenty of teams around the league, a list that perhaps includes the Yankees.

2025 Statistics: 138 games, 490 PA, .257/.320/.360, 7 HR, 52 RBI, 92 wRC+, 10 Outs Above Average, 0.9 fWAR

2026 FanGraphs Depth Charts Projections: 78 games, 336 PA, .252/.321/.383, 8 HR, 38 RBI, 98 wRC+, 0.5 fWAR

Ty France came up to the big leagues in 2019, his age-24 season, with the Padres. After a brief but unconvincing stretch in his debut season, France began to make noise in the shortened 2020 season, where he managed a 133 wRC+ across 43 games between San Diego and the Mariners.

A year later, the right-handed hitting infielder was in full breakout mode. During the ‘21 season, his first crack at a real full-time role, France was a major contributor across 650 plate appearances in Seattle. During that stretch, he swatted 18 homers, reached base at a .368 clip, and maintained an impressive 129 wRC+. The next year, he was just as good in the same role, this time topping 20 homers for the first time, and even earning his first All-Star selection.

France was legitimately an All-Star level player over those three seasons, and although it was not that long ago, his stock has fallen significantly since then. 2023 was his last full season with the Mariners, and while he was still a generally above-average contributor with the bat, playing primarily as a first baseman with significantly diminished power at the plate, his production had become far less valuable.

Since then, France has bounced around teams (playing with Seattle and Cincinnati in ‘24, and splitting time between the Twins and Blue Jays last season), finding even less success with the bat. Between those two seasons since then, the first baseman has been a below average bat (90 OPS+), reaching base far less often and displaying significantly less power over that time. They are troubling trends, to be sure, but don’t necessarily tell the entire story with France.

In a rather surprising turn of events, France has at least turned himself into an elite defender at first base. In 2024, he was a 1st percentile defender, with -12 OAA, last season, he was 96th percentile (10 OAA), and took home his first Gold Glove award. If he’s able to maintain anything close to that level of prowess with the leather, along with his contact skills at the plate, his floor is certainly kept above water. This isn’t to mention any kind of bounce back in the on-base or power departments, which is not entirely out of the picture.

When it comes to the Yankees, there is definitely a plausible fit with France. They have been reportedly interested in the veteran’s services, and it’s not difficult to see why. A competent right-handed bat to compliment Ben Rice at first base, and to take over if Rice plays behind the plate, would be a luxury to the Yankees, and someone with France’s skillset could make a lot of sense.

Entering his age-31 season, the contact-reliant first baseman seems to be on the decline, but his ability to develop elite skills as recently as last season at least keeps the door open to continued production one way or another. France’s services would also be unlikely to break the bank, as he’s coming off consecutive underwhelming seasons, and may have to join his future squad in a complementary role. It would be a low-risk investment, and one that could make some sense for the Yankees.

Steve Gilbert was first with the news that Blaze Alexander is being traded to the Baltimore Orioles for relief pitcher Kade Strowd, and a pair of minor-league prospects. Strowd is a 28-year-old right-hander, who reached the majors for Baltimore last year, and impressed with a 1.71 ERA across 27 appearances. He struck out 26 across 24.1 innings, though his FIP of 3.40 was considerably higher. He doesn’t even have a year of service time, so Strowd comes with a lot of team control – he won’t even be arbitration eligible until 2029. It seems he could be the ‘bridge closer’ Mike Hazen spoke about getting, until A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez are ready to come back.

The prospects are right-handed pitcher Wellington Aracena and infielder Jose Mejia. Aracena turned 21 in December and spent last year in A- and High A-ball, after being traded to the Orioles from the Mets last July, in the Gregory Soto deal. All told, he had a 2.25 ERA across 92 innings, with a 114:51 K:BB ratio. Mejia is younger still, being just 20, and played almost all of 2025 in the Florida Complex League. He did hit quite well there, with a particularly impressed 16:26 K:BB ratio. That helped him to a triple-slash line of .274/.418/.411 for an OPS of .829 across 47 games. A long way to go for both men.

Alexander, of course, should be well-known – not least for having won the SnakePit’s 2025 award for Play of the Year. He played a total of 135 games since making his debut at the start of 2024. There had been consideration to him perhaps playing left-field this year, especially after the trade for Nolan Arenado gave the D-backs an everyday starter at third-base. But that option is no longer on the table. Alexander was definitely a fan favorite here though, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors with the Orioles.

Strowd is a RHP that pitched well last season for the Orioles. In 25 games he had a 1.71 ERA, FIP of 3.40 and a WHIP at 1.101. He struck out 36, walked 15 and gave up 4 home runs.

The Diamondbacks are sending infielder Blaze Alexander to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for pitchers Kade Strowd and Wellington Aracena and infielder Jose Mejia, source said. @SteveGilbertMLB had it first.

— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) February 5, 2026

Jose Mejia is a 19 year old from the Dominican Republic, he is in A-ball.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=mejia-002jos

Wellington Aracena is a 20 year old RHP, also from DR, and is in A-ball. Now we get to hear Bert make Beef Wellington jokes again, should he reach the Majors.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=aracen000wel

The Orioles responded to missing out on starting pitcher Framber Valdez by trading for yet another right-handed hitter who can’t be optioned freely to the minors. MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert was first to report that the Orioles are swapping Kade Strowd to the Diamondbacks for Blaze Alexander. A pair of minor leaguers are also going to Arizona, reported by Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic: pitcher Wellington Aracena and infielder José Mejía.

Blaze Alexander has a cool first name and not very cool just about anything else. He’s now played in 135 big league games across two seasons and batted .237/.322/.366 in that time. He hit slightly better in 2025, getting the OPS over .700 though still counting as a below-average hitter, and provided enough defensive value across four different positions (mostly third base) that he was worth 1.7 bWAR in 74 games.

That’s not bad. That’s basically your Ramón Urías replacement. One might fairly observe that the Orioles could have just kept Urías and then not had to trade Strowd plus other guys in order to get Alexander. I don’t get paid to run a baseball team, so what do I know?

Strowd, 28, made a solid impression with the Orioles in the back half of last season, allowing a 1.71 ERA and 1.101 WHIP across 25 games. There were some markers of good fortune in the former 12th round pick’s results, particularly a .227 BABIP that is unlikely to be repeated in 2026 or beyond. He has typically had a higher walk rate than you’d like in the minors and that was true at the MLB level as well. It seems the Orioles thought this was the peak of his value.

Why they then also had to add Aracena and Mejía to the deal is beyond me. I would have been confused by this trade if it was Strowd for Alexander just on its own. I don’t even like Strowd.

Mejía is an infielder who received around a $400,000 signing bonus from the team three years ago. He hasn’t gotten higher than the Florida Complex League yet in his career. In 47 games there last year, Mejía batted .274/.418/.411.

Aracena was one of the players acquired when the Orioles sent Gregory Soto to the Mets last July. He was the #23 prospect in the Orioles system before being sent off in this trade. The 21-year-old righty Aracena finished last season with a 2.25 ERA and 1.087 WHIP in 23 games across two levels with the Orioles and Mets. He was striking out a lot of guys but also walking way too many guys, with a 5.0 BB/9 for the year.

Beyond the general “What in the heck?” reaction to this deal, my next thought is this probably shows that the Orioles have no plans of having Jeremiah Jackson back up any position on the infield dirt. This trade doesn’t happen if they have confidence in that outcome. The next thought after that is, who is actually going to pitch in this bullpen this year? Strowd seemed to have earned a spot based on how he pitched last year. Whoever’s taking his spot has proven even less than he has.

Or at least that’s how it looks to me. Mike Elias is a weird guy and he might have some more weird roster moves that nobody foresees between now and when things lock in for Opening Day. Maybe one of those moves will even appear good at first glance, or ever turn out to be good over any length of time.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal won his arbitration case, per multiple reports, meaning that he will receive his request $32 million contract for the 2026 season. The Tigers had countered Skubal’s request with a $19 million proposal.

This is the largest salary for a player who was arbitration-eligible, as well as the highest salary ever awarded in a contested MLB arbitration, with the previous high being $19.9 million. Skubal’s request was in line with the salaries received by stars in their final year of arbitration eligibility in recent years, such as Juan Soto, who agreed to terms for $31 million in 2024, and Vlad Guerrero Jr., who settled with the Toronto Blue Jays for $28.5 million.

While most players in arbitration can only compare themselves for salary purposes to other players with similar service time, because Skubal has at least five years of service time, he was able to compare himself to all players. In addition, the CBA allows a player to argue for a higher salary based on special accomplishments, which in Skubal’s case meant back to back Cy Young Awards.

In MLB’s arbitration system, the arbitration panel must pick one of the two numbers submitted. With the halfway point between the two numbers being $25.5 million, if the panel felt Skubal’s case warranted a $25.51 million salary, they are required to go with Skubal’s $32 million request, rather than the team’s $19 million request.

Barring injury or a disastrous season, Skubal will almost certainly receive more than $32 million per year when he hits free agency this upcoming offseason.

Paul Toboni and Ani Kilambi have been doing work on the waiver wire lately. They are churning through players on the fringes of the 40-man roster. Today, they claimed Ken Waldichuk from the Rays and DFA’d George Soriano in the process. Soriano was only claimed last week, but the Nats still decided to move on.

Washington Nationals claim LHP Ken Waldichuk.

Waldichuk ranks eighth in all of Minor League Baseball (min. 275.0 IP) with 13.02 strikeouts per 9.0 innings since the start of the 2019 season.

Read more: https://t.co/dBsuIMyBPV

— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) February 5, 2026

On the surface, Waldichuk is a weird claim. He posted an ERA over 8 in the minor leagues last year as a 27 year old. However, there is more than what meets the eye here. Waldichuk is a former top 100 prospect with some pedigree. He was part of the trade that sent Frankie Montas to the Yankees in 2022.

At the time of that trade, Waldichuk was a big deal. He pitched in the Futures Game for the Yankees and was a strikeout machine in the minors. For his career, Waldichuk’s K/9 in the minors is 13.02. Despite low to mid 90’s velocity, Waldichuk’s fastball has always played up.

Yankees top pitching prospect Ken Waldichuk gets the save in the Futures Game! pic.twitter.com/RZajHJD3QR

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 17, 2022

In 2022, he got a cup of coffee in the MLB with the A’s, before spending all of 2023 in their rotation. He has 175.2 career innings with a 5.28 ERA and 165 strikeouts. Things did not work out very well for him in the MLB, but he was still a young pitcher.

However, he had to undergo Tommy John Surgery, missing all of 2024. When he came back in 2025, he did not look like the same guy. The Minor League ERA of 8.17 makes that pretty clear. His velocity was down about 2 ticks and his control was not there.

Despite that, Waldichuk was still getting strikeouts. He fanned 68 batters in 54 minor league innings last year. The fact he was still getting strikeouts makes him sort of interesting. A lot of pitchers struggle in their first year back from Tommy John before looking better as they get further removed from surgery.

There are some signs that this could be the case for Waldichuk. In bullpen’s this offseason, his fastball averaged 93.9 MPH. This season, he only averaged 91.6 MPH on his heater. If the Nats can get Waldichuk to sit 94 consistently, they could have something here.

Whoever picks up @Ken_Waldichuk is getting an absolute steal.

Hardest avg and top FB velocity since pre TJ (and it was a bullpen).

Shapes are coming together. Big year ahead for him as he returns to his former self 🐐@TreadHQhttps://t.co/KkDaJxhtBZpic.twitter.com/Ql0bblWB5s

— Turner Givens (@TurnerGivens) February 3, 2026

Despite being a starter for his whole career, I think the Nats should transition Waldichuk to the bullpen. He has proven he is not a very effective starter at this point. Waldichuk throws his fastball a lot and I think letting it rip in shorter spurts could help him. A lot of his profile just feels like a failed starter who could thrive in the bullpen.

Even if the velocity is back, Waldichuk will still need to improve his control. Walks were a concern before the surgery, and the control was very bad last year. This is another reason why I think a move to the bullpen makes sense.

As we have seen, there is a chance Waldichuk is not on the team next week. Just ask guys like George Soriano and Micky Gasper. However, I think he is an interesting enough reclamation project for Toboni to want to see what he has in Spring Training. If he does not look good this spring, you can always DFA him again. 

The Nats have made a lot of additions on the waiver wire lately, but this one is more intriguing than some of the others. Waldichuk has a pretty high ceiling and has more pedigree than your average waiver claim.

It’s time for part two of our honorable mentions, this time covering exclusively the arms that just missed list. As a reminder, next week will mark the beginning of our top twenty and continue biweekly over the course of this spring. Check in every Tuesday and Thursday for more, and please let us know what you think in the comments below!

Michael Morales – RHP

2025 Statistic of Note – 2026 K-BB ratio: 1.89 (2025 at AA: 5.15)

That is not a fun statistic to share about Moose Morales, who ran into a wall on his second tour through the Texas League. Always a zone controller, that seemed to get away from Morales this year, as he issued as many free passes as he has in his career but with a troubling downtick in strikeouts. Morales remains young, just 23 years old, but in his third year of development, you’d hope to be moving forwards, not back. At this point, it seems like there’s no magical velo bump coming, so Morales will have to find a way to make his below-average fastball work at the big leagues, by throwing it stubbornly at the top of the zone and hoping the rest of the arsenal cooperates. That’s where there’s hope in the profile: his changeup and curve are both swing-and-miss offerings, if he can find them regularly. -KP

Walter Ford – RHP

2025 Statistic of Note – 18% K rate 

High school pitchers are the most volatile draft group, and that’s being borne out in Ford’s career so far. He’ll have fantastic outings followed by forgettable ones. The fastball velo hasn’t jumped forward like one might hope, but there’s still swing-and-miss promise in his slider. Unfortunately, the lack of a meaningful heater is capping his ceiling right now; even at 20 years old, Ford should be handling A-ball hitters with a little more authority. He will go through torrid stretches where you can see him putting it all together – he won Pitcher of the Month honors for the organization in June – but needs to close that last step so the forward momentum is constant and consistent. But he’s certainly not the first prep pitcher to struggle to do so; nor will he be the last.

Outstanding start by Walter Ford. Final line: 7.1IP, 7H, 4R, BB, 4K, 83-59. Longest outing of his pro career. Bullpen allowed 2 inherited runners to score. pic.twitter.com/7vKk9doRIv

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) September 7, 2025

Lucas Kelly – RHP

2025 Statistic of Note – Has not debuted

The Mariners’ sixth rounder from last July’s draft, Lucas Kelly was one of the premiere relief prospects in all of college baseball last season. Featuring a Sewald-ian release point from a 6’4 frame, Kelly achieves ridiculous VAA (Vertical Approach Angle, if you’re unfamiliar, is essentially a measurement of how steeply the pitch is approaching a hitter) metrics and can rush his heater up into the triple digits. Given his flat approach and high octane velocity, Kelly’s fastball eats hitters alive at the top of the zone and should be a plus pitch or better. His breaking ball has two somewhat similar shapes, but his gyro-spin cutter has the potential to be a weapon for him as a professional. The secondaries and command need some refinement, but the raw potential for a leverage reliever is apparent. With some development, Kelly could easily be the best pure relief prospect the M’s have had in a long time.

We won't ever live this one down!

Relive the final out that won us the 2025 Northwest League Championship! pic.twitter.com/94eMpirZKH

— Everett AquaSox (@EverettAquaSox) September 14, 2025

Danny Macchiarola – RHP

2025 Statistic of Note – Has not debuted

Macchiarola, last year’s 8th rounder out of Holy Cross, didn’t get a ton of fanfare when he joined the organization. The 6’2 180lb right hander had a relatively standard arsenal with solid, if unspectacular numbers at a small school in the Northeast. Considering he’s yet to debut as a professional, what’s changed?

Drawing rave reviews from offseason camp, Macchiarola was mentioned as a standout amongst the other gas campers, seemingly having added a tick on his arsenal as a whole. Possessing the innate ability to manipulate spin on the baseball, Macchiarola looks like he’s got a shot at debuting in pro ball with a complete four pitch mix that’s capable of putting hitters away consistently. He’s shown he can command his pitches consistently; if the velocity truly has taken a step forward, the Mariners may have found themselves another late round gem.

Matt Tiberia – RHP

2025 Statistic of Note – 2.27 ERA

Tiberia was one of the biggest surprises of last year’s minor league season, emerging from the 18th round out of Lynn University to put together a really nice season for the Nuts. The wiry right hander doesn’t have the most overpowering arsenal, but with a nice sinker that touches the mid 90’s, a tight slider, and solid mechanics down the mound, the 6’3 hurler has the look of someone who should continue to be a starter. He did miss some time with injury last season, but now healthy, the right hander should get a shot at starting the season with the Frogs in Everett as a rotation mainstay. If he’s able to replicate the kind of season he had last year, he’ll be all but assured to find his name considerably higher up our list come midseason.

Brock Moore – RHP

2025 Statistic of Note – 12.5 K/9

Moore is undeniably the most volatile pitcher to make this list. Strictly a reliever, Moore’s fastball frequently eclipses 100 mph and is paired with a hellacious two plane breaking ball that strikes out a ton of opposing batters. Throw in a changeup with massive fade and velo separation, and the makings of an elite reliever seem to be ready made. The problem? Borderline 20-grade command. Moore was the owner of a truly astounding 13.5 BB/9 mark last season and has little, if any, idea where any of his offerings are going. He’s a rather good athlete and evaluators have remained bullish on his ability to reign in his arsenal enough to get by, but until that point, he’s a tough watch out on the mound. With the best pure stuff in the system, hopefully the hulking right hander can dial it in and become the lockdown reliever his stuff would indicate he can be.

I think it’s safe to say that most St. Louis Cardinals fans are anxious to identify the next St. Louis Cardinals core group of players you rebuild around. Once identified, you would hope to lock those players into long-term extensions. If you were St. Louis Cardinals President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom, would you work to extend shortstop Masyn Winn? Would your answer be now, later or never?

The St. Louis Cardinals still have four years of team control as he’s currently on a trajectory to reach free agency after the 2029 season, but he’s eligible for arbitration after the upcoming 2026 season. Fangraphs has Masyn pinned as a 3.6 WAR while ZIPS projects him with a 3.1 WAR for the 2026 season. His elite defensive skills have already been rewarded as a Gold Glove finalist in 2024 and a Gold Glove winner in 2025. Offensively, Masyn had a solid 2024 slashing a .267 average with 15 home runs and an OPS of .730, but was hampered by nagging injuries in 2025 with his average dipping to .253, 9 home runs and an OPS of .673.

What would a Masyn Winn extension look like? As I shared a few weeks ago, it’s believed that an extension at this point in his career would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 years for around $100 million dollars. My initial reaction to that number and those years is I would jump at the chance if I were Chaim Bloom and Masyn Winn’s agent Andrew Guerra said yes. The cynical side of me says that I would wait at least one more year to see what Masyn’s performance is like now that the torn meniscus in his right knee has been surgically repaired. That would be the reason for a potential “later” answer.

The X factor for me is Masyn Winn’s maturity and potential team leadership role. He addressed that during the Winter Warmup a few weeks ago. He said that he specifically wanted to help JJ Wetherholt adjust to the major leagues.

Masyn Winn – “As far as…leadership…it’s something I take pride in. I’m gonna go out there and compete and play how I play…I’m really looking forward to playing with JJ…I want him to be himself…I want him to go out there and have some fun…I wanna be there for JJ and let him be great.”

I’ve seen enough of Masyn Winn to know that I want him to be a part of the new St. Louis Cardinals core, but I understand those who want to see more before they would offer an extension. What’s your opinion? Now, later or never?

The long wait is finally over!

According to sources close to ESPN, Detroit Tigers ace hurler won his salary arbitration case on Thursday, giving him a $13 million raise over the franchise’s proposed figures and setting the record for the largest salary ever awarded through arbitration at $32 million in 2026.

That number surpasses the previous record set by outfielder Juan Soto, who settled with the New York Yankees at $31 million in 2024. The two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner is represented by super-agent Scott Boras, who also represented Soto in his case.

The decision also sets two arbitration records for pitchers. Skubal became the highest-paid arbitration-eligible pitcher by leapfrogging David Price, who earned $19.75 million with the Tigers in 2015; he received the largest raise for an arbitration-eligible pitcher by surpassing Jacob deGrom, who saw his salary surge from $7.4 million to $17 million — an increase of $9.6 million — with the New York Mets in 2019.

BREAKING: Two-time reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal won his arbitration case and will make $32 million this year, sources tell ESPN. Skubal’s bet to go for the largest salary ever in the arbitration system paid off, as he’ll make $13M more than Tigers argued.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 5, 2026

All in all, Skubal received a $21.85 million raise from $10.15 million in 2025 to $32 million in 2026 — a meteoric 215.3% increase in pay.

Skubal will now earn the sixth-highest base salary among MLB pitchers this season, with Zack Wheeler ($42 million, Philadelphia Phillies), Framber Valdez ($38 million, Tigers), Jacob DeGrom ($38 million, Texas Rangers), Gerrit Cole ($36 million, Yankees) and Tyler Glasnow ($32.5 million, Los Angeles Dodgers) ahead of him.

The Dodgers had a clear need on offense, and they filled it by signing the best free agent available. Outfielder Kyle Tucker and his four-year, $240-million contract turned a weakness into a strength. Let’s look at the outfield as spring training nears.

40-man roster outfielders

• Kyle Tucker RF
• Andy Pages CF
• Teoscar Hernández LF
• Alex Call LF/RF
• Michael Siani CF
• Ryan Ward LF/RF/1B

Things to watch

Elevating the floor and ceiling: Dodgers outfielders as a group in 2025 hit .240/.299/.415, and ranked 17th MLB with a 98 wRC+. Upgrading from Michael Conforto to Tucker should work wonders. Tucker has a 130 wRC+ and at least four Wins Above Replacement in each of the last five seasons, the latter even in 2024 when he missed half the season with a fractured right tibia.

Staying healthy: The vast majority of Dodgers position players are in their 30s, but Tucker is 29 and joins 25-year-old Andy Pages in the suddenly more youthful outfield. Teoscar Hernández, now in left field, struggled in a 2025 season that saw him miss time with a groin strain and fouling a ball off his foot. When healthy, Hernández can be a force offensively, and now he’ll be a little further down a much deeper lineup. In addition to the shin injury in 2024, Tucker missed time with the Cubs last season with a calf strain and played through a hand fracture in June that led to a second-half decline.

Room for growth: Andy Pages had a dreadful postseason with just four hits in 51 at-bats, but also made a championship-saving catch in Kool Aid Man fashion in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series in Toronto. Pages and coming off a 27-homer, 4-ish WAR season and is also only 25 years old. There’s a lot to like here, especially when Pages is likely to hit at or near the bottom of the lineup.

Useable depth: The other three outfielders on the 40-man all have minor league options. Alex Call is the one most likely to stick on the bench, with the caveat that the inevitable return of Kiké Hernández hasn’t yet happened. Michael Siani is a defense-first center fielder who could be this year’s Justin Dean, but let’s see how many more times Siani is placed on waivers first.

Will Ward get the call? Ryan Ward had the best of his three seasons in Triple-A Oklahoma City last year in winning Pacific Coast League MVP, but was passed over in favor of several other call-ups with more defensive value before getting added to the 40-man roster in November to avoid losing him to minor league free agency. Ward is a modern-day Maytag repairman in that his best two positions are designated hitter and first base, and the Dodgers have Hall of Famers at those positions. Ward, who turns 28 in three weeks, also can monitor corner outfield space when needed, but now with Tucker the team is well-stocked in both left field and right field as well. There doesn’t appear to be much of a path to playing time for Ward on the Dodgers, but expect the Cactus League — he played in 45 spring training games over the last three years — to be his showcase to other teams who might have room for him.

Tarik Skubal won his arbitration case against the Detroit Tigers on Feb. 5, earning a record salary of $32 million after the Tigers requested a 2026 salary of $19 million.

Skubal's victory after a hearing before a three-person panel the day before sets him up for a final year in Detroit before the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner is expected to receive a record haul in free agency.

Before hitting the market, though, he earned a landmark victory over his team.

The $13 million gap between team and player was a record in salary arbitration, and Skubal's victory was a record for a player who went to a hearing, topping Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s $19.9 million award in 2024. It's also the single highest one-year salary for an arbitration-eligible player, edging Juan Soto's $31 million one-year pact with the Yankees in 2024.

Skubal is certainly worth it: Over the past two seasons, he's struck out 469 batters in 387 1/3 innings, going 31-10 with a 2.30 ERA and winning the AL's pitching triple crown this year. He also led the majors with a 7.30 strikeout-walk ratio and a 0.89 WHIP.

When is Tarik Skubal a free agent?

For one year, Skubal will join forces with top free agent pitcher Framber Valdez, who on the same day Skubal and the Tigers went to trial was agreeing to a three-year, $115 million deal with the Tigers. Valdez's $38.3 million average annual salary is a record for a left-handed pitcher, and will earn more this season than his Cy Young-winning mate.

That should change next year when Skubal hits the market. For now, he's already got a fairly big win in his column.

The three-person arbitration panel is tasked not with determining which salary to award, but rather whether to go higher or lower than the midpoint of the two sides' offers - in this case, $25.5 million. Skubal's body of work clearly moved the panel to favor a salary north of that - and Skubal will be compensated in record fashion for what's likely his final year in Detroit.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tarik Skubal contract: Tigers ace wins historic arbitration hearing

We’re trying a new series at Royals Review, a daily mid-day question of the day to hear about your opinions on a fun or pressing question affecting the Royals or baseball in general. Chime in and drop your answers below!

News broke late last night that the Tigers had signed the best remaining free agent, Framber Valdez, to a hefty three-year deal worth $115 million. There’s some concern that this signals the Tigers’ intention to trade away Tarik Skubal, but if they’re going to have both lefties in their rotation, they just became much more formidable. Prior to the move, the Tigers and Royals were seen as about even in their odds to win the division, and it seemed reasonable for the Royals to potentially go into the season without making another move to improve their roster, wait to see how Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen do, and then potentially load up at the deadline. That now seems like a much riskier choice.

One initial reaction from a fellow RR writer was that the Royals should really go get the lefty-mashing Miguel Andujar, but he was signed a few minutes later to the Padres on a one-year/$4 million deal. With Austin Hays and Harrison Bader getting signed last week, free-agent, right-handed-hitting outfielders have essentially gone extinct.

I threw together this trade idea last night in response to the moves:

Do the Royals need to make a trade? Or is there a free agent out there you’d still be interested in? Or would you be OK if the Royals continued to wait for the opportune moment to strike?