Because when a salary cap or some other mechanism to limit spending is implemented – and it will be implemented – the golden era of Dodgers baseball will be over.
This isn’t to say the Dodgers won’t remain one of baseball’s smartest franchises. They will. This isn’t to say they won’t still be considered a destination team for free agents. They will.
Los Angeles Dodgers players celebrate their victory against the Toronto Blue Jays during the bottom of the 11th inning to win the MLB World Series in game seven in Toronto, Canada, 01 November 2025. EDUARDO LIMA/EPA/ShutterstockYoshinobu Yamamoto holds the MVP award after the Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in eleven innings in Game Seven to win the MLB World Series. Aaron Josefczyk/UPI/Shutterstock
Thinking that a bright front office and winning culture will allow the Dodgers to maintain their current level of dominance, however, fails to appreciate how special the current roster is and the role money played in building it.
How good are these Dodgers?
They won a second consecutive World Series last year, and their players later acknowledged they didn’t even play well. Think about this: How much better does a team have to be than its competition to play so-so and come out on top in a sport in which the best team usually doesn’t win the championship?
In Major League Baseball right now, there are the Dodgers and there is everyone else.
That doesn’t mean I believe the owners want to impose a salary cap because of concerns about competitive balance. Many of these same owners have never seemed to care enough about winning to place a competitive product on the field, and that was the case even before Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers and handed them a blank check to build their current super team.
Ice Cube delivers the World Series Trophy during the victory celebration at Dodger Stadium. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Whether the owners are making good-faith arguments doesn’t really matter. They want to control the cost of labor, and they will. The current collective bargaining agreement will expire Dec. 1, and the players will almost certainly be locked out. In the negotiations for a new deal, time will be on the owners’ side. Both the players and owners will be hurt if games are lost in 2027, but the owners are better positioned to withstand the damage. They have more money.
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Why the owners want to do this is another subject to be explored on another day. The point is that when the Dodgers return from the anticipated lockout, they will return to a new reality, whether it’s with a salary cap or more severe luxury-tax penalties. The regulations designed to break up their team might not take effect immediately – there’s an assumption in the industry that teams will be granted a grace period of a couple of seasons to become compliant – but those rules will eventually be in place.
Dodgers management has downplayed the possible effects of spending restrictions by pointing to the numerous advantages they have.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto celebrates with his teammates after the final out as the Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays. EDUARDO LIMA/EPA/Shutterstock
“We have an organization that whatever rules or regulations, constructs are put in front of us, we’re going to dominate,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Roberts was right – up to a point. The Dodgers have a well-stocked farm system that regularly produces plenty of serviceable major leaguers. They have a robust analytics department. They have a capable front-office leader in Andrew Friedman. They have a clubhouse peacekeeper in Roberts. The restrictions on spending won’t apply everywhere, and if the Dodgers continue outspending their rivals in those areas, they could remain the sport’s leading franchise.
But prevent them from spending $400 million annually on players and they will go from being a historically dominant team to just an extremely well-run team. A club that should win the World Series every season will become a club that could win the World Series every season. That’s a significant difference.
This isn’t football. Ohtani can’t be involved in every offensive play, as, say, Patrick Mahomes was for the Chiefs when they won Super Bowls. There’s a reason baseball didn’t have any back-to-back champions in the 25 years between the Yankees and Dodgers. Safeguarding against the dumb luck that presents itself in the sport, particularly with an expanded postseason field, requires a team to be much, much, much better than everyone else. Building in that kind of margin is close to impossible without an enormous advantage in financial resources.
Kiké Hernandez holds the World Series Commissioners Trophy during the World Series celebration at Dodger Stadium. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Dodgers will always have their stars, and when Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman slow down or retire, they will still be able to replace them. But the players a level below will be affected. Bringing in high-level supporting actors such as Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman will become more difficult. And when the Dodgers make mistakes, they won’t be able to just throw money at the problem, as they did this winter when they signed Edwin Diaz to make up for the Tanner Scott gaffe.
More of their roster will have to be homegrown. If the Dodgers were already living in that world last year, Alex Freeland might have been starting for them in the World Series instead of Edman. They would have lost a little here, a little there, and suddenly, the gap between the Dodgers and every other team wouldn’t have been as large as it was.
Whatever happens, the Dodgers should remain the best team in baseball. But they won’t be what they are now, which is one of the most powerful teams in history, if not the most powerful. The clock is ticking on this version of the Dodgers. Enjoy this while it lasts.
The club is running things back with virtually the same core that spearheaded consecutive World Series championships over the last two seasons. Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz were added in blockbuster free-agent signings this winter. And as prohibitive title favorites again in 2026, the Dodgers, who are enjoying an already-polished golden era of baseball, could be primed for an even brighter shine.
The club is running things back with virtually the same core that spearheaded consecutive World Series championships. AP
After all, for all the Dodgers’ star-level talent, their roster is aging, with half of their projected lineup already 33 or older. Within the next two years, foundational pieces including Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández –– plus, very likely Tucker, if he exercises his opt-out clause –– will all be out of contract, creating key voids across the diamond. At some point, their lucrative long-term commitments to Mookie Betts (who is signed through his age-39 season), Will Smith (signed through his age-38 season) and maybe even Shohei Ohtani (signed through his age-38 season) could start to feel more burdensome than beneficial, too.
Mix in the looming threat of a salary cap that MLB owners are expected to push for during next winter’s CBA negotiations and the Dodgers’ future could soon face renewed challenges.
“You have to account for some age,” manager Dave Roberts said recently. “This team is not gonna be together forever.”
This, however, is where club officials have voiced confidence in the team’s extended time horizon –– citing their dual objectives to maximize the championship window they are in now without, as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman often terms it, “falling off a cliff” further down the line.
“You don’t want to be flippant about what we have right now in this moment in time,” Friedman said last week. “That being said, we have to try to balance it with three, four, five years out.”
“You have to account for some age,” manager Dave Roberts said recently. “This team is not gonna be together forever.” IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
If MLB’s current financial structure were to remain unchanged, of course, the Dodgers’ long-term plans would be simple. They could likely maintain their historic spending levels. They could fill holes with free-agent signings. They could lock a new core of stars up to long-term deals.
Alas, that’s unlikely to be the case.
With the league’s current CBA set to expire Dec. 1, a labor battle is already beginning to brew between MLB and its players’ union. The industry expectation is that the owners –– in part as a reaction to the Dodgers’ financial dominance of the sport –– will push for a salary cap. And even if they don’t get one, it’s possible that harsher luxury-tax penalties or other mechanisms to curb spending could be introduced.
If MLB’s current financial structure were to remain unchanged, the Dodgers’ long-term plans would be simple. Getty Images
To this point, the Dodgers are still waiting to see what the future will look like.
They have baked some of the uncertainty into their recent decision-making process. For example, the team’s general preference this winter was to avoid any free-agent contracts of more than three years, per sources, in part because of a growing expectation that if the league were to institute a salary cap, it would come with a multiyear adjustment period to allow bigger-spending teams like them to gradually become compliant.
At the same time, several key organizational voices have downplayed the impact a salary cap or altered economic landscape would make on the team’s ability to remain an annual contender.
“We have an organization that whatever rules or regulations, constructs are put in front of us, we’re going to dominate,” Roberts said at last month’s winter meetings, after saying publicly he would be OK with a salary cap. “Let us know the landscape, and then I’ll bet on our organization.”
The Dodgers farm system is touted as one of the best in the sport. AP
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“I don’t know what the rules may be,” team president Stan Kasten echoed. “But I think we have an organization staffed with people who can help us contend every year.”
The primary source of that optimism –– in a salary-cap world or not –– is rooted in the Dodgers’ highly touted current farm system, which is widely considered among the strongest in the sport.
Regardless of what MLB’s future rules might be, the club is focused on making it’s seemingly unstoppable run of annual dominance continue for as long as possible. Getty Images
While the club lacks an abundance of surefire future stars (outfielder Josue De Paula, a consensus top-25 prospect in the sport, is the biggest potential exception), rival evaluators have highlighted the overall depth and upside of the Dodgers’ current pipeline. Of the various top-100 prospect rankings published by baseball outlets in recent weeks, the Dodgers have had anywhere from four to seven players ranked.
In the outfield alone, the Dodgers have up to eight names they forecast as potential big-league options in the next 2-3 years (including De Paula, Eduardo Quintero, Zyhir Hope, Mike Sirota, James Tibbs III, Zach Ehrhard and recent top-round picks Charles Davalan and Kendall George). That was another reason why, when it came to their negotiations with Tucker specifically, they preferred a shorter-term deal; betting that at least a couple of their up-and-coming prospects will prove to be productive MLB hitters once Tucker is gone.
It’s possible that harsher luxury-tax penalties or other mechanisms to curb spending could be introduced. Aaron Josefczyk/UPI/Shutterstock
“Infusing young players over that time is going to be really important for us to be able to maintain (this level of success),” Friedman said.
That sentiment would become even more true if MLB stiffens its spending rules. In that environment, developing young talent would be crucial to building cost-effective roster depth. It would also provide opportunities on the trade market, which would only figure to grow in importance.
“There are many people who value our minor-league depth, right at the top of the industry,” Kasten said. “And we’re gonna need that.”
In the outfield alone, the Dodgers have up to eight names they forecast as potential big-league options in the next 2-3 years. Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Indeed, for the Dodgers, it all comes back to the fear of “the cliff” –– and making sure the team’s current dynasty, 13-year playoff streak and seemingly unstoppable run of annual dominance continues for as long as possible.
Regardless of what MLB’s future rules might be.
“There’s just so much unknown around that,” Friedman said. “I’ve now been through a lot of CBAs and have tried to get cute leading into a CBA. Like, ‘OK, this is where it might be going.’ (Right now), we have no idea. We are sitting in the cheap seats on that. So for us, it’s about, whatever the rules are, reading and reacting to it and doing everything we can within the rules to be as good as we can be.”
A lot has been said about the rebuild of the St. Louis Cardinals and for good reason. The roster has been a work in progress in recent years, but what about the status of Busch Stadium and the St. Louis Cardinals TV deal? Both will play a role in the future of the team and where it goes from here.
I haven’t seen much discussion about what Bill Dewitt Jr. and Bill Dewitt III had to say during the recent Winter Warmup, but several comments addressed one big issue now and one that might become a big issue in the next few years. The need for the current Busch Stadium to get upgrades and renovations and the status of the St. Louis Cardinals TV deal.
When asked where the St. Louis Cardinals stand with the TV deal that remains to be resolved, Bill Dewitt Jr. said “From an internal business standpoint, it’s fairly disruptive in the sense that we’re trying to figure out whether we do another deal with FanDuel sports and have the status quo…or move over to MLB Media which a number of teams have done…both options are on the table still…we’ve been triaging the situation for awhile…having said that, from a fan’s standpoint, there shouldn’t be much interruption at all”. He inferred that no matter which road they chose, they’re hopeful that St. Louis Cardinals might end up on new platforms like YouTube TV, Amazon, etc. I saw an estimate by MLB.com today that teams like the Cardinals moving from a cable deal to MLB Media might result in huge loss of revenue. It said “For the clubs that lost their RSN deals, the broadcast deals replacing them have, on average, paid out about 50% of what clubs had received from their former cable deals.”
Bill Dewitt Jr. was also asked about how upcoming stadium improvements might be affected by the competitiveness of the team. He said “I would say it’s related, but not necessarily directly linked. We’re dealing with a stadium that’s 20 years old and it’s served us incredibly well. We plan on being here for a long, long time…but we’re going to have to do a project that’s multi-faceted at some point here in the near future and that time frame is dictated more by the physical reality of things than it is the competitive cycle, but you’d love to time it up…if we’re a huge playoff contender and a likely deep October type of team, you’d love for that to coincide with stadium renovations…but I don’t think they’re directly linked”. When asked about the timing of stadium upgrades, he said “sooner rather than later”, but he went on to talk about how they’re studying the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals interactions with the state of Missouri before they decide how they want to move forward. The context of their statements makes it clear that they have no plans to lobby for a new stadium in the near future, but upgrades to the current Busch Stadium are desirable over the next few seasons.
When you try to get a 10,000 foot view of the status of the St. Louis Cardinals right now, you can see that there are a lot of moving parts and much uncertainty. The DeWitt family says they are committed to making good baseball decisions now and they vow to invest in the team even more when it’s clear the Cardinals are ready to make a deep October run, but I have to wonder how the loss of TV revenue and the need for investment in Busch Stadium will factor in to the overall economy of the club. A perfect scenario would be for the stadium to get the upgrades it needs and a new more prosperous TV deal gets put in place when the St. Louis Cardinals new core is developed and ready to compete for titles again. Navigating from where we are today to that point is tricky. That’s a lot of “rebuilds” that need to be done right and soon.
While it took longer than some would've hoped, the Yankees re-signed star Cody Bellinger last week to keep him in the Bronx for the foreseeable future.
Bellinger, who had discussions with multiple teams, agreed to return to New York on a five-year, $162.5 million deal that includes opt-outs after the 2027 and 2028 seasons. The new contract also includes a full no-trade clause and a $20 million signing bonus.
But it wasn't the money that sold Bellinger on coming back to the Yanks after his first season with the team, it was his belief in the group itself.
"It feels good. I came last year. The locker room and everything is a really special environment. Yankee Stadium was a special place to play and I really enjoyed my time," Bellinger said.
"This year, after lots of conversations with Scott [Boras] and the free agent processes, it's an interesting process for sure and it's exciting as well. Ultimately once it all came to fruition there at the end, I'm very excited. I'm very excited to be back. I'm feeling good. I'm ready to get up to Tampa and get going."
When Bellinger rejoins the Yanks at spring training within the next two weeks, there will be plenty of familiar faces. In fact, most of the starting lineup will be the same as it was last season.
That detail was attractive to Bellinger as he has full confidence in his Yankees teammates and believes they can go further than they did in 2025.
"Actually, I feel really good with that," Bellinger said. "Obviously, it might not be what everyone wants to hear, but I really do love the group that we had. We had a special unit, we had great chemistry that I don't think could be understood unless you're in the clubhouse. We all play for each other. On top of that, we have some important pieces coming back. We all played well.
"I'm excited to run it back with those guys and I'm fully confident in that group."
Bellinger hit .272 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI over 152 games during his first year in Yankees pinstripes, but the season ended prematurely in the ALDS. He, reigning MVP Aaron Judge, and the rest of the Yanks will now look to use the 2025 season as a building block and find a way to bring World Series title No. 28 to New York in 2026.
"Special man, special," Bellinger said about Judge. "There's not enough positive words to say. Obviously we all know what he does on the field is truly special. What he brings into the locker room, what he brings as a teammate, the confidence that he instills in everyone in the locker room. He's a huge part of the success of this organization.
"Ultimately, when you have the opportunity to play alongside a future Hall of Famer already, you want to go and you want to win that ring. You want a parade down New York City. You want it for Judgey, of course, you want it for the fans. Ultimately, that's the main goal here, have a parade down the city of New York. That's what I want to do, that's what I want to strive to do."
Just a day after I wrote about the Brewers notably inviting two catchers to spring training, they’ve tacked on another catcher to that group.
Veteran catcher Reese McGuire, who spent last season with the Cubs, has agreed to a minor league deal with Milwaukee with an invite to major league spring training, per Curt Hogg.
McGuire, 31 in March, was a first-round pick by the Pirates back in 2013. He’s appeared in parts of eight MLB seasons with four different teams, including the Blue Jays, White Sox, Red Sox, and Cubs. His best season came back in 2019, when he appeared in 30 games for Toronto and totaled 1.0 bWAR, hitting .299/.346/.526 with five homers and 11 RBIs.
He appeared in 44 with Chicago in 2025, functioning as the primary backup to Carson Kelly. He hit .226/.245/.444 with nine homers, 24 RBIs, and 17 runs scored. He’s also considered an above-average catcher in terms of framing, blocking, and his throwing arm, catching eight of 31 would-be stealers in 2025 (25.9%) and sporting a career caught-stealing rate of 27.1%.
While William Contreras is the clear starter behind the plate for Milwaukee, McGuire will compete with Jeferson Quero and a few other minor leaguers for the backup job this spring. If the coaching staff feels that Quero needs a little more time to develop, it isn’t inconceivable that McGuire breaks camp with the major league squad at the end of March.
McGuire also doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, so if he enters the season on the Brewers’ MLB roster, the team won’t be able to option him whenever Quero is ready.
Obviously, the MacKenzie Gore trade is the biggest move the Nationals have made in the past week. However, there have been a few minor moves that you may have missed. I wanted to take a look at some of the news items that have been lost in the shuffle. Between minor league signings and spring training invites, there is plenty to talk about.
The first move I want to discuss actually happened today. It was reported that the Nats signed veteran infielder Sergio Alcantara to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite. The 29 year old has appeared in 193 MLB games, getting into one for the Giants last year.
Dominican infielder Sergio Alcántara signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals, per sources.
Alcántara, 29, appeared in one MLB game with the San Francisco Giants in 2025 season.
Alcantara is a sure handed switch hitting shortstop, who should provide solid organizational depth. He is pretty buried on the depth chart, but if injuries hit, there is a chance that Alcantara could be called up at some point this season.
Another move announced in the last day or so is that the Nats out-righted Andry Lara to Triple-A. Lara was DFA’d on January 20th, but cleared waivers. He will remain in the Nats organization, but is off of the 40-man roster.
RHP Andry Lara, who was DFA’d last week, cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Rochester.
This is good for both sides. Lara was clearly not ready for the MLB. Now that he is off the 40-man, the 23 year old can focus on sharpening his craft in the minors without worrying about being shuttled back and forth. It is nice to see that the Nats were able to keep him in the organization. While it has not been announced yet, he should get an invite to Spring Training.
Speaking of Spring Training, the Nats announced their internal non-roster invites. It is not a large list, but notable prospects like Seaver King and Caleb Lomavita will be invited. Interestingly, Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana were also invited to MLB camp despite being injured.
Being in a big league camp should be a good learning experience for these youngsters. The full list of non-roster invites for minor league free agent signings has not been announced yet. We know players like Warming Bernabel and Matt Mervis will be there.
Some other players who will be there are Trevor Gott, Zach Penrod and Tres Barrera. The Nats announced the minor league signings of those three a few days ago. Gott and Barrera have been in the Nats organization before, and have both played for the big league team back in the day.
The Nationals have signed the following players to Minor League contracts with invitations to 2026 Major League Spring Training:
Out of the three, Penrod is probably the most interesting. He has real control problems, but has a 95 MPH heater with life from the left side. I do not think he will break camp with the team, but it would not be a surprise if we see him at some point.
One more arm the Nats signed to a minor league deal is Bryce Montes de Oca. The towering righty is coming back from his second Tommy John Surgery. Prior to the surgery, de Oca’s fastball lived in the upper 90’s. If he can show that sort of velocity again, he will have a chance to stick with the Nats.
The Nationals have signed right-handed pitcher Bryce Montes de Oca to a Minor League contract with an invitation to 2026 Major League Spring Training.
None of these moves are earth shattering, but they are worth going over. Maybe one of these arms has some sort of surprise breakout season. This year is going to be all about players showing what they have. The Nats are not going to be very competitive this year, so plenty of players will get chances. Hopefully a couple of these guys can stick and become pieces for the future.
Despite the fact that we’ve hit this lull period here in the offseason, there’s still a fair number of players out there who are available via free agency. In fact, there’s actually plenty of starting pitchers who are still on the market at the moment. Jon Heyman of the New York Post recently took note of this via a social media post:
Tyler Anderson and Walker Buehler, too! You could form 3 plus decent rotations with starters still available https://t.co/WXsCUc9Rcd
Two of the names that Heyman mentioned in his own post that he quoted were Lucas Giolito and Chris Bassitt. As it turns out, those two players are now currently linked because the Atlanta Braves are reportedly interested in potentially bringing either one of those guys in. Heyman was the one who linked the Braves to those two while he made an appearance on MLB Network. He’ll start talking about the Braves interest in Giolito (and Bassitt as well) at around 4:20 during the video below:
All the way back in November, Alex Anthopoulos did state that the team would be looking for pitching during the offseason. They accomplished the goal of fortifying the bullpen (with the retention of Raisel Iglesias and the Robert Suarez signing being chief among their offseason acquisitions) and now they’re apparently looking to make sure that their starting rotation is fortified for the upcoming season as well.
Lucas Giolito will be entering his Age-31 season here in 2026 but he’s coming off of a bit of a bounce-back season in 2025 where he stuck with the Red Sox for the entire season after bouncing between three clubs in 2024. He produced an ERA of 3.41 (80 ERA-) and a FIP of 4.17 (99 FIP-) over the course of 26 starts and 145 innings pitched for Boston. That was good for 2.0 fWAR in 2025, which gave him his most productive season since 2021 which is when he capped off a very good three-year run with a 4.1 fWAR season back then.
Giolito has certainly had his ups-and-downs since 2021 and he’s also coming off of an elbow injury that ended his season prematurely in September. However, he did end up making a recovery early enough to where he’s essentially had a full offseason to work out instead of rehabbing so the obvious hope for any team that would sign him is that he’ll be ready to go once spring training and the regular season rolls around.
Alternatively, Chris Bassitt has been very steady since the 2019 season and any team who brings him in knows what they’re likely going to get — even as he enters his Age-37 season for the upcoming season. Bassitt has made 188 starts since 2019 and thrown 1087.1 innings across that span and over the course of all that time, he’s sat on an ERA of 3.60 (87 ERA-) and a FIP of 3.94 (93 FIP-).
That is about as steady and reliable as it gets over a long run and he also proved it in the Postseason for the Blue Jays last season. He made seven appearances for Toronto over the course of their long playoff run and notched a 10.38 K/9 rate alongside a 1.04 ERA and a 1.52 FIP while coming out of the ‘pen for the Jays. That type of reliability goes a long way and also seems to fit what the Braves would like to have whenever they actually do dip their toes into the free agency water. This is a club that values experience and a proven track record and it appears that Bassitt has both of those qualities.
I’d be pretty happy with either one of these pitchers joining the rotation (especially considering that neither of them will have the penalty associated with the Qualifying Offer attached to them), as they would certainly help add a period to some of the lingering question marks surrounding this rotation. Atlanta still currently has a very solid rotation on paper but as we’ve seen with the past couple of seasons, injuries can tear that paper up in a hurry. If Atlanta does choose to bring in one of these guys, they could at least be satisfied knowing that Giolito is coming into this season healthy and Bassitt has been consistent (even though he is aging) for a good and long while, now. We’ll see what happens when it comes to one of these two potentially joining up with the Braves ahead of this upcoming season.
Once one of the most promising Twins on the roster, Edouard Julien’s time in Minnesota has come to a close. The Twins announced they traded Julien and pitching Pierson Ohl to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Jace Kaminska.
Julien, 26, was instrumental to the Twins’ 2023 playoff run when they finally broke their 20-year postseason losing streak. In 109 games, he hit .263/.381/.459 with 16 home runs, a 134 wRC+, and 2.7 fWAR. Unfortunately, in the two seasons since then, he’s combined to hit .208/.299/.324, 11 homers, a 79 wRC+, and -0.8 fWAR. Never a good defender, his defense went from “poor” to “unplayable” in his final two years in Minnesota.
The fall came hard and fast for a player who always struck out too much and started getting exploited by pitchers who had better scouting reports on him. With Julien out of options, him getting surpassed by Luke Keaschall and Kody Clemens, and his lack of defensive ability, there simply wasn’t a role for him on Minnesota’s roster anymore. Instead, he’ll get a chance to revitalize his career in hitter-friendly Coors Field where his power should play well.
Ohl, meanwhile, just made his Twins debut last season and served as a multi-inning reliever and spot starter when injuries piled up for the pitching staff in the middle of 2025. His surface level 5.10 ERA was ugly, but his 4.20 FIP and 3.99 xFIP combined with solid, if unspectacular, strikeout and walk rates made him look like he could be a decent mid-game reliever. As a pitcher who relies on his changeup as his “out” pitch, there’s a good chance Ohl will be less affected by the elevation in Colorado compared to other pitchers.
Kaminska, 24, was the Rockies’ 10th-round pick in 2023. He missed all of 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery, but pitched very well in 2024 in the hitter-friendly California League. Kaminska threw 87.1 innings to the tune of a 2.78 ERA/3.13 FIP while striking out 104 batters and walking just 12. His ERA and FIP were 41% and 35% better than league average, for context. He’ll miss the beginning of the 2026 season due to the elbow surgery, but should make his return in the first half of this year.
Today is nomination day, so head to the comment section to nominate the next group of prospects for Friday’s CPL!
We’re officially three-quarters of the way through the 2026 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List! Spring Training is about to start, and our community project ranking the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization is about to end.
But we still have some extremely intriguing names to discuss before it does, including Monday’s winner: shortstop Maui Ahuna, who has been voted as the No. 33 prospect in the organization. That’s a drop of 10 spots for Ahuna, who came in at No. 23 in last year’s CPL.
Ahuna, who was a fourth-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Tony Vitello’s Tennessee, has a not uncommon profile for a shortstop: elite glove, questionable bat. The left-handed hitter, who will turn 24 during Spring Training, is a wizard with the leather, and certainly could respectably stand on stage in a debate about the best defensive shortstop in the system (though he’d probably lose that debate to Josuar González). But the massive swing-and-miss issues that popped up during his time playing college ball have not yet dissipated in his short pro stint.
The offensive numbers are still good, thanks to a combination of power, walks, BABIP fortune, and facing lower levels. In 63 games across the Complex League, Low-A, and High-A last year, Ahuna slashed .269/.370/.453 for an .823 OPS and a 123 wRC+, with five home runs in 274 plate appearances, and 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts. That paints the picture of someone with some offensive potential, but the hit tool remains scary (Fangraphs gives it a 20 present/30 future grade). Ahuna struck out 27.0% of the time in 2025, with a swinging strike rate of 14.3%, which was the 11th-highest mark among Giants prospects with at least 200 plate appearances last year and, unlike Ahuna, most of the names with worse marks were young for their level, rather than old for it.
The swing-and-miss issues are bigger than the strikeout and swinging strike rates would suggest, since Ahuna is a patient batter who accomplishes a lot of success by merely not swinging. Friend of the site Roger Munter, whose currently ongoing prospect rankings are a true must-read for Giants farm fans, contextualized this with a scary stat, saying “As was true in his final season at Tennessee, he often runs whiff rates as high as 40%.”
Another major concern with Ahuna is the injury history, as he’s suffered numerous setbacks in his career. Since getting drafted in 2023, Ahuna has played just 97 games, and just 58 of them have been in the field (although he did play 11 games in the Arizona Fall League a few months ago). The flip side to that is that, perhaps if and when he can actually stay on the field for an extended period of time, he’ll be able to make some gains to his hit tool. As it stands, Ahuna is a fascinating measuring stick for how people value prospects. He has a fatal flaw, and one that historically is very, very difficult to fix. But everything else is so good and intriguing that, should he make that fix, he could turn into a high-quality MLB player.
Needless to say, his upcoming age-24 season will be pivotal. I’d assume it starts with High-A Eugene, where he played just 11 games last year before the season ended.
Now let’s add to the list, and a reminder that today is nomination day. Both voting for the No. 34 prospect and nominating the next batch of prospects will take place in the comment section.
Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page.All stats are from the 2025 season.
Santiago Suarez, RHP 21 | 6’2” | ? A+ | 2.88 ERA, 2.07 FIP, 40.2 IP (10 GS), 26.9% K, 3.6% BB AAA | 5 ER (9 H, 2 BB, 3 HR) 11.0 IP (2 GS), 9 K
Suarez climbed the ladder to Triple-A to finish a short season, as some triceps/shoulder issues hampered his 2025, but when called upon this Venezuelan strike-thrower has earned the trust of his managers to go out there and pitch. He has two plus fastballs, with easy heat but average ride on the 4-seam, and a hard cutter with tight bite. His only complimentary pitch thus far is a 12-6 curve, which makes it a fairly vertical arsenal. He gets good extension, although I’d be remiss to not mention the double pump in his plant leg that on first glance looks like noise, but has led to evident repeatability. What Suarez boasts in control he might lack in command. Right now it’s a supinator’s profile with an average arm slot. To progress he either needs to add some east-west depth to his arsenal (à la Chris Bassitt), or find ways to unlock the spin rates a touch more (Shane Baz). I’d expect him to slot into Montgomery’s rotation as one of the younger starters for his level.
Rank
Player
Position
Votes
Total
Percentage
Last Season
1
Carson Williams
SS
14
25
56%
1
2
Brody Hopkins
RHP
19
25
76%
8
3
Jacob Melton
OF
14
28
50%
NA
4
Theo Gillen
OF
14
26
54%
13
5
Ty Johnson
RHP
12
25
48%
15
6
Daniel Pierce
SS
13
23
57%
NA
7
Jadher Areinamo
INF
15
28
54%
NA
8
TJ Nichols
RHP
13
28
46%
NR
9
Michael Forret
RHP
8
33
24%
NA
10
Santiago Suarez
RHP
11
30
37%
16
The top ten is solidified with only two players returning from last year’s top ten: 1. Carson Williams, SS – returning No. 1 2. Brayden Taylor, 2B/3B – not yet a candidate 3. Xavier Isaac, 1B/OF – candidate 4. Tre’ Morgan, 1B – candidate 5. Chandler Simpson, OF – not yet a candidate 6. Aidan Smith, OF – not yet a candidate 7. Yoniel Curet, RHP – traded to Philadelphia for RHP Tommy McCollum (not yet a candidate) 8. Brody Hopkins, RHP – new No. 2 9. Dom Keegan, C – not yet a candidate 10. Trevor Harrison, RHP – candidate
Our next round of voting brings in Homer Bush Jr. — if you’d like to see Taylor, Simpson, Smith, or Keegan as a candidate, add them to Testers or make them your next vote under Others.
Candidates
Caden Bodine, C 22 | S/R| 5’10” | 200 A (BAL) | .326/.408/.349 (133 wRC+) 49 PA, 0 HR, 0 SB, 5 BB, 8 K
Drafted 30th overall in 2025, Bodine was acquired in the Shane Baz trade. He profiles as a relatively safe prospect thanks to 60 grade bat-to-ball skills, and comfortably-plus blocking and receiving behind the plate. There is some concern that his smaller frame limits him to fringe power, but those concerns are off-set by solid plate discipline from both sides of the plate; his sweeter swing is left handed. All catching prospects will see their value proposition shift with the challenge system, but his defensive actions, leadership, and receiving give him real value, projecting him as a solid major league contributor.
Acquired in the Brandon Lowe trade, Brito has three plus pitches with a fastball that touches 100 with cut-ride, and two breakers in a mid-80s curveball with surprising depth and a mid-80s slider he commands best. He also mixes in a developing low-90s cutter and a scattershot but intriguing mid-80s changeup with strong velocity and movement separation, with some added deception from his smaller frame helping limit hard contact. The concern is control, as he’s posted below-average strike rates in A-ball across 2024–25 and lacks consistent feel outside the slider, leaving him to project as a slightly wild, high-leverage reliever for now. Still, with multiple plus pitches, improved durability, and meaningful command gains, he has mid-rotation starter upside, giving him possibly the widest range of outcomes on this list. Baseball Prospectus describes him as having “Shohei Ohtani’s stuff with Johnny Cueto’s body.”
Slater de Brun, OF 18 | L/L | 5’10” | 187
Drafted 37th overall in 2025, through a draft pick traded by the Rays, de Brun was essentially re-acquired in the Shane Baz trade. Like many Rays outfield prospects he’s not expected to develop much power, but compensates with an ability to hit to all fields, and has the benefit of years to develop. His hit tool rates plus thanks to a quick, compact swing, and his double-plus speed elevates both his baserunning and range in center; he has a solid arm and can stick long term. The key to his development will be improving pitch selection to maximize his power potential. Despite not yet playing in a pro game, he’s a good bet to skip the complex league and debut in Charleston this season.
Homer Bush Jr. 24 | R/R | 6’3” | 215 AA | .301/.375/.360 (122 wRC+) 546 PA, 0 HR, 57 SB, 8.8% BB, 17.9% K
Acquired in the 2024 Jason Adam trade, the starting center fielder at Double-A passed the test of advanced pitching, but just barely. He lacks in-game power due to a lack of use of his lower half in his swing, and he whiffed more often than you can for long term success with a low-power approach. His calling cards are Rays-grade defense and plus-speed, having notably swiped 57 bags in back-to-back seasons.
Nathan Flewelling, C 19 | L/R | 6’2” | 200 A | .229/.393/.336 (126 wRC+) 439 PA, 6 HR, 9 SB, 20.3% BB, 27.6% K A+ | 22 PA, 4 H, 5 BB, 6 K
The 94th overall pick from 2024, Flewelling made his debut at 18 years young and caught a full season (75 C, 26 DH), plus a five game cup of coffee (3 C, 2 DH). Taking the longview, he could grow into 50-60 grade power with 50 grade defense, which makes him one to follow. His plus zone awareness at the plate offsets his lagging contact, and most importantly for the position his ability to call games and frame pitches are already plus. A strong season with the bat at High-A could vault him into Top-100 consideration.
Harrison entered the season as Baseball America’s top pitcher in the system thanks to a cleaned up delivery and high heat. He ran into some bumps in the road by running up his pitch count against batters, but he still made it over 100 innings in 22 starts. A power pitcher through and through, his hard slider flirts with cutter classification and could evolve into two distinct pitches down the road. It will be interesting to see how his change up plays as he’s challenged at higher levels, but for now he has premium stuff and the upside of a rotation anchor. (video)
Isaac had his season cut short large-in-part due to the discovery of a brain tumor, disrupting an otherwise great start to the season that duplicated his cup of coffee in Double-A as a 20-year old, despite some minor arm injuries along the way. He has the best power projection in the system, and if he can hold his own for a full season in 2026 — particularly against southpaws, which is somewhat of a concern — the former first round pick (29th overall, 2021) could see his status restored near the top of the Rays prospect rankings.
Morgan continued to hit without power in 2025, a great discouragement for some evaluators, but his present 50-grade hit tool and feel for the zone allow a major league projection. He continued his improved, quieter two-strike approach in 2025 that built on his success retooling his swing in the AFL last year. The Rays gave Morgan 14 starts in Left Field last season, and Baseball America called the defense “playable,” but his value is tied to his plus-plus defense at First.
Brendan Summerhill, OF 22 | L/R | 6’3” | 200 A | .333/.429/.444 (160 wRC+) 42 PA, 0 HR, 5 SB, 6 BB, 5 K
Following an All-Star performance at the Cape Cod summer league, Summerhill exhibited some of the best bat-to-ball skills in NCAA as a junior at Arizona. His draft stock took a minor hit due to injury (broken hand from from punching a cooler) and was drafted 42nd overall, but Summerhill rebounded well with a dominant stop at Charleston to finish the year. Summerhill has plus barrel control, allowing for a high-contact approach for his long swing. He has plus speed as well, which provides a chance to stick in center. Evaluators would like to see more power to complete a five-tool profile. Even if the power doesn’t materialize, it’s an above average contributor’s projection.
Jose Urbina, RHP 20 | 6’3” | 180 A | 2.05 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 92.1 IP (19 GS), 26.4% K, 8.2% BB A+ | 2 ER (2 HR), 4.0 IP (1 GS), 5 K, 0 BB
Good pitchers grow and adjust, and Urbina has done that consistently at an age young for his level. Physically he has grown in strength, sitting at 96 with the fastball after flashing high octane in 2024, and technically he has grown, refining his dialed up slider and his two-plane curveball into complementary pitches — which lack plus command but are thrown with feel. He shouldered a starter’s workload at 19, and was awarded one additional start at High-A, where he allowed two solo shots and struck out five. Overall, the age, body, and body of work have him on the trajectory of top prospect lists in the near future.
In yet another move this morning, Colorado Rockies announced they have acquired infielder Edouard Julien and right-handed pitcher Pierson Ohl from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for minor league pitcher Jace Kaminska and cash considerations.
The Rockies announced today they have acquired INF Edouard Julien and RHP Pierson Ohl from Minnesota in exchange for Minor League RHP Jace Kaminska and cash considerations. pic.twitter.com/frESXSCXnW
Out of minor league options, Julien, 26, joins the club after spending parts of three seasons with the Twins. Originally drafted in the 18th round out of Auburn University in 2019, the native of Quebec City, Canada, has slashed .232/.336/.382 in his big league career. He burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2023, slashing .263/.381/.459 with 16 home runs, finishing seventh in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. However, he struggled in his playing time over the next two seasons, capped by a rough 2025 campaign in which he hit just .220 with a .633 OPS in 64 games.
Julien spent the majority of the year in Triple-A, where he batted .276 with a .879 OPS, 33 runs scored, and 21 extra-base hits, including 11 home runs over 70 games. Strikeouts have certainly been an issue for him in his big league career at a 31.7% clip, but he has also managed an above average 13% walk rate. Defensively, he gives the Rockies a little bit of versatility on the right side of the infield at the two most unsettled positions. He has started 159 games at second base and 23 at first base. The added bonus is that he is a left-handed batter.
Ohl, 26, was recently designated for assignment by the Twins. A 14th-round pick by the Twins in 2021 out of Grand Canyon University, Ohl finally made his big league debut in 2025, where he went 0-3 with a 5.10 ERA and 27 strikeouts against five walks in 30 innings over 14 games that included three starts. His minor league career, spanning five seasons, paints a better picture. He owns a career 3.61 ERA in 394 innings over 90 appearances. He has tallied 373 strikeouts and a 1.13 WHIP and was named a Texas League Post-Season All-Star in 2023 and 2025.
He has primarily been used as a starter in his career and could fit into the mix for the Rockies’ rotation while remaining an option as a swing-man out of the bullpen. Per Statcast, he features a primarily four-pitch mix that includes a 92 MPH four-seam fastball alongside a cutter, curveball, and changeup. Statcast also indicates that he threw five knuckleballs in 2025. Aside from the fastball, his other pitches generated at least a 20% whiff rate, while his changeup secured 13 of his 27 strikeouts. He pounds the zone and doesn’t walk many batters.
Kaminska did not pitch in 2025 as he recovered from surgery on his elbow. Drafted in the 10th round from the University of Nebraska in 2023, he went 5-5 with a 2.78 ERA across 17 outings, including 16 starts, across his first two seasons in the minors with the Arizona Complex League and the Low-A Fresno Grizzlies. In 2024, he had 104 strikeouts against just 12 walks in 87 1/3 innings.
The Texas Rangers will have pitchers and catchers reporting to Surprise in a couple of weeks, and the team’s roster is starting to round into shape.
The Rangers swapped Marcus Semien for Brandon Nimmo early in the offseason, addressing their corner outfield need while also opening up a spot for Josh Smith to play every day. In December they signed Danny Jansen, addressing their need for a catcher to share time with Kyle Higashioka. Last week, the team acquired MacKenzie Gore, taking care of a hole in the middle of their rotation that needed filling. And throughout the offseason, they have added relief pitchers, with four free agent relievers being signed to major league deals, a reliever being added through the Rule 5 Draft, a pair of arms being claimed on waivers (who are still here, as of now), and your usual collection of NRIs to throw against the camp wall to see if any stick.
The one priority on the offseason shopping list that has not been addressed, however, is a righthanded bat. Chris Young has said throughout the offseason that the Rangers want to add a righthanded bat, and given the makeup of the roster, I’d say that’s more of a need than a want. Evan Carter has been terrible in his career against lefties and has durability concerns, and Josh Smith is a lefthanded hitter with durability concerns. Neither player may end up in a true platoon, but I suspect both will regularly sit against lefties, with Sam Haggerty (penciled in as the team’s fourth outfielder) and Ezequiel Duran (penciled in as the utility infielder) filling in for them.
Joc Pederson, meanwhile, is a platoon DH. He was signed to be the designated hitter against righthanded pitchers, and he needs a platoon partner. Unlike past years, where the four bench spots could be allocated to a backup catcher, a fourth outfielder, a utility infielder, and Some Dude Who Will Never Play, you are going to probably need that last bench spot to be dedicated to someone who will actually play, and who will ideally be starting against lefties, most likely at DH, but potentially in the field to give, say, Wyatt Langford a half-day off by DHing.
There are still some viable platoon DH/RH bench bat options out there in the free agent market. Let’s take a look at them, shall we?
Paul Goldschmidt
This would be, to me, the “in an ideal world” option. The 38 year old future Hall of Famer had spent his entire career with the Diamondbacks and Cardinals before joining the Yankees for 2025 on a one year, $12.5 million deal. He is slowing down, having put up a 100 OPS+ in 2024 and a 104 OPS+ in 2025, but has continued to hit lefties well, slashing .336/.411/.570 in 168 plate appearances in 2025 after slashing .295/.366/.473 against them in his final year with the Cardinals. He started 115 games for the Yankees, but after a great first couple of months faded, slashing .226/.277/.333 in the final four months of the season after putting up a .338/.394/.495 line in the first two months of the season.
While Goldschmidt probably isn’t a starting caliber first baseman anymore, his performance against lefties would make him a great option in the short side of a platoon at DH, and he could also provide Jake Burger the occasional day off, and fill in for Burger for short periods if he has a stint on the injured list. And the hope would be that not playing every day would help avoid the steep decline he experienced last year. He’s also considered to be a solid veteran clubhouse presence.
Goldschmidt seems unlikely, however, for a few reasons. One, I’m not sure that he’s in a place where he’s ready to become a part-time player, rather than an everyday guy, especially when the regular at his position is Jake Burger. Second, if he is going to go the part-time player route, other teams may be more attractive to him — the Yankees, for example, are reported to be interesting in bringing him back. Third, I doubt the Rangers would be willing to pay him close to the $12.5 million he made last year, and I don’t know that he’d be willing to take a significant pay cut to come to Texas (or that other teams wouldn’t be willing to pay him more).
Miguel Andujar
Have bat, will travel, Miguel Andujar appears to be the popular pick among commenters here on the LSB for the bench bat role. Andujar finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2018, when put up a 130 OPS+, though his glovework at third base was bad enough that he only had a 2.8 bWAR. He has accumulated negative bWAR since then, and has also not had more than 341 plate appearances in a season, though that 341 PA season was last year, split between the A’s and the Reds. He’s struggled to stay on the field due to both health reasons — he spent over a month on the injured list last year — and productivity reasons.
Andujar has beat up on lefty pitchers of late. He had a 986 OPS against them in 2025 and a 995 OPS against them in 2024. He’s also pretty much just a DH at this point — the A’s tried him at third base for the equivalent of about 25 games last year, the first action he’s had at the hot corner since 2021, and he had a -6 DRS and -3 FRV, which is both pretty abysmal and pretty much in line with his past defense performances there. He has played some left field in recent years, and is not good defensively there either, though he isn’t as bad as he is at third base.
Andujar, who turns 31 at the start of the 2026 season, makes some sense as a platoon partner for Pederson, depending on his price (and willingness to accept a part-time role). The question is whether you want to devote two roster spots to DH-only guys who bring no value defensively or on the basepaths, given the reduced flexibility you then have.
Rhys Hoskins
The former Phillies first baseman put up a 127 OPS+ heading into his final season of arbitration eligibility in 2023, and appeared poised to cash in with a lucrative free agent contract if he kept that up. Instead, Hoskins missed all of 2023 due to a torn ACL. After the 2023 season, Hoskins ended up signing a 2 year, $34 million deal with Milwaukee that included a team option for 2026. That option was declined, with Hoskins coming in at replacement level in 2024, then bouncing back some in 2025, but seeing playing time disappear after he suffered a sprained thumb and then returned from the injured list to see Andrew Vaughn ensconced at first base.
Hoskins has a career 882 OPS against lefties, compared to a 797 OPS against righthanders, though he hasn’t had significant platoon splits the past two seasons. Hoskins is the homeless man’s Goldschmidt, a veteran with playoff experience who could DH against lefties and play some first base. He seems more likely than Goldschmidt to accept a part-time role, and would be much cheaper, though he would also be expected to not be as good.
Nick Castellanos
Another former Phillie — well, technically, current Phillie, though that is not expected to last. Pursued in the past by the Rangers, “right fielder” Castellanos is entering the final year of a 5 year, $100 million deal that has not, to put it mildly, worked out. It is rare, after all, for a team president to say that the team is committed to make sure a veteran under contract GsTFO before the season start, as Dave Dombrowski said recently, and it seems unlikely Castellanos will still be with the organization when camps open next month.
The Phillies are hoping a desperate team will give them something — anything — in exchange for making Castellanos, who turns 34 at the start of the season, another team’s problem and the Phillies eating virtually all of the $20 million he is owed for 2026. Its a tough sell for a guy who put up a .250/.294/.400 slash line last year, a 100 OPS+ for the entirety of his four years in Philadelphia, and is beyond terrible defensively (bottom 1 percent last year, per Statcast, after being bottom 4% in two of the three previously). Oh, and did we mention that Castellanos was benched for making an “inappropriate comment” to manager Rob Thomson in September after being lifted for defensive purposes, an incident which Matt Gelb reported “left players and coaches alike disgusted”?
So, no defensive value, hasn’t hit well, wants to play everyday, and left a turd in the Phillies’ playoff push punchbowl, to the point that the organization has made it clear for months they aren’t bringing him back? Oh, and he hit worse against lefties (680 OPS) than righties in 2025, though he did put up an 830 OPS against them in 2024. Not great, Bob.
Still, he’s worth mentioning. Maybe the Rangers give a non-prospect to the Phillies and have the Phillies cover his $20 million less league minimum in 2026 to give him a look in spring training and see if there’s anything worth trying to salvage. Maybe he gets released and Texas brings him in on an NRI to see what’s what. I think it is unlikely, but I figure he’s an option worth mentioning.
Marcell Ozuna
Dude’s career has been a roller coaster. He had a 5.7 bWAR 2017 season that led to him getting traded to the Cardinals for a package that included Sandy Alcantara AND Zac Gallen. Two middling seasons for the Cards resulted in him doing a one year deal with Atlanta for 2020. He put up a 1067 OPS and was sixth in the MVP race, resulting in the Braves signing him to a five year deal. He was then bad and hurt the first two years, raked the next two years (including a 4th place MVP finish in 2024), and was okay in 2025, slashing .232/.355/.400.
Ozuna is 35, slow (3 stolen bases in the past five seasons), and hasn’t played in the field since 2023, when he logged 14 innings in left field. He also doesn’t have big platoon splits over the course of his career. He provides a better option as a regular DH if Pederson gets hurt or is terrible, but is also going to be more expensive than someone similar, such as Andujar, and probably doesn’t want to accept a part-time role right now.
Austin Hays
Another popular name in the LSB comments, the 30 year old Hays spent several seasons as a pretty solid regular left fielder for the Orioles due in no small part to his glovework, but wasn’t good in 2024, when he was shipped to Philadelphia for Seranthony Dominguez (who just got 2/$20 million from the ChiSox, so good on him, I guess), and Cristian Pache, the hobo’s Leody Taveras. A free agent after the season, Hays got a 1 year, $5 million deal with Cincinnati for 2025 and slashed .266/.315/.453 in 103 games.
Both DRS and FRV indicate his defense has declined the past couple of seasons, to the point he’s a little below average defensively in left field, and he hasn’t had significant time in right field since 2022. However, he raked against lefties in 2025 (.319/.400/.549 slash line), and has an 819 OPS against lefties for his career, compared to a 717 OPS against righties.
I suspect part of the reason Hays is still out there is because he is looking for a full time role, and isn’t going to accept a deal as a platoon or bench guy until camps are about to start. A repeat of the 1/$5 million he received last year would seem to be palatable for the Rangers to pay, though I suspect other contenders will also be pursuing him.
Mitch Garver
One of the heroes of the 2023 team, Garver’s two year deal with Seattle after the 2023 campaign went poorly, to the point that Garver reported receiving death threats. He put up a .187/.290/.341 slash line while catching and DHing for the M’s.
The 35 year old has never had a good track record of staying healthy, and his bat disappointed the past two seasons. He did hit okay against lefties, though, and as a platoon DH/third catcher, he might be a viable option, especially if he wants to return to a place where he seemingly felt comfortable after the unpleasant experience in Seattle.
Andrew McCutchen/Starling Marte
Lumping them together. Two former stars turned role players/veteran clubhouse influencer types in their late 30s, who were teammates together for more than a half-decade in Pittsburgh, where they had their best seasons. McCutchen, 39, has spent the last three seasons on one year deals with the Pirates, though the Pirates appear to be not that interested in bringing him back for 2026. Marte, 37, just finished up a four year deal with the Mets where he maxed out at 370 PAs the previous three seasons.
Each of them is probably best utilized as a part-time DH who can play the outfield in a pinch. Marte’s career splits are negligible, while McCutchen’s got a 104 point OPS advantage in his career against lefties versus righties. Not sure how much interest either would have in Texas — they’ve each spent most of their careers in the National League East, and each only has a couple of months in the American League in their careers.
Wilmer Flores
Flores is 34 and has spent most of his career as a bat-first role playing infielder. He has spent his entire career in the National League, including the past six seasons with San Francisco. He has a .229/.296/.359 slash line the past two seasons without big splits and is pretty much limited to first base and DH. Maybe an NRI option if you can’t find anyone else.
Ty France
France had a couple of big seasons with Seattle in 2021-22. Since the start of 2023 he has slashed .247/.322/.364 with a 94 OPS+ and no real platoon split. Won a Gold Glove at first base last year. Maybe an NRI option if you can’t find anyone else.
Carlos Santana
Santana is a switch hitter who turns 40 in April. He won a Gold Glove at first base in 2024. No splits in 2025, but hit lefties a lot better in 2024, and has hit lefties better over the course of his career. Not sure if he’d accept a short-side platoon role at this point of his career, and not sure how much value he’d have as a short-side DH.
Randal Grichuk
34 year old corner outfielder who has hit lefties well throughout his career, but didn’t hit anyone well last season. He’s from Texas, which might help if he’s weighing NRIs.
He’s Seth Martinez. If you’re like me, you saw the name “Seth” in an article about Red Sox transactions and briefly celebrated because you thought that Seth Lugo was coming to Boston. Seth Martinez is not Seth Lugo. He does, however, own a World Series ring from his time in Houston in 2022, where he put up a 2.09 ERA across 29 games despite not pitching in the postseason.
In total, Martinez boasts 144 Major League innings. The 31-year-old righty most recently pitched in the Marlins organization, where he spent most of the year in Triple-A Jacksonville. The Red Sox signed him to a minor league deal and gave him a non-roster Spring Training invite. He’s also out of options, which means if he’s not on the Major League roster, he’s getting waived, traded or released outright.
Is he any good?
He wasn’t great in 2024, which is the only time he qualified for league rankings in his career. He struck out just 36 batters in 52 2/3 innings that year. Plus, his average fastball velocity didn’t reach 91, He also didn’t quite have it in his limited time on Miami’s Major League roster last season, where his 5.40 ERA was actually quite a bit less than his 7.19 FIP. He does have 7.1 inches of extension, which is something that Andrew Bailey has always gotten excited about. His career numbers look a little better since he was a solid multi-inning option out of the Astros’ bullpen, and so that “anything under 4.00 isn’t good” benchmark is really put to the test with Martinez, who has exactly a 4.00 ERA in 117 career games.
Tl;dr, just show me his 2025 stats.
MLB: 6.2 IP, 4 K, 3 BB, 4 H, 2 HR 4 ER
AAA: 43.3 IP, 54 K, 18 BB, 37 H, 3 HR, 3.71 ERA
Show me a cool highlight.
You don’t need a 99-mile-per-hour fastball to close out a game. This is proof.
What’s he doing in his picture up there?
Attempting to record one of just 20 Major League outs Martinez notched for Miami in 2025.
What’s his role on the 2026 Red Sox?
Just as with Vinny Capra or Tristan Gray, having a guy who you can turn to on the Triple-A roster who’s spent some time in the Show is valuable. It really opens up the ways the remainder of the Triple-A bullpen can be used, which helps guys with brighter dispositions for their careers. Martinez may record some innings in mop-up duty early in 2026 just due to his experience getting more than three outs in relief in his career, but if he’s recording meaningful situations with high leverage, it will signal that something went pretty badly on the depth chart.
David Bote was once thought of as a versatile enough player to keep around on a long-term deal given him by Theo Epstein, a five-year deal that didn’t end until a buyout last year.
And, you know, it might have worked until Bote suffered a serious shoulder injury in May 2021 that kept him out for a couple of months. He was never quite the same player after that, spending time at Triple-A Iowa much of the next two seasons and also in early 2024.
Called up in June 2024, Bote hit pretty well but started only eight games, playing the rest as a pinch-hitter and defensive replacement… and pitcher.
In the first game of a doubleheader July 13, 2024 in St. Louis, Hayden Wesneski had given up 11 runs in the first four innings. A nine-run inning had just two earned runs largely due to Wesneski’s own fielding error.
The Cubs trailed 11-2 going to the bottom of the eighth so Craig Counsell summoned Bote to pitch that inning.
He gave up a double to Matt Carpenter and walked Willson Contreras, but got out of the inning scoreless when he got Brandon Crawford to ground into this force play [VIDEO].
Bote played in only 12 more games as a Cub after that and when the Cubs bought out his contract, he signed a minor-league deal with the Dodgers. He didn’t play at all in 2025. The Dodgers had apparently told him that he had a decent chance to make their Opening Day roster, but when he didn’t and they asked him to go to Triple-A, he refused. The Dodgers placed him on the restricted list and a few weeks later apparently decided to retire.
Ernie Clement is a 29 (40 in March) year-old, right-handed hitting infielder. The Guardians picked him in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. He is, to this point, the most successful player taken in that round, by a long shot (the others from that round who have played in the major have negative bWARs).
I think we all know enough about Ernie.
The Jays signed him as a free agent before the 2023 season, after the A’s released him. It really didn’t stand out much to me; we seemed to have the market cornered in middle infielders. And Clement was a glove-first infielder. It wasn’t the type of signing that excites a fan base.
Ernie spent most of the 2023 season in Buffalo. He was called up for three games in May, a few more in June, another three in July and then, at the end of August he was up for the rest of the season. In his 29 games for the Jays, he hit .380/.385/.500 with a home, triple and double.
He spent the whole season with the Jays in 2024, hitting .263/.284/.408 in 139 games. That, combined with great defense, added up to a 3.4 bWAR. Pretty decent for a guy the A’s released.
And, of course, last year was even better, a .277/.313/.398 and a 4.3 bWAR.
Then came the playoff run, where he hit .411/.416/.562 with 6 doubles, a triple and a home run in 18 games. Just an amazing run.
The terrific season and playoff run were enough to earn him a invite to play for the US World Baseball Classic team.
This year, he looks to be the leading candidate to play second base, with Andrés Giménez playing short and Kazuma Okamoto playing third. It is possible that he’ll be platooning with Addison Barger (who hasn’t played second in the majors and only 47 games there in the minors).
I don’t know if having Clement was a factor in the team not re-signing Bo Bichette. Over the last two seasons Clements had a 7.7 bWAR. Bichette 3.2. Last year, when Bo was very good, he had a 3.5 bWAR, Clement 4.3.
Steamer figures him to play 118 games, hitting .276/.313/.406 with 9 home runs and a 1.7 WAR. Those numbers seem low to me.
