Kyle Tucker joined the Dodgers, who offered him a cool $240 million for four years, with opt-outs after the second and third years.
More power to him. If you can get that kinda money, get right on it.
This even though I’ve hated the Dodgers from the git-go. I was raised by people who did not adore Brooklyn and were offended hugely by the way the move was done when they Greeley’d. Personally, it was Steve Garvey’s lantern jaw that I remember. It’s like the stinkin’ Cardinals… and that’s not the only parallel.
Now I look at the Dodgers much as I look at the early Cardinals, who owned the entire minor-league system (they were the principal architects of the system and maintained control until they were made to stop). They’re creating a new paradigm, for better or worse.
The Cubs have a new third baseman. You have to like his will to win, and let’s hope that rubs off.
“In October, it’s ‘Alex in Wonderland,’ and it’s a ‘Bregularly’ scheduled event, no doubt.” — Scott Boras.
Oh, and the Cubs Convention is under way. We’ll be back tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel, with more of this.
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The Chicago Cubs have signed Kotaro Tsunematsu to a minor league deal, according to his Instagram.
The 22-year-old outfielder was not selected in the NPB draft. He was later offered a job with Goldman Sachs but turned it down to join the Cubs organization.
“Literally the first second that free agency really opened I felt like we knew the Cubs wanted our family to be here, and we were excited about it,” Bregman, 31, said. “I thought it was trending that way, probably from the beginning of the offseason. They expressed right away that they wanted me. They made it extremely clear that they valued what I valued.”
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series. We will not wittingly publish A. I. – driven articles or clickbait, and insist on reputable sources.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert jogs off the field after a loss to the Patriots in the playoffs. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
If there’s an important playoff game for the Chargers to win, you can bet they’re going to lose. Such was the case again against New England.
While having a decent enough defense, the offense was pathetic. And, yes, I know their offensive line was completely depleted. But, the 49ers were banged up as well. They lost George Kittle and still won.
Well, there’s always “next season.” Unfortunately, those two words still haunt the Chargers and their fans.
Rick Solomon Lake Balboa
Once again the Chargers flop in the playoffs.
This time much of the blame should be placed at the top with Jim Harbaugh. Perhaps he did not watch or was not aware of how many times in this year's playoffs teams had failed to convert on fourth down with disastrous consequences. The psychological effect on the team from failing to convert and put points on the board early was evident. He had a team without their top running back and a very weak offensive line yet chose to go for it.
Hopefully he will learn from this or maybe it is time for Harbaugh to join his brother in seeking new jobs.
Mark Kaiserman Santa Monica
Nothing wrong with the Chargers that a new OC with a game plan can't fix. Or is there?
Thomas Filip Moorpark
Dear Jim Harbaugh,
Thanks for firing your OC Greg Roman. Loyalty is great but loyalty does not get you to the promised land. In two postseason trips, one touchdown to show for it.
It needed to be done for Justin Herbert & Co.
Felipe Varela Whittier
True blue money
The Yankees won 27 World Series championships by being the best team money can buy. The west coast Yankees, aka the Dodgers, are now the best team money can buy. That's capitalism, baby!
Vaughn Hardenberg Westwood
As a Dodgers fan for a Joe DiMaggio-esque 56 consecutive seasons, I am happy to have Kyle Tucker in the Dodgers' outfield in 2026. Certainly, he will be an improvement over Michael Conforto, and allow Teoscar Hernandez to go back to left field.
However, I find it perplexing that a player who appeared in only 78 and 136 games in 2024 and 2025, and who has had only one top 10 MVP finish (fifth in 2023) in his career, would be signed for a whopping average of $60-million annually. To earn that enormous salary over the next four seasons, Tucker should be considered the best player in baseball not named Shohei Ohtani.
Ken Feldman Tarzana
Newsflash! The Dodgers buy another superstar, cost be damned! I'm not a Dodgers fan. I'm a Baseball fan, witnessing an organization job a system that destroys parity and fairplay. So go ahead — hop aboard the Dodgers bandwagon for another championship. While baseball fans everywhere else throw up their hands in disgust and flock to the NFL.
Jim Fredrick Manhattan Beach
The Dodgers' signing of Kyle Tucker for ridiculous money now ensures a (stoppage) after this baseball season. For everyone saying other teams could do the same thing, really? As much as anyone could love the Dodgers, this just takes away from the game.
Bob Goldstone Corona del Mar
If you’re mad at the Dodgers don't stop there — might as well don a cape and be super mad because MLB has no kryptonite against them.
Steve Ross Carmel
Same old problems
We should not expect too much from the Lakers. We have the same offense ran by the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic transplanted to L.A. Give the ball to Luka and everyone else stands around and watch. Who is teaching these guys defense?
Calvin Divinity Norwalk
How many more games do fans have to endure before the Lakers hire a coach who is a defensive specialist? Where is Frank Vogel when you need him?
Richard Raffalow Valley Glen
The only way I see the Lakers or Clippers making it to the second round of the playoffs is if they play each other in the first round.
Rick Sine La Quinta
Olympian effort
The womens' snowboarding competition at next month's Winter Olympics in Milan has taken an interesting twist. American Chloe Kim, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the halfpipe, will have to wear a shoulder brace after tearing her labrum. This would be analogous to having one arm tied behind your back.
Wayne Muramatsu Cerritos
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The Detroit Tigers offseason really holds only one major question left, and that question is what to do with Tarik Skubal. Whether the front office is waiting to see if a big spender who missed out in free agency coomes calling with a monstrous trade offer, or they’ve decided to run it back in 2026 and take their chances, it’s likely that nothing is happening until the arbitration case is completed in early February.
In the meantime, the 2026 free agent class thinned out quite a bit over the last few days as Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette signed with the Dodgers and Mets, respectively. Cody Bellinger, Framber Valdez, and Eugenio Suarez are now the biggest names left on the board.
Let’s do a quick roundup of the biggest stories after busy news days on Thursday and Friday.
The Dodgers feeding frenzy continues with Kyle Tucker
On Thursday, the biggest free agent contract of the offseason hit the news wire as the Los Angeles Dodgers inked outfielder Kyle Tucker to a four year deal worth $240 million. Per Jeff Passan, the deal comes with an $64 million signing bonus, with $30 million deferred. Reportedly there are opt-outs for Tucker after the second and third seasons. So the Dodgers will be paying the soon to be 29-year-old hitter the largest average annual value in major league baseball history, surpassing the Mets $51 million yearly to Juan Soto. This is the kind of contract only a few teams in the game are capable of handing out, once again highlighting the growing divide between a handful of major market teams and the rest of the league.
The angles on this story are many. Are the Dodgers anticipating a salary cap in the next CBA and trying to stockpile all the elite talent possible before that happens? Does this make them invincible in their quest to three-peat? Why aren’t other top contenders using deferrals in similar ways? Is this good or bad for baseball?
I wrote about that last item after the World Series. Baseball has a long history of evil empires, and often the game was more popular, at least in the ratings department, when there was a team to hate. The star-studded Dodgers project really well to the growing international market for the game. Still, that probably means little to the majority of teams who are pretty much priced out of winning a title without a miracle. From the competitive balance perspective, this has gotten ridiculous.
And yet, no the Dodgers aren’t invincible. The 2025 Dodgers only won 93 games, and the Toronto Blue Jays were one play going their way from defeating them in the World Series. Of course, the Blue Jays spent $258 million too, but at least among the big spending teams, adding Tucker assures nothing. That contract is just very wild on the surface for a player who hasn’t topped 23 home runs in either of the last two seasons and is basically a 4-5 WAR OBP machine without any other standout traits in his game. Somewhere, Joey Votto weeps. Nah, Joey Votto probably cares less than anyone.
As the only publicly held franchise in the game, the yearly unpacking of the Braves financial report is one of the few open looks inside the game’s finances. As a result, there’s always a ton of interest when their yearly numbers come out.
The Atlanta Braves financial statements are publicly available and serve as a general guide for understanding the business of baseball. Any good accountant can move some decimals here and there, but these are a good starting ground.
The main points to a Tigers fan are that the Braves took in $600 million in revenue, with only a quarter of that coming from revenues inside the ballpark itself in the form of ticket sales, merch, concessions, etc. They turned a profit of $46 million on all that revenue.
Forbes put the Tigers revenue for 2025 at $300 million, with a franchise value of $1.55 billion as they turned a $30 million profit. Unfortunately, those numbers don’t come with a cost breakdown, but if the Tigers made $30 million with a 2025 payroll of $155 million, that perhaps validates the $185-190 million zone as the break even range for the Tigers in 2026.
Currently the Tigers 2026 payroll is set to be either $164.5 million or $177.5 million, depending on Tarik Skubal’s arbitration outcome.
While the Braves finances are public, those of the trust the Detroit Tigers franchise is held under by various members of the Ilitch family are not. It’s hard to know how the terms might influence their flexibilty.This is all even more complicated by the abject chaos in the regional sports network realm. Depending in part on Skubal’s final number, it seems reasonable to think they at least have room to manuever, but that final number will impact how much, and there aren’t that many obvious upgrades available now anyway.
Bo Bichette heads to Queens
One of the benficiaries of the Tucker deal was long-time Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette. The Blue Jays were apparently still talking to Bichette this offseason, but they were reportedly heavily engaged on Kyle Tucker, as were the New York Mets. Once the Mets lost out on the Tucker sweepstakes, they quickly pivoted to Bichette and got the next best player on the market. In the process they boxed out the Philadelphia Phillies, who were offering Bichette a more traditional long-term contract. Beating out a division rival always feels good, and the Phillies quickly turned to more modest business, retaining catcher J.T. Realmuto on a three-year, $45 million contract.
Bichette’s deal was a clear move to the Alex Bregman protocol, taking a short deal with huge annual value and opt-outs after each of the first two seasons of the three-year, $126 million deal. Reportedly Bichette was looking for a deal worth well over $200 million and wasn’t quite getting those offers. Now he’ll make $42 million each of the next three years, or can opt-out along the way to try to put together his originally desired price, in the aggregate (hat tip to Moneyball).
What’s clear is that the Blue Jays have come out of this looking overall worse. Bichette was thought to have some concerns about the Rogers Centre’s playing surface and its long-term impact on his legs. That’s an ominous bit of rumor for the Blue Jays and their ability to attract free agents, but hey they’ll be fine in 2025. After adding right-hander Dylan Cease and NPB third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, it’s not like they sat on their hands this offseason either.
Somewhere, Framber Valdez and Cody Bellinger are probably feeling pretty good about things as the top two players on the free agent board. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Eugenio Suarez get a massive one-year offer the way things are going either.
The spector of the next CBA negotation continues to loom over every aspect of this offseason. It will be interesting to see if Bichette can pull off something like Scott Boras handling of Alex Bregman, or whether the new CBA makes it harder for Bichette to opt-out and sign the mega deal. More likely he’s better off sticking with the Mets, at least through 2027. Even then he’ll reach free agency again heading into his age 31 season and is he performs he’ll land another big contract.
With the Nolan Arenado trade in the books, the Cardinals roster is coming into focus. While we are likely to see a few more transactions before the buses roll into Jupiter, this feels like a good time to give a zoomed-out look at the 40-man roster and the upper-minors depth. Regardless of what happens with Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero before spring training, 2026 will be a year with a significant amount of roster churn as Chaim Bloom and the front office sort through a roster full of unproven players and a top farm system with a number of significant players set to graduate.
I think the term “runway” has been retired by the Cardinals marketing team, but it may actually be more relevant now than at any point in 2025. I don’t think there was anything wrong with the concept last season, but the fun of it for the fans was quickly subverted by watching Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker struggle. To add insult to injury, the roster still felt clogged with veterans Erick Fedde, Miles Mikolas, Willson Contreras, and Nolan Arenado, gobbling up significant innings and plate appearances (sometimes deservedly so). That dynamic will not be a problem this season as the roster has been trimmed of any player who does not fit Bloom’s long-term vision of a roster built on young and/or internally developed talent.
2026 will be a high-stakes game of Red Light, Green Light, with 60 players within the organization fighting for 40 roster spots when the dust settles on the 2026 season and rosters reset in mid-November. Bloom’s job for the next ten months is to make sure that the right players get opportunities and the right players get shipped out for more prospect capital. For this exercise, I am setting aside prospects that are unlikely to impact the team or roster in 2026. The 60 players in question (actually 62, counting those on expiring contracts) are grouped into four categories:
40-man roster (years of control in parentheses)
Players who will need to be added by season’s end to avoid exposure to the Rule 5 draft
Players who might debut ahead of schedule regardless of 40-man or team-control restrictions
Players/prospects on the Triple-A roster who could force their way back into the discussion
40-Man Roster
This roster is relatively deep, if lacking top-end talent, with only a handful of players who wouldn’t be rostered by the majority of teams. The other thing that jumps out is the amount of team control across nearly the entire roster. With the exception of May and Romero, every player is under control through at least 2027. Once the season starts, players can be moved to the 60-day Injured List to free up roster space, so there is flexibility here, with Roby and Hjerpe most likely to start on the 60-day IL. One thing I will be following this season is how the team approaches freeing up additional roster spaces as needed. Will they trim the weaker part of the back of the 40-man? Or will they be proactive at trading from the top of the 40-man if the opportunity presents itself?
Prospects Needing Protection
This group is made up of players who are roughly top 50 prospects in the organization and will require a 40-man roster spot to avoid Rule 5 draft exposure. It is important from a roster-management perspective, but it also impacts how quickly we could see these players during the 2026 season. If the Cardinals plan to protect them and they have progressed enough to benefit from MLB playing time, they are likely to be added to the 26-man roster at some point during the season. This is the pattern we have seen with top prospects Masyn Winn, Thomas Saggese, and Jimmy Crooks. This dynamic is not limited to top prospects as more depth pieces like Nick Raquet and Cesar Prieto were added during the 2025 season. From this group, only Leonel Sequera, Travis Honeyman, and Jesus Baez have not appeared in Double-A or higher. Any of the rest are within punching distance of a major-league debut.
Prospect that May Debut Early
Wetherholt will obviously be up for most of the year barring some unforeseen catastrophe. Doyle is more of a long shot. Two of the four college pitchers drafted in the top 20 picks of the 2024 draft made major league debuts in 2025 (Chase Burns and Trey Yesavage). For Doyle to debut, he will need to hope the Cardinals are in playoff contention, or make an absolute mockery of the minor leagues.
Forgotten Prospects
None of these players on their own is particularly likely to be impactful, but the Cardinals have spent years trying to get Thompson, Santos, and Naughton healthy. Koperniak and Rajcic are both former decent prospects that had tough 2025 seasons.
Starting Pitching
The starting rotation is what got me thinking about this whole depth question in the first place. While we are still waiting on the ZiPS projections to be released for the Cardinals, I would expect them to have a bottom 10 or possibly bottom five projected rotation. After their trades with Boston and the Dustin May signing, they do have a surprisingly deep rotation. Andre Pallante might start the season as the seventh starter or in the bullpen. While Pallante might never establish himself as the mid-rotation arm he has flashed promise of, he is the exact kind of guy that a team like the Cardinals with no immediate plans to contend, should be giving starts to. The problem is, you could make the same argument for every pitcher in the rotation. Along with Pallante, Liberatore, McGreevey, Dobbins, Fitts, and Leahy all project as fourth or fifth starter types. It will be critical for the Cardinals to sort through this group of pitchers and hang on to the right ones for the next contention window. Every team needs at least seven starters to get through a season, but we haven’t even touched on the minor leaguers at the upper levels vying for big-league starts.
The injured trio of Hence, Hjerpe, and Roby is taking up a lot of space. Roby will miss all or most of the season, so he is pretty much a lock to take up a roster spot going into next offseason. Hence and Hjerpe need to be pushed aggressively, if healthy, even if that means moving them to the bullpen. In a perfect world, they could get 70 innings starting in the minors and then finish out the year in the St. Louis bullpen.
In an ideal world, multiple pitchers from the Mathews, Henderson, Mautz, and Doyle group shove their way into the picture by midseason. At this point, the Cardinals should have some answers on the top seven. If May and/or Pallante are pitching well, they could be traded to open up some starts.
Mathews, Lin, and Henderson are all on track to be added to the 40-man roster at season’s end. The rest have some work to do, but even adding three more pitchers with only May leaving via free agency will necessitate additional moves.
Relief Pitching
I won’t say much about relief pitching. Reliever volatility is too high to try to predict even a year in advance. It will likely be impacted substantially depending on which starters are redirected to the bullpen. On the prospect front, Gastelum rode an incredible changeup to a 35.4% strikeout rate. He could be up sooner rather than later. Austin Love shook off a two-year injury sabbatical and had a solid season in Springfield. After struggling with command in the first half, he put up a 26/4 K/BB ratio in August and September across 19 IP. He is my sleeper pick for a Matt Svanson type rise in 2026.
Catcher
I won’t spend much time on the catcher position as this has been discussed ad nauseum over the last 12 months. My desired outcome would be that Ivan sticks at catcher and Pages is flipped for a prospect to open up time for Crooks. I understand why they are waiting, but this is another area where a decision will need to be made at some point.
Infield
The infield picture is the one that surprised me the most compared to my preconceived notions. The starting infield looks great (even assuming Wetherholt replaces Donovan), and Fermin/Saggese/Gorman are a reasonable group to fight it out for at-bats, but Blaze Jordan and Wetherholt stand alone as the only-upper minors options not already on the 40-man. This is not necessarily a problem given the objectives of 2026, but it explains why the Cardinals chose to hang on to Cesar Prieto and Bryan Torres. There just aren’t that many eligible players if Donovan follows Arenado out of town.
Outfield
Cardinals’ outfielders ranked 26th in baseball last season putting up a combined 1.4 fWAR. So, the good news is there is nowhere to go but up… Nootbaar, Scott, Church, and Walker are in line to get the first crack at rectifying the outfield play we were subjected to in 2025. Looking at this group of 40-man players and prospects on the way, you can see why Chaim Bloom has signaled adding an outfield bat via free agency. Outside of Joshua Baez, there are no projected starting-caliber players in the upper minors. With only two years of control left, a strong first half will likely put Nootbaar back on the trade block. Davis, Levenson, and Honeyman would all need a substantial breakout to factor into the long-term plans in a meaningful way. If no outside help is brought in, Fermin, Saggese and Torres could be given a crack at an outfield spot as well.
What I would like to see in 2026
We have to wait for spring training to start making our bold predictions, so consider this more of a wish list. Here are the eight things I would like to see happen to shape the roster over the next ten months.
Brendan Donovan traded before spring training
JJ Wetherholt given the Opening Day start
Pitching prospects called up aggressively to replace faltering rotation or bullpen pieces
Church, Saggase, Fermin, and Torres given opportunities rather than signing a free-agent stopgap
Dustin May, Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman, and Andre Pallante shopped at the trade deadline, if performing well
JoJo Romero traded before spring training
Hjerpe and Hence given major league opportunities as early as possible
Luis Gastelum, Austin Love, and Skylar Hales given early opportunities in bullpen
The big boys are off the board. The quick pivots have been exhausted. Now, Major League Baseball teams must make do with whatever's left on the free agent market a little more than three weeks before spring training camps open.
There have been some notable salvage jobs in the past week, with the Boston Red Sox losing out on Alex Bregman, only to pivot to run prevention and snag lefty Ranger Suárez. Or the Kyle Tucker-to-L.A. stunner prompting the Mets to ambush Bo Bichette with a $42 million annual salary.
Now, the wriggle room is less, the surefire talents all but gone from our list of available players. There are still avenues to improve, but they are narrower. Let's explore them:
Cody Bellinger: Last big bat standing
And that's no exaggeration. With Tucker, Bichette and Bregman spoken for, Bellinger represents the lowest-hanging fruit on a board that counts 34-year-old third baseman Eugenio Suárez as the next-best available positon player.
Two questions: How badly do the Yankees want Bellinger back - and do the spurned Mets and Blue Jays loom as legitimate threats?
In one sense, Bellinger was dealt a losing hand with the Tucker-Bichette shuffle, with Citi Field and Dodger Stadium both potential destinations. Tucker closes the door on L.A., but the Mets still have a massive hole in left field. The Blue Jays missed out on Tucker, couldn't renew vows with Bichette and now it's unknown if they're so desirous of an outfield upgrade that they'd be willing to spend the cash on a nine-figure deal for Bellinger, 30, after the 28-year-old Tucker spurned them.
The Yankees, meanwhile, still exist.
Other than welcoming back Trent Grisham once the center fielder accepted the $22 million qualifying offer, and trading for lefty Ryan Weathers to hold down the fort until a group of starting pitchers get healthy, it's been a virtually silent winter. Sure, their payroll will be north of $250 million, and creeps toward $300 million for tax purposes at the moment.
For now that's well shy of the Dodgers, Mets and Phillies and even trails the Blue Jays. In a relative sense, they've got money to burn. Yet they've made it clear so far that Bellinger doesn't fall into their "spare no expense" bucket. We'll see if they find a mutually happy zone.
Framber Valdez, Zac Gallen: Last aces* standing
And we say that with the understanding that both fellows have fulfilled that role – the Houston Astros winning all four of Valdez's postseason starts in their 2022 World Series title run, Gallen earning the starting nod for the NL in the 2023 All-Star Game - yet may not hit the market as such.
Valdez is still plenty good - his 3.66 ERA in 2025 was his worst as a full-time starter, yet still 14% better than league average. At 32, he's experiencing slippage in almost every peripheral, though he remains a groundball machine. His pitch-mixup kerfuffle wasn't great, and he may not inspire fans to flock through the turnstiles, but Valdez figures to remain a rotation rock through the term of any contract of reasonable length.
Gallen's arc is a little more acute. His ERA soared to 4.83 in 2025 as he gave up 31 home runs, and his WHIP settled in at 1.26 each of the past two seasons. Gallen's pullside flyball and barrel rates were both career wosts, even as his surface-level stuff has remained the same. In short, a little bit of diagnostic work for a signing team to attack.
Still, at 30 and 32, respectively, Gallen and Valdez have far less tread on their arms than the alternatives. Valdez can certainly credibly front a rotation, or at least lend quality innings to someone that needs it; Baltimore and the New York Mets both harbor playoff dreams, though the Mets may not be willing to provide the contract length Valdez prefers.
Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander: Old guys rule?
Come Opening Day, they'll be 37, 41 and 43 years old, respectively, the latter two bound for the Hall of Fame. And for those averse to long-term entanglements with arms they don't love, these dudes certainly fold neatly into almost any team's plans.
Bassitt is coming off a three-year, $63 million deal with the Blue Jays, one that finished with him performing gallantly out of the playoff bullpen, giving up one run in seven appearances. Over 162 games, he's showing no signs of slowing down, hitting 200 innings in 2023 while throwing 181, 171 and 170 in '22, '24 and '25. Reliable.
Scherzer and Verlander, meanwhile, will seemingly never stop pitching. Verlander posted a 3.85 ERA in his lone season in San Francisco, but a typically defanged Giants attack held him to a 4-11 record - and stuck on 266 wins for his career.
Scherzer, meanwhile, started Game 7 of the World Series for the second time in his career. He pitched capably in the postseason, but crazy stuff tended to follow Mad Max around, as it tends to do: Toronto lost his first Series start in 18 innings, then suffered the 11-inning gut punch that ended their season. Still, Scherzer gritted through an early-season thumb problem to make 17 starts, completing at least six innings in six of them.
That's what you'll get with these guys: No promise of ideal health or consistent length, but the occasional magic that comes with a generational talent, for around $15 million a year.
The rest: Buddy, can you spare a reliever?
Do hope that your favorite team got in on the early rush of relievers. Erstwhile Blue Jay Seranthony Dominguez remains the last remaining arm that can be charitably termed high-leverage. A gaggle of itinerant lefties - Danny Coulombe, Brent Suter and Justin Wilson - are available.
And there's a decent pocket of starters who tuck between the bigger-ticket items and the old dudes, led by Lucas Giolito, who had five starts of seven or more innings and one or no earned runs given up last season; his track record does come with injury concerns.
Zack Littell and Nick Martinez also provide versatile, proven arms that can pad the back of a rotation or a proverbial sixth starter spot.
The San Francisco Giants legend will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, on July 26. However, his ceremonious affairs won't stop there.
The Giants plan to have a Hall of Fame celebration for Kent on Aug. 29 at Oracle Park when they play the Arizona Diamondbacks. To honor Kent, San Francisco will also retire his No. 21 jersey before the game.
Kent, who spent six seasons in San Francisco, became a member of the Giants Wall of Fame in 2009. His bronze plaque is located along King Street.
The Giants Wall of Fame pays tribute to the organization’s greatest players who have, either, played a minimum of nine seasons for the Giants or played five seasons with at least one All-Star appearance or championship win in San Francisco, according to MLB.com.
Kent had the best years of his 17-year MLB career with the Giants. He was a five-time All-Star, three of his nods coming as a member of the Giants from 1999 to 2001. He was named the 2000 NL MVP.
Kent was a four-time Silver Slugger Award-winner, having won the hitting title with the Giants from 2000 to 2002.
Kent becomes the 14th player to have his number retired by the organization. He joins Christy Mathewson, John McGraw, Bill Terry (3), Mel Ott (4), Carl Hubbell (11), Monte Irvin (20), Will Clark (22), Willie Mays (24), Barry Bonds (25), Juan Marichal (27), Orlando Cepeda (30), Gaylord Perry (36) and Willie McCovey (44).
San Francisco, along with every MLB team, retired the No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson on April 15, 1997.
It was a heck of a hot stove week, with two pairs of transactions seemingly moving in unison. The Cubs swiped Alex Bregman from the Red Sox, which prompted Boston to pivot to a five-year deal with Ranger Suarez. A couple nights later, the Dodgers did what they do and signed Kyle Tucker, which appeared to spur the Mets into inking their own opt-out-laden deal with Bo Bichette. Will the dominoes keep falling? This flurry of activity leaves Cody Bellinger as the last big bat on the market, and the Yankees, for now, still seem to have the best offer on the table. Will the saga, finally, come to a conclusion? Perhaps we’ll know this weekend. On the site today, it’ll be a quieter one, with Jeff profiling Chili Davis as part of our Yankees Birthday series.
Questions/Prompts:
1. Do you expect the Mets’ signing of Bo Bichette to take them out of the running in the Cody Bellinger sweepstakes? Or will they still compete with the Yankees for the outfielder’s services?
2. Who will emerge from this weekend of the NFL playoffs as the Super Bowl favorite?
The San Diego Padres have a long history of signing top international prospects. Catcher Ethan Salas signed in 2023, and shortstop Leo De Vries signed in 2024. Top reliever Adrian Morejon was a 2016 signee, part of the biggest and most expensive Padres amateur class.
The 2026 signing window opened Jan. 15 and closes on Dec. 15. The Padres have $5.94 million available to them for signing players. The total amount spent so far is not currently publicly known but their two biggest bonuses, $1.4 million to Cuban shortstop Joniel Hernandez and $1 million to Mexican LHP Diego Serna, was a good start.
Both players are ranked in the top 100, per Baseball America, and were joined by Curacao shortstop Timothy Mogen, who signed for $600,00. All three had prior agreements with the organization and the announcements came soon after the opening of the official window.
#31 Hernandez, 16, is a plus-runner with a plus-arm and athleticism. He has good bat speed and could develop above average power. If he doesn’t stick at shortstop, he has the skills to also profile in center field.
#45 Serna, 16, could be the best lefty pitcher in the class. He has a starter profile and is already 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. He throws a mid-90s fastball, a plus-slider and a changeup with an advanced development due to his extensive experience in Mexico.
#76 Mogen, 17, is a shortstop from Aruba with plus-speed and a plus-arm and could develop power as he fills out his 6-foot-4, 170-pound frame. He has good contact skills and a high baseball IQ.
The other players signed in the first 24 hours include:
RHP Joel Duarte, 17, ($150,000) from Venezuela was training as a shortstop but converted to pitching recently with a plus-arm. At 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, started with a mid-90s fastball and has topped at 98 mph.
Catcher Jhoneiker Leon is from Venezuela with a strong arm and plus-power as a hitter.
RHP Jordan Perez ($300,000) is a Cuban that has starter tools. He currently shows a low-90s fastball and a good curveball.
LHP Joel Gonzalez is out of Panama and shortstop Osmy Osorio is from Venezuela. There are no current scouting reports for either of these players.
Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported the above signings as well, but they are not confirmed by the team.
Expect more players to sign over the next year. All international players must be 16 before they sign and turn 17 by Sept. 1 of the following year. They must all be registered with MLB before signing. All players signed before summer will be part of a group who will start their professional careers as part of the Padres international group that lives and trains at their complex in the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Summer League is home to several of the Padres top prospects and last year featured No. 9 prospect Deivid Coronil, an infielder who spent his rookie season as part of the DSL Padres Gold team, and No. 17 prospect Jhoan De La Cruz. Cruz, a shortstop and second baseman, spent his rookie season playing alongside Coronil in the Gold team infield.
Some DSL players play more than just their rookie season in the Dominican, but the more advanced players transfer stateside to begin their US careers with Lake Elsinore.
Jamie Lynch and Tyler Zulli of PHLY Sports were filming their podcast — and analyzing Bichette’s potential suitors in free agency — when one of their staffers interrupted them with the news of the infielder’s three-year, $126 million contract with the Mets, leaving the two in absolute shock.
After some screaming followed by a brief silence, Lynch then asked where Bichette would play in the Mets’ infield.
“Why, they have [Marcus] Semien, [Francisco] Lindor, and [Mark] Vientos,” Lynch said, referring to the Mets’ rather full infield for next year.
Lynch and Zulli then broke some more silence by simultaneously yelling out, “what” into the cameras.
Zulli then speculated on where the Mets could place Bichette come next season, saying that he could play “a little bit of everywhere.”
“He’s not going to DH,” Zulli said. “I imagine he will play a little bit of everywhere?”
Toronto Blue Jays’ Bo Bichette celebrates his three run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning in Game 7 of baseball’s World Series, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Toronto. AP
According to The Post’s Jon Heyman, Bichette, 27, is expected to play third base in Queens — despite never playing the position in professional baseball.
The PHLY Sports podcasters were also likely shellshocked by the deal, as the Phillies were initially one of the favorites to land Bichette in free agency.
Heyman reported earlier in January that it “feels like there’s strong mutual interest” between the two parties after they met to discuss a potential contract.
Additionally, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that the “Phillies are the overwhelming favorites to sign” the two-time All-Star, while also mentioning that the “Yankees and Mets will now be in a bidding war for outfielder Cody Bellinger.”
CBS Sports | Dayn Perry: Thursday night’s bombshell that Kyle Tucker would be heading to Los Angeles seemed to set up another potential Yankees vs. Mets showdown for a free agent outfielder. The Mets were heavily involved in the Tucker bidding, which would lead one to believe that they could turn their atention to Cody Bellinger. But now, the Mets have made their own major move, grabbing Bo Bichette on a three-year, $126-million deal with two opt outs. Have the Mets removed themselves from the Bellinger sweepstakes? Or will they challenge the Yankees once again?
New York Post | Jon Heyman: We’ve gotten a lot of detail about the Yankees’ reported offer to Bellinger lately, as it’s widely assumed that New York has something like five years and $155 million on the table for the outfielder. Heyman reports further, suggesting that the Yankees are also comfortable offering not one but two opt-outs in the deal. That would be a pretty favorable contract from the player’s perspective, and it’s worth wondering whether Bellinger can expect to extract much more favorable terms than what’s already out there.
MLB.com | David Adler: Ryan Weathers, breakout candidate? The Yankees sure hope so, and there is reason to believe. Weathers’ arsenal last year comps well to Jesús Luzardo, Tarik Skubal, and Garrett Crochet, per Statcast, a pretty tantalizing group to be associated with. There’s clear potential for huge strikeout stuff, but the whiffs haven’t all the way come yet for Weathers, his 8.5 K/9 rate with the Marlins solid but far from elite, and staying on the field has always been a problem for the lefty. The Yankees have a promising project on their hands, but a project nonetheless.
FanGraphs | Jay Jaffe: If you’re in the mood, here’s more analysis of the fateful Tucker deal. Jaffe writes that it sets a new standard for short-term, high-AAV deals, with Tucker’s $57 million annual luxury tax hit (after accounting for deferrals), making him the highest-paid player on an annual basis in MLB history, outstripping Juan Soto’s $51 million number and Shohei Ohtani’s $46 million figure. If you’re coming away from this feeling like this is all a bit much for a player of Tucker’s caliber (read: very, very good, but perhaps not great), then you’d probably be justified, with FanGraphs’ ZiPS projections suggesting about $150 million as an appropriate median offer for Tucker over a four-year term.
Though a quiet day for the Atlanta Braves, it was a pretty active day for other clubs in the NL East. The Braves may not have made any blockbuster moves on Friday, but the slow day did give us a chance to look at Austin Riley’s 2025 season and gear up for a (hopefully) successful 2026.
MLB News:
The New York Mets and infielder Bo Bichette have agreed to a three-year, $126M deal. The contract does not contain any deferred money. The Philadelphia Phillies reportedly made a seven-year offer to Bichette.
Catcher J.T. Realmuto is off the board after the Philadelphia Phillies re-signed him to a three-year contract worth $45M.
The Minnesota Twins agreed to a two-year, $14M deal with catcher Victor Caratini. Minnesota’s 40-man roster is full, so a corresponding move is required.
With team president and general manager Chris Drury waving the white flag on the Rangers season with a letter talking of a retooling of the roster, here’s a look at who could be on the move before the Olympic break and March 6 trade deadline:
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In a meeting with Drury on Friday, Panarin was informed that the Rangers would not be extending him. As one of the last remaining big names on the impending free agent board, Panarin naturally has been in the middle of trade chatter all season. He is also one of the highest-valued assets the Rangers have in their lineup and should be able to fetch a mini haul. His full no-move clause, however, puts Panarin in the driver’s seat. Drury will have to work closely with Panarin and his camp to arrange a deal that the star Russian wing is on board with.
2. Brennan Othmann
Another player who has been in the rumor mill nearly all season, Othmann has been tabbed as needing a fresh start. The No. 16 overall pick in 2021 has struggled to translate his game to the NHL level over 33 career games. It simply has not been a fit in New York.
Rangers Rookie Brennan Othmann (78) when the New York Rangers held their training camp Wednesday, September 10, 2025 at Madison Square Garden Training Center in Greenburgh, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post
3. Carson Soucy
In the final year of his deal, Soucy, and his $3.25 million cap, hit is easily moveable. There are plenty of teams that could use a stay-at-home defenseman who can play on either side.
Compared to last season, Soucy has been much more effective in his role for the Rangers through his 41 games. The Rangers, who gave up the 2025 third-round pick they received from the Golden Knights for Reilly Smith to acquire Soucy, should be able to find a team in need of defensive depth for the playoffs.
4. Alexis Lafrenière
If the Rangers wanted to make a splash and partially change up the team’s DNA, dealing Lafrenière before his modified no-trade clause — with an eight-team no-trade list — kicks in for the 2027-28 season would be a way. Nights like his three-assist effort in the Winter Classic are too few and far between.
The 2020 first overall pick was the consensus top selection at the time the Rangers won the draft lottery, but he never has been able to produce or lead like one. Lafreniere’s track record in the NHL hasn’t done much for his trade value, which means Drury should want to pounce on the first legitimate offer.
Rangers left wing Alexis Lafrenière juggles the puck in the first period at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York, Monday, January 5, 2026. JASON SZENES/ NY POST
5. Vincent Trocheck
The market for centers right now is one the Rangers will want to explore. There is a high demand for quality centers, which makes Trocheck another valuable trade chip for the Rangers. Since J.T. Miller was just named captain and Mika Zibanejad has a no-move clause until it becomes modified in 2029-30, Trocheck’s 12-team no-trade list that kicked in this season makes him one of the Rangers’ easiest centers to trade. The Rangers are already thin down the middle, but Trocheck may be the player who could fetch the kind of deal that Drury is looking for.
6. Braden Schneider
Primarily a third-pair defenseman over his five seasons in New York, Schneider hasn’t had the strongest season as he’s taken on a bigger role in the absence of Adam Fox. The Rangers never quite gave him an extended top-four opportunity unless it came on the heels of an injury, but the 24-year-old also hasn’t seized the role either. The Rangers would likely be willing to move on from Schneider as he heads toward restricted free agency — with arbitration rights — at the end of this season. Schneider would be a beneficial addition to any contender’s defensive depth.
The team also announced it claimed lefty-hitting Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Rays.
The 24-year-old Cheng appeared in three games with the Pirates last season, going 0-for-7 with three strikeouts,
He was selected off waivers by Tampa Bay earlier this month before the Mets snagged him Friday.
The native of Taiwan has primarily been a shortstop in the minors and also spent time at second and third base.
He signed with the Pirates as an international free agent in 2019 and was designated for assignment by the team in December and figures to provide minor league depth at Triple-A Syracuse, since the Mets appear set in the infield after they agreed to a three-year, $126 million deal with Bichette, who will shift over from shortstop to third.
Tsung-Che Cheng appeared in three games for the Pirates last season. Getty Images
Bichette will join Francisco Lindor at short and newly-acquired Marcus Semien at second, while Brett Baty may have a utility role and another recent acquisition, Jorge Polanco could see time at first with Mark Vientos.
