Category: Baseball

Seven years ago, Cam Castro was a minor league pitching coach in the Milwaukee Brewers' system. Now, the Athletics want him to fix the one thing their rebuild has never been able to grow.

The A's are hiring Castro as their general manager, USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale confirmed. Castro, the Brewers' vice president of player development and performance, will work under Taylor Smith, the 31-year old the A's hired as president of baseball operations last month.

Castro's specialty is pitching. The A's need it badly.

They went 64-98 in 2026, their second season in a Triple-A ballpark in West Sacramento. Their pitchers gave up a franchise-record 247 home runs and walked 637 batters.

The A's have one more season there and then they move to Las Vegas in 2028.

Who is Cam Castro?

Castro never played in the majors. His resumes run through small-college dugouts.

He earned a legal studies degree from Lake Erie College, a Division II school in Painesville, Ohio, in 2012. From there he coached pitchers at Defiance College, where he also earned an MBA in sports management. He spent two summers coaching in the Northwoods League, a college summer circuit, and coached at Augustana University in South Dakota.

He also worked as a trainer at Driveline Baseball, the Seattle pitching lab best known for adding velocity.

Lake Erie brought him home as its head coach in August 2016.

What Cam Castro is credited with doing for the Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers hired Castro in 2019 as a minor league pitching coach. He moved up to minor league pitching coordinator, then director of pitching development, then vice president in charge of player development.

Milwaukee has a reputation of fixing pitchers under Castro's leadership. The Brewers helped Kyle Harrison and Quinn Priester turn around their careers after acquiring them.

This fall, Castro was obviously part of the front office that produced Jacob Misiorowski and helped Milwaukee win its first World Series title in franchise history.

Why the A's think Castro is a good fit

The A's can hit. Nick Kurtz, Tyler Soderstrom, Jacob Wilson, Zack Gelof and Henry Bolte were all Athletics draft picks. Catcher Shea Langeliers came over from the Braves before he ever played in the majors.

But they have never been able to develop arms. The one exception is Mason Miller, who the A's traded to the San Diego Padres to continue to try and rebuild their prospect pool. MLB Trade Rumors reported that over the A's past 10 draft classes only Miller and reliever Hogan Harris have been worth even one win above replacement in the majors.

Who is Taylor Smith, Cam Castro's new boss?

Smith, 31, is the youngest head of baseball operations in the majors. The A's hired him Oct. 19. He had spent two seasons as an assistant GM with the Red Sox and seven years in the Rays' research and development department.

The search for a new president of baseball operations and GM began in August, when the A's and longtime GM David Forst agreed to part ways. Forst had been with the organization for 27 years, the last 11 as GM.

Smith and Castro now have one season to get the roster ready for Las Vegas. Manager Mark Kotsay made his wish list short.

Pitching "should be priority number one this offseason," Kotsay said after the season finale.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Athletics hire Cam Castro as GM to fix biggest flaw in their rebuild

A little bit of a news dump this morning! Let’s start with some local awards for your favorite Brewers.

BBWAA Awards, Milwaukee Chapter

Today, the Milwaukee chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America announced the recipients of their end-of-season awards. A quick rundown below. How would you have voted?

Most Valuable Player: Brice Turang

No surprise here, as Turang was named a finalist for the NL MVP award earlier this week. The Brewer second baseman led the team in bWAR (7.3) and was second behind Jacob Misiorowski (more on him in a second) in fWAR (5.9). He was announced as the National League’s Gold Glove winner at second base on Sunday, and figures to at least be on the edge of the conversation for the Platinum Glove as well. Combine that with his well-rounded offensive game and good baserunning, and Turang was one of the best all-around players in baseball this season. This marks his second consecutive season as the team’s MVP.

Most Valuable Pitcher: Jacob Misiorowski

Once again, not surprising. Misiorowski is going to win the NL Cy Young, the only question is whether it will be unanimously or not. He led all pitchers with 6.6 fWAR, and was the major league leader in ERA (1.80), strikeouts (252), FIP (2.17), WHIP (0.802), strikeouts per nine (13.0), and with a mark of 4.9, had the lowest hits allowed per nine innings by a starting pitcher in the history of AL/NL baseball. While modern workloads suppressed his WAR numbers, it was, by rate statistics, one of the greatest seasons ever by a starting pitcher.

Most Valuable Newcomer: Cooper Pratt

The definition of “newcomer” here is, presumably, a player who had never played for the Brewers before this season, meaning that a player like Logan Henderson, who held rookie status but had pitched in the majors before this season, wouldn’t be eligible. Pratt, when considering his World Series run, seems the obvious answer here — he was basically exactly a league-average hitter during 74 regular season games, a massive win; the Brewers likely did not expect him to be a very good hitter in his first season. Then he went off during the World Series and made himself a legitimate candidate for World Series MVP. Pratt’s defense was a little shaky during the postseason run, but he played the position well in the regular season.

Other potential winners here include David Hamilton, who was solid if unspectacular during the regular season but then put together a monstrous postseason run of his own; Luis Lara, who struggled a bit at the plate but showed off his high ceiling as an outfielder and had a couple of very memorable hits; Kyle Harrison, who had a Jekyll-and-Hyde season but was outstanding in the first half; Shane Drohan, who struggled a bit down the stretch but ate a lot of important innings in a variety of roles for the Brewers this season; and JoJo Romero, who didn’t pitch a ton for the Brewers but became a reliable shutdown guy for the Brewers in the postseason.

Unsung Hero: Abner Uribe

Uribe had great numbers this season: in 59 1/3 innings, he had a 1.97 ERA and 2.68 FIP and saved six games. This went a bit under the radar as he was the number two guy to Trevor Megill in the bullpen, and Aaron Ashby’s brilliant postseason run overshadowed good postseasons from both Megill and Uribe. But having that solid Robin to Megill’s Batman all season made managing the bullpen easy for Pat Murphy and his assistants. We also got this:

This was kind of a team full of unsung heroes: others I might have considered include Henderson, who only made 18 starts but put up incredible numbers when he was in there; Robert Gasser, who was fourth on the team in innings pitched and then made three huge starts during the postseason run; Jake Bauers, who got plenty of attention but was the offensive metronome for the team all season; and, perhaps counterintuitively, William Contreras, who had — by his standards — a “just OK” regular season at the plate but did a great job managing the pitching staff before he kicked it into high gear in the playoffs.

Good Guy Award: Christian Yelich

One of the things I like best about this team is that there aren’t really players who are difficult to cheer for. Most of the team feel like good dudes who wouldn’t be hard to get along with.

Yelich is pretty clearly the leader (or captain, if you will) in that regard. He is generous with his time and money and has good rapport with all of the fan-facing Brewers media members who we see him interact with. It’s hard to know anything about the famous people we revere as heroes, but I’m pretty comfortable with Yelich getting this award.

Cam Castro named GM of the Athletics, Matt Kleine turns down Astros

Cam Castro, who was the Brewers’ senior vice president of player development and performance for the past two seasons, has been hired by the Athletics as their new general manager. Castro has been with the Brewers since 2019, where he started as a minor league pitching coach and quickly rose up the ranks. Before starting with the Brewers, Castro worked for Driveline Baseball, the well-known training program.

It’s not a surprise that other teams are looking to Milwaukee’s front office as they try to figure out some of their secrets for their own ballclubs; about a week ago, it was reported that Brewers assistant GM Matt Kleine was a finalist, perhaps the finalist, for the Astros’ opening at general manager. According to Adam McCalvy, Kleine turned down that job, while there are some whispers that it was partially a concern about whether Astros owner Jim Crane would meddle too much. Kleine may still be a candidate in Los Angeles, where the Angels have an opening for their top baseball ops job, though for now it looks like he’s staying in Milwaukee.

We’re going to have to get used to this as long as the Brewers are as successful as they have been. Hopefully the team can hang on to its most important pieces.

With the start of the MLB season in jeopardy, and litany of issues to deal with, we turn our focus to the good which is the outstanding performances by Braves prospects in this years’s Arizona Fall League. The trio of positional prospects (Southisene, Carey, Drake) have all played very well while the pitchers, led by Briggs McKenzie, have found their form and have performed quite well themselves.

Fresh off their fantastic appearances last night (4IP 3H 0R 2BB 6K), Briggs McKenzie along with Tate Southisene (3-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB), were chosen to represent the National League in the game this Sunday.

Tate Southisene has appeared in 13 games in the AFL and has hit .341/.482/.432 – picking up exactly where he stopped after he broke his hand following his Double-A debut. He’s shown impressive average exit velocities of 92 MPH, with a hard hit rate of 49%.

The Fall Stars game itself is this Sunday (11/8), at 8:00 PM ET. You’ll be able to tune in on MLB Network, or via stream on MLB.com

The Tampa Bay Rays made a slew of moves on Monday, November 2nd, as they added RHP Alexander Alberto and OF Jack Suwinski to the 40-man roster. The Rays also activated Jacob Melton, Ryan Pepiot, and Edwin Uceta from the 60-day Injured List; Jonathan Heasley was outrighted off the 40-man roster. Evan Reifert would have became a minor league free agent but he was traded to the Houston Astros for cash considerations and instead added to their 40-man roster. The Rays also resigned RHP Kodi Whitley to a minor league deal.

All of the moving and shaking leaves the Rays with 39 players on the 40-man roster.

Alberto, 25, has been in the Rays organization since signing as a teenager during the international signing period in 2019. Unfortunately, that meant that his professional debut was delayed due to the 2020 minor league season being cancelled for COVID. It took until 2021 for Alberto to make organizational debut in the DSL and the 6’8” hurler instantly showcased a plus arsenal but troubling command. Alberto’s command woes resulted him not reaching full season leagues until 2024.

Since then, his command has steadily improved while he dazzled with a fastball that touches triple digits. Last offseason, Alberto was eligible for the Rule 5 draft and the Chicago White Sox took a flyer but returned him back to the Rays before the end of camp. This past season, Alberto enjoyed the best year of his career as he dominated in Double-A and rose to Triple-A. However, the advanced hitters in Triple-A were able to signifcantly cut down Alberto’s K%. Overall, in 2026, Alberto had a 3.43 ERA | 3.80 FIP with a 28.6 K% & 9.9 BB% over 60.1 IP between Double-A and Triple-A. Alberto would have become a minor league free agent if the Rays didn’t add him to the 40-man roster.

Suwisnki, 28, has taken a very interesting route to the Rays 40-man roster this offseason. Originally drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 15th round of the 2016 draft, Suwisnki toiled away in the Friars system until being traded as one of three prospects to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder Adam Frazier at the 2021 deadline. Suwunski wasn’t the marquee prospect in the deal (that was Tucupita Marcano) but he quickly became the top player involved from either side.

The following year, Suwinski broke into the big leagues and accrued 1.1 fWAR over 106 games. In 2023, Suwinski had a career season as he belted 26 HR and hit .224/.339/.454, registering 112 wRC+ and accuring 2.6 fWAR. The wheels fell off in 2024, resulting in Suwinski losing his spot on the active roster. From 2024 through 2025, Suwinski hit .168/.271/.297 with 12 HR, registering a 58 wRC+ over 455 PA and accuring -1.8 fWAR. This past February, the Pirates designated Suwisnki for assignment and the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed him a week later.

Suwinski crushed the ball while in Triple-A for the Dodgers but never received a call to the big league roster, despite hitting .291/.386/.562 over 402 PA. Instead, the Tampa Bay Rays traded for him on August 3rd, in exchange for C Hunter Feduccia and promising pitching prospect Jacob Kmatz. During his time in Triple-A Durham, Suwisnki hit .231/.296/.300 over 143 PA.

Suwinski is eligible for arbitration so he’ll make more than the league minimum in 2027 if the Rays decide to tender him a contract; he is also out of options so he will have to make the Opening Day roster or be removed from the 40-man roster.

Next up for the Rays this offseason will be the November 17th deadline to add players to the 40-man roster from within the organization to protect them from the Rule-5 draft.

According to Will Sammon at The Athletic, sources are reporting that the Mets are hiring A.J. Ellis as their major-league strategy coordinator. Ellis is coming from the San Diego Padres, where he had been a special assistant in the front office since 2019.

Ellis was a big-league catcher for eleven years, starting in 2008 with the Dodgers. He was Clayton Kershaw’s batterymate of choice for many years. He was traded to the Phillies in 2016, and played for the Marlins and Padres before retiring after the 2018 season. He was a part of the Padres team in 2018, while current Mets manager Andy Green was their manager. Even before retiring, Ellis was known for mentoring younger players, earning the moniker “Dad.”

In hiring Ellis and promoting Mariano Duncan, the Mets will have filled two coaching positions on the major-league team. They have yet to make an announcement about a replacement for director of hitting Jeff Albert.

The Boston Red Sox are stuck. If you’re the type of person who is content finishing third within the division and being bounced by your arch rivals in just a handful of games in back-to-back seasons, you might disagree. If you’re not an idiot, you know difficult decisions need to be made and that things need to change.

I’ve decided to task myself with analyzing which players can be part of the turnaround and which should be shown the door, all as a way to take the heat off chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. If you’re not down with that, I’ve got two words for ya: Problem or Solution?

The Red Sox undoubtedly went the cheap route by choosing not to extend themselves with Alex Bregman last offseason, which in turn forced them to get creative by shipping out Kyle Harrison, David Hamilton, and Shane Drohan for three infield options: wildly inconsistent utility man Andruw Monasterio, good-for-the-clubhouse-but-not-the-lineup utility man Anthony Seigler, and Gold Glove third baseman Caleb Durbin.

It’s not quite as simple as we’re making it sound, though.

Durbin was genuinely horrific early on in 2026. And while the numbers certainly swung back in his direction, the monthly breakdown raises questions of whether he should be the full-time third baseman moving forward or just another stop-gap in the sudden revolving door at the position:

March/April: 28 G, .172/.261/.263, 1 HR, 6 2B, 16 K, 10 BB
May:20 G, .200/.232/.308, 0 HR, 5 2B, 12 K, 1 BB
June:25 G, .326/.359/.605, 6 HR, 6 2B, 13 K, 5 BB
July:25G, .284/.382/.420, 3 HR, 3 2B, 11 K, 10 BB
August:27 G, .277/.370/.356, 2 HR, 2 2B, 16 K, 14 BB
September/October:20 G, .217/.365/.304, 1 HR, 3 2B, 11 K, 11 BB

I’ve been on rollercoasters with less peaks and valleys than that, so what is real and what still needs to be learned?

WHAT WE KNOW
Boston doesn’t really have any options if it does want to move on…

Durbin is under contract through 2031, having just wrapped up his second season while being scheduled to make extremely short money for the next few seasons — making him one of the better values on the roster considering money is still owed to the likes of Trevor Story (through 2027), Masataka Yoshida (through 2027), Kristian Campbell (through 2032).

Durbin has also produced back-to-back seasons with an OPS+ of 101 — technically making him a top-12 third basemen in Major League Baseball. Eugenio Suárez, Alec Bohm, and Yoán Moncada are the biggest names on the free agent market but didn’t come close to having the same level of two-way production (at that price) last season. Si-Hwan Roh and Teruaki Sato are international free agents, but adding them to the roster would come with the risk of getting more expensive without any proven production.

It’s probably easier to stick to what you know, you know?

WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
Roh, 26, comes over with a similar power-first, high-strikeout, poor-defense approach to that of last season’s prized international free agent — Chicago White Sox third baseman Munetaka Murakami.

Sato, 28, is extremely interesting as he’s coming off an MVP season for the NPB’s Hanshin Tigers.

If those are the best bats available prior to the lockout, perhaps they could be added and some roster shuffling could take place. If those are risks that the organization is unwilling to take, perhaps they address other needs while kicking the can down the road.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO

The Red Sox are going to stick with our guy here, so the best-case scenario is that he continues to develop and finds some consistency in a season where he’s fully healthy.

WORST-CASE SCENARIO
Durbin’s pinky explodes four more times and he’s just a warm body at the plate.

CONCLUSION
I find myself genuinely excited about a fully healthy season out of Durbin.

Phillies Don Mattingly, Cristopher Sanchez, Jhoan Duran finalists for top awards originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Baseball Writers Association of America will begin handing out its annual awards next week and the Phillies have several finalists.

Manager Don Mattingly, starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez and closer Jhoan Duran are all in the final three in their respective categories.

Mattingly is a finalist for the National League Manager of the Year award. He took over the Phillies as interim manager when the team was 9-19 on April 28. Under Mattingly, the Phillies had the fourth-best record (79-55) in the majors the rest of the season and earned the third NL wild-card playoff spot. Mattingly was awarded a two-year contract in October.

Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy, who won the award the last two years, and Atlanta’s Walt Weiss are the other finalists for the award. Murphy is considered the favorite after his small-market Brewers led the majors with 103 wins during the regular season and won the franchise’s first World Series title. Voting for all BBWAA awards is done before the postseason begins.

After missing the playoffs for the first time in seven years in 2025, the Braves won the NL East in 2026, Weiss’ first year at the helm.

Mattingly previously won the NL Manager of the Year Award with Miami in 2020. He finished second while leading the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013.

The Manager of the Year Award will be announced next Tuesday.

The NL Cy Young Award will be announced next Wednesday and Sanchez is a finalist for the second year in a row. Last year, he finished second in the voting to Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes. This year, Sanchez is a finalist along with Milwaukee flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski and Atlanta lefty Chris Sale.

Misiorowski is considered the favorite. The right-hander led the majors with a 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts in 30 starts. Sale finished second in the NL with a 2.16 ERA.

Sanchez tied for the major-league lead with 18 wins. He was sixth in the NL with a 2.91 ERA and second with 207 innings pitched. His season was highlighted by a franchise-record 50 2/3 innings scoreless streak from April 30 to June 3. The streak was the fifth-longest in major-league history and longest ever by a left-hander.

The NL Reliever of the Year Award will also be announced on Wednesday. Duran is a finalist along with San Diego’s Mason Miller and Milwaukee’s Trevor Megill.

Miller led all NL relievers with a 1.67 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 70 innings. He tied for the league lead with 38 saves, blowing only three. Duran was second among qualifying NL relievers with a 1.82 ERA. He converted 33 of 35 saves chances. Megill converted 30 of 33 save chances and also had seven holds.

Award announcements start Monday with the Rookie of Year Awards and conclude next Thursday with the Most Valuable Player Awards.

Phillies don't extend qualifying offer to Alec Bohm as free agency opens originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies did not extend the one-year, $23.15 million qualifying offer to Alec Bohm, allowing their longtime third baseman to enter the open market without draft-pick compensation attached.

Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline passed without Philadelphia making the offer. The free-agent market officially opened at the same time, allowing Bohm and the rest of the class to negotiate and sign with any club.

With seven players entering free agency this winter, the Phillies’ decision removes one possible path to a reunion with Bohm.

Had Bohm accepted the offer, he would have returned for 2027 at more than twice the $10.2 million salary he earned this season. Had he declined and signed elsewhere, the Phillies would have received a compensatory draft pick after the fourth round because they exceeded the competitive-balance tax threshold.

Now, Bohm can sign elsewhere without draft-pick compensation returning to Philadelphia or a penalty being assessed to his new team.

As outlined in our free-agent focus on Bohm, the former third overall pick entered the offseason as one of the Phillies’ most complicated decisions.

Bohm finished 2026 batting .249 with 15 home runs, 29 doubles, 88 RBIs and a .698 OPS over 155 games. Those totals followed the worst start of his career. He was hitting .159 with a .433 OPS when Don Mattingly gave him two days out of the lineup in early May.

From May 9 through the end of the regular season, Bohm hit .274 with 14 homers, 73 RBIs and a .773 OPS. Extended across 162 games, that production translates to approximately 19 home runs and 99 RBIs.

He remained one of baseball’s most effective hitters with runners in scoring position, batting .347 in those situations. He is also one of seven right-handed hitters to drive in at least 85 runs during three of the last four seasons.

“If Alec is not back with us, those 90 runs he drives in every year will be missed,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said at the Phillies’ end-of-season press conference. “You’ll have to pick it up in other ways.”

The Phillies must weigh that production against Bohm’s limited power and defensive value at third base. Bryce Harper will return as their primary first baseman, while Bryson Stott and top prospect Aidan Miller give the organization other possibilities at third.

The decision does not rule out Bohm’s return. The Phillies can continue negotiating with him on a multiyear contract or at a lower annual salary.

Bohm made his preference clear after the Wild Card Series.

“I have no idea what to expect, but I’d love to be back,” he said.

Elsewhere, the Phillies announced several moves affecting their 40-man roster Monday. The Giants claimed infielders Brett Harris and Shay Whitcomb off waivers, while catcher Garrett Stubbs elected free agency. Right-handers Brad Keller and Caleb Kilian, infielder/outfielder Felix Reyes and outfielder Johan Rojas were reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

For now, Bohm will test the market for the first time without a qualifying offer affecting it. The Phillies were unwilling to risk bringing him back at $23.15 million. Whether they are willing to retain him at a different price remains unanswered.

New A’s President of Baseball Ops Taylor Smith has made his first major hire to his front office. The team announced on Wednesday morning the addition of Brewers executive Cam Castro to be the Athletics’ newest General Manager, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic:

The addition installs Castro as Smith’s #2 in the new-look A’s front office. Bringing in Smith last week to be the new president showed that the A’s are going to prioritize pitching development over the next few years, and Castro’s addition underscores that upcoming emphasis.

Castro joins the A’s after spending the past seven years within the Brewers’ organization. Originally joining as a minor league pitching coach, Castro rose to become their minor league coordinator, then director of pitching development, then finally vice president of player development. That’s quite the rise for Castro, who began his coaching career before finishing college.

If there’s a model to copy in the league right now, it’s the Brewers. Fresh off their first World Series in franchise history, the Brew Crew have been a consistent playoff contender over the past decade. It’s all the more impressive considering they’re a lower-budget team, but that should make Castro’s transition to the A’s much smoother.

One notable way the Brewers have operated and been able to maintain consistent success has been their openness to trading star players before they hit free agency. That’s a strategy that A’s fans have come to know quite well over the years. The Brewers’ model may end up becoming the one the A’s try to emulate the most: develop good pitching, and trade players when they’re a year or two away from free agency, regardless of their importance to winning today.

We’ll have to wait and see how it all unfolds but the A’s are adding another pitching guru to the staff, one that comes with more experience than Smith. These two are going to be joined at the hip and their main goal over the next few years is to finally fix the Athletics’ inability to develop pitching. Once we figure that out and add some arms to a strong position player core, we should be on our way to October baseball before we know it.

Welcome aboard Cam!

The 2026-27 MLB free agent class has hit the market, and so we have the various rankings of the free agents and predictions as to what they will get in the market.

This is a particularly weak free agent class. There’s one guy, Tarik Skubal, who is far and away the top guy in the class. After that, there’s not anyone in his tier, or really, in the tier below him, or even really a clear consensus as to the top player, or players, after him.

Fangraphs has their top 50 free agent list up, with Ben Clemens’ contract predictions, as well as the crowdsourced predictions. Seiya Suzuki, who appears to be the consensus top position player on the free agent market, is #2 on their list, followed by starting pitchers Trevor Rogers and Michael King and NPB third baseman Teruaki Sato. No one outside of the top five is projected to get more than $100M, and the non-Skubal guys barely hit that mark.

Baseball America also has a list of their top 50 free agents, which looks markedly different from Fangraphs’ list. Jazz Chisholm, Suzuki, Randy Arozarena and Freddy Peralta round out their top 5 by Skubal. They have their top 6 free agents — which includes Rogers at #6 — hitting the $100M mark.

Kiley McDaniel’s free agent predictions have Sato, Peralta, Arozarena and Suzuki behind Skubal in the top 5, with only Skubal and Sato reaching nine figures.

MLB Trade Rumors slots Rogers, Peralta, Suzuki and Arozarena behind Skubal, with only the top five reaching the $100M mark.

TJStats offers up rankings without contract predictions. Suzuki and Rogers are #2 and #3 behind Skubal, followed by Adrian Morejon and Chisholm at #4 and #5.

Keith Law also has rankings without definitive predictions, though he does reference in some instances the range where he thinks players should land, contract-wise. He is position-player heavy behind Skubal, with Sato, Brandon Lowe, Suzuki and Arraez going 2 through 5.

The variety in the lists is a reflection, I think, of the class not being strong — the free agents behind Skubal are more above-average than star caliber players, which results in there being more ordinal variation than normal. The lack of nine-figure projections is also an indicator of the weakness of the class — last year, nine players received nine figure contracts, with Kyle Tucker and Dylan Cease both cracking the $200 million mark. Framber Valdez received the ninth-largest contract, at $115 million — if the projections are accurate, no one other than Skubal might get that much this year.

And as a side note, I used the top Rangers’ free agent, Joc Pederson, in the header picture as a nod to Chuck, because I know he enjoys the Joc photos.

Alex Vesia was a fixture in the Dodgers bullpen for the last six seasons, after getting acquired from the Miami Marlins ahead of the 2021 season. So much so that his 367 games pitched are 13th-most in Dodgers history, and seventh-most among relievers in franchise history.

Now, Vesia is one of nine Dodgers free agents, out on the open market for the first time in his career, heading into his age-31 season.

Vesia during this three years eligible for salary arbitration made a totalof $6.9 million, including $3.65 million in 2026. He’s bound to top that three-year total annually with whatever new deal he signs in free agency. Here are some projections for Vesia from various outlets:

• Fox Sports (Rowan Kavner, Deesha Thosar): $14.3 million average annual value
• MLB Trade Rumors: 2 years, $26 million
• ESPN (Kiley McDaniel): 2 years, $25 million
• The Athletic (Keith Law): 2 years, $23 million
• NBC Sports (Matthew Pouliot): 3 years, $33 million
• FanGraphs (Ben Clemens): 2 years, $18 million
• FanGraphs (median crowdsource): 2 years, $16 million

Among all free agents, a pool of at least 183 players as of Monday, Vesia ranks as high as the 27th-best free agent on the market — at both ESPN and MLB Trade Rumors — and as low as 54th at USA Today, with an average ranking of 37th across 11 different outlets.

But Vesia is arguably the second-best left-handed relief pitcher on the market, behind only Adrián Morejón, who received a qualifying offer from the San Diego Padres. There will definitely be a market for Vesia.

“Vesia peppers the top of the zone with his 90-94 mph fastball that has huge ride, created by his high arm slot, the most vertical arm slot in baseball,” Kiley McDaniel wrote at ESPN. “That unique combination of traits leads to odd angles and more whiffs than you’d expect, as well as pop-ups, but also a number of fly balls and walks. It all adds up to a setup-type reliever who should land a two- or even three-year deal.”

Over the last three seasons, among the 392 major league pitchers with at least 120 innings, Vesia ranks 14th in ERA (2.45), 16th in xERA (2.81), and 12th in strikeout rate (32.7 percent). He also has the 18th-highest walk rate among that group (11.8 percent), but has still made it work, all while pitching in the seventh-most games in the majors, 207 appearances over the last three years.

In 2026, Vesia led the Dodgers with 72 appearances and posted a 2.64 ERA, 2.68 xERA, and 31.2-percent strikeout rate, the fifth time his strikeout rate has exceeded 31 percent in six years with the Dodgers. His 13.5-percent walk rate was his highest since 2021.

“The concern here is that Vesia’s fastball velocity has dropped slightly each season, going from a peak of 94.4 mph in 2023 to 92.1 mph in 2026,” Matthew Pouliot wrote at NBC Sports. “It hasn’t been a problem yet, but it eventually will become one if it continues. Still, he’d be a nice fit everywhere.”

Today’s question is twofold: What contract (years and guaranteed money) will Alex Vesia sign this offseason, and with what team will he sign?

If you blinked, you may have missed Ian Hamilton pitching for the Atlanta Braves in 2026. To the extent anyone remembers him, it’s probably for his three seasons with the Yankees (one of which was very good), but he did have a few cups of coffee with the Braves this season.

How Acquired

In the 2025-2026 offseason, the Yankees non-tendered Hamilton, leading to the Braves scooping him up on a non-guaranteed MLB contract in mid-December.

What were the expectations?

Considering the Yankees non-tendered him, there had to be a reason why. That reason wasn’t very complicated: Hamilton was a replacement level relief arm in 2025, with a 104 ERA-, 103 FIP-, and 105 xFIP-.

Hamilton made just 15 MLB appearances from 2018-2022, but busted out with a 1.1 fWAR season in his first year with the Yankees in 2023. Unfortunately, he took a step back in 2024, and by 2025, wasn’t particularly helpful to a big league team’s cause. Stuff like his xERA also trended downward.

The Braves likely gambled on the idea that even if Hamilton couldn’t get back to 2023 form, even his 2024 form (95 ERA-, 72 FIP-, 90 xFIP-) would suit them quite well, perhaps as a lower-leverage bullpen piece.

2026 Results

Hamilton ended up functioning as a yo-yo piece as the Braves got through the 2026 season. He was cut part of the way through Spring Training and outrighted to the minors, recalled in mid-April, designated for assignment (and eventually outrighted again) six days later, then recalled-DFAed-outrighted again in a two-week stretch in late June and early July.

He threw just an inning in his first stint with the club, and stuck around for three appearances in his second stint. He didn’t really give the team much of a reason to keep him around: he was awful in his one-inning appearance in his first stint (1/2 K/BB ratio in a blowout) and then a mixed bag in his second stint (one great outing, one poor outing, one so-so outing).

All in all, Hamilton completed 4 2/3 big league innings in 2026, his lowest total since 2022. He put up a 184 ERA-, 80 FIP-, and 94 xFIP-, “earning” 0.0 fWAR in the process. He pitched okay, got charged with a bunch of runs, and spent most of his season toiling in Gwinnett.

What went right?

His second stint went pretty well, with a 58 ERA-, 55 FIP-, and 64 xFIP-. You’d think the Braves would have been interested in keeping him around a bit longer after some success against the Padres and Cardinals, but nope. Nor did they see much of a reason to call him back up down the stretch.

His best outing by WPA was a scoreless frame while the Braves were down three runs to the Cardinals. His best outing in terms of pitching was a 14-pitch, strikeout-strikeout-groundout frame against the Padres, also with the Braves down three runs.

What went wrong?

Beyond the above, there isn’t too much to say. His command was terrible (tiny sample). His pitch shapes were bad (tiny sample). His xERA was awful (tiny sample), though that’s not necessarily reflective of pitching performance. His slider had spin deflection marks so insane that it almost feels like a small-sample data error, but those didn’t help him succeed in any fashion. He actually got a fair bit of chase and whiffs when batters chased, but he also struggled to hit the zone or miss bats within it.

And, his first outing of the season, where he came in with a two-run deficit and left with a five-run deficit, didn’t help anything and possibly soured the Braves on him before he could even manage to get going.

On top of that, he didn’t really distinguish himself while waiting for another callup at Gwinnett — the 3.25 FIP is nice-ish, but the above-4.00 xFIP for a 31-year-old in his seventh stint at the Triple-A level, not so much.

2027 Outlook

Hamilton finished out the year at Gwinnett and is now a free agent. Given that he’s been trending down since 2023, and now projects somewhere between straight-up replacement level and below average reliever (if one figures the ghost of 2024 can be evoked once more), he’s squarely in minor league deal territory at this point.

Twelve Royals farmhands became minor league free agents, including reliever Alex Lange, who had been outrighted off the 40-man roster last week. The other minor league free agents include Scott Alexander, Christian Chamberlain, Grant Gambrell, Isaiah Jackson, Connor Kaiser, Luke Little, Alejo López, Elih Marrero, Matt Moore, Abraham Toro, and Vince Velasquez. Players become eligible for minor league free agency after six seasons if they have not been added to a 40-man roster. A total of 504 players around baseball became minor league free agents this offseason, free to sign a minor league or Major League contract with any team.

Scott Alexander is a familiar name to Royals fans. The 37-year-old left-hander was originally drafted by the Royals in the sixth round in 2010 and made his MLB debut with Kansas City in 2015. He was traded to the Dodgers in 2018 and has pitched for the Dodgers, Giants, and Rockies since then. He has a career 3.36 ERA in 349 big-league appearances over 11 seasons. He returned to the Royals organization in July after pitching in the independent Atlantic League and had a 2.08 ERA in 14 games for Omaha.

Christian Chamberlain was a fourth-round pick by the Royals in 2020 out of Oregon State. The 27-year-old left-hander has spent his entire professional career in the organization, making 130 appearances with a 4.90 ERA. He was pitched in just seven games at Northwest Arkansas this year due to injury.

Grant Gambrell was a third-round pick by the Royals in 2019 out of Oregon State. He was traded to the Red Sox in the Andrew Benintendi trade, but was signed this year after pitching for the Kansas City Monarchs in the American Association. The 28-year-old had a 6.13 ERA in 39.2 innings at Double-A this season.

Isaiah Jackson is a 25-year-old right-hander who signed with the Royals in February 2025 after previously pitching in the Brewers organization. He has had difficulty staying healthy, spending much of the 2025 and 2026 seasons on the injured list. The former undrafted free agent has appeared in just 14 minor league games in his career, with a 7.53 ERA.

Connor Kaiser is a 29-year-old shortstop who signed with the Royals last November. The Blue Valley West grad has appeared in 22 MLB games with Colorado and Arizona in his career. He appeared in just 26 games for Omaha this season, hitting .118 before injuries ended his season.

Alex Lange appeared in 59 games for the Royals in 2026, posting a 6.75 ERA. He has pitched in six MLB seasons, and had 26 saves with the Tigers in 2023, before suffering injuries in 2024 and 2025. He has a career 4.45 ERA in 244.2 MLB innings, with 10.4 strikeouts-per-nine innings.

Luke Little is a 26-year-old left-hander who was drafted by the Cubs in the fourth round in 2020 out of San Jacinto College. He made his MLB debut in 2023 and has appeared in 40 big-league games, posting a 2.97 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 36.1 innings. He was claimed by the Royals organization this summer, and gave up 21 runs in 11.2 innings for Omaha.

Alejo López is a 30-year-old infielder who has appeared in 54 big-league games, hitting .265/.309/.329 with one home run. The Royals acquired him this summer after the Mariners released him, and he hit .307/.375/.404 in 38 games for Omaha.

Elih Marrero is a 29-year-old catcher originally drafted by the Red Sox, and the son of former Royals outfielder Eli Marrero. He was invited to spring training with the Royals, and hit .240/.275/.376 in 41 games for Omaha.

Matt Moore is a 37-year-old left-hander with 13 years of Major League experience with the Rays, Giants, Rangers, Tigers, Phillies, Rangers, Angels, Guardians, and Marlins. He was once the top prospect in baseball and made the American League All-Star team with the Rays in 2013. He has a career 4.39 ERA in 483 big-league appearances and signed a minor league deal with the Royals in June. He appeared in 16 game for Omaha with a 5.00 ERA.

Abraham Toro is a 29-year-old infielder who appeared in 449 big-league games with the Astros, Mariners, Brewers, and Athletics, hitting .223/.285/.356 with 41 home runs. After appearing in the World Baseball Classic for Team Canada, he hit .270/.351/.478 with 19 home runs in 123 games for Omaha.

Vince Velasquez is a 34-year-old right-hander who spent ten years in the big leagues with the Astros, Phillies, Padres, White Sox, and Pirates, making 144 starts and posting a 4.86 ERA in 193 career appearances. The Royals signed him after he was released by the Cubs, and he had a 6.36 ERA in 52.1 innings with Omaha.

Other notable minor league free agents include CJ Alexander, Kolby Allard, Orlando Arcia, Tyler Austin, Cavan Biggio, Will Brennan,  Chandler Champlain, Daz Cameron, Tucker Davidson, Clay Dungan, Dane Dunning, Scott Effross, Alex Faedo, Stuart Fairchild, Dominic Fletcher, Carson Fulmer, Garrett Hampson, Robert Hassell, Jon Heasley, Tink Hence, Andy Ibáñez, Edouard Julien, Jarred Kelenic, Dallas Keuchel, Heston Kjerstad, Jackson Kowar, Anthony Misiewicz, Eli Morgan, James Outman, Zach Pop, Jakson Reetz, Sebastián Rivero, Jesús Sánchez, Yolmer Sánchez, Austin Slater, Pavin Smith, Collin Snider, Lou Trivino, Joey Wiemer, Bryse Wilson, Patrick Wisdom, Simeon Woods Richardson

The Mets continue to add to their major league coaching staff, adding another former player.

SNY's Chelsea Janes confirms that New York is hiring A.J. Ellis as the team's strategy coordinator. 

Ellis, who played 11 seasons as a catcher with the Dodgers, Phillies, Marlins and Padres, will join Andy Green's staff days after the team promoted Mariano Duncan, who was the bench coach for Double-A Binghamton. 

The 45-year-old former backstop previously worked as a special assistant for the Padres front office. He also played 66 games behind the plate for San Diego in 2018 when Green managed.

The Athletic's Will Sammon first reported the hiring and notes that Green and the Mets are looking to fill one more coaching position.

Heading into this offseason, there was some light speculation when it came to whether or not the Atlanta Braves would change up their coaching staff a bit. In his press conference following Atlanta’s elimination from the Postseason, it didn’t seem like Alex Anthopoulos had any plans of shaking things up with the coaching staff — though there was always the possibility of that being “GM speak.”

Sure enough, it ended up being for real. Jesús Cano of The Athletic is reporting that the Braves are indeed bringing back the entire coaching staff for the 2027 season.

Here’s the relevant part about Tim Hyers, where it was actually confirmed that Hyers had signed a two-year deal to be the hitting coach for the Braves. It’s now confirmed that he’ll be back for a third season.

The most significant holdover is hitting coach Tim Hyers, who joined the Braves on a two-year contract before the 2025 season and shepherded a group that scored the eighth-most runs in MLB in 2026. Hyers, who was formerly on the Texas Rangers’ coaching staff that won the 2023 World Series, will continue working alongside assistant hitting coach Darnell Coles.

Overall, it’s clear that the Braves as an organization really do value continuity — they went with an internal managerial hire ahead of the 2026 season and now they’re keeping the same coaching staff together for the next season. It’s also clear that they think that this coaching staff still has a lot to offer moving forward.

I’d imagine that we’re going to hear zero complaints about Jeremy Hefner returning as pitching coach and it’ll also be interesting to see how first base coach Antoan Richardson and third base coach Tommy Watkins continue to go about figuring out ways to improve the running game alongside Walt Weiss. Tim Hyers will certainly be the one with the microscope focused on him, as the offense still has yet to even come close to returning to the lofty heights that they reached back when Kevin Seitzer was the hitting coach.

Either way, everybody’s got something to prove and hopefully it’ll lead to some improvements across the board. We’ll see what happens going forward.