Robertson last season had a 4.30 ERA with 52 strikeouts and 30 walks in 52 1/3 innings in 43 games in Triple-A between the Astros and Royals systems. The 27-year-old right-hander pitched in the majors for the Dodgers, Red Sox, Cardinals, and Blue Jays in 2023-24.
David Roth at Defector looked at the last few days, and how the Tucker signing spurred more action and reaction among some top-spending teams. The Mets, who were in on Tucker, pivoted to Bo Bichette, whom they plan to play at a new position. That left the Bichette-pursuing Phillies left empty-handed, and they re-signed catcher JT Realmuto.
Max Muncy’s wife Kellie gave birth to the couple’s third child on Tuesday, a daughter named Macie Grace, which was shared on Instagram:
Also, 23 years ago (2002), the Blue Jays traded Brad Fullmer to the Angels for Brian Cooper.
So it is a shared birthday/today in Jays’ history post.
About the trade:
Cooper was an RHP. He was 27 at the time. He pitched for the Angels for portions of three seasons, making 21 starts and 6 relief appearances. He reached 5-10 with a 5.33 ERA in 128 innings, 57 walks, and 58 strikeouts.
Fullmer was also 27 at the time of the trade.
It wasn’t one of J.P. Ricciardi’s better trades. Fullmer was always thought of as a disappointment. Maybe because, as an LHB, he didn’t hit lefties at all. Maybe because Brad really couldn’t play defense. But I wonder why J.P. gave him away so cheaply (perhaps he was tired of paying for cleaning chewing tobacco out of the Skydome’s turf?). Cooper wasn’t much of a pitcher, nor was Brad a great prospect, but Ricciardi must have seen something in Cooper that the rest of us missed. I can’t imagine what he thought he saw. Cooper had as many walks as strikeouts when we traded for him.
The Expos picked Brad in the 2nd round of the 1993 draft. He played two-plus seasons with the Expos and had been a disappointment. He wasn’t very good with the glove at first base, and his bat didn’t show quite as well as the Expos hoped. Nevertheless, he hit .276/.326/.459 with 25 home runs in 259 games with Montreal.
In March 2000, Fullmer was part of a three-team trade between the Expos, Rangers, and Blue Jays. The Rangers sent Lee Stevens to the Expos, the Jays sent David Segui to the Rangers, and the Expos sent Fullmer to the Jays.
Stevens did a good job for the Expos, hitting .243/.334/.450 with 57 home runs in 3 seasons. Segui hit .336/.391/.519 in 93 games, and the Expos traded him to Cleveland for Ricky Ledee. Segui was always good at getting on base, but didn’t have the power you’d like to have from a first baseman.
Fullmer DHed for the Jays for two seasons, hitting .284/.333/.499 with 50 home runs and 187 RBI in 279 games. He had an excellent season in 2000, hitting 32 home runs and driving in 104 runs. If the Jays had a better team, we’d consider Fullmer one of the better DHs in team history.
The trade with the Angels didn’t go well for the Jays.
Fullmer played two seasons for the Angels and hit .294/.367/.521 with 28 home runs and 94 RBI in 193 games. He also starred in the Angels’ 2002 World Series win. He hit .294/.351/.471 in 12 playoff games. Brad also stole home in game two of the World Series as part of a double steal. Pretty crappy defense there, Giants.
Brad signed with the Rangers before the 2004 season. In late June, he hit .233/.310/.442 with 11 home runs, but a knee injury ended his career.
Fullmer played 8 seasons and hit .279/.336/.486 with 114 home runs.
Chad Beck turns 41 today.
Chad was a 43rd-round draft pick in 2004 (the draft is now only 20 rounds). Beck pitched 2.1 innings in 2011 and 15.2 innings in 2012, and that was his career. Only 1 other player picked in that round in 2004 made the majors: Chris Schwinden, who threw 29.2 innings over two seasons. Gotta love guys who beat odds that long.
Also, on January 17, 2011, 15 years ago now, the Jays signed Jon Rauch, without whom we would have never had this:
The weekend is a great time to kick back and reflect. This Week in Purple is the place to catch up on the news from our team at Purple Row. You’ll find links to Rockpiles and other content below as well as a platform for community discussion in the comments.
The Colorado Rockies released their preliminary promotional schedule for the 2026 season. It’s sparse at the moment, but the Rockies have assured us that there will be more coming so stay tuned!
But in the meantime, here are the giveaways and theme dates as of Friday:
April
Friday, April 3: Rockies Home Opener, 2026 Magnet Schedule (all fans)
Saturday, April 4: Jersey Sweatshirt (first 15,000 fans)
While much of the baseball-watching public is up in arms about the contracts that Kyle Tucker (Dodgers, four years, $240 million) and Bo Bichette (Mets, three years, $126 million) received this week, we have a much more modest rumor to talk about.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that the Orioles, among a few other teams, are interested in 42-year-old righty Justin Verlander. The 20-year MLB vet and future Hall of Famer spent the 2025 season with the San Francisco Giants, where he had a 3.85 ERA over 152 innings.
Rosenthal clarifies that a deal between the Orioles and Verlander “is not close.” The O’s have their sights set on a bigger rotation upgrade, but those options are waning. Framber Valdez is the big free agent still on the market, above the likes of Zac Gallen, Lucas Giolito, and Chris Bassitt. There are some intriguing trade options, including Tarik Skubal, Freddy Peralta, and Mackenzie Gore, but they are expected to require a big prospect haul to land. Verlander would represent a Plan B.
Some will recall that this is not the first time that Verlander and the Mike Elias-led Orioles have been linked. Back in 2023, there was some speculation that the O’s could trade for the him when he was then on the Mets. At the time, he was still viewed as an ace, having posted a 1.75 ERA over 175 innings in 2022 and then looking solid again for a disappointing Mets squad halfway through ‘23. Ultimately, Verlander returned to the Astros, and the Orioles traded for Jack Flaherty instead. Both teams would be beaten by the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers in the playoffs.
Whomever signs Verlander will not be getting the peak version, obviously. His velocity and strikeout numbers are more modest than they once were. He hasn’t thrown 200 innings in a season since 2019. And you could understand Orioles fans having some trepidation here after the club suffered through the Charlie Morton experience last summer, a pitcher from the same era as Verlander.
But the Orioles rotation is in a better spot now than it was when Morton was added a year ago. Morton was expected to come in and be one of the better pitchers on a unit that lacked an ace. Verlander would slot somewhere behind Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers, and be counted on for innings and guidance rather than ace-level performance. The upside of the rotation would be left to the duo ahead of him, the newly acquired Shane Baz, and the potential emergence or prospect Trey Gibson.
Adding a 42-year-old pitcher is never going to be the safest move, and it would certainly be a disappointment for fans that have been hoping for a bonafide ace at the zenith of their powers. But you could also do a lot worse than a proven winner like Verlander.
Links
Orioles Among Teams With Interest In Justin Verlander | MLB Trade Rumors Here is the MLBTR writeup of the above-mentioned report from The Athletic. If Elias and the Orioles’ front office isn’t in love with the more expensive options, signing a veteran like Verlander makes a ton of sense. He would be cheaper ($15 million salary in 2025) than some of the other arms out there, and it may keep their options open for a splashy trade in-season.
Some random thoughts and more mailbag questions | Roch Kubatko Not much in here apart from Roch reassuring us all that the Orioles are in hot pursuit of pitching upgrades. The quality of those upgrades is unclear. But no one is saying that they are out on Valdez or anyone else.
Busy week for Orioles as Framber Valdez remains unsigned | Baltimore Baseball For a long time I thought the Orioles could land Valdez if he was willing to take a short-term, high AAV deal. But I wasn’t aware of just how high some of these AAVs were gonna go. Tucker just got $60 million AAV, and then Bichette landed $42 million AAV. Are the Orioles interested in that stratosphere of a deal? Ehhh.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
Rob Bell turns 49 today. He pitched in 30 games out of the Orioles bullpen in 2007, sporting a 5.94 ERA over 53 total innings.
The late Dick Brown (b. 1935, d. 1970) was born on this day. From 1963 through ‘65, he shared catching duties on the Orioles with John Orsino. Brown’s time with the Orioles, and playing career in general, was ended by a brain tumor that eventually took his life several years later.
It is a posthumous celebration for Jay Heard (b. 1920, d. 1999). The left-handed pitcher was the franchise’s first African-American player after their move to Baltimore. He would pitch in just two games for the 1954 squad.
This day in O’s history
January 17 has been a quiet day in Orioles history, according to Baseball Reference. Maybe that will change today. For now, here are some happenings from beyond Birdland:
1920 – The Volstead Act goes into effect in the United States, beginning Alcohol Prohibition.
1950 – The Great Brinks Robbery: More than $2 million is stolen from an armored car company’s offices in Boston by a team of 11 thieves. At the time, it was the largest robbery in United States history and went unsolved for nearly six years.
2013 – Highly-decorated former cyclist Lance Armstrong confesses to doping throughout his career during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
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.”
