There is no result because the results were skewed. How skewed? When closing responses, there were 548 collected. 86.6% of people claimed Dante Nori was the team’s third best prospect. No disrespect to Nori intended, but there is a consensus among the scouting community who the team’s top three prospects are, so let’s just learn from this and move on.
There is a decent amount of pressure on Justin Crawford now. He’s taken the methodical route to the majors, the team preferring him to find success at levels over an entire season as opposed to being rushed to Philadelphia before he was ready. Many scouting gurus have talked about his swing not being conducive to major league success no matter how well he performed in the minors, yet perform well in the minors he has.
The time has come for him to show what he can do in the majors and it seems the Phillies are primed to do just that. Judging from their offseason moves, the runway has been cleared for his to hit in the bottom third of the lineup and play left field full time.
Offensively, we could pretty much cut and paste any report we’ve written about Crawford since he was drafted here. He still hits the ball on the ground way too much, he still runs like the wind, he still puts the ball in play a lot, and he still swings at way too many pitches for a guy who has what is otherwise a 1990s leadoff man profile. He made some real improvements around the edges of his very durable broad profile in 2025—he cut his chase rate by over five points year-over-year, which got it from catastrophic to merely bad, while turning a few grounders into line drives—but for the most part what you think about his offensive game still depends on whether you think his reliance on nine-hopper singles can sustain a plus-or-better hit tool outcome in the majors.
With each new post, we’ll reveal who won the voting for that particular slot, then post new players for you to vote on, adding another one to the list each time until we get to our final tally of 20. Once we get to 20 top prospects, we’ll do an honorable mention post at the end. If a player gets traded to another team, we’ll just chuck him right on outta here and all the players will move up a spot. If a prospect gets acquired, we’ll ask where he should go on the list.
Probably the most important thing about this whole process – please vote. Give us a few minutes of your time, just click a button and then we can discuss other players and things in the comment section, but don’t forget – VOTE!
Inspired by Mike Carlucci at Over the Monster (and, perhaps, an Instagram trend) I thought it would be a fun exercise to look back at Detroit Tigers teams from ten, twenty and thirty years ago and put myself in the shoes of the average fan in the winters just before those seasons.
Some of you here may be relative newcomers to the Tigers; in that case, welcome aboard, and just know that being a serious playoff contender isn’t always a frequent occurrence. But sometimes things line up just right – and, of course, a certain pizza-chain-owning mogul decides to blow his entire bank account on the team for which he once played in the organization.
Some of you have followed the Tigers for decades longer than others; in that case, feel free to fill things in for forty, fifty or more years in the past down in the comments. To that end, fifty years ago marked the debut of one of the singular sensations in baseball history, Mark Fidrych. He’d put together a good year across three minor-league levels in 1975 at age 20, capping things off with six very good starts at Triple-A Evansville (completing four of them; ah, different times, then). Did anyone see his 1976 coming? I doubt anyone would’ve, including Fidrych himself, may he rest in peace.
Anyway, on with the exercise at hand.
Ten Years Ago: 2016
A sense of dread hung over Tigers fans that offseason, as the window for a realistic shot at a World Series title appeared to have mostly snapped shut in the second year of Brad Ausmus’ tenure in 2015. Core stars like Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martínez were aging, Justin Verlander had re-emerged as one of the best pitchers in the league in the second half of the season but most weren’t yet convinced and they’d failed to build back around him, and it became clear that Ausmus was not the guy to reassemble the Tigers into anything ressembling a good team. Plus, Dave Dombrowski quit as General Manager and his longtime deputy, Al Avila, was expected to pilot the ship along roughly the same course as before.
And, let’s face it, the less said about Alfredo “Big Pasta” Simón’s season in Detroit, the better. Yikes. (How did that trade with the Reds turn out? I hope what’s-his-name turned out alright. You know, ol’ Jonathon Crawford.)
But, like all good baseball movies, the aging veterans surely had to have one last turn in the Sun in them, right? Besides, J.D. Martinez had a great season with 38 home runs and 33 doubles, and while he wasn’t so hot with the glove, you could stick him in right field and have him occassionally DH, you could get away with some suspicious defence now and again. Al Alburquerque and his amazing slider could baffle hitters in the late innings, and Bruce Rondón was going to be the Closer of the Future.
While the 2016 Tigers finished with 86 wins – short of a Wild Card spot after a wretched August and September in which they went 23–32 – it was pretty clear that the extended run of consistently good teams, stretching back to 2011, was over. Ausmus was kept around for another year in which the Tigers struggled, traded away all the veteran they could, including Verlander, and finished last. Things look pretty bleak for years afterwards.
Twenty Years Ago: 2006
I’ve always felt that Alan Trammell got a raw deal as manager of the Tigers for three years in the early 2000s. He was handed a truly horrible team in 2003 and, unsurpsingly, they did terribly; nearly-historically-terribly, as it turned out. When your starting lineup features Dmitri Young as, by far, its most valuable hitter (with a nice 3.4 bWAR but a glove as strange as you’ll ever see), and a starting rotation in which one starter had an ERA below 5 (Nate Cornejo, ladies and gentlemen), there’s only so much you can do.
Since things can’t stay that bad for that long, they won 29 more games in 2004 than they did the year before: no pitcher lost twenty games, Iván Rodriguez and Carlos Guillén were solid free-agent pickups, and Dombrowski had a full season on the job to build the kind of team we’d desperately wanted for years. With high hopes and an interesting young rotation, what would 2005 bring?
A slight regression, as it turned out. They won one fewer game, the bullpen was a mess (although they managed to get rid of Ugueth Urbina just in time and flip him for the impossible-to-whiff Plácido Polanco), and while the young starters stayed healthy and ate up a whole lot of innings, they didn’t take the huge step forward that many were hoping for. They had a 61-62 record near the end of August, but the bottom fell out and that was that.
Thus, ol’ Tram “got the ziggy,” and Jim Leyland was brought in to scream and yell and occasionally cry and the room you were sitting in sure got a little dusty when that happened for the 2006 season. As we all know, the Tigers got a Wild Card after skidding backwards into the playoffs, losing the AL Central title to Minnesota, but they made it all the way to the World Series in a run that none of us could have truly predicted. Breakout or standout seasons were all over the place, and some young punk kid named Verlander decided he’d go out and win himself seventeen games as a 23-year-old rookie. Not bad at all.
Thirty Years Ago: 1996
Here’s where a lot of us start to have slightly fuzzy memories, myself included.
Sparky Anderson retired at the end of the 1995 season. He’d been the manager in Detroit since mid-1979, which is the kind of managerial tenure you rarely see in baseball. He’d turned a boatload of ridiculously talented prospects into a World Series winner and kept things going for a while as those prospects aged into veterans. But the strike in 1994, and management asking him to possibly guide replacement players in 1995 (before the strike was resolved) suggested to Sparky that it might be time to hang ‘em up.
Lou Whitaker also retired at the end of 1995, but Trammell decided he had one more season in him as Travis Fryman was clearly going to be the starting shortstop going forward. Kirk Gibson had also squeezed one final campaign out of his body and reitred a Tiger, after memorable seasons in Los Angeles (and not-so-memorable ones in Kansas City and Pittsburgh). Chad Curtis looked to be a solid pickup from the Angels, but the less said about him the better, too, as it turned out.
Add Mike Moore’s name to the list of fresh retirees, too: he’d lost 15 games in the Tigers rotation in 1995, and at age 35 and after fourteen seasons, he probably figured he’d had enough. The rotation in ‘95 had Felipe Lira and José Lima, two promising young pitchers, and the Tigers picked up Omar Olivares as a free agent; he’d had some good seasons in St. Louis. Gregg Olson was brought in to be their closer, and he’d had a nice run in the early-’90s in Baltimore. Could this patchwork pitching staff get the Tigers some wins, picking up the slack for a questionable starting lineup?
Nope. The Tigers in 1996 had the worst team ERA in American League history, they lost 109 games under Buddy Bell, and it kicked off a ten-season stretch in which they wouldn’t win 80 games in a season, and indeed only cracked 75 wins twice. Bobby Higginson sure deserved better than this.
Again, feel free to add your recollections of any of these past offseasons, a decade apart – or if you’re of a more refined vintage, something from a previous ending-in-six offseason.
Signed by the Mets on the January 15, 2025, Peña was the organization’s crown jewel for the 2025-2026 international free agent signing period. Considered one of the best position players available in the class, and potentially the best position player available, the Mets and Peña agreed to a $5 million dollar signing bonus, shattering the prior organizational record (Yovanny Rodriguez, $2.85 million) and eating up the majority of the $6,261,600 that the team had in their 2025-2026 pool.
Assigned to the Dominican Summer League, Peña has had an interesting start to his career so far. The 17-year-old shortstop started his career on June 2 for the DSL Mets Orange and went 0-2 with a strikeout and a hit-by-pitch. He would go 0-fer for roughly two weeks before logging his first professional hit on June 14th, going 1-3. After finally getting over that hurtle, Peña hit an incredible .351/.467/.635 over the course of the rest of the season. In total, he ended up hitting .292/.421/.528 in 178 at-bats over 55 games with 13 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs, 21 stolen bases in 25 attempts, and drew an even 36 walks to 36 strikeouts. Not just once, but twice, Peña hit three home runs in a single game; on June 26 when he went 4-5 with a double and three homers, and on August 18, when he went 4-5 with a single and three homers.
Listed a 5’11”, 170-pounds, Peña is almost certainly a little bigger and heavier than that now. He stands slightly open at the plate, holding his hands at the shoulders and wrapping his bat behind his head angled at 10:30. He swings with a slight leg lift but no real load or weight shift, primarily pulling the ball right now at a 48.5% rate and going back up the middle and to the opposite field at a 22.1% and 29.4% rate, respectively. His swing has natural uppercut and is designed towards putting the ball in the air, but was a bit slow and stiff according to scouts and evaluators early on in the season; whether it was just because he was still getting accustomed to professional baseball or not remains to be seen.
Despite the current lack of explosivity, Peña still makes loud contact, with a high-water exit velocity mark of 99.8 MPH as per public broadcasts of DSL contests where data is available. He does not expand the zone much, either. Peña was marketed as a hitter with his advanced pitch recognition and plate discipline for his age, and while that may be true broadly, the level of pitching he has been facing so far may simply be too embryonic to really get a good gauge on whether or not he actually is, or whether or not he only is currently for his cohort, relative to their current pitching abilities.
Peña’s lower half has thickened since first being scouted professionally, and he seemingly is still far from being physically maxed out. Defensively, he has the tools and ability to play shortstop but may be better suited at third base in the future depending on how quick-twitch athletic he remains. His range at shortstop is not currently an issue, but it may be taxed if he slows down in the future. His plus arm, smooth hands, and strong instincts work at either position.
2026 Mets Top 25 Prospect List
14) Zach Thornton 15) Nick Morabito 16) R.J. Gordon 17) Chris Suero 18) Dylan Ross 19) Ryan Lambert 20) Antonio Jimenez 21) Edward Lantigua 22) Eli Serrano III 23) Randy Guzman 24) Daiverson Gutierrez 25) Boston Baro
Could the Yankees’ starting catcher have caught wind of a major departure?
Austin Wells replied to Cody Bellinger’s latest Instagram post with a crying face emoji as rumors swirl about the star’s looming free agency decision.
The eight-picture post, which shows Bellinger working out, was the two-time All-Star’s first Instagram activity since he shared photos of himself exercising at the same facility in late November.
Bellinger and the Yankees remain engaged about a possible reunion. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Bellinger and the Yankees remain in talks about a reunion, but the years offered remain a sticking point.
The Yankees have reportedly offered the 30-year-old outfielder/first baseman a deal worth $155 million over five years.
The Post’s Jon Heyman reported last week that the Yankees are willing to include multiple opt-outs to address Bellinger’s concerns about the contract length.
The two-time All-Star’s latest Instagram post yielded a bevy of pleas for him to re-sign with the Yankees – and a concerning crying face emoji from Austin Wells.
Bellinger is coming off a platform season entering free agency, slashing .272/.334/.480 with 29 home runs and 98 RBIs in 152 games with the Yankees.
Bellinger’s 5.1 WAR was his best mark since he notched a league-best 8.7 total during his NL MVP-winning campaign with the Dodgers in 2019.
The Yankees have reportedly not budged off their five-year offer to Bellinger.
After Bo Bichette signed with the Mets and Kyle Tucker joined the Dodgers on a historic deal, Bellinger remains the top available hitter on the market.
Danny Rohl has re-energised Ibrox by instilling a winning mentality while "carrying himself like a Rangers manager should", says former midfielder Charlie Adam.
The former Sheffield Wednesday boss took over the Govan club during a period of turmoil following Russell Martin's calamitous tenure.
With 11 wins in 14 league games, the German coach has dragged the Ibrox side back into contention for the Scottish Premiership title.
Former Rangers player Adam says Rohl has not won matches by playing the best football, but by adjusting and understanding the predicament the club were in when he arrived.
"Danny's done a brilliant job," said Adam. "He's understood where Rangers are [and] he's carried himself like a Rangers manager should.
"I think you have to be a certain type to be the Rangers manager - how you carry yourself, how you speak to the media. I think he's done that really well.
"Has he played the best football? Probably not, but he's got results. That's key and that's the important bit. He's done that quickly.
"Now there's a lot of good feeling around the club and the supporters and the owners are trying to do the right things."
With leaders Hearts welcoming Celtic to Tynecastle on Saturday, Rangers could be presented with the chance to further close the gap at the summit when they host Dundee.
Adam, who was a Rangers player between 2003 and 2009, added: "Inside the club and inside that dressing room, they'll know that there's an opportunity to really kick on for the end of the season.
"A couple of signings from now to the end of the January window will help them, and as long as you come out of the window better than you started, it will give you an opportunity for the last part of the season."
Danny Rohl has re-energised Ibrox by instilling a winning mentality while "carrying himself like a Rangers manager should", says former midfielder Charlie Adam.
The former Sheffield Wednesday boss took over the Govan club during a period of turmoil following Russell Martin's calamitous tenure.
With 11 wins in 14 league games, the German coach has dragged the Ibrox side back into contention for the Scottish Premiership title.
Former Rangers player Adam says Rohl has not won matches by playing the best football, but by adjusting and understanding the predicament the club were in when he arrived.
"Danny's done a brilliant job," said Adam. "He's understood where Rangers are [and] he's carried himself like a Rangers manager should.
"I think you have to be a certain type to be the Rangers manager - how you carry yourself, how you speak to the media. I think he's done that really well.
"Has he played the best football? Probably not, but he's got results. That's key and that's the important bit. He's done that quickly.
"Now there's a lot of good feeling around the club and the supporters and the owners are trying to do the right things."
With leaders Hearts welcoming Celtic to Tynecastle on Saturday, Rangers could be presented with the chance to further close the gap at the summit when they host Dundee.
Adam, who was a Rangers player between 2003 and 2009, added: "Inside the club and inside that dressing room, they'll know that there's an opportunity to really kick on for the end of the season.
"A couple of signings from now to the end of the January window will help them, and as long as you come out of the window better than you started, it will give you an opportunity for the last part of the season."
Colorado’s third round pick in the 2025 draft (77th overall) out of the University of Southern California was Hedges. The 6’1” 21-year-old righty was a two-way player during his draft year but will be a third baseman as a professional. Hedges signed for $950k, about $110k below the slot value for the pick. As a prospect, Hedges boasts an elite arm (as a college pitcher, you’d hope so) and some good athleticism on defense, though there isn’t another standout tool.
Mid-season 2025 Rank: HM
High Ballot: 19
Mode Ballot: 30
Future Value: 35+, reserve infielder
Contract Status: 2025 Third Round, University of Southern California, Rule 5 Eligible After 2028, three options remaining
MLB ETA: 2028
Hedges was a three-year starter with USC, accumulating a combined batting line of .308/.413/.488. In 2025 he hit a very strong .346/.462/.619 with 14 HR among his 30 extra-base hits and 10/10 steals in 288 plate appearances, which equates to a 147 wRC+. In addition, he appeared in 15 games as USC’s closer, throwing 15 innings and getting 9 saves with a 2.40 ERA and 1.13 WHIP.
After signing, Hedges was assigned to High-A Spokane to begin his professional career, where he was 1.3 years younger than league average. In 20 games with Spokane down the stretch, Hedges struggled with the adjustment to pro ball, hitting .195/.303/.234 with three doubles in 89 plate appearances (just a 50 wRC+). Propping those numbers up was an 11% walk rate, which tracked with his college stats.
Here’s the video commentary on Hedges when he was drafted last year (and here he is taking grounders at the MLB Draft Combine):
MLB Pipeline ranked Hedges 159th overall in the draft (well below where he was picked) and now places him 17th in the system as a 40 FV player with a 60 arm and 55 field grades:
Hedges has a very good feel for the game, and while he doesn’t necessarily have any “wow” tools, he maximizes what he has thanks to outstanding makeup. It’s a line-drive approach from the right side of the plate, and he routinely finds the barrel, enabling him to post elite-level numbers in batting average and wOBA. He can drive the ball, and while he reached double figures in home runs this past spring, he profiles more as a guy with some extra-base doubles pop than huge over-the-fence thump in the future.
An average runner, Hedges has the chance to be a very solid defender with good instincts at the hot corner. He also has a plus arm, one that sits 93 mph with a fastball as a reliever to go along with a slider and a changeup. The hope is some more power can be teased out of him as a pro so that he can profile at third.
Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Hedges 109th in the draft class as a 40 FV player and lists him 26th in the system with a 60 arm and 60 future field tool:
Excellent third base defender with plus range, hands, actions, and arm. Quick-footed in on the grass, makes strong accurate feeds to second base, value-altering defense. All fields doubles spray. Slightly chase-prone but contact pieces of profile are closer to average. Hands load really late and there might be more in the tank on offense if Hedges makes adjustments to be better on time. His bat speed looks better than his measurable power. Below-average everyday third baseman as currently constituted, defensive ability might portend competence at other positions that would allow for a utility role.
USC third baseman Ethan Hedges (3) went from two homers last year for the Trojans to 14 this year, although his batted-ball data points more to average power. He doesn’t hit spin well at all, and projects as a lower-OBP guy with maybe 15-18 homers at his peak. He also threw 15 innings in relief this year, topping out at 95 with a high-effort delivery, so he clearly has the arm to play anywhere on the field.
Hedges should be able to handle the hot corner defensively, but it’s his offensive projection that’s more of a question for scouts. The draft pedigree and prospect profile were enough for me to rank Hedges 28th on my ballot as a 35+ FV player. Hedges will likely start 2026 back with Spokane where he will be at league average age and with an off-season as a professional under his belt.
Over the weekend, Ken Rosenthal dropped a little nugget on Royals fans about their outlook for the remainder of the offseason:
The Kansas City Royals are increasingly unlikely to land either of the two hitters they pursued in trades: the St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan and Boston Red Sox’s Jarren Duran.
Barring further moves, the Royals expect to rely heavily on offseason acquisitions Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas in their outfield, as well as rookie Jac Caglianone and holdover Kyle Isbel.
Let’s break down that last sentence a little bit more, though. Another way of saying that would be, “Unless something changes, it will remain the same.” This is a tautology, a logical statement that cannot be negated. If you try to negate his statement, you get, “Unless things remain the same, they will change.” It’s utterly useless. It’s also, simply, incorrect.
The baseball offseason is a game of dominoes. Each move made reduces opportunities and options. This causes teams and players to change the calculus constantly.
Last week, the Red Sox signed their first free agent of the offseason, Ranger Suárez. This has massive repercussions for the Royals. First of all, it made the Red Sox’s desire for Cole Ragans or Kris Bubic fall to basically nil. This made the chances that the Royals could acquire Jarren Duran similarly low.
Or, for a less Royals-oriented move but one which highlights this phenomenon even better, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker signed deals last week and suddenly Bo Bichette, who had found himself so lacking in team attention that he started leaking news about his willingness to change positions, got a huge short-term deal from the Mets who saw their options evaporating in front of their eyes.
But of course, that deal has implications for the Royals, too. Some of us were hoping Bichette’s value would fall far enough for the Royals to sneak in and swipe him. That’s not happening now. But with so many second basemen in the fold, the Mets probably need to trade away one or both of Brett Baty and Mark Vientos. Either could become a Royals target – I prefer Baty – or their availability could water down Donovan’s market to the point where he falls back into range for the Royals.
Whenever Framber Valdez signs, Kris Bubic should become a lot more appealing to the teams who missed out on Valdez and Suárez. Maybe Donovan and Duran are still off the table, but someone else could become available. Or a three-team deal that had seemed impossible could suddenly manifest for a team that wants Bubic but only wants to trade prospects that the Royals aren’t willing to wait for.
With all that in mind, here are several moves I think the Royals could make and what they’re waiting to happen before they make them.
Kris Bubic gets traded for Brett Baty
Framber Valdez has to sign somewhere other than with the Mets
Cody Bellinger has to sign with the Mets (this doesn’t have to happen, but it makes it easier)
Bubic may need to pitch in Spring Training to show he’s healthy
Rumor has it that the Mets are considering playing Baty in left field, but that doesn’t really make a ton of sense when they have top prospect Carson Benge about ready to debut, and would make even less sense if they get Bellinger, too. We already discussed this deal a bit above and a few months ago when I wrote my first trade proposal. I don’t know if the Royals can get Kodai Senga, too, but they probably don’t want to have to give up Blake Mitchell. Five years of Baty for one year of Bubic would be a pretty big overpay, so I’d expect the Royals to have to kick in another piece or two to finish the deal, but if the Mets are as desperate as people seem to think they must have been to do the Bichette deal, maybe they’d go straight up.
Bailey Falter gets traded
Spring Training has to start, and teams need to develop holes in their rotations due to injury
I don’t know how much of a return Falter will bring, probably not much, but the Royals could get out from under the $3.6 million they owe him by dealing him and as a reasonably competent starting pitcher – no matter how he looked for KC after the deadline last year – there should be multiple teams willing to give up a real prospect to patch a hole in their rotation. Not a top one, but one who has some kind of real value.
Adam Frazier gets signed
Spring Training needs to start, and competitive teams need to be comfortable with their starting 2B/Corner Outfielders
Many have expressed shock that Frazier hasn’t already returned to KC. The most likely reason for this is that the Royals can’t guarantee him playing time. It makes all the sense in the world for him to wait until a couple of weeks into Spring Training to see if anyone finds themselves in need of his services that will guarantee him more money or more playing time than what the Royals have offered. Once it becomes clear that no one really wants him, he’ll come back to KC for whatever deal they’ve left on the table for him.
John Schreiber gets traded
Nothing needs to happen, but there’s no rush either.
You may recall that the Royals first acquired John Schreiber in the middle part of Spring Training two years ago. He’s a talented enough relief pitcher to have value, but not one that has teams clamoring to add him immediately. Much like the Royals in 2024, someone will call KC a couple of weeks into Spring Training wanting to boost the front end of their bullpen just a smidge, and the Royals will be able to offload his $3.715 million contract.
The Royals gave up David Sandlin for him; Sandlin was a low-level prospect with some projectability who looked awful last year, but saw the Red Sox add him to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule-5 draft all the same. The Royals could likely get a similar style of prospect in return for him now, though hopefully they’ll scout them a bit better.
Over on the Royals Rundown podcast, Jacob and I have been ranking the most interesting players in the Royals’ system at each position. One thing has become clear as we have ranked the entire infield and begun to prepare to do the outfield next: The Royals desperately lack upper-level talent of any kind. Trading Schreiber and Falter could help them fill in some of those gaps while also freeing up payroll to add another left-handed reliever or some other piece to help them find their way to their second-ever Central Division title.
The Texas Rangers and free agent reliever Jakob Junis have agreed to terms on a one year, $4 million deal with a mutual option, per reports.
Junis, 33, is a righthander who originally came up with the Kansas City Royals as a starting pitcher in 2017. After a bad 2020 campaign, he moved between the rotation and the bullpen with the Royals and then San Francisco from 2021-23. He split the 2024 season between the Brewers and the Reds, getting sent to Cincinnati at the deadline in the Frankie Montas deal.
Junis signed a one year deal last winter with the Cleveland Guardians and worked exclusively out of the pen, putting up a 2.97 ERA, 3.45 FIP and 4.04 xERA. He throws four pitches — unusual for a reliever, but not unexpected given how much of his career was spent as a starter — with his slider being his best pitch, featuring a lot of horizontal break. He had a lot of success with his changeup in 2025, but both his sinker and fastball were hammered.
Junis doesn’t throw hard and doesn’t strike a lot of batters out. He does, however, throw strikes, and in 2025, anyway, did a good job avoiding hard contact.
The Rangers’ 40 man roster is currently full, and so a move will have to be made to clear a roster spot once the Junis deal is official. Dom Hamel, Zak Kent, and Michael Otanez are guys who were acquired on waivers earlier this winter, and would seem to be the guys most likely on the bubble.
After making a couple trades in early December, the Nationals have been pretty quiet. There have been some smaller signings and a couple waiver claims, but no big moves. That has led some to wonder whether the Nats are done with their major moves. However, Paul Toboni indicated that there will be more activity coming.
In a radio interview, Toboni said the team is not set for Spring Training yet. That is music to the ears of Nationals fans. Even for a team with low expectations, there are some glaring holes on the roster. Most notably, first base and the bullpen are very unsettled. The Nats could also use more rotation help, especially if MacKenzie Gore gets traded.
It is reassuring to hear that Toboni is not done. If there are more moves to make, what would some realistic targets be though? Well, one guy that has made a ton of sense all offseason is Rhys Hoskins. The Nats desperately need right handed power, and Hoskins provides that. He has five 25-homer seasons in his career and is also a very patient hitter.
Hoskins only played 90 games last year, but he hit 12 homers and posted a solid .748 OPS. The Nats will be able to sign him to a fairly cheap one-year deal as well. He checks a lot of boxes with his power, leadership and ability to get on base. There are other older options like Paul Goldschmidt and Carlos Santana, but I think Hoskins has more in the tank.
Another position the Nats could explore is the relief market. All of the top guys are off the board now, but there are some interesting names out there. Seranthony Dominguez, Jalen Beeks and Michael Kopech are three options that intrigue me. Dominguez would be the most expensive, but he has closer stuff and could be a strong trade chip at the deadline.
While the Nats have bodies in the rotation, they could use some more reliability. Most of the mid-tier free agent starters are still available. A reunion with Max Scherzer would warm my heart, but he is injury prone at this point in his career. If the Nats wanted to spend more money while not breaking the bank, guys like Zack Littell or Lucas Giolito would make sense.
Interestingly, Toboni also said that the Nats continue to have trade conversations with other teams. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but it is nice that he is working the phones. MacKenzie Gore is the most obvious trade candidate, but I wonder if there could be any last minute surprises.
"We're an attractive landing spot for folks who want to compete."
Are the #Nationals planning to make more moves this offseason? 👀
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) January 18, 2026
We did not expect the Jose A. Ferrer or Jake Bennett trades when they happened. Could Toboni have one more trick up his sleeve? At this point, I would be very surprised if CJ Abrams was traded. There was some buzz around his name earlier this offseason, but that has really died down. Jacob Young or Luis Garcia Jr. are guys I would not be totally stunned to see traded.
I am less confident that a MacKenzie Gore trade happens than I was earlier this offseason. However, it is clearly still on the table. A lot of pitching needy teams have made their big moves already, but there are still some suitors for Gore. The Giants, the A’s and the Mets are three teams that come to mind. All of them have solid farm systems and need frontline pitching.
Toboni seems content with the idea of holding on to Gore if the right offer does not come. Personally, I would have a bit more urgency to move him, but I understand where he is coming from. If Gore makes some adjustments and has a big first half, his value could be even higher. However, if he gets hurt or struggles, his value could really crater.
Given the prices for starters this offseason, I would cash in, but I do not know the offers Toboni is getting. I would assume there have been competitive packages, but none that have blown Toboni away. The new front office has my trust, but a Gore trade would be my preference.
Unless the Nats trade Gore, I don’t think any crazy moves are coming. However, there will be more bodies coming through the door. Rhys Hoskins just makes so much sense to me. Maybe I am just talking myself into it, but I think that is a move that will happen. I also think that the Nats will add a pitcher or two into the fold.
There will also be more minor league free agent deals. Yesterday, they picked up Trevor Gott. With how much organizational depth they lost this offseason, we are likely to see more moves like that. We could also see another waiver claim or two. One thing is clear though, the Washington Nationals are not done yet.
Former San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt was quoted at length in a story by Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post. Shildt tries to articulate why he walked away from his managerial job in San Diego and why it seemed that he so quickly transitioned into his new role in the Baltimore Orioles organization. Bob Melvin, who held the manager position with the Padres prior to Shildt, talked about how he looked across the field and longed to be in the dugout with the San Francisco Giants and it seems that Shildt was also looking for more as early as the middle of the 2025 season.
Padres News:
Randy Vasquez has increased his numbers in each of his first two seasons with the San Diego Padres. He has been used more as a sixth man in the rotation during that time, but free agency and injuries have resulted in Vasquez getting a chance to play a significant role in the Padres’ rotation in 2026. He needs to show manager Craig Stammen and pitching coach Ruben Niebla that he is ready to take earn the spot and handle the challenge that comes from the pressure of being a starter in MLB.
The Boston Red Sox missed on free agent catchers J.T. Realmuto and Victor Caratini, but are reportedly still looking for ways to improve the catching position in Boston.
Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran and St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan have each been rumored in various trades throughout the offseason. The Kansas City Royals are apparently no longer pursuing either player and a move for either one is considered “increasingly unlikely.”
The Cardinals have spent much of the offseason trading away pieces of their team but according to president of baseball operation Chaim Bloom, the team could add a right-handed outfielder. Seems odd considering St. Louis traded away Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado who were both right-handed hitters.
A lot of emotions came down the pike when it was reported that Kyle Tucker agreed to what is being touted as a four year, 240 million dollars contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Much of the emotional response could be explained through sticker shock. I don’t think anyone dreamed that Tucker was a 60 million AAV player. I’m sure the Toronto Blue Jays felt they were well within range when they reportedly offered him ten years and 350 million dollars.
So, that is certainly part of our collective emotional response. The second part of that response comes from the fact that it is the Dodgers. I have tried really hard in my life not to hate anyone and for the most part I have succeeded, but sports hate is definitely a thing and the Dodgers are high on that list. It’s not only about success. It is about the whining. However, that’s a different topic for a different day. We could get into the whys and what fors at that time, but I think most of Astros nation is on the same page.
In my childhood, it was the New York Yankees existing as the evil empire. The irony is that they weren’t successful until I was in my twenties. Still, there is the appearance of inevitably. That is what stings days after the news. I can accept a man getting his pay day. Tucker and his agent structured this deal as brilliantly as possible with much of it coming upfront in the form of a signing bonus. So, when labor strife hits following the season, he will have pocketed a good portion of that contract. So, the anger doesn’t sit on Tucker. It sits on the Dodgers and what the league is allowing them to do.
Spotrac.com projects that the Dodgers 2026 payroll will equal 429.9 million dollars in average annual value. The New York Mets are second with 305 million. The Astros are still existing under the competitive balance tax. Six teams are currently above it. It should be noted that three of those six teams are in the AL East. Seven teams are currently below 100 million dollars at the moment. We have not seen this kind of financial disparity for some time.
It would be wrong to say we have never seen it. The Yankees dominated the sport between 1920 and 1964. People often forget the other half of that equation. The Philadelphia Phillies averaged 100 losses a season between 1920 and 1940. Imagine losing 100 games every year for 20 years. What happens to those fanbases? We aren’t quite there, but we are getting closer. The Colorado Rockies have lost 100 or more games three seasons in a row and have averaged 100 losses over the last five. They are the most extreme examples, but everyone can point to teams like the Pirates, Athletics, Nationals, Marlins, and Royals as cities that go long periods of time between competitive teams.
The core of the problem
This is usually where fans start chanting for a salary cap. The problem isn’t that simple. When you look at the salary structures in the NBA and NFL you see that a core part of the process is that both the union and owners know what is in the pot. Negotiating is easier from that point. Owners and players haggle over what percentage the players will get from the pie. In both leagues that tends to cover between 50 and 55 percent of revenues. Most of the negotiations come down to exactly how those percentages will be dolled out.
The core of the problem in MLB is that the owners have never opened their books. We don’t know exactly what the revenues are. We are forced to guess based on fragments of information we get from different sources. If we don’t know then the players also don’t know. That lack of trust clouds any and all negotiations. It prevents the players from agreeing to anything that will potentially restrain spending.
The sum total of salaries according to Spotrac is around 5.3 billion dollars. One can easily guess it will push to around 5.5 billion once Spring Training begins. So, the core of the issue is how players and owners can equitably split that pie. If you limit the upper end then you must do something about the lower end. That’s easier said than done.
Raise the floor
Unfortunately, without knowing total revenues we are left guessing. Even if we agreed that the players deserve 50 percent of revenues we would be left wondering 50 percent of what exactly. However, it seems reasonable to ask the players to keep their overall salary level or slightly increase it in lieu of rolling it back. The problem isn’t the level of player salaries, but how they are being distributed. It is unsustainable for one team to spend 400 million while other teams are spending under 100.
So, the goal is not to limit overall salaries, but to bring the bottom and the top closer together. That would require a salary floor. The question is how to get there. It is not a simple magic wand of saying you have to spend 150 million or 200 million dollars. There is a question of how to get teams the revenue to spend that kind of money. There is also the question of other expenditures teams make. The Rockies famously do not spend money on technology for scouting purposes. Some teams invest more money in international scouting than others. A true cap and floor would have to include total baseball related expenditures.
We are probably looking at a sliding structure similar to what we currently see with the competitive balance tax. Penalties escalate with each season teams exceed the tax. The same could be applied at the bottom. For instance, the St. Louis Cardinals have fallen below the 100 million mark because they have shed a ton of payroll this offseason. That’s different than teams like the Pirates who seemingly live there. Those penalties should reflect that.
Tying up loose ends
That battle will be the headliner for the coming negotiation, but there are other issues as well. The NBA restricts individual salaries. The NFL doesn’t. Is 60 million AAV too much for a player? Heck, Shohei Ohtani is getting 70 million. Naturally, some of their salaries are deferred which is another major concern. We cannot continue where the Dodgers get to skate by some of their tax liabilities by kicking the can down the road. If they want to defer payment to players that is between them and the player, but they should be on the hook for the whole value of the contract.
The other issue will likely involve service time. This is an area where the owners can offer significant change to get concessions from the players. In the NFL and NBA, players get to free agency faster. It is four or five years in the NFL. It is four in the NBA. Moving the service time clock up in baseball would definitely suit the players. A part of the issue is that baseball players have a minor league portion of their careers. Service time could be altered to include that time. That would keep teams from stashing players in the minors to delay their service clock. Instead of making it a hard and fast four seasons you could make it seven total from the date of the draft or signing. Therefore, teams might be more incentivized to promote players when they are ready.
These are all just ideas that are banging around our heads. I am open to any suggestions as to how this situation can change. What isn’t negotiable is business as usual. Whether a Dodgers World Series is actually inevitable is certainly debatable. It feels inevitable and that is all we need to know. If it feels inevitable then fan interest dwindles. If fan interest dwindles then revenues dwindle. That’s obviously bad for everyone involved.
Happy Monday, everyone! The past few days have stoked the flames on the offseason hot stove into a fever pitch (no pun intended, I promise). With the Mets losing out on signing Kyle Tucker, and the Dodgers once again proving they’ll spend whatever it takes to become the next MLB dynasty, we’re seeing a lot of high-priced short-term deals making the rounds. The Mets pivoted, signing Bo Bichette, and it’s making folks wonder what this means for free agency deals and if we’re seeing the new normal in terms of shying away from the longer-term deals.
It remains to be seen, but there’s plenty more juicy tidbits in today’s news breakdown, so let’s just jump right into it.
We have signed the following international amateur free agents:
C Manuel Bolivar (Venezuela, pictured below) C Roman Silgado (Venezuela) IF Eduardo Tusen (Dominican Republic) SS Oscar Tineo (Venezuela) CF Douglas Olivo (Venezuela) OF Diego Orro (Venezuela) CF Randy Santana… pic.twitter.com/p9C8fqucZN
An interesting look at the financial side of running a baseball team.
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.
With the luxury tax, the Dodgers will be paying $126 million a season for Tucker (assuming no deferrals). That's more than 11 teams' entire payrolls. This is absurd.https://t.co/uwe3cLpqXw
Inevitably with a series such as this one, you’ll find one or two less notorious names to properly fill a list. So in searching for a former Yankee born on January 19th, we ended up with Fernando Seguignol as the chosen player. If you remember his short period with the Yankees, cheers to you for a great memory considering he had all of one major-league hit in his entire semi-interrupted career in pinstripes. That’s still one more than 99.99 percent of us, though.
Fernando Alfredo Seguignol Born: January 19, 1975 (Bocas del Toro, Panama) Yankees Tenure: 2003 (also in minors 1993-94)
Three years after the Yankees signed the most famous Panamanian in baseball history, they came to terms with his countryman, Fernando Seguignol. At the time the 18-year-old inked his contract with New York in January 1993, only 37 MLB players had ever hailed from Panama; since then, that figure has expanded to 81, including current Yankees utilityman José Caballero. Seguignol’s father, a longtime Yankees fa, and was absolutely thrilled that his son might one day play for the Bronx Bombers.
Seguignol struggled heavily in his first taste of Rookie ball in ’93, but after putting up a reasonable .767 OPS in short-season ball for Oneonta the following campaign, he raised his stock. It was enough to invoke the interest of the desperate Montreal Expos, and Seguignol was used by the Yankees just before the start of the 1995 campaign to acquire standout closer John Wetteland in a one-for-one deal with cash considerations involved.
Make no mistake: For the Expos, this was not about getting fair prospect value. The consortium of Montreal executives that owned the club informed GM Kevin Malone that he essentially had to sell off some of the best players from the outstanding 1994 club that was MLB’s best when the strike hit. It ended on April 2, 1995, and as MLB hastily organized a short spring training and a reduced 144-game schedule, the Expos executed a fire sale. Wetteland was dealt to the Yankees, Ken Hill went to Cleveland, Marquis Grissom was sent out to Atlanta, and though not traded, the Expos simply refused to offer Larry Walker a contract in arbitration; he signed with the Rockies. Credit Yankees GM Gene Michael for taking advantage of the opportunity, but those were some strange circumstances.
The Yankees had no problem trading a low-minors name for Wetteland, and while he felt hurt at the time, it honestly worked out well for Seguignol too, as he had less of an uphill climb to playing time in Montreal. Standing at six-foot-five, Seguignol had the traditional build of a power-hitting first baseman, but through the early years of his development process as an outfielder in the Expos farm system, he failed to live up to those expectations. It wasn’t until 1998 that Seguignol found his footing in Double-A Harrisburg, slugging over .600 and prompting a rapid rise through the ranks, reaching Triple-A and subsequently the majors for a rather small but quite successful first cup of tea.
Called up in September as part of an Expos team that was going nowhere and wanted to get a look at what they had in young bat, Seguignol earned his first hit as a pinch-hitter on September 10th. A day later, the 23-year-old experienced what had to be one of his most thrilling moments in the bigs, going back-to-back with future Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, easily the star of that 65-97 club.
It’s relatively telling of both the expectations the Expos had regarding Seguignol and, primarily, the lack of talent around Vlad Sr. that Montreal had their inexperienced first baseman batting fifth, right behind Guerrero, the team’s top hitter.
Despite good numbers in a short sample in 1998, Seguignol started the next year in the minors again, with Brad Fulmer as the Expos’ starting first baseman. Looking back at it, it’s difficult to justify why opportunities were so limited for Seguignol between 1999 and 2000, with him spending more time in the minors than majors, despite a decent .828 OPS in 294 PA between these two seasons and two of his 17 career homers against a prestigious name in Tom Glavine. If you want to be a bit harsher, that OPS isn’t nearly as good as it looks, considering the era (105 OPS+), and with many of those PA coming in left field instead of first base, his original position, the defensive value was virtually nonexistent. The strikeout issues were a problem, which didn’t come as much of a surprise, but the lack of pitch selection, which made for well-below-league-average walk rates, further diminished Seguignol’s floor as a big-league hitter.
Too good for Triple-A but unable to lock down a role in the big leagues, Seguignol was in that dreaded Quad-A state, and at the end of 2001, after receiving only 54 PA in the big leagues, he decided to give Japan a try. Seguignol’s strikeout woes made the trip with him however, and the power output wasn’t enough for the Orix BlueWave to justify giving him a full-time role.
Going back to where it first started, Seguignol signed with the Yankees after a short stint in Japan. Although his time with the big league club was short-lived and not particularly memorable, Seguignol’s campaign with the Yankees’ Triple-A team in Columbus was a great one.
As a 28-year-old, the Panamanian had an OPS above 1.000 and nearly won the Triple-A Triple Crown that year by hitting .341/.401/.624 with 28 homers in 106 games. Called up in September, Seguignol went 1-for-7 in the majors with no extra-base hits; his lone career big-league knock in pinstripes came in a post-clinch start on a ground-ball single against the Orioles’ Rodrigo Lopez.
Carrying over the success he had with the Yankees in Triple-A back in 2003, Seguignol returned to Japan, this time signing with the Nippon Ham Fighters. There, he immediately became one of the more dangerous bats in the NPB, hitting 44 home runs in his first season back in Japan — a new record for a switch-hitter. Although he could never quite replicate those numbers, Seguignol remained an important player for the Ham Fighters during four full seasons. Afterwards, he bounced around in Mexico, the minors, signing deals with the Rockies and Tigers without returning to the bigs, and also in the NPB again.
Returning from Japan in 2010 with the Indy ball Newark Bears, Seguignol would play his final season in 2011, featuring as one of the premier names for another Atlantic League club, the Lancaster Barnstormers. That wrapped up a near-20-year professional career. A switch-hitter who learned that trait when he was already in the minors, Seguignol couldn’t build the MLB résumé that he might’ve envisioned in the bigs. However, in Japan, he made history as one of the more fearsome switch-hitters in the history of the NPB, recording 172 homers in 767 games.
Following his playing career, Seguignol stayed involved in the baseball world. He worked for the Yomiuri Giants and the Cubs before landing a job with the Marlins as director of international operations. Hired by old teammate Derek Jeter in 2017 when the former Yankees captain got involved in Miami, Seguignol held the position until being let go in 2021. Wherever he is now, here’s hoping he has a nice 51st birthday ahead of him.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
