The offseason keeps rolling right along and there were plenty of meaningful transactions that happened this week. So, I’m going to recap all the action from the past week right here.
Let’s take a trip around the league.
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D.J. Short
Michael King Back to Padres
Michael King re-upped with the Padres on what is theoretically a three-year, $75 million contract. However, it has opt-outs built in after each of the first and second seasons with escalating salaries if he were to remain with the club.
This deal is a dream for King. After looking like one of the best pitchers in baseball two seasons ago, his 2025 campaign was ruined by shoulder and knee injuries.
With this contract, he has the chance to recoup his lost value with a strong, healthy season and can hit the open market again next year if things go well. If they don’t, he can opt-back in, get a raise, and try this again the year after.
This is a great deal for the Padres as well. Their starting rotation would’ve been barren without King and Dylan Cease, who’s already left to sign with the Blue Jays. San Diego also likely benefitted from a suppressed market for King due to his durability concerns.
Since they offered King a qualifying offer, any other team signing him would’ve had to sacrifice a draft pick to do so. That made it unlikely anyone besides the Padres would’ve offered a deal that allowed him to become a free agent again after one year.
This was a true win-win and King will have every opportunity to reestablish himself as an ace this coming season.
Our early 2026 Top 300 rankings highlight the latest Hot Stove developments and projections.
Braves Fill Out Their Roster
After a disappointing fourth place finish in the National League East last season, the Braves have quickly made some necessary additions to their squad.
Over the past week, they signed reliever Robert Suarez to a three-year, $45 million deal and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim for one year at $20 million. Those moves came after re-signing Raisel Iglesias to be their closer, grabbing Mike Yastrzemski to play left field, and trading for Mauricio Dubón to be their super-utility man.
There was heavy competition between the Braves, Mets, Blue Jays, and Dodgers to sign Suarez and some were surprised he got a three-year deal entering his age-35 season. He still sits at nearly 99 mph though, and velocity can be expensive. Despite this hefty deal, the Braves have indicated that their plan is for him to be Iglesias’ set-up man.
That makes sense. Iglesias is the incumbent and has been closing games in Atlanta for a few years now. Also, he forces more swings and misses than Suarez does despite being past his prime and not throwing nearly as hard.
Whiff Rate Among Braves’ Closing Options
Year
| Raisel Iglesias
| Robert Suarez
|
2023
| 32.7
| 26.2
|
2024
| 31.5
| 24.3
|
2025
| 30.9
| 24.0
|
Iglesias isn’t a world-beater by any means entering his age-36 season, but he would probably need to falter or get hurt for Suarez to siphon off a huge number of saves.
As for Kim, he was waived by the Rays in September due to their fear he’d pick up his $16 million player option for this season. The Braves grabbed him then and not only did he decline that option, he beat it on the market.
This one-year deal gives him an opportunity to prove he can play shortstop again. His defensive metrics cratered last season after recovering from labrum surgery late in 2024. He also took a trip to the injured list and missed some additional games with lower back tightness last year.
He’ll have no competition as the shortstop in Atlanta and reportedly turned down a four-year, $48 million deal from the Athletics to be their primary second baseman. If he reverts back to his 2023 form (17 HR, 38 SB, .749 OPS, 9 OAA), he’ll be a great sleeper in drafts and could get another nice deal next winter.
This is a large influx of major league talent for a team that fell apart when their depth was tested last season. Is it enough? Time will tell.
Next Reliever Turned Starter?
The Brewers and Royals linked up for a trade last weekend with breakout outfielder Isaac Collins and reliever Nick Mears heading to Kansas City in exchange for flamethrower Angel Zerpa.
Collins was a Rule 5 draft pick by the Brewers last season and played his way into Rookie of the Year consideration by summer. He’s an incredibly patient switch-hitter who is better from the left side compared to the right and is a quality defender in the corner outfield. It’s likely he holds a near-everyday role with the Royals and has the potential to put up 15 homers and 20 stolen bases.
Zerpa is the most interesting player in this deal though. He’s a hard-throwing left-handed, sinker baller who the Brewers are reportedly considering making a starting pitcher.
His sinker is a plus-plus pitch in terms of both movement and velocity sitting over 96 mph, so it should be able to stay plus if he were to be stretched out. It’s also forced some swings that look like this.
He also showcased a new slider this past season with more depth that opposing hitters struggled to square up too. Those two pitches are both really impressive and create a great foundation for him to potentially build upon.
The repertoire lacks a bit outside of those though, with a fastball and changeup Zerpa primarily used against right-handed batters that weren’t particularly effective.
It all came together to force an elite 59% ground ball rate and horrific 16% whiff rate. Considering how few bats he missed, it’s amazing he wound up with a practically league average 4.18 ERA and hints at genuine upside if he can find any way to force more whiffs.
The Brewers have earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to pitching projects like this and I’m eager to see how they add to Zerpa’s tool bag.
Mets Offseason Stays Weird
Just a few days after watching both Edwin Díaz and Pete Alonso leave to sign elsewhere, the Mets agreed to a two-year, $40 million deal with Jorge Polanco.
There’s nothing wrong with that contract in a vacuum. Polanco is a good player coming off a great season where he socked 26 home runs and put up a career-best 132 wRC+. Also, no one in the history of baseball cut their strikeout rate more in one season.
He had tons of clutch moments in the postseason with the Mariners too including two home runs off Tarik Skubal and the eventual walk-off hit in Seattle’s ALDS Game 5 marathon against the Tigers. They were keen on bringing him back.
The surprise came in Polanco’s intended role with the Mets. He is expected to split time between first base – a position he’s played just one inning at in his major league career – and designated hitter.
As a former middle infielder, it’s likely Polanco has the dexterity to pick up first base. Perhaps leaving the middle infield could help him stay healthy too. Chronic knee issues limited him to an average of 100 games played from 2022 through 2024 before suiting up for 138 this past season.
Again, Polanco is a good player who had other suitors and the Rays reportedly wanted him as an option at first base too. It’s just brutal to think of him as Alonso’s replacement in Queens.
Remaining weird, the Mets brought in Luke Weaver on a two-year, $22 million deal. Weaver is a great bounceback candidate after pitching his way to a 5.31 ERA following a mid-season hamstring injury, but with an elite 19.8 K-BB% overall.
Yet, it’s funny that they’ve now recreated the back-end of the 2025 Yankees’ bullpen by pairing Weaver and Devin Williams after the Yankees felt the need to overhaul that unit at the trade deadline. Nevertheless, Weaver is a great bet for holds in support of Williams with the Mets.
More Hot Stove Quick Hits
◆ There have been a slew of high leverage reliever signings over the last week. Kenley Jansen went to the Tigers, Tyler Rogers the Blue Jays, and Brad Keller the Phillies.
Jansen is the only member of that crew that’s expected to close and his deal could kill any fantasy value for Will Vest and Kyle Finnegan. Keller was thought to be a candidate to return to the rotation, but is expected to remain a reliever in Philadelphia.
◆ Merrill Kelly returned to the Diamondbacks on a two-year, $40 million deal after they traded him to the Rangers at the trade deadline. He figures to slot back in as a reliable innings-eater for them.
◆ A fun, under the radar trade, Boston sent high variance starting pitcher prospect Luis Perales to the Nationals in exchange for high-floor left-hander Jake Bennett.
Perales got back on the mound this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024 and can touch triple digits with his explosive fastball. Besides that, he shows a splitter and cutter flash plus despite being a true work in progress overall. He’s also had some dramatic struggles with his command.
Bennett is a 6’5” sinker-baller with seven feet of extension and is coming off a trip to the Arizona Fall League where he struck out over 30% of the batters he faced. He seems like a sure bet to be a back of the rotation type guy, just without any of that same upside.
This was a great swap between a contending team who sought security and a rebuilding team that was willing to bet on upside.
◆ In conjunction with losing Bennett, the Nationals turned around and signed lefty sinker-baller Foster Griffin from the NPB to help fill the back of their rotation.
◆ The market feels frozen for many of the marquee free agents at the moment with very little smoke surrounding Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, or Framber Valdez.
◆ Dustin May is getting another shot to start after signing a one-year, $12 million contract with the Cardinals that includes a mutual option for 2027. Last year was a disappointing return from Tommy John surgery for him with a 4.96 ERA. He continues to struggle against left-handed batters, with whom his sinker and sweeper are far less effective than with righties.
◆ Danny Jansen is heading to the Rangers on a two-year, $14 million contract to split catching duties with Kyle Higashioka. Since 2021, Jansen has a .752 OPS which is higher than Sean Murphy’s.
◆ Adrian Houser will provide rotation depth for the Giants after signing a two-year, $22 million deal. Pitching in San Francisco gives just about any starting pitcher the chance to prove valuable and the lack of alternatives on that staff means he could get plenty of innings to do so.
◆ The Phillies are giving Adolis García a shot to redeem his last two seasons with nearly 1,200 plate appearances and a .675 OPS with a one-year deal. Then Dave Dombrowski outright said the team’s outfield was “pretty much set”, which opens the door for prospect Justin Crawford to take their center field job out of camp.
Son of Carl, Crawford is a plus defender and plus-plus runner who’s shown a good bat-to-ball ability in the upper minors, but without much game power.
◆ Michael Soroka took a one-year, prove-it type deal with the Diamondbacks. At $7.5 million it seems as if he could work in a hybrid role between the rotation and bullpen.
◆ Josh Bell took a one-year deal with the Twins and is probably a better deep, deep league target than you’re giving him credit for.
◆ For less certain first basemen, Christopher Morel signed with the Marlins and former top prospect Tyler Austin returned from the NPB to take a deal with the Cubs. Austin has been one of the best power hitters in Japan over the last few years.
◆ If seeking dart throw closer types, Mark Leiter Jr. could mix in for save chances with the Athletics and Chris Martin is back with the Rangers.
◆ Team USA is building a juggernaut pitching staff for the World Baseball Classic with Tarik Skubal, Logan Webb, Nolan McLean, Joe Ryan, Mason Miller, and David Bednar announcing that they’ll be playing for the tournament.
Paul Skenes had already committed along with a lineup that includes Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Cal Raleigh, Corbin Carroll, Gunnar Henderson, and Kyle Schwarber. That is reminiscent of an All-Star team.
◆ The stove is still hot and there’s going to be a lot of action over the coming weeks. Make sure to keep up the Rotoworld Player News page so you don’t miss any of the action plus live stream and video content here all next week!
Matthew Pouliot
