When the World Series concludes and the offseason officially begins, it’s hard to predict how the market will progress before a presumed lockout at the start of December. The free agent market could especially be slow as owners push for a salary cap and teams may be hesitant to commit to players before they know the economic landscape.

The position-player free agent class doesn’t exactly project particularly strong this offseason despite the abundance of decent players. It may take a very intriguing player to make teams splurge, but perhaps they are sure to be excited about another Japanese phenom making the jump to the big leagues.

It was just announced this week that Teruaki Sato of the Hanshin Tigers will be posted once the offseason begins, starting a 45-day window for him to seek an MLB opportunity. It’s worth noting that his posting window will freeze during the lockout and resume whenever it ends; otherwise, he would return to Nippon Professional Baseball for another year.

Sato isn’t just any international free agent — he’s coming off a monstrous 2026 season in NPB where he captured the Central League Triple Crown, slashing .306/.383/.609 with 39 home runs and 106 RBIs. That follows a 2025 campaign in which he won Central League MVP honors.

Naturally, MLB contenders across the league are licking their chops. But what about the Colorado Rockies? Should Paul DePodesta and the front office throw their hat into the ring for one of Japan’s most electric power hitters?

The offensive perks

Since debuting in 2021 at 22 with the Tigers, Sato has proven to be one of NPB’s premier sluggers. Over the course of his six seasons, Sato has slashed .271/.337/.514 across 803 games. He has been a dependable and durable player during his career, appearing in at least 120 games each season (NPB plays a 143-game schedule).

What has truly set Sato apart has been his knack for power, with 163 home runs in his career. He has managed at least 20 home runs a year in five seasons, including 79 over the last two seasons combined. The ability to generate bat speed and elite exit velocities was on display in a short five-game sampling with Japan in the World Baseball Classic last March, where he hit three balls with an exit velocity of 100 mph or better.

He’s not just a home run hitter, either, as doubles are his forte as well. In 2026, he had 40 doubles, which would have easily led the Rockies (Troy Johnston had 32), adding to his total of 185 career doubles alongside 25 triples. His career .851 OPS showcases a player who can punish opposing pitchers and provide the type of consistent thump that the Rockies didn’t quite have beyond Hunter Goodman last season.

During a time in which offense has been decreasing in NPB, Sato didn’t slow down and has put himself in line for another Central League MVP. Hitting from the left side, Sato’s offensive profile could benefit greatly from the altitude of Coors Field, but even more from the spacious gaps he would have to play with in the outfield.

What team wouldn’t want to add a second 40-homer bat into the lineup?

Defensive prospects

Sato primarily plays third base with around 262 appearances in the outfield during his career. He has mostly been able to hold his own, even going so far as to win a Golden Glove — the NPB equivalent of a Gold Glove in MLB — at third base in 2025.

Naturally, there is already some versatility built into his game, but there is concern about his long-term fit on the infield at third base.

He owns a career .941 fielding percentage at the hot corner, having committed at least 20 errors in two of the last four seasons. In 2026, he committed 18 errors, but that was after just six in his 2025 Golden Glove season. He has fared better in the outfield, but his overall defensive ability is a concern. Teams may be willing to swallow that because of the bat.

Seems that Sato may have to follow in the footsteps of Munetaka Murakami, who moved over to first base for the Chicago White Sox full time after signing with them. It would certainly make sense to then just let the bat do the talking.

The drawbacks

The defensive aspect of where to play Sato presents a problem for the Rockies, who are sure to focus heavily on improving defensively. Kyle Karros and TJ Rumfield have the corner infield locked down, and the outfield is crowded in the corners.

Sato could be plugged in as the designated hitter, but the Rockies like to use the DH spot as a cycling position, meaning players will constantly cycle through it. There is also the matter of Sato being left-handed, which the Rockies already have enough left-handed bats to utilize. It would also be another instance of blocking an opportunity for right-handed hitter Charlie Condon (No. 2 PuRP), who the Rockies are already having to try to find a spot defensively.

If there’s a red flag in Sato’s profile, it’s his contact consistency. Sato struck out 164 times in 143 games in 2026. High strikeout rates in NPB often translate to elevated swing-and-miss rates against elite MLB velocity and breaking pitches. Rockies fans know all too well how high-K profiles can get exposed when adjusting to MLB pitching while dealing with the “Coors Field Hangover” effect on the road. Looking again to Murakami with the White Sox, he saw a 28.8% strikeout rate over his last two NPB seasons balloon to 35.4% in his first MLB season. His ability to draw walks still translated, but can Sato do the same?

Then there is the monetary aspect. Because Sato is over the age of 25, there will be no restrictions on the money that can be offered to him. On top of a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract, the acquiring team must pay a posting fee to the Tigers based on the contract’s total value. The Rockies have a lot of holes to fill, and unfortunately, spending big on Sato would come at the cost of a lot of other areas where the money could go. Having to compete with the financial might of many of the teams in the league hasn’t exactly worked out for the boys in purple in the past.

Should the Rockies pursue Sato?

Absolutely, the Rockies should pursue Sato, at least conceptually.

A young left-handed slugger at Coors Field is always a sight to behold. If the Rockies want to accelerate their rebuilding timeline and show fans a commitment to competing, making a splash in the international market for a marquee power hitter like Teruaki Sato would be a massive statement move.

However, the financial uncertainty for the club, the commitment to internal development as much as possible, and the massive need for pitching make Sato a bit of a long shot. I’m sure the front office will do their due diligence and at least check in with Sato and hopefully continue building a reputation with the Japanese market (which was a bonus of signing Tomoyuki Sugano).

Wherever Sato ends up, it will be interesting to see what he can do in MLB after the splendid seasons of Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto this year.

In the meantime, the Rockies may want to take a closer look at the other Japanese stars looking to pitch in MLB in 2027.

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Last time, we reset the roster for the offseason. That was the easy part: cutting a bunch of guys we didn’t need anymore and bringing home our 60-day-IL journeymen. J.J. Picollo mentioned in the postseason presser that the team was prepared to make some painful trades, and while they wanted to be aggressive in adding to the roster, they preferred not to be aggressive in spending money. So I decided the next step for rebuilding the roster, doing things my own way but in accordance with the guidance ownership seems to have provided, meant I should start by making some splashy trades and then come back and do my free agency work once I saw what that did to my payroll.

In keeping with the old Offseason Simulation tradition, I chose to negotiate against another SB Nation writer rather than to simply write up some trades I liked. I chose my Royals Rundown podcast co-host Jacob Milham both because he was convenient and because I felt like I could trust him to force me to give up more than I might otherwise have been willing to do if I were negotiating against myself or just using Baseball Trade Values. You can listen to us negotiate together on the latest episode of Royals Rundown, but I was very pleased with how he pushed back on me, and not every deal I wanted to do was available to me, forcing me to pivot a couple of times. He’s planning to write why he did these trades from his own perspective later, so keep an eye out for that.

Ultimately, I still think I got some pretty good trades done, so let’s go over what we did, then we’ll figure out where that leaves the roster and the payroll before I start looking into what free agents I could sign next time.

Trade 1: Acquire Reid Detmers from the Angels for Blake Mitchell, David Shields, and Jack Slightom

It’s funny, this was probably the most painful trade, but not nearly as painful as I feared it was going to be going in. Sure, I gave up a couple of top-100 guys (or fringe top-100 guys, depending on the outlet) but I started my offseason acquisitions with a bang, acquiring the guy I expect to lead my pitching staff for at least the next two seasons.

Detmers has always been an exceptionally talented pitcher, and he finally put it all together last year for the Angels. He accrued 4.9 fWAR with a 20% K-BB% leading to a 3.36 ERA and 3.29 SIERA. He got off to a bit of a slow start, but from June on, he had a 2.62 ERA in 20 starts. He’s going to be my Opening Day starter, and if we went a bit deeper, I’d probably already be working on negotiating an extension for him. He only just turned 27, and he’s not been especially injury-prone; it just took him a while to figure out the big leagues.

I wanted an ace for the staff; Detmers was my first target; and I managed to get him without giving up either of my two most valuable trade chips. According to MLB Pipeline, I gave up the team’s #4, #5, and #12 prospects. I went into thinking I was going to have to give up at least one of Angeibel Gomez or Kendry Chourio, though, and I managed to keep both of them.

Trade 2: Acquire George Kirby from the Mariners for Ramon Ramirez, Lucas Braun, and Dash Albus

I initially approached Jacob as Jerry Dipoto, hoping to get the last year of Logan Gilbert. But Jacob wanted a lot for Gilbert, who has been the better pitcher the last couple of years. Unfortunately, the asking price was more than I was willing to give up for one year of him. Kirby hasn’t been quite as good the past couple of years as he was before, but he’s still been more than serviceable. I also think a change of scenery and introduction to a different, good pitching coach could help him find whatever it is he’s lost.

The Royals have experience with pitchers who throw the entire kitchen sink like Kirby. Though, honestly, looking at the above chart, I wonder if the answer might be as simple as throwing his four-seamer less and his sinker more.

Regardless, instead of one year of Gilbert, I got two years of Kirby. And even if he isn’t a guaranteed number-two quality starter, I think he can easily slot in as my third-best starter with some possible upside. That means two trades in, and I’ve already got a rotation with four starting pitchers I feel really good about.

Yes, I had to give up my other high-octane minor league catcher and the freshly acquired Braun, but I think Kirby’s certainty is higher than Braun’s likely ceiling, and after looking at how the Rays and Brewers constructed their playoff rosters, I think aggression in trading prospects for more known quantities in young big leaguers is the path forward. Kirby may not be that young at 29 next season, but he beats the 36 and 37 of Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo.

Braun is ranked as the Royals’ 16th-best prospect, and Ramirez as the 7th-best according to Pipeline. Albus isn’t ranked. At this point, I’ve made a couple of really big deals, but I still have holes to fill. Time for a smaller-scale match.

Trade 3: Acquire Ryan Feltner from the Rockies for Felix Arronde and Darwin Rodriguez

Ryan Feltner was someone I identified early on as a low-cost guy who I think might have traits that Brian Sweeney and friends can polish into a much better pitcher. It also probably wouldn’t hurt to get him out of Colorado, even though, by some measures, he’s been a better pitcher at home.

I was particularly interested in how the slider and sweeper – two pitch types the Royals have had a lot of success with – grade out well, but perform exceptionally poorly. I really like the extension numbers and his ability to pitch in the zone, too. I’m not counting on him to be in my rotation, but I’ll give him a shot to compete with Seth Lugo and Tony Gonsolin for the final spot, with the losers becoming swingmen and the first guys into the rotation when someone gets hurt.

This is kind of a funny trade because Feltner is a non-tender candidate for the Rockies, but Arronde – despite being the Royals’ 21st-ranked prospect by Pipeline – is a Rule 5 problem. I didn’t choose to protect him. So we’re both giving up players we didn’t think we were going to get to keep.

Trade 4: Acquire Dylan Crews from Nationals for Daniel Lynch IV and Sean Gamble

The Royals need a right-handed center fielder platoon partner regardless of which of their three current internal candidates for the position they have – though, again, I’ve traded Kyle Isbel, so I’m down to two. Dylan Crews has a huge prospect pedigree, but he hasn’t lived up to it. Trading for Crews means I don’t have to spend the money in free agency it would take do something like bring back Lane Thomas, with perhaps more future upside if he can finally play up to the talent that got him drafted second overall in 2023.

I initially thought about trying to deal Yandel Ricardo straight up for Crews, but Jacob made me aware that if I tried that, he’d simply hang up on me. There were other options I could target, but Crews felt like the move I could make with the highest upside. So I decided to bite the bullet and offer Sean Gamble, too. Then Jacob surprised me. Turns out the Nationals need some bullpen help as they want to try to be a bit more competitive next year, so they wanted the Royals’ most reliable reliever from last season. That was an easy call for me because I feel like Lynch is cruising for a relief collapse, especially since he’s made it clear he wants to be a starter, and I wonder if that could affect his excitement for the game if I shoved him back into a relief role. Daniel Lynch IV was never going to make it to 2027 with the Royals if I had anything to say about it, and he did way more for me than I thought he could when Jacob-as-Anirudh Kilambi asked for him to get this deal done.

The new 26-man roster and fallout

Before I start trying to sign some free agents, it’s time to pause and see where we’re at, how much we still have left to do, and see how much money I have left to do it with. I’m not using a hard-and-fast limit because John Sherman says he’ll always listen for the right deal, but I’m probably aiming to be around $160-$165 million in payroll.

The roster

The position players:

• C Salvador Perez
• C Carter Jensen
• 1B Vinnie Pasquantino
• 2B Michael Massey
• 3B Maikel Garcia
• SS Bobby Witt Jr.
• OF Jac Caglianone
• OF Carson Roccaforte
• OF Dylan Crews
• OF Isaac Collins
• OF John Rave
• UT Nick Loftin
• UT Tyler Tolbert

And the pitchers:

• SP Reid Detmers
• SP Noah Cameron
• SP Michael Wacha
• SP George Kirby
• SP Seth Lugo
• RHP Ryan Feltner
• RHP Lucas Erceg
• RHP Nate Pearson
• RHP Steven Cruz
• LHP Connor Thomas
• LHP Anthony Gose
• RHP Nolan Hoffman
• RHP Tony Gonsolin

The 40-man roster crunch and current salary

I’ve added four players to the 40-man roster, but I only traded away two. I had two spots open, though. So that leaves me at 40! When I sign free agents, I’m going to have to start DFA-ing guys, but that’s a problem for next time.

Using MLB Trade Rumors projections for all of the arbitration-eligible guys, and factoring in Carlos Estévez’s buyout, my payroll is currently sitting at just a touch under $126 million. I’ve still got plenty of room for at least one big free agent and some smaller ones. What do you think so far?

It was a somewhat surprising return engagement with the big league Atlanta Braves for 37-year-old backstop Sandy León in 2026. When injuries struck Atlanta’s catchers six weeks into the regular season, the veteran was called upon to fill the void.

How Acquired

León was re-signed by the Braves on a minor league contract on October 7, 2025 for a third season in the organization. The long-time MLBer debuted in 2012 and appeared in the big leagues every season until 2024. He made his Braves debut in 2025, seeing action in five games, and served as a presumably important mentor at Triple-A Gwinnett for pitchers and catchers alike.

The Braves granted León his release in late April 2026 to sign in the Liga Mexicana. Three weeks later, the Braves signed him to the active roster, where he’d stay for more than a month after Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy were both placed on the Injured List.

What were the expectations?

With Baldwin, Murphy and a returning Chadwick Tromp, León was the fourth catcher on the organization’s depth chart heading into Spring Training. But with Murphy still recovering from surgery that ended his 2025 season, Jonah Heim was inked in early February as the big league back-up to Baldwin to start the season.

Heim’s addition made it unlikely that León would get a big league opportunity, meaning the he’d be likely to play the mentor role again in Gwinnett.

There wasn’t really anything to expect production-wise, as Leon was an all-glove catcher (career 56 wRC+ coming into 2026) who hadn’t posted an above-replacement season since 2018.

2026 results

When Murphy was ready to be activated from the Injured List, the organization designated Heim for assignment and then traded him to the Athletics, only for Murphy to return to the shelf a week later. That opened the door for León’s return as Baldwin’s backup. A week later, Baldwin landed on the IL and thrust León into a regular role with Tromp for the next month.

In 21 games, León slashed .091/.091/.091 (-59 wRC+) but was able to steady the pitching staff and was a master of the ABS challenge system. That didn’t help him not post -0.5 fWAR in just 44 PAs, but it is what it is.

What went right?

Defensively, despite his age, he was still a fine enough framer and blocker, although his pop time was below average.

Where he excelled was leveraging the ABS challenge system. In only 134 1/3 innings, he led the Braves by being 0.8 Runs Above Average on his ABS challenges. And it wasn’t that he just led the Braves, he was 20th in baseball despite his limited appearances behind the plate based on Savant’s ABS tracking stats. Getting nearly a framing run in less than a month is pretty good.

Given that Leon had four hits, all singles, it’s hard to find a positive offensive contribution. But, he did have slightly positive (0.01) WPA in two games. Unfortunately, these weren’t very interesting: one was a one-out single off Shota Imanaga in the third, that was followed up with another single by a 2026 Braves short-timer (Jose Azocar), but then rendered meaningless by a double play right after. The other was also a one-out single that didn’t go anywhere, against his former team, the Red Sox.

What went wrong?

Offensively, León was cooked, as the kids say. In 44 plate appearances, he had four singles and struck out 18 times. That was it. No extra base hits, no walks, no runs, no RBI. That led to his -59 wRC+ and -0.5 fWAR overall despite some positive defensive value. The Braves also couldn’t quite keep him away from meaningful situations, as he posted seven games with a WPA of -0.06 or worse — basically a third of the time the Braves gave him playing time, he substantially lowered their win expectancy. The worst came in a 3-2 loss on May 16, though he didn’t really do anything especially bad, just going 0-for-3 in a one-run loss with two of the outs leading off an inning.

2027 outlook

This time last year, it looked like León might be done as a big leaguer, but lo-and-behold, he returned and was the ace of the ABS in a tiny sample. He ended the 2026 season on the IL with Gwinnett and he’ll turn 38 in March. He if wants to continue playing, it’s likely an organization would bring him in on a minor league deal to work in the upper minors. The last time he appeared in more than 33 big league games was 2021, so at this stage in his career, any role would be limited. He’s been often mentioned as a future coach or manager, and that future could come as soon as next season.

If this was the end for León, he was a fun addition, proving his excellence behind the plate, while sporting a fantastic beard, to boot. And, if it wasn’t, then he’ll likely produce the same no-bat, some-glove, limited exposure line that he has from 2019-onward.

In his first comments since the Yankees lost to the Rays in an ALDS sweep, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner cited the offense as one of the reasons for yet another early postseason exit for the Bombers.

Steinbrenner was asked what changes the Yankees have to make to “get over the hump.”

“I was disappointed, frankly, with the offense throughout the course of the year as a whole,” Steinbrenner said Wednesday morning during a Zoom session,

“As a whole, they were very inconsistent and for long periods of time. This has been twice now where the offense hasn’t lived up to their end of the bargain and got the job done. The offense was a big disappointment for me and it has to be better.”

Steinbrenner went so far as to call the Yankee offense “detrimental.”

He admitted that losing star sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton for over 80 games certainly affected them — with Judge not playing in the postseason — but he stated that he and the Yankees will be evaluating everything “from the top” when figuring out where their offseason priorities lie.

The Yankees’ offense regressed in several major categories.

The team scored 739 runs in 2026, down from 849 in 2025.

They batted .235 compared to .251 the year prior.

The absences of Judge and Stanton were clear with a decline in home runs from 274 in 2025 to 223 in 2026.

On-base percentage also fell from .332 to .311.

Even with these struggles, the team plans to move forward with manager Aaron Boone, who’s heading into the final year of his contract, and has a new deal in place with general manager Brian Cashman.

Whatever tiny amount of doubt there might have been about Brian Cashman coming back can now be squashed.

The Yankees general manager has agreed to a new contract to remain in his post, he revealed on Wednesday, with next year marking Cashman’s 30th year on the job as the franchise hopes the continuity in leadership will finally lead to its 28th World Series championship.

“We just have to bang out some minor stuff at the back end of it, but yeah, we’re locked and loaded,” Cashman said during a joint Zoom press conference with Hal Steinbrenner from Tampa.

Cashman’s job status was not in as much question as Aaron Boone’s, but the manager will also be coming back next year for his 10th season, which is the last on his current contract. Steinbrenner defended the job that both of them did this season despite a similar ending, with the Yankees getting swept by the Rays in the ALDS.

Cashman, 59, has built a winning team every year of his tenure, but the Yankees have not won the ultimate prize since 2009. Another early October exit this season had much of the fanbase up in arms about the club’s leadership, but Steinbrenner has instead opted for stability instead of any kind of housecleaning.

Now, Cashman will once again be tasked with finding the right formula in roster building, which will look a little different this offseason with a lockout looming, during which all player transactions (involving the 40-man roster) will be frozen.

The Yankees have a strong core of players to build around, especially a deep rotation led by soon-to-be AL Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler. But they also have holes in their lineup, one that largely cratered without Aaron Judge, who missed over half of the season with a broken rib and then the playoffs with a calf strain and will play next year at the age of 35.

Cashman will also face some difficult decisions including what to do with veteran DH Giancarlo Stanton (whom the Yankees owe $15 million next season in the final year of his contract) and third baseman Ryan McMahon ($16 million).