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Christian Zazueta is coming off a breakout season in 2025, posting a 2.41 ERA in 17 starts, 16 of them for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, with 81 strikeouts and 16 walks in 67 1/3 innings, his 23.8-percent strikeout-minus-walk rate tops among all Dodgers minor league pitchers with at least 50 innings last year.

The right-hander was named a California League All-Star after the season, and won Cal League pitcher of the month for allowing only six runs in his six starts in May, with 31 strikeouts against only five walks in 30 innings. His best start came on June 18 against Lake Elsinore, when Zazueta retired 15 of 16 batters faced with 10 strikeouts in his five scoreless innings.

Acquired from the New York Yankees for lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson in February 2024 — two years ago Wednesday — Zazueta last season won the Branch Rickey Award as the Dodgers minor league pitcher of the year.

Now just 21 years old, Zazueta is rising on various prospect lists this year. He was ranked the seventh-best prospect in the Dodgers system by Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs in December, with Longhagen noting an ankle sprain and second-half workload management by the Dodgers prevented Zazueta from ranking in an even higher tier.

More from Longenhagen:

The 2026 season is his 40-man platform year, so the Dodgers have incentive to stretch him out to 110-ish innings and push him to Double-A at some point to stress test that slider against better hitters. He’s on pace to make his big league debut in 2027 as a spot starter and then establish himself as key rotation cog in the years beyond. Our grade in this instance leaves room for Zazueta’s fastball velocity and command to improve thanks to his build and athletic traits.

Zazueta was ranked 12th by Baseball America, rated 16th by Baseball Prospectus, and 17th in the system by The Athletic. Kiley McDaniel at ESPN last week ranked Zazueta as the No. 156 prospect in baseball entering 2026, 11th in the Dodgers system.

Thomas Nestico at his TJ Stats newsletter this week had high praise for the minor league right-hander, including him in the “stuff savants” category of prospects he expects to make the top 100 entering 2027.

“Christian Zazueta may be the top pitching prospect in the Dodgers system, combining strong strike throwing with electric stuff,” Nestico wrote. “His fastball sits 93-94 mph with 14 inches of [induced vertical break], a shallow -4.3° [vertical approach angle], and excellent whiff rates, while his slider and changeup round out a prototypical three-pitch starter mix.”

Zazueta made one shortened (one-inning) start for High-A Great Lakes in August to end his 2025 season, so it’s likely that’s where he starts this season.

Inspiration.

Last season, the Diamondbacks were the only NL West team with a losing record playing the Rockies at Coors Field.  I’m confident the Diamondbacks can improve.  How?

Runs at Coors When Playing the Rockies.

Focusing on the NL West, runs scored and runs allowed can explain why the Diamondbacks had a worse record when playing the Rockies at Coors.  The Diamondbacks ranked lowest in runs scored per game, and they ranked highest in runs allowed per game. The following table provides details. Data from Baseball Reference.

Deciding on how to improve, let’s look at two questions:

• Is batting or pitching more to blame?
• What statistics provide insights that point towards how to improve?

Most of the Blame.

Batting at Coors.  The following table shows two statistics.  Although they batted better than the Rockies at Coors, the Diamondbacks batters were below the average of the other teams at Coors.

The following table has a broader focus; non-Rockies teams includes all teams in the Majors. Data from Baseball Savant.

Pitching at Coors.    The following table shows two statistics.  Although they pitched better than the Rockies at Coors, the Diamondbacks pitchers had better than average wOBA against, but average runs allowed per PA of the other teams at Coors. Data from Baseball Savant.

The Diamondback batting shouldered most of the blame for the poor win-loss record at Coors because the batting wOBA was much worse than non-Rockies teams (while pitching wOBA about the same).

Two reasons Diamondbacks’ batters need to make adjustments at Coors. One reason is last season’s poor batting at Coors. The other reason is that Rockies pitchers at Coors are expected to make adjustments to improve their results. “Every guy [pitcher] is one adjustment away from being one of the best in the game, and there’s a lot of low-hanging fruit [pitching at Coors Field] that can be changed.” — Michael Lorenzen, newly acquired Rockies pitcher

The Blue Jays Batters Had Success at Coors.

Of all the teams who played at Coors, the Blue Jays batters had the best wOBA and best runs scored per PA.  How did they do it? 

This article from The Athletic led me to think contributors to their success at Coors included their “…contact-dominant offense…” and in August had baseball’s “…lowest strikout rate….” To check that out, let’s look at Balls-In-Play (BIP) per Plate Appearance (PA) and strikeouts per PA.

Although the following table shows that for the whole season (and especially for the Rockies-Jay series on 4-6 August) the Blue Jays’ batters had a better Balls-In-Play (BIP) per PA and a lower strikeouts per PA than the Diamondbacks, my opinion is that does not tell the whole story.  Also, I’m uncertain how batters could put more balls in play and strikeout less.  One thought is for Diamondbacks batters to swing more often than they usually do.

Did the Diamondbacks swing more (or less) often at Coors?    In 2025, the Diamopndbacks swung at more pitches at Coors (48.9% vs 46.9% of pitches) per Baseball Savant. That 2% increase seemed great until considering that the Blue Jay increased their swing percentage by 4.1% (increased from 48.6% to 52.7% of pitches). Asking Diamondbacks batters to further increase their swing percentage is not likely to be realistic.

Swing Characteristic. For the entire season, the Blue Jays qualified batters had a swing characteristic that was significantly different than the Diamondbacks.  While it is a characteristic of Diamondbacks batters that they intercepted the baseball farther than the average distance in front of the plate (per this AZ Snake Pit article), most Blue Jay batters intercepted the ball nearer than average to the front of the plate.  The following table shows the difference between the teams. Data from Baseball Savant.

Because of Coors’ high altitude, the pitches move less.  Therefore, the Blue Jay batters did not suffer a reduced contact rate that would typically occur in venues at a lower altitude.  My opinion is that this was an important part of why the Blue Jays batted better than the Diamondbacks at Coors.  Unfortunately, asking Diamondbacks batters to make such a large change in their swings is not realistic.           

Summary.

Last season, the Diamondbacks were the only NL West team with a losing record playing the Rockies at Coors Field. The Diamondbacks ranked lowest in runs scored per game, and they ranked highest in runs allowed per game.

Based on wOBA and runs scored per PA, the Diamondback batting shouldered most the blame for the poor win-loss record at Coors.

Although the Blue Jays’ batters had better Balls-In-Play (BIP) per PA and lower strikeouts per PA than the Diamondbacks, my opinion is that does not tell the whole story. 

Although the Blue Jays’ batters increased their swing percentage at Coors more than the Diamondbacks, my opinion is that does not tell the whole story.

Much of the difference between the teams is that the Blue Jays’ batters intercepted the baseball nearer than average to the front of the plate, while the Diamondbacks batters intercepted the baseball farther than average to the front of the plate. Because of Coors’ high altitude, pitches move less.  Therefore, when the Blue Jay batters hit closer to the plate, they did NOT suffer a reduced contact rate that would normally occur in venues at a lower altitude.

Answering the question of how could batters improve at Chase remained elusive. My opinion is that it’s not realistic to ask for Diamondbacks batters to make significant changes to their swings to address the factors that I’ve mentioned. On the other hand as an optimist, I’m open to the possibility of batting improvement at Coors.

With our minor league crew going through all of the trouble of doing their annual preseason prospect rankings, this seems like the perfect time for y’all to ask questions about it. So this Friday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. ET, we’ll be having another one of our Live Q&A sessions where our very own Gaurav Vedak, Matt Powers, Brady Petree and Garrett Spain will be on hand to answer any questions you have about the minor league system. I’ll also be on hand for any questions you may have about the Braves in general but also if you want to hear from any of our other writers, don’t worry — we will have another Live Q&A session later on this month so stay tuned for that as well.

In case this may be your first time experiencing one of these, here’s how it goes: We’ll throw up the post on Friday afternoon so you can get in your questions very early on. Once 7:30 p.m. rolls around, our writers will start answering questions and we’ll go for as long as the questions keep coming in. Maybe that’ll be an hour, maybe that’ll be 12 hours (not really) but yeah, we’ll try to answer as many questions as we can within a reasonable amount of time. Here’s a link to our Minor League Live Q&A session from January 2025, in case you want an example of how this goes.

So yeah, if you have any questions, start thinking of them and then once we throw up the post on Friday afternoon, get them in so you’ll be assured of us answering your question. This is a very fun opportunity to have a cha with some of the brightest minds in Braves Country when it comes to the farm system around here and we look forward to seeing you there on Friday night!

We’re trying a new series at Royals Review, a daily mid-day question of the day to hear about your opinions on a fun or pressing question affecting the Royals or baseball in general. Chime in and drop your answers below!

Royals’ history is full of great trades, and a few that still make you throw up in your mouth. There are the ones where they traded a minor leaguer that became an All-Star, but then there are the ones where they traded away a star simply because they didn’t want to pay him. There are many candidates for worst trade:

• Cecil Fielder to the Blue Jays for Leon Roberts
• Atlee Hammaker, Craig Chamberlain, Renie Martin, and Brad Wellman to the Giants for Vida Blue and Bob Tufts
• David Cone and Chris Jelic to the Mets for Rick Anderson, Mauro Gozzo, and Ed Hearn
• Bret Saberhagen and Bill Pecota to the Mets for Gregg Jefferies, Kevin McReynolds, and Keith Miller
• David Cone (again!) to the Blue Jays for Chris Stynes and Tony Medrano
• Kevin Appier to the A’s for Brad Rigby, Blake Stein, and Jeff D’Amico
• Johnny Damon to the A’s in a three-team trade for Angel Berroa, Roberto Hernandez, and A.J. Hinch
• Jermaine Dye to the A’s in a three-team trade for Neifi Perez
• Carlos Beltrán to the Astros in a three-team trade for Mark Teahen, John Buck, and Mike Wood
• Melky Cabrera to the Giants for Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo
• Esteury Ruiz, Matt Strahm, and Travis Wood to the Padres for Ryan Buchter, Trevor Cahill and Brandon Maurer

But hey, the trade that haunts you the most doesn’t have to be a move that was that bad on paper. Maybe it was when they traded away your favorite player. Surely there is someone haunted by the Mike Aviles-for-Kendal Volz-and-Yamaico Navarro trade?

So let’s open the old wounds a little: what Royals trade still haunts you, and why?

It’s January 2011 and the Yankees have narrowly missed out on the opportunity to defend their World Series crown, having been bounced out of the ALCS by the Rangers in six games. One of the players most responsible for their demise — and a personal white whale for general manager Brian Cashman — has just spurned their top-dollar offer in free agency, Cliff Lee taking a significant discount to rejoin the Phillies.

Stung by the rejection and perhaps in a last-gasp bid to make the most of the remaining players from the turn-of-the-millennium dynasty, all of whom are in the twilights of their career, Yankees ownership pivoted. They already had a talented core in place after the offseason spending spree that netted them CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, A.J. Burnett, and a World Series title two winters prior. It was just a matter of adding in complementary pieces by diverting the money previously earmarked for Lee. Enter stage right, Rafael Soriano, and a moment of pure theater from a normally line-toeing GM.

Rafael Soriano
Signing Date: January 18, 2011
Contract: Three years, $35 million

Rafael Soriano was born December 19, 1979, in San José de los Llanos, Dominican Republic, and was playing weekly baseball tournaments by the age of eight. However, after failing to impress in the Dominican baseball academy operated by the Cardinals, Soriano dropped out of school at the age of 16 to work full time in a carpentry shop. He caught the eye of a Mariners scout during a three-month tryout at the academy run by the Hiroshima Carp of NPB, and in 1996 signed for $5,000 as an outfielder.

After struggling for two seasons in the Arizona Rookie League, the Mariners coaches convinced him to convert to pitcher after noting his strong arm from the outfield. He could consistently throw between 87 and 90 mph and top out at 95, and in his first season at Low-A Everett, he led his team with a 3.11 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 75.1 innings. A steady rise through the system in 2000 and 2001 resulted in Baseball America ranking him as the 30th-best prospect in baseball for the 2002 campaign, and he recorded a save in his MLB debut on May 10th.

Soriano was added to the big-league rotation, but after eight rocky starts he went on the disabled list with a sore shoulder and would not return to the majors that year, instead being held at Triple-A to work on developing a reliable secondary pitch. He returned to pitch well in 2003 — a 1.53 ERA in 40 relief appearances totaling 53 innings — but underwent Tommy John surgery in 2004, limiting him to just 10.2 innings in the majors between 2004 and 2005.

Soriano was traded to the Braves following the 2006 campaign and pitched well in primarily a setup man role, logging a 2.95 ERA, 39 saves and 188 strikeouts in 162 appearances and 161.2 innings. Atlanta dealt him to the Rays prior to the 2010 season, and he reached a new level as the Rays’ unquestioned closer. He earned the Delivery Man of the Month Award in May, July and August en route to his lone All-Star selection as an injury replacement for Mariano Rivera. He threw an immaculate inning on August 23rd and finished as the AL saves leader with 45, earning the AL Rolaids Relief Man Award and finishing eighth in AL Cy Young balloting.

That brought Soriano and the Yankees to that fateful winter, the Bombers still smarting from their ALCS exit to the Rangers. To understand the events that would follow, we have to go back six months to the 2010 MLB Trade Deadline. The Yankees were clinging to a narrowly-held lead atop the AL East, but had a serious problem in their rotation with both Burnett and Javier Vázquez performing worse than replacement level.

Cashman had long coveted lefty starter Cliff Lee dating back to the 2009 World Series when the southpaw won both of his starts including a ten-strikeout complete game in Game 1. The Yankees thought they had a deal in place with the Mariners to acquire Lee at the deadline, agreeing to send Jesus Montero, David Adams, and Zach McAllister to Seattle to complete the trade. However, the Mariners balked after viewing the medicals on Adams’ injured ankle, and when Cashman refused to include either Eduardo Núñez or Iván Nova in the amended trade proposal, the Mariners pivoted that same day, trading Lee to the Rangers on July 9, 2010, for Justin Smoak, Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke, Matthew Lawson, and $2.25 million.

Fast-forward three months, and once again the Yankees were matched up against Lee in the postseason. The southpaw authored one of the greatest starts in recent playoff history, striking out 13 across eight scoreless, two-hit innings as the Rangers trounced the Yankees, 8-0, to take a 2-1 lead in the ALCS. This only seemed to heighten Cashman’s drive to acquire Lee, and that winter the Yankees launched a full court press to land Lee in the Bronx. However, they were fated to be spurned again, Lee turning down the Yankees’ seven-year, $154 million offer to instead rejoin the Phillies on a five-year, $120 million pact.

This final rejection led Cashman to dig his heels in for his plan for the rest of the offseason — appearing to signal a shift toward building for the future — with Cashman declaring that “I will not lose our No. 1 draft pick. I would have for Cliff Lee. I won’t lose our No. 1 draft pick for anyone else.”

Ownership had other ideas. On the orders of the Steinbrenner family, team president Randy Levine went around Cashman and negotiated directly with Soriano’s agent, Scott Boras, the two sides aligning on a three-year, $35 million contract just over a month after Lee left them jilted.

Cashman, as you can imagine, was less than pleased at having been circumvented, and in a stunning departure from the usual boilerplate responses that come out of the Yankees organization, let his feelings be known directly following Soriano’s introductory press conference:

I didn’t recommend it just because I just didn’t think it was an efficient way to allocate the remaining resources we had. We had a lot of debate about it. Like everything on the free-agent market and trade market, you discuss it, make your recommendations to ownership, and they choose what direction they prefer to go given the circumstances. My preference was waiting. They obviously acted, and we are better… I think it’s certainly a sign at times if Hal wants to go different directions that could happen. I think that’s certainly the case. This is their team. Does that happen often? Will it happen a lot? I just think it depends on the circumstances what the comfort level is taking place at the time. Not to say it won’t happen again, not to say it will. It’s hard to say.

Soriano made his Yankees debut on March 31st against the Tigers, pitching a scoreless eighth to set up Rivera for the save. He recorded his first save in pinstripes on April 20th against the Blue Jays, but his first few months with the Yankees were far from smooth sailing. He endured several blowup outings including giving up four runs to the Twins while recording just two outs on April 5th, and landed on the 60-day DL in mid-May after suffering an inflamed ligament in his throwing elbow. He was reactivated on July 29th and pitched six straight scoreless appearances to set up a strong finish to the season, Soriano ending his debut Yankees season with a 4.12 ERA, 3.97 FIP, and 36 strikeouts in 42 appearances totaling 39.1 innings.

That brought Soriano to his second taste of postseason baseball after having lost to the Rangers in the 2010 ALDS with the Rays. He went unused in the first two games of the ALDS against the Tigers before being brought on in relief of CC Sabathia in Game 3. The contest was knotted at four runs apiece after Sabathia and Justin Verlander got knocked around and Soriano was tasked with stopping the bleeding. He entered with a runner on third and one out in the sixth and escaped the inning unscathed. However, he surrendered the game-winning home run to Delmon Young in the seventh to put the Yankees in a 2-1 deficit in the series.

Soriano rebounded in Games 4 and 5, pitching 1.1 scoreless to earn the hold in the former and recording five outs without giving up a run in the latter, but it wasn’t enough as the Yankees were eliminated in five. All the same, this provided Soriano with some positive momentum to roll into the 2012 season.

Soriano was once again slated to be the team’s seventh-inning reliever in front of setup man David Robertson and closer Rivera. However, when Rivera tore his ACL while shagging fly balls during batting practice at Kauffman Stadium on May 3rd, the Yankees had to designate a closer for the rest of the season. Robertson was initially slated to take over the ninth inning, but after suffering a minor injury himself, Soriano was handed the closer job and would not relinquish it for the rest of the season.

He converted his first 12 save opportunities and would grow to become one of the most dependable relievers in baseball that season. Soriano finished the year with the third most saves in MLB (42), pitching to a 2.26 ERA, 3.32 FIP and 69 strikeouts in 69 appearances totaling 67.2 innings. He did so with some swagger too, memorably untucking his jersey with fervor immediately after recording the final outs. Despite not having Rivera, the Yankees had to feel good about the man they had assigned to the ninth inning heading into the playoffs.

Soriano began that postseason by recording the final out of the ninth and pitching a scoreless tenth in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Orioles, setting up Raul Ibañez’s walk-off home run in the 12th. The next day, Soriano faced the minimum in the ninth and tenth innings, though the Orioles won in 13 innings to force a Game 5. The Yankees advanced to the ALCS where they faced a rematch with their vanquishers from the prior postseason. Soriano made just one appearance as the Yankees were thoroughly trounced by the Tigers in a four-game sweep, pitching a scoreless tenth in Game 1 of an eventual 6-4 loss in 12 innings.

After such a successful season closing games, Soriano opted out of the final year and $14 million of his contract to become a free agent. With the Yankees confident that Rivera could return to full strength from his knee injury, they never showed much interest in re-signing Soriano, and he wound up agreeing to a two-year, $28 million pact to become the Nationals’ closer. He completed a successful two seasons in Washington, saving 43 games in 2013 and 32 games in 2014, and finished with a 3.15 ERA, 3.38 FIP, and 110 strikeouts across 132 appearances totaling 128.2 innings. However, he was removed from the closer role at the end of the season and only managed to sign a minor-league contract with the Cubs that winter, ultimately making just six appearances with a 6.35 ERA for the Northsiders. He was designated for assignment and released at the end of the season, and after visa issues forced him to miss spring training after signing a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays, Soriano announced his retirement on March 20, 2016.

One last time, with feeling. #untuck MT @JamesWagnerWP Rafael Soriano, who had a MiLB deal with Toronto, is retiring pic.twitter.com/wWbVOAn9T7

— Pinstripe Alley (@pinstripealley) March 18, 2016

Soriano’s time with the Yankees was often overshadowed by the two fan favorites at the back of the bullpen in Rivera and Robertson, in addition to the odd circumstances of his arrival with Steinbrenner overruling Cashman. He also just missed their last World Series win, and was instead part of a period of Yankees history that is more remembered as the final years of the Core Four than for postseason success.

That being said, Soriano stepped up in a huge way when Rivera suffered his season-ending injury, and on the whole pitched admirably in his two years in pinstripes, making 111 appearances with a 2.94 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 44 saves, and 105 strikeouts across 107 innings. Between 2009 and 2014, Soriano was one of the most productive late-inning relievers in baseball, his 191 saves second only to Jonathan Papelbon. Filling the shoes of the greatest closer in baseball history is no small task, and for one season, Soriano made palatable the loss of the future unanimous Hall of Famer.

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See more of the “50 Most Notable Yankees Free Agent Signings in 50 Years” series here.

Eighth in the series.Today we look at the Cubs’ third-year first baseman.

Michael Busch, drafted in the first round (2019) by the Dodgers (31st overall, from UNC), and later acquired by the Cubs for second-round pick Jackson Ferris and minor leaguer Zyhir Hope, has paid dividends since being installed as the Cubs first baseman. He has turned in 2.8 and 4.6 bWAR seasons (2.2 and 3.5 fWAR). In 2025, he turned in a line of .261/.343/.523, swatting 34 home runs and batting in 90 runs. His defense was splendid as well.

Busch isn’t yet a star, but he will be if he equals or beats last year’s numbers, which is certainly possible. He got some downballot votes for the league’s MVP award, coming in 16th.

He’s said to be looking at hitting more against left-handers, though that will likely be based somewhat on Spring Training results, as there are right-handed batters around that would like those at-bats as well. Projections have him in the 25/75 zone. Of course we’d like better numbers, but those would do, along with his 60 or so walks.

He leads off sometimes, in Craig Counsell’s liquid batting order, and also hits 3,4,5. Any of those spots are good — Busch doesn’t seem to change his game any, no matter where he hits. Third or fifth might be best, where he can hit ahead of/behind powerful right-handed hitters like Alex Bregman and Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ, our next subject, can lead off against right-handers and enjoy similar benefits batting ahead of Bregman or Suzuki or even Nico Hoerner, who in another era would be the pluperfect #2 hitter.

We’ll have to wait and see what the genius of Craig Counsell comes up with, but penciling Busch in for 25 long balls, 75 RBI, and a .330 or so OBP feels pretty good. I suspect he’ll do quite a bit better than that.

In our last pairing of the “Last Man In” tournament, Brad Miller easily surpassed Neil Walker.

Onto the next matchup:

5. Jose Contreras, 2010

After a successful career in Cuba, Jose Contreras finally came to the United States at age 31 in 2003. He was a decent mid-rotation starter for a few years and even made the All-Star Game in 2006 for the White Sox. But his performance steadily declined, and he spent most of 2009 in the minors.

The Phillies signed him before the 2010 season with the intention of using him in relief. He did well in his new role, serving as one of the team’s main setup men, and even filled in for closer Brad Lidge when he was injured. The Phillies re-signed him to a two-year deal after the season, but (and this isn’t terribly surprising since he was 39 at the time) he was often injured and ineffective after that.

Phillies #52- Jose Contreras, P (2010-12)

– 101 Games, 3.74 ERA, 9 SV, 85 K

pic.twitter.com/ABoNYYWQ5C

— Philly Sports By Number (@philly_number) June 2, 2025

12. Ronny Cedeño, 2014

Ronny Cedeño carved out a decent career as a utility infielder, able to play every position on the infield, and even some outfield. Mostly due to an anemic bat, was never able to maintain a starting job – he only had two seasons with more than 500 plate appearances – but every season from 2005 to 2013, he would end up on some team’s bench.

Come 2014, the Phillies decided they would be that team, signing Cedeño to a one-year deal. Unable to promise him a spot on the major league roster, they released him towards the end of Spring Training. Cedeño found that no other team was going to offer him a major league deal, so he returned to the Phillies less than a week later and accepted a minor league assignment.

Cedeno was eventually called up for a six-game stint in June. Despite going 0-9 in that stint, the Arizona Diamondbacks wanted him enough that they sent an actual human being (the immortal Raywilly Gomez) to the Phillies in order to get him.

Who should advance? Vote now!

It appears the Cincinnati Reds will not be carrying three catchers to begin the 2026 regular season. What they most certainly will be carrying, though, is one Eugenio Suárez.

The Reds made their signing of Geno official on Tuesday afternoon, designating catcher Ben Rortvedt for assignment in the process in order to make room on the 40-man roster.

The #Reds today signed IF Eugenio Suárez to a one-year Major League contract with a mutual option for 2027 and designated for assignment C Ben Rortvedt.

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) February 3, 2026

Geno will wear #28 this time around, and he’ll once again do so while incredibly happy to be plying his trade for the Reds. When speaking to the media shortly after his 1-year, $15 million deal was made official, he noted that Cincinnati was ‘where you want to be,’ as ESPN 1530’s Mike Petraglia relayed.

"It wasn't about years. It was about where you want to be." Geno Suarez

— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) February 3, 2026

As for Rortvedt, the out-of-options catcher was DFA’d to make room on the roster before ever actually appearing in a game for the Reds. He was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers back in mid-November, initially having been a Dodger in the first place after being dealt there by the Tampa Bay Rays in the very same three-team trade that brough Zack Littell to the Reds at the July 31st trade deadline.

He was never really expected to crack the Opening Day roster, and being out of options meant the Reds couldn’t simply stash him in AAA to keep him around. I’m assuming their hope is that he clears waivers and remains in the organization as a non-roster guy, but if he happens to get claimed after being DFA’s I would certainly expect the Reds to bring in another non-roster catcher before spring camp gets underway in Goodyear in a little over a week and a half.