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ORLANDO, FL—Edward Cabrera is no stranger to trade rumors, whether it be this past MLB trade deadline or previous offseasons. Right now, his value is as high as it's ever been. In the late hours of Day 2 of the Winter Meetings, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported that Cabrera's market is heating up, with the Baltimore Orioles as a possible landing spot. In 2025, Cabrera broke out, posting a 3.53 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 9.81 K/9 and 3.14 BB/9 through a career-high 137 ⅔ innings pitched. His talent is undeniable, but the Marlins already have a very deep rotation for 2026 and beyond, opening up the possibility that they could flip Cabrera to address other areas of need. These teams had a positive experience trading with each other in 2024 when the Marlins sent Trevor Rogers to the Orioles in exchange for Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers. That could lead to them once again linking up on a big deal. Mock Trade #1 Orioles receive Edward Cabrera Marlins receive 1B Coby Mayo and LHP Boston Bateman Mayo, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2020 MLB Draft, was a consensus Top 100 prospect entering 2024 and 2025. However, he hasn't lived up to the hype since being called up, slashing .217/.299/.388/.687 with 11 home runs, 28 RBI and a 95 wRC+ last season. With that being said, a right-handed hitting first baseman is exactly what the Marlins are looking for. The Marlins organization remains extremely high on Deyvison De Los Santos despite coming off a disappointing season of his own. Perhaps they could co-exist in the future with Mayo moving over to third base. The second piece in this deal, Boston Bateman was acquired from the San Diego Padres in July. Bateman spent most of 2025 at Low-A, but was promoted to High-A for his final three starts. Overall, he finished the season with a 4.14 ERA and 3.54 FIP in 87 total innings. The 20-year-old's best pitch is his slider, which is a 60-grade pitch, per Baseball America. The 6'7" lefty could have a future in the bullpen or as a back-end starter. Either way, he's a couple seasons away from contributing in the majors. Trade #2 Orioles receive Edward Cabrera Marlins receive OF Nate George, LHP Luis De León and OF Austin Overn George, who was selected in the 16th round of the 2024 MLB Draft, has gotten off to a phenomenal start to his professional career. At age 19, he posted a 158 wRC+ with 50 stolen bases through his first 87 career games. Ranked as the number four Orioles prospect by Baseball America and ninth by Just Baseball's Aram Leighton, George is still raw, but if it goes well, he can be the future at center field with a nice hit tool. In 2025 between three levels, De León posted a 3.30 ERA, 2.59 FIP, 11.03 K/9 and 4.23 BB/9 through 87 ⅓ innings pitched. After that, he did well in the Arizona Fall League, raising his strikeout rate even more with a fastball that sat in the mid-90s. He did not allow a single home run all year. Baseball America has his fastball as a 70-grade pitch and his slider and changeup as 60-grade pitches. The lefty could eventually be a number two or three starter in the rotation. De León's control/command will need some improving as he continues to develop. The final piece is Overn, who is the 30th-ranked Orioles prospect, per MLB Pipeline. Across High-A and Double-A, he slashed .249/.355/.399/.754 with 13 home runs, 43 RBI, 64 stolen bases and a 123 wRC+. With his combination of speed and swing decisions, the hope is that Overn can follow in the footsteps of someone like Jakob Marsee. View the full article

Recorded immediately after learning the results of the MLB Draft Lottery, Ely Sussman, Isaac Azout, Kevin Barral, Nate Karzmer, Hector Rodriguez and special guest Marcel Sparks discuss where things stands with the Miami Marlins in the midst of the Winter Meetings. Topics include the consequences of falling to 14th in the draft order, missing out on veteran relievers in free agency, mutual interest between the Marlins and Jakob Marsee regarding a contract extension, 2026 Opening Day being rescheduled and a preview of Wednesday's Rule 5 draft. You can find Fish On First LIVE on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. Our audio programming also includes The Offishial Show, Fish Unfiltered, Swimming Upstream and more. The Marlins received the 14th overall pick in the 2026 draft. The San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals both leapfrogged the Fish and won top-six lottery picks despite finishing last season with better records. Follow Ely (@RealEly), Marcel (@MarcelSparks04), Isaac (@IsaacAzout), Kevin (@kevin_barral), Nate (@NateKarzmer), Hector (@Hector_Baseball) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. View the full article

The Miami Marlins are "progressing in their efforts" to trade right-hander Edward Cabrera, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported Tuesday night. They identify the Baltimore Orioles as one of Cabrera's suitors, with Jon Heyman of the New York Post adding that "numerous teams" are involved in the bidding. Cabrera enjoyed the best season of his career in 2025. The 27-year-old posted a 3.53 ERA, 3.99 xERA with 150 strikeouts and 2.8 bWAR in 137 ⅔ innings pitched. As always, though, his workload was limited by injury—he suffered a right middle finger blister in spring training and a right elbow sprain in late August. He's under club control for three more seasons via arbitration. MLB Trade Rumors projects him for a $3.7 million salary in 2026. The Orioles' reported interest is unsurprising considering that these teams collaborated on a win-win trade at the 2024 trade deadline when the Fish exchanged Trevor Rogers for Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby. Rogers was Baltimore's best starter last season, but he will be eligible for free agency next winter, and regardless, the O's need more rotation depth behind him to realistically contend during this upcoming campaign. With the Marlins in need of upgrades at the corner infield spots, Jordan Westburg and Coby Mayo are among the names they could be seeking in return. Catcher Samuel Basallo is Baltimore's top-ranked prospect, but he has already been signed to an eight-year contract extension, making it highly unlikely that he'd be available. View the full article

Anne Rogers, in her latest rundown from the Winter Meetings, mentioned that the Kansas City Royals are receiving interest in several of their young players. Noah Cameron, Ryan Bergert, and Stephen Kolek all finished 2025 on the big-league pitching staff. Cameron worked 138 1/3 innings with a 2.99 ERA, 109 hits allowed, 46 earned runs, 43 walks, and 114 strikeouts. His line included a FIP of 4.18, with 7.4 strikeouts and 2.8 walks per 9 innings. Bergert split his debut season between San Diego and Kansas City, totaling 76 1/3 innings with a 3.66 ERA, 4.00 FIP, 61 hits allowed, 35 walks, and 73 strikeouts. Kolek also pitched for both clubs in 2025 and finished with 112 2/3 innings, 98 hits allowed, 44 earned runs, 31 walks, and 77 strikeouts, producing a 3.51 ERA (3.82 FIP). From a team control and expense standpoint, all three are pre-arbitration. Players do not become arbitration-eligible until roughly three years of service, and do not reach free agency until about six years. As recent rookies with less than two years of service time, Cameron, Bergert, and Kolek are projected to remain under club control for at least half a decade. View the full article

In my last article, I examined the unusual case of Tyler Rogers (Why The Royals Should Sign Quirky Submariner Tyler Rogers). As discussed there, while Rogers may be an outlier because of his unorthodox mechanics, it is not typically a good strategy to rely on pitchers who lack swing-and-miss stuff and instead rely on generating soft contact to get outs. Despite a bullpen that ranked third in Save%, and statistics indicative of swing-and-miss ability, like K% and Whiff%, paint a far less optimistic picture for repeating that success in 2026 with the current cast of candidates. According to FanGraphs, the 2025 Royals bullpen ranked 28th in K% (20.5%), was in the middle of the pack in BB% (8.3%), and ranked 24th in both xFIP (4.21) and K%-BB% (12.2). They benefited from a .284 BABIP (batting average on balls in play; 8th-lowest in MLB) and a 74.6% left-on-base percentage (LOB%; 3rd-highest), well above the league average of 72%. All of this tells me what my blood pressure metrics told me every time Carlos Estevez came in to protect a one-run lead…. The Royals' pen got more than a bit lucky and is ripe for regression. This "luck" in stranding runners and low BABIP added an estimated 0.38 runs to their ERA performance vs. xFIP and represents a major regression risk for 2026 without improvement in peripheral statistics. Estevez is the poster child of the group, posting just a 20.1% strikeout rate, a 77.6% LOB rate, and a .234 BABIP and a xFIP that was more than double his actual ERA (2.45 vs 4.95)! His K% in 2023 and 2024 were much better, at 27.8% and 23.6%, respectively. Unless those K% numbers come back to his 2024/2024 levels, Estevez’s career FIP of 3.99 is very likely a much stronger indicator of his success in 2026 than the identical 2.45 ERAs he has posted the last two years. Estevez’s slider is his best pitch by Stuff+ estimates, and he has increased his usage of it consistently since the 2022 season. His four-seam fastball is average by Stuff+ and was down slightly to 95.9 mph in 2026 from his career average of 97.1. The decrease was mainly due to lower velocity in April, and it increased as the season progressed, but it remains something to keep an eye on in his age-33 season. Also of concern, his SwStr% of 8.2% last year was a career low. Lucas Erceg, number two in Matt Quatraro’s circle of trust, similarly struggled with his peripheral stats while still somehow managing to limit runs scored. After posting strong K/9 numbers in his first two MLB seasons (10.8 K/9), he dropped off significantly to 7.0 K/9 in 2025. Concerningly, his Whiff% dropped from an elite level of 31.9% in 2024 to 24.7% in 2025. As the 2025 season progressed, Erceg never looked quite right, and he went on the injured list first with a back issue in late May and later with a shoulder impingement injury. The Royals need the healthy, bat-missing version of Erceg in 2026. If Estevez regresses, Erceg will need to step back into the closer role. John Schreiber turned in another decent season and will be counted on again in 2026. He led all Royals relievers (with over 50 IP) in K%, 23.4% and K%-BB%, 16.2%. He’s never managed to match his early career K% numbers, and his Whiff% was below average at 23.4%, but he has established himself as an above-average reliever entering his age-32 season. Angel Zerpa returns in 2026. Stuff+ metrics love his sinker and slider. He has middling 21.1 K% and 8.0 BB% numbers, but a 2nd-percentile Whiff% of 16.4. He gets by on a 99th percentile ground ball percentage of 63.7. Despite 96+ mph four-seam/sinker velocities from the left-hander, he misses very few bats. Daniel Lynch IV, like Zerpa, is a left-handed pitcher with high ground-ball rates and low whiff rates, just not as extreme as Zerpa's. His 2025 season 15.5 K% and 9.0 BB% rates are not headed in the right direction, and his roster spot may very well be in jeopardy. Steven Cruz is a big young right-hander obtained in the Michael A. Taylor trade with the Twins, who has struggled with command thus far in his career. He possesses elite fastball velocity along with good extension provided by his 6’7” frame. All three of his pitch offerings in 2025 were rated by Stat+ as well above average. His four-seamer had an average velocity of 98.2 mph and a Stat+ mark of 121, while his cutter had a 107 Stat+ value, and his slider was even better at 125. His Location+ of 83 and his 9.5 BB% demonstrate where the issues are. Despite his impressive velocity and stuff, his Whiff% and K% were both just OK (24.3%, 20.1%). Cruz took some significant steps forward in 2025 before also ending his season on the IL. Unlocking his potential will be important if the Royals' pen is to improve in 2026. The Royals signed local kid Alex Lange to a near league minimum “prove it” contract after he was designated for assignment by division rival, the Detroit Tigers. Lange was a key member of the Tigers' bullpen in 2022 and 2023, saving 26 games in ’23 before suffering a lat injury that required surgery in 2024. When healthy, Lange features a curveball-heavy repertoire along with a 96 mph fastball, a sinker, and a changeup. In 2023, that repertoire led to a whiff rate of 39.1%, which ranked in the 99th percentile. Unfortunately, it was accompanied by a 1st percentile BB% of 15.6%. The signing of Lange should be taken as a tacit admission by the Royals of needing more guys with power swing and miss stuff, even if there is a tradeoff in walks. Former 2nd-round pick Jonathan Bowlan was part of the college pitching-heavy 2018 class that included Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, Jackson Kowar, and Daniel Lynch, along with Jonathan Heasley and Austin Cox. For a time, it appeared that Bowlan might be the best of the bunch. He threw a no-hitter for Wilmington in 2019, starting 23 games between Low A and High A, and striking out 150 in only 146 innings. Bowlan lost the 2020 season to COVID and then appeared in only four games in 2021 before losing that season to Tommy John surgery. He struggled in 2022 and 2023 before regaining some level of success with Omaha in 2024. Bowlan spent the 2025 season traveling back and forth between Omaha and Kansas City and put up decent numbers at both stops. At 6’6”, Bowlan has good extension and above-average velocity. He features a 5-pitch mix from his starting days, but as a reliever, he is primarily a four-seam fastball and slider pitcher, mixing in a sinker, curveball, and changeup. His Stuff+ metrics are above average for Stuff+, Location+, and Pitching+, with his slider being his highest-rated pitch. Perhaps because he pitched mostly in low-leverage situations, I didn’t realize his metrics were as good as they were. His Whiff Rate was elite at 33.7, his K% good at 25.6, and he got a lot of ground balls. His BB% was high at 9.4, and at 29, the ceiling is somewhat limited, but he has earned the opportunity for a second look. Luinder Avila debuted in 2025 and looked good in doing so. His 2025 Baseball Savant Pitching Percentile rankings are a sea of red, with only his walk rate being poor. It should be noted that these are based on only 14 innings pitched, though. He has a good frame with nasty movement on his breaking pitches, along with more than adequate fastball velocity. He is a potential breakout bullpen candidate this year. Eric Cerantola was added to the 40-man roster last year to protect him from the Rule 5 draft after a successful season at Omaha. He’s another big kid with a big arm. He’s struck out 11.9 batters per nine innings in his minor league career, but also has had his share of command issues with 5.4 BB/9. An athletic Canadian kid with a background in hockey, he is a fastball-slider pitcher who throws an occasional curve. His slider is arguably the best in the upper-level Royals minor league system and has received 70 grades. He may be this year’s Jonathan Bowlan, shuttling back and forth from Omaha as needed. Relief pitcher performance year-over-year is inherently volatile. Undoubtedly, the Royals got lucky in 2025, which screams regression in 2026. For that not to happen, some of the internal options currently on the roster need to step up. The Royals probably also need to add more options from the free agent and/or trade market. Stay tuned for that in Part II. View the full article

Last week, the Chicago Cubs traded low-level minor leaguer Nico Zeglin to the Houston Astros, in exchange for $250,000 in spending allotments for the 2025 international free agent period. Zeglin, 25, is essentially a non-prospect, and ostensibly, the right to spend an extra $250,000 on (mostly) teenagers from Latin America is low in value, too. There's little time left to spend that money; the signing period ends on December 15. After a one-month pause, the 2026 IFA period will open on January 15, but that will be a different budget. The Cubs can't roll over any savings. Ostensibly, then, they have some plan to shell out a small amount of money (in baseball terms) to a couple of late-blooming players who are already eligible, before the window closes for 2025. As a revenue-sharing payor, the Cubs cycle only from the bottom tier to the middle of the pack from year to year, in terms of the amount they're allowed to spend in the international free-agent space. For 2026, they'll enjoy a relatively robust budget of $6.68 million, but that's about $1 million less than (for instance) the Brewers have. Interestingly, too, despite having that flexibility, the Cubs haven't been tied to any of the top 30 projected bonus earners for the upcoming class, via Baseball America or MLB Pipeline. (Those lists overlap, but not perfectly, so in effect, the Cubs appear to be frozen out on the top 35 bonus babies of the coming year.) Taken together, that small trade with Houston and the fact that the Cubs appear poised to spread their bonus money pretty widely next year point in a particular direction: the team might be looking to diversify more and chase high-end talent less in Latin America. That would be good news, because it sure seems like that's the best way to efficiently extract value from the endeavor of signing young players from those nations. Strict limits on the number of players a team can have on their roster and inside the United States make it harder than it was a decade ago to stockpile talent and get quality from quantity in the minor leagues. One remaining way to do that, though, is by signing a glut of youngsters from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and other countries in the Caribbean basin, who can be retained much more easily until they're ready for Stateside assignments. Furthermore, splashing money on the highest-paid players each year comes with more concentrated risk; a case of age or performance-enhancing drug fraud can bait a team into a bad spend. Teams commit to these players so young that a player's stock is sometimes on the wane by the time they actually, officially sign, even if they've been tied irrevocably to a team for 18 months by then. The Cubs would not be the first team to move away from focusing on those players who appear to merit seven-figure bonuses and toward accumulating talent at low individual costs. It's a case of "fast follow" on a trend gaining momentum throughout the league. They appear to have a player or two in mind for a last-second pickup before the end of this international signing window. When the next one opens, they'll continue to rebuild what has been an underperforming international amateur scouting and development operation—not one player at a time, perhaps, but in bunches and bundles. View the full article

On Tuesday evening, Major League Baseball conducted the MLB Draft lottery. After an 82-80 season, the Royals entered the lottery with the third-lowest odds to get the No. 1 pick (0.84%). Only the Mets (0.67%) and the Astros (0.34%) had lower odds than the Royals. However, after some years of tough lottery luck (they fell out of the top six despite having the second-best lottery odds in 2023), they jumped their projected draft position, which was No. 16, and landed the No. 6 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. The No. 6 pick gives the Royals increased slot money and more flexibility in the 2026 Draft. After being awarded a competitive balance round pick this offseason, they will hold the sixth, 31st, and 56th picks in the upcoming draft. Having three picks in the Top-60 will give JJ Picollo and scouting director Brian Bridges millions more in bonus money to play with, which could help them net some much-needed top-end talent. It's still early, but Kansas City could be in play to select a top college outfielder, such as Georgia Tech's Drew Burress and LSU's Derek Curiel, or prep left-handed pitcher Carson Bolemon, according to MLB Pipeline's Top-100 2026 MLB Draft prospects. The No. 6 selection could also allow the Royals to trade their competitive balance round pick at No. 31 to net a high-profile player or larger prospect package. The Royals have traded their competitive balance round pick twice: in 2022 (with Atlanta in the Drew Waters trade) and 2024 (with Washington in the Hunter Harvey trade). The 2026 MLB Draft will be at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia during All-Star Week, with the first round taking place on Saturday, July 11th. The remaining rounds will take place on Sunday, July 12th, and Monday, July 13th. View the full article

The hated Chicago White Sox, who already got Justin Ishbia and the Pope this year, win again. They will pick first in the 2026 MLB Draft, after winning the annual MLB Draft Lottery on Tuesday evening in Orlando. The Twins will pick third, but can find some consolation in not having fallen any further. The division-rival Royals also got a bump, as they entered with the 16th slot in the theoretical draft order but landed the sixth overall pick. The Royals, San Francisco Giants and Tampa Bay Rays all jumped into the lottery section (the top six selections), so the Twins were more fortunate than the Orioles, Athletics, or Braves, who all tumbled to the back half of the top 10. More to come. View the full article

Earlier this afternoon, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters at the Winter Meetings (including our own John Bonnes) that his coaching staff for 2026 has been finalized. "We have filled [the] assistant hitting coaching job," he said. "We have kind of backfilled [former bench coach Don Mattingly's] spot in a variety of ways. I'm giving those guys time to finalize with the teams they were with, and you'll have that full list really soon. One is internal, and two from outside." Sportnet's Shi Davidi reports that former White Sox catching coach Drew Butera is one of the two external additions. The other is former Rangers minor league hitting director Cody Atkinson, according to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. Bannon also notes that Eric Duncan was promoted to the major league coaching staff from within the organization. He was previously Toronto's director of position player development. Presumably, Atkinson is the new assistant hitting coach, but it is not yet official what roles any of the Blue Jays' new coaches will be taking on. View the full article

The Boston Red Sox have remained busy on the trade front as they attempt to rebuild and bolster their starting rotation, as they've made two deals that brought back Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo. Despite that, the team is still in need of a true number two starter, and there may be a solution on, you guessed it, the trade market. Washington National's head of baseball operations Paul Toboni has been on the record as stating “it would just be kind of negligent to not entertain it” when talking about the organization listening on trade offers for both shortstop CJ Abrams and staff ace MacKenzie Gore. With that, the two teams could line up as perfect trade partners. Especially after the previous trades the Red Sox have made this offseason. Toboni was previously a member of the Red Sox's front office prior to taking on his current roll in the National's organization and has a good understanding of both the players at the major-league level and across the organization’s minor-league organizations. There shouldn't be much issue in him finding enough value to part with Gore. The Red Sox, on the other hand, have the capital of both major-league talent and prospects to get a deal done if they wanted to. And if the Nationals wanted young, controllable pitching, the Red Sox have plenty to offer as they have eight starters on the 40-man roster currently projected to open next season in the minor leagues. Gore would be a welcomed addition to the staff, as the 26-year-old would slot in nicely between Garrett Crochet and Gray. Still arbitration eligible for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, the Red Sox would not have to worry about a large salary constraint while also working to sign him to a long-term deal during the 2026 season; in that instance, his new contract wouldn’t kick in until after Gray's salary would come off the books. The left-hander is without a doubt the ace of the Nationals, and even after coming off a year where he missed a little time with injuries, he still led the rotation and made a name for himself as an All-Star pitcher. In 2025, Gore made 30 starts for the Nationals and went 5-15 while tossing 159 2/3 innings. In that span, he walked 64 batters and struck out 185. Despite an ERA of 4.17, Gore is one of the more exciting pitchers in the sport. Gore ticks off a lot of boxes the Red Sox. He has great extension, averaging 6.9 feet, can generate strikeouts, has a fastball that averaged 95.3 mph in 2025, and his breaking pitches generated a run value of five last season. With the southpaw, you’re getting a young pitcher who is in his peak form and should remain in his prime for the next half-decade. He generates whiffs at an amazing rate of 29.7% and strikes out batters at a 27.2% rate as well. Not to mention how he can get batters to chase around 30% of the time a pitch is out of the zone. And despite his fastball being his most used pitch, it’s how he utilizes the remainder of his repertoire that makes him so dangerous. Gore’s changeup (which he uses exclusively against right-handed batters) generated soft contact and a high whiff percentage in 2025. While batters hit .271 off of it, there was a lot of luck as the expected batting average was much lower, sitting at .214 (the average exit velocity on batted balls from the pitch was just 80.9 mph). The upside was even more impressive, as batters missed at 47.2% of changeups they swung at. His cutter was just as good (though not used as much), being saved mostly for right-handed batters too (just thrown seven times to left-handed batters); that pitch generated an expected batting average of just .187 while batters whiffed on it 40.9% of the time. In fact, only Gore’s fastball had a whiff rate of under 35%, sitting at 20.7%. Not a number to be taken lightly, but it helps to show how the fastball was used to help set up his other pitches and make them more dangerous. And while he walks his fair share of batters (9.4% in 2025), Gore manages to strand runners on base as he left 75.6% of baserunners stranded. Last season. his numbers could have been negatively impacted due to the defense of a team like the Nationals, especially when he allows fly balls at a 40.8% rate. With an outfield of Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Roman Anthony tracking down baseballs, there’s a chance opponents don’t have a .325 batting average for balls in play like they did in 2025. Gore is young and he’s still improving; with a team like the Red Sox, he could truly break out into the star most expected him to be. It would make sense for the Boston to engage in trade discussions for the young left-hander at the least, and if they did have to part with a young pitcher, it wouldn’t be a fatal blow with Gore and Crochet owning the top of the major-league rotation. Thankfully, the Red Sox have a surplus of pitching depth to use in a trade for a pitcher like Gore. Craig Breslow has the Red Sox set up perfectly for a blockbuster trade. The only question is who the team is targeting. Among every possible trade candidate, Gore stands out as the perfect option. View the full article

In mid-August, the Pohlad family announced they were no longer selling the team, and instead, would sell stakes in it to two limited partners. Then, for nearly four months, nothing. On Saturday, Charley Walters of St. Paul Pioneer Press broke some news regarding the first of the two limited partner groups who will be purchasing part of the Twins. “‘Look for Minneapolis-based Värde Partners, a worldwide multi-billion dollar credit investment corporation, to be announced soon as a limited partner with the Minnesota Twins," Walters wrote. "The firm is one of at least two limited partners expected to assist in diminishing the team’s reported $500-million debt.” Shortly after, Dustin Morse, the Twins Vice President of Communications and Content, told beat reporters that Walters’s reporting was inaccurate, but failed to elaborate. Cue the record scratch. That’s pretty significant news to get wrong—not quite to the level of “Dewey Defeats Truman”, but for Twins fans? Potentially huge. Also, $500 million in debt now? Yikes. What should we make of this: the report, the rebuttal, and the refusal to say more? Let’s look at some bread crumbs, to better understands what we might expect. To be clear, before I get started, I’ll simply be working off quotes from Twins officials at the Winter Meetings, where Twins Daily’s own John Bonnes is at the scene searching for clues to this and myriad other topics that can inform the trajectory of the 2026 season and beyond. Let's start with clues directly addressing the limited partnership news. Bonnes asked Derek Falvey on Monday whether he is in conversations with the limited partners currently, and if Värde Partners are in fact the first group. “it’s a fair question,” Falvey replied, but Morse interjected: “It’s an inaccurate report.” The follow-up: How inaccurate? Falvey deferred to Morse. “Yeah, we'll have this all wrapped up early next week. We'll put a release out with the names and the LPs that you guys can write," Morse said. Based on that messaging, it seems as though both groups will be announced. That’s huge news, and will have potentially significant ramifications on the offseason. For the first two months of the offseason (and really, dating back to the trade-deadline teardown), the assumption was the selloff would continue. Yet, Falvey was cagey about future plans, refusing to talk about a rebuild. Then, in yesterday’s presser, he added: “I said this at GM Meetings, I was hoping to find a way to build around the core that we have. I think we have that ability now to try and navigate through that.” When asked how sure Falvey was that he would be able to add pieces to the roster, he said: “Now it involves a few more people that we get to talk to about it. I think that’s helpful to share some broader perspective around where we think our team is. I was hopeful, as I said at GM Meetings, that we’d get to this place … I think, at this stage, figuring a way to add to this group was clearly the best fit for all what we aligned around.” Ok, great. Sounds like with the addition of the limited partners, there might be some payroll flexibility. How much, of course, remains to be seen. One of the major things we do not know (aside from the identity of the limited partners) is exactly how big a stake they are buying. Another crucial piece of missing information is how the cash will be used. Will it go toward eliminating the Pohlad family's debt, perhaps in its entirety? Or will it be used to buy out specific Pohlad family members, who are less interested in owning part of the asset? Perhaps a combination of both? The answer to these questions is needed to have a better sense of the financial landscape of the team. However, it does sound as though Falvey truly considers the Twins’ window of contention to be open, after all. He reiterated this in an interview on MLB Radio. “My job is to try and educate [ownership] in aggregate, around the current state of our team and what it could look like if we invest in it, what it looks like going into [20270], '28, '29, because you're never building for one year. You're always thinking multiple years ahead.” At the Winter Meetings, Falvey also spoke to his role, adding additional context about how it shifts slightly in light of the new limited partners. When asked specifically about what it will look like for him to make meaningful additions to the team: "I’ll still continue to work with ownership to position different opportunities to them, that these are the right fits for us right now and what does it afford us. Some of that’s an education process. There’s a little bit more education that’s on my shoulders now, to make sure that I’m sharing what this looks like, what it means for our short-term team, what it means for long term. And that’ll be a big part of my role, to inform.” From that, it’s clear that Falvey sees it as part of his role to sell ownership on the viability of adding. It also sure sounds like he's working with someone new, rather than Joe Pohlad remaining essentially in charge. And, it sounds as though he sees that being successful, as Jeremy Zoll spoke to the types of players they are looking to pursue this offseason: “Obviously, bullpen feels like the area that, after we went through what we did at the deadline, rebuilding that group and reinforcing in that space I think would give us a chance to push forward. And then on the offensive side, another bat or two with some thump, with some impact, to bolster a group that we’re excited about and that young core that we’re excited to keep growing with. That’s kind of the biggest opportunities and needs on our mind, trying to work for all that and making sure that we’re staying in sync with the market.” So, we know the new limited partners will be announced next week; there’s some payroll flexibility; and the Twins intend to address the bullpen and potentially add (multiple?) impact bats. After the dark fall of our discontent, it seems there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic for the remainder of the offseason, and the 2026 season. Stay tuned. View the full article

On Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox pulled the plug on the Vaughn Grissom era, trading him to the Los Angeles Angels, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. The return for Grissom is outfielder Isaiah Jackson, whom the Angels drafted in the eighth round this past summer. Jackson spent three seasons at Arizona State University. In his final year for the Sun Devils, Jackson hit .310 with 18 home runs and 14 stolen bases, but his calling card is his defense. The move clears a 40-man spot for the Red Sox, with the Rule 5 Draft scheduled for Wednesday. Grissom showed flashes of the player Boston coveted when it dealt 2024 National League Cy Young winner Chris Sale to Atlanta, but ultimately fell out of favor fast. In two seasons, he played just 31 big-league games, slashing .190/.246/.219 with a 30 wRC+ and -0.7 fWAR. He was a fine ballplayer in Triple-A Worcester, hitting 19 homers in 151 games, but simply didn't do enough to win himself an opportunity at any point in 2025. With the Red Sox scouring the market for infield help, even reportedly exchanging names with the Arizona Diamondbacks for Ketel Marte, there was seemingly no chance for the 24-year-old to ever wear a Red Sox uniform again barring something extreme. They tried moving him around the infield in 2025, even giving him 12 games at first base. Ultimately, the team felt the contingent of Abraham Toro, Nick Sogard, Romy Gonzalez, and Nathaniel Lowe gave them a better chance to win games in 2025. With, at the very least, Triston Casas slated to return from a ruptured patellar tendon at some point in 2026, opportunities were growing scarce. Grissom will try to revive his career in Los Angeles from here on out. View the full article

ORLANDO, FL—Day 2 of the Winter Meetings is underway in Central Florida. While Kyle Schwarber and Edwin Díaz have received much of the attention, the Marlins are quietly conducting business as well. Here is what Kevin Barral and I are hearing: Free Agency According to industry sources, free-agent reliever Pete Fairbanks is expected to command more than the $11 million option the Tampa Bay Rays declined last month. That price point, sources say, likely takes the Marlins out of the running. Fish On First initially reported the club’s interest in the 31-year-old closer, who overlapped with president of baseball operations Peter Bendix while they were both with the Rays. Another name Miami remains interested in is submariner Tyler Rogers, though he is believed to be seeking a multi-year deal. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald previously linked the Fish to Rogers. Trade Market The Marlins front office continues to hold longtime ace Sandy Alcantara in extremely high regard. The team will not trade its longest-tenured player unless it receives an overwhelming offer, and even then, ownership would have to be persuaded to finalize a deal. All indications are that the Dominican flamethrower, who recently accepted an invitation to pitch for his country in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, is lined up to take the ball on Opening Day, now set for March 27 at 7:10 p.m. Starters Ryan Weathers and Edward Cabrera continue to draw strong interest on the trade market, sources tell Fish On First. While not impossible, it's deemed highly unlikely that Miami would trade both starters. The one player on the 40-man roster who the Marlins will not entertain offers for is Eury Pérez. Extensions According to a source, there is mutual interest in a potential extension for Jakob Marsee. While Fish On First has confirmed that no formal offer has been made, discussions have taken place, and the two sides are expected to meet in the weeks following the Winter Meetings. In 55 games as a rookie, Marsee slashed .292/.363/.478 with five home runs and 14 stolen bases. He was the Marlins' most valuable player during that span with 2.2 fWAR. Poached coaches! As reported Monday afternoon, Alon Leichman—who served as Miami’s assistant pitching coach in 2025—has been hired by the Colorado Rockies as their head pitching coach. Leichman is the fourth member of last season's coaching staff to earn an elevated role with another organization, a trend that speaks highly of Miami’s ability to identify coaching talent. The Marlins are now searching for Leichman’s replacement. Peter Bendix, general manager Gabe Kapler, manager Clayton McCullough, director of pitching Bill Hezel, and pitching coach Daniel Moskos are all heavily involved in the hiring process, sources tell Fish On First. The Marlins have hired Blake Butler to be their new infield coach, sources told Fish On First on Monday. Butler replaces Tyler Smarslok, who previously held the position for Miami before joining the Washington Nationals. View the full article

The Boston Red Sox made a move to continue their attempts to stockpile pitching depth, as the team agreed to a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training with left-handed pitcher Alec Gamboa. The signing was first announced by Will Sammon of The Athletic. Gamboa was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers back in 2019 and made it to Triple-A by 2023. He would go on to spend all of 2024 and open the 2025 season in Triple-A before being released to pursue an opportunity overseas. In 53 appearances at Triple-A, Gamboa tossed 133 1/3 innings while striking out 106 batters. Signing with the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization league, Gamboa would make 19 starts and go 7-8 with a 3.58 ERA. He also struck out 117 batters in 108 innings. Should Gamboa make the major league roster, his salary would increase to $925,000. View the full article

After the first day of the Winter Meetings, there have been multiple rumors and reports swirling around the Boston Red Sox. Craig Breslow and company seem to be busy scheduling meetings with teams, Zoom calls with players, and trying to put packages together to land them their impact bat for the middle of the order. A still glaring hole in the defense. though, sits at second base. At Talk Sox, we’ve highlighted the issues at second base both in writing and through our podcast, and it seems that this offseason could be the right time to finally plug that hole for the foreseeable future. All Breslow has to do is pick up the phone and give old friend Chaim Bloom another call. Brendan Donovan is expected to be traded at some point this offseason as the Cardinals navigate a near-complete tear down and rebuild. Donovan brings the perfect skillset to Boston that would fit right into Alex Cora’s lineups. He would slot in as an every day second baseman, a position he manned in 100 games last season for the Redbirds, but he is arguably the most shining example of a super-utility player that Breslow seems to covet. He won the National League Rawlings Gold Glove for utility players in 2022 and hasn’t really slowed down on defense yet. In 2025, he made appearances at second, third, shortstop, left, and right field. He’s played first base as recently as 2024 and could help to shore up that position if the team doesn’t address it fully during the offseason. Offensively, Donovan is a dependable bat. He slashed .287/.353/.422 with a .775 OPS, 10 home runs, 50 RBIs, and a 2.9 fWAR in 2025. He was named a National League All-Star for his efforts. He worked a strikeout rate of 13% against a walk rate of 8.2% last season. so he'd infuse some much-needed contact to the top of the order. However, Donovan isn’t a bopper, at least not in his current home ballpark. Busch Stadium is notoriously pitcher-friendly, and it has done a disservice to Donovan’s hit profile. If we overlay his home spray chart over Fenway Park though, a ton of power is evident. Yes, he's left-handed, a profile the Red Sox already have plenty of in the lineup. Look at that spray chart again, though. He’s going to the opposite field quite a bit and like many other lefties before him, spending time in Boston will teach him how to punish the Green Monster. He will have some pressure taken off of him with a move to Boston as well, as long as Roman Anthony continues to man the leadoff position in the lineup. Moving Donovan down a spot will allow for him to use his bat-to-ball skills in the best way possible and put himself in a position to score as much as possible. It's true that Brendan Donovan isn’t the flashiest move the Red Sox could make this offseason and he won’t come super cheap since he has two more years of control remaining via arbitration. But, he is the type of player that helps cement the team as a contender in 2026. His positional versatility would allow for multiple people to receive breathers during the week and, if needed, he could slot into the lineup as the starting second baseman on a daily basis. His bat would come alive in Fenway Park, and it could prove to be one of the best deals of the offseason if Craig Breslow can pull it off. View the full article

ORLANDO, FL—Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara has accepted the invitation from the Dominican Republic to participate in the World Baseball Classic, per FanDuel Sport Network's Craig Mish. This will mark the second time he participates in the WBC, having previously done so in 2023. Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols could not confirm that Alcantara had accepted when asked on Tuesday afternoon, but said DR was interested in having him on the team. "Hopefully, he can be part and help us win," said Pujols. Alcantara, who returned from Tommy John surgery this past season, posted a 5.36 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 7.32 K/9 and 2.94 BB/9 through 174 ⅔ innings pitched. Even while struggling early in the season, he expressed his desire to once again participate in the tournament, saying "if they want to call me, I'm ready." In his lone outing of the 2023 tournament, Alcantara went 3 ⅔ innings, allowing three runs on five hits (one home run), three walks and struck out two. He took the loss against Venezuela and DR was eliminated during pool play. It has been announced this week that MLB All-Stars Elly De La Cruz, Manny Machado and Junior Caminero will also be on the team. The Dominican Republic has been assigned to Pool D along with Venezuela, Netherlands, Israel and Nicaragua. All of their tournament games will be played at Miami's loanDepot park, beginning with their March 6 opener against Nicaragua. Alcantara might not be the only Marlin representing DR. Nelson Cruz, the general manager of the team, told Fish On First that they have contacted Agustín Ramírez, but also Samuel Basallo of the Baltimore Orioles, so there is competition at the catcher position. "We have so many players, and it's hard to choose," said Cruz. He does not expect a decision to be made until February. View the full article

No team in baseball is paying a smaller share of its own team's payroll than are the Milwaukee Brewers. Even if we set aside the huge lump sum each team receives each year from the league's national TV rights agreements and the quarterly payments the Crew get as revenue-sharing payees, they get subsidized heavily, because their players received nearly $21 million in playoff shares and pre-arbitration bonus pool payouts. That money all comes from pooled league funds, rather than the pockets of Milwaukee's ownership group under Mark Attanasio. Nonetheless, financially, the Brewers operate at a disadvantage. The Dodgers, Phillies, Mets, Cubs, Padres, and the team from Cobb County, Georgia each outspend the Crew every year, and with good reason; their revenues dwarf those of the team playing in the league's smallest market. While the Brewers get significant help with their payroll (some of it coming directly from their rivals), they need that help in a way none of their rivals do. That reality is never thrown into sharper relief than on days like Tuesday, which saw the Phillies re-sign slugger Kyle Schwarber to a five-year, $150-million deal and the Dodgers set a new benchmark for relief pitcher salaries by signing Edwin Díaz for $69 million over three years. The final four teams in the 2025 National League bracket were the Phillies, the Dodgers, the Cubs and the Brewers, and already, the other three teams have spent varying amounts to reinforce their clubs for another run deep into October in 2026. (The Cubs, so far, have spent much more modestly than the others, but they're being cited as a potential destination for several high-profile free agents and trade candidates.) Don't expect the Brewers to match those outlays. They could do it—they fill Uecker Field well and are a success story of marketing and revenue capture, to the greatest extent that that's possible for a team without an adjacent commercial district next to their home park or a major media market to exploit. If Attanasio were thus disposed, Milwaukee could push their payroll to $150 million or higher, at least for a year or two. That's not how he chooses to run the team, though, and eventually, even that modest increase would begin to stretch the club a bit thin. Instead, the perennial focus for the Crew is on homegrown talent, and as we know, they have arguably the best assemblage thereof in baseball. Theirs is the deepest corps of solid pre-arbitration players in the league, and their farm system is one of the three best in the game. They can (and will) continue to compete with the big boys, on a total budget less than half that of some of the others. Fans will (rightfully) maintain high expectations for the 2026 team, though. The plan should be for the Crew to win a fifth NL Central crown in six years and try to claim their first-ever National League pennant. That doesn't require an enormous monetary stretch, but it does require that the club reckon with their star power gap. As good as Jackson Chourio, William Contreras, Brice Turang and Jacob Misiorowski can be, they don't quite match the Phillies (Schwarber, Trea Turner, Cristopher Sánchez) or the Dodgers (Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto) man-for-man. Those teams are also out to accrue better depth. The logical next step for Milwaukee is to beat these teams in October, but to make that possible, they'll have to find a creative way to keep getting more dynamic—more dangerous. Nationals trade candidates MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams could each be interesting fits for the Crew. So could Tigers mega-ace Tarik Skubal, about whom the Brewers had discussions with Detroit at the 2024 trade deadline. We've already written, this month, about why Ketel Marte and Byron Buxton are interesting potential targets. The Brewers are unlikely to deal for Skubal now, since he's only a year from free agency and will be well-paid in 2026, but they do need to think aggressively, as well as farsightedly. As Schwarber and Díaz reminded them on Tuesday, Milwaukee has a tall mountain to climb. They might have the best overall organization in baseball, but that doesn't guarantee them a turn with the pennant. To get one, they'll need to exit their comfort zone and do something big. View the full article

Perhaps superstar is a bit much, but it's undeniable that Brice Turang has been one of the best second basemen in baseball over the past two years. In 2025, he posted a 124 wRC+ and accumulated 4.4 fWAR, both marks placing him fourth amongst all second basemen. Although his defensive prowess took a step back last season, it has only been a year since he was the National League's Platinum Glove award winner. Turang joins a growing list of exceptional baseball talent and was part of the latest batch of players to officially join the team, along with Kyle Schwarber, Gunnar Henderson, and Will Smith. The roster and depth chart are far from complete, but there's a solid chance that Turang ends up as the starting second baseman for all, if not most, of the tournament. He could split time with Nico Hoerner if he ends up participating as well, but Brewers fans can expect to see plenty of Turang on the international stage regardless. It's a well-deserved honor for the 26-year-old and also begs the question, what other Brewers will be participating in the World Baseball Classic? Freddy Peralta hasn't officially announced his commitment, but has expressed a strong desire to represent the Dominican Republic. Neither William Contreras nor Jackson Chourio played for Venezuela in 2023, but they could be key parts of their lineup in 2026. Sal Frelick competed for Italy but hasn't confirmed his return to the team. One of the biggest struggles for teams in the past has been assembling a quality pitching staff, as the best arms are typically still ramping up when the tournament starts in early March. So far, Paul Skenes is the only pitcher who has decided to play for Team USA, and depending on the willingness of other top names like Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet to join him, the Brewers could send a few of their own. Quinn Priester and Jacob Misiorowski would be the top two candidates, but Chad Patrick or Tobias Myers could provide some solid value as well. View the full article

With the latest reports taking focus away from Joe Ryan, Pablo López, and Byron Buxton, there are other Twins trade candidates to consider this winter, including catcher Ryan Jeffers. Is it possible the Twins could trade Jeffers, but hang on to the other players mentioned in rumors? If they go that route, they would need to sign a catcher to replace their erstwhile starter. Jeffers split time with Christian Vázquez from 2023 through 2025, and absent a major addition, he's in line to take on a bigger role in 2026. While it might not make a ton of sense on the surface, there are a few options the Twins would have if they do move on from Jeffers. Let’s take a look at a trio of interesting mid-level free agents. Danny Jansen Jansen started the year with Tampa Bay and was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers near the trade deadline. He played in 98 games between the Rays and Brewers, hitting .215/.321/.399, which was good for a 101 OPS+. For comparison, Jeffers hit .266/.356/.397, which was good for an OPS+ of 108. A burly 6-foot-1, Jansen, 30, put up 2.8 bWAR in 2025, compared with Jeffers's 1.2. If the Twins trade Jeffers, Jansen could make some sense on a one- or two-year deal, as a bridge to prospect Eduardo Tait. Minnesota acquired Tait as part of the return in the Jhoan Duran trade at the trade deadline, so they hope only to need a stopgap behind the plate. Jonah Heim Heim had a down year in 2025 and was non-tendered by the Texas Rangers last month, making him a free agent. He broke out in 2023, hitting for a 106 OPS+ and earning his first career All-Star nod. He won a Gold Glove the same season, and was the main catcher as the Rangers marched to their first-ever World Series title. Since then, he has not been as consistent offensively as he (or the Rangers) would have hoped. While he may be a downgrade offensively from Jeffers, he has shown the ability to be an above-average defender, and being solid behind the plate can mask being a below-average hitter. As the starting catcher, playing in 124 games, Heim hit .213/.271/.332 in 2025, which equates to a 77 OPS+. While this is below average even for a catcher, if the Twins believe that Heim is a bounce-back candidate, they could get him for good value. The Rangers non-tendered him when he was projected to make in the ballpark of $6 million, so he will likely command less than that on the free-agent market. As a switch-hitter, he provides solid matchup value at a righty-dominated position. Reese McGuire In a backup role with the Cubs in 2025, McGuire hit .226/.245/.444 over 140 plate appearances. The Cubs non-tendered him after the season, and he was projected to make $1.9 million next season. If the Twins were to trade Jeffers, could they look to McGuire to split time with the recently acquired Alex Jackson? It sure seems like a plausible option. Offensively, in limited appearances, he was on par with the average catcher across the majors. Another positive in signing McGuire is that he grades out above average defensively, particularly as a framer and thrower. However, like Jackson, he has never handled a full starter’s workload, so he would be more likely to be a candidate to split duties than to play as much as Jeffers would. Do you think the Twins should trade Jeffers? And if so, whom should they sign to replace him? View the full article

Life is never boring with AJ Preller as your favorite team's president of baseball operations. MLB Network recently reported that Preller is once again going big-game hunting, though it's questionable how much ammunition he has to bring along this time around. Reports out of Nashville suggest the Padres are at least listening on veterans like Nick Pivetta while gauging interest in other pricey pieces, even if a major teardown remains unlikely. With payroll tight and the farm thinned out, any blockbuster would likely involve some creative thinking. A decade into his tenure, Preller’s résumé is defined by blockbuster trades. The most famous is the 2022 deadline blockbuster for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, a move that cost a haul of prospects but helped power San Diego’s run to the NLCS. He doubled down on pitching by landing Blake Snell from Tampa Bay, Yu Darvish from the Cubs, and Joe Musgrove from the Pirates in a rapid-fire series of deals that signaled an all-in push around Manny Machado. Preller has also aggressively overhauled the bullpen, sending prospects to Milwaukee for Josh Hader. This past deadline, he once again emptied the farm to bring in flamethrower reliever Mason Miller. View the full article

Rocco Baldelli’s time in Minnesota officially came following the 2025 season, but his next chapter has already begun. After a difficult 92 loss season led to his dismissal, the former Twins manager is joining the Los Angeles Dodgers front office according to reporting from the Star Tribune’s Bobby Nightengale. The move brings Baldelli into the heart of baseball’s most dominant organization and reunites him with a familiar face. The Twins chose to move on from Baldelli after missing the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. It was a decision driven more by frustration than by a clear indictment of his abilities. Baldelli was never the sole reason the team stumbled through 2025, and he certainly was not the source of the deep flaws that defined the club’s roster and performance. Instead he became the public face of accountability when those above him would not accept their share of the responsibility. Even so it was never expected that Baldelli would remain unemployed for long. The real question was whether he wanted to jump back into the grind immediately. His answer came sooner than many anticipated. The Dodgers have brought him aboard in a front office role, a path he knows well from earlier in his career. Before he ever filled out a lineup card Baldelli worked in the Tampa Bay Rays system after a mitochondrial disorder ended his playing career in 2010. He joined Andrew Friedman’s baseball operations group as a special assistant and quickly earned a reputation as a thoughtful evaluator with a strong grasp of player development. That experience helped launch his coaching and managerial trajectory, and now he returns to work alongside Friedman for an organization with unmatched resources and championship expectations. Baldelli’s tenure in Minnesota ends with a 527-505 record across seven seasons, including three American League Central titles and the drought breaking playoff series win in 2023. He captured the American League Manager of the Year award in 2019 and helped guide several young players into key roles. With one year left on his contract the Twins dismissed him after their 70-92 finish, setting off broad changes across the staff. Many of his former coaches quickly landed on their feet in new roles around the league, a sign of how well respected that group had become. While Baldelli is stepping out of the dugout for now, a front office role does not signal the end of his managerial aspirations. Minnesota even considered a similar transition with Scott Servais earlier this winter. If anything this move may serve as a launching pad. The Dodgers operate with a level of infrastructure and financial backing that could not be more different from what Baldelli experienced with the Twins. Working under Friedman again and within an ownership group that pushes relentlessly for championships may give him an even broader skill set. For Baldelli this is a chance to reset and reemerge. For the Dodgers it is another savvy addition to a front office that rarely misses. View the full article

Using a built-in off-day from their original 2026 regular season schedule, the Miami Marlins announced on Tuesday that their Opening Day matchup against the Colorado Rockies has been moved from March 26 to March 27. Just like all of the club's other Friday home games, first pitch will be at 7:10 p.m. The dates and start times for the other two games of the series remain the same. This news comes nearly a month after the Marlins began selling single-game tickets. They had to wait for approval from Major League Baseball before finalizing the change. Opening Day always draws one of the Marlins' largest crowds of the season. The team anticipates less congestion around loanDepot park for a 7:10 p.m. game compared to a 4:10 p.m. game; each of the past three years, they have hosted 4:10 p.m. openers. Another byproduct of the later start time is the game will end long after the sun sets, allowing for a postgame fireworks show. The biggest benefit to the Marlins is maximizing attendance and local television viewership. Needless to say, a higher percentage of people will be available for a Friday night game than a Thursday afternoon game. The Marlins have an awful 2-9 record over their last 11 Opening Day games, though they defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in walk-off fashion on March 27, 2025. Perhaps superstitious folks can appreciate that this date change perfectly aligns the 2026 opener with that fond memory. View the full article

There are few worse places to be in sports than organizational purgatory. That middle ground where you're not quite good enough to legitimately contend, but also not quite bad enough to begin the rebuilding process. The latest trade rumor from the Winter Meetings has the San Diego Padres barreling toward such a status. While nothing of note has unfolded quite yet (none of Pablo Reyes, Sean Boyle, or Ty Adcock count), the Padres have the look and feel of a team on the brink. Already working within financial constraints that have grown tighter in the years since owner Peter Seidler's passing, the reported exploration of a sale has only furthered growing concern over the team's ability to hang, financially, with their major-league counterparts. That's left just about everybody on the roster involved in a trade rumor of some kind at various points in the early stages of this winter. The latest case is starting pitcher Nick Pivetta. Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported on the first day of the Winter Meetings that the team was listening to overtures on Pivetta and Jake Cronenworth. The latter is of no surprise, of course. We've long known that the team had taken calls on Cronenworth and that his contract could be the logical one to move among the bevy of long-term position players that the team currently rosters. There's plenty of logic to it. Pivetta's inclusion, however, necessitates an entirely different perspective. Pivetta's contract paid him just $2.5 million in 2025, but the number leaps up to $20.5 million next season. The team would then owe a remaining $32 million combined over the final two years of his deal. It all seems fairly reasonable when you consider the fact that Pivetta's coming off the best season of his career from a run prevention standpoint. Each of Pivetta's 2.87 ERA and 3.49 FIP were career bests, with the former checking in as his best mark by a wide margin. His 26.4 percent strikeout rate sat in the 78th percentile and his 6.9 percent walk rate was in the 69th. While the strikeout rate was a continued drop from his last two seasons, his walk rate did stand as the second-best mark of his career. Between preventing baserunners and garnering some good fortune on the batted-ball side of things (.235 BABIP), Pivetta was able to work around some less-than-desirable contact metrics (45.0 Hard-Hit%, 10.8 Barrel%). In any case, it was a strong year from the arm that wound up as the team's top starter for 2025. Which is why hearing his name in trade rumors is so distressing. It's not that the Padres need Nick Pivetta in order to contend. He's likely due for some very legitimate regression next season. You could even make an argument that the Padres selling high on Pivetta makes some degree of sense. The trouble is less about Pivetta's skill set and himself in a vacuum and more about what it means in the scheme of the larger narrative around this team. We already know the Padres are working within the confines of an ever-shrinking budget. This winter, though, reads as a little bit different of a vibe. There's more of an urgency to shed money and fewer prospects, despite both being important in bringing in players of note that would help this team realize their championship aspirations. Having a name like Pivetta in the trade mix speaks to that exact trouble, especially considering the state of the current roster. The Padres have virtually no starting pitchers to speak of. Dylan Cease is now a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. Michael King is poised to get a significant contract with a team not named the Padres in free agency. Yu Darvish is already out for all of 2026. Joe Musgrove is returning from Tommy John surgery. Pivetta represents the only legitimate starter on a 40-man roster sprinkled with names like Randy Vásquez, Matt Waldron, and JP Sears. Ty Adcock and Kyle Hart don't quite count there, either. With the team set to keep Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, and David Morgan in relief, it's Pivetta, a rusty Musgrove, and a collection of fringe starters comprising the rotation at present. That the Padres would be willing to trade their only presently-viable starter speaks to the trouble in which this organization finds itself. To trade a key component from such a dire position of need would signal to the rest of the league that the Padres are trending in exactly the wrong type of direction. Without the resources in the farm system to make a trade, the road toward improving the roster becomes narrower — potentially to the point of becoming impassible. The budget was already a dark cloud looming over the offseason for this team from the jump. Compounding that fact along with the team's lack of depth was already a concerning reality. But the involvement of their only viable starting pitcher in the rumor mill speaks to another level of darkness. It's not about Pivetta the pitcher. It's about the larger narrative, and A.J. Preller is clearly going to have his work cut out for him to fight back toward the other direction, or risk slipping into organizational purgatory before long. View the full article

As he focuses on shoring up a pitching staff in need of significant reinforcement, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer also knows that he has work to do on the positional side. With Kyle Tucker unlikely to re-sign with Chicago, there's a hole in the heart of the batting order that helped the team win 92 games in 2025. Hoyer must find a way to enter 2026 with confidence in the production he'll get from the middle of Craig Counsell's lineup, but he has some competing imperatives to consider, too. Firstly, of course, the Cubs have pressing needs on the pitching side, too. They need at least two more above-average, reliable pitchers, be they starters or relievers. That will take up a major chunk of the spending capacity Hoyer has for this winter—although there's a lot of money available to him, after the team had a remarkably lucrative year. Whether he ultimately plunges financial resources into those additions or finds a way to swing a key trade, Hoyer will use some of his hot stove fuel bolstering the staff, leaving him with constraints when it comes to the offense. Secondly, he must figure out how to leave space for whichever of the team's top prospects remain with the Cubs come Opening Day. Another year in Triple A would be a waste of time and talent for Moisés Ballesteros and Owen Caissie, and although Kevin Alcántara has one more option year (thanks to time missed because of injuries), he, too, needs the challenge of some big-league work. The Cubs need to finish 2026 having a much clearer idea of the future roles for each of those three players. There are many ways to achieve that—making Caissie and Ballesteros pieces of a three-player platoon across two roles, along with Seiya Suzuki; letting Alcántara sponge up at-bats as a platoon partner for Pete Crow-Armstrong and a backup to Ian Happ; and/or trying out Ballesteros or Caissie at first base, to spell Michael Busch—but none of them are perfect or obvious solutions. Speaking of Suzuki and Happ, Hoyer also has a major background problem to navigate. Both of those sluggers will hit free agency after 2026. So will second baseman Nico Hoerner. It seems unlikely that the team will extend more than one of those three, so they'll need to replace two key hitters for 2027—in an offseason bereft of big-name bats, and under the haze of confusion caused by a likely winter lockout. That doubles the importance of making sure Caissie, Ballesteros and Alcántara are known quantities; one of the set is likely to be asked to take over an everyday place in the heart of the order by 2027. If it can be two, that would be perfect, but the team can't project that without seeing what they can do over larger samples next year. That need to play the kids stands in some tension with an equally powerful mandate, though. The 2026 Cubs need to win. They need to build upon what they did in 2025 and compete for another NL Wild Card berth. Playing Caissie, Ballesteros or Alcántara every day (or even letting them share a job, but using up two or three roster spots at a time all year) would be a big risk, for a team with high expectations. Average offensive output wouldn't be enough, either. The team needs a batter who's worth something like 20 runs above average, and it's hard to trust that any or all of those three can be that guy. It's a dilemma for Hoyer, which means that there's no perfect solution. In all likelihood, the team will end up charting some middle course. It's unlikely that they'll sign Alex Bregman or Eugenio Suárez, but either is certainly possible. Those guys would displace Matt Shaw, at least part of the time, but they'd be with the club for multiple seasons, so they would cushion the eventual losses of Suzuki and/or Happ—or, perhaps, even Hoerner, with Shaw moving to second base in 2027. They're a better fit for players with youth and upside, like Munetaka Murakami and CJ Abrams, but those guys' price tags are very uncertain and much will hinge on whether they can be had at palatable costs. Remaining competitive on a consistent basis over several years is difficult. The Cubs, a large-market team in a sport where large markets have tended to dominate, haven't met that standard over a full decade since before World War II. To change that, they have to get the balance just right this winter. Hoyer will have to find a way to infuse new talent into his lineup, without creating a morass for Counsell when filling out the lineup card or thwarting the development of key long-term pieces. View the full article

This weekend, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the Minnesota Twins do not anticipate moving Byron Buxton, Pablo López, or Joe Ryan this offseason, intending to contend for a postseason berth in 2026. In the article, Rosenthal noted that club officials believe they have “’mild flexibility’ to make additions,” signaling the front office could have more spending room than previously thought. Soon after Rosenthal’s piece was published, Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll told reporters at the Winter Meetings on Monday that the club plans on targeting “another bat or two with some thump, some impact, to bolster a group that we’re excited about.” High-cost impact bats like Pete Alonso or Kazuma Okamoto would be ideal candidates for Minnesota’s power-deficient lineup. Even though the front office has seemingly been given some spending room, though, needle movers like Alonso or Okamoto will be too expensive for the Twins. Given what we can assume are still reasonably snug constraints for a team looking to spend modestly, no other player would fit Minnesota’s needs better than Ryan O’Hearn. Splitting last season between the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres, the 32-year-old hit .281/.366/.437, with 17 home runs and a 127 wRC+ over 544 plate appearances. Earning the first All-Star nod of his career, the left-handed batter performed better in the first half (135 wRC+ over 361 plate appearances) than he did post-trade deadline with San Diego (112 wRC+ over 183 plate appearances). Still, given his three-season span of strong performances (121 wRC+ over 1,406 combined plate appearances), the veteran bat projects to earn his first eight-figure contract this winter. Our top 50 free agents list ranked O'Hearn in the top half, and predicted that he'll sign for two years and $23 million. 0edabd21-df3e8c74-7185d797-csvm-diamondgcp-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 If Zoll is to be taken seriously, O’Hearn is the most intriguing bat Minnesota could realistically sign to bolster its lineup entering 2026. Posting a 135 wRC+ over 109 plate appearances against same-handed pitching (compared to a 125 wRC+ over 377 plate appearances facing right-handed pitching), O’Hearn excelled as a platoon-proof bat, cementing himself as a cog in the middle of Baltimore and San Diego’s lineups. He hits the ball hard and often, with hard-hit rates over 40% in each year of his career, according to Statcast—and better-than-average strikeout rates in each of the last two seasons. O’Hearn is also a tremendous defensive first baseman, sporting 6 Outs Above Average (OAA) at the position in 2025. Minnesota has unexpectedly been the gold standard of first base defense in recent history, fielding the last two AL Gold Glove winners at the position in Carlos Santana and Ty France. O’Hearn would possess the defensive skillset necessary to match Santana and France’s performances, if not surpass them. The veteran lefty could also mix in at both corner outfield spots; he played 149 innings in right field and 16 innings in left field in 2025. Given his plus bat, defensive flexibility, and reputation as a beloved clubhouse figure, the Twins would be wise to target O’Hearn, adding a middle-of-the-lineup presence while addressing their most pressing position of need. Twins Daily's John Bonnes contributed to the reporting in this piece. View the full article