DiamondCentric

John Bonnes, covering for Diamondcentric, was at the MLB GM meetings today and spoke with Kansas City Royals general manager JJ Picollo for a few minutes. Picollo, in his fourth season as head front office honcho in Kansas City, had some interesting things to say about their latest coaching and roster additions, as well as what they may be looking to do this offseason. Thus, let's take a look at four takeaways from Picollo's comments at the GM meetings with John. Thames and Dawson Should Fit With Zumwalt's Philosophy The Royals have filled out their hitting staff by hiring Connor Dawson and Marcus Thames, who come over from the Brewers and White Sox, respectively. That said, while they will bring fresh perspectives to the Royals coaching staff, they seem to align with the philosophy and approach of lead hitting coach Alec Zumwalt, who was retained for another season. Here's what Picollo said about their two new coaching additions. Picollo's comments about building the coaching staff like a team were interesting and give credence to the Royals' decision to acquire two different kinds of coaches: Dawson, a younger, analytical type, and Thames, a more seasoned hitting coach with Major League experience. The Royals took a step forward in 2024 by creating a roster with the right mix of youth and veterans. It seems like Picollo was keen on doing that with his hitting team this offseason. Regardless, the Royals seem to have confidence in Zumwalt and believe in his philosophy and his ability as hitting coach. However, it looks like Picollo feels that Zumwalt has better people around him in Dawson and Thames who can help the Royals produce results on the hitting side in 2026 and hopefully, beyond. Black Likely Pitching in the Bullpen Picollo talked a bit about Mason Black, who was acquired by the Royals yesterday from San Francisco in exchange for pitching prospect Logan Martin, who pitched primarily in High-A Quad Cities last season. The former third-round pick rotated between the rotation and bullpen during his brief time in San Francisco. However, it seems like Picollo and the Royals are more focused on him starting in relief for now, heading into Spring Training. It doesn't seem like Picollo is ruling out the rotation completely for Black. That said, their newest pitcher will likely have a better shot of making the Opening Day roster as a reliever. Thus, how his stuff plays up in relief this spring could determine if he can find a role in the Royals' bullpen. A velocity increase or repertoire modification could help him find a place in a Royals bullpen that is looking for help in terms of strikeouts (they ranked 29th in K/9 as a bullpen last year). Don't Expect Any Extensions Soon After Bobby Witt Jr. earned an extension after the 2023 season, many Royals fans have wondered if another young Royals player may be getting an extension this offseason. After all, Maikel Garcia made the All-Star team and posted a 5.6 fWAR. Vinnie Pasquantino led the team with 32 home runs. Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone both made the Major Leagues and showed flashes of promise in their rookie debuts. However, Picollo mentioned that an extension doesn't seem to be a priority just yet, based on Picollo's comments at the GM meetings. It was interesting that he mentioned Bubic as a higher priority because the lefty is in his last year of team control. Still, he didn't quite mention an extension specifically for him. Does that mean he's a trade candidate? Or is Picollo holding his cards close to the chest with a possible Bubic deal? There's still some time to go, but any Royals fan expecting a Garcia or Pasquantino extension this offseason may be in for a rude awakening this winter. Royals Look to Be Active in the Trade and Free Agent Markets Picollo was asked about the large number of arbitration-eligible candidates, and he didn't necessarily dismiss it as a bad thing. Thus, while some players like Jonathan India and Bailey Falter may command high salaries this offseason, Picollo didn't hint that they would be non-tender candidates (or not just yet, anyways). Furthermore, Picollo also mentioned that the Royals would need to pursue multiple bats this offseason to improve the offense. Hence, he seemed more in favor of utilizing the trade market this offseason (though he's not completely abandoning free agents who could be a good fit). Picollo will likely add to the offense through free agency and trades, as he has in each of his previous offseasons as GM. However, his comments suggest that if the Royals make a significant player acquisition this offseason, it will be via trade rather than free agency. Thus, those Royals fans hoping for a big signing like Alex Bregman or Cody Bellinger this offseason may be sorely disappointed. View the full article

It sounds like the back-and-forth between the Chicago Cubs and starting pitcher Shota Imanaga and Naga will continue. After the team declined their option to extend Inaga for a fifth year, he declined the player's option that was triggered after that. While most thought that was the end of it, it was somewhat surprising to learn that the Cubs then tendered him a qualifying offer. Now, Jon Heyman of the NY Post is reporting that Shota Imanaga is expected to decline that qualifying offer. However, all is not lost, according to 670 The Score's Bruce Levine. Despite the back-and-forth that has resulted in Imanaga becoming a free agent, he cites the president of baseball operations, Jed Hoyer, in saying that there is no disconnect between the two sides. He adds that "a two-year deal of some kind could be worked out." Limited to 25 starts in 2025, Imanaga posted a 3.73 ERA (4.86 FIP) and a 16.% K-BB rate due to a low strikeout rate. He walked opposing hitters at an impressive 4.6% clip. His fastball accrued a Run Value (RV) of -10 in 2025, after an RV of +4 in 2024. While opponents hit just .227 off the pitch, they slugged .567 and had a .356 wOBA against the offering, including an astonishing 24 home runs. This was coupled with less effective secondary offerings, particularly his split finger, whose RV was cut in half from 2024 to 2025. MLBTR predicts Imanaga to get $45 million over three years. Do you think the Cubs should look to bring him back or pursue a higher-end starter? Let us know your comments! View the full article

Earlier this week, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said the Boston Red Sox's primary focus was on a front-line number two starter and a middle-of-the-order power bat. However, one report suggests they are interested in a high-end reliever. Will Sammon of The Athletic is reporting that the Boston Red Sox are interested in former Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees closer Devin Williams. Williams struggled through 67 appearances for the Bronx Bombers, logging 62 innings pitched in relief. Though he posted a career-high 4.79 ERA, his 2.68 FIP suggests he was better than the surface stat indicates. On the other hand, his K-BB rate of 25.0%, which would be considered low for most pitchers, was below his career average. If we can point to one thing as the reason for his struggles, it would be his league-worst 55.2% strand rate—a number roughly 20 points below his career norm and typically not predictive from one season to another. MLBTR projects him to net $68 million over four years. Do you think the Red Sox should pursue Williams in hopes of a rebound? Let us know in the comments! View the full article

Every offseason, we offer our You’re The GM! tool to build your ideal Brewers roster. This year, we’ve updated and streamlined the tool a bit to improve the experience. The idea behind this feature is to give fans a chance to play the role of General Manager (or CBO or PoBO… you get the idea) for their favorite team, the Milwaukee Brewers. It’s meant to give fans the opportunity to discuss (and, let’s be honest, argue) how they would approach the long, dark MLB offseason. This tool is intended to be informal and fun, so we’ve left it as open as possible. There is a payroll “budget” that loosely resembles the Brewers' 2025 payroll, but there is no penalty for going over that number. It’s a guideline, nothing more. Second, you can submit as many blueprints as you like throughout the offseason. As the offseason landscape changes, users often return multiple times over the winter and create new blueprints. Before we get into the breakdown of the tool, you can save your blueprint and come back to it at any time. The only restriction is that you must register an account on the site to create a blueprint (so we can save a draft for you and also post the blueprint for others to discuss). Let’s get into the tool itself. It has four quadrants that work best if addressed in a counter-clockwise order (this tool works much better on a desktop due to its complexity, but it will work on mobile devices if need be). Top Left: The 26-Man Roster We have created a rough guideline for the Brewers' 26-man roster today. The roster is flexible; you can add or remove players as you see fit. We’ve also included either guaranteed salaries or, in the case of arbitration and contract options, the recommendations of MLB Trade Rumors. This section is where you build your roster and make changes based on the following two sections. As you make changes to players and salaries, the total payroll number (right side of the screen) will change, allowing you to track your budget on the fly. The bottom field in both columns is for any dead money you assume during the course of your offseason. Acquiring dead money should be uncommon, but we want to give users the option to take on dead salary if it suits their purposes. Bottom Left: Arbitration & Trade Decisions Here, you will find a selection of arbitration options and internal options (usually from the 40-man roster or minor leagues) to assist in building your offseason roster. On the right-hand side of this column, you will see Trade Candidates, a list of the 40 players most likely to be traded this offseason, per MLB Trade Rumors. To help you get up to speed with these candidates, we offer a direct link to the MLBTR write-up on trade candidates. Bottom Right: Free Agents Here, you will find the top 50 free agents, again per MLB Trade Rumors. These are sorted by position to facilitate quickly finding your desired free agent and include the recommended salary for that player. Because this is a blueprint for a single year, we only include their projected salary for the coming season, not the number of years or anything else. To help you get up to speed with these free agents, we offer a direct link to the MLBTR write-up on the best 50 free agents available this winter. Top Right: Dead Money, Your Total Payroll, & Commentary The only unalterable field on the page is Dead Money; it is players to whom the team has committed money but has no reasonable way to get out of the contract. Below that, you will see the recommended budget, your current total, and the percentage you are over or under that budget. Again, keep in mind the budget is only a guideline, and you can go above it as much as you like… But defend your choices, coward! The following field is Title, which gives other users an idea of what to expect with your blueprint (e.g., Be Unreasonable, Sign Kyle Tucker!). When your blueprint posts for other users, it will read “Your Username’s 2025 Payroll Blueprint: Be Unreasonable, Sign Kyle Tucker!”. The following field is Your Comments & Explanation, a long-form field meant to type out the rationale behind your decisions. Here is the place to fully explain your trades (including which players are leaving the Brewers to bring in new players), why you targeted specific free agents, and any promotions from the minors you advocate or any options you declined to extend to a specific player. This is often multiple paragraphs; you can write up as much detail as you desire. That’s it, you’re done! At this point, you can either publish your blueprint to the forums or save it for later if you feel it’s incomplete. Thank you for joining us at Brewer Fanatic. I hope you enjoy playing the role of general manager, at least for a moment! Start Your Payroll Blueprint Now View the full article

Byron Buxton has never wavered when it comes to his feelings about the Minnesota Twins. He was asked at the All-Star Game, following the trade deadline, and after the team struggled down the stretch. He told anyone who would listen that he was a Twin for life. He refused to entertain trade rumors, insisting that he wanted to win in Minnesota. Even after the club dealt 10 players at the trade deadline, including several teammates he had grown close to, Buxton publicly held firm. To him, the jersey matters as much as the name on the back. For the first time, that unshakable loyalty may be cracking. According to reporting from The Athletic’s Dan Hayes, a major-league source indicated that Buxton may be reconsidering his no-trade stance if the Twins continue breaking apart their core. “Buxton, who turns 32 next month, wants to play for a winner,” Hayes wrote, suggesting that even the two-time All-Star’s patience has limits. With three years and $45 million remaining on his contract, and full no-trade protection, the idea that he would even consider leaving speaks volumes about where the organization stands. Ironically, this moment of doubt comes just after Buxton turned in the best season of his career. After years of injuries and limited playing time, he finally stayed on the field long enough to remind everyone why he’s been considered one of the most dynamic players in baseball. In the last week, he won his first Silver Slugger, and on Thursday, he has a chance to receive down-ballot AL MVP consideration. With Buxton healthy and productive, his trade value may never be higher. There are front offices across baseball that would jump at the chance to add a player with his skill set and leadership qualities, especially if they believe his health has turned a corner. That makes the current situation even more complicated for Minnesota. Trading him now could bring back a significant return, but it would also signal that the Twins are ready to reset their identity completely. A Reflection of Ownership If Buxton is truly reconsidering his loyalty to the Twins, it is less an indictment of him and more a reflection on the organization that let things reach this point. The Twins have long marketed themselves as a team built on relationships, culture, and stability. But when ownership signals an unwillingness to sustain payroll or invest in a winning roster, even the most committed players begin to lose faith. Team president Derek Falvey recently spoke about his approach to communicating with players amid uncertainty. “My view is you always want to be transparent and open with your players about where you’re headed and what it looks like, just like we were after the deadline,” Falvey said. “I’ve talked to Byron and other players through this offseason already about ways we can get better as a team. With Shelty coming in, you can already tell there’s a little bit of fresh ideas brewing around how do we make the team the best it can be, no matter who’s on the roster at that moment in time? My focus will continue to be on ways we can put players around the players that are on our roster and not subtract from it.” It is a reassuring sentiment, but one that rings hollow after a summer defined by subtraction. The players who remain—especially veterans like Buxton—have seen firsthand how quickly things can change. When ownership decides that financial flexibility matters more than roster continuity, even the strongest bonds begin to fray. Buxton has spent his entire career representing what the Twins claim to value most: loyalty, effort, and belief in the team’s long-term vision. To make a player like that question his future says something profound about the current state of the franchise. It suggests that the front office’s decisions and ownership’s indifference have eroded the trust of their most loyal star. Buxton’s potential willingness to waive his no-trade clause is more than a transaction rumor. It is a warning sign. For years, he stood as the embodiment of what it meant to be a Minnesota Twin. If even Buxton is starting to look elsewhere for hope, then maybe the organization needs to take a hard look at what it has become and who it is pushing away in the process. Will the Twins consider trading Buxton this winter? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

The Cubs enjoyed a major free-agent success in each department of their roster in 2025. They signed Matthew Boyd to a two-year deal in late November 2024, and watched him emerge as their co-ace for much of the season. They picked up Carson Kelly in mid-December, and enjoyed his best season as a big-leaguer. Crucially, though, they also hit on multiple minor pickups in the bullpen. Most important among those was righty Brad Keller, whom they signed to a minor-league deal as a starter and who ended the year as their de facto closer. Keller, 30, is a free agent again after earning $1.5 million in 2025. He'll get a much bigger payday this time, and as he enters the market, the big question is whether he'll land a two- or a three-year deal. FanGraphs, ESPN and MLB Trade Rumors agree that Keller is in line for an annual average value in the $11 million range, but whether that stretches for two years or three could make a big difference in the chances of a reunion between the Cubs and their unexpected relief ace. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is a hardliner when it comes to reliever contracts. He's willing to embrace a bit of risk, but that has to come in the form of a free-agent deal he feels is rational. Otherwise, he's equally happy to let that risk take the form of building a relief corps with some lower-cost bets and some upside plays. "We've offered some [long deals to free-agent relievers]." Hoyer said at the GM Meetings Wednesday in Las Vegas. "I haven't given one out. So, I mean, it's not my favorite thing to do. I think that I prefer, you know, shorter commitments in the bullpen. But I'd never say never, like I said, we offered some last year. We just didn't win the bidding. So it's not, it's not a hard and fast rule. But I think you can, you can guess that we're probably going to be more focused on shorter commitments." The big deals he alluded to offering last year were to Tanner Scott, on whom the Cubs were willing to go to four years and roughly $70 million; and Kirby Yates, on whom the Cubs were ready to offer a second year but who preferred the Dodgers even on a one-year pact. While even a two-year deal at an eight-figure salary for Keller would come with a bit of sticker shock, it would be a very palatable alternative to a Scott-level deal for someone like Robert Suarez, of the Padres. One source familiar with the Cubs' thinking said the team considers Keller a priority winter target, but that they're very unlikely to stretch beyond two guaranteed years. A mutual or vesting option could be a way to satisfy both sides, if Keller is open to coming back. By every indication, he enjoyed his season with the team and would be happy to return, but this is the best chance he's likely to get at a major payday, so money will be a major factor. It's possible the Cubs would go further on AAV to keep it to a two-year deal. They might guarantee $25 million over that term, but balk at $34-35 million over three years. Creative structures (like the aforementioned mutual option, which would come with a buyout) could keep the annual real cost of Keller down for them, and the team is unlikely to exceed the competitive-balance tax threshold in 2026, so his AAV doesn't matter as much as the real dollars. Spreading money across a longer term doesn't hold much appeal for the Cubs, when it comes to Keller. They would want to get a shorter-term deal done. If a team steps up with an offer that bakes in some hope for Keller returning to a starting role, the Cubs will surely be outbid. He does have five pitches, which worked in concert beautifully in 2025. He's started so much during his career that some faith in his ability to return to that role is rational. A brief survey of sources in other front offices, however, found no team currently considering Keller as a candidate for a conversion back to the rotation. He's likely to make about $12 million, over either two years or three. If it be the former, there's a good chance the Cubs will be the team who signs him. If not, the odds tilt toward the righty finding a new home—and Chicago being left to chase still more bullpen help. View the full article

We know that Joe Mack will be protected by the Miami Marlins prior to Tuesday's deadline for Rule 5 draft-eligible players. Nobody else in the organization should be considered a lock to receive the same treatment, but right-hander Josh White checks almost every box that a relief pitcher can. A fifth-round pick out of UC Berkeley in 2022, White has gradually gotten better and better and better. 2022 minor league stats (Rookie ball/Low-A): 6.55 ERA and 14.0 K-BB% in 11.0 IP 2023 MiLB stats (Low-A/High-A): 3.46 ERA and 11.2 K-BB% in 65.0 IP 2024 MiLB stats (High-A/Double-A): 3.02 ERA and 21.9 K-BB% in 59.2 IP 2025 MiLB stats (Double-A/Triple-A): 1.86 ERA and 32.1 K-BB% in 67.2 IP And those are only regular season stats—the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp won the Triple-A National Championship this year with the help of White's three scoreless innings in the playoffs. At various points during his professional career, White has struggled with his control and missing bats against left-handed opponents. In 2025, however, there were no holes in his game, as illustrated by Prospect Savant. White worked himself into favorable counts, induced chases outside the strike zone at an elite rate and rarely got barreled even when allowing contact. The 24-year-old dominated in all situations and was remarkably consistent—he recorded strikeouts in 42 of 45 appearances, and even on his worst days, he never allowed more than two runs. At 93.8 mph, White's four-seam fastball velocity is a couple ticks below the average for MLB righty relievers. He compensates for that with an outlier, over-the-top arm angle that would be higher than any other Marlins pitcher. About three-quarters of White's strikeouts in 2025 came via his slider. Due to his release point and the difficulty that batters have distinguishing it from his fastball, it was an ideal putaway pitch. According to the Marlins' propriety Stuff+ model, this slider was among the 20 best individual pitch types at any level of the organization. The Rule 5 draft was made for guys just like White who have demonstrated that they can pile up whiffs in the upper minors. Over the past three years, 80% of all selections during the draft's major league phase were pitchers, and most of them were deemed worthy of a pick despite being less effective and/or less durable than White. He has not been placed on the injured list since turning pro. I do not want to inflate expectations for Fish On First's No. 21 prospect. The correlation between MiLB reliever stats and MLB reliever stats isn't particularly strong. Also, big leaguers equipped with the most advanced technology and most experienced scouts may be able to quickly adjust to White's idiosyncrasies. He ought to get his feet wet in low-leverage situations and earn his manager's trust from there, just like a typical first-time call-up. But that's getting ahead of ourselves. The decision facing the Marlins next week is simply whether or not Josh White merits a 40-man roster spot. On a team with two current 40-man openings and the likes of Zach Brzykcy and Josh Simpson taking up space, White absolutely belongs. View the full article

With Kyle Tucker officially a free agent and little early indication that the Cubs intend to chase after him with $300 million in hand, the unrest has already begun to percolate. At the GM Meetings in Las Vegas, Jed Hoyer seemed to hint that his focus this winter would be on adding pitching—presumably, at the expense of signing a top-flight hitter like Tucker, Pete Alonso, or Bo Bichette. Understandably, some will view that as a needlessly cheap way to build upon a successful 2025 season. At some point, though, the Cubs need to put up or shut up, and not in financial terms. The story of their last half-decade has been a constant insistence that they are one of the top teams in the league at scouting and developing talent, in defiance of the balance of the evidence. They use that refrain, in part, as cover for a lack of appropriate investment from ownership, but they also seem to realize that they aren't as strong as they purport to be. Time after time, they put players in the way of ascending top prospects, and it's never a superstar who supersedes the youngster. Rather, Hoyer has repeatedly hedged. When the team was still building toward something (but not yet actually competitive), he signed Trey Mancini and Eric Hosmer to stand in the way of Matt Mervis at first base. Last winter, he traded for Ryan Pressly, rather than entrust the closer's role to Porter Hodge. Hoyer was right not to think Mervis or Hodge were up to the task, but because he still believes that his administration excels at player development, he brought in players who could be easily pushed aside if they did turn out well. Rather than acquire higher-caliber talents who would be locked into their positions for multiple seasons, Hoyer has sought out short-term solutions, hoping that by the end of a one- or two-year deal, the farm system of which he so often boasts will yield the star he really needs. It hasn't happened, save in a few cases, because the Cubs aren't actually excellent at scouting and development. They're in the middle of the pack in that regard, and they're below-average when it comes to developing pitching, specifically. Because league rules give extra draft picks to rivals and penalize big-market teams like the Cubs more heavily for signing elite free agents (and because the Cubs didn't ruthlessly bottom out during their recent rebuild, amassing high-end first-round picks for multiple seasons), the team never has an above-average capacity for acquiring young talent, either. The result is a farm system that isn't good enough to build a World Series contender without greater investment, either in finding and retaining top staffers, improved technology and player resources, or a much higher big-league payroll. Now, though, the team does have three young stars under long-term, low-cost team control. Cade Horton rebounded from an injury-ruined 2024 with a breakout campaign and runner-up Rookie of the Year finish in 2025. Michael Busch, whom the Cubs wisely snatched up after the Dodgers had done the lion's share of the developmental work, is the best hitter on the team. Pete Crow-Armstrong remains an enigma at the plate, but his first full season in the majors provided a tantalizing glimpse of his upside. At the very least, he's one of the game's most valuable defensive players. The team also did well in free agency last year, when they landed Matthew Boyd and Carson Kelly on two-year deals that now look like bargains. Those two players join Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, Jameson Taillon and Colin Rea as an expensive but extremely competent supporting cast for the youngsters who have become the loci of value on the roster. The question, at the outset of the winter, is how best to supplement that group. Hoyer sounds much more dedicated to upgrading his pitching staff than to finding a replacement for the departing Tucker, even though the team was hardly an offensive juggernaut in the second half of 2025. The temptation is to read that as a failure by the Ricketts family (and by Hoyer, whose job is just as much to manage up and make the case for more robust spending as it is to manage down) to make enough money available for the team to be great. Suspicion of the Rickettses and their motives is well-founded, to be sure. Still, this is the right time for an approach Hoyer eschewed for too long. Perhaps his (not-quite-earned, but that's a separate issue) contract extension in July has emboldened him, or perhaps he's finally tucking into the hard and vital work of turning this team into what he's been begging fans to believe they already are. Either way, he's taking the right tack. The Cubs should stick with Seiya Suzuki (in right field and at DH, with a fair number of days off against right-handed pitchers), Moisés Ballesteros (as a DH who hardly ever starts against lefties and grabs perhaps 10 starts at catcher), Owen Caissie (right field, swinging over to left sometimes but rarely playing against left-handed starters), and Kevin Alcántara (a platoon partner for Crow-Armstrong in center field, picking up the occasional start in left or right, as well) to supplement their existing group for 2026. Ian Happ can remain the regular left fielder, but have his playing time reduced by roughly 10%. Crow-Armstrong and Suzuki can yield time against same-handed hurlers. Ballesteros, Caissie and Alcántara all appear ready to play in the majors. Caissie, who will turn 24 next July, has 982 plate appearances with the Iowa Cubs already. He's put up elite exit velocities in the minors, and his plate discipline is strong: he swings and strikes and doesn't expand the zone. He will strike out a lot in the big leagues, but the team needs to be willing to accept that tradeoff and embrace the power he can add to the lineup. The biggest missing ingredient for him, in that regard, is a high pulled fly ball rate, but pulled fly balls aren't the way lefties get to their power best at Wrigley Field, anyway. Caissie's bat speed, swing path and resulting batted-ball profile tell us he can slug plenty well by hitting vicious line drives and lofting the occasional 7-iron into the bleachers in left-center field, where the ball carries much better and the dimensions are friendlier. Though the team might wish him to get more playing time at catcher in Triple A, Ballesteros is similarly ripe, having taken nearly 800 plate appearances for the I-Cubs over the last two seasons. He also proved that his swing plays in the majors when called upon late in 2025. It's hit-over-power with him, but again, that's a fine approach for a lefty who calls Wrigley Field home. Alcántara is the most interesting of the set, though the lowest-probability future regular. He's the same age as Caissie, and a better athlete and defensive player. He has to learn to lift the ball to become a star, and that might never happen—but even without doing it, he might be able to carve out a very good career as a slightly matchup-protected outfield piece. He's played a bit less at Triple A than the other two, but he's still at nearly 600 plate appearances there. It's time to let him test his skills against the best pitchers in the world. It's unlikely that all three of them succeed, of course. That would be the case even if they all played for the Dodgers, and we could therefore be more confident that they were well-scouted from the jump and better-instructed on their way up the chain in the minor leagues. However, these are three legitimate, high-end offensive prospects, and the sustainable excellence that has eluded the Cubs since World War II—the decade-plus of being a winning team every year, as they should be in this division if competently run—can't come without giving them real chances to prove their mettle. Hedging time is over. As much as their 2025 playoff push might have led some fans to feel that the Cubs are ascendant in the NL Central, they're unlikely to beat the Brewers and win the division in 2026—let alone to overcome the mighty Dodgers. This team has much hard work left to do, to close the gap between what it is and what it should be. Spending big on pitching this winter makes a world of sense for them, and Hoyer should be applauded for sounding fairly intent on doing so. When it comes to the offense, it's time to let the kids play. If they don't, they're going to end up back in purgatory far too soon. View the full article

Charisma is timeless. Attractive personalities move mountains and change ballclubs. Of course, charisma is a subjective term. What charms one person can give another the ick. Yet, those who have that "it factor" (whatever “it” may be) tend to get what they strive for, regardless of controversy, affiliation, or moral compass (or lack thereof). Initially deemed an uninspiring hire by a stagnant front office, new Minnesota Twins manager Derek Shelton has shifted much of the fanbase's perception of him from negative or neutral to positive in less than two weeks since being hired as Rocco Baldelli's successor. The Twins' public relations team has played a role in maximizing Shelton's public appearances, assisting the former Pittsburgh Pirates skipper in building as much cultural cachet in Twins Territory as possible. Still, positive public perception can't be manufactured; it must be earned. Shelton has done just that, showcasing a sense of humor and personability that no Twins manager has possessed since Ron Gardenhire left the organization in 2014. Obviously, having a charismatic personality isn't an absolute prerequisite for finding success, especially as an MLB manager. Gardenhire's successor, Paul Molitor, led the club to the postseason in 2017. Baldelli and his milquetoast demeanor guided the club to three postseason appearances in seven seasons, ending the organization's 18-game postseason losing streak in 2023. However, despite their respective successes as managers, Molitor and (more specifically) Baldelli were never able to store much goodwill with large sections of Twins Territory. Molitor never earned it as a manager, as his tenure with the Twins was short-lived and largely unsuccessful. The driving factor behind Baldelli's inability to become a beloved figure was his being impersonal and unrelatable. Whether during times of success or despair, those who follow the Twins longed for Baldelli to exhibit any sense of personality. Unfortunately, the club's former skipper consistently failed to take advantage of opportunities to showcase his personality, even in controlled environments. Instead, he elected to act in a manner seemingly molded by a third-party organization's public relations department, rather than acting in a natural manner. The faults of Baldelli’s robotic demeanor reached a boiling point when he flubbed a farewell for Willi Castro (before being chastised by an enraged Griffin Jax) the day before this season’s trade deadline. It is vital to be honest with ourselves. Expecting corporate soldiers to display a profound sense of authenticity is a fool's errand. Still, if Baldelli possessed even an ounce of public-facing charm or allure, it should have oozed out at some point over his seven-year tenure as Twins manager. Unfortunately, it never did. The result of Baldelli failing to earn the affection of Twins Territory was a talented baseball mind (and overall good person) taking the brunt of anger from one of baseball's most disillusioned fan bases. He was the target of much of Twins fans' collective angst simply because he was an accessible figure whose face was seen during every game—unlike those of the Pohlad family. Still, he didn't do himself any favors by being a closed-off figure who answered questions as if he was managing a Facebook-operated multi-level marketing scheme, rather than a baseball club. Whether it be cracking jokes about Derek Falvey's job title, playfully bantering with Patrick Reusse about the color of his beard, or taking courtside photos with Falvey at a Minnesota Timberwolves game, Shelton has exuded more personality in his first two weeks as Twins manager than Baldelli did over seven seasons—seemingly without trying. Shelton is charismatic in a way that doesn’t feel manufactured. He's witty—a vital characteristic in hard, challenging times. Unfortunately, difficult times could be a common theme for the 2026 Twins. Still, given Shelton's disarming personality and strong sense of humor, Twins Territory could feel a sense of kinship to the club's manager it hasn't known since Gardenhire left the office. Hopefully, the same qualities that endear the fanbase to Shelton will resonate with the players, creating a sense of optimism about the club's on-field results that has been missing since the team's dramatic 2024 collapse. View the full article

Every offseason, we offer our You’re The GM! tool to build your ideal Red Sox roster. This year, we’ve updated and streamlined the tool a bit to improve the experience. The idea behind this feature is to give fans a chance to play the role of General Manager (or CBO or PoBO… you get the idea) for their favorite team, the Boston Red Sox. It’s meant to give fans the opportunity to discuss (and, let’s be honest, argue) how they would approach the long, dark MLB offseason. This tool is intended to be informal and fun, so we’ve left it as open as possible. There is a payroll “budget” that loosely resembles the Red Sox's 2025 payroll, but there is no penalty for going over that number. It’s a guideline, nothing more. Second, you can submit as many blueprints as you like throughout the offseason. As the offseason landscape changes, users often return multiple times over the winter and create new blueprints. Before we get into the breakdown of the tool, you can save your blueprint and come back to it at any time. The only restriction is that you must register an account on the site to create a blueprint (so we can save a draft for you and also post the blueprint for others to discuss). Let’s get into the tool itself. It has four quadrants that work best if addressed in a counter-clockwise order (this tool works much better on a desktop due to its complexity, but it will work on mobile devices if need be). Top Left: The 26-Man Roster We have created a rough guideline for the Red Sox's 26-man roster today. The roster is flexible; you can add or remove players as you see fit. We’ve also included either guaranteed salaries or, in the case of arbitration and contract options, the recommendations of MLB Trade Rumors. This section is where you build your roster and make changes based on the following two sections. As you make changes to players and salaries, the total payroll number (right side of the screen) will change, allowing you to track your budget on the fly. The bottom field in both columns is for any dead money you assume during the course of your offseason. Acquiring dead money should be uncommon, but we want to give users the option to take on dead salary if it suits their purposes. Bottom Left: Arbitration & Trade Decisions Here, you will find a selection of arbitration options and internal options (usually from the 40-man roster or minor leagues) to assist in building your offseason roster. On the right-hand side of this column, you will see Trade Candidates, a list of the 40 players most likely to be traded this offseason, per MLB Trade Rumors. To help you get up to speed with these candidates, we offer a direct link to the MLBTR write-up on trade candidates. Bottom Right: Free Agents Here, you will find the top 50 free agents, again per MLB Trade Rumors. These are sorted by position to facilitate quickly finding your desired free agent and include the recommended salary for that player. Because this is a blueprint for a single year, we only include their projected salary for the coming season, not the number of years or anything else. To help you get up to speed with these free agents, we offer a direct link to the MLBTR write-up on the best 50 free agents available this winter. Top Right: Dead Money, Your Total Payroll, & Commentary The only unalterable field on the page is Dead Money; it is players to whom the team has committed money but has no reasonable way to get out of the contract. Below that, you will see the recommended budget, your current total, and the percentage you are over or under that budget. Again, keep in mind the budget is only a guideline, and you can go above it as much as you like… But defend your choices, coward! The following field is Title, which gives other users an idea of what to expect with your blueprint (e.g., Be Unreasonable, Sign Kyle Tucker!). When your blueprint posts for other users, it will read “Your Username’s 2025 Payroll Blueprint: Be Unreasonable, Sign Kyle Tucker!”. The following field is Your Comments & Explanation, a long-form field meant to type out the rationale behind your decisions. Here is the place to fully explain your trades (including which players are leaving the Red Sox to bring in new players), why you targeted specific free agents, and any promotions from the minors you advocate or any options you declined to extend to a specific player. This is often multiple paragraphs; you can write up as much detail as you desire. That’s it, you’re done! At this point, you can either publish your blueprint to the forums or save it for later if you feel it’s incomplete. Thank you for joining us at Talk Sox. I hope you enjoy playing the role of general manager, at least for a moment! Start Your Payroll Blueprint Now View the full article

The most straightforward interpretation of the San Diego Padres' decision to hire Craig Stammen as manager is to focus on stability. Don't consider how MLB teams have traditionally hired managers; rather, think of the Padres' position today. They want to keep a high-value competitive window open by reducing organizational friction and maintaining the processes that led to back-to-back 90-win seasons. The proof for the hiring is quite simple: The team promoted a reliable, in-house operator who has deep connections with the players and the front office, with the intention of keeping the coaching continuity around him. What Stammen actually brings to the job The traditional criticism of Stammen is that he's a first-time manager. This is a fact when looking strictly at his track record, but it overlooks an important point: he already has a network of trust within the organization that can cut down the risk of turning front office plans into daily managerial decisions. In the capacity of a special assistant, Stammen performed three activities that contributed to the generation of operational capital: - He collaborated with minor league pitchers and player development staff. - He was a confidant for the present major league pitchers. - He took part in front-office decision-making meetings (such as draft and trade deadline conversations). Those functions produced two effects which can be quantified. First, there's an internalization of the Padres’ decision rules concerning pitcher workloads, roster flexibility and development priorities. Second, he's a noted communicator who can help harmonize the gaps between the analytics department and the clubhouse. The short-run volatility of new hires is one of the main differences between an outside hire and an internal one; internal hires manage to shorten feedback loops and reduce at least some of the costs of coordination during the first season of leadership. It is usually the case that with a roster built for immediate contention, stability and rapport are as important as any intangible an outside voice can bring to the fold. The Padres’ stated baseline was “maintain what’s working,” which makes short-run stability the dominant objective. How San Diego structurally mitigated the “inexperience” risk Promoting an insider without pre-existing managerial experience demands explicit risk-reduction strategies. The Padres have already suggested they would keep experienced pitching-room leadership in place. Pitching coach Ruben Niebla was a finalist for the position and is expected to remain as a prominent voice with pitchers, and Ben Fritz is being retained in the role of bullpen coach, so those jobs will be anchored by experienced deputies. This effectively minimizes the likelihood that Stammen's inexperience with the job will lead to catastrophic in-game mistakes. Stammen's previous job afforded him exposure to the decision-making processes that occur inside the front office (which metrics to use, how to weigh advanced metrics versus actual production, etc.). Since he already shares the front office's mental model, there shouldn't be too many periods of disagreement between himself and the team's top brass. The Padres may prefer continuity, but it's also important to remember that too much of it can lead to complacency and cause blind spots. Wins and losses are the ultimate judge of a manager, but there will be smaller, beyond-the-box-score hints at whether or not San Diego made the right call. Early indicators to watch in Stammen's Tenure If you want to test whether the Padres’ bet is paying off, watch a small set of high-signal metrics and decision behaviors rather than wins alone. First, early-season variance in pitcher usage relative to 2024–25 norms should prove fascinating. Will starters and relievers see abrupt changes to their workload? Or will Stammen, a former MLB pitcher in his own right, be willing to keep the status quo? In addition, the frequency and timing of front-office interventions (trade activity or clear mid-season role reassignment) will be a key tell. Preller likely didn't bring Stammen aboard just to steamroll him, but if the roster is constantly shuffling, that may point to so overcorrection for a rookie manager. Likewise, pay attention to in-game decision distributions (lineup stability, pinch-hitting frequency, bullpen leverage matching) relative to league medians; large deviations in either direction indicate whether Stammen is conservatively executing or over-correcting. These operational signals will reveal whether the hire reduced friction as intended, or whether it simply deferred hard choices until the club’s errors became more costly. Stammen’s value is not reducible to “he’s inexperienced” or “he’s a clubhouse leader”; it is the sum of his operational capital, the organization’s capacity to staff around him, and the need to maintain stability during a championship window. View the full article

The most straightforward interpretation of the San Diego Padres' decision to hire Craig Stammen as manager is to focus on stability. Don't consider how MLB teams have traditionally hired managers; rather, think of the Padres' position today. They want to keep a high-value competitive window open by reducing organizational friction and maintaining the processes that led to back-to-back 90-win seasons. The proof for the hiring is quite simple: The team promoted a reliable, in-house operator who has deep connections with the players and the front office, with the intention of keeping the coaching continuity around him. What Stammen actually brings to the job The traditional criticism of Stammen is that he's a first-time manager. This is a fact when looking strictly at his track record, but it overlooks an important point: he already has a network of trust within the organization that can cut down the risk of turning front office plans into daily managerial decisions. In the capacity of a special assistant, Stammen performed three activities that contributed to the generation of operational capital: - He collaborated with minor league pitchers and player development staff. - He was a confidant for the present major league pitchers. - He took part in front-office decision-making meetings (such as draft and trade deadline conversations). Those functions produced two effects which can be quantified. First, there's an internalization of the Padres’ decision rules concerning pitcher workloads, roster flexibility and development priorities. Second, he's a noted communicator who can help harmonize the gaps between the analytics department and the clubhouse. The short-run volatility of new hires is one of the main differences between an outside hire and an internal one; internal hires manage to shorten feedback loops and reduce at least some of the costs of coordination during the first season of leadership. It is usually the case that with a roster built for immediate contention, stability and rapport are as important as any intangible an outside voice can bring to the fold. The Padres’ stated baseline was “maintain what’s working,” which makes short-run stability the dominant objective. How San Diego structurally mitigated the “inexperience” risk Promoting an insider without pre-existing managerial experience demands explicit risk-reduction strategies. The Padres have already suggested they would keep experienced pitching-room leadership in place. Pitching coach Ruben Niebla was a finalist for the position and is expected to remain as a prominent voice with pitchers, and Ben Fritz is being retained in the role of bullpen coach, so those jobs will be anchored by experienced deputies. This effectively minimizes the likelihood that Stammen's inexperience with the job will lead to catastrophic in-game mistakes. Stammen's previous job afforded him exposure to the decision-making processes that occur inside the front office (which metrics to use, how to weigh advanced metrics versus actual production, etc.). Since he already shares the front office's mental model, there shouldn't be too many periods of disagreement between himself and the team's top brass. The Padres may prefer continuity, but it's also important to remember that too much of it can lead to complacency and cause blind spots. Wins and losses are the ultimate judge of a manager, but there will be smaller, beyond-the-box-score hints at whether or not San Diego made the right call. Early indicators to watch in Stammen's Tenure If you want to test whether the Padres’ bet is paying off, watch a small set of high-signal metrics and decision behaviors rather than wins alone. First, early-season variance in pitcher usage relative to 2024–25 norms should prove fascinating. Will starters and relievers see abrupt changes to their workload? Or will Stammen, a former MLB pitcher in his own right, be willing to keep the status quo? In addition, the frequency and timing of front-office interventions (trade activity or clear mid-season role reassignment) will be a key tell. Preller likely didn't bring Stammen aboard just to steamroll him, but if the roster is constantly shuffling, that may point to so overcorrection for a rookie manager. Likewise, pay attention to in-game decision distributions (lineup stability, pinch-hitting frequency, bullpen leverage matching) relative to league medians; large deviations in either direction indicate whether Stammen is conservatively executing or over-correcting. These operational signals will reveal whether the hire reduced friction as intended, or whether it simply deferred hard choices until the club’s errors became more costly. Stammen’s value is not reducible to “he’s inexperienced” or “he’s a clubhouse leader”; it is the sum of his operational capital, the organization’s capacity to staff around him, and the need to maintain stability during a championship window. View the full article

On Monday, another member of the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 championship team decided to hang it up. The Professor, Kyle Hendricks, will no longer be schooling hitters with his pinpoint accuracy and looping curveball. The 35-year-old pitched 12 seasons in the big leagues, 11 with the Cubs, accumulating 22.8 Career WAR, a 3.79 ERA, and 1373 strikeouts over 1,745.0 innings. In a generation where velocity is everything, Hendricks made quite the career by locating his pitches, pitching to contact, mixing up his repertoire, and attacking hitters head on. His career average speed on his fastball was approximately 87.7 mph, which is nearly seven miles per hour slower than the average fastball in 2025. Although his fastball lacked the whole “fast” aspect, he was still one of the most consistent pitchers in baseball throughout most of his career. Although he was never named to an All-Star team, he received Cy Young votes in two seasons (including a third-place finish in 2016) and was a staple in the front of the rotation for the Cubs from 2016-2020. Off the field, Hendricks made it known that he loved being a Cub, and his penchant for living up to big moments is the stuff of legend. Below are seven of the most memorable moments from Hendrick’s career, in no particular order. Sept. 28th, 2024- Hendrick's final start as a Cub at Wrigley Field Although he stuck around the league one more year with the Los Angeles Angels, this start marked the end of an era. Hendricks was the last remaining piece from the 2016 team, and he struggled mightily through most of the 2024 season. He accepted a brief demotion to the bullpen after a horrendous start to the season, but he still managed to pitch like his vintage self a few times. On his last start at Wrigley, he threw 7 1/3 shutout innings versus the Reds with only two strikeouts and two walks. July 24, 2020: Hendricks begins the Covid-shortened season with a shutout In a season in which we were lucky to even have 60 games of baseball, Hendricks started it off on an excellent note. He didn’t walk a single Brewer in a complete game shutout where he also struck out nine. He had a 2.88 ERA across 12 starts this season, and collected a few Cy Young votes along with teammate Yu Darvish. This marks the last time the Cubs won the division as well. May 3rd, 2019: Hendricks throws a Maddux against the Cardinals A Maddux is a complete game shutout achieved in fewer than 100 pitches thrown. Hendricks took it to a new level against the Cardinals, when he threw a complete game shutout on 81 pitches. Only a handful of players in MLB history have thrown a shutout on less pitches, including Greg Maddux himself. October 17th, 2017: Hendricks shuts down Nationals in Game 1 of the NLDS Hendricks fired seven shutout innings, striking out six in what feels like the last time the Cubs seemed like a “great” team in the playoffs. Hendricks accomplished this feat against one of the most powerful lineups in baseball that season. He used nothing but finesse to stifle a Nationals lineup featuring Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy. May 21st, 2015: Hendricks throws his first career shutout Although this one wasn’t a Maddux, Hendricks only needed 108 pitches to shut out the Padres in what was only his 22nd career appearance. This was one of the early moments in 2015 that was a sign of things to come for the Cubs as a whole, as well as marking Hendricks’ ascension into Cubs lore. November 2nd, 2016: Hendricks starts Game 7 of the World Series This one is less about Hendricks’ individual performance, and more about him being the starting pitcher of the game that broke a 108-year curse. Hendricks held the Cubs’ lead through 4 2/3 innings, allowing only one run, before the real drama started in the bullpen. There's no use questioning the decision-making since the Cubs won the game, but Hendricks clearly could have gone further (and maybe have reduced the general heart rate in Chicago that night by about 20 bpm). October 22nd, 2016: Hendricks’ 7.1 shutout innings in Game 6 of the NLCS propel Cubs to World Series The offense got going early off Clayton Kershaw, scoring at least one run in four out of the five first innings of the game. Hendricks allowed only two hits to a stacked Dodgers lineup featuring up-and-coming superstars Joc Pederson and Corey Seager, as well as perennial All-Stars like Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Utley. Joe Maddon gave the ball to Aroldis Chapman immediately after Hendricks to close out the remainder of the game. The Dodgers were no match for these two pitchers with polar opposite repertoires. There's no guarantee the Cubs even win this series without The Professor. If you want an in-depth write-up of this heroic start, check out Matt Trueblood's piece here. What's your favorite start from this list? Do you have a favorite Kyle Hendricks memory that isn't here? Let us know in the comments! View the full article

The Arizona Fall League is reaching its annual conclusion, as the penultimate week was a shortened one. The Salt River Rafters played just four games as they began to wind their season down. While the season may not have ended in a championship (the Rafters being on the outside looking in at the playoffs at the time of this writing), there was still plenty to be proud of as the prospects sent by the Red Sox got plenty of work in. This was important, as most who were sent either missed a good portion of the season or the entire thing, giving them a chance to make up for lost time. In addition, two Red Sox prospects were named to the American League Fall-Stars team: Luis Perales and Stanley Tucker. The Rafters would go on to finish the week 1-3, good for fifth in the standings. But, as we’ve gotten used to hearing, you’re not here for that. Let's review how the Red Sox's prospects did. Perales made one start this week while also being named to the AFL Fall-Star team for the American League. While he didn’t get into the Fall-Star Game, he pitched sparingly in his lone start. Throwing just one inning, Perales allowed two runs on a walk and two hits while also striking out three batters. His fastball would top out at 100.4 mph in what was his final outing in Arizona. Jay Allmer managed to get into one game during the week, only going 1/3 of an inning as he was charged with a blown save. Allmer allowed the tying run to score in the sixth when he came on with two outs in the inning. Joining the list of pitchers who made one outing was Brandon Neely, the relief pitcher tossing 1 2/3 innings while allowing two runs on four hits and two walks. He also struck out a pair as he threw 48 pitches. Despite the four hits allowed, Neely managed to generate six whiffs in the outing. He was also charged with a blown save. Jojo Ingrassia managed to escape damage in his lone inning for the week. Making it through the outing without a run despite walking two batters, Ingrassia also got a strikeout as he threw 23 pitches but only eight for strikes. He generated two whiffs while struggling badly with his command. The final Red Sox pitcher in the AFL, Isaac Stebens, pitched well as he tossed one scoreless inning, needing just 14 pitches to get through the outing. Unfortunately, only six of them were for strikes as he got one groundout and two fly outs. Offensively, it was more of the same from the position players as Fall-Star Tucker went 4-for-15 as he continued to cool off after his scintillating start. Tucker also had three RBIs while striking out four times. He also had two more stolen bases bringing his total up to 12. Notably, he was the only player from the Red Sox to get into all four games this week, and he lso came in as a substitution in the Fall-Stars game, going 0-for-2 with a strikeout. Johanfran Garcia appeared in two games this week, getting a hit in both as he went 2-for 7 with a double, one walk, one RBI and two strikeouts. He split the two games between catcher and designated hitter as well. Garcia’s double came in the bottom of the second off of a 93.7 mph fastball at the top of the zone. Garcia drove it out to right with an exit velocity of 100.9 mph, bringing home the first run of that game. As has been the trend all season, Nelly Taylor appeared in just one game this week, playing center field and going 1-for-3 with two strikeouts. His lone hit came off of a 95.1 mph fastball right down the middle of the plate that he hit to right field. The ball had an exit velocity of 90.6 mph. Following the conclusion of this week, there are only three games remaining in the AFL regular season. As the last few games are played, it’ll be the end of organized professional baseball in the United States until February, when spring training arrives. View the full article

The San Diego Padres have made the playoffs in four of the past six seasons. In that time, they've finished no worse than third in the NL West, but also no better than second. They've firmly been the runner-up to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division during that time, though that status is set to be called into question this offseason. Yes, the Dodgers won their second consecutive Commissioner's Trophy and have won every division title (besides 2022) since 2013. They are the favorites until proven otherwise. Instead, it's the Padres who need to defend their placement in the NL West hierarchy, as a shocking managerial change, significant personnel losses in the rotation, and an offense that went completely cold in the NL Wild Card Round do not portend another 90-win season in 2026. With ultra-agressive front office executive A.J. Preller leading the charge, the Friars are sure to add some talent to the roster this offseason, including a potential reunion with one of Dylan Cease or Michael King. No one can rule out another blockbuster trade, either, but after ransacking the farm system at the trade deadline, that could be difficult to pull off. Still, the Padres have the requisite talent to make another postseason push next year. Platinum Glover Fernando Tatis Jr. isn't going anywhere (no matter what the rumors say), and Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill round out a strong offensive core. With Nick Pivetta in the rotation and baseball's best bullpen (even sans closer Robert Suarez), there's room San Diego to make some ancillary moves and give the Dodgers a scare next season. Luckily, even if the team can't mount a serious challenge to the Dodgers' divisional supremacy, the rest of the NL West is in such a state of flux that the Padres will presumably be the second-best team heading into the 2026 campaign no matter what moves they make over the winter. Let's refresh where the "other" three teams in the division are at heading into the meat of the offseason. Colorado Rockies The Rockies have been irrelevant in the larger baseball picture for most of their existence, and they just had a franchise-worst season in 2025 when they lost 119 games. Thus, they finally cleaned house, dismissing manager Bud Black mid-season and firing general manager Bill Schmidt after the regular season came to a conclusion. They're still looking for a permanent replacement for Black, though they do have a new president of baseball operations: Paul DePodesta. Yes, you heard that right—Paul DePodesta of Moneyball fame is returning to Major League Baseball after a decade-long hiatus in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns. Prior to jumping ship for football, DePodesta served as the Padres' special assistant for baseball operations from 2006-08 before being promoted to executive vice president; that came after a failed stint as the Dodgers' general manager. It's hard to find a word for what the Rockies are as a franchise other than directionless. Their farm system remains a joke, they have precious little major-league talent to speak of, and ownership just appointed the guy who went 56-100-1 and made one of the most lopsided deals in NFL history as their chief decision maker. They won't just be also-rans in the division in 2026—they'll occupy the bottom rung of the entire MLB ladder for the foreseeable future. Arizona Diamondbacks After a shocking run to the World Series in 2023, the Diamondbacks were on top of the world. Just two years later, and their empire-that-wasn't is already collapsing. They still possess a load of talent, highlighted by a trio of Silver Sluggers: outfielder Corbin Carroll, shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, and second basemen Ketel Marte. Those three superstars combined for 18.2 fWAR in 2025. The rest of the entire roster combined (pitchers excluded)? They accumulated just 8.7 fWAR, hence why the Diamondbacks finished below .500 and in fourth place in the division. That's not entirely their fault, as the expected three-headed monster of Corbin Burnes, Zac Gallen, and Merrill Kelly simply never got off the ground. Burnes needed Tommy John surgery just 11 starts into his new mega-contract, Gallen produced a career-worst campaign on his way to free agency, and Kelly was shipped to the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline. With a bloated payroll and aging core, the Diamondbacks simply don't have the pitching infrastructure in place to compete for much more than a third-place finish. If rumors are true that the team is "motivated" to move Marte, the longest-tenured player on the club, the Diamondbacks could be on the verge of a full-scale rebuild. San Francisco Giants The most imposing challenger to the Padres' status as the second-best team in the division, the Giants are engaging in a pretty comprehensive makeover this offseason. The team replaced experienced skipper Bob Melvin with college coach Tony Vitello, a shocking jump in level that tends not to happen too often in baseball. The coaching staff has experienced a ton of turnover since, including adding former Padres manager Jayce Tingler as one of Vitello's assistants. They're also parting ways with assistant hitting coach Damon Minor and bullpen coach Garvin Alston, while pitching coach J.P. Martinez has already found a new home with the Atlanta Braves. Hitting coach Pat Burrell's future remains uncertain at this juncture. That's the kind wholesale turnover you expect of a rebuilding squad, not one that intends to compete as soon as next year. Vitello will have his work cut out for him jumping from the NCAA to the big leagues, and it'll take a while for the new coaching staff to mesh together. As for the roster, the team is retaining a remarkable amount of personnel. Justin Verlander and Wilmer Flores are the only major free agents the team is set to lose this offseason. That would be great news if this core had shown any signs of real success, but since their magical 2021 season, the Giants haven't won more than 81 games in a single year. There's a strong core of well-compensated veterans in San Francisco -- Willy Adames, Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, and Logan Webb, to be specific -- but it could take a while before everything comes together in the Bay Area. What do you make of all the rumors and moves being made by the Padres' division rivals this offseason? Do you think San Diego can challenge Los Angeles for the division title in 2026? Let us know in the comments! View the full article

Pat Murphy has now taken home hardware in each of his first two campaigns leading the Brewers, as the Baseball Writers' Association of America named him the National League Manager of the Year for the second straight season on Tuesday night. Murphy received 27 of 30 first-place votes. The 66-year-old became the third manager to win the award in consecutive seasons in either league, joining former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox and Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash. Stephen Vogt, a repeat winner in the American League, joined him a few minutes later as the fourth. Murphy downplayed the recognition a year ago, deferring praise to his players and coaching staff. He struck the same tone in a conference call on Tuesday night. "I think there's a lot of other coaches on our staff that do it better than I do," Murphy said. "I think I get far too much credit for things like this, you know what I mean? Players win games." Because it's impossible to accurately quantify a manager's role in his team's success, the award effectively credits club-wide efforts to one person. The skipper of a team that overcomes adversity or outperforms external projections is often in line for votes. The Brewers have checked those boxes the last two seasons, going 93-69 in 2024 and a franchise-best 97-65 this year, winning the NL Central over the much bigger-spending Chicago Cubs both years. "We had the right who," Murphy said. "We had guys that are aware and hungry, and that makes the manager look good at the end of the day." Even so, Murphy has been integral in setting the tone for those players with his handling of interpersonal relationships inside the clubhouse. From that standpoint, he may be even more deserving of the award this time around. The Brewers didn't just improve on their previous season; they did so after a 21-25 start that had them in fourth place in the division on May 17. Murphy, who has often applied elements of an aggressive management style from his college coaching days to the big leagues, benched players on a few occasions for poor fundamental play and called multiple team meetings. He also publicly stated that the group had "misplaced [its] edge" and challenged his players to perform more competitively. The turnaround did not come immediately, and Murphy's efforts to correct course could have alienated players if not executed properly. Ultimately, though, the Brewers responded. Milwaukee went 76-40 through the rest of the regular season, securing baseball's best record, winning the division by five games, and advancing to the NLCS for the first time since 2018. "I think this year, the way we started—as opposed to [2024], we started so hot, and things were clicking—[2025] didn't start like that," Murphy recalled. "There were so many injuries and so many question marks, and so many guys searching for their best self. I think what clicks is the resiliency they had and the desire they had to get on it as quickly as possible." The Brewers' run ended unceremoniously when they ran out of steam against the Los Angeles Dodgers in an NLCS sweep. That came, in part, because Murphy and the staff allowed players to assume heavy workloads during the regular season. That's the sometimes detrimental product of his "Win Tonight" mentality, which can be a double-edged sword for a scrappy roster. Striking the proper balance between managing for tonight and for future wins remains an area for improvement moving forward, but it's hard to quibble with the results under Murphy's leadership. View the full article

Luke Keaschall made a fantastic first impression in 2025—enough so that he placed in the top-10 in American League Rookie of the Year voting. He was never going to catch up to Nick Kurtz of the A’s, who won the award unanimously after having one of the all-time great rookie campaigns, but the young Twins infielder mustered an impressive .302/.382/.445 batting line. He also missed significant time while recovering from a shattered forearm that he suffered in April, and played through a continued recovery from Tommy John surgery in August 2024. In 49 games with the Twins, the 23-year-old firmly staked his claim as the club's best option at second base going forward. While his defense wasn't spotless, he showed that his athleticism was enough to handle the day-to-day responsibilites at that position, and his mix of on-base prowess and impressive speed make him an ideal option to pencil in near the top of the lineup. Keaschall was firmly among the top 100 prospects in baseball coming into last season, but he was in no way a favorite to secure top rookie honors. He seized his opportunity when the team needed him in April, and was able to return to his impressive form upon returning in August. All that is to say, anything can happen for an electric prospect when they run with their opportunity and turn some heads. Here are some names to keep an eye on for next season’s voting. Obvious Candidates Of course, we have to start with 20-year-old phenom Walker Jenkins (No.1 on Twins Daily’s top prospect rankings). He started 2025 as a top-15 global prospect on most lists, but his season got off to a late start due to a left ankle sprain. He returned to action in early June, and was quickly promoted to Double-A where he had a gaudy .913 OPS across 52 games. The Twins then sent him to Triple-A St. Paul, where he continued to show impressive signs—albeit with a lower .720 OPS in a small (23-game) sample against much older competition. Look for Jenkins to knock on the door to the big leagues in the early going of 2026. If all goes as expected, Twins fans could see him make his highly anticipated debut before the All-Star break. Emmanuel Rodriguez (No. 4) is another favorite to get some action for the Twins next season. He was limited to just 52 games for the St. Paul Saints in 2025, but in that time, he showed flashes of bieng an electric player with a very odd collection of tools. He’s going to play some high-quality defense in the outfield. It's most likely to be in the corners, but he has a ton of experience as a center fielder. Rodriguez will pair that with plus power at the plate. His passive approach contributed to a 32% strikeout rate. However, he somehow found a way to make up for all of that swing-and-miss by walking at an extremely high 21% clip. He also has the ability to swipe 15-20 bases, if he can stay healthy for the whole season. Like Jenkins, if Rodriguez gets the call in the early months of 2026, he would almost certainly get national attention. Outside Chance Casual fans may not realize it, but Mick Abel (No. 5) will still be a rookie in 2026. He only accumulated 39 innings pitched at the big-league level after debuting in 2025; you need 50 to graduate from rookie status. One of the returning pieces from the Jhoan Duran trade, Abel will need to display far better command than he had in 2025, wherein the 24-year-old routinely fell behind in counts, leading to a 10.1% walk rate and lots of hard contact on the way to a 8.36 ERA with his new club. However, he did show much more promise at Triple A, where he had a 2.20 ERA (with a strong 28.6% strikeout rate) across 98 ⅓ innings. There could be ample opportunity for Abel to get a shake in the rotation, and if he can finally evolve into the product that many thought he could be as a high-end draft prospect out of high school, he could realistically grab some ROY votes. Gabriel Gonzalez (No. 9), the centerpiece in the Jorge Polanco trade in January 2024, erupted across three levels of the minor leagues in 2025. He showed significantly more power than many expected, belting 15 home runs and 38 doubles in 123 games played. Upon reaching the highest level of the minors, he more than held his own for the Saints, where he had a .316/.358/.504 line. He doesn’t have much of a defensive home, but if his bat is legit, the Twins could give him plenty of reps as their designated hitter and rotate him into the corner outfield from time to time. Look for him to start the year at St. Paul, but anything can happen for the dynamic 22-year-old. Long Shots Kala’i Rosario (unranked) quietly had one of the better seasons at Wichita as a 22-year-old. He smacked 25 homers and stole 32 bags for the Wind Surge in 130 games. He could start the year at Triple A, but that’s starting to look like a very crowded depth chart, and his prospect pedigree is not as distinguished as that of Jenkins, Rodriguez or Gonzalez. Kyler Fedko (unranked) had a similarly flashy year split between Double A and Triple A, where he combined for 28 homers and 38 steals. He is 26 years old, and the Twins passed on giving him a look in September last year, which could give some indication about their faith in him. Perhaps they were trying to avoid putting him on the 40-man roster in a lost season, as they could’ve had to expose him to waivers at the end of the year had they given him a look. Noah Cardenas (unranked) is also on the older side for a prospect, but the 26-year-old catcher is the closest thing they have to a minor-league catcher who is ready to make their MLB debut in 2026. He had a solid year, with an .825 OPS between the two highest levels of the minor leagues. He may seem like an extremely dark horse, but Drake Baldwin—who just won the NL Rookie of the Year award for the Atlanta Braves—had a nearly identical Triple-A clip in 2024, and was a good but not elite prospect in their system. Anything can happen for a player who runs with their opportunity, and right now Cardenas has as good of a shot to get playing time as a backup catcher to Ryan Jeffers as anyone. That role could increase, depending on Jeffers’s performance or his presence on the roster at all. What do you think? Who excites you the most on this list? Did we forget anyone who could get Rookie of the Year consideration in 2026? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and as always, stay sweet. 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The Toronto Blue Jays aren't resting on their laurels after an exciting postseason run that saw them bring the superpower Los Angeles Dodgers to the brink. After Bo Bichette elected free agency and Shane Bieber opted in to a team-friendly deal, the Blue Jays are in a position to be aggressive this offseason. From the General Manager meetings in Las Vegas, NV, Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet are reporting that the Toronto Blue Jays are "in every market". Citing multiple player agents, it's expected for it to "be easier for them to get players", and that the organization is "hungry" and "acting like big boys". While no players are named in the report, the Blue Jays have already been linked to Bichette, Kyle Tucker, Munetaka Murakami, and Pete Fairbanks. Additionally, Chris Bassitt has expressed interest in returning to the club. Do you think the Blue Jays will be aggressive this offseason? Let us know what you think in the comments! View the full article

The Twins have introduced Derek Shelton as the 15th manager in franchise history. Jamie and Jeremy share their first impressions of Shelton's introduction to the fans and what they can expect from him before spring training. View the full article

Every offseason, we offer our You’re The GM! tool to build your ideal Royals roster. This year, we’ve updated and streamlined the tool a bit to improve the experience. The idea behind this feature is to give fans a chance to play the role of General Manager (or CBO or PoBO… you get the idea) for their favorite team, the Kansas City Royals. It’s meant to give fans the opportunity to discuss (and, let’s be honest, argue) how they would approach the long, dark MLB offseason. This tool is intended to be informal and fun, so we’ve left it as open as possible. There is a payroll “budget” that loosely resembles the Royals' 2025 payroll, but there is no penalty for going over that number. It’s a guideline, nothing more. Second, you can submit as many blueprints as you like throughout the offseason. As the offseason landscape changes, users often return multiple times over the winter and create new blueprints. Before we get into the breakdown of the tool, you can save your blueprint and come back to it at any time. The only restriction is that you must register an account on the site to create a blueprint (so we can save a draft for you and also post the blueprint for others to discuss). Let’s get into the tool itself. It has four quadrants that work best if addressed in a counter-clockwise order (this tool works much better on a desktop due to its complexity, but it will work on mobile devices if need be). Top Left: The 26-Man Roster We have created a rough guideline for the Royals' 26-man roster today. The roster is flexible; you can add or remove players as you see fit. We’ve also included either guaranteed salaries or, in the case of arbitration and contract options, the recommendations of MLB Trade Rumors. This section is where you build your roster and make changes based on the following two sections. As you make changes to players and salaries, the total payroll number (right side of the screen) will change, allowing you to track your budget on the fly. The bottom field in both columns is for any dead money you assume during the course of your offseason. Acquiring dead money should be uncommon, but we want to give users the option to take on dead salary if it suits their purposes. Bottom Left: Arbitration & Trade Decisions Here, you will find a selection of arbitration options and internal options (usually from the 40-man roster or minor leagues) to assist in building your offseason roster. On the right-hand side of this column, you will see Trade Candidates, a list of the 40 players most likely to be traded this offseason, per MLB Trade Rumors. To help you get up to speed with these candidates, we offer a direct link to the MLBTR write-up on trade candidates. Bottom Right: Free Agents Here, you will find the top 50 free agents, again per MLB Trade Rumors. These are sorted by position to facilitate quickly finding your desired free agent and include the recommended salary for that player. Because this is a blueprint for a single year, we only include their projected salary for the coming season, not the number of years or anything else. To help you get up to speed with these free agents, we offer a direct link to the MLBTR write-up on the best 50 free agents available this winter. Top Right: Dead Money, Your Total Payroll, & Commentary The only unalterable field on the page is Dead Money; it is players to whom the team has committed money but has no reasonable way to get out of the contract. Below that, you will see the recommended budget, your current total, and the percentage you are over or under that budget. Again, keep in mind the budget is only a guideline, and you can go above it as much as you like… But defend your choices, coward! The following field is Title, which gives other users an idea of what to expect with your blueprint (e.g., Be Unreasonable, Sign Kyle Tucker!). When your blueprint posts for other users, it will read “Your Username’s 2025 Payroll Blueprint: Be Unreasonable, Sign Kyle Tucker!”. The following field is Your Comments & Explanation, a long-form field meant to type out the rationale behind your decisions. Here is the place to fully explain your trades (including which players are leaving the Royals to bring in new players), why you targeted specific free agents, and any promotions from the minors you advocate or any options you declined to extend to a specific player. This is often multiple paragraphs; you can write up as much detail as you desire. That’s it, you’re done! At this point, you can either publish your blueprint to the forums or save it for later if you feel it’s incomplete. Thank you for joining us at Royals Keep. I hope you enjoy playing the role of general manager, at least for a moment! Start Your Payroll Blueprint Now View the full article

The Minnesota Twins are starting to piece together their coaching staff under new manager Derek Shelton, and familiar faces will play key roles in the dugout next season. According to multiple reports, Pete Maki will return as the team’s pitching coach while LaTroy Hawkins steps into the bullpen coach role. Hawkins’ addition comes after nearly a decade of work in the organization’s player development system and regular appearances on Bally Sports North broadcasts. His move back to the field adds an experienced, respected voice to a staff tasked with helping Minnesota rebuild one of baseball’s most dominant pitching groups from just a year ago. Maki’s return provides continuity for a pitching unit that was expected to be a strength in 2024 but stumbled due to injuries and underperformance. Pablo López and Bailey Ober both took steps back, and by the trade deadline, the bullpen had been stripped down as the team dealt Jhoan Duran, Danny Coulombe, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, and Brock Stewart in a series of moves signaling a shift toward the future. One notable departure from the organization is longtime coach Tommy Watkins, who spent 27 years in the Twins system as a player, minor-league instructor, and coach. Watkins has accepted a position with the Atlanta Braves, closing a chapter that spanned nearly three decades in Minnesota baseball. With Maki and Hawkins in place, Shelton’s coaching staff is starting to form, though several other roles remain undecided as the Twins continue shaping the next phase of their clubhouse leadership. View the full article

The Chicago Cubs finished a once-promising 2025 season below expectations. While the team has mostly disappointed fans in previous offseasons, that may not be the case this year. In a recent column, Bob Nightengale of USA Today named the Chicago Cubs the "hot stove's biggest sleeper" this offseason. Nightengale goes on to say, "They want another corner outfielder [after losing Kyle Tucker to free agency], and will be shopping in the expensive aisle for starting pitching, with fellow GMs predicting they could land Framber Valdez and/or Dylan Cease." It's worth noting that they have tendered a qualifying offer to Shota Imanaga, as well. While Nightengale didn't name any potential outfield fits, top names include Tucker, Cody Bellinger, Kyle Schwarber (who's primarily a DH at this point and was tendered a qualifying offer), Teoscar Hernandez, and Michael Conforto. They could look at making a trade as rumors swirl around the Boston Red Sox Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu, as well as the Los Angeles Angels Taylor Ward and Jo Adell, though none of those names would really be considered "expensive". Looking at the pitching market, Cease, a free-agent modern-day iron man making 32 starts in five consecutive seasons, is predicted to get a seven-year, $189 million contract by MLBTR. His productivity has alternated each season he's been with the club, receiving Cy Young votes in 2022 and 2024 while sporting ERAs north of 4.00 in 2023 and 2025. The San Diego Padres tendered him a qualifying offer. Valdez, another durable pitcher, made 31 starts for the Houston Astros in 2025. Across 192 innings, he posted a FIP of 3.37, supported by a so-so 14.8% K-BB rate. His high groundball rate (58.6%) would fit well within the windy confines of Wrigley Field. Valdez was tendered a qualifying offer and is predicted to net $150 million over five years by MLBTR. Do you think the Cubs will be aggressive this offseason after landing Tucker last year? Let us know what you think in the comments! View the full article

The Toronto Blue Jays will have a busy offseason as they've already been linked to a few of the biggest names on the market, including a reunion with infielder Bo Bichette. Now, we can add one more name to the list. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that the Blue Jays are "expected to be suitors" for reliever Pete Fairbanks. Fairbanks appeared in 61 games for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2025, logging 60 1/3 innings pitched. The reliever registered a 3.63 FIP and posted a 16.8% K-BB rate. Despite collecting 27 saves as the Rays' primary high-leverage reliever, he posted a miniscule WPA of 0.06. The Rays declined $11 million club option, paying him a $1 million buyout and making him a free agent. He's the 44th-ranked free agent according to MLBTR, and they predict he'll net $18 million over two years on the open market. Do you think the Blue Jays should pony up for a high-leverage reliever to bolster their bullpen? Let us know in the comments! View the full article

The Twins’ offseason outlook at catcher is more uncertain than it has been in recent years. Christian Vázquez is now a free agent, and Ryan Jeffers has been floated as a potential trade candidate. If both veterans are moved or one departs without a clear replacement, the front office will need to act quickly to find a reliable presence behind the plate. One name that makes a lot of sense is Victor Caratini. Caratini has spent the past two seasons with the Houston Astros, after signing a two-year, $12-million deal. He became a valuable part of Joe Espada’s roster, providing steady defense, switch-hitting versatility, and a dependable approach at the plate. He was often the first player called upon off the bench and started 103 games at catcher over the past two years. With Yainer Diaz locked in as the primary backstop for Houston, Caratini may look for a larger role elsewhere this winter. If that opportunity is what he’s seeking, Minnesota could be an ideal landing spot. Caratini has shown a willingness to move around the diamond, starting 32 games at designated hitter and 18 at first base over the last two seasons. That kind of flexibility would fit perfectly with the Twins' approach to mixing and matching. At the plate, he’s been quietly productive, posting a 105 OPS+ since the start of 2023. That’s the same mark Jeffers has produced over that stretch, making Caratini an intriguing option whether the Twins keep or trade their current catcher. Other offensive metrics also paint him in a positive light. He ranked in the 77th percentile or higher in strikeout, per-swing whiff and chase rates. His 30.6% rate of squaring up the ball on contact was in the 80th percentile. As a switch-hitter, the majority of his plate appearances came as a left-handed batter. In those, he posted a .726 OPS. His right-handed swing produced a .740 OPS in only 62 plate appearances. More regular at-bats (especially against righties) could help him prove he deserves to be a starter. From a defensive standpoint, Caratini is steady, if unspectacular. He manages pitching staffs well, controls the running game, and provides consistent framing and blocking. In 2024, Baseball Savant credited him with 5 catching runs (3 Framing, 2 Throwing/Blocking), but that total dipped to -3 in 2025. He also ranked in the 72nd percentile for Blocks Above Average. Last season saw the fewest innings he had caught since 2020, so sample size may have been a factor. For a team that values defensive reliability and game-calling, that combination has significant appeal. The Twins could utilize Caratini in several ways. If Jeffers stays, the two could form a natural timeshare, with Caratini giving Derek Shelton the added benefit of a switch-hitting option to balance lineups. If Jeffers is traded, Caratini could step in as the regular catcher, while also mentoring a younger option or keeping Jhonny Pereda in a backup role. Either way, he brings stability to a position that suddenly feels uncertain. With the market unlikely to be bullish for catchers this winter, a short-term deal in the same range as his last contract could make sense for both sides. However, there is no guarantee the Twins will have the payroll flexibility to add free agents without trading other pieces. From Caratini's perspective, the benefit of a deal would be more consistent playing time. For their part, the Twins would fill a significant need without a long-term commitment. As the offseason begins to take shape, Minnesota’s catching situation will be one of the most critical areas to monitor. Caratini may not be the flashiest name available. Still, his experience, switch-hitting ability, and steady play behind the plate could make him the perfect fit for the Twins heading into 2026. Should the Twins aggressively pursue Caratini? Would he be willing to come to the Twins for a more regular role than the Astros? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

On Tuesday afternoon, the Royals announced on Bluesky that they would be acquiring right-handed pitcher Mason Black from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for right-handed pitcher Logan Martin. The move comes in the wake of the Giants designating Black for assignment on November 6th to make room for outfielder Justin Dean (formerly of the Dodgers) and left-handed pitcher Reiver Sanmartin (formerly of the Reds). Before Black could be a free agent, the Royals were able to pull off a trade for the talented but inconsistent righty. The move now puts the Royals' 40-man roster at 40, according to Roster Resource as of November 11th. They have three open roster spots, but more should open up this offseason. Kansas City GM JJ Picollo will likely non-tender more players before the November 21st Non-Tender deadline, with some candidates being Jonathan India and Bailey Falter, who are estimated to command $7.4 million and $3.3 million this offseason, respectively. The acquisition of Black gives the Royals some flexible pitching depth, especially with Black still holding a Minor League option for 2026. In return, the Giants receive Logan Martin, who posted a 3.45 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 11.1% K-BB% in 22 starts and 91.1 IP for the High-A Quad Cities River Bandits. Martin has pitched in the Arizona Fall League with Surprise, but has struggled with the Saguaros, posting a 9.82 ERA and 2.18 WHIP. Based on his pitching summary data from TJ Stats (utilizing his October 25th outing as an example), the former Kentucky Wildcat has shown good stuff, but struggled to generate chases and whiffs in Arizona. Even though it's not an "earth-shattering" move, Black is an intriguing arm with long-term potential who was once a top prospect in the San Francisco Giants system. Thus, can Brian Sweeney and the Royals' pitching coaches (sans Zach Bove, who is now with the White Sox) help tap into Black's full potential in Kansas City in 2026? A Look at Black's Time in San Francisco Hopes were certainly high among Giants fans for Black, a third-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft out of Lehigh University, a Patriot League school. Black had an excellent Minor League season in 2023, posting a 3.71 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and 20.1% K-BB% in 29 starts and 123.2 IP between Double-A and Triple-A. As a result, MLB Pipeline ranked Black the Giants' No. 8 prospect entering the 2024 season. Here's what Pipeline said in their scouting report. The combination of Black's diverse repertoire, solid command, and atypical delivery made him one of the Giants' better pitching prospects in the upper Minors, as seen below in this highlight film of him pitching with the Sacramento Rivercats, the Giants' Triple-A affiliate, in 2024. Black finally made his MLB debut in May of that season, but the results weren't great in his initial exposure to Major League hitters. In nine outings (eight starts) and 36.1 IP with the Giants that season, the right-hander posted a 6.44 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, and 9.5% K-BB%. His FIP was only nominally better at 5.45, and his -0.2 fWAR illustrated how mediocre his San Francisco debut was a couple of seasons ago. While Black did flash some strikeout stuff, he didn't generate enough whiffs and chases, and he also struggled with giving up a lot of hard hits and barrels. When looking at his TJ Stats season pitching summary profile, Black showcased slightly below-average stuff, with a 97 overall TJ Stuaff+. As a result, he struggled to generate consistent chases (27.4%) and whiffs (16.4%), and he also gave up a lot of hard and productive contact, as illustrated by his .428 xwOBACON. His four-seamer was perhaps his most intriguing pitch in 2024, which he threw 31.5% of the time (his most used offering). Even though it sported a 95 Tj Stuff+ and 46 grade, he did produce a 30.6% chase rate and 23.1% whiff rate on the pitch, both above-average marks. The only problem was that he gave up a xwOBACON of .601 on the fastball, the worst mark in his six-pitch repertoire. Things didn't seem to get better for Black in 2025. His ERA in Sacramento ballooned to 5.81 in 119.1 IP, and his 21.5% K rate was 2.2% lower than his Triple-A mark in 2024 and 6.4% lower than his mark with the Rivercats in 2023. His TJ Stats pitcher summary profile from Sacramento last year didn't look hot either, on both the stuff and results ends. With the Rivercats last season, his overall TJ Stuff+ was 96, and he only posted a chase rate of 25.4%, a whiff rate of 24.8%, and an xwOBACON of .365. The latter two marks are around average to slightly below, but considering it was his third stint in Triple-A, he was expected to produce more dominant results. Black only made one appearance in 2025 with the Giants, a four-inning relief appearance on the Fourth of July against the Athletics. He gave up five runs on five hits, including two home runs. However, he struck out five, walked zero, and showcased some intriguing development with his pitches from 2024, especially with the sweeper. Against the A's, Black's sweeper sported a 103 TJ Stuff+ and produced a 47.8% zone rate and 41.7% chase rate. The 30.8% whiff rate and .373 xwOBACON weren't impressive, but were still serviceable, especially for a pitch that he threw 31.1% of the time. In addition, he showed growth with his sweeper in nearly every category from the previous season with the Giants. He saw a `13.5% increase in chase, 14.8% increase in whiff, and a 59-point decrease in xwOBACON. It's a small sample (one game after all). However, it showed that Black made the necessary adjustments to his pitch mix and quality, leading to improvement from his rookie season. Why the Royals Would Want Black The one thing that sticks out about Black's history is that he is not just a student of the game, but an intelligent individual in general. Not only did he attend college at Lehigh, a pretty intense academic university, but he was also on the verge of entering medical school before getting drafted. Black's story and scientific approach to pitching were profiled in a short video segment from the San Francisco Giants back in 2023, when he was still a prospect in the Giants' farm system. The Royals have seemed to thrive with pitchers who not only study their craft but are willing to make the necessary adjustments to their pitch grips and repertoires. Seth Lugo finished second in the AL Cy Young race in 2024 thanks to the changes he made with the Royals. Cole Ragans went from questionable arm in Texas to Opening Day ace for the Royals. Lastly, Kris Bubic has thrived the most under Sweeney and the Royals' pitching development team, going from a mediocre starter to an AL All-Star last season. Black certainly has the mindset to rebound in Kansas City, and his tools aren't bad, if they can be adequately developed. Last year, his 6'8 average extension ranked in the 80th percentile. It was 6'7 this year (yes, get your laughs in, Gen Z folks), but that still ranked above average. That extension can make up for lackluster velocity, which Black sported last year (92.7 MPH fastball velocity). An example? Bubic, who utilized his 85th percentile (6'9) extension to produce a 76th percentile whiff rate (28.8%), despite an 18th percentile fastball velocity (92.1 MPH). Bubic also had an average arm angle of 38 degrees, not tremendously different from the 29-degree arm angle that Black showcased last season with the Giants. Thus, it's in the realm of possibility that a few minor tweaks from Sweeney and the Royals' pitching coaches could help Black solidify the bottom of the Royals' rotation. If he doesn't have the length to be a starter, Black could thrive in the bullpen, especially with a four-seamer and sweeper combo that can be effective when utilized properly. That was on display in this strikeout of A's catcher Shea Langeliers in Black's lone outing last season. Now, is Black going to be the next Bubic? That may be a little rash, especially since Black has proven far less at the MLB level than the former Stanford product. At the same time, Royals fans shouldn't sleep on or completely dismiss Black and his potential. He has the intelligence, the tools, and the repertoire to become a serviceable starter or reliever for the Royals as soon as next season. Furthermore, there is some long-term upside with Black if everything clicks in Kansas City, especially since he will be only 26 when pitchers and catchers report in February. View the full article