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Pirates Hire Kristopher Negron, Tony Beasley To Coaching Staff

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The Pirates will be hiring Kristopher Negron as their new bench coach and Tony Beasley as the third base coach, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Negron has been on the Mariners’ coaching staff for the last four seasons, while Beasley returns to the Pirates organization after spending over a decade with the Rangers.

After concluding his six-year MLB playing career, Negron took on an assistant role in Seattle’s player development department in 2020 and then was the manager at Triple-A Tacoma in 2021.  He was then promoted to the big league staff as the first base coach before acting as the Mariners’ third base coach in 2025.

Negron (who turns 40 in February) now takes on his highest-profile coaching job yet, as Don Kelly’s chief lieutenant.  Kelly was Pittsburgh’s bench coach himself when he was promoted to the manager’s job in May when Derek Shelton was fired, and though Gene Lamont essentially filled the bench coach role in a capacity as an advisor to Kelly, the position wasn’t officially filled until now.

Beasley is a familiar face in Pittsburgh, having spent six seasons with the Bucs as a minor league player and then several seasons as a manager, coach, and instructor at both the minor and Major League levels.  Beasley’s previous stint on Pittsburgh’s MLB staff came in 2008-10, when was the club’s third base coach.

Once that stint ended, Beasley moved on to four years in the Nationals’ farm system as a manager and instructor before he joined the Rangers as their third base coach prior to the 2015 season.  Beasley’s time in Texas included a World Series ring with the 2023 team and a 48-game stint as interim manager in 2022 after Chris Woodward was fired.

Negron and Beasley are the latest new faces on a revamped Pittsburgh coaching staff, as Bill Murphy was also hired as the new pitching coach a few weeks ago.  The Pirates liked enough of what they saw from Kelly to give him a contract extension at season’s end, and the skipper is now apparently getting some input in reshaping his staff.  In a sense there’s nowhere to go but up for a team that has endured seven straight losing seasons, and still hasn’t gotten out of rebuild mode despite the presence of Paul Skenes and an overall enviable amount of pitching depth.

Reds Hire Oscar Marin As Bullpen Coach

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The Reds on Thursday announced the hiring of Oscar Marin as their new bullpen coach. Marin, who served as the Pirates’ pitching coach from 2020-25, will take over for Matt Tracy, who’s moved from bullpen coach to assistant pitching coach. Last year’s assistant pitching coach, Simon Mathews, was hired away as the Nationals’ new pitching coach earlier this week.

Marin broke into pro ball back in 2010 with the Rangers, working as a coach and assistant in their minor league ranks for seven years. He then joined the Mariners as their minor league pitching coordinator from 2017-18 before returning to the Rangers organization as their bullpen coach in 2019.

Plenty went wrong for the Pirates during Marin’s tenure with the organization, although generally speaking, the pitching staff was far down the list of the team’s problems. Pittsburgh’s offense and struggles to develop young hitters are known flaws of the organization, but the Pirates have done well in drafting and developing young pitchers. While many Pirates top hitting prospects have stalled out in Triple-A or the majors, pitchers like Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Jared Jones, Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows, Mitch Keller and others have had plenty of success at the MLB level with Marin as their lead pitching instructor.

Marin was one of the Pirates’ first hires after initially tabbing Derek Shelton as their manager. Shelton was dismissed in May — he’s since been hired as the new Twins’ manager — and replaced by bench coach Don Kelly, whose contract was extended at season’s end. While Kelly and Marin have worked together for several years, the Bucs opted not to renew Marin’s contract. The Pirates hired former Astros pitching coach Bill Murphy to fill their pitching coach vacancy late last month.

The 42-year-old Marin (43 next month) will now join Terry Francona’s staff and bring more than a half decade of experience as a pitching coach — some of it spent alongside highly respected Brent Strom — to a Cincinnati team that is deep in pitching talent (albeit more in the rotation than in the bullpen at present).

Pirates Could Commit $30-40MM In 2026 Payroll This Offseason

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The Pirates are desperately in need of offense to support an excellent young pitching staff. General manager Ben Cherington said yesterday that the front office has “more flexibility than they’ve had in [any] other offseasons” since he was hired going into the 2020 season. That might enable them to make multiple additions from the middle tiers of free agency.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the Bucs could commit between $30-40MM to their 2026 payroll. That’s at the higher end of what they’ve spent in previous offseasons. They spent narrowly above $30MM in free agency going into the 2023 and ’24 campaigns. That dropped to roughly $20MM last winter. They haven’t signed a multi-year free agent contract in nearly a decade. Their $10.5MM signing of Aroldis Chapman over the 2023-24 offseason is the only eight-figure free agent deal of the Cherington era.

Pittsburgh offloaded the remaining four years and $36MM on the Ke’Bryan Hayes contract in their deadline trade with Cincinnati. Dealing David Bednar to the Yankees subtracted an arbitration salary that MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects at $9MM. The Bucs have $30.5MM committed to Mitch Keller and Bryan Reynolds next season. They’re likely to spend somewhere between $12-15MM on their arbitration class. They opened this past season with a player payroll around $88MM, so it makes sense that they could add something like $30-40MM. That’d put them a little shy of this past season’s level before accounting for $10-15MM in minimum salary players to round out the roster.

The bigger factor may be whether the Pirates more aggressively pursue free agents on multi-year deals. Cherington told MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald in August that the Bucs have made multi-year offers over the years, but none have been accepted. They haven’t signed a free agent who rejected a qualifying offer since Francisco Liriano in 2014.

It’d register as a surprise if they break that trend for Gleyber Torres or Trent Grisham, though they theoretically have the payroll space to accommodate a three- or four-year deal for one of those players if they wanted to focus most of their resources into one acquisition. Ha-Seong Kim, Luis Arraez, Ryan O’Hearn and Harrison Bader are borderline two- or three-year deal candidates — none of whom was tagged with the QO. Mike Yastrzemski, Cedric Mullins and Max Kepler could sign one-year deals that are towards the higher end of what Pittsburgh has spent in prior offseasons.

It’s also possible the Bucs leverage their starting pitching on the trade market. Dealing Keller would knock another $16.5MM off the books while probably bringing back a mid-tier hitter or two. They could swap Mike Burrows or Thomas Harrington for a similarly controllable bat who has shown some promise. Cherington and his group can look at virtually every position for offensive help. Spencer Horwitz is set for the lion’s share of playing time at first base. Oneil Cruz will be somewhere in the outfield, probably center, while Reynolds is locked into right field. There’s virtually nothing else set in stone, though top prospect Konnor Griffin certainly projects as the long-term answer at shortstop.

Paul Skenes Wins NL Cy Young Award

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Paul Skenes has won his first career Cy Young award. The Pirates righty is named the National League’s best pitcher one year after winning Rookie of the Year and finishing third in Cy Young balloting. He beat out Cristopher Sánchez and Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the honors. The vote was unanimous, as he received all 30 first-place votes. Sánchez was second on every ballot, so it wasn’t until third that voters began to diverge.

Skenes is the third pitcher in franchise history to win the Cy Young, joining Vernon Law (1960) and Doug Drabek (1990). He turned in an MLB-best 1.97 earned run average over his first full season in the big leagues. He’d posted a 1.96 mark across 23 starts as a rookie. He’s the only starting pitcher in the majors with a sub-2.00 ERA over the past two seasons. Skenes ranked fourth in the NL with 187 2/3 innings pitched and tied Jesús Luzardo for second with 216 strikeouts.

Only Logan Webb recorded more strikeouts. Skenes ranked fifth in strikeout rate (minimum 100 innings) and third behind Webb and Sánchez with 20 quality starts. He led the Senior Circuit with a 2.36 FIP and placed fifth with a 3.10 SIERA. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each had him in essentially a dead heat with Sánchez for the Wins Above Replacement lead.

The 2023 first overall pick is widely considered one of the two best pitchers in the sport. There’s a fair debate between him and two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, but they’re almost certainly 1-2 in some order. Fans of other teams may dream about prying Skenes out of Pittsburgh, but that’s not happening anytime soon. General manager Ben Cherington stated in no uncertain terms yesterday that their ace would remain a Pirate in 2026. He’s under club control for another four seasons, and while a trade may be in the cards down the line, the immediate focus for player and team is getting the Bucs to the postseason. Skenes is the most important player on a team trying to break a decade-long playoff drought.

Sánchez had a breakout season to establish himself as a true ace for the Phillies. He fired 202 innings of 2.50 ERA ball across 32 starts. He finished fourth in the NL with 212 strikeouts. Sánchez had been a borderline top-of-the-rotation starter between 2023-24, earning a top 10 Cy Young finish in the second of those seasons. This was his first time posting a sub-3.00 ERA or topping 200 innings and strikeouts, so he certainly leveled up in his age-28 season. He’s signed through 2028 and under control through ’30 via a pair of club options on one of the most team-friendly contracts in the game.

Yamamoto’s World Series heroics weren’t a factor in the voting, which takes place at the end of the regular season. He earned his first All-Star nod and first Cy Young votes by turning in a 2.49 ERA across 30 starts. Yamamoto managed 201 strikeouts across 173 2/3 innings while leading the NL with fewer than six hits allowed per nine innings. Yamamoto had flashed ace potential in his first MLB season, but he was limited to 18 starts by a rotator cuff strain in 2024. He showed what he’s capable of in a full season in year two, and the Dodgers have won consecutive World Series in the first two seasons of his record-setting $325MM free agent contract.

Just over half of voters placed Yamamoto third. Webb received 10 third-place votes and finished fourth overall. Freddy Peralta picked up the four remaining third-place nods and landed in fifth place. Skenes and Sánchez were the only pitchers who appeared on every ballot. Nick Pivetta, Jesús Luzardo, Andrew Abbott and Zack Wheeler also received votes.

Image courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images. Full vote tally available courtesy of BBWAA.

Tigers Designate Alex Lange For Assignment

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The Tigers announced that they have claimed right-hander Dugan Darnell off waivers from the Pirates. The Bucs designated him for assignment last week. To open a roster spot for Darnell, the Tigers designated righty Alex Lange for assignment.

Lange, 30, is not too far removed from being Detroit’s closer. He notched 26 saves for the club in 2023. He pitched 66 innings that year, allowing 3.68 earned runs per nine. He struck out 27.4% of batters faced and got grounders on 50.6% of balls in play, though his massive 15.6% walk rate was worrisome.

The bottom fell out from there. His 2024 started out poorly. Through 18 2/3 innings, he had a 4.34 ERA. That wasn’t an atrocious jump but there were worse signs under the hood. His grounder rate fell to 45.8% and his strikeout rate to 23.3%. His walk rate, which was already awful, climbed to 18.9%. The Tigers optioned him to the minors in May of that year. A few weeks later, he suffered an injury and required lat surgery. He missed the final few months of the season and began 2025 on the 60-day injured list. He wasn’t reinstated from the IL until August.

A few days after coming off the IL, he was optioned to the minors and spent the rest of the year there. That burned his third option, meaning he will be out of options going forward. He’s also eligible for arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $900K salary next year. He was likely going to be non-tendered next week but the Tigers have instead bumped him off the roster today to make this claim.

Lange will be in DFA limbo for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Tigers could take five days to explore trade interest. They probably won’t find much, given that Lange has been injured for most of the past two years. His work in Triple-A this year resembled his past self, not in a great way. He logged 23 1/3 Triple-A innings in 2025 with a 4.63 ERA, 29.6% strikeout rate and 54.7% ground ball rate but a 14.3% walk rate.

If he were to clear waivers, he would have the right to elect free agency. He doesn’t cost much and still has three years of club control, so perhaps some rebuilding club could take a shot on him and hope for a bounceback.

Darnell, 28, still has a limited track record. He made nine appearances with the Rockies in 2025, logging 11 2/3 innings. In September, he underwent surgery to address a torn left hip labrum. The timeline given at that time was eight months. The Pirates claimed him off waivers in October but have now lost him to the Tigers.

Since the major league track record is so shallow, the Bucs and Tigers were presumably more interested in his work on the farm. He has 255 1/3 minor league innings under his belt with a 3.74 ERA. That includes 53 2/3 Triple-A innings this year, in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, with a 3.19 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 43.5% ground ball rate. He can give the Tigers some extra bullpen depth whenever he has recovered from his hip surgery.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Cherington: Paul Skenes “Is Going To Be A Pirate In 2026”

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Every offseason there are at least a handful of high-profile players other clubs and their fans dream upon as the trade market begins to ramp up. Pirates ace and likely NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes may be coveted by every other team and fan base in the league, but general manager Ben Cherington was quick to stomp out any trade chatter before it even picked up. Speaking with FanSided’s Robert Murray, Cherington plainly stated that he will not trade his ace this offseason. Skenes “is going to be a Pirate in 2026,” Cherington said.

There’s little reason to think the Pirates would move Skenes at this juncture anyhow, save for owner Bob Nutting’s typically frugal habits. Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick from the 2023 draft, burst onto the scene early in the 2024 season, started the All-Star Game just a couple months later, won ’24 NL Rookie of the Year honors and is now poised to win the first of what could very well be multiple Cy Young Awards in his career.

Since taking a major league mound for the first time, Skenes has started 55 games and posted a comical 1.96 earned run average (1.96 ERA in 2024, 1.97 in 2025). He’s punched out 31% of his opponents against just a 5.9% walk rate and has only allowed 21 home runs in 320 2/3 innings (0.59 HR/9). Forty-seven percent of his batted balls have been grounders, and opponents have averaged a paltry 87.7 mph off the bat against him. He’s already staked a defensible claim to being the best pitcher in the National League, and were it not for the fact that Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is poised to win his second straight Cy Young Award in the AL, Skenes might well be the consensus top pitcher in the sport.

Trading Skenes somewhere down the road feels almost inevitable. If he continues this trajectory, he’ll have the opportunity to shatter contract precedents for starting pitchers. He already has two full years of big league service and won’t turn 24 until next May. He’ll reach free agency heading into his age-28 season. The thrifty Pirates almost certainly aren’t going to put forth a record-breaking extension offer, which is presumably already what it’d take to extend Skenes.

That said, Skenes is still under club control for four more seasons, and he won’t even reach arbitration until after the 2026 season. At least the first of his arb years will be affordable even by Pirates standards, and for a pitcher of this caliber it wouldn’t be surprising to see them hold Skenes later than some of the prior pitchers they’ve traded away with two years of club control remaining (e.g. Gerrit Cole, Joe Musgrove).

There was never really any expectation that Skenes would be traded this offseason — we didn’t include him on our list of the offseason’s top 40 trade candidates — but it’s nevertheless notable to hear the team’s baseball operations leader so definitively say a trade won’t happen. Most front office leaders tend to avoid speaking in absolutes of this nature, after all.

Beyond that, Cherington’s comment comes at a time when the Pirates are widely expected to make a bit more of a push for a return to contention. The 2026 season will be year six of Cherington’s GM tenure, and the team hasn’t topped 76 wins during his time running the club. Pittsburgh already dismissed manager Derek Shelton back in May — he’s since been hired as the Twins’ new skipper — and the baseball ops leader tends to be next on the chopping block after a manager is shown the door.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal said earlier today in an appearance on Fair Territory that agents he’s spoken to have already received signals from the Pirates that they’re planning to be more active on the open market this winter (video link). That doesn’t mean the Bucs are going to play at the top of the market, of course, but the 2025-26 offseason could see them step out of the bottom tiers of free agency where they tend to reside. Cherington himself told Murray that he has “more flexibility than we’ve had in [any] other offseasons I’ve been in Pittsburgh.”

As MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows, it’s been nearly a decade since the Pirates have signed a free agent to a multi-year contract. That’s not an indication that they haven’t made any multi-year offers, but the Pirates certainly haven’t been aggressive during Nutting’s ownership, whether under Cherington or predecessor Neal Huntington.

In an appearance on the MLB Trade Rumors podcast late in the season, Cherington acknowledged that he’s made multi-year offers to free agents — specifically free agent position players. Obviously, those offers have been rebuffed. Still, the sixth-year Pittsburgh GM made clear that he plans to continue those efforts, and there are now multiple indicators that he might have the financial latitude to be a bit more aggressive as he looks to line up on such a deal to add some offense to the lineup.

The Bucs could still trade some pitching to add a big league bat(s), but veteran Mitch Keller or 26-year-old Mike Burrows seem like more plausible candidates than Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft or Jared Jones (on whom they’d be selling low as he finishes off his rehab from UCL surgery).

Pirates Outright Michael Darrell-Hicks

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The Pirates have sent right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. The Pirates will get to keep him as non-roster depth.

Darrell-Hicks, 28 on Thursday, was acquired from the Angels via the waiver wire in June. Between the Bucs and the Halos, he has 9 2/3 innings pitched in the big leagues. In that time, he has allowed eight earned runs via ten hits, four walks, one hit batter and two wild pitches, while striking out eight opponents.

His minor league track record is more interesting. From 2022 to 2024, he tossed 180 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.79 earned run average. He struck out 26.3% of batters faced and only gave out walks at a 7.2% clip.

2025 saw him post a nightmarish 8.45 ERA in 38 1/3 Triple-A innings, though it’s possible that he was extremely unfortunate. His 22.1% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate were close to average but his .415 batting average on balls in play and 61.9% strand rate were both far to the unlucky side. His 21.1% home run to fly ball ratio was also far higher than his previous work.

The Pirates liked him enough to grab him this summer, though he got squeezed off the roster this week. They are probably glad to keep him around in a non-roster capacity. He doesn’t have the right to elect free agency since he doesn’t have three years of service or a previous career outright. He will look to earn his way back onto the roster next year.

Photo courtesy of Raymond Carlin III, Imagn Images

Pirates To Sign Joe La Sorsa

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The Pirates are expected to sign left-hander Joe La Sorsa, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. It’s a minor league deal with an invite to MLB Spring Training.

La Sorsa has pitched in parts of three MLB seasons with three different teams. He debuted with the Rays in 2023. La Sorsa was most recently with Cincinnati. He made five appearances with the Reds last season.

Tampa Bay drafted La Sorsa in 2019. He tossed 36 1/3 innings at Low-A that same year. La Sorsa delivered a 3.60 ERA across 31 appearances in 2021, striking out nearly a batter per inning. He took a step forward the following season, with an elite 36.3% strikeout rate leading to a Double-A promotion. Minor leaguers hit just .191 against La Sorsa in 2022. He posted a 2.33 ERA across a career-high 73 1/3 innings.

La Sorsa was designated for assignment after just two games with the Rays in 2023. He was quickly scooped up by the Nationals via waiver claim. La Sorsa logged 23 appearances out of Washington’s bullpen that season. He limited walks and kept the ball in the yard, but finished with a 4.76 ERA. After a half-season with Triple-A Rochester, La Sorsa was back with the Nationals in August of 2024. He delivered similarly tepid results and was released in the offseason.

Cincinnati had La Sorsa traveling back and forth from Triple-A Louisville to Great American Ball Park all summer. He was recalled to the big-league club on four separate occasions, including three times in June. La Sorsa was knocked around for eight earned runs in 6 2/3 innings with the Reds. He allowed four home runs in his five outings with the team.

Pirates Make Several Roster Moves

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The Pirates have designated right-handers Dugan Darnell and Michael Darrell-Hicks for assignment, the team announced Thursday. Pittsburgh also reinstated catcher/first baseman Endy Rodriguez and utilitymen Ronny Simon and Emmanuel Valdez from the 60-day injured list.

Former top infield prospect Liover Peguero, who was placed on waivers earlier in the week, went unclaimed and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Indianapolis. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, however, that Peguero will reject the assignment to become a free agent. Meanwhile, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports that Pittsburgh will select the contract of minor league righty Ryan Harbin to its 40-man roster.

Darnell’s stay in the Pirates organization lasted only a week. He was claimed off waivers from the Rockies last week. He made his MLB debut in Colorado this year, tossing 11 2/3 innings and holding opponents to five runs on seven hits but with more walks (seven) than strikeouts (five). The 28-year-old undrafted free agent sits 94 mph with his heater and posted a 3.19 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate in an extremely hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League setting this season.

Darrell-Hicks, 28 next week, is another waiver claim and former undrafted free agent. The Bucs picked him up from the Angels back in June. He pitched 9 2/3 innings between the two clubs this year but was tagged for eight runs on 10 hits and four walks with eight strikeouts. He sits just under 95 mph with his heater. Darrell-Hicks posted outstanding numbers in the upper minors in 2024 (2.60 ERA, 26.4 K%, 5.0 BB% in 62 1/3 innings) but was rocked for an ERA north of 8.00 in Triple-A this season.

Peguero was once a touted prospect whom the Pirates acquired from the D-backs in exchange for Starling Marte. He’s a former top-100 prospect who was once viewed as a possible shortstop of the future in Pittsburgh. In an all-too-common refrain for Pirates position prospects, however, his bat never came around. Peguero has seen action in four big league seasons but has mustered only a .227/.278/.368 slash line in 315 turns at the plate.

Peguero has also looked overmatched at the top minor league level. Outside of a late-2023 cameo in Triple-A where he smacked a pair of homers in 30 promising plate appearances, he’s produced well below-average numbers with the Pirates’ top affiliate in Indianapolis. He’s a .253/.317/.403 hitter in 888 plate appearances there, including a career-worst .247/.313/.375 showing in 75 games with Indy this season. Baseball America and other outlets have lauded his quality defensive tools but also noted a penchant for slipping into poor mechanical stretches that lead to far too many throwing errors.

The 24-year-old Harbin was a 17th-round pick in 2019. He was about to become a minor league free agent, but the Bucs didn’t want to lose him after he posted such gaudy strikeout numbers in the minors this season. Harbin’s 4.69 ERA isn’t much to look at, but that mark is skewed by an ugly 17 earned runs allowed in his first 13 1/3 innings of Triple-A work this season. He’d posted sharp numbers in High-A and Double-A, and even while struggling to keep runs off the board in Indianapolis, Harbin continued missing bats.

Overall, the 6’4″ Harbin fanned 32% of his opponents in the minors this year — albeit against a brutal 16% walk rate. He averaged better than 97 mph on his heater and missed bats in droves with his upper-80s slider. Harbin posted a very strong 14.1% swinging-strike rate on the season overall, including an eye-popping 17% mark in Double-A, where he fanned nearly 38% of his opponents. Now that he’s on the 40-man roster, Harbin will be in major league camp and compete for a spot in manager Don Kelly’s bullpen next spring.

Mets Claim Ji Hwan Bae, Jose Castillo

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The Mets announced that they have claimed outfielder Ji Hwan Bae off waivers from the Pirates and left-hander José Castillo from the Orioles. They also announced that infielder Nick Madrigal has elected free agency. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported the Bae claim prior to the official announcement. It was reported earlier this week that the Bucs had put him on the wire.

Bae, 26, was once a notable prospect with the Pirates but he hasn’t panned out yet. He has slashed .223/.294/.293 in 514 plate appearances spread over four seasons. But he has some wheels, having stolen 37 bases. He has continued to hit in the minors, however. He has a combined .306/.390/.451 line and 126 wRC+ dating back to the start of 2022. That includes a 119 wRC+ and .292/.380/.424 line in Triple-A this year.

The Mets didn’t have a center field solution this year. Jose Siri was injured for most of the season. Tyrone Taylor struggled. They acquired Cedric Mullins at the deadline but he didn’t help. Bae still has an option, so he can push Taylor for the job in 2026 but he could also end up in Syracuse as depth.

Castillo, 30 in January, should be a familiar face to Mets fans. He was on and off the club’s roster throughout the 2025 season. He was lost off waivers to the Mariners and then Orioles in September but the Mets have grabbed him back today. The lefty tossed 32 big league innings on the year with a 3.94 earned run average. His 20.1% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate were a bit worse than par but his 54% ground ball rate was strong.

The lefty is eligible for arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $1.7MM salary next year. Presumably, the Mets are comfortable paying him something in that range. He’ll join a lefty relief mix that includes A.J. Minter, Brooks Raley and Richard Lovelady.

Madrigal signed a one-year, $1.35MM deal with the Mets last offseason. However, a left shoulder fracture required season-ending surgery back in February. He could have been retained for 2026 via arbitration but the Mets have cut him loose. It seems every other club also passed on the chance to grab him off waivers. He’ll look for his next opportunity, which will likely be a minor league deal.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images

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