18 Players Exchange Filing Figures
Teams and arbitration-eligible players had until 7:00 pm Central to agree to terms or exchange filing figures. The vast majority agreed to salaries, either this afternoon or before November’s non-tender deadline to ensure they were offered contracts at all.
There were 18 cases where team and player did not align — none bigger than the record $13MM gap between the Tigers and Tarik Skubal. Nothing formally prevents players and teams from continuing negotiations. However, virtually every team takes a “file-and-trial” approach to the process. Clubs will mostly refuse to continue talks about one-year deals after this date. They’ll often make exceptions for discussions involving multi-year contracts or one-year deals with a club/mutual option. It’s unlikely that all of these players will end up getting to a hearing, but the majority probably will.
If the sides go to a hearing, a three-person arbitration panel will either choose the player’s or the team’s filing figure. (Hearings will run between January 26 and February 13.) The arbitrators cannot pick a midpoint. That’s designed to prevent the parties from anchoring by filing at extremely high or low figures. Teams’ preferences for the file-and-trial approach follows a similar logic. The idea is to deter players from submitting a higher number from which they could continue to negotiate until the hearing begins.
Unless otherwise noted, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported all filing figures for those who didn’t reach agreements. The list of players who could go to a hearing this winter (service time in parentheses):
Angels
- Reid Detmers (3.159): Filed at $2.925MM, team filed at $2.625MM
Astros
- Isaac Paredes (4.160): Filed at $9.95MM, team filed at $8.75MM
- Yainer Diaz (3.035): Filed at $4.5MM, team filed at $3MM
Blue Jays
- Eric Lauer (5.091): Filed at $5.75MM, team filed at $4.4MM (first reported by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet)
Braves
- Dylan Lee (3.150): Filed at $2.2MM, team filed at $2MM
Brewers
- William Contreras (4.112): Filed at $9.9MM, team filed at $8.75MM
Marlins
- Calvin Faucher (2.156): Filed at $2.05MM, team filed at $1.8MM
Mariners
- Bryce Miller (2.153): Filed at $2.625MM, team filed at $2.25MM
Nationals
- Cade Cavalli (2.141): Filed at $900K, team filed at $825K
Orioles
- Keegan Akin (5.083): Filed at $3.375MM, team filed at $2.975MM
- Kyle Bradish (3.160): Filed at $3.55MM, team filed at $2.875MM
Rays
- Edwin Uceta (2.150): Filed at $1.525MM, team filed at $1.2MM
Reds
- Tyler Stephenson (5.056): Filed at $6.8MM, team filed at $6.55MM
- Graham Ashcraft (3.130): Filed at $1.75MM, team filed at $1.25MM
Royals
- Kris Bubic (5.135): Filed at $6.15MM, team filed at $5.15MM
- Vinnie Pasquantino (3.101): Filed at $4.5MM, team filed at $4MM
Tigers
- Tarik Skubal (5.114): Filed at $32MM, team filed at $19MM
Twins
- Joe Ryan (4.033): Filed at $6.35MM, team filed at $5.85MM
Rangers Sign Patrick Murphy To Minor League Deal
The Rangers announced the signing of reliever Patrick Murphy to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp. Texas also confirmed their previously reported agreement with veteran righty Nabil Crismatt.
Murphy will be in camp for a second consecutive spring. Texas signed the righty to a non-roster deal last offseason as well. He pitched well in exhibition play and made 14 appearances with Triple-A Round Rock before they granted him his release in July. Murphy wanted to pursue a foreign opportunity and wound up signing with the KBO’s KT Wiz. He had never played in Korea but spent the 2024 campaign in Japan as a member of the Nippon-Ham Fighters.
The former third-round draft choice started nine of 15 appearances with the Wiz. He tossed 60 2/3 innings of 3.12 ERA ball, albeit with a modest 17% strikeout rate. The Wiz wound up replacing both of their foreign-born pitchers. Lefty Enmanuel De Jesus also returned to affiliated ball on a minor league contract with the Tigers. The Wiz signed Matt Sauer and Caleb Boushley, who made 25 appearances for Texas last year, to fill those spots.
Murphy will try to pitch his way back to the MLB level for the first time in four years. He combined for 35 appearances for the Blue Jays and Nationals between 2020-22. He carries a 4.76 earned run average with slightly worse than average strikeout and walk marks in 39 2/3 MLB innings. Murphy sits around 95 MPH with his four-seam fastball and sinker and uses a low-80s curveball as his breaking pitch.
Brewers Hire Thad Levine As Special Advisor
The Brewers have hired former Twins general manager Thad Levine as a special advisor in baseball operations, relays Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. This is Levine’s first job in MLB since he stepped down as Minnesota GM at the end of the 2024 season.
Although Levine held the GM title, he was never atop the baseball operations department. He worked as top lieutenant under chief baseball officer/president of baseball operations Derek Falvey from 2017-24. The Twins made four playoff appearances, three of which were behind AL Central titles, within the first seven seasons. They looked on their way to another postseason berth in 2024 before a late-season collapse dropped them to an 82-80 record and put them on the outside looking in.
Before his time in Minnesota, Levine spent more than a decade with the Rangers as an assistant GM. He’d worked in the Colorado front office prior to that. There was some thought that the Rockies could circle back to Levine when they dismissed GM Bill Schmidt at the beginning of the offseason, but there’s no indication he wound up receiving serious consideration.
The Brewers have three assistant GMs under president of baseball operations Matt Arnold: Will Hudgins, Matt Kleine and Karl Mueller. Levine joins Doug Melvin and Matt Klentak as former general managers with advisory titles.
The Best Fits For Cody Bellinger
The top of the free agent position player market has not moved as quickly as it did in the previous couple offseasons. Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman and Cody Bellinger remain unsigned.
That's not a huge surprise for the latter two hitters given the Boras Corporation's general willingness to wait deeper into the offseason if strong deals don't immediately materialize. Tucker and Bichette, the two best free agents, are respectively represented by Excel Sports Management and Vayner Sports. The slow offseason can't entirely be attributed to Boras. It's possible that Bellinger is waiting on Tucker while Bregman awaits resolution on the Bichette landing spot. There's a decent amount of overlap, especially among a handful of big-market franchises that have been relatively quiet in free agency thus far, in those respective markets.
Bellinger is a free agent for the third time in the past four years. He's hoping to finally command the long-term contract that alluded him in the two prior trips. He was always going to be limited to a one-year pillow deal in 2022 after consecutive down seasons led the Dodgers to non-tender him. A resurgent '23 campaign with the Cubs didn't lead teams to buy into him as a franchise altering addition. He returned to Chicago on a three-year deal with opt-outs, then was traded to the Yankees after an underwhelming 2024 campaign.
The long speculated connection worked beautifully. Bellinger's left-handed bat played very well at Yankee Stadium. He hit 29 home runs, his highest total in six years, while batting .272/.334/.480 across 656 plate appearances. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each valued him around five wins above replacement.
Teams could still quibble with some of his underlying splits. Bellinger was a league average hitter away from the short porch in the Bronx. His batted ball metrics remained middle of the pack, and his results outpaced his "expected" statistics from Statcast for a third straight season. The average batted ball data was a stumbling block for teams in prior offseasons -- both in his '23 free agent trip, and when the Cubs were shopping him last winter.
Will a third straight season of overperformance lead teams to conclude that Bellinger's plus contact skills outweigh the exit velocity concerns? He's one of the best left-on-left hitters in MLB, batting .329/.371/.546 against southpaws over the past three seasons. The average left-handed batter (.230/.299/.365) hits like Marcus Semien or Otto Lopez when he doesn't hold the platoon advantage.
Bellinger isn't attached to draft compensation because he was ineligible for the qualifying offer. His camp will surely look to play up the narrative that he has proven himself in three major markets over the course of his career. A five- or six-year contract seems like the median outcome for the 30-year-old former MVP. Jon Morosi of The MLB Network suggested on Wednesday that his camp may be looking for seven years.
Where might he end up?
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Pirates, Chris Devenski Agree To Minor League Deal
The Pirates are in agreement with reliever Chris Devenski on a minor league contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. That presumably includes a Spring Training invite for the Suarez & Associates client.
Devenski was on and off the Mets’ active roster a few times throughout the 2025 season. The 35-year-old righty made it into 13 games overall, allowing four runs across 16 2/3 innings. He struck out 14 against five walks. Devenski also managed solid numbers with Triple-A Syracuse, where he pitched 37 2/3 frames of 3.35 ERA ball. He attacked the zone while posting a slightly below-average 21% strikeout rate at both levels.
That’s now 10 straight seasons in which the former 25th-round draft pick has pitched at the MLB level. Devenski was an All-Star in his second season as a member of the Astros. He has spent the majority of his career as a well-traveled long reliever. If he gets to the big leagues in Pittsburgh, they’d be his seventh MLB team. Devenski’s 92 MPH fastball velocity is below average, so he leans on a plus changeup as his most frequent offering.
There’s opportunity for Devenski to win a job out of camp. Dennis Santana, Gregory Soto, Isaac Mattson, and Justin Lawrence are locked into the Opening Day bullpen. They’ll hope that hard-throwing lefty Mason Montgomery — acquired from Tampa Bay as part of the Mike Burrows trade — locks down a job in Spring Training as well. That’d still leave as many as three bullpen roles up for grabs. Yohan Ramírez is out of options, but he’s a journeyman signed for barely more than the league minimum. Carmen Mlodzinski still has an option remaining, as do potential fifth starters Hunter Barco and Thomas Harrington.
Pirates To Designate Chase Shugart For Assignment
The Pirates are designating reliever Chase Shugart for assignment, reports Jason Mackey of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. They needed to create a 40-man roster spot for Ryan O’Hearn, whose two-year free agent contract was finalized this afternoon.
Pittsburgh acquired the 29-year-old Shugart in a minor trade with the Red Sox last offseason. The Texas product had only six games of MLB experience at the time. He made it into 35 contests in his first and potentially only season as a Pirate. Shugart managed a solid 3.40 earned run average across 45 innings. That came with well below-average strikeout (17.1%) and ground-ball (33.3%) marks, and the majority of his outings came in low-leverage situations.
The Bucs kept Shugart on the active roster for most of the season’s first half. He went on the injured list with left knee inflammation shortly before the All-Star Break. That cost him more than a month, and the team optioned him to Triple-A shortly after he returned. He only made three MLB appearances in the second half.
Shugart sits in the 94-95 MPH range with his four-seam fastball and sinker. He has a pair of breaking pitches, a low-80s sweeper and a cutter that sits around 90 MPH. It hasn’t led to many whiffs against big league hitters, but he has posted slightly better than average strikeout numbers in the minors. He also has better control than most up-and-down relievers.
There’s a decent chance he’ll get him some attention on the waiver wire. Shugart has one year of big league service time and has one minor league option remaining. The Pirates will trade him or put him on waivers within the next five days.
Tigers, Burch Smith Agree To Minor League Deal
The Tigers signed reliever Burch Smith to a minor league contract, reports Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press. The righty receives an invitation to MLB camp and will be guaranteed a $1.5MM base salary if he makes the big league roster.
Smith, 36 in April, has played for seven big league clubs over a 15-year career that has taken him around the globe. Smith has pitched in Japan and Korea in addition to seven seasons at the Triple-A level. He has gotten to the majors in parts of six campaigns, working to a 5.79 ERA through 247 1/3 career innings.
The Oklahoma product’s most recent MLB action came in 2024. He divided that season evenly between the Marlins and Orioles, allowing just under five earned runs per nine over 56 1/3 frames. He spent last year on a minor league contract with the Pirates. Working for their Triple-A club in Indianapolis, Smith was tagged for a 7.08 ERA in 19 outings. He struck out nearly 27% of batters faced against an elevated 12.2% walk rate. The Pirates released him at the end of July.
Smith remained unsigned for the rest of the ’25 season. He has made a comeback in winter ball in the Dominican Republic, recording a 20:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio with three runs allowed in 15 1/3 innings. The Tigers add him to a deep collection of non-roster bullpen arms. Tanner Rainey, Sean Guenther, Scott Effross, Dugan Darnell, Jack Little, Tyler Mattison and Cole Waites have also signed minor league deals.
Takahiro Norimoto Weighing Offer From MLB Team
Free agent relief pitcher Takahiro Norimoto has received an offer from a major league club, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The 35-year-old righty is weighing a move stateside but not firmly committed to making the jump. He’s also considering offers from clubs in Japan.
Norimoto has played 13 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, all with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. A starter for most of that time, he has transitioned into the Eagles’ closer over the past two years. Norimoto has gone 48-53 in save opportunities. He posted a 3.46 earned run average in 2024 and is coming off a 3.02 mark across 56 2/3 frames last season.
Despite his decent numbers at the back of the Eagles’ bullpen, Norimoto isn’t a power arm. He hasn’t recorded a strikeout rate above 20% in any of the past four seasons. Norimoto fanned just 17.2% of batters faced against an 8.4% walk rate last year. FanGraphs writes that he sits around 92 MPH on his fastball and features an above-average splitter as his best secondary pitch. He seemingly projects as a middle reliever or depth arm at the major league level.
It’d be a surprise if Norimoto commands more than a cheap one-year MLB contract. It’s possible he explores major league interest as a leverage play in negotiations for potentially bigger money in Japan. Norimoto has nine-plus seasons of service time in his home country, so he’s an unrestricted free agent who can sign with any club in NPB or a foreign league. An MLB team would not owe the Eagles a posting fee. Feinsand notes that Norimoto is likely to decide whether he’ll make the move to MLB within the next few days.
Rays Agree To Minor League Deals With Edward Olivares, Blake Sabol
The Rays agreed to minor league deals with outfielder Edward Olivares and catcher Blake Sabol, reports Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. Both players will be in camp as non-roster invitees. Additionally, Topkin reports that right-hander Brian Van Belle signed a two-year minor league contract after being released last month.
Olivares, a veteran of parts of five MLB seasons, is back stateside after a year in Japan. The righty-hitting outfielder signed with the Orix Buffaloes last offseason. Olivares only made it into 11 games at the NPB level, batting .182 without a home run. He appeared in 61 games with the Buffaloes’ minor league club, hitting .213/.327/.301 over 165 plate appearances.
The 29-year-old Olivares has played for the Royals, Padres and Pirates. He’s a .254/.306/.407 hitter in a little under 1000 big league plate appearances. He has solid tools headlined by above-average speed and a plus arm. A sub-6% walk rate has limited his on-base upside, and he doesn’t have the power to play everyday in a corner outfield spot.
Sabol gets a new job on his 28th birthday. A left-handed hitter, he played in 110 games for the Giants as a Rule 5 pick in 2023. Sabol connected on 13 homers and hit .235/.301/.394. That’s not bad for a rookie catcher, but a lack of defensive polish has mostly kept him in the minors since that season. Sabol combined for 19 MLB appearances with the Giants and Red Sox between 2024-25. He hit at a league average level in Triple-A two seasons ago but limped to a .183/.296/.326 showing in 66 minor league games last year.
The Rays have Hunter Feduccia and Nick Fortes lined up to split the catching work. Prospect Dominic Keegan is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. Evaluators have questions about Keegan’s defense, especially his arm. That has been the primary issue for Sabol as well, but he’ll provide some experience as a non-roster player in camp.
Van Belle will miss the entire 2026 season after undergoing late-season elbow surgery. The Rays outrighted him at the beginning of the offseason, then released him entirely in mid-December. Van Belle had been on track to qualify for minor league free agency at the end of next season. The transactional sequence allows the Rays to get a look at him in Spring Training ’27. Van Belle debuted last year with four appearances, tossing 8 1/3 innings of five-run ball.
Latest On Yankees, Cody Bellinger
The biggest offseason question for the Yankees has been whether they’ll re-sign Cody Bellinger. General manager Brian Cashman is on record about the club’s interest in doing so, and they’ve reportedly made at least two formal contract offers.
It doesn’t appear that Bellinger is on the verge of accepting a deal, however. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic wrote this morning that the sides don’t seem close to an agreement, though talks are continuing. Contract length could be a holdup. Kuty wrote that Bellinger and his representatives at the Boras Corporation were likely looking for a six- or seven-year contract. In an MLB Network appearance, Jon Morosi also suggested that Bellinger continued to seek a deal in the seven-year range. Morosi added that the Yankees unsurprisingly preferred a four- or five-year commitment.
Most external projections forecast a five- or six-year deal. MLBTR predicted a five-year, $140MM contract at the beginning of the offseason. Bellinger is headed into his age-30 season. There’s precedent for players commanding seven-plus years at that age, but the most recent free agent hitter to do so was Brandon Nimmo in 2022. There hasn’t even been a six-year contract for a free agent bat in his 30s since the Nimmo deal, but Alex Bregman (who was a year older at the time) rejected a six-year offer from the Tigers last winter.
Bellinger is coming off a fantastic first season in the Bronx. He hit .272/.334/.480 with 29 home runs across 656 plate appearances. He cut his already low strikeout rate to a personal-best 13.7% clip. Bellinger’s bat speed and exit velocities — which prevented him from commanding a long-term contract two years ago — remain middling. His left-handed bat was perfectly suited to Yankee Stadium, where he hit .302/.365/.544 with 18 of his home runs. His .241/.301/.414 batting line on the road is essentially league average.
While that wouldn’t be much of an issue for the Yankees, they may feel that’ll give other teams pause. We’re only a year removed from Bellinger having essentially no trade value when he was signed for two years and $52.5MM. New York acquired him from the Cubs for journeyman pitcher Cody Poteet, whom Chicago cut at the end of Spring Training. The only cost for the Yankees was taking on all but $5MM on Bellinger’s deal. Trade talks were complicated by an opt-out clause in his contract, but it’s notable that teams weren’t eager to sign up for even two years at $25MM annually last offseason. A six-plus year commitment at a similar annual value is a significant ask.
Do teams other than the Yankees feel Bellinger is a dramatically different player than he was a year ago? His camp will surely argue that his success in New York — on top of his previous work in big markets in Los Angeles and Chicago — should move the needle. Bellinger also isn’t attached to draft compensation, as he was in 2023 when he declined a qualifying offer from the Cubs.
His results have outpaced his more middling batted ball metrics in three consecutive seasons. Bellinger is never going to recapture the ferocious power he had before he injured his right shoulder during the 2020 postseason. He has reinvented himself as an elite contact bat, and while his home/road splits aren’t encouraging, his platoon numbers are more impressive.
Bellinger is a .329/.371/.546 hitter against left-handed pitching over the past three seasons. Among lefty hitters with 250+ plate appearances in that time, only Yordan Alvarez has a superior slugging mark. Bellinger trails only Alvarez and Juan Soto in on-base percentage. Teams can comfortably pencil Bellinger in as an everyday player in either corner outfield spot, and he’s an option for at least semi-regular center field work.