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Jacob deGrom, Ronald Acuna Jr. Named Comeback Players Of The Year

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The main event of Thursday’s award revelations came with the BBWAA’s announcement that Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge repeated as MVP winners. Major League Baseball also conducted its award ceremony tonight, revealing a handful of honors that are not decided by the writers.

Most notably, the league named Jacob deGrom and Ronald Acuña Jr. the respective Comeback Players of the Year. deGrom’s comeback from Tommy John surgery technically occurred at the end of the 2024 season. The two-time Cy Young winner made three late-season appearances last year. He took the ball 30 times this past season and worked to a 2.97 earned run average with 185 strikeouts across 172 2/3 innings. He earned his fifth All-Star nod and finished eighth in AL Cy Young balloting in his age-37 season.

Acuña bounced back from the second ACL tear of his career. The 2023 NL MVP had suffered the season-ending left knee injury on May 26, 2024. He made it back almost one year to the day later. The Braves activated Acuña from the injured list on May 23. He’d return to superstar form, hitting .290/.417/.518 with 21 homers in 95 games. Acuña went back on the injured list around the trade deadline with right Achilles tightness. He only missed a couple weeks and came back to hit .268/.402/.437 down the stretch despite an injury-riddled Atlanta team being well out of contention. It’s the second straight season in which a Brave was named NL Comeback Player of the Year. Chris Sale received that honor last season.

MLB announced a few other honors. Ohtani and Judge repeated as the respective Hank Aaron Award winners as the league’s best hitters. Ohtani yet again won the Edgar Martinez Award as MLB’s best designated hitter. Aroldis Chapman and Edwin Díaz won the respective Reliever of the Year honors. Díaz is free agency’s top reliever coming off a 1.63 ERA across 62 appearances. Chapman turned in a 1.17 ERA over 61 1/3 frames in what is arguably the best season of his fantastic career. He re-signed with the Red Sox on a $13MM deal in August. The BBWAA will reintroduce its own Reliever of the Year Award in 2026.

Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold was named Executive of the Year for the second consecutive season. Milwaukee won an MLB-best 97 games and advanced to the NL Championship Series despite having an Opening Day payroll around $115MM. That was the eighth-lowest mark in the majors.

MLB also announced its 1st and 2nd teams. These are not league specific and are designed to honor the best players at each position. Those are as follows:

1st Team

2nd Team

Guardians Hire Tony Arnerich As Bench Coach

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The Guardians announced this afternoon that they’ve hired Tony Arnerich as bench coach for the 2026 season. Zack Meisel of The Athletic reported the news before it was finalized. He’ll replace Craig Albernaz as Stephen Vogt’s top lieutenant in Cleveland. Albernaz, who’d held the title of associate manager, left to become the Orioles manager last month.

Arnerich, 45, had spent the last two seasons as bullpen coach with the Mariners. Seattle hired former catcher Austin Nola to fill that position earlier this week. The M’s did not make an announcement on Arnerich’s future at the time as they waited for his deal with Cleveland to be finalized. They obviously knew he’d be moving on at the time they reached agreement with Nola.

This is the second time this week that the Guardians have hired a coach away from Seattle. They tabbed Andy McKay as field coordinator on Tuesday. Vogt had spent the ’23 campaign on Seattle’s staff as bullpen coach. He surely worked with McKay, who was in the front office. Arnerich was on the MLB staff as a co-hitting coach at the time. He moved to the bullpen role once Vogt departed to take charge in Cleveland.

Arnerich had a brief professional playing career in the minors and independent ranks in the 2000s. He spent nearly a decade as a college coach, mostly with the Cal Golden Bears, before joining the M’s organization as a minor league instructor. He worked on both the hitting and pitching sides over his time on the Seattle staff.

Mets Fielding Interest In Jeff McNeil

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The Mets are taking trade inquiries on Jeff McNeil, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The veteran utilityman is recovering from thoracic outlet surgery, which complicates conversations with other clubs. McNeil’s agent, Paragon’s Garrett Parcell, told The Post’s Joel Sherman that he is expected to be full go for Spring Training.

McNeil is entering the final guaranteed season of the four-year, $50MM extension he signed during the 2023-24 offseason. He’s set for a $15.75MM salary and guaranteed a $2MM buyout on a matching club option for the ’27 season. It’s essentially a one-year, $17.75MM commitment. (An acquiring team would also owe him a $500K assignment bonus.) That’s more than he’d get on the open market coming off a .243/.335/.411 line and heading into his age-34 season. Something like a two-year deal in the $18-20MM range would be reasonable, but he wouldn’t command that kind of money on a one-year term.

At the time of the extension, McNeil was coming off a batting title. He hasn’t maintained those heights over the past three seasons. He combined for a slightly below-average .257/.323/.381 slash line between 2023-24. This year’s numbers were better but also came with injury questions. McNeil missed the first few weeks of the season with an oblique strain. He hit well over the next few months, running a .256/.348/.451 line with as many walks as strikeouts in nearly 400 plate appearances through the end of August. His bat wilted as the team collapsed in September, as he finished with a .187/.274/.240 showing in the season’s final month.

Playing through thoracic outlet syndrome offers an explanation for the late-season struggles. At the same time, that also raises questions about what teams can expect going into 2026. TOS generally isn’t as damaging for hitters as it can be for pitchers, yet some clubs could prefer to see McNeil play before taking on a notable chunk of money. His strikeout rate ticked up in the final two months of the season, while his average exit velocity plummeted in September.

McNeil has primarily been a second baseman in his career. He’s a capable if unspectacular defender there. McNeil has a decent amount of corner outfield experience, where he has received solid defensive grades. He added a little more than 200 innings in center field this past season, albeit with mediocre marks from Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. McNeil is a below-average runner and shouldn’t be counted on for more than part-time work in center field.

While the contract and injury are obstacles, McNeil could be appealing to some teams if the Mets pay down part of the contract. The Astros don’t have an everyday second baseman and need a left-handed bat. The Angels could also use a lefty hitter and could bounce McNeil between second and third base. The Royals got nothing out of second base this year and generally prefer high-contact hitters of his ilk. The Giants, Athletics, Pirates and Tigers (if Gleyber Torres rejects the qualifying offer) could all look to upgrade at second base. Those teams would probably prefer to acquire Brendan Donovan, but the prospect cost would be much higher for the St. Louis utilityman.

If the Mets were to trade McNeil, they could kick Brett Baty over to second base. That’d perhaps enable them to make a run at a free agent third baseman or try to sign Ha-Seong Kim as a multi-positional player who’d upgrade the infield defense. McNeil’s contact comes with a $12.5MM luxury tax hit for New York, meaning they’re paying $13.75MM in taxes on it as a third-time payor in the highest bracket. The CBT hit would recalculate to reflect the remaining money on the backloaded deal if he’s traded. It’d be a $17.75MM luxury tax number — minus any cash considerations the Mets include, which would remain on their CBT ledger — for an acquiring team.

Roansy Contreras Signs With NPB’s Rakuten Eagles

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The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball announced they’ve signed right-hander Roansy Contreras for the 2026 season. The Rep 1 Baseball client had been on the Rockies’ 40-man roster. Colorado announced this afternoon that he was being released to pursue an overseas opportunity, dropping their roster count to 38.

Contreras is a former top pitching prospect who has spent parts of five seasons in the big leagues. He was a key part of the Pirates’ return from the Yankees in the Jameson Taillon trade and found a bit of early success out of the Pittsburgh rotation. Things went off the rails in the 2023 season, though, and he has bounced around as a journeyman reliever over the past few seasons. Contreras has pitched for four clubs over the last three years. He owns a 5.48 earned run average across 149 1/3 big league frames in that time.

The 26-year-old spent most of this past season in Triple-A in the Baltimore system. Contreras started 14 of 28 outings for their top affiliate in Norfolk, working to a 3.73 ERA despite a middling 17.8% strikeout rate in 91 2/3 innings. Baltimore called him up at the end of August but put him back on waivers after one appearance. Colorado claimed him for the final month of the season. Contreras gave up eight runs over 8 1/3 innings before suffering a season-ending hand contusion.

There’s a decent chance the Rockies would have pushed him off the 40-man roster this offseason. He’s out of options, so even if he held the roster spot all winter, he would’ve needed to win a bullpen job out of camp or be placed back on waivers. It’s understandable he’d rather take the guaranteed payday and try his luck in Japan rather than battle for low-leverage work at Coors Field. Contreras is young enough to be an interesting MLB free agent a couple years from now if he misses more bats in NPB.

Brad Keller Drawing Interest As Starting Pitcher

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Teams have shown interest in free agent right-hander Brad Keller as both a starter and reliever, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. It’s not clear which teams are involved, though Sherman writes that the Yankees have not emerged as a serious suitor to this point.

Keller is coming off a breakout year working out of the Cubs bullpen. The 30-year-old righty fired 69 2/3 innings of 2.07 ERA ball. He emerged as Craig Counsell’s most trusted leverage arm by the end of the season. Keller recorded 25 holds and a trio of saves while relinquishing just three leads all year. He was fantastic in the second half, allowing one run while striking out 35 hitters across 27 2/3 frames. He picked up two more saves and a hold while tossing 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the playoffs.

While the underlying metrics weren’t quite so dominant, Keller posted solid peripherals across the board. He punched out 27.2% of opponents against a manageable 8% walk rate. Keller got ground-balls at a 56.5% clip, the 10th-highest rate among relievers with 50+ innings. The only slight area of concern was a modest 10.8% swinging strike rate that checked in a little below the 11.5% league average.

Keller’s performance was obviously going to have plenty of teams interested in him as a reliever. As we noted on our writeup of the Top 50 Free Agents, it made sense that some clubs would view him as a rotation conversion candidate. Keller has plenty of starting experience. He was a starter for most of his six seasons as a member of the Royals. The 6’5″ righty found some early-career success as a grounder specialist at the back of the K.C. rotation.

His numbers tanked between 2021-23, and he underwent surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome before the ’24 campaign. Keller didn’t find much success in limited MLB looks with the White Sox and Red Sox that year. He was forced to settle for a minor league contract with the Cubs last winter. Keller looked rejuvenated in a relief role, earning a roster spot out of camp and pitching his way to the top of the bullpen hierarchy before long.

While the thoracic outlet surgery could give some clubs trepidation, there’s reason for optimism if he does return to starting. He has continued to use a five-pitch mix out of the bullpen. He had no issues handling left-handed hitters this year, holding them to a .223/.293/.277 slash with a 26% strikeout rate over 123 plate appearances. Keller doesn’t have pristine command but has shown good enough control to work into the middle innings as a starter. While he obviously wouldn’t maintain this past season’s 97.2 MPH average fastball velocity in longer stints, it’s not unreasonable to imagine him sitting 94-95 over five-plus innings.

MLBTR predicted Keller for a three-year, $36MM contract. That baked in the possibility that he could sign somewhere as a starter. That kind of move has become commonplace in recent seasons. Garrett Crochet, Seth Lugo, Michael King, Clay Holmes, Reynaldo López and Jordan Hicks are a few of the pitchers who built back to starting after years of pitching in relief.

The Braves were reportedly set to offer Jeff Hoffman the same opportunity until a flagged physical led them to walk away from a $45-48MM agreement altogether. Luke Weaver said in September that he’d be open to offers as a starter. It’s not without risk — Hicks and A.J. Puk are among the pitchers who simply couldn’t cut it because of command or injury issues — but even an outcome like the López or Holmes conversions would be a solid return on investment for a three-year contract in the $12-14MM range annually.

Aaron Judge Wins AL MVP Award

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Aaron Judge has repeated as the American League MVP. The Yankees star edged out Cal Raleigh and easily cleared third-place finisher José Ramírez to claim his third MVP in four seasons. He’s the thirteenth player in league history to win the award on three occasions.

It was about as tightly contested a race as possible. Judge and Raleigh were 1-2 in some order on all 30 ballots. Judge received 17 first-place votes against Raleigh’s 13. Had two of the Judge voters gone the other way, there would have been co-MVP winners for the first time since Keith Hernandez and Willie Stargell split the NL award in 1979.

That’s a testament to the remarkable seasons turned in by both players. Judge was yet again the best offensive player in baseball. He hit .331/.457/.688 to lead the majors in all three slash stats. Judge paced the AL with 124 walks and 137 runs scored. He finished second behind Raleigh with 53 homers and 114 runs batted in. While Raleigh had the edge in the power counting statistics, Judge’s offensive rate metrics were far better. He walked more, struck out less, and had much better results on balls in play that didn’t clear the fences. Judge had a near .100 point advantage over Raleigh in OBP and more than .080 points above him in average. He won the AL batting title by .020 points over Bo Bichette and Jacob Wilson.

There’s no question that Judge was the more valuable hitter. The case for Raleigh rested on the difficulty of putting up that kind of production as a catcher. The Seattle backstop had one of the greatest seasons ever at the position. He not only became the first catcher in MLB history to reach 50 homers, he cruised to an MLB-high 60 bombs. Raleigh tied for the ninth-most home runs in a season at any position and is tied for third (behind ’22 Judge and 1961 Roger Maris) among hitters who were not connected to performance-enhancing drugs. Raleigh also led the American League with 125 RBI while hitting .247/.359/.589 across 705 plate appearances.

It left voters with a difficult choice: reward the superior hitter or the player who turned in an historic season at the sport’s most demanding position? FanGraphs credited Judge with 10.1 Wins Above Replacement, while Raleigh was at 9.1 WAR. They were easily the top two players in MLB by that metric. Baseball Reference had a slightly bigger gap in Judge’s favor (9.7 to 7.4). Both players were instrumental in getting their teams to the postseason — the Yankees as a Wild Card, Seattle as winners of the AL West.

In the end, voters went with Judge by the narrowest of margins. This was the only of the major awards that was especially close. Shohei Ohtani (NL MVP), Paul Skenes (NL Cy Young), and Nick Kurtz (AL Rookie of the Year) all won unanimously. Tarik Skubal (AL Cy Young) and Drake Baldwin (NL Rookie of the Year) each received more than two-thirds of the first place votes in those categories. The AL MVP was at least somewhat in doubt until the announcement.

Judge has three MVPs and has finished in the top five on five occasions. He’s already a lock for the Hall of Fame and can put himself in truly rarified air if he wins the award once more. Ohtani became only the second player in league history to win a fourth career MVP tonight. Barry Bonds is the record holder with seven such honors. Judge is headed into the fourth season of the nine-year, $360MM free agent deal that he signed to stay in the Bronx over the 2022-23 offseason.

Raleigh has received MVP votes in three straight seasons. He was already one of the sport’s best catchers coming into the season, but this year elevated him to an inner circle of superstars. The M’s signed him to a six-year, $105MM extension just before Opening Day. He’s under contract through 2030 and should remain the face of a wide open competitive window in Seattle. This was his first top three MVP finish.

While Ramírez never stood a chance of winning the award this year, this was his sixth career top five finish. Ramírez has finished in third-place three times and was the runner-up behind José Abreu in 2020. Cleveland’s star third baseman hit .283/.360/.503 and reached 30 homers for the fourth time. He’s putting together a Hall of Fame career and led the Guardians on a late-season run to a second straight AL Central title. Ramírez took a significant hometown discount on a $124MM extension early in the 2022 season. He’s signed for another three years.

It was obvious that every voter would have Judge and Raleigh in the top two. The ballot opened up with the third-place spot. Ramírez led the way with 19 third-place votes and was the only other player who was in the top five on every ballot. Last year’s runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. received nine third-place selections and finished fourth overall. Skubal earned his highest career placement with a fifth-place finish. He and Junior Caminero (who finished ninth overall) received one third-place vote apiece. Julio Rodríguez, George Springer, Garrett Crochet and Jeremy Peña rounded out the top 10. Kurtz was the only other player who received any fourth or fifth place votes. Twenty players appeared on at least one ballot.

Image courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images. Full voter breakdown available via BBWAA.

Shohei Ohtani Wins NL MVP Award

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Shohei Ohtani has his fourth MVP award. As expected, the two-way superstar repeated as NL MVP and has now won the award twice in each league. He’s the second player in MLB history to win a fourth MVP. Barry Bonds won the award seven times. Until tonight, he’d been the only player to earn that title more than thrice. Ohtani won the award unanimously for the third consecutive season and has gotten all 30 first-place votes in all four of his wins.

It’s a third consecutive MVP for the Dodgers slugger. He won the AL version in 2023 during his final season as a member of the Angels. He has taken the crown in both seasons as a Dodger, winning a World Series in each. His $700MM free agent contract is already among the most successful in league history. He’ll have the opportunity to match Bonds’ record of four consecutive MVP wins next season. Bonds won the award as a member of the Giants each season from 2001-04.

Ohtani beats out Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto, the other NL finalists. He led the majors with 146 runs scored while slashing .282/.392/.622 across 727 plate appearances. Ohtani paced the NL in slugging percentage and OPS. He hit a career-high 55 home runs, one back of Schwarber for the Senior Circuit lead. Ohtani’s 102 runs batted in were “only” good for sixth in the NL, though that’s partially because he spent all but one week of the season working out of the leadoff spot.

While Schwarber matched Ohtani from a power perspective, the latter had the advantage of more than .040 points of batting average and .025 points in OBP. He also stole 20 bases and was a far more valuable overall baserunner. That’s before considering his achievements on the mound.

Ohtani finally returned after an extended layoff from pitching following his second career elbow surgery. He chipped in 47 innings of 2.84 ERA ball with 62 strikeouts over 14 starts. Ohtani probably would have won the MVP even if he were simply a DH, as he did in 2024. That he’s also capable of pitching at a top-of-the-rotation level when healthy only reaffirms his status as the sport’s greatest player today and arguably ever.

The award voting takes place at the end of the regular season. Ohtani added another eight homers with a .265/.405/.691 slash over 84 plate appearances in the postseason. He’d been only average during the Dodgers’ World Series run in 2024. That changed this October. Ohtani leveled up when the lights were brightest, hitting .333 with a .500 on-base percentage during the Fall Classic. He set a playoff record with nine times on base during the marathon Game 3, when a couple early homers led Jays manager John Schneider to intentionally walk him every time he came up in extra innings.

Ohtani’s monster showing shouldn’t take away from Schwarber’s phenomenal year. He led the NL in homers and took home the major league RBI crown by driving in 132 runs. Schwarber hit .240/.365/.563 across 724 plate appearances while starting all 162 games for the Phillies. He hit 187 home runs over the course of his four-year, $79MM free agent deal with the Phils and is now set to cash in during a return trip to free agency. Schwarber and Ohtani are tied for second in the majors in homers over the past four seasons, trailing only Aaron Judge. He has received MVP votes in four straight seasons, but this is his first time as a finalist.

Soto just wrapped up the first season of his free agent mega deal with the Mets. It was a disappointing year for the team, as they melted down in September and lost out on a playoff berth to an 83-win Cincinnati club. Soto came under some fire early after getting out to a slow start, but he was a monster from June onward. He finished the year with a .263/.396/.525 slash across 715 trips to the plate. Soto led the majors with 127 walks and paced the NL in on-base percentage. That’s to be expected for the hitter with the game’s best eye. Far more surprising is that he also tied for the NL lead with 38 stolen bases after entering the season with 57 steals over his first six and a half seasons. Soto has never won an MVP but has finished in the top three on three occasions.

FanGraphs credited Ohtani with an NL-best 9.4 wins above replacement between his pitching and hitting. Baseball Reference had him in second place at 7.7 WAR, narrowly behind Cy Young runner-up Cristopher Sánchez at eight WAR. BRef actually had Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo as the WAR leader solely among position players, excluding Ohtani’s pitching stats. Perdomo was second in fWAR behind Ohtani.

Schwarber received 23 of the 30 second-place votes. Four voters had Soto second on their ballot, while the other three placed Perdomo in that spot. The three finalists were the only players who appeared among the top five on all 30 ballots. Trea Turner, Pete Alonso and Freddie Freeman all received one third-place vote, with the rest split between Schwarber, Soto and Perdomo. Perdomo finished in fourth place, while Turner landed in fifth. Cy Young winner Paul Skenes came in sixth and was the top pitcher on the ballot. Corbin Carroll, Fernando Tatis Jr., Pete Crow-Armstrong and Francisco Lindor rounded out the top 10. Twenty three players received at least one vote.

Image courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images. Full vote breakdown available via BBWAA.

Astros GM: “No Interest” In Trading Isaac Paredes

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The Astros appear to have something of a corner infield logjam. They acquired Carlos Correa at the deadline, and Jeremy Peña’s presence meant Correa needed to move to third base. That made sense while Isaac Paredes was injured but is a tougher fit if everyone is healthy. The Astros have Christian Walker signed for two more seasons at first base. Yordan Alvarez remains the primary designated hitter, and the Astros would probably welcome the opportunity to get Jose Altuve more DH at-bats if they could find them.

Based on that glut of corner bats, there’s been speculation about the Astros trading an infielder this offseason. Most of that has revolved around Paredes or Walker, but general manager Dana Brown downplayed the idea that the Astros were looking to move either player. That’s particularly true of Paredes, who turned in a .254/.352/.458 line with 20 homers in 102 games during his first season in Houston.

“He was one of the best guys at seeing pitches and working counts and it’s one of the reasons why we went out and traded for him,” Brown told reporters at the GM Meetings on Wednesday (link via Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle). “We need that value in our lineup. It’s the exact direction we’re trying to take it. We feel like if we trade him it would be weakening our lineup. So right now, we have no interest in trading him.”

Paredes was the centerpiece of the Kyle Tucker return from the Cubs. He ranked fifth on the team in on-base percentage and tied for third in homers despite missing most of the second half with a significant strain of his right hamstring. Paredes returned late in the season but was limited to DH work. Brown said he’s currently at roughly 65% health and will “potentially” be available for Opening Day (via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com).

The 26-year-old’s swing is geared for pull-side pop that makes him an ideal fit in Houston’s Daikin Park, where the Crawford Boxes leave a short porch in left field. The two-time All-Star was an accomplished hitter with the Rays, so it’s not as if he’s only a product of the park, but he’s perfectly tailored even for a lineup that skews very heavily to the right side.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Paredes for a $9.3MM arbitration salary. He’ll go through that process once more before hitting free agency during the 2027-28 offseason. There’d be significant interest if the Astros did decide to shop him, likely for starting pitching, but they’re clearly proceeding as if he’ll be in their lineup. Brown said the Astros are not considering him for a regular role at second base, so he’ll be back mostly in the corners.

While that’d seemingly point in the direction of a Walker trade, the GM indicated that’s not currently under consideration either. “We haven’t talked about Walker in a trade. Walker’s our everyday first baseman,” Brown said. He’s in a much different spot from Paredes. He’s signed for $20MM annually for his age 35-36 seasons. Walker had a team-leading 27 homers this year, but he hit .238 with a career-worst .297 on-base percentage. The three-time Gold Glove winner also posted uncharacteristically middling defensive grades. Baseball Reference felt he was right around replacement level overall, while FanGraphs had him at one WAR.

That’s not the kind of season that would net Walker $20MM per season on a multi-year deal if he were a free agent. The Astros might need to eat around half the money just to move him for a middling return. That would open first base for Paredes and reallocate a bit of payroll room for rotation adds, yet it’d leave them with more dead money on a first baseman right as the José Abreu contract finally comes off the books. The Astros could value Walker’s power and defensive reputation enough to hold him in hope that he rebuilds some value.

Trading Correa or Peña seems even more far-fetched. “We’re not really trying to pull from the infield in the trade market, simply because we feel like all those guys are going to be part of the top of our lineup,” Brown said generally. “I think they’re all going to hit somewhere between 1 and 6. So I wouldn’t try to make any moves from the infield standpoint.” That blanket statement probably doesn’t apply to utility players Ramón Urías or Mauricio Dubón, who are respectively projected for $4.4MM and $5.8MM in their final seasons of arbitration. The Astros could trade or non-tender either or both.

Brown spoke generally about the Astros bouncing players around the diamond to maximize rest opportunities for their veteran hitters. Correa has never played second base, though he’d presumably be capable of doing so. One speculative option would be to get Correa semi-regular second base work on days when Paredes is at the hot corner. They’ll have Altuve continue bouncing between second base, left field and DH with Alvarez splitting time between DH and left.

That carries into an outfield that should feature a couple changes. Houston traded for Jesús Sánchez to add a left-handed bat who could play right field down the stretch. Sánchez played terribly, batting .199/.269/.349 with multiple defensive lapses. He’s projected at a $6.5MM arbitration salary and under club control for two seasons. Chandler Rome of The Athletic writes that the Astros are open to trade inquiries on Sánchez, though it seems more likely they won’t find interest and will simply non-tender him at next Friday’s deadline.

That’ll likely leave the Astros in search of another left-handed hitting outfielder. Rookies Zach Cole and Jacob Melton could factor in but have limited track records. Taylor Trammell is probably on the roster bubble. Moving on from Sánchez and adding someone like Max Kepler, Cedric Mullins or Mike Yastrzemski in free agency would make sense.

Notably, Brown would not commit to second-year outfielder Cam Smith breaking camp in 2026. The former first-rounder, acquired alongside Paredes in the Tucker deal, hit .236/.312/.358 across 493 plate appearances as a rookie. It was hardly a disastrous showing for a player with such limited professional experience, and Smith played an excellent right field despite being drafted as a third baseman. Yet he struggled significantly in the second half (.154/.247/.242) and could be due for a look against Triple-A pitching.

“We saw glimpses of it last year, but we’re going to need him to be more consistent,” Brown said (via Rome). “I would think he comes back and tries to play with more consistency and makes the necessary adjustments, but we have to be open to sending him back to Triple-A if he hasn’t turned the corner. … There’s a lot to be said for guys that work hard in the offseason and then make the necessary adjustments. We’re hoping that Cam does that. If he does that, we’ll be excited.”

Optioning Smith would give the Astros the flexibility to pursue an everyday right fielder. Jake Meyers should be back as the primary center fielder, though Rome reports that Houston has received a fair bit of trade interest in the 29-year-old. That’s to be expected, as Meyers is a plus defender who is coming off a career year at the plate. He hit .292/.354/.373 over 381 plate appearances with dramatically improved strike zone discipline. He’s controllable for another two seasons and projected at a bargain $3.5MM rate. It’s difficult to envision a Houston team already looking for outfielders trading Meyers, but it’s possible another club tries to force their hand by putting a controllable starting pitcher on the table.

Angels Hire Max Stassi As Catching Coach

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The Angels are hiring Max Stassi to serve as their catching coach, general manager Perry Minasian confirmed Wednesday. They’re also adding Keith Johnson and Andy Schatzley to the staff as third base coach and infield coach, respectively. Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register first reported the hires.

Stassi, 34, had not officially announced his retirement as a player. He’s apparently moving into the next phase of his career after playing parts of ten seasons in the big leagues. Stassi had played in Triple-A in the Giants organization this past season, though he spent most of the year on the minor league injured list. His final MLB appearance came in 2022 with the Halos.

Originally a fourth-round pick of the A’s, Stassi was traded to the Astros before he reached Double-A. He debuted with Houston in 2013 and spent the next few seasons as a third catcher on the organizational depth chart. Stassi technically logged parts of seven big league seasons with the Astros, but he combined for just 163 games over that stretch. Only once did he play more than 31 games in a season.

The Angels acquired Stassi in what seemed like a minor deal at the 2019 deadline. He struggled down the stretch but exceeded expectations over the next couple seasons. Stassi hit .278 with seven homers in 31 games during the shortened 2020 schedule. He popped a career-high 13 longballs with a .241/.326/.426 batting line over 319 trips to the plate a year later.

Stassi signed a three-year, $17.5MM extension going into the 2022 season. The Halos gave him the lion’s share of work behind the dish, while Kurt Suzuki served as the backup catcher. Stassi took a career-high 375 plate appearances but slumped to a .180/.267/.303 batting line. That unfortunately will go down as his final MLB action. He missed the entire ’23 season — first because of a hip injury, then attending to a family situation after his son was born three months premature and required several months in NICU.

The Angels traded Stassi to the Braves as part of a shuffling of dead money over the 2023-24 offseason. Atlanta immediately released him, leading to a free agent deal with the White Sox. Stassi’s bothersome hip led him to begin the season back on the injured list, and he underwent season-ending surgery in July. He wasn’t able to stay healthy in the minors last season either, so he’s now moving into coaching. He finishes his playing days with a .212/.295/.361 slash with 41 home runs in a little more than 400 games. He drove in 128 runs and collected 241 hits.

Stassi’s jump into coaching comes with his old team and on his former catching mate’s staff. Suzuki is headed into his first season as an MLB manager. They tabbed an experienced bench coach in John Gibbons and a highly-respected veteran pitching coach in Mike Maddux. Adam Eaton gets his first MLB coaching opportunity as first base/outfield coach.

Johnson and Schatzley had each been managers in the Halos’ farm system — Johnson at Triple-A Salt Lake, Schatzley with Double-A Rocket City. The 54-year-old Johnson has managed in the organization for 14 years. He’d previously worked on the MLB staff as an infield coach and spent a couple seasons as first base coach of the Marlins. He appeared in six games for the Angels in 2000, his only big league playing experience. Schatzley, 41, has managed in the system for the past five seasons after spending nearly a decade in the college ranks. This is his first role on an MLB staff.

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.

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