Red Sox Designate Luis Guerrero For Assignment
The Red Sox announced that right-hander Luis Guerrero has been designated for assignment. The Sox had several players who needed to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list and needed to open a 40-man spot.
Many teams in the league face roster crunches at this time of year. The 60-day IL goes away five days after the World Series and doesn’t come back until spring training. When players are reinstated from the 60-day IL, they need to retake spots on the 40-man roster. Some players will reach free agency, which opens some space, but teams often end up needing to open spots. This move gets the Sox to 40 for now, but they will probably want to open more spots later. They will likely want to add players ahead of this month’s Rule 5 deadline, in addition to signing free agents throughout the winter.
Guerrero, 25, was a 17th-round pick in the 2021 draft. Exclusively a reliever, he worked his way up the minor league ladder. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in September of last year. He has mostly been kept in the minors.
Between last year and this year, he has thrown 27 1/3 big league innings with a 2.63 earned run average. His 44.4% ground ball rate is decent but his 17.6% strikeout rate and 14.8% walk rate are poor figures. His ERA is being held down by a tiny .205 batting average on balls in play. His 3.51 FIP and 5.28 SIERA suggest he’s been quite fortunate in this small sample. His fastball averages in the upper 90s while he also throws a slider and a changeup.
In the minors, he has occasionally shown good strikeout stuff but also with poor control. From 2022 to 2024, he tossed 147 2/3 innings on the farm with a 2.93 ERA. He walked 13.4% of batters faced but also punched them out at a 32.1% clip. In 2025, his minor league results backed up. He tossed 26 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 4.39 ERA, 19.8% strikeout rate and 14.7% walk rate.
He was placed on the major league injured list in late June due to a right elbow sprain. He was transferred to the 60-day IL. He finished the season there, though he did pitch in the minors on a rehab assignment before the season was done.
Presumably, his tough year contributed to him getting nudged off the roster. The Sox will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks will have to take place in the next five days. Guerrero is coming off a tough year but still has options and has shown flashes of potential in the minors.
Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images
Dodgers Exercise Club Options On Max Muncy, Alex Vesia
The Dodgers have exercised a $10MM club option to bring back third baseman Max Muncy. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic was among those to relay the news. They will also pick up their $3.65MM option on left-hander Alex Vesia, per Ardaya. In other news, Ardaya notes that the Dodgers are adding outfielder Ryan Ward to the 40-man roster.
There was never much suspense about these decisions. Munch has been a key contributor on the Dodgers for close to a decade now. He missed some time this year due to a bone bruise in his left knee and an oblique strain, but still managed to produce when he was on the field. He hit 19 home runs in 100 games and drew a walk in 16.5% of his 388 plate appearances. He put up a .243/.376/.470 line, which translates to a 137 wRC+.
He and the Dodgers clearly love each other, as the two parties have worked out multiple contract extensions. They signed a three-year, $26MM deal back in 2020. Late in 2022, they tacked another year on. After the 2023 season, they signed a two-year, $24MM extension with a $10MM club option for 2026 with no buyout. Barring some kind of surprising offseason trade, Muncy will be back to man third base for the Dodgers in his age-35 season.
Vesia, 30 in April, is going into his third and final arbitration season. In January of 2025, he and the Dodgers appeared headed for a hearing to decide on his 2025 salary. He had filed at $2.35MM with the team at $2.05MM. They avoided that hearing by agreeing to a one-year deal plus a club option for 2026. Vesia would get a $2.3MM guarantee in the form of a $2.25MM salary in 2025 plus a $50K buyout on the $3.55MM club option. Vesia could add $50K to the option by pitching in 60 games with another $50K for 65 games, plus another $75K for 70 games. He got into 68 contests this year, therefore bumping the option price to $3.65MM.
His performance was quite strong this year. He logged 59 2/3 innings with a 3.02 earned run average, 33.8% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate. He also made seven postseason appearances, though he had to miss the World Series due to a family matter.
Even if the Dodgers turned down the option, Vesia still would have been controllable via arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Vesia for a $4.1MM salary next year. If the Dodgers had similar projections internally, then picking up the option was the cheaper path. It’s also the easier path, when considering the sides almost went to a hearing last year and Vesia has been dealing with that aforementioned family matter. Put it all together and triggering the option was the obvious call.
Ward, 28 in February, gets added to the roster to prevent him from becoming a minor league free agent. The Dodgers selected him in the eighth round of the draft back in 2019. He has proven to be a reliable power bat in the minors, having hit between 21 and 36 homers in each season since 2021. He hit 36 long balls in Triple-A this year with a 12.7% walk rate and 18.7% strikeout rate. He slashed .290/.380/.557 for a 132 wRC+.
A grain of salt is required since that was his third year at the level. He’s a bit old to be considered a prospect. He is also graded as a poor defender, even in an outfield corner. However, the Dodgers didn’t want him to get away. The Dodgers obviously have a strong roster but the outfield is a relative weak spot. The Michael Conforto signing didn’t work out. Andy Pages saw his bat disappear in the playoffs. Teoscar Hernández had some timely hits but also some defensive and baserunning mistakes. Ward gives them a bat-first depth option with a full slate of options.
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Orioles To Claim Pedro León
The Orioles have claimed outfielder Pedro León off waivers from the Astros, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. It was reported earlier this week that Houston had put several players on waivers, including León, as they looked to clear out some roster space. The O’s will need to make space on their 40-man roster to make the move official.
Baltimore is taking a flier on a post-hype prospect. León was a high-profile signing out of Cuba several years ago. In January of 2021, the Astros gave him a $4MM signing bonus. He was ranked as one of the top prospects in the system for the next few years. He’s now 27 years old, turning 28 in May, but hasn’t yet delivered on that hype. He has only appeared in seven big league games thus far. He struck out in 10 of his 21 plate appearances as he has produced a .100/.143/.100 line.
That’s obviously a tiny sample of work but his minor league track record also isn’t great. From 2021 to 2023, he hit .233/.350/.419 on the farm. That offense translates to a 104 wRC+, indicating he was above average but barely. He struck out in 29% of his plate appearances in that time.
In 2024, he had a monster .299/.372/.514 showing in Triple-A. He still struck out at a fairly high 27% clip but that offense was good enough for a 130 wRC+, even in the hitter-friendly context of the Pacific Coast League. Here in 2025, a sprained MCL in his left knee limited him to just 22 Triple-A contests. He hit .241/.312/.422 for a wRC+ of 89 in those.
Obviously, the Astros were hoping for more when they signed him. The Orioles are hoping that a late-bloomer breakout can come in their organization. León is still optionable, so they could keep him in the minors. He showed big potential in 2024 before the injury-marred 2025. Ideally, the O’s will get a healthy and productive season from León in 2026. If that comes to pass, he could push his way into their outfield mix as the season goes along. Currently, that group includes Colton Cowser, Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Beavers, Jeremiah Jackson, Leody Taveras and others.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images
Padres Hire Craig Stammen As Manager
The Padres announced that they have signed former big leaguer Craig Stammen to a three-year deal to serve as their new manager. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Stammen’s hiring prior to the official announcement.
“Craig has been a strong presence in our organization for nearly a decade,” president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said in the press release. “He possesses deep organizational knowledge and brings natural leadership qualities to the Manager’s chair. As both a player and in his post-playing career, Craig has displayed an ability to elevate those around him. His strength of character, competitive nature and talent for bringing people together make him the ideal choice to lead the Padres.”
It’s yet another out-of-the-blue development from San Diego. Shortly after the Padres were eliminated from the postseason, initial reporting indicated that manager Mike Shildt was likely to stay for the 2026 season. A few days later, he surprisingly stepped down, amid reporting that Shildt’s relationship with other club employees was quite poor.
Now the news of Shildt’s replacement also comes as a surprise. Prior to the news of Stammen’s hiring, there had been no public indication that he was even a candidate for the job. Names like Ryan Flaherty, Ruben Niebla, Albert Pujols and Nick Hundley were connected to the job over the past month. Last week, reporting from Acee indicated that there were “no more than four” finalists, with Pujols, Niebla and Hundley being three of them. It would now appear that Stammen was the mystery fourth candidate.
It’s also a surprising development in that Stammen has no prior managerial or even coaching experience. He pitched in the big leagues from 2009 to 2022. The first seven of those seasons came with the Nationals and the final six with the Padres. He signed a minor league deal with the Padres going into 2023 but then suffered a major shoulder injury during spring training. He announced his retirement a few months later. In January of 2024, the Padres hired him in a player development role.
Despite the lack of dugout experience, apart from his time as a player, the Padres seem to feel that Stammen is the man for the job. They obviously know him well, as their relationship with him goes back at years at this point, combining his playing days with his recent player development role.
Still, it’s a notable gambit for the team to take, as the wobbly manager’s chair in San Diego has been a topic of conversation for years. Preller was hired back in 2014, with the Padres rebuilding for a while. Going into 2020, as they hoped the rebuild was over, they hired Jayce Tingler to be their new skipper. At the time, Tingler had a few years of coaching experience but was just 38 years old and had never been a manager. The Padres performed well in the shortened 2020 season but disappointed in 2021 amid reports that Tingler lost the clubhouse.
Going into 2022, they went for a more seasoned manager. They hired Bob Melvin, who was 60 years old and had almost two decades of managerial experience. The Friars made the playoffs in 2022 but disappointed in 2023. There were whispers that Melvin and Preller didn’t get along. The Padres let Melvin interview with the division-rival Giants and he jumped ship prior to the 2024 season.
Shildt, another baseball lifer with lots of coaching and managerial experience, was hired two years ago. The Padres won at least 90 games in each of his seasons but, as mentioned, recent reports have indicated that things weren’t pretty behind the scenes. It was also recently reported that Preller preferred to hire Ryan Flaherty over Shildt but he may have been overruled by ownership. Flaherty was 37 years old and barely removed from his playing days at the time.
Stammen, 41, is seemingly more towards the Tingler/Flaherty end of the spectrum than the Melvin/Shildt side. Perhaps that may not matter and the Padres just feel that, as an individual, he is the best man for the job. Stammen will have to jump right to the helm and try to steer the Padres forward. The club has had a lot of success in recent years and is surely hoping for more. The roster is filled with expensive veteran star players and all signs point to them continuing to attempt to contend.
For those who missed out on the gig, they are mostly out of chances for a managerial job. There were several managerial vacancies this winter but this was one of the last ones to be filled. The Rockies are the last club without a skipper, though a decision for that job is not imminent. The Rockies are first planning to hire a new front office leader. Whoever gets that job will then start the search for the club’s next manager. Dennis Lin of The Athletic relays that Niebla was the other finalist for the Padres’ job. Alden González of ESPN says Niebla is expected to return to the Friars as pitching coach next year.
Photos courtesy of Orlando Ramirez, Imagn Images
MLBTR Podcast: Offseason Preview Megapod: Top Trade Candidates
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The 2025 World Series between the Dodgers and Blue Jays (1:55)
- The Cubs letting Shota Imanaga becoming a free agent (9:05)
- Ha-Seong Kim opting out of his deal with the Braves (19:00)
- MLBTR’s list of the Top 40 Trade Candidates for the offseason (28:15)
- The Cardinals having six guys on the list (32:15)
- Why the Nationals will likely make MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams available (42:40)
- The Twins, Joe Ryan, Pablo López and Ryan Jeffers (54:05)
- The Pirates have a bunch of pitchers they could trade (1:06:20)
- The Rays, Pete Fairbanks and Brandon Lowe (1:18:05)
- The Brewers and Freddy Peralta (1:25:50)
- The Marlins having some arms who could move (1:31:50)
- Tyler Soderstrom of the Athletics, who did not make the list (1:41:40)
- A theoretical trade sending Brady Singer to the Angels and Taylor Ward to the Reds (1:47:20)
Check out our past episodes!
- Bo Bichette’s Health, Kazuma Okamoto, And Dylan Cease’s Market – listen here
- The Phillies’ Outfield, Tarik Skubal, And Hiring College Coaches – listen here
- Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason, Managerial Vacancies, And More! – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
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Reds Decline Options On Brent Suter, Scott Barlow, Austin Hays
The Reds announced that they have turned down three contract options. Outfielder Austin Hays had a $12MM mutual option on his deal but the club has declined that in favor of giving him a $1MM buyout. Right-hander Scott Barlow receives a $1MM buyout instead of a $6.5MM club option. Left-hander Brent Suter gets a $250K buyout instead of a $3MM club option. All three players are now free agents.
None of the three decisions is a shock, though there did seem to be a chance of Suter being brought back. His earned run average jumped up to 4.52 this year and he’s now 36 years old but the price isn’t egregious. He also has a strong clubhouse reputation and local ties as a guy who played high school ball in Cincinnati.
It seems that wasn’t enough for the Reds to overlook the numbers. As mentioned, his age and ERA both crept up this year. He is still doing a good job limiting hard contact, so he should still be in line for a gig somewhere. Perhaps the Reds will circle back to him and try to bring him back at a lower price point.
Barlow, 33 in December, signed with the Reds last offseason. The one-year deal came with a $2.5MM guarantee in the form of a $1.5MM salary plus the aforementioned option buyout. His 4.21 ERA this year was fairly close to last year’s 4.25 but with concerning trends under the hood. His strikeout rate dropped from 28.2% last year to 24.8% this year, his walk rate climbed from 12.9% to 14.9% and his grounder rate dropped from 47.1% to 42.9%.
Though the ERA held fairly steady, given the direction of the other numbers, it’s understandable that the Reds didn’t want to give him a relatively hefty raise. The Reds aren’t a big spender and will have about the same payroll next year, so they are keeping some powder dry for now.
As for Hays, his option always seemed destined to be bought out. It’s been over a decade since a mutual option was triggered by both sides. They are usually added to contracts as a way for the team to delay paying part of the guarantee. The Reds signed Hays last winter to a one-year, $5MM deal, with a $4MM salary and then the $1MM buyout on the $12MM mutual option.
He had a decent season, slashing .266/.315/.453 for a 105 wRC+, but that wasn’t going to be enough for the Reds to double his salary. He’ll head out to the open market to look for his next opportunity. That will likely come from a club in need of help against southpaws. Hays swings right-handed and has been better against lefty pitchers in his career. That includes a .319/.400/.549 line and 155 wRC+ in 2025.
Photo courtesy of Aaron Doster, Imagn Images
Rangers Claim Willie MacIver, Michel Otañez
The Rangers announced that they have claimed catcher Willie MacIver and right-hander Michel Otañez from the Athletics. Additionally, Texas has outrighted outfielders Dustin Harris and Billy McKinney. Both outfielders have elected free agency.
There wasn’t any previous indication that the A’s had put anyone on waivers or designated anyone for assignment. However, roster maintenance is common at this time of year. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the World Series, which can often lead to roster crunches.
MacIver, 29, is a longtime depth catcher who just made his major league debut. He was initially drafted by the Rockies back in 2018 and finally got to the show with the A’s in 2025. He got into 33 games and slashed .186/.252/.324. His Triple-A work this year was much better, as he put up an eye-popping line of .362/.426/.541. That took place in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and was aided by a .428 batting average on balls in play, but it was nonetheless enough to intrigue the Rangers.
Texas has Jonah Heim and Kyle Higashioka on the roster. MacIver is the clear #3 catcher on the roster for now. He still has options and can be kept in Triple-A as depth, though his path to big league playing time could open up if the Rangers decide to shake things up with a trade. For the A’s, they still have Shea Langeliers as their primary backstop. Austin Wynns is also on the roster for now but he’s a non-tender candidate, so perhaps they will look to add more depth this winter.
Otañez, 28, has been on the Athletics’ 40-man since the summer of 2024. He has thrown 39 1/3 big league innings with a 4.81 earned run average. His 34.1% strikeout rate is impressive but he’s also walked 14% of batters faced. He has also tossed 55 minor league innings since the start of 2024 with a 6.05 ERA, 31.8% strikeout rate and 16.5% walk rate. The righty has powerful stuff, averaging in the upper 90s with his fastball, but clear control issues. He is still optionable, so the Rangers could keep him in the minors as they try to help him harness his arsenal.
Harris, 26, was once a notable prospect but his stock has faded in recent years. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has taken almost 2,000 minor league plate appearances with a .268/.364/.428 line and 103 wRC+. He has also stepped to the plate 50 times in the majors with a .217/.280/.435 line. He exhausted his final option season in 2025. The Rangers outrighted him to the minors in August but re-selected him later. Since this is his second career outright, he has the right to elect free agency.
McKinney, 31, is somewhat similar. He is also a former prospect who hasn’t delivered much on the hype. He has received almost 1,000 big league plate appearances but has produced a .209/.283/.382 line and 79 wRC+. He was added to the Texas roster late in the year as they were playing out the string. He has the right to elect free agency both due to having a previous career outright and three years of big league service time.
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Mariners Acquire Cole Wilcox From Rays
The Mariners have acquired right-hander Cole Wilcox from the Rays in exchange for cash considerations, per announcements from both clubs. The righty had been designated for assignment by the Rays earlier in the week. The M’s had 40-man space thanks to players recently becoming free agents.
Wilcox, now 26, came to the Rays in the December 2020 trade which sent Blake Snell to San Diego. The righty required Tommy John surgery in September of 2021, which wiped out most of his 2022. In the following two years, the Rays kept developing him as a starter in the minors, with fairly uninspiring results. In 250 1/3 innings over those two seasons, he had a 4.28 earned run average, 19.8% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate.
In 2025, he was used primarily as a reliever, which seemed to help him find a new gear. He tossed 58 1/3 innings over 39 appearances on the farm with a 3.70 ERA. His 10.8% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 25.1% of batters faced and got grounders on 50.3% of balls in play. The Rays added him to the 40-man in September and he tossed one big league inning, allowing three earned runs.
With the injured list going away this week, the Rays needed to open up some roster space and Wilcox was one of the casualties. Conversely, the Mariners had a few open roster spots and have used one to grab Wilcox. Seattle has a pretty good track record of coaxing good results from low-profile pickups like this, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Wilcox flourish with his new club. Even if that is setting expectations too high, he has a full slate of options and can serve as a depth arm in Triple-A.
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Orioles Claim George Soriano, Designate Daniel Johnson For Assignment
The Orioles announced that they have claimed right-hander George Soriano off waivers from the Marlins. Outfielder Daniel Johnson has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
There wasn’t any previous indication that Soriano had been designated for assignment or put on waivers, but roster maintenance is common at this time of year. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the end of the World Series, which can often lead to roster crunches. RosterResource projects the Marlins to have 46 players on their 40-man roster. Soriano clears up one spot but further moves will be necessary this week.
Soriano, 27 in March, joins a new organization for the first time in his career. The Marlins signed him as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic way back in 2015. He climbed his way up the minor league ladder, initially as a starter but with more time as a reliever as he got to the higher levels. He was added to the 40-man roster in November 2022 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
He has spent the past three years as an up-and-down arm, getting shuttled between Miami and Triple-A Jacksonville. He hasn’t had a ton of major league success so far. In 118 innings, he has allowed 5.95 earned runs per nine. His 22% strikeout rate is close to average but his 10.3% walk rate is high and his 38.7% ground ball rate is low. He did show some potential in Triple-A this year. He logged 42 2/3 innings for the Jumbo Shrimp with a 2.32 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 55.7% ground ball rate.
Soriano has exhausted his option years and is therefore out of options going forward. That presumably led the Marlins to nudge him off the roster. The Orioles have a lot of work to do on the bullpen. They traded away a number of relievers at last year’s deadline and then lost Félix Bautista to a shoulder surgery. Soriano could compete for a bullpen job in the spring, though it’s also possible they look to pass him through waivers at some point in the offseason.
Some things last a long time but not Johnson’s most recent stint on Baltimore’s roster. The 30-year-old was claimed off waivers from the Giants in August. He has 152 big league plate appearances over four separate seasons, with a dismal .196/.243/.322 slash line. In the minors, he has generally performed better at the plate, with some speed to boot. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has a .266/.331/.464 line and 105 wRC+ with 54 stolen bases.
He’s a solid speed-and-defense depth outfielder but he exhausted his final option season in 2025. He was going to have a hard time holding onto a roster spot next year, so the O’s have bumped him off today in order to grab Soriano. Johnson has a previous career outright, so he will have the right to elect free agency if he is passed through waivers unclaimed.
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Braves Hire Jeremy Hefner, Antoan Richardson
The Braves announced that they have hired Jeremy Hefner as pitching coach and Antoan Richardson as first base coach. Henfer replaces Rick Kranitz while Richardson replaces Tom Goodwin. Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports that third base coach Fredi Gonzalez won’t be returning to Atlanta next year either.
Atlanta is plucking a couple of coaches from a division rival. Over a month ago, it was reported that the Mets would be making major coaching changes. That included moving on from Hefner, their longtime pitching coach. More recently, it was reported that Richardson would be moving on from the Mets as well. Both of them now retake their previous jobs but in Atlanta instead of Queens.
Hefner, now 39, had a brief major league career. He pitched for the Mets in 2012 and 2013, making 50 appearances, before multiple Tommy John surgeries intervened. Once his playing days were over, he was hired by the Twins as an advance scout. He worked his way up to an assistant pitching coach role. The Mets hired him as their pitching coach prior to the 2020 season.
It’s always tough to separate the contributions of one coach from several individual players, but the team performed decently under Hefner’s watch. From 2020 to 2025, the Mets had a collective 4.03 earned run average, good enough for 11th in the majors. He’ll now head to Atlanta to join a club looking for a bounceback after an extremely disappointing 2025 campaign.
Bringing one pitching coach aboard means another is on his way out. Kranitz, 67, has spent most of the past two decades as a pitching coach in the big leagues. He first got that job with the Marlins in 2006 and has since gone to the Orioles, Brewers and Phillies.
Atlanta hired him ahead of the 2019 season. They had just finished a 90-72 campaign in 2018 but parted ways with pitching coach Chuck Hernandez afterwards. The club has had a lot of success under Kranitz but has been struggling more recently. Atlanta won the National League East in Kranitz’s first five seasons, a run which included a World Series win in 2021. However, they slid to a Wild Card spot in 2024 and then this past season was a nightmare. Atlanta finished 2025 in fourth place in the East with a 76-86 record. Evidently, it was time for a change.
Richardson, 42, has had various coaching roles with the Giants and Mets over the years. He has settled in more recently as a first base coach, having had that job with the Giants from 2020 to 2023 and with the Mets for the past two years.
Goodwin, 57, has coached for various clubs over the years. He spent the past two seasons as first base coach in Atlanta but will be looking for a new gig for 2026. Gonzalez, 61, has also bounced around to various teams. A lot of those bounces have been in Atlanta. He was on the coaching staff from 2003 to 2006 and was the manager from 2011 to 2016. He returned to the club in June of this year, a rare midseason replacement, taking the job from Matt Tuiasosopo.
Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images