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Former Rangers Owner Tom Hicks Passes Away

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The Rangers announced this morning that Tom Hicks has passed away at the age of 79. Hicks owned the Rangers from 1998 to 2010. The club released a statement about Hicks’s passing.

“Mr. Hicks was a passionate and competitive owner and Texas Rangers fan,” the statement read. “The club extends its thoughts and prayers to Mr. Hicks’ wife Cinda, his six children and his entire family as they mourn a legendary Texas businessman, philanthropist, and sportsman.“

A private equity investor based in Dallas, Hicks made over $1B as part of a partnership that invested in soft drink brands Dr. Pepper and 7 Up and merged the two companies together in the late 1980s. Hicks moved into sports franchise ownership when he purchased the NHL’s Dallas Stars in 1995. It was just a few years later in 1998 that Hicks purchased the Rangers from an investment group managed by future U.S. President George W. Bush. He would later go on to purchase Liverpool F.C. in 2007.

The Rangers found immediate success under Hicks’s ownership with back-to-back AL West titles led by future Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez. The team began to struggle in 2000, however, and that led Hicks to sign superstar Alex Rodriguez to a ten-year, $252MM contract that shattered records at the time during the 2000-01 offseason’s Winter Meetings. While A-Rod hit an incredible .305/.395/.615 over the 2001-03 seasons with 156 home runs and 27.0 fWAR, his supporting cast left much to be desired around the rest of the roster and the Rangers lost 90, 91, and 89 games during his three years with the franchise.

That spurred Hicks to trade Rodriguez following the 2003 season, and he was dealt to the Yankees in exchange for Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias during the 2003-04 offseason. New York picked up $112MM of the $179MM remaining on Rodriguez’s contract. The Yankees went on to win the 2009 World Series with Rodriguez in tow, and A-Rod added two more MVP trophies to his mantle after winning his first with Texas in 2003. Meanwhile, the Rangers continued to struggle to break back into relevance. They did manage to win 89 games the year after the Rodriguez trade in 2004, but finished third in a highly competitive AL West and missed out on the postseason nonetheless.

It took until the 2009 season for the Rangers to be back on the upswing, when they won 87 games and once again narrowly missed out on a postseason berth with a roster headlined by Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz, and the rookie season of Elvis Andrus. That season was stained, however, by the club’s inability to sign first-rounder Matt Purke. Purke and the Rangers verbally agreed on a $6MM bonus after he was drafted, but the Rangers ultimately backed out of it. While Hicks contended that the club simply was unwilling to spend that amount to sign the 14th-overall selection in that year’s draft, team president Nolan Ryan suggested that the team’s finances were being closely monitored by the league at the time, who rejected the $6MM expenditure.

In January of 2010, Hicks announced that he had agreed to sell the Rangers to a group led by Ryan and Chuck Greenberg. The sale was delayed by a number of legal and financial issues throughout the year, including Hicks Sports Group filing for bankruptcy in May. The franchise was ultimate put up for public auction in August of 2010, which the group led by Ryan and Greenberg won. That ended Hicks’s tenure with the Rangers, and he went on to sell Liverpool a few months later as well as the Stars the following year.

While Hicks’s time with the Rangers ended in rocky fashion, the personnel who were hired to oversee the team during his tenure (including Ryan, GM Jon Daniels and manager Ron Washington) managed to lead the Rangers to great success on the field in spite of this off-the-field drama. The Rangers won back-to-back AL pennants during the 2010 and ’11 seasons, with 90- and 96-win campaigns thanks to impact performances from stars Josh Hamilton and (in the case of 2011) Adrian Beltre.

MLB Trade Rumors extends our condolences to Hicks’s family, friends and loved ones.

Royals Interested In Re-Signing Mike Yastrzemski, Adam Frazier

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After doing some light buying at the trade deadline over the summer in order to keep themselves in contention, the Royals have some interest in reuniting with two of the rental bats they brought on board back in July. According to a report from Jaylon Thompson of The Kansas City Star, the club has interest in reunions with both outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and second baseman Adam Frazier.

That the Royals would want to bring Yastrzemski back into the fold is hardly a surprise. The 35-year-old veteran was a late bloomer with the Giants who didn’t debut in the majors until his age-28 season, but he’s been a consistently above-average hitter in seven seasons since then. Over the past three years, Yastrzemski is a .232/.322/.426 (107 wRC+) hitter with a 23.4% strikeout rate against an excellent 11.0% walk rate. He’s a consistent source of decent power as well, typically offering 15 to 20 homers and 20 to 30 doubles in a given season.

All of that already points to Yastrzemski offering a solid floor for an outfield that desperately needs stability, but Yastrzemski also impressed in a big way after being dealt from San Francisco to Kansas City down the stretch last year. While the team wasn’t able to squeak into the playoffs, Yastrzemski delivered a phenomenal performance with nine home runs and a 127 wRC+ in 50 games for the Royals while also walking (13.4%) more often than he struck out (11.8%). All of this occurred in a small sample of just 186 plate appearances, but if Yastrzemski could turn in a performance even close to that in 2026 he’d surely be one of the biggest bargains in this winter’s free agent class.

As for Frazier, a reunion for the 2026 campaign would mark the soon to be 34-year-old’s third stint in Kansas City across three seasons. Frazier struggled badly as a Royal in 2024, posting a wRC+ of 65 across 104 games in a part-time role. He rejoined the team in a trade with the Pirates at this summer’s deadline, however, and turned in a much more respectable performance. In 197 plate appearances with the Royals, Frazier slashed .283/.320/.402 with a wRC+ of 98 to lift his season-long figure across 134 games to 89. Frazier lacks the track record of consistent above-average offensive that Yastrzemski offers but would help back up Michael Massey and Jonathan India at second base, which proved to be a major hole for the Royals last season.

Neither player’s contract figures to break the bank, which is surely part of why Kansas City is interested in re-upping with both players. Club payroll isn’t expected to go up much in 2026 if it does at all, and with the team already projected by RosterResource for $139MM in payroll ($1MM more than last season) the Royals find themselves in a bit of a financial bind as they look to reshape their offense. They’ve already expressed a willingness to deal from their rotation mix in order to bring in offense, but with holes all over the outfield and on the bench they’ll surely need to add more than one bat if they hope to improve their offense in 2026. That’s where a cheaper free agent addition like Yastrzemski or Frazier could come in, providing roughly average production at an affordable rate.

Red Sox, Rays, Tigers Among Teams To “Check In” On Ketel Marte

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The Red Sox, Rays, and Tigers are among the teams to have checked in with the Diamondbacks regarding star second baseman Ketel Marte, according to a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale this morning. Reporting last month indicated that at least seven teams had inquired after Marte with Arizona, and this trio of names joins the Phillies and Blue Jays as known teams with interest in Marte’s services. None of this should be taken as an indication that a trade is necessarily close or expected; D-backs GM Mike Hazen emphasized at the outset of the offseason that a trade of Marte was “mostly unlikely.”

Marte, 32, is a three-time All-Star who was an MVP finalist just last year. Easily one of the best offensive infield talents in the game at the moment, Marte is slashing .283/.368/.519 (140 wRC+) over the past three years with 15.3 fWAR. That’s good for he ninth-best wRC+ and 12th-highest fWAR total of any position player over the stretch, and his 145 wRC+ in 126 games this year led all infielders. It’s easy to see, then, why so many teams would be interested in the star’s services if the Diamondbacks were to decide to make him available. That’s especially true given that he remains an above-average defender at second base with +10 Outs Above Average at the position over the past three years.

That might make it hard to imagine why the Diamondbacks would even consider dealing one of their franchise’s biggest stars, but Arizona will need to re-evaluate much of its future after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and falling to fourth in the NL West this past year despite record-setting payroll numbers for the franchise. The Diamondbacks haven’t been shy about the idea that their current spending isn’t sustainable, and getting the $101MM owed to Marte over the next five years off the books would surely help pay for players like Corbin Carroll and Corbin Burnes who are already on longer deals themselves.

In addition to potential financial concerns, the Diamondbacks clearly need to bolster a rotation that will not only be without Burnes for most (if not all) of 2026 as he rehabs Tommy John surgery, but also saw Zac Gallen head into free agency this winter and lost Merrill Kelly in a trade with the Rangers over the summer. Even with his nine-figure contract, Marte would surely bring back a haul of pitching talent if traded, leaving Arizona in a position where they at least have to consider offers from clubs loaded with young talent to offer.

All three of the clubs mentioned by Nightengale certainly fit that description. The Red Sox are overflowing with controllable starting pitching talent at this point. After adding Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo to a rotation that already included Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, and Patrick Sandoval this winter, Boston’s rotation mix appears to be more or less set headed into 2026. That leaves players like Connelly Early, Payton Tolle, Kyle Harrison, Hunter Dobbins, and Kutter Crawford without clear paths to regular starts.

While some of those pieces will surely be kept around as depth and protection against injury, the team could certainly afford to part ways with some of that pitching talent in order to bring in a player of Marte’s caliber. That could be especially appealing for Boston given reports that the club wants to add multiple big bats to the lineup this winter but may not have the financial flexibility to do so through the free agent market. In addition, the Sox could also a young position player to help replace Marte in Arizona’s lineup such as Triston Casas and Kristian Campbell.

Turning to the Rays, they’d be a surprising fit for Marte’s services to say the least. The team’s financial flexibility is said to be very limited this winter, as is typically the case for a team that routinely runs a payroll below $100MM. That led the club to decline their one-year option on righty Pete Fairbanks and even is spurring some rumors about the possibility of a Brandon Lowe trade. With that being said, however, a fit isn’t completely impossible to imagine. The Rays have always operated in creative and unconventional ways, after all, and replacing Lowe with Marte would only add $4MM to the team’s budget for this year due to the structure of Marte’s contract.

That could allow the Rays to add a major offensive upgrade for a year or two before looking to flip the veteran to another club when his contract gets more expensive in later seasons. It wouldn’t be the first time the Rays have weighed the possibility of adding a star-caliber player, as they pursued Freddie Freeman in free agency and considered attempting to pull off a Shohei Ohtani trade at the 2023 trade deadline. Of course, that was under Stu Sternberg’s ownership, and how exactly Patrick Zalupski will differ from his predecessor on these matters is yet to be seen. The biggest question regarding a possible Marte pursuit from the Rays mostly has to do with what they could offer in return; young starters like Shane Baz and Ryan Pepiot would certainly be enticing, but both figure to be key pieces of a somewhat depleted Rays rotation in 2026.

As for the Tigers, the club figures to be hungry to improve in what could be Tarik Skubal’s final year with the organization. Detroit has one of the league’s very best farm systems, and while their best prospects lean more towards the positional side of things, a young pitcher like Troy Melton would surely have plenty of appeal for the Diamondbacks if surrounded by other top talent. Marte’s fit with the Tigers might be a bit complicated in 2026 given that Gleyber Torres accepted the qualifying offer and will return to the keystone next year, but Detroit has shown a willingness to get creative with its players’ positions in the past. It’s also worth noting that, while Marte has played second base exclusively in recent years, he does have nearly 1300 innings under his belt in center field, which saw Detroit rely on players like Parker Meadows and Javier Baez in 2025.

The Opener: Winter Meetings, Red Sox, Eras Committee

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on headed into the weekend:

1. Winter Meetings to begin:

The Winter Meetings are set to begin next week, which means on Sunday players, agents, and executives alike from around the game will begin flocking to Orlando. There’s been plenty of trade and free agent activity already. Impact free agents like Devin Williams and Dylan Cease have already signed, and the trade market has been buzzing all winter long with deals like the Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien swap, Boston’s acquisition of Sonny Gray, and last night’s five-player deal between the Pirates and Red Sox. The activity should only ratchet up from here leading up to and throughout the meetings, with plenty of exciting moves to come in the next few days. Be sure to stay tuned in to MLBTR for all the latest rumors and deals!

2. Red Sox loading up on pitching:

Yesterday’s aforementioned trade saw Boston ship top outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia (along with pitching prospect Jesus Travieso) to Pittsburgh for a package consisting of right-hander Johan Oviedo, minor league lefty Tyler Samaniego, and catching prospect Adonys Guzman. The deal added another viable starter to a Red Sox club that was already deep in rotation candidates. Oviedo likely slots in towards the back of the club’s rotation alongside Patrick Sandoval, with Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, and Brayan Bello in the first three slots and younger pieces like Connelly Early, Kyle Harrison, and Payton Tolle serving as depth. Even that doesn’t factor in Kutter Crawford, who missed the 2025 season due to injury but was a valuable rotation piece as recently as 2024. The Red Sox figure to remain quite active in the offseason markets headed into next week’s Winter Meetings.

3. Eras Committee voting results to be revealed:

One of the first pieces of the Winter Meetings schedule is also one of its most important, as a committee of former players, executives, and media members will convene to vote on the Hall of Fame candidacies of this year’s slate of Eras Committee nominees. This year’s nominees are Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela. At least 12 votes from the committee’s 16 members are needed to be inducted into Cooperstown, and the results of that vote will be revealed at 6:30pm CT this coming Sunday on MLB Network.

Poll: Would Kyle Tucker Or Bo Bichette Fit The Blue Jays Better?

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The Blue Jays have been the most aggressive team in free agency by far this winter. Their offseason so far has been headlined by a seven-year deal for Dylan Cease. That hasn’t stopped them from remaining aggressive at the top of the market, however, and the Jays remain the team that’s been most clearly connected to the winter’s top two free agents: outfielder Kyle Tucker and infielder Bo Bichette. Bichette, of course, has spent his entire career with the Blue Jays and has not been shy about his desire to remain with Toronto going forward. Tucker, meanwhile, seems all but certain to depart from the incumbent Cubs for greener pastures and just yesterday met with the Jays at the club’s Spring Training complex in Dunedin.

While Toronto is very clearly involved in the markets for both players, it’s worth remembering that the Blue Jays already have a luxury tax payroll of around $282MM, according to RosterResource. Adding Tucker or Bichette and a $25-40MM annual salary to the books would push them past the highest threshold of the luxury tax, which sits at $304MM and carries with it the steepest penalties for going over.  They might not be willing or able to both re-sign Bichette and also bring Tucker into the fold. If the Jays are only able to land one of the offseason’s top two hitters, then, who would be the better fit for their roster?

Bichette is the familiar pick, and it’s hard to argue with his impact on the team. A three-run homer off Shohei Ohtani Bichette hit while playing through injury in Game 7 of this year’s World Series nearly made the Jays champions and that was just one piece of the .348/.444/.478 performance he turned in across seven Fall Classic games despite being hobbled on the bases and in the field. While an injury-marred and deeply disappointing season for Bichette in 2024 soured some on his overall profile, he’s still turned in a wRC+ of 120 or higher in six of his seven MLB seasons with a career mark of 122. That he’s done all that while typically playing a generally adequate shortstop is all the more impressive.

With that being said, Bichette isn’t exactly a perennial MVP candidate. His defense on the infield has never been great and a disastrous defensive season by the metrics this year has made it all the more clear that his future is likely at second or third base. For as consistently impressive as Bichette has been when healthy, he was only the third-best hitter on the Jays in 2025. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has, of course, stood head and shoulders above the rest of the team in terms of star power and overall offensive impact, but there have been years where Bichette was outperformed by George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, Brandon Belt, Marcus Semien, and Teoscar Hernandez in the Jays’ lineup over the years. None of those players come close to matching Bichette’s consistency, but it’s fair to argue that he doesn’t offer the sort of six-plus win upside offered by many of the recent top free agents available.

That’s where Tucker stands out. The 28-year-old (29 in January) is a simply a cut above Bichette as a hitter. Tucker’s career 138 wRC+ is four points higher than the mark Bichette posted this year, which was his career-best in a season, outside of his 46-game rookie campaign in 2019. Since the start of the 2021 season, Tucker has hit .277/.365/.514 with 23.4 fWAR, a greater total than Bichette has accumulated across his entire career. Tucker is also a perennial threat to steal 25 to 30 bases, while Bichette has swiped more than 13 bags just once before in his career. Tucker’s status as a left-handed bat would also make him a strong complement to the Jays’ cache of impressive right-handed hitters, which includes not only Guerrero but also Springer and Kirk.

As perfect as the fit between Tucker and the Jays might seem, however, it’s worth considering the fact that Bichette could prove to be a better long-term investment. Both have dealt with injuries over the past two years, with 214 games played for Tucker and 220 for Bichette. With that said, Bichette is a year younger than Tucker and also figures to command the shorter (and cheaper) deal of the two; MLBTR predicts an eight-year, $208MM deal for Bichette, while Tucker is predicted to land a $400MM deal across 11 years. Paying Bichette through his age-35 season certainly sounds more appealing than paying Tucker through his age-39 campaign in terms of the team’s long-term prospects. At the same time, Tucker would undoubtedly offer more near-term impact to a team that just came just a few outs within a World Series title and has already made it as clear as can be that they’re all-in on their current window.

There’s also the positional fit to consider. Bichette could either return to his shortstop position or take second, with Andres Gimenez taking the other middle infield spot. That would leave every other position player in a similar spot to 2025. Addison Barger and Davis Schneider both played some infield and some outfield while Ernie Clement played all around the infield.

If Tucker were signed, he would jump into an outfield mix with Springer, Anthony Santander and Daulton Varsho. It would push Barger and Schneider more firmly into the infield and bump Nathan Lukes to the bench, unless someone were then traded.

Assuming the Blue Jays can only sign one of Bichette or Tucker, which one do MLBTR readers think would be a better fit for the organization? Would Bichette’s status as an anchor of the current team, consistency, and more affordable expected contract make him the better choice? Or does the immediate impact and big lefty bat Tucker offers outweigh those advantages? Or should they skip both and spend their money on relievers or a different bat? Have your say in the poll below:

The Opener: Tucker Market, Rays Roster, Signings

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. Movement in Tucker’s market?

It’s been a fairly active week on the free agent market, but things have mostly been quiet surrounding star outfielder Kyle Tucker. That changed yesterday, however, when a report emerged that Tucker had visited the Blue Jays’ spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida. It’s the first known meeting between the winter’s top free agent and a team, and the news continues a trend of Toronto being by far the most aggressive team in baseball to this point in the offseason. Adding Dylan Cease to the rotation and Kyle Tucker to the lineup would be enough for a banner offseason by itself, to say nothing of the Jays’ deal with Cody Ponce or their reported pursuits of players like Bo Bichette and Pete Fairbanks, who are still on the market.

Does Tucker have other in-person visits lined up? Are the Jays preparing a formal offer? More details on his market could emerge in the near future.

2. Rays 40-man roster move incoming:

The Rays reached an agreement with outfielder Cedric Mullins on a one-year deal yesterday, adding to an outfield that was in desperate need of reinforcements beyond re-signing Jake Fraley shortly after his non-tender. Tampa Bay will need to clear a spot on their 40-man roster to accommodate Mullins. The most common way to accomplish that is simply by designating a player for assignment, but it’s also possible the Rays could look to work out a trade that clears 40-man roster space instead. Tampa Bay is hardly a stranger to the trade market, and players on the roster like Brandon Lowe are already garnering attention as potential trade pieces this winter.

3. Other signings to be made official:

Mullins isn’t the only reported deal that has yet to be made official. Deals between the Dodgers and Miguel Rojas, the Blue Jays and Cody Ponce, the White Sox and Anthony Kay, as well as the Reds and Emilio Pagan are all still pending physicals and will need to be formalized in the coming days. That’s in addition to the deal between the Astros and Ryan Weiss, which has still yet to be made official and (unlike Rojas, Ponce, Kay, and Pagan) will require a 40-man roster move on the part of Houston. With the Winter Meetings fast approaching, signings and the subsequently required 40-man roster maintenance necessary to accommodate those fresh deals will surely continue to pile up.

Five Non-Tendered Pitchers To Keep An Eye On This Winter

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Every year, MLB’s non-tender deadline sees clubs allow some of their players who remain under team control to test the open market early, whether it be due to an increasing price tag in arbitration or a need for additional space on the club’s 40-man roster. Previous seasons have seen a number of high-profile players wind up non-tendered, with Kyle Schwarber, Cody Bellinger, and Brandon Woodruff all having been non-tendered at one point or another in their careers only to this year appear on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents list.

While stars of that caliber who reach free agency by way of a non-tender are extremely rare, plenty of others find themselves cut loose early by their clubs only to make an impact elsewhere down the line. That could be as a regular in the lineup or rotation or simply as a solid contributor off the bench or out of the bullpen. Last weekend, we took a look at five hitters who hit free agency following the non-tender deadline and could be worth keeping an eye on throughout the coming offseason. Now let’s take a look at the pitching side of things, where a handful of intriguing names were recently made available.

Players are listed in alphabetical order, with their age for the 2026 season in parentheses:

Jason Foley (30)

Foley is the prototypical interesting non-tendered pitcher; a reliever with quite a lot of high-end, late-inning experience who was let go after an injury-marred season. Foley made his big league debut with the Tigers in 2021 and has been excellent when healthy. Across 199 2/3 innings of work, he’s posted a 3.16 ERA (122 ERA+) with a 3.22 FIP that more or less matches those results. He’s struck out just 18.1% of his opponents in that time against a 6.1% walk rate, but makes up for it with a 54.1% ground ball rate for his career.

That’s the 14th-highest grounder rate among pitchers with as many innings as him over the past five years, sandwiched between Camilo Doval and Andres Munoz. Foley also has ninth-inning experience, having served as the Tigers’ closer in 2024 and collected 28 saves in that role. The right-hander’s 2024 season saw him take steps back in most of his major peripherals, and a 2025 season lost to shoulder surgery makes him a question mark headed into 2026. He could be a steal on the relief market if healthy and could be controlled through the 2028 season via arbitration.

Mark Leiter Jr. (35)

A veteran relief arm who has rarely found high-end results at the big league level, on the surface, Leiter looks like the sort of reliever who frequently finds himself non-tendered over the offseason. Even so, a closer look at Leiter’s profile reveals an interesting relief arm with plenty of upside. The right-hander settled into a full-time relief role in Chicago during the 2023 season, and over the past three years has pitched out of the bullpen for the Cubs and Yankees. In that time, his top line numbers are unimpressive: a 4.22 ERA (98 ERA+) in 170 2/3 innings of work looks like the average middle relief arm. A closer look reveals an impressive profile, however. Leiter has struck out 29.2% of his opponents over the last three years while walking 8.5% and maintaining a solid 45.5% ground ball rate.

Leiter’s 3.13 SIERA over the past three seasons is the 13th best figure in baseball among relievers with at least 150 innings of work, just ahead of high-end relievers like Emmanuel Clase, Tanner Scott, and Luke Weaver. The difference between those relief arms and Leiter comes down to batted ball outcomes; over the past two years, Leiter has posted an ugly .359 BABIP and a strand rate of just 66.5%. If those numbers can normalize in 2026, that positive regression could be enough to make Leiter a solid late-inning reliever. Even if not, however, it’s worth noting that Leiter’s splitter makes him very effective against opposite-handed pitchers: In 104 2/3 innings of work against lefties the last three years, Leiter has posted a 2.49 ERA and 2.57 FIP with a 32.1% strikeout rate. That gives him a higher floor than most non-tendered pitchers as a quality option against southpaws.

Evan Phillips (31)

The Dodgers opted to send Phillips into free agency rather than pay him a projected (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) $6.1MM via arbitration. That’s a decision they surely wouldn’t have made if not for the fact that Phillips underwent Tommy John surgery back in May and isn’t likely to pitch before the second half of the 2026 season. With 2026 being his final year under club control, the Dodgers evidently thought better of paying that price tag (and the 110% tax they’d owe based on their luxury bill) for, at best, half a season of a reliever.

It’s an understandable decision, but Phillips has been utterly dominant since joining Los Angeles. In 195 innings since being plucked off waivers from the Rays back in 2021, the right-hander has pitched to a 2.22 ERA with a 29.0% strikeout rate and a 2.77 FIP for the Dodgers. He served as the club’s closer much of the 2023 and ’24 seasons, collecting 45 saves in that time, and looked as good as ever this year before going under the knife with seven scoreless outings and a 27.3% strikeout rate. Given his combination of dominance and health questions, Phillips seems like a candidate for a two-year deal not unlike the one Liam Hendriks signed with the Red Sox two offseasons ago.

Gregory Santos (26)

The youngest player on this list, Santos has extremely enticing upside but lacks a track record at the big league level. The right-hander’s claim to fame is his 2023 season with the White Sox, where he emerged as a force in the club’s bullpen. He pitched to a 3.39 ERA in 60 appearances that year, combining a 22.8% strikeout rate with a 52.5% ground ball rate to boast a 2.65 FIP and 3.32 SIERA. Santos’ combination of youth and results convinced the Mariners to surrender Zach DeLoach, Prelander Berroa, and a Competitive Balance draft pick in a trade with the ChiSox.

Sensible as the move may have seemed at the time, it did not work out for Seattle. The righty made just 16 appearances for the Mariners over the past two years due to lat and knee injuries. His results in those outings left much to be desired as well. Santos posted a 5.02 ERA and 4.41 FIP. That’s a sample size of just 14 1/3 innings, however, and it’s easy to imagine a 26-year-old getting back on track in a new organization. A team that helps Santos return to the form he flashed with Chicago two years ago would be rewarded handsomely, as he can be controlled through the 2028 campaign via arbitration.

Jacob Webb (32)

Webb has been at least serviceable, if not better, for the past four seasons. He’s been non-tendered in consecutive seasons — first by the Orioles, then by the Rangers — despite logging respective ERAs of 3.02 and 3.00 while making at least 55 appearances for each of those two teams. Dating back to 2021, Webb touts a 3.38 earned run average in 210 1/3 innings. He was sensational down the stretch in 2025, too, tossing 13 2/3 shutout innings with a 16-to-3 K/BB ratio over the season’s final month.

Webb doesn’t throw particularly hard or miss that bats at a premium level. He averaged 93.4 mph on his four-seamer last year in Arlington, marking the second straight season his velo has trended downward. However, he was slightly better than average in terms of inducing chases off the plate (33.1%) and inducing swinging-strikes (12.5%). Neither is an elite rate, but coupled with a career-best 7.1% walk rate and plenty of weak contact (86.6 mph average exit velo, 34.6% hard-hit rate), it was enough to help Webb post a third straight sub-4.00 ERA.

Now up to five-plus years of MLB service, Webb can no longer be retained for additional seasons via arbitration. However, he’s been a solid middle reliever who’s picked up the occasional hold and a rogue save here and there. He was non-tendered despite just a $2MM projection in arbitration. Teams looking for affordable arms to fill out the middle innings on a budget should have interest.

Poll: Should The Giants Consider A Bryce Eldridge Trade?

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The Giants made one of the most surprising trades in recent memory when they landed Rafael Devers from the Red Sox this summer in exchange for a package of Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs, and Jose Bello. Devers took over the first base job in San Francisco and now figures to be locked into a first base or DH role for the next eight years. That leaves first base and DH prospect Bryce Eldridge facing some uncertainty that’s become unusual for a prospect of his caliber in the modern game.

Eldridge, 21, made his big league debut this past year to much fanfare but spent only ten games in the majors and didn’t hit much in that limited time. Eldridge tore up the Double-A level this year with a .280/.350/.512 slash line (147 wRC+) in 140 trips to the plate to start the season before being promoted to Triple-A, where he spent most of the year and posted a .249/.322/.514 slash line. That was good for a wRC+ of just 105 thanks to the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, but Eldridge’s 18 homers in 66 games is hard to argue with. That elite power is what’s made him a consensus top-20 prospect in the sport, and any team with a hole at first base would find it easy to dream on the youngster anchoring the middle of their lineup for the next half decade or longer.

Of course, the Giants do not have a hole at first base. That’s not to say they couldn’t find a way to squeeze a player of Eldridge’s caliber into the lineup, but in order to do so, they’d severely limit their overall lineup’s flexibility by locking down both the first base and DH spots on an everyday basis. That can certainly be worth it, as the division rival Dodgers have shown with their wildly successful duo of Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani. But even in L.A. there have been some clear downsides. The team’s defense has suffered with players like Teoscar Hernandez and Max Muncy forced to play the field full time at positions where they’re only passable defenders.

Is that reason enough to consider a trade? Eldridge would certainly be a tantalizing trade target for a number of teams who could be looking to sell this winter. The Cardinals seem to be more focused on adding pitching in their trades to this point, but a team like the Twins or Marlins could surely benefit from having Eldridge as the centerpiece of their rebuild, and a player like Edward Cabrera or Joe Ryan would look good in the Giants’ rotation alongside Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. The Giants have made clear that they aren’t interested in spending at the top of the market for pitching this winter, but a trade of Eldridge could allow them to land a high-end starter without adding a hefty salary to the books.

Some of this, of course, comes down to how much the Giants believe in Eldridge. His 105 wRC+ and 30.8% strikeout rate at Triple-A this year likely created some mild concerns. If Eldridge were to struggle in 2026, his value would surely fall. That could make this offseason an appropriate time to move on, though it’s also worth remembering how devastating moving on from a top prospect too soon can be. The Cubs acquired Michael Busch just 27 games into his big league career and he turned in a 140 wRC+ this season in the middle of their lineup as an everyday first baseman. Of course, Chicago acquired Busch from the Dodgers not long after they brought Ohtani into the fold. Los Angeles surely aren’t too worried about Busch breaking out elsewhere. Perhaps the same could be true for San Francisco and Eldridge if the return is strong enough. That would be especially true if recent rumors connecting the Giants to Kyle Schwarber prove accurate.

How do MLBTR readers feel the Giants should proceed with Eldridge? Should they hold onto their top prospect and hope he and Devers can become an elite offensive duo in the middle of their lineup for the better part of the next decade? Or should they deal Eldridge to maximize positional flexibility and bring in a more impactful talent on the pitching side? Have your say in the poll below:

The Opener: Astros, Fairbanks, Blue Jays

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. Astros 40-man roster move incoming:

The Astros are reportedly signing right-hander Ryan Weiss to a major league deal, bringing him over from the Korea Baseball Organization. The Astros have a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to make a move in order to accommodate their new signing. The most common way to accomplish that is simply by designating a player for assignment, but it’s also possible Houston could look to work out a trade that clears 40-man roster space instead. That could be a minor trade of a low-level player on the 40-man, but a bigger deal is also possible given that Houston is reportedly receiving interest in outfielders Jake Meyers and Jesus Sanchez on the trade market.

2. Fairbanks next to move?

Former Rays right-hander Pete Fairbanks was a somewhat unexpected addition to this year’s free agent market after the Rays declined their $11MM club option on his services for the 2026 season. He’s garnered plenty of interest in the weeks since then, with the Tigers, Marlins, and Blue Jays among a number of teams known to be involved in his market on at least some level. The relief market has gotten moving faster than the rest of this winter’s free agent class, with names such as Raisel Iglesias, Devin Williams, Ryan Helsley and Phil Maton having already come off the board on notable contracts. Could Fairbanks be the next domino to fall?

3. What’s next for the Jays?

The Blue Jays reportedly reached an agreement with right-hander Cody Ponce yesterday, and in doing so added a second starter to a rotation that already brought in Dylan Cease earlier this winter. With Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Jose Berrios already in place from last year plus top prospect Trey Yesavage and depth options like Eric Lauer, Yariel Rodriguez, and Bowden Francis, the addition of Ponce creates a glut of rotation options. Perhaps a pivot to the trade market could make some sense to leverage that depth, though it’s also worth noting that star shortstop Bo Bichette remains unsigned and the Jays, as previously mentioned, remain involved in the market for Fairbanks and other high-end relief arms.

The Opener: Relief Market, Mets, MLBTR Chat

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Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day:

1. Relief market buzzing:

Last night saw the Mets sign right-hander Devin Williams to a three-year, $51MM deal (with $15MM in deferrals). It’s the latest in a string of relief signings that also includes deals for Ryan Helsley, Raisel Iglesias, and Phil Maton. With three impact closers already off the board and a number of teams (including the Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Marlins) known to be looking for relief help this winter, that can only be good news for the remaining high-leverage relief arms on the market. Edwin Diaz remains at the front of the pack, with Robert Suarez, Pete Fairbanks, Emilio Pagan, and Kyle Finnegan among the many noteworthy bullpen arms still available on the market.

2. Mets land a big fish:

Last night’s Williams deal provides cover for the Mets if Diaz winds up signing elsewhere, though they’re also not ruling out a reunion with their star ninth-inning man. Regardless of what happens with Diaz, there’s plenty more work to be done for the Mets this winter. Pete Alonso needs to be re-signed or replaced on the infield, there are multiple holes in the outfield, and trade candidacies for players like Jeff McNeil and Kodai Senga have yet to be resolved. And that’s all before considering the Mets’ well-known desire to improve the front of their rotation this winter. It’s already been a busy offseason in Queens — the Mets also swapped out Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien — but president of baseball operations David Stearns shows no signs of slowing down yet.

3. MLBTR chat today:

The offseason is underway, and the hot stove is starting to sizzle. Five of MLBTR’s top 50 free agents have signed so far (in addition to the four who accepted qualifying offers), and the trade market has started buzzing early as Taylor Ward, Grayson Rodriguez, Marcus Semien, and Brandon Nimmo have all changed hands in the first few weeks of the offseason. Whether your team is looking to load up for a playoff run next year or rebuild for the future, MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat at 11am CT later today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.

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