In many instances, a player being out of minor league options is inconsequential. Justin Steele, Isaac Paredes and Evan Phillips are among the players who fit that description but are in no risk of losing their MLB roster spot. They're all key players on big league rosters who'd never be in danger of being sent down to the minors anyhow.

However, there are typically a handful of players every spring who are on the roster bubble with their current club but who could be a better fit on a team with less competition in their current position. Most of these players have already had big league opportunities with their current club but whether due to injury or poor performance (or both) have yet to firmly seize hold of a roster spot. As players exhaust their minor league options, they'll tend to face increased competition from younger players progressing through the minor league ranks and/or external additions made via trade or free agency. An out-of-options player who doesn't fit his current roster can still go on to find a more solid role and some success elsewhere. Joey Bart was in just this spot last year and after being squeezed out in San Francisco has emerged as Pittsburgh's starting catcher. The Yankees didn't have a spot for Ben Rortvedt, but he's the Rays' clear No. 2 catcher now.

Let's run through 10 names to keep an eye on this spring. Not all of these players will lose their roster spots, and even some who do might not wind up making an impact elsewhere. But each of the names listed here has some reason to hold a bit more intrigue than many of their out-of-options brethren (players listed alphabetically)...

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The following is a list of all 40-man players throughout the league with fewer than five years of service time — players with more than five years of service can refuse an optional assignment — and no minor league options remaining. We’ve included players who have signed extensions or multi-year deals, even though they’re often less likely to be optioned.

Angels

• Jo Adell, OF
• Brock Burke, RP
• Mickey Moniak, OF
• José Quijada, RP
• José Suarez, RP

Astros

• Bryan Abreu, RP
• Shawn Dubin, RP
• Mauricio Dubón, IF/OF
• Cooper Hummel, C/OF
• Kaleb Ort, RP
• Isaac Paredes, IF
• Tayler Scott, RP
• Jon Singleton, 1B
• Taylor Trammell, OF
• Forrest Whitley, RP

Athletics

• Luis Medina, SP

Blue Jays

• Ryan Burr, RP
• Ernie Clement, IF
• Tyler Heineman, C
• Tommy Nance, RP
• Zach Pop, RP

Braves

• Nick Allen, IF
• Ian Anderson, SP
• Grant Holmes, SP/RP
• Angel Perdomo, RP
• Chadwick Tromp, C
• Eli White, OF
• Luke Williams, IF/OF

Brewers

• Vinny Capra, IF
• Eric Haase, C
• Nick Mears, RP
• Joel Payamps, RP

Cardinals

• Iván Herrera, C
• JoJo Romero, RP

Cubs

• Miguel Amaya, C
• Vidal Bruján, IF/OF
• Julian Merryweather, RP
• Tyson Miller, RP
• Justin Steele, SP
• Keegan Thompson, RP

Diamondbacks

• José Herrera, C
• René Pinto, C
• Pavin Smith, 1B/OF

Dodgers

• Anthony Banda, RP
• Evan Phillips, RP

Giants

• Jerar Encarnación, OF
• Sam Huff, C
• Heliot Ramos, OF
• David Villar, IF

Guardians

• Gabriel Arias, IF/OF
• Sam Hentges, RP
• Ben Lively, SP
• Triston McKenzie, SP

Mariners

• Eduard Bazardo, RP
• Luke Raley, 1B/OF
• Collin Snider, RP
• Gabe Speier, RP
• Trent Thornton, RP
• Carlos Vargas, RP

Marlins

• Jonah Bride, IF
• Edward Cabrera, SP
• Ronny Henriquez, RP
• Derek Hill, OF
• Otto López, IF/OF
• Seth Martinez, RP (currently in DFA limbo)
• Jesús Sánchez, OF
• Jesús Tinoco, RP

Mets

• José Azocar, OF
• José Buttó, RP
• Alexander Canario, OF
• Sean Reid-Foley, RP
• Jose Siri, OF
• Tyrone Taylor, OF
• Luis Torrens, C
• Mark Vientos, IF
• Danny Young, RP

Nationals

• Riley Adams, C
• Luis García Jr., 2B
• Keibert Ruiz, C

Orioles

• Bryan Baker, RP
• Roansy Contreras, SP/RP
• Cionel Pérez, RP
• Albert Suárez, SP/RP
• Ramón Urías, IF

Padres

• Eguy Rosario, IF/OF
• Brett Sullivan, C

Phillies

• Kody Clemens, IF/OF
• Buddy Kennedy, IF/OF
• Rafael Marchán, C
• Tyler Phillips, SP
• José Ruiz, RP
• Cristopher Sánchez, SP
• Edmundo Sosa, IF

Pirates

• Joey Bart, C
• Oneil Cruz, OF
• Bailey Falter, SP
• Joshua Palacios, OF
• Dennis Santana, RP
• Peter Strzelecki, RP
• Joey Wentz, RP

Rangers

• Josh Sborz, RP
• Leody Taveras, OF
• Jacob Webb, RP

Rays

• Garrett Cleavinger, RP
• Alex Faedo, RP
• Christopher Morel, IF/OF
• Manuel Rodríguez, RP
• Ben Rortvedt, C
• Edwin Uceta, RP

Red Sox

• None

Reds

• Stuart Fairchild, OF
• Tony Santillan, RP

Rockies

• Thairo Estrada, IF
• Jimmy Herget, RP
• Sam Hilliard, OF
• Nolan Jones, OF
• Justin Lawrence, RP

Royals

• Carlos Hernández, RP
• Sam Long, RP
• Nick Pratto, 1B/OF
• Nelson Velázquez, OF

Tigers

• Zach McKinstry, IF/OF

Twins

• Brock Stewart, RP
• Michael Tonkin, RP

White Sox

• Jacob Amaya, IF
• Lenyn Sosa, IF
• Mike Tauchman, OF
• Matt Thaiss, C
• Miguel Vargas, IF
• Bryse Wilson, SP/RP

Yankees

• Yoendrys Gómez, SP/RP
• Mark Leiter Jr., RP
• Oswald Peraza, IF

While that leaves plenty of wiggle room for teams in need of pitching help due to a hole in the roster or a surprise injury to maneuver heading into March, the same can not be said on the hitting side of things. Even extending to the “honorable mentions” section of MLBTR’s list, just one hitter remains available after the Cubs’ recent signing of veteran infielder Justin Turner to a one-year deal. Slim as the pickings may be, however, there are certainly a handful of teams remaining who could use another bat in the lineup at least somewhere on the diamond. For those clubs in need of help on offense, who are the best options still remaining?

J.D. Martinez

The only hitter still available who made the aforementioned “honorable mentions” section of MLBTR’s Top 50, Martinez has an unmatched track record as a hitter but is headed into his age-37 season on the heels of a down season with the Mets. Last year, the veteran slugger managed a slash line of just .235/.320/.406 with a wRC+ of 108. That’s certainly not bad offensive production, but it’s less impressive for a DH-only player and a major step back for a hitter with a career 130 wRC+. Martinez’s strikeout rate (28.5%) and walk rate (9.9%) were both actually better than his 2023 season with the Dodgers, but that improved discipline at the plate came with a severe drop off in power as he hit just 16 homers, less than half of last year’s 33.

Even after last year’s down season, however, Martinez remains a decorated hitter with an excellent track record. He’s been above-average at the plate in each of the past ten 162-game seasons, with a .286/.355/.536 (136 wRC+) slash line overall since the start of 2014. Even last year’s down production was comparable or better than a number of bat-first players around the league who enter 2025 with starting jobs, such as Luis Arraez, Josh Bell, Andrew McCutchen, and Rhys Hoskins. Perhaps most importantly, it’s worth noting that Martinez substantially under-performed his expected numbers last year, and his .351 xwOBA was actually slightly higher than quality bats like Teoscar Hernandez and Seiya Suzuki. That suggests that even a repeat of 2024 could yield significantly stronger production.

Jose Iglesias

Few free agent hitters this year had a stronger platform season than Iglesias, who was worth 2.5 fWAR and 3.1 bWAR in just 85 games with the Mets thanks to an incredible .337/.381/.448 slash line, good for a 137 wRC+. Among second basemen with at least 250 plate appearances last year, that wRC+ is second only to Ketel Marte. Combined with Iglesias’s solid work with the glove around the infield, one would think that offense would make him a very attractive target for teams in need of help on the dirt. That’s not how things have played out so far, however. Iglesias has seemingly gotten little interest from clubs this winter, and a look under the hood helps to explain why.

Iglesias is on the older side, entering his age-35 season this year, and lacks a track record of success at the plate with a wRC+ of just 90 across more than 1,000 games in the majors. That’s not necessarily a death knell, as shown by Jurickson Profar turning last year’s breakout into a strong three-year guarantee with Atlanta, but underlying metrics suggest that Iglesias’s production last year is not anywhere near as sustainable. He was helped by an inflated .382 BABIP that’s nearly 70 points higher than his career .315 figure, and his xwOBA of .314 suggests his underlying performance was more akin to Jake Cronenworth than Francisco Lindor. Even with those potential red flags, however, Iglesias seems like the likely best option for teams in need of help on the infield.

Alex Verdugo

Verdugo won’t turn 29 until May, making him by far the youngest player mentioned on this list. He’s also found solid success at the plate before in his career, as demonstrated by his .289/.343/.435 (108 wRC+) slash line from 2019 to 2022. Those factors work in his favor, but to this point in his free agency he’s been unable to capitalize on them coming off the worst offensive campaign of his career. Verdugo slashed just .233/.291/.356 (83 wRC+) in 149 games for the Yankees last year, a figure that made him one of the ten worst hitters in the sport to qualify for the batting title. That won’t cut it for a bat-first position like left field, even if Verdugo is a quality defender at the position.

Things aren’t entirely grim for the outfielder, however. Verdugo’s .302 xwOBA suggests that his underlying performance was roughly league average last year, and his offensive production could also be improved by limiting his exposure to same-handed pitchers given that he’s a career 79 wRC+ hitter against southpaws who mostly repeated that with a 74 wRC+ last year. It’s also worth noting that Verdugo’s .253 BABIP last season was substantially worse than any other campaign of his career and a full 60 points below his career norm entering the year. While there’s little to like in Verdugo’s 2024 numbers, it would be reasonable to suggest that his youth and upside relative to the rest of the players mentioned here makes him an attractive option.

Anthony Rizzo

Rizzo is entering his age-35 season an arguably the most difficult player to evaluate on this list. He’s played just 191 games over the past two years due to a number of substantial injuries, though none of them are the type of injury that would portend future injury woes: after suffering a concussion in early May of 2023, Rizzo saw his performance decline as he unknowingly played through the injury before being diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome ahead of a season-ending trip to the injured list in August of that year. He returned in 2024 but was limited to just 92 games by a fractured forearm and a finger fracture stemming from a collision at first base and a hit-by-pitch, respectively.

Over the past two years, Rizzo has not hit well. The veteran first baseman has slashed just .237/.315/.358 (91 wRC+) since the start of the 2023 campaign, and his expected numbers don’t show clear signs of untapped potential. For a 35-year-old restricted to first base and DH defensively, that could be enough for many teams to dismiss him as a regular option. With that being said, however, Rizzo also sports a track record as one of the most consistent hitters of the decade prior to his injuries with a .268/.368/.486 (131 wRC+) slash line from 2012 to 2022. Rizzo was off to an excellent start in 2023, with a .301/.376/.513 (146 wRC+) slash line in 50 games prior to the concussion. Given his track record of success and the stark drop of production he faced amid the injuries of the past two seasons, perhaps a fully healthy campaign is all it would take to get the veteran’s career back on track.

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The four aforementioned hitters certainly aren’t the only ones remaining in free agency, though the remaining group come with plenty of question marks. David Peralta posted a strong 115 wRC+ with the Padres last year, but did so in only 260 plate appearances, is entering his age-38 campaign, and looked overmatched as a semi-regular player for the Dodgers the year prior. Whit Merrifield is a versatile fielder who posted roughly league average (97 wRC+) production with the Braves down the stretch last year, but did so only after a disastrous (63 wRC+) stint with the Phillies earlier in the season. Nick Senzel is a former top prospect who’s still just 29 years old, but has yet to hit in the majors across parts of six seasons.

Which of free agency’s remaining hitters do MLBTR readers think is the best bet for success in 2025? Have your say in the poll below:

Chisholm’s likely move back to second leaves a hole at the hot corner, however, and the club’s options to filling that void leave much to be desired. With two years and $30MM remaining on his six-year, $90MM contract with the club, veteran DJ LeMahieu may seem like the obvious favorite to open the season as a starter for the club. Unfortunately, however, the now 36-year-old veteran took a tumble in terms of productivity last year. Injury woes delayed his start to the season and ultimately limited him to just 67 games, but even when LeMahieu was healthy enough to play his work wasn’t up to snuff. The veteran hit just .204/.269/.259, leaving him with a career-worst 52 wRC+ that was 15th from the bottom among all hitters who had at least 200 plate appearances last year.

It’s worth noting that LeMahieu’s underlying performance wasn’t quite as dire as his actual on-field production last year. LeMahieu’s .299 xwOBA far outstrips his actual wOBA of .239, with that expected number actually being better than the expected production of a handful of last year’s quality infield regulars like Luis Rengifo and Tyler Fitzgerald. LeMahieu’s barrel rate of 5.8% was perfectly in line with his numbers from the previous two seasons, and while his hard-hit rate was down, that drop wasn’t enough to justify his complete power outage in 2024, when he hit just five doubles and two homers in 228 trips to the plate. His .229 batting average on balls in play was also almost comically low, and his 15.4% strikeout rate remained excellent.

While any hope of LeMahieu returning to his former status as a clearly above-average contributor is likely misplaced with his 37th birthday approaching this July, it’s certainly not impossible to imagine a bit better luck on batted balls allowing him to be a roughly average regular so long as his defense holds up. That might be enough to assure him of a nearly everyday role with the Yankees to open the season, at least as things stand. While rolling the dice on a rebound from an aging veteran like LeMahieu is sure to a cause queasy feelings among fans, his competition for the job isn’t exactly robust.

The player in the third base competition coming off the best 2024 season is Oswaldo Cabrera. The switch-hitting utility man had an up-and-down season last year, hitting .247/.296/.365 (88 wRC+) overall while primarily playing third base but also mixing in time at every position on the diamond other than catcher and center field. His bat was quite inconsistent throughout the year, however. After a torrid ten-game stretch to open the season where he managed three home runs among twelve hits, Cabrera hit just .221/.269/.304 with a wRC+ of 62 across the rest of the first half, totaling 198 plate appearances in that time.

While the 25-year-old turned things around down the stretch and hit a respectable .271/.319/.424 after the All-Star break, that production came in a reduced role that saw him take just 92 trips to the plate across the final ten weeks of the season last year. That late-season uptick in production combined with the fact that he’ll only turn 26 later this week might be enough to convince Yankees brass that he’s worthy of another shot as a regular, but it would also be understandable if the club saw it as a signal that Cabrera is best suited for a utility role where his versatility can be best maximized and he can be more easily protected from tougher match ups.

The final top contender for playing time on the Yankees infield at the moment is Oswald Peraza. Still just 24 years old, Peraza is a former top-100 prospect who has yet to make a name for himself in the big leagues, having hit just .216/.297/.315 (74 wRC+) in 259 trips to the plate at the big league level over the past three seasons. Peraza is considered a quality defender all around the infield and has gotten only sporadic playing time in the majors to this point, so it’s fair to argue that he has the highest chance of blossoming into an above-average regular of the Yankees’ three primary third base options this year.

With that being said, however, Peraza’s prospect star lost its shine for a reason. A shoulder issue slowed him out of the gate last year, delaying the start of his season until May. And when he finally made his season debut, he found himself struggling to hit even at the Triple-A level with a pedestrian .246/.341/.394 line across 406 plate appearances. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Peraza is out of options, meaning that the Yankees would have to carry him on the big league roster as he not only attempts to bounce back from a tough season in the minors last year but also attempts to produce against major league pitching for the first time in his career.

Other internal options beyond this trio are few and far between. Jorbit Vivas is on the 40-man roster but has yet to make the majors, posted weaker numbers than Peraza at Triple-A last year, and has a minor league option remaining. Pablo Reyes is in camp as a non-roster invitee but is a career .248/.309/.349 (78 wRC+) hitter in the majors who posted a brutal 23 wRC+ in brief stints with the Red Sox and Mets last year. Braden Shewmake and Andrew Velazquez are also in camp with the club but have yet to show an ability to hit major league pitching to this point in their careers. While an external addition would make plenty of sense for the club, the pickings on the free agent market are very slim at this point, and the Yankees have signaled they don’t have the budget space necessary for a pursuit of a high-dollar solution like Nolan Arenado without first offsetting the cost by trading a veteran like Marcus Stroman.

How do MLBTR readers think the situation at third base will play out for the Yankees? Will they lean on LeMahieu in hopes of a bounceback? Should they turn to Cabrera despite his inconsistency and value as a utility player? Or could they give the reins to Peraza in hopes he can continue to develop at the big league level? Have your say in the poll below:

It looked to cement the defensive stalwart as the face of the franchise for the upcoming decade. Arenado was coming off his fourth consecutive finish among the top 10 in MVP balloting. He’d landed in the top five three years running. Over the preceding four seasons, Arenado was sixth among position players in FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement — trailing Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Jose Altuve, Kris Bryant and Francisco Lindor. The Rockies had made the playoffs in consecutive seasons and were coming off a 91-win campaign that included a Wild Card game victory over the Cubs.

A relatively small-market franchise extending a player of that caliber one year from free agency was cause for excitement among Colorado fans. That optimism was dashed as the relationship went south incredibly quickly. Arenado had arguably the best season of his career in year one, hitting .315/.379/.583 with 41 homers to earn a sixth-place MVP finish. Yet the team won 20 fewer games than they had in ’18, kicking off an ongoing stretch of at least six straight losing seasons.

By the following offseason, a rift had emerged between Arenado and then-GM Jeff Bridich. Arenado was reportedly displeased with Colorado’s lack of moves to put a competitive roster around him. He was the subject of trade rumors by the 2019-20 offseason. Bridich publicly shot down trade possibilities that winter. Arenado remained in Colorado for the shortened season. It was an underwhelming year for player and team alike that did nothing to improve the relationship.

Two years after signing the extension, the Rockies found themselves attempting to offload as much money as possible owed to their disgruntled star. It wasn’t an easy contract to move. The no-trade gave Arenado the ability to pick his destination. The deal contained six years and $199MM in remaining guarantees with the potential for Arenado to opt out after one season.

The trade Colorado found was a disappointment even in that context. The Cardinals landed Arenado that February for a five-player return led by back-end starter Austin Gomber. He’s a capable fifth starter. None of the other four players — Elehuris Montero, Mateo Gil, Jake Sommers and Tony Locey — remain in the organization. Montero is the only member of that group who even reached the majors and he was a sub-replacement performer.

Colorado kicked in $51MM to facilitate the deal, while Arenado agreed to a restructured contract that deferred part of his 2022-26 salaries while adding a $15MM salary for 2027. Bridich was out as GM three months later. One year after dumping $148MM of the Arenado contract, the Rox signed Bryant to his ill-fated $182MM free agent deal.

The sequence served as a precursor to this winter’s series of trade rumors. Arenado played at a superstar level for his first two seasons in St. Louis, helping the team to consecutive playoff berths. His production over the past two years has been more solid than exceptional. The Cards have missed the playoffs in both and are looking more toward the future than short-term contention. They spent all offseason trying to move Arenado to a contender while moving most of the remaining money. The no-trade clause again allowed him to be particular regarding the teams to which he’d approve a deal.

After he famously nixed a move to the Astros in December, Arenado is expected to play what’ll be his fifth season in St. Louis. He’s into the final two seasons of the deal he’d initially signed with Colorado. He’s due $32MM and $27MM respectively over the next two years, though he agreed to defer $6MM annually to facilitate the trade to St. Louis. The Rockies are still paying down $5MM in each of those seasons. St. Louis is fully responsible for the tacked-on $15MM salary in ’27, which is not deferred.

Detroit had a middling first half and sold at the deadline, trading Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers for prospects. They surged to the playoffs without Flaherty, then re-signed him this winter and now enter 2025 as clear contenders. The Cardinals kept their hopes alive through most of 2024, acquiring Erick Fedde, Tommy Pham and Shawn Armstrong at the deadline. But when that fell short, they decided to hit the reset button and don’t seem to be planning to compete anytime soon. Even their offseason reboot plans were scuttled, with various players using their no-trade clauses to block deals the front office surely hoped to make.

Going into 2025, the Blue Jays are perhaps the club with the widest spectrum of possible outcomes. On the one hand, a lot of the roster is the same club that played at a pretty consistent 90-win pace over the 2020-23 period. They had an injury-marred season in 2024 but bolstered the roster in the winter in an attempt to return to contention in 2025. With the expanded playoffs, getting back into the mix this year is entirely possible.

The American League East seems wide open. The FanGraphs Projected Standings have all five clubs with a 35-71% chance of getting a postseason spot, with the Jays at 38.3%. The PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are somewhat similar, with the Jays at 48.5% and no club higher than 72.3%. For the entire American League, both projection systems have 12 clubs in the 19-71% range, with only the Angels, Athletics and White Sox lower than that.

The other side of the coin is well known at this point. The club is losing its grip on several of its key players. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the most notable, as he’s an impending free agent that the club hasn’t been able to sign to a long-term deal. The same is true of Bo Bichette, the club’s other longtime core piece. Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, Chad Green and Erik Swanson are also slated for the open market this fall. George Springer, Kevin Gausman, Yimi García, Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk are on pace to be free agents after 2026. José Berríos can join that latter group by opting out of the final two years of his deal. All could be trade candidates this summer if things aren’t going well.

That situation extends beyond the roster. President Mark Shapiro is reportedly going into the final year of his contract. General manager Ross Atkins is reportedly only signed through 2026. Manager John Schneider is signed through 2025 with a club option for 2026. Around the baseball world, there is an expectation that a poor season will lead to significant changes. If the Jays are bad again in 2025, no one would really be shocked if Shapiro, Atkins and Schneider are all gone.

Even if the team does manage to put together a good season in 2025, there will be questions to be answered about the future. As mentioned, several players are set to qualify for free agency in this coming winter or the one after that.

Whether they can replace some of those players internally is tough to say. Industry evaluations of the system as a whole are not strong. Baseball America ranks the farm system 23rd in the league. Keith Law of The Athletic and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN recently put them 24th.

That’s not necessarily shocking, as the club has been putting a priority on the big league roster lately. Bassitt and Springer had rejected qualifying offers, so the Jays had to give up a draft pick for each of those deals. The same is true of the upcoming draft, as Anthony Santander also rejected a QO.

Of the club’s five first-round picks from 2018 to 2022, they eventually traded three. They sent Jordan Groshans to the Marlins in the Anthony Bass/Zach Pop deal, Austin Martin to the Twins in the Berríos trade and Gunnar Hoglund to the Athletics in the Matt Chapman trade. The other two, Alek Manoah and Brandon Barriera, are both recovering from Tommy John surgery right now. Other notable prospects like Ricky Tiedemann and Landen Maroudis are also working back from TJS.

That has left the club with a clear lack in top-end talent. Baseball America has just one Jay on their top 100, with Tiedemann having literally the last spot. The lists from FanGraphs, ESPN, MLB Pipeline and Law all have two or three Jays on them but no one in the top 60.

A person looking for optimism could focus on the volume of guys who are either borderline top 100 guys or just outside of that designation. In addition to their recent top 100 list, Baseball America also released a list of every player who received at least one vote from one of their writers. They build their top 100 by having several contributors submit a top 150 ranking, then use a points system to combine those different lists.

As mentioned, the Jays ultimately only got one guy on there with Tiedemann taking the final spot, but he was one of seven different players to receive a vote. That means that at least one BA staffer considered Jake Bloss, Arjun Nimmala, Alan Roden, Josh Kasevich, Orelvis Martínez or Trey Yesavage to be a borderline top 100 guy. Some of those guys appeared on the other linked top 100 lists. Only one club had more than 11 players on that vote-getter list from BA, while some clubs had as few as three.

The volume of the Jays’ system also appeared to show up at ZiPS, the projection system from Dan Szymborski of FanGraphs. ZiPS had five guys on the top 100, six guys in the top 200 and 20 in the top 500. In that latter category, only three clubs were ahead of the Jays. The Rays had 24, with the Reds and White Sox at 21.

This quantity-over-quality assessment probably aligns with the observations of anyone earnestly following the club. They have an army of guys who are not really considered top prospects but seem perhaps capable of being major leaguers in the near future. This includes guys like Will Wagner, Joey Loperfido, Jonatan Clase, Charles McAdoo, RJ Schreck, Adam Macko and Lazaro Estrada. They also have some guys who are no longer prospects and aren’t fully established but still have some future potential, such as Bowden Francis, Davis Schneider, Nathan Lukes, Leo Jiménez and Addison Barger.

Perhaps a few nice developments in there could make the future look a little better. But even if that comes to pass, there will still be the unanswered question of the club’s star power. The club’s attempts to sign players like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and others have come up just short. As mentioned, their overtures to Guerrero haven’t worked.

The one benefit of all those misses, and the large slate of impending free agents, is that the future payroll is fairly clean. By 2028, only Santander, Berríos, Andrés Giménez and Yariel Rodríguez will be guaranteed deals. Berríos has an opt-out after 2026. Santander and Rodríguez can opt-out after 2027, though the club can void those opt-outs by triggering club options. The Giménez deal is guaranteed through 2029 with a club option for 2030.

Though Guerrero hasn’t signed a long-term deal yet, he did leave the door open to consider a future offer if the club circled back to him. It’s also possible that he could reach free agency and re-sign, the same way that star players like Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso re-signed with the Yankees and Mets respectively. The Jays could also pivot to some other notable free agent next winter, such as Kyle Tucker, Munetaka Murakami, Dylan Cease or Zac Gallen.

While starting this piece, I considered using cliches like “shifting sands”, “fog of war”, “up in the air”, “multiverse” or “over the horizon” in the title. The point I was hoping to make is that there’s almost nothing that can be known about the Jays right now. It’s entirely plausible that they’re good this year, but also just as possible that they’re bad. Making the playoffs is totally within reason, but everyone could be traded and everyone could be fired. They could see a few of their many young guys step up and cement themselves as future pieces, offsetting the upcoming free agent departures. The system could look barren as they kick off a yearslong rebuild. They could sign a franchise-altering mega contract or they could not.

Many fans have already made up their minds about the Blue Jays but it seems like everything will be on the line this year with so much to be determined. Regardless of the outcomes, it should be interesting.

While there’s still one marquee free agent reliever on the market — David Robertson has yet to sign — it appears increasingly likely that the Diamondbacks will largely go with the arms who are already in camp as they look to sort out the ninth inning. Arizona’s payroll is already projected for a franchise-record $195MM. That’s a new highwater mark by a measure of nearly $30MM. We can always adopt the “never say never” mentality as long as there are a few viable closing options on the free agent and trade markets, but the D-backs may already have their closer in house. At present, A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez appear to be the front-runners.

Puk, acquired at the deadline from the Marlins in exchange for young slugger Deyvison De Los Santos and outfielder Andrew Pintar, enjoyed a quietly dominant season in 2024. His cumulative 3.15 ERA looks more good than great, but it’s skewed by a failed experiment wherein the Marlins tried to stretch him back out as a starter early in the season. Puk was clobbered for 17 runs in 13 2/3 innings. He moved back to the bullpen, and from that point forth was arguably the best reliever in the sport.

After giving up 17 earned runs in his four starts, Puk only allowed 11 more earned runs for the entire season. He posted a 1.72 ERA out of the bullpen in 2024, fanning a colossal 35% of his opponents against a terrific 5.1% walk rate. Opponents averaged only 86.6 mph off the bat against him in that time with a middling 32.6% hard-hit rate. Per Statcast, only five of his opponents’ batted balls in that time were barreled. Puk allowed a run in his second appearance with the D-backs and then went on a run for the ages, rattling off 23 2/3 scoreless innings with a 38-to-4 K/BB ratio. He punched out 44.7% of opponents in that career-best run.

Martinez was nearly as dominant for the early portion of the 2024 season. The young flamethrower posted a 1.60 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate and mammoth 64.5% grounder rate in his first 50 innings of work. His exit velocity and hard-hit rate were nearly identical to Puk’s marks as a reliever. An 11.5% walk rate was in clear need of improvement, but for a 22-year-old who averaged better than 100 mph on both his four-seamer and sinker, it’s hard to draw up a more promising start.

That run of dominance didn’t last the full season, however. While Martinez remained a solid reliever, his 3.90 ERA over the final 27 2/3 innings of his season was far less eye-catching. The young righty’s strikeout rate actually ticked up during that span, perhaps due to roughly doubling the usage of his four-seamer at the expense of his sinker, but his grounder rate fell sharply. There was surely some poor fortune in play, as Martinez was hampered by a .388 BABIP during this stretch despite continuing to limit hard contact (and allowing only one home run).

Whether in the ninth inning or working in a setup capacity, both Puk and Martinez will be in high-leverage roles this season. They were two of the D-backs’ top five arms in terms of their average leverage index — but not the top two. Paul Sewald’s departure in free agency subtracted one of Arizona’s top leverage arms, but it was actually righty Ryan Thompson who found himself most frequently in high-leverage spots, followed by Martinez and then by fellow righty Kevin Ginkel.

The 32-year-old Thompson isn’t the prototypical power arm often associated with pressure-packed, late-inning situations. He’s a sidearming righty who averages just 91 mph on his sinker and 92.5 mph on his lesser-used four-seamer. Thompson’s 19.1% strikeout rate was well below the 23.4% league average among relievers. However, he boasts a 61% grounder rate, rarely issues walks (5.5%) and posted nearly identical results versus righties (.254/.299/.377) and lefties (.254/.293/.377). He picked up two saves and 24 holds.

Ginkel, 30, has quietly emerged as a key arm in Phoenix. He was never a top prospect and didn’t truly establish himself as a reliable reliever until his age-28 season, in 2022. Over the past three seasons, he’s tossed 164 2/3 innings with a 2.95 ERA. It’s not necessarily flashy, as Ginkel is more good-than-great in terms of strikeout rate (26.5%), walk rate (7.3%), swinging-strike rate (12.5%), ground-ball rate (47.1%) and fastball velocity (96 mph average) in that time. Even with the lack of one standout area in which he truly excels, his above-average rates across the board have made him a consistent and reliable late-inning option for manager Torey Lovullo.

Also entering the mix is 34-year-old Kendall Graveman, who signed a one-year, $1.35MM deal after missing the 2024 season due to shoulder surgery. With 24 saves and 56 holds from 2020-23, Graveman is no stranger to late-inning work. After moving to the bullpen in Sept. 2020 with the Mariners, Graveman rattled off 197 1/3 innings with a 2.78 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, 10.3% walk rate and 49.2% grounder rate. At his best, Graveman averaged better than 96 mph on his heater and offered a Ginkel-esque blend of above-average strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates while sitting around 96 mph with his main offering. Whether he can return to that form in the wake of last year’s shoulder surgery is an open question.

However it shakes out, the Snakes look to have a solid quintet of arms rounding out the late-inning group at Chase Field. Lefty Joe Mantiply offers a solid middle-inning complement who has picked up around 12 holds per year over the past four seasons. A starter who doesn’t make the rotation (e.g. Jordan Montgomery, Ryne Nelson) could hold down another spot. Bryce Jarvis, Kyle Nelson and non-roster candidates like Shelby Miller, Scott McGough, John Curtiss and Josh Winder (among others) will vie for what’s likely one open spot.

There’s enough left on both the trade and free agent markets that it’s not impossible to envision a change still impacting Lovullo’s bullpen composition. Signing Robertson might be too pricey, likely pushing the D-backs into $200MM+ payroll territory for the first time, but if GM Mike Hazen ultimately finds a trade partner for Montgomery, any savings could make Robertson feel likelier. The Padres have been open to offers on Robert Suarez. Trading within the division probably isn’t either team’s first choice, though. A Ryan Helsley trade before next offseason feels virtually inevitable but also seems likelier to happen in-season at this point.

In any bullpen, there’s almost always room for one more addition. But, if this is the group the D-backs take into the season, they can still feel good about an impressive breadth of experienced late-inning arms who have the makings of a strong overall unit.

In that time, they have been willing to trade any established big league player for prospects. At the 2023 deadline, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Jake Burger, Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Keynan Middleton and Kendall Graveman were sent out. Prior to the 2024 season, Dylan Cease, Aaron Bummer, Gregory Santos and others were flipped. At the most recent deadline, Michael Kopech, Erick Fedde, Tommy Pham, Eloy Jiménez, Paul DeJong and Tanner Banks packed their bags. This offseason, Garrett Crochet was the headliner.

There’s not much left to move at this point. Luis Robert Jr. is the big name still on the roster. Since he had an injury-marred 2024, the Sox have held him for now, hoping that a healthy and productive showing in 2025 will increase his trade value leading up to the deadline.

Whether a trade comes together or not, the Sox aren’t committed to Robert. He’s entering the final guaranteed season of his contract. There are $20MM club options for 2026 and 2027. Those give him more upside if he bounces back but the Sox will presumably decline the first of those if he has another wasted season.

The only player with a guaranteed contract beyond this year is Andrew Benintendi. His five-year, $75MM pact runs through 2027. The Sox would presumably love to trade him as well, as the first two years of that pact haven’t gone well. Last summer, it was reported that the Sox were shopping him. They also reportedly explored some scenarios where Benintendi and Crochet would be packaged together, though they wisely didn’t go down that path, which would have resulted in a lesser prospect package coming back for Crochet.

The Sox don’t really need to the cost savings. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, they had a payroll near $200MM as of a couple of years ago. That was down to $123MM last year. RosterResource projects them to be at just $81MM in 2025. As mentioned, Benintendi is the only deal on the books after this year. He will make $16.5MM in both 2025 and 2026, followed by $14.5MM in 2027. That’s a total of $47.5MM over three years, or $15.83MM in terms of average annual value.

That’s not superstar money. Players like Joc Pederson, Anthony Santander, Michael Conforto, Tyler O’Neill, Gleyber Torres, Ha-Seong Kim and Jurickson Profar got AAVs in the $14-19MM range this winter. Those are mostly solid-but-flawed regulars, rather than stars.

Unfortunately, Benintendi hasn’t been near “solid-but-flawed” lately. Through the end of 2022, Benintendi had hit .279/.351/.431 for a 109 wRC+. In his first two years with the Sox, his line has been down at .246/.309/.374, which translates to a 90 wRC+. His defense has also taken a turn for the worse. Prior to coming to Chicago, Outs Above Average was already not a fan, giving Benintendi a grade of -16 for his career, but Defensive Runs Saved had him at +25. Over the past two years, he’s been worth -18 OAA and also -16 DRS.

Perhaps health played a bit of a role there. Benintendi spent some time on the injured list last year due to left achilles tendinitis. His 26.7 mile per hour sprint speed was the lowest of his career, so maybe that impacted his ability to run the ball down.

Regardless, it’s been a rough couple of years. Needless to say, Benintendi will need a big bounceback to have any trade value at all. Though it may look bleak now, there is actually a reason to have some hope, as Benintendi finished the 2024 season on a strong note.

His aforementioned IL stint for the achilles injury was from June 2 to June 12. At the time he landed on the IL, he had a brutal line of .195/.230/.284. After being reinstated, he hit .251/.326/.470 the rest of the way for a 124 wRC+. He hit 16 home runs in 322 plate appearances while also drawing walks at a 9.9% clip and striking out just 18.9% of the time. His .264 batting average on balls in play was actually below the .290 league average, so it wasn’t a product of batted ball luck.

It’s possible this was a fluke in another way. 16% of Benintendi’s fly balls left the yard in that stretch. That’s well above his 8.3% career rate and the 11.6% league average last year, despite his exit velocity and hard hit rate being near his previous levels. However, it’s also possible it came from a change in approach. In that hot finish in 2024, Benintendi pulled the ball at a 49.1% clip and also hit fly balls at a 43.9% rate. For his career, those numbers are just 36.6% and 38% respectively.

Whether that late-season surge was just a small-sample blip or a meaningful course correction remains to be seen. Like Robert, Benintendi’s trade value is at a low ebb and a big correction will be required for the Sox to be able to get anything in return. But if Benintendi can perform well to start 2025, it could then be legitimately framed as a year-long bounceback.

Given the aforementioned financial situation, the club should be willing to eat most or all of Benintendi’s deal. They aren’t a revenue-sharing club, so unlike the A’s or Marlins, they could bottom the payroll out without worrying about the possibility of an MLBPA grievance. Still, there are reasons for them to prioritize prospect returns as opposed to cost savings.

They aren’t likely to return to contention by 2027. Even if they do get good by then, Benintendi’s salary shouldn’t stand in the way of them making moves. Owners surely don’t love throwing money at a hopeless team, but the payroll will still be incredibly low in 2026 and 2027 even if the Sox are still paying Benintendi. If he is playing well this year, then perhaps a contending club with a tight payroll and/or competitive balance tax number would be enticed by the possibility of getting Benintendi at a low financial cost, giving up more prospect capital instead.

Robert will have much of the focus in 2025 and rightfully so. He has huge upside, having put together a borderline MVP performance in 2023. He will be one of the top deadline trade candidates if he gets anywhere near that. Benintendi won’t have as much of the spotlight but he will have his own chance to play his way into some attention. Though he’s been around for a while, he’s only 30 years old. His deal is underwater right now but isn’t atrocious by MLB standards. He’s had a rough couple of years but was legitimately good for the final three-plus months last year. Though he’s something of a forgotten man at this point, it’s possible he could play himself onto a contender over the next few months.

If Assad were to open the season on the injured list, that would leave the door wide open for another player to take that final rotation spot, and even if he’s healthy Assad seems to be less firmly locked into the rotation than Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, or Matthew Boyd. Fortunately for the Cubs, they have the starting pitching depth necessary to cover for Assad if he’s injured and consider other options even in the event that he’s healthy. Though they’ll only need two starting pitchers for their two-game set against the Dodgers in Tokyo that predates the normal start of the regular season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Cubs wanted to have a good idea of what their rotation was going to look like entering that first series of the year.

If he’s healthy, Assad remains easy to bet on for the job. After all, the right-hander delivered 29 solid starts for the Cubs in 2024, pitching to a 3.73 ERA in 147 innings of work. Those are fairly impressive numbers for a back-end starter, but it’s worth noting they also come with notable red flags: Assad wore down badly throughout the year after a hot start, with a 4.84 ERA from June onward and an ugly 6.86 ERA down the stretch in September last year. In addition to those deep struggles later in the season, the right-hander also posted lackluster peripherals with a 4.64 FIP, a strikeout rate of just 19.4%, and a hefty 9.9% walk rate. That’s one of the 10 worst seasons by K-BB% and one of the 15 worst seasons by FIP in all of baseball last year among pitchers with as many innings as Assad.

Should Assad’s combination of spring injuries and second-half struggles give the Cubs enough pause to turn to someone else on Opening Day, it’s possible that offseason addition Colin Rea could be the first to get the call. Rea, 34, signed with the Cubs last month on a one-year, $5MM pact. The righty had a brief stint with the Cubs during the shortened 2020 season, but spend the past two seasons in Milwaukee as a back-end starter for the Brewers. The right-hander posted a 4.40 ERA and 4.82 FIP in 58 appearances over the past two seasons, 42 of which were starts.

Rea posted a higher FIP (4.75) and a lower strikeout rate (18.9%) than even Assad did last year, but he made up for that gap in effectiveness with volume. Rea posted 167 2/3 innings of work for the Brewers last year between 27 starts and five relief appearances, and showed the ability to pitch deep into games as he did so with 19 starts lasting longer than five innings, 11 of which went at least six and five of which saw him pitch into the seventh inning. That ability to pitch into the seventh sets Rea apart from his competitors, as all of the other pitchers mentioned who started an MLB game in the majors last year combined for just two seven-inning starts in 2024. Rea is also notable as the only pitcher discussed here who is both already on the 40-man roster and cannot be optioned to the minor leagues, meaning he’s all but assured a spot in either the Opening Day rotation or bullpen so long as he’s healthy.

While Assad and Rea may be the frontrunners for the job, there are certainly other options worth considering. Chief among those may be right-hander Ben Brown, who stepped into a rotation role with the Cubs early last year and looked good doing so. Brown’s rookie campaign saw him post a 3.58 ERA and 3.11 FIP with an excellent 28.8% strikeout rate. Those are fantastic numbers for any pitcher, but it’s particularly impressive for a 24-year-old getting his feet wet in the majors for the first time.

Unfortunately, Brown’s debut season was limited to just 55 1/3 innings in total, as he was shut down in June due to what Sharma reports turned out to be an osteoma, which is a benign tumor made of bone growing on an existing piece of bone. Brown appears to be healthy and ready to go for the 2025 season and is likely the pitcher with the highest upside the Cubs could turn to for their final rotation job, but his lack of big league experience and long layoff could make the club hesitant to immediately plug him into the rotation.

Another legitimate contender for the role could be southpaw Jordan Wicks, the club’s first-rounder from the 2021 draft and a former top-100 prospect. Wicks has yet to find success at the big league level in 80 2/3 innings of work across 18 appearances (17 starts), with a 5.02 ERA and a nearly matching 5.05 FIP. Like Brown, Wicks also missed much of the 2024 season due to injuries which, in his case, consisted of forearm and oblique issues. That combination of big league struggles and injury history seem to suggest the 25-year-old might be best suited to start the season at Triple-A, but his peripheral numbers were quite strong last year before he got bit by the injury bug as demonstrated by his 25.9% strikeout rate against an 8.3% walk rate in five starts before hitting the IL for the first time.

The aforementioned quartet aren’t the only plausible options, but they’re by far the most likely. Top prospect Cade Horton is a potential front-of-the-rotation arm who would be an exciting addition to the club’s staff, but he suffered a lost season in 2024 due to a subscapularis strain and is all but certain to get more reps in at Triple-A before making the jump to the majors. Non-roster invitees Brad Keller and Chris Flexen are veteran depth pieces who have served as viable back-end starters in recent years, but Keller appears to be getting work in as a reliever this spring while Flexen offers a similar profile to Rea but with lesser results and no guaranteed contract. Nate Pearson was discussed as a potential starting option over the offseason but has success in relief with the Cubs last year pitched just one inning of relief in his first spring appearance.

Who do MLBTR readers think the Cubs will turn to in order to round out the rotation? Will Assad return healthy and effective from his oblique issue to lock down the role? Will the club prioritize Rea due to volume and roster considerations, or go with a higher-upside pitcher like Brown or perhaps Wicks? Have your say in the poll below:

Cincinnati infielders hit .243/.313/.409 last season, which ranked 20th in park-adjusted offense. That’s despite a superstar performance at shortstop from Elly De La Cruz. Their .236/.303/.384 slash from the other three infield spots placed fifth from the bottom by measure of wRC+. Only the White Sox, Pirates, Rockies and Angels got less out of those positions.

McLain is back and will be the everyday second baseman, which Cincinnati ensured with the Jonathan India/Brady Singer swap at the beginning of the offseason. De La Cruz is obviously locked in at shortstop. The corner infield is much more up in the air. Signing Austin Hays theoretically allows new manager Terry Francona to bring Spencer Steer back onto the dirt as his primary first baseman. That decision may depend on who’s playing the hot corner, which is arguably the key question for the Reds to sort out this spring.

Jeimer Candelario was the unquestioned starter this time a year ago. Cincinnati inked the switch-hitter to a three-year, $45MM free agent deal. He was coming off a .251/.336/.471 showing between the Nationals and Cubs. That marked Candelario’s third strong season within the last four years. The Reds expected that to continue. Instead, he hit .225/.279/.429 during his first season in Cincinnati. While he connected on 20 homers, he had a career-worst walk rate (5.8%) and on-base percentage. Candelario also graded poorly defensively, leading to a sub-replacement level performance.

Candelario’s roster spot isn’t in jeopardy. His performance was probably impacted by a knee issue through which he played for a good chunk of last season. The Reds wouldn’t have cut bait after one season of a three-year deal even if he’d simply underperformed while at full health. That said, they’re less likely to stick with him as a regular third baseman if he doesn’t turn things around quickly.

That presumably played a role in the Gavin Lux trade. Cincinnati acquired the former top prospect from the Dodgers for outfield prospect Mike Sirota and the 41st pick in the upcoming draft. After missing all of 2023 to an ACL tear, Lux had a league average .251/.320/.383 slash with 10 homers in 487 plate appearances last season. The in-season splits were dramatic. Lux had a terrible first half, caught fire coming out of the All-Star Break, then didn’t hit during L.A.’s World Series run. The second half numbers might hint at a greater offensive ceiling, but he’s nearly 1500 plate appearances into his career and has been an average hitter (.252/.326/.383).

Average offensive production would be an upgrade over what Candelario provided last season. The bigger question is whether Lux can handle third base. He moved off shortstop because of throwing accuracy concerns. Lux didn’t start a game anywhere other than second base last year. He has six career innings as a third baseman from one game in 2021 (in which he made two throwing errors). He hasn’t started a regular season game on the left side of the infield in four years.

Mark Sheldon of MLB.com wrote last week that the Reds intend to move Lux around the infield during Spring Training. He could eventually see time in the outfield as well, though Francona indicated they’d have him solely on the infield at the beginning of camp. Lux and Francona each expressed confidence in his ability to make all the necessary throws, though that’s obviously something he’ll need to continue to prove in games.

Lux has minor league options remaining, but the Reds wouldn’t have given up two decent assets and taken on a $3.325MM arbitration salary if they didn’t expect him playing a key role. He’ll be on the MLB roster. If that’s not as the regular third baseman, he’d bounce around in a utility capacity and potentially work as a designated hitter. Cincinnati’s bench is otherwise heavily right-handed, so Lux’s lefty bat could provide balance.

Marte and Christian Encarnacion-Strand have less established MLB roster spots. They were each highly-touted prospects, Marte in particular, whose stocks tanked in 2024. Marte was banned for the season’s first 80 games after testing positive for Boldenone. He had a terrible second half upon his reinstatement. He hit .210/.248/.301 with a 31% strikeout rate and a meager 3.7% walk percentage over 242 plate appearances. He’ll need to dramatically hone in his plate discipline to tap into the power that made him a top prospect. At 23 years old, he’s far from finished, but it’s tough to see him winning an MLB job out of camp.

Encarnacion-Strand had an impressive half-season in 2023. He hit 13 homers with a .270/.328/.477 slash as a rookie. That earned him the Opening Day first base job last year. His season never really got off the ground. Encarnacion-Strand hit .190 with a .220 OBP over 29 games. A fracture in his right hand sent him to the injured list in early May. He attempted to rehab but required season-ending surgery six weeks later. It’s easy to write last year off as an injury-related anomaly, but he’s an unlikely long-term answer at third base. Prospect evaluators have panned his defense, with most projecting him as a first baseman. Even if he gets back on track offensively, he’s likely to see most of his action at first or DH.

The Reds have a few other third base options — none of whom are likely to push for the job early in the season. Espinal is back as a glove-first infielder. His .247/.300/.348 slash over the past two years points to a utility role. Cincinnati selected Cooper Bowman from the A’s in the Rule 5 draft. He has been a second baseman for most of his career and has 53 professional innings at the hot corner. Even if he sticks on the MLB roster, it’d be in a developmental capacity. Steer and Rece Hinds each played third in the minors but moved off the position for defensive reasons. Prospect Tyler Callihan is on the 40-man roster but has only four career Triple-A games.

How will the Reds divvy up playing time at the hot corner this season?

A couple of years ago, I did a Q&A with readers that MLBTR owner Tim Dierkes said was well received. He asked if I’d be interested in doing some writing, and after a little consideration, I figured I’d give it a shot. We’ll see how it goes.

For my first piece, I want to talk about what it was like to face one of baseball’s greatest hitters: Ichiro Suzuki. As an undrafted free agent signing with the Atlanta Braves in 2008, I worked my way through the minors and made my Major League debut in September 2010. I had some success but unfortunately dealt with multiple elbow injuries that ultimately ended my career sooner than I’d hoped. Still, I had some incredible experiences, and facing Ichiro on June 27, 2011, is one of the most memorable.

Preparation

I want to set the scene by briefly describing my process and preparation. The day after my starts I would come in early, get my flush running in, and get into the gym. I’d then go through yesterday’s start pitch by pitch. Roger McDowell was very influential on me. The results mattered of course, but some of my toughest self-scouting days came after quality starts or even scoreless outings. I had days where I felt I had just gotten lucky after executing rather poorly. I would track all my fastballs and how often I hit my spot. I believed in the long run that process-oriented approach would yield the results I wanted in the long run.

Day 2 is when I started looking ahead at my next opponent. I’d look over their roster, see who was hot at the time, and dive into their numbers a little bit. I wanted to know two things on each hitter:

1. What and where (i.e. pitch type, location) did they struggle that could be a putaway opportunity for me?
2. Against which pitch type and where within the zone did they do their damage?

Balancing this with pitching to your own strengths was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed this side of the competition.

The First At-Bat (YouTube link)

Back to June 27, 2011. I was throwing to Brian McCann, one of the best catchers a young pitcher could ask for. Mac was huge comfort blanket for me. He knew the hitters inside and out and was extremely perceptive to hitters’ swings and subtle changes.

Ichiro was leading off, and I started with a fastball up in the zone. He flared it foul down the left-field line. I was a four-seam, high-spin-rate guy before that became a widely discussed metric. I typically attacked hitters with my fastball early and often.

I missed with my next fastball to even the count at 1-1. I went back at him with another fastball, 93 mph, a little over the plate. He fouled it off. I got away with these a lot early in games especially. McCann had relayed things hitters had told him about my fastball just having a little extra gear than it appeared. McCann was great at using this to get me into favorable counts, and I trusted his guidance.

By this point, I thought Ichiro had a read on me—he knew what I was throwing and was adjusting accordingly, it seemed. Looking back I don’t think he ever started cheating to get to the fastball. He would’ve been content wasting them away all night long.

Next, I threw a well-located 95 mph fastball down and away. Ichiro was one of the best ever at this, and wasted another good pitch, just fouling them off instead of taking the strike. So McCann called for a changeup, a great pitch on the outer part of the plate. Ichiro appeared fooled by it but recognized it enough to keep his hands back, on plane and fouled it off to the right side.

Then came one of my favorite pitches of my entire career. McCann doubled up on the changeup here. After the way he kept his hands back on the last one I knew it couldn’t be the same. Mac set up on the chalk of the right-handed batter’s box to help illustrate this to me.

I threw a four seam changeup to match the spin of my fastball. I worked daily to try to stay perfectly behind this pitch so that it would mimic the fastball exactly. On this next pitch I intentionally got way inside of the ball, running it left to right out into the other batter’s box. Ichiro swung and missed. It was a huge moment—a small victory in the battle against one of the toughest outs in baseball.

The Second At-Bat (YouTube link)

In the third inning, we were up 1-0 with two outs and nobody on—an ideal time to face a hitter of Ichiro’s caliber. I started him off hard away, and again, he fouled it off, clearly tracking my fastball well. I missed off the edge with another fastball, bringing the count to 1-1.

McCann went back to the changeup. I threw a good one down and away, but Ichiro did what he does best—he kept his hands back just long enough to barrel it up and shoot it up the middle for a single. He was never the type of hitter who needed perfect timing; his ability to adjust mid-swing was second to none. This “good” pitch played into his hands well.

The Third At-Bat (YouTube link)

By the fifth inning, the game was tied, and I had a runner on third with two outs. The stakes were higher. After inducing a pop out for the second out, Mac visited the mound before Ichiro came to the plate. He was great in these settings. Always incredibly encouraging and helping me focus. A lot of times he would just ask what I wanted for first pitch, which is what I think was discussed here. I missed up with a fastball to start, then threw another over the plate that he swung through. Looking back, I can now see that I don’t think Ichiro had been on my fastball all day. He’d fouled them off repeatedly, but with glancing blows, not square dangerous swings.

At a 1-1 count, McCann called for another changeup, but he set up way outside, almost in the other batter’s box recalling the pitch I had struck him out on in the first inning. I again got way inside the release of it, and it ran sharply to the right and out of the zone. Ichiro, recognizing changeup, committed to the pitch expecting one like he had singled last at bat — swung and missed. Now I was ahead 1-2.

Then McCann made the call that sealed it. Instead of another changeup, he called for a slider down and in—a pitch Ichiro hadn’t seen yet. I threw a good one, and he swung over the top as it bounced into the dirt. Strike three. I got out of the inning unscathed, thanks to McCann’s pitch calling and conviction in the way he set up. These nonverbal cues put me at ease giving me not just the pitch he wanted and the location, but the purpose behind it.

The Takeaway

Earlier that year, I sat with Chipper Jones and a group of hitters, probably McCann included. Chipper was always generous with his time, and he’d invited me to always listen in and would even tailor conversations to help me understand from a pitcher’s perspective. One thing he told me stuck: “Maybe one or two guys in each lineup are truly thinking the game—picking pitches, playing chess at the plate.” The rest just go execute against. Ichiro was definitely one of those guys.

Facing a legend like Ichiro was an incredible challenge. He wasn’t just reacting to pitches—he was playing the chess game at an elite level. Early in the game, he wasn’t selling out for my fastball; he was waiting for something off-speed. Striking him out twice in the same game felt surreal, but it came down to a combination of sequencing, execution, and trust in my catcher.

Looking back, moments like these are what made my time in the big leagues so special. Sitting in the dugout after the game, icing my arm, I couldn’t help but think, I just struck out Ichiro Suzuki twice. It was one of those “I can’t believe I’m here” moments that I’ll always cherish.

Baseball is full of small battles within the larger game. Sometimes, you win those battles, and sometimes you don’t. In this instance, I believe I benefited from giving up what was ultimately a harmless single in the 3rd inning. Striking a pro hitter out is always a good feeling. Fooling someone or overpowering them are fun. My favorites though were times like these with Ichiro, where I gave them what I believe they wanted and used their aggression and wits against them.

After my playing career ended, I decided to bet on myself again—this time in business ownership through franchising. I wanted control over my time after years of being told where to be and when. Franchising was the right fit for me, and I believe it’s a great path for many athletes making the transition, as well as anyone looking for a new opportunity.

Now, while running my own business, I also help others navigate franchising as a consultant—a guide, coach, and advocate for those exploring their next step. My service is free, and I’m always happy to talk franchising, baseball, or anything in between. Feel free to reach out at Brandon@whatsnextfranchising.com.

Next winter’s class could be better, but probably not significantly so. J.T. Realmuto has been one of the better backstops in the game in the past decade but will be 35 years old by the start of the 2026 season. He also might just re-sign with the Phillies. Danny Jansen could have a bounceback on his one-year deal with the Rays this season, but he will still have a checkered injury history and a dismal 2024 campaign tamping down interest. Jose Trevino will draw interest from his excellent defense but he doesn’t hit much.

The 2026-27 class has some potentially attractive options in Alejandro Kirk, Ryan Jeffers, Tyler Stephenson and Jonah Heim, but they’ve all had inconsistent careers, so it’s anyone’s guess how they’ll look two seasons from now.

The trade market seems to be far more interesting as the current prospect pipeline is loaded with catchers. Baseball America’s Top 100 list features 11 backstops. The FanGraphs list has 16, MLB Pipeline 14, ESPN 12 and Keith Law of The Athletic 15.

Not all prospects work out and some of these catchers will end up getting moved to a corner position. But with many of these clubs already having a controllable backstop in the big leagues, future logjams are distinctly possible. Teams these days are generally fine having two catchers in a timeshare, but guys can still get squeezed onto the trade block. Gabriel Moreno didn’t have a path to playing time in Toronto a few years ago and got flipped to the Diamondbacks. Atlanta made Sean Murphy their primary catcher and sent William Contreras to Milwaukee. The Red Sox recently included Kyle Teel in the Garrett Crochet trade, presumably because they feel good about Connor Wong holding down the position for the next four years. The Yankees have Austin Wells, which allowed them to send Agustín Ramírez to the Marlins in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade.

Let’s take a look at some other clubs who could theoretically make a catcher available in the coming years, depending on how things develop. This list is subjective, so feel free to cook me in the comments if I missed one that you like. Teams sorted alphabetically.

Braves

As mentioned, Atlanta felt good enough about Murphy that they were willing to let Contreras go. They also made a big bet on Murphy by signing him to a six-year, $73MM extension shortly after acquiring him. The first year of the deal was excellent but Murphy’s results tailed off significantly in 2024, which has been a source of frustration for Atlanta fans as Contreras has thrived in Milwaukee.

Murphy now has footsteps behind him, as Drake Baldwin is considered one of the top catching prospects in the league. He’s already knocking on the door of the majors, having played in 72 Triple-A games last year. He walked in 15.6% of his plate appearances at that level while striking out just 16.2% of the time and hitting 12 home runs. His .298/.407/484 slash translated to a 135 wRC+.

With four years and $60MM left on the Murphy deal, plus a $15MM club option for 2029, Atlanta could look to flip Murphy and open a path for Baldwin. Though Murphy will have to bounce back in order to make that a possibility. If they can’t find good value on a Murphy deal, then perhaps Baldwin could follow Contreras and be the next catching prospect traded out of Atlanta. In either case, Chadwick Tromp currently projects as the backup to whoever the long-term #1 is.

Brewers

As mentioned, William Contreras has been thriving since being traded to Milwaukee. He has slashed .285/.366/.462 for a 128 wRC+ over the past two years. His previously-maligned defense has improved significantly. He is controlled via arbitration through 2027. The backup job will likely go to Eric Haase this year, with Jorge Alfaro in camp as a non-roster invitee.

They also have Jeferson Quero, one of the top catching prospects in the league, knocking on the door. Though he’s only 22 years old now, he likely would have made his major league debut last year as a 21-year-old if it weren’t for a bite from the injury bug. In 2022, Quero appeared in 90 Double-A games as a 20-year-old. He started 2024 at Triple-A but suffered a subluxation in his right shoulder in the first game of the season. That led to surgery to address a torn labrum, wiping out the remainder of the campaign.

If he can stay healthy in 2025, Quero should be lurking in Triple-A. After missing essentially an entire season, the Brewers will probably want to keep him there for a while to get back into game shape. However, he’s already been on the 40-man for over a year now and is down to two option seasons. With Contreras under club control for three more seasons, things might get tight over time.

Cardinals

As part of their 2025 reset, the Cardinals are moving on from Willson Contreras as their catcher. Despite signing him to a big five-year deal, they never seemed to like his work behind the plate and even moved him off the position for a time in 2023. It seems they hoped to trade him this winter but he wasn’t willing to waive his no-trade clause, so he’ll move to first base instead, likely seeing time at designated hitter as well.

That will allow Iván Herrera and Pedro Pagés to get the playing time this year. Herrera has been a top ten prospect in the Cards’ system for years. He’s hit .263/.389/.437 in the minors over the past four years for a 121 wRC+. He finally got some decent big league playing time last year and responded with a .301/.372/.428 line and 127 wRC+. Pagés doesn’t have the same prospect pedigree but is a solid defender and fine secondary catcher.

Herrera have five seasons of club control and Pagés six. The Cards also have a borderline top 100 catching prospect in Jimmy Crooks. A fourth-round pick from 2022, he played 90 games at Double-A last year, meaning he should be slated for Triple-A work in 2025. Of the aforementioned top 100 lists, only FanGraphs had him on there, but that outlet described him as “a glove-first catcher who does enough on offense to be the primary guy.”

Cubs

Going into 2025, the Cubs are are slated to have Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly as their catching duo. Amaya was once a notable prospect himself. Held back by some injuries, he is now out of options but seems to have solidified himself as a capable big leaguer. He’ll turn 26 in March and still has five years of club control remaining. Kelly is a solid veteran who just signed a two-year deal with the Cubbies this offseason.

Hanging around below them will be Moisés Ballesteros. He has hit .279/.366/.452 for a 128 wRC+ in his minor league career thus far. That includes 68 games at the Triple-A level last year, when he was just 20 years old.

His defense isn’t as highly rate as his offense, however. He has played some first base on the farm and there are those who feel he is destined to end up there. But he’s also only 21 and has reportedly improved his conditioning. The Cubs have a controllable first baseman in Michael Busch, as well as Seiya Suzuki likely to be the regular designated hitter, so things might get crowded one way or another.

Diamondbacks

As mentioned up top, Gabriel Moreno was squeezed out of playing time with the Jays and got sent to Arizona, where he’s been the primary backstop for the past two years. He’s under club control for another four years. José Herrera is likely to be the backup this year.

The club also has Adrian Del Castillo firmly in the mix. He put up a huge line of .312/.399/.603 in Triple-A last year. Even in the hitter-friendly context of the Pacific Coast League, his 144 wRC+ points to him being well above average. He also got into 25 major league games and hit .313/.368/.525.

His defense isn’t regarded as highly as his bat, so a move to a first base/designated hitter role down the line is possible, though he hasn’t played any first base yet. The Snakes have more of a path to playing time there with Christian Walker and Joc Pederson departing in free agency. They acquired Josh Naylor to cover first but he will hit the open market after the upcoming season.

Dodgers

The Dodgers have had Will Smith as their primary catcher for a while and it doesn’t seem like that will change anytime soon. About this time last year, he and the club agreed to an extension that will keep him in Los Angeles through 2033. Moving out from behind the plate won’t be possible for a while with Shohei Ohtani locked into the designated hitter spot through 2033. First baseman Freddie Freeman is signed through 2027. The club also has Austin Barnes as the backup, though he’s in the final year of his deal. Hunter Feduccia is on the 40-man and could perhaps take over for Barnes next year.

Hovering around all this is Dalton Rushing, one of the top prospects in the game. He’s hit .273/.410/.520 for a 153 wRC+ in his minor league career, which includes 37 Triple-A games. The Dodgers have given him some playing time at first base and left field to give him a better path to the big leagues. But that is arguably a waste of his skills behind the plate and he might be better utilized headlining a blockbuster trade.

Guardians

Going into 2025, Bo Naylor should be the regular behind the plate in Cleveland. His bat regressed in 2024 but he was still a useful contributor thanks to his defense. He’s under club control for another five years. Glove-first veteran Austin Hedges will be back to serve as Naylor’s partner.

Waiting in the wings is Cooper Ingle. A fourth-round pick from 2023, he has slashed .303/.426/.466 for a 153 wRC+ in his minor league career thus far. That includes 25 Double-A games last year, so getting to Triple-A in 2025 is a distinct possibility.

Ingle was only a part-time catcher at Clemson and is still considered an unfinished project defensively, but he showed enough development in 2024 that prospect evaluators think he’s viable to stick back there. The Guards might be patient with him but he should be ready for the majors well before Naylor is approaching free agency.

Mariners

The Mariners have Cal Raleigh, one of the best catchers in the game today. He can be retained via arbitration through 2027. Mitch Garver and Blake Hunt are candidates to be in the backup spot.

The club also has Harry Ford, one of the top catching prospects in the league. The 12th overall pick from 2021, he’s hit .261/.404/.418 for a 129 wRC+ in his minor league career thus far. He spent all of last year at Double-A, getting into 116 games, and should be in Triple-A this year. He’s also stolen at least 23 bases in each of the past three seasons.

However, his stock is down a bit after a mixed 2024. There are some questions about whether he has the defensive chops to stick behind the plate. He got some time in left field last year and the early reviews weren’t favorable. While his offense has been good overall, he had diminished power in 2024, leaving him as more of an on-base guy. That’s a harder profile to pull off if he moves to an outfield corner or first base.

Marlins

In the short term, the catching situation behind the plate in Miami is rough. Nick Fortes currently projects as the starter despite a career batting line of .222/.275/.344. Liam Hicks, a Rule 5 pick who hasn’t played higher than Double-A, could be the backup.

But in the long term, things look much better. Both Agustín Ramírez and Joe Mack have shown up on top 100 prospect lists. Ramírez got into 68 Triple-A games last year and is already on the 40-man, meaning he may arrive first. He has hit .270/.361/.476 for a 127 wRC+ over the past four years, coming over to the Marlins in the aforementioned Chisholm trade.

Mack was selected 31st overall in 2021 and hit .252/.338/.468 for a 137 wRC+ last year, mostly in Double-A. He’s considered the stronger defender, so perhaps both can exist on the same roster down the road, with Ramírez spending some time at first base and/or designated hitter.

Orioles

It was a bit of a slog for Adley Rutschman in 2024, as his numbers tailed off badly in the second half. But that won’t change the fact that he’s the #1 catcher in Baltimore. The former first overall pick is strong at the plate and behind it, with three years of club control remaining. Gary Sánchez will be supporting him in 2025 after signing a one-year deal.

The question is how Samuel Basallo fits into the picture. He is one of the top prospects in baseball, with each of the aforementioned top 100 lists having him in the top 20. FanGraphs has him fifth overall and Keith Law third. He’s hit .286/.364/.477 for a 134 wRC+ in his minor league career. He just turned 20 years old in August. He spent most of last year at Double-A and also got into 21 Triple-A games.

There are some concerns around Basallo’s defense, which could push him to first base. He did play a bit of first last year, though that was partially due to a stress fracture in his right elbow. Despite being incomplete as a defender, many believe he still has lots of potential behind the plate due to his talent and youth.

Padres

Many in the industry view Ethan Salas as the catcher of the future in San Diego. He doesn’t turn 19 until June but will likely be the club’s regular at Double-A this year. His defense is already considered elite. His offensive numbers have been less impressive but that may be because the Friars have been incredibly aggressive in sending him to levels where he’s far younger than his competition.

Salas coming up and taking the job in the future would only be a problem if Luis Campusano gets back on track. Himself a former hyped-up catching prospect, Campusano seemed to finally break out in 2023 by hitting .319/.356/.491. That gave him plenty of run in 2024 but he responded with a dismal .227/.281/.361 performance. His defense was also poor, making him a sub-replacement level player for the year. The Padres went with Kyle Higashioka and Elias Díaz by the end of the year, leaving Campusano off their playoff roster.

Due to budgetary constraints in San Diego, Campusano should get a chance at redemption in 2025. He projects to share the catching duties with veteran Díaz, who was brought back via a modest deal this offseason. Campusano has less than three years of service time, meaning he can be controlled through 2028 if he gets things going again this year.

Pirates

Going into 2023, the Pirates had both Henry Davis and Endy Rodríguez on Baseball America’s Top 100 list. It seemed possible that two of them would be battling for the future catching job in Pittsburgh, but a lot has changed since then.

Rodríguez made his major league debut in 2023, with good defense but subpar offense. UCL surgery then wiped out his entire 2024 season. Davis didn’t seize the job while Rodríguez was out. He has a massive .290/.409/.535 line in the minors but has hit just .191/.283/.307 against major league pitching. His defense is also considered a tick behind that of Rodríguez.

The Bucs acquired Joey Bart early last season after he had been designated for assignment by the Giants, which turned into a great pickup. Around a couple of IL stints, Bart hit .265/.337/.462 in 80 games for the Pirates last year.

Bart is out of options and should have an Opening Day job locked in. Davis and Rodríguez can still be optioned but neither has much left to prove on the farm. They can also play other positions but Rodríguez seems likely to get a lot of value from his defense behind the plate. Davis hasn’t yet hit enough in the big leagues to justify a corner outfield spot. Jason Delay is also on the 40-man roster, though he’s also optionable. There are still many ways this could all play out but all of these guys are under club control for three more years or longer, so there could be a squeeze down the road.

Royals

The Royals have had Salvador Perez handling most of their catching duties for over a decade now. He’s entering the final guaranteed year of his contract but there’s a $13.5MM club option for 2026 with a $2MM buyout, making it a net $11.5MM decision. As Perez has started spending more time at first base or as the designated hitter, Freddy Fermin has taken a decent chunk of the playing time. He’s under club control through 2029.

The club also has a pair of notable catching prospects on the way, with both Carter Jensen and Blake Mitchell have appeared on some of the aforementioned top 100 lists. Jensen, 21, was a third-round pick in 2021. He’s hit .235/.361/.401 for a 117 wRC+ in his minor league career. There have been questions about his defense but he’s made positive strides there. He appeared in 41 Double-A games last year, so getting to Triple-A in 2025 should be doable with a major league debut not out of the question.

Mitchell, 20, was the eighth overall pick in 2023. He has slashed .226/.374/.405 for a 131 wRC+ in the minors thus far. He only got to High-A for five games late in 2024. His 2025 is also going to be delayed by hamate surgery, so he’s clearly behind Jensen when it comes to near-term MLB readiness.

Perez is about to turn 35 but the Royals seem well positioned to pivot to the next era. Fermin has been a decent complement and can be kept around for another five seasons. With two top prospects on the way, perhaps the Royals might find themselves with a logjam, even without Perez.

Tigers

The Tigers have Jake Rogers as their primary catcher. He’s considered to be above average on defense. His offense is a bit shakier as he strikes out a bunch and doesn’t walk much, but he does have some power, with 31 homers over the past two seasons. He’s under club control through 2026.

There’s a chance Dillon Dingler could push him for some big league playing time. A former notable prospect, Dingler hit just .167/.195/.310 in his first 87 plate appearances at the major league level. However, he’s put up big numbers in the minors before, including a .308/.379/.559 line in Triple-A last year. He has less than a year of service time and still has two minor league options.

Detroit also has two notable catching prospects, as both Thayron Liranzo and Josue Briceño are on some of the aforementioned top 100 lists. Liranzo, 21, was acquired from the Dodgers in the Jack Flaherty deal. There are some questions about his work behind the plate but he has hit .254/.381/.475 for a 137 wRC+ in his minor league career. He spent all of last year at High-A and should be at Double-A in 2025.

Briceño, 20, has hit .283/.367/.439 for a 119 wRC+ in his minor league career. He didn’t catch a ton in 2024 but that was seemingly due to a knee injury as opposed to any concerns about his abilities back there. He got healthy by the end of the year and then went to the Arizona Fall League, putting up a massive .433/.509/.867 slash and winning MVP honors. He hasn’t yet reached the High-A level, so he’s a step or two behind Liranzo.

Rogers is only under club control for another two seasons, but by the time that clock runs out, it’s possible that Dingler, Liranzo and Briceño are all jockeying for position on the depth chart. If a few things go right, it’s possible the Tigers will have more catchers than they need.

White Sox

The White Sox have been aggressively rebuilding for a while now, trading away just about every viable major leaguer on the roster for prospects. Those many trades have returned three notable catching prospects. At the 2023 deadline, they added Korey Lee via the Kendall Graveman trade and Edgar Quero in the Lucas Giolito/Reynaldo López deal. More recently, Kyle Teel was one of the highlight pieces in the Garrett Crochet trade.

Lee, 26, has hit just .188/.227/.313 in his major league career thus far with rough defensive grades to boot. However, he was considered a top 100 guy not too long ago and could get back on track. The Sox should be able to give him lots of runway to try, since near-term competition won’t be possible after their historically bad 2024.

Even if Lee’s prospect shine is gone, the others still have it. Quero, 22 in April, has slashed .280/.397/.452 for a 132 wRC+ in his minor league career. Teel, 23, has hit .301/.404/.444 for a 141 wRC+. Both players have reached Triple-A, with Quero having played 26 games there and Teel 28. Either or both could plausibly be in the majors this year.

Teel is considered a stronger defender than Quero, so perhaps the latter will end up getting pushed out from behind the plate. Or perhaps the Sox will decide that using the trade block to bolster another part of the roster is the best path forward.

While Murphy is still tentatively expected to be available at some point in the first half, his availability for the start of the season is in serious doubt. With the club’s incumbent likely to miss at least the start of the season due to injury, the Giants have little choice but to seriously consider the number of alternative options currently in camp with them. The club has four catchers in camp aside from Bailey and Murphy as things stand: Sam Huff, Max Stassi, Logan Porter, and Adrian Sugastey. Sugastey is just 22 years old and slashed a meager .210/.241/.304 at Double-A last season, leaving him extremely unlikely to be called up to the majors until he’s had more time to develop. Huff, Stassi, and Porter all appear to be legitimate contenders for the job, however.

To the extent that there’s a favorite for the job, it seems that status would fall to Huff now that Murphy is out of commission. Unlike the other options in camp with the club, Huff is already on the 40-man roster after being plucked off waivers from the Rangers shortly after the new year. A former consensus top-100 prospect, Huff was a seventh-round pick by the Rangers in 2016 who blossomed into an intriguing bat-first catcher during his time in the minor leagues. Above-average offense isn’t necessarily a must from a club’s backup catcher, but given Bailey’s light-hitting, defense-first profile it’s easy to see why the Giants might be attracted to Huff as a potential complement.

A career .263/.334/.480 hitter across all levels of the minors, Huff has 78 games in the big leagues under his belt across four seasons with Texas. Unfortunately, that big league playing time has been something of a mixed bag. While he’s posted a solid 112 wRC+ in 214 career MLB plate appearances, he’s struck out at a massive 33.6% clip and largely been buoyed by a .353 BABIP that seems unlikely to be sustainable. Huff has generally been regarded as a below-average defender behind the plate as well despite a strong throwing arm and decent framing ability. That lack of defensive excellence puts more pressure on Huff’s bat, and it can be difficult for a high-strikeout profile like Huff’s to offer consistent production in a bench role.

Those potential question marks surrounding Huff could open the door for Stassi to take the job. The most experienced catcher in the backup mix for the Giants (even including Murphy), the soon to be 34-year-old has participated in parts of 10 MLB seasons, including a three-year run of regular at-bats with the Angels from 2020 to 2022. While the 2020 and ’21 seasons saw Stassi briefly break out offensively with a solid 113 wRC+, Stassi is mostly a glove-first catcher; he hit just .180/.267/.303 across 102 games in 2022 and has a career wRC+ of just 83. With +20 framing runs since the start of the 2018 season according to Statcast, however, Stassi makes up for his lack of offense with excellent defense that could pair with Bailey to give the Giants the best defensive tandem behind the plate in the sport.

Stassi comes with his own flaws, however. Most notably, he hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2022 due to a combination of family considerations and injuries. At nearly 34 years old, Stassi has reached the age where many catchers start to struggle to stay effective due to the toll the position takes on the body, and that concern is exacerbated for Stassi in particular due to both his checkered recent history and the fact that he regressed both offensively and defensively during the 2022 campaign.

Of course, that regression may have also had something to do with his career-high workload that year, an issue that would not come up in 2025 should he serve as Bailey’s backup. On the other hand, Stassi offers little upside, with even a solid rebound from his 2022 season likely ending with him being a below-average hitter. Huff offers significantly more upside, both due to the potential of his bat and because he has less than two years of MLB service time under his belt at this point, allowing him to be controlled through the end of the 2029 season.

Porter, meanwhile, stands as less likely to earn the job than either Huff or Stassi but also represents something of a middle ground between the two. The 29-year-old is the least experienced of the trio at the big league level, having appeared in just 11 games with the Royals back in 2023. With that being said, he has a reputation as a strong defender and pairs that with a bat that showed some life at Triple-A last year, where he slashed a combined .267/.370/.453 (114 wRC+) in 73 across the Royals, Mets, and Giants organizations. Given his lack of big league experience, Porter could be controlled long-term and even optioned to the minor leagues if added to the 40-man roster, while Huff is out of options and Stassi has enough service time to decline an optional assignment.

Assuming Murphy begins the season on the injured list, which catcher should the Giants pair with Bailey? Is Huff’s former top prospect status and offensive upside worth the lackluster defense and potential contact issues? Should the club gamble on Stassi’s track record of MLB success despite his long layoff from big league games and worrying signals in his 2022 campaign? Or should the club take a chance on Porter despite his minimal big league experience? Have your say in the poll below:

It didn’t take long for an injury to intervene. Cobb is battling inflammation in his right hip, which is likely to lead to a season-opening injured list stint. It’s an alarming start to his Detroit tenure, as the veteran righty missed a good portion of last year rehabbing a 2023 labrum repair in his opposite hip.

What had been a camp battle for one spot expands to a competition for two vacancies. Detroit has a handful of recognizable names — including a few one-time top prospects who are still looking to establish themselves — in the mix for those jobs behind the Skubal/Flaherty/Olson top three.

Jackson Jobe

Aside from Roki Sasaki, the 22-year-old Jobe may currently be the sport’s most talented pitching prospect. Baseball America, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, and MLB Pipeline each placed him as their #2 pitching prospect. Keith Law of The Athletic ranks Jobe as the #1 pitching prospect — Law excluded Sasaki from his ranking based on the latter’s NPB experience — while Eric Longehagen of FanGraphs had Jobe behind Sasaki and Andrew Painter.

Evaluators agree that Jobe has top-of-the-rotation ceiling. He’s the most exciting player in this group, but he’s far from a lock to break camp. The 6’2″ righty’s MLB experience consists of four relief appearances — two apiece in the regular season and playoffs — last fall. He has started all of two Triple-A games.

Jobe spent most of last season at Double-A Erie, where he turned in a 2.36 ERA with a 27% strikeout rate but walked nearly 13% of opposing hitters. He missed two months because of a hamstring strain. Last year’s 91 2/3 innings nevertheless represented the most he’s thrown in a professional season. Even if he breaks camp, he’s unlikely to make 30+ starts and top 150 innings. The Tigers surely don’t want to burn him out early in the year. Jobe still has a full slate of options and could begin the year with Triple-A Toledo.

Casey Mize

The first overall pick in 2018, Mize is now a few seasons removed from being one of the game’s top pitching prospects. The 27-year-old’s body of work has been decent but underwhelming relative to expectations. Mize pitched to a 3.71 ERA over 30 starts in 2021, his first full season. Tommy John surgery essentially cost him the next two years. The Auburn product returned to action with a 4.49 ERA across 102 1/3 frames last year. He showed plus control and got a lot of ground-balls but managed only a 17.3% strikeout rate.

Mize hasn’t missed many bats and gave up a lot of hard contact last season. He’s still sitting in the 95-96 MPH range with his fastball, but none of his top four offerings (four-seam, slider, splitter, sinker) got especially strong results last year. It looks like he’s trending towards a fifth/sixth starter role. Mize still has a full slate of options, but he’s 61 days away from reaching five years of service time. At that point, he cannot be sent to the minors without his approval. He’s making $2.34MM and under arbitration control for another year beyond this one.

Kenta Maeda

The Tigers inked Maeda to a two-year, $24MM free agent deal last winter. It looked like a good value at the time, but the veteran righty had a terrible first season in the Motor City. Maeda allowed more than six earned runs per nine across 112 1/3 innings. He struck out just 19.8% of batters faced, a huge drop from the 27.3% mark he’d posted during his final season with the Twins. His home run rate climbed for the fourth consecutive season.

Maeda lost his rotation spot last July. He worked in long relief until the final weekend of the season, when he picked up a spot start after Detroit had punched its postseason ticket. Detroit left him off their playoff rosters. While Maeda was essentially a non-factor by season’s end, president of baseball operations Scott Harris said early in the offseason that the Tigers would give him another chance to earn a rotation spot out of camp. The Tigers kept him on the roster all offseason, suggesting they’re still holding out some hope that they’ll get something positive from what’ll be a $10MM investment this year. Maeda can’t be sent to the minors, so if he doesn’t win a rotation spot, he’ll either head back to long relief or be a release candidate.

Brant Hurter

A seventh-round pick in 2021, Hurter made his MLB debut last August. The 6’6″ lefty came out of the bullpen for all but one of his 10 appearances. He averaged 4.5 innings per appearance, though, so he was more or less operating as a bulk arm who generally followed an opener. Hurter had a strong debut, pitching to a 2.58 earned run average through 45 1/3 frames. He struck out 21.7% of batters faced against a 3.4% walk rate while getting grounders at an excellent 53.1% clip.

Hurter leans most heavily on a sinker that sits in the 92 MPH range. That pitch gets a lot of grounders but rarely misses bats. He showed more swing-and-miss potential with a low-80s breaking ball. Hurter recorded a lot of strikeouts up through Double-A. Hitters started putting the ball in play much more frequently at the top minor league level. There’s volatility with that approach, which is demonstrated by the 5.80 ERA which Hurter posted across 19 Triple-A appearances (18 starts). The Tigers could have some questions about how his arsenal would play against right-handed hitters, in particular, if he works as a traditional starter.

Keider Montero

Detroit added Montero to their 40-man roster during the 2023-24 offseason. They called him up for the first time late last May. The 24-year-old righty took the ball 19 times (including 16 starts) and worked 98 1/3 innings of 4.76 ERA ball as a rookie. The underlying marks weren’t great. His 18.7% strikeout rate and 9.4% swinging strike percentage were each a few points below average. He surrendered more than 1.7 home runs per nine innings. Montero’s 7.5% walk rate was fine and his fastball sat in the 94-95 MPH range, but his rookie year was mostly a struggle.

Montero has missed more bats in his minor league career, albeit with shakier control than he showed in his MLB action. He struck out 24.1% of opponents across 13 Triple-A starts. A walk rate north of 13% contributed to an unimpressive 5.03 ERA over 48 1/3 frames. Montero still has two option years and can bounce between Detroit and Toledo. While he has been a starter throughout his professional career, perhaps there’d be some intrigue in seeing how his stuff plays in a relief role.

Matt Manning

Manning, 27, is another former top 10 pick and top prospect in this mix. The 6’6″ righty has made 50 career starts over the past four seasons. He carries a 4.43 ERA across 254 innings. As with Mize, he has shown decent control but struggled to miss bats (16.4% strikeout rate). Manning fell fairly far down the depth chart last season. He only made five major league appearances while taking the ball 15 times for Toledo. He posted a 4.28 ERA while striking out a quarter of batters faced over 69 1/3 minor league innings. He battled a lat injury in the second half and was sidelined from around the All-Star Break until the middle of September.

This will be Manning’s final option year if he spends at least 20 days in the minors. He’s on track to qualify for arbitration next winter. It’s approaching make-or-break territory if he’s going to carve out a significant role in Detroit.

Ty Madden

Madden reached the majors for the first time last August. The Texas product had a limited role as a rookie. He pitched to a 4.30 earned run average with a 16.8% strikeout rate across 23 innings. Madden missed a lot more bats in the minors, where he punched out 28.3% of opposing hitters over 22 starts. That was about the only positive from his minor league numbers, though. Madden allowed nearly seven earned runs per nine. He gave up way too many home runs and walked nearly 10% of batters faced.

Baseball America ranked Madden as the #18 prospect in the Detroit system this winter. The outlet writes that his four-pitch mix and command are fringy. The stuff has been good enough to get whiffs against minor league hitters, but he’s probably ticketed for Triple-A to begin the season.

It’s not hard to see why Houston would like to upgrade their lineup. Among hitters with at least 100 plate appearances for the club last year, Tucker led the way with a sensational 181 wRC+ while Bregman ranked fourth with a figure of 118. As important as both players were, it’s fair to point out the club has a number of successful hitters still in the fold: Yordan Alvarez (168 wRC+) and Jose Altuve (127 wRC+) put up excellent numbers last year, and the catcher position remains strong with Yainer Diaz (117 wRC+) and Victor Caratini (113 wRC+).

Still, the combination of Alvarez, Altuve, Diaz, and Caratini cover just three spots in the lineup. The quartet do not figure to be in the same lineup very often this year, particularly now that Altuve is slated to play left field on at least a semi-frequent basis in order to keep Alvarez at DH, thereby stopping manager Joe Espada from penciling Diaz or Caratini in at DH on days when the other catching. Offseason additions of Isaac Paredes (117 wRC+) and Christian Walker (119 wRC+) should help to keep things afloat, with Paredes in particular projecting to serve as a near perfect replacement for Bregman with the bat despite his shortcomings on defense.

The Astros have a solid offensive nucleus, but their lineup figures to include several below-average hitters this year and sorely miss the offensive contributions Tucker has offered throughout his career. Without Tucker, the club’s entire projected outfield mix is questionable. Center fielder Jake Meyers is a career .228/.292/.371 (87 wRC+) hitter whose 2024 numbers were right in line with that production. Ben Gamel posted a 115 wRC+ last year, but that came in just 99 plate appearances and was his first above average offensive season since 2018. Chas McCormick has shown some solid potential with the bat in the past, but he’s coming off a career-worst campaign where he hit just .211/.271/.306 (66 wRC+). He’s also struggled to produce against right-handed pitching even in his more successful seasons.

The introduction of Altuve to the club’s left field mix should help to add some pop to the outfield, but the leading candidates to take over for him at second base are Mauricio Dubon and Brendan Rodgers. Both have six seasons in the majors, and neither has posted an above-average offensive season. What’s more, the departure of Tucker and Jon Singleton’s move to the bench leaves Alvarez as the club’s only lefty swinging regular, unless the club turns to Gamel for everyday reps. It seems clear that the Astros would benefit from adding another hitter to the mix — ideally a lefty.

The problem, however, is that very few options remain available in free agency, and even fewer of them are left-handed. Alex Verdugo has plenty of experience in left field and is perhaps the best left-handed bat still available, but he’s coming off a career-worst season. David Peralta is coming off a solid season in a part-time role with the Padres last year but is headed into his age-37 campaign. In terms of potential infielders, part-time players like Jose Iglesias and Whit Merrifield are not only right-handed, but also provide little over internal options like Dubon and Rodgers.

Perhaps there’s a trade to be worked out, even as swinging a deal for Arenado remains unlikely. The Twins have been rumored to be getting calls on utility man Willi Castro this winter, and a switch-hitter capable of playing both the infield and outfield seems like an ideal fit. Meanwhile, Tigers infielder Zach McKinstry and Mets infielder Brett Baty are two lefty bats currently on the bubble of their club’s 26-man roster.

In the case of a Castro trade or even a signing like Verdugo, money might also be a complicating factor. Reports have generally described the Astros’ budget as close to maxed out, with high-dollar moves like signing Bregman or trading for Arenado likely to require a greenlight from ownership. While it’s unclear exactly how much wiggle room Houston’s front office has, it appeared telling that GM Dana Brown indicated earlier this month that he sees an external addition of note as unlikely. With limited options still available and a seemingly limited budget to work with, perhaps the Astros will simply enter the season with their current roster unless a veteran opting out of a minor league deal or a player placed on the waiver wire in the run-up to Opening Day creates an opportunity.

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