The Cubs reportedly had serious interest in Bregman a year ago during his first trip to free agency, before he agreed to the three-year, $120 million deal with the Boston Red Sox that enabled him to retest the market immediately via opt-out. Sure enough, after a drama-filled campaign that featured the shocking trade of longtime star Rafael Devers to San Francisco — essentially in deference to Bregman as the superior option at third base and the team’s new leader on and off the field — Bregman exercised his opt-out and reentered the market in search of the long-term deal he was unable to secure the winter prior.
It was no secret that Bregman and his agent, Scott Boras, had no interest in settling for another shorter-term, high-average-annual-value pact. They were seeking the long-term security and firm foundation with one franchise that all premium free agents dream of. As such, it comes as no surprise that the five-year deal with Chicago reportedly contains a full no-trade clause and no opt-outs.
Bregman is now a Cub and will be for a while.
It’s an outcome that is all the more remarkable considering the Cubs’ hesitance to go all-in on Bregman last winter. Sure, there was the imminent arrival of top infield prospect Matt Shaw, who appeared primed to join Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner as a fixture in Chicago’s terrific infield. But perhaps more pertinently, the Cubs had lost credibility in recent years as the kind of club that would win any sort of bidding war for a top free agent.
Last winter, the Cubs made an uncharacteristic, ultra-aggressive maneuver by dealing away valuable future assets to acquire Kyle Tucker entering the final year of his contract, but even so, the franchise’s appetite to spend on the open market appeared to be severely limited. In turn, fans bemoaned that Chicago was unwilling to push its payroll to the heights occupied by the majority of other big-market clubs and that president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was too often playing it safe with transactions, rather than swinging big.
Such sentiments lingered into this offseason, even after the club returned to the postseason for the first time since 2020 and notched a first-round triumph before bowing out in five games to the rival Brewers in the NLDS. The Cubs’ early activity in free agency consisted strictly of adding low-cost relievers, and there seemed to be virtually no interest in retaining Tucker, prompting concerns about how the offense would perform without his valuable left-handed bat atop the order. Those questions were amplified after the Cubs dealt away one of the young hitters who projected to play a key role in Tucker’s absence — 23-year-old outfielder Owen Caissie — in the Cabrera trade.
But as spring training inched closer, a quartet of premium free-agent hitters — Bregman, Tucker, Bo Bichette and Cody Bellinger — remained unsigned, leaving room for other suitors to emerge late in the process and destroy any preconceived notions about which teams were the favorites to land them. For Chicago, that meant a golden opportunity to dispel the notion that it’s not a major player in free agency and pounce on a much-needed offensive upgrade while other teams sat back and kept their wallets closed. More specifically, it meant a mulligan for the Cubs in their courting of Bregman.
Coming into this winter, the widespread assumption was that Boston, having fully understood and felt Bregman’s positive impact on and off the field, would make the necessary commitment to retain its third baseman, particularly in the wake of exiling Devers. Other teams ,such as Arizona and Toronto, briefly surfaced as viable alternatives, with the Tigers looming in the background after being involved a year ago.
But as Bregman and Boston remained untethered — and once the Cabrera trade recentered Chicago as a main character this offseason — the Cubs emerged as an intriguing landing spot. While Shaw was Chicago’s primary option at the hot corner as a rookie and showed flashes of promise, it was not nearly the kind of breakthrough season that would preclude a follow-up pursuit of Bregman. All it would take was the kind of contract we’ve so rarely seen the Cubs willing to give out in recent years, save for the seven-year, $177 million with shortstop Dansby Swanson three years ago.
Evidently, Bregman was deemed worthy of a megadeal of that nature, and he’ll now share the left side of the infield with Swanson, another highly accomplished, all-around player renowned for his impact on winning, even beyond what he can do on the diamond. The deal also marks a remarkable pairing of two players whose ties date back more than a decade to when they were selected with the first two picks of the 2015 draft after starring in the SEC for three years.
With Bregman and Swanson, plus second baseman Nico Hoerner and first baseman Michael Busch both coming off career years, Chicago now has a strong case as the best all-around infield in the sport, especially when factoring in defense. The complicating factor — and an important dynamic to monitor in the coming weeks, if not months — is that Hoerner is slated to hit free agency next winter, whereas the other three infielders are under contract for at least four more seasons.
That leaves Chicago with a few options for how to proceed. The Cubs could keep Hoerner and ride it out with an elite infield until he hits free agency, using Shaw as a utilityman set to replace Hoerner at second base in 2027. They could trade Hoerner now in an effort to improve another part of the roster, such as the outfield. Or — if the Cubs are still in the mood to spend — they could pursue an extension with Hoerner, which would be costly but likely worthwhile, considering how strong the unit could be for the next handful of years. In that scenario, Shaw could be used in a trade sooner rather than later.
But however the Cubs’ infield shakes out, with Bregman in the fold, it projects to be the foundation on which this roster is built. Moreover, it’ll be fascinating to see how Bregman’s impact is felt on a roster that has a wealth of veteran leadership, headlined by Swanson and the team’s longest-tenured player in Ian Happ. Of course, the intangibles are the bonus feature of Bregman’s résumé as a ballplayer; the hefty contract is the result of his advanced approach at the plate and stellar defense, a balanced package of skills not too dissimilar from what Tucker provided, albeit right-handed and a few years older.
As with any lucrative, long-term, free-agent deal given to a player approaching his mid-30s, it’s natural to look ahead to the sizable sums guaranteed to Bregman down the road, when he might not be the player he is now, and wince a little bit. But for a franchise that should be focused on chasing championships — not fretting about its finances a half-decade from now — making the requisite offer to land a great player and certified winner in Bregman is an undeniable organizational victory for the Cubs. In a matter of days, Chicago has vaulted itself from the group of contenders toiling in winter irrelevance to the inner circle of this offseason’s winners.
And in the grand scheme of free agency, Bregman to Chicago is a refreshing twist in an offseason story that was starting to get stale. The focus now shifts to Tucker, Bichette and Bellinger — and the question of which teams will be willing to step up and make a rejuvenating splash like the Cubs just did.
We’re just past the halfway point of the MLB offseason, and about half of this winter’s top free agents are still looking for their next home.
The reliever market heated up first this winter, with Edwin Diaz, Devin Williams and other top arms landing big contracts with new teams. Dylan Cease signed a megadeal with the Blue Jays before Thanksgiving, but the starting pitcher market has been relatively quiet besides Tatsuya Imai landing with the Astros. Among position players, Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso found the big paydays they were looking for, and Alex Bregman eventually landed with the Cubs, but many of the top hitters remain available, including our No. 1 free agent, Kyle Tucker. Four players accepted qualifying offers: Trent Grisham (Yankees), Shota Imanaga (Cubs), Gleyber Torres (Tigers) and Brandon Woodruff (Brewers). And the NPB posting windows reached their end, with Munetaka Murakami, Imai and Kazuma Okamoto finding their MLB homes.
There’s still a lot of offseason business yet to be done. Here’s a look at the 2025-26 free-agent class, headlined by Tucker and full of fascinating cases of star players at a variety of positions.
Note: An asterisk indicates a player received a qualifying offer. Ages listed are for the 2026 season (age on June 30, 2026). You can find a full list of free agents here.
The best player
1. *Kyle Tucker, OF, 29 years old
Tucker is the consensus No. 1 player in this free-agent class and should command a contract north of $350 million. That’s a product of his age — he doesn’t turn 29 until January — and long track record of offensive impact. Since 2020, Tucker’s first full MLB season, he is one of just six hitters to post an OPS above .800 every year. The others are all well-paid superstars: Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, José Ramírez and Juan Soto. Based solely on the bat, Tucker undoubtedly belongs in that group. Hitters like this don’t hit the open market often, and when they do, they make a killing.
That said, the low-talking Floridian is reaching free agency after an oddly paced walk year with the Cubs. Tucker was dealt from Houston, where he’d spent his entire career, to Chicago in a blockbuster deal last offseason. He got off to a scorching start with the Cubs, was named an All-Star starter and looked like a legit MVP candidate. As late as June 28, he sported a .933 OPS.
Then things got weird. Tucker’s power production cratered in July and August, as he managed just four homers across 211 plate appearances. It turned out he was playing through a hairline fracture in his hand for most of the summer. Just as he appeared to be shifting back into gear, he suffered a calf strain that kept him sidelined until the final week of the regular season.
It marked the second straight year Tucker was significantly limited by injuries, a development that raises a yellow flag or two for a player expected to command a gargantuan contract. Tucker also tends to employ a more laid-back pregame routine that prioritizes preserving energy. That less-is-more approach has helped him ascend to All-Star status, but it raises a few concerns around the league about how he might age and how he’ll adapt if his body starts to need more maintenance. Signs of that physical decline have popped up in Tucker’s sprint speed and defensive metrics, areas in which his skills have dwindled precipitously over the past few seasons.
Then again, that’s probably much too nitpicky. Some very rich team is going to give Tucker gobs of money to rake in the middle of its lineup. His sauceless personality, injury concerns and defensive limitations will combine to make his sweepstakes less of a frenzy than Soto’s were last winter. But don’t get it twisted: This dude is a big prize.
A free agent last winter, Bregman ended up in Boston on a three-year, $120 million deal with opt-outs after each season. And after a productive season at Fenway, he reentered the market. A quad issue robbed him of two months over the summer and intensified concerns about Bregman’s gradually deteriorating lower half, but the offensive profile remains incredibly strong. From a swing-decision standpoint, he’s about as good as anybody in the sport. And while the contact quality has dropped off since his MVP contender days, it’s more than good enough to make this version of Bregman an All-Star-level player. Plus, Bregman was heralded for his influence on Boston’s bevy of young players. The Cubs finally spent like a big-market team to add his bat to their lineup and his impact in their clubhouse.
What a season it was for one of the best true power bats of his generation: 56 home runs, 132 RBI and a .928 OPS. Sure, Schwarber is a flawed player — he’s limited to DH, strikes out a ton, doesn’t offer much on the bases and turns 33 in March — but it’s not worth overthinking this. The guy went deep 56 times. People don’t do that too often. For what it’s worth, Schwarber is also regarded as one of the few game-changing locker room presences in the sport. The Phils were front-runners to retain Schwarber’s services and ultimately got it done.
4. *Bo Bichette, SS, 28
A knee sprain kept Bichette on the shelf from early September to the World Series, for which he came back and batted .348. Late-season injury woes aside, 2025 was an extremely successful campaign for the sweet-swinging shortstop. Bichette rebounded from a disastrous 2024 to post numbers more in line with his career norms, swatting 18 homers to go with a .311 batting average that ranked second in baseball.
Let’s get the elephant out of the way: Bichette is a bad shortstop. This year, he ranked as the game’s worst every-day glove at the infield’s most important spot. A prudent team would probably move him to second or third, but Bichette probably wants to stick at short. His defensive inadequacies don’t overwhelm the value of his bat — this dude rakes — but it adds a wart to the profile.
Still, Bichette’s track record of performance and his age will make him worth it for whichever team lands him. That he managed to return to Toronto’s lineup for the World Series despite not being 100 percent and contributed multiple meaningful hits, including his jaw-dropping blast off Shohei Ohtani in Game 7, lent further credence to his toughness and talent. Optimistically, he should have at least a half-decade of prime left; that’s worth paying for.
Last winter, the Polar Bear and the only club he’d ever known engaged in a protracted stare-down that included a public besmirching from Mets owner Steve Cohen. In the end, Alonso’s market never materialized, and he returned to Queens on a lucrative, two-year deal with an opt-out that everyone expected him to exercise.
Unsurprisingly, that’s what happened after Alonso posted an OPS nearly 100 points higher than his 2024 total. The underlying numbers also rebounded, particularly his average exit velocities and his optimal launch angle percentages. Was that enough to reorient his value as a free agent and earn him the longer-term pact he was looking for a year ago? The Orioles answered with a resounding yes.
Alonso remains a horrid defender at first and a real liability on the bases. Still, he’s generally underrated, the type of needle-moving bat that would make every roster — including Baltimore’s — significantly better.
An unbridled force-of-nature at the plate since he became an every-day player in NPB at age 19, Murakami entered the posting system after seven seasons of legendary slugging in Japan. In 2022, Murakami made history by smashing 56 home runs in 141 games, an NPB record that stands as the most in a single season by a Japanese-born player. Having set an unthinkable standard of Barry Bonds-esque dominance in that 2022 season, with a mind-blowing 225 wRC+, Murakami’s merely outstanding encores in 2023 (31 HR, 150 wRC+) and 2024 (33 HR, 155 wRC+) were viewed as minor disappointments, despite still ranking as some of the best offensive seasons in the league.
The spotlight grew brighter in 2025, as a potential move to MLB came into focus, but an oblique injury cost Murakami multiple months, shrinking the opportunities to scout him. Yet even in an abbreviated sample, Murakami put on a show, nearly returning to his 2022 power peak with a ridiculous .663 SLG% and a whopping 22 home runs in 56 games.
So what’s the catch? Why isn’t this left-handed slugger with prodigious power ranked closer to Tucker on this list? It’s simple: Murakami strikes out a lot. His 29% K rate over the past three seasons is exceptionally high relative to his NPB peers, and while that number might not stand out in MLB right now, it’s difficult for teams to be optimistic that he’s going to make more contact against superior arms stateside. If anything, the concern is that the opposite could occur, with the whiffs piling up to the point that Murakami’s power production is undermined, and he becomes a flawed slugger with volatile ups and downs, a la Joey Gallo.
It’s also entirely realistic to suggest that Murakami is young and talented enough to make the necessary adjustments to become a classic, power-and-patience superstar in the mold of Matt Olson or Max Muncy, with the high volume of walks and homers compensating for the sky-high strikeout totals. That Murakami is not considered especially likely to stick at third base adds even more pressure on his bat to live up to the hype in Chicago. His issues making contact likely spooked some teams in free agency, negating the upside of his youth and nearly unrivaled NPB résumé. As it turned out, there wasn’t a significant bidding war for his services, giving the White Sox an opportunity at a bargain in their rebuild.
7. Cody Bellinger, OF, 30
No matter how you slice it, glassy-eyed Cody was the second-best position player on the 2025 Yankees behind Aaron Judge. After the Cubs essentially contract-dumped him for nothing last winter, Bellinger responded with the best all-around season of his career since his 2019 MVP campaign. His offensive profile has changed quite a bit since then, but this version of Bellinger — allergic to strikeouts, hitting the ball in the air to the pull side just enough — is a really valuable player.
Add his superb defense in an outfield corner and his relative youth, and you’ve got a legitimate second or third option on a World Series team. Bellinger enjoyed his year in pinstripes, and the Yankees loved what he brought to the table. A reunion there makes a lot of sense, but it would put more pressure on Bellinger’s ability to play center field, where he’s more average than great at this point.
The Big Three arms
8. *Framber Valdez, SP, 32
You could make a strong argument that Valdez belongs in a category all his own, above this other group of arms. The dreadlocked lefty finished top-10 in Cy Young voting in 2022, ‘23 and ‘24. He’s also incredibly durable, as one of just two pitchers to toss at least 175 innings in each of the past four seasons (Logan Webb is the other). Then there’s the October experience: Valdez has 16 career postseason outings. The point is Valdez has been one of the more valuable starting pitchers of this decade. And while his numbers took a half-step back in 2025, he still boasted an elite groundball rate and kept hitters from squaring up the ball.
Valdez’s bizarre interaction with catcher Cesar Salazar in early September, in which Valdez appeared to purposefully cross-up Salazar with a fastball, amplified some previously held concerns about Valdez’s conduct as a teammate. That incident won’t tank his free agency, far from it, but it’s a data point worth noting.
Ranger’s sinker — his most used offering — averages a frosty 90.1 mph, firmly in the bottom 10% league-wide in velocity. Yet Suárez gets outs. A lot of ‘em. After missing the start of the year due to a back issue, the Venezuelan southpaw posted the best numbers of his career, finishing with a 3.20 ERA and just below a strikeout per inning. His postseason track record is notably robust, with a 1.48 ERA across 42 2/3 career innings. Do you feel excited about him starting Game 1 of a playoff series? Probably not. But Game 2 or 3? Definitely. There are some concerns about how he’ll age, particularly if the fastball velocity dips under 90 mph, as there simply aren’t many guys throwing this soft who get outs. But Suárez has been doing this schtick for a few years now, and the Red Sox felt good enough about it to add him on a nine-figure deal.
Unlike the southpaw groundball specialists such as Valdez or Suárez fronting their rotations, Cease represents an appealing alternative at the top of the starting pitching market. And a Toronto team fresh off a World Series appearance liked what it saw. While his run-prevention skills have fluctuated more in recent seasons than the two lefties in this tier, Cease has been one of the game’s premier strikeout artists for his entire career, thanks to a tremendous fastball-slider combo. His bouts of ineffectiveness are the product of too many walks and far more hard contact surrendered than you’d expect for someone with Cease’s swing-and-miss stuff, but Cease has been worth at least 3.0 fWAR for five consecutive seasons.
That consistency is rooted in nearly unrivaled durability: Cease leads all MLB pitchers in starts over the past five years and has never been on the injured list due to an arm injury. Pitcher health is fickle, of course, so there’s no guarantee Cease will remain uninjured for the duration of his Blue Jays contract; it’s also possible some teams viewed the mileage on his arm as problematic. But Toronto saw that longstanding reliability as worthy of committing heavily to him in free agency, and Cease’s demonstrated peaks — including top-four Cy Young finishes in 2022 and ‘24 — likely helped his cause.
The Mets’ embarrassing collapse does not fall on Díaz’s shoulders, as the lanky Puerto Rican was brilliant once again this year. Now that Emmanuel Clase has effectively been banished for his gambling-related malfeasance, there’s a strong argument that Díaz is the undisputed best reliever in the game. After a catastrophic leg injury during the World Baseball Classic robbed him of his entire 2023 season, Díaz is, amazingly, all the way back to his rip-roaring best.
That’s why, despite having two years and $37 million left on his deal, Díaz opted out to become a free agent. A reunion with the Mets remained likely, but there was no reason for Eddie-D not to try to squeeze out every last dollar that he has earned over the past few years, and the Dodgers were willing to pay Díaz like the elite closer he is.
Tier 2 starter
12. *Zac Gallen, SP, 30
It has been a troubling and confounding decline for Gallen since his third-place NL Cy Young finish in 2023. His first-half struggles in the final year of his Snakes contract were bad enough that no team was willing to meet the price to trade for him in July, despite the right-hander’s widely reported availability, and considering his 5.60 ERA at the deadline, it was tough to blame them.
Funnily enough, once the trade rumors were behind him and Gallen knew he was going to remain a D-back for the rest of the season, he started to pitch much better, posting a 3.32 ERA in 65 innings over his final 11 outings and restoring some optimism that he could warrant a sizable payday in free agency. It’s not like Gallen’s stuff and velocity are markedly different than during his peak, but regression with his command has caused all five of his pitches to perform worse, a trend that will need to be corrected if he is to reestablish himself as a quality starter whom teams are excited to have on the mound in important games.
A franchise staple for one of the most prominent organizations in NPB, the Tokyo-based Yomiuri Giants, Okamoto’s prospects of coming to MLB had long been clouded by Yomiuri’s longstanding reluctance to post its players. But Yomiuri will honor Okamoto’s desire to make the jump to the big leagues now, enabling the team to receive some financial compensation for his departure, rather than likely watching him leave for nothing after the 2026 season, when he’d reach the requisite nine years of NPB service to become an unrestricted international free agent.
Okamoto has been one of the best hitters in Japan for a while — he homered against Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic championship — but he leveled up in a meaningful way in 2025. Although he missed two-plus months in the middle of the season due to a left elbow injury, Okamoto was tremendously productive at the plate when healthy.
He hit .327/.416/.598 with 15 HR in 293 plate appearances across 69 games, good for an astonishing 214 wRC+ that ranked first among NPB hitters with at least 200 plate appearances — yes, even ahead of Murakami (208 wRC+). Okamoto’s 11.3% strikeout rate and 90% in-zone contact rate were both career-best marks, and he is exceptionally adept at pulling the ball in the air, enabling his power to manifest regularly in games.
He’s also a better bet to stick at third base long-term than Murakami, and he has experience at first base and in left field, offering several paths for him to fit on the Blue Jays’ roster. He’s four years older, right-handed and doesn’t possess quite the eye-popping raw power of Murakami, but it’s entirely reasonable to suggest that Okamoto is more likely to succeed in MLB right away and possibly in the long term as well.
Joining Murakami and Okamoto in this winter’s class of Japanese stars making the jump to MLB is Imai, who was posted by the Seibu Lions following a monster season in which he led all NPB starters in WHIP (0.89) and strikeout rate (27.8%) while posting a 1.92 ERA in 163 ⅔ innings. Relative to nearly every other NPB pitcher who has come to MLB in recent years, Imai’s pitch mix is notably more shallow — for now, anyway. His 95-mph four-seam fastball (48%) and 86-mph slider (33%) accounted for more than three-quarters of his pitches thrown in 2025, with the changeup (9%), splitter (5%) and sinker (4%) usage lagging behind.
That’s not to say there aren’t successful MLB starters deploying a heavy dose of heaters and sliders — Cease, Hunter Greene, and Spencer Strider say hello — but it remains to be seen if Imai’s stuff is good enough at present for him to follow suit or if his arsenal will need adjusting once he arrives stateside. Age is on Imai’s side — he doesn’t turn 28 until May — but there are enough questions that the financial outlay is closer to what Kodai Senga got than Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Also of note: While Murakami is represented by Casey Close of Excel Sports Management (the same agency that represents Kyle Tucker and Kyle Schwarber), Imai and Okamoto are Scott Boras clients.
Traded by Cleveland last winter after his first All-Star appearance, Naylor raked for the D-backs before being dealt to Seattle at the deadline and becoming a key contributor during the Mariners’ postseason run. Don’t be fooled by his burly build and high-effort hacks into thinking that Naylor is a one-dimensional slugger; there’s a lot more finesse to his game than meets the eye.
That was most evident in his shocking success stealing bases in 2025, despite his third percentile sprint speed, but it’s also relevant in the batter’s box, where Naylor’s excellent contact ability keeps his strikeout totals low while enabling his power to play to all fields and against various pitch types. He has also turned himself into a rock-solid defender at first base. It appears Naylor’s relative youth and positive recent trajectory helped land him a deal longer than the three-year, $60 million contract Christian Walker secured last offseason as one of free agency’s top available first basemen. By getting Naylor into that fifth year, the Mariners got a manageable $18.5 million AAV.
16. *Trent Grisham, OF, 29
UPDATE: Grisham accepted the one-year qualifying offer from the Yankees at $22.025 million.
Arguably no player climbed these rankings more dramatically over the course of the season than Grisham, who exploded into relevance as a key member of the Yankees’ position-player group after being a virtual afterthought in his first season in the Bronx. To wit: Despite being on the roster for the entire season and every round of the postseason during New York’s run to the World Series in 2024, Grisham appeared in just 76 regular-season games and zero in October.
This year, Grisham’s 581 plate appearances marked a career high and ranked fourth on the team. Center fielders with Grisham’s power (34 HR) and patience (14.1% walk rate) are rare, and that he’s still just 29. It’s possible some teams viewed him in a fairly skeptical light, considering his timely career year follows a much longer major-league track record of mediocrity, but there are real skills to be excited about here for the Yankees.
17. *Gleyber Torres, 2B, 29
UPDATE: Torres accepted the one-year qualifying offer from the Tigers at $22.025 million.
Torres hit free agency last winter as one of the youngest position players available but ultimately settled for a one-year deal with Detroit, with hopes of bolstering his value with a stronger 2025 showing than in his last hurrah as a Yankee. He generally succeeded, exhibiting elite plate discipline while improving both his hard-hit and barrel rates. He was especially terrific early on for the Tigers (.284/.386/.437 in 72 games through the end of June) but notably faded as the season went on, a decline perhaps explained by a hernia Torres revealed he was playing through after Detroit’s season ended in October.
He underwent surgery to address the issue, and that rehab is not projected to impact his availability to start 2026. Although his defense continues to rate as comfortably below-average, Torres gives an offensive boost at the keystone for Detroit.
Polanco entered free agency a year ago on a decidedly dour note, having just endured the worst campaign of his career in his first year as a Mariner before undergoing knee surgery at the outset of the offseason. Even still, Polanco’s longstanding track record of production before his injury-marred 2024 earned him a spot toward the end of our free-agent rankings, with the idea that a bounce-back could be in store if he could get healthy.
After staying in Seattle on a one-year deal, Polanco did exactly that, turning in an excellent regular season at the plate (26 HR, 132 wRC+) and delivering several of Seattle’s biggest swings during its run to Game 7 of the ALCS. That strong showing was enough to garner a multiyear deal from the Mets for Polanco in his second trip to the open market. Still, he is a poor defender with a troubling injury history, an indicator of why the deal was relatively short.
A breakout 2024 had King primed for a massive platform year in 2025, and his first 10 starts of the season (2.59 ERA in 55 ⅔ innings) suggested he was firmly on track to pitch his way into the top tier of free-agent starters. Then a shoulder injury put him on the shelf for all of June and July, and a left knee injury derailed him shortly after he returned to the mound in August. King was healthy enough to make four September starts and a one-inning relief appearance in the wild-card series, but with just one fully healthy season as a major-league starting pitcher on his résumé (2024), his durability remains a considerable red flag for the Padres, who nonetheless decided to keep him around.
20. *Shota Imanaga, SP, 32
UPDATE: Imanaga accepted the one-year qualifying offer from the Cubs at $22.025 million.
The complex, four-year contract Imanaga signed with the Cubs two years ago featured a crucial decision point following the 2025 season, when Chicago could opt to guarantee Imanaga three more seasons at $57 million or decline to do so, instead affording Imanaga the opportunity to exercise a $15 million player option for 2026. On Nov. 4, Chicago declined to extend Imanaga for three more years, and Imanaga then declined his own one-year option, briefly adding him to the intriguing pool of free-agent starting pitchers before he accepted his QO.
Brilliant as a 30-year-old rookie in 2024, Imanaga regressed in his second major-league season in terms of both durability and effectiveness, missing several starts due to a hamstring strain midsummer and seeing his ERA rise from 2.91 to 3.73. While Imanaga remains an elite strike-thrower who doesn’t allow a boatload of baserunners — his WHIP actually improved in his second season — he’s troublingly susceptible to opponents’ slugging, with a 1.93 HR/9 that ranked second-highest among pitchers with at least 100 innings thrown in 2025. That bugaboo proved costly in the postseason, when he surrendered two key long balls against Milwaukee in NLDS Game 2.
It’s an imperfect profile, but there is still a lot to like about what Imanaga brings on and off the field for the Cubs.
21. Lucas Giolito, SP, 31
Giolito was one of baseball’s most durable starting pitchers until elbow surgery wiped out the entirety of his first year with the Red Sox in 2024. He bounced back with a 3.41 ERA in 145 innings in 2025 but finished the year on a sour note when he reported elbow discomfort that made him unavailable for Boston’s wild-card series against the Yankees. The Red Sox didn’t rule Giolito out for future postseason rounds, but their early elimination left his status uncertain at the outset of the offseason.
By reaching 140 innings in the regular season, Giolito converted his $19 million team option for 2026 into a player option, which he declined. If he is fully healthy, Giolito remains an alluring option for teams searching for stability in the rotation, though without sizable upside.
22. *Brandon Woodruff, SP, 33
UPDATE: Woodruff accepted the one-year qualifying offer from the Brewers at $22.025 million.
Before shoulder surgery put him on the shelf for a year and a half, Woodruff was one of the best starers in MLB: His 2.93 ERA in 595 innings from 2019 to 2023 was fourth-lowest among qualified starters. But returns from major shoulder injuries tend to be more tenuous than returns from elbow surgery, and the results of Woodruff’s reacclimation to the Brewers’ rotation were extraordinary and unusual. Despite his fastball velocity averaging closer to 93 mph than the 96 he sat at pre-surgery, Woodruff was as dominant as ever, registering a career-high strikeout rate (32.3%) and career-low walk rate (5.4%) while posting a 3.20 ERA in 64 ⅔ innings. He ditched his slider in favor of a cutter, both his two-seam and four-seam fastballs continued to perform well even with diminished velocity, and his changeup remained an excellent swing-and-miss offering.
The catcher
23. J.T. Realmuto, C, 34
Thirty-one catchers compiled at least 1.0 FanGraphs WAR in 2025. Only two of them, Realmuto and Danny Jansen, are set to hit free agency. So despite Realmuto’s advanced age, he’s still far and away the best backstop available this winter. The muscled Oklahoman isn’t what he once was — the best catcher in the world — but he’s still a valuable player. He was essentially a league-average hitter this year and remained impressively durable, leading the league in games started behind the dish. A reunion with the Phillies feels like the most likely outcome here; he’s simply too valuable a cog in their pitching operation to let him walk. Realmuto will want a three-year deal, but he’ll probably end up with two.
Hitters with difficult markets to project
24. Eugenio Suárez, 3B, 34
Suárez hit 49 home runs in 2025 for the second time in his career and returned to the Mariners via midseason trade after a year-and-a-half as a D-back, enabling him to take part in Seattle’s memorable October run, which included one of the biggest swings in franchise history: his go-ahead grand slam in ALCS Game 5. For as feel-good of a story as the Suárez-to-Seattle reunion was, it’s difficult to ignore his sharp decline in production post-trade, and that sours some of the optimism for his market as he enters free agency for the first time.
Suárez’s issues making consistent contact likely aren’t going to magically improve as he enters his mid-30s, which puts immense pressure on his prodigious slugging to continue if he is to remain a viable every-day player, especially if his defense at third base continues to trend in the wrong direction. That said, Suárez’s overwhelmingly positive clubhouse reputation should earn him some additional interest from clubs looking for a quality veteran presence in addition to the high-end slugging he offers.
Kim played only 48 games this year — 24 each for Tampa Bay and Atlanta — after signing a two-year free-agent deal with the Rays last winter. Tampa left him on waivers, and the Braves pounced, despite being light-years out of contention, hoping Kim wouldn’t activate his opt-out and they could scoop up an every-day shortstop for 2026 on the cheap. The South Korean infielder declined his $16 million option to reenter the market. He ended up back with the Braves, but for a bit more money. Kim is the only true shortstop in this class, even though he projects to be a well-below-average hitter.
26. Luis Arraez, INF, 29
Arraez promises to inspire a wide array of opinions as one of baseball’s most unique players. Traditionalists might look at his multiple batting titles and microscopic strikeout rates as outstanding and appealing outliers in an era defined by swing-and-miss, but the modern game prioritizes players who are far more multidimensional than what Arraez currently offers. It’s not just that Arraez rarely produces extra-base hits; it’s that he barely reaches. His walk rates have plummeted recently, and his defense doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
While there still will (and should) be an appetite for a player with one truly elite skill, it’d be misleading to suggest that Arraez’s hitting alone is worth a massive long-term contract. He’s an exceptionally fun and singular player but also a limited one. How his free agency unfolds will be one of the more intriguing storylines of the winter.
It was a tumultuous year for Williams, who was dealt to the Bronx last winter after spending the entirety of his career in Milwaukee. Handed the closer role out of spring training, Williams and his airbender changeup had a cataclysmic April, in which he was booed multiple times by the Yankees faithful and booted from the ninth inning by skipper Aaron Boone.
Things gradually got better over the summer, as Williams regained his manager’s trust and slotted back into a high-leverage role by the playoffs. In fact, he didn’t allow a run in 22 of his final 23 outings, postseason included. With Edwin Diaz leaving Queens, the Mets are likely paying Williams to close, and the airbender is still a special pitch, but Williams’ stock has fallen significantly since this time last year.
The flame-throwing Venezuelan had two years and $16 million left on his deal with the Padres, a nice haul for a reliever his age, but opted out. He got a higher AAV from the Braves after posting another dominant season for the Padres. That 2.97 ERA looks great, not spectacular, but if you overlook two disaster outings in which Suarez recorded one out and surrendered five runs, that figure drops to 1.70.
There are certainly concerns about whether Suarez’s elite fastball velocity (98.5 mph) will sustain as he creeps closer to 40, especially because of how much he leans on that pitch (60% usage), but this is one of the truly elite relievers in the game.
The first-time All-Star tailed off slightly after a deadline deal sent him from Baltimore to San Diego, but the overall numbers were unavoidably impressive for a guy who was left to rot on the waiver-wire scrap heap just a few years ago. O’Hearn’s peripheral numbers were strong for a third straight season and secured him a two-year deal with a Pirates team trying to upgrade this winter. After missing out on the upper crust of Alonso, Schwarber and Naylor, O’Hearn is a perfectly competent consolation prize for Pittsburgh. He also earns rave reviews for his clubhouse presence.
30. Harrison Bader, OF, 32
When Bader went from Minnesota to Philadelphia at the deadline, it wasn’t even the biggest Twins-Phillies deal of the week. But the luscious-locked center fielder energized the Phillies’ lineup, offering a much-needed contact-oriented profile. His groin injury in Game 1 of the NLDS turned out to have an enormous impact on that series, as the Phillies sorely missed his presence in the lineup. Given the likelihood that the team moves on from right fielder Nick Castellanos, Bader could make some sense as a versatile fourth outfielder. But a two-year deal might be in order for the 32-year-old, who just posted the best offensive season of his career. Bader will find a sturdy market for his services.
Having not debuted in the big leagues until age 28 with the Giants, Yastrzemski finally entered free agency at age 35 coming off a sneaky stellar post-trade run with Kansas City, during which he slugged .500 with more walks (25) than strikeouts (22) across 50 games. His raw power is modest, but Yastrzemski has a knack for pulling the ball in the air and just had a career year from a plate-discipline standpoint, making more contact than ever and drawing walks at a 12.9% clip. He remains subpar against left-handers, but Yastrzemski should be quite productive if deployed properly by the Braves.
Weaver was handed the ninth inning after his teammate Williams hit the schneid in April. He was magnificent through the season’s first two months, with just two earned runs to his name on May 26. Then he hit the shelf due to a hamstring injury that derailed his year. Weaver returned in late June but wasn’t the same, posting a 5.31 ERA the rest of the way before rough outings in AL wild-card Game 1 and ALDS Game 1 pushed him out of Boone’s bullpen trust circle. Just a year ago, this guy was the most trusted arm on a World Series team, so the Mets will be hoping that he bounces back and that his late-season struggles were injury-based, rather than a more concerning harbinger.
The hard-throwing closer had an ERA of 3.00 when he was traded from St. Louis to Queens on deadline day. Helsley had a multiyear track record of high-leverage success, built on one of the hardest heaters in the sport. But his Mets tenure will go down as one of the all-time reliever disasters, as Helsley posted an abhorrent 7.20 ERA in 22 outings in blue and orange. His late-summer implosion was crucial in the Mets’ shocking tumble down the standings.
Helsley compiled the second-most fWAR among relievers between 2022 and ‘24 — 5.7, with a 1.83 ERA in 167 2/3 innings — but his 2025 was so weird, bad and ugly that it might’ve scared some teams off. In the end, though, he got a two-year contract as projected, with a reported opt-out after the first year.
Mullins spent a decade in the Orioles organization before being dealt to the Mets at the deadline. His production had been closer to league average in the years since his star-level 2021 campaign, in which he hit 30 homers, stole 30 bases and finished ninth in AL MVP voting. His particularly poor showing with New York (.565 OPS including a brutal 6-for-55 skid to finish the season) pushed Mullins much further down these rankings than we expected him to be a few months ago.
35. Willi Castro, UTL, 29
An All-Star in 2024 known for his unrivaled defensive versatility, Castro was having another stellar season before he was shipped to Chicago as part of Minnesota’s epic fire sale at the trade deadline. And while he continued to provide value as a competent defender at multiple positions, Castro’s bat completely disappeared as a Cub, posting a paltry .485 OPS and not registering a single plate appearance across Chicago’s eight postseason games. His relative youth and flexibility with the glove should still make him a fairly alluring free agent.
That the Rangers were willing to send three solid prospects to Arizona for two months of Kelly suggests that he is still well-regarded within the industry, but free agency is a different equation, especially for a pitcher this old. Without plus velocity, Kelly gets by on great command of a six-pitch repertoire, headlined by an excellent changeup. Like most of the pitchers in this tier, he’s more likely to provide value in the regular season than as a no-doubt postseason starter, but that’s not something to sneeze at. Clearly, the Diamondbacks had enough faith in Kelly, based on his previous stint with the team, to bring him back on a two-year pact.
Mahle was absolutely brilliant through the end of May (1.64 ERA in 66 innings across 12 starts) before fading in June and landing on the injured list due to shoulder fatigue, which kept him out until mid-September. It was encouraging to see him finish the season healthy, but Mahle hasn’t thrown more than 100 innings since 2022.
Recurring back injuries limited Eflin to 14 ineffective starts (5.93 ERA) for Baltimore in 2025, but he was a mid-rotation workhorse the previous two seasons (3.54 ERA in 343 innings) and could prove to be a nice buy-low option for an Orioles team that needed rotation reinforcements. We’re only two years removed from Eflin finishing sixth in AL Cy Young voting — let’s not forget about this guy.
39. Zack Littell, SP, 30
The good: Littell’s 3.73 ERA ranks 17th out of 37 qualified starters over the past two seasons, his 1.65 BB/9 is bested only by Tarik Skubal over that same timeframe, and among free-agent pitchers, only Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen threw more innings in 2025 than Littell’s 186 2/3 frames.
The bad: Whiffs are hard to come by for Littell (17.1% strikeout rate ranked 47th out of 52 qualified starters in 2025), and he’s particularly susceptible to the long ball, making his next home ballpark a crucial variable when projecting his effectiveness moving forward.
40. Griffin Canning, SP, 30
After allowing the most earned runs in the American League with the Angels in 2024, Canning was enjoying a nice bounce-back season in his first year with the Mets, leaning heavily on his slider and changeup to keep hitters off-balance. But his season ended abruptly when he ruptured his left Achilles on a non-contact play in June, starting a rehab process that could stretch into 2026. A team that believes in Canning’s revamped form with New York and his ability to rebound from serious injury could target the right-hander as a low-cost rotation option.
Hitters who confuse us
41. Max Kepler, OF, 33
Kepler struggled badly out the gate in his first year as a Phillie but settled into being a useful contributor and finished the regular season strong, hitting .262/.322/.505 with seven home runs over his final 30 games. Kepler still exhibits decent power and plate discipline, but his earning potential will depend on whether teams view him as a viable every-day player or more in a predominantly platoon role, like Philadelphia did. Not helping Kepler’s free-agent case is an 80-game suspension for testing positive for PEDs, which the league announced Jan. 9.
42. Miguel Andujar, OF/DH, 31
Albeit in a smaller sample, Andujar quietly posted one of the better offensive seasons of any free-agent bat available. Among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances in 2025, Andujar’s .318 average ranked second in MLB behind only Aaron Judge, and he was one of the most productive trade-deadline acquisitions in the league after being dealt by the A’s to the Reds. He remains a poor defender who doesn’t draw walks, but he crushes lefties and makes a ton of contact. He’s a sneaky target for teams on a tight budget looking for offense.
This isn’t just any platoon bat. The degree to which Refsnyder demolishes left-handed pitching puts him in some truly outrageous company. Among hitters with at least 250 plate appearances against southpaws over the past two seasons, Refsnyder’s .949 OPS ranks fifth behind Aaron Judge, Ketel Marte, José Ramírez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. That’s ridiculous. He’s essentially unplayable against right-handers and a below-average corner-outfield defender, but his special skill still makes Refsnyder an appealing pickup for the Mariners.
An unremarkable starting pitcher for the first six years of his career, Keller broke out in a big way in the Cubs’ bullpen in 2025, throwing harder than ever and posting a sterling 2.07 ERA in 69 2/3 innings with underlying data that strongly supports his performance as legitimate. Keller cost considerably less than the top relievers who already have a boatload of saves on their résumés, but he could offer similar or even greater upside for the Phillies if he can sustain the gains he made in Chicago.
Iglesias had a catastrophic start to his season, allowing seven home runs across his first 25 appearances after allowing four total in 66 games pitched in 2024. That left him with an unsightly 6.75 ERA in early June, but after that, Iglesias got back on track and was generally the elite game-ender we’ve long known him to be, posting a 1.25 ERA over his final 43 1/3 innings, a dominant stretch that went somewhat unnoticed amid a lost Braves season.
Iglesias and Keller are our picks to squeeze into the end of our Top 50 among a deep free-agent class of accomplished righty relievers that also includes Kenley Jansen, Kyle Finnegan, Emilio Pagán, Phil Maton and Tyler Rogers.
Veteran starters
46. Chris Bassitt, SP, 37
After another year of sturdy work in the rotation — Bassitt is one just seven pitchers to make at least 30 starts in each of the past four seasons — the 36-year-old right-hander made a successful transition to the bullpen for Toronto’s World Series run. He allowed just one run across his eight relief outings in October, demonstrating versatility that could prove valuable as teams project his role as he enters the latter stages of his career.
It’s also worth a mention that the Blue Jays’ clubhouse absolutely adores this guy, and Bassitt has not been shy in expressing his desire to stay put. Sentimentality and postseason bullpen cameos aside, Bassitt’s durability would seem to be his most appealing trait as a free agent for teams looking to solidify their rotations. Whether that leads him back to Toronto remains to be seen..
47. Jose Quintana, SP, 37
Quintana has delivered a better-than-league-average park-adjusted ERA in 12 of his 14 major-league seasons, including 2025, when he helped stabilize an injury-ravaged Brewers rotation. The stuff unsurprisingly isn’t getting any better — he just posted a career-low 16% strikeout rate — but he still seems to have the guile to get outs in a bulk role and thus deserves a nod toward the end of this list.
48. Justin Verlander, SP, 43
It took until mid-July for Verlander to record his first win as a Giant, but he managed to find his groove down the stretch, posting a 2.60 ERA in 72 ⅔ innings over his final 13 starts. Even at age 42 (his birthday is in February), Verlander is still innovating, adding an 80-mph sweeper to complement his traditional slider and curveball, a pitch that performed as his most effective by run value. While his goal of reaching 300 wins feels farfetched at this point (he’s at 266), he pitched well enough in 2025 to earn the chance to continue that chase.
A probably washed guy who used to rake
49. Marcell Ozuna, DH, 35
For the first two months of the season (.883 OPS), Ozuna resembled the impactful slugger he was the previous two years in Atlanta. But in early June, the burly Dominican revealed that he’d been battling a tear in his right hip. He never ended up on the injured list, but his performance plummeted as the season went on, with a .673 OPS after June 1.
While Ozuna’s overall offensive résumé should garner some interest, there are ample reasons for teams to find production elsewhere: He’s a full-time DH in his mid-30s with lingering injuries issues, and he has a history of multipleoff-field incidents.
A first-round draft pick by the Mets in 2016, Kay was dealt to Toronto in the Marcus Stroman trade in 2019 and appeared with the Blue Jays in parts of four seasons. After brief cameos with the Cubs and then back with the Mets in 2023, Kay took his talents overseas, where he became an impact starter for the Yokohama Bay Stars in NPB.
Kay was solid in his first year in Japan but really leveled up in 2025, adding an equally effective two-seamer to complement his 94-mph four-seam fastball and three solid secondary offerings (slider, cutter, changeup). Among qualified NPB starters, Kay ranked fifth in ERA (1.74), fifth in WHIP (0.98), and first in ground-ball rate (55.8%), a stellar résumé of dominance in the second-best league in the world that could earn him a much more significant opportunity stateside than he got earlier in his major-league career.
Kay is one of several pitchers with MLB experience who have blossomed overseas recently ahead of making a return to the majors. Right-hander Cody Ponce (1.89 ERA in 180 ⅔ innings with 252 strikeouts for the Hanwha Eagles in the Korean Baseball Organization) landed a three-year, $30 million deal with Toronto. And left-hander Foster Griffin (2.57 ERA in 315 ⅔ innings for the Yomiuri Giants the past three seasons) signed a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Nationals.
With a few months to go before the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Team USA’s roster is taking shape. After commitments from stars such as Aaron Judge and Paul Skenes, Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton and Toronto Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement became the latest players to join the squad.
They will join a star-studded group which also includes, Bryce Harper, Bobby Witt Jr. and Cal Raleigh, among many others.
With 24 players committed to the roster, here’s how things are shaping up for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic
Team USA roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic
Team USA position players
C – Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
C – Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers
1B – Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies
2B – Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers
3B – Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles
SS – Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
INF – Ernie Clement, Toronto Blue Jays
OF – Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
OF – Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks
OF – Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs
OF – Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins
DH – Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
Team USA pitchers
SP – Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
SP – Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
SP – Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins
SP – Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants
SP – Nolan McLean, New York Mets
SP – Clay Holmes, New York Mets
SP – Matthew Boyd, Chicago Cubs
RP – Mason Miller, San Diego Padres
RP – Griffin Jax, Tampa Bay Rays
RP – Garrett Whitlock, Boston Red Sox
RP – Garrett Cleavinger, Tampa Bay Rays
RP – David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates
RP – Gabe Speier, Seattle Mariners
RP – Griffin Jax, Tampa Bay Rays
The 2026 World Baseball Classic will begin March 5 and run through March 17. Team USA will be looking for redemption after falling to Shohei Ohtani and Team Japan in the final back in 2023.
The New York Yankees acquired left-handed pitcher Ryan Weathers in a trade with the Miami Marlins. The Marlins confirmed the trade Tuesday evening.
In return, the Marlins are receiving four minor leaguers: outfielders Dillon Lewis and Brendan Jones and infielders Dillon Jason and Juan Matheus.
Jones was the No. 15-rated prospect in the Yankees’ organization, and Lewis was rated No. 16, per MLB.com prospect rankings. Per those rankings, Jason and Matheus were not ranked among the top 30 Yankees prospects.
Weathers, 26, is a former first-round pick (No. 7 overall, 2018, Padres) who has played in parts of five MLB seasons for the Marlins and Padres. In 281 MLB innings pitched, Weathers has a 4.93 ERA and 1.384 WHIP with 235 strikeouts and 99 walks.
He has never pitched more than 94 2/3 innings in a season. He tallied that total in his 2021 rookie campaign with the Padres, in which he made 18 starts.
Weathers played parts of three seasons for the Padres, who traded him to the Marlins at the 2023 trade deadline. He posted a 4.11 ERA with 131 strikeouts and 48 walks in 138 innings with the Marlins across two-plus seasons. Multiple injuries, including a forearm strain and a lat strain, limited his availability in Miami.
While his role with the Yankees isn’t defined, he projects as a potential option for the back end of their starting rotation if he can remain healthy.
Weathers is the son of 19-year MLB veteran David Weathers, who pitched parts of two seasons with the Yankees in 1996 and ’97.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired Nolan Arenado in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, the teams announced Tuesday.
Arenado is heading to Arizona along with cash considerations for 22-year-old right-hander Jack Martinez, who was selected in the eighth round of the 2025 MLB Draft. According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks will pay $11 million of the $42 million left on the third baseman’s contract over the next two seasons, with the Cardinals picking up the remaining $31 million.
Arenado, who will turn 35 in April, had spent the past five seasons with the Cardinals after playing the first nine years of his career with the Colorado Rockies. The 10-time Gold Glove third baseman and eight-time NL All-Star had to waive his no-trade clause in order for the deal to happen and reportedly expanded the list of teams he’d be open to moving to.
Thank you, Nolan, for countless unbelievable plays and your leadership on and off the field. Best of luck in Arizona! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/H6w4kkSitv
Arenado moving on ends a year-long saga of the Cardinals trying to trade him. In December 2024, the five-time Silver Slugger Award winner reportedly blocked a deal that would have sent him to the Houston Astros. Still, both sides have been working toward a trade, with Arenado’s agent saying that same month that the player would be open to moving positions to help facilitate a deal “if it’s the right place to go.”
Arenado will join a Diamondbacks infield that features shortstop Geraldo Perdomo and second baseman Ketel Marte, who was recently taken off the trade market.
A right shoulder strain kept Arenado out for six weeks and limited him to 107 games last season. He finished with a .237 batting average, 12 home runs and 52 RBI in 401 at-bats. Those numbers were among his lowest over the course of a full season since he broke into the majors in 2013.
Little of that matters now. The Red Sox, with their unwavering fealty to reason, didn’t want to pony up. They are left with a rightfully enraged fan base, one left perplexed at how neither Devers nor Bregman is still around. Breslow attempted to placate the Red Sox faithful via an email Q&A with Mass Live’s Chris Cotillo on Sunday, but the executive’s jargony, calculated answers only reinforced the criticism that he runs the club with a ruthless, robotic, un-human efficiency.
But even the toxically optimistic, long-viewed Breslow readily admitted that the outcome of the Bregman-Devers saga was suboptimal.
He typed out to Cotillo: “Neither outcome we face right now is ideal, but both will be evaluated over a longer time horizon.”
The rest of the interview is mostly hollow GM-speak, but there are also moments of unintentional honesty that amplify concerns about Breslow’s way of doing business. In regard to what motivated Bregman to choose Chicago’s offer, Boston’s top baseball exec said, “It would be foolish and unfair for me to guess what was most important in their decision making.”
One might argue that rather than being “foolish and unfair,” it would be prudent and essential to understand the factors influencing Bregman’s “decision making.” The Red Sox’s unwillingness to include a no-trade clause in the contract, for instance, seems to have been a major sticking point for Bregman and his agent, Scott Boras. After two straight winters wading through free agency’s messy waters, Bregman wanted stability. He wanted somewhere he could put down roots with his family, buy a house, be part of a community, as he was in Houston. Everybody in New England knew as much.
Bregman’s desire for a no-trade clause was even more reasonable given the shadow of Devers’ departure only seven months prior. If the Sox were willing to change course and send somebody of Devers’ stature out of town, why would they hesitate to do the same with Bregman? Via additional Mass Live reporting, the team pointed to “organizational policy” in regard to their refusal to grant Bregman a no-trade. In the end, that calculating inflexibility proved to be a miscalculation.
The whole thing is a public-relations disasterclass, a textbook example of how not to interface with your fan base. Whether the Red Sox don’t know this or simply don’t care is unclear. The majesty of Fenway Park (and the surrounding real-estate holdings) ensures that the team will print money whether or not the on-field product succeeds. It’s a savvy way for Fenway Sports Group to operate. It’s also cutthroat, insulting and short-sighted.
And in the end, all will be well if the team wins. The 2026 Red Sox remain a talented bunch. Garrett Crochet is a top-four pitcher on Earth. Roman Anthony is a volcano of talent. The additions of Sonny Gray, Willson Contrerasand Ranger Suárez are legitimately impactful. Positionally, the roster is a puzzle of border pieces, a disjointed assortment of good players that a trade or two could help simplify.
Still, Boston could overcome that dynamic to win 95 games and make a deep October run. If that happens, fans will pack Fenway to the gills and champion Breslow’s commitment to the process. Success, as always in sports, heals everything.
But with Bregman out the door, it’s hard to say the Red Sox are better right now than they were a few months ago, when their season ended in pinstriped disappointment. It’s a reality that might have been avoided, whether with a couple more million or a couple more human conversations.
Either way, the result is the same: Red Sox leadership looks bad, with a long to-do list that includes explaining to an irate fan base how this happened.
Oct 19, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Green Bay Packers defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The Dallas Cowboys have requested to interview Green Bay Packers defensive line coach/run game coordinator DeMarcus Covington for the team’s vacant defensive coordinator position, sources confirmed to DLLS.
Covington, 36, was hired by the Packers before the 2025 season, coaching a unit that acquired All-Pro Micah Parsons from the Cowboys a week before the 2025 season began.
Before his time in Green Bay, Covington spent eight seasons with the New England Patriots (2017-2024), where he began his NFL coaching career as a coaching assistant before rising to defensive coordinator in 2024.
During his time in New England, he helped the Patriots win Super Bowl LIII over the Los Angeles Rams.
Upon entering the NFL, Covington coached college football at four different programs: Eastern Illinois (2016), UT Martin (2015), Ole Miss (2013–2014), and UAB (2012).
The Washington Commanders are hiring Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks coach D.J. Williams, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Williams joined the Falcons coaching staff as an assistant in 2024 and was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2025.
The Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot after the season finale and have begun the search for their replacements. The team brought in Matt Ryan to be the new president of football, but the future of Atlanta’s coaching staff remains up in the air.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank said he would like to see defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich return but would leave it up to his new head coach to make the final decision.
However, Atlanta blocked Ulbrich from interviewing with the Dallas Cowboys last week and will reportedly allow offensive coordinator Zac Robinson to interview with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
According to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is “extremely close” with Williams. Based on these reports, it sounds like the Falcons are planning to hire an entirely new offensive staff.
DJ Williams and Michael Penix Jr. are extremely close, but now Williams is headed up to DC with the #Falcons in the process of putting together new leadership https://t.co/fTAV3bRvGI
Williams will join Dan Quinn’s coaching staff in Washington, where his father, NFL legend Doug Williams, is an executive.
As for the Falcons’ coaching search, they’ve interviewed six candidates and are expected to meet with John Harbaugh and Antonio Pierce later this week.
The transfer portal giveth, and the transfer portal taketh away. In what increasingly resembles NFL free agency, the portal now commands more attention than National Signing Day or even the early signing period. Love it or hate it, it isn’t going anywhere—and every program in the country feels its impact.
As the window begins to close, several players are locking in their new homes for the 2026 season. On Wednesday, former Texas A&M freshman tackle Jonte Newman became the latest Aggie to find a fresh start, opting to continue his career at the 40 acres with the Longhorns.
Hayes Fawcett of On3 reported that Newman will join Texas this fall and arrive in Austin with four years of eligibility remaining. The former four‑star recruit saw action in just one game this season and was projected to serve as a depth piece for the Aggies in 2026. Still, his combination of size, raw tools, and long‑term developmental upside made him an intriguing prospect within the program.
Now, he’ll look to tap into that potential in a new environment—and with a clearer path to carving out a role as he develops.
You can see his announcement below.
BREAKING: Texas A&M true freshman transfer OT Jonte Newman has Committed to Texas, he tells @On3
The NCAA football transfer portal opened Jan. 2 and runs through Jan. 16.
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