MLB Player News

The reigning NL champions confirmed earlier this week that Geraldo Perdomo would be their Opening Day shortstop, so it isn’t surprising that the 21-year-old will open the season in the minor leagues. Lawlar struggled in his cup of coffee last year, posting a .129/.206/.129 slash line across 34 plate appearances. He could return to the big league squad before too long if Perdomo struggles at the dish.

Hartwig was non-tendered by the Mets in November after registering a 6.75 ERA in 6 2/3 innings and undergoing knee surgery in late June. As a rookie in 2023, Hartwig posted a 4.84 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, and 30/15 K/BB ratio in 35 1/3 MLB innings in 28 appearances.

Rosenthal reported that the Mariners believe “they are positioned to handle second base internally with Dylan Moore and Ryan Bliss’ but Young could get a look at some point during the season. The 21-year-old played the entire season at Double-A this past year, slashing .271/.369/.390 with nine home runs, 23 steals, just a 15.8 percent strikeout rate, and a 12.1 percent walk rate. The 21st overall pick in the 2022 draft seems likely to start 2025 at Triple-A and could push for MLB at-bats with a strong start to the season.

Pederson had a strong year in a strong-side platoon role in Arizona, hitting 23 home runs with a career-high .908 OPS. The Diamondbacks want to bring Pederson back, but Tampa Bay and Texas are also interested. Rosenthal mentions that free agents like Pederson will likely pass on Tampa Bay because they don’t want to play games in a minor league park in the hot summer months, but Texas could be a real threat to sign him. “In 2023, the year they won the World Series, the Rangers ranked third in OPS against right-handed pitching. Last season, they ranked 26th, and their .683 OPS represented more than a 100-point dropoff from the year before.”

Specifically, Rosenthal points to the Red Sox and Mets as teams who are both firmly in the bidding for Juan Soto but are also intent on rebuilding their starting rotations this offseason. The Blue Jays could be another team. He believes that any of them, should they miss out on Soto, would outbid the Orioles in an attempt to lure Burnes away. Rosenthal mentions that Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Flaherty could be fallback options for Baltimore if Burnes does indeed go to another team.

The Astros are intent on bringing Alex Bregman back this offseason, but Rosenthal mentions that they would be interested in Jorge Polanco as a fallback option if Bregman decides to go elsewhere. It would be an interesting pivot since the 31-year-old Polanco was not good in 2025, slashing .213/.296/.355 in 469 plate appearances for the Mariners. He also had surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his knee earlier in October and has graded out as a well below-average second baseman during his career, so there is no guarantee he could transition to third base full-time.

Rosenthal believes that the deal could be a “three-year deal for more than $60 million.” It makes sense for Hernández to return to Los Angeles after having a huge season where he slashed .272/.339/.501 with 33 homers, 99 RBI, and 12 stolen bases over 652 plate appearances. after signing a one-year deal last offseason. Rosenthal mentions that, “If Hernández somehow does not land back with the Dodgers, the Blue Jays might be his most logical destination.”

However, Martino quickly notes that “There is also widespread skepticism that Soto would go to the Blue Jays.” Toronto is certainly still in the running if they are willing to offer the outfielder more than any other team, but the Mets and Red Sox appear to remain the favorites based on early reporting. It’s just anybody’s guess just how far ahead one team may be from the rest.

Boyd will have a relatively unobstructed path in spring training to secure a starting rotation spot in Chicago with only youngster Ben Brown standing in his way. The 33-year-old southpaw struck out nearly 28 percent of the batters he faced last season across eight starts for the upstart Guardians, and also looked extremely impressive in three postseason starts, in his return from Tommy John surgery. The raw stuff appears to be back to pre-surgery levels, and he’s always missed enough bats — when healthy — to make an impact for fantasy managers, especially in deeper mixed leagues. At a bare minimum, Boyd is worthy of a speculative dice roll in the late stages of deeper fantasy drafts next spring as a low-risk lottery ticket.

Murakami has been a brilliant player for the Yakult Swallows, particularly in hitting .318/.458/.711 with 56 homers as a 22-year-old in 2022, but his last two seasons have been rather disappointing. In 2024, he hit .244/.379/.472 with 33 homers and 180 strikeouts in 610 plate appearances. That 851 OPS was still 206 points better than the Central League’s .645 mark on the whole, but it definitely didn’t meet expectations. Also, while Murakami has mostly played third in Japan, he’ll likely be viewed by major league teams as a first baseman. He still should set off quite a bidding war — since he’s coming over at age 26, he’ll be able to make most of his true worth in the posting system — but how he performs next season will determine whether he’s treated as one of the best corner infield free agents of all-time or just a quality regular.

Montas getting a two-year deal for this kind of money is quite a surprise. Even more so that it comes with a player option; if he pitches well, he’s gone after one year, and if not, he’ll be back for $17 million in 2026. Montas was thoroughly mediocre for the Reds and Brewers last season, going 7-11 with a 4.84 ERA. Maybe he’ll be better in a second full year back from shoulder surgery... the Mets obviously believe so.