MLB Player News

Lawlar is going to wind up missing at least 4-6 weeks after suffering the ailment over the weekend at Triple-A Reno. The 21-year-old top prospect missed the first couple months of the year recovering from thumb surgery and just made his season debut in the upper minors last week.

Hart is aiming to return to the big leagues next season after a dominant run last season overseas in Korea where he finished with a stellar 2.69 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 182/38 K/BB ratio across 157 innings (26 starts). The 32-year-old journeyman southpaw, who made four appearances (three starts) for the Red Sox during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign said earlier this month in an interview with Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com last month that re-working his slider, in addition to increasing his average velocity on the offering into the 91 mph range, were the biggest variables that fueled his success overseas. Given the current state of the pitching market, Hart figures to secure a multi-year deal and should get a real chance to prove that his success in Korea wasn’t a mirage.

The 35-year-old outfielder said “I’ve just had some time to reflect...I still enjoy doing it. I’m pretty sure I still want to play.” He’s going to be in Dallas for the Winter Meetings next week in the hopes of jumpstarting his comeback. Pillar had moments of fantasy usefulness for the Angels this past season but finished the year slashing .229/.291/.377 with eight home runs and 12 steals in 314 plate appearances. He also graded out as a below-average outfielder by Outs Above Average for the first time since 2021 and only the third time in his career. He might need to accept a minor league deal to play in 2025.

Soroka missed all of 2021 and 2022 with injuries and was limited to just 32 1/3 innings in 2023 before posting a 4.74 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in 79 2/3 innings for the White Sox in 2024. However, he was much better once Chicago moved him to the bullpen, registering a 2.75 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 36 innings as a reliever. That figures to be where the Mets see the most value, and giving Soroka a short-term contract where he can prove his value is exactly the type of move the Mets seem to be interested in making with pitchers these days.

Even the Athletics have expressed interest in Buehler, so the list of teams who are linked to him remains extensive at this point. The 30-year-old did not have a good 2024 season after missing all of 2023 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He posted a 5.38 ERA in 75 1/3 innings and his strikeout rate sat at a poor 18.6 percent. However, he looked dominant in the World Series with added velocity on his fastball that we haven’t seen since 2021. A lot of teams are hoping that they can turn that short stint into a resurrection; however, Buehler may have to take a shorter, prove-it contract given how much he struggled during the regular season. That could benefit the Mets since president of baseball operations David Stearns seemed to prefer giving out short-term contracts to pitchers in his first year with the Mets.

Ramirez was non-tendered by the Mets in late November after hitting just .210/.291/.299 in Double-A last season. However, he is just 21 years old and was once a top prospect for the Mets, so the team is certainly hoping they can help him rediscover the potential he had once shown.

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.