MLB Player News

Painter averaged 96.3 mph on his fastball, topping out at 98.8 mph, while striking out two and only handing out one free pass. The 21-year-old top pitching prospect has looked extremely sharp this fall in his return to game action after missing all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters last month that he thinks Painter will be pitching at the big-league level at some point in 2025. There’s a strong possibility he arrives in the majors in the early-to-midseason range once he’s sufficiently built up his stamina and workload.

No word yet on the finances of the deal. Thompson, 26, missed the entire 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Before the operation though, he was a mainstay in the club’s bullpen and they’re hopeful that he’ll return to that role at some point during the 2025 season.

Tigers’ owner Chris Ilitch is on record saying that he’ll be willing to spend once the team is ready to contend, and the fact that the Tigers surged to the postseason in 2024 proves that they are ready. Bregman has a strong working relationship with Tigers’ manager A.J. Hinch. The Astros are intent on doing everything that they can to keep the 30-year-old superstar, so the Tigers may need to overspend to secure his services. The Red Sox have also inquired on Bregman and expect all of the usual suspects to be in the mix as well.

The Mets’ obviously want to bring back Pete Alonso as their starting first baseman for the 2025 season and beyond, but in the event that he signs elsewhere, building quality depth at the position isn’t a terrible idea. Meneses, 32, struggled mightily at the dish in 2024, but he’s just one year removed from a season in which he slashed .275/.321/.401 for the Nationals with 13 homers and 89 RBI.

The 31-year-old hurler spent the entire 2024 campaign in the Twins’ organization where he struggled to a 6.79 ERA. 1.84 WHIP and a 62/31 K/BB ratio over 54 1/3 innings of work. He’ll add bullpen depth for the Mets in the upper levels of the minor leagues.

Like Aaron Judge in the American League, Ohtani was a unanimous selection, capturing all 30 first-place votes. It’s the third time in his career that Ohtani has been named the MVP. Each of the other two times, Ohtani had been a two-way superstar for the Angels in both 2021 and 2023. Ohtani becomes the first full-time designated hitter to ever with an MVP award and he joins Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as the only players in major league history to win the award in both the American and National League. On the season, the 30-year-old slugger slashed an incomprehensible .310/.390/.646 with 54 home runs, 130 RBI and 59 stolen bases. Francisco Lindor finished as the runner-up, tallying 23 second-place votes while Ketel Marte finished third.

There was never any doubt on this one, as the 32-year-old slugger was a unanimous selection — capturing all 30 first-place votes for the award. It’s the second time in his career that Judge has won the award, as he captured the honor in 2022 as well. He was certainly deserving — slashing a monstrous .322/.458/.701 while leading the league with 58 home runs, 144 RBI and 133 walks. Bobby Witt Jr. finished as the runner-up, garnering all 30 of the second-place votes. Juan Soto, Gunnar Henderson and José Ramírez rounded out the top five in the voting.

McKenzie had been projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $2.4 million via arbitration, so it looks like the Guardians may have gotten a bit of a discount here after the right-hander’s rough 2024 season. The 27-year-old hurler made just 16 starts at the big league level in 2024, registering an uninspiring 5.11 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and a 74/49 K/BB ratio across 75 2/3 innings. Perhaps he’s able to cure what ails him over the winter and is able to return to the Guardians’ rotation with a vengeance in 2025. At his current average draft position — outside the top-500 players overall — he makes for a nice late-round lottery ticket in deeper formats.

The 27-year-old hurler spent the 2024 campaign in the Tigers’ organization where he registered a 3.14 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and a 56/17 K/BB ratio across 51 2/3 innings in 43 appearances at Double-A Erie. He’ll function as extra bullpen depth for the Giants in the upper minors.

The 25-year-old was originally a first-round pick of the Yankees as a catcher back in 2018 and spent the past seven seasons in their minor league system. In 2024 he transitioned to second base full time and slashed .234/.350/.398 with 12 homers, 49 RBI, 29 stolen bases (in 32 attempts) and a 77/64 K/BB ratio across 433 plate appearances. He’ll add infield depth for the Brewers.

“I think we will have a spring training ABS test that will provide a meaningful opportunity for all major league players to see what the challenge system will look like,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said at the owners’ meeting on Wednesday. Triple-A stadiums used ABS in 2024 for the second straight season, but the league has suggested they will continue to look for ways to improve the technology before potentially introducing it during MLB games. “I would be interested in having it in ‘26,” Manfred said. If robot umpires were going to be introduced in MLB games, there would need to be an agreement reached with the Major League Baseball Umpires Association, whose collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1.