2025-26 Offseason Around the League Thread

[markedman5]

29 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Did Cutch retire or Pirates not interested in bringing him back?

Hasn’t retired…..future appears to be up in the air.

https://www.si.com/mlb/pirates/onsi/news/andrew-mccutchen-addresses-report-potential-pittsburgh-pirates-departure

[Scooterfletcher]

2 hours ago, sveumrules said:

I'm hoping Brewers can pull off a Drew Millas trade to fill that backup catcher spot and give Quero everyday reps at AAA, but think signing a random veteran stopgap is definitely the most likely option.

Im wanting Mitch Garver for what his bat could be on a cheap deal with a rebound to his Texas bat days ideally forthcoming.   Contreras hates DH’ing anyway and plays most days.   In the event he goes down, Quero is in AAA ready to handle the everyday duties.

[liveforoctober]

Holy smokes - Baz went for the Orioles #6, 10, 11, 30 prospects and a Comp A balance pick?

Baz is no slouch obviously but wow! The Orioles have/had a decent system too. I am really curious what offers Arnold is going to have on the table for Freddy.

I know our system is a few steps better than Baltimore's but just in terms of comparing numbers this would be (6)Fischer, (10)Dinges, (11)Ebel, (30)Jose Anderson and a 1st* rd pick for Baz? That is so steep. 

[Playing Catch]

11 hours ago, liveforoctober said:

Holy smokes - Baz went for the Orioles #6, 10, 11, 30 prospects and a Comp A balance pick?

Baz is no slouch obviously but wow! The Orioles have/had a decent system too. I am really curious what offers Arnold is going to have on the table for Freddy.

I know our system is a few steps better than Baltimore's but just in terms of comparing numbers this would be (6)Fischer, (10)Dinges, (11)Ebel, (30)Jose Anderson and a 1st* rd pick for Baz? That is so steep. 

That's a lot. Baz has enough team control that they could recoup some of that later, but still. For Baz? He isn't a sure-thing, although his xFIP would suggest some regression, particularly not having to pitch at Stienbrenner Field.

[duewizard]

Munetaka Murakami to the White Sox??? I do not understand why no one else signed him. Problematic underlying numbers?

[edfunderburk]

11 minutes ago, duewizard said:

Munetaka Murakami to the White Sox??? I do not understand why no one else signed him. Problematic underlying numbers?

Murakami had a 30% strikeout rate against pitching far less quality than MLB. I’m glad Milwaukee side-stepped this opportunity. 

[sveumrules]

11 minutes ago, duewizard said:

Munetaka Murakami to the White Sox??? I do not understand why no one else signed him. Problematic underlying numbers?

Yeah, scary low contact rates in Japan and viewed as pretty much a 1B only calibre defender.

Something like Russell Branyan's two year peak would probably be a fair break even point for the deal (ranks among 200 players min. 800 PA from 2009-10)...

168 ISO+ (8th) | 128 BB+ (46th) | 92 AVG+ (185th) | 172 K+ (198th)

With those isolated power, walk, hit and strikeout rates Branyan came in at a 124 wRC+ (43rd) and 4.8 WAR (95th) on the leaderboard. Murakami should hopefully play more than Branyan did over that stretch with only 933 PA, but Russ also played some 3B in there and only came in at -12.0 DEF for both years where that could be Murakami's yearly total as a 1B.

[markedman5]

 

[wibadgers23]

Boston has been quite active this offseason.  Glad to see Contreras leave the NL Central.

[markedman5]

 

[Jopal78]

12 hours ago, markedman5 said:

 

I bet Arenado regrets not getting out, when he nixed a deal to the Astros. He still has 2yrs/42 million left in his contract.

Truly amazing if/when he’s traded the Cardinals will have to include cash which would mean there would be two clubs paying for Arenado to play for someone else (the Rockies are still on the hook for 5 million dollars this year).  

[Roderick]

On 12/19/2025 at 6:12 PM, Scooterfletcher said:

.   In the event he goes down, Quero is in AAA ready to handle the everyday duties.

With Quero not playing at all in 2024 and only 250 at bats in 2025, I would rather not assume this.  Knock on wood Contreras is healthy.

[sveumrules]

15 minutes ago, Roderick said:

With Quero not playing at all in 2024 and only 250 at bats in 2025, I would rather not assume this.  Knock on wood Contreras is healthy.

Yeah, Quero's caught stealing percentages...

2021 (ACL): 32%
2022 (A/A+): 31%
2022 (AFL): 46%
2023 (AA): 35%
2025 (AAA): 17%

...I would be dubious of giving him the backup catcher spot out of the gate, much less assume he's ready to handle everyday duties at the MLB level coming off a shoulder surgery that sapped his arm potency to this point.

Then again, scooter was advocating for 35 year old Mitch Garver (career 18 CS% with -27 DRS | -15.4 FRM | -23 FRV) so it doesn't appear he is too concerned about defense behind the dish.

[Thurston Fluff]

8 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Yeah, Quero's caught stealing percentages...

2021 (ACL): 32%
2022 (A/A+): 31%
2022 (AFL): 46%
2023 (AA): 35%
2025 (AAA): 17%

...I would be dubious of giving him the backup catcher spot out of the gate, much less assume he's ready to handle everyday duties at the MLB level coming off a shoulder surgery that sapped his arm potency to this point.

Then again, scooter was advocating for 35 year old Mitch Garver (career 18 CS% with -27 DRS | -15.4 FRM | -23 FRV) so it doesn't appear he is too concerned about defense behind the dish.

To be fair, there's more to defense behind the plate than throwing out runners. I have zero idea what Garver was like but from what I've read and heard about Quero was he's an all around good defensive catcher. 

[sveumrules]

6 minutes ago, Thurston Fluff said:

To be fair, there's more to defense behind the plate than throwing out runners. I have zero idea what Garver was like but from what I've read and heard about Quero was he's an all around good defensive catcher. 

No doubt, there's more to catching than just throwing out runners, but especially now with the new rules and larger bases leading to an explosion in SB attempts it's more important than it's been since at least the 1980's when teams were running wild.

If Quero only nabbed 17% in the minors last year, it will likely be lower than that in MLB barring a return of his throwing form. Looking at last year's catchers there were only five who caught less than 17% of base stealers and got at least 500 innings behind the plate - Jonah Heim, Shea Langeliers, Edgar Quero, Drake Baldwin, and Augustin Ramirez.

If he hits like Langeliers or Baldwin and the arm doesn't bounce back it won't really be a problem, but if the arm doesn't bounce back it puts a lot more pressure on the bat and the rest of his defensive game and pretty much eliminates any chance of him being a truly elite defensive catcher (which was the bedrock of his profile).

[Turning2]

1 hour ago, Roderick said:

With Quero not playing at all in 2024 and only 250 at bats in 2025, I would rather not assume this.  Knock on wood Contreras 

Edited December 22, 2025 by Turning2

[Turning2]

Never mind. Others already posted about his arm strength concerns 

[Thurston Fluff]

2 hours ago, sveumrules said:

No doubt, there's more to catching than just throwing out runners, but especially now with the new rules and larger bases leading to an explosion in SB attempts it's more important than it's been since at least the 1980's when teams were running wild.

If Quero only nabbed 17% in the minors last year, it will likely be lower than that in MLB barring a return of his throwing form. Looking at last year's catchers there were only five who caught less than 17% of base stealers and got at least 500 innings behind the plate - Jonah Heim, Shea Langeliers, Edgar Quero, Drake Baldwin, and Augustin Ramirez.

If he hits like Langeliers or Baldwin and the arm doesn't bounce back it won't really be a problem, but if the arm doesn't bounce back it puts a lot more pressure on the bat and the rest of his defensive game and pretty much eliminates any chance of him being a truly elite defensive catcher (which was the bedrock of his profile).

True, but I'm not as worried about it as some. First, he'll be another year removed from surgery. Second, it's not just arm strength that goes into it. He had limited action catching last season. I wouldn't be surprised if all of his abilities behind the plate would take some time to get back mechanically and physically. Even if his arm isn't as strong as it once was, his ability to get the ball out of his hand quicker and get into throwing position faster will improve with time behind the plate. Third, small sample warning lights should be going off. Throwing out runners is not just on the catcher. When dealing with a large data set a better caught stealing % is more reliable. That weeds out the significance of pitchers who don't hold runners well, or an unusually high number of great base stealers who can make a smaller sample size look different than the catcher's actual ability.

I'm not trying to say he's ready now nor downplaying what shoulder surgery has on caught stealing rates. I'm just not that worried he's no longer capable of being a good overall catcher when his entire goal was to get back up to speed as a catcher. At least not based on a half season's worth of caught stealing rates.

[duewizard]

To add to the Quero numbers: He has only caught 1 of 12 (8%) basestealers so far in the Venezuela Winter League. 

[endaround]

Quero has his caught stealing rates to worry about and the fact he only had a wRC+ 101 in AAA. That is Eric Hasse level hitting in MLB.  He needs time to recover so I really hope he isn't being penciled in to play in Milwaukee any time soon.

[markedman5]

 

[Jopal78]

4 hours ago, markedman5 said:

 

McNeil, Alonso, Nimmo and Diaz all elsewhere, Mets fans probably wondering how long Stearns has left on his contract 

[umphrey]

12 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

McNeil, Alonso, Nimmo and Diaz all elsewhere, Mets fans probably wondering how long Stearns has left on his contract 

Looking at their roster, I’m confused about what he has done there. Looks like the big additions this year were Williams, Semien, Polanco and Weaver. Underwhelming to say the least with their payroll, but maybe there is a diamond in there. They have some draft picks working their way up, maybe that’s how he’ll make his mark. 

[Thurston Fluff]

2 hours ago, umphrey said:

Looking at their roster, I’m confused about what he has done there. Looks like the big additions this year were Williams, Semien, Polanco and Weaver. Underwhelming to say the least with their payroll, but maybe there is a diamond in there. They have some draft picks working their way up, maybe that’s how he’ll make his mark. 

I sometimes wonder if money drains brains in sports.

[Madhawk23]

Bucs signing O'Hearn for 2 years and $29M.  Gotta give them a lot of credit this offseason.  Not sure if these are moves that are going to work for them, but they are at least trying to put together a decent offense to go along with that young stable of stud SP's.