MLB Player News

Vitek, rumored to the Padres at No. 9, has already agreed to terms and is expected to move to third base immediately. The hope is that he’ll stay there, though it’s possible he’ll end up in the outfield. The Ball State product has a polished bat that should allow him to move through the minors quickly. He’s a future 20-homer guy. Brentz was another one of the best hitters in college this year. He has on-base skills to go along with possible 20-homer power, and he should be a pretty good defender in right field. Ranuado, an LSU product, was one of the players the Red Sox were often connected with at No. 20. His stock took a hit due to an elbow injury that took a toll on his velocity this year, but he has a great fastball-curveball combo when he’s on.

Reetz hit a .192/.307/.399 in 228 Triple-A plate appearances in the Mets and Orioles organizations last year. He is a well-regarded framer, but he has a career .230/.331/.451 Triple-A slash line in 983 plate appearances. Organizations need lots of catcher depth heading into spring training.

Wilson spent last year with the Guardians and hit .246/.325/.435 in Triple-A before making his MLB debut. Unfortunately, he slashed .192/.267/.244 slash with a 37 percent strikeout rate in 91 plate appearances for Cleveland. He can play anywhere in the infield, so the Mariners could view him as organizational depth at a few positions.

The deal includes an eighth-year club option. Wilson finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting behind his teammate Nick Kurtz, after hitting .311/.355/.444 with 13 home runs and five steals in 125 games this season. The 23-year-old is an elite contact hitter who has always sported high batting averages in the minors and flashed decent enough power last season. He has graded out as a below-average defender at shortstop in each of the last two seasons and may eventually need to move to second base, but this contract is fair value for a player with his hit tool. The A’s now have Wilson, Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom, and Lawrence Butler under long-term contracts, with Nick Kurtz still on his rookie deal. That’s a solid offensive foundation.

The Nationals just claimed him off waivers on Wednesday, but will now move on after claiming George Soriano on Friday. The 24-year-old Cheng will try to latch on somewhere else.

Soriano was designated for assignment earlier this week when the Braves claimed Jose Suarez. Now, he’ll wind up in Washington, but is still a long shot to make the Opening Day roster after posting a 7.64 ERA in 66 innings over his last two seasons.

Bader seemed likely to get a somewhat bigger deal than this at the beginning of the offseason, but it seems no one was especially convinced last year’s career-best .277/.347/.449 line was repeatable. That’s probably in part because he had an xBA of .223 and xSLG of .364, according to Statcast. His line suggests he sold out for more power, with his strikeout rate jumping from 20% from 2021-24 to 27% last year. However, his exit velocity numbers didn’t get all that much better in the process. Regardless of whether he hits, Bader will provide value to the Giants through his excellent defense in center, allowing them to push Jung Hoo Lee to right. He doesn’t come recommended in fantasy leagues this year.

Sims has been pretty awful since a trade to the Red Sox at the 2024 deadline; he had a 6.43 ERA in 14 innings for Boston then, a 13.86 ERA in 12 1/3 innings for the Nationals last season and then a 5.56 ERA in 34 innings for the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate after Washington released him. All told, he walked 53 in 60 1/3 innings during that span. He still has his fastball and slider, so there’s always the chance he turns it around. However, even at his best, he was never particularly reliable.

Pérez got $8 million from the Pirates two years ago and $5 million from the White Sox last year, so it’s surprising to see him settle for a minor league deal now, though perhaps he prioritized pitching for a contender this time around. Pérez had shoulder issues last year and was limited to 11 appearances, but he had a 3.54 ERA and a 19.3% strikeout rate comfortably above his career mark of 16.2%. Given that the Braves have so many middle relief possibilities who are out of options, Pérez might open up in the minors unless a starter gets hurt.

It’s safe to say this wasn’t the plan for the Twins, certainly not with the offseason almost over and spring training only a couple of weeks away. Falvey, who had spent nine years with the Twins and became their POBO in 2019, might not have thrilled with the team’s direction after Tom Pohlad replaced his younger brother Joe as the team’s controlling owner in December. The Twins said GM Jeremy Zoll will lead baseball operations and Tom Pohlad will lead business operations while the team searches for a replacement for Falvey.

This will surely be a minor league deal. Pratto once looked like the Royals’ first baseman of the future, but he was largely ineffective in 527 plate appearances between 2022 and ’23 (.216/.295/.364) and things went from bad to worse the last two years, as he finished with Triple-A OPSs of .734 in 2024 and .620 in 2025.