MLB Player News

Caminero is heading to Tampa Bay to square off against the Astros on Tuesday. He was widely considered the top prospect still in the minors, and the 21-year-old has hit 13 homers with a .276 average for Durham in 2024. He’s been much better than those numbers as of late, and he’s absolutely worth a roster add in all eligible formats.

The Rockies might be selling low on Doyle to move him now after a tough season in which he dealt with a family tragedy, but there’s still evidentially a pretty strong market for a 27-year-old who rates as one of the game’s top defensive center fielders and who flashed some legitimate offensive potential in 2024. It’d still might make more sense to keep him; he’s four years away from free agency and the organization doesn’t have anyone else capable of handling center field in Coors.

Nathan Lukes, Myles Straw and Joey Loperfido are the names being mentioned. Lukes, who played a big role in the Jays’ postseason run, currently tops the team’s depth chart in left field, but expectations are that the Jays will add a bat, turning him back into a bench player (if it’s an infielder, then Addison Barger would likely start in the outfield). Straw was also a key bench guy last season, so the team would surely prefer to move Loperfido, all things being equal. Still, it’s unclear what kind of trade value Loperfido currently possesses; he’s not hopeless, but he wouldn’t seem to project as a regular at this point.

The 32-year-old Herges hasn’t been a starter since his Junior year at the University of South Florida in 2015. The Reds made him a sixth-round pick that year and immediately moved him to the pen in the minors. He was outstanding for the Rockies last season, finishing with a 2.48 ERA and an 81/26 K/BB over 59 appearances. Even if the transition goes well, he certainly doesn’t figure to offer any fantasy value.

McCusker is going to play in Asia next year, according to The Athletic’s Dan Hayes. The 27-year-old made his major league debut last season, going 5-for-30 with no extra-base hits and a 16/1 K/BB. He hit .246/.316/.479 with a 34% strikeout rate in Triple-A. The timing of the move allows the Twins to make a pick in the Rule 5 draft, as they now have an open spot on the 40-man.

Mears, along with closer Trevor Megill, are being heavily sought after. Mears was a nice surprise for the Brewers in 2025, posting a 3.49 ERA in 56 2/3 innings with, as Rosenthal notes, a chase rate that ranked in the top seven in baseball, according to Baseball Savant. Mears is only projected to make around $1.6 million in arbitration so the Brewers don’t have to move him, but trading relievers for younger, controllable assets is often how smaller market teams like Milwaukee remain competitive.

Lowe is due $11.5 million next season in the final year of his contract, and there are many reports that the Rays are interested in trading him away. The Pirates made an aggressive offer to Kyle Schwarber, and they do appear intent on at least making some upgrade to their lineup, which is a nice change of pace.

One of the top pitching prospects in Boston’s system for nearly a decade, Mata struggled with injuries and never wound up making the big leagues despite triple-digit fastball velocity and a 29.9 percent strikeout rate across 67 1/3 innings over 42 relief appearances at Triple-A Worcester this past season. He seems like a strong candidate to put rebuild his long-term value overseas in Japan before returning stateside since he’s just 26 years old.

If Bieber didn’t think he would pass a physical, that could definitely explain why he surprisingly exercised a $16 million player option to stay with the Blue Jays. Hopefully, it’s not that bad, though. We probably won’t have much better of an idea until he starts tuning up for the Grapefruit League.

Finnegan returns to the Motor City after a dominant post-deadline stint in which he posted a microscopic 1.50 ERA (1.97 FIP) and a 34.8 percent strikeout rate across 18 innings over 16 appearances. That level of dominance is almost certainly a small-sample outlier compared to his larger career body of work, which includes a strong 3.66 ERA (4.17 FIP) and 108 saves across 329 1/3 innings for the Nationals over a six-year span since 2020. However, Detroit still offers his clearest path to a ninth-inning role — and, by extension, sustained fantasy relevance — as he enters his mid-30s. He’ll presumably have an opportunity to overtake incumbent stopper Will Vest as the Tigers’ primary closer and profiles as a top-20 range option at the position heading into next season.

The deal is now official. Schwarber returns to Philadelphia following a transcendent campaign where he batted .240/.365/.563 with a career-high 56 round-trippers, 132 RBI and 10 steals over 162 games, finishing second in NL MVP balloting. Fantasy managers can safely project the 32-year-old run-producing wrecking ball to finish in the 40-homer neighborhood as one of the premier four-category contributors in the entire landscape. He’ll be a late-second or early-third round selection in all fantasy drafts next spring.