MLB Player News

Not much to be done about this. Romano gave up 68- and 75-mph singles before Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who was just looking to sacrifice, dropped down one of the greatest bunts you’ll ever see; it simply hugged the third-bast line before dying inches away from foul territory. Romano was able to strike out Oneil Cruz afterwards, but Nick Gonzales ended the game with a sac fly. Romano also took a loss on Wednesday, but we can’t see this hurting his standing in the Philadelphia pen.

Tucker is getting the highest AAV of all-time, at least once one factors in the extreme deferments in Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million-per-year salary. He’s the third player to sign for exactly $240 million. The other two were Albert Pujols’ 10-year deal with the Angels in 2012 and Robinson Cano’s 10-year pact with the Mariners in 2014. Tucker will step in as the Dodgers’ right fielder, shifting Teoscar Hernández to left. Whether he winds up hitting third, fourth or fifth is still to be determined. As long as he’s third or fourth, he’s probably worth picking in the 10-15 range in spring drafts. It’d be surprising to see him hitting fifth, which would take a toll on his value, but, of course, it is a stacked lineup that he’s joining.

Siani will likely go on waivers for a third time this winter after previously bring dropped by the Cardinals and Braves. As a top-flight center fielder with pinch-running ability, he’s a decent bench option on the right team. He just shouldn’t be starting games very often.

This presumably will be a one-year, major league contract. García, who turns 39 this month, had a 3.42 ERA in 55 1/3 innings for the Dodgers, Nationals and Angels last season. He actually came in at 1.61 over 28 innings for those last two teams after the Dodgers cut him in July.

The deal includes a full no-trade clause, a $20 million signing bonus and opt outs after 2027 and 2028. Everything in recent days was trending towards this outcome, especially with the Mets seemingly taking themselves out of the mix by acquiring Luis Robert Jr. last night. The Cubs had been another suitor, but that appeared to end when they landed Alex Bregman, and the Dodgers solved their outfield need with Kyle Tucker. Bellinger’s return as the primary left fielder would seem to leave little room for Jasson Domínguez and top prospect Spencer Jones in the Yankees’ immediate plans. Domínguez could remain a fourth outfielder, which is how he ended last year, but it’s also possible the team could send him down to play regularly initially.

Marino reported that “Jonah Tong’s name briefly came up in talks with the Brewers about Freddy Peralta before the Mets quickly ended that discussion.” The Mets then rejected a follow-up offer that was Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams for Peralta. Given that Peralta is a free agent at the end of the upcoming season, it makes sense that the Mets may not want to deal one of their top prospect who could have multiple years of value; however, it feels likely that some team will be willing to do that to acquire Peralta.

Rosenthal reports that Tucker’s decision to sign with the Dodgers was “a boiling point” for owners, who are also upset about the Mets’ deal with Bo Bichette. Rosenthal suggests that “the Dodgers and Mets might be the only teams that will try to stand in the way of a cap.” The Dodgers project to have a payroll over $400 million again in 2026, but only three other teams are likely to have a payroll over $300 million, which highlights the disparity that many are worried about. Nothing is confirmed yet, but it seems painstakingly clear that we are headed for another MLB lockout.

The deal was reported last week and is now official. Suárez is a groundball-heavy pitcher with tremendous control, which is a profile that should age well. Obviously, the team will hope to get his fastball velocity trending back up, but Suárez should fit nicely alongside Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray at the top of a rotation with both talent and experience. It remains to be seen what the Red Sox will now do with their rotation, which appears to have far more candidates than it has free spaces.

The Twins just claimed Bruján off waivers from the Braves last week, but he will now be waived to make room for Tristan Gray, who was acquired from the Red Sox this morning. Gray is a superior defender to Bruján and potentially fits better as a utility infielder.

At the Cardinals’ Winter Warm-Up, Graceffo mentioned that he will be moving to the bullpen full-time and has been focusing on being more intentional with his attack plan since he no longer needs to plan for five or more innings of work. One of those changes has been adding a kick-change that will help make him less fastball-dominant. It will be interesting to see how the new role and pitch impact his success. Graceffo is just 25 years old and the Cardinals don’t have many established starting options, so there’s a chance he could pitch himself back into the rotation.

The Red Sox needed to free up a 40-man roster spot to sign Ranger Suarez, so they will swap Gray for yet another catching prospect. Baez was the Twins’ 12th-round pick in 2022 and hit .278/.371/.423 in 96 games between High-A and Double-A in 2025 with eight home runs and 54 RBI. The 24-year-old has a good approach at the plate with solid pull-side power and played all over the field at Arizona State, which gives him a little bit more value.