MLB Player News

Flexen, who’d given up just three earned runs over 32 2/3 innings this whole season, matched that total in this start. Two of those three runs came via a Cody Bellinger home run and it felt like Flexen was lucky to only let those three runs in with the constant traffic on base against him and the Yankees’ seven hard-hit balls in total. Hopefully no one trusted the 0.83 ERA he entered this game with enough to trust him in Yankee Stadium.

Burgos, 23, spent the first seven years of his minor league career in the Guardians’ organization. He spent the entire 2025 campaign at Double-A Akron where he slashed an underwhelming .206/.295/.386 with 14 homers, 73 RBI and a 95/43 K/BB ratio over 407 plate appearances. He’ll add depth in the upper minors for the Jays.

The 28-year-old hurler split his 2025 season between the Rangers and Brewers organizations where he compiled a 4.94 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and a 55/28 K/BB ratio over 51 innings at the Double-A level. He’ll add minor league bullpen depth for the Yankees.

The Pirates have been mentioned as the favorites to land the 29-year-old third baseman, but it sounds like there are other teams in the mix as well. Okamoto slashed a healthy .322/.411/.581 with 27 homers and 83 RBI in 611 plate appearances with the Yomiuri Giants in 2025. He has until January 4 to sign with an MLB team.

Romero notes that the Angels, Pirates, White Sox and Blue Jays have all inquired on the veteran infielder. The former top prospect spent the 2025 season with the Halos where he slashed .234/.336/.448 with 12 long balls, 35 RBI and a 75/32 K/BB ratio across 289 plate appearances in his 84 games. Wherever he ultimately signs, it’s likely to be in a reserve role and Moncada won’t have much value from a fantasy perspective.

It’s a split contract for the 28-year-old hurler, who will earn a larger salary if he cracks the Guardians’ roster at any point during the 2026 campaign. Avila spent the 2025 season pitching for the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. There, he registered a 3.33 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and a 74/42 K/BB ratio across 102 2/3 innings in 21 appearances.

Burleson figures to move to the cold corner full-time next season after the Cardinals shipped Willson Contreras to the Red Sox earlier this week. The 27-year-old hit .279/.328/.439 with 39 homers, 147 RBI and 14 steals in 291 games over the past two seasons. He’s a decent bet to reach the 20-homer plateau with double-digit steals and a respectable batting average. That makes him a borderline mixed-league starter at first base, especially in deeper formats, heading into drafts next spring.

There was no avenue for Myers to play regularly next season in Miami with Kyle Stowers and Jakob Marsee emerging as core building blocks and Griffin Conine coming back from shoulder surgery. The 29-year-old, who posted a pedestrian .617 OPS with six homers and 19 steals over 333 plate appearances across 106 games for the Marlins last season, provides the Reds with a decent insurance policy behind center fielder TJ Friedl. He’ll enter spring training in competition with Will Benson and JJ Bleday for a corner-outfield role, with a bench assignment the most probable outcome.

O’Donnell heads to Miami after batting .236/.327/.325 with seven homers and 20 steals across 503 plate appearances over 125 games at Double-A Chattanooga last year. The 23-year-old outfielder was Cincinnati’s sixth-round selection in the 2023 MLB Draft out of the University of Virginia. He fits the profile of the kind of low-probability gamble rebuilding clubs can afford to make — a bet on upside, where above-average speed gives him a plausible path to becoming an everyday center fielder down the line.

Richardson loses his spot on Cincinnati’s 40-man roster after the club finalized a trade for center fielder Dane Myers. The 25-year-old righty posted a serviceable 4.54 ERA – 4.06 FIP – and 30/21 K/BB ratio across 37 2/3 innings over a career-high 34 appearances this past season at the big-league level. He should attract some interest on waivers as a middle relief depth pickup.

Arihara flirted with the idea of a potential return to the majors earlier this offseason. However, that speculation seems in retrospect linked to generating additional leverage during negotiations for a lucrative multi-year deal to remain in Japan. At 33 years old, it seems highly unlikely that he’ll return to the majors at some point down the road. He made 15 appearances (14 starts) for the Rangers from 2021-2022, finishing with a lackluster 7.57 ERA across 60 2/3 innings of work.