MLB Player News

The Reds opened 2025 with about a $112 million payroll, which is obviously in the bottom half of the league and actually a little less than they spent way back in 2014, which was the last time their payroll was in the top half of baseball. The good news is that the Reds have no badly spent money aside from the $16 million still owed to Jeimer Candelario and their rotation is well set up for next season (Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer and Chase Burns will make about $26 million in total). That should, in theory, give them the flexibility to add the middle-of-the-order hitter they obviously need.

Judge takes home a silver slugger for the fifth time in his career. He joins Byron Buxton and Riley Greene in the outfield in taking home the award. The full list of winners: Cal Raleigh (C), Nick Kurtz (1B), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2B), Bobby Witt Jr. (SS), José Ramírez (3B), Judge (OF), Buxton (OF) and Greene (OF) and George Springer (DH).

Alzolay missed the entirety of the 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery. The 30-year-old signed a two-year minor league deal with the Mets, and assuming no setbacks this winter, he has a chance to help the New York bullpen — possibly in a high-leverage role — in 2026.

Mansolino had been the third base coach for more than four seasons before taking over as their interim manager in May of 2025. The Braves also announced that J.P. Martinez will be the team’s next bullpen coach. Martinez spent the 2025 campaign as the Giants’ pitching coach after serving as an assistant pitching coach from 2021-2024. New Braves’ manager Walt Weiss has done a nice job assembling a well-rounded and experienced staff in relatively short order after being officially hired on Monday.

Shomon spent the 2025 season with the Marlins as their assistant hitting coach. Prior to that, he spent two seasons in the same capacity with the Twins. Additionally, the White Sox announced that Sherman Johnson Jr. will be the team’s hitting coordinator while Joel McKeithan will return for a second season as an assistant hitting coach.

Dubin was removed from the Orioles’ 40-man roster and sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday. The 30-year-old right-hander struggled during his time with the Astros, but posted a solid 3.38 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and a 7/3 K/BB ratio over eight innings with the O’s to end the season. He’s now free to peddle his wares on the open market where 30 teams are looking for upgrades to their bullpens.

The 32-year-old infielder had 116 plate appearances with the Angels in 2025, slashing a woeful .202/.209/.272 with two home runs and 11 RBI before getting released in early August. He finished the season on a minor league deal with the Tigers, spending all of his time at Triple-A Toledo. At this stage of his career, he’ll likely have to settle for a minor league contract with an invitation to major league camp — hopefully where he can fight for a reserve role on a team’s Opening Day roster.

The 26-year-old hurler will get a World Series ring after registering a 6.37 ERA and 1.45 WHIP across 29 2/3 innings in 10 appearances for the Dodgers during the 2025 season. He’ll earn a $750,000 salary and a $200,000 signing bonus with the Wiz. It’s possible that he’ll look to return to Major League Baseball if he finds success in his first year overseas.

The 52-year-old executive returns to baseball after spending the last 10 years with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns as their chief strategy officer. He certainly has his work cut out for him trying to turn around a Rockies’ franchise that went 43-119 in 2025 and hasn’t had a winning season since 2018. One of his first orders of business will be to find a manager to lead his ballclub. There were nine managerial vacancies in Major League Baseball when the offseason began, only the Rockies’ gig remains open.

The 37-year-old spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons working as an assistant hitting coach with the Phillies. Prior to that gig, Lind was the director of hitting and the assistant hitting coach with the Giants from 2020-2023 — where he worked alongside new Orioles’ skipper Craig Albernaz. He’ll take over for Cody Asche who joined the Tigers as an assistant hitting coach earlier in the week. Lind is the first coaching hire that Albernaz has made since being named as the O’s manager in late October.

Huff, 27, appeared in 20 games with the Giants during the 2025 campaign, slashing .208/.259/.340 with a pair of homers, four RBI and a 25/4 K/BB ratio across 58 plate appearances. He’ll look to find an opportunity where he can compete for a reserve role on a team’s big league roster.