MLB Player News

Passan noted that the Cardinals “are not eager” to trade Donovan, but it might make too much sense given the rebuilding nature of the team. Donovan has two years of control left at very affordable arbitration rates before free agency and can play all over the field while producing solid on-base rates and good gap power. Passan puts the likelihood of Donovan being traded at 75 percent.

The same goes for David Morgan. Of moving the relievers to the rotation, Stammen said: “It’s a risky proposition health-wise and performance-wise.” We’d say it still might be worth it in Miller’s case, especially given the Padres’ lack of rotation depth, but if they’re not going to do it, then Miller, who allowed just two runs and struck out 45 in 23 1/3 innings after being traded to San Diego at the deadline, has an argument for fantasy baseball’s No. 1 RP heading into the 2026.

There’s little doubt the Rangers will go with an outfield of Langford, Brandon Nimmo and Evan Carter against righties (with Carter perhaps sitting against lefties), but the alignment is in question, what with both Langford and Nimmo being best suited for left. The Rangers might feel that Langford in center and Carter in right would be their best alignment, even though Carter would seem to be the stronger center fielder of the two.

He’s slated to be guaranteed $1 million. Hummel, 31, got into 37 games with the Orioles and Astros last season, hitting .170/.301/.276. Even though he’s mostly excelled in Triple-A, racking up a .920 OPS in 374 games over five seasons, he’s a lifetime .163/.268/.275 hitter in 340 major league plate appearances. With any luck, Japan will work out better for him.

As with the Ty Adcock signing last week, the Padres are again taking advantage of their 40-man roster openings to secure a priority minor league free agent. The 27-year-old Acosta had a 2.42 ERA and a 72/27 K/BB in 52 innings of relief work between Double- and Triple-A in the Nationals system last season. He throws in the mid-90s and gets his strikeouts with a mid-80s splitter. Control has always been an issue, but the stuff is there for him to become a useful reliever. This will be his first time on a 40-man roster, so he has all three option years available.

Albernaz, who is managing a major league team for the first time, appears to believe that closers are closers and shouldn’t be used earlier in games when the situation might warrant. That’s good news for Helsley’s value, because while he was already clearly going to be the Orioles’ closer, it’s nice to know he won’t lose the occasional save chance pitching the eighth in tight games.

Alonso lives in Tampa and the meetings are in Orlando, so he doesn’t have too far to go. It’s unclear if he’ll be meeting with the Mets, but there will always be time for that later.

The report from North Side Baseball’s Matthew Trueblood here is extra interesting, because it suggests the Cubs are looking for just one more reliever on a major league contract. If that’s the case, one would think they should try to do much better than the 34-year-old Stanek, who has finished with ERAs of 4.09, 4.88 and 5.30 while pitching for contenders the last three seasons. That said, his stuff numbers are still very good, and the Cubs might think they have a fix for him.

Fellow youngsters Kyren Paris and Denzer Guzman are also working out in preparation of playing some third base. Moore, the eighth overall pick in the 2024 draft, has thus far only played second base as a pro. He isn’t guaranteed to open 2026 in the majors, but he did hit the ball harder as a rookie than his .198/.284/.370 line suggests.

That same source also says that top pitching prospect Connelly Early wasn’t part of the trade deadline offer for Ryan. The Twins would presumably want either Early or Payton Tolle as part of a Ryan deal. The Red Sox would still surely love to have Ryan, but they have plenty of starting pitching depth at the moment and seem to be more focused on their lineup.

Good news for the Braves. Holmes should be in the mix for a rotation spot in the spring, but he might have a better chance of remaining healthy in the pen. The right-hander was 4-9 with a 3.99 ERA in 21 starts and one relief appearance before getting hurt last season.