The real MVP moment of Aaron Judge’s season
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Ryan Hockensmith
THE TOUR OF THE YANKEES DUGOUT was off to a fantastic start.
The Rodriguez family — dad Cesar, mom Carla and kids Cesar Jr. and Derek — were milling around off to the side as the Yankees took batting practice in Toronto back in May. Derek, 9, kept elbowing his dad in the ribs and saying, “I can’t believe how close we are.”
They had been invited by the Yankees after a remarkable viral moment from the night before in Toronto when a Blue Jays fan caught an Aaron Judge home run ball and then handed it to Derek, who was wearing a Judge jersey. Derek’s emotional reaction, paired with a hug from the generous Blue Jays fan, created one of those videos where thousands of people tweet “If you’re having a crappy day, watch this.”
The Blue Jays fan, Mike Lanzillotta, was in the dugout with the Rodriguezes the next day, and he got to bring his wife, Kayla. They all pointed and whispered as various Yankees streamed in and out of the far end of the dugout. Derek’s eyes kept drifting out toward the field, where his hero, Judge, was hanging out at the cage before taking batting practice.
They were all under the impression that they’d linger for a bit, then go sit in their seats. The Blue Jays gave the Rodriguez family prime seats behind the Yankees dugout, and Mike and Kayla got sweet tickets right in the back of the Blue Jays dugout.
But the Yankees had a 6-foot-7 surprise for everybody.
As Judge walked down the steps toward the clubhouse, about 25 feet away, he turned toward the group and began to walk over. A Yankees staffer said, “Allow me to introduce you to Aaron Judge,” and suddenly Judge smiled as he closed the distance.
Derek’s mom is a little over 5 feet tall, and she let out a small shriek and hustled out of the way as Judge got close. The media guide says Judge is 6-foot-7, but everybody involved that day will always remember him as much, much taller. There was already something fuzzy and dream-like about what happened the night before, followed by watching him lumber around right in front of them for BP, and then… there he was — Aaron Judge, IRL.
Derek’s eyeballs flooded, and Lanzillotta, wearing a Blue Jays jersey and a surgical mask on his face, couldn’t even control his disbelief. As Judge got to Derek and started to pull him in for a hug, Lanzillotta put his hands on his head. His knees buckled a little, and the top of his body lurched backward. Even from under the mask, it looked like his jaw dropped.
“This is a fairytale,” Lanzillotta thought.
Lanzillotta glanced over at Cesar, and he seemed to be in fairytale land, too. They were both thinking the same thing: How the hell did they end up here?
What it’s all about ? pic.twitter.com/LGt2zkty5J
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 4, 2022
IN THE MID-2010s, Cesar Rodriguez’s older brother left Venezuela for the Toronto area. “He wanted to find a better life for himself and his family,” Cesar says.
And that’s exactly what he found in Canada, and pretty soon, he was telling Cesar he should come. In 2017, Cesar did it: He picked up his wife and two young kids and moved in with his brother. He, too, wanted a better life for them.
He had to work hard to get it. Cesar took jobs in landscaping, painting houses and at banquet halls doing anything and everything he was asked. He had to scrape by just to find a footing in Canada, but he did it. Eventually, he found the job he holds — and loves — today, at a local toy company.
The entire time, baseball was a life raft. Even as a kid, Cesar clung to playing baseball as much as possible. He fell in love with the team that he saw the most on TV, the Yankees dynasty of the mid-1990s, and Cesar began to collect jerseys of Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter, as well as some greats from the past, like Phil Rizzuto, Lou Gehrig and Reggie Jackson. When his first son was born, he and his wife didn’t struggle with names for very long. The little boy would be Derek, just like The Captain.
From the day he was born in August 2012, little Derek Rodriguez loved baseball as much as his dad. He’d sit on his lap and watch games in Venezuela, and then became an Aaron Judge superfan when he got a little older. He loved the cool name, the long home runs, and the bigness of Judge.
He has one jersey, a No. 99 Judge uni, and he put it on that day in May when the Yankees came to Toronto. The Rodriguez family set aside $2,000 every year for tickets and concessions to go to all nine Yankees games in Toronto, and then they pay for the MLB Network to see the rest. They’ll be there again this weekend for all three games between the two teams.
They were in scramble mode on May 3 to get from their house, about 30 minutes away from the stadium, to their seats in the 200 level of the left field bleachers. This was a big one: The Yankees were on a 10-game winning streak, part of a 17-6 start to the year. The Jays were 15-9, and wanted to pour water on their rivals.
A half-hour farther outside Toronto, a stranger named Mike Lanzillotta was clocking out of his job as a theft management specialist for a chain of department stores. He called his friend, Nigel Singh, to make sure they were on target to meet up outside the stadium. Singh was already downtown, wrapping up his shift that day as a city ordinance officer in charge of investigating noise complaints in Toronto. “We’re the fun police,” he says with a smile. “Everybody’s like, ‘Oh god, here they come…”
Around the same time that the Rodriguezes were plopping down in their seats, Lanzillota and Singh were outside the stadium, hustling to grab a beer before heading in. They eventually made their way into the stadium and had planned to snag some loonie dogs — that’s what the Jays call their hot dogs. On select nights such as this one, loonie dogs are $1 a piece, and Lanzillotta and Singh were laughing about how many they thought they could put down.
But the loonie dog line was out-of-control long, so they bought beers and went to their seats instead. Maybe they’d grab food later.
Just one problem: Their seats were occupied.
They had No. 3 and 4, but people had already sat down there. Singh suggested just sitting in the empty aisle seats, 1 and 2, and if anybody came, they’d work it out. Nobody ever showed up and claimed the aisle seats, so that’s where they landed for the night. Almost immediately, they noticed two Yankees fans who weren’t shy about cheering for their team, even in enemy territory. Lanzillotta elbowed Singh and they briefly thought about chirping at the boy and his dad. Both of them use that word a lot — chirping — in place of heckling, and it’s clear they have a more PG-rated, Canadian style brand of barking at opposing players.
Eventually, they decided not to chirp at all. Instead, they said hello to the Rodriguezes and started talking. Singh really identified with their story of settling in Toronto; Singh’s family had come from Guyana, and his grandparents had picked baseball as their hobby as a way to cope with missing cricket in their native country. Just like with the Rodriguez family, MLB games have helped the Singhs find their footing in Canada, too.
Lanzillotta couldn’t help but love Derek’s sheer exuberance for baseball, even if it was for the dreaded Yankees. Within five minutes, Lanzillotta blurted out, “We’re getting you a ball tonight.”
Cesar smiled and nodded. What were the chances a ball would end up in their laps? Fangraphs once estimated it at 1 in 1,200. And in the 200 level of the left field stands? Yeah, good luck.
Lanzillotta doesn’t mess around when it comes to getting balls at games, though. He got his first one as a 12-year-old, sitting on the third-base line beside his grandfather. Lanzillotta leaned over the rail for a foul grounder coming his way, and he stretched too far. Suddenly he felt his legs start to soar out and over his head, and he was about to faceplant onto the field.
Then two strong hands latched onto his lower body — it was his grandfather, hanging on for dear life. Lanzillotta pulled in the ball, then his grandfather reeled him in. “Like a big fish,” Lanzillotta says now.
When they got home that day, Lanzillotta tried to give his grandfather the ball. At first, he refused to take it. “It’s your ball, Mike,” he said. But Lanzillotta wouldn’t take no for an answer, so his grandfather accepted the gift. When he died a few years ago, Lanzillotta found out his grandfather had willed it to him. So, MLB balls are precious to him.
As the game wore on, Lanzillotta went to his go-to move. Every half-inning when the left fielder would warm up, he would spend the entire five minutes pestering — correction, chirping — at either team’s starter to turn around and throw the ball into the stands. He’s gotten about 10 balls over the years doing that for three hours, so it sometimes works.
At one point, he started bringing Derek over to his seat and coaching him up on how to effectively chirp himself. “Mike was going at it hardcore, to the point where I think some people around us were annoyed,” Singh says. “But Mike was determined to get that kid a ball.”
Eventually, the Blue Jays’ left fielder, Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., lobbed a ball up into the stands but it landed 25 feet away, and somebody else grabbed it. At that point, Derek was getting discouraged. “It was a little embarrassing because no one paid attention, even when I was dancing,” Derek says, and he stands up from behind his laptop and replicates the dance on a recent Zoom.
Lanzillotta was insistent the entire game. He just kept saying, “Trust me, we’re getting you a ball.”
The game breezed along, with the Blue Jays leading 1-0 in the sixth inning. Singh told Lanzillotta he was going to the bathroom. On the way back, he noticed the loonie dog line was almost wiped out, so he made a quick pit stop to grab some food.
Singh kept telling himself that he was going to order two hot dogs when he got to the front of the line.
Then his stomach told him to order more.
But then he decided he didn’t want to overdo it, so he would just order two…
“Can I help you?” the cashier asked.
“Six loonie dogs, please,” Singh said, his stomach taking over his voice. Since he ordered six hot dogs instead of two, the cashier put his loonies in a large carrier.
The two hungry men scarfed down their first dogs, one apiece, as the Yankees came to bat in the sixth. Pitcher Alek Manoah had been humming along, blowing through the Yankees lineup for the first 15 outs.
He got the first two Yankees of the sixth inning, too, when Judge strode to the plate as a likely No. 18 out. Manoah had struck him out twice already, and Manoah has owned Judge more than perhaps any other pitcher in baseball (Judge is 1-for-16 against the young Jays starter).
It was a weird, long battle. Judge watched a 95 MPH sinker for strike one, then fouled off three straight fastballs. Then Manoah threw practically the same pitch three times in a row — low 80s sliders, all at the knees, all outside, for three balls.
With a full count, Manoah got ready to dial up another high 90s fastball as Judge dug in. A football field away, Derek Rodriguez cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled for his favorite player, right as Mike Lanzillotta took the last bite of his first loonie dog. He was thinking about reaching for a second dog just as a crack of the bat stole away his attention.
His life would never be the same.
THE BALL CAME SCREAMING off the bat at 114.9 MPH. Lanzillotta, a very good slow-pitch softball outfielder, felt almost instantly that the ball was screaming directly at him, so he started yelling, “I got it! I got it!”
It was a laughable thing to yell. Foul balls and home runs at MLB games are free-for-alls, where survival of the fittest usually plays out. But this time, Lanzillotta’s call caused everybody to… just back off.
Well, almost everybody. Earlier in the game, right after Lanzillotta had told Derek he’d get him a ball, he’d thrown in an important caveat. “We’ll get you one — unless it’s a home run ball. Home run balls are special.”
So because this was an Aaron Judge home run ball, landing within a short third-down conversion away from his little boy in an Aaron Judge jersey, Cesar felt mandated by fatherly law to try to swoop in and beat Lanzillotta to it. But there were too many people in between, so Cesar’s push toward the ball never had a legitimate chance of snagging it away.
The ball flew straight to Lanzillotta. The ball whistled in for a landing, chest high, on a rope to him.
But as the ball soared right into his hands, he found himself a little distracted by the lack of hands and arms battling him for the ball. He had to lean just a few inches to his left, into the space between him and Singh. It was almost too easy.
Singh inched back behind Lanzillotta’s hands, and let his buddy haul it in. He had been called off many times by Lanzillotta in their softball league — Singh plays third base — and he says Lanzillota never failed to snag the fly ball.
Except this time, Lanzillotta whiffed. The ball scudded through his hands and — in yet another fluky occurrence — it slapped right into Singh’s cheek, then disappeared.
Lanzillotta says he felt zero pain from the rocket hitting his hands, but Singh sure felt the ball off his cheek. An inch or two higher… Singh doesn’t even want to think about if it hit him in the eye. “I’m going to trust my own hands next time,” he says.
They both scrambled to figure out where the ball had bounced. They’d seen countless times where somebody has a beat on a ball, bobbles it, and it plummets 10 rows south, or bounces down into the lower deck, and somebody else plucks it.
As they looked around, though, they didn’t see anybody hustling to corral it. In fact, everybody seemed to still be staring at them. At their feet, to be more specific.
Lanzillotta’s eyes eventually drifted toward the ground, where he saw four loonie dogs, loaded up with ketchup and mustard, all snuggled comfortably into one corner of their carrier across from a new friend: the Aaron Judge home run ball. The ball had spilled their beers onto the hot dogs, ruining the rest of their dinner, but nothing seemed to have touched the ball itself. “Right into the fricking tray,” Lanzillotta says with a laugh. “The loonie dogs are the real hero.”
A slew of cell phone cameras captured what happened next. Lanzillotta looked down at the ball that hit his hands and then ricocheted off his friend’s cheek, at the loonie dogs that shouldn’t have been in a carrier, below the seats that weren’t theirs, and he felt like that ball had been sent from the heavens for the little dude in the Aaron Judge jersey. “The way the stars aligned that day, it was nuts,” Singh says.
Lanzillotta reached down, grabbed the ball and for a milli-second, raised his hands in exuberance. But then it hit him how much that specific home run ball might mean to his new little friend. So in an act of kindness seen by millions, Lanzillotta lowered his arms and stretched them out toward Derek.
On the video, it’s half-hilarious, half-unnecessary roughness to watch as Lanzillotta extended the ball past Singh’s poor achy face. In about a five-second time frame, Singh had gotten cranked in the cheek by the ball, looked down to see his dinner ruined by spilled beer… and then his friend gave it away literally right in front of his nose.
Derek took the ball and rushed to get close to Lanzillotta. He nudged past his own dad, who went from an initial look of mystification to sheer joy that his son just had ended up on the other side of an incredible act of kindness. “I hoped we might get a ball,” Cesar says. “But he got the ball.”
The crowd roared loud enough that it drowned out Lanzillotta yelling to Derek, “I told you we’d get one — I told you!”
But Derek heard him. And when he got to Lanzillotta, his joy came out through an outpouring of tears. Lanzillotta patted Derek on the back and then palmed the back of his head like a mini basketball.
“Some day, you’re going to be in my shoes and can make a kid happy,” Lanzillotta said. “Promise me you’ll pay it forward.”
“I promise,” Derek said, and he cried some more as Lanzillotta put his hands on his cheeks. Then Derek hugged his dad. And they cried together.
THE WHOLE SECTION CHEERED for Lanzillotta and Derek for about 30 seconds. Then everybody sat down and the game started up again. Lanzillotta and Singh were bummed about their hot dogs, but mostly just wanted to replace their beers before the stadium stopped serving alcohol the next inning.
Lanzillotta volunteered to go. So within 60 seconds of the Judge ball touching down, Lanzillotta was out of his seat and heading for the beer stand. On the way, a few fans smiled and waved at him, and Lanzillotta thought, “That’s weird. I don’t think I know those people.”
But they knew him. What Lanzillotta didn’t realize was that as he got ready to order his replacement beers, video of the moment had gone viral twice — once on the interwebs, and also within the stadium, which had shown the whole thing on the scoreboard several times. He was now both Internet famous and Rogers Centre famous.
About five minutes later, Lanzillotta came back to his seat surprised to see that the Judge home run started a six-run outburst (the Yankees went on to win, 9-1). He was even more stunned at all the traffic lingering near his seat. Everybody was there to see him and Derek.
Reporters wanted to interview them both, and Blue Jays media reps had bobbleheads and other swag for Lanzillotta and the Rodriguez family. One Jays season ticket holder sent his adult son up to the second deck from their seats behind home plate to figure out a day when they could let Lanzillotta use their tickets.
“Was it really that special?” Lanzilllotta asked, with a beer in each hand.
The answer was, yes, it was that special. For the next 12 hours, people around the world reveled in the kindness.
On a Zoom call, Derek says he has to watch the video to recall what exactly happened. He had blacked out in the moment after a wave of emotion that his 9-year-old brain couldn’t quite process.
When he talks about it, he says, “All I remember is…” and then he starts rubbing his hands under his eyes and making a whimpering noise, mocking his own tears. “I know crying is something natural to do,” Derek says. “But I feel like that much crying… was too much crying.”
The next day, a few kids teased him for getting so emotional. But they quickly hushed when he pulled out the Judge baseball. He brought it into school so everybody could see it, but he was the only one allowed to touch it.
By the end of the school day, he was exhausted with the outpouring of his fellow elementary schoolers and even the faculty. “I cry every time I watch the video,” one teacher told him.
He left school tired but excited. After all, his dad had two tickets for the game that night to see the finale of a three-game set between the Yankees and Blue Jays. When he got home, though, his parents made his brain melt: The Blue Jays and Yankees had conspired to get him seats right behind the Yankees dugout.
As Derek celebrated in the living room, his dad said, “And oh yeah, we’re going down in the dugout, too.”
THAT EVENING, right after Derek Rodriguez’s mom shrieked as her son’s giant hero approached, Aaron Judge spoke.
“Who’s your favorite player?” he asked Derek.
Derek didn’t say a word, he just turned around and tugged on the back of his No. 99 Yankees jersey, the same one he’d worn the night before and then all day at school during his victory lap. “That still gives me goosebumps to this day, to see little kids that are wearing my number,” Judge told reporters later. “That’s something I dreamt of. I used to be in his position. That was a pretty cool moment.”
In the dugout, Judge dropped down to a knee, and yet he was still a few inches taller than Derek. “Don’t cry, because I’ll start crying too,” Judge told Derek. “Enjoy it. Did you bring the ball?”
Derek handed him the ball, then Judge asked for a pen, signed it and pulled a pair of batting gloves out of his back pocket. As Cesar and Derek tell this part of the story, Derek disappears off screen and comes back with a plastic case. Inside, the Judge batting gloves.
“I hope you use these some day,” Judge told him.
Derek hugged him, and then Judge stood up to take some pictures with the whole gang. But before he started posing, he turned toward Lanzillotta, who seemed to be enjoying Derek’s moment so much that he forgot he was part of it, too. Judge extended a hand, then pulled out a pair of batting gloves. He’d given Derek a brand-new set, and he wanted Lanzillotta to have the actual batting gloves from the night before.
For the next few minutes, phone flashes went off, and the whole group exchanged small talk. Judge said hello to little Cesar Jr., and chitchatted with both Rodriguez parents.
Toward the end of the dugout get-together, Judge turned his attention toward Lanzillotta. In the postgame scrum the night before, Judge had seemed genuinely lit up by the idea of a Blue Jays fan being so kind to a young Yankees fan, and his exuberance showed through when he got to meet Lanzillotta.
It’s not quite that he was as excited to meet Lanzillotta as Lanzillotta was to meet him… but it was a lot closer than you’d have thought.
“That’s a really special thing that you did,” Judge told him. “You impacted people around the world with your kind gesture. It doesn’t matter what uniform you wear. Bringing people together is what it’s all about. Thank you.”
As Lanzillotta finishes up that story, he hesitates. “When that guy says thank you to me…” he says, and his voice trails off. Long pause. “To me.”
But then he starts the story back up again because there’s one more part. He wanted to tell Judge something he might not like, so he began by buttering him up. “You’ve been good for my fantasy team,” Lanzillotta told him, and Judge smiled and nodded his head. Now was the time to just come out and say it.
“You know they offered us tickets to come down to New York and sit in the Judge’s Chambers?” Lanzillotta said.
“Yeah, I know,” Judge said.
“Aaron, just for your information, if we come to New York… I’ll be chirping from the stands — a lot,” Lanzillotta said.
Judge got a good chuckle out of that. “Oh man, don’t worry, I can handle it.” They shook hands and said goodbye, and then the Rodriguezes went to their seats, and the Lanzillottas went to theirs. Right before the game, a Blue Jays rep came to Lanzillotta’s seat and handed him a signed jersey from George Springer. He’d never gotten a signed jersey before, so Springer instantly became his new favorite Jay.
For the next three hours, the Rodriguez family cheered for the Yankees, and the Lanzillottas yelled for the Jays. From time to time throughout the game, the two groups would make eye contact and wave. At the end of nine innings, the Blue Jays had squeaked out a 2-1 win, ending the Yankees’ 11-game winning streak.
On the way out of the stadium that night, they all met up briefly to say good night. The last thing Cesar said to him that night was, “Mike, thank you. You don’t know what this means to us.”
Then they went their separate ways. Both realized it wasn’t the end of something. Just the end of Chapter 1.
IN AUGUST, the Lanzillottas traveled to the Bronx to be guests of the Yankees and to sit in the Judge’s Chambers. The Rodriguezes hoped to go, too, but had some travel paperwork snafus that didn’t get straightened out in time.
Lanzillotta took his wife, two kids, Nigel and six other friends, courtesy of the Yankees. They arrived at the stadium early for a tour, and Lanzillotta even got to hold one of Babe Ruth’s bats.
But he was also a little jittery as game time approached. He’d gone back and forth about wearing his Blue Jays gear, and ultimately decided he had to be true to his fandom. He was worried about the notoriously tough Bronx crowd, especially with his family along.
His seats were in the Judge’s Chambers section in right-field, which he wasn’t sure would be better or worse.
Right before the game, Lanzillotta and his crew were all given complimentary Judge’s Chambers robes to put on, and he held his nose and slid it over his Blue Jays jersey. It felt like a perfect solution — he could wear his Blue Jays stuff, and it’d be covered up by a robe.
Eventually, though, he felt like he was cooking in the August heat, so he took off the robe. Nobody said anything for a while… and then the Yankees put up a message on the scoreboard, welcoming Lanzillotta to the Judge’s Chambers. He looked around to gauge the reception, and it was nothing but warmth. “It seemed like we had the immunity idol,” Lanzillotta says.
When the game started, Lanzillotta asked his daughter if she’d like to try to get a ball. He explained how hard it is to get one, but that it’s a fun chase they could do together. She was in.
So they began to go down to the rail along right field and yell at players as they wrapped up warmups between innings. Some time in the middle of the game, they got loud enough that Blue Jays right fielder Whit Merrifield turned toward them and launch a ball into the bleachers.
The second it left Merrifield’s hand, Lanzillotta groaned. His daughter’s eyes had lit up when he launched it, but her dad recognized the ball was going to soar way over their heads into a sea of Yankees fans behind him. She reached her hands up as it whistled into the stands, then both of their heads watched overhead as it passed by. A young guy in his 20s, wearing Yankees gear, caught it.
“It’s okay, we’ll try again next inning,” Lanzillotta told her, and they started their retreat back up the stairs to go back to their seats.
As they walked, though, Lanzillotta noticed the young guy in the Yankees shirt making his way down his row toward the stairs. By the time they got to his row, he was standing in the aisle.
“Nothing compares to what you did,” the Yankees fan said. “But please, I hope your daughter enjoys this ball.”
He handed it to the little girl, and both Lanzillottas thanked him as they headed back to their seats. It was a life-affirming moment that he’ll never forget, a good deed boomeranged back at him.
In the Hollywood version of this story, Lanzillotta would hug his daughter as a sweeping needle drop played them back to their seats.
In real life, though, Lanzillotta could barely hear her excited words as they made their way through a sea of fans, half-cheering on their struggling Yankees, half booing the Jays during what was a chippy afternoon. And Lanzillotta found himself soaking it all in.
“It was the best chirping I’ve ever heard,” he says.
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David Schoenfield
There is no Juan Soto in MLB free agency this year. There is definitely no Shohei Ohtani. But although there might not be a player who will inspire people to track the flight paths of private jets on social media, it’s an intriguing class of free agents nonetheless — one especially deep in power hitters.
Let’s look at 13 of the most interesting free agents, assuming a few likely player opt-outs, and some potential best fits for each player. We’ll leave out some of the top relievers — Edwin Diaz (opt-out), Robert Suarez (opt-out), Devin Williams — and instead focus on the top position players and starting pitchers available this winter.
Players are ranked in order of their Baseball-Reference WAR from 2025.
2025 stats: .272/.334/.480, 29 HR, 98 RBIs, 13 SB, 5.0 WAR
2026 age: 30
Best fit: New York Mets
Bellinger surprisingly tops the list in 2025 WAR, although that doesn’t by any means suggest he’s going to get the biggest contract. Indeed, although he offers positional versatility with his ability to play all three outfield positions as well as first base, teams will be skeptical of his 2025 numbers since he hit .302 with 18 home runs and a .909 OPS at Yankee Stadium with its short porch compared with .241 with 11 home runs and a .715 OPS on the road. Bellinger works for the Mets both in center field — heck, they were playing 33-year-old infielder Jeff McNeil out there at times — and at first, if they don’t re-sign Pete Alonso.
Another possible fit: New York Yankees
A reunion with the Yankees is possible, but if the Yankees are committed to Jasson Dominguez in left field and give Spencer Jones a shot in center, they’re going to be reluctant to give Bellinger a long-term contract. Given some of their recent returns on long deals (DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton), they probably don’t want to get sucked into another big contract for a non-superstar player, no matter how good Bellinger was in 2025.
2025 stats: .240/.365/.563, 56 HR, 132 RBIs, 4.7 WAR
2026 age: 33
Best fit: Philadelphia Phillies
Everyone expects Schwarber to return to the Phillies, coming off his 56-homer season and with his added value as one of the best teammates in the game. Nothing is guaranteed, however, and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is balancing a lot of decisions this offseason. J.T. Realmuto is also a free agent, Ranger Suarez is a free agent and Zack Wheeler‘s return is a question, plus the team in general is getting older. But it’s still a team in a championship window — if Schwarber remains in the lineup.
Another possible fit: Mets
Think the Mets would love to steal Schwarber away from the Phillies? Addition and then subtraction from your rival. Would Schwarber leave the Phillies for the enemy? Players are a lot less loyal than we’d like to believe. Starling Marte was the Mets’ primary DH and he’s a free agent, plus consider: The Mets signed Soto and Alonso had a better season — yet they still scored two fewer runs than in 2024. It was an above-average offense, fifth in the NL in runs, but it wasn’t a great offense. Adding Schwarber could take it to the next level.
2025 stats: 12-8. 3.20 ERA, 157 IP, 154 H, 38 BB, 151 SO, 4.7 WAR
2026 age: 30
Best fit: Detroit Tigers
Suarez has been a steady and underrated pitcher since 2021, with a 3.25 ERA over the past five seasons, relying on a six-pitch repertoire that allows him to overcome below-average fastball velocity. He always gets dinged up at some point, so he’s a 150-inning pitcher as opposed to a 180-inning guy, but that still makes him a good fit for the Tigers, who need rotation depth, should have plenty of room in the payroll and could trade Tarik Skubal (sorry, Tigers fans).
Another possible fit: Toronto Blue Jays
Suarez will have a lot of interest even though he lacks that blistering fastball. Indeed, his lack of No. 1-starter pedigree will bring more teams into the bidding, even if he’s expected to get a nine-figure deal. The Blue Jays are an interesting fit here. Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer are free agents; Shane Bieber has a player option; and Kevin Gausman is a free agent after the 2026 season. They’ll be looking for some long-term stability in the rotation.
2025 stats: .266/.377/.464, 22 HR, 73 RBIs, 25 SB, 4.5 WAR
2026 age: 29
Best fit: Los Angeles Dodgers
If healthy, Tucker would have led this list in WAR — he was hitting .291/.395/.537 for the Chicago Cubs at the end of June when he suffered a fracture in his right hand, which he tried to play through. But he hit just .225 the rest of the way. Indeed, he’s projected to get the biggest contract of the offseason, perhaps as much as $400 million.
As good as he has been, there are some Anthony Rendon vibes here: Tucker has now been injured two years in a row (he also missed much of September with a calf injury); he’s turning 29; his speed/range Statcast metrics aren’t great (26th percentile in both categories); and he’s not a “face of the franchise” type of personality, which you normally expect for $400 million.
Could the Dodgers absorb another huge contract? Well, why not? The Dodgers are the best fit of “will spend money” and “have need,” considering they got nothing from left field in 2025 and suddenly have concerns about Mookie Betts‘ long-term impact at the plate after his subpar (for him) season.
Another possible fit: San Francisco Giants
The Giants, of course, have been trying to land an elite offensive player in free agency forever — finally trading for Rafael Devers last June. Giants corner outfielders hit just .237/.309/.378 with 37 home runs and 12 stolen bases, so adding Tucker to the lineup would give them a much-needed second lefty power hitter (with rookie slugger Bryce Eldridge likely to take over at first base, too).
2025 stats: 13-11, 3.66 ERA, 192 IP, 171 H, 68 BB, 187 SO, 3.8 WAR
2026 age: 32
Best fit: Baltimore Orioles
At some point, the Orioles will sign the front-line starter they need, right? Right?! They finished 24th in rotation ERA at 4.65 and had seven starters who made at least 10 starts in 2025 — and four of them had ERAs over 5.00. That’s not going to cut it in the AL East. Trevor Rogers (1.81 ERA in 18 starts) did emerge in the second half, and Kyle Bradish returned from Tommy John surgery at the end of the season, but the Orioles have lacked that durable No. 1-type starter and Valdez is second in innings pitched over the past four seasons.
Another possible fit: Houston Astros
The Astros have the need to bring Valdez back as the rotation was mostly a mess in 2025 aside from him and Hunter Brown. The payroll, however, looks pretty maxed out with the likes of Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Yordan Alvarez, Christian Walker and Josh Hader (they’re also paying Lance McCullers Jr. and Cristian Javier a combined $39 million in 2026). Don’t rule out a return, but the Astros have let other stars leave in free agency — Correa, Alex Bregman, George Springer, Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander.
2025 stats: .228/.298/.526, 49 HR, 118 RBIs, 3.6 WAR
2026 age: 34
Best fit: Athletics
The A’s aren’t often included in lists like this one — especially for a player coming off 49 home runs — but a lot of factors could push Suarez to the A’s: his age, his below-average OBP and strikeout rate, his subpar production after he was traded to Seattle. The A’s started nine players at third base in 2025 (players who combined for just 10 home runs), and Suarez would certainly bring power and durability — he has missed just seven games the past three seasons. He’s also a good clubhouse guy who would fit in with the team’s younger players. The A’s surprised people by signing Luis Severino last offseason, so they could land Suarez in a similar scenario.
Other possible fits: Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners
The Brewers (.234, 11 HR, .650 OPS) and Tigers (.221, 11 HR, .629) both made the playoffs despite subpar production at third base. Milwaukee loves high-contact offensive players, so maybe Suarez doesn’t fit there, and Detroit might not want to add another high-strikeout rate guy in the middle of the lineup on top of Riley Greene. The D-backs and Mariners are familiar with Suarez — he played for each in 2025 — but both have young players in Jordan Lawlar and Colt Emerson whom they could play at third.
2025 stats: .273/.360/.462, 18 HR, 62 RBIs, 3.5 WAR
2026 age: 32
Best fit: Boston Red Sox
Bregman hit free agency last year and didn’t sign until the middle of February, a three-year, $120 million deal with opt-outs after both 2025 and 2026. He played well enough with the Red Sox that he’s likely to test free agency, even though a quad strain limited him to 114 games. After a hot start, he didn’t hit nearly as well after returning in July — .250/.338/.386. The big surprise is that the pull-happy Bregman hit better on the road (.875 OPS) than at Fenway (.761 OPS).
Still, the Red Sox remain the best fit. He was an important veteran presence for Boston’s young position players, and he’s a right-handed bat in a lineup otherwise heavy in lefties (Jarren Duran, Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Masataka Yoshida). Bregman’s age presents some risk on a long-term deal, but although his speed metrics are sinking (17th percentile), he still has good range at third base and brought his OBP back up after it dropped to .315 in 2024.
Other possible fits: Tigers, Yankees, Phillies
Bregman’s contact ability makes him a likely fit for the Tigers — and he’ll be too expensive for the Brewers. The interesting long shot candidates would be the Yankees and Phillies. The Yankees have Ryan McMahon under contract, but he posted a .641 OPS after coming over from the Colorado Rockies at the trade deadline and his strikeout issues are a concern. The Phillies have Alec Bohm in his final year of team control, but Bohm produced just 1.3 WAR in 2025 and the Phillies are a little tired of his lack of postseason production (.225, 2 HR, 14 RBIs in 38 playoff games). Bregman’s fire might be what the Phillies need.
2025 stats: .272/.347/.524, 38 HR, 126 RBIs, 3.4 WAR
2026 age: 31
Best fit: Mets
Alonso’s stature — and ability to hit home runs and drive in runs — means he’s the highest-profile free agent alongside Schwarber, even if his WAR puts him lower on this list. Alonso has averaged 42 home runs per 162 games throughout his career, and his durability is one of his selling points — he hasn’t missed a game the past two seasons. Alonso was a free agent last year and there wasn’t much interest, so he went back to the Mets on a deal that gave him an opt-out and responded with a better campaign in 2025.
Will there be more demand this offseason? Perhaps. But Alonso is a 31-year-old first baseman who is a below-average defender. He has elite power but not elite on-base percentages. That all makes him a “high risk” category, and he’s not quite in the class of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Freddie Freeman or Matt Olson, the first basemen who received big nine-figure deals since 2022. It’s hard to envision Alonso leaving the Mets, but president of baseball operations David Stearns won’t overpay to bring him back — and Alonso might not be so willing to give the Mets a sweetheart of a deal this time around.
Other possible fits: Miami Marlins, Washington Nationals
The Texas Rangers didn’t get the output they wanted from Jake Burger; the Red Sox could move on from Triston Casas; and the Phillies (if they don’t sign Schwarber) and Atlanta Braves might consider Alonso as a DH, but let’s toss out the Marlins. Their first basemen hit just .234 with 15 home runs. They haven’t had a 2-WAR first baseman since Justin Bour in 2017 or a 3-WAR first baseman since Derrek Lee in 2002. Teams always think they can fill first base with adequate offense, but the Marlins are proof that’s not always the case. Alonso is also from Florida, which might help. A more realistic long shot might be the Nationals, who need a big bopper and have plenty of room in the payroll.
2025 stats: .311/.357/.483, 18 HR, 94 RBIs, 3.4 WAR
2026 age: 28
Best fit: Giants
Bichette’s free agency will be fascinating. Given his poor defensive metrics at shortstop, it’s almost a certainty teams will be looking at him as a second or third baseman rather than a shortstop — even the Blue Jays (the team he has been with his entire career), who would move Andres Gimenez to shortstop. That’s not a bad thing for Bichette, as it opens up his possible destinations to more teams if he’s willing to change positions.
Although he is a .294 hitter, it will be interesting to see how he ages: He already doesn’t run well (21st percentile in speed) and he doesn’t walk much, so his offensive production is heavily reliant on his batting average. We mentioned the Giants as a potential fit for Kyle Tucker. The same goes for Bichette, as Giants second basemen hit just .216/.273/.342.
Another possible fit: Kansas City Royals
OK, can the Royals realistically afford to sign Bichette? Probably not, but a double-play combination of Bobby Witt Jr. and Bichette would be a lot of fun, and Bichette’s style of hitting would be a good fit for that park. Royals second basemen hit just .236 with 11 home runs, and we know the lineup needs something else. The Royals aren’t the Pittsburgh Pirates or Tampa Bay Rays. They will spend some money — although there isn’t much wiggle room based on the 2025 payroll — and there is a contention window right now with their current rotation.
2025 stats: .295/.353/.462, 20 HR, 92 RBIs, 30 SB, 3.1 WAR
2026 age: 29
Best fit: Mariners
Naylor was the perfect fit for the Mariners, who had not only struggled at first base but also needed a more contact-oriented hitter like Naylor for the middle of the lineup when they traded for him at this year’s deadline. He unveiled one of the most surprising secret weapons, going 30-for-32 as a base stealer despite being one of the slowest runners in baseball. Although many hitters are reluctant to sign with the Mariners, Naylor loves hitting at T-Mobile Park, with a career line of .304/.335/.534. The Mariners should have room to bring him back.
Another possible fit: Rangers
Rangers first basemen/DHs combined for a .657 OPS — only the Rockies were worse. Texas still has Jake Burger and Joc Pederson (who will probably exercise his $18.5 million player option), but both had sub-.290 OBPs, so the Rangers will consider upgrading.
2025 stats: 8-12, 4.55 ERA, 168 IP, 152 H, 71 BB, 215 SO, 1.1 WAR
2026 age: 30
Best fit: Cubs
Cease’s eventual contract will far outpace his ERA and low WAR from 2025. Teams will focus on the power arm (average fastball of 97.1 mph), the high strikeout rate and the durability (five straight seasons with at least 32 starts). A return to the Cubs would be full circle as they originally drafted Cease in the sixth round out of high school in 2014 before trading him to the Chicago White Sox in the Jose Quintana deal.
The 2025 Cubs were a prime example of why teams prefer those power arms in the postseason. With Cade Horton injured, Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga were their top two starters, two lefties without high K rates. They have plenty of payroll room to make a big rotation signing.
Another possible fit: San Diego Padres (and every other contender)
With Cease and Michael King (who has a player opt-out) in free agency, the Padres would have Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish, Randy Vasquez, Joe Musgrove (returning from Tommy John surgery) and perhaps Mason Miller in their rotation — and the options thin out in a hurry after that. But is there room in a payroll that is already pushing $200 million heading into the offseason?
2025 stats: 13-15, 4.83 ERA, 192 IP, 176 H, 66 BB, 175 SO, 1.1 WAR
2026 age: 30
Best fit: Diamondbacks
Like Cease, Gallen is hitting free agency with a high ERA. Unlike Cease, he averages 93.5 mph with his fastball instead of 97. Gallen’s home run rate nearly doubled from 0.8 per nine innings in 2024 to 1.5 in 2025, and his strikeout rate plummeted to a career-low 21.5%, a notable 5-percentage-points decline from his career rate entering the season. He did pitch better the final two months with a 3.32 ERA. Still, maybe some of the questions push Gallen back to the Diamondbacks, who will enter the offseason down him, Merrill Kelly and Corbin Burnes (Tommy John surgery) from their initial 2025 rotation.
Another possible fit: Los Angeles Angels
Does anyone want to play for the Angels? Their recent free agent signings have been more of the third-tier type, but they have room in the payroll and two pitchers from their 2025 rotation hitting free agency in Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks. They signed Yusei Kikuchi to a three-year, $63 million deal last offseason and might do something similar this offseason with a starter like Gallen.
Munetaka Murakami, 3B/1B (Japan)
2025 stats: .286/.392/.659, 24 HR, 52 RBIs
2026 age: 26
Best fit: Mariners
A big left-handed slugger, Murakami has been a star in Japan since he hit 36 home runs as a 19-year-old in 2019. He followed that up with a career-high 56 home runs in 2022. He missed time this past season with an oblique injury but hit 24 home runs in 69 games. He does strike out a concerning amount — 168 times in 140 games in 2023 and 180 times in 143 games in 2024 — so projects as more of a low-average, 30-homer slugger. Murakami’s defense is considered below average at both corner positions, but his age helps make him an attractive free agent.
We mentioned Colt Emerson as a replacement for Eugenio Suarez at third base for the Mariners, but a year in Triple-A wouldn’t hurt, and Emerson could then take over at shortstop in 2027. That leaves Murakami as a fit for third base, or a backup option to Josh Naylor at first base. The Mariners have certainly shown they’re OK with strikeouts if it comes with power.
Another possible fit: Dodgers
The Dodgers? Hey, you have to consider the Dodgers a possibility for any Japanese player. They obviously have Freddie Freeman locked into first base and have a $10 million option on Max Muncy, but note that Murakami did play a few games in the outfield in 2025. Given their hole in left field, maybe they fake left-field defense with Murakami for a year and then have him replace Muncy at third base in 2027. In the bigger picture, the Dodgers had the oldest group of position players in 2025. Only Andy Pages was younger than 30 among the top 11 regulars. They need to get younger, and Murakami is younger — and less expensive to sign — than Kyle Tucker.
Sports
Early MLB offseason rumors and buzz: Which stars will get traded? Which teams will rule the winter?
The MLB hot stove season is here!
As players become free to sign with any team they choose (free agency officially begins Thursday at 5 p.m. ET), we asked our MLB reporters to open their notebooks with all of the intel they collected from execs, agents and other baseball insiders during the 2025 World Series.
What is the early word on top free agents Kyle Tucker and Kyle Schwarber? Will the Detroit Tigers consider moving Tarik Skubal? How will the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays approach the offseason after meeting in the World Series? Which other teams are generating the most buzz across the industry? And who could be traded this winter?
Here is what we’re hearing as the hot stove ignites.
What is the early word on top free agent hitters Kyle Tucker and Kyle Schwarber?
Jeff Passan: Tucker falls in that interesting bucket where he will rightly demand a contract in excess of $300 million, but the number of teams willing to pay that will limit his options. The Dodgers and Giants make sense, as do the Phillies. Schwarber, on the other hand, will have a bountiful market.
Because he’ll be 33 on Opening Day, Schwarber is looking at a maximum five-year deal. Even at a high average annual value, the lack of years keeps mid-market teams in the mix. Ultimately, though, the bidding is likely to come down to bigger-market teams, and he could wind up with a bigger per-year number than Tucker on account of that.
Jesse Rogers: The Cubs are likely going to let Tucker walk while the Phillies haven’t closed the door on a reunion with Schwarber. Chicago has more budget constraints than Philadelphia, meaning the Cubs probably don’t want to tie up $35-40 million on one player.
Somebody will be willing though, especially if Tucker can slide into a ready-made lineup — like the Dodgers’. There was some fun chatter about him joining his hometown Rays under new ownership, but a megadeal from Tampa isn’t likely. Industry insiders begin analysis of Tucker with the phrase, “when he’s healthy.” He’s as good as it gets at the plate when he is, but a couple of injuries over the past two seasons have thrown a wrench into his overall production.
Schwarber is one of those rare players — think Marcus Semien — who will make more money in his mid-30s than he did previously. He should sign for much more than $79 million, which is what he just made in his previous deal with Philadelphia. The Phillies need him more than he needs them, according to insiders. How do you replace 187 home runs over the past four years? You don’t. He could also balance out the Yankees’ lineup if Cody Bellinger walks. Can you imagine his home run totals with the short porch at Yankee Stadium?
Both players have the same agent — Casey Close of Excel — but they bring different skill sets to the table, meaning the crossover between interested teams may not materialize.
What do those in the industry think the Detroit Tigers will do with Tarik Skubal this winter?
Buster Olney: Other teams believe the Tigers will seriously consider moving him if they can glean what they want in a trade — and there is every reason to expect a significant bidding war for Skubal, who will be eligible for free agency after next season.
The Mariners are expected to be among the teams that go after Skubal, to bring him back to the city where he attended college. The Mets, of course, have an acute need for an ace to lead their rotation — a need borne out through their late-season collapse — and they have the sort of major-league-ready young talent that the Tigers will want, like Jonah Tong. The Red Sox are well-positioned to make a run at Skubal, if they want.
The only sure thing in this situation, it seems, is that Skubal will not sign a long-term deal with Detroit before he reaches free agency, and that will frame the Tigers’ decision-making.
Rogers: There are mixed feelings on Skubal. Even if he’s headed for free agency in a year, some believe the Tigers can still squeeze another playoff season out of him and then reassess under perhaps a new economic climate in baseball. Others believe Tigers president Scott Harris is too smart to let him walk for nothing more than draft pick compensation (under the current system), with the hope that whomever he might get in return helps the Tigers in 2026 and not just in the long term.
Some insiders see his situation as a test for owner Chris Ilitch. Will he open his wallet like his dad, Mike, used to or will he go the more conservative approach?
What should we expect from the Dodgers and Blue Jays this winter after reaching the World Series?
Jorge Castillo: The Blue Jays outperformed expectations all season as underdogs and nearly pulled off the upset in the World Series, but this isn’t some small-market outfit. Backed by Rogers Communications and an entire country, the Blue Jays spend money (see: Vladimir Guerrero’s $500 million contract) and have targeted the sport’s biggest free agents in recent years (see: Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto).
Starting pitching and the bullpen figure to reside near the top of their list of priorities this winter, but the first matter to address is Bo Bichette‘s future. Bichette is a homegrown star coming off a timely bounce-back regular season before battling through a knee sprain to go 8-for-23 with a .923 OPS in the World Series. His defensive metrics plunged at shortstop this season, perhaps enough for teams to consider him for second or third base.
Toronto already has about $850 million in future commitments. Adding a nine-figure deal for Bichette would spike their projected 2026 payroll close to $200 million with holes to fill in their pitching staff. But the Blue Jays, after again dabbling in luxury tax territory in 2025, have the money.
Alden Gonzalez: The Dodgers have one massive need heading into the offseason — they need a closer. More broadly, they need trusted arms late in games, particularly right-handed ones. Brusdar Graterol (coming off shoulder surgery), Blake Treinen (37 and coming off a rough year), Edgardo Henriquez and Will Klein (hard throwers with command issues) are the incumbents there, and they all have questions. So look for the Dodgers to be really aggressive in that space, either through free agency or via trade, or both.
But what will attract the most attention in the early part of this offseason will be the Dodgers’ ties to Skubal and Tucker. They’ll be engaged on both of those players, simply because they can, but it will probably be on the periphery.
After a disappointing end to the season for both New York teams, how active do those in the industry expect the Yankees and Mets to be this winter?
Castillo: The consensus seems to be that the Mets will be more active after their disappointing season. The Mets need a front-line starting pitcher. Skubal rumors erupted as soon as the Tigers were eliminated from the postseason, but acquiring the Cy Young Award winner will require president of baseball operations David Stearns to venture beyond his comfort zone. Then there’s the case of first baseman Pete Alonso, a free agent for the second straight offseason. Alonso wants a lucrative long-term deal coming off a rebound campaign. The Mets probably aren’t going to give him one, which would leave first base to fill.
The Yankees have moves to make, too. Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, Devin Williams and Luke Weaver are all free agents. Re-signing Bellinger, who fit in so seamlessly in his one season in the Bronx, is a priority, but he’s going to have a few deep-pocketed suitors. The Yankees could also use some rotation depth with Carlos Rodón, Gerrit Cole, and Clarke Schmidt all out for at least the beginning of next season.
But between the two teams, the Mets — with owner Steve Cohen still hunting for a championship after five seasons in control — are more likely to execute big splashes this winter.
Olney: There is insight to be gleaned from the trade deadline activity of the New York teams, when they both were aggressive in trying to better position themselves for championship runs — the Yankees loading up on relievers and adding third baseman Ryan McMahon, and the Mets also working to bolster their bullpen.
The working goal for both organizations is plainly apparent: Anything short of a shot at a World Series title will be regarded as failure. So, yes, the Yankees will try to reconstruct a better, deeper bullpen; replace Bellinger, if he re-signs elsewhere, with an outfielder or two who can help the lineup around Aaron Judge and Ben Rice; and build more options at shortstop beyond Anthony Volpe, who is expected to miss the start of the 2026 season.
For the Mets, that could be targeting Skubal, or a free agent signing, and resolving the future of Alonso once and for all.
What other team are you hearing could dominate the headlines this winter?
Gonzalez: A lot of eyes this offseason will be on the Mariners, coming off their deepest postseason run in franchise history. Seattle came painstakingly close to reaching its first World Series but remains the only franchise that hasn’t.
Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor, the two midseason acquisitions brought in to bolster the lineup, are now free agents, which means the Mariners once again have a massive need for offense to support their dynamic pitching staff.
Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto told local reporters recently that payroll is expected to be roughly where it stood at season’s end, at about $165 million. When accounting for the contracts that have since expired, that gives them somewhere in the neighborhood of $35 million to spend — all of which can go to bats. The Mariners are widely expected to be aggressive in free agency, but they also have the prospect capital to pull off massive trades. And if there’s anybody who can be counted on to be aggressive when the moment demands it, it’s Dipoto.
Rogers: The Phillies. As they continue to chase a ring, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is always willing to do more than just tinker with his roster. Obviously, Schwarber’s situation will help determine their path this offseason but fortifying the bullpen as well as the outfield should be high on their to-do list. And he won’t stop there. With Zack Wheeler on the mend and Ranger Suarez a free agent, the Phillies could need more in their rotation.
Dombrowski won’t overreact to another postseason loss — his team did win the NL East — but he also won’t leave things to chance. He’ll try to find as much redundancy to his roster as he can, like the Dodgers have been able to do. That takes money.
Who are the biggest names you are hearing could be traded this winter?
Olney: Because of the looming labor situation, some younger stars who are under team control in 2027 before reaching free agency could be shoved into the trade market by circumstances this winter.
The best example: Joe Ryan, who is eligible for free agency after the ’27 season. Typically, the Twins could wait until next summer’s trade deadline to consider taking offers for Ryan. However, with many executives believing that at least some of the ’27 season is in jeopardy because of the labor strife, placing an appropriate trade valuation on Ryan will be much, much more complicated next July; teams might not be willing to part with significant return if they believe the ’27 season will be truncated or lost. So if teams want to get proper return on players like Ryan, they could be better served to take offers this winter, rather than waiting until next summer.
Other players who could fit this timeline: MacKenzie Gore of the Nationals, the Guardians’ Steven Kwan, the Cardinals’ Lars Nootbaar and the Orioles’ Adley Rutschman. If those players aren’t going to be locked down with multiyear deals, the best time to get value in a deal for them could be this winter.
Passan: Everyone wants Skubal, the soon-to-be two-time American League Cy Young winner, but as of now, the industry expects Detroit to hold onto him, even with his free agency approaching after the 2026 season.
Another arm with questions as to whether he’ll go: Milwaukee right-hander Freddy Peralta, who at $8 million is cheap and will hit free agency next winter. Most of the bigger names that will draw interest are pitchers: Minnesota right-handers Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez, Washington left-hander MacKenzie Gore and St. Louis right-hander Sonny Gray.
Boston could be active in moving one of its outfielders, either Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu. One player widely expected to be moved: St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado, who is willing to waive his no-trade clause.
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