The Month That Was in Baseball: January 2025

Thursday, January 2

According to a poll of 40 MLB executives and coaches taken by The Athletic, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ front office is considered far and away the best in baseball, followed by the Tampa Bay Rays, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Guardians and Baltimore Orioles. (The article also mixes in front office rankings of the NFL, NBA and NHL, but we’re solely focusing on the MLB input.) It’s interesting to see the dichotomy of the two franchises placing 1-2 on the list; the Dodgers enjoy mountains of cash from which to build their organization, while the Rays must do so on a relative shoestring. But both clubs are widely praised for making the most of their varied situations. Of the 30 MLB teams, 14 don’t even get a single vote from any of the 40 participants. Among those teams are the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and, most surprisingly, the San Diego Padres.

Friday, January 3

Charlie Morton is 41 years of age, and he thinks he’s got more pitching left in him. The Baltimore Orioles certainly seem to agree, giving the right-hander a one-year, $15 million contract for 2025. Last season with Atlanta, Morton was 8-10 with a 4.19 ERA over 30 starts and 165.1 innings; overall in 17 major league seasons, he’s posted a 138-123 record and 4.01 ERA.

The Dodgers snare Korean middle infielder Hyeseong Kim on a three-year, $12.3 million deal. One of the more sought-after players from across the Pacific this winter, the 25-year-old has a career .304 batting average over seven-plus seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization, and he’s been exceptionally advantageous on the basepaths—stealing 211 bases while being caught just 37 times.

Sunday, January 5

Cavan Biggio is getting one more shot. The 29-year-old utility player, who along with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette were among a cache of young Toronto players in the late 2010s whose fathers were all famed major leaguers, signs a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals. The career of Craig Biggio’s son has trended downward since his 2019 rookie campaign, performing part-time at best; this past season, he batted a paltry .197 with five home runs over 188 at-bats between the Blue Jays, Dodgers and Braves. (He was also briefly with the Giants, but never played.)

Monday, January 6

Second baseman Gavin Lux, who’s struggled to gain traction in the Dodgers’ lineup, is traded to Cincinnati for minor league outfielder Mike Sirota and a high-end draft pick. The 27-year-old Lux found a nice groove in the past season’s second half, batting .304 in 61 games after the All-Star Break—but he was considered expendable in light of the Dodgers’ recent acquisition of Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim.

Pitcher Michael Lorenzen, who performed well (1.57 ERA over 28.2 innings) last year for Kansas City after a late-season trade from Texas, comes back to the Royals for one year and $7 million. Just having turned age 33, Lorenzen has shuttled between the bullpen and rotation over 10 major league seasons—and he can hit the ball, too, for what it’s worth given that the designated hitter now rules both leagues.

There’s officially a power struggle taking place on the top floor of the San Diego Padres. Sheel Seidler is suing two brothers of her late husband/Padres owner Peter Seidler in an attempt to gain control of the team—stating that he wrote out, on a handwritten note, that she and their three children would run the team. The Padres, in a statement made through the Peter Seidler Trust, calls Sheel’s suit “entirely without merit”—and say that Peter’s succession plan effectively froze out his wife from serving as a trustee of the ownership group.

Tuesday, January 7

Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander has a new home at age 41, signing a one-year, $15 million contract with the Giants. The big right-hander showed signs of slippage this past year, registering a 5-6 record and 5.48 ERA over 17 starts with Houston, but Oracle Park is a pitching -friendly environment that may get him back on his feet.

The Athletics—they’re officially going without a city name while located in Sacramento for at least the next three years—manage to lure slugger Brent Rooker into a team-friendly contract of $60 million over five years, covering his first three seasons of free agency. After bouncing around a number of teams over three seasons with little success, Rooker found a sweet spot in Oakland, hitting 30 home runs in 2023—then upping that total to 39 last season to go along with 112 RBIs and a .293 batting average. Only seven players had a better OPS than his .927.

Former Pittsburgh southpaw Bob Veale passes away at the age of 89. Veale was imposing both with a 6’6” frame and an electric fastball that in 1965 helped him rack up a Pirates modern-record 276 strikeouts; his 1,652 in his Pittsburgh career ranks a close second to Bob Friend, who has 1,682. “I was a power pitcher and I was all over the place,” Veale told author John T. Bird. “(I) might get inside two feet or outside.” Given that statement, it’s not surprising that Veale led the NL four times in walks, topping out at 124 in 1964. He remained a solid mainstay in the Bucs’ rotation from 1964-70, accumulating at least 200 innings per year and earning two All-Star appearances.

Wednesday, January 8

It’s eight days into the new year, and we already have our first season-ending injury. Miami’s Braxton Garrett, who missed the first month-plus of the 2024 season with a shoulder injury, then missed the rest of it after June with an arm ailment, will now miss the entire 2025 campaign after an update on elbow surgery he underwent last month. The 27-year-old left-hander started seven games last season with a 2-2 record, including a four-hit shutout at Arizona on May 24, and a 5.35 ERA.

Veteran southpaw Martin Perez is off to his sixth team in as many years, inking a one-year, $5 million pact with the Chicago White Sox. After a subpar start to 2024 with Pittsburgh, Perez was dealt to the Padres—with whom in 10 games he furnished a 3-1 record and 3.46 ERA. He’s 10 wins away from 100 for his career.

Brian Matusz, a starter-turned-reliever who pitched primarily for the Baltimore Orioles from 2009-16, dies of a drug overdose in Phoenix at the age of 37. The #4 pick in the 2008 draft, Matusz reached the parent club a year later and struggled in the rotation for three years before moving to the bullpen and putting up more respectable numbers. Overall, Matusz was 27-41 with a 4.92 ERA and 462 strikeouts over 528.2 innings.

Six days later, in a police report obtained by the Baltimore Banner, it’s revealed that Matusz’s lifeless body was discovered by his mother with a “white substance in his mouth and aluminum foil, a lighter and a straw on the floor near his hand.”

Thursday, January 9

On the last day for arbitration-eligible players to agree on contracts for 2025 or let an arbitrator decide between them and their teams, numerous major league stars agree to terms. Among there are Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who accepts a $28.5 million contract; Houston pitcher Framber Valdez ($18.5 million); San Diego batting champ Luis Arraez ($14 million) and pitcher Dylan Cease ($13.75 million); Arizona ace Zac Gallen ($13.5 million); and Detroit pitcher and AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal ($10.15 million). Among the top names headed to arbitration are Milwaukee All-Star catcher William Contreras and Chicago outfielder Kyle Tucker—who may be holding out in the hopes that he and the Cubs can move toward a long-term extension.

Friday, January 10

It’s a busy day for pitchers. Jeff Hoffman, who furnished a 2.28 ERA over 122 appearances in two years at Philadelphia, inks for three seasons and $33 million with the Toronto Blue Jays. Andrew Kittredge, who appeared in 74 games for St. Louis last year and posted a 2.80 ERA, goes to Baltimore for one season and $10 million. And Colin Rea, who won a career-high 12 games in 2024 for Milwaukee, is being reunited with former Brewers manager Craig Counsell in Chicago, signing for one year and $5 million with the Cubs.

Hoffman had earlier agreed to deals with the Orioles and Braves, but both teams backed away after his physical gave them cold feet.

Monday, January 13

According to sources, Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki—considered the hottest remaining free agent on the market—has narrowed down his choices to three teams: Toronto, San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Five other teams interested in the 23-year-old right-hander are reportedly out of the running: Both New York teams, San Francisco, Texas and the Cubs. Sasaki will likely make his final decision sometime in the next week.

It’s a fifth team in five years for Donovan Solano, a reliable but punchless veteran who can play anywhere in the infield. The Seattle Mariners give him a $3.5 million contract for, you guessed it, one year—with $1 million in additional money if he plays a full season, something that’s been a challenge as he’s never logged more than 394 at-bats in any of 11 MLB seasons. Solano holds a career .279 batting average, but has just 40 home runs over 916 games.

Wednesday, January 15

The first day of the year’s international signing period sees a number of teams spending the bulk of their allotted money on big-time prospects—while a few teams keep their wallets in their pockets and hold in wait-and-see mode. The youngster fetching the most money on the day is 17-year-old Dominican shortstop Elian Pena, considered the #3 rated prospect, receiving a $5 million bonus from the Mets. Fellow Dominican shortstop Josuar De Jesus Gonzalez, ranked #2, is signed by the Giants for almost half the price as Pena—at just under $3 million. The Dodgers, Padres, and Blue Jays are among the teams spending very little on the first day, as they await the decision of the man they’d like to grab: Japanese pitching standout Roki Sasaki, rated #1 among all international prospects. Once he chooses, the two teams left out will proceed with their alternate choices.

Among the more intriguing signings on the day comes from the A’s, who spend $1.51 million on 18-year-old Japanese pitcher/shortstop Shotaro Morii—who has yet to play a day of professional ball as he performed most recently at the high school level. Morii bypassed the Japanese leagues in the hopes of emulating fellow countryman and two-way star, Shohei Ohtani.

Thursday, January 16

One of baseball’s most beloved is gone, as former catcher, actor, and long-time Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker passes from lung cancer just 10 days short of his 91st birthday. The Milwaukee native had an utterly unspectacular playing career, batting an even .200 for three teams over six years as a backup catcher. But his charming, self-deprecating personality was infectious, landing him a broadcast gig with the Brewers in 1971 that would last all the way through this past season. He became nationally known as the punch line in the popular Miller Lite TV ad campaigns late of the 1970s, most memorably in the commercial when he gets bumped from a front-row seat all the way up to the top of an empty third deck (“Great seats, eh buddy!?”) He parlayed his comedic persona to a career in Hollywood, starring in the six-year sitcom Mr. Belvedere and as the Cleveland Indians’ radio play-by-play guy in the 1989 movie Major League, famously calling a nowhere-near-the-plate wild pitch by Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) as “just a bit outside.” An institution in Milwaukee, Uecker has not one but two statues of his likeness at American Family Field, home of the Brewers: One outside the main gate, the other at the top of the upper deck behind home plate, with him stationed in his famed cheap seat. “Fifty-thousand empty seats,” he exclaimed at the latter sculpture’s unveiling. “What a ceremony!”

Uecker’s passing all but overshadows the loss of the last living player to debut before the end of World War II as Tommy Brown dies at the age of 97. The Brooklyn native made his first appearance for the Dodgers in 1944 at the tender age of 16, as major league teams scoured the country for any kind of talent with most of the regulars in the U.S. Armed Forces; he was thus the youngest position player in NL/AL history. A year later, he became the youngest ever to belt a home run, going deep against Pittsburgh’s Preacher Roe at age 17. Though he played in the majors through 1953, his career didn’t amount to much—performing part-time at best and batting .241 with 31 home runs over 494 games.

With Brown’s death, former MVP pitcher Bobby Shantz (who turns 100 this September) becomes the only living player to have performed in an MLB game before 1950.

Friday, January 17

The Dodgers get their latest man, as young Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki announces that he’s chosen the defending champions to begin his MLB career. The 23-year-old right-hander calls the decision “very difficult,” but in actuality it seems to make easy sense; he joins a potential dynasty with a roster that includes fellow countrymen Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Dodgers will pay Sasaki $6.5 million, a figure which all but represents the team’s entire international bonus budget. Because he’s from Japan, under age 25 and spent less than six seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), Sasaki will be under contractual control by the Dodgers for six years before he can become a free agent again—unless Los Angeles gives him a long-term contract in the interim. Given Sasaki’s promise and the Dodgers’ boundless budget, consider that a strong possibility.

The Blue Jays, one of three finalists in the Sasaki sweepstakes, acquire Gold Glove outfielder Myles Straw and $2 million in international pool money from Cleveland. But the deal is made before Sasaki announces his decision to play for the Dodgers, so the Blue Jays will have to spend their pool money elsewhere. In return, the Guardians get will receive a player to be named or cash, while ridding themselves of Straw for budgetary purposes.

The Mets, continuing to build up the underbelly of their roster while Pete Alonso sits and waits to hear if New York wants him back, hand out a two-year, $22 million contract to reliever A.J. Minter. The 31-year-old southpaw appeared in 39 games with Atlanta last year, posting a 5-4 record and 2.62 ERA.

Veteran reliever Jose LeClerc, who shined for the Rangers during their successful 2023 playoff run, is headed to Sacramento as the A’s give him a one-year deal worth $10 million. LeClerc was not able to parlay his solid postseason play into an improved 2024 campaign, registering a 6-5 record for Texas—but with a mediocre 4.32 ERA.

Saturday, January 18

After bringing on Japanese star pitcher Roki Sasaki, the Dodgers make another international move that may not be as crucial to the team’s future but is just as intriguing. The defending champs sign Joseph Deng, a 6’7”, 185-pound, 17-year-old pitcher you likely have never heard of—and may never again—but what’s interesting about Deng is that he’s a native of South Sudan. And while he’s not the first African-born player to be signed to an MLB team—that distinction belongs to the Pirates, who brought South African Gift Ngoepe to the majors in 2017 and just also signed infielder Armstrong Muhoozi from Uganda—it shows the worldwide interest in baseball, even within a war-torn country such as South Sudan.

Sunday, January 19

The powerful gets more powerful. The Dodgers, not content to rest on their laurels, sign one of the best remaining closers on the free-agent market in Tanner Scott for $72 million over four years. Like many other recent Dodger signings (including megastar Shohei Ohtani), deferrals are part of the deal; Scott will receive $21 million of his wages down the line. The 30-year-old lefty, after early years struggling as a member of the Orioles, thrived over the past two seasons with Miami and, in the latter half of the 2024 campaign, with San Diego. Last year, he posted a 9-6 record with 22 saves and a 1.75 ERA. The Dodgers hope that Scott will become the go-to closer as the team has basically used a committee approach since the departure of long-time ninth-inning guy Kenley Jansen.

Scott’s arrival currently give the Dodgers a projected 2025 payroll of $375 million, topping their $350 million from last season that set a record.

Jeff Torborg, a back-up catcher for both the Dodgers and Angels from 1964-73 and later a manager for five different teams over 11 seasons, has passed away at the age of 83. As a player, Torborg was behind the plate for three no-hitters, including Sandy Koufax’s 1965 perfect game and Nolan Ryan’s first no-hitter in 1973. As a manager, Torborg had his best success with the White Sox, winning AL Manager of the Year honors in 1990 as he led the team to a 94-68 record and second-place finish. He was more dubiously fired early in his second season piloting the Marlins in 2003; Jack McKeon took over and led the team to a wild card berth and second world title.

Monday, January 20

Switch-hitting power hitter Anthony Santander, whose 44 home runs with the Orioles last season ranked third in MLB behind Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, signs a five-year, $92.5 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. The contract includes an opt-out after 2027, and a club option for a sixth season for another $17.5 million. The Venezuelan-born outfielder has a career .246 batting average, but he’s hit 105 of his 155 lifetime homers just over the past three seasons; additionally, he cleared 100 RBIs for the first time in 2024, finishing with 102.

Tuesday, January 21

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner are voted in as the newest members of baseball’s Hall of Fame, each easily clearing the 75% threshold needed for election. Suzuki, the consensus slam-dunk pick, is just one vote short of becoming the second player (after Mariano Rivera) to achieve a perfect ballot score, while being the first Japanese native to enter Cooperstown. Although Suzuki basically got something of a rap for being no more than a singles hitter, there’s no denying his prolific ability to reach base, amassing 3,089 hits after his MLB debut at age 27—and a professional total of 4,367 while his nine years in Japan included. Furthermore, he’s a two-time batting champ, one-time MVP (2001, his rookie year with Seattle), 10-time All-Star, and holder of the most hits in a major league season, with 262 in 2004.

Sabathia exceeds expectations of being on the fringe as a first-ballot Hall of Famer by getting his name checked off by 86.8% of the voters. Big, lumbering and powerful, the 6’6”, 300-pound southpaw racked up 251 wins against 161 losses, winning the 2007 AL Cy Young Award as a member of the Cleveland Indians and later pacing the AL in victories in back-to-back years with the Yankees—topping off with a career-high 21 in 2010. Sabathia’s 3.74 career ERA is the third worst among all MLB pitchers in the Hall, ahead of Jack Morris (3.90) and Red Ruffing (3.80)—but he can give the excuse that he played during the final years of the Steroid Era.

For Wagner, the 10th time is the charm as he earns the needed 75% on his final general vote. He apparently got very good in retirement, having attracted no more than 11% of the vote on each of his first three ballots. But the credentials are Cooperstown-worthy; Wagner accumulated 422 saves and a sparkling 2.31 ERA, having only bad year—an injury-riddled 2000 campaign for Houston in which he compiled a 6.18 ERA.

Among those who don’t make the cut, Carlos Beltran surprises on his third ballot with 70.3% of the vote despite barely clearing 50% last year—while Andruw Jones, on his eighth ballot, registers 66.2%. No other candidate gets more than 40%. 

After Suzuki and Sabathia, only two of 12 other first-time candidates earn the required 5% to return on next year’s slate. Those two are Felix Hernandez—who nets a surprisingly low 20.6% of the vote—and Dustin Pedroia, who checks in at 11.7%. 

There is no positive trending for steroid-tainted superstars Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, who remain stuck in the mid-30% range; Ramirez gets one last shot in 2026, while Rodriguez has six more ballots to grow his percentage.

Wednesday, January 22

Veteran closer Paul Sewald signs a one-year, $7 million contract with the Cleveland Guardians, likely cementing himself as a set-up man for current All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase. A crucial asset in Arizona’s run through the 2023 playoffs—until giving up six runs over two innings in the World Series against Texas—Sewald slipped last season with a 4.32 ERA and 16 saves. The deal with Cleveland includes a mutual $10 million option for 2026.

Tim Anderson is getting another shot in the majors—but he’ll have to prove his worth. The 2019 AL batting champ, whose batting numbers have completely disintegrated over the past two seasons with sub-.600 OPS figures, inks a minor league deal with the Angels, meaning no roster spot is guaranteed for him.

Thursday, January 23

The Atlanta Braves make their first big offseason acquisition, signing veteran outfielder Jurickson Profar to a three-year deal worth $42 million. The 31-year-old Curacao native earned his first All-Star appointment last season with San Diego, batting .280 with career highs in home runs (24), RBIs (85), runs (94), and walks (76); he also led the NL with 18 hit-by-pitches. As good as he was during the regular season, Profar made more of a buzz dealing with Dodger fans during the 2024 NLDS.

Friday, January 24

The White Sox’ home ballpark, Rate Field, will see its 10th statue erected this coming season as five-time All-Star, 214-game winner and perfect game author Mark Buehrle will be immortalized in bronze. Buehrle ranks sixth on the franchise’s all-time wins list with 161, and is fourth in strikeouts with 1,396. Other statues at Rate Field include Frank Thomas, Luis Aparicio, Harold Baines, Nellie Fox and original owner Charles Comiskey.

Saturday, January 25

In the dead of baseball’s winter, one of the sport’s bigger stories of the week has been the news that an 11-year-old kid from Los Angeles opened up a Topps baseball card package and found something akin to the Willy Wonka golden ticket: An autographed rookie card of Paul Skenes, complete with a patch from a jersey worn by last year’s NL Rookie of the Year. Of course, everyone wants to contact the kid and make an irresistible offer to acquire the card. That includes Skenes’ Pittsburgh Pirates, who will propose, among other things, season tickets behind home plate at PNC Park for 30 years. Besides forcing an uprooting of the kid’s family across the country to attend all those games, the ticket offer seems not so much privilege as it would be torture, considering the Pirates’ performance of late.

The kid has rejected all temptations and will sell the card via auction in March. Whoever buys it will cross his/her fingers that Skenes will develop into the next Nolan Ryan, and not the next Karl Spooner.

Sunday, January 26

Reliever Ryan Pressly is waiving his no-trade clause and will accept a trade from the Houston Astros, his team of the past seven years, to the Cubs. The Astros will pay $6.5 million of the $14 million Pressly is owned this coming season, while receiving a low-level minor leaguer as part of the deal. The 36-year-old Pressly was the Astros’ closer from 2021-23, but was bumped into the set-up role with the arrival of Josh Hader. With the Cubs, the closer role will likely be Pressly’s to lose.

The trade gives the Astros more negotiating room to bring back third baseman Alex Bregman.

Monday, January 27

Pitcher Trevor Bauer, still considered too toxic for MLB, is headed back to Japan and the Yokohama DeNA BayStars following a 10-0 record and 2.48 ERA for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in the Mexican League last year. After being purged from the Dodgers amid sexual assault accusations (which have yet to be proven true), Bauer signed with Yokohama and, in 2023, furnished an 11-4 record and 2.59 ERA over 24 appearances.

Tuesday, January 28

The Dodgers make it official and add yet another top reliever to their ranks, reeling in Kirby Yates for one year and $13 million. The 37-year-old Kauai native quietly had a fantastic year with the Rangers last season, saving 33 of 34 opportunities with a stellar 1.17 ERA. It’s not a sure thing he’ll become the closer in Los Angeles, but perhaps he’s sacrificing the ninth in hopes of securing a World Series ring on a star-studded roster.

Adam Frazier is attempting the latest kickstart to his career, returning to where he once thrived. The Pirates are bringing back the veteran second baseman/outfielder nearly four years after they traded him to the Padres in the midst of an All-Star campaign in which he hit .305. Frazier since has had one-year stops in Seattle, Baltimore and Kansas City, where he struggled with low-.200 batting averages and little power. His deal with the Pirates, for whom he has a career .283 average, is for one year and $1.5 million.

Outfielder Austin Hays, who like Frazier is trying to get his career back on track, inks for one year and $5 million with Cincinnati. Hays was an All-Star in 2023, but lost his starting role with the Orioles last season before being traded to the Phillies; overall, he batted .255 with five home runs and 20 RBIs.

Wednesday, January 29

The Kansas City Royals, who largely suffered from the lack of a closer last season, sign Carlos Estevez to a two-year contract worth $22 million; a club option for a third year could bring another $11 million into Estevez’s pockets. The 32-year-old Dominican right-hander saved 26 games with a 2.45 ERA combined between the Angels and Phillies last season; he was an All-Star at Anaheim in 2023, collecting a career-high 31 saves.

Veteran reliever Tommy Kahnle is headed to Detroit on a one-year deal worth $7.75 million. Last year with the Yankees, the 35-year-old right-hander furnished a fine 2.11 ERA and had a strong postseason going until being pegged with the loss against the Dodgers in their clinching win at the World Series.

After four years serving as a busy, reliable infield stopgap for San Diego, Ha-Seong Kim inks with Tampa Bay for two years and $29 million. The Korean-born Kim has a career .242 average in four years at the MLB level, but he walks often, displays good speed, and has a Gold Glove from 2023 as a utility player.

Reliever Ryne Stanek, best known for being the Rays’ prime “opener” in 2018, re-ups with the Mets after finishing the year at New York following a trade from Seattle. Despite a 7-3 record, the 33-year-old righty struggled with a 4.88 ERA in 2024.

San Francisco trades reliever Taylor Rogers to the Reds for a minor leaguer; the Giants will pay half of the southpaw’s $12 million salary in 2025. Not to be confused with his submarine-throwing twin brother Tyler Rogers, the 34-year-old Taylor compiled a 2.40 ERA in 64 appearances with the Giants last season.

The Reds are also agreeing to a minor league deal with veteran starter Wade Miley, who missed most of 2024 after undergoing elbow surgery as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. The 38-year-old left-hander previously was employed by the Reds from 2020-21, going 12-10 over 34 appearances (32 starts) with a 3.55 ERA. 

Thursday, January 30

Max Scherzer will be returning to a ballpark near you this coming year—so long as he can stay healthy, as the increasingly fragile 40-year-old ace signs a one-year, $15.5 million contract with Toronto. The three-time Cy Young winner and likely future Hall of Famer struggled with injuries last year, posting a 2-4 record and 3.95 ERA in just nine starts with Texas; his 3,407 career strikeouts place him 11th on the all-time list, right behind Justin Verlander (3,416).

The Mariners are bringing back infielder Jorge Polanco on a one-year deal worth $7.75 million. The 31-year-old Dominican Republic native was traded to Seattle by Minnesota, the team of his 10 previous seasons, one year ago; he batted a paltry .213 for the Mariners with 16 home runs in 118 games.

Friday, January 31

On an active day of arbitration-related news, Milwaukee All-Star catcher William Contreras splits the difference with the Brewers by agreeing to a $6.1 million contract for 2025. The 27-year-old Contreras had asked for $6.5 million, in contrast to the Brewers’ $5.6 million; the agreement thus avoids arbitration between the two sides.

San Diego also avoids arbitration with pitcher Michael King, who had a strong debut for the Padres last season with a 13-9 record and 2.95 ERA after five years with the Yankees. King will receive $4 million this coming year along with a $15 million mutual option for 2026; should that not be activated, King will get a $3.75 million buyout.