Bradford DoolittleCloseBradford DoolittleESPN Staff WriterMLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com Former NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com Been with ESPN since 2013David SchoenfieldCloseDavid SchoenfieldESPN Senior WriterCovers MLB for ESPN.com Former deputy editor of Page 2 Been with ESPN.com since 1995Jan 22, 2026, 05:40 PM ET
Mets land All-Star Peralta in blockbuster with Brewers
Mets pivot after missing out on Tucker, sign Bichette
Dodgers — again! — nab winter’s biggest free agent, agree to deal with Tucker
After missing out on Bregman, Red Sox pay for Suarez
Jays make another splash by signing Japanese 3B Okamoto
Red Sox solve first base, acquire Contreras from Cardinals
Mets sign Weaver, adding another ex-Yankees reliever
Phillies sign two-time All-Star Garcia for outfield
D-backs, Kelly reunite after midseason trade to Texas
Tigers sign Kenley Jansen for reliever’s 17th season
Red Sox make another rotation add in trade with Pirates
Blue Jays sign Korean League MVP Ponce for rotation
Blue Jays make first big pitching splash with Cease signing
Orioles deal former top prospect for Halos power bat
It’s hot stove season! The 2025-26 MLB offseason is officially here, and we have you covered with grades and analysis for every major signing and trade this winter.
Whether it’s a big-money free agent signing that changes the course of your team’s future or a blockbuster trade, we’ll weigh in with what it all means for next season and beyond.
ESPN MLB experts Bradford Doolittle and David Schoenfield will evaluate each move as it happens, so check back in for the freshest analysis through the start of spring training.
Nationals get: 3B Gavin Fien IF Devin Fitz-Gerald RHP Alejandro Rosario 1B/OF Abimelec Ortiz OF Yeremy Cabrera
After trade rumors that date back to last summer, the Nationals finally make the move they logically had to make. With Gore under team control through 2027 and the Nationals still deep in a rebuild — plus the potential of a lockout in 2027 — it made sense to trade him now. And they have to be happy with the return, getting the Rangers’ No. 3, 4, 7, 10 and 15 prospects.
Fien and Rosario are the most recognizable names. Fien was the 12th overall pick in last year’s draft out of a California high school. Rosario was ranked No. 56 on Kiley McDaniel’s preseason top 100 list but tore an elbow ligament in spring training. A delay in the surgery meant he’ll miss the 2026 season as well.
It’s a bit of the proverbial pupu platter of prospects, but one that could turn out very well in the long-term and maybe eventually be a huge win for the Nationals. — Schoenfield
At Wednesday’s news conference officially introducing Bo Bichette as a Met, president of baseball operations David Stearns said he hoped to add a starting pitcher before the start of the season.
And it’s not just any starting pitcher. Peralta, who will make $8 million in 2026 before hitting free agency, was one of the top starters in the majors in 2025, going 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA, 204 strikeouts and 5.5 WAR while finishing fifth in the NL Cy Young voting. The Mets needed an ace to anchor a rotation that had rookie Nolan McLean projected as the top starter — a rotation that fell apart the final two months with a 5.65 ERA as the Mets collapsed and missed the playoffs.
So why would the Brewers trade Peralta? This is what they do. Peralta’s $8 million salary made him especially valuable on the trade market, and they decided to cash in.
Sproat and Williams should both help the Brewers in 2026. Williams, a 5-foot-7 fireplug, to use an old-timey description, is the big get here. In his top 100 prospects update last August, Kiley McDaniel rated Williams No. 18 overall and Sproat No. 83. In Baseball America’s just-released top 100, Williams came in at No. 71 and Sproat at No. 81.
Sproat, meanwhile, should battle for a rotation spot right away in Milwaukee after making four starts with the Mets in 2025. Sproat throws 94-96, with a sinker that is more of a ground ball pitch than a swing-and-miss fastball, though his sweeper and curveball both project as strikeout pitches. He needs to fine-tune his command and improve against left-handed batters, but he has middle-of-the rotation upside.
That didn’t arrive, so he settled for a three-year, $80 million deal with the Cubs that included opt-outs. After a 2.2-WAR season in 2024, the Cubs traded for Kyle Tucker and dealt Bellinger to the Yankees. After bouncing back with 5.1 WAR in 2025, Bellinger opted out of the third season and hit free agency for a third time, with reports circulating that his agent, Scott Boras, was seeking an eight-year, $400 million deal.
The final deal resembles ESPN’s initial projection — six years, $165 million — although includes the now-standard opt-out clauses, giving Bellinger, who is somehow just entering his age-30 season, yet another opportunity to hit free agency in a couple of years. The anticipation is palpable.
As for the Yankees — yes, the front office suits apparently returned to work after New Year’s. After a quiet offseason that saw them lose relievers Devin Williams and Luke Weaver in free agency and do little besides trading for pitcher Ryan Weathers (center fielder Trent Grisham accepted the club’s qualifying offer at the outset), the Yankees finally land a big fish, even if it’s simply a player from last year’s roster.
Although Bellinger’s offensive numbers have been a little all over the place the past three seasons, he has been a good player all three years, ranking eighth among outfielders in WAR since 2023. That makes him a pretty safe bet for the immediate future; it wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Yankees if he plays well for two seasons and then opts out again.
The projections and valuations say that’s all a long shot, hence the middling grade. Steamer has Robert at 1.7 fWAR for next season, far below what you’d need to justify the $20 million on the last year of his contract. There is also a club option for 2027 with a $2 million buyout. For the Mets, who are living in a penthouse far above the highest luxury tax threshold, the real cost of this addition is way more than the minimum of $22 million they’ll be paying Robert.
But it’s not just money. Acuna is a talented infielder, just 23, who was acquired straight up by the Mets in 2023 for Max Scherzer. Though he struggled at the plate in the majors last season, he retains enough of a prospect shine that the Mets — who with this deal were working with an organizational depth of quality young infielders — could have perhaps found someone in the marketplace with a less-volatile track record.
Because of all that, the valuation on the trade tilts toward Chicago. But I like it for the Mets anyway, and besides, David Stearns’ staff probably has a very different valuation on the deal than I do. Sure, maybe they could have acquired a little more certainty for a player of Acuna’s value, but they would have been hard-pressed to find an in-his-prime veteran with more residual upside than Robert.
Acuna made his big league debut in center field for the Mets last season, getting into two games out on the grass. (He made a putout!) But he has mostly stuck to the middle infield since arriving in the majors. This is worth noting because while the White Sox are still very much in the mode of adding talent, regardless of position, their bright long-term infield picture is dominated by the trio of Colson Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and, at some point, Billy Carlson.
Thus, trying Acuna in the outfield would be a worthy experiment. (He can ask his brother, the Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr., for advice.) He also started 57 games in center field in the minors. Any positional versatility he can muster will help, a project aided by solid defensive skills and top-of-the-scale speed.
Truman Pauley went to Harvard and is a flier, a 12th-round pick whose draft profile paints him as a classic good arm/shaky command pitcher. — Doolittle
The replacements, following Friday’s signing, are Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien and Bichette. Those additions justify the following cherry-picked ranking of fWAR, during the 2020s, from players who have played at least 75 games at shortstop:
For the Mets, from left to right, that now looks like Bichette at third, Lindor at short, Semien at second and Polanco at first. Others will factor in of course, especially Brett Baty and Mark Vientos, but if the Mets were prioritizing infield defense this winter, consider it mission accomplished.
The addition of Tucker might or might not have improved the Mets’ offensive outlook from what it would be if Alonso had stayed. They are very different hitters of course, but from a percentage standpoint, Tucker is a better all-around producer. That is, when he plays — and here’s where the beauty of the Polar Bear will be missed: You can count on him being in the lineup.
With Bichette, you’re getting some of Tucker’s recent track record of injury issues and a similar offensive style, albeit from the right side of the plate. But the level of that style is a tier below both Tucker and Alonso in bottom-line production. Over the last five years, the OPS+ figures for the trio are ranked Tucker (145), Alonso (134) and Bichette (119). Bichette hasn’t had a single season with an OPS+ as high as Tucker’s five-year average.
Taken as a trio, the Mets’ old heart out-projects the offensive production of the new heart. According to Steamer’s context-neutral forecast, the Alonso-Nimmo-McNeil threesome lands at a 115 wRC+. The Bichette-Semien-Polanco group is at 112, while the same calculation with Tucker replacing Bichette is 117. Without Tucker OR Bichette, it’s 109, a number arrived at by subbing Vientos into Bichette’s role.
There hasn’t been much turnover in the Phillies’ pitching staff, especially the rotation. Yes, Ranger Suarez has departed for Fenway Park, but his likely replacement, Andrew Painter, has been around for a few years. For a team still trying to squeeze a title out of a closing window of contention, it’s good those pitchers will be throwing to a familiar face.