Mega Thread 2025-2026 MLB Hot Stove

[Dixie Flatline]

Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene will undergo surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow today, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The right-handed pitcher is expected to be out until at least July. He will be put on the 60-day IL when the Reds need his 40-man roster spot.

The Reds confirmed to reporters last week that Greene had been sent for medical imaging and that they hoped to receive news on the outcome of those scans early this week. Greene himself told reporters at the time that he had dealt with bone spurs in his elbow for some time but had recently received a positive result on scans on his UCL. Doctors had not previously recommended surgery to address the bone chips, but he experienced some pain late in the 2025 season, resulting in a PRP injection at the time. Greene was set to complete a normal offseason and pre-season, but he experienced renewed discomfort in his elbow when he arrived at spring training, leading to the surgery.

The Reds had spent big on upgrades to their roster to compete in the NL Central, on the strength of their pitching. Greene would likely have started the Reds' opening day game, and would have been followed by Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Brady Singer and one of Chase Burns or Rhett Lowder. Greene's absence will now open the door for both Burns and Lowder to make the starting rotation at the start of the season, although it is possible that LHP Brandon Williamson might leapfrog one of them after he returns from injury that cost him all of 2025.

When available, Greene has been one of the most effective pitchers on the planet, but he has missed considerable time due to groin strains in 2025 and elbow discomfort in 2024. He has 45 starts to his credit since the start of 2024, with a 2.76 ERA, a 29.2% strikeout rate, 8.1% walk rate and 33.5% ground-ball rate. He was ranked fourth in the MLB among pitchers with at least 100+ innings for swinging-strike rate, behind LHP Tarik Skubal, RHP Dylan Cease and RHP Logan Gilbert.

Greene is entering the fourth season of a six-year, $53 million contract extension, and will receive a salary of $8 million this year. He is in line to earn $15 million in 2027 and $16 million in 2028, with the Reds holding a $21 million club option (with a $2 million buyout) for 2029. With Greene now sidelined for a good portion of the season, the Reds will turn to Andrew Abbott to be their opening day starter.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Washington Nationals confirmed overnight that they have signed RHP Zack Littell to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2027. Littell will reportedly earn a guaranteed $7 million salary for 2026, with another $2.5 million available through incentives based on the number of innings pitched. The Nationals designated LHP Richard Lovelady for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot.

Littell's $7 million salary is broken into a $3 million base salary and a $4 million buyout on the mutual option. Since it has been years since a mutual option was exercised by both sides, it is generally used to shift salary commitments into the future. Littell will also reportedly earn $100,000 for every tenth inning pitched from 100 innings through 140 innings, and then $250,000 for reaching each of 150 and 160 innings, and $500,000 for reaching 170, 180 and 190 innings in the season.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Texas Rangers are in agreement with LHP reliever Jalen Beeks on a major league contract, pending the completion of a physical. The Rangers have a full 40-man roster so they will need to make a corresponding move to fit Beeks on their roster.

Beeks pitched for the Diamondbacks in 2025 on a $1.25 million contract. He appeared 61 times for the Sneks, with a 3.77 ERA across 57 1/3 innings. He likely would have been traded at the deadline but he suffered lower back inflammation around the trade deadline that kiboshed any move that could have been agreed. Instead, he finished the season as one of the few veteran relievers in the Diamondbacks bullpen, and allowed just four runs across his last 16 1/3 innings of the season.

Beeks typically uses a 94-95 mph fastball and an upper 80s changeup that generates whiffs. He struck out hitters about 20.3% of the time but kept walks to an average.

Texas Rangers adding to bullpen, finalizing contract with veteran lefty reliever

The move helps address two potential issues in the Rangers’ bullpen.

www.dallasnews.com

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Boston Red Sox have signed another LHP reliever Danny Coulombe on a major league deal. The financial details are yet to be made public. The Red Sox have a full 40-man roster, so they will need to create a roster spot for Coulombe to make the signing official.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced that they have selected the contract of utility player Santiago Espinal. The Dodgers had earlier this month outright assigned Jack Suwinski off the 40-man roster, so no corresponding move is necessary. Opening day is still a week away, so it is suggested that Espinal might have had an opt-out in his minor league deal that would require the Dodgers to either call him up or cut him loose. Espinal has played all four infield spots as well as in the corner outfield. He has a career .291/.344/.409 (107 wRC+) slashline against left-handed pitching, compared to a .245/.300/.316 (73 wRC+) slash line against right-handed pitching.

Espinal is likely to be a bench bat to open the season, despite the fact the Dodgers have some injury concerns to open the season, with Tommy Edman and Enrique Hernandez likely to open the season on the IL. Hyeseong Kim and Miguel Rojas are in the mix to play second base.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

RHP Albert Suarez is in camp with the Baltimore Orioles on a minor league deal and has an opt-out at the end of spring training if he is not added to the active roster. Suarez is drawing interest from teams around the league should the Orioles not put him on the active roster.

Suarez spent 2019 to 2023 pitching in Japan and Korea before joining the Orioles ahead of the 2024 season. He pitched 133 2/3 innings for Baltimore in 2024, split between 24 starts and eight relief appearances. He had a 3.70 ERA with a 19.1% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate. However, in 2025, he suffered injuries that restricted him to only five appearances, and the Orioles non-tendered him at the end of the season.

Suarez's odds of making the starting rotation look long, with the Orioles likely to use Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt, Zach Eflin and Dean Kremer as their starting rotation. Since teams are limited to 13 pitchers in total, that means that the bullpen would have seven pitchers. Ryan Helsley, Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns and Rico Garcia cannot be optioned and are all likely to be part of the bullpen. Yennier Cano and Tyler Wells have options but seem locked in to make the bullpen on opening day. It is also expected that Grant Wolfram would make the bullpen, despite having options. That would squeeze out the likes of Jackson Kowar and Suarez.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Washington Nationals acquired catcher Harry Ford during the off-season from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for LHP Jose A. Ferrer. The Nationals announced over night that Ford has been optioned to Triple-A Rochester. The Nationals will start the season with Keibert Ruiz and Drew Millas to be the top two catchers in their system.

The Nationals acquired Ruiz from the Dodgers as part of the trade back in 2021 that sent RHP Max Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner to Los Angeles. The Nationals signed Ruiz to an extension in 2023, which runs through to the end of 2030 and confers club options for 2031 and 2032.

However, Ruiz has not played well over the last two seasons. He has received poor grades for his defence and only hit .235/.266/.345 over those two seasons, resulting in a -1.3 WAR.

Ford has limited major league experience (all with the Mariners) having played in just eight games at the top level. In 2025, he played 97 games, hitting .283/.408/.460, for 125 wRC+. He was also rated as having poor defence some time ago, but he has made enough progress to improve his catching that he is expected to stay in that role in the majors.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Boston Red Sox have signed RHP reliever Tommy Kahnle on a minor league contract. The deal comes with a $1.5 million base salary and $250,000 in bonuses if he makes the MLB roster. Kahnle spent 2025 in Detroit on a $7.75 million contract, but it was a contract that did not return the expected dividends, as Kahnle allowed a 4.43 ERA on a 18.7% strikeout rate. Interestingly, the damage was primarily done after the All-Star break as Kahnle had a 1.77 ERA and a 23.3% strikeout rate before July.

Kahnle is the embodiment of a one-pitch pitcher, as he throws his changeup 85% of the time. But interestingly, this has been his approach to pitching for quite some time, so the disastrous results after the All-Star break seemed incongruous, since MLB-calibre hitters would have been coached to expect the changeup most of the time. However, hitters seemed better able to refrain from swinging at Kahnle's pitches outside the zone, which lead to a drop in his whiff rate and an increase in his walk rate in the second half of the season. He made four appearances in eight playoff games for the Tigers last year, giving up three runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks across 2 1/3 innings.

Kahnle was part of Team Israel in the recently concluded World Baseball Classic, pitching two scoreless innings with two strikeouts.

Kahnle will have an assignment clause on 1 May and a opt-out on 1 June as part of the terms of his minor league deal with the Red Sox.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Tampa Bay Rays announced overnight that they have optioned their top prospects Jacob Melton and Carson Williams to Triple-A Durham to open the season. Melton entered the season with two option years remaining and Williams has a full slate of three option years. Both of them made their MLB debuts in 2025 (Melton with the Houston Astros). The Rays acquired Melton from the Astros as part of a three-team trade during the off-season whereby the Rays sent Brandon Lowe and Mason Montgomery to the Pirates, and Mike Burrows to the Astros. Melton possibly had a chance to break camp on the active roster with a strong set of results in spring training, but he hit .161/.212/.387 with 12 strikeouts in 33 plate appearances in spring.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Missed this from a couple of days ago, but it is reported that the Cleveland Guardians have informed 2B Travis Bazzana that he will not make the active roster on the opening day and he will begin the season in Triple-A. Bazzana will be allowed to stay longer at the major league spring training camp for a few more days before he heads off to prepare to start the season in the minor leagues.

Bazzana was the first overall draft pick in the 2024 draft for the Guardians, playing in Double-A and Triple-A in 2025 with 26 games of experience at the top minor league level at the back end of 2025. He hit .225/.420/.438 (138 wRC+) in 120 Triple-A plate appearances at the top level, striking out 26.7% of the time but also waling 24.2% of the time.

Bazzana hit lead-off for Australia in the World Baseball Classic, hitting a somewhat disappointing .188/.235/.375 in four games (small sample size alert). In spring training games, Bazzana has hit .286/.333/.500 in five games.

 

[Seattle Mariners]

Are we getting baseball on ESPN/Kayo this year?

Had a look at the Foxtel guide for next Thursday opening game (giants v Yankees) and it’s only NBA or college basketball.

Concerning.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Giants v Yankees on opening day is an exclusive Netflix game.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

I believe that ESPN will still carry MLB games during the week (it is possible that the next game between the Giants and the Yankees on Saturday, Australian time, will be on Foxtel/Kayo). But ESPN has ditched its Sunday Night Baseball coverage as part of the renegotiation of broadcast rights, so there will not be a guaranteed ESPN broadcast of baseball on Mondays Australian time this year. Apple TV will still have one or two Friday Night games on Saturday mornings in Australia this year, I'm fairly certain.

TBH, to guarantee being able to watch the games, you'd have to get a MLB.TV subscription.

 

[RPCB]

I believe that ESPN will still carry MLB games during the week (it is possible that the next game between the Giants and the Yankees on Saturday, Australian time, will be on Foxtel/Kayo). But ESPN has ditched its Sunday Night Baseball coverage as part of the renegotiation of broadcast rights, so there will not be a guaranteed ESPN broadcast of baseball on Mondays Australian time this year. Apple TV will still have one or two Friday Night games on Saturday mornings in Australia this year, I'm fairly certain.

TBH, to guarantee being able to watch the games, you'd have to get a MLB.TV subscription.

Fantastic value at $230 a year, IMO. One of the best sports subs for the price.

 

[MatthewB]

Giants v Yankees on opening day is an exclusive Netflix game.

its on Netflix here, which i wasnt expecting, excited for that

 

[ExchangeStatMan]

Fantastic value at $230 a year, IMO. One of the best sports subs for the price.

Is that better value than an NBA game Pass? an NFL DAZN Season pass?Im just humming and hooing whether to fork up or not. Ive already subscribed to : Kayo, Stan Sports, Amazon Prime, Paramount Plus, DAZN and now thinking of MLB subscription.

 

[RPCB]

Is that better value than an NBA game Pass? an NFL DAZN Season pass?Im just humming and hooing whether to fork up or not. Ive already subscribed to : Kayo, Stan Sports, Amazon Prime, Paramount Plus, DAZN and now thinking of MLB subscription.

I don’t have NBA game pass or the NFL pass as I don’t watch either sport.

MLB.TV for $230 gives you access to close to all 162 games x 30 clubs (only the 2 games per week on Apple TV games aren’t on the sub + some other nationally televised games) and all postseason games as well. Also, there are something like 7000+ minor league games shown as well. So I would say close to the majority if you cared enough to watch your clubs minor league games. The sub is very worth it.

 

[ExchangeStatMan]

I don’t have NBA game pass or the NFL pass as I don’t watch either sport.

MLB.TV for $230 gives you access to close to all 162 games x 30 clubs (only the 2 games per week on Apple TV games aren’t on the sub + some other nationally televised games) and all postseason games as well. Also, there are something like 7000+ minor league games shown as well. So I would say close to the majority if you cared enough to watch your clubs minor league games. The sub is very worth it.

Finding the NBA product a really difficult product to watch these days with tanking for draft picks. Its quite predictable in which teams want to get blown out.

Feel like MLB there would be less reliance on tanking as teams genuinely want to win. Not sure if MLB subscription has something DAZN has but they had a Multi game screen and NFL End Zone (which shows all the main touchdowns live game by game) when there were simultaneous games on at the same time. Think DAZN Subscription also allowed up to 3 screens at the same time. Being a Kayo member i also view up to 3 games should I choose (similar to Stan Sports when I watch Premier League and European comps)

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The San Francisco Giants will open the season next week and are putting their finishing touches to their active roster ahead of the start of the 2026 season. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants have optioned rookie first baseman Bryce Eldridge, second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald and outfielder Grant McCray to Triple-A Sacramento River Cats to open the season.



Houston Astros reliever Bennett Sousa will open the season on the 15-day IL according to Astros manager Joe Espada. The lefty reliever suffered a left oblique strain last week and returned to Houston for testing. While he has been placed on the 15-day IL, it is possible that Sousa will have to miss a longer period of time, since he has been entirely shut down until he is able to throw without feeling pain. He is the second lefty reliever the Astros lose to start the season, with closer Josh Hader also out for the short term.

Key lefty reliever Sousa to open season on IL with oblique strain

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Astros left-handed reliever Bennett Sousa will begin the season on the injured list after straining his left oblique in last Thursday's Grapefruit League outing against the Nationals. Sousa was sent back to Houston for further tests, but manager Joe Espada said Thursday...

www.mlb.com

The Los Angeles Angels acquired RHP Grayson Rodriguez from the Baltimore Orioles during the off-season, trading Taylor Ward in the other direction. There is a significant risk that Rodriguez will open the 2026 season on the IL, according to manager Kurt Suzuki in discussions with reporters. According to Suzuki, Rodriguez has a "dead arm" and could be placed on the 15-day IL.





The Giants have lost RHP Hayden Birdsong for the season as he will undergo Tommy John surgery next week. It also puts his availability at the start of the 2027 season in doubt. Birdsong had previously been diagnosed with a forearm strain and a sprain of his UCL. It was unlikely that Birdsong would start the 2026 season in the rotation, with the Giants likely to use Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Tyler Mahle, Adrian Houser and Landen Roupp as their starters early in the season, but injuries are almost inevitable, so he would likely have had an opportunity to start at some point during the season but for his significant injury.



The Atlanta Braves have announced that RHP Ian Hamilton has been sent outright to Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, suggesting that he was quietly passed through waivers across the past few days. That reduces the Braves' 40-man roster to 38. Hamilton was non-tendered by the Yankees after the 2025 season and signed a contract with the Braves that has a non-guaranteed $1.05 million salary. By removing him from the 40-man roster before Opening Day, the Braves only owe him about 45 days' prorated termination pay, which comes to about $250,000.

The New York Mets announced a series of roster cuts overnight. Infielder Ronny Mauricio has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse as well as RHP Joey Gerber. Non-roster pitchers Brandon Waddell and Mike Baumann have been reassigned to minor league camp. With Mauricio sent to Triple-A, it now appears that Bo Bichette will return to shortstop instead of playing third base as was the plan when he initially signed with the Mets, at least while Francisco Lindor continues to recuperate from surgery to repair his broken hamate bone.

Exclusive | Bo Bichette to play shortstop in Mets spring game in possible roster sign

Bo Bichette is scheduled to play shortstop on Friday against the Cardinals to just keep him familiar with the position in case he is needed in an emergency, The Post has learned.

nypost.com

 

[Seattle Mariners]

Foxtel are absolutely taking the piss out of us for opening weekend.

Friday our time (opening day) - nothing.

Saturday our time - a condensed replay of Toronto v Sacramento Athletics.

First live game is Monday 10am for Mariners v Cleveland.

The good news is that if you have Disney plus, there is one live game lined up each day plus the added bonus of Strike Zone on Saturday morning which is a brilliant show.

And yes I acknowledge we all have the option of getting an MLB subscription to watch all games.

 

[ExchangeStatMan]

Foxtel are absolutely taking the piss out of us for opening weekend.

Friday our time (opening day) - nothing.

Saturday our time - a condensed replay of Toronto v Sacramento Athletics.

First live game is Monday 10am for Mariners v Cleveland.

The good news is that if you have Disney plus, there is one live game lined up each day plus the added bonus of Strike Zone on Saturday morning which is a brilliant show.

And yes I acknowledge we all have the option of getting an MLB subscription to watch all games.

Might be a stupid question but is there an equivalent of NFL DAZN End Zone?

Im not sure if Id be able to keep up with simultaneous games on at the same time. I for instance, wonder if there is a channel dedicated just to Home runs and/or Runs when they are scored?

 

[revo333]

Quite satisfied with the official 10 minute highlight replays on YouTube that usually get uploaded fairly quick after the game has finished.

 

[MatthewB]

Quite satisfied with the official 10 minute highlight replays on YouTube that usually get uploaded fairly quick after the game has finished.

i do the same, i listen to the radio broadcast at work then watch the highlights if the Yankees win

 

[satty]

I love the dodgers moves but cannot get my head around this.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Foxtel are absolutely taking the piss out of us for opening weekend.

Friday our time (opening day) - nothing.

Saturday our time - a condensed replay of Toronto v Sacramento Athletics.

First live game is Monday 10am for Mariners v Cleveland.

The good news is that if you have Disney plus, there is one live game lined up each day plus the added bonus of Strike Zone on Saturday morning which is a brilliant show.

And yes I acknowledge we all have the option of getting an MLB subscription to watch all games.

Technically, Thursday (Australian time) is opening day, and that's only on Netflix.

Interestingly, there are two NBC/Peacock games on Thursday (US time) (Pirates at Mets with first pitch at 1.15pm ET and Diamondbacks at Dodgers with first pitch at 8.30pm ET). I would have thought that ESPN/Disney+ in Australia would have picked up those games, but I guess not. All the other games on Thursday, US time, are locally broadcast games.

AppleTV+ has two games on the schedule, so I assume that they will be accessible in Australia on Saturday morning. Angels at Houston followed by Guardians at Mariners.