37 players were non-tendered in the AL. 28 more from the NL joined the mix. That’s 65 new players who became free agents on Friday when their clubs declined to offer them contracts for the upcoming season. Several players had been designated for assignment earlier in the week, so this was merely a formality. Numerous others were not yet arbitration-eligible and could end up re-signing quickly on minor league deals (effectively, the non-tender was just to move them off the 40-man roster).
Braves re-sign Raisel Iglesias; trade for Mauricio Dubón
Atlanta has been one of the busier clubs early this offseason. This week, the team brought back a key piece of its bullpen and upgraded defensively at shortstop.
Veteran closer Raisel Iglesias has agreed to a new one-year, $16 million contract for the 2026 season (the same amount he earned in each of the last three seasons). There was some thought that the right-hander would leave the Braves, but with the team needing an experienced arm at the back of the bullpen, a reunion did make sense for both sides.
Iglesias, who’ll be 36 in January, has posted a 2.90 ERA (148 ERA+) with 253 saves during his 11-year career with the Reds, Angels, and Braves.
Meanwhile, the Braves traded shortstop Nick Allen to the Houston Astros for infielder Mauricio Dubón.
Dubón slashed .241/.289/.355 (72 OPS+) in 398 PA in 2025, winning his second Gold Glove Award as a utility infielder. The 31-year-old earned $5 million last season and would have been arbitration-eligible for the final time in 2026. Atlanta and Dubón agreed to a $6.1 million contract to avoid it.
The 27-year-old out-of-options Allen hit .221/.284/.251 (53 OPS+) in a career-high 416 PA this past season. He’s arb-eligible for the first time this year.
Twins trade for Alex Jackson
Baltimore has also been aggressively busy early this offseason. The Orioles traded catcher Alex Jackson to the Twins for middle infielder Payton Eeles. Jackson hit .220/.290/.473 (111 OPS+) in 100 PA with the Orioles this past season, easily the most productive of his six seasons in the majors, but he will be out of minor league options in the spring. Jackson turns 30 on Christmas Day and will likely serve as Ryan Jeffers’ backup, replacing Christian Vazquez.
Eeles was undrafted out of college and played a season of independent ball before signing with the Twins. The 26-year-old batted .253/.379/.321 in 378 PA at Triple-A this past season while stealing 21 bases.
Kelsie Whitmore, Mo’ne Davis among those selected in inaugural WPBL Draft
The Women’s Pro Baseball League held its inaugural “draft” on Thursday. Draft is in quotes there as it wasn’t reaaally a live draft situation, as it was apparently presented on the hour-long YouTube broadcast. As Jen Ramos-Eisen discovered, officials from each of the four WPBL teams actually selected players earlier in the week. The names being read during the broadcast were apparently how players learned which team they would be joining. It’s an unusual start.
The draft was conducted in five rounds, with 20 selections in each round. Each team chose 30 players from an initial pool of more than 600 who came to tryouts at Nationals Stadium.
There were, of course, a few notable names chosen in the process.
Kelsie Whitmore has already made a name for herself in pro baseball. First, at 17, when she debuted with the Sonoma Stompers in 2016, alongside fellow U.S. National Team players Stacy Piagno and Anna Kimbrell, as the first women to play pro ball since the 1950s. Whitmore then played with the independent Atlantic League’s Staten Island Ferryhawks, the Pioneer League’s Oakland Ballers, and even the Savanna Bananas. Now 27, Whitmore was selected first overall by San Francisco.
Ayami Sato went second overall to Los Angeles. Sato has a long, decorated history pitching for Japan’s National Team (leading the team to five straight Women’s World Cup gold medals, winning the tournament’s MVP award in the last three). Last year, the 35-year-old pitched for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty Baseball League, making her the first woman to pitch professionally in Canada.
Mo’ne Davis blew away even the most casual baseball fan with her performance during the 2014 Little League World Series and became an instant role model for girls everywhere. Davis relished the spotlight for a bit, played baseball through college, but had largely stepped away from the sport before the WPBL came around. Now, she’s back, and the 27-year-old was selected 10th by Los Angeles.
MLB.com’s Michael Clair covered the draft’s first few picks and the historical significance of the WPBL’s beginning. Clair also wrote extensively about Sato in September 2023, which is worth reading. I shared a story on Davis earlier this week from SI’s Emma Baccellieri.
Mariners to retire No. 51 for Randy Johnson
The Seattle Mariners announced plans last June to retire No. 51 for both Ichiro Suzuki and Randy Johnson. Suzuki’s day came in August, shortly after his Hall of Fame induction, but the team revealed plans to hold a separate ceremony honoring Johnson at a later date.
Johnson’s day is here, as the team has scheduled ceremonies for May 2.
Johnson debuted with the Montreal Expos in 1988 and was traded midway through the 1989 season (along with two others) for left-hander Mark Langston. After overcoming some early control issues, Johnson flourished in Seattle. Over his 10 seasons with the Mariners, the left-hander was 130-74 with a 3.42 ERA (128 ERA+) and 2,162 strikeouts over 1838.1 IP, while going to five All-Star Games and winning the 1995 AL Cy Young Award.
Johnson is second in Mariners franchise history in wins and strikeouts. He ranks third in innings pitched.
His trophy case only filled up further after leaving Seattle, including five more All-Star appearances, four consecutive NL Cy Young Awards (1999-2002), and a World Series title (2001). Johnson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
Around the sport ….
The Rawlings Sporting Goods headquarters in St. Louis has a noticeable addition. The company has added a 30-foot-tall, 50-foot-wide Gold Glove statue, weighing 35,000 pounds, to the top of its building. The building already features an interactive exhibit for fans that showcases every Gold Glove Award winner dating back to the honor’s creation in 1957.
MLB announced this week that there will be another Field of Dreams Game next summer. The Twins will host the Phillies at the famed field on August 13. The site will also host a game between the Twins’ and Cubs’ Triple-A affiliates two days earlier. The White Sox and Yankees played there in 2021, with the Cubs and Reds matching up in 2022. The league hasn’t been back since.
A bidding war has emerged to sign right-hander Kenta Maeda, who announced an intention to return to Japan following the 2025 season. The interest could push Maeda’s new deal to a multi-year agreement, per reports out of Japan. The Rakuten Golden Eagles are believed to be the front-runners to sign the 37-year-old.
White Sox left-hander Fraser Ellard has retired to pursue interests outside of baseball. He and his brother reportedly own a digital marketing agency. The 28-year-old appeared in 43 games over the last two seasons, posting a 3.95 ERA (106 ERA+) with 48 strikeouts and 31 walks over 41.0 IP. The White Sox had drafted him in the 8th round in 2021 out of Liberty University.
Former Mariners and Blue Jays right-hander Erik Swanson announced on his Instagram that he is retiring. An 8th-round pick by the Rangers in 2014, Swanson was traded twice before making his debut with Seattle in 2019. He’d post a 4.20 ERA (99 ERA+) in 266.0 IP over seven seasons in the majors. Swanson’s struggles this past season (9 ER in 5.1 IP) led Toronto to release him in June.
Taiwan’s Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium has hosted several international competitions over the years, including Pool Play for the 2023 World Baseball Classic, but the 20,000-seat outdoor venue is reportedly being replaced. Taichung City officials announced plans to build a new 30,000-seat domed facility, tentatively named the Taichung Super Dome, with an anticipated opening in 2030.
Speaking of stadiums, repairs have reportedly been completed at Tropicana Field, with the last of the roof panels being replaced. The Rays will return to the Trop this season after playing the 2025 season at Tampa’s George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Baseball United continued a spectacular opening week to its inaugural season. Four Mid East Falcons pitchers (Kazuki Yabuta, Shotaro Kasahara, Yudai Mizushina, and Severino González) combined to throw a no-hitter against the Karachi Monarchs on Wednesday. The 33-year-old Yabuta pitched the first five innings. He spent parts of nine seasons in the NPB with the Hiroshima Carp, posting a 3.94 ERA over 304.0 IP. González worked a scoreless ninth inning. He made 34 appearances with the Phillies between 2015-16, with a 6.68 ERA over 66.0 IP.