News Cardinals Team Notes

Cardinals Looking To Add Right-Handed Hitting Outfielder

The Cardinals’ offseason is focused mostly on the players they’re trading away. Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras have already been shipped out, and it’s possible that each of Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado and JoJo Romero will also find themselves on the move. That doesn’t mean they won’t make some short-term pickups. They’ve added Dustin May on a $12.5MM deal in the rotation, and president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom identified a profile they’re pursuing on the position player side.

Bloom told reporters that the Cardinals would like to add an outfielder, ideally one who brings right-handed power (links via John Denton of MLB.com and Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch). That’s an indirect consequence of the Contreras trade. Alec Burleson only made 38 starts at first base this past season. That’s likely to rise in 2026, as Bloom implied that Burleson could replace Contreras as the primary first baseman. Burleson made 72 starts in the corner outfield and 18 at designated hitter.

St. Louis has Lars Nootbaar and Jordan Walker as their projected corner outfield tandem. Nootbaar is down to two years of arbitration control and could be traded this offseason. Walker was a well below replacement level performer in 2025 and still has a minor league option remaining. A righty corner bat could also spell lefty hitters Burleson and Iván Herrera at first base and designated hitter, respectively.

There aren’t a ton of options remaining in free agency. The Cards could kick the tires on a one-year deal for Miguel Andujar or Austin Hays, each of whom is coming off a big season with the platoon advantage. Old friend Tommy Pham is coming off a middling season against lefties but carries a .261/.368/.434 line in those situations over his career. Chas McCormick hasn’t hit in either of the past two years. He has a 20-homer season with a .273/.353/.489 showing in 2023 on his résumé.

The Cardinals could also look into a switch-hitting utility option like Willi Castro or Luis Rengifo. They’d have the added benefit of being able to fill in at second or third base if the Cardinals line up Donovan and/or Arenado trades. Nolan Gorman would be in line for the bulk of the third base playing time if Arenado is moved. Top prospect JJ Wetherholt should be up as the everyday second baseman at some point, assuming they trade Donovan, but the 23-year-old seems likely to open the season in Triple-A.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/cardinals-looking-to-add-right-handed-hitting-outfielder.html
 
MLBTR Podcast: Three-Way Trade, Murakami’s Short-Term Deal, And Willson Contreras To Boston

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…


Check out our past episodes!

  • The Mets Sign Jorge Polanco, And The Braves, Blue Jays And Royals Make Moves – listen here
  • Winter Meetings Recap – listen here
  • An Agent’s Perspective with B.B. Abbott – Also, Cease, Williams, Helsley, And Gray – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...erm-deal-and-willson-contreras-to-boston.html
 
Joe Kelly Announces End Of His Playing Career

After 13 Major League seasons, reliever Joe Kelly has decided to call a career, as the right-hander told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford on a recent edition (audio link) of the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. In his usual irreverent fashion, the 37-year-old Kelly declined to say he was officially retiring, taking issue with the term itself.

“Retiring is like, something that my grandmother did….I’m sorry all you people out there watching this that work a real job. You guys deserve to retire, athletes don’t,” Kelly said. “We just stop [expletive] playing, okay? Let’s cancel the word ’retirement.’ It’s used for people who [expletive] served in the military, used for people who worked until 65…When athletes are done playing, just say ’congratulations, they’re no longer playing.’ ”

Kelly last played during the 2024 season, tossing 32 regular-season innings for the Dodgers. He didn’t sign a contract last winter, and stated last July that he was planning to showcase himself in a throwing session for the Dodgers alone, saying that he only wanted to pitch for Los Angeles if he returned at all. That session came and went without any fanfare, and Kelly told Bradford that continued injury problems convinced him to hang up the glove. “I can throw 98 [mph] like nothing…[but] I threw a pitch and like strained again, so like ’nah, I’m done,’ ” Kelly said.

High velocity has been a bedrock of Kelly’s career, as he averaged 95mph on his fastball in his MLB debut season with the Cardinals in 2012. A move to the bullpen added even more heat, as Kelly had an average velo of 98.2mph over the final eight seasons of his career, and he topped the 102mph mark at his peak. While Kelly’s fastball drew the most attention, however, his sinker (which also regularly sat in the upper 90’s) and curveball were his most effective pitches at finishing off batters after Kelly set them up with his standard fastball.

A third-round pick for the Cardinals in the 2009 draft, Kelly made his MLB debut with St. Louis in 2012 and he tossed his first 266 big league innings in a Cards uniform. A notable swap at the 2014 trade deadline saw Kelly and Allen Craig sent to the Red Sox in exchange for John Lackey, and while the trade was panned by Boston fans at the time, Kelly’s development into a valued member of the Red Sox pen has made the deal a little more palatable for Red Sox Nation in hindsight.

Kelly struggled with injuries and consistency over his first two full seasons as a starter with the Sox, and a move to relief pitching in 2016 helped him at least spend less time on the injured list. Kelly had a 4.33 ERA over his entire 359 1/3 inning tenure with the Red Sox, but he shone brightest when posting a 0.79 ERA over 11 1/3 frames during the 2018 postseason, playing a big role in Boston’s World Series championship victory.

After helping beat the Dodgers in that Fall Classic, Kelly then went to L.A. on a three-year, $25MM free agent deal. Some early struggles made that signing look like a potential bust, but Kelly righted the ship and finished with a 3.59 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, 59.9% grounder rate, and 9.8% walk rate over 105 1/3 innings in that three-season span. The highlight was another postseason success and a ring in 2020, with Kelly allowing one earned run over 4 2/3 innings during the Dodgers’ title run.

A two-year, $17MM contract with the White Sox followed for Kelly in advance of the 2022 season, but the injuries started to really pile up, leading to a only a 5.59 ERA over 66 innings in a Chicago uniform. Acquired again by the Dodgers at the 2023 trade deadline, Kelly suddenly regained some of his old form in posting a 1.74 ERA the rest of the way. Los Angeles brought him back for a one-year, $8MM contract for the 2024 season, but Kelly’s health problems continued and he managed just a 4.78 ERA in his final 32 innings in the Show. While he wasn’t part of the Dodgers’ playoff roster, Los Angeles’ World Series victory meant that Kelly earned his third ring in what ended up as his farewell season.

Over 485 games and 839 career innings in the majors, Kelly had a 3.98 ERA, 51.8% grounder rate, 21.1% strikeout rate, and a 9.8% walk rate. His postseason resume consists of a 3.45 ERA over 60 innings, and a particularly impressive 2.03 ERA across 13 1/3 innings in the World Series.

Along the way, Kelly created quite a reputation for himself as a character. Kelly’s competitiveness sometimes led to a pair of high-profile suspensions, but his willingness to defend teammates only added to the fuel of the rivalries between the Red Sox and Yankees, and the sign-stealing scandal inspired feud between the Dodgers and Astros. Between his big fastball, erratic control, and eccentric personality, Kelly welcomed all comparisons to “Wild Thing” Rick Vaughn, to the point of wearing #99 with the Dodgers after giving his #17 jersey to the incoming Shohei Ohtani. (This gesture resulted in Ohtani gifting a Porsche to Kelly’s wife Ashley..

We at MLBTR congratulate Kelly on a fine career, and we wish him all the best in retir….er, his post-playing endeavors.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/joe-kelly-announces-end-of-his-playing-career.html
 
Mariners Reluctant To Deal From Major League Roster

The Mariners are still hoping to make at least one more notable splash between now and Opening Day, but Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times suggests that they’re reluctant to deal anyone from their big league roster to make it happen. Divish writes that the M’s are willing to move top pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje in a package for Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan but are less inclined to trade anyone from the big league roster to get him. He adds that president of baseball ops Jerry Dipoto and GM Justin Hollander have both “been adamant” about not wanting to trade an established big league starter as they look to bolster the lineup.

It’s a fairly similar approach to the one taken by Dipoto, Hollander & Co. last offseason. In the winter of 2024-25, the Mariners pursued multiple big-ticket trade items but found many clubs with players available in trade were seeking young big leaguers — not the top prospects that proliferate the top of a stacked Seattle farm system. There are more pure rebuilding clubs this winter, at least on paper, but the Cardinals have prioritized MLB-ready pitching in trades of Sonny Gray (Richard Fitts) and Willson Contreras (Hunter Dobbins). The D-backs reportedly want to add major league pitching (presumably multiple rotation candidates) in any deal for star infielder Ketel Marte.

While Seattle’s system is deep in high-end prospects — the M’s had eight players on Baseball America’s end-of-season top-100 prospect list, though they’ve since traded Harry Ford — the actual depth beyond the big league rotation is relatively thin. Each of Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo and George Kirby started at least 23 games in 2025. All pitched well — Kirby had a couple brutal outings but was largely strong — but only Castillo did so while avoiding an IL stint. Bryce Miller missed more than half the season due to elbow inflammation. The options beyond that pair are less encouraging.

Emerson Hancock is a former No. 6 overall pick but spent the latter part of the season as a reliever. He’ll head into camp as a starter but has been viewed as a more of a fifth starter candidate than one would expect based on that lofty draft billing. He’ll turn 27 in May and has a career 4.81 ERA with a poor 15.6% strikeout rate in 162 MLB innings. Twenty-four-year-old Logan Evans tossed 81 1/3 innings with a 4.32 ERA as a rookie this past season and briefly drew some top-100 fanfare before his own promotion to the majors. Like Hancock, he struggled to miss bats in the big leagues (16.9 K%, 7.8% swinging-strike rate). He also was hit hard in 11 Triple-A starts last year.

Depth options beyond those seven are thin. Jhonathan Diaz and Blas Castano are both on the 40-man roster but are already in their late 20s with no MLB track record of which to speak. The Mariners have plenty of notable pitching prospects, including Cijntje, Ryan Sloan and 2025 No. 3 overall pick Kade Anderson. Cijntje has all of seven Double-A starts under his belt, though, and could require more development time than most prospects given his status as an extremely uncommon switch-pitcher. Sloan hasn’t pitched above A-ball. Anderson didn’t pitch for a Mariners affiliate after last summer’s draft. Former prospects like Taylor Dollard and Michael Morales went unselected in this year’s Rule 5 Draft despite being eligible. The former has battled injury troubles. The latter was hit fairly hard and notched just a 16% strikeout rate in Double-A this season.

The Mariners could certainly deal from their rotation to improve the lineup and backfill with a lower-cost free agent signing, but it’s understandable if the front office is reluctant to at all jeopardize the team’s depth, given the shaky performances of Miller, Hancock and (to a lesser extent) Evans in 2025. If anything, one could argue that it’d be prudent to add to the current group by signing/acquiring some optionable depth or a swingman/sixth starter to plug into a long relief role to begin the year.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...n-donovan-jurrangelo-cijntje-ketel-marte.html
 
Angels Interested In Nolan Arenado

As the Cardinals continue to pursue trades of their veterans, the Angels have emerged as a potential destination for Nolan Arenado. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic connected the third baseman to the Halos last week, and colleagues Will Sammon and Katie Woo echoed the sentiment this week.

Two potential roadblocks existed for an Arenado deal, one for each side, though the Angels have cleared up their end. As Sammon and Woo point out, St. Louis’ attempts to move the aging slugger have been hindered by fellow third basemen Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suarez still being on the market. Arenado would be a backup option to teams that come up short in pursuing Bregman and Suarez.

The Angels’ third base situation was clouded by the status of Anthony Rendon. The oft-injured infielder still had a year remaining on the disastrous seven-year, $245MM contract he signed after the 2019 season. Los Angeles resolved that situation yesterday, agreeing to a restructured contract with Rendon. The $38MM left on his deal will be deferred over the next three to five seasons. Rendon will not be back with the team in 2026. Following the Rendon news, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register mentioned Arenado as a possible trade target for the Halos.

Arenado is a SoCal guy, but that might not be enough for him to waive his no-trade clause to join the Angels. The financial aspects of the deal would also need to be sorted out. St. Louis has been able to move two of its three large veteran contracts so far this offseason, but both deals required cash attached to the player. The Cardinals sent $20MM to Boston in the Sonny Gray deal. They tossed in $8MM to complete the Willson Contreras trade, which was also with the Red Sox.

Arenado still has $42MM remaining on his current deal. The original eight-year, $260MM extension he signed with the Rockies runs out after the 2026 campaign, but the Cardinals added on another year for $15MM after acquiring him. By eating money in the Gray and Contreras trades, St. Louis was able to net MLB-ready starting pitchers in Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins. The Angels’ system isn’t exactly overflowing with talented starters, but players like Mitch Farris, Jack Kochanowicz, and Caden Dana fit the Fitts/Dobbins mold as young arms with minimal MLB service time who could contribute to a 2026 rotation.

It’s easy to forget just how good Arenado was in his first two seasons in St. Louis. He hit 34 home runs in his debut with the club, then delivered a monster 2022 that put him in the mix for NL MVP. Arenado slashed .293/.358/.533 and led the NL with 7.9 WAR (per Baseball Reference) that year. Teammate Paul Goldschmidt took home MVP honors, but Arenado earned his fifth Silver Slugger award and his 10th straight Gold Glove award.

Arenado steadily declined over the next three seasons. He provided decent results in 2023, knocking 26 home runs and finishing with a 107 wRC+. His power continued to fade the following year, as he posted a meager .123 ISO and the first sub-.400 SLG campaign of his career. Arenado bottomed out in 2025, slashing .237/.289/.377 with just a dozen dingers. He also missed time with a shoulder injury. Arenado’s 84 wRC+ in 2025 was his worst mark since his rookie year in 2013 (excluding the shortened 2020 season).

Despite the falloff at the plate, Arenado remains an above-average fielder and a solid contact hitter. If the cost is cheap enough, he could help an Angels team with an unsettled situation at the hot corner. The Halos largely relied on Yoan Moncada and Luis Rengifo at third base last season. Both players are now free agents. The current in-house options are Christian Moore, Oswald Peraza, and Vaughn Grissom. The trio could all be candidates to play second base as well, with Kyren Paris also factoring in at that position. The Angels have been bottom 10 in OPS at third base in each of the past five seasons.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/angels-interested-in-nolan-arenado.html
 
Cardinals Acquire Justin Bruihl, Designate Zak Kent For Assignment

The Cardinals have acquired left-hander Justin Bruihl from the Guardians in exchange for cash considerations, according to announcements from both clubs. Bruihl had been designated for assignment by Cleveland last month. Right-hander Zak Kent has been designated for assignment by the Cards today in a corresponding 40-man roster move.

It’s the second cash deal of the winter for Bruihl, who will turn 29 in June. The lefty began the offseason with the Blue Jays but was bumped off the roster when Toronto signed right-hander Tyler Rogers last month. The Guardians sent some cash north of the order to grab Bruihl but then designated him for assignment three days later when they signed Shawn Armstrong. DFA limbo normally lasts a maximum of one week but there are different rules around the holidays, so Bruihl was hanging out there for almost three weeks.

He now finally has some resolution and it could be a good spot for him to carve out some big league playing time. Bruihl posted good numbers in 2025 but exhausted his final option season, which pushed him to the fringes of Toronto’s roster. The Jays have been busy upgrading their pitching staff for another run at competing in 2026 and bumped Bruihl off. Cleveland had one of the best bullpens in the league last year and was also going to have a tough time keeping the southpaw around for long.

But the Cardinals are rebuilding and should therefore have a bit more breathability in their relief group. JoJo Romero is currently the top lefty in their projected bullpen but he is one year away from free agency, making him likely to be traded in the coming weeks. If Romero is dealt, that would leave Bruihl and Nick Raquet as the two lefty relievers on the St. Louis 40-man roster. Raquet was called up late in the 2025 season and has just two big league innings under his belt.

Bruihl has thrown 89 2/3 innings over multiple seasons between the Dodgers, Rockies and Blue Jays. Toronto only let him throw 13 2/3 big league innings in 2025 but he fared decently, despite posting a 5.27 earned run average. His 10.8% walk rate was a bit high in that small sample but his 27.7% strikeout rate and 46.2% ground ball rate were both a few ticks better than average. He also logged 42 Triple-A innings last year with a 3.43 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate, 9.1% walk rate and 58.4% ground ball rate.

The Cards could perhaps sign some veterans before Opening Day but it’s a decent landing spot for Bruihl to get some more time in the majors. If he succeeds with the Cardinals in 2026, they could keep the relationship going. He currently has one year and 112 days of service time, meaning he’s five years away from free agency. He would also be affordable for the rebuilding club, as he is still in his pre-arbitration years.

Kent, 28 in February, has never pitched for the Cardinals. He was just claimed off waivers from the Guardians a month ago. He made his major league debut with the Guards last year, posting a 4.58 ERA in 17 2/3 innings. His 21.1% strikeout rate, 10.5% walk rate and 37.3% ground ball rate were all a bit worse than league average.

He does have some interesting minor league numbers. He tossed 38 Triple-A innings last year with a 2.84 ERA. He got grounders on 54% of balls in play at that level and struck out 31.4% of batters faced, though he also gave out walks at a high clip of 13.2%.

Like Bruihl, Kent is out of options, though Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported last month that he is eligible for a fourth option year. Perhaps that will help him latch on somewhere else. The Cards will now have seven days of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next for Kent. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so they will have a maximum of five days to field trade interest.

Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026...bruihl-designate-zak-kent-for-assignment.html
 
Cardinals To Sign Ryne Stanek

The Cardinals are in agreement with free agent reliever Ryne Stanek, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Chris Cotillo of MassLive first reported that St. Louis was pursuing the hard-throwing righty. The Cardinals will need to open a 40-man roster spot once the MVP Sports Group client completes a physical.

Stanek gets a change of scenery after an inconsistent year and a half with the Mets. New York acquired him from the Mariners at the 2024 trade deadline. While he allowed 11 runs in 16 1/3 regular season innings down the stretch, Stanek’s plus strikeout rate and strong postseason work led the Mets to bring him back on a $4.5MM free agent deal.

That didn’t pan out, as the 34-year-old had an up-and-down season. Stanek had strong run prevention marks in May and July but was knocked around in the other four months. He finished with a 5.30 earned run average across 56 innings. ERA estimators were only slightly more bullish as Stanek’s strikeout and walk rates each went in the wrong direction.

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A 22.7% strikeout rate was narrowly the lowest of his nine-year career. Stanek had fanned nearly 28% of opposing hitters one season earlier. It’s crucial that he miss bats because command has never been a strong suit. Stanek has walked at least 10% of batters faced in all but one year, including a 12.5% mark last season.

The Cardinals are taking what should be a low-cost bet that he’ll strike out more batters in 2026. Stanek still has the stuff to do that. He averaged 98.5 MPH on his heater, a top 15 mark in MLB. He backs that up with a plus slider and mixes in a splitter and sweeper as his third and fourth offerings. Stanek still missed bats at a slightly above-average rate on a per pitch basis.

St. Louis doesn’t have a ton of experienced arms in the late innings. Southpaw JoJo Romero had been their only reliever with even two years of MLB service. There’s a decent chance he’s traded before Opening Day. The Cardinals were looking for a veteran arm who can pitch in the back half of the bullpen. Stanek fits best in middle relief but could be in the high-leverage mix, perhaps even as a closer, on a rebuilding club. He’s a known commodity to president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who was in the Rays front office when Tampa Bay drafted him in the first round in 2013.

There’s also a geographic tie. Stanek was born in St. Louis and went to high school not far outside Missouri in Stilwell, Kansas. There’s a decent chance he’ll be traded midseason if he’s pitching well, but he’ll get a chance to play for his hometown club for at least a few months.

Image courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/01/cardinals-to-sign-ryne-stanek.html
 
Nine Teams Terminate Contracts With Main Street Sports

The nine MLB teams who had contracts with Main Street Sports have terminated those contracts with the company. It’s possible that some of them eventually work out new deals with the broadcaster, which operates channels under the FanDuel Sports Network banner. The teams are the Braves, Reds, Tigers, Royals, Angels, Marlins, Brewers, Cardinals and Rays. Talks between the company and the teams are ongoing. Various elements of this developing story were reported by Evan Drellich of The Athletic, Alden González of ESPN, Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

The issue is due to the poor financial state of the company. They have recently missed payments to several teams, including the Cardinals and Marlins, but possibly others. The nine teams have cut ties with the company for now to keep them away from potential bankruptcy proceedings and explore other options, but it’s possible some teams will eventually sign new pacts with the company. Main Street is trying to find a buyer, though the reporting indicates talks with DAZN have fizzled out. Fubo TV might have stepped into the bidding but there are conflicting reports about that.

This is just the latest chapter in a saga that goes back quite a while, with cord cutting and streaming having chipped away the regional sports network (RSN) model. The company was previously known as Diamond Sports Group with channels marketed as Bally Sports. Going into 2023, 14 MLB clubs and many teams in other sports leagues had RSN deals with the company. But trouble emerged early that year when the company missed some payments. They filed for bankruptcy in March of 2023.

The company eventually emerged from bankruptcy in November of 2024 and then rebranded. Along the way, many of their deals with MLB clubs fell apart. In some cases, new deals were worked out. In other cases, the league took over broadcasting duties. The Rangers went a different route and launched their own RSN. Coming into 2026, Main Street has 29 deals with teams across MLB, the NBA and NHL.

The path of MLB handling the broadcasts will be available for all the clubs involved here. “No matter what happens, whether it’s Main Street, a third party or MLB media, fans are going to have the games,” commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday, per Blum.

The MLB path is largely inconsequential for fans. If anything, it’s a better arrangement. MLB still puts the games on cable. For cord-cutters, they have the option of streaming the club by paying the league directly, with no local blackouts.

For the teams, however, it’s not a great situation. RSN deals have been a big source of revenue over the years. The bankruptcy of Diamond/Main Street put many of them in a tough position. Renegotiating with the company meant accepting lower fees than they had been receiving on their previous deals. Going with MLB would allow them to potentially reach more fans but the revenue in that path is both lesser and not guaranteed, as the money is contingent on how many people sign up to stream.

MLB handled the broadcasts of five clubs in 2025: the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins and Guardians. It was reported in September that the Mariners would go down this route in 2026. This week’s reporting suggests the Nationals will likely leave MASN and join with the league as well.

In the cases of at least a few of these teams, the situation seems to had on-field implications by reducing the club’s spending capacity when it comes to player payroll. The Padres and Twins, for instance, have been trying to strike a delicate balance of staying in contention while having less to spend on players than the front office may have once anticipated.

That’s obviously a disadvantage compared to some big-market clubs, many of whom are co-owners in RSNs which are relatively healthy in larger population areas. In July of 2024, it was reported that the league and the MLB Players Association had agreed to redirect some competitive balance tax money to teams impacted by the television situation. This week’s reporting indicates that arrangement was for 2024 alone. There was no such deal in place for 2025 and there’s currently nothing lined up for 2026 either.

“The clubs have control over the timing,” Manfred said this week. “They can make a decision to move to MLB Media because of the contractual status now. I think that what’s happening right now clubs are evaluating their alternatives. Obviously they’ve made significant payroll commitments already and they’re evaluating the alternatives to find the best revenue source for the year and the best outlet in terms of providing quality broadcasts to their fans.”

With this situation and other disruptive developments in terms of MLB’s broadcast landscape, the league’s preference has been to not sign any new contracts that go beyond the 2028 season. It has been reported that many of MLB’s broadcast deals expire after that season. Manfred hopes to put together a league-wide streaming service with no blackouts and/or have a big auction of rights to various games, with multiple broadcasters bidding against each other.

A mini version of this happened recently when MLB’s deal with ESPN fell apart. The league then split up ESPN’s previous package, selling some of it back to ESPN along with other elements. Netflix bought the rights to Opening Day, the Home Run Derby and some other special events. NBC/Peacock bought Sunday Night Baseball and the Wild Card round from 2026 to 2028, as well as other events. ESPN acquired the local rights for the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Guardians and Twins as part of their new deal.

All of this figures to hang over the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The current CBA expires after the 2026 season. Another lockout, like the one in 2021-22, is widely expected. Manfred has essentially admitted that one will occur by speaking positively about the lockout process.

Whether that lockout extends long enough to cancel games in 2027 remains to be seen. The players and the union are already concerned by a lack of spending from some clubs and the RSN situation will likely only exacerbate that. Some of the impacted clubs would likely welcome more revenue sharing but the bigger clubs wouldn’t be as keen on that. The owners are expected to push for a salary cap but the players are strongly opposed to that.

Manfred has made plenty of unpopular moves in his time as commissioner but he can currently point to a legacy that includes no games missed due to labor strife. Baseball’s popularity is also on the rise, despite the aforementioned TV disruption. Game Seven of the 2025 World Series was the most-watched game around the world since 1991. The uptick in ratings and attendance has been attributed by many to recent rule changes, particularly the pitch clock.

Disrupting the 2027 season would impact that legacy and also cut into baseball’s recent surge, which would be inopportune timing with the aforementioned future broadcast plans. Manfred is signed through 2029 and does not plan to seek another term after that.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/01/nine-teams-terminate-contracts-with-main-street-sports.html
 
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