The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 MLB Winter Meetings.
ORLANDO — There is a long hallway that links the Waldorf Astoria to the Signia by Hilton, and that hallway served as a main thoroughfare for Monday’s opening day of baseball’s Winter Meetings. The meetings are split between the hotels, and all day, baseball executives, agents and managers walked the route to and from.
They looked busy.
Their transactions suggested otherwise.
As Day 1 broke for dinner on Monday night, the top of the free agent market remained frozen while the market’s top trade chips remained unmoved. Thus far, only one of the Big Board’s top 12 free agents has signed, while aces Tarik Skubal, Freddy Peralta and Sandy Alcantara — among others — remain untraded.
So, there were lots of places to go on Day 1, but there was little movement of any consequence. Here’s a Day 1 wrap-up:
Rendon expected to sit out 2026 season
One way or another, it seems Anthony Rendon has played his last game with the Los Angeles Angels.
Brittany Ghiroli reported on Monday that the Angels do not expect Rendon to play this season, which will be the last of the now notorious seven-year, $245-million contract Rendon signed in December of 2019.
Rendon is owed $38 million next season and is currently rehabbing from his second hip surgery. There’s a chance the team and player could agree to some sort of buyout that would pay Rendon his salary with deferrals on a more-team-friendly schedule — as other injured veterans have done in the past — but regardless, the Angels are building their roster with an assumption that they’ll be without Rendon for the duration.
When Rendon signed with the Angels in 2019, he was coming off an MVP-type season with the Washington Nationals, but he’s since played a total of 257 games, and he’s been a below-average hitter since 2021. Rendon has never played more than 58 games in a season with the Angels, and he missed all of last season.
The Angels primarily used Yoan Moncada, Luis Rengifo and Kevin Newman at third base last season, but all three are currently free agents.
Diamondbacks begin rebuilding rotation
Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly are free agents, Corbin Burnes is recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the Arizona Diamondbacks have two months until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
So, it’s time to start rebuilding the rotation.
The rebuild began on Monday with the Diamondbacks signing Mike Soroka to a one-year deal. Although Soroka has been at his best coming out of the bullpen — .704 opponents’ OPS as a starter, .584 as a reliever — the Arizona Republic reported that Soroka will be a starter. He’ll slot into the rotation with Eduardo Rodriguez, Ryne Nelson and Brandon Pfaadt. Burnes had surgery in June and could return in the second half.
Nationals at center of trade market
This winter’s free agent market has been slow to develop, but the trade market has been busy, and the Washington Nationals are in the crosshairs of eager teams. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon reported this afternoon that the Nationals are being “pushed aggressively” in trade talks for shortstop CJ Abrams. That’s on top of previously reported, widespread interest in starter MacKenzie Gore.
Abrams, 25, is in his first year of arbitration eligibility, meaning he comes with three more years of team control. If the Nationals make him available, he would be a standout in a market otherwise light on shortstops.
Gore, 26, has two more years of team control and is coming off a career-best season. The free agent market is deep in starters, but light on high-upside aces. Starters Sonny Gray, Grayson Rodriguez and Johan Oviedo have already been traded this winter, while Gore, Freddy Peralta, Sandy Alcantara and Mitch Keller are among other proven starters who could be dealt.
Astros showing interest in Rays’ starter Baz
The Houston Astros lost Framber Valdez to free agency and Luis Garcia to injury. Their search for rotation replacements has landed on a homegrown target. Well, sort of.
Chandler Rome and Rosenthal reported late Wednesday that the Astros have inquired about trading for Rays starter Shane Baz, a Houston native. Baz, 26, is in his first year of arbitration eligibility and had a 4.87 ERA in 31 starts last season.
Some sources suggested a finalized deal for Baz is unlikely, but he’s one of multiple rotation targets the Astros have considered on the trade market.
Tigers sign Anderson after breakout in Korea
The Detroit Tigers might have rounded out their rotation on Monday by signing 31-year-old Drew Anderson to a one-year, $7-million deal. The contract includes a $10-million option for 2027.
After brief big league stints in his mid-20s, Anderson spent the past four seasons in Japan and Korea and had a standout 2025 season with a 2.25 ERA in 30 starts for the Korean SSG Landers.
Assuming the Tigers keep Skubal as their ace, they could use Anderson to fill out their rotation alongside Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Reese Olson and a handful of younger options.
Dodgers say Hernández trade unlikely
The free agent market is relatively light on impact outfielders, and Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernández’s name has come up in trade conversations. Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes, though, said Monday that a Hernández deal is unlikely.
“Not something we anticipate at all,” Gomes said.
Hernández has two years remaining on a three-year, $66-million contract.
Mattingly could join son Preston in Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Phillies are among the many teams that seem to be in a holding pattern while the free agent market is slow to pick up steam. Matt Gelb reported at the start of Day 1 that the Phillies are “willing to wait” while Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto test the market.
But the Phillies could on the verge of an addition.
Charlotte Varnes reported Monday that the Phillies are working toward a deal to hire Don Mattingly as their new bench coach. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski acknowledged mutual interest in a deal.
Mattingly, a New York Yankees icon of the 1980s who went to the World Series as the Toronto Blue Jays bench coach last season, is the father of Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly.
Crochet unlikely to pitch in WBC
Aaron Judge, Paul Skenes, Cal Raleigh and Bobby Witt Jr. have committed to play for Team USA in next year’s World Baseball Classic, but Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet is not expected to join them.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Monday that he’s not expecting Crochet to participate in the WBC. Nor does Breslow expect standout rookie Roman Anthony to participate, but he said there’s still a chance Masataka Yoshida (Team Japan) and Marcelo Mayer (Team Mexico) might play in the spring tournament.
Rockies open to adding first baseman
Coming off a 119-loss season, the Colorado Rockies have very few positions settled on their roster. New manager Warren Schaeffer on Monday listed just three: catcher (Hunter Goodman), shortstop (Ezequiel Tovar), and center field (Brenton Doyle). Otherwise, Schaeffer expects competition everywhere.
But he acknowledged being in the market for a full-time first baseman after the team non-tendered Michael Toglia in November. The free agent market is deep at first base, giving the Rockies ample opportunity to sign an everyday solution.
“I think we can’t put a roof on anything we’re trying to do right now, Schaeffer said. “I think that’s absolutely a possibility.”
Tigers to play in Dominican Republic
With a mid-Monday press conference featuring Albert Pujols and Nelson Cruz, Major League Baseball announced on Monday that the Detroit Tigers will play a two-game exhibition series March 3 and 4 in the Dominican Republic. The Tigers will face the Dominican Republic National Team as it prepares for the World Baseball Classic. Pujols is the manager and Cruz the general manager of the D.R. team. The exhibition games will honor victims of an April roof collapse at the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo. Among the victims was former MLB reliever Octavio Dotel, who finished his career with the Tigers in 2013.
