Grading Pete Alonso to Orioles and Every MLB Free-Agency Signing from Winter Meetings
Major League Baseball's 2025 winter meetings in Orlando, Florida have concluded, and we've got grades for every free-agent signing that went down.
Though often a transactions-heavy few days, it was quality over quantity this year. There wasn't a single trade involving a player who appeared in an MLB game in 2025, and a grand total of just eight free agents signed new contracts between Sunday morning and Wednesday night.
Within those eight, though, three massive dominoes fell with Kyle Schwarber staying in Philadelphia while Pete Alonso and Edwin Díaz are both officially no longer New York Mets.
Players are presented in chronological order of when the signings were reported.
Mike Soroka Signs with the Arizona Diamondbacks
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The Specifics: RHP Mike Soroka signs one-year, $7.5M contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks
The Grade: B-plus
Whether the Diamondbacks manage to re-sign Zac Gallen or not, they definitely need arms for their 2026 rotation, and inexpensive arms at that.
Mike Soroka fits the bill there.
He comes with an injury history that is a few miles long. However, beggars can't be choosers at this price point, and at least he costs less than the $9 million salary that he got from Washington this past season.
When healthy, though, he can still be a respectable back-of-the-rotation arm, going at least five innings in 12 of his 16 starts with the Nationals in 2025. He also had a 4.16 FIP and 9.6 K/9 to show for it, which, for the record, bests Michael King's 2025 marks of 4.42 and 9.3, respectively.
And if the Snakes happen to trade Ketel Marte for a few young starters and suddenly find themselves with a surplus of options for the rotation, the bullpen might be an even better home for Soroka anyway. He had a 2.34 ERA in his 21 relief appearances over the past two seasons and could be a solid middle reliever who gets the occasional spot start.
Steven Matz Signs with the Tampa Bay Rays
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The Specifics: LHP Steven Matz signs two-year, $15M contract with the Tampa Bay Rays
The Grade: B-minus
Steven Matz spent the majority of last season pitching out of the bullpen, finishing the year with a 3.05 ERA in 76.2 innings of work.
However, the initial expectation with this two-year deal is that he will return to a starting role with the Rays, who don't know if or when former ace Shane McClanahan will be able to pitch again.
As with Mike Soroka, there's a considerable injury history with Matz, who averaged just 66 innings pitched per season from 2022-24 while making a combined total of 34 starts.
What else is new for Tampa Bay, though, which has gotten some great work out of the injury-prone Drew Rasmussen and Tyler Glasnow in recent years?
If they can find a way to keep Matz healthy, history suggests he is easily worth the $7.5 million salary. In the five seasons in which he has logged at least 100 innings, his ERA has ranged from 3.40 to 4.21. Even if he ends up on the high end of that range, both George Kirby and Matthew Liberatore had solid 2025 campaigns at that mark.
Kyle Schwarber Stays with Philadelphia Phillies
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The Specifics: DH Kyle Schwarber signs five-year, $150M contract to remain with the Philadelphia Phillies
The Grade: B-plus
To the surprise of no one, Schwarber is sticking with the Phillies.
The Red Sox, Mets, Giants, Reds and Pirates were all mentioned over the past few weeks as viable suitors for the slugger's services, but those reports always had some sort of "however, the general consensus remains he will re-sign with the Phillies" note within them.
Did all of those teams getting involved drive up the price tag, though?
It's tough to say, because there's not much of a precedent with Schwarber for comparison's sake. But probably not.
When I made way-too-early free-agency predictions in early August, Schwarber was the one marquee player Spotrac didn't even have a market value estimate for, because DH-only sluggers who are mashing better than ever at the age of 32 aren't exactly commonplace.
My guess at the time was that he would stay in Philly on a four-year, $140 million deal. The industry consensus by the time the offseason began was more in the four-year, $120 million range.
So, maybe the Pirates' reported four-year offer and the other general interest around the league forced the Phillies to include a fifth year to get the deal done, but the AAV still landed pretty much right where it was projected more than a month ago.
Now the big question becomes: What else can Philadelphia afford to do?
Getting Schwarber to stay was huge, but they're already looking at an estimated payroll north of $270 million and have thus far done nothing to address the departures of Ranger Suárez, J.T. Realmuto, Harrison Bader, Max Kepler and David Robertson.
For now, they're basically a one year older, much less complete version of the team that has blown it in the NLDS in back-to-back Octobers. How they now fix that will ultimately determine whether re-upping with Schwarber was actually the right call.
Edwin Díaz Signs with Los Angeles Dodgers
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The Specifics: RHP Edwin Díaz signs three-year, $69M contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers
The Grade: A
On Sunday morning, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reported that Dodgers' president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman suggested the team had "not as much heavy lifting required" this offseason; that they were less likely to sign an aging star to a massive deal than they had been in years past.
Furthermore, despite recent reports connecting the Dodgers to Robert Suarez and Edwin Díaz, Friedman expressed confidence in closer Tanner Scott playing a "huge part" for them in 2026.
By Tuesday morning, though, the Dodgers had signed Díaz to the highest AAV for a reliever in MLB history, giving him $23 million per year for three seasons.
That they were able to get him on a three-year deal instead of a five-year deal—and without their patented deferrals-heavy approach—does support the notion that they are rethinking the way they financially construct their roster this winter and actually might not be seriously in the Kyle Tucker market. TBD on that front, of course.
Meanwhile, The New York Post's Joel Sherman reported after the deal was done that the Mets' offer to Díaz was three years for $66 million with "modest deferrals" and "wiggle room to go higher." Evidently, though, his mind was made up on joining the Dodgers and competing with Scott for saves instead of staying in New York and competing with Devin Williams for saves.
Mets fans are, understandably, livid with the news, but it's another big offseason win for the Dodgers, who appear to have shored up their Achilles' heel with the best option available.
Gregory Soto Signs with the Pittsburgh Pirates
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The Specifics: LHP Gregory Soto signs one-year, $7.75M contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates
The Grade: B-minus
Independent of any other Pittsburgh-based narratives, this was a nice pick-up for the Pirates.
They desperately needed a left-handed reliever, entering the winter meetings with Evan Sisk and Hunter Barco as the only southpaws on the 40-man roster, with a grand total of 20.2 innings pitched at the MLB level between them. And though he has had an ERA north of 4.00 in each of the past three seasons, Soto was arguably the best left-handed free-agent pitcher this winter.
However, after all that talk about the Pirates being willing to spend like never before and trying to sign Kyle Schwarber or trade for Ketel Marte, this biggest move thus far is precisely the type of biggest move we've come to expect of this franchise: a one-year investment of between $5 million-$11 million in a buy-low free agent.
There's still time, of course, and plenty of noteworthy players still available to be signed. And if they eventually sign any free agent to a multi-year deal, it would be the first time they've done so since December 2016.
If you expected Pittsburgh to make a big splash at the winter meetings, though, right about now you're probably feeling like you got duped.
Kyle Finnegan Re-Signs with the Detroit Tigers
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The Specifics: RHP Kyle Finnegan signs two-year, $19M contract with the Detroit Tigers
The Grade: D-plus
Last winter, the Washington Nationals chose to non-tender Kyle Finnegan, rather than paying him what was expected to be around an $8 million salary in his final year of arbitration eligibility. And there he sat as a free agent for more than three months before finally re-signing with the Nats for $6 million in late February.
But after a fourth consecutive season in which he was worth either 0.9 or 1.0 bWAR, Finnegan got a 58 percent pay raise on a two-year deal to remain with the Tigers, who acquired him via trade in late July.
No doubt, he had an incredible August with Detroit, logging 11.1 scoreless innings with three wins, four saves and a hold. Considering the Tigers got the AL's No. 6 seed in a tiebreaker over Houston, one could easily argue they would've missed the playoffs if they hadn't made that trade.
However, this felt like an "Uh oh, relievers are flying off the board left and right, and we need to make sure we do something about our bullpen" sort of overpay for a borderline closer who allowed an earned run in each of his final three appearances of the ALDS.
Time will tell if it was a good investment, but was this move mercifully the end of the Tarik Skubal trade speculation? Teams preparing for a rebuilding year typically don't throw $19 million at relievers.
Pete Alonso Signs with the Baltimore Orioles
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The Specifics: 1B Pete Alonso signs five-year, $155M contract with the Baltimore Orioles
The Grade: A
Before Kyle Schwarber re-signed with the Phillies for $150 million, the Orioles reportedly extended him the same offer.
Not to be deterred, the O's got right back in the negotiating saddle and offered to pay Pete Alonso $1 million per year more than they offered Schwarber, and the Polar Bear accepted.
Truth be told, this is a stunner for two reasons.
First off, the Orioles spent almost as much on a single free agent as they spent on all free agents over the past five offseasons combined ($155.9 million). We're still waiting to see if the Marlins, Pirates and Reds will spend more than usual, but at least one small-market club has actually put its money where its mouth is.
More stunning, though, is the fact that Baltimore made that big splash not on an ace, but on the one thing you would think they'd be afraid to spend serious money on: a first baseman whose primary skill is homering.
Over the past four seasons, Alonso (who turned 31 a few days ago) has hit .251/.337/.501 with 158 home runs. But that's a stat line mighty similar to what Chris Davis hit (.256/.342/.533 with 159 home runs) in the four years before he signed his $161 million contract with Baltimore, two months before turning 30.
Just got to hope this one goes better than the last one (that they're still going to be paying off for more than another decade), right?
Bonus points to the Orioles for kind of screwing over a division rival, too. There's still time for the Red Sox to figure out their first-base situation, but all signs seemed to be pointing toward Alonso landing in Boston. (Maybe Baltimore flips them Ryan Mountcastle now?)
And MLB Network's Jon Morosi said Wednesday night the O's aren't done making splashes yet, still trying to sign Framber Valdez or trade for MacKenzie Gore.
Mike Yastrzemski Signs with Atlanta Braves
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The Specifics: OF Mike Yastrzemski signs two-year, $23M contract (with an option for 2028) with the Atlanta Braves
The Grade: B-plus
Between six-and-a-half seasons with San Francisco and a few months in Kansas City this past summer, Mike Yastrzemski has had the misfortune of spending his entire MLB career playing home games in parks that simply aren't great for left-handed slugging, homering about 33 percent more often on the road than he has at home.
And yet, he has been a model of better-than-average consistency, worth between 2.0 and 2.8 bWAR in each season of his career, always hitting pretty well against right-handed pitching, and able to play any of the three outfield positions.
That flexibility will be huge for an Atlanta team that has a starting outfield of Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II and Jurickson Profar in place, but no outfield depth and no full-time DH now with Marcell Ozuna out of the picture.
Now, in a perfect, fully-healthy world, Acuña starts 162 games, but maybe gets the occasional day "off" at DH with Yaz starting in right. Meanwhile, Harris, Profar, Yaz and the catching tandem of Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin each make around 130 starts via a six-way split at DH, with a solid bat always available off the bench.
However, the perfect, fully-healthy world hasn't even remotely been the case for Atlanta over the past two seasons, so, more than anything, Yaz is injury insurance at a reasonable price in a market that is pretty weak on outfielders beyond the big two of Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger.
For what it's worth, Statcast home runs by park puts Yastrzemski for his career at 96 in San Francisco, 89 in Kansas City and 122 in Atlanta. He might enjoy a slight spike in dingers, even at the age of 35.
