Major League Baseball is about a week-and-a-half away from seeing camps open up across Florida and Arizona in preparation for the exhibition season. This interim period, then, is the perfect time for clubs to apply the finishing touches to their rosters. What will Monday bring? Below, CBS Sports has gathered all of the day’s most notable news, moves, and rumors in one spot for your reading convenience.
Tigers still in on Bregman
The Tigers made a splash on Sunday night, reuniting with right-handed starter Jack Flaherty on a two-year pact that contains an opt-out clause after the first season. Detroit may not be done with its late-winter shopping, either. According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Tigers remain interested in adding Alex Bregman to their roster.
Bregman entered the offseason ranked by CBS Sports as the No. 3 free agent in the land. Here’s what we wrote at the time:
Bregman has been one of the most productive third basemen in the sport for much of his career. He’s compiled the sixth-most WAR at the position since 2020, putting him ahead of Rafael Devers and behind only the who’s who of this era’s third basemen. He’s had a terrific career to date. Yet this exercise is, in part, about looking forward. The more we dug in on Bregman, the more we developed reservations about his bat. There’s no denying his feel for contact but we’re not as confident about the other elements. For instance, Statcast’s calculations suggest he would have at least 30 fewer career home runs had he hit the same array of batted balls in one of 17 other MLB fields. You can’t hold that against Bregman — you golf the course you’re on — but it does suggest his power might play down elsewhere. There’s also the matter of his walk rate, which cratered to a career-low 6.9% last season as he grew more aggressive. Bregman’s bat-to-ball and defensive skills remain good enough for him to provide value; there’s just a little more reason to say “hm” here than his name value indicates.
The Tigers, an obvious fit given manager A.J. Hinch’s history with Bregman, have already added one other veteran infielder to their ranks this winter, in Gleyber Torres. As it stands, Detroit is expected to deploy Jace Jung at third base and Colt Keith at first.
Bregman is known to be of interest to several teams in addition to the Tigers, including the Astros (who recently traded high-leverage reliever Ryan Pressly to clear up their financial picture), Red Sox, and Cubs.
Yankees add Carrasco
The Yankees have signed veteran right-hander Carlos Carrasco to a minor-league deal, according to Jack Curry of YES Network. Carrasco, 37, posted a 72 ERA+ across 21 starts with the Guardians in 2024. He was a league-average starter or better as recently as 2022, but the last two seasons haven’t been kind to him. Carrasco — who is returning to New York after spending the 2021-2023 seasons with the Mets — figures to serve as depth.
Rays obtain Faedo
The Rays have acquired righty reliever Alex Faedo from the Tigers in exchange for minor-league catcher Enderson Delgado and cash, according to ESPN. Faedo, who possesses a quality slider, notched a 113 ERA+ last season across 37 appearances (only six of them starts). He’s a former first-round pick who figures to compete for a spot on Tampa Bay’s Opening Day roster.
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