FanGraph’s Weekly Mailbag: December 13, 2025

Compared to last year, when we saw several players sign record-breaking contracts, this week’s Winter Meetings were rather tame. That doesn’t mean it was boring or that nothing happened. Edwin Diaz turned down an offer to re-sign with the Mets for more money because he wanted to pitch for the Dodgers. Kyle Schwarber returned to the Phillies on a five-year contract worth $150 million, a huge deal considering he’s a DH who turns 33 in March. Pete Alonso drove from his home in Tampa to Orlando to meet with several suitors and then signed a five-year, $155 million deal with the Orioles; the Mets, the team for whom he spent his first seven seasons and set the franchise home run record, did not extend a contract offer to him. Several smaller movements also took place. Michael Soroka joined the Diamondbacks on a one-year contract, and Steven Matz signed with the Rays for two years. The Tigers came back Kyle Finnegan on a two-year, $19 million contract, and the Pirates became the latest team to believe they could work it out Gregory Sotosigning him for one year and $7.75 million. The Braves added an outfielder Mike Yastrzemski on Wednesday evening.

However, the fun didn’t stop when the Winter Meetings did. On Thursday, while most of us at FanGraphs were flying home, the Braves signed a reliever Robert Suarez for three years and $45 million. And then on Friday the Blue Jays and Tyler Rogers agreed a three-year, $37 million dealwith a vesting option for a fourth year.

We won’t discuss these moves, or any others made this week, in this column. You can find them in Jon Becker’s latest Matrix Reloaded. Instead, today we’re answering your questions about players with more All-Star appearances than Career WAR, the ABS challenge system, Shohei Ohtani’s World Series Game 3 performance, and more. But before we do, I want to remind you that this mailbag is exclusive to FanGraphs members. If you are not yet a member and would like to read more, you can register for membership here. It’s the best way to experience the site and support our employees, and it comes with a lot of other great benefits. If you would like to ask about an upcoming mailbag, please email me at mailbag@fangraphs.com.