It’s Friday again and it’s time for the first abbreviated Matrix Reloaded in a long time — there wasn’t even a trade this week! The sound you hear is Meg breathing a sigh of relief. Once we run out of meaningful trades and I declare the offseason officially over, I’ll go over some fun summary stats, but in the meantime, you can check them out at the bottom of the page. Matrix.
Free agent signatures
Since the market has been reduced to so few free agents, I’ll go through last week’s signings in one big section, and then I’ll touch on who’s left in the very limited pool at the bottom.
Diamondbacks sign Zac Gallen for one year, $22.025 million ($14.025 million deferred)
The Diamondbacks’ rotation certainly looked full, if still thin, before Gallen returned to Phoenix in the eleventh hour. Michael Soroka signed a one-year contract at the Winter Meetings Merrill Kelly returned shortly afterwards and gave the Snakes a quintet of Kelly, Soroka, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon PfaadtAnd Ryne Nelsonof Corbin Burnes on track to possibly return sometime around the All-Star break.
But as the offseason progressed and Gallen languished on the market, two things became clear: the Diamondbacks were still interested in figuring out a way to bring him back, and the qualifying offer had far more impact on him than any other free agent who received one. Gallen’s performance in 2024-2025 was that of someone for whom a cushion contract would make sense, but why would a team give up a draft pick for just one year of him? And why would Gallen sign for more than a year if the average annual deal value was the same unacceptable?
If all six of the club’s starters start the season healthy, the Diamondbacks can either implement a six-man rotation or move Soroka to the bullpen, where he has gained experience like he did last season. Are incentives are structured to be accessible even if he ends up in the bullpen all year; he could earn a maximum of $2 million if he makes 50 relief appearances or 25 starts.
You are not a FanGraphs member
It looks like you are not yet a FanGraphs member (or not logged in). We are not angry, just disappointed.
We get it. You want to read this article. But before we get back to it, we’d like to point out some good reasons why you should become a member.
1. Ad-free viewing! We won’t bother you with this ad or any other.
2. Unlimited items! Non-members may only read 10 free articles per month. Members are never cut off.
3. Dark Mode and Classic Mode!
4. Custom dashboards for player pages! Choose the player cards you want, in the order you want them.
5. One-click data export! Export our projections and scoreboards for your personal projects.
6. Delete the photos on the homepage! (Honestly, this doesn’t sound that great to us, but some people wanted it, and we like to give our members what they want.)
7. More Steamer Projections! We have handedness, percentile, and context-neutral projections available to members only.
8. Receive FanGraphs Walk-Off, a customized end-of-year overview! Find out exactly how you used FanGraphs this year, and how it compares to other members. Don’t be a victim of FOMO.
9. A weekly mailbag column, exclusively for members.
10. Help support FanGraphs and our entire staff! Our members provide us with crucial resources to improve the site and deliver new features!
We hope you’ll consider a membership today, for yourself or as a gift! And we realize this has been a really long sales pitch, so we’ve also removed all other ads in this article. We didn’t want to overdo it.
Parents sign Canning griffin ($2.5 million) and German Marquez ($1.75 million) to one-year deals
With these two arms and Walker Buhlerwho signed a minor league contract the day after Márquez and Canning agreed to terms, the competition for the back end of the Padres rotation will be interesting to say the least. Canning should get a job as soon as he returns from his torn Achilles tendon; He is expected to return after the start of the season. Then Máquez, Buehler, Randy Vasquez, Matt Waldron, JP SearsAnd Kyle Hart for two places that could shrink into one. Complicating matters is that Vásquez and Waldron are out of options, though either or both could find a spot in the bullpen.
Brewers sign Luis Rengifo for one year, $3.5 million
Well, here is the counter-movement against trading Caleb Durbin away. Rengifo’s 2025 was his peak as a big leaguer, with 147 games and 541 at-bats across six positions, with most of his time at third and second base. It was also one of his worst performances: his wRC+ was 73, and he struggled defensively at the hot corner, the position he is expected to fill for the Brewers. But he’s still young (he turns 29 on Feb. 26), he’s a hit changer, and he was 11% above average with the bat from 2022-24. The Brewers’ starting infield has now been reconfigured with Durbin gone; it will be Rengifo, Joey Ortiz, Brice TurangAnd Andreas Vaughn from left to right.
Cubs sign Shelby Miller for two years, $2.5 million
Miller has reinvented himself as a rock-solid reliever, posting a 3.29 ERA and 3.75 FIP in 150.2 innings pitched between the Giants, Dodgers, Tigers, Diamondbacks and Brewers since 2022. That streak ended with a torn UCL at the very end of last season, which is expected to keep him out for all of 2026. a cheap salary for 2027; the Cubs rebuilt their bullpen this offseason with a number of one-year rentals, so it’s good to have a reinforcement already under contract, along with Daniel Palencia And Phil Maton.
Parents sign Nick Castellanos for one year: $780,000
I don’t think Castellanos is guaranteed a spot on opening day, nor should he be. He was awful last year, and it’s not like the Padres have any financial motivation to keep him since they only owe him the league minimum salary. In fact, he could become redundant on a roster that already exists Miguel Andujar as a poor fielding right fielder and the first baseman added that Ty France except for a minor league deal after a nice season. It is not completely excluded that all three end up on the roster; there are probably two spots for Castellanos, France and the out-of-options Bryce Johnson.
Giant sign Rowan Wick for one year ($TBA)
Wick was fantastic for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the KBO last year, posting a microscopic 0.84 ERA and 1.39 FIP in 42.2 innings. Unfortunately, that season ended with an elbow injury and Wick went under the knife in November. He will miss all of 2026 as he recovers from the UCL rebuild, but the Giants have a club option for 2027 and appear certain to exercise it, assuming there are no hiccups in his rehab.
Best remaining free agents
There are very few impact players left to be signed, and only two – Luke Giolito And Zack Littell – seem confident of getting big league deals before opening day. Here is a list of the remaining notable names, grouped by position:
- Starting pitchers: Giolito, Littell, Max Scherzer, Patrick Korbin, Tyler Anderson
- Relief pitchers: Justin Wilson, Danny Coulombe, Michael Kopech, Jalen Beeks, Tommy Kahnle, José Leclerc
- Catchers: Christian Vazquez
- Infielders: Rhys Hoskins, Ramón Urias, Luis Urias, Thairo Estrada, DJ LeMahieu, Justin Turner
- Outfielders: Starling Marte, Tommy Pham, Andrew McCutchen, Randal Grichuk, Michael Conforto
#Matrix #reloaded #February