MLB Trade Rumors Podcast

Anthony Franco joins Darragh McDonald to discuss Kevin McGonigle getting an even bigger extension than Konnor Griffin, the Padres reported valuation of $3.9 billion and whether it will affect CBA negotiations later this year, and how Edwin Diaz missing extended time will affect the Dodgers. Listener question topics include how the Braves are thriving despite the injuries in their rotation, if Michael Wacha can continue his dominant performance, if the Reds will continue to play struggling players like TJ Friedl and Matt McLain, and whether the Nationals' offense is for real.

Steve Adams joins Darragh McDonald to discuss the Blue Jays acquiring Lenyn Sosa from the White Sox to bolster their depth, the flood of injuries for the Astros as well as the teams' poor start, the Cubs' Cade Horton needing UCL surgery and the shaky state of their rotation, and the mounting injuries that the Orioles are facing with Adley Rutschman and Zach Eflin being two of the latest to hit the IL. Listener question topics include why Konnor Griffin was willing to sign such a long contract extension, whether his discipline will be a long-term concern, why so many good hitters are off to slow starts, and whether Jakob Junis will be able to keep the closer job in Texas.

Anthony Franco joins Darragh McDonald to discuss the site's first edition of the 2026-27 Free Agent Power Rankings. Topics include how big Tarik Skubal's contract could get, some safe bets like Freddy Peralta and Bo Bichette, and some guys with wide error bars like Jazz Chisholm, Trevor Rogers, Kris Bubic, Michael King and Dalton Varsho. They also discuss Konnor Griffin's debut and talks of an extension.

Steve Adams and Anthony Franco both join Darragh McDonald for an offseason recap, but they first discuss a string of extensions, including Colt Emerson with the Mariners, Cooper Pratt with the Brewers (reported), Shane Baz with the Orioles, Nico Hoerner with the Cubs as well as the terms of the Pete Crow-Armstrong deal. After that, they have a big-picture conversation to recap the offseason and set the table for 2026. Topics include teams being more cautious about signing international free agents, chances of a lockout next year, how TV contracts will play out in the future, the trend of stars taking short-term deals, MLB's untenable financial situation, which teams they expect to be dominant, how PPI has led to earlier call-ups, and the fun that ABS is already providing.

The PCA and Sanchez Extensions, And Prospect Promotions And Demotions Anthony Franco joins Darragh McDonald to discuss Pete Crow-Armostrong's extension with the Cubs, the Phillies further extending Christopher Sanchez and how they have most of their rotation now locked up long term, Spencer Strider starting the season on the IL, the trend of teams putting rotation candidates into the rotation rather than Triple-A, the Nationals sending both Dylan Crews and Harry Ford down to the minors, some exciting prospect promotions, including the Mets' Carson Benge, the Cardinals' JJ Weatherholt, Konnor Griffin and Travis Bazzana not making their respective opening day rosters, where the Blue Jays' rotation stands with Jose Berrios, Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber all starting the year on the IL, and Braxton Garrett getting optioned.

Steve Adams joins Darragh McDonald to discuss what makes the World Baseball Classic so great, how Hunter Greene's elbow surgery will affect the Reds, if the Braves should address their roster holes by trading for Jarren Duran or signing Lucas Giolito, if Kevin McGonigle could break camp with the Tigers, and young Twins, Mariners and Cardinals pitchers who are turning heads in spring training.

Anthony Franco joins Darragh McDonald to discuss Jesús Luzardo's five-year extension with Philadelphia, how the Phillies' outfield will look while Johan Rojas misses time due to a PED suspension, Jurickson Profar's second PED suspension in the past two years, if the Braves have enough depth to get through the season, Zack Littell signing with the Nationals, a trade that sent Kyle Nicolas to the Reds Tyler Callihan to the Pirates, Andrew McCutchen settling for a minor league deal with the Rangers, and whether Jeremy Pena's finger injury makes it less likely for the Astros to trade Issac Paredes.

Steve Adams joins Darragh McDonald to discuss how Max Scherzer fits into the Blue Jays' crowded rotation mix, some ways to increase parity other than a salary cap and floor system, if the Yankees have a tendency of holding on to their prospects for too long, whether Boston's lineup has enough power, if Masataka Yoshida could still get traded, and which players could get a contract extension before the season starts. baseball, MLB, Blue Jays, Yankees, Red Sox, Pirates, Athletics, White Sox, Brewers

Steve Adams joins Darragh McDonald to discuss Pablo Lopez's UCL injury and what it means for the Twins' roster, how the Orioles will deal with injuries to Jordan Westburg and Jackson Holliday, the Guardians signing Rhys Hoskins to a minor league deal and their surprising lack of offensive moves this offseason, Angels owner Arte Moreno's comments about how fans don't care about winning, Chris Sale's extension with the Braves, and the interesting details that led Tony Clark to resign as leader of the MLB Players Association.

Anthony Franco joins Darragh McDonald to discuss Tarik Skubal's landmark arbitration decision, the Tigers signing Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander, the six-player trade between the Red Sox and Brewers that included Caleb Durbin, the Orioles signing Chris Bassitt to a one-year deal, whether Jackson Holliday's hamate surgery will change the team's plans, Arizona re-signing Zac Gallen, some factors that could help the Diamondbacks get better as the season goes on, whether the Braves will make a rotation move on the heels of some pitching injuries, and the initial report that MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark resigned.

Steve Adams joins Darragh McDonald to discuss the surprising news that Twins President Derek Falvey and the team mutually parted ways, the three-team trade that sent Brendon Donovan to the Mariners, prospects and draft picks to the Cardinals, and Ben Williamson to the Rays. Also, Eugenio Suarez signing a one-year deal to return to Cincinnati, what hitters are still available for the Pirates to bring in, the Giants signing Luis Arraez and Harrison Bader, the White Sox taking on the contract of Jordan Hicks to get Boston to throw in a prospect, Jacob Wilson’s extension with the Athletics, and the insurance issues that are keeping some players from participating in the World Baseball Classic.

MLBTR founder Tim Dierkes joins Darragh McDonald to discuss his recent post on the site and about whether a salary cap could be implemented, the potential of increasing revenue sharing, if deferrals should be limited, and how the players and owners could reach a compromise. Other topics include Cody Bellinger's five-year deal to stay in New York, the possibility of the Yankees trading Jasson Dominguez, the Mets acquiring Freddy Peralta from the Brewers and Luis Robert Jr. from the White Sox, the Rangers trading five prospects for MacKenzie Gore, and what moves the Nationals could make next.

In the wake of the Dodgers signing Kyle Tucker and the Mets signing Bo Bichette, Steve Adams and Anthony Franco both join Darragh McDonald to discuss whether it will be a new trend for stars to seek out short-term deals and whether a salary cap is the best way to solve baseball's parity issues. They also talk about how Bichette fits on the Mets' roster, whether the team will now trade for outfield help, and how the front office seemingly doesn't care as much about defense as they previously stated. Other topics include the deal that sent Nolan Arenado to the Diamondbacks, whether Brandon Donovan and JoJo Romero could still get traded this offseason, the Red Sox pivoting to Ranger Suarez after Alex Bregman signed elsewhere, and whether Boston will trade for an infielder.

Anthony Franco joins Darragh McDonald to discuss the Cubs trading the Marlins for Eduard Cabrera, signing Alex Bregman to a five-year deal, and whether they will now trade Nico Hoerner or Matt Shaw. Other topics include what the Red Sox will do after missing out on Bregman, where Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette and Cody Bellinger could end up, the $13 million difference in the arbitration numbers filed by the Tigers and Tarik Skubal, what the ramifications will be of that outcome could be, and how the current CBA led Ryan Mountcastle to settle for a team-friendly deal to avoid arbitration.

Steve Adams joins Darragh McDonald to discuss Tatsuya Imai signing with Houston on a deal with multiple opt outs, Kazuma Okamoto landing a big deal and how he will fit on the Blue Jays' roster, the Pirates signing Ryan O'Hearn and if they will still acquire a huge free agent, and whether the Giants are good enough to compete.

Anthony Franco joins Darragh McDonald to discuss a three-way trade headlined by Brandon Lowe to Pittsburgh, Mike Burrows to Houston and Tampa Bay acquiring prospects. Other topics include the recent Shane Baz trade, whether the Rays plan on competing in 2026, why the Orioles gave up so much to acquire Baz, what led Munetaka Murakami to settle for a two-year deal with the White Sox, the Cardinals trading Willson Contreras to the Red Sox, whether Boston will sign a big free agent, Michael King's three-year deal with the Padres, and the Mets sending Jeff McNeil to the A's.

Steve Adams joins Darragh McDonald to discuss the Mets' interesting decision to sign Jorge Polanco to replace Pete Alonso at first base despite him never having played the position, the Braves signing Robert Suarez, Mike Yastrzemski, and Ha-Seong Kim, the Blue Jays paying high prices for Tyler Rogers and Cody Ponce, the Royals signing Lane Thomas, trading Angel Zerpa for Issac Collins and Nick Mears, and extending Maikel Garcia, the Tigers signing veteran relievers Kyle Finnegan and Kenley Jansen as well as Drew Anderson who has been pitching overseas.

Anthony Franco joins Darragh McDonald to discuss the news from the Winter Meetings. Topics include the Phillies resigning Kyle Schwarber, how Pete Alonso fits on the Orioles' roster, the Pirates making big offers to free agents, how the the Reds will pivot after missing out on Schwarber, Edwin Diaz's deal with the Dodgers, what the Mets will do after losing so many of their key players, the Nationals trading reliever Jose Ferrer to the Mariners for top catching prospect Harry Ford, and the Twins deciding to hold onto their trade chips and try to compete next year.

B.B. Abbott, an executive vice president at Wasserman, joins Darragh McDonald to discuss the process of free agency from the perspective of the agent, including who makes the first call, how much bluffing goes on when talking to front offices, why he doesn't like to leak stories to the media, what industry members think of MLBTR's free-agent predictions and other media speculation, how involved players are during negotiations, the different ways that contract extensions can come together, Zack Wheeler's recovery, how data has changed the draft, and the current state of baseball as a whole. Then Anthony Franco joins to go over the week's news, including Dylan Cease's big contract with the Blue Jays, the Mets seemingly buying low on Devin Williams, the Orioles hoping for a bounce back from Ryan Helsley, and the Red Sox acquiring Sonny Gray.

Anthony Franco joins Darragh McDonald to discuss the Mets trading Brandon Nimmo to The Rangers for Marcus Semien and what moves those teams could make next, why the Orioles sent Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels for Taylor Ward, what last week's signing of Josh Naylor means for the Mariners moving forward, if the Braves will play Mauricio Dubon at shortstop or still look to bring back Ha-Seong Kim, some surprising players that were tendered contracts, and what players accepting qualifying offers says about the free-agent market and a potential lockout next year.