#40-man-roster

#40-man-roster

The Los Angeles Dodgers made their first trade of the offseason Monday, shipping outfielder Esteury Ruiz to the Miami Marlins in exchange for 18-year-old outfielder Adriano Marrero. Ruiz played a minimal role with the Dodgers in 2025, having joined the team in April after the Athletics put him on waivers. He played 19 games with the Dodgers, slashing .190/.261/.333 while going a perfect 4-for-4 on steal attempts.

When a team designates a player for assignment, he is removed from that club's 40-man roster. The team then has a period of time with some ability to impact what is next for that player. This is colloquially referred to as "DFA limbo". The team can trade the player to another club, unless the trade deadline has passed and the new offseason has not yet begun. The team can also place the player on outright or release waivers.

The Dodgers announced that they have claimed outfielder Michael Siani off waivers from the Braves.

The Marlins are going to send right-hander Zach Brzykcy outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com.

The Orioles have claimed outfielder Will Robertson off waivers from the Pirates, according to Jake Rill of MLB.com. There wasn't any previous indication Robertson was on the wire but it seems the Bucs tried to sneak him through waivers in order to open a 40-man spot. The Orioles swooped in to grab him, so Pittsburgh loses Robertson but they do open a roster spot, going from 39 to 38.

The Mets have claimed righty Cooper Criswell off waivers from the Red Sox, reports ESPN's Jorge Castillo. Boston designated him for assignment just yesterday as a corresponding move after acquiring Johan Oviedo from the Pirates. (Boston needed 40-man spots for both Oviedo and minor league lefty Tyler Samaniego.) The Mets have not yet announced the claim, but they currently have a pair of 40-man vacancies, so they won't need to make a corresponding move.

However, more surprisingly was the fact that the Blue Jays and GM Ross Atkins chose to keep two spots open on their 40-man roster for potential offseason moves, rather than to protect a couple more promising prospects from the Rule 5 Draft that will be held in December.

The Guardians announced Tuesday that they've designated righty Nic Enright for assignment.

The Reds announced that they have added three players to the 40-man roster. Infielders Edwin Arroyo and Leo Balcazar had their contracts selected from Double-A Chattanooga, while outfielder Hector Rodriguez was selected from Triple-A Louisville. All three are now protected from the Rule 5 Draft. In addition, right-hander Carson Spiers was designated for assignment. The club's 40-man roster now stands at an even 40.

Deadline for qualifying offer decisions: Today's the deadline for players who were extended the qualifying offer to make their decisions on whether to accept the QO or head into free agency encumbered by draft pick compensation. The majority of the 13 players who received a QO will reject it without much thought, but there are a handful of edge cases who could at least consider accepting the one-year, $22.05MM deal rather than testing the open market.

Starting with Bichette, the infielder was always going to receive a qualifying offer, given what he's done throughout his career. Last season, the 27-year-old slashed .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs in 628 plate appearances for a 134 wRC+. He'll surely decline his qualifying offer to become a free agent. If he signs elsewhere, the Blue Jays will receive a draft pick after the fourth round.

Some outlets have already published theirs, but we like to wait until Qualifying Offer decisions have been revealed because they can have such a significant impact on a free agent's market. This makes us a little bit late to the party, but allows us to provide a bit more analysis and (hopefully) more accuracy. It's our biggest post of the year and you should keep an eye out for it later today!