#free-agency

#free-agency

Bregman can opt out of the final two years and $80MM of his contract this offseason. Deferred money in the contract reportedly knocks the present-day valuation of that sum down by around $10MM annually. Even absent the deferrals, Bregman would feel like all but a lock to opt out. He secured that contract last year when he was saddled a qualifying offer, which won't be the case this season, as players can only receive one QO in their careers.

We start with the wild-card round, where the Cincinnati Reds became the first team eliminated from postseason contention -- on the very first day of October, no less -- with a two-game series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The next day, the Cleveland Guardians lost their series to the Detroit Tigers, the San Diego Padres fell to the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox were knocked out by the New York Yankees in a trio of Game 3s.

Odell Beckham Jr. has accepted a six-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, delaying the star wide receiver's comeback attempt.

The Oilers didn't make huge splashes in free agency, with their biggest addition being winger Andrew Mangiapane from Washington and Issac Howard brought in from Tampa Bay. Mangiapane will be a solid option on the wings in the Oilers top nine and has shown in the past that he's capable of a 25 to 30 goal season when put in the right position. Expect to see him used in all situations, and potentially seeing some action on the top line with McDavid throughout the season.

This season did not end the way we hoped, Marte wrote in an Instagram post. Every game we left on the field, every opportunity that slipped away, we felt it just as you did. But also we felt something immense: the unconditional support of every Mets fan. You were the reason we gave everything in every game, the motivation that pushed us to keep going even in the toughest moments.

Bauman said the Sixers' first formal proposal of the offseason came on Sept. 24 -- nearly three months into free agency -- with a four-year, $39 million offer. Days later, Grimes was offered a one-year, $8.8 million deal that gave him $100,000 more than his qualifying offer in order to waive an inherent no-trade clause. Those frameworks were declined, Bauman said, and negotiations never advanced.

The rotation was a natural point of focus, with Elias saying the club wants to add a starter to the front half of its rotation, which could be either a #1, a #2 or a #3. Such distinctions are fairly subjective but the point would be to have another guy capable of slotting in next to Kyle Bradish and Tyler Rogers somewhere in the front half of the rotation.

Many fans were dreaming on the idea of bringing Flaherty in as an arm with ace-level potential who could fit their team's budget, but those hopes and projections did not account for just how concerned rival clubs would be about Flaherty's health status. The Yankees pulled out of a trade that would've allowed them to acquire the righty from the Tigers at last year's deadline due to concerns about his medical records.

This offseason's qualifying offer will be worth approximately $22MM, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The exact figure won't be known for another five or six weeks, though Sherman writes that the final total will probably be a little under $22MM, according to sources within both the league and the players' union. This would track with Sherman's early estimates about the QO in each of the last two seasons - he reported a $20.5MM approximate for 2023-24 that ended up being $20.325MM,

An excellent 5.5% walk rate is Sugano's biggest calling card, but his other metrics have been much shakier. Both Sugano's strikeout rate (15.6%) and barrel rate (11.4%) rank only in the seventh percentile of all pitchers, and only seven pitchers have surrendered more home runs than Sugano's 28 big flies. There's still time for Sugano to improve on these numbers, though keeping the ball in the park will be tricky since his last two starts are scheduled to come against the powerful Yankees.

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Garza, 31, still has a fairly limited big league track record. He has thrown 53 2/3 innings in the majors, but spread out over multiple seasons, having debuted back in 2021. That includes just 6 2/3 innings in 2025. On the whole, he has a 5.70 earned run average, 19.8% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate. His minor league track record is naturally greater in quality and quantity, though he has struggled on the farm this year.

According to a report from hockey insider Frank Seravalli, the Wild had an 8-year, $128 million extension offer turned down by Kaprizov on Tuesday. The proposed contract would have made the 28-year-old Russian the highest-paid player in NHL history. Sources say #mnwild superstar Kirill Kaprizov's camp turned down an extension offer believed to be 8-years, $128 million in a meeting on Tuesday in Minnesota that would have made him the highest-paid player in #NHL history in both AAV ($16 million) and total dollars. - Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 10, 2025

After being largely overshadowed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto when he was posted for MLB clubs during the 2023-24 offseason, southpaw Shota Imanaga landed with the Cubs on a deal that has worked out well for Chicago so far. Imanaga was an All-Star and the fifth-place finisher in NL Cy Young voting during his first season, and this year he's chipped in a strong 3.21 ERA across his 22 starts.

Loaded with the most cap space to spend and plenty of roster improvements needed, the Patriots were bound to make some big-time moves in free agency, and perhaps the boldest of all was signing defensive tackle Milton Williams to the richest contract in franchise history. It was quite a show of confidence from the new regime, especially since they outbid the Panthers, with whom Williams had neared an agreement until they made a bigger offer.

Prior to the 2025 MLB season, the Toronto Blue Jays signed three-time Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer to a one-year contract. With his experience, it seemed like a quality signing for the Blue Jays to add to the rotation. Scherzer's 2025 season has had some struggles, dealing with injuries and rough starts. However, a steady July and August helped the Blue Jays to keep their AL East Division lead. At 41 years old, Scherzer turned into a quality starter on the Blue Jays roster.