Remember These Moves: 5 Under-The-Radar Deals From MLB Offseason

This offseason will be remembered for the Dodgers’ continued spending as the back-to-back champs signed the best free agent (Kyle Tucker) and closer (Edwin Diaz) on the market. It’ll also be remembered as the winter that the Mets overhauled their roster (headlined by signing Bo Bichette), the Cubs lured Alex Bregman away from Boston, the Orioles took a Polar Bear from Queens and Blue Jays spent $210 million on Dylan Cease. And don’t forget Tarik Skubal making arbitration history with the Tigers, with the team also acquiring a big-time arm in Framber Valdez. But for all the major moves that have defined the offseason, there were also a handful of under-the-radar signings and trades that deserve more attention and could yield meaningful production. Since “under-the-radar” is a subjective phrase, we’ll include a few ground rules: The list below only includes players: – making less than the qualifying offer this year; – who weren’t any of the 20 free agents who signed for the most guaranteed money; – who weren’t All-Stars last year, or were worth 4.0 bWAR or more last season. With that, here are five offseason moves that will be worth keeping tabs on: 5) OF Harrison Bader: Signed with Giants for two years, $20.5 million The Phillies decided to give Adolis Garcia $10 million in December and let Harrison Bader walk, despite Bader coming off a much more productive 2025 season. A month later, Bader was still lingering in free agency before he signed with the Giants for basically the same amount that García will make in 2026 (plus an additional season). That’s a decision that Philadelphia could come to regret, especially considering the value that Bader brought to the Phillies down the stretch both at the plate and in the field. In addition to providing his typically elite outfield defense, the only Phillies player with a higher batting average than Bader in the second half (.305) was Trea Turner (.333). Between his 113 OPS+ in Minnesota and his 124 OPS+ in Philadelphia, last year was the best offensive season of Bader’s nine-year career. While his .359 batting average on balls in play is almost certainly not sustainable, it is notable that he increased his bat speed and registered by far the highest hard-hit rate of his career last season. Even more importantly, he’s not slowing down yet as he enters his age-32 season. Bader increased his sprint speed in 2025 and ranked in the 85th percentile of all big leaguers in the category. Whether or not he remains an above-league-average bat while playing his home games at Oracle Park in 2026, he should represent a clear defensive upgrade for the Giants, whose outfielders ranked last in MLB in outs above average last season. 4) SP Ryan Weathers: Traded from Marlins to Yankees The Yankees had more questions than answers in the rotation this offseason with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt all still working their way back from injuries. The trade for Weathers helps bridge the gap and buy time, but there’s also the potential to extract much more out of the 2018 No. 8 overall pick. – World Baseball Classic: Catch all games on FOX Sports- MLB Winners and Losers: Who Defined the Offseason? Weathers was only 21 when made his MLB debut for the Padres in 2021. He has struggled with both health and sustained production since then, registering a 4.93 career ERA and throwing just 281 innings in his five-year career. Last year, a flexor strain and lat strain limited him to just eight starts, and his trade to the Yankees this winter understandably did not get the attention of Freddy Peralta to the Mets, Edward Cabrera to the Cubs, Sonny Gray to the Red Sox or MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers. However, Weathers has been more productive when on the field lately, posting a 3.74 ERA over the past two seasons in Miami. Last year, he saw his velocity increase a tick, averaging nearly 97 mph on his four-seamer while producing the highest strikeout and whiff rates of his career. He has intriguing tools for the Yankees’ terrific pitching development apparatus to manipulate and progress. 3) SP Cody Ponce: Signed with Blue Jays for three years, $30 million The Blue Jays lavished a $210 million contract on Dylan Cease, but he’s not the only addition to the AL champions’ rotation. There have been examples before of pitchers who’ve reinvented themselves in Korea (Merrill Kelly, Erick Fedde) and returned to the big leagues a different force. At 31, after spending the last four seasons pitching in the NPB and KBO, Ponce could be the latest — with a chance to be the best. If he continues to look the way he did as a KBO MVP last year, he will be more than worth the $10 million per year the Blue Jays have committed. Last year, Ponce set a KBO single-season record with 252 strikeouts in 180.2 innings. He also set a single-game record with 18 strikeouts in a nine-inning outing and finished the season 17-1 with a 1.89 ERA for the Hanwha Eagles, showcasing a fastball that was a couple ticks up from the 93 mph four-seamer he had when he struggled as a big-leaguer in 2021 with the Pirates. The former second-round pick also now features a kick-change that should help him neutralize lefties, who were especially problematic for him the last time he pitched stateside. He’s not going to strike out 36.2% of the batters he faced in MLB the way he did last year in the KBO, but he could still raise the bar for an already formidable Blue Jays staff. 2) RP Brad Keller: Signed with Phillies for two years, $22 million If you didn’t watch Keller last year in Chicago, you might be wondering how he made his way to this list. The right-hander struggled toward the end of his tenure as a starter in Kansas City and again in 2024 with the White Sox and Red Sox in his first year back from thoracic outlet surgery. He then signed a minor-league deal with the Cubs and was a revelation in the bullpen, as the 29-year-old enjoyed the most overpowering season of his winding eight-year career after some mechanical adjustments. His increase in velocity was staggering. A year after his fastball sat 93.8 mph, it averaged 97.2 in 2025. His sweeper was basically unhittable, as opponents registered a .067 average with 25 strikeouts against the pitch. Before last season, Keller never had a strikeout rate of even 20%; last year, it was 27.2%. He allowed just one run in 27.2 innings in the season’s second half. With a starters’ repertoire in the bullpen, Keller can handle lefties and righties alike and is able to go multiple innings when needed. Pitching in front of closer Jhoan Duran, the new Phillies setup man has the potential to be one of the best bullpen signings of the offseason. 1) 1B Willson Contreras: Traded from Cardinals to Red Sox Acquired by the Red Sox on the same day that top NPB slugger Munetaka Murakami made his surprise decision to join the White Sox — and in an offseason that saw Boston whiff on Alex Bregman, spend $130 million for Ranger Suarez and trade for Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo and Caleb Durbin — the Contreras trade might get overshadowed. But it shouldn’t. Last year, the Red Sox lost Triston Casas to a ruptured patellar tendon and saw their first basemen struggle both offensively (26th in wRC+) and defensively (21st in OAA). As a team, they also recorded the most errors in MLB. Contreras, who had a 123 OPS+ last year while ranking fourth defensively among all qualified first basemen in outs above average in his first season at the position, should help across the board. The former catcher has been a consistent force at the plate, hitting above league average in nine of his 10 MLB seasons. Last year, he lowered his whiff rate significantly and recorded the highest hard-hit rate of his career, which should help mitigate some of the potential concerns about his bat as he enters his mid-30s. He had a .791 OPS last year, and the underlying numbers suggest that figure should have been higher. He also pulled the ball in the air more often than ever before in his career, which should serve the veteran righty well as he moves from Busch Stadium to the Green Monster at Fenway Park. He’s a vital upgrade for a Boston team that did little else offensively to address the loss of Bregman.