- - Biggest need for every MLB contender: How do baseball's best get better?

Gabe Lacques, USA TODAYJanuary 10, 2026 at 3:05 AM

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Welcome to the last quarter of the first half of Major League Baseball’s 2025-26 offseason.

Or something like that.

One-third of the way into January, the top four free agents remain unsigned, and only a tepid handful of trades have been consummated. With spring training camps opening in exactly one month, USA TODAY Sports examines the biggest needs top contenders may seek to address as the market – presumably, probably, perhaps – heats up:

Blue Jays: Infielder

The team nobody can stop – this winter and, until Game 7 of the World Series, on the field – is still clearly possessing some dry powder. Adding Japanese star Kazuma Okamoto – on a pretty reasonable $60 million deal – is a nice wild card for a lineup seemingly built perfectly for the regular and postseasons.

Of course, that was with Bo Bichette onboard for almost all that run.

Right now, the Blue Jays have a wonderful stew of versatile players who can both rake and move around the diamond. Yet Okamoto remains an unproven stateside – er, continent-side – commodity. Ernie Clement showed well over 157 games and then dominated the postseason – yet seems to flourish moving from point to point on the diamond. It is definitely wise to give Addison Barger some more runway after his playoff heroics – yet he still has a career .301 OBP over two seasons.

Stir Bichette back into this mix and it’s deep and extremely potent.

Yankees: Outfielder

Cody Bellinger spent 2025 with the Yankees after a trade from the Cubs.

They fell a game short of winning the AL East last season, and the antidote for getting over the hump probably isn’t replacing Jasson Dominguez with Cody Bellinger in the outfield.

No, this drawn-out sparring session between agent Scott Boras and the Yankees isn’t doing the pinstriped heart any favors this winter. Shoot, running it back with Bellinger and Trent Grisham flanking Aaron Judge isn’t any guarantee.

Yet Belli was such a good fit in New York, and as pure a symbiotic relationship as one can imagine.

Tucked around Judge in the lineup and with Yankee Stadium’s right field dimensions well within reach, Bellinger had his best season since a pair of debilitating injuries derailed him following a 47-homer campaign in 2019. His 29 homers was ample Judge coverage and his athleticism provided elite defensive coverage in the corners.

There will be other suitors. But the path for both sides is too clear: The Yankees offering Bellinger a deal that begins with a 2 followed by eight figures, and Bellinger eschewing a commitment that doesn’t extend too far into the next decade.

Red Sox: Pitcher

Any pitcher, really. Reliever, starter, preferably a lefty.

GM Craig Breslow has done a nice job each of the past two winters procuring an ace or ace-like figure without creating an onerous long-term commitment, grabbing Garrett Crochet (and then extending him on a reasonable deal) and now Sonny Gray. They nudge the potent Brayan Bello to the No. 3 spot – a troika that’s potentially championship-caliber.

But they’ll need many more excellent innings to survive an AL East where (as you’ll notice here) almost everyone’s a contender and acting with appropriate aggression. You don’t necessarily want to rely on Patrick Sandoval’s smooth return from a year of Tommy John recovery. Nor on a bullpen that thins out a great bit after closer Aroldis Chapman and set-up man Garrett Whitlock.

Yet these shortfalls aren’t glaring, and nothing a Seranthony Dominguez, a Danny Coulombe, a Nick Martinez – or another trade – couldn’t solve.

1 / 25Top 25 MLB players from 2000-2025 ranked by Wins Above ReplacementSince 2000, future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols' 101.3 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) leads all players, with Alex Rodriguez tied for second ways back at 89.7 WAR. See the rest of the top 25.Orioles: No. 1 starter

We’ll keep banging this drum.

The addition of a Framber Valdez, a Ranger Suarez or someone else might have an even greater downstream effect on Baltimore’s rotation than the actual production that arm would bring. As of now, the Orioles have a nice collection of arms, yet almost all come with some limitation.

This is probably the year Kyle Bradish reaches All-Star form – but he’s still innings-limited from elbow surgery. Same with Tyler Wells. Zach Eflin is back, but back surgery will put a crimp in his production early. Dean Kremer remains the innings-eating king.

And lefty Trevor Rogers and trade acquisition Shane Baz are projected to front this whole thing, even if they lack the full-season resumes one would prefer.

It all gets better if 180 to 200 innings are injected from an outside source.

Tigers: Infield bat

In this, the likely last season of Tarik Skubal in Detroit, the Tigers could likely mix and match their way to the top of the AL Central or snag a wild card berth with relative ease. Yet circumstances may dictate that the club simply shouldn’t toss Zach McKinstry, Javy Baez, Colt Keith and Gleyber Torres into a stew and stir it up, hoping enough offense emerges from the steam.

The Tigers were a tale of two halves, batting .252 with a .749 OPS before the All-Star break and .239/.701 after McKinstry, Baez and Torres were honored at the Midsummer Classic. As such, their 14-game Central lead on July 8 vanished and they scraped into the playoffs as the last wild card.

Perhaps an Alex Bregman pursuit is again a futile endeavor. Yet another stick – perhaps one with more predictable contact, such as Luis Arraez, or big power with the punchouts, like Eugenio Suarez – would make the dog days slumps far easier to endure.

Mariners: A starting pitcher

Seriously!

Yeah, what do you get the rotation that has everything? Perhaps just a little insurance for the long haul. The Mariners’ fab five of Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller made between 18 and 32 starts last season, their occasional absences staggered in a manner that ensured they weren’t down too many arms at a time.

Yet even when blessed with talent and relative durability, it’s true that you can never have too much starting pitching. The current No. 6, Emerson Hancock, has had bites at the apple each of the past three seasons, making 31 starts and slipping in almost every major category each passing year.

His story’s not yet written, but still. This club has a beautiful bullpen and a lineup that’s increasingly dynamic as Julio Rodriguez matures and Cal Raleigh dumps baseballs over fences. A swingman to step in for the big five would never hurt.

1 / 32025 World Series: All the best moments from Dodgers vs. Blue Jays Game 7Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) prays before Game 7.Astros: Outfielder

Houston’s collective .665 OPS among outfielders ranked in the bottom third of the majors. And GM Dana Brown put rookie Cam Smith on notice early this winter when he said the club hoped to see more consistency and significant growth from him this season.

We’re now past the new year and the group can still use reinforcements. Not that there’s many perfect fits out there, unless the club wants to extend a multi-year commitment to Harrison Bader that the veteran has earned.

Phillies: J.T. Realmuto

Weird offseason. Few could have anticipated the cure for whatever offensive cloud Nick Castellanos produced would be the non-tendered, strikeout-plagued Adolis Garcia. But here we are.

If nothing else, Garcia ensures the mix changes a little, perhaps disrupting the suboptimal mojo hovering over the October Phillies the past two years. But let’s be honest: They threw a helluva punch at the Dodgers, a wheel play and a wayward throw ultimately sending them home. Wholesale changes aren’t really necessary. A galaxy-brained pursuit of Bichette might be too tricky a landing to nail.

And perhaps that’s all to put the heat on Realmuto just a little bit. It’s tricky, trying to assign value to franchise stalwart catcher who turns 35 in March, whose OPS dipped below league average for the first time, yet might still capably catch 130 games from the nursing home.

But it’s a lot simpler for the Phillies to pay the man, and keep intact the rapport with one of the game’s finest rotations, rather than concoct alternate routes to their typical 90-win form.

Braves: Infielder

It’s a nice alignment, with either an All-Star or Gold Glover or Silver Slugger at every position: Matt Olson at first, Ozzie Albies at second, Ha-Seong Kim at shortstop and Austin Riley at third.

But beyond Olson’s 162-game postability, the group is a little older than you think. Kim played in just 48 games last year, Riley 102. Lack of depth crushed this squad a year ago, and while Mauricio Dubón is a nice piece to have on the bench, he’ll more likely be deployed in the outfield against left-handed pitching. It simply would not hurt to add an Isiah Kiner-Falefa-like presence to the bench, if not the man himself.

Mets: Outfielder

The Hedge Fund Kingpin lurketh.

Yeah, it’s a fairly rich subplot to the Bellinger stasis occurring across town that he’s probably even more desperately needed in Queens. Brandon Nimmo has not yet been sufficiently replaced, Tyrone Taylor isn’t an offensively-sufficient center fielder and the natives remain concerned as David Stearns’ offseason makeover remains half-baked.

There’s nothing suggesting it won’t eventually be completely baked – not unlike Ben Braddock’s future plans – but right now the Mets don’t look like contenders. If they’re going to jam econo in the rotation, better spend on offense.

Where will free agent Kyle Tucker sign?Marlins: A power bat

OK, this is a bit of a contradiction. Power costs money, and the Marlins don’t really spend it, and in fact just traded an arbitration-eligible arm for a rookie bat that’s penciled right into their starting outfield.

But perhaps that’s the point. The Owen Caissies and Jakob Marsees and Kyle Stowerses of the world need a little veteran support - especially when the club finished 25th in the majors in homers, yet still produced a 56-33 finish the final four months of the season.

Hey, maybe it’s just taking Randal Grichuk for a one-year spin. But the Fish can use a little pop.

Brewers: Starting pitching depth

What do you get the team that has a little bit of everything? The Brewers shook things up a bit in dealing Isaac Collins and Nick Mears to Kansas City, but most of their diverse parts that produced an NL-best 97 wins are back.

You’d like to think that if Freddy Peralta hasn’t been traded by now, they’ll ride with him one last tie at the top of the rotation. Yet the rest of the rotation looks just a little thin.

Oh, not in the actual arms. It’s just that Jacob Misiorowski barely topped 130 innings, including minor leagues and playoffs, last season. Chad Patrick reached 161. Brendan Woodruff built himself back to 64 2/3 innings and should be set for a full veteran load.

But it’s not like they couldn’t use another arm to fill the Jose Quintana role. Hmm…

Cubs: Infielder

We are once again intrigued by the notion of this club adding Alex Bregman.

It doesn’t seem likely they’d win a bidding war with the Boston Red Sox, but the two once-cursed franchises also go about their business in increasingly curious, ostensibly “sustainable” ways these days. The staring contest might last into February.

Meanwhile, Cubs third basemen finished 29th in OPS (.621) and 27th in homers (11). It’s possible Matt Shaw is the answer. It’s also possible there’s more growing pains ahead and besides, second baseman Nico Hoerner is a free agent after this season.

Reds: A bat, any bat

The population of Middletown, Ohio is 51,000, though you might have imagined it was 50 million given that the appeal of free agent Kyle Schwarber to the Reds was at least tied up in the fact he’s a native of that fine municipality.

Ah, well. There’s always next year to upgrade the offense.

Or so it seems. Adding outfielders JJ Bleday and Dane Myers to the mix can’t be it, right? That would leave way too much assumption that holdovers will take significant steps forward in both production and health.

That’s not out of the question – keep an eye on Noelvi Marte, in particular - but this group needs and deserves an add beyond simply a regionally convenient slugger who was a longshot to sign there, anyway.

Dodgers: Outfielder

Yet another Bellinger stalking horse.

The big-ticket fixes may not fix – with the club apparently interested in elite free agent Kyle Tucker on only a short-term, big-salary deal. Others may value and need Bellinger more.

But as we stand here in Rams playoff season, the Dodgers’ center and left field pool consists of Andy Pages, Tommy Edman/Hyeseong Kim (who’d play second and push Edman to center) and reserve outfielder Alex Call. (Kiké Hernández figures to re-join the party at some point).

Not exactly an alignment that dovetails with an otherwise half-billion dollar collection of talent. They’ll figure it out. Question is how large a splash they’ll make.

Diamondbacks: Infielder

So you’re not gonna trade Ketel Marte?

The baseball world may not fully believe that until the three-time All-Star trots out to second base at Dodger Stadium March 26 (on NBC/Peacock, if you’re a stickler for logistics). Either way, people tend to forget that this is a club that won 80, 89 and 84 games the past three seasons and thus figures to be competitive.

At the moment, youngster Jordan Lawlar – still a prospect, we gather – is penciled in at third. The bench is a bit thin. GM Mike Hazen could still receive a Marte offer he cannot refuse. Yet another club that makes sense for Bregman but Arizona may not have the motive nor money to be anything but a fallback option to the big boys.

Padres: Hitter

They’re not broke yet, it seems. Aiming for their fourth playoff berth in five years, the Padres managed to retain Michael King on an opt-out heavy $75 million deal. That gives them a nice top-rotation look along with Nick Pivetta, who like King was signed to a creatively-constructed deal.

Is there any cash in the till for the lineup?

They’re relying on 29-year-old KBO signee Sung-Mun Song to capture the majority of at-bats at second base; he rapped 67 extra-base hits in his final season in South Korea. For Ramon Laureano and Gavin Sheets to continue their early-30-s revival, and Manny Machado to man nearly 150 games at third base.

Reasonable asks. But it’d be silly to leave the offense so thin with so much already invested.

Giants: Outfielder

No splash hits this winter from the banks of McCovey Cove, where the prudent and potentially solid additions of right-handers Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser to the rotation have grabbed most of the attention.

That leaves significant vacancies at second base and right field, the latter for now tenuously reserved for erstwhile prospect Luis Matos, who totes a career .231/.281/.369 line over three cameos the past three years.

A club that’s added the nine-figure deals of Willy Adames, Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers in recent years could really use Bellinger, though the Arizona native would really have to be yearning for the West to accept that kind of OPS punishment. Yet another team that might not be a bad fit for Bader, who could play an elite center field and allow Jung Hoo Lee to slide to right field.

1 / 81Bark at the Park: Dogs at MLB gamesAug. 6, 2025: The Phillie Phanatic interacts with Philadelphia Phillies service dog Tugger during a break in action against the Baltimore Orioles at Citizens Bank Park.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB rumors, trade and free agent news: Biggest needs for contenders

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