The official Hot Stove League Thread 2025-26 Offseason

[Seattle or Bust]

I'd be happy with a Geno reunion and a Donovan/Romero trade.

Would force Emerson and Young to have to knock the door down for their shot.

I don't think Geno is going to hit for a .479 OPS at T-Mobile if the M's were to re-sign him.

The are only going to add one more bat, sadly.

Looks like they lied.

[D-train]

I'd be happy with a Geno reunion and a Donovan/Romero trade.

Would force Emerson and Young to have to knock the door down for their shot.

I don't think Geno is going to hit for a .479 OPS at T-Mobile if the M's were to re-sign him.

The are only going to add one more bat, sadly.

Looks like they lied.

Hopefully! This could be it. Besides this is really a half a bat or a third of a bat. Hopefully he isn't Pollock 2.0.

[Big_Maple]

Rob Refsnyder has been a good part time bat the past to seasons would be a cheap RH bat for DH and RF.

Screenshot 2025-12-16 075334.png

Sign Rob Refsnyder 1 year, $2.5MM (hold down the fort till Farmelo and/or Montes make it. He had a great year in Boston – doesn’t want to retire yet. With gas in the tank he is likely just looking for a 1 year deal)

Rob Refsnyder, OF - The veteran has enjoyed a 2-year production boom and will be a free agent following the season. He's currently hitting .302/.371/.585/.986 with 4 homers in 21 games. He is crushing lefties with a 1.014 OPS and would be a nice platoon/bench bat.

Suggestions that came true. Signs for $6.25m

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/ ... nyder.html

Just saw this after I started a new thread. Sorry, Mike - you scooped me for the record.

[Pharmabro]

I didn’t really think of this until after Wilson Contreras was traded. But one of our popular trade candidates is Brendan Donovan. Another poster brought up a bullpen stud in Rielly O’Brien and I think DT introduced catcher DH Yvonne Herrera as a candidate but what if we just rearrange that for Donovan, Contreras and O’Brien plus the cards pan down Willson Contreras‘s pay by say I don’t know $20 million in the Mariners not trading their to 3 but sending like 5 top 100$

[Seattle or Bust]

Lost in all of this is Naylor giving his honest assessment to the M's about prospects and him wanting to know their plans with the prospects coming... all before his signing.

You're telling me the M's pitched him on "Rob Refsnyder, and we're going with Cole Young at 2B and Ben Williamson at 3B." ???

He'd have to be insane.

[GL_Storm]

I didn’t really think of this until after Wilson Contreras was traded. But one of our popular trade candidates is Brendan Donovan. Another poster brought up a bullpen stud in Rielly O’Brien and I think DT introduced catcher DH Yvonne Herrera as a candidate but what if we just rearrange that for Donovan, Contreras and O’Brien plus the cards pan down Willson Contreras‘s pay by say I don’t know $20 million in the Mariners not trading their to 3 but sending like 5 top 100$

What are you even talking about?

[Seattle or Bust]

Rob Refsnyder has been a good part time bat the past to seasons would be a cheap RH bat for DH and RF.

Screenshot 2025-12-16 075334.png

Sign Rob Refsnyder 1 year, $2.5MM (hold down the fort till Farmelo and/or Montes make it. He had a great year in Boston – doesn’t want to retire yet. With gas in the tank he is likely just looking for a 1 year deal)

Rob Refsnyder, OF - The veteran has enjoyed a 2-year production boom and will be a free agent following the season. He's currently hitting .302/.371/.585/.986 with 4 homers in 21 games. He is crushing lefties with a 1.014 OPS and would be a nice platoon/bench bat.

Suggestions that came true. Signs for $6.25m

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/ ... nyder.html

I appreciate the shout Mike.

To be fair, I suggested the M's acquire him at the deadline last year to play some outfield and hit lefties down the stretch of a pennant run given the Robles injury.

This acquisition doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me as it sits. Are they gonna trade an outfielder?

We've tried this before where we've put an older player on the bench and hoped he'd mash... instead they just end up taking a roster spot, struggle with sporadic playing time, and are DFA'd by July.

[desbcoach]

Rob Refsnyder has been a good part time bat the past to seasons would be a cheap RH bat for DH and RF.

Screenshot 2025-12-16 075334.png

Sign Rob Refsnyder 1 year, $2.5MM (hold down the fort till Farmelo and/or Montes make it. He had a great year in Boston – doesn’t want to retire yet. With gas in the tank he is likely just looking for a 1 year deal)

Rob Refsnyder, OF - The veteran has enjoyed a 2-year production boom and will be a free agent following the season. He's currently hitting .302/.371/.585/.986 with 4 homers in 21 games. He is crushing lefties with a 1.014 OPS and would be a nice platoon/bench bat.

Suggestions that came true. Signs for $6.25m

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/ ... nyder.html

I appreciate the shout Mike.

To be fair, I suggested the M's acquire him at the deadline last year to play some outfield and hit lefties down the stretch of a pennant run given the Robles injury.

This acquisition doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me as it sits. Are they gonna trade an outfielder?

We've tried this before where we've put an older player on the bench and hoped he'd mash... instead they just end up taking a roster spot, struggle with sporadic playing time, and are DFA'd by July.

Possibly but Refsnyder is used to sporadic playing time only playing against lefties or PH.

[Seattle or Bust]

Suggestions that came true. Signs for $6.25m

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/ ... nyder.html

I appreciate the shout Mike.

To be fair, I suggested the M's acquire him at the deadline last year to play some outfield and hit lefties down the stretch of a pennant run given the Robles injury.

This acquisition doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me as it sits. Are they gonna trade an outfielder?

We've tried this before where we've put an older player on the bench and hoped he'd mash... instead they just end up taking a roster spot, struggle with sporadic playing time, and are DFA'd by July.

Possibly but Refsnyder is used to sporadic playing time only playing against lefties or PH.

So was Solano.

[harmony]

Jerry better be cooking some big shit man.

I swear to God if I'm watching Cole Young and Ben Williamson play meaningful baseball to start off '26 I might not be watching for long.

FWIW Steamer600, which assumes 600 plate appearances for each position player, projects Cole Young with a 2026 WAR of 2.4 and Ben Williamson with a 2026 WAR of 1.9:

https://www.fangraphs.com/projections?t ... =dashboard

I can't imagine another projection that would discredit Steamer more than projecting a guy that had a .607 OPS and was the 2nd worst 2B in Baseball projecting to 2.4 WAR

From a Monday column by Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon at The Athletic:

It’s not just the Mariners who like Young, either. One rival executive describes Young as “the league model darling right now,” pointing out that analytically based projection systems value him more highly than scouts do.

Young, whom the Mariners selected 21st overall out of North Allegheny (Pa.) H.S. in 2022, was not especially impressive in his major-league debut, batting only .211 with a .607 OPS in 257 plate appearances. But he’s still only 22, and the Mariners plan to give him significant playing time next season. Any second baseman they acquire would be a complement, not a replacement.

Teams place great value on young, left-handed hitting middle infielders who control the strike zone. Young projects to hit right-handers well, and the models also like his defense. So, if the Mariners acquire Donovan, who also bats left-handed, he likely would get the majority of his playing time at positions other than second base.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/691253 ... mlb-notes/

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