The eyes of the baseball world are still fixed on the World Series, which resumes on Monday night with Game 3 between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays from Tropicana Field. But while no one wants to close the book on the 2026 season, the reality is that we're just days away from pivoting to Hot Stove rumors, free agency decisions and wondering whether we'll even have baseball at all in 2027.
And at the top of the list, for the second winter in a row, is Tarik Skubal, far and away the biggest name on the market this winter. But just how much does the two-time Cy Young winner stand to make in free agency, and which teams are the frontrunners to land him? We've got the latest on Skubal's market plus updates on Alex Cora and the Houston Astros' front office chaos in the latest batch of MLB rumors.
Dodgers, Tigers, Mets among potential Tarik Skubal suitors
There's still a long, long way to go until Skubal decides where he'll be spending the next several years of his career, and with a potential lockout looming over his market, it's anyone's guess whether he'll be able to sniff a record $400 million — and just how many teams will be seriously competing for his services.
MLB.com's Mark Feinsand gave us an early lay of the land, though, with six potential suitors at the top of the list: the incumbent Dodgers, of course, followed by the Tigers, Mets, Cubs, Blue Jays and Phillies. Detroit and Philly admittedly feel like long shots here due to a lack of funds, and we'll believe Jed Hoyer will swim in these sorts of free agent waters when we see it. Los Angeles will remain the favorite until proven otherwise, especially after their pursuit of a three-peat fell short this October, but don't count out the Mets and Jays by any means. (Not listed in Feinsand's column? The New York Yankees, who have plenty of pitching and a lopsided lineup to worry about.)
Alex Cora 'not 100 percent sure' he wants to manage in 2027
Alex Cora shot to the top of the list of prospective manager candidates this offseason pretty much the moment he was let go by Boston this spring. It's been a relatively quite year on the job carousel, though, with the Astros, Angels and Mariners the only three vacancies. Given that Boston still has one more year of his contract to pay out in 2027, it doesn't seem like Cora's in a rush to get back into the dugout for the sake of it.
“I don’t know, man. We have to wait and see," Cora told Rob Bradford of the Baseball Is Boring podcast on Monday. "If we decide as a family that’s the route we want to take, we’ll do it. It’d be cool to go through the process again, it’d be cool. It will help whoever — if I decide I want to go through the process and somebody gives us a chance to interview, it’d be good for them to hear it, how I see it, my values as a manager, understand everything that goes with it and go from there, and they make a decision ... I’m not 100 percent sure I want to do it."
If Cora were going to manage next season, the Phillies stuck out as the best fit, given their veteran roster and his history with president Dave Dombrowski. If he wasn't ready to make the leap then, it feels like the most likely scenario is that he waits until next offseason to see which jobs open up in the interim.
Mike Rizzo would be a baffling choice for Astros GM job
Setting whatever is going on in Anaheim off to one side, the one outstanding front office vacancy with the offseason almost upon us is in Houston, where the Astros still don't have a permanent lead executive after owner Jim Crane ousted former GM Dana Brown. It was unclear whether Crane would even bother finding a replacement, and now Astros fans might be wishing he wouldn't.
Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Astros are interviewing former Nationals GM Mike Rizzo. Rizzo built a consistent contender in Washington in the 2010s and has a World Series ring to show for it — one that he got at Houston's expense — but that was a long time ago now, and his work since sure seems to suggest that the game has passed him by. The Nats bottomed out in the final years of Rizzo's tenure, and the speed with which replacement Paul Toboni turned things around in his debut season doesn't reflect well on his leadership.
Add us as a preferred source on Google