We've reached the end of the line for the 2025 regular season, with just one more game remaining for teams to shore up postseason positioning — or get a head start on a long, cold offseason.
Of course, for more than half the league, that offseason has more or less already begun. While 12 teams will be vying for a World Series title this October, the other 18 are hard at work trying to figure out how best to improve their rosters for 2026.
What big changes might be in store this winter? Bob Nightengale touched on a few interesting possibilities in his weekly rumor roundup at USA Today, including managers and GMs on the hot seat and one particular free agency to monitor.
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MLB Rumors: Could Giants make a run at Bruce Bochy reunion?
Safe to say this season didn't end the way the San Francisco Giants had hoped in year one of the Buster Posey regime. A year that began with a long-awaited splash in free agency (the signing of star shortstop Willy Adames) and featured a shocking trade for Rafael Devers nonetheless ended the way far too many have by the Bay of late: out of the postseason, and with a record hovering frustratingly around .500.
Things still feel a bit stale around this franchise, and we know that Posey is desperate to get back to contention as quickly as possible — just ask his best pitcher, ace Logan Webb.
“If there's one thing about Buster Posey it's that I don't think he's OK with losing, I don't think he's OK with even being .500," Webb told reporters after his final start of the year. “I'm not going to play his job because that's not my job, but I don't think he's OK with this. I don't think there's a lot of people OK with this in this clubhouse."
Which begs the question: What does that mean for manager Bob Melvin, who had the 2026 option on his contract picked up but who nonetheless remains vulnerable. Nightengale writes that San Francisco "could part ways" with its skipper this winter, and floats quite the name as a potential replacement: current Rangers skipper Bruce Bochy, the man who of course managed the Giants to three World Series titles while Posey was still a player.
Bochy will be 71 in April, and it's unclear whether he even wants to continue managing beyond this season. But his contract in Texas is set to expire, meaning it's at least a possibility that the Giants could make a run at him.
MLB Rumors: Big changes could be coming to Astros after disappointing finish
Speaking of teams who ended the season on a real down note: With wins from the Tigers and Guardians on Saturday, the Houston Astros will officially miss the postseason for the first time since the 2016 campaign. This was always going to be a year of major change in Houston, especially given the Kyle Tucker trade and the departure of Alex Bregman in free agency. But you can still bet that Jim Crane isn't happy about how things have played out.
What does that mean for key members of the organization moving forward? That remains to be seen, at least according to Nightengale:
"One Astros executive, when asked by USA TODAY Sports whether they could be dismissed – with Brown having a club option that has yet to be picked up – simply said that all departments, on the baseball and business side, are currently being evaluated."
Nightengale adds that manager Joe Espada figures to be more in jeopardy than GM Dana Brown, but it's worth noting that Brown has yet to be handed a contract extension and hasn't had the 2026 option on his deal picked up as of yet. It's been a slow but steady slide for Houston since Brown took over from predecessor Jeff Luhnow, and while injuries (and Crane's own budget) have something to do with that, it's also fair to wonder whether he's done enough to keep his job.
MLB Rumors: Reds prepared to make a run at Josh Naylor in free agency
The Cincinnati Reds are still squarely focused on the 2025 season, needing just one more win in the final game of the year on Sunday to secure the sixth and final playoff spot in the National League. But it's never too early to start planning for the winter, and it appears that president Nick Krall is doing just that.
Offense is the clear need in Cincy this offseason, given both the team's struggles on that side of the ball and just how much controllable starting pitching talent the Reds will bring back next year. While bats like Bregman, Pete Alonso and Bo Bichette might not be financial fits, Nightengale does mention that the team is focused on one name in particular: current Seattle Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor, who Cincinnati nearly acquired at this summer's trade deadline.
Naylor would make a lot of sense, given Spencer Steer's struggles as the team's everyday first baseman and the lack of a true DH option as Christian Encarnacion-Strand fails to establish himself. His swing would look awfully nice in that ballpark, too, and as a 28-year-old with limited defensive or baserunning value (stolen base total notwithstanding), the contract shouldn't be out of Cincy's price range.