Ask anyone at the MLB General Manager meetings — executives, agents, etc. — and they’ll all tell you the same thing: it’s early, they’re having conversations to evaluate prices and to see who is available, and that the bulk of the action won’t come until later in the offseason.
Still, this is where the groundwork for future deals is done. At the GM Meetings in 2023, Brian Cashman and AJ Preller began discussions on a potential Juan Soto trade that got done at the Winter Meetings a month later. Many other deals that will get done later this winter will have started because of conversations here in the lobby or the suites of the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.
On Wednesday, the American League general managers met with the media to discuss their offseason plans. Here’s what I learned.
Orioles’ priorities
The Orioles are looking to add to the front half of the rotation, president of baseball operations Mike Elias said.
“I think we’re going to be very willing to tap into the farm system,” Elias said when asked about upgrading the roster. “A number of our prospects are in Double or Triple-A, so they enter the major-league radar picture and that can get complicated as you’re trying to make a trade for 2026. If there’s guys that might come up and help, we’re going to have to factor that in. But we’re certainly willing to tap into the farm system this winter. … There’s a lot of players that teams like. We will consider guys off the major-league roster, but obviously that’s tricky if you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul at the major-league level.”
Red Sox eyeing pitching, middle-of-the-order bat
The Red Sox will pursue a middle of the order bat and pitching this offseason, but “exactly how that materializes I’m not really sure,” team executive Craig Breslow said. “Whether that’s trade or free agency, we’ll keep both options open.”
On the possibility of adding a designated hitter such as, say, Kyle Schwarber, Breslow said: “Without talking specifically about a certain player, in one scenario, we like the flexibility of being able to rotate through the DH spot whether that’s any of the four outfielders or being able to mix and match and gives Alex (Cora) multiple ways to deploy the roster. That said, there are certain talents that are elite enough that you commit that spot to them. David Ortiz was an example I used. If you have David Ortiz as your DH every day, you just pencil him in.”
Twins will listen on Joe Ryan but prefer to keep him
The Minnesota Twins are expected to get phone calls regarding right-hander Joe Ryan and will listen to inquiries. But the team's stance is that they want to add around the group of players they already have, Derek Falvey said.
“Our focus, and my goal, has been figuring out how to add around the group we already have,” Falvey said. “We think our starting pitching is the strength of this team. We know Pablo (Lopez) and Joe have been real anchors for us the last couple years when healthy. We have Bailey Ober coming back in a healthy spot and then all of the young pitching that we acquired, whether it's Taj (Bradley) and Mick Abel who we just acquired to join Zebby (Matthews) and Simeon (Woods Richardson) and David Festa and others. We like that group.”
What happens with Tigers ace Tarik Skubal?
What happens with Tarik Skubal is the question on almost everyone’s mind at the GM Meetings. My feeling early this offseason has been that the Detroit Tigers will hold onto the star left-hander, who is one year away from free agency. But the team will get inquiries and could the team get blown away with an offer it can’t refuse? With the best pitcher in baseball, you can’t rule anything out.
But Skubal's status is not something that Tigers officials are willing to comment on. “Tarik is a Tiger. We’re not going to talk about the context of trade or extension. It’s not fair to the player,” general manager Jeff Greenberg said.
Jorge Polanco, Josh Naylor among Mariners offseason priorities
Josh Naylor, Jorge Polanco and Eugenio Suarez are among the Seattle Mariners’ key free agents and the franchise would like to bring back “as much of last year's team back if we can,” general manager Justin Hollander said.
Another area that the Mariners will look to improve is the bullpen, possibly in a high or medium-leverage range.
Angels seeking pitching reinforcements
Angels general manager Perry Minasian mentioned that starting pitching and the bullpen will be two areas he will look to improve this winter. The team will look both internally and externally for reinforcements, but Minasian did say that left-hander Reid Detmers will be in the rotation in 2026.
As far as what the Angels’ budget looks like, Minasian said: “Arte and Carole Moreno have always invested in this club. Every year, they want to win. They’re looking for ways to improve the club. I expect us to make some additions to improve.”
White Sox very optimistic about Garrett Crochet trade return
A potential Garrett Crochet trade was the talk of last year's GM Meetings, with the White Sox eventually moving Crochet to the Boston Red Sox for catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth and pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez.
“I know Garrett did what he did. I’m not surprised at all. I thought he was just scratching the surface,” Chris Getz said. “I couldn’t be happier with our deal. I think it’s got a chance to be even better than anticipated, to be quite honest with you. To be able to get the impact that we did this year with three of those players, positive impacts, and they’re also just scratching the surface and the continued development and the blooming of Braden, it’s got a chance to be a really special deal. Where they are in their careers and to get to the big leagues all around the same time, it makes it even more valuable.”