The Los Angeles Dodgers exercised their 2026 team options for third baseman Max Muncy and reliever Alex Vesia on Thursday.

The two-time defending World Series champions owe $10 million to Muncy and $3.55 million to Vesia.

Muncy, 35, is a two-time All-Star who batted .243 with 19 homers and 67 RBIs in 100 games this season, his eighth with Los Angeles. He hit .214 with three homers and three RBIs in 17 playoff games. Two of the homers came in the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Vesia, 29, finished 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA and five saves in 68 appearances out of the bullpen. The left-hander was 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in seven postseason appearances before missing the World Series for a personal matter.

–Field Level Media

The baseball offseason waits for no one.

Opt-outs, managerial hirings and free agent filings are the talk of the day a mere five nights after one of the greatest Game 7s of all-time.

Here’s our look at the tasks ahead of the 12 teams who made the playoffs this season, leading off with the teams with the most to do through the run-it-back-mode Tigers:

San Diego Padres: They finally hired a manager in Craig Stammen (really), but the Padres still have an unsettled ownership situation and pitchers Dylan Cease, Michael King and Robert Suarez all headed for free agency. Oh and Yu Darvish just underwent elbow surgery and will miss next season. Everything is in play, from A.J. Preller pulling a bunch of rabbits out of his hat again to beginning a teardown.

Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies haven’t won a postseason round since 2023 and 30-somethings Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto are both free agents. But Philadelphia unearthed an ace this season in Cristopher Sanchez and the go-for-it Dave Dombrowski is more likely to sign Schwarber, Realmuto and a high-end No. 2 pitcher (Cease or King?) and worry about the future in the future.

Toronto Blue Jays: The Jays suffered the most agonizing near-miss in World Series history thanks largely to an older rotation (135 starts were made by pitchers 30 years or older) as well as a resurgent year by 36-year-old George Springer and a surprise breakout by Ernie Clement. A full year of Trey Yesavage will be a big boost, but they’ll still need to fortify the rotation and hope Clement can handle a full-time role if Bo Bichette exits.

Cleveland Guardians: The Guardians again have great pitching and nobody to protect likely Hall of Famer Jose Ramirez. CJ Kayfus and Chase DeLauter look like keepers, but Cleveland needs to trade for a proven bat – someone such as Taylor Ward or Jeff McNeil – to deepen the lineup.

Milwaukee Brewers: The team that manages to get better even after trading star pitchers is likely to try that again with Freddy Peralta entering his walk year…and barely miss a beat thanks to the 2026 versions of Isaac Collins, Caleb Durbin and Quinn Priester, all of whom emerged from anonymity to help Milwaukee win a team-record 97 games. So at this point, none of us should advise the Brewers.

New York Yankees: Fundamentals continue to undo the Yankees, who wasted terrific performances by Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and budding ace Cam Schlittler. They could do a lot worse than poaching Bichette to begin overturning the middle of their infield. Retaining Bellinger, a born for New York star who thrives around the diamond, is a must.

Cincinnati Reds: With a flame-throwing rotation overseen by a Hall of Fame-bound manager, the Reds are two-thirds of the way to serious contention. Alas, they don’t spend much money and Elly De La Cruz was the only position player to register a WAR better than 3.0. They’ll have to be creative, but former All-Stars such as McNeil and Adolis Garcia could be available via trade.

Chicago Cubs: This would be a great time for the Cubs to act like a big-market team again. But they already parted ways with Shota Imanaga and have never seemed likely to sign Kyle Tucker long-term. That said, the everyday lineup sans Tucker remains impressive and there might be a bargain to be found for the rotation in Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly.

Detroit Tigers: The Tigers might as well go for it in what may be their last year with Tarik Skubal. Amongst a bevy of young position players, only Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter look like potential difference-makers. Free agent hitters hate Detroit and the Tigers don’t play in that end of the water. So why not see if the Arizona Diamondbacks believe it’s time to divorce Ketel Marte?

–By Jerry Beach

Boston Red Sox: Craig Breslow unloaded Rafael Devers and locked up a spate of homegrown position players, so the Red Sox are positioned to contend until John Henry starts pinching pennies again. Dealing from their depth of young big leaguers and prospects for a starting pitcher (Peralta or Sandy Alcantara?) to slot in behind Garrett Crochet might lift Boston to the top of the AL East.

Seattle Mariners: The Mariners are in a weird spot in that they didn’t win it all, yet they don’t feel one or two players away because of their terrific pitching and a lineup filled with in-their-prime stars. Re-signing trade deadline star Josh Naylor and running it back should be enough to win a division in transition.

Los Angeles Dodgers: The Dodgers got fewer than 2.0 regular season WAR for spending more than $250 million last off-season on Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, Hyeseong Kim, Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates…and won the World Series again anyway. So they should just sign everyone while they still can in this last winter before the lockout. (But especially Tucker, who could add some relative youth to an older lineup)

Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette was among 13 major league players who received qualifying offers from their teams on Thursday.

Any of the players could accept a one-year contract for $22,025,000 million rather than becoming free agents.

The others who got the offers from their teams were:

–Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and left-hander Ranger Suarez

–Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker

–New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz

–Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff

–Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez

–San Diego Padres right-handers Dylan Cease and Michael King

–Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga

–Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen

–New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham

–Detroit Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres

The offering team would receive draft-pick compensation if the player declines the offer and signs with a new club for the 2026 season. Players also could re-sign with their current team on a more lucrative, multiyear deal than the qualifying offer.

Bichette, 27, is expected to be a huge attraction on the free agent market this winter. He completed a three-year deal valued at $33.6 million. Only 14 players have accepted a qualifying offer since the system was implemented in 2012, according to MLB.com.

The Blue Jays selected Bichette in the second round of the 2016 MLB Draft and he was voted to the All-Star Game in the 2021 and 2023 seasons.

He led the American League in hits in 2021 and 2022. This season, he was tops in the AL with 181 hits before a left knee sprain abbreviated his regular season.

Bichette batted .311 with 18 homers and 94 RBIs in 139 regular-season games, then returned for the World Series and batted .348 with one homer and six RBIs as the Blue Jays fell to the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.

He is a career .294 hitter with 111 home runs, 437 RBIs, a .337 on-base percentage and .469 slugging percentage in 748 regular-season games since making his major league debut in July 2019.

Schwarber, 32, led the National League with 56 homers and 132 RBIs this year. He batted just .240 but had a respectable .365 on-base percentage. The three-time All-Star has averaged 46.8 homers over the past four seasons.

Tucker, a 28-year-old four-time All-Star, had a mediocre season in his first year with the Cubs in 2025. He hit .266 with a .377 on-base percentage, a .464 slugging percentage, 22 homers, 73 RBIs and 25 steals in 136 games.

–Field Level Media

As the light turns green to signal the open of Major League Baseball free agency, the looming threat of the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers casts a larger shadow than ever over the other 29 teams.

Most of them are dealing with a level of wallet envy as Los Angeles collects World Series titles and All-Stars at an epic clip.

With perennial MVP Shohei Ohtani front and center, it’s easy to forget the Dodgers scored offseason wins each winter before and after onboarding the two-way stud as a free agent in 2024.

The same year he signed a (largely deferred) 10-year, $700 million contract that runs until 2033, the Dodgers spent $325 million over 12 years (2035) on World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, signed third baseman Max Muncy to an extension and re-upped with right-hander Tyler Glasnow after a trade from the Tampa Bay Rays.

The annual average value of those four deals? A cool $134 million.

Milwaukee was no match for the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Worth noting is the current payroll allocation for next season from the Brewers: $45 million.

Don’t look now, but this could be the winter the Cincinnati Reds ($39M), Chicago White Sox ($37M) and Miami Marlins ($23M) combine to reach $100 million in total player payroll contract commitments.

Well, maybe not.

Without ballclubs having the cash or credentials to spend Dodgers dollars — or even Brewers bucks — the biggest fish in free agency are not incentivized to float toward smaller markets, lighter spenders or generally away from LA or New York.

Will there be a surprise bidder for any of the top talents on the free agent market this winter?

Don’t rule out the San Francisco Giants, an NL West division rival of the Dodgers and playoff-qualifying Padres all too aware of MLB’s devolved state as a spenders market.

Here’s our early projection for the landing spot of the top 10 players in free agency:

1. Kyle Tucker, RF, Chicago Cubs
Free Agent Destination: Los Angeles Dodgers
If Tucker truly wants $400 million as is widely speculated, cross off a return to the Chicago Cubs. Yes, he’s 28 and was dogged by hand and calf injuries, but the starting rotation is a higher priority in Chicago. Tucker hit .266/.377/.464 with 22 home runs, 25 doubles, 87 walks and 25 stolen bases in 597 plate appearances.

If the Phillies shock their peers by trading Bryce Harper, they could make a bid and the Yankees are always in play.

2. Kyle Schwarber, DH, Philadelphia Phillies
Free Agent Destination: Philadelphia Phillies
At 32 going on 33 (March 2026), Schwarber is nowhere close to a perfect candidate for most teams looking for power. But his resume can take a bullet. Other than Yankees bomber Aaron Judge, Schwarber has been baseball’s most consistent HR hitter in MLB the past decade. Schwarber doesn’t fit in the field — anywhere — but the Chicago Cubs might come knocking with full knowledge of perceived shortcomings and the Atlanta Braves are intrigued, too.

3. Alex Bregman, 3B, Boston Red Sox
Free Agent Destination: New York Mets
If you guessed Bregman was out of gas before last season, your reading was proven wrong. But the exercise is doomed to become annual because of Bregman’s age — he’ll be 32 in March. Still a solid defensive third baseman, his clubhouse leadership is on par with David Wright and he’d bring a bat to help offset the potential loss of Pete Alonso.

4. Pete Alonso, 1B, New York Mets
Free Agent Destination: Boston Red Sox
Following a similar map to the one Boston used to reel in Bregman last offseason, the Red Sox could be getting a player capable of being an 80 extra-base-hit threat at Fenway Park. There is the looming return of Triston Casas for Boston to balance with their bidding, but a rotation at 1B-DH would suit if the Mets tag out of the bidding.

5. Bo Bichette, 2B, Toronto Blue Jays
Free Agent Destination: New York Mets
Cringe away, but the Dodgers make all the sense in the world if the vision is to utilize Bichette as a corner outfielder and second baseman. Of course, he would have a say in buying into that vision. Who else might have the funds for a 28-year-old borderline MVP candidate? All set at shortstop, the Mets would be adding Bichette to play second base and only after the Blue Jays drop the pen and walk away from contract talks. A return to Toronto might still work out, and there are teams with more money capable of forcing Bichette to listen — Los Angeles Angels? — on a 10-year offer.

6. Cody Bellinger, RF, New York Yankees
Free Agent Destination: New York Yankees
Long-term security would appeal to Bellinger, 30, if such an offer exists. More likely, he’s back in pinstripes to give New York balance in the lineup and insurance in case bids for the heavier hitters on this list turn them away.

7. Framber Valdez, LHP, Houston Astros
Free Agent Destination: Chicago Cubs
Reassigning the money ticketed for Tucker to Valdez would be ideal for the Cubs, who have rotation needs and didn’t pick up the option on left-hander Shota Imanaga. Valdez might fetch a $200 million offer from the likes of the Giants and Blue Jays. Will the Cubs blink or swim?

8. Ranger Suarez, LHP, Philadelphia Phillies
Free Agent Destination: San Francisco Giants
We see the Mets and Red Sox kicking the tires on Ranger, but a reunion with the Phillies appears less likely. In the starting pitching market, a team overeager to make a splashy move is always a strong bet. Based on Buster Posey hiring University of Tennessee manager Tony Vitello and both harping on the importance of pitching in the National League West, the Giants fit that profile.

9. Dylan Cease, RHP, San Diego Padres
Free Agent Destination: Chicago Cubs
Once traded by the Cubs to the White Sox, Cease is no longer in Cy Young conversations. He is a workhorse. Cease made at least 32 starts in five consecutive seasons and was No. 1 in the National League in Ks/9 at 11.5 in 2025. The Padres have a Michael King decision to make. It’s possible the new regime prefers Cease or has other (trade) targets queued up. The New York Mets and San Francisco Giants could be in play, and the Detroit Tigers might make a run if they decide Tarik Skubal is worth more as the biggest offseason trade chip due to the direction of contract talks.

10. Josh Naylor, 1B, Seattle Mariners
Free Agent Destination: Seattle Mariners
At 28, Naylor should be the clear priority to return to the Mariners. Acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks at the trade deadline, Naylor hit 20 home runs and 29 doubles with 92 RBIs between the two stops in 2025. Naylor and third baseman Eugenio Suarez, another Seattle deadline deal last season, are also targets of smaller-market franchises because of the bang for the bucks. Naylor’s contract is likely to be in the 3-5 years, $75 million-$110 million range or approximately $45 million-$60 million less than Schwarber’s.

–Field Level Media

Don Mattingly is stepping away from his position as bench coach of the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Post reported on Thursday.

Mattingly’s contract expired after the Blue Jays’ season ended with an 11th-inning loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series on Saturday.

Per the report, the 64-year-old Mattingly is not retiring. Rather, he is looking for a new opportunity in baseball.

He joined the Blue Jays in November 2022 as the bench coach for manager John Schneider.

Mattingly went 889-950 as manager for the Dodgers (2011-15) and Miami Marlins (2016-22). He was named the 2020 National League Manager of the Year.

A six-time All-Star first baseman, Mattingly spent his entire 14-year playing career with the New York Yankees. He was the American League MVP in 1985.

–Field Level Media

The San Diego Padres named Craig Stammen, a former relief pitcher for the team, as their new manager on Thursday.

The 41-year-old signed a three-year contract.

He is well-known within the organization. Since retiring in March 2023, he has worked as a special assistant in the player development department, working with established major leaguers as well as with minor league players.

He pitched for the Padres from 2017-22 after seven seasons with the Washington Nationals. He appeared in 562 games (43 starts) and had a 55-44 career record with a 3.66 ERA and six saves.

His most celebrated outing came on Oct. 2, 2020, when he was used by the Padres as an opener in Game 3 of the National League wild-card series, a 4-0 win that gave San Diego its first win of a postseason series since 1998. He threw 1 2/3 one-hit innings as the first of nine pitchers to chip in on the shutout.

In the box score from that game are the names of Manny Machado, Jake Cronenworth, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Adrian Morejon, former teammates who now will be managed by Stammen.

He is the fifth first-time MLB manager hired this offseason, joining 33-year-old Blake Butera (Nationals), former Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello (San Francisco Giants), ex-MLB catcher Kurt Suzuki (Los Angeles Angels) and Cleveland Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz (Baltimore Orioles).

Stammen replaces Mike Shildt, who retired after the season. With the Padres, he had a 183-141 record and took the team to back-to-back playoff berths. San Diego lost in the NL wild-card series in 2025 and the NL Division Series in 2024.

–Field Level Media