QUINIX Sport News: MLB free agency: Braves sign Jurickson Profar to 3-year, $42 million deal; Dodgers add another reliever in Kirby Yates

The Detroit Tigers and right-handed pitcher Tommy Kahnle are in agreement on a one-year, $7.75 million deal, per multiple reports. Kahnle spent the previous two seasons with the New York Yankees, posting a 2.38 ERA with 94 strikeouts in 83 1/3 innings pitched.

The former Texas Rangers closer has agreed to a one-year, $13 million contract with an additional $1 million in incentives for games played, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The Dodgers are now on track for a $379 million payroll, per Fangraphs’ estimate, which would be the largest payroll in MLB history. The 110% CBT surcharge would mean this deal is more like a $27.3 million deal for them.

Yates is coming off one of the best seasons by a reliever in 2024, with a 1.17 ERA that ranked behind only Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase for the best mark among relievers.

The Houston Astros stuck a deal on Sunday to send closer Ryan Pressly to the Chicago Cubs. Pressly waived his no-trade clause in order to make the deal happen.

The 36-year-old held a 3.49 ERA in 56 2/3 innings last season with the Astros. The longtime veteran earned two All-Star nods during his seven-year run in Houston, with the most recent coming in 2021.

On the news that the Astros have reengaged with Alex Bregman, second baseman Jose Altuve was asked how he would help bring the longtime third baseman back to Houston.

“For Alex, I’ll do whatever,” Altuve said. That reportedly includes moving to the outfield and allowing Isaac Paredes, who was acquired in the Kyle Tucker trade with the Cubs, to take his spot at second base.

Alex Bregman’s career with the Astros appeared to be over after Houston signed free-agent first baseman Christian Walker. However, with Bregman’s market apparently stalled, the Astros have resumed talks with the third baseman, who has played all nine of his MLB seasons with Houston, The Athletic reports.

Bregman has reportedly attracted interest from the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Tigers. But his rumored pursuit of a contract in the five-year, $200 million range has apparently been an obstacle, as it was with the Astros.

Houston made a six-year, $156 million offer to Bregman, and that deal is still available, according to reports.

Bregman batted .260 with a .768 OPS, 26 home runs, 30 doubles and 75 RBI in 634 plate appearances last season for the Astros.

Traditionally one of the more active teams each winter, Atlanta had been eerily quiet this offseason coming off its seventh consecutive trip to October. The Braves were one of just a handful of teams that had yet to sign a free agent to a guaranteed big-league deal this winter, but they finally got on the board with the addition of Profar on a three-year deal worth $42 million.

The Padres — with whom Profar starred in his breakout 2024 season — have also yet to sign a major-league free agent this winter, and they surely would’ve loved a reunion with Profar. But San Diego’s ongoing ownership dispute and bloated payroll apparently made retaining Profar difficult. Instead, he joins a Braves team that had an unsettled left-field depth chart that projected to feature the largely unproven Jarred Kelenic and recent signee Bryan De La Cruz in a platoon of sorts. Now that duo can cover right field until Ronald Acuña Jr. returns from ACL injury, at which point Acuña should join Profar and center fielder Michael Harris II to form one of the more dangerous outfield trios in the National League.

The switch-hitting Profar and his excellent on-base skills will provide some much-needed balance to a Braves lineup that severely underwhelmed in 2024. While Profar’s plate discipline has always been stellar, it was a notable uptick in power production supported by huge strides in his batted-ball quality that fueled his 2024 breakout that he has now parlayed into an eight-figure deal. Although he’ll no longer be a main character in the Dodgers-Padres rivalry, Profar could continue to play a key role for a team hoping to dethrone the champs in 2025.

Outfielder Jurickson Profar has signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Atlanta Braves, the team announced Thursday.

According to the Braves, Profar, who was No. 15 on Yahoo Sports’ Top 50 MLB free agent list, will earn $12 million in 2025 and $15 million in 2026 and 2027.

Last season with the San Diego Padres, Profar posted a career year, batting .280, hitting 24 home runs and driving in 85 runs with 10 stolen bases. Among National League left fielders, his 4.3 fWAR was highest, and he was above the 90th percentile in expected wOBA (.364) and expected batting average (.283). He was also the sixth-best hitter by wRC+ in the NL.

The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated their latest talent coup on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium, officially introducing Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki as a member of the team.

After statements from Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, Sasaki introduced himself through an interpreter before facing questions from media for the first time as a Dodger.

The primary question concerned the influence of fellow Japanese Dodgers stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on his decision.

Read the full story here.

The Toronto Blue Jays hadto do something.

After futile runs at multiple top free agents — Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and Roki Sasaki all spurned Canada’s team this winter — the Jays found themselves in a position of desperation. Their roster, though capable of competing in 2025, remained incomplete and undermanned, particularly on offense. And with two of the club’s franchise cornerstones, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, just a year from free agency, the future was growing increasingly hazy. The pressure, for this franchise without a postseason win since 2016, had reached a fever pitch.

But on Monday, the Jays gave themselves some breathing room and a much-needed injection of power, with the club reportedly agreeing to terms with slugging outfielder Anthony Santander on a five-year contract. It’s an inevitable, obvious pairing between a team sorely lacking in pop and a free agent with immense juice.

Read the full column here.