2027 fantasy baseball news from around the league, a Grok Bot integration
Notes — Nov. 8–9 (since the Nov. 8 morning digest)
1. Steven Kwan – Guardians
MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported Sunday that trade candidates with one year of control left, naming Kwan, Logan Gilbert, Joe Ryan and Sandy Alcántara, are unlikely to be moved for prospects this month because teams aren't sure what kind of 2027 season to expect. Morosi adds that pending free agents could be traded for each other instead. MLB Trade Rumors projects Kwan at $11.3 million in his final arbitration year. He had a .614 OPS over his first 354 plate appearances and an .875 OPS after the All-Star break while splitting time between left and center field.
2. Teruaki Sato – Hanshin Tigers (NPB)
Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports the Tigers are among the teams that have scouted Sato. MLB Trade Rumors notes he won his league's Triple Crown (39 homers, 106 RBIs, .306) and could fit Detroit at third base, with Colt Keith moving to first or second, or in right field, where the current plan is a Kerry Carpenter/Ben Malgeri platoon. MLB Trade Rumors projects five years and $80 million. Posted NPB players who are not signed before the expected Dec. 1 lockout return to Japan.
3. Kaima Taira – Seibu Lions (NPB)
Petzold reports Detroit has also scouted Taira. MLB Trade Rumors notes that 2023 and 2026 were his only full seasons as a starter, that some evaluators question whether his 5-foot-8 frame will hold up in a rotation, and that Detroit's bullpen needs could make a relief role acceptable. MLB Trade Rumors projects four years and $72 million with at least one opt-out.
4. Shota Imanaga – Free agent
Petzold says Detroit showed interest in Imanaga when he came over from Japan before the 2024 season and names him as a possible rotation addition. In 2026 Imanaga had a 3.77 ERA, a 24.6% strikeout rate and a 5.2% walk rate over 174 1/3 innings for the Cubs, but allowed 35 homers. MLB Trade Rumors projects two years and $40 million.
5. Andrew Painter – Phillies
Jared Greenspan of MLB.com details the changes Painter made after his mid-June demotion, when his ERA stood at 7.06. At Triple-A he replaced his splitter with a circle changeup that averages 90.5 mph, three ticks harder than the splitter. Opponents hit .153 against it with a 35% whiff rate, the 10th-lowest average against any changeup in 2026 (minimum 200 thrown). His four-seamer's induced vertical break rose from 15.5 inches in June to 17.5 in September, its Stuff+ went from 91 to 103, and he had a 3.65 ERA in 11 starts after returning July 31.
6. Emilio Pagán – Free agent
MLB Trade Rumors flags a collapse in the former Reds closer's splitter, his only offspeed pitch. It went from +6 run value in 2025 to -4 in 2026, with opponents' average against it rising from .121 to .304, their slugging from .207 to .522 and their hard-hit rate from 17.6% to 35.7%. Pagán has 57 saves over 2025–26. He missed two months in 2026 with a left hamstring strain and then had a 1.88 ERA over 28 1/3 innings after returning. MLB Trade Rumors projects two years and $20 million.
7. Luis Robert Jr. – Free agent
MLB Trade Rumors recaps Robert's 2026. A lumbar disc herniation cost him three months with the Mets, and left hamstring discomfort sidelined him for three weeks after Baltimore claimed him on waivers. In 230 plate appearances he hit .221/.300/.407 with 11 homers but only two steals. His 10.4% walk rate was a career best and his 23.9% strikeout rate his best in years, and his 28.9 ft/sec sprint speed still ranked in the 88th percentile. The Orioles paid a $2 million buyout instead of his $20 million option. MLB Trade Rumors projects a one-year, $14 million deal and lists the Padres, Reds and Royals as speculative fits.
8. Will Warren – Yankees
Theo DeRosa of MLB.com writes that Warren "likely has a leg up" on Clarke Schmidt for the fifth rotation spot after holding hitters to a .172 average on his changeup (15-for-87). The same piece says Max Fried pitched through a bone bruise in his pitching elbow (2.80 ERA in 112 2/3 innings). Carlos Rodón was limited to 16 starts by left-elbow issues, and his 11.2% walk rate was his highest since 2015.
9. Brandon Young – Orioles
Roch Kubatko of MASN reports that Young's splitter averaged 87.7 mph and 1,501 rpm in his first six starts, when opponents hit .476 against it. Over his last 20 starts (May 24 through Sept. 25) it averaged 83.6 mph and 1,416 rpm, and opponents hit .221 with 24 strikeouts.
10. Cade Povich – Orioles
New pitch-mix details from Kubatko: Povich threw his four-seamer 45.5% of the time, up from 37.2% in 2025, and opponents hit .197 against it. Right-handed hitters went 3-for-21 against his curveball with a 42.5% whiff rate, the seventh-best mark among pitchers who threw at least 100 curveballs to righties. His October surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow had already been reported, and he is expected to be full-go for spring training.
11. Chris Bassitt – Free agent
Kubatko writes that Bassitt is expected to return for a 13th season. He missed more than two months after a lower-back procedure in 2026, but only 5% of the balls hit against him were barreled (88th percentile). In September he said, "there's a lot of fire still in me," but added that he will have to "win the wife over."
12. Jarlin Susana – Nationals
Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline writes that the Nationals' No. 4 prospect opened the Fall Stars Game with fastballs of 102.7 and 103.1 mph and averaged 101.2 mph in a scoreless first. He struck out Zion Rose on an 88 mph sweeper and had the night's highest spin rate (3,080 rpm) on an 87.2 mph slider.
13. Kyle DeBarge – Twins
Callis calls DeBarge the top offensive performer of the Fall Stars Game. He went 2-for-2 with a double, a walk, two runs and two stolen bases. His 104.2 mph single was the game's hardest-hit ball, and he scored a run on his own by getting such a jump on a steal of third that the pitcher threw the ball away.
14. Yerlin Confidan – Reds
Confidan was named Fall Stars Game MVP after a 371-foot double (97.9 mph off the bat) and a bases-loaded RBI walk in the NL's three-run eighth inning. Callis writes that he has been "consistently smoking balls harder than anyone" in the Fall League.
15. Kevin Bazzell – Nationals
Bazzell only played the last three innings but threw out a basestealer with a 1.86-second pop time. He also started the winning rally with a 100.3 mph double, scored the go-ahead run and drew a walk in the ninth (MLB Pipeline).
16. Aidan Miller – Phillies
Miller had two of the NL's hits, including a single off a 98.2 mph fastball. He leads the Fall League in on-base percentage, and Phillies teammate Luke Davis is second at .537. Davis also had two hits, one at 100.3 mph (MLB Pipeline).
Recent notes — Nov. 6–7 (not in prior digests)
17. Brad Keller – Phillies
(Nov. 6) Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that Keller, last offseason's big bullpen addition, is expected to miss all or most of 2027 after Tommy John surgery. Lauber lists Alex McFarlane, Jonathan Bowlan and Caleb Kilian as "ticketed" for bullpen spots behind Jhoan Duran. Tim Mayza was re-signed, and the club plans to add a high-leverage lefty to replace José Alvarado.
18. Orion Kerkering – Phillies
(Nov. 6) Lauber writes that Kerkering's second-half struggles sent him back to Triple-A and put him "firmly on the trade market." He also names Kerkering as a possible piece in a Steven Kwan trade.
19. Isaac Paredes – Astros
(Nov. 6) Lauber notes Houston exercised Paredes' $13.35 million option but could still trade him or Jeremy Peña, who is entering his walk year. Carlos Correa, who tore an ankle tendon in May, is expected to be healthy to start next season, which brings back the infield surplus. Paredes hit 25 homers in 2026.
20. Henry Bolte – Athletics
(Nov. 7) Jason Burke of Inside the A's projects an outfield of Tyler Soderstrom, Bolte and Lawrence Butler, from left to right. After Denzel Clarke went on the injured list, Bolte hit .277 with a .764 OPS, 11 homers and 21 steals. Burke names Joshua Kuroda-Grauer as the internal option at second base. He adds that Jacob Wilson played through a shoulder subluxation and right-thumb inflammation (83 wRC+ in 80 games), and that Brent Rooker hit .200 in an injury-shortened 48 games.
21. Jordan Hicks – White Sox
(Nov. 6) Lauber notes Hicks still averaged 99.2 mph and that right-handed hitters batted .161 against his sweeper, but his walk rate climbed to 15.3%. He is owed $12 million in the final year of his contract.
Sources
- x.com – https://x.com/jonmorosi/status/2119499923565781016
- mlbtraderumors.com – https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/11/looking-for-a-match-in-a-steven-kwan-trade.html
- mlbtraderumors.com – https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/11/tigers-scouted-teruaki-sato-kaima-taira-showed-past-interest-in-shota-imanaga.html
- mlb.com – https://www.mlb.com/news/new-changeup-key-for-phillies-andrew-painter
- mlbtraderumors.com – https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/11/emilio-pagan-keeps-getting-it-done.html
- mlbtraderumors.com – https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/11/luis-robert-jr-and-the-risk-of-chasing-upside.html
- mlb.com – https://www.mlb.com/news/yankees-2027-rotation-outlook
- masnsports.com – https://www.masnsports.com/blog/entry/rotating-some-statistics-among-orioles-starters/
- mlb.com – https://www.mlb.com/news/afl-fall-stars-game-2026-top-performers
- mlb.com – https://www.mlb.com/news/2026-arizona-fall-league-fall-stars-game
- inquirer.com – https://www.inquirer.com/phillies/trades-mlb-gm-meetings-rumors-targets-kwan-paredes-hicks-20261106.html
- roundtable.io – https://roundtable.io/sports/mlb/athletics/news/the-as-pushed-their-chips-in-and-now-the-core-has-to-deliver
