AL West

Trading card company Topps revealed a look at Shohei Ohtani's now-autographed, "50-50 Club" baseball cards on Wednesday.

𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧: Shohei Ohtani has signed his ultra-rare “50/50 Club” cards. pic.twitter.com/CVx7TO4ImS

— Topps (@Topps) November 20, 2024

The cards—which celebrate Ohtani's 2024 campaign, in which he became the first player in MLB history to hit at least 50 homers and steal at least 50 bases in the same season—are part of a set exclusively featuring Ohtani.

But three of those cards are one-of-one offerings that include game-worn mementos from the day he joined the 50-50 club, with specific pieces of his pants built into the card.

𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: We have officially acquired Shohei Ohtani’s game-worn pants from his historic 50/50 performance.

The relics are going into trading cards, including this 1 of 1 Logoman Autograph card.

Will you be chasing this piece of history? pic.twitter.com/bHisy2rLfC

— Topps (@Topps) September 28, 2024

There will be no shortage of memorabilia from Ohtani's legendary season. These Topps cards should be some of the more prized offerings.

Houston Astros owner Jim Crane is discussing the future of third baseman Alex Bregman and whether the team will be "exploring" backup options, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic.

The owner mentioned that he had spoken with Bregman's agent, Scott Boras, earlier in the negotiations but has since left the discussions primarily to general manager Dana Brown.

"We all know Scott. He's going to do the best he can to get the most money for him if it's a place he wants to go," Crane said. "But, at some point we'd have to make a decision. We're looking now as a backup and we're exploring all the options. That's what's happening now."

Crane acknowledged that there is "nothing to report yet" regarding updates in the negotiations, but Boras and Brown have been "visiting frequently," with "productive" conversations taking place.

Bregman has emerged as a leader for the Houston Astros, winning two World Series titles with the franchise in 2017 and 2022.

At the conclusion of the Houston Astros' 2024 season, where they finished with an 88-73 record, the usually reserved José Altuve practically demanded that the club re-sign Bregman, according to Rome.

"We told him we were going to make a strong effort to get it done and we'd do our best," Crane said. "It carries some weight with me and carries some weight with Dana."

The 30-year-old has spent all nine of his major-league seasons with the Astros, making his debut with the team in 2016. Bregman boasts a .272 career batting average, along with 663 RBI and 191 home runs.

The Houston Astros announced Monday they're changing the name of the stadium after agreeing to a sponsorship deal with Japanese company Daikin.

Daikin Park.

Coming January 2025 pic.twitter.com/8NJbm9cEu1

— Houston Astros (@astros) November 18, 2024

A new chapter begins.

Daikin Park coming January 2025 pic.twitter.com/8vyPYGciqn

— Houston Astros (@astros) November 18, 2024

The venue initially opened as Enron Field in 2000 but had to remove the company's name in 2002 after its infamous bankruptcy. Minute Maid became the primary sponsor midway through the 2002 season.

During the brief Enron Field era, the stadium was colloquially known as "Ten-Run Field" because it proved to be friendly confines for hitters. It then became "The Juice Box" thanks to Minute Maid making its name with orange juice and lemonade.

Considering air conditioners are a large part of Daikin's business, it might be a matter of time before Houston's home venue gets some moniker like "The Ice Box."

The name on the stadium may not be the only notable change for the Astros in 2025. Alex Bregman has remained one of the constants during the franchise's eight-year playoff streak, a run that includes two World Series titles and another two American League pennants.

The two-time All-Star is headed for free agency. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal wrote Monday he might be looking to sign for something similar to Manny Machado's 11-year $350 million extension with the San Diego Padres.

There's no guarantee Bregman sticks around in Houston, and his departure would further underline how the franchise's dominance in the AL can't go on forever.

The Houston Astros are reportedly interested in free-agent shortstop Willy Adames after he spent the 2024 season with the Milwaukee Brewers.

MLB Network's Jon Morosi mentioned the Astros as a potential suitor for Adames on Monday, possibly moving him to third base. Morosi also listed the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves as teams interested in the 29-year-old.

The Astros are interested in Willy Adames — possibly at third base, as I mentioned in this @MLBNetwork segment. pic.twitter.com/80rqAlEDLy

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 18, 2024

Adames recorded a career-high 32 home runs and 112 RBIs with the Brewers last season.

He also racked up 33 doubles, 21 stolen bases and 74 walks to go along with a .251/.331/.462 slash line.

Willy Adames joins the 30/20 club 💥 pic.twitter.com/SxqavpuRQ1

— MLB (@MLB) September 24, 2024

Houston is likely eyeing Adames as a potential replacement for Alex Bregman at the hot corner, as Bregman is also a free agent.

Astros general manager Dana Brown explained that third base is "without a doubt" the largest priority for the team during the offseason and revealed that contract discussions with Bregman have already occurred, per MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.

"We had some really good, productive conversations," Brown said. "We would love for Alex to come back. He's been really good here. He's been an outstanding part of the winning here in Houston."

Jim Bowden of The Athletic projected Adames to land a six-year, $150 million contract in free agency. Bowden also predicted that Bregman would receive a seven-year deal worth $185.5 million.

It's easy to see why the Dodgers and Yankees are reportedly interested in Adames, as they're both attempting to add to their respective lineups and go on another postseason run in 2025 after meeting in the 2024 World Series.

The Red Sox could view the shortstop as a key piece for a return to the postseason, finishing with 78 wins in 2022 and 2023 before reaching 81 victories in 2024.

Even if Adames doesn't want to move to third base, there doesn't appear to a shortage of interest in his services.

After spending the last five seasons with the Atlanta Braves, veteran catcher Travis d'Arnaud has found a new home on the West Coast.

The Los Angeles Angels announced on Tuesday that they agreed to a two-year contract with d'Arnaud. ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that the deal is worth $12 million.

OFFICIAL: The Angels have agreed to a two-year contract with C Travis d’Arnaud. pic.twitter.com/V1VFyyGxaK

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) November 12, 2024

This marks d'Arnaud's second career stint in Los Angeles, as he signed with the Dodgers in 2019 but appeared in just one game for the team before being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays. He's certainly hoping that his run in Hollywood lasts longer this time around.

The 2025 season will be the 13th of d'Arnaud's major league career. He made his debut in 2013 with the New York Mets and remained with the team for the next six-plus years. After his stint in Tampa Bay, he found a home in Atlanta when he signed with the team prior to the 2020 season.

The 35-year-old helped lead the Braves to a World Series title in 2021, hitting two home runs that postseason. He earned his lone career All-Star selection during the 2022 campaign.

This past season, d'Arnaud appeared in 99 games and hit .238 with 15 home runs and 48 RBI. He will bring a veteran presence to an Angels team that is in need of some major changes.

Los Angeles set a franchise record for most losses in a season in 2024, going 63-99 and missing the playoffs for the 10th straight year, the longest active streak in MLB. Signing d'Arnaud will hopefully be the first step to turning the franchise's fortune around.

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy's contract is set to expire next winter, but the club would "enthusiastically welcome" his return in 2026, according to ESPN's Buster Olney.

"If (Bochy) wants to manage beyond 2025, (the Rangers) are good with that," a source described as "highly ranked" told Olney.

Bochy, 69, is heading into his 28th season as an MLB manager and third in Texas. He joined the Rangers in 2023 after 12 seasons with the San Diego Padres and 13 with the San Francisco Giants.

Olney's story comes the day after reports that the Rangers hired former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker to serve as "a senior adviser" to president of baseball ops Chris Young.

Will Venable, who served as associate manager to Bochy for two seasons, recently left to manage the Chicago White Sox. MLB.com's Kennedi Landry noted that Schumaker could now replace Venable as the "heir apparent" to Bochy.

Olney meanwhile reported that the Rangers see Schumaker, who was named the NL Manager of the Year after leading the Marlins to the postseason in 2023, as a "rising star in the managerial ranks."

Bochy and the Rangers just finished out a tough 78-84 season during which the Rangers stayed at .500 or below starting in May and the offensive stars that led the club to the 2023 title badly regressed.

Bochy said at the season's end that he was "still hungry to get back."

"Yeah, I'm disappointed, just like all of us. That's why I got back in the game," Bochy said in October. "That's what drives me. It's still there, and that's where I'm at right now."

Bochy concluded: "We're working to get this thing back to where we want to be, and that's getting back to the postseason and winning the championship."

When asked about his contract situation, Bochy answered, "It couldn't have worked out better. We've talked about my situation, believe me, and this is where I will end up."

Bochy retired after 13 seasons with the Giants in 2019 but returned to managing in 2022 after inking a three-year deal with the Rangers. He went on to lead Texas to the franchise's first World Series title in his first season with the team, and will now be tasked with getting the Rangers back into the postseason picture next fall.

Also having won a trio of championships with the Giants between 2010 and 2014, Bochy is one of four managers to claim at least four World Series titles. He leads all active managers with 2,171 regular season wins and is widely considered to be a candidate to become the 24th manager in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Kyle Hendricks' tenure with the Chicago Cubs is reportedly nearing an end.

Per Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, the right-hander is closing in on a one-year agreement with the Los Angeles Angels.

The New York Post's Jon Heyman reported Hendricks' deal is for "about $3 million."

Hendricks has played his entire MLB career with the Cubs. He was originally an eighth-round pick by the Texas Rangers in 2011 before getting dealt to Chicago, along with Christian Villanueva, for Ryan Dempster in July 2012.

While he wasn't considered a top prospect at the time, Hendricks developed into one of the key players for the Cubs during their run of success in the mid-2010s. He led MLB in ERA (2.13) and finished third in NL Cy Young voting in 2016.

That same season, Hendricks was the starting pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series when the Cubs defeated Cleveland to end the franchise's 108-year championship drought.

After two disappointing seasons in 2021 and 2022, Hendricks had a solid bounce-back campaign in 2023. He finished with a 3.74 ERA, his best since 2020 (2.88), when he finished ninth in NL Cy Young voting and led the NL with an 8.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The 2024 season was rough for Hendricks, as he finished with a career-high 5.92 ERA in 29 appearances. He spent a month pitching out of the bullpen due to his struggles.

When the Cubs moved Hendricks back into the rotation in mid-June, he was more effective than he was at the start of the season. He had a 4.73 ERA over 85.2 innings in his final 17 starts.

All indications were that Hendricks' time in Chicago was coming to an end when he was given an ovation from the Wrigley Field crowd in his final start on Sept. 28 against the Cincinnati Reds.

Kyle Hendricks walks off the field to a standing ovation at Wrigley Field 🥹 pic.twitter.com/f6CNYxv6Ra

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) September 28, 2024

The Angels will be hoping that Hendricks is able to return to his 2023 form. His ceiling is low at this stage of his career, but the price to sign him makes this a no-risk deal to see if they can get a back-end starter next season.

While it's been a quiet start to the offseason for many teams, the Angels are at least busy making moves. They made the first trade of the fall by acquiring Jorge Soler from the Atlanta Braves for Griffin Canning. After that deal, Angels general manager Perry Miansian said they weren't done there.

"We're going to be aggressive," Minasian said. "We're going to continue to look to make the team better. We have a lot of areas where we can improve. This is move No. 1 and we expect there to be more moves."

Whether these are the right types of deals for an Angels team that's badly in need of a reset is another story.

Hendricks will likely take Canning's vacated spot in the rotation. As long as he can start every fifth game to give the Angels a dependable back-end starter, that will be enough for a team that needs to rebuild most of its rotation.

As Hye-seong Kim is getting closer to being posted by the Kiwoom Heroes, the 25-year-old is receiving interest from multiple MLB clubs.

Per MLB Network's Jon Morosi, the Seattle Mariners are among the teams that have "closely evaluated" Kim before he becomes eligible to sign.

Kim just wrapped up his eighth season with the Heroes, having turned pro in 2017 at the age of 18. He hit .326/.383/.458 with 11 homers and 30 RBI in 127 games. His 30 stolen bases ranked 10th in KBO and he tied for 13th with a .326 batting average.

The KBO announced on Oct. 31 (h/t Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors) that MLB tendered status checks on two players, with Kim being one of them.

According to Franco, MLB issues a status check when at least one team shows interest in a Korean player. The league doesn't announce the names of the teams or players.

A status check also doesn't signal a start of the posting process. The Heroes did announce in January they would be posting Kim to MLB clubs after the 2024 season.

The official window for KBO teams to post players hasn't been specified. It has opened in early November and extends through mid-December in past years. Once a player gets posted, all 30 MLB teams can negotiate with the player and his representatives for a specific period of time.

Since Kim is 25 and has more than six years of professional experience, he can sign a contract for any amount of money. An MLB club that signs him will also have to pay a release fee to the Heroes that is determined based on how much guaranteed money his deal is worth.

Kim's strengths as a player are speed and defense. He stole at least 20 bases in each of the past seven seasons, including four seasons with 30 or more. The South Korean star also won three straight KBO Gold Glove awards from 2021 to '23 playing second base and shortstop.

The Mariners have an opening at second base after declining Jorge Polanco's $12 million option for next season. They could also use an offensive upgrade at shortstop with J.P. Crawford hitting .202/.304/.321 last season, but his value on defense will likely allow him to keep the starting job going into 2025.

Mike Trout has struggled to stay healthy in recent seasons, leading to some speculation that the Los Angeles Angels could perhaps move him to a designated hitter role to limit his wear and tear.

If they do, it won't be on a full-time basis. According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the team "would prefer to use him as a DH only on a limited basis, according to sources familiar with the club's thinking."

Rosenthal continued: "While making Trout a DH might sound like a step toward keeping him healthy, the Angels aren't so sure. Trout's three most recent injuries were left ribcage inflammation in 2022, a left hamate fracture in '23 and a torn meniscus in his left knee in '24. Each of those issues stemmed, at least in part, from the act of swinging, club officials believe. Most DHs use their down time to take additional practice swings. Trout, a perfectionist, almost certainly would, too."

Instead, Trout will remain a regular corner outfielder with occasional stints at designated hitter. That would further explain the team acquiring Jorge Soler for pitcher Griffin Canning last week.

Soler, 32, has hit 20 or more home runs in a season four times dating back to 2019, including 36 dingers in 2023 and 48 in 2019. But he's primarily a designated hitter at this point, so if the Angels had plans to move Trout to DH, the Soler acquisition would have been a head-scratcher. Instead, Trout will remain in the outfield.

But will he remain healthy?

The three-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star only played in 29 games this past season, 82 in 2023, 119 in 2022 and 36 in 2021. When healthy he's remained effective, but staying on the field has become a rarity for the 33-year-old Trout.

In turn, the Angels haven't had a winning record since 2015, and the team's inability to reach the postseason played at least a part in Shohei Ohtani departing for the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency last winter.

The Angels and Trout need to come up with some sort of plan for keeping him on the field. Apparently, a regular dose of being the DH won't be a part of that strategy.

The Texas Rangers have reportedly hired former Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker to serve as an advisor for president of baseball operations Chris Young, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

The team is also "expected to finalize" a deal with former Marlins' bench coach Luis Urueta to serve in the same role under Bruce Bochy.

Schumaker, 44, led the Marlins to a surprising playoff berth in the 2023 season, going 84-78, though the team was swept in the Wild Card Round by the Philadelphia Phillies. Nonetheless, the young Marlins were seen as one of the up-and-coming teams in the sport.

That quickly shifted in 2024. The team went just 62-100, fired numerous members of the front office—including assistant general managers Oz Ocampo and Dan Greenlee and international scouting director Roman Ocumarez— in August, parted ways with Schumaker and his entire coaching staff in late September and in total let go of over 70 staffers.

It was part of a stark organization upheaval under Peter Bendix, the team's first-year president of baseball operations. The Marlins have yet to hire a Schumaker replacement.

As for the Rangers, the team is coming off its own disappointing season in 2024. After winning the World Series in 2023, the Rangers failed to make the postseason this past season, finishing 78-84.

A combination of injuries to key players and a number of players regressing from strong 2023 campaigns (Adolis García, Jonah Heim, Marcus Semien) contributed to a disappointing overall effort.

"We're not that far away," Bochy told reporters after the season. "No, I don't think it's an overhaul. We've got a great core here. We just had to deal with some things this year that we couldn't quite overcome. Every season takes on a life of its own, and this one did. Not just the injuries we had and all that, but our play, too. It wasn't quite as good."