MLB News: Blue Jays, Guardians, Diamondbacks extend young stars, roster cuts begin

At the time of writing, the 2025 MLB season is mere days away. Yes, the Cubs and Dodgers kicked off the festivities in Tokyo last week, but "real" Opening Day is on March 27.

Naturally, with spring training winding down, teams are finalizing their rosters, including cuts/releases, trades, and even extensions. In this latest installment of the Call To The Pen MLB News round up, we'll go over the biggest stories sweeping the league prior to Opening Day.

Alejandro Kirk, Tanner Bibee, Justin Martinez earn blockbuster extensions

It's an annual occurrence in the MLB, but it's always a surprise when certain young stars ink long-term extensions with their teams, forgoing any chance at free agency in their prime. Since Opening Day often serves as an unwritten deadline for these kinds of contract talks, the mad dash to get these deals done is a fun part of the yearly calendar.

Alejandro Kirk

Kicking things off is the Toronto Blue Jays extension everyone has been waiting for... catcher Alejandro Kirk.

Kirk hasn't been quite the same player as the 2022 version of himself who put up 4.3 fWAR and slashed .285/.372/.415 with a wRC+ of 129, but at 26, he's in the middle of his prime and is finally the unquestioned starting catcher in Toronto after years of sharing the gig with Danny Jansen. At an $11.6 million AAV, his deal is roughly in line with the $12.25 AAV Will Smith got from the Dodgers on his extension (though that deal was for nine years).

Tanner Bibee

Next up is Cleveland Guardians ace Tanner Bibee, who earned that distinction following Shane Bieber's bout with injuries over the last few years.

The deal is worth at least $48 million and buys out his first free agent year; if the club option is excercised, he'll surrender all three years of arbitration and his first two free agent years on this contract.

After finishing second in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2023, Bibee followed that up with a 3.47 ERA in 173 2/3 innings last season. Having just turned 26, he should remain the face of the Guardians' rotation for the lifetime of this deal.

Justin Martinez

It's exceedingly rare that young relievers who aren't established closers get the sort of attention from their team that commands an extension prior to a walk year, but Justin Martinez of the Arizona Diamondbacks is no ordinary reliever.

Along with the club options present on the $18 million deal, the Diamondbacks could control Martinez, 23, for the next seven seasons. For a young reliever with only one year of sustained MLB success, this kind of life-changing money is hard to turn down.

In 72 2/3 innings (64 appearances) for the Diamondbacks last season, Martinez allowed just 2.48 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 29.5% of the batters he faced thanks to a fastball and sinker that both averaged over 100 mph last year. If he can rein in his 11.7% walk rate, he could emerge as the next great closer in baseball.

Adam Ottavino, Dane Dunning among veterans released

An unfortunate part of this time of year is the fact teams need to finalize their 26-man and 40-man rosters, meaning not everyone who appeared in camp with a team can move forward into the regular season.

The tidal wave of releases has begun, with Adam Ottavino getting the boot from the Boston Red Sox over the weekend.

The full list of roster cuts can be found here. It includes notable names like Dane Dunning, Ben Gamel, Jake Diekman, Hunter Strickland, and others.

On the bright side, all this talent finding itself on waivers or back in free agency means that teams will have plenty of opportunities to reinforce weak points on their roster prior to Opening Day.

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