Catcher: Rays
A few team-position pairings in this story have been an issue for much longer than one year. Such is the case with Tampa Bay’s catching situation. Since the start of 2022 — the year after catcher Mike Zunino was an All-Star and hit 33 homers for the Rays — Tampa Bay has trotted out 12 different backstops, and they have combined for a .611 OPS and a 73 wRC+. In 2025, Danny Jansen, Hunter Feduccia, Nick Fortes, Ben Rortvedt and Matt Thaiss batted .185 behind the plate with an MLB-worst .592 OPS.
Feduccia and Fortes are the lone members of that bunch who remain on the roster, and they might head into 2026 as Tampa Bay’s catching tandem. However, president of baseball operations Erik Neander has said the club will keep looking to improve at the position. The Rays may not sign the top free-agent catcher (J.T. Realmuto) or trade for the Braves’ Sean Murphy, but any acquisition that brings them up from the bottom in offense at catcher to something closer to league average would be a significant win.
First base: D-backs
Arizona replaced the departing Christian Walker at first base last season with Josh Naylor, who posted good overall numbers but turned in a .399 slugging percentage through 76 games when acting as the D-backs’ first baseman before he was shipped out to Seattle. Pavin Smith and Tyler Locklear — a top prospect acquired from Seattle for Eugenio Suárez prior to the Trade Deadline — tried to pick up the slack from there, but the D-backs finished the season with a .360 slug, the second lowest at the position in MLB and the worst at first base in a single season in franchise history.
Smith and Locklear will get their chances again in 2026, although the lefty Locklear may not be ready for Opening Day after undergoing surgery on his left elbow and shoulder. That has the club understandably looking to add at first base, preferably a right-handed bat. As of now, D-backs first basemen are projected by FanGraphs Depth Charts to register a .391 slugging percentage in 2026. Although that would be an improvement by definition, that’s tied with the Marlins for the lowest slugging percentage by any team at first.
Second base: Giants
The Giants made a big splash last offseason, bringing in Willy Adames on a seven-year deal to fill what had been a big void at shortstop. Now it’s time for San Francisco to finally solve second base. It’s a spot where the team has batted .219 with a .268 on-base percentage (worst at the position) and a 71 wRC+ over the past three seasons. A league-low .615 OPS over that span was right in line with the Giants’ .617 OPS and 73 wRC+ at second base in 2025. San Francisco may center its offseason moves around pitching and let Casey Schmitt, Christian Koss and others sink or swim at the keystone position. But in an infield that will feature All-Stars such as Adames, Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers, San Francisco’s underwhelming options at second base stick out.
Shortstop: Braves
Atlanta has already addressed this position this offseason, acquiring Mauricio Dubón from the Astros for Nick Allen. Although 31-year-old Dubón is not exactly a potent hitter (career 88 wRC+, 80 in 2025), he is better than Allen, who, while excelling with the glove, was the game’s worst offensive player by wRC+ (53) among all hitters with at least 400 plate appearances.
Dubón, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, recorded an impressive +8 outs above average in just 33 games at short this past season. But that stands as the most games he has played at short in any of his seven MLB seasons. He could open 2026 as Atlanta’s starter there, but his value really lies in his versatility, and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos recently said the club is