We are now less than a month away from Opening Day and everyone still has items to check off the offseason shopping list. Some teams are more complete than others, so it will be interesting to say what the next couple weeks look like before players report.

ICYMI, I looked at each team’s top priority as they build their 2026 roster earlier this week. Check that out if you haven’t yet.

Since I wrote that on Monday, several team have already listened to me (or not, but I’d like to think so) and made moves in line with what I said they should.

Chicago Dogs

The Spin: Officially, the Dogs did nothing this week, but they did announce the acquisition of infielder Ethan Wilder on Thursday, though the deal that brought him over from the Washington Wild Things went down on April 2. Now, his official signing has not hit the transactions wire yet, so it’s not clear if he’s locked in yet.

Cleburne Railroaders

Signed: INF Carter Aldrete, INF Delino DeShields Jr., INF Cole Foster
Released: INF Brandon Wagner
Traded: OF Jorge Bonifacio (to Long Island for PTBNL)

The Spin: Cleburne drastically remade their infield, bringing back Aldrete, who was a Postseason All-Star in 2024 (.341, 21 HR, 74 RBI, 20 SB), then last year walloped 17 homers and 56 RBI in just 47 games in the Atlantic League after a mid-season release from Double-A. This is an impact signing, bar none. On top of that, they return DeShields, a seven-year MLB veteran who played for the Railroaders in 2023. Foster joins the fold after being released mid-season from High-A last year. This is his first Indy ball stop.

To make room, Wagner was shown the door. Having only played 15 pro games since 2022, his chances to make the club were already iffy. Bonifacio, meanwhile, was shipped off to the Atlantic League in a move that may very well have been designed to clear salary cap room for Aldrete and DeShields.

Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

Signed: RHP Garrett Alexander, LHP Parker Harm, INF Matt Kroon
Released: INF Osmy Gregorio

The Spin: The RedHawks have put together a really nice pitching staff, though the one area with a bit of a question mark was the back end of the bullpen. Well, they emphatically answered that at the tail end of the week. Harm returns to Fargo after a huge 2025. The North Dakota native logged a 1.61 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 50.1 innings last year and with Alex DuBord and Garrett Alexander moving on, he seems like a good bet to be the next RedHawks closer…and 30 minutes after I typed this, Alexander’s re-signing popped up on the transactions. The 29-year-old put up a ridiculous 0.92 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 13 saves in 39.0 innings last year, so that’s a salty late-inning duo coming back.

Fargo-Moorhead swapped out infielders, cutting the journeyman Gregorio and replacing him with Kroon, a first-time Indy baller who owns a career slash line of .273/.353/.427 across seven professional seasons. Injury robbed him of much of his 2025 season, but bottom line, Kroon has hit at just about every level. He’s listed as an infielder, but has played more outfield than anything else as a professional, which seems to suggest that’s where F-M will play him, being very short on bodies out there right now. Either way, I really like this signing.

Gary SouthShore RailCats

Signed: RHP Grant Cherry

The Spin: The RailCats added another arm to the bullpen in Cherry, who posted a 5.66 ERA mostly in Low-A last year, earning a pink slip after just one year in affiliated ball. The 22-year-old did strike out a batter per inning and will be one of the younger pitchers in the league, so those are two factors that at least should work in his favor on if he’ll improve going forward.

Kane County Cougars

The Spin: Kane County was quiet this week as George Tsamis continues to patiently wait out bouncebacks from MLB and Mexican League spring training camps. The Cougars still are only at 20 players, with pitching and outfielders being the two main areas still needing addressing.

Kansas City Monarchs

Signed: RHP Dakota Chalmers, RHP Dominic Hambley

The Spin: The Monarchs have been pretty aggressive in adding arms the last few weeks and continued to do so with two more signings on Friday. Chalmers is an interesting arm, in a 29-year-old former third-round back who has bounced around and posted huge strikeout numbers, but struggled to put it all together. Last year he made four stops, but had success in a dozen games in Cleburne, posting a 4.19 ERA and 79 strikeouts in just 62.1 innings. If that’s the Chalmers KC gets, this is a nice rotation piece.

Hambley turns 23 next week, but is already a five-year pro after being drafted out of high school in 2021. Most of his pro career has been a stuggle (career 5.56 ERA), but he posted a 1.36 ERA in 33.0 innings in Low-A last year, so he could be a bullpen piece to keep an eye on if that’s a sign of him figuring something out.

Lake Country DockHounds

Signed: RHP Benjamin Arias
Traded: INF T.J. Salvaggio (to Evansville for PTBNL)

The Spin: The only addition was another solid bullpen arm in the 24-year-old Arias. He spent six years in the St. Louis system, posting a career 3.99 ERA, including a solid 2025 in which he logged a 3.67 ERA in 56.1 innings at High-A. He doesn’t get many swings and misses, but he’s had some really solid seasons in the affiliated ranks. The DockHounds have signed a lot of promising arms this winter and Arias is another one.

The DockHounds also shipped out Salvaggio to the Frontier League. Considering Lake Country is in win-now mode and already has a fair amount of experience in the infield (even if they’re not sure where everyone will play) and Salvaggio is a first-year professional, Evansville is probably a better spot for him to try to find his footing to start his career.

Lincoln Saltdogs

Signed: RHP Harold Cortijo, INF/RHP Cael Chatham, RHP Zac McCleve

The Spin: The Saltdogs need a lot of pitching help, especially in the bullpen, and this is a nice start to fixing that problem. Cortijo is the headliner, coming to Lincoln after posting a 3.38 ERA with 15 saves over 34.2 innings closing for Quebec’s Frontier League juggernaut last year. He’s posted good numbers throughout his nine-year career (career 3.87 ERA) and even has held his own as a starter in the Atlantic League in 2024.

McCleve is a total unknown, putting up decent, if unspectacular college numbers at Utah before graduating in 2023. His only pro experience is 3.0 scoreless innings for Low-A Charleston last summer.

Chatham is an interesting one as he’s been used as a legitimate two-way player in both of his professional seasons. Results have been mixed, as he’s hit .219 over 83 games and logged a 5.73 ERA on the mound. Given his pro track record, the mound may be his best bet to stick around, so maybe if Lincoln has him stick to one side of the ball, that might work out better for him.

Milwaukee Milkmen

Signed: INF Justin Janas, INF Yordys Valdes

The Spin: Milwaukee pretty much filled out their infield with a pair of first-time Indy ballers. Valdes is headliner of the two, being drafted in the second round in 2019 and plying six years of affiliated ball. However, despite playing strong defense up the middle throughout his career, he just never hit (.218/.281/.300 slash line for his career). He’s still only 23, so maybe Milwaukee unlocks something at the plate.

Janas is a contact-first first baseman/corner outfielder, who had a strong 2023 at Low-A, but just never quite settled in two subsequent seasons at High-A. Putting the ball in play has often translated well to Indy ball success, so I’m curious how Janas pans out. I could see someone like former Fargo-Moorhead star Manuel Boscan (.299/.370/.437 slash line, 9.5 homers per season over four AA seasons) as a reasonable higher-end comparison.

Sioux City Explorers

Signed: RHP L.J. Waco

The Spin: First of all, that is an absolutely fantastic name and I humbly suggest Billy Joe Shaver’s “Wacko from Waco” as his entry song. Now, Waco is from Illinois and just finished his career at Division III Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 2024, where he posted a 3.03 ERA and 11.8 K/9 in his college career. The college numbers (especially in his last two years) were very good, but the jump from D3 to the AA is a big one, plus there’s the wild card of not pitching at all in 2025. The X’s need arms and Waco is one, but it’s another major unknown quantity for a staff with a good amount of them so far.

Sioux Falls Canaries

Signed: OF Anthony Sharkas

The Spin: Sharkas comes to Sioux Falls after taking a bite out of United Shore Professional Baseball League pitching (pun absolutely intended). He slashed .372/.452/.517 with 19 steals in 40 games in the USPBL last summer in his first full pro season. The 25-year-old played most of his college career at the NAIA level, so the AA will be a big jump up competition-wise. Sioux Falls has found success with a number of smaller-college guys recently (Tanner Brown, Jordan Barth, Josh Rehwaldt, most notably), so maybe Sharkas is next in that line.

Winnipeg Goldeyes

The Spin: Winnipeg was quiet this week after signing a second catcher last week. Currently sitting at 25 players with all position groups effectively filled out, I surmised in my mid-week piece that the Goldeyes might be about done building the roster. We’ll see if they sniff around for any more help in the coming weeks.

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