As spring training continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Nationals 40-man move incoming:
The Nationals were reportedly nearing a deal with right-hander Lucas Sims earlier this week, and this morning MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman reports that Sims has a locker in the team’s clubhouse. Given that, it seems likely that the club will make Sims’ deal official at some point today. The Nationals will need to make room on the 40-man roster in order to bring Sims into the fold officially. Right-hander Mason Thompson is recovering from Tommy John surgery after undergoing the procedure last March, making him a potential candidate for the 60-day injured list, but it’s also possible he’ll be ready to return early enough in the season that the club doesn’t want to commit to shelving him for the first two months of the season.
2. Extension season underway:
The Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did not reach an extension before Guerrero’s self-imposed deadline yesterday, which took perhaps the winter’s highest-profile extension target off of the table. That same day, the Diamondbacks finalized an extension with shortstop Geraldo Perdomo that extends the team’s window of club control by three seasons. Spring training is the most common time for players and clubs to discuss the possibility of a longer-term deal. Pending free agents like Guerrero, Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto have all seen their names surface in extension rumors. A team like the Red Sox could have extra motivation to try to lock up a trade acquisition (e.g. Garrett Crochet) after parting with significant prospect talent to acquire him. But, Perdomo’s extension serves as a reminder that many long-term deals for players still approaching or just entering arbitration come to fruition without virtually any buzz beforehand. As can be seen in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, there were 25 spring extensions hammered out from 2022-24: six in 2024, 11 in 2023 and another eight in 2022.
3. MLBTR Chat:
Spring training is now officially underway, though a handful of of MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents remain unsigned and some clubs still have more work to do before the start of the season. Whether you have a trade proposal in the back of your mind or questions about an upcoming camp battle this spring, MLBTR’s Steve Adams will be here to answer your questions during a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.
Sad news. I heard recently that Bobby Jenks, the closer for the 2005 world series champion White Sox, is suffering from stage 4 stomach cancer. Adding insult to injury, his house burned down in the LA fires.
avenger – That is indeed sad news, I remember him well as he chose to end his career with the Red Sox. Thoughts and prayers to him and loved ones.
Damn, only 43 y.o. Fvck cancer!
YBC – i just watched the Crüe movie, didn’t know Vince’s daughter passed away from cancer at Age 4.
I just can’t imagine …..
“many long-term deals for players still approaching or just entering arbitration come to fruition without virtually any buzz beforehand”
There’s a simple reason for this. Their agents have no reason to generate leaks because there’s no other teams to use as leverage.
And teams have no reason to generate leaks because the player will still be with them whether they sign an extension or not.
Here’s hoping for a buzz-less Gunnar and/or Adley extension in Baltimore being announced in the coming weeks!
King – I hope so.
Spend some damn money, Rubenstein!
Hells yes!
Sign Gunnar for eternity, pay him a billion! Gunnar is SOOO the guy you build a franchise around. He is mutant-ninja focused on being GREAT. His focus, and work ethic at his age is incredible.
Please please please lock Gunnar up!
(… contractually speaking …)
Apparently Rubenstein went out to lunch with Adley and Gunnar recently, and although he said it was a social outing rather than a business one, I think it’s fair to assume he was at least partially motivated by the desire to build up a rapport with them for future extension talks.
Funny, I read, and then read-into, that news the same way.
If I were the Orioles, I’d be eager to sign Gunnar asap before Vlad Jr. free agency. ATM it’s easy to say Soto was an outlier, but if Vlad Jr gets in the ball park of that deal, Gunnar never gonna sign an extension before free agency (and being a Boras guy).
I’d have to assume the opening negotiations start at “highest ever” for a player 2 years in with ROY and MVP votes. I have no idea what that contract is presently at…but Boras will open with “most ever”, and I hope Rubenstein understands that.
There is a snowball’s chance in Hell of an extension getting done with Kyke Tucker.
Oops
Of course we’ll be reading how the Cubs are the favorites to sign both Tucker and Vlad since they have all this fake money to spend and are the greatest team ever. Unreal
Youjustmadethatup: The thing about that is, the cubs DO have the money to sign almost anyone they want but Ricketts, who announced three or so years ago that he would open his wallet, has shut it again. You got a player like Tucker. He’ll fit in well with their less experienced players. Why not try to keep him around? Of course Tucker might not want to be with the cubs after this season. At least it’s worth a try.
You – What do you mean by fake money?
They have the 3rd-highest revenue in MLB.
@Fever: Possible this is the new screen name for BITA. The Cubs hatred and tone of his recent posts suggest this may be the case.
Jeff – Thanks for the heads-up. Did he get banned again?
This is my first reply to that handle, if it’s him I’ll know soon enough.
Jeff – Yep it’s definitely him, he just muted me like he always does :O)
@Fever: Thought so because BITA also had me muted. I’ve called him out several times since he changed his handle and he hasn’t responded to any of my posts.
Jeff – Yeah he’s what we call a coward, when he gets called out for posting blatantly false information he resorts to namecalling and then instantly mutes. He’s one of those people that likes to talk but not listen, write but not read.
He’s just gonna keep creating new accounts with different email addresses, unfortunately.
When “but” begins the sentence, there shouldn’t be a comma after it.