Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. Movement in Tucker’s market?
It’s been a fairly active week on the free agent market, but things have mostly been quiet surrounding star outfielder Kyle Tucker. That changed yesterday, however, when a report emerged that Tucker had visited the Blue Jays’ spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida. It’s the first known meeting between the winter’s top free agent and a team, and the news continues a trend of Toronto being by far the most aggressive team in baseball to this point in the offseason. Adding Dylan Cease to the rotation and Kyle Tucker to the lineup would be enough for a banner offseason by itself, to say nothing of the Jays’ deal with Cody Ponce or their reported pursuits of players like Bo Bichette and Pete Fairbanks, who are still on the market.
Does Tucker have other in-person visits lined up? Are the Jays preparing a formal offer? More details on his market could emerge in the near future.
2. Rays 40-man roster move incoming:
The Rays reached an agreement with outfielder Cedric Mullins on a one-year deal yesterday, adding to an outfield that was in desperate need of reinforcements beyond re-signing Jake Fraley shortly after his non-tender. Tampa Bay will need to clear a spot on their 40-man roster to accommodate Mullins. The most common way to accomplish that is simply by designating a player for assignment, but it’s also possible the Rays could look to work out a trade that clears 40-man roster space instead. Tampa Bay is hardly a stranger to the trade market, and players on the roster like Brandon Lowe are already garnering attention as potential trade pieces this winter.
3. Other signings to be made official:
Mullins isn’t the only reported deal that has yet to be made official. Deals between the Dodgers and Miguel Rojas, the Blue Jays and Cody Ponce, the White Sox and Anthony Kay, as well as the Reds and Emilio Pagan are all still pending physicals and will need to be formalized in the coming days. That’s in addition to the deal between the Astros and Ryan Weiss, which has still yet to be made official and (unlike Rojas, Ponce, Kay, and Pagan) will require a 40-man roster move on the part of Houston. With the Winter Meetings fast approaching, signings and the subsequently required 40-man roster maintenance necessary to accommodate those fresh deals will surely continue to pile up.
Toronto is looking like they’re the best team in the league and they want to stay there. All this endless drama needs to end sooner than later. The offseason has become tedious and tiresome. Thank you Blue Jays for getting things done.
Not really. I’ll take 5 teams in the al over them
Eh?
The best team in the league goes to the World Series. That’s how baseball works. The regular season is nice for stat geeks but winning when it counts is everything. That’s how baseball works. So Toronto is the best team in the AL.
Name the 5 please
Im curious who? They embarrassed the Yankees all year, Seattle is the only team who gave them a threat. Red Sox are a tier or 2 below and Detroit isn’t that great. KC should bounce back, Cle
hayzee – The Jays already were the best team in the league! Best regular season record and came within a run of winning the WS.
Everyone is gathering in Orlando this weekend, there will soon be much excitement.
Remember last year Soto agreed to his contract on the weekend prior to the official start of the Winter Meetings.
Tucker to Blue Jays interesting….and I’m a Yankee’s fan. The more competitive a Division is the better the chance for meaningful baseball in September/October.
If the Jays add Tucker and Bichette, the Yankees cannot compete with them. Hal is deciding competitive is too expensive these days. The Jays beat us 11 games to five. They are improving. We are significantly worse than last year. I see no joy in that as a Yankee fan.
Jays are the much better team.
Jays mean business. Would rather have bo than tucker even if you obviously move him off SS. Tucker is gonna cost twice as much and that 2nd half would worry me if I was a big market fan.