On the heels of a big move by the Braves this morning, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day today:
1. Suarez to make Red Sox debut:
Boston’s top offseason addition is set to suit up for his new club for the first time today. Left-hander Ranger Suarez is the scheduled starter for the Red Sox in today’s Spring Training game against the Pirates. The 2024 All-Star will look to make a strong first impression on his new fanbase as he gears up to represent Venezuela in this year’s World Baseball Classic. His opponent today will be Pittsburgh righty Carmen Mlodzinski, who posted a solid 3.55 ERA in 99 innings of work for the Pirates last year. The two will face off at Fenway South in Fort Myers in a game scheduled for 1:05pm local time this afternoon.
2. Extension season underway:
One of the most talented impending free agents just came off the board early this morning when Chris Sale landed an extension in Atlanta. Sale joins Dodgers veteran Max Muncy (and, if you include front office executives, Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller) in having forgone free agency to stick with their current club this month. That also doesn’t include the offseason’s extensions for players under long-term club control like Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson of the A’s. There aren’t any players and teams known to be in the midst of extension talks at the moment, and some players like Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs have even specifically noted that talks are not underway with their club. With that being said, deals can come together quickly behind the scenes; Sale indicated earlier today that his negotiations with the Braves took just one week. Could more extensions be on the way over the coming days?
3. MLBTR Chat Today:
Spring Training is officially underway, and baseball games are being played once again. A handful of interesting free agents such as Lucas Giolito and Zack Littell remain available, but most of the heavy lifting for clubs has been done at this point in the offseason. Are you wondering where your favorite team stands headed into Spring Training, and if there are any other moves for your club to make before the season begins? MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, follow along with the chat once it goes live, and read the transcript after it’s complete.
Gavin Sheets and/or Adrian Morejon extended soon!?
Looking forward to seeing Konnor Griffin park one against Ranger Suarez today.
I called this.
Giolito was hurt towards the end of last season? If so that explains why he remains unsigned. Littell was healthy so not sure if his asking price is too high or maybe too many years.
Yeah that’s why he didn’t pitch in the Wild Card round in NY. Very unfortunate situation for him.
Ah,that explains a lot then. Thank you for clarifying!
Acoss – With Littell it’s the huge drop in K% that has scared teams off, he went from 21.5% in 2024 down to 17.1% last year which is his worst since his 2018 rookie season when he threw only 20 innings.
Fever,
That’s pretty significant drop off, it’s certainly scaring teams away lol
Don’t love that Ranger is going to be pitching in the WBC before he ever throws a real pitch for the Red Sox. I’d much prefer that time be spent with Bailey and his guys working to optimize his effectiveness and longevity. Covering my head and hoping any teams with a big Sox player presence have swift exits from the tourney.
Yeah they should wrap him up in bubble wrap and monitor him in a padded room 24/7.
No. The reason he’s the Iron Man is because he goes out there and plays every game. Wash! Spin! Rinse! Spin! You take that away from him, you break his spirit!
I’m going to be honest here, and this is probably an unpopular opinion, but I really don’t care for the WBC. It’s selfish, but I really don’t want any MLB player getting hurt in that tournament.
It is a very unpopular opinion from what I’ve seen, but I agree with you.
I love the WBC but as a Mets fan watching Diaz be lost for the entire season celebrating a game that wasn’t even the finals was brutal.
Baseball players have just as much of a chance getting hurt in a ST game as they doing playing in the WBC.
Personally, I can stomach an injury to a key player in spring training, where they are under the care and advisement of the personnel for the Red Sox, than I can an injury in the WBC, where they are being managed by a different staff that I don’t know or trust, and that does not have the best interest of the Boston Red Sox at their forefront. Plus, in ST games intensity can be much better managed, including even allowing pitchers to come out of a game early and then go back in at the end.
Meow – Not sure if you’re old enough to remember Dice, but the year he pitched in the WBC it ended up wrecking his regular season with the Red Sox.
So yeah I totally agree, not feeling good about Ranger pitching in the WBC.
I think the stress of watching Matsuzaka pitch took years off my life, I certainly remember him 😆
Meow – YES! Dice was so frustrating because he never pounded the zone, he ALWAYS liked to paint … which of course caused his pitch counts to rise quickly …. which of course made him a 5-inning pitcher and burned out the BP.
I agree, pitchers are taking an unnecessary risk by pitching in this competitive environment, this early in the spring. I hope no pitcher suffers a major injury, in a tournament that shouldn’t even be played!!
Extend Jeremy Pena and Hunter Brown.
Those would both be very expensive… and if they idea is not to pay them until next year (Astros won’t hit CBT 1 in ’26, right?) then you have all offseason to worry about it.
I would focus on Jeremy Pena first. Expect Brown to want 180 million+ and Pena to want 250 million+ plus contract escalators.
Since I’m obliviously unaware of Houston’s future payroll endeavors, do you guys have money clearing the books this coming offseason? If so, what do you think the likelihoods of these deals are? Just my opinion, but I’m sensing that Hunter wants to test the market…
Most notably, they have McCullers Jr.’s 17.7 million off the books, 3 arbitration players coming off the books too. But not much. Potentially Tatsyua Imai’s 18 million. Brown was once open to extensions and if the Astros come up with a good enough one, I’m sure Brown will take it. I think Pena is the one that wants to test the market.
Not an extension but the Brewers need to lock up Made for the next 15 years.