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Cubs Interested In A.J. Minter, Kyle Finnegan

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The Cubs have been expected to make moves to bolster their bullpen this offseason even after acquiring right-hander Eli Morgan from the Guardians last month, and two names have emerged that Chicago has reported interest in. Jon Morosi of MLB Network writes that the Cubs are among the teams with interest in left-hander A.J. Minter, while ESPN’s Jesse Rogers notes that the club has spoken to right-hander Kyle Finnegan.

Minter, 31, is one of the winter’s more interesting free agent relievers. The southpaw broke out with the Braves during the 2020 season and has been one of the better lefty relief arms in baseball since then with a 2.85 ERA and a matching 2.84 FIP in 243 innings over the past half-decade. In that time, he’s struck out 30.1% of his opponents while walking 7.8%. Among lefty relievers with at least 200 innings of work since the start of the 2020 season, Minter’s 3.05 SIERA ranks third in the majors behind only Josh Hader and Taylor Rogers.

That track record would seemingly be enough to line him up for one of the more lucrative relief contracts of the offseason, but Minter’s free agency is complicated by a difficult platform season. In 2024, Minter managed a solid 2.62 ERA but saw his strikeout rate dip to just 26.1% while his FIP ballooned up to 4.45 due primarily to an increase in home runs allowed. More problematic for Minter than those steps backward in peripherals, however, was the season-ending hip surgery Minter underwent back in August. Recent reporting has indicated that it’s not yet clear whether Minter will be ready to pitch at the outset of the 2025 season, a reality that could cast a shadow over his free agency if interested teams believe he’s ticketed for a substantial early-season absence.

As for Finnegan, the 33-year-old has spent all five seasons of his big league career with the Nationals but was non-tendered by the club last month. After impressing in his 2020 rookie campaign with a 2.92 ERA in 25 innings, Finnegan stood as the club’s primary closer throughout their recent rebuild. He racked up 88 saves over the next four seasons, pitching to a 3.62 ERA that was 13% better than league average in 265 2/3 innings of work during that time despite a somewhat lackluster 4.28 FIP.

Despite his gaudy save totals, which includes a 38-for-43 record (88.4% conversion rate) in save situations this past season, Finnegan’s numbers cast him as more of a middle reliever than a true closer. He’s struck out just 23.3% of opponents over the last four years while walking 9.3%, and while his 47.5% career groundball rate is certainly above average it’s not exactly exceptional as Finnegan ranks just 22nd among relievers with at least 200 innings of work since the start of the 2020 season by the metric. In that same timeframe, Finnegan’s 3.86 SIERA is well below average for a reliever and ranks just 55th among 70 qualifying relievers.

With that being said, Finnegan’s somewhat middling numbers throughout his career could make him relatively affordable on the open market, and the Cubs’ hesitance in recent years to commit to pricey guarantees for relievers could lead them to be intrigued by the upside offered by a hurler who averaged 97.4 mph on his fastball last year and offers late-inning experience that could benefit a mostly young bullpen that currently features Porter Hodge as its top high leverage option after the righty posted a dominant rookie campaign in 2024. Minter, by contrast, figures to a land a healthier guarantee so long as his market isn’t depressed by the health question marks surrounding him. MLBTR predicted the lefty to land a two-year, $16MM guarantee as part of our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list, where he ranked 34th.

Twins Have Received Calls Regarding Carlos Correa

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The Twins are facing tight payroll restrictions this offseason as they look to improve after narrowly missing the playoffs thanks to a brutal collapse back in September. With the club’s budget for 2025 reportedly set at $130MM and a payroll that RosterResource currently projects at $142MM, it’s hardly a secret that the club figures to make trades that will shed payroll this winter. Per Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune, that’s led some clubs to inquire with the Twins about the availability of star shortstop Carlos Correa. While Nightengale goes on to emphasize that there’s been no indication those inquiries have become more serious than a preliminary phone call, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey nonetheless addressed the possibility of a Correa trade during Day 1 of the Winter Meetings on Monday.

“Obviously, you expect teams to call on players like that, especially with where we are and some of the conversations we’re having with other clubs,” Falvey said of Correa, as relayed by Nightengale. “But we want to win, so a high bar is set.”

That’s a notable change in tone from last month, when Falvey emphasized that a Correa trade wasn’t something the club was “focused on” and called Correa a “key” part of the club’s plans alongside Byron Buxton and Pablo Lopez. Even so, The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reported Monday that multiple sources with the Twins indicated that it’s “hard to envision” the club parting with Correa. Given that apparent reluctance to deal their star shortstop and the apparently extremely preliminary nature of inquiries into his availability, it still seems more likely than not that Correa will remain in a Twins uniform for Opening Day 2025.

With that being said, the idea of a Correa trade is certainly intriguing. Correa’s recent history has been extremely tumultuous. After signing with Minnesota on a short-term deal during the 2021-22 offseason, Correa re-entered free agency the following year after a strong platform season and reached agreements with both the Giants and Mets before those deals ultimately fell through due to medical concerns. That led Correa to re-up with the Twins on his current deal, which calls for him to earn $128MM over the next four seasons before a series of four team options that Correa can vest into guaranteed years by reaching certain plate appearance thresholds or earning a top-5 MVP finish, a Silver Slugger award, or an LCS/World Series MVP award in the season prior to the option.

Correa’s complex contract also comes with a full no-trade clause, meaning that he would have to approve of any deal that shipped him out of Minnesota. Further complicating any trade talks involving Correa is his up-and-down performance since re-signing in the Twin Cities; the shortstop’s 2023 season saw him post just 1.8 fWAR and a 95 wRC+ in a full workload of 135 games as he played through plantar fasciitis. His performance bounced back to its previous impressive level in 2024 as he hit .310/.388/.517 with a 155 wRC+, but plantar fasciitis once again hobbled him and limited the shortstop to just 86 games. Overall, the 30-year-old has hit .261/.341/.444 (119 wRC+) in 221 games over the past two seasons.

Given Correa’s tantalizing value when healthy, it’s easy to imagine at least some high-revenue clubs being willing to gamble on his contract. That’s clearly not going to be enough to get a deal done, however, as Falvey has made clear that he isn’t interested in merely dealing Correa for the sake of salary relief. Even if Correa were willing to waive his no-trade clause to depart Minnesota, it’s unclear if interested clubs would be willing to part ways with the sort of package that would entice Falvey to make a deal in order to land him. While the club has 2022 first-rounder Brooks Lee as an option potentially capable of taking over shortstop in the event that Correa is traded, he struggled to a .221/.265/.320 slash line in his first taste of big league action and may not be ready for an everyday job to start the 2025 season.

With the apparent unlikelihood of a Correa deal coming together in mind, it still seems as though the Twins will have to shed salary somewhere. To that end, Nightengale highlights utility man Willi Castro, right-hander Chris Paddack, and catcher Christian Vazquez as “obvious trade candidates,” though he suggests that none of the three would bring back much of significance in return beyond salary relief. It’s not the first time that trio has come up as potential trade candidates this winter, but if the Twins managed to clear all three of them off the books entirely that would free up a combined estimate of $23.7MM using the $6.2MM projection of Castro’s final trip through arbitration offered by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

If Minnesota were able to free up all of that money, they’d seemingly have around $10.5MM to invest in other areas of the roster. To that end, Nightengale notes that Falvey described adding a first baseman “has some appeal” with Carlos Santana having elected free agency last month, and that a right-handed complement to lefty outfielders Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach could also make plenty of sense for a club that lost Manuel Margot to free agency in November as well. Ramon Laureano, Mark Canha, and Austin Hays are among the interesting budget options available on the right-handed outfield market, while Santana is joined by the likes of Josh Bell, Anthony Rizzo, and Paul Goldschmidt in the lower tiers of the first base market this winter.

Athletics Risk MLBPA Grievance Without Further Payroll Increases

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As they look to ramp up payroll ahead of their impending move to Las Vegas, the Athletics inked right-hander Luis Severino to the largest deal in franchise history last week as they look to capture the attention of a new city during their temporary move to West Sacramento. With that being said, a report from Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic on Monday emphasized that getting fans into seats in 2025 isn’t the only motivation behind the club’s decision to increase spending. The duo reports that without a substantial increase to the club’s payroll this winter, the A’s run the risk of inviting a grievance from the MLB Players Association.

That risk of a grievance is due to the fact that A’s will collect 100% of their revenue-sharing dollars in 2025 for the first time under the current collective bargaining agreement. While the team received just 25% of their allotment in 2022, that figured increased to 50% in 2023 and 75% in 2024 before finally reaching 100% in 2025. The issue for the A’s stems from the fact that the CBA requires revenue sharing recipients to spend more than 150% of their revenue sharing money on MLB payroll.

Drellich and Rosenthal go on to report that A’s could receive $70MM or more in revenue sharing after drawing the worst attendance figures in baseball last year, which would mean the club needs to reach a player payroll of $105MM or more for luxury tax purposes in 2025 in order to avoid risking a grievance. RosterResource currently projects the club for a luxury tax payroll of just under $78.5MM for 2025, meaning they would need to add roughly $26.5MM in player payroll to avoid falling below that 150% figure. It’s worth noting that these numbers are inexact, as well, and if the A’s receive a larger revenue sharing check than currently expected they may wind up needing to float a luxury tax payroll of more than $105MM in order to avoid a grievance.

For a club that has struggled to lure in free agents this winter due to the fact that they’ll spend the next three seasons using a Triple-A stadium as their home ballpark, reaching that level of spending could be complicated. A separate report from Rosenthal suggests that the A’s have interest in adding another free agent starting pitcher alongside Severino, though he adds that such a signing would likely be a veteran pitcher from a lower tier of free agency. Rosenthal specifically name-checks Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, and Andrew Heaney as potential options the A’s could consider if any of them were willing to pitch in West Sacramento next season.

Of the three, Heaney was predicted to land the largest contract on MLBTR’s annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list with a two-year, $24MM pact. That $12MM AAV would bump the club’s luxury tax payroll up to $90.5MM, putting them just $15MM away from reaching their estimated $105MM target. The tough sell of pitching in West Sacramento and the projection-beating deals signed by other pitchers this winter could leave the A’s in a position where they’d need to offer more than that $12MM annual figure in order to land a veteran hurler, but they’d surely still need to find other ways to add salary in order to reach $105MM even if they signed a veteran starter to a deal that significantly outpaced projections.

Free agency isn’t the only avenue for adding talent (and payroll), of course. The trade market is one avenue for adding MLB talent that the club has been candid about exploring this winter. Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger and Diamondbacks southpaw Jordan Montgomery are two high-priced players known to be available in the rumor mill who the club could swing deals for if they want to immediately put themselves in position to avoid a grievance in one fell swoop, but there’s a large swath of other players expected to be available this winter who could add to the club’s payroll in a less drastic fashion. Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz, Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner, and Cardinals southpaw Steven Matz are among a handful of possible trade candidates who will make $10MM or more in 2025.

Another route the A’s could take to raise the luxury tax payroll that wouldn’t require convincing a free agent to sign or swinging a trade with another club would be signing a player already in the organization to an extension. Reporting over the weekend indicated that the Athletics have interest in negotiating an extension with breakout slugger Brent Rooker. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Rooker to earn $5.1MM in his first trip through arbitration this winter, and any extension that would guarantee Rooker an AAV higher than that $5.1MM figure would increase the club’s luxury tax payroll. As MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk noted over the weekend, it’s possible that even if the A’s and Rooker aren’t interested in agreeing on a long-term deal that buys out some of Rooker’s free agent years, an extension that covers his arbitration years could offer certainty to both sides. Such an extension would come with an additional boon for the A’s in light of their current predicament by surely raising the AAV on Rooker’s 2025 contract, though no realistic extension could be expected to raise the club’s tax payroll by the $26.5MM needed to avoid risking a grievance by itself.

Angels Open To Everyday Addition At Third Base

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It’s no secret that the Angels’ seven-year, $245MM contract with third baseman Anthony Rendon has not gone as the club hoped it would. While Rendon turned in a phenomenal inaugural campaign in Anaheim during the shortened 2020 season, the four seasons since then have been marred by injury and ineffectiveness. Rendon has totaled just 205 games and 863 plate appearances during that time, and his .231/.329/.336 (89 wRC+) slash line on the rare occasion he’s healthy enough to take the field leaves much to be desired. With two years and $77MM left on the contract, it may seem inevitable that the Angels will continue to attempt to make Rendon work as a regular fixture of their lineup, but MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger relayed comments from club GM Perry Minasian Monday that suggest the club would be open to going in another direction.

“We have to be open to at least looking at that spot and seeing if there are other alternatives make us better,” Minasian said of the hot corner, as relayed by Bollinger. “Obviously, a healthy Anthony Rendon makes us a lot better. But with the last four years being the last four years, we need to take a look and kind of see what else is out there.”

To that end, Bollinger reports that Rendon will enter Spring Training 2025 “competing for a roster spot” and added that Minasian suggested the 34-year-old veteran could be moved into a part-time utility role where he sees time at first and second base in addition to his native position at third. That scenario would likely come to pass if the Angels were to add a full-time third baseman to their ranks via trade or free agency, a possibility which Bollinger notes that Minasian did not rule out. The Angels GM also noted that the club’s internal group of infielders offers a handful of players capable of handling the hot corner like Luis Rengifo, Scott Kingery, and Kevin Newman.

That the Angels would consider moving on from Rendon as their starting third baseman is certainly justified based on his performance in recent years, but still registers as something of a shock given the substantial sum he’s owed over the next two seasons. With that said, this winter does offer some interesting infield candidates the club to bolster its offense with. It seems unlikely that the Halos would greenlight another massive third base signing with Rendon on the books, so it would be a surprise to see them target Alex Bregman in free agency this winter. Looking beyond Bregman, free agency offers a number of interesting options such as Josh Rojas, Donovan Solano, Yoan Moncada, and Paul DeJong. Trade candidates at the hot corner this winter include Nolan Arenado (whose cumbersome contract comes with the same obstacles a pursuit of Bregman would), Alec Bohm, and Brett Baty.

DeJong in particular could be an intriguing fit for the Angels given the fact that Opening Day is in question for shortstop Zach Neto following offseason shoulder surgery. DeJong, 31, has plenty of experience at shortstop and could handle the position for the Halos while Neto is on the mend before shifting over to the hot corner once the youngster returns. Another option could be using the positional flexibility of Rengifo to add a second baseman to the mix. Gleyber Torres is the top free agent available at the keystone this winter, but if the Angels are unwilling to meet his price tag more affordable options include Jorge Polanco, Jose Iglesias, Amed Rosario, and Whit Merrifield. Iglesias and Rosario, much like DeJong, also offer ample experience at shortstop and could help fill in for Neto early in the season before moving off the position late in the season once he’s ready to go.

If the Halos do add another bat to the offense at some point this winter, Bollinger suggests the addition is far more likely to be an infielder than an outfielder. The Angels still intend to give longtime face of the franchise Mike Trout every opportunity to return from injury and re-establish himself as one of the games best players, and while the club has not yet decided whether he’ll continue to play center field on a daily basis or spend more time in the outfield corners and DH going forward Bollinger relays that the club believes they have the position covered given the presence of Jo Adell, Mickey Moniak, and Taylor Ward as possible options in center on at least a part-time basis. Bollinger adds that while Jorge Soler is expected to get the lion’s share of playing time at DH after being acquired from the Braves last month, if the Angels decide to rest Trout at the position or utilize other players there on occasion the Halos are comfortable playing him in either outfield corner as well.

Mookie Betts To Play Shortstop In 2025

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Last month, the Dodgers revealed shortly after their victory in the World Series that they planned to return versatile star Mookie Betts to the infield, where he spent the first half of the 2024 campaign before moving back to right field down the stretch, for the 2025 season. Now, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes has added a bit more specificity to that plan by informing reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) Monday that Betts will enter the 2025 season as the club’s starting shortstop.

As noted by Ardaya, that move back onto the outfield grass late in the 2024 season was preceded by a months-long absence due to a broken handed he suffered when struck by a pitch back in June. At the time, the club decided to move Betts back to the outfield for the time being thanks in part to the emergence of Miguel Rojas and Tommy Edman as viable options at the position but also because Betts was somewhat abruptly moved to shortstop just before the season began due to Gavin Lux struggling at the position during Spring Training. Ardaya notes that Betts struggled at times with the transition from making throws as an outfielder to ones as a shortstop, but that Betts and the club feel more confident that he’ll be able to handle the position on an daily basis in 2025 now that he has a full offseason to prepare for the move.

Given the apparent lack of interest on the part of L.A. in engaging in the shortstop market this winter, it’s perhaps not especially surprising that they plan to hand the keys to the position back to Betts next year. The Dodgers were loosely connected to top free agent shortstop Willy Adames earlier this offseason but did not seem to be among his most aggressive suitors before he ultimately landed with their division rivals in San Francisco over the weekend. Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner is a trade candidate who has gotten some buzz this winter and the Dodgers were previously connected to over the summer who has plenty of shortstop experience himself, but there’s been no indication of that interest carrying over to the winter.

With Betts now officially ticketed for regular reps at shortstop, the club’s lineup has seemingly begun to fall into place. Gavin Lux and Miguel Rojas figure to share time at second base, with Ardaya suggesting that a strong second half from Lux should earn him a crack at the lion’s share of playing time at the keystone next year. That would leave Max Muncy to continue playing third base on a regular basis while Tommy Edman figures to act as the club’s regular center fielder. Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani are of course locked in at first base and DH respectively, and newly-signed outfielder Michael Conforto figures to be an everyday player for L.A. in one of the outfield corners.

That leaves one obvious vacancy in the club’s lineup at the outfield corner not occupied by Conforto. Given the heavily-reported mutual interest in a reunion, it seems like the Dodgers hope to fill that void with Teoscar Hernandez. With that being said, the sides are reportedly facing a gap in contract talks, and with a number of reports suggesting Hernandez could have a robust market as perhaps the top outfield option available with Juan Soto now off the market it seems there’s no guarantee he’ll wind up in Dodger blue next year. There’s plenty of other interesting options available on the free agent market such as Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar should the Dodgers miss out on Hernandez, but it’s also at least plausible the club decides to go with a platoon of internal youngsters Andy Pages and James Outman to fill out that final spot in the lineup.

Yankees Expected To Move Aaron Judge Back To Right Field In 2025

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Reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge is currently expected to move back to his longtime position of right field for the 2025 season, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Judge has appeared in right field during more than 75% of his career games in the outfield but played center field almost exclusively in 2024 in order to accommodate the addition of Juan Soto to the club’s lineup. Now that Soto has departed for Queens on a record-breaking deal, however, Judge will be able to return to his old stomping grounds.

“We’re not afraid to run [Judge] out in center like we’ve done, but I think it makes sense to have him over in right,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said Monday, as relayed by Hoch. He went on to suggest that sliding Judge back to his natural position offers top outfield prospect Jasson Dominguez a “clear lane” to capture the starting center field job entering Spring Training, though Hoch notes that Cashman added he isn’t currently ready to anoint the 21-year-old as the club’s starter for next season.

Even if the club ultimately opts to send Dominguez back to Triple-A (where he’s hit well but has just 53 total games under his belt) to open the 2025 campaign, the club figures to have number of options they could consider that would keep Judge in right. Perhaps the most obvious internal solution for center outside of Dominguez is Trent Grisham, who the club avoided arbitration with last month by agreeing to a $5MM contract despite the fact that Grisham was strictly used as a bench player by the club after being acquired from the Padres alongside Soto last winter. The 28-year-old appeared in 76 games last year as a late-inning defensive replacement or to fill in for Judge in center field when the slugger had the day off or was DH’ing for the day, but received just 209 plate appearances total despite being an everyday player in San Diego in each of the previous four seasons.

Grisham’s .190/.290/.385 slash line was good for a decent 91 wRC+, and a .217 BABIP that was well below his career norms may suggest room for positive regression going forward. That decent bat combined with an elite glove at a premium position makes Grisham a plausible candidate for a starting role, and Hoch suggests the club could look for a right-handed center fielder to pair with Grisham at the position this winter. Grisham and Dominguez aren’t the only internal options the club has in center, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. has two seasons’ worth of experience at the position from his time in Miami. With that said, Hoch did not mention Chisholm as even a theoretical candidate for the position headed into 2025, and all signs point to the Yankees planning to use the 26-year-old sparkplug at either second or third base next year.

Turning back to Grisham, the extremely thin market for center fielders this winter could pose an obstacle to any plans of platooning him in center as the Yankees would likely be limited to light-hitting bench players with impressive defense like Harrison Bader, Michael A. Taylor, and Cristian Pache. One other potential addition the Yankees could make to their outfield mix who is capable of playing center would be Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger. The Yankees are known to have at least checked in on the 2019 NL MVP this winter, and Hoch reiterates that the club is “intrigued” by 29-year-old. Bellinger is coming off a down season in Chicago where he hit a solid but unspectacular .266/.325/.426 (109 wRC+) in 130 games. While Bellinger’s 7.9% walk rate was solid and his 15.6% strikeout rate was genuinely impressive, he mustered only 18 home runs with the Cubs this year after clubbing 26 the year prior.

That’s still solid production, but a combination of Bellinger’s hefty $27.5MM salary for 2025 and the Cubs’ deep mix of outfield options has led the club to shop him quite aggressively this winter. According to Hoch, the Yankees’ interest in Bellinger stems at least in part from his positional versatility. Bellinger is a roughly average defensive center fielder at this stage of his career, offering less upside with the glove than a player like Grisham or even Dominguez but more than capable of handling the position on a regular basis if needed. That defense goes from average to well above average when Bellinger is parked in either outfield corner, and he’s also capable of handling first base with nearly 2500 career innings in the majors at the position. Judge stands as the only player locked into everyday reps in the club’s outfield mix next year with Soto now out of the picture, and given the club’s hole at first base it’s easy to see how acquiring a player like Bellinger could offer them plenty of flexibility as they look to retool their roster with a number of possible targets for both the infield and outfield on the table.

Brewers Reportedly “Engaged” In Garrett Crochet Market

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Reporting yesterday indicated that the market for White Sox southpaw Garrett Crochet has started to heat up, with an increasing chance that a deal could come together at some point during the Winter Meetings this week. The Yankees, Red Sox, Padres, Cubs, and Reds are among the suitors who have previously been mentioned, but Jon Morosi of MLBNetwork added an additional suitor this morning when he reported that the Brewers are among the teams who remain engaged with Chicago regarding Crochet.

Milwaukee is an intriguing suitor for Crochet’s services. While the club typically focuses on internal development and savvy free agent deals in the middle and lower tiers of free agency in order to sustain their status as perennial contenders, the Brewers have swung trades for notable players such as Willy Adames and Christian Yelich in the past. Adames, of course, just signed with the Giants after declining a Qualifying Offer from the club, but Yelich went on to become a franchise stalwart who is under contract in Milwaukee through the end of the 2028 season. While Crochet comes with just two years of team control as opposed to the three-and-a-half and five years of control Adames and Yelich respectively had remaining at the time of their deals, the Brewers are firmly in the midst of their competitive window and have plenty of reason to be aggressive.

The club has weathered the losses of stars like Adames, Corbin Burnes, and Josh Hader in recent years that have left them facing increased long-term uncertainty, and with groups of exciting young talent in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Chicago reaching the majors it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where Milwaukee’s recent dominance over the NL Central comes to an end within the next few years. Adding a player with Crochet’s upside to a rotation that already figures to feature Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta this winter could be a way for the Brewers to guarantee their competitive window remains firmly open in 2025, and do so at a relatively affordable financial cost. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Crochet to make just $2.9MM in his penultimate trip through arbitration this winter. That’s a salary any club could afford, including the budget-conscious Brew Crew.

Of course, a trade for Crochet would come with plenty of risks. The southpaw managed just 146 innings in 2024 after two lost seasons due to injury and has never shown himself to be capable of handling a full starter’s workload at the MLB level; while he started 32 games in 2024, 17 of those starts lasted less than five innings. Even setting aside those volume- and health-related concerns, trading significant prospect capital for a player who wouldn’t be under long-term team control may be a difficult pill to swallow. While prospects like Jeferson Quero and Jacob Misiorowski could be used to create an enticing package for Chicago, the Brewers lack the high-end talent other suitors like the Padres (Ethan Salas), Red Sox (Marcelo Mayer), and Cubs (Matt Shaw) may be able to offer.

Of course, the prospect capital lost in a hypothetical Crochet trade could be made up for in other ways. The Brewers could pull from the playbook San Diego ultimately wound up using with Juan Soto and slot Crochet into their rotation for a year before flipping him next winter. It’s even possible that could land the club a return somewhat comparable to what they gave up if Crochet is able to stay healthy and establish himself as capable of pitching a wire-to-wire big league season on a starter’s workload this year. Alternatively, it’s at least plausible that Milwaukee could explore extension talks with Crochet that would keep him in town for longer than his two years of team control, though it’s unclear whether or not the club would have room on their books for the sort of salary Crochet could command given that any extension would overlap with the final years of Yelich’s deal.

Latest On Yankees’ Offseason Plans

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Juan Soto has officially departed the Bronx in favor of Queens, as the superstar slugger agreed to a 15-year deal with the Mets worth $765MM last night. Now that they know Soto will not be returning to the club in 2025, the Yankees are now poised to pivot towards a number of other notable free agent targets, spreading the money they would’ve spent on Soto around their roster. While the team is sure to have a number of irons in the fire as they attempt to reconstruct their roster without Soto in the mix, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported this morning that the club is expected to make a “strong push” for free agent first baseman Christian Walker after previously expressing interest in him earlier this winter.

Walker, 34 in March, has been a fixture of the Diamondbacks lineup at first base since longtime franchise face Paul Goldschmidt was traded to the Cardinals prior to the 2019 season but has found a new gear in his early thirties. Over the past three seasons, Walker has slashed a strong .250/.322/.481 (120 wRC+) with a 20.8% strikeout rate, a 9.9% walk rate, and 95 homers in 447 games for Arizona. He’s done that while providing high quality defense at first base, winning the NL’s Gold Glove award at the position in each of the past three campaigns. That combination of solid offense and elite defense at the position have made Walker one of the league’s most valuable commodities at first base in recent years. His 10.8 fWAR since the start of the 2022 season is tied with Yandy Diaz for fifth-best in the majors among qualified first basemen, trailing only Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, Matt Olson, and Goldschmidt in that time. Meanwhile, Walker ranked fifth in fWAR and seventh in wRC+ among qualified hitters at first base this year while trailing only Freeman, Harper, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in both categories.

It’s the sort of production that virtually any team could benefit from, but the Yankees in particular could use a big boost at first base. Incumbent first baseman Anthony Rizzo departed for free agency last month after a injury-marred campaign that saw him hit just .228/.301/.335 (84 wRC+) in 92 games, and the club’s internal solutions at the position are lackluster. Rookie Ben Rice struggled to a 73 wRC+ in his first taste of big league action last year, while DJ LeMahieu was one of the worst hitters in baseball this past year with a .204/.269/.259 slash line during his age-35 season. Adding Walker would improve both the club’s offense and defense in a substantial way, offering a steady solution at first base.

What’s more, the $60MM price tag over three years that MLBTR predicted Walker would land at the outset of the offseason is hardly cost-prohibitive, and should leave the Yankees with plenty of financial flexibility to stay aggressive in upgrading other areas of the roster. Third base and the outfield appear to be the most obvious places for the club to upgrade, but a pursuit of a top-flight starter such as Corbin Burnes or Max Fried can’t be ruled out either. The Yankees have reportedly met with both players this offseason and appear to have real interest in pairing one of the two remaining aces available in free agency with Gerrit Cole atop the club’s rotation. Of the two, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports that the club prefers Fried over Burnes. Adding either pitcher would surely require the club to trade at least one of their existing starters, with southpaw Nestor Cortes and veteran righty Marcus Stroman standing out as the most speculated-upon trade candidates.

Turning back to the lineup, the Yankees have reported interest in top free agent infielder Alex Bregman, which MLBTR discussed earlier this morning. One other option to fill the club’s vacancy at the hot corner could be Cardinals veteran Nolan Arenado. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported this morning that the Yankees are among a “select handful” of teams that the Cards have approached regarding the possibility of an Arenado trade, though it’s unclear to what level the Yankees reciprocated that interest in a deal if they did so at all. The 33-year-old has a full no-trade clause in his deal with the Cardinals, and his ability to be choosy about his destination has seemingly contributed to a “very limited” trade market for the veteran star.

Presumably, the Yankees are one of the teams Arenado would approve a trade to if the Cardinals are broaching the subject with the club. He could be a sensible fit for the Bronx given his strong defense at third base that would form an impressive left side of the infield alongside shortstop Anthony Volpe while allowing Jazz Chisholm Jr. to move back to second base. With that being said, there are questions about Arenado’s offense at this stage of his career. While he’s just two years removed from finishing as a finalist for the NL MVP award, those two seasons haven’t been kind to him as he slashed just .269/.320/.426 (104 wRC+) in a combined 247 games. He’s been approximately a three-win player over the past two seasons, but with three years remaining on his contract it’s fair to wonder if further regression on either side of the ball could be in Arenado’s future.

As for the outfield, the Yankees have been connected to Teoscar Hernandez as a potential back-up for Soto, with reporting yesterday indicating the club has “serious interest” in his services. Feinsand characterizes the club’s interest in Hernandez differently, however, reporting that the club’s talks with the slugger are “very preliminary” as the club has been focused on Soto to this point in the winter. Of course, now that Soto is off the board it’s easy to imagine the club’s interest in Hernandez becoming far more serious. While no player can replace Soto’s bat in the lineup and pairing another right-handed bat with Judge and Stanton in the middle of the Yankees lineup is far from ideal, Hernandez’s 134 wRC+ in 2024 would still offer the club a legitimate middle-of-the-order threat they’ll be lacking now that Soto has moved on.

Cubs Sign Matthew Boyd

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DECEMBER 9: The Cubs made Boyd’s signing official on Saturday and Robert Murray of FanSided (X link) has the full contract details today. Boyd gets a $5MM signing bonus and a salary of $7.5MM in 2025, followed by a $14.5MM salary in 2026. There is a $2MM buyout on a $15MM mutual option for 2027. As for the bonuses, Boyd gets $100K for getting to 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 innings pitched in each season.

DECEMBER 2: The Cubs have agreed with left-hander Matthew Boyd on a two-year deal that will guarantee him $29MM, per a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The deal includes $1MM in performance bonuses, $500K each year, that could take the total guarantee to $30MM over two years. Boyd is represented by the Boras Corporation.

Boyd, 34 in February, made his big league debut with the Blue Jays back in 2018 but established himself in the majors as a member of the Tigers the following year. From 2016 to 2020, Boyd served as a slightly below league average starter for Detroit with a 4.75 ERA (95 ERA+) and 4.54 FIP in 727 innings of work. The southpaw at times flashed exciting peripherals, such as the 2019 season when he punched out 30.2% of opponents in 185 1/3 frames while walking just 6.3%, but his overall body of work cast him as more of a solid back-of-the-rotation arm than anything else.

Matthew Boyd pitching for the Cleveland Guardians.

Boyd’s time with the Tigers came to a close when he required surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon late in the 2021 campaign, which left him limited to just ten relief appearances as a member of the Mariners. He returned to the Tigers in 2023 but made just 15 starts to lackluster results before going under the knife a second time, this time due to Tommy John surgery.

Once again a free agent coming off major surgery, Boyd remained unsigned headed into the 2024 season before eventually landing a big league deal with the Guardians back in June. The lefty didn’t make his season debut until mid-August after building up to game readiness in the minor leagues, but once he suited up for Cleveland he looked quite good with a 2.72 ERA and 3.29 FIP in 39 2/3 innings of work across eight starts down the stretch. He struck out 27.7% of his opponents while walking just 7.3%, which would have given Boyd one of the better K-BB% figures for a starter in the sport this year if he had pitched enough innings to qualify. He built on that solid regular season performance with a strong showing during the Guardians’ run to the ALCS. He pitched 12 innings for the club across four appearances (three starts), and struck out 28% of opponents while posting a dazzling 0.75 ERA.

That strong finish to Boyd’s season left the southpaw poised to garner plenty of interest in free agency this winter, even in spite of his checkered injury history. MLBTR ranked Boyd as the #23 free agent in this winter’s class on our annual Top 50 MLB free agents list, and predicted a two-year, $25MM guarantee that comes in just below the pact he ultimately landed with the Cubs. Boyd becomes the fifth starting pitcher to sign a multi-year deal this winter, joining Michael Wacha’s three-year deal with the Royals, Yusei Kikuchi’s three-year pact with the Angels, Blake Snell’s five-year contract with the Dodgers, and the two-year agreement between Frankie Montas and the Mets that was reported earlier this evening.

Notably, four of the five were unencumbered by draft pick compensation in a pitching market where plenty of borderline candidates such as Nick Pivetta and Luis Severino were extended the qualifying offer by their clubs. (Wacha re-signed in Kansas City the day before QOs were tendered but would very likely have received one.) Each pitcher has landed a deal that come in at or above expectations.

Even so, that seems to have pushed clubs that aren’t interested in signing a qualified free agent to act quickly. The calendar has only just flipped to December the market is already beginning to thin in terms of starters who aren’t attached to a qualifying offer. MLBTR predicted multi-year deals for just four more free agent starters who aren’t attached to draft pick compensation this winter: Jack Flaherty, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, and Jose Quintana.

Turning back to the Cubs, the addition of Boyd adds another capable veteran arm to a rotation that already features lefties Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga as well as right-hander Jameson Taillon. Adding to the rotation has been a well-established priority for the club this winter, though early reports of plans to shop for a top-of-the-rotation arm eventually gave way to the suggestion Chicago could instead look for arms a tier or two below that pedigree. Boyd fits the latter description, given his roughly league-average work throughout his career and his recent struggles with injuries. The lefty has been limited to just 202 2/3 innings of work since the start of the 2021 season, and in that time he’s posted a 4.04 ERA (105 ERA+) with a 3.97 FIP and a 23.2% strikeout rate against an 8% walk rate.

While Boyd may not necessarily profile as a front-end starter, it’s still not hard to imagine him providing an upgrade to the Cubs’ rotation when healthy. After all, the lefty was legitimately impactful for the Guardians this year in both the regular season and the playoffs, and that success being a late-career step forward rather than a simple hot streak can’t be ruled out for a pitcher who has long shown flashes of dominance throughout his time in the majors. What’s more, Chicago is perhaps uniquely well-equipped to handle any absences caused by future injuries thanks to a deep group of optionable arms that includes Ben Brown, Javier Assad, Jordan Wicks, and Hayden Wesneski who can step into the rotation fairly seamlessly if needed.

For the time being, that quartet appears likely to vie for the fifth spot in the club’s rotation this spring, with Assad as the early front-runner after a generally successful (3.73 ERA, 4.64 FIP) season as a starter in 2024. RosterResource currently projects the Cubs for a $176MM payroll in 2025, and the Boyd deal should move that up to the $191MM range. That still leaves a bit more than $20MM of breathing room relative to the club’s 2024 Opening Day payroll, which Cot’s Baseball Contracts notes sat just over $214MM. It’s not impossible to imagine the club pursuing another starter to strengthen their rotation through either free agency or trade this winter with the financial flexibility the club has remaining, but given the club’s needs at catcher and in the bullpen it seems those funds will likely be used elsewhere—at least unless a trade of Cody Bellinger clears some additional money off the club’s books.

Latest On Alex Bregman

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While the majority of attention figures to be focused on the outfield market in the aftermath of Juan Soto’s decision to sign with the Mets on a record-shattering deal last night, one other beneficiary of the failed suitors’ expected aggressiveness on the rest of the free agent market could be third baseman Alex Bregman. Rob Bradford of WEEI reported last night that the Red Sox may “immediately be prioritizing” a pursuit of Bregman in the aftermath of Soto’s signing as they look to use those funds to sign other top free agents, while USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports this morning that the Yankees are “expected” to make a run at free agency’s top infielder as well.

The Red Sox were previously reported as a potential suitor for Bregman earlier this winter, but their level of interest has not been clear to this point. Now, it appears they may have more significant interest in adding the 30-year-old veteran to their roster after failing to land Soto. Bregman certainly makes plenty of sense for the Red Sox, as he’d help to balance a heavily left-handed lineup as a right-handed hitter with a career .277/.367/.494 slash line against southpaws. What’s more, the club’s crowded outfield mix makes the infield perhaps the most obvious place for Boston to add to the lineup, though they’ve seemingly prioritized adding pitching help (aside from their pursuit of Soto) to this point in the offseason.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to Bregman landing in Boston is a somewhat questionable positional fit. Bregman has spent virtually his entire big league career at the hot corner, which is currently occupied by Rafael Devers at Fenway Park. That said, it’s easy to see how the Red Sox could fit Bregman into their plans if they’re sufficiently motivated to do so. Bregman has expressed a willingness to slide over to second base if his new team so desires, and the Red Sox have also reportedly considered shifting Devers off third base into either a first base or DH role. There’s potential flaws in either of those plans given the presence of top prospect Kristian Campbell as a potentially big league ready long-term solution at the keystone and Devers’ reported desire to remain at third base for the foreseeable future, but those are issues that could surely be worked around if Boston were sufficiently motivated.

The Yankees, meanwhile, have been a speculative fit for Bregman’s services but have not previously been reported to have interest in the veteran. The club is sure to be aggressive in upgrading its roster now that Soto has landed elsewhere, and an infield that sports little certainty outside of Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe is an obvious place to start. The club had reported interested in shortstop Willy Adames as a candidate to play either second or third base before he signed with the Giants over the weekend, and Bregman is certainly a logical fit to fill that same role.

Chisholm played third base for the Yankees down the stretch and into the postseason after being acquired from the Marlins last summer but has far more experience at the keystone, so adding a proven third baseman like Bregman could upgrade the club on both sides of the ball by allowing Chisholm to move back to his natural position while adding a reliable hitter who’s never posted a wRC+ lower than 114 in a season to their lineup. One theoretical roadblock to the Yankees signing Bregman could be discontent due to the third baseman being part of the 2017 Astros squad that was implicated in the infamous sign-stealing scandal, though the same could be said for shortstop Carlos Correa and GM Brian Cashman’s front office didn’t let that stop them from pursuing him when he was a free agent three years ago.

Of course, the longtime archrivals of the AL East are hardly the only suitors for Bregman’s services. The Phillies, Blue Jays, and Tigers all reportedly have at least some level of interest in the veteran infield this winter, and the incumbent Astros are perhaps his most obvious suitor of all. Houston has already made an offer to Bregman’s camp this winter, which was reportedly in the range of six years and $156MM. He’s reportedly looking for a deal in the $200MM range, however, and that gap could create room for one of his other suitors to swoop in and pull him away from the Astros. That’s led the club to explore contingency plans in case Bregman signs elsewhere such as infielder Jorge Polanco and first baseman Christian Walker, GM Dana Brown made clear in an appearance on MLBNetwork Radio yesterday that retaining their star third baseman remains the club’s top priority.

“We’re working on it… we’re having a lot of conversations with Scott [Boras], and, you know, we’re optimistic,” Brown said of their pursuit of Bregman. He went on to make clear that, even if they don’t re-sign Bregman in free agency this winter, he expects the club to seek outside help at third base. Brown noted that he believes the club’s internal infield solutions to be anywhere from six months to a year away from being ready for big league action, indicating that at least a stopgap solution at the hot corner such as Polanco will be necessary for Houston should they fail to bring Bregman back into the fold.

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