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White Sox, Mets Reportedly Finalists For Erick Fedde

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10:20pm: The Mets and White Sox appear to be the two finalists for Fedde’s services, Feinsand reports (on X). It is expected that the righty will agree to terms by tomorrow.

4:42pm: Free agent right-hander Erick Fedde is nearing agreement on a two-year deal with an unspecified team, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X link). The 2023 KBO MVP is expected to surpass $5MM annually on his upcoming contract.

If the deal is completed, Fedde will return to the majors after one season in South Korea. The 30-year-old turned in an excellent year for the NC Dinos, allowing 2.00 earned runs per nine across 180 1/3 innings. He struck out an excellent 29.5% of batters faced while walking under 5% of opposing hitters.

The 18th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Fedde had spent his entire MLB career with the Nationals. The UNLV product appeared on the back end of Top 100 prospect lists prior to his big league debut midway through the 2017 campaign. He missed time the following season with shoulder inflammation and bounced between Washington and Triple-A in 2019.

Fedde carved out a spot in the Nats rotation during the shortened 2020 campaign. He’d hold that role for the next three seasons, combining to log 310 2/3 innings over 67 appearances between 2020-22. The results weren’t great, as he posted a 5.42 ERA with a middling 18.1% strikeout rate. The Nationals declined to tender him an arbitration contract last offseason, setting the stage for his move to the KBO.

The dominant showing in a generally hitter-friendly foreign league set the stage for a quick return to the majors. In addition to the improved performance, it seems he overhauled his pitch mix. Fedde told Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post in August that he’d developed more horizontal action on his slider and tweaked the grip on his changeup. That altered arsenal has clearly intrigued a few teams, as reports indicated Fedde was receiving interest from multiple MLB clubs this winter.

Stearns: Mets Plan To Add An Outfielder, Stick With Internal Options At Third Base

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Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke to reporters (including The Athletic’s Tim Britton as well as both Mike Puma and Joel Sherman of the New York Post) today about the club’s plans headed into the Winter Meetings, with a particular focus on potential offensive additions. Stearns indicated that the club’s main focus on the positional side of things is finding an addition to outfield who would play regularly. That’s hardly a surprise, as New York has been connected to recently-posted KBO star Jung Hoo Lee and veteran center fielder Michael A. Taylor in recent days.

After shipping veteran corner bats Mark Canha and Tommy Pham out at the trade deadline over the summer, the club relied primarily on a mix of DJ Stewart, Jeff McNeil, Tim Locastro, and Rafael Ortega to flank center fielder Brandon Nimmo in the corners. Locastro and Ortega have since become free agents, and while Stewart appears ticketed for a bench role next season. Veteran outfielder Starling Marte is expected to patrol right field on a regular basis in 2024 after spending much of the second half on the injured list due to groin issues.

That leaves one outfield spot left to fill, as Stearns acknowledged to reporters today that the club’s preference is for the versatile McNeil to act as the club’s regular second baseman next season. Lee and Taylor could be of particular interest to the Mets if the club hopes to improve its outfield defense, as either addition could allow Nimmo to slide over to left field while taking over in center. Speculatively speaking, the likes of Kevin Kiermaier and Harrison Bader could be other glove-first options worth considering for the Mets this offseason.

If the Mets secure an additional regular for their outfield as planned, it would appear their infield mix is relatively set for the 2024 season. Stearns has previously indicated that he expects first baseman Pete Alonso to remain with the Mets headed into the year, and Francisco Lindor has long been entrenched as the club’s franchise shortstop. With McNeil returning to everyday play at second base, that leaves third as the club’s only question mark on the infield.

Despite the position’s relative uncertainty, Stearns made clear that the Mets are comfortable with their internal options at the hot corner and do not plan on adding additional options to the club’s mix, which currently includes youngsters Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Ronny Mauricio as well as recent addition Joey Wendle. Sherman suggests that the club views Wendle as a utility man, suggesting he’s more likely to be ticketed for a bench role with the club than the opening day job at third base. That would leave Baty, Vientos, and Mauricio headed into spring training with a shot at taking over as the club’s regular third baseman. For his part, Stearns suggested that there’s no internal favorite between that trio for the position.

Baty was the club’s starting third baseman for much of the 2023 season but struggled to a .216/.281/.331 slash line in 318 trips to the plate before the club decided to option him back to Triple-A in early August. Baty returned to the big league club in September but saw his struggles continue as he slashed an anemic .194/.216/.292 during the season’s final month. Still, as a former first-round pick and consensus top-30 prospect in the game with a career .981 OPS at the Triple-A level, it’s easy to see why the club could be willing to give Baty another shot as the regular third baseman in his age-24 season next year. That’s especially true given Baty’s .300 xwOBA in 2023, which greatly outstripped his actual production this season, which left him with a meager .266 wOBA.

Vientos, 24 next week, had a torrid first half with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse this season, posting an incredible .306/.387/.612 slash line while clubbing 16 home runs and 21 doubles in 61 games. The strong offensive performance earned Vientos a regular role with the club from late July through the end of the season, but Vientos struggled to a .220/.261/.399 slash line with a 31% strikeout rate in those 184 late-season plate appearances. In addition to Vientos’s struggles at the plate, the youngster is viewed as the weakest defender of the trio in the running for regular reps at third base next season, meaning his bat would likely need to take a significant step forward for the Mets to rely on him as their regular third baseman entering next year.

Mauricio, who won’t celebrate his 23rd birthday until April, is both the youngest of the trio and the most inexperienced at the big league level. Once considered a top-50 prospect in the league, Mauricio’s star lost some of its shine after a rough 2022 season where he posted an OBP of just .296 at the Double-A level. Fortunately for Mauricio, his 2023 performance helped to quell doubts about his ability as he slashed a much stronger .292/.346/.506 in 116 games with Syracuse this season. That earned him a brief call-up to the big leagues this season, though he struggled to a .248/.296/.347 slash line in his first 108 trips to the plate against big league pitching. One advantage Mauricio could have in a camp battle against Baty and Vientos is his glove, as Mauricio has more than 3,000 innings of experience at shortstop in the minor leagues and sports an excellent throwing arm that should allow him to handle a transition to regular time at the hot corner without much issue.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto To Meet With Teams Within The Next Week

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Japanese superstar Yoshinobu Yamamoto is getting closer to Major League Baseball, both literally and figuratively. According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the 25-year-old right-hander is coming to the United States “within the next week” to begin in-person meetings with his MLB suitors.

As previously reported by Andy Martino of SNY, Yamamoto planned to hold initial meetings with all interested teams over the phone or Zoom before traveling to North America to meet with the finalists for his services. Presumably, the phone call stage of the process is wrapping up, which suggests the star pitcher has already begun to narrow down his options. It remains unclear how many teams Yamamoto will be speaking with, although Puma reports that the Mets are one of the clubs to secure a meeting with the five-time NPB All-Star.

Martino’s initial report indicated that Yamamoto would not sign until after the Winter Meetings, and Puma’s update seems to confirm that timeline. While the righty must sign before his posting window closes on January 4 (if he is going to sign with an MLB team at all), that still gives him just over a month to make his choice.

There might not be much news about Yamamoto during the Winter Meetings, but still, it will be interesting to see how his timeline affects the rest of the starting pitching market. Plenty of teams are pursuing the righty, and they might prefer to wait until he signs elsewhere before turning to Plan B. Similarly, frontline starters like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery might be waiting for Yamamoto to set the market, which could make this a quiet week on the starting pitching front. Then again, perhaps teams with starters to trade will take advantage of such a lull; Tyler Glasnow of the Rays and Dylan Cease of the White Sox are already generating interest as the Winter Meetings get underway.

Mets Focused On Improving Run Prevention, Interested In Michael A. Taylor

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  • The Mets appear focused on improving their run prevention as they enter the winter meetings, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic. Sammon notes that in addition to pitching additions, the club is hoping to improve their outfield defense this winter. KBO star Jung Hoo Lee is one player the club has interest in who could do just that, and Sammon suggests that free agent center fielder Michael A. Taylor could be another fit, though the 32-year-old is garnering plenty of interest around the league, per Sammon. Taylor had the strongest offensive season of his career since 2017 with the Twins in 2023, slashing .220/.278/.442 (96 wRC+) while clubbing a career-best 21 home runs in just 388 trips to the plate this year. Sammon goes on to suggest that adding a player who could contribute in center field is the easiest way for the club to improve its defense, as it would allow Brandon Nimmo to slide over to left field more often.

Mets Interested In Jung Hoo Lee

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Most of the offseason buzz surrounding the Mets has focused on their pursuits of pitching, but USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the Amazins also have “strong interest” in outfielder Jung Hoo Lee.  Between New York’s known interest in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shota Imanaga, and now Lee, it is clear that the Mets are taking a particularly hard look at the overseas market as an avenue to add talent to the roster.

Though David Stearns is now in charge of the Mets’ front office, the international market isn’t exactly a new direction for the club, considering that Kodai Senga was signed to a five-year, $75MM deal just last offseason.  That deal is looking like a wise investment considering Senga’s success in his first MLB season, and adding any of Lee, Yamamoto, or Imanaga would be an intriguing upgrade over the long term.  This fits with the general assessment that the Mets are more focused on 2025 as the target date for their true return to championship contention, though obviously the team still wants to achieve some on-field success in the coming season.

Lee is expected to be posted by the KBO League’s Kiwoom Heroes any day now, and once he officially hits the market, the Mets and other teams will have 30 days to reach a contract with the 25-year-old outfielder.  If no deal is reached, Lee would return to the Heroes for the 2024 KBO season and have to wait until next offseason to again seek out a Major League deal, yet there seems to be enough interest in his services now that Lee will very likely be making his big league debut in 2024.  MLB Trade Rumors projected a five-year, $50MM deal for Lee, and ranked him 15th on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents.

The Mets join the Yankees, Giants, and Padres as known suitors for Lee’s services, though the New York Post’s Jon Heyman estimates that around 20 teams have some level of interest in Lee.  Naturally, owner Steve Cohen’s willingness to spend gives the Mets some level of financial advantage over a lot of suitors, and it might also help the Amazins that their overall offseason focus is little more narrowed than most big-market teams.  Whereas clubs like the Giants, Yankees, or Dodgers are broadly “in on everyone” as a matter of due diligence, the Mets’ prioritization of the 2025 season has reportedly made them less interested in many trade targets only under contract for the 2024 campaign (i.e. Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Tyler Glasnow, or Shane Bieber).

Lee was the KBO’s MVP in 2022, and is a five-time winner of their Gold Glove Award for his outfield work (primarily as a center fielder).  His 2023 season was prematurely ended in July due to ankle surgery, though there aren’t any known complications preventing Lee from being fully fit for the start of Spring Training.  With a .340/.407/.491 slash line over 3947 career plate appearances for the Heroes, Lee has been more than a match for KBO pitching, though gauging how that will translate against the higher caliber of MLB pitching is the big question for any position player coming from the hitter-friendly KBO League.

Evaluators have some concerns over Lee’s defensive future and if he can generate enough power to be a true top-tier Major League hitter, though there might be a decent talent floor in place if Lee is “only” a high average/OBP type of batter who is more than capable in left field.  Sliding Lee into the Mets’ left field vacancy makes for a very easy fit, and Lee could also get time up the middle if Brandon Nimmo was moved to left field.  Public defensive metrics have been mixed at best over Nimmo’s center field glovework over the years, so even if Lee is perhaps not a sure thing at the position, he might represent at least a short-term defensive upgrade over Nimmo.

Latest On Mets' Starting Pitching Pursuits

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Mets Sign Andre Scrubb To Minor League Deal

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The Mets are reportedly in agreement with right-hander Andre Scrubb on a minor league deal, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. It’s not yet clear if the deal includes an invite to big league spring training.

Scrubb, 29 next month, was an eighth-round pick by the Dodgers in the 2016 draft. After being traded to the Astros back in 2019 in exchange for first baseman Tyler White, Scrubb made his big league debut with Houston during the shortened 2020 campaign. He appeared in 20 of the club’s 60 contests that season, dominating to a sparkling 1.90 ERA in 23 2/3 innings of work. Under the hood, however, Scrubb’s performance was far less impressive due to struggles with control, as evidenced by a whopping 19.6% walk rate that contributed to a pedestrian 4.25 FIP. Those control issues didn’t stop the then-25-year-old righty from contributing to Houston’s run to the ALCS that season, however, as he posted a 2.25 ERA with seven strikeouts against two walks in four innings of work.

Scrubb’s results came crashing back to Earth in 2021. The right-hander struggled badly in 18 appearances with the big league club that season, posting a 5.03 ERA and 6.48 FIP as his control problems led not only to a walk rate of 16.3% but also a whopping five home runs allowed in just 19 2/3 innings of work. Scrubb’s appearances at the Triple-A level went better, as he posted a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings of work, but the control issues lingered until Scrubb went down with a shoulder strain in July. The righty was outrighted off Houston’s 40-man roster following the 2021 season and missed almost the entirety of the 2022 campaign due to injury.

Most recently, Scrubb pitched in independent ball during the 2023 season, posting a dominant 1.52 ERA in 29 2/3 innings of work with the Atlantic League. Scrubb seemingly had command issues under control during his time with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, as he walked just 8.3% of batters faced during that time while posting a 30% strikeout rate. Going forward, Scrubb figures to provide the Mets with a high-octane arm who can act as minor league depth entering 2024. If his control has indeed improved since his time in Houston, it’s easy to see how Scrubb could break into a bullpen that currently figures to feature arms like Phil Bickford, Jose Butto and Sean Reid-Foley.

Rangers, Mets, Red Sox Reportedly Shift Focus Away From Pursuit Of Shohei Ohtani

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Rumors about the state of Shohei Ohtani’s market in free agency have been decidedly and deliberately scarce. Ohtani is said to prefer things to be kept quiet and close to the vest, and teams involved in the bidding surely don’t want to jeopardize their chances by being too forthcoming in terms of leaking information to the media. ESPN’s Jeff Passan pulls back the curtain a bit this morning, however, writing that at least three teams — the Rangers, Mets and Red Sox — have turned their attention to other players at this stage of the process. While each of the three were among Ohtani’s original group of suitors, it seems the trio has become pessimistic about their chances of closing a deal.

The Rangers’ ostensible exit from the Ohtani bidding dovetails with recent comments from general manager Chris Young, who just yesterday told reporters that he does not anticipate spending to the same extent he did in the past two offseasons. Texas dropped more than $500MM in the 2021-22 offseason when signing Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jon Gray. The Rangers spent more than $200MM last winter when adding Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney. Whether the expectation for lesser spending is because they feel they’re out of the Ohtani bidding or vice versa, the end result seems to be an expectation and concession that the two-time AL MVP and longtime Rangers division rival will sign elsewhere.

As for the Mets, there was never any question whether they have the funds to pay Ohtani a contract that’s widely expected to eclipse $500MM by a comfortable margin. Owner Steve Cohen is the sport’s wealthiest and most aggressive owner. But there have long been questions about Ohtani’s desire to play in the New York spotlight and deal with the inherent media frenzy associated with that market. It should come as no surprise that the Mets (and likely the Yankees) nevertheless tried, but Passan’s report suggests those efforts have come up short. To that end, SNY’s Andy Martino reports that Ohtani’s countryman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, is currently the Mets’ primary focus.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, are known to be seeking top-of-the-rotation help for the 2024 season, which doesn’t apply to Ohtani while he mends from elbow surgery. (Though he’d clearly be a factor in their 2025 rotation and beyond.) Prior reports have suggested that Boston’s focus, thus far, has been more on the trade market than on free agency. That doesn’t definitively mean that the Sox aren’t willing to spend lavishly on free agents this winter, but if their pursuit of immediate rotation help eventually leads them to free agency, it’d make for a particularly expensive offseason to pursue both Ohtani and one of the remaining top-end starters (e.g. Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery).

While those three clubs are out of the mix, Ohtani’s market does still include the likes of the Dodgers, Cubs, Blue Jays and Angels, per Passan. That’s not intended to be a comprehensive list of the remaining suitors, however. It stands to reason that other clubs could yet be in play. The Giants have long been linked to Ohtani, as have the Mariners — although Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reported a couple weeks ago suggested that the Mariners were unlikely to ultimately land him.

Mets Claim Tyler Heineman From Blue Jays

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The Mets have claimed catcher Tyler Heineman off waivers from the Blue Jays, with Anthony DiComo of MLB.com among those who relayed the news. There wasn’t any public reporting about Heineman being removed from Toronto’s roster, but they evidently tried to pass him through waivers with the Mets preventing them from succeeding. The Jays’ 40-man roster is now at 37 whereas the Mets are at 33.

Heineman, 33 in June, has played in 104 major league games, scattered over four separate seasons dating back to 2019. He has produced a batting line of .218/.297/282 in his 283 plate appearances, suiting up for the Marlins, Giants, Blue Jays and Pirates. He’s considered an above-average defender overall, grading out positively on Statcast’s blocking and throwing leaderboards. He’s also received positive marks for his pitch framing from both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus.

For the Mets, Heineman figures to improve their depth behind the plate. He still has one option year remaining and is a switch-hitter, giving him flexibility to fit into the club’s plans as the season goes along. Francisco Álvarez and Omar Narváez should be the catching duo in the majors but Heineman and Cooper Hummel, another waiver claim from today, are available if an injury arises. Heineman is still shy of arbitration, meaning he can be retained beyond the upcoming season if the Mets like his work in 2024.

The Mets have been busy bolstering their depth all over the roster in recent days. They have signed one-year deals with Luis Severino, Joey Wendle and Austin Adams, brought Kyle Crick aboard via a minor league deal and now a couple of waiver claims. For the Jays, Heineman was third on the catching depth chart behind Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk. They have freed up a roster spot for future additions, perhaps in next week’s Rule 5 draft, and will likely look to sign a veteran catcher on a non-roster deal to replace Heineman.

Mets Claim Cooper Hummel

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The Mets have claimed catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel off waivers from the Mariners, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Seattle had not previously announced that Hummel was being removed from the 40-man roster. The Mets now have 32 players on their 40-man roster, while the Mariners are down to 39.

The waiver claim comes just over a year after the Mariners acquired Hummel from the D-backs in a straight-up swap for former Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis. That deal didn’t pay dividends for either party, as Lewis missed significant time with injuries before being non-tendered, while Hummel spent the bulk of his lone season with the Mariners organization in Triple-A.

Hummel appeared in just 10 big league games and tallied 26 plate appearances as a Mariner. Between that and a brief MLB debut with Arizona in 2022, he’s a .166/.264/.286 hitter in 227 trips to the plate. That said, Hummel enjoyed a strong year with Triple-A Tacoma in 2023, batting .262/.409/.435 with a mammoth 18% walk rate against a 23.3% strikeout rate. He also offers unusual defensive versatility, evidenced by more than 1800 career innings in left field, 1054 innings behind the plate, 508 innings at first base and 296 innings in right field. Hummel has a minor league option remaining as well, so he can be stashed in Syracuse without needing to first pass through waivers.

The 29-year-old Hummel was an 18th-round draft pick of the Brewers back in 2016, when current Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns was running baseball operations in Milwaukee. Stearns traded Hummel to the D-backs in a 2021 swap that netted infielder Eduardo Escobar, and he’s now reacquired the versatile catcher/outfielder as one of his first transactions with his new club.

It’s another in a growing series of small-scale depth pickups. Stearns has added Hummel, and infielder Zack Short via waivers while signing free agents Luis Severino, Joey Wendle and Austin Adams to one-year Major League contracts (a nonguaranteed split deal, in the case of Adams). He’s also inked righties Cole Sulser and Kyle Crick to minor league deals this week.

Many Mets fans had visions of larger dealings when owner Steve Cohen finally landed Stearns after years of coveting the former Milwaukee baseball operations leader and have instead voiced frustration at depth moves such as this one. However, the offseason is a marathon and the majority of the major names on the free agent and trade markets alike remain available. Beyond that, the Mets had a whopping 12 vacancies on the 40-man roster not long ago and have been burned by a lack of depth on the pitching front in recent years. The headline-grabbing moves for Mets fans figure to surface as the offseason wears on, but Stearns’ Brewers were also known for aggressively operating around the margins of the 40-man roster and that tendency will likely carry over to his still-nascent tenure in Queens.

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