A quick look at Mike Axisa's practical offseason guide to important dates shows we are just a week away from the winter meetings. In most off-seasons, this means business will soon pick up again. Sometimes that's not the case, but here's hoping we're in for a busy week of rumors before the Winter Meetings stir things up.
Given that it's the Sunday after Thanksgiving, things will certainly be slow on this day, but it could well be laying the groundwork for the next two weeks.
We're about to collect the news and rumors of the day. Let's move on.
Two leaders for Soto?
For much of the offseason so far, most of us have believed in free agent superstars Juan Soto would land in New York, either with the Yankees or Mets. However, the frontrunners in the race are currently the Mets and Red Sox, according to Randy Miller of NJ.com. He says the Yankees will likely cap their bid at around $550 million, while it's believed the Red Sox and Mets could go as high as $600 million.
Also noteworthy here is: “I heard it [Soto] was very impressed with the Red Sox and the Red Sox tell Soto that they will sign a few additional players in addition to him.
The Red Sox finished 81-81 last season, five games out of a playoff spot. Soto was worth 7.9 WAR last season when he hit .288/.419/.569 (178 OPS+) with 41 home runs, 109 RBI and 128 runs batted in.
The Dodgers, Blue Jays and Yankees are the other three teams closely linked to Soto, along with the Mets and Red Sox.
Orioles about to start pitching
One major starting pitcher is off the market so far this offseason, namely Southpaw Blake Snell signed with the Dodgers. We heard after the fact that the Orioles were one of the teams that took on Snell. The big takeaway from this is that the Orioles were discussing a very expensive free agent pitcher. You haven't swum in this pool for a long time long Time. Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reported that bringing back Corbin Burnes “remains a possibility” and the Orioles’ reported interest in it Nathan Eovaldi has long been accepted as a possible piece.
Burnes, 30, won the NL Cy Young in 2021 and has received Cy Young votes five straight seasons, finishing fifth in the AL last year. In 2024, he was 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA (128 ERA+), a 1.10 WHIP, and 181 strikeouts in 194 ⅓ innings. In his only playoff start, he allowed one run on five hits in eight innings.
Eovaldi, 34, is the much cheaper option in free agency. He went 12-8 with a 3.80 ERA (104 ERA+), a 1.11 WHIP and 166 strikeouts in 170 ⅔ innings last season ranger. He's a two-time All-Star with good postseason pedigree, but he's not Burnes.
