There was one big book signing Thanksgiving week as Blake Snell ended up with the World Series champion Dodgers on Tuesday evening. The fallout from the signing will spark most of the rumors that reach us on Wednesday or the eve of Thanksgiving, but it's always possible there's more action to come.
Without further ado…
Red Sox hot for Soto; Yankees make offer
The Red Sox are giving the free-agent superstar full court press Juan Sotoapparently. They are “increasingly viewed as a legitimate contender” for Soto and are “intensifying their efforts to lure Soto away from the division rival Yankees.” reports the New York Post. According to the report, the Red Sox are working hard to sell Soto on his fit at Fenway Park in addition to the franchise's history.
The five currently known bidders for Soto are the Yankees, MetsRed Sox, Dodgers and Blue Jays. There's always the possibility that others will enter the fray, but the expectation has always been that one of the two New York teams would sign Soto. The Red Sox could work hard to end this. (According to the Post, the Yankees have since made another offer to Soto.)
Soto, 26, finished third in AL MVP voting this season when he hit .288/.419/.569 (178 OPS+) with 31 doubles, four triples, 41 home runs, 109 RBI, 128 runs batted in and 7 .9 WAR reached.
The Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles were all in the bidding for Blake Snell, reports MLB.com. The big takeaway from this is that, at least in theory, these teams should continue to look for quality starters this offseason.
The Top remaining free agent starting pitchers Are Corbin Burnes, Max Fried (a left-hander like Snell), Roki Sasaki, Jack Flaherty, Sean Manaea, Nathan Eovaldi, Max Scherzer And Shane Bieber. Obviously there are different bid levels out there, and the only pitchers still likely to get contracts anywhere close to Snell's are Burnes and Fried (Sasaki is limited by his amateur free agent status).
The Yankees have Gerrit ColeCarlos Rodon, Luis Gil, Clarke Smith And Marcus Stroman in the rotation Nestor Cortes as a sixth option.
The Red Sox currently have Tanner Houck, Cutter Crawford, Brayan Bello, Cooper Criswell And Richard Fitts while waiting for possible returns Lucas Giolito And Garrett Whitlock (later in the season).
The Orioles had Burnes last year, but there seems to be a rotation right now Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodríguez, Dean KremerAlbert Suárez and Trevor Rogers.
Obviously more teams will get involved with Burnes and Fried, but these are three teams to keep an eye on.
Eovaldi interest from Orioles, Brave
We just mentioned the status of the current Orioles rotation and they have already been linked to another pitcher. The Orioles and Braves “are among the teams with interest” in Eovaldi, they say MLB Network's Jon Morosi.
The fit with the Orioles is pretty obvious given what was mentioned above. The fit with the Braves is also pretty obvious. Fried is a free agent as is Charlie Morton. Chris Sale will be 36 next year and has a long injury history. Then, according to Reynaldo López and Spencer Schellenbachthis includes the 4-5 places Grant Holmes And Ian Anderson at the moment.
The 34-year-old Eovaldi went 12-8 with a 3.80 ERA (104 ERA+), a 1.11 WHIP and 166 strikeouts in 170 ⅔ innings last season ranger.
Dodgers likely to trade Buehler and Flaherty?
After signing Snell, I wouldn't rely on the Dodgers for Sasaki. Given the situation, the door will remain open. For veteran free agents Jack Flaherty and Walker Buhler — two of the Dodgers' three playoff starters — but it probably doesn't make sense to go back there. Sure enough, Says Jon Morosi on MLB Network The Dodgers will “probably” let the duo walk.
Flaherty signed a one-year contract with the tiger last season and was traded to the Dodgers in July. Overall, he went 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP and 194 strikeouts in 162 innings.
Buehler returned from Tommy John surgery and went 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. However, he finished the playoffs with 13 straight scoreless innings.
Mets provide relief
The Mets have signed left-hander Génesis Cabrera to a minor league deal that includes an invite spring training, the team announced Wednesday.
Cabrera, 28, sometimes made some nice promises. He had a 2.66 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP in 29 appearances for the Blue Jays after being traded there in 2023, for example. Last season, he pitched to a 3.59 ERA and 1.47 WHIP with 50 strikeouts in 62 ⅔ innings. Walks were a problem and he also gave up 10 home runs, resulting in a 5.13 FIP and forcing him to sign a minor league deal this offseason.
Still, there is no risk for the Mets in this case and there is some chance of reward.
