MLB free agency: Blue Jays reportedly signing Anthony Santander; Dodgers adding Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott

by 0 Comments

MLB

Products You May Like

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Pinterest
Share on LinkedIn

Sasaki’s other finalists were the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers. According to The Athletic, the Blue Jays hosted Sasaki for a visit last week, and the Dodgers hosted him for another visit that included star players. Apparently, the latter meeting was more successful.

The international signing period opened Wednesday, and Sasaki had until Jan. 23 to make his decision.

Tanner Scott, the top reliever on the MLB free-agent market, got paid like it.

The former San Diego Padres southpaw has agreed to a four-year, $72 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to multiple reports. Scott joins an increasingly deep Dodgers bullpen and gets paid well to do it.

Scott, who was traded from the Marlins to the Padres at last summer’s deadline, posted a 2.73 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings with San Diego in the second half.

The deal is among the largest ever given to a reliever, with Edwin Díaz’s five-year, $102 million contract with the New York Mets still representing the high-water mark.

Yahoo Sports ranked the 30-year-old Scott as the No. 22 free agent on the market this offseason and the highest among the available relievers.

Corbin Burnes is headed to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and it wasn’t cheap.

The 2021 Cy Young Award winner agreed to a six-year, $210 million deal with the Diamondbacks, which includes an opt-out for Burnes after two seasons.

Because Burnes, Yahoo Sports’ No. 3-ranked free agent, turned down a qualifying offer from Baltimore, the Orioles will receive draft pick compensation from his new team.

The contract is the largest in Diamondbacks history. Burnes, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, will pitch for the local team after reportedly turning down offers from the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays.

Required reading:

Follow along with Yahoo Sports as we track all the rumors, signings and more during MLB free agency:

Live131 updates

  • Blue Jays adding Anthony Santander: Report

    Finally, some good news for Blue Jays fans. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports that Anthony Santander is headed to Toronto, pending a physical.

    Santander spent his entire eight-year career in Baltimore, and was a first-time All-Star during the 2024 season, slashing .308/.506/.814.

  • Dodgers add this winter’s top reliever, too

    Tanner Scott, the top reliever on the MLB free-agent market, got paid like it.

    The former San Diego Padres southpaw has agreed to a four-year, $72 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to multiple reports. Scott joins an increasingly deep Dodgers bullpen and gets paid well to do it.

    Scott, who was traded from the Marlins to the Padres at last summer’s deadline, posted a 2.73 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings with San Diego in the second half.

    The deal is among the largest ever given to a reliever, with Edwin Díaz’s five-year, $102 million contract with the New York Mets still representing the high-water mark.

    Yahoo Sports ranked the 30-year-old Scott as the No. 22 free agent on the market this offseason and the highest among the available relievers.

    Read more here.

  • What’s next for the Blue Jays and Padres after missing out on Roki Sasaki?

    Hope is a dangerous beast.

    Or, in other words: Roki Sasaki is a Los Angeles Dodger, and few in the baseball industry are particularly surprised.

    The 23-year-old Japanese hurler, one of the most promising talents in the nation’s storied baseball history, announced Friday on Instagram that he agreed to a deal with the defending World Series champs. For Dodgers fans, it’s cause for celebration. For the rest of the league, it’s a disappointing conclusion to a fascinating free agency and another reason to gripe and groan about the growing might of MLB’s new evil empire.

    Frustration, from the fan bases and front offices that missed out, is justifiable and understandable. So, too, is the decision Sasaki made for himself.

    Read the full story here.

  • What does the Dodgers’ rotation look like with the addition of Roki Sasaki?

    It was just 15 months ago that the Los Angeles Dodgers crashed out of the NLDS at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Swept by a division rival that had won 16 fewer games than the Dodgers in the regular season, it was another maddening early exit from October for a franchise that had become all too familiar with such a feeling. Despite repeatedly assembling rosters seemingly fit for a championship run, Los Angeles kept coming up short.

    Although the calendar would suggest otherwise, that abrupt, embarrassing elimination against Arizona now feels like a distant memory. Since that NLDS loss, which president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman deemed “an organizational failure,” the Dodgers have achieved an extraordinary amount of organizational success. Their latest triumph: the signing of 23-year-old Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, a generationally gifted pitcher whose unique free agency became one of the biggest hot stove storylines MLB has seen in quite some time.

    Many organizations coveted Sasaki, whose status as an international amateur made him available for a fraction of what he would’ve been worth had he waited until he turned 25 and come to MLB as a full-fledged free agent. This was not a player for whom the Dodgers could simply flex their financial muscles and outbid the competition; this was a matter of recruiting and selling a vision of a place where a young pitcher can maximize his big-league dreams. Ultimately — thanks in large part to the past year, in which the franchise supercharged its roster to new heights, won the World Series and cemented its reputation as a developmental powerhouse — the Dodgers offer a compelling pitch by those standards as well. And so, sure enough, Sasaki chose Los Angeles as the home for the first chapter of his highly anticipated major-league career.

    Read the full story here.

  • Roki Sasaki gives Dodgers monster Japanese trio in rotation

    Roki Sasaki was expected by many to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were right.

    The flame-throwing right-hander from Japan agreed to a deal with the Dodgers on Friday, according to a post on his Instagram account.

    The Dodgers beat out basically all of MLB for Sasaki, who met with several teams to evaluate what they could bring to the table beyond money. The Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays were reported to be the finalists, with the Dodgers and Padres seen as the co-favorites for most of the process.

    After receiving the signing bonus, Sasaki will have the same status as any other MLB rookie once he makes his debut, going through pre-arbitration and arbitration years before he hits free agency after six years of MLB service time.

    Meanwhile, Sasaki’s NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, will receive a posting fee worth 20% of the signing bonus. In four seasons with the Marines, Sasaki posted a 2.02 ERA and 0.883 WHIP with 524 strikeouts in 414 2/3 innings.

    Read more here.

  • A’s continue to spend, sign RP José Leclerc

    The 31-year-old Leclerc has pitched eight seasons in MLB, all with the Texas Rangers. In 2024, he made 64 appearances, striking out 89 batters and recording a 4.32 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 66 2/3 innings pitched.

  • Mets agree to 2-year, $22 million contract with lefty reliever A.J. Minter

    The New York Mets keep growing their bullpen, adding left-handed reliever A.J. Minter on Friday, per multiple reports. Minter and the Mets agreed on a two-year, $22 million deal that includes an opt-out in the first season.

    Minter, who spent the first eight seasons of his MLB career with the Atlanta Braves, threw 35 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings for the Braves last season, recording a 2.62 ERA and 1.02 WHIP.

  • Red Sox, Jarren Duran agree on 1-year, $3.85M deal

  • Jack Flaherty is waiting on Roki Sasaki just like the rest of us …

  • Blue Jays trade for outfielder Myles Straw

    Per Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, Toronto also received $2 million in international bonus signing pool space in the trade, indicating they could still be in on Roki Sasaki.

  • Sasaki sweepstakes down to Dodgers, Blue Jays?

    The Padres are reportedly beginning to focus on other international free agents, indicating that they could be out on prized Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki.

  • Cubs, Kyle Tucker avoid arbitration, agree on $16.5 million deal

  • Mets re-sign outfielder Jesse Winker to one-year deal reportedly worth up to $9 million

    The New York Mets are bringing back Jesse Winker for another year, signing the 31-year-old outfielder to a one-year deal that is reportedly worth up to $9 million. Winker joined the team in July 2024 via trade from the Washington Nationals and was a key part of the team’s postseason run.

    The move also hints at the Mets’ tactics on first baseman Pete Alonso, who is one of the top free agents this offseason. With talks to bring back Alonso stalled, and with the first baseman reportedly receiving significant interest from other teams, re-signing Winker might be a signal that the Mets are not expecting Alonso to return and are starting to look at other options.

  • Yankees make a trade

  • Roki Sasaki’s decision imminent as international signing period opens

    One of the most highly anticipated and unique free agencies in Major League Baseball history is nearing its conclusion in the next week or so. Roki Sasaki, a 23-year-old, right-handed pitcher whose generational talent has been revered in his native Japan since he was a teenager, will soon decide where he will begin his big-league career.

    A process that began in earnest when his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, posted him on Dec. 10 has gradually unfolded over the past month, with the entire baseball industry eagerly awaiting his decision and the potential fallout. With his window to sign officially opening Wednesday and extending through Jan. 23, Sasaki has reportedly narrowed the field to three finalists: the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays.

    If you haven’t been tracking each and every plot point of Sasaki’s free agency along the way, don’t fret — it’s not too late to get caught up and prepare for his entrance into the MLB universe as one of the most intriguing characters of the upcoming season.

    Here’s everything you need to know about how we got to this point and how things might transpire from here.

  • Sasaki meeting with Dodgers again

    The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes are down to just three teams: the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays. According to The Athletic, the Dodgers are getting one more meeting with Sasaki on Tuesday, which will reportedly involve “several of their star” players.

    The international signing period opens on Wednesday, at which point Sasaki will have eight days to sign with a team.

  • No Sasaki for Cubs

  • Sasaki sweepstakes down to three teams

    The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes is down to just three teams. The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays are the three finalists to land the Japanese star once the international signing period opens on Wednesday. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, we should have his decision shortly.

  • Mariners sign Donovan Solano to 1-year deal

  • Mets, Rangers also out on Sasaki

    With the international signing period opening Wednesday, Roki Sasaki is narrowing down his options. His camp has reportedly informed the Mets and Rangers that he will not be signing with them.

  • Yankees also not getting Roki Sasaki

  • Giants out on Roki Sasaki

  • Roki Sasaki meets with Toronto Blue Jays: Report

    According to a report from The Athletic, the Blue Jays hosted prized free agent Roki Sasaki for a meeting in Toronto ahead of his impending signing deadline.

    The international signing period opens Wednesday, at which point Sasaki is free to sign with an MLB team. He has until Jan. 23 to make his decision. The Dodgers, Rangers, Cubs, Mets, Padres and Mariners are also believed to be in the running for Sasaki’s services.

  • Reliever Jorge López joins Nationals

    López had an eventful 2024 season, as he was DFA’d by the New York Mets after he was ejected from a game and threw his glove into the crowd.

    He moved on to the Chicago Cubs and had a solid finish to the 2024 season, recording a 2.03 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 26 2/3 innings pitched with the Cubs.

  • Jeff Hoffman gets 3-year, $33 million deal from Blue Jays

    The molasses-slow reliever market got some movement Friday, as former Philadelphia Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman signed a three-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. The deal is reportedly worth $33 million, with $6 million in incentives.

    Hoffman was drafted by the Blue Jays and then traded as one of the prospects in the Troy Tulowitzki deal in 2015. He has moved around since then, finding success in the Phillies’ bullpen, with a 2.28 ERA in 118 1/3 innings across two seasons.

  • Orioles agree to one-year, $10 million deal with reliever Andrew Kittredge

    Reliever Andrew Kittredge has agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Kittredge’s contract reportedly includes $9 million guaranteed and a $9 million club option with a $1 million buyout.

    Kittredge spent seven seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals ahead of last season. The 34-year-old reliever finished 2024 with an ERA of 2.80 across 70 2/3 innings for the Cardinals.

  • Why are the A’s finally spending in free agency?

  • Tigers, SP Tarik Skubal work out 1-year, $10.15M deal

    Skubal, the 2024 AL Cy Young Award and Triple Crown winner, avoids arbitration. The 28-year-old left hander went 18-4 for the Tigers last season with a 2.39 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 228 strikeouts.

  • Dodgers trade Diego Cartaya to Twins

    The Los Angeles Dodgers traded catcher Diego Cartaya to the Minnesota Twins on Thursday in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jose Vasquez, the teams announced.

    Cartaya, 23, is a former top catching prospect who spent the 2024 season between Double-A and Triple-A, posting a .221/.323/.363 slash line in 95 total games. Vasquez has spent the past two seasons in the Dominican Summer League.

  • Could Nolan Arenado finally be on the move?

    After he reportedly blocked a trade to the Houston Astros a few weeks ago, Nolan Arenado is reportedly more “open-minded” to waiving his no-trade clause to more teams, per MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. The Boston Red Sox seem to be a top destination.

  • A’s All-Star Brent Rooker agrees to $60M extension

    A’s designated hitter Brent Rooker has agreed to a five-year, $60 million contract extension, according to multiple reports. Rooker, 30, slashed .293/.365/.562 with 39 home runs, 11 stolen bases and 112 RBI in 2024, all career bests. He was an All-Star in 2023.

  • Justin Verlander to spend 20th MLB season with Giants

    Justin Verlander, who will be 42 during the 2025 season, reportedly agreed with the San Francisco Giants on a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

    The deal is worth $15 million, per multiple reports.

    Verlander is not the pitcher he once was. He was borderline unusable in his 90⅓ innings in 2024, scuffling to a 5.48 ERA and a career-low strikeout rate. While the three-time Cy Young has been vocal about his desire to pitch until he turns 45, it’s hard to ignore a fastball that continues to lose velocity.

    The Giants are surely hoping Verlander can find some return to form in San Francisco next season. He joins a staff that features 2024 All-Star Logan Webb but lost two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell to the rival Dodgers in free agency.

    Read more here.

  • Scott Boras has shown so far this offseason that he still has his fastball

    New York Mets Dominican superstar Juan Soto attends a press conference with Mets owner Steve Cohen (L), Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns (2nd L) and sports agent Scott Boras (R) in New York on December 12, 2024. Soto joined the New York Mets on a record-breaking 15-year, $765 million deal on December 9. (Photo by DAVID DEE DELGADO / AFP) (Photo by DAVID DEE DELGADO/AFP via Getty Images)
    Agent Scott Boras has had a much better offseason this year, including Juan Soto’s megadeal with the New York Mets. (Photo by DAVID DEE DELGADO/AFP via Getty Images)

    For the first time in years, Scott Boras entered the MLB offseason under a thundercloud of skepticism and scrutiny.

    Last winter, the game’s most notorious and most successful agent had himself an absolute stinker — that is, at least, by his supersonic standards. Boras’ four major free agents in 2023-24 — Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery — all emerged with deals well below expectations. The timing of their signings, too, was far from ideal. At the outset of spring training in mid-February, the entire so-called “Boras Four” remained free agents. That timeline seemed to negatively impact both Snell and Montgomery in the early going of the 2024 season.

    It was, unequivocally, the worst free agency of the super-agent’s accomplished career. Equally revered and reviled around the game, Boras seemed to be losing his fastball. Whispers percolated around the industry about whether the 72-year-old could still hack it. Montgomery ditched Boras as his representation, publicly criticizing the agent for his handling of the starter’s disastrous experience on the open market.

    One glance at Boras’ imposing, star-studded client list for free agency 2024-25 — Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Pete Alonso, Blake Snell, Alex Bregman — and the pressure was squarely on the agent to prove that he was still the game’s most influential powerbroker.

    Well, so far this winter, Boras has proven that he’s still a force to be reckoned with. January is less than a week old, and thus far this offseason, Boras Corp. has earned its 12 already-signed clients a whopping $1.45 billion in combined guaranteed contract money. That, according to Jon Becker of FanGraphs, accounts for 57% of the total league spending so far this winter.

    Read the full story here.

  • A’s reach extension with Brent Rooker

    Brent Rooker and the A’s reached a five-year, $60 million extension on Monday. The deal, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, includes a sixth-year option that pushes the value to $90 million.

    Rooker hit .293 with 39 home runs and 112 RBI last season, both of which were career highs for the 30-year-old.

    Rooker was among a group of A’s players spotted at the Kings-Heat game in Sacramento on Monday.

  • Royals will reportedly sign RHP Michael Lorenzen to 1-year, $7 million deal

    Michael Lorenzen was traded from the Rangers to the Royals at the 2024 trade deadline, and Kansas City apparently liked what it saw.

  • Report: Reds trading for Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux

    Gavin Lux is headed to Cincinnati.

    The Reds struck a deal to trade for the Los Angeles Dodgers infielder on Monday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. In return, the Dodgers will receive a future draft pick and outfield prospect Mike Sirota.

    Lux held a .251 batting average with 10 home runs and 50 RBI, both of which were career highs, last season with the Dodgers. He spent all six of his seasons in Major League Baseball with the franchise, winning a pair of World Series titles.

    The Reds went 77-85 last season and missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season.

    Read the full story here.

  • Yankees reportedly pursuing 3-time batting champion Luis Arráez from Padres

    According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Yankees continue to be in discussions with the Padres over the 27-year-old Arráez.

    San Diego is looking to open up payroll as they go after other free agents such as Roki Sasaki. The Yankees are seeking to fill a need at second base with Gleyber Torres off to the Detroit Tigers.

    Arráez dealt with a bad thumb last season and batted .314 with 200 hits with the Padres and Miami Marlins. He’s set to make $14.6 million next season and can become a free agent in 2026.

    Will Luis Arraez be hitting in the Bronx next season? (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
    Will Luis Arraez be hitting in the Bronx next season? (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

  • Charlie Morton to the Orioles

    Charlie Morton will play his 18th MLB season with the Orioles.

    The veteran agreed to a one-year contract with the AL East contender on Friday, the team announced. The deal is reportedly worth $15 million.

    The ageless curveball artist is coming off a 2024 season with the Braves in which he posted a 4.19 ERA and 23.8% strikeout rate across 30 starts. He’ll join an Orioles rotation that direly needed both innings and effectiveness after the exit of Corbin Burnes, even after the signing of Japanese veteran Tomoyuki Sugano.

  • Dodgers reportedly sign KBO’s Hyeseong Kim

    The Dodgers have reportedly signed infielder Hyeseong Kim to a three-year deal with $12.5 million guaranteed, according to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya. The contract has a two-year option for the 2028 and 2029 seasons that could allow the deal to be worth as much as $22 million.

    The 25-year-old Kim, who has played the past six seasons with the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes, was the first player from South Korea and Japan to be posted this offseason and has been training in Los Angeles for the past month.

    Kim, a left-handed hitter, is coming off a career season with the Heroes in which he hit 11 home runs, drove in 75 runs, stole 30 bases and posted a .326 batting average. It was his fourth straight season hitting over .300 and his seventh straight season with at least 20 stolen bases.

    Read more here.

  • Dodgers make Teoscar Hernández official

    It’s a three-year, $66 million deal for Hernández.

    The outfielder finished the season with a .272 batting average (his best in three seasons) and a career-high 33 home runs. Hernández also ended 2024 with an .840 OPS — a full 100-point boost from his year in Seattle. As a bonus, he emerged victorious in the 2024 Home Run Derby.

  • Why the Padres need Roki Sasaki the most

  • Paul Goldschmidt officially joins Yankees

    Paul Goldschmidt’s one-year, $12.5 million contract with the Yankees became official Monday night. Now all he has to do is shave that facial hair.

    For more on this low-risk, high-reward signing, click here.

  • D-Backs officially land Burnes

    Corbin Burnes’ 6-year, $210 million deal with the Diamondbacks is now official.

    For more on their huge signing, click here.

  • Nationals re-signing RHP Trevor Williams on 2-year, $14M deal

    Right-handed starter Trevor Williams is returning to the Nationals, according to Stephen J. Nesbitt of The Athletic. Williams, 32, is a nine-year MLB veteran who spent the past two seasons with the Nats. In 2023, he had a 5.55 ERA over 30 starts and 144 1/3 innings, but he made vast improvements in 2024. Williams had a 2.22 ERA through 11 starts last season, but he went on the injured list in early June due to a right elbow flexor strain and didn’t come off until the season had nearly ended.

    Williams should have the chance to start 2025 fully healthy after allowing just one earned run in his two September starts after coming off the injured list.

  • Cubs pick up Vidal Bruján in trade with Marlins

    The Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins made a trade Sunday to swap a pair of infielders, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. In the trade, the Cubs pick up utility second baseman/right fielder Vidal Bruján, sending first baseman Matt Mervis to Miami. Both players are 26 and will get a fresh start to try for more major-league playing time.

  • What does the Burnes deal mean for team and player?

    This huge commitment to Burnes also represents an anticipatory move of sorts, with both Gallen and Kelly slated to hit free agency next winter. The D-backs have some decent pitching depth in the upper levels of their farm system, but nothing resembling a future ace who could step in if/when Gallen and Kelly depart. Burnes now fills that potential void in a big way — at least for 2026 (don’t forget the opt-out!).

    After an awfully quiet first month of the offseason, Arizona has burst onto the scene over the past few weeks with two aggressive moves to reassert their relevance in the National League hierarchy, first acquiring first baseman Josh Naylor from Cleveland to replace Christian Walker and now this gigantic agreement with one of the best starting pitchers on the market. With key offensive contributors Joc Pederson and Randal Grichuk no longer in tow, some questions remain about the depth of the lineup, and the bullpen — a clear weakness — has holes as well.

    But Burnes was one of the few players left on the market who can meaningfully raise the floor and ceiling of a roster, even if he doesn’t appear to address an obvious need in Arizona. This is a huge win for the D-backs as they look to keep their contention window open and a huge blow to the runners-up for Burnes’ services — San Francisco and Toronto — who again came up short in their pursuit of a superstar.

    Read more here.

  • Why are the Diamondback signing Corbin Burnes?

    Corbin Burnes agreed to a six-year, $210 million deal with the Diamondbacks on Saturday. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
    Corbin Burnes agreed to a six-year, $210 million deal with the Diamondbacks on Saturday. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

    While the six-year, $210 deal for Corbin Burnes makes sense from a commute perspective, it’s a surprise from Arizona.

    A year after reaching their first World Series since 2001, the 89-win D-backs narrowly missed out on the playoffs in 2024 and remain mired in the NL West, arguably the most competitive division in baseball. The team is still set up to win, though, so it spent big for a new weapon after similarly big moves by the Los Angeles Dodgers (signing Blake Snell, re-signing Teoscar Hernández) and Giants (signing Willy Adames), with the San Diego Padres also lurking.

    However, the rotation already appeared to be a strength for the D-backs, at least relatively, given their high number of position-player free agents and a bullpen that ranked 25th in ERA last season. Even so, they decided to spend big to add another headliner alongside Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt. Jordan Montgomery is also still under contract after a disastrous 2024 — so bad D-backs owner Ken Kendrick called the contract a “horrible decision” — but he is now a clear trade candidate if a team wants to try buying low.

    It’s also encouraging that the D-backs are spending despite being one of the teams to have their RSN implode with the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy. Local cable revenue is a foundational component of the finances for teams such as Arizona, but the D-backs are still going for it.

    Beating the Giants’ bid for Burnes is noteworthy, considering how competitive some teams in the NL West have been in free agency. Arizona did benefit from a more favorable income tax situation compared to Burnes’ more significant suitors, though.

    Read more here.

  • Teoscar Hernández reportedly rejoining Dodgers

    Teoscar Hernández is staying with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a few more years.

    The outfielder and 2024 World Series champion agreed to a three-year, $66 million deal with Los Angeles on Friday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal reportedly includes a fourth-year option for $15 million, a $23 million signing bonus and, as is common for the Dodgers now, around $23 million in deferred money.

    Hernández had one of the best year-to-year turnarounds in 2024, following a disappointing 2023 with the Seattle Mariners with a stellar performance as a Dodger. Hernández was brought to L.A. to help boost the Shohei Ohtani-led Dodgers into a championship-caliber team, a mission that was certainly successful.

    Read more here.

  • What to make of Torres’ deal with the Tigers?

    Before contemplating Torres’ fit on Detroit’s roster, let’s first consider the contract: one year, $15 million. At first glance, this seems awfully low for a player of Torres’ track record and especially at his age, even if the sense in the industry was that the market could be on the cold side for the second baseman following his unremarkable final season with the Yankees. But Tigers GM Scott Harris acknowledged Friday that Torres had larger offers available and instead chose the one-year pact with Detroit in hopes of reestablishing his value and hitting free agency again next winter. If Torres benefits from the change of scenery after seven years in New York and shows meaningful strides on both sides of the ball, he should be in position to secure a more significant multi-year deal a year from now, when he’ll still be one of the younger free agents available at 29.

    Harris also shed some light on the likely infield alignment after initial reports of Torres’ signing sparked questions about what the move means for the bevy of young infielders already on Detroit’s roster. Harris said Torres will be Detroit’s every-day second basemen, with Colt Keith — who signed a six-year extension before he made his MLB debut in 2024 — sliding to first base after spending the bulk of his rookie season at second. That would seemingly indicate a diminished role for former No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson, but Harris said there are at-bats available if he’s producing.

    In Harris’ view, adding Torres makes the Tigers a better ballclub right now and will spark healthy competition for playing time elsewhere in the infield — a common dynamic for good teams. If that means making it more difficult to give playing time to the likes of Torkelson, Justyn-Henry Malloy or Jace Jung, so be it. On a team that considers itself a playoff contender, as Detroit does after its surprise run to the postseason in 2024, these players need to earn their playing time.

    On a related note, the other big question that looms over Detroit’s offseason is whether they remain in play for free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman. Bregman would obviously represent a substantial upgrade over any of Detroit’s internal options at third, and his experience having played under manager AJ Hinch in Houston helped build buzz for Detroit as a potential landing spot, particularly as other suitors have fallen out of the race.

    More important than any positional fit or prior relationships, though, is what it would take financially to get such a deal done. Unlike with Torres, who was comfortable agreeing to a shorter-term deal, Bregman and his agent, Scott Boras, are surely still seeking a massive, long-term contract, meaning Detroit would likely need to outbid several other Bregman suitors that have already demonstrated a willingness to spend big this winter. That still seems rather implausible at this stage, based on the Tigers’ more recent track record of relative frugality, but as long as Bregman remains available, the rumors will continue to swirl.

  • Gleyber Torres signs 1-year, $15 million deal with Tigers

    The 28-year-old second baseman has spent his entire seven-year career with the New York Yankees. Last season, he hit .257 with 15 home runs, 63 RBI and 80 runs scored in 154 games.

This article was originally published by Yahoo.com. Read the original article here.
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Pinterest
Share on LinkedIn

Products You May Like