David SchoenfieldESPN Senior Writer20 Minute Read
We finally saw the first major move of the offseason when the Philadelphia Phillies re-signed right-hander Aaron Nola to a seven-year, $172 million deal. That comes in right around the projected average annual salary, although at a year or two longer than expected, and is the 11th-highest total value contract ever given to a pitcher — for a guy who has been durable, yes, but has a 4.09 ERA over the past three seasons.
When Dave Dombrowski wants a player, however, he usually gets him, and Nola has been instrumental to the Phillies’ success in recent seasons. We’ll see how Nola’s deal affects the rest of the market, but it could be the price for pitching will be even higher than anticipated — and push some teams to look for pitching help via trades, or settle for the second- and third-tier starters available in free agency.
Now that the Phillies have made their big move of the offseason, let’s consider what the other 29 teams might do to win the winter. This is a fun exercise akin to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Since we can only use a player once — after all, only one team will land Shohei Ohtani — it’s all about getting things to fit while sticking to realistic payroll considerations, and a reminder that teams need backup plans to their backup plan. We’re going to find a home for the top 25 free agents from Kiley McDaniel’s top 50 list and make a few trades as well.
The biggest fish
Los Angeles Dodgers sign DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani (10 years, $520 million) … and sign RHP Luis Severino (not in the top 50)
We’ll go chalk here and put Ohtani on the Dodgers. That’s the odds-on destination in Vegas betting circles, but it’s also the logical calculation. Nobody really knows where Ohtani wants to play, but the Dodgers have won 100 games the past three seasons and are riding a streak of 11 consecutive trips to the postseason. If Ohtani is tired of losing in Anaheim, it makes sense for him to head north on I-5.
The Dodgers have been gearing up for an Ohtani run for a couple years now. The only players they have signed beyond 2025 are Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, and both have tax rates of less than $30 million per season when the AAV for the top players is now edging over $30 million. Their current estimated payroll entering the offseason, via FanGraphs, is $142 million — tied with the Rockies for 15th, so they have plenty of room to spend big. Andrew Friedman has largely eschewed long-term deals during his tenure, but as with Betts and Freeman, he’ll make exceptions for superstars. There is no bigger superstar than Ohtani.
(And since Ohtani won’t help the rotation for 2024, the Dodgers will probably sign or trade for a starter or two. Severino, coming off a 6.65 ERA for the Yankees, feels like one of those Dodgers reclamation projects.)
Seattle Mariners acquire OF Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres for RHP Bryan Woo, OF Cade Marlowe, RHP Prelander Berroa and C Harry Ford … and sign LHP Blake Snell (6 years, $150 million)
Hey, we said win the winter, right? Buster Olney recently said on Michael Kay’s radio show that Soto “100%” will be traded. Jeff Passan ran through the Padres’ payroll situation and said on the Yes Network that “if you want a payroll of $200 million, as the Padres would like to do for next season, Juan Soto simply can’t be a part of it.” Alden Gonzalez ran through all the Soto trade buzz from the general managers meetings. The Yankees, Mets, Cubs and Red Sox are the betting favorites to land Soto, but while those teams are busy chasing Ohtani, maybe the Mariners can sneak in here. Remember: Jerry Dipoto and A.J. Preller have made several deals in the past.
The Padres get three major league ready players in Woo, Marlowe and Berroa, including two potential starting pitchers (which the Padres need with Snell, Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo and Nick Martinez all free agents). Ford is a top-100 prospect. No, it’s not what the Padres gave up in acquiring Soto, but that’s a nice haul for one year of Soto.
For the Mariners, after ending their playoff drought in 2022, they played it safe last offseason — and watched the Rangers leapfrog over them. They need to go outside their comfort zone and think big. So why stop at Soto? Snell is from Seattle, and while the hometown factor is often overrated, Snell grew up a huge Ken Griffey Jr. fan. Plus, while everyone acts like Seattle is deep in pitching and weak on offense, that assessment is ignoring what T-Mobile Park does to offense: The Mariners were actually sixth in the majors in road OPS in 2023 while their rotation was 12th in ERA and OPS allowed.
Yes, the Mariners would be pushing their payroll much higher than ever — but Soto’s projected $33 million salary is just a one-year hit. They’ve put themselves in position to make a move like this with a still-deep farm system that included three first-round picks in 2023. Now imagine a rotation of Snell, Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller (with Robbie Ray hopefully returning in the second half) and a lineup anchored by Soto and Julio Rodriguez.
New York Mets sign RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7 years, $212 million)
The Mets entered the offseason with the highest rostered payroll at approximately $263 million but new president of baseball operations David Stearns is kind of stuck in no-man’s land: You don’t want to punt 2024 with a payroll that high while coming off a disappointing season, but you also don’t want to repeat the same mistakes and lose 87 games again. As Stearns said, it will be a fine line between competing in 2024 while also building a better roster for the future.
Yamamoto solves both issues. He’s just 25 and ranks as perhaps one of the top five or six pitchers in the world, which is why Kiley’s estimate comes in at just over $30 million per season. He is undersized at 5-foot-10, but he pitches off a mid-90s fastball with a plus splitter, plus curveball and elite command. He allowed just two home runs in 171 innings in Japan while posting a 1.16 ERA — his third straight season below 2.00. No, he won’t keep his home run rate that low over here, but Yamamoto has everything you want in a starter other than size. He’s better than Kodai Senga, who signed with the Mets and had an excellent rookie season with a 2.98 ERA. If the Mets want him, Steve Cohen certainly won’t shy away from making the largest offer.
Los Angeles Angels sign OF/1B Cody Bellinger (7 years, $147 million), DH J.D. Martinez (2 years, $25 million) and RHP Michael Lorenzen (2 years, $28 million)
“We’re going to be aggressive this offseason, and we’re going to make this team better,” Angels GM Perry Minasian said at the news conference introducing Ron Washington as the team’s new manager. Indeed, hiring a 71-year-old manager suggests the Angels are trying to compete — and under Arte Moreno, they’ve never undergone a rebuild. They just haven’t had a winning season since 2015.
Bellinger is the best position player available in free agency — and also polarizing among analysts. He had a terrific season with the Cubs in 2023 after the Dodgers had non-tendered him, hitting .307 with 26 home runs and putting up 4.4 WAR. He’s in his prime, entering his age-28 season. He was also terrible at the plate in 2021 and 2022. Was that because of lingering injury issues? Bellinger is a good fit for the Yankees or Blue Jays, but without Ohtani, the Angels will have money to spend — and perhaps are the team most likely to make a reckless bid for Bellinger. Let’s throw in Martinez as well, and suddenly the Angels’ lineup looks intriguing: 1B Nolan Schanuel, LF Mike Trout, CF Bellinger, DH Martinez, 3B Anthony Rendon, 2B Brandon Drury, RF Taylor Ward, C Logan O’Hoppe, SS Zach Neto.
Let’s make some starting pitcher trades
Baltimore Orioles acquire RHP Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers for 3B/1B Coby Mayo and sign RHP Jordan Hicks (4 years, $44 million)
The Orioles are in an enviable position. They’re coming off 101 wins. They have young stars like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Grayson Rodriguez to build around. And they have more potential stars on the way, with the likes of Jackson Holliday and Samuel Basallo. General manager Mike Elias came over from the Astros, where the approach under Jeff Luhnow was to use farm system depth to trade for star pitchers rather than sign them as free agents: Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke were all acquired via trades.
With that in mind — and with the goal of acquiring a No. 1 starter along the lines of Verlander or Cole — I have the Orioles dealing for Burnes. He’s only under control for one more season but he’s seventh in WAR among pitchers over the past three seasons while ranking first in OPS allowed. But why stop there? They have room to increase the payroll. That could be another starting pitcher, but they also need bullpen help after losing closer Felix Bautista to Tommy John surgery. The hard-throwing Hicks could take over the eighth or ninth inning. The lineup remains intact, while adding Heston Kjerstad to a 1B/RF/DH role, Jordan Westburg to second base and Holliday perhaps ready at midseason, with Henderson sliding over to third base.
For the Brewers, you hate to see a team retool after 92 wins and a division title, but with Brandon Woodruff non-tendered and Burnes heading into free agency, it makes sense to perhaps take a step back, and the feeling is Burnes is available. The Brewers might be looking for a three-for-one deal, but Mayo projects as one of the top bats in the minors and is major league ready after hitting .290/.410/.564 with 29 home runs and 93 walks across Double-A and Triple-A.
Chicago White Sox trade RHP Dylan Cease and LF/DH Eloy Jimenez to the Arizona Diamondbacks for SS Geraldo Perdomo, RHP Ryne Nelson and LHP Yu-Min Lin
Here’s new White Sox GM Chris Getz last week: “I’ve made it very clear that the White Sox are willing to listen in on any of our players.” It’s not quite Bill Veeck and Roland Hemond sitting at a table in the lobby of the hotel at the 1975 winter meetings with a sign reading “Open for Business,” but it’s close. Getz already made the five-for-one deal with Atlanta for reliever Aaron Bummer, so we’ll see if he can match the six trades involving 22 players that Veeck orchestrated that year.
Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen lamented during the World Series that he hadn’t acquired a starting pitcher at the trade deadline. He’ll get one this offseason. Last year in this space, we predicted the Diamondbacks trading for Gabriel Moreno. Let’s see if we can go 2-for-2. Cease, who has two seasons left of team control, couldn’t match his Cy Young runner-up season of 2022, but he’s a premium talent and pitching coach Brent Strom can work his magic. A top four of Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Cease and playoff Brandon Pfaadt looks impressive. Jimenez isn’t especially valuable — 0.3 WAR in 2023, 5.6 in his career — but Arizona needs a DH, and his options for 2025 and 2026 are club options, so it’s a low-risk play.
With top prospect Jordan Lawlar on the way, Perdomo should be expendable and gives the White Sox a much-needed shortstop (prospect Colson Montgomery slides over to third base) who also can contribute a little with the bat — Perdomo’s .353 OBP would have easily led the White Sox last season. Nelson made 27 starts as a rookie and would join the Chicago rotation while Lin is a 20-year-old lefty who reached Double-A in 2023.
Cleveland Guardians trade RHP Shane Bieber to the Chicago Cubs for OF Owen Caissie (Cubs also sign 1B Rhys Hoskins)
Bieber has one year remaining until free agency and the way Cleveland operates, you know a trade is likely, not only saving his estimated $12 million-$13 million salary but getting a prospect or two in return — such as the power-hitting Caissie. Bieber’s stuff has diminished since he averaged 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings from 2019 to 2021, but he’s also one season removed from throwing 200 innings with a 2.88 ERA. The Guardians still have all those young arms in the rotation — Triston McKenzie, Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Logan Allen — but need to look for some power, and Caissie hit .289 with 22 home runs at Double-A at age 20 (although with 164 strikeouts).
Bieber missed time in both 2021 and 2023 with injuries, so there’s risk here, but he did return at the end of the season to make two starts and strike out 12 in 11 innings. It’s a high-upside play for the Cubs — perhaps higher upside than any of the free agent starters other than Yamamoto. The Cubs also sign Hoskins to fill a hole at first base and help replace Bellinger’s production. Cubs first basemen were 23rd in the majors in OPS.
Tampa Bay Rays trade RHP Tyler Glasnow and OF Manuel Margot to the Cincinnati Reds for RHP Connor Phillips, OF Will Benson and RHP Julian Aguiar
I don’t want to see this trade … but I would love to see it. The Rays’ best chance of winning the World Series is to keep Glasnow and let him lead a rotation that will be without Shane McClanahan in 2024. But the hard-throwing righty is also set to earn $25 million in his final year of team control, after the Rays signed him to a back-loaded two-year contract coming off Tommy John surgery. The Rays’ payroll already projects higher than ever and — similar to Cleveland — the way they historically operate is to trade a player like Glasnow before he reaches free agency. In this deal, they’re also including Margot and his $10 million salary.
So … wait, why would the penny-pinching Reds take on $35 million in salary? Because it makes sense, and because their highest-paid player right now is the $7 million buyout they gave first baseman Joey Votto. Only the A’s entered the offseason with a lower payroll. They need a veteran No. 1 starter to lead an otherwise inexperienced rotation. Margot also helps balance out an outfield that is all left-handed with TJ Friedl, Jake Fraley and Benson.
Finding homes for these free agent pitchers
Texas Rangers sign LHP Jordan Montgomery (5 years, $106 million) … and LHP Josh Hader (5 years, $105 million)
Montgomery thrived after his trade to the Rangers, going 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 11 starts, and delivered two clutch scoreless starts in the postseason and a win in relief in Game 7 of the ALCS, so this feels like one of the easiest calls on the board. He’s made 30-plus starts the past three seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018, so he projects to add a degree of durability to a Rangers rotation that needs it.
Hader, meanwhile, will be looking to match the Edwin Diaz contract, but how many teams are going to be willing to go $100 million for a reliever? Not more than a handful and they don’t all need closers. The Rangers won the World Series despite a shaky bullpen and the Phillies lost in the NLCS as Craig Kimbrel lost two games, so both are possibilities, but the Phillies have the deeper pen and just committed $172 million for Nola. Would the Rangers be willing to sign two big free agents again? That would likely push them into the top five in payroll, something they haven’t done since the Alex Rodriguez days in 2003 and that was with a different owner. But they have a chance to build something special here with Evan Carter up for a full season and Wyatt Langford also ready to join the lineup. Let’s see if they spend that World Series revenue.
Atlanta Braves sign RHP Sonny Gray (3 years, $69 million)
Something is brewing in Atlanta. At the recent deadline to tender contracts, the Braves traded seven players and non-tendered seven others, ultimately leaving them with just 30 players on their 40-man roster. The moves saved about $14 million in projected salary. It points to going after a big-name starting pitcher. Maybe not Ohtani or Yamamoto, but Gray makes sense — even after they just signed Reynaldo Lopez with the idea of turning Lopez into a starter.
Gray is coming off a great season (second in the AL Cy Young vote) and he won’t disrupt the payroll structure with a high average annual value (AAV). The Braves reportedly made a push to sign Nola, making Gray a nice backup plan. A rotation with Spencer Strider, Max Fried, Gray, Charlie Morton and Bryce Elder will work. Now they just need more than a couple of them healthy come playoff time.
St. Louis Cardinals sign RHP Lucas Giolito (4 years, $68 million) and RHP Seth Lugo (3 years, $36 million)
Does this qualify as winning the winter? Perhaps not. The Cardinals signed Lance Lynn to a one-year deal, but they probably still need two more starters. They could certainly look to make some trades, but guys like Dylan Carlson and Tyler O’Neill don’t have much trade value and they’re not trading Jordan Walker or Masyn Winn. Nolan Gorman could certainly be traded for a young starter, but he’s also a potential 35-homer bat. That leaves the Cardinals in the uncomfortable position of trying to buy help in free agency — something they rarely do. The only $100 million free agent in franchise history was Matt Holliday. The most expensive pitcher was a five-year, $80 million deal for Mike Leake that worked out so poorly the Cardinals traded him in the second year. The second-biggest contract was for Steven Matz, a four-year, $44 million deal he signed in 2022. He’s won eight games in two seasons.
So, no, I don’t expect the Cardinals to play in the deep end. But they are desperate for help, so let’s give them a couple of options from the second tier of starters. You can include guys like Wacha, Lorenzen, Sean Manaea, Nick Martinez, James Paxton and Kyle Gibson as possibilities here. Deeper options include Hyun-Jin Ryu or reclamation projects like Severino or Spencer Turnbull. No shortage of options.
A little bit of everything
Boston Red Sox: Sign RHP Marcus Stroman (3 years, $63 million), RHP Nick Martinez (2 years, $25 million), LF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (3 years, $45 million) and 2B Amed Rosario (not in the top 50)
It will be interesting to see how new GM Craig Breslow attacks his first offseason. The Red Sox are more retooling than rebuilding, but you have to believe Breslow will be aggressive given former GM Chaim Bloom was fired in part for being too cautious. The nice thing is all the Red Sox have to do is spend some money. IF Red Sox fans want to dream big, Ohtani supposedly loves Fenway Park, but I’m having the Red Sox spread that money around a little bit.
Stroman offers some needed consistency to the rotation — he’s had an ERA under 4.00 each of the past four seasons he’s pitched — while Martinez gives them a valuable starter/reliever hybrid. Gurriel is coming off a 3.0-WAR season with Arizona with solid defensive metrics and would push Masataka Yoshida into a regular DH role, while Rosario is a stopgap until prospects Marcelo Mayer and Nick Yorke are ready. They could also try to trade outfielder Alex Verdugo.
Detroit Tigers: Sign LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4 years, $72 million), RHP Robert Stephenson (3 years, $30 million) and DH Jorge Soler (3 years, $37.5 million)
The Tigers are a sleeper team to watch this offseason as they have room to splurge on payroll. The only players making more than $5 million are Javier Baez and the recently acquired Mark Canha, who has just one season left. I’m just not sure if president of baseball operations Scott Harris is going to take the plunge this season or wait a year, when the Tigers could make a run at Soto. Re-signing Rodriguez makes sense and Stephenson came out of nowhere after adding a cutter with the Rays to turn into a high-leverage reliever. Finally, the lineup needs help (13th in the AL in home runs and runs), so let’s give them Soler, coming off a 36-homer season with the Marlins. Infielders Colt Keith and Jace Jung are close to ready, with Keith likely to begin the season at second or third base and Jung not far behind. If Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson keep improving, that 2025 lineup looks interesting.
San Francisco Giants sign 3B Matt Chapman (4 years, $100 million), RHP Jack Flaherty (1 year, $17 million), RHP Michael Wacha (2 years, $26 million) and CF Kevin Kiermaier (not in the top 50)
The Giants need to improve a position-player group that ranked 25th in the majors in WAR — and improve a defense that ranked 23rd in defensive runs saved. So how about adding two elite defenders in Chapman and Kiermaier? They need a center fielder and while third base wasn’t the team’s biggest problem, they can move J.D. Davis to first base and use Wilmer Flores in a DH/utility role. The question here: Is Chapman worth this kind of money? While his defense remains strong (he just won another Gold Glove), his bat tailed off after a hot April — he hit just .205/.298/.361 the final five months. The Giants will also need some rotation depth and since we have them missing out on the big arms, Flaherty and Wacha fit the bill, with Flaherty a roll-of-the-dice candidate who could pay off big if he finds his old form.
Small moves at the margins
Toronto Blue Jays sign 3B Jeimer Candelario (3 years, $39 million) and DH Justin Turner (1 year, $12 million)
The Blue Jays have been linked to Bellinger, which makes sense since they need an outfielder, especially one who hits left-handed. They also need a third baseman with Chapman in free agency. Signing Bellinger and Candelario (or Chapman) would be the best way for the Jays to win the winter, but the problem is their payroll is already only about $10 million to $15 million less than a year ago, so unless they blow past that figure, they’re going to be limited. Maybe they shop 2022 All-Star Alek Manoah for outfield help, although they’d be selling low. The Cardinals are a possible match here with their extra outfielders, maybe Dylan Carlson or Brendan Donovan. Turner opted out of a player option with the Red Sox but can still help, with a .800 OPS and 96 RBIs last season.
Houston Astros sign RHP Yariel Rodriguez (4 years, $30 million) and DH/C Mitch Garver (3 years, $37.5 million)
With Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery) and Lance McCullers Jr. (forearm) out until at least the second half of 2024 and top setup man Hector Neris a free agent, the Astros will be looking for some pitching depth. Rodriguez is a Cuban righty who last pitched in Japan in 2022. He was a reliever there but has the repertoire to start, and the Astros could use him in either role. Garver is mostly a DH these days but would be a nice addition to the lineup if Yordan Alvarez can handle 80 games or so in left field.
Miami Marlins sign DH Joc Pederson (1 year, $16 million) and RHP Erick Fedde (not in the top 50)
The Marlins made the playoffs with an 84-78 record but were also outscored by 57 runs. Peter Bendix comes over from the Rays to replace Kim Ng and take over as head of baseball operations, inheriting a team where the three highest-paid players are Josh Bell (0.4 WAR in 2023), Avisail Garcia (minus-0.5 WAR) and Sandy Alcantara (out for the season). They had one player hit 20 home runs and he’s a free agent. Their payroll situation doesn’t leave a lot of room, so Bendix will likely go bargain-basement shopping. Pederson at least gives them a little power and on-base skills, while former Nationals pitcher Fedde is coming off a dominant year in Korea and won’t cost much.
Colorado Rockies sign OF Teoscar Hernandez (3 years, $52.5 million)
The Rockies entered the offseason with an estimated $142 million in payroll — matching the Dodgers. One of those teams won 100 games; the other lost 103. I had trouble finding a home for Hernandez, coming off a season in which he hit 26 home runs but also struck out 211 times. The Mariners were so horrified by the strikeouts they didn’t even extend a qualifying offer, worried that Hernandez might accept it. He did hit .295/.344/.486 on the road despite struggling in Seattle, so maybe a change of venue will help. Anyway, the Rockies are desperate for offense and while they rarely venture into free agency, this feels like a Rockies move along the lines of Ian Desmond and Kris Bryant. Sorry, Rockies fans.
OK, but what about the Yankees?
New York Yankees sign LHP Shota Imanaga (4 years, $68 million) and OF Jung-hoo Lee (5 years, $63 million)
We have the Yankees signing a Japanese pitcher — just not one Yankees fans are expecting. But Imanaga is a crafty 30-year-old lefty who would provide rotation depth as Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes attempt to come back from injury-plagued seasons. The Yankees’ needs just don’t align with this free agent market, which is why many expect them to go hard after Soto. Bellinger is a possibility, but I have to wonder if he gives GM Brian Cashman some Jacoby Ellsbury vibes: an elite player when healthy and productive, but a huge risk. Maybe this offseason calls for the Yankees to show a little patience, add depth in Imanaga and Lee — a 25-year-old lefty-hitting outfielder with a career .340 average and excellent contact rates in the KBO — and let some young players play. It’s not the surest way back to the playoffs, but if Rodon and Cortes are healthy, the Yankees can get there even with a mediocre offense. Then next year: sign Soto.
Extending the homegrown talent
Kansas City Royals sign SS Bobby Witt Jr. to a long-term extension
The window to sign Witt to a team-friendly extension has probably passed but, hey, we’re looking for a perfect offseason, right? Julio Rodriguez, Michael Harris II and Spencer Strider all signed their extensions near the end of their rookie seasons. Corbin Carroll signed an eight-year, $111 extension in spring training this year. With two full seasons now and a big leap in performance in 2023 — from 0.9 WAR to 4.4 WAR — Witt isn’t about to give the Royals any kind of bargain deal.
Pittsburgh Pirates sign RHP Paul Skenes to a long-term contract
The first overall pick in 2023 out of LSU, Skenes was regarded as one of the best pitching prospects of all time. Indeed, his high-octane fastball, wipeout slider and command are similar in fashion to Strider. The Braves agreed to a six-year, $75 million extension with Strider immediately following his rookie season, a deal that includes a seventh-year club option for $22 million. That could be the kind of framework needed to reel in Skenes. Of course, Strider had already dominated as a rookie while Skenes has made just a few brief appearances in the minors, but it’s the kind of gamble that can pay off for a small-market team like Pittsburgh.
Minnesota Twins sign IF Edouard Julien and 3B Royce Lewis to long-term extensions
The Twins won their first playoff game since 2004 and will reward the fans by … cutting payroll. Yes, it’s going to be a quiet winter in Minnesota as chief baseball officer Derek Falvey confirmed the Twins will trim from a $156 million payroll likely down to the $125-140 million range — and they’re at the bottom of that range now, leaving little room for maneuvering. The Twins have just over $85 million committed to Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler, Christian Vazquez and Pablo Lopez — and Lopez’s salary takes a big leap from $8.25 million in 2024 to $21.75 million in 2025. That could leave Polanco ($10.5 million) and Kepler ($10 million), both in their final years, as possible trade pieces.
In the meantime, the best way for the Twins to accomplish something positive would be to sign their two young infielders. Julien, coming off a .381 OBP as a rookie, looks like an on-base machine. Lewis finally got healthy for a spell and produced a .921 OPS in 58 games. The Twins have already learned that betting on an injury-prone player is risky, but Lewis’ upside may be worth going down the Buxton road anyway — and Lewis might be inclined to get some guaranteed money given his extensive injury history.
Washington Nationals sign LHP MacKenzie Gore and SS CJ Abrams to long-term extensions
The Nationals are still in rebuild mode, coming off a season in which they exceeded expectations. It’s possible that leads them to dip into free agency, but it probably makes sense to remain patient. They might try to sign a couple of free agents they can flip at the trade deadline, but their best offseason move would be to lock up Gore and Abrams to deals similar to the eight-year extension catcher Keibert Ruiz signed last year.
Don’t forget the A’s!
Oakland Athletics sign …
Ahh, who are we kidding? The A’s are in their lame-duck season, their last in Oakland — although they don’t have a home yet for 2025. They don’t even have stadium plans for a new ballpark in Las Vegas, so they’ll probably spend more money hiring an architectural firm than they will on any single player in 2024.
Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
