Listed here are three issues we’ll be maintaining a tally of across the baseball world this weekend:
1. Offers to keep away from arbitration:
The non-tender deadline is one week from right now, and final evening noticed the primary participant of the winter look to keep away from the arbitration course of solely and signal together with his membership early. On this case, the Angels averted arbitration with recently-acquired utilityman Scott Kingery, although the monetary particulars of that deal are usually not but identified. The times main as much as the non-tender deadline are usually rife with related offers signed by gamers on the non-tender bubble, also known as pre-tender offers. Mets DH DJ Stewart and Rockies southpaw Jalen Beeks had been among the many gamers who signed such agreements a 12 months in the past. Pre-tender offers typically fall shy of expectations/projections, as the choice to accepting that decrease wage is usually a non-tender.
2. 40-man roster strikes looming:
Even before the non-tender deadline is the deadline for groups to guard prospects from the Rule 5 Draft, which is scheduled for this coming Tuesday at 5pm CT. Whereas many groups have a handful of 40-man roster spots accessible for prospects that want safety, that’s not true for each membership, and even some golf equipment with roster house accessible could have extra prospects to guard than openings. Most golf equipment will wait till the ultimate hours main into the deadline to announce these strikes, however some may get a soar on clearing roster house this weekend.
The Purple Sox stand out as one significantly attention-grabbing instance of a membership in want of roster house. Not solely have they got a full 40-man roster, however additionally they have a participant in want of safety who isn’t a typical prospect: right-hander Michael Fulmer, who signed with the membership on a two-year minor league deal final winter whereas rehabbing Tommy John surgical procedure. If not added onto the membership’s 40-man roster by Tuesday, Fulmer might be a uncommon established massive leaguer accessible within the Rule 5 draft and for that purpose would stand a robust likelihood of getting chosen away from Boston throughout the Winter Conferences subsequent month.
3. The Hernandez market:
Juan Soto has understandably dominated headlines for main free agent hitters this offseason, significantly with him taking particular person conferences with groups over the course of the previous week. Many top-tier free brokers will need to look forward to Soto’s choice earlier than signing, because the groups that miss on Soto might be motivated to pursue alternate options extra aggressively. One attainable exception? Teoscar Hernandez, who simply received his third profession Silver Slugger Award. ESPN’s Jeff Passan recommended earlier this week that Hernandez might not look forward to Soto to signal and could possibly be one of many first big-name free brokers off the board this winter.
Hernandez sat in the marketplace for greater than two months final offseason awaiting a three-year provide that by no means materialized. He ultimately signed a one-year take care of the Dodgers in January. On condition that prolonged keep on final 12 months’s market, it’s comprehensible that he’d desire a faster turnaround this winter. The Dodgers, Orioles and Purple Sox have all been related to Hernandez to date. He slashed .272/.339/.501 with a career-high 33 homers and tied a career-high 12 steals with L.A. within the common season, then went on to hit .250/.352/.417 with three residence runs throughout the Dodgers’ postseason run to a 2024 World Collection crown.
