Juan Soto, Phillies relievers, and other news as the Winter Meetings get underway
NBC Sports Philadelphia first carried an article about Juan Soto, Phillies relievers, and other topics as the Winter Meetings got underway.
A year ago at baseball’s Winter Meetings, the Phillies wasted little time in making a big impression by signing Trea Turner to a $300 million contract on the first full day in San Diego.
After a year, Nashville has become the center of attention, so any major announcement from the Phillies would come as at least a slight surprise.
Before Thanksgiving, the Phillies signed free agent Aaron Nola to a seven-year, $172 million contract, putting their biggest lift behind them. The gap in the rotation that Nola’s departure would have created made him their top offseason priority. 200 quality innings are not cheap or simple to fill.
Re-signing a player who has spent ten years with the team doesn’t usually generate the same excitement as bringing in an All-Star from outside the area, but Nola might be the Phillies’ “big move” this offseason. If so, Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations, has stated twice since the season’s conclusion that he believes the Phillies, in their current configuration, can challenge for the World Series in 2024.
Not that they won’t hear you out. It does not imply that they will not look for opportunities. Dombrowski frequently takes the initiative to try to close gaps before they completely materialize. After the Phillies’ shocking NLCS loss to the Diamondbacks, he also provided a straightforward analysis, stating that the team needs to chase fewer pitches and show better plate selection.
Coincidentally, Juan Soto, the player who has the most control over plate appearances in the game, is available for trade.
Soto has generated a lot of attention. He’s already been linked to the Yankees and Blue Jays, but the reporting up to this point has suggested that talks with the Padres are on hold. After the season, Soto will be a free agent and is expected to make over $30 million in salary in 2024 after completing his final arbitration hearing.
It’s hard to believe that Soto is only 25 years old, but at 19 he was hitting.290 in the majors with a.400 on-base percentage. Compared to when Bryce Harper signed with the Phillies in 2019, he is now younger.
Soto’s prospective cost would be excruciating. The asking price from the Phillies would probably include multiple of their best pitching prospects in addition to at least one young major league player who can make an immediate impact, based on what the Padres have reportedly demanded from the Yankees. They could also ask to have one of their bad contracts taken on by the Phillies or any other team. That might not be necessary, but that’s usually where the conversation begins. Due to his exceptional talent, Soto will face intense competition.
His upcoming contract is another important consideration in a Soto trade. Will $400 million be the sum? Will it be more than $400 million? Can a single team sustain that many of those massive 10-year contracts? Even though there isn’t a salary cap, the Phillies are already prepared to spend more money than they have in before the next campaign. In addition, there’s the question of how far Soto, a below-average fielder, is from becoming a designated hitter.
It would be difficult, but nothing is certain. Even though the Phillies are confident in their ability to make it back to the postseason, they would undoubtedly have a better chance than they do now if they had an offensive boost. Soto would transform the player’s personality and offer a significant offensive boost.
Help with back-end relief is clearly what the Phils need. They lost Craig Kimbrel to free agency, but they will get back Jose Alvarado, Seranthony Dominguez, Jeff Hoffman, Gregory Soto, Orion Kerkering, and Matt Strahm. Despite Kimbrel’s unfortunate end to his Phillies career, he did manage to finish 49 games for the team, and they will need someone to take up those crucial innings, preferably more efficiently.
Josh Hader is the best reliever available to free agents, with a sharp decline in quality beyond. For a team like the Phillies, having an outstanding closer is essential, but Hader could wind up with the largest reliever contract ever, surpassing $100 million. Even with his dominance, you question the cost given his self-imposed usage restrictions.
After Hader, you have Jordan Hicks, Hector Neris, David Robertson, Dylan Floro, Liam Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Chafin, and Will Smith as free agents to consider. These kinds of relievers have little reason to accept a lowball offer so early in the offseason when supply and demand are more likely to produce a multiyear deal, or at least a desirable option.
There have only been a few relievers removed from the game. Joe Jimenez and Reynaldo Lopez were signed by the Braves to record-breaking three-year deals worth $26 million and $30 million, respectively. The Reds signed Emilio Pagan for $16 million over two years with an opt-out after the first and Nick Martinez for $26 million over two years. Joe Kelly will make a one-year return to the Dodgers.
If the Phillies are dissatisfied with the demands made by this relatively thin crop of free-agent bullpen arms, they may choose to address their relief need through discussions and frameworks for trades that frequently start or intensify at the Winter Meetings.
Right field and second base will no longer be Mookie Betts’ alternate positions. According to manager Dave Roberts, he will be the Los Angeles Dodgers’ “everyday second baseman” in 2024.
Betts played 77 games in right field, 62 at second base, and 12 at shortstop in the previous campaign. When the team faced righties, Betts began games in right field, but he will now play at his preferred position—one he feels will be easier on his body at thirty-one—after speaking with Roberts.
Roberts stated on MLB Network on Monday, “It’s pretty safe to say that No. 50, Mookie Betts, is going to be our every-day second baseman.”
Betts, who split time between two positions, contributed to the Dodgers’ second consecutive National League West championship in 2023. However, he lost to Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. in the voting for NL Most Valuable Player.
With a record of 100-62 and 39 home runs and 107 RBI, Betts led the Dodgers by a significant margin in the NL West. Still, in the wild-card round of the playoffs, Los Angeles was defeated by the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dodgers signed lefty Jason Heyward to a one-year contract, and Heyward will start in right field in place of Betts the following season. According to Roberts, the team is searching for a right fielder to play against lefties and will use Heyward against righties.
“It’s one of those things where [Betts] is a Gold Glover out in right field, but I think that when you’re talking about putting together a roster and someone who can be so offensive at second base, you can get more games out of him if he is playing second base,” Roberts stated. “So now when you get a happy Mookie Betts, a guy who can play in close to 160 games, it makes the Dodgers much better.”
Four new hires have joined the Mets, who have announced their entire coaching staff for the 2024 MLB season under new manager Carlos Mendoza.
Along with Mendoza, the first-year captain hired earlier this offseason, the following coaches will be spending their first seasons with New York: Mike Sarbaugh, coach of third base, Antoan Richardson, coach of first base, and Jose Rosado, coach of the bullpen.
After 11 years and two stints as manager of the Blue Jays (2004–08 and 2013–18), Gibbons joins the Mets. During his tenure in Toronto, he made two consecutive trips to the ALCS (in 2015 and 2016). After serving as Kansas City’s bench coach from 2009 to 2011, Gibbons has a 793-789 record in his big league managerial career.
After joining the Giants organization in 2019, Richardson served as first base coach in San Francisco for the previous three seasons. In this role, he oversaw base running and outfield instruction. He spent a long time in the minor leagues (2005–16), appearing in 22 MLB games.
Born and raised in Jersey City, Rosado served as the pitching coach for the Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization for the previous three seasons. From 2011 to 2020, he worked for the Yankees organization as a minor league pitching coach. For the past three World Baseball Classics, he has served as Puerto Rico’s pitching coach.
Sarbaugh joins Queens from the Cleveland organization, where he worked in a variety of capacities for the last ten seasons, including head coach of third base, starting in 1995. He spent nine years managing minor league teams.
In 2023, Eric Chavez, who was bench coach for manager Buck Showalter at the time, will take up his former position as hitting coach, splitting responsibilities with Jeremy Barnes.
The remaining staff members are Glenn Sherlock, who is returning for a second season as catching coach, Jeremy Hefner, who is in his fifth season as pitching coach, and Danny Barnes, who serves as major league strategy coach.
According to reports, the Ohtani sweepstakes is getting hotter as some competitors have pulled out while others have stepped up their interest.
The Mets, Red Sox, and Rangers have moved on to other targets, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The Dodgers, Angels, Blue Jays, Cubs, and Cubs are apparently still in the running for the two-way superstar.
It’s unclear if the Giants, who have been linked to Ohtani for a while, are still actively seeking his signature.
For the 2024 MLB season, the St. Louis Cardinals are essentially rebuilding their whole rotation. On November 27, the team signed Sonny Gray to a three-year, $75 million contract, following the signings of Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn.
In 2023, Gray, 34, pitched 184 innings for the Minnesota Twins and recorded a 2.79 ERA.
