OFFSEASON NEWS/RUMORS Thread

Giants believed to be favorites for Yamamoto
by Nick Deeds | MLB Trade Rumors — 23 minutes ago

The Giants have long been expected to be one of the winter’s more aggressive teams after missing out on megadeals for stars Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa last offseason. While the club was still active on last year’s free agent market, deals for lower-profile players like Taylor Rogers, Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger didn’t save San Francisco from a 79-83 campaign that ended with a fourth place finish in the NL West this year. As president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and his front office looks to turn things around ahead of the 2024 season, the club has been connected to plenty of top players this offseason, ranging from star outfielders Cody Bellinger and Juan Soto to reigning NL Cy Young award winner Blake Snell to even two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

One such star the Giants are known to have interest in is NPB right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who Zaidi himself noted the club has scouted extensively in the run-up to his posting late last month. Today, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle provided an update on the club’s interest in Yamamoto, who ranked as the #3 free agent in this year’s edition of MLBTR’s annual top 50 free agents list. Per Slusser, other teams interested in Yamamoto believe that the Giants “have an edge” in the sweepstakes for his services. Yamamoto figures to be among the most sought-after free agents this winter, with reports indicating that nearly half the league has interest in the 25-year-old righty. The Mets and Yankees, in particular, have been connected to Yamamoto heavily to this point in the offseason.

Even if San Francisco does have a leg up in the Yamamoto sweepstakes, a signing would surely require a major financial outlay. The righty is widely expected to secure the largest deal of any starting pitcher on the market this winter besides Ohtani; MLBTR has projected him for a nine-year, $225MM deal that would only be surpassed by the guarantees secured by Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg among free agent starters. That shouldn’t be a problem for San Francisco, which reportedly offered Judge a deal in the $360MM range last offseason before 2022’s AL MVP ultimately returned to the Yankees.​

yamamoto's people readying for meeting with SF

 

Jon Morosi@jonmorosi
Dylan Cease trade market is robust as the winter meetings begin in Nashville. Dodgers, Braves, and Orioles are all involved, sources say, and other teams also remain engaged with the White Sox.
3:09 PM · Dec 3, 2023 · 243.6K Views
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“Our thought is that [Lux] is going to be our shortstop,” Dodgers’ GM Brandon Gomes said. “And the benefit is that you have somebody like Rojas behind him who will be an incredibly high bar.”

 

dodgers hire chris archer as special assistant
this will be the biggest move we make at the winter meetings

 

bruh
wasn’t talking about lux

 

going to say it now (and i hope i’m right)
we won’t sign ohtani
friedman will offer something like 5yr/$330m while everyone else offers 10+ years

 

Dan Clark@DanClarkSports
$550M+ for Shohei Ohtani, who turns 30 next season (and won't pitch until 2025). HOT TAKE: As great as he is, his time with the Angels (which included Mike Trout, don't forget) showed the importance of a balanced roster. Better off spending that $550M on multiple stars...
4:07 AM · Dec 2, 2023 · 242.4K Views

 

AlaNNa Rizzo@alannarizzo
On #HighHeat just now, Dave Roberts said Betts will be their starting 2B for 2024. Lux expected to be starting SS in his return from IL. If Ohtani not signed, JD Martinez is a strong possibility of a return. #Dodgers
11:32 AM · Dec 4, 2023 · 316.5K Views