[Highlander]

Offseason Signings and Trades

Mets Related- Anything we do

- Freddy Peralta was signed by the White Sox to a 4 year/105.6M deal. Seems like a deal we could have done or beat but maybe better things are coming?

- We struck our first deal....surprisingly it was with the division rival Braves. We sent 3 minor leaguers- 22 year old P Cam Tilly, 24 year old P Zack Mack and 23 year old P Garrett Stratton for P Spencer Strider. The Braves will retain 20% of Strider's salary. Spencer still has this year and next with a team option in 2029. He wasn't great last year with a 5.53 ERA in 18 starts but he had 10.4 K/9 so hopefully we can bring out at least a facsimile of the Strider of 3-4 years ago. Interestingly, his FIP was 4.60 but his SIERA was 3.07 so maybe there is a little hope? At 22M (minus the 20%) per season, we have to hope for the best!

- We have also made a deal with the bust Pirates. We sent a group of minor leaguers, including 19 year old Dillon Stiltner, 21 year old P Min-kyun Woo and 22 year old 3B Jacob Reimer for OF Dominic Fletcher. I'll be honest....losing Reimer hurts. He had an .851 OPS in AAA. The issue with him is his defense, so while it would have been a challenge to find him a spot, that bat would be pretty valuable. Fletcher is a great OFer and will fill in for Taylor really well on the defense side, but he's 29 and had a .581 OPS in 416 AB last year. The Pirates got the best of this one, I am afraid.

- In a smaller deal, we picked up another great defensive OF who can't hit a lick in Albert Almora. He was acquired from the Reds along with 22 year old minor league IF, Dominic Pitelli. We sent 2 minor leaguers in 19 year old IF Giomar Ubiera and 18 year old IF Jose Padilla. No one of consequence here from the looks of it, but if Almora is going to have to take up a roster spot with his .544 OPS from last season, that WILL have consequences.

- Looks like we are stockpiling weak hitting OF! We sent 2 minor leaguers in 22 year old P Frank Camarillo and 18 year old OF Cleiner Ramirez to Colorado for OF Jake McCarthy. To be fair, McCarthy is the best of the guys we've acquired at OF so far with a .688 OPS and he led the league in triples with 8. He plays the corner OF spots well and is passable in CF. He also runs well and stole 27 bases. Not sure where all these OF are going to go, though.

I guess we still don't have enough OF as we just made a deal with the Astros to get OF Jake Meyers. We gave up 2 minor league pitchers in 24 year old Jack Wenninger and 16 year old Bobby Santos. Wenninger has some promise and it's way too early to know about Santos. Meyers is a very good CF but his .651 OPS last year doesn't really stand out from the other guys we've gotten. Seems like some good assets have been sent out and could have been combined for more quality over quantity.

- We finally made a FA signing and it's not a bad one. We signed P Brusdar Graterol to a 3yr/8.2M deal. Not bad for an extreme groundball guy who has fought injuries over the years but also can be very effective.

- Well, we've signed another free agent and I am scratching my head. It's a 2 year/24.4M deal with the 2nd year being a vesting option for Salvador Perez. Now I like Sal....but where am I supposed to play him? He can only play C right now and we have Alvarez coming off a huge year and we signed him to a big 5 year deal. Are we really paying 12M for a back up catcher? I'll try to DH one of them when I can I guess, but if the C gets hurt in the game, that is tough to deal with. This is going to be a very interesting roster....hope none of our IF get hurt!

-On the lighter side, I believe we may have the player with the best digestive system in the league. We just signed a minor league free agent named Kade Shatwell.

- Luis Robert has chosen St Louis as his new home as he signed a 5yr/59.5M deal with them.

- We signed P Pierce Johnson to a minor league deal. He might have enough left to help us out at some point this season.

- AJ Minter signed a 1 year/2.4M deal with the Padres. We gave that deal to much worse pitchers....frustrating.

- David Peterson ended up with just a 1yr deal for 12.8 M with the Rangers. I'm OK losing him at that price.

The Mariners took a shot with Brooks Raley on a 1yr/1.7M deal, but now it has been announced that he had a major setback and will miss another 15 months. At his age, that might be it for him.

The Rest of the League- Only the biggest/most interesting signings and trades

- The Pirates have been busy trading a number of guys and they just completed a big one with the World Series Champion Mariners. The Pirates are cashing in on a big comeback season by Marcell Ozuna, who hit 28 HR and drove in 102 by trading him for a prospect package that includes the #42 overall prospect in P Kade Anderson.

- The Twins pulled off a very interesting trade with the Yankees. They sent 26 year old minor league P Justin Lawson, who looks like a release candidate to me, for 21 year old minor league IF George Lombard. Now George has lost his top 100 prospect status, but he still looks like a very high potential guy who did well in AAA as a 21 year old. No idea what the Yankees were thinking here, but good for the Twins.

- Well, now I know why the Yankees wanted to trade Lombard...although it seems they could have gotten much more for him. The next deal they made was with the Reds. The Yankees sent the current #1 prospect in baseball in 17 year old P Manny Marquez (he was a scouting discovery from the Dominican Republic), along with 23 year old minor league P Bryce Cunningham for SS Elly De La Cruz. Now that is a big trade!

- The blockbusters keep coming! The Dodgers have traded C Dalton Rushing and 24 year old minor league P Patrick Copen (#90 Prospect) to the Rangers for P Jacob DeGrom. That 81-81 finish didn't set well in LA, so look for them to make some big moves to get back on top.

- The White Sox continue their quest for improvement by trading for Texas closer Robert Garcia who had a 2.50 ERA and 30 Saves last season. They gave up a couple of minor leaguers who don't even look worth mentioning....not sure what Texas was doing.

- Seattle took another step towards trying to repeat by trading a minor leaguer in 22 year old P Mason Peters to Colorado for OF Mickey Moniak who drove in 95 last year.

- Former batting champion Luis Arraez signed a 4yr/49.8M deal with Arizona.

- The Rangers replaced their closer Garcia by signing Raisel Iglesias to a 2yr/24M deal.

- The Royals signed P David Bednar to a 3yr/17.2M deal. He had 36 saves last year.

- Tampa Bay picked up OF Ramon Laureano, who hit .281 with 24 HR last year on a 4 year/64M deal.

- The free agent we were all waiting to see where he would go has made his decision.....and it's a strange one! Tarik Skubal has signed a 6yr/302.5M contract with the Angels! Time will tell if they will actually put a team around him or if Tarik will become the pitching version of Mike Trout.

- The Twins opened up their wallets in a big way as they just signed 2B Nico Hoerner to a 7 year/217M deal. Nico was an All-Star, Platinum Stick and Gold Glove winner.

- Eugenio Suarez has taken his 36 HR from last year to the Marlins with a 3 year/18.2M deal.

- In addition the Robert signing, the Cardinals have added even more to their OF by signing Randy Arozarena to a 5 year/50.5M deal.

- The Brewers added some big power to their lineup by trading for 1B Munetaka Murakami and his 42 HR (and .226 BA) from the White Sox. The gave up a couple of minor leaguers to get him including the #70 overall prospect in 22 year old P Bishop Letson.

- P Tatsuya Imai signed a 3yr/49.2M contract with Cleveland.

- The Rangers aren't messing around with the bullpen as they signed Dennis Santana to a 2yr/7.8M deal. He had 38 saves and a 2.66 ERA last year....would have been a good addition for us!

- P Shane Bieber signed a 1yr/18.8M deal with Baltimore. That's a lot for a guy who can't seem to stay healthy lately.


Whew, I think that's it. Time to set the Opening Day Lineups and Pitching Staff!