A very merry Christmas Eve to those of you who celebrate the holiday. It always gets me in the baking spirit for some reason, and last night it was blueberry pie. I started from a recipe, yes, but since I played some serious jazz with that recipe and made it my own, I am now saying that I made Brett’s Famous Blueberry Pie. And it was freaking really good.
Was yesterday that last rush of deals before the Christmas holiday, or will we see some stragglers today? Last year, we got the Mitch Garver deal on Christmas Eve, so you can’t rule it out. It feels like it’s been a pretty active offseason this year around baseball, but there are nevertheless still so many free agents (and possible trades) yet to be sorted. Very-briefly-an-old-friend Shawn Armstrong has signed with the Rangers on a big league deal, as they look perhaps to fill out their bullpen with less-expensive options now that they’ve spent big elsewhere (they also signed Hoby Milner and Jacob Webb to inexpensive deals). With Kirby Yates, Jose Leclerc, and David Robertson all hitting free agency (and all a fit for the Cubs), it’s an interesting story to follow. Of note, the Rangers are reportedly still trying to bring Yates back, and he’s the one of those three who has been explicitly tied to the Cubs in rumor. The Phillies added another arm to their pitching staff, signing Joe Ross to a $4 million deal. Given that the Phillies’ rotation already goes six deep after the Jesus Luzardo trade, Ross is going to be something of a swing man, probably mostly relieving. Ross, 32, was a reclamation project for the Brewers last year, pitching in the big leagues for the first time in three years, and putting up a 3.77 ERA (and solid peripherals) over 74.0 swing innings. I’m actually a little surprised he didn’t do better. I guess he did deal with a back injury for a couple months, but he was actually even more successful after coming back from the injury (but that was almost exclusively as a reliever). I will never, ever, ever underestimate the Brewers, but I will point out that they certain have lost a lot of pitching this offseason – Devin Williams is the big name, but guys like Ross, Milner, Colin Rea, Jakob Junis, Frankie Montas, Enoli Paredes, Kevin Herget, and Rob Zastryzny all covered innings for the Brewers in 2024 with good results. That’s just about 450 innings worth of good pitching results from mostly surprising guys that the Brewers have to replace in 2025 (and Robert Gasser will miss most of 2025 after Tommy John surgery). I’m not saying the Brewers can’t or won’t replace those innings well (they have some impressive young arms coming up, and they are outstanding at the reclamation thing), but it probably hasn’t been discussed enough when projecting them out. Much more of the focus goes to their annoyingly impressive positional group. At some point, a team has to move on to other options, even if it’s a homegrown star at issue:Contract negotiations “stalled” between the Astros and Alex Bregman, prompting GM Dana Brown to pivot and remake his infield without a franchise cornerstone.Details from @Chandler_Rome: t.co/IMSFbE8JFx pic.twitter.com/zkiYRDjyta
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 24, 2024 The Astros reportedly offered at least six years and $156 million to Bregman, which does not seem unreasonably low. We’ll see if he winds up getting more elsewhere, but there are warning signs in that data. This has the feel of a protracted free agency now, and although agent Scott Boras has had some clear wins so far this offseason, you wonder whether Bregman and Pete Alonso are going to be this offseason’s version of last year’s Boras Four. I still tend to doubt the Cubs would swoop in with a pillow offer to Bregman (giving up a second rounder, a fifth rounder, those bonus pool slots, and $1 million in IFA pool space for what could be a pricey one-year deal; and also squeezing Matt Shaw out of a starting spot), but I think it’s at least worth following. You never know if this or that or this happens elsewhere in your offseason planning (maybe the pitching moves don’t pan out, maybe some team overwhelms you in a Nico Hoerner offer, etc.), combined with some shocking discount. I’d call it a sub-1% chance type of thing. I’m going to have to read this more deeply and consider the implications for the MLB Draft, but I know that it’s potentially significant:You may have missed a court ruling last week in a lawsuit between the Vanderbilt quarterback and the NCAA.My phone has been buzzing ever since because coaches and scouts are convinced this will change college baseball, the draft, and the minor leagues. t.co/br8asvfKAm
— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) December 23, 2024MORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter
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