December 5: American League Cy Young winner Justin Verlander will sign a two-year deal with the New York Mets, a deal that includes a third-year vesting option, according to the New York Post.
Verlander’s deal will be for $86 million. He helped the Houston Astors win their second World Series last month when they beat the Philadelphia Phillies.
December 1: Philadelphia pitcher Kyle Gibson has reportedly agreed to a one-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles, per The Athletic.
Gibson went 10-8 with a 5.05 ERA for the Phillies, who won the National League pennant.
Gibson played with the Rangers in 2020, going 2-6 in that COVID-19 shortened season. He started 2021 with Texas, going 4-6, before he was traded to Philadelphia.
Gibson’s deal is pending a physical.
December 2: While not a free-agent signing, the Milwaukee Brewers moved second baseman Kolten Wong to the Seattle Mariners for outfielder Jesse Winker and infielder Abraham Toro.
Wong hit .251 in 2022, with 15 home runs and 47 RBI.
Winker is coming off a season in which he hit .219 with 14 home runs and 53 RBI. Toro hit .185 with 10 home runs and 35 RBI.
Wong moves into a Mariners infield that helped them reach the postseason for the first time in more than 20 years in 2022.
December 1: The Tampa Bay Rays and pitcher Zach Eflin have agreed to a three-year contract, according to ESPN.
Eflin was considered one of the best relievers on the free agent market and was among the New York Post’s Top 50 free agents.
The Location later reported that Eflin’s deal was for $40 million. The agreement is pending a physical.
Eflin spent the first seven seasons of his career with Philadelphia, mostly as a starter, with a career record of 36-45 with a 4.49 ERA. He’s won at least 10 games in a season twice — 11 in 2018 and 10 in 2019.
In 2022 he went 3-5 with a 4.04 ERA in 20 games (13 starts). He’s battled injuries the past two seasons, including right patella tendinopathy in 2021.
Nov. 29: The Pittsburgh Pirates formally announced the signing of first baseman and designated hitter Carlos Santana, who played for the Seattle Mariners last year.
The one-year deal is reportedly for $6.75 million. For the small-market Pirates, it represents the largest single-year deal the club has agreed to in the last six years.
Santana hit .202 with 19 home runs and 60 RBIs with Kansas City and Seattle last season. But, Santana hit 15 of his 19 home runs with the Mariners.
The Pirates also traded for Tampa Bay’s Ji-Man Choi earlier in the offseason.
Nov. 28: USA Today reported on Monday that the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox slugger Jose Abreu have agreed to a three-year contract. The agreement would pay Abreu — the 2020 American League MVP — about $20 million per year.
Abreu is a career .304 hitter with 243 home runs and 863 RBI. He’s a three-time All-Star, the 2014 Rookie of the Year and averaged an RBI per game in his MVP season (60 games).
He joins the World Champion Astros and the move puts him in more direct competition with the Rangers in 2023.
Nov. 28: The Athletic reported that the Chicago White Sox and pitcher Mike Clevinger have agreed to a one-year deal worth $12 million.
The deal brings Clevinger back to the American League, where he previously pitched for Cleveland. Clevinger pitched for San Diego in 2022, where he had a 4.33 ERA in 114 innings pitched and finished with a record of 7-7.
The New York Yankees agreed to a one-year, $6 million deal with infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa on Friday, per multiple reports.
Kiner-Falefa, who played for the Rangers from 2018-21, hit .261 with four home runs and 48 RBI last season.
His teammate and former Rangers catcher Jose Trevino won a platinum glove last week when the 2022 Gold Gloves were announced.
Nov. 16: San Diego Padres pitcher Nick Martinez signed a new three-year deal with the team worth $26 million, per The New York Post.
Martinez opted out of a contract before free agency began that would have paid him $18 million.
He made 47 appearances, including 10 starts, and finished with a 3.47 ERA in his first MLB season since 2017.
Nov. 15: New York Yankees first baseman/designated hitter Anthony Rizzo agreed to return to the team on a two-year contract with an option for a third year, the team announced on Tuesday.
Rizzo agreed to $17 million for each of the next two seasons. The contract has an option for 2025 with a $6 million buyout, per ESPN.
The Yankees now turn their attention to securing their top free agent, and the top free agent on the market in outfielder Aaron Judge.
Nov. 15: Pitcher Tyler Anderson, who received the qualifying offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers, has agreed to a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels, per ESPN.
Anderson turned down the Dodgers’ $19.65 qualifying offer to accept a reported three-year deal worth around $39 million. Because Anderson received a qualifying offer, the Angels will lose their second-round pick and the Dodgers will get an additional fourth-round pick as compensation.
Nov. 12: The Houston Astros put the tumult of the past couple of days behind them as they started protecting their players from free agency.
On Saturday, ESPN reported that the Astors and reliever Rafael Montero have agreed to a three-year, $34.5 million deal to help keep the Astros’ bullpen intact after winning the World Series.
Montero had a 2.37 ERA in nearly 69 innings while striking out 70. Montero spent 2019 and 2020 with the Texas Rangers. The Astros acquired him in a trade with Seattle in 2021.
The Astros and general manager James Click parted ways on Friday. Click and team owner Jim Crane could not reach a new deal. Click was hired as GM in 2020 after the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, but after the Astros hired Dusty Baker as manager. Click helped stabilize the organization, but he and Crane reportedly had an eroding relationship towards the end of the 2022 season.
Nov. 11: New York Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt turned down the Mets’ qualifying offer on Friday, according to a report by the New York Post. By turning down the qualifying offer, Bassitt is set to test the free-agent market.
Bassitt turned down a $19.65 million salary for 2023.
Bassitt was one of 14 free agents that received qualifying offers on Thursday. The rest have until Tuesday at 4 pm EST to either accept the offer or turn it down.
Nov. 10: Fourteen potential free agents received the qualifying offer on Thursday, which is $19.65 million for the 2023 season. Those players are: Tyler Anderson, Chris Bassitt, Xander Bogaerts, Willson Contreras, Jacob deGrom, Nate Eovaldi, Aaron Judge, Brandon Nimmo, Joc Pederson, Martin Perez, Anthony Rizzo, Carlos Rodon, Dansby Swanson and Trea Turner.
Players have until 4 pm eastern on Tuesday to either accept the offer or reject it and become a free agent.
Nov. 6: The New York Mets and closer Edwin Diaz have reportedly agreed to a new contract, according to USA Today.
The deal is for five years and $102 million. It would be the largest deal in MLB history for a closer.
Diaz had an incredible season for the Mets, finishing with 32 saves for the second straight season. He also went 3-1 with a 1.31 ERA. Diaz is now a two-time All-Star, as he made the team this season. He has 202 career saves in seven seasons. At age 28, he’ll be locked into the Mets in his prime.
To most he was considered the top closer on the free agent market. The MLB Players Association announced that 131 players hit free agency on Sunday, with the conclusion of the World Series on Saturday night, as the Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.
The Mets have nine free agents.
The Texas Rangers have five free agents this offseason, pending decisions by players that have opt-outs or decisions by the Rangers as it pertains to buy-outs. Lead among those free agents is pitcher Martin Perez, who had 12 wins on a one-year, $4 million contract. Both sides are hoping to work out a deal that will allow him to remain with the Rangers.
The other free agents are pitchers Matt Moore and Kohei Arihara, infielder Charlie Culberson and catcher Kevin Plawecki.
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