The Major League Baseball offseason is underway, which means the rumor mill is running at full throttle. Below, CBS Sports has rounded up Tuesday’s most interesting moves and rumors in one convenient place.
Blue Jays considered favorites to land Tucker
The Blue Jays, fresh off an American League pennant, are considered by other front offices to be the favorites to land Kyle Tucker, according to ESPN. Naturally, given that Tucker is the top free agent available, there are plenty of other teams in contention here early on.
The Dodgers, the club that beat the Blue Jays in the World Series, should be interested if Tucker is open to a short-term deal. The Phillies, Giants, Orioles, Yankees and Mets are also potential landing spots, depending on how the market performs over the next few weeks.
One team shouldn’t be involved in the Tucker sweepstakes: the Cubs. Chicago acquired Tucker in a trade last winter with the Astros, but does not appear seriously interested in retaining him.
Kyle Tucker Free Agency: Pros and Cons, Contract Prediction, Landing Spots and More for the Star Outfielder
Matt Snyder
Yankees still want Bellinger back
In Yankees outfield news, center fielder Trent Grisham accepted the qualifying offer by Tuesday’s deadline. With him back in the fold, it might seem like the Yankees don’t need free agent Cody Bellinger back. There’s obviously Aaron Judge in right field, Grisham in center, Jasson Domínguez in left, Giancarlo Stanton at DH and Ben Rice at first.
Still, the Yankees “plan to continue pursuing” Bellinger, according to MLB.com.
Bellinger, 30, hit .272/.334/.480 (125 OPS+) with 25 doubles, five triples, 29 homers, 98 RBIs, 89 runs and 5.1 WAR last season. There is certainly room for him on the Yankees. Domínguez is still unsure and Stanton is injury prone. Domínguez could be the fourth outfielder in this case.
Imai posted
Right-hander Tatsuya Imai’s trading window will open Wednesday after he was named by the Saitama Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League, according to multiple reports. Imai will then have until January 2 to reach an agreement.
CBS Sports recently ranked Imai as the 12th best free agent available this winter:
Compared to how front offices view hitters transferring from NPB, pitchers represent an almost certain quantity. There are too many success stories to focus on the differences between ball and schedule or to suggest that it will have a devastating effect on the talent in question. This is good news for Imai’s title. He’s coming off a dominant season that saw him post a 1.92 ERA and a 3.96 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 163 innings. He has mid-90s speed and a forkball-type slider that he delivers from a low launch point. Imai isn’t far from struggling with his command (it took until his seventh professional season before he walked fewer than four batters per nine innings), but teams confident in his strike-throwing ability could imagine him being at least a No. 3 starter as soon as next spring.
The Lions will receive compensation based on the total value of Imai’s contract.
Hackers intend to spend
The Pirates will look to bolster a roster built around ace Paul Skenes this winter, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Passan reports that the Pirates were willing to sign first baseman Josh Naylor for more than twice the franchise’s previous record free agent contract (currently $39 million) before he opted to return to the Mariners for a five-year, $92.5 million contract. Pittsburgh is known to be interested in, among others, DH Kyle Schwarber.
Passan also notes that the Pirates plan to allow top prospect Konnor Griffin to compete for the starting shortstop job next spring. Things are getting complicated, however, including another looming work stoppage ahead of the 2027 season. Here’s more on Pittsburgh’s thinking:
The decision is complicated. The last teenage player to debut in the big leagues was Juan Soto in 2018. A talent of Griffin’s caliber shouldn’t be rushed because a team wants to win now. And concerns about the new base agreement are particularly acute for a team like Pittsburgh: If the doomsday scenario happens and 2027 is lost, players will recoup lost service time, and with the possibility of players negotiating a shorter window to enter free agency, the Pirates don’t want to start Griffin’s clock early only to have the rules whip them and punish them for it.
Griffin, 19, hit .333/.415/.527 across three levels, finishing the year with a 21-game stint in Double-A.
Phillies face strong competition for Schwarber
The Phillies would like to reunite DH Kyle Schwarber, a top-five free agent in the class, but achieving that goal will mean thwarting a lot of other interested parties.
There is immense demand for Schwarber partly because of his production at the plate and partly because his age and positional concerns will limit his contract length, according to ESPN.
ESPN lists a slew of teams as having some degree of interest, ranging from expected highrollers — Phillies, Red Sox, Mets and Blue Jays — to the Pirates, who, as noted above, pursued Naylor before he joined the Mariners.
Schwarber, 33 in March, has hit .228/.358/.508 (135 OPS+) with 47 homers on average over the past three seasons.
Rangers discussed Garcia and Heim in trades
The Rangers have entered into trade talks regarding outfielder Adolis García and catcher Jonah Heim, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network. This should come as no surprise: García is coming off a rough year and is entering his final season in team control. Heim, meanwhile, appears to be a potential non-tendering candidate. As CBS Sports wrote earlier this week:
Heim’s inclusion only seems silly if you haven’t updated your track record since the Rangers won the World Series. In the two seasons since, he has been a well-below-average hitter, providing diminishing defensive returns. The Rangers have publicly stated their intention to reduce payroll. Heim’s price tag wouldn’t stand out otherwise, but the Rangers can surely find Kyle Higashioka a new dance partner for less than $6 million.
Morosi notes that no agreement appears close.
Mets shopping Nimmo, other position players
The Mets are ready to deal with their hitter surplus, which includes being willing to move either utility player Jeff McNeil or outfielder Brandon Nimmo, according to ESPN. Youngsters Luisangel Acuña, Mark Vientos and Brett Baty – all perpetually on the trading block – are also present.
Nimmo, who turns 33 in March, is a relatively new addition to the rumor mill. It’s unclear, however, whether the Mets will be able to find a suitor, given his advanced age and contract. Not only is Nimmo signed for five more years (at over $20 million per), but he also has a no-trade clause. In other words, he would have to agree to any trade, which would make finding a deal that much trickier for the Mets.
Last week, the New York Post reported that the Mets had internally considered how much money they would need to facilitate a Nimmo trade.
