MLB free agency is upon us, with the league’s winter meetings kicking things off in earnest on Monday in Dallas. The name on everyone’s lips is Juan Soto, but he’s not the only free agent who has a big decision to make this winter.
Here’s a quick look at where things stand so far this offseason:
New York Yankees general manager Brian Cahsman said at baseball’s winter meetings Monday that he doesn’t regret trading for Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres last offseason.
The Yankees lost a free-agent bidding war to the crosstown Mets for Soto’s services on Sunday, leaving the Yankees to go to Plan B for their offseason. The Yankees ultimately traded a package of veterans and prized prospects for a year of Soto’s services.
“Listen, the Mets got a great player, so congratulations to them,” Cashman said Monday, per MLB.com. “Our work continues as we focus on our team and how to reconfigure. Our efforts on a year-in, year-out basis don’t change. We’re always trying to be the best team we possibly can be so we can get into the playoffs and take a shot at the World Series, so we’ll just obviously get back at it.”
As for the trade for Soto? Cashman says the Yankees are sorry only that they couldn’t cash the deal in via a World Series championship. The Yankees lost in the World Series to the Dodgers in five games.
“We went in with eyes wide open,” Cashman said. “We recognized he was a significant talent and he was going to upgrade us, and he did. It’s not a deal we regret.
“He impacted us in a heavy way. I’m just sorry we fell short in the World Series, but he — with others — had a great part in getting us where we did, becoming American League champs in 2024.”
Since the end of the World Series, the pitching market has been active, headlined by the Dodgers and Blake Snell agreeing to a five-year, $182 million deal. The Mets and Frankie Montas are also in agreement on a two-year, $34 million deal, while the A’s signed Luis Severino to a three-year, $67 million deal — the largest guaranteed contract in franchise history.
Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki was posted Monday morning as the league’s winter meetings got underway, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. Sasaki’s posting now opens a 45-day window, which begins Tuesday and runs through 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 23. Every MLB team is now allowed to attempt to sway the 23-year-old talent to sign when the international amateur signing period opens Jan. 15.
Because Sasaki is younger than 23, he is not eligible for the kind of deal his countryman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, signed last year. Instead, he is limited to the international bonus pools, which are typically used to sign Latin American amateurs.
Waiting until 2025 will carry significant financial benefits for both Sasaki and his current team, the Chiba Lotte Marines of NPB. The international bonus pools reset when the new signing period starts in 2025, with every team having between $5 million and $8 million. Sasaki will get more money by waiting, and that matters to the Marines because the posting fee they receive will be 20% of his signing bonus.
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It’s Juan Soto to the New York Mets via the richest known deal in the history of sports.
The New York Yankees slugger received the most anticipated payday of the offseason on Sunday, agreeing to a 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets, according to multiple reports.
For full details on the record-shattering contract, read here.
