3:55 p.m.: Here are the reported contract terms for the Rays and Charlie Morton.
3:53 p.m.: And the Rays might not be done yet.
3:45 p.m.: The Rays charged hard to end the 2018 season and finished with 90 wins. They’re hoping Charlie Morton — who went 15-3 with a 3.13 ERA — can help get them by the Red Sox and Yankees.
3:12 p.m.: We’ve already connected the Reds to J.T. Realmuto, and they’re also involved in the pitching market.
Cincinnati has finished in last place in the National League Central in each of the last four seasons — by an average of 31 games. Something obviously has to change at some point.
2:59 p.m.: J.T. Realmuto supposedly is going to be traded at some point. We think.
2:45 p.m.: After all that, it looks like J.A. Happ will indeed return to The Bronx, but until it crosses the goal line, we’ll see.
2:05 p.m.: Here are updates on two former All-Stars: Sonny Gray (available through trade with the Yankees) and free agent outfielder Nelson Cruz.
1:45 p.m.: We have yet another team entering the J.T. Realmuto contest, as the Cincinnati Reds reportedly are involved.
12:05 p.m.: It sounds like Charlie Morton is getting closer to signing, and it appears he has a fairly diverse market.
11:15 a.m.: So, about that J.A. Happ deal …
10:15 a.m.: J.A. Happ is staying put, as he’s agreed to a three-year deal with the Yankees, according to Ken Rosenthal.
9:25 a.m.: Perhaps the story was overblown. Perhaps the Red Sox are doing damage control. Or maybe the answer lies somewhere in the middle.
But reports of the Red Sox’s openness to move players, including shortstop Xander Bogaerts, were overstated, according to NBC Sports Boston’s Evan Drellich.
The Red Sox would have to be “blown away” to move Bogaerts, Drellich wrote, while a baseball source told him the reports have been “overblown.”
Still, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters and then NESN’s Tom Caron that the club listens to everything, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re trying to make a move.
“You listen to any idea that people possibly have, that’s what these meetings — I always find that they’re a lot of fun and interesting because people throw all different types of ideas at you,” Dombrowski told Caron on Tuesday. “You’re always open-minded. I’ve always said you don’t have an untradeable player no matter how good they are. If you had Miguel Cabrera in his prime, you’d trade him for two Miguel Cabreras. They don’t happen very often, but I think you’re always open-minded.”
So stay tuned, we guess.
8:20 a.m.: The Dodgers, runners-up in the last two World Series, seem hellbent on getting over the hump, and it figures to be a busy few days for them.
It will be interesting to see whether eventual trades for either or both outfielders ends up setting the stage for something bigger. In addition to being linked to J.T. Realmuto this week, the Dodgers and Indians reportedly had trade talks about Cleveland ace Corey Kluber.
7:45 a.m.: Just a quick follow-up to the J.T. Realmuto developments. Miami understandably is asking for a lot in any deal for the reigning Silver Slugger winner who was a four-win player last season. With the Mets, the conversation starts with young shortstop Amed Rosario, according to the New York Post, and Miami also would like Brandon Nimmo in a deal with its division rival. As recently as a year or so ago, some considered Rosario the No. 1 prospect in baseball, while Nimmo was a four-win player himself last season with an .886 OPS that ranked 17th among all qualified players in the big leagues.
7:35 a.m.: It’s been a busy couple of days for the Mets, who were at the center of a juicy rumor in which a three-team trade would have landed them Miami catcher J.T. Realmuto and would have Noah Syndergaard going to the Yankees.
That seems like a long time ago now.
The Mets still are in the hunt for Realmuto, but they have plenty of company in trying to land the Fish’s All-Star catcher, and a new favorite might have emerged, according to Fancred’s Jon Heyman.
And now it sounds as if the Mets might be on to Plan B with their catching situation.
7:15 a.m.: Wednesday could be a wild day in the world of baseball. Or it could be just like the first two full days of the MLB winter meetings: all sizzle and no steak.
There’s certainly been no shortage of rumors throughout the first two days of the meetings in Las Vegas, but the real dominoes have yet to fall.
The biggest winter meetings news so far is the reported agreement between Andrew McCutchen and the Philadelphia Phillies, as the two sides reportedly came together for a three-year contract. No disrespect to McCutchen, who is a fine player, but we’re still waiting for some much bigger things to start happening.
And perhaps the dam breaks Wednesday, with swirling trade rumors for some of the game’s biggest teams, like the New York Yankees, Mets and Boston Red Sox. Meanwhile, big-name free agents like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado continue to take their meetings with teams eager to pony up $300 million for their services.
No matter what happens (or doesn’t happen) on Wednesday at the winter meetings, we’ll have you covered with updates throughout the day. We’ll be tracking all the latest news and rumors with Day 3 of our winter meetings live blog, so be sure to follow closely throughout the day.
