8:15 p.m.: The Milwaukee Brewers are in on Didi Gregorius, according to Jon Heyman.
Brewers are also in on Gregorius. Milwaukee has lost 14 players off its wild card team. Time to get to work.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 10, 2019
8:05 p.m.: The Yankees are continuing their pursuit of Gerrit Cole, per Jon Heyman.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman is indeed coming with the offer for Cole today. Angels seem highly motivated but will need to convince Cole they can win with very top heavy roster. Dodgers also seen as threat (though they could go the Rendon route instead)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 10, 2019
3:55 p.m.: Chaim Bloom, according to reports, might be eyeing Sergio Romo as part of the bullpen rebuild for the Red Sox. Bloom knows of Romo after their time together in Tampa Bay.
Sergio Romo is drawing significant interest: a’s, twins, marlins, phillies, Red Sox, perhaps even giants, where Romo won rings and closed out 2012 Workd Series. Deal likely will come at meetings.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 9, 2019
3:45 p.m.: The Cubs might be headed toward a shakeup; could it benefit the Phillies, who are trying to keep pace in the NL East.
Cubs have had talks with Phils on Bryant . Nothing there at the moment. Service time grievance still an issue .
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) December 9, 2019
3:04 p.m.: Now the attention turns to Gerrit Cole, and it sounds like we might have an answer on him sooner than later, too.
Source: Gerrit Cole is increasingly likely to sign during this week’s winter meetings. His market is developing quickly, the source said, with the Strasburg signing giving further clarity. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 9, 2019
2:52 p.m.: Steven Strasburg is cashing in, folks.
Stephen Strasburg’s deal with the Washington Nationals is for seven years and $245 million, a source tells ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 9, 2019
2:48 p.m.: And we have our first real bombshell of the winter meetings: Stephen Strasburg is reportedly staying put.
Strasburg and Nats have a deal
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 9, 2019
Source confirms: #Nationals in agreement with Strasburg. First reported: @JonHeyman.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2019
2:35 p.m.: The defending world champs might be keeping (at least part of) the band together, as they’re reportedly making progress on Stephen Strasburg, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
#Nationals making progress on Strasburg, sources tell The Athletic. Team remains confident deal will get done.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2019
2:10 p.m.: Here’s a different one: Adam Jones might be headed to Japan.
Free-agent OF Adam Jones talking to Orix Buffaloes about multi-year deal, sources tell The Athletic. If he decides to go to Japan, an agreement could come this week.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2019
1:30 p.m.: Gerrit Cole has dominated the headlines thus far, but don’t forget about free-agent third baseman Anthony Rendon, who is coming off a simply sensational postseason performance that helped the Nationals win the World Series. The New York Post’s Joel Sherman spoke with an executive who said the Rangers are a major player for Rendon.
From Sherman: “One executive involved in this market thought if bids were similar, Rendon, raised in Houston, would gravitate to his home state, where the Rangers are motivated to add a star for Year 1 in a new stadium in 2020. Plus, the lack of a state income tax means a contract is worth considerably more in Texas.”
The Dodgers have been tied to Rendon, too, and a return to D.C. could still be possible although perhaps unlikely.
11:20 a.m.: Whether Madison Bumgarner gets that deal, is an entirely different story, but it can’t hurt to ask:
Teams are being told that free-agent starter Madison Bumgarner is seeking a five-year deal for $100 million-plus.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 9, 2019
11 a.m.: The Gerrit Cole sweepstakes are starting to come into a focus, and it’s pretty clear we’re looking at a three-team race … for now, at least. The Athletic’s Jayson Stark shared his findings on the matter in a column Monday morning.
“But how many teams can be realistically expected to make an offer in the range of a quarter-billion dollars? Executives involved in this starting-pitching market expect it to come down to a duel between the Yankees and Angels, with the Dodgers lurking as a wild card in the sweepstakes,” Stark wrote.
Stark also spoke to an executive who believes Cole could an eight-year contract in the $250 million neighborhood and go perhaps as high as $280 million.
10:20 a.m.: Here’s where things currently stand on power-hitting infielder Nick Castellanos.
Cubs like Nick Castellanos but have told folks they need to do some things before seriously engaging him (@Ken_Rosenthal reported what they need to do is clear salary before even really considering it). Dbacks and #SFGiants are two of the teams linked to Castellanos.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 9, 2019
#Marlins were in on Nicholas Castellanos but after Michael Moustakas signed his $64m 4yr deal with #Reds price for Castellanos sky rocketed and took the Fish out of the bidding according to source.
— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) December 9, 2019
9:50 a.m.: It’s sure starting to feel like the Yankees are the front-runners to sign Gerrit Cole.
Word continues to be that top free agent pitcher Gerrit Cole will go with the best value/deal regardless of geography. That’s more good news for the Yankees, who are being aggressive. Main competition seems to be coming from his hometown Angels and perhaps Dodgers.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 9, 2019
9:45 a.m.: There are some interesting tidbits from the desk of the New York Post’s Joel Sherman (a must-read, as always), who discussed Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon in his Monday morning column.
On Cole: “This sets up a heavyweight match like the sport has never previously seen (between the Yankees and Dodgers), albeit with the Angels and perhaps Giants, Phillies, Rangers and others also in the ring.”
On Rendon: “The Nationals also would like to try to retain Rendon, and an executive for a team that would like to land Rendon said the belief is the Phillies, and quietly the Braves, might be in play as well. The field is believed similar for the second best free-agent third baseman, Josh Donaldson.”
8:10 a.m.: Could be a busy few days for the Dodgers, who are reportedly open for business.
andThe #Dodgers letting teams know that outfielders A.J. Pollock and Joc Pederson, and infielder/outfielder Enrique Hernandez are available at the right price. They have not engaged with Gerrit Cole, but are in on Anthony Rendon.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 9, 2019
8 a.m. ET: Could we be in store for old-school MLB winter meetings this year?
In recent years, the annual baseball convention has been reflective of the sport’s offseason in general: slow-moving, not a ton of action and a whole lot of waiting around. After an early flurry of action and a hot stove that seems a little warmer than usual, perhaps there could be some fireworks this week in San Diego.
The most important person at the winter meetings this year figures to be free-agent pitcher Gerrit Cole. The hard-throwing right-hander is the offseason’s top pitching prize, and he has some of baseball’s biggest spenders circling him. The New York Yankees are reportedly ready to break records in order to get Cole, while the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels — who have fairly big pockets themselves — are also in the mix with the allure of a homecoming for the Newport Beach, Calif., native.
Meanwhile, a potential watershed moment awaits for Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox. Boston’s new baseball boss is still trying to put his mark on his new club, and he’s got a handful of tough decisions to make. The organization has been upfront about wanting to shed payroll, but the Sox also have to make a call on Mookie Betts, who won’t be cheap and is entering the final season of his contract. The Red Sox might end up being one of the busiest teams at the meetings.
Once again, we’ll be following it all closely with our winter meetings live blog, so keep it here for all the latest news and rumors.
