Mega Thread 2024-2025 MLB Hot Stove

[Dixie Flatline]

While RHP Roki Sasaki has not yet signed with a team, a number of other intriguing international prospects put pen to paper on contracts with major league teams overnight Australian time. Teams took advantage of the Sasaki sweepstakes to sign players that had previously verbally committed with the Dodgers. Three players who had previously committed verbally to the Dodgers signed with other teams.

Darrel Morel, a shortstop from the Dominican Republic who had committed to the Dodgers, signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates for a $1.8 million signing bonus (which roughly doubled the signing bonus he would have received from the Dodgers). Venezuelan outfielder Oscar Patino signed with the White Sox for $570,000 after verbally committing to the Dodgers on a $400K signing bonus. Dominican outfielder Teilon Serrano broke his verbal commitment to the Dodgers to sign with the Twins on a $1 million signing bonus.

• The New York Mets paid a $5 million signing bonus to Elian Pena, a shortstop from the Dominican Republic. Pena is a left handed batter who is expected to move to either third or second base. His power potential is likened to that of Rafael Devers. He turned 17 in October.
• The Marlins signed Andrew Salas, a shortstop/outfield prospect, and who is the younger brother of Twins infield prospect Jose Salas and current Padres top prospect, catcher Ethan Salas. Andrew turns 17 in March. He is a switch-hitter praised for his patience at the plate, and is seen as being a potential plus defender at shortstop and at centre field. Although born in the US, he moved to Venezuela and is fluent in both English and Spanish. He received a signing bonus of $3.6 million.
• The Tigers signed outfielder Cris Rodriguez from the Dominican Republic. He is measured at 6'4", 200 lb and does not turn 17 until the end of January. Rodriguez stands out for his raw power and bat speed. He'll likely end up a corner outfielder when he matures but does still have a chance of playing at centre field.
• The San Francisco Giants signed Josuar de Jesus Gonzalez, who is seen as the second best prospect in the class behind Roki Sasaki by some scouts. A speedy, switch-hitting shortstop, he is scouted as having plus bat speed and the defensive tools to stick at shortstop in professional baseball. He received a $3 million signing bonus.
• The Atlanta Braves paid a signing bonus of $2.5 million to secure Diego Tornes, a 16 year old switch-hitting outfielder who is measured at 6'4", 200lb.
• The Athletics committed $1.5 million to two-way Japanese high school player Shotaro Morii, who has demonstrated a fastball averaging between 91-95mph on the mound while also playing solid defence at shortstop. A left handed hitter, Morii has the potential to hit for power and for average. He received the highest signing bonus ever for a Japanese player who did not come to the US leagues through the NPB.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Looking at the top free agents and who is left:

• Juan Soto, OF, signed with the Mets
• Corbin Burnes, RHP, signed with the Diamondbacks
• Roki Sasaki, RHP, yet to sign
• Blake Snell, LHP, signed with the Dodgers
• Alex Bregman, 3B, yet to sign
• Max Fried, LHP, signed with the Yankees
• Anthony Santander, OF, yet to sign
• Pete Alonso, 1B, yet to sign
• Willy Adames, SS, signed with the Giants
• Jack Flaherty, RHP, yet to sign
• Tanner Scott, LHP, yet to sign
• Shane Bieber, RHP, signed with the Guardians
• Christian Walker, 1B, signed with the Astros
• Nathan Eovaldi, RHP, signed with the Rangers
• Teoscar Hernandez, OF, signed with the Dodgers
• Michael Wacha, RHP, signed with the Royals
• Ha-Seong Kim, SS, yet to sign
• Carlos Estevez, RHP, yet to sign
• Clay Holmes, RHP, signed with the Mets
• Yusei Kikuchi, LHP, signed with the Angels
• Gleyber Torres, 2B, signed with the Tigers
• Tyler O'Neill, OF, signed with the Orioles
• Sean Manaea, LHP, signed with the Mets
• Max Scherzer, RHP, yet to sign
• Jurickson Profar, LF, yet to sign

According to reports, negotiations between the Mets and free agent first baseman Pete Alonso on the Polar Bear returning to Queens have moved only slowly. Last week, Alonso suggested to the Mets that he signs a short-term deal with opt-outs, but evidently the Mets have not agreed to that approach. It appears that time might be running out on a reunion between Alonso and the Mets.

Alonso may now be regretting his decision to reject an extension offer of seven years and $158 million back in the summer of 2023. At that stage, he still had one arbitration season left, which he played in 2024 on a one year contract worth $20.5 million, meaning that he rejected an offer of six free agent years for $137.5 million. It appears at the time that Alonso was targeting a deal commensurate with the contracts signed by Freddie Freeman and Matt Olson with the Dodgers and Braves respectively. Freeman signed for 6/$162 million (with deferrals) while Olson signed for 8/$168 million (although he was two years away from free agency at the time).

Alonso is possibly being perceived as not quite on the same level as those two players. While Alonso has been prodigious in terms of hitting homeruns, he also does not have the same plate discipline and defence as both Freeman and Olson. Since the start of the 2023 season, Alonso has hit .229/.324/.480 for a 122 wRC+, compared to a batting line of .261/.349/.535 (137 wRC+) in his major league career up to the end of the 2022 season.

It is possible that the Mets will look in-house to replace Alonso at first base should a deal not come together. Mark Vientos had a terrific season with the bat in 2024, but has graded poorly at third base and might be moved to first base, meaning that third base would be a competition between Brett Baty, Luisangel Acuna (Ronald's younger brother) and Ronny Mauricio.

The Mets are going to be a third-time payor of the competitive balance tax and their current number is at $276 million. Putting Alonso on the roster in the range of $25-$30 million per year would lift the Mets perilously close to the fourth tier of the CBT, at $301 million. The Mets would incur a 95% tax on spending from tier 3 to tier 4, then a 110% tax on spending above the final threshold. So, paying Alonso $30 million could actually cost the Mets close to $60 million when all is said and done, due to the implications of the competitive balance tax.

Mets holding the line on Pete Alonso -- and time is getting short

With plenty of room left in the budget and a need to improve the roster, the Mets will not wait forever for resolution on Pete Alonso.

sny.tv

The clock is ticking on Mets’ staredown with Pete Alonso

At some point the Mets either have to hear that Alonso is willing to accept their financial view of him or will get more aggressive elsewhere, probably pretty soon.

nypost.com

 

[RPCB]

 

[Dixie Flatline]

It appears that the Mets are planning for life after Pete Alonso, with multiple reports suggesting that the Mets have made their best and final offer to Alonso and are now looking at other options to play first base. The leading option would appear to be moving Mark Vientos from third to first base and then auditioning Luisangel Acuna, Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio for third base.

It's also been reported that the money that had been earmarked for Alonso will now be spread elsewhere, with the Mets re-signing OF Jesse Winker on a one-year contract worth $7.5 million plus up to $1.5 million in incentives.



The Mets had reportedly offered Alonso a seven year, $158 million extension in the summer of 2023, but that was under previous management. It appeared that there had been some rapport reached on a short-term contract, but the amount of money that Alonso would be paid under the contract differed between the two camps. According to reports, the Mets offered Alonso a three-year contract, worth between $68-$70 million which Alonso turned down. That appears to be the last offer the Mets are making to Alonso and they now expect him to go elsewhere.

 

[Jatz]

See ya Pete, it's been real.

 

[RPCB]

I wish he just announced it 3+ months ago when he decided that he was going to sign with the Dodgers lol.

 

[JLC]

The Yankees have lost some of their swagger - missing out on Soto and Sasaki should be taken as a personal insult.

The Dodgers are like the Real Madrid of Soccer.

 

[Orange crush]

I wish he just announced it 3+ months ago when he decided that he was going to sign with the Dodgers lol.

3+ years, you mean

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Los Angeles Dodgers and LHP Tanner Scott are in agreement on a four-year, $72 million deal. Scott's deal naturally includes deferred money and a signing bonus. According to one report, the signing bonus is worth $20 million, while the deferred payments work out to $21 million.

Scott's annual average value works out to be $18 million per year for the life of the contract. It is tied for the third highest in free agent history for a reliever (with Liam Hendriks' deal with the White Sox) behind Edwin Diaz's contract with the Mets and Josh Hader's deal with the Astros. It's the fifth highest total guarantee a reliever has received in free agency behind Diaz, Hader, Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen.

Scott was one of the best relievers in the sport in 2024, with a 1.75 ERA, 2.92 FIP and a 28.6% strikeout rate. He struck out 33.9% of opponents in 2023, putting up a 2.31 ERA and a 2.17 FIP. Scott ranks fourth in ERA and fifth in FIP since the start of 2023 among qualified relievers.

Scott has had significant success against Shohei Ohtani in the past. In the 2024 NLDS, Scott rung up five batters on strikeouts - and Shohei had four of those five strikeouts against Scott.

The addition of Scott to the Dodgers bullpen only strengthens the bullpen even further. It's likely that Scott will become the Dodgers' new closer, but the Dodgers could also rely on RHP Michael Kopech, RHP Evan Phillips, RHP Blake Treinen and LHP Alex Vesia, while RHP Brusdar Graterol is also another bullpen arm that has enjoyed success in Dodger blue.

The signing of Scott lifts the Dodgers 2025 payroll to just under $369 million, with nearly a matching luxury tax payroll. This puts the Dodgers' payroll at $40 million above the 2024 Opening Day payroll which was a franchise record at the time. They are the only MLB team spending $300 million or more on payroll and one of just three teams (with the Phillies and Yankees) with a luxury tax payroll above that threshold.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The MLB has sought to defuse speculation about a "handshake" deal between RHP Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers being made prior to Sasaki being posted by his NPB club the Chiba Lotte Marines. According to reports over the weekend, the MLB undertook an investigation before authorising Sasaki's posting, in order to "ensure the protocol agreement had been followed". The reports suggested that the focus of the investigation was the Marines, not Sasaki. Both reports emphasised that the MLB did not find anything untoward or that suggested an illegal arrangement taking place.

Apparently the impetus for the investigation was the fact that the Marines were prepared to let Sasaki go to the MLB for such a small posting fee (25% of the signing bonus that Sasaki received). Given that Sasaki was required by rule to sign as a minor league free agent and to receive a capped bonus through the international free agent system, there was a concern that the Marines may have received an under-the-table payment to post Sasaki so soon.

The MLB found no evidence of wrongdoing, but the possibility of a handshake agreement between the Dodgers and Sasaki grew to such an extent over the weekend that Sasaki's agent, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, issued a strongly worded denial.

According to reports, the Padres informed Sasaki that they would be prepared to allocate their entire bonus pool set aside for international free agents to sign Sasaki, while the Dodgers executed a trade with the Phillies to lift the amount of bonus pool money they could award to Sasaki. The Blue Jays took on the majority of the money owned to centre fielder Miles Straw in order to add $2 million of internatoinal bonus pool space from the Guardians.

Before Roki Sasaki's posting, MLB found no evidence of handshake deal with Dodgers

Over the last year, there had been speculation around MLB that the Dodgers had a possible handshake agreement in place with pitcher Roki Sasaki.

www.latimes.com

‘The homework assignment’: Inside the final weeks of the chase for Roki Sasaki

How a yearslong selection process ended with a sushi chef, a Bel Air mansion, and a text from the most famous baseball player on the planet.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Those that play MLB the Show and in particular Battle Royale will likely be familiar with the switch-hitting Niko Goodrum, who has a card that plays above its attributes in that particular mode. The actual Niko Goodrum signed a minor league contract with the Padres over the weekend, with an invitation to Spring Training. Goodrum has played in parts of seven MLB seasons after being selected by the Twins in the second round of the 2010 MLB draft. He took his time getting to the majors, not making his debut until 2017 with the Twins. He was cut from their 40-man roster and signed a minor league contract with the Tigers in the 2017-2018 off-season. Goodrum played for the Tigers from 2018-2021, putting up a .232/.306/.401 (90 wRC+) in 376 games. His defence and utility helped him accumulate 6.3 fWAR over that time period, as he played at all three outfield spots and all four infield spots.

Hoewver, his bat collapsed in the 2021 season, as he hit an anemic .203/.282/.350 in his last 504 trips to the plate in 2021. The Tigers outrighted Goodrum off their 40-man roster at the end of the season. He spent the 2022 season with the Astros but only played 35 games at minor and major league levels due to injuries. He jumped to the Red Sox in 2023, but never played in the majors. Instead, in 2023, he went to the KBO and played 50 games with the Lotte Giants, hitting .295/.373/.387 in 50 games.

He returned to the US in 2024, but bounced between organisations. He initially signed with the Twins, then was traded to the Rays, before heading to the Angels, Pirates and Orioles (in that order). He didn't hit at the major league level when given the opportunity, hitting just .103/.188/.103 in 33 plate appearances.

 

[RPCB]

Of course it’s baseball so the Dodgers won’t win every World Series but it’s going to be a shock whenever they don’t make the NLCS for years to come.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Athletics have signed RHP Jose LeClerc to a one-year, $10 million deal. The Athletics designated RHP Will Klein for assignment to open a roster spot.

It will be the first time LeClerc has played for a team other than the Rangers in his MLB career. Like many relievers, LeClerc has been able to rack up strikeouts but can also struggle with command. In nine seasons with Texas, LeClerc has pitched 360 1/3 innings, with a 3.27 ERA. This includes a strikeout rate of 31.2% but a walk rate of 13.2%.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Updated list of top free agents

• Juan Soto, OF, signed with the Mets
• Corbin Burnes, RHP, signed with the Diamondbacks
• Roki Sasaki, RHP, signed with the Dodgers
• Blake Snell, LHP, signed with the Dodgers
• Alex Bregman, 3B, yet to sign
• Max Fried, LHP, signed with the Yankees
• Anthony Santander, OF, yet to sign
• Pete Alonso, 1B, yet to sign
• Willy Adames, SS, signed with the Giants
• Jack Flaherty, RHP, yet to sign
• Tanner Scott, LHP, signed with the Dodgers
• Shane Bieber, RHP, signed with the Guardians
• Christian Walker, 1B, signed with the Astros
• Nathan Eovaldi, RHP, signed with the Rangers
• Teoscar Hernandez, OF, signed with the Dodgers
• Michael Wacha, RHP, signed with the Royals
• Ha-Seong Kim, SS, yet to sign
• Carlos Estevez, RHP, yet to sign
• Clay Holmes, RHP, signed with the Mets
• Yusei Kikuchi, LHP, signed with the Angels
• Gleyber Torres, 2B, signed with the Tigers
• Tyler O'Neill, OF, signed with the Orioles
• Sean Manaea, LHP, signed with the Mets
• Max Scherzer, RHP, yet to sign
• Jurickson Profar, LF, yet to sign

 

[Dixie Flatline]

As noted last week, the window for signing international amateur free agents opened last Thursday night (Australian time). One of the signings came from the Sandringham Baseball Club. Robinson Smith, a 17 year old right-handed pitcher, and the son of former Olympian Nicole Livingstone, signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Measuring at 6'4", Smith has already hit 95mph on the radar gun with his fastball. Apparently, he was named after Jackie Robinson.

Smith spent the last seven months in Florida, and had been scouted by the Pirates for 18 months since he played in the under-16 Australian championships in 2023. The long-term interest in Smith by the Pirates paid dividends, as he reportedly turned down offers from other MLB clubs to sign with the Pirates. There is an Australian flavour running through the Pirates at the moment, with Jayden Kim, Solomon Maguire, Rubens Romero and Brandan Bidois all in the Pirates organisation.

Son of Aussie Olympian joins MLB outfit Pirates

Robinson Smith, son of three-time Australian Olympic swimmer Nicole Livingstone, has joined Major League Baseball outfit Pittsburgh Pirates...

www.lithgowmercury.com.au

17-Year-Old Victorian Pitcher Robinson Smith Signs With Pittsburgh Pirates - Baseball Victoria

17-year-old Victorian pitcher Robinson Smith has become the latest Australian to sign professional after inking a six-year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates today. With family […]

baseballvictoria.com.au

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The New York Mets signed left handed pitcher A.J. Minter to a two-year, $22 million contract, pending a physical. Minter can opt out after the first year. The Mets have space on their 40-man roster so do not need to make a move when the deal becomes official. Minter finished the 2024 season on the injured list after he suffered left hip inflammation during the season, which required surgery in August 2024. It is not clear when Minter will be cleared to resume pitching again, but it did not hurt his market, as the Mets beat out the Blue Jays, Cubs, Rangers and Red Sox over the last few months to sign the former Atlanta Brave.

Between 2020 and 2024, Minter made 267 relief appearances, allowing 2.85 ERA, with a 30.1% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate. He earned 16 saves for the Braves over that period, and also put up 92 holds. Even accounting for the injury, his 2024 was reasonable, pitching 34 1/3 innings with a 2.62 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate and an 8.2% walk rate.