It’s Day 3 at Major League Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings in Dallas.
There was plenty of movement on Tuesday; will the same happen on Wednesday?
The biggest deal on Day 2 featured Max Fried agreeing to a $218 million deal with the New York Yankees, the biggest contract in history for a left-handed pitcher. That was followed by the Texas Rangers agreeing to a three-year, $75 million deal to bring back postseason hero Nathan Eovaldi.
That leaves right-handed pitcher Corbin Burnes, third baseman Alex Bregman and first baseman Pete Alonso as the top free agents remaining on the market.
Day 3 should be another exciting one. Follow along today’s news, rumors and trades:
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Red Sox acquire Garrett Crochet in trade
DALLAS − It was eight years ago nearly to the day when the Chicago White Sox traded away their ace and future Cy Young award winner to the Boston Red Sox for four of their top prospects.
Well, history just repeated itself Wednesday when the White Sox sent ace Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox for four of their top-ranked 15 prospects, including two of the top 60-ranked prospects in baseball.
The Red Sox sent catcher Kyle Teel (the Red Sox’s 4th-best prospect), outfielder Braden Montgomery (5th-best), infielder Chase Meidroth (11th) and Wikelman Gonzalez (14th) to the White Sox in the five-player deal. Teel was ranked as baseball’s 25th-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, while Montgomery is ranked 54th.
It was on Dec. 6, 2016, when the White Sox traded Chris Sale to the Red Sox for Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe and Victor Diaz. It turned out to be a colossal bust for the White Sox, with Sale helping the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series and none of the prospects ever becoming a star for the White Sox. − Bob Nightengale
Cubs, Yankees interested in trading for Kyle Tucker
The buzz surrounding Kyle Tucker about a possible trade has increased since Juan Soto agreed to a 15-year, $765 million deal. Earlier this week, Houston Astros GM Dana Brown acknowledged that the club is listening to offers for their All-Star outfielder, who becomes a free agent next winter. The Chicago Cubs have joined the New York Yankees as possible trade candidates for Tucker.
Tigers ‘interested’ in Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki
DALLAS — The San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers are believed to be the favorites to sign Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, one of the most talented pitchers in the world.
But the Detroit Tigers are throwing their hat into the ring.
And they have a chance.
‘Every team in baseball wants Sasaki,’ Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Tuesday at MLB’s Winter Meetings, located at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. ‘We do, too. We’re hard at work on a presentation to position this organization as appealing to Roki and his agent. It’s going to be pretty fierce competition, and we’re hard at work to make our case, and we’ll see how it goes.’
Expect Sasaki to sign around Jan. 15.
‘My understanding is they haven’t gotten to the stage where they’re arranging meetings,’ Harris said. ‘They have a process whereby we submit our case, so to speak. After we submit, we’re going to wait to hear what the next steps are.’ − Evan Petzold
Yankees showing interest in Christian Walker
With Juan Soto out of the picture, the New York Yankees have shown interest in free agent first baseman Christian Walker. Walker, who turns 34 in March, is an elite defenseman − winner of the past three Gold Gloves in the NL − with a plus bat. Over the past three seasons, Walker has 95 homers and a 123 OPS-plus compared to New York Mets 1B Pete Alonso, who has 120 homers and 131 OPS-plus. Walker has spent the last eight seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Rangers land slugger in late-night trade with Marlins
In a late move Tuesday night, the Texas Rangers acquired 1B/3B Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins. In exchange, the Marlins received infield prospects Echedry Vargas, Max Acosta and pitching prospect Brayan Mendoza. Burger, who is under control for the next four years, will give the Rangers a slugger in the lineup, either as a corner infielder or, perhaps as the designated hitter. Burger last year hit 29 homers and drove in 76 runs, following up a breakout 2023 season in which he knocked 34 homers.
Top MLB free agents remaining
Max Fried and Nathan Eovaldi, two of baseball’s top starting pitchers in USA TODAY Sports’ 2024-25 free agent rankings, are now off the board but there’s elite talent remaining on the market expected to fetch big deals.
Here are the top 10 players still on the market:
SP Corbin Burnes
3B Alex Bregman
1B Pete Alonso
OF Teoscar Hernández
OF Anthony Santander
INF Gleyber Torres
SP Jack Flaherty
RP Tanner Scott
1B Christian Walker
RHP Walker Buehler
MLB draft lottery results
The Washington Nationals won the MLB draft lottery on Tuesday in Dallas and will have the first overall pick in the July 2025 draft.
It’s the first time Washington will have the No. 1 pick since they took Bryce Harper in 2010, a year after selecting Stephen Strasburg first overall in 2009.
The Rockies and Marlins entered the lottery tied for the highest odds of getting the No. 1 pick (22.45%), but were disappointed to end up with the fourth and seventh selections, respectively. The Nationals had a 10.2% chance, the fourth-best of any team.
MLB draft lottery results:
1. Washington Nationals
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Colorado Rockies
5. St. Louis Cardinals
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
7. Miami Marlins
8. Toronto Blue Jays
9. Cincinnati Reds
10. Chicago White Sox
11. Athletics
12. Texas Rangers
13. San Francisco Giants
14. Tampa Bay Rays
15. Boston Red Sox
16. Minnesota Twins
17. Chicago Cubs
18. Arizona Diamondbacks
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