2019 MLB Winter Meetings: Day Two Thread – Strasburg Back to DC
Today marks the second official day of the Winter Meetings, but marks the first true day for MLB clubs with making deals as the opening banquet occurred last night. The Winter Meetings will continue until the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday morning (12/12). An event tracker for what will be occurring over the week can be found on the official Baseball Winter Meetings website.
This post is the second of five continuously updated threads of the winter meetings with posting links about new rumors, signings, trades, and speculations. Click here to see what you may have missed from Day One.
Todays events- all times in PST- include the PBEO Job Fair (8 AM-6 PM), Opening Session (9-10 AM), Bob Frietas Business Seminar (10-11:30 AM), Awards Luncheon (12:15-2:30 PM), Baseball Trade Show (2-7 PM), and Moving Diversity Forward seminar (2:45-5:30 PM).
That being said, lets get to it for Day Two!
MLB Signings:
2:46 PM – The Washington Nationals have Re-Signed RHP Stephen Strasburg [Jon Heyman]
Report confirmed by: Ken Rosenthal, Jeff Passan, Bob Nightengale, Mark Feinsand, Joel Sherman
2:50 PM – Contract is 7-Years, over $220 Million. First to report was Jeff Passan.
2:52 PM – Contract is officially 7-Years, $245 Million. Also from Jeff Passan.
3:01 PM – Strasburg deal a new record deal for a pitcher, blows way past David Price. [Ken Rosenthal]
3:06 PM – The Washington Nationals are deferring $80 Million (+) of Strasburg deal. [Bob Nightengale]
3:33 PM – The deferred money on Strasburg deal is going to be paid in 3 years after deal ends, will collect interest. [Joel Sherman]
6:43 PM – Lots of incentives also included in Strasburg deal. Check them out here. [Ken Rosenthal]
2:50 PM – LHP Alex Claudíno has signed with the Milwaukee Brewers for 1 Year, $1.75 Million (+ incentives) [Ken Rosenthal]
9:38 PM – LHP Joely Rodriguez and the Texas Rangers are in agreement on a 2 Year, $5.5 Million deal. He pitched for the Chunichi Dragons last season. [Jon Morosi]
Completed Trades:
TBA
MiLB Signings:
12:34 PM – The Miami Marlins have signed INF Gosuke Katoh (Yankees 2nd Round pick in 2013) to a minor league deal with a spring training invitation. [Joe Frisaro]
Rumors/Speculations: (All times in EST)
5:51 AM – Dodgers have made it clear that OF’s A.J. Pollock, Joc Pederson, and INF/OF Enrique Hernandez are available to be traded for the right price. Also, appears that they are out of race for RHP Gerrit Cole, instead favoring 3B Anthony Rendon. [Bob Nightengale]
9:29 AM – Catcher Austin Romine was seen at the Winter Meetings meeting with some teams, but Yankees still have an interest in bringing him back. [Sweeny Murti]
9:39 AM – Shortstop Didi Gregorius’ market is looking to be in the $14-$15 Million/year range. May eliminate the Cincinnati Reds, but opens door more for the Philadelphia Phillies. [Jon Heyman]
9:43 AM – The geography factor in the Gerrit Cole sweepstakes may be overblown, Dodgers potentially still in it. [Jon Heyman]
11:06 AM – Josh Donaldson and the 3B market (Rendon, Kris Bryant potential trade) is pretty open, lots of teams interested: Philadelphia, Atlanta, Washington, Texas, Los Angeles (NL) [Jon Heyman]
11:19 AM – RHP Madison Bumgarner’s agent is currently seeking a 5-Year, $100 Million offer. [Bob Nightengale]
1:18 PM – The Indians are looking to only trade SS Francisco Lindor for a huge package, trade looking unlikely right now, chances are he stays in Cleveland for 2020. [Jon Heyman]
1:56 PM – Teams are told to plan on 3-batter minimum being introduced for 2020 season. A 2-batter minimum was discussed but voted down. [Bob Nightengale]
2:00 PM – Expectation continues that 3B Josh Donaldson will be signing a 4-year deal. Maybe helped by potential for DH in NL by 2021? [Mark Bowman]
2:05 PM – The Toronto Blue Jays inquired about INF Travis Shaw [Jon Morosi]
2:07 PM – Some teams talking about a multi-year deal for OF Brett Gardner, but Gardner wants to remain a Yankee. [Jon Heyman]
2:09 PM – OF Adam Jones is talking with the NPB Orix Buffaloes on a multi-year deal. Interesting! Deal could occur within the week. [Ken Rosenthal]
2:15 PM – If Jones goes to Japan, he could be eligible for the 2020 Olympics. [Jon Morosi]
2:19 PM – Jones leaving would set a new precedent for MLB veteran players in age of analytics. [Joel Sherman]
2:20 PM – Dellin Betances looking more and more likely to sign a 1-Year ‘prove-it’ type deal. Outside of Yankees, other suitors could be Tampa Bay Rays and New York Mets. [Jack Curry]
2:30 PM – Casey Kelly gaining interest from MLB teams, pitched in South Korea in 2019, with the San Francisco Giants in 2018. [Jon Morosi]
3:04 PM – Gerrit Cole now more likely to sign after market has been solidified by Stephen Strasburg deal. Market moving very quickly. [Jon Morosi]
3:18 PM – Brian Cashman arrived today at the Winter Meetings, plan is to submit formal bid on Gerrit Cole today. [Joel Sherman]
3:24 PM – Cincinnati Reds are a player in the market for OF Marcell Ozuna. [Ken Rosenthal]
3:32 PM – Relief Pitcher Sergio Romo drawing interest from lots of clubs: MIA, BOS, OAK, MIN, PHI, SFG. [Jon Heyman]
3:42 PM – Speculation that Cole is going to get an 8-Year offer continues, Yankees saying they will be competitive. [Jack Curry]
3:47 PM – Interesting hiccup about any potential Kris Bryant deal is his service time grievance that will have an arbitrator determine if he is 1 or 2 years from free agency. [Jon Heyman]
4:09 PM – Speculation about a Cole deal continues to get bigger and bigger, now at 9/10 years, potentially getting to $300 Million. But, that’s crazy talk. [Jon Heyman]
4:24 PM – The Oakland Athletics may be looking to swing a trade with the Royals for left-handed reliever Tim Hill. [Susan Slusser]
5:15 PM – LHP Phil Coke- Yes, that Phil Coke from the 2009 Yankees- is at the Winter Meetings and looking to find a team to get him back to the bigs. Last pitched in 2016. Not the news I expected to see. [Mark Feinsand]
6:30 PM – Scott Boras hosted a press conference at 5:30 PM (EST) to talk about the Stephen Strasburg deal, and ever since there has been about zero new actual news. But, I can say that baseball writers are getting absolutely insane in their predictions for Gerrit Cole’s contract. New figure is 9 years, $324 Million. [Joel Sherman]
(Sorry, went to go get some dinner, I’m back.)
6:13 PM – A new Scott Boras quote for the week, “Markets are like flowers; the beauty begins from below.’’ [Jon Heyman]
7:01 PM – Former Yankees manager Joe Girardi didn’t rule out Phillies on market for Dellin Betances or Didi Gregorius. [Brendan Kuty]
7:01 PM – Girardi also stated that he “wasn’t surprised” about cheating allegations from Astros. Said he was skeptical of all teams. [Brendan Kuty]
7:05 PM – Brodie Van Wagenen lists New York Mets priorities: rotational depth, bullpen depth, other depth- maybe a back-up catcher. [Joel Sherman]
7:12 PM – Alex Cora had no comment about Astros cheating allegations, said he talked to investigators. [Brendan Kuty]
7:15 PM – Didi Gregorius may look to take a 1-year ‘prove it’ deal to reset his market for next offseason. Interesting take. [Jon Heyman]
7:33 PM – Classy Move: Washington Nationals players agreed to split parts of World Series shares with scouts and minor league personnel. First Manager Davey Martinez ever heard of a team doing so. [Bob Nightengale]
8:04 PM – Milwaukee looking at Didi Gregorius. They lost 14 players from wild card roster so far this offseason, so they have needs across the board. [Jon Heyman]
9:56 PM – Yankees ARE shopping LHP J.A. Happ as a way to better fit Cole into payroll. Think this was expected, but nice to hear officially. [Joel Sherman]
