HS 896

HOT STOVE LATEST

• KEN ROSENTHAL LATEST ON FREE AGENTS
• Five bidders for Juan Soto are: Blue Jays, Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets and Yankees (no surprises)
• He predicts if the Dogers don’t get Soto, Teoscar Hernandez returns to the Dodgers or Blue Jays, his former teams
• Jon Morosi says we’ll know where Soto is going to sign within the next 10 days (Winter Meetings)... Soto is starting to narrow down ideas this week
• He also had this non-newsy note on Alec Bohm
• The Philadelphia Phillies’ Alec Bohm, an obvious target, faded after a monster April, batting only .258 with a .713 OPS. Teams view him as a good but not great player. Plus, Bohm stands to earn a projected $8.1 million in arbitration, with only one more year of club control remaining after that.
• Potential trade options
• MLB.com listed one player from each team that could be traded and a couple made sense for the Phillies
• A’s OF JJ Bleday:
• Bleday (27) had the best season of his young career in 2024, hitting 20 home runs with 60 RBIs and a .762 OPS (120 OPS+) in 159 games. He can play all three outfield spots and won’t be arbitration-eligible for another year, two appealing factors that might help the Athletics swap him for a third baseman or pitching help. Three of the Athletics’ Top 10 prospects are outfielders (No. 5 Henry Bolte, No. 7 Colby Thomas and No. 10 Denzel Clarke), giving them plenty of young depth. (2.2 WAR, 120 OPS+)
• 65th percentile in K%, 77th in BB%, 41% in whiff%, 75% in chase%
• Diamondbacks OJ Jake McCarthy
• Arizona has a surplus in the outfield, with Corbin Carroll, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Alek Thomas and McCarthy, giving the D-backs an area from which they can trade. McCarthy posted a .749 OPS with 25 stolen bases last season, ranking in the top 20 percent of the NL in strikeout and whiff percentage. He’s also a strong defender -- his 6 Outs Above Average ranked in the 90th percentile -- and won’t enter the arbitration process for another year.
• 30th percentile chase rate, 23rd in walk rate, 83rd in K-rate, 86th in whiff rate. Swings a lot, doesn’t strike out much, doesn’t chase, doesn’t walk.
• Dodgers C/OF Dalton Rushing
• Los Angeles’ No. 1 prospect and No. 39 in baseball, Rushing is blocked at the big league level by Will Smith, who signed a $140 million contract extension through 2033. The Dodgers began playing him in the outfield in 2024, but given the dearth of young catching around the league, he could prove to be more valuable as a trade chip.
• Would be the Phillies’ catcher of the future most likely… but it would likely take a ton to get him.
• Giants OF/1B Lamont Wade Jr.
• Both Wade and Mike Yastrzemski could fit into this category, but Wade is expected to command far less in his final year of arbitration than Yastrzemski’s $9.25 million salary, making him a more appealing asset, especially given his .376 on-base percentage over the past two seasons. The Giants could look to add a power bat at first base, while the club’s top prospect (20-year-old Bryce Eldridge) is the likely long-term answer at the position.
• 94th percentile in chase rate, 99th in walk rate!!!, 43rd in K-rate, 53rd in whiff%... 97th in expected OBP!
• Mostly a left-handed platoon bat, 358 PAs against righties (.751 OPS), 43 PAs against lefties (.840 OPS)
• Do any of these contracts make sense?
• Cubs sign Matthew Boyd to a 2-year, $29 million deal
• Boyd made 15 starts for the Tigers in 2023 with a 5.45 ERA before needing Tommy John surgery
• He appeared in 8 games for the Guardians last year after returning from injury and put up a 2.72 ERA and 3.29 FIP in 39 ⅔ innings.
• He also pitched 12 innings in the playoffs (3 starts) and had a 0.75 ERA
• Mets sign Frankie Montas
• 2 years, $34 million, with an opt-out clause after 2025
• 4.84 ERA over 150 ⅔ innings with the Reds and Brewers
• 22.6% K-rate slightly below league average, 14.8% HR rate
• MLB Trade rumors predicted he’d get $22 million… he got $34 million!
• He joins a Mets rotation that could lose Luis Severino, Sean Manea and Jose Quintana…
• Right now it’s Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Tylor Megill, Paul Blackburn and Montas

THE GOLDEN AT-BAT RULE

• Jayson Stark reported on a new rule that Commissioner Rob Manfred talked about on a podcast recently called “The Golden At-Bat”
• Essentially, a team would be able to have any hitter hit at any time, even if it’s not his turn in the lineup, once per game.
• This is a brutal idea that should never have seen the light of day.