MLB Weekly Update - 1/28/21
More and more teams are making moves and top free agents are slowly coming off the board as we are getting closer and closer to spring training. The top available free agent signed a big contract, the most storied rivalry in baseball made a deal, and the team north of the border continues to make moves. Let’s get to it!
The Philadelphia Phillies brought back their star catcher, JT Realmuto on a 5-year $115.5 million deal. Considered by many as the top free agent on the market, Realmuto has put up great numbers over the last 3 seasons. Good hitting catchers are always hard to find, so the Phillies made a big splash with this move. They still need to fix their awful bullpen and add another starter or two to be even considered in contention in probably the deepest division in the league.
The Yankees and Red Sox do not like each other. If one player goes from one team to the other it’s usually because the other team offered more money. But for just the third time in history, the two teams decided to work together on a deal. The Yankees sent relief pitcher Adam Ottavino to the Red Sox in exchange for a player to be named later. Ottavino will help out a historically awful Red Sox bullpen and the Yankees cleared some money to sign players they need more.
The Yankees didn’t stop there. They also acquired right hander Jameson Taillon from the Pittsburgh Pirates for four prospects. Taillon missed most of the 2019 season and all of 2020 due to Tommy John surgery but before he went down he was coming off a career best season. He has a lot of potential to be great and the Yankees desperately need starting pitching depth. These days, taking a pitcher fresh off Tommy John surgery isn’t that big of a risk and it looks like Taillon will be ready to pitch in 2021.
The Red Sox also kept busy. In a move that broke hearts of millions of Dodger fans, Kike Hernandez signed a 2-year, $14 million deal with Boston. The Red Sox get a super-utility player and one of the most fun and entertaining personalities in baseball. Kike dominates against left-handed pitching and his career 7 postseason home runs prove he is clutch and the right time. On behalf of Dodger fans everywhere - we’ll miss you Kike but thank you for 6 amazing years of amazing baseball and keeping the game fun. Best of luck in Boston!
Finally, the Toronto Blue Jays made another big free agent splash after signing former Oakland A’s infielder Marcus Semien to a 1-year, $8 million contract. Semien finished third in MVP voting in 2019. His 2020 season was a disappointment mostly due to injury that nagged him all season. Even a decent Semien will make the Blue Jays top 7 in the line-up look pretty lethal - George Springer, Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Teoscar Hernandez, Vladimir Guererro Jr., Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Marcus Semien. The Jays still need more starting pitching to compete with the Yankees in that division but maybe we’ll see another move before the offseason is over.
That’s all for now. Baseball fans everywhere are eager to see where reigning Cy Young Trevor Bauer will end up. He will probably take his sweet time in deciding but the latest reports are that the New York Mets are the front runners. Stay tuned for more!