MLB free agency is cruising right along, with many of the big names, including Juan Soto, off the board. But some impact players are still available, and the trade market has been active.
Here’s a quick look at where things stand so far this offseason:
Blue Jays reportedly signing slugger Anthony Santander
After missing out on Roki Sasaki, the Toronto Blue Jays are reportedly in agreement on a five-year deal worth around $90 million, per multiple reports. Santander, 30, had a career season in 2024 with free agency pending, smashing 44 home runs for the Baltimore Orioles while batting .235 with an .814 OPS.
He was ranked No. 11 on Yahoo Sports’ list of Top 50 MLB free agents going into the offseason.
As a left-handed batter, Santander hit .225 with a .793 OPS and 12 homers. But he did most of his damage as a power hitter batting right-handed, slugging 32 home runs with a .225 average and .822 OPS.
Roki Sasaki announces he’s signing with Dodgers
Roki Sasaki, the No. 2 player on Yahoo Sports’ Top 50 free-agent rankings, is headed to Los Angeles. He announced his decision on his Instagram on Friday. His signing bonus is reportedly $6.5 million, per The Athletic.
Sasaki’s other finalists were the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers. According to The Athletic, the Blue Jays hosted Sasaki for a visit last week, and the Dodgers hosted him for another visit that included star players. Apparently, the latter meeting was more successful.
The international signing period opened Wednesday, and Sasaki had until Jan. 23 to make his decision.
Dodgers bolster their bullpen with Tanner Scott
Tanner Scott, the top reliever on the MLB free-agent market, got paid like it.
The former San Diego Padres southpaw has agreed to a four-year, $72 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to multiple reports. Scott joins an increasingly deep Dodgers bullpen and gets paid well to do it.
Scott, who was traded from the Marlins to the Padres at last summer’s deadline, posted a 2.73 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings with San Diego in the second half.
The deal is among the largest ever given to a reliever, with Edwin Díaz’s five-year, $102 million contract with the New York Mets still representing the high-water mark.
Yahoo Sports ranked the 30-year-old Scott as the No. 22 free agent on the market this offseason and the highest among the available relievers.
Corbin Burnes signing with Diamondbacks
Corbin Burnes is headed to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and it wasn’t cheap.
The 2021 Cy Young Award winner agreed to a six-year, $210 million deal with the Diamondbacks, which includes an opt-out for Burnes after two seasons.
Because Burnes, Yahoo Sports’ No. 3-ranked free agent, turned down a qualifying offer from Baltimore, the Orioles will receive draft pick compensation from his new team.
The contract is the largest in Diamondbacks history. Burnes, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, will pitch for the local team after reportedly turning down offers from the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays.
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Blue Jays adding Anthony Santander: Report
Finally, some good news for Blue Jays fans. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports that Anthony Santander is headed to Toronto, pending a physical. The deal is for five years and more than $90 million, per multiple reports.
Santander spent his entire eight-year career in Baltimore, and was a first-time All-Star during the 2024 season, slashing .308/.506/.814.
Anthony Santander and Blue Jays are in agreement pending physical, sources say. @MLBNetwork
Tanner Scott, the top reliever on the MLB free-agent market, got paid like it.
The former San Diego Padres southpaw has agreed to a four-year, $72 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to multiple reports. Scott joins an increasingly deep Dodgers bullpen and gets paid well to do it.
Scott, who was traded from the Marlins to the Padres at last summer’s deadline, posted a 2.73 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings with San Diego in the second half.
The deal is among the largest ever given to a reliever, with Edwin Díaz’s five-year, $102 million contract with the New York Mets still representing the high-water mark.
Yahoo Sports ranked the 30-year-old Scott as the No. 22 free agent on the market this offseason and the highest among the available relievers.
Read more here.
What’s next for the Blue Jays and Padres after missing out on Roki Sasaki?
Hope is a dangerous beast.
Or, in other words: Roki Sasaki is a Los Angeles Dodger, and few in the baseball industry are particularly surprised.
The 23-year-old Japanese hurler, one of the most promising talents in the nation’s storied baseball history, announced Friday on Instagram that he agreed to a deal with the defending World Series champs. For Dodgers fans, it’s cause for celebration. For the rest of the league, it’s a disappointing conclusion to a fascinating free agency and another reason to gripe and groan about the growing might of MLB’s new evil empire.
Frustration, from the fan bases and front offices that missed out, is justifiable and understandable. So, too, is the decision Sasaki made for himself.
Read the full story here.
What does the Dodgers’ rotation look like with the addition of Roki Sasaki?
It was just 15 months ago that the Los Angeles Dodgers crashed out of the NLDS at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Swept by a division rival that had won 16 fewer games than the Dodgers in the regular season, it was another maddening early exit from October for a franchise that had become all too familiar with such a feeling. Despite repeatedly assembling rosters seemingly fit for a championship run, Los Angeles kept coming up short.
Although the calendar would suggest otherwise, that abrupt, embarrassing elimination against Arizona now feels like a distant memory. Since that NLDS loss, which president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman deemed “an organizational failure,” the Dodgers have achieved an extraordinary amount of organizational success. Their latest triumph: the signing of 23-year-old Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, a generationally gifted pitcher whose unique free agency became one of the biggest hot stove storylines MLB has seen in quite some time.
Many organizations coveted Sasaki, whose status as an international amateur made him available for a fraction of what he would’ve been worth had he waited until he turned 25 and come to MLB as a full-fledged free agent. This was not a player for whom the Dodgers could simply flex their financial muscles and outbid the competition; this was a matter of recruiting and selling a vision of a place where a young pitcher can maximize his big-league dreams. Ultimately — thanks in large part to the past year, in which the franchise supercharged its roster to new heights, won the World Series and cemented its reputation as a developmental powerhouse — the Dodgers offer a compelling pitch by those standards as well. And so, sure enough, Sasaki chose Los Angeles as the home for the first chapter of his highly anticipated major-league career.
Read the full story here.
Roki Sasaki gives Dodgers monster Japanese trio in rotation
Roki Sasaki was expected by many to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were right.
The flame-throwing right-hander from Japan agreed to a deal with the Dodgers on Friday, according to a post on his Instagram account.
The Dodgers beat out basically all of MLB for Sasaki, who met with several teams to evaluate what they could bring to the table beyond money. The Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays were reported to be the finalists, with the Dodgers and Padres seen as the co-favorites for most of the process.
After receiving the signing bonus, Sasaki will have the same status as any other MLB rookie once he makes his debut, going through pre-arbitration and arbitration years before he hits free agency after six years of MLB service time.
Meanwhile, Sasaki’s NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, will receive a posting fee worth 20% of the signing bonus. In four seasons with the Marines, Sasaki posted a 2.02 ERA and 0.883 WHIP with 524 strikeouts in 414 2/3 innings.
Read more here.
A’s continue to spend, sign RP José Leclerc
The 31-year-old Leclerc has pitched eight seasons in MLB, all with the Texas Rangers. In 2024, he made 64 appearances, striking out 89 batters and recording a 4.32 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 66 2/3 innings pitched.
Right-handed reliever José Leclerc and the Athletics are in agreement on a one-year, $10 million contract, sources tell ESPN. First with the agreement was @ByRobertMurray.
Mets agree to 2-year, $22 million contract with lefty reliever A.J. Minter
The New York Mets keep growing their bullpen, adding left-handed reliever A.J. Minter on Friday, per multiple reports. Minter and the Mets agreed on a two-year, $22 million deal that includes an opt-out in the first season.
Minter, who spent the first eight seasons of his MLB career with the Atlanta Braves, threw 35 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings for the Braves last season, recording a 2.62 ERA and 1.02 WHIP.
Red Sox, Jarren Duran agree on 1-year, $3.85M deal
The #RedSox today signed OF Jarren Duran to a one-year contract for the 2025 season, with a club option for 2026.
Boston has no remaining players eligible for salary arbitration.
Outfielder Jarren Duran and the Boston Red Sox are in agreement on a one-year, $3.85 million deal that includes a club option for $8 million in 2026, sources tell ESPN. The deal avoids an arbitration hearing, where the Red Sox had filed at $3.5 million and Duran at $4 million.
Jack Flaherty is waiting on Roki Sasaki just like the rest of us …
Blue Jays trade for outfielder Myles Straw
Per Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, Toronto also received $2 million in international bonus signing pool space in the trade, indicating they could still be in on Roki Sasaki.
OFFICIAL: We’ve acquired OF Myles Straw, cash, and international bonus signing pool space for the 2025 period from the Guardians in exchange for a player to be named later or cash.
The Padres are reportedly beginning to focus on other international free agents, indicating that they could be out on prized Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki.
Cubs, Kyle Tucker avoid arbitration, agree on $16.5 million deal
Breaking News: The Cubs and OF Kyle Tucker have agreed on a $16.5 mil contract for 2025, sources tell ESPN. The sides avoid an arbitration hearing and Tucker will be in Chicago for the team’s fan convention this weekend.
Mets re-sign outfielder Jesse Winker to one-year deal reportedly worth up to $9 million
The New York Mets are bringing back Jesse Winker for another year, signing the 31-year-old outfielder to a one-year deal that is reportedly worth up to $9 million. Winker joined the team in July 2024 via trade from the Washington Nationals and was a key part of the team’s postseason run.
The move also hints at the Mets’ tactics on first baseman Pete Alonso, who is one of the top free agents this offseason. With talks to bring back Alonso stalled, and with the first baseman reportedly receiving significant interest from other teams, re-signing Winker might be a signal that the Mets are not expecting Alonso to return and are starting to look at other options.
Yankees make a trade
The New York Yankees today announced that they have acquired minor league right-handed pitcher Michael Arias from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash considerations.
Roki Sasaki’s decision imminent as international signing period opens
One of the most highly anticipated and unique free agencies in Major League Baseball history is nearing its conclusion in the next week or so. Roki Sasaki, a 23-year-old, right-handed pitcher whose generational talent has been revered in his native Japan since he was a teenager, will soon decide where he will begin his big-league career.
A process that began in earnest when his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, posted him on Dec. 10 has gradually unfolded over the past month, with the entire baseball industry eagerly awaiting his decision and the potential fallout. With his window to sign officially opening Wednesday and extending through Jan. 23, Sasaki has reportedly narrowed the field to three finalists: the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays.
If you haven’t been tracking each and every plot point of Sasaki’s free agency along the way, don’t fret — it’s not too late to get caught up and prepare for his entrance into the MLB universe as one of the most intriguing characters of the upcoming season.
Here’s everything you need to know about how we got to this point and how things might transpire from here.
Sasaki meeting with Dodgers again
The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes are down to just three teams: the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays. According to The Athletic, the Dodgers are getting one more meeting with Sasaki on Tuesday, which will reportedly involve “several of their star” players.
The international signing period opens on Wednesday, at which point Sasaki will have eight days to sign with a team.
No Sasaki for Cubs
Source says Cubs have been informed they are out on Roki Sasaki
The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes is down to just three teams. The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays are the three finalists to land the Japanese star once the international signing period opens on Wednesday. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, we should have his decision shortly.
The finalists for Japanese star right-hander Roki Sasaki are the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays, sources tell ESPN. Sasaki will decide on his team by the closing of his posting window Jan. 23.
With the international signing period opening Wednesday, Roki Sasaki is narrowing down his options. His camp has reportedly informed the Mets and Rangers that he will not be signing with them.
The Mets have been told they are out on Roki Sasaki.
