#free-agency

#free-agency

A couple of Toronto Blue Jays have taken to social media in an attempt to try and recruit a superstar to come north. First, Myles Straw sent Tucker a funny message about baby sitting his child, after Tucker and his wife announced they were expecting. Now, it's Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s turn to get the rumor mill rolling again after he posted on Tucker's feed a few days ago. The post, an emoji and not an actual message, was more than enough to cause some excitement.

The New England Patriots made some notable moves at wide receiver this past season that have transformed their team. Stefon Diggs was added on a three-year deal and has been an incredible addition, Mack Hollins has been excellent as a deep threat, and rookie Kyle Williams has made his impact felt with two touchdowns on only five catches this year.

"It's almost like a slap in my face, bro," "I ain't gonna lie." "Did Philip Rivers send any type of sign that he was available?" "Why you asking me to do something that everybody else didn't do? I ain't no sucker. I ain't no lab rat. Come on, bro."

we do in fact have credible reporting that the Red Sox have engaged in trade talks involving at least four former all-stars: Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte, Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes, and Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan. Of course "talks" could mean anything from "here's our starting offer" to "hey, you wanna give us Ketel Marte? No? Ok, ttyl," so you don't need to much stock into potential trade scenarios now.

As the Red Sox look to add power to their lineup, they've talked internally about the possibility of signing Eugenio Suárez and held some talks with his camp, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports. The team's interest in Suárez is all the more notable with the market's top slugger, Kyle Schwarber, off the board on a five-year that'll keep in Philadelphia. The Red Sox were known to have interest in Schwarber.

Jorge Castillo of ESPN is reporting that the Braves are interested in potentially adding free agent utility man Willi Castro to the squad. They'll have to deal with competition though, as apparently both the Rockies and Pirates are also checking in on Castro as well. Castro picked a pretty bad time to enter the offseason on a down note. Despite the fact that he was solidly productive for the Twins in the first half of the season,

Twins relievers posted a middling 4.29 ERA through July 29, but that number was skewed by some position players working mop-up duty and some brutal results from relievers who'd already been designated for assignment (e.g. Jorge Alcala). Minnesota's top relievers had all been good to excellent. Jhoan Duran (2.01 ERA), Louis Varland (2.02), Griffin Jax (3.91 ERA but a 37 K%), Brock Stewart (2.38 ERA) and Danny Coulombe (0.90 ERA) formed a terrific nucleus. All were traded.

Castro landed the final spot on MLBTR's ranking of the offseason's top 50 free agents, with a prediction of a two-year, $14MM contract as Castro enters his age-29 season. The multi-year pact reflects Castro's extreme versatility as a player who has lined up at every position but catcher over his seven Major League seasons. While Castro is an average defender at best, his ability to at least capably handle multiple spots around the diamond makes him a bit of a Swiss Army knife type

Suarez, 34, is a few years older than Diaz and didn't debut in the majors until he was 31-years-old, but in his four big league seasons he has been worth 5.8 bWAR, pitching 210 innings, with 219 strikeouts and a 2.91 ERA in 206 games. He's collected 70 saves over that time, including a league leading 40 last season with San Diego. He held batters to a .189 batting average against and .243 BABIP and gave up just six home runs all season.

Over the last few years, the Patriots have lost every member of the dynasty team either by cutting them outright or letting them leave in free agency, becoming the official sign that the best days are in the rearview mirror. That has led fans to hope some of them will eventually return after spending time with other teams, including a beloved cornerback who remains unsigned this season.

Bader's chief calling card is his glove, as public defensive metrics indicate consistently good-to-great numbers for Bader over his nine big league seasons. 2025 was no exception, as he received +6 Defensive Runs Saved and +3 Outs Above Average over 568 2/3 innings as a center fielder, and +7 DRS and +3 OAA for 496 innings as a left fielder.