Juan Soto has swallowed up all the oxygen in the room. As the MLB Winter meetings are upon us, everyone is focused on where Juan Soto will end up and what his contract will look like. Saturday Night Live even did a skit about it this past week with one of the cast members playing Soto. The skit discussed the possibility of giving his services to the needy…saying he may go to the Mets instead of the Yankees.
But still, there are at least 25 teams not in the running, and it could never be based on the economics of the game. Business still needs to be conducted around the league. In one move, the Orioles bolstered their offense by signing OF/DH Tyler O’Neill to a 3-year $49.5M contract. This is a move to offset Anthony Santander’s probable loss. Santander had a monster 2024 season (contract year), hitting 44 HRs, 102 RBIs, and an OPS of .813. For his part, O’Neill had a nice year as well, hitting 31 HRs with 74 runs scored. His OPS was more than Santander’s, with a .848.
This is one of the benefits of being in a smaller market. You don’t need to be distracted by the bright, shiny objects. It’s interesting, though, because Soto said one of his criteria for joining a team is if they are committed to winning. The Sox are supposedly in on Soto, and losing a power right-handed bat for relatively short money isn’t a good message to send to him.
And speaking of sending a message, it has been reported that the Mets are now over the $700 million threshold for Soto. Not only are they in full pursuit of him, but they are showing him their willingness to spend elsewhere to improve the team. This past week, they signed two free-agent pitchers to deals.
They signed Frankie Montas to a 2-year/$34M deal and Clay Holmes to a 3-year/$38M deal. The Holmes deal is particularly interesting because, with the Yankees, he was a reliever and primarily a closer. The Mets don’t need a closer, having Edwin Diaz handle ninth-inning duties.
They plan on using Holmes as a starter, as the Paders switched Michael King from a reliever to a starter. (Interesting, King was also a Yankee). It worked out well for the Padres. King went 13-9 in 30 starts while striking out 201 batters in 173.1 innings. And his WHIP was only 1.19,
If Holmes does as well for the Mets, it’s a huge pickup for them. Their backup plan is to make him the eighth-inning guy, and $38M is a big commitment for a setup man. These signings are as much about bolstering their pitching staff and improving the team as they are about sending a message to Soto. They’ve been the team with the highest payroll. They have reportedly offered Soto over $700M and spent $ 72 million on two other players.
The Giants have finally signed a big-name free agent to a large, long-term deal. They signed Willy Adames to a 7yr/$182M deal. Adames has always been an under-the-radar solid player, year in and year out. And he was the top shortstop option this year on the free agent market. He’s 29 years old and will bolster the Giants lineup. Last season, he hit 32 HRs with 122 RBIs and 21 steals. And his OPS was .793.
And in the biggest longshot on the board, the Oakland/Las Vegas A’s have signed Luis Severino to a 3yr/$67M deal. This is a headscratcher. The team’s payroll is now $53 Million, and Severino’s contract accounts for 42% of it. Last season, their payroll was only $61M, so realistically, their spending spree is over. Frankly, Billy Bean is a fraud. Over the past 20 years, many teams have had similar salary constraints and have done as much, if not more, than the A’s have.
In 2007, they had a team payroll of $79 Million, the 17th highest payroll in the league. Since then, they’ve been no higher than no.23 in payroll. It’s an embarrassment. The last two seasons, they’ve been dead last.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade—in this case, oranges and orange juice. Hurricane Milton tore through the Tampa region and destroyed Tropicana Field. It has forced the Rays to move to George Steinbrenner Field for the next few years. It has also seemingly forced the St Petersburg City Council to vote to support a plan for public funds to help build a new stadium for the Rays.
It was a 4-3 vote, and the deal isn’t out of the woods yet, but this is a positive first step. There have been on-again, off-again plans for years, and it feels like if this one can’t come together, the team may have to leave the region: Scott Cohen and his New York Mets. There just isn’t a scenario I can see where he ends up anywhere else…Happy Holidays, Indeed.