Trade Notes: Cease, Glasnow, Braves

The free agent marketplace for pitchers has been way more lively than for place gamers thus far this winter. Seven of MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents have signed new offers, and 6 have been pitchers: Aaron Nola, Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda, Reynaldo López, Nick Martinez, and Luis Severino. Furthermore, 11 totally different pitchers have already signed for $10MM or extra; no place participant has crossed the eight-figure threshold.

Nonetheless, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto unlikely to signal through the Winter Conferences, it’s attainable the marketplace for beginning pitching may decelerate, as suitors await Yamamoto to make his choice and different frontline starters (particularly Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery) await Yamamoto to set the going charge. With that in thoughts, maybe the assorted beginning pitchers on the commerce block will draw much more consideration through the subsequent 4 days.

Certainly, Jon Morosi of MLB Network experiences that the marketplace for 2022 Cy Younger runner-up Dylan Cease is “sturdy,” noting that the Dodgers, Braves, and Orioles – amongst different groups – are concerned in commerce talks with the White Sox. Additional golf equipment which were linked to Stop in latest days embody the Mets and Cardinals.

Final week, Morosi reported that discussions round Stop had “intensified” and recommended a deal earlier than the Winter Conferences was “more and more attainable.” Nonetheless, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic threw chilly water on that rumor, reporting that White Sox normal supervisor Chris Getz would almost definitely wait to commerce Stop till extra of the highest free agent starters had been off the board. Whereas no additional frontline starters have signed in the previous few days, Morosi’s report in regards to the sturdy marketplace for Stop on the Winter Conferences is sufficient to rekindle hypothesis a couple of potential commerce within the coming days. In spite of everything, if the White Sox have their eye on any specific commerce chips, they’d be good to strike earlier than these chips are spent on Tyler Glasnow or Shane Bieber as a substitute.

Some extra trade-related information from round baseball…

• Talking of Glasnow, the Rays starter is producing a substantial amount of curiosity, in keeping with Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Whereas it shouldn’t come as any shock that loads of groups would love the right-hander of their rotation – he had a 3.53 ERA and three.08 SIERA in 21 begins final season – it’s noteworthy that he’s drawing a lot curiosity so quickly. His $25MM wage for the 2024 season is way more than Stop or Bieber will earn in arbitration, and there are many free agent pitchers obtainable who will solely value cash, fairly than cash and prospects. Evidently, nonetheless, his expertise is sufficient to outweigh his price ticket.
• Talking on a Zoom name with members of the media, Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos emphasised that the crew just isn’t planning to commerce any of its younger gamers signed to long-term extensions (as relayed by Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Whereas Anthopoulos certified his assertion with the caveat of “particular circumstances,” the manager careworn with “absolute, fierce confidence” that he’s “extraordinarily unlikely” to commerce anybody from his cost-controlled younger core. That group contains Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II, Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, Spencer Strider, and 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr., all of whom are below crew management by way of not less than the 2027 season.