AL East

The New York Yankees acquired outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals at the 2022 trade deadline, but it appears they aren't willing to re-sign the free agent to a five-year deal, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

The Pinstripes are still interested in retaining Benintendi, they just aren't open to that length.

Brendan Kuty of NJ.com reported Dec. 9 that retaining Benintendi is a "top task" for the Yankees this winter.

Benintendi also told the Yankees at the end of the season that he would be interested in coming back, according to Kuty, and general manager Brian Cashman reiterated his desire to retain the veteran outfielder.

The 28-year-old is coming off one of his best years. He hit .304/.373/.399 with five home runs and 51 RBI in 126 games. However, he slashed just .254/.331/.404 with two home runs and 12 RBI in 33 games with the Yankees before being sidelined with a broken hamate bone in September.

New York was hopeful Benintendi could return during the team's postseason run, but he never made it back into the lineup as the Yankees were swept out of the American League Championship Series by the Houston Astros.

The Yankees will have stiff competition for Benintendi's services. The Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins have all been linked to the 2021 Gold Glove winner.

If the Yankees can't keep Benintendi, the team would have to rely on a combination of Aaron Hicks and potentially Giancarlo Stanton in left field, which isn't ideal. They could also shift their focus elsewhere.

The Yankees have also been linked to Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds, who requested a trade from the club earlier this month. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Dec. 4 that New York is "very much" in on Reynolds.

After the Boston Red Sox lost Xander Bogaerts to the San Diego Padres in free agency, signing third baseman Rafael Devers to a contract extension has become the team's "No. 1 priority," per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Additionally, one baseball executive believes the Red Sox have to give Devers "whatever he wants" because they can't afford to lose him when he becomes an unrestricted free agent after next season.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said in a text message to Heyman that the club's efforts to retain Devers "are only intensifying" and getting him locked up is "something we've really wanted to do for a while and hopefully we'll be able to find that path."

Bogaerts signed an 11-year, $280 million deal with the Padres after being low-balled by the Red Sox, and Boston will likely need to pay Devers at least the $300 million he is asking to get him to stay in town beyond the 2023 campaign.

In July, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported that the Red Sox "identified Matt Olson's eight-year, $168 million extension with Atlanta as a basis for discussions" with Devers, which seems laughable after the spending spree teams went on in this winter's market.

However, sports analyst Marino Pepén (h/t MLB insider Héctor Gómez) reported in November that the Red Sox have been inching closer to Devers' $300 million asking price, with the difference in conversations being around $50 million.

With all of the talent that has departed Boston since 2018, keeping Devers around should be more than a priority for the Red Sox.

The 26-year-old earned his second straight All-Star Game selection in 2022 after slashing .295/.358/.521 with 27 home runs and 88 RBI in 141 games. He won a Silver Slugger award in 2021 and helped the Red Sox capture the World Series title in 2018.

In 689 games across six seasons, Devers is hitting .283/.342/.512 with 139 home runs and 455 RBI. Considering his youth, he has the potential to be a Boston great.

Jeter Downs has been designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox, the team announced Thursday.

ESPN's Alden González was the first to report the move.

Downs was the top prospect Boston acquired in the deal that shipped star outfielder Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers in February 2020.

The decision to DFA Downs came after the Red Sox made the signing of Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida official Thursday. Boston needed room on its 40-man roster for Yoshida, who inked a five-year deal through 2027.

Boston acquired Downs, outfielder Alex Verdugo and catcher Connor Wong from the Dodgers in the deal that sent Betts and left-hander David Price to L.A.

Downs was once ranked a top-five prospect in the Boston organization by MLB.com, but his stock took a nosedive over the last two seasons as he struggled to live up to expectations in Triple-A Worcester following the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season due to COVID-19.

In 2021, Downs hit .191/.272/.333 with 14 home runs and 39 RBI in 99 games with the WooSox. He followed that with an equally disappointing performance at the dish in 2022, slashing .197/.316/.412 with 16 home runs and 33 RBI 81 games.

Downs also appeared in 14 games for the Red Sox last season, hitting .154/.171/.256 with one home run and four RBI. He struck out in 21 of 41 plate appearances, an unacceptable 51.2 strikeout rate.

With only Verdugo and Wong left to show for the Betts deal, and just one playoff appearance since 2020, it's clear Boston lost the trade.

Betts, meanwhile, is coming off a 2022 campaign in which he slashed .269/.340/.533 with a career-high 35 home runs, in addition to 82 RBI in 142 games. The Dodgers have reached the playoffs in each of the last three seasons and won the World Series in 2020.

The Red Sox still have a decent prospect pool headlined by Marcelo Mayer, Triston Casas and Ceddanne Rafaela, but it still doesn't match up to some of the league's best.

Outfielder Bryan Reynolds requested a trade from the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this offseason. The winter meeting came and went without a deal, but that doesn't mean that Reynolds will still be a Pirate when spring training begins.

For the Boston Red Sox—a team looking to climb out of the AL East basement—Reynolds would make a lot of sense.

Boston is open to working the trade market, especially after losing top free agent Xander Bogaerts to the San Diego Padres in free agency.

"I actually think the trade market could be a really good route to adding impact to our club," chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said, per The Athletic's Chad Jennings. "We are looking (into) a lot of significant moves there as long as we can do it in a way that isn't just robbing Peter to pay Paul, that's actually moving us forward in 2023 and giving us a chance to make a significant step forward from where we sit today."

A player who can help in 2023 and beyond? That's Reynolds. A 2021 All-Star, Reynolds will only turn 28 next month. He's also a financial fit for rebuilding Boston, as he'll remain arbitration-eligible through the 2025 season.

In 2023, Reynolds will carry a salary of only $6.8 million, according to Spotrac.

Naturally, Reynolds will want an extension at some point, but he would nevertheless come with three more years of team control.

Then, there's the fact that—according to Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal—the Red Sox have already looked into adding outfield and offensive help.

"In need of offensive help, the Red Sox have, according to a source familiar with the talks, made inquires about first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper," McAdam wrote. "The Sox have an opening in the outfield, with Alex Verdugo and Kiké Hernandez set to cover two of the three outfield spots."

Reynolds could help round out the outfield group while providing a boost at the plate. He has hit 74 home runs and 239 RBI over the last four seasons. He finished 2022 with a .262 batting average, 27 home runs and 62 RBI.

While Reynolds was more impressive during his 2021 All-Star campaign (90 RBI, .302 average), these were still strong numbers for a player just entering his prime.

In a vacuum, Reynolds appears to be a perfect fit for Boston. The question, of course, is how much a trade will cost. This is where the idea of trading for the 27-year-old becomes a bit less desirable.

According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, a bargain trade package won't get a deal done:

"One rival official, in what surely was an exaggeration, said the Pirates want a '[Juan] Soto-type package' for Reynolds. Another said Reynolds is 'super expensive.' A third described him as 'unlikely to move.'"

Soto, for the record, was dealt along with Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals to the Padres in exchange for C. J. Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit.

While the Soto trade is an extreme comparison, the message is clear. Pittsburgh won't move Reynolds for a couple of draft picks and/or low-end prospects. The good news is that Boston has a farm system loaded with high-end talent.

Players like Ceddanne Rafaela, Nick Yorke and Bryan Mata could entice Pittsburgh—especially if Boston is willing to include a blue-chip prospect like Miguel Bleis or Marcelo Mayer.

The Red Sox would have to weigh the long-term potential of said prospects against their desire to turn things around this season. Ultimately, they might decide that Reynolds simply isn't worth what it would take to force Pittsburgh's hand.

However, Boston should at least inquire about Reynolds and come at the Pirates with serious intentions. The 2016 second-rounder has emerged as a bona fide rising star, and he checks just about every box Boston could hope to address in this offseason's trade market.

If the New York Yankees want to sign Carlos Rodón, they are going to have to make significant changes to their initial contract proposal for the left-handed starting pitcher.

Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, there is a "sizable gap" between what the Yankees offered and what Rodón is seeking in free agency.

It's unclear what New York's offer was, but Heyman noted Rodón is believed to be after a deal of at least seven years and $30 million per season.

Rodón is arguably the top remaining free agent after Carlos Correa agreed to a 13-year, $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Certainly, Rodón is the best pitcher still on the market. Heyman noted the two-time All-Star remains the Yankees' top priority, and the two sides "are expected to work on potential compromises over the next few days."

After getting Aaron Judge to agree to a nine-year, $360 million to remain in the Bronx, starting pitching seemed like it should be a priority for the team. They lost Jameson Taillon, who ranked second on the team with 177.1 innings in 2022, to the Chicago Cubs in free agency.

Nestor Cortes Jr. had a breakout season with a 2.44 ERA, but he threw nearly as many innings in 2022 (158.1) as he did in the previous four seasons combined (172).

Luis Severino pitched well last season with a 3.18 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 19 starts, but it was also the first time he broke the 100-inning barrier since 2018.

Rodón is a player who also comes with significant risk. He only made 11 appearances total in two seasons from 2019-20 and had a 5.74 ERA during that span.

Since the start of 2021, however, Rodón ranks third among all pitchers with at least 300 innings pitched in FanGraphs wins above replacement (11.1) and fourth in ERA (2.67). He has made the All-Star team and finished in the top six in Cy Young voting in both seasons.

A rotation led by Rodón and Gerrit Cole would be very formidable in the regular season and postseason. The Yankees are all-in to win right now after paying to bring back Judge and Anthony Rizzo.

If there's any way for the Yankees to close the gap with Rodón, they need to make it work because he would fill a huge need for them as they chase a World Series appearance in 2023.

The New York Yankees were reportedly preparing for Aaron Judge to leave for the San Francisco Giants or San Diego Padres before a nine-year, $360 million deal came together at the last minute.

One Yankee executive told Buster Olney of ESPN that he had a "feeling" Judge would bolt to the West Coast amid interest from the Padres and Giants.

The Yankees' most serious competitor in the race was San Francisco. Olney reported the Giants' offer came in at somewhere between $320 million and $360 million. There was even a brief period when seemingly credible but ultimately erroneous reports of Judge leaving for San Francisco made the rounds on social media.

The Padres reportedly made it clear they were willing to outbid the Yankees, but nothing "formal was presented to the league offices."

In the end, the Yankees' negotiations with Judge came down to one question: Did he want to be a Yankee? Olney reported Hal Steinbrenner asked Judge that exact question during a phone conversation Dec. 6. When the reigning AL MVP indicated he wanted to stay in New York, Steinbrenner gave the OK to increase the team's offer from $320 million to $360 million.

"Hal Steinbrenner has been the tip of the spear with this one," general manager Brian Cashman told reporters a few hours later. "Our organization has tried to stay connected in every way possible—Hal Steinbrenner directly with Aaron Judge, as well—to make sure that there was going to be no stone unturned and there was no effort missed in our discussions."

Judge is coming off one of the greatest power-hitting seasons in MLB history—and the greatest since the steroid era. His 62 home runs in 2022 are the most in American League history and the most by a player who has not fallen under a cloud of steroid suspicion.

The Boston Red Sox lost their face of the franchise when shortstop Xander Bogaerts signed with the San Diego Padres last week. Rather than look to replace him with a free agent, the team might explore another avenue to improve its roster.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told The Athletic's Chad Jennings that the team is "very, very actively exploring" the trade market in the wake of Bogaerts' departure.

The Red Sox addressed some areas of need by signing closer Kenley Jansen and Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida. However, the team still has multiple holes to fill on its roster and Boston's front office has not spent big in free agency in recent years. Bloom acknowledged that the logical route for the franchise is to pursue trades.

"I actually think the trade market could be a really good route to adding impact to our club," Bloom said. "We are looking [into] a lot of significant moves there as long as we can do it in a way that isn't just robbing Peter to pay Paul, that's actually moving us forward in 2023 and giving us a chance to make a significant step forward from where we sit today."

Per Jennings, the Red Sox "still have a glaring need for a right-handed hitter and an ongoing desire to add a starting pitcher." The team has a deep farm system that Bloom said he hopes to keep intact for the future, but he added he's willing to give up some players for the right price.

"As I've said all along since getting here, we value being a consistent contender, and so guys that are in the pipeline are going to be a part of that in the years ahead, but what happens now matters," Bloom said. "And for the right impact, absolutely we would be willing to, and really look to, use that stockpile of prospects."

Jennings named Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Bryan Reynolds, St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong and Cleveland Guardians shortstop Amed Rosario as potential trade targets for Boston.

If the team looks internally to replace Bogaerts, it could move Trevor Story from second base back to shortstop, which was his original position during his six seasons with the Colorado Rockies.

"We're fortunate that we have multiple guys on this team that are really capable shortstops," Bloom said. "And that gives us a really good place to start from as we continue to work through the offseason and put the best club together that we can."

Veteran starting pitching Chris Bassitt has agreed to a three-year, $63 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Bassitt joins an already strong starting rotation that features Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman and José Berríos. The Blue Jays are clearly looking to close the seven-game gap that separated them from the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East.

The New York Mets landed the best arm on the free-agent market when they signed Max Scherzer following the 2021 season. They didn't stop there in addressing their starting rotation and acquired Bassitt from the Oakland Athletics for pitching prospects J.T. Ginn and Adam Oller.

Adding the right-hander looked even more shrewd in retrospect. Jacob deGrom didn't make his 2022 debut until August due to shoulder trouble, and Scherzer missed nearly two months because of an oblique injury.

Bassitt didn't quite match the level that sent him to the 2021 All-Star Game, but he did provide a steady presence for New York on the mound. In 30 appearances, he went 15-9 with a 3.42 ERA and a 3.66 FIP. He also averaged 8.27 strikeouts per nine innings and 2.43 walks per nine.

The 33-year-old led the Mets in innings pitched (181.2) and was third on the staff in WAR (2.7), per FanGraphs.

Bassitt didn't have overwhelming velocity, but he kept opposing hitters on their toes with his six-pitch arsenal. According to Baseball Savant, he ranked in the 95th percentile in average exit velocity (85.7 mph) and 88th in hard-hit rate (32.8).

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter ranked the Toledo, Ohio, native as the fifth-best starting pitcher in the 2023 free-agent class: "His overall numbers were not as strong as some of the others ranked lower than him on this list, but his long track record of recent success makes it far easier to bank on him continuing to pitch at a high level in 2023 and beyond."

Mets fans still scarred by the Wilpon era may still have reservations about team owner Steve Cohen and whether he's willing to keep spending to bring a World Series title to Flushing.

Cohen continued to address those concerns by handing Edwin Díaz a five-year, $102 million contract almost as soon as the offseason began. Justin Verlander subsequently signed for $86.7 million over two years.

In the case of Bassitt, it wasn't going to take a contract of that magnitude to bring him back, but this franchise is already on track to have one of MLB's biggest payrolls. The front office doesn't have a limitless well of money to spend on free agents.

The Mets' loss is the Blue Jays' gain.

If the New York Yankees really want to send a message they are serious about getting over the hump in their quest to get back to the World Series, they need to make a significant push to sign Carlos Correa.

It's not 100 percent certain the Yankees have an interest in Correa, but ESPN's Buster Olney recently floated the possibility that something could be happening:

WHOA.

"The team I'm watching at the moment -- the Yankees. Because I'm definitely picking up a lot of vibes there that yeah they signed Aaron Judge to that $360 million deal, but they're working on something big." - @Buster_ESPN on Carlos Correa.

(via @WillardAndDibs)

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) December 9, 2022

Everything about the Yankees' offseason was, understandably, centered around re-signing Aaron Judge. They were able to accomplish their mission by getting the 2022 American League MVP to agree to a nine-year, $360 million deal, per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

New York began the offseason by re-signing Anthony Rizzo to a two-year deal worth at least $40 million.

Even though the $400 million spent in free agency to bring back two key players sounds good, the Yankees are slightly worse on paper than they were when the 2022 season ended.

Jameson Taillon left the Bronx to accept a four-year, $68 million deal from the Chicago Cubs. Even though he wasn't a huge factor in the postseason, Gerrit Cole was their only starter who threw more innings than Taillon in 2022.

There are major holes in the lineup that still need to be filled. They received below-average offensive production at shortstop, left field and designated hitter.

Shortstop is the easiest position for the Yankees to upgrade because there are two All-Stars still available: Correa and Dansby Swanson.

There have been no rumblings about Swanson going to New York. Correa ending up in New York still feels like a long shot, but it really shouldn't at this point.

The biggest obstacle preventing the Yankees from pursuing Correa is the competitive balance tax. Hal Steinbrenner has been actively avoiding the tax for years.

Per Spotrac, the Yankees' tax payroll for 2023 is the second-highest in MLB at $221.2 million. The luxury-tax line for next season is $233 million.

Let's assume Correa signs a deal that pays him close to his 2022 salary with the Minnesota Twins ($35.1 million). It would bring the Yankees' payroll up to $256.3 million. They would be taxed 20 percent of their overage total as a first-time offender (roughly $7 million).

The Yankees have around $40 million coming off their luxury-tax payroll in 2024. The CBT jumps up to $237 million in 2024, so any potential penalty they might incur will only be a significant issue for one year.

If the Yankees can't afford a $7 million payment, the Steinbrenner family should sell the franchise.

Even ignoring the small financial penalty for the organization, the upgrade on the field is so significant to offset it.

Correa has been worth 10.6 FanGraphs' wins above replacement over the past two seasons combined. He has a .279/.357/.479 career slash line and averages 28 homers per 162 games played.

Yankees shortstops are projected to be worth a total of 3.7 fWAR in 2023. Anthony Volpe, their top prospect, is projected to be their top player at the position with a .240/.317/.420 slash line.

Volpe's pending arrival doesn't need to complicate things for the Yankees. They can move either him or Correa to third base, which would also allow manager Aaron Boone to bench Josh Donaldson.

Donaldson is 37 and looked his age last season with a .222/.308/.374 slash line.

The Yankees need to be all-in for the next few years while they still have Judge and Gerrit Cole in their prime. It doesn't do them any good to sit on their hands and hope Giancarlo Stanton and Luis Severino are going to stay healthy.

The New York Yankees are preparing an offer to free agent starting pitcher Carlos Rodón, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

The 30-year-old left-hander is the Yankees' "top remaining target," per Heyman, who said that the team seems "hopeful, or perhaps even optimistic" about their chances.

The San Francisco Giants, who Rodón played for last season, remain involved, and Heyman characterized it as a battle between them and the Yankees for the left-hander's services with "a few other teams in the mix" as well.

Rodón went 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA last year. He earned an All-Star Game appearance for the second straight year and finished sixth in the National League Cy Young voting. The southpaw also struck out 237 batters in 178.0 innings.

The former North Carolina State star played for the Chicago White Sox from 2015-21 before signing with the Giants last offseason on a two-year, $44 million contract that included an opt-out after the first year.

Rodón elected to become a free agent and cash in on his great 2022 season, and now he stands to earn a nine-figure contract. A seven-person ESPN panel predicted that Rodón would sign for five years and anywhere between $130 million and $150 million. Rodón is looking for a seven-year deal, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Rodón would fit second in the Yankees' starting rotation between All-Stars Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes. Luis Severino would then slot in as the fourth starter. Frankie Montas and Domingo Germán would be the top candidates to round the rotation out.

The Yankees already earned a huge offseason win by retaining American League MVP Aaron Judge on a nine-year, $360 million contract. Adding Rodón would be a massive victory for a team looking to break through to the World Series for the first time since 2009.