MLB

The New York Mets continue to spend this winter, signing Japanese pitcher Koudai Senga to a five-year, $75 million contract, per SNY's Andy Martino.

The Mets now have a 2023 luxury-tax payroll around $350 million, per Tim Healey of Newsday. The team is subject to the competitive balance tax after exceeding the $233 million threshold for next season.

New York's rotation for the 2023 campaign is headlined by reigning Cy Young winner Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, but Senga joins a talented group that also includes Carlos Carrasco and José Quintana.

Senga, Verlander and Quintana are all newcomers to Flushing. Verlander agreed to a two-year, $86.7 million deal with the Mets this winter, and Quintana agreed to a two-year, $26 million contract.

The Mets have the highest 2023 payroll in baseball, per Spotrac. The New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres round out the top-five highest payrolls for next season.

Senga, who turns 30 next month, spent the last 11 seasons with Nippon Professional Baseball's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. During the 2022 season, he went 11-6 with a 1.94 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 156 strikeouts in 144 innings across 22 games.

After losing ace Jacob deGrom to the Texas Rangers in free agency, the Mets made starting pitching a priority in an attempt to replace the two-time Cy Young winner. Of course, the talent deGrom holds is irreplaceable, but the Mets have done a great job of filling out their rotation for 2023.

At this point, it seems the Mets could care less about having to pay the luxury tax, and they could continue adding top talent this winter as they aim to win their first World Series title since 1986.

The Mets finished the 2022 campaign with a 101-61 record—their first 100-win season since 1988. However, they fell to the San Diego Padres in the wild card.

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.

The Boston Red Sox saw star shortstop Xander Bogaerts sign an 11-year, $280 million deal with the San Diego Padres in free agency this week, and they'll now shift their focus to Rafael Devers, who will become a free agent in 2024.

Boston never made Bogaerts a competitive offer, and, as it stands, Devers could be on his way out next winter if the Red Sox don't open their wallets and pay the star third baseman what he wants.

However, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said this week that the Red Sox are committed to building around homegrown talent—despite the departures of Bogaerts and Mookie Betts—and hope to sign Devers to a long-term deal.

Bloom said, via Chris Cotillo of MassLive:

"I've said it, and I know we haven't demonstrated this to the degree that we've hoped to, but we believe in building around homegrown talent. You want to do it in the right way. It's certainly something we want to do as often as we can. Raffy, for sure, is somebody we want to build around. I don't know that this situation (Bogaerts leaving) really changes that one way or the other.

"Obviously, the timing on him is a little different because he's not a free agent for another year. But he has been somebody that we love and want right at the center of everything we hope to accomplish, obviously in 2023 but more importantly, in the years beyond, because those are the years he's not under our control. We're hoping to change that."

The Red Sox have yet to make Devers a worthwhile offer. Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported in November that Boston had offered the slugger about $220 million, which is around $80 million less than what he's asking for (h/t Beyond the Monster).

Additionally, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported on Dec. 8 that Devers and the Red Sox "remain far apart on extension talks."

Devers, who made his debut in 2017, has emerged as one of the best third basemen in baseball, earning two All-Star Game selections and a Silver Slugger award over the last two seasons.

The 26-year-old was one of Boston's best hitters in 2022 despite the Red Sox finishing last in the AL East. He slashed .295/.358/.521 with 27 home runs and 88 RBI in 141 games.

Seeing Devers leave Boston in after next season would likely be a breaking point for many Red Sox fans as the team has seen the likes of Bogaerts, Betts and Andrew Benintendi, among others, depart since winning the 2018 World Series.

Locking him up to a long-term deal must be a priority for Bloom and Co. moving forward.

Carlos Correa's market is starting to take shape.

Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Minnesota Twins are among the teams interested in the 28-year-old shortstop.

ESPN's Buster Olney said on 95.7 The Game's Willard & Dibs on Friday that the New York Yankees could be in play for the best remaining free agent because "they're working on something big" after getting a commitment from Aaron Judge.

Once Judge decided to re-sign with the Yankees, the Giants became the most logical fit for Correa. They had an offer on the table for the reigning American League MVP of around $360 million in total value, per Heyman.

If the Giants offered that much for Judge, why not make the same proposal to Correa?

While Correa isn't the same level of superstar as Judge, at least by name recognition, there's a strong argument he would be a better free-agent investment. He's two-and-a-half years younger than Judge, plays a more important defensive position and has played it at a high level for most of his career.

The Giants have fallen behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the National League West hierarchy. The Padres show no signs of slowing their spending, having signed Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million deal.

Correa alone wouldn't make the Giants a playoff contender, but he would help them close the gap on the top two teams in their division.

The Cubs have put themselves in an interesting spot, even after losing Willson Contreras to the St. Louis Cardinals. They've spent money the past two offseasons to bring in Marcus Stroman, Seiya Suzuki, Cody Bellinger and Jameson Taillon, but they lack high-ceiling players who can get them back into playoff contention in 2023.

Chicago has reportedly been heavily involved in the shortstop market this offseason. Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reported team brass met with Bogaerts earlier this month as well as Correa.

The Athletic's Patrick Mooney reported Thursday the Cubs have a "particular focus" on Dansby Swanson.

The Twins are familiar with Correa after he played for them last season. He was a standout in their lineup with a .291/.366/.467 slash line and 22 homers in 136 games.

The AL Central is wide-open every year because none of the teams spend exorbitant amounts of money to sign players. The Cleveland Guardians won the division last season with 92 wins and appear to have a bright future, but their biggest addition has been Josh Bell.

The Chicago White Sox finished .500 and have lost José Abreu in free agency. Their only meaningful addition has been Mike Clevinger.

The Twins have a path to win the AL Central in 2023. If they can bring back Correa, that path becomes easier.

The San Diego Padres were willing to pay Aaron Judge well into his 40s to secure a deal for the American League MVP.

The New York Post's Jon Heyman reported the Padres "were contemplating a deal for $400 million-plus over 14 years."

On Wednesday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported San Diego made a 10-year, $400 million offer to Judge at the 11th hour. Adding four more years would've lessened the annual cost of the contract while taking him through his age-44 season.

Heyman noted MLB might have intervened had things gotten any further because it "would have seen the additional years as only an attempt to lower their official payroll to lessen the tax."

Judge agreed to a nine-year, $360 million deal to return to the New York Yankees.

The Padres haven't rested on their laurels after reaching the National League Championship Series in 2022. In addition to their failed pursuit of Judge, they made a run at Trea Turner before he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

After getting spurned by both players, San Diego turned around and landed Xander Bogaerts for a reported $280 million over 11 years.

Padres ownership has given president of baseball operations A.J. Preller the green light to spend over the last few years. That Preller was empowered to target Judge and Turner and ultimately sign Bogaerts is particularly fascinating, given the contract statuses of Manny Machado and Juan Soto.

Machado can opt out of the final five years and $150 million of his deal after the 2023 season. He'll be 31 next winter, three months younger than Bogaerts, so it stands to reason he can collect a better payout by hitting free agency.

Soto, meanwhile, is eligible to enter the open market in 2025 and could have one of the most frenzied bidding wars ever. ESPN's Jeff Passan posited Wednesday on The Pat McAfee Show that Soto and Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani could be the first players in MLB history to get $500 million.

If Machado and Soto don't sign long-term agreements before hitting free agency, then there are no guarantees about their futures in San Diego. The Padres at least appear to be showing they won't lose either player purely because they weren't willing to pony up the dough.

What else do the New York Yankees have up their sleeve?

It appears the team isn't done making moves after re-signing superstar and reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge to a nine-year, $360 million contract.

"They are in on Carlos Rodon, but then I heard that there's something even bigger that they're working on," Michael Kay said on his show Friday.

The assumption will be that if the Yankees are pursuing a bigger fish than Rodon left on the market, it will be star shortstop Carlos Correa.

ESPN's Buster Olney hinted as much, saying on 95.7 The Game's Willard and Dibs that he's "definitely picking up a lot of vibes" the Yankees are "working on something big" in regards to Correa.

The Yankees already have Isiah Kiner-Falefa at shortstop and a pair of highly regarded prospects at the position in Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza, so it hasn't appeared to be the team's biggest need this offseason.

There's no doubt that Correa would be an immediate upgrade, however.

The 28-year-old, a two-time All-Star, hit .291 with 22 homers, 64 RBI, 70 runs and a .834 OPS. It was his sixth season with at least 20 home runs, excellent production for a player at a defensively-key position.

Retaining Judge and landing Correa in the same offseason would be a huge splash for the Yankees, even if it's arguable that adding a left-fielder is a more pressing need and stockpiling starting pitchers on Rodon's level is never a bad idea.

Regardless of how the Yankees continue to approach free agency, it doesn't appear as though the Judge signing will slow them down this winter.

"We have a lot of aspects of the roster that we need to address," Cashman told reporters on Wednesday. "There's other aspects of the roster we're trying to address and we'll continue to do so. We're on the clock. We'll obviously give [manager Aaron Boone] the best players so he can have the best team and he can do with it what he wants when spring training starts."

Having already secured a commitment from Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees may not be done making big moves this offseason.

Appearing on 95.7 The Game's Willard and Dibs, ESPN's Buster Olney said he's "definitely picking up a lot of vibes" the Yankees are "working on something big" when asked about the market for Carlos Correa.

On the other side, despite missing out on Judge, Olney noted the San Francisco Giants "haven't gotten too deeply" into talks with Correa about money.

Judge agreed to a nine-year, $360 million deal to remain with the Yankees on Wednesday, per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

Even though the Yankees made other moves earlier in the offseason, most notably re-signing Anthony Rizzo, retaining Judge was always going to be their top priority.

There are still several flaws on the Yankees roster that need to be addressed before the start of next season. They ranked in the bottom half of Major League Baseball in weighted on-base average at shortstop and left field in 2022.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit .261/.314/.327 as New York's primary starting shortstop last season.

Signing Correa would be a massive upgrade at the position for the Bronx Bombers. The two-time All-Star has a .279/.357/.479 slash line in 888 career games.

It's interesting Olney would throw out the Yankees as a potential landing spot for Correa. Many players on their team, including Judge, were very critical of the Houston Astros and their players in the wake of the cheating scandal during the 2017 season.

"I just don't think it holds any value with me. You cheated and you didn't earn it," Judge told reporters in February 2020. "It wasn't earned the way of playing the game right and fighting to the end. The biggest thing about competition is laying it all out on the line, and whoever's the better player, better person, comes out on top. And to know that another team had an advantage—nothing that you can really guard against—I just don't feel like that's earned."

Rosenthal reported earlier this week the Los Angeles Dodgers won't pursue Correa, despite having a need at shortstop after losing Trea Turner, "in part out of concern that a sizable portion of their fanbase would not welcome the move."

The 2017 Astros defeated the Yankees in the American League Championship Series and Dodgers in the World Series.

In the wake of Judge re-signing with the Yankees, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported the "consensus" around MLB is the Giants were favorites to sign Correa.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network reported the Giants had an offer to Judge believed to be around $360 million.

If the Giants were willing to offer Judge that much money, there's no reason they can't shift it to Correa. There's an argument he would be a better fit than Judge because he's two years younger (28) and plays a more important defensive position.

The Giants have already fallen far behind the Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the NL West. They need to do something big to regain relevance in their own division and become a playoff contender in 2023.