MLB Trade Rumors

The Red Sox are close to an agreement with Andrew Bailey to become the team’s new pitching coach, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (X link). Assuming the deal is completed, the 39-year-old will head back to a place where he pitched from 2012-13. Bailey’s stint in the Sox’s bullpen overlapped with that of Boston’s first-year chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. The … [Read more...] about Red Sox Near Deal To Hire Andrew Bailey As Pitching Coach

The Red Sox have signed outfielder Mark Contreras to a minor league contract, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.  Contreras is changing teams for the first time in his pro career, as he had been a member of the Twins organization since he was selected in the ninth round of the 2017 draft, and until Minnesota released him in August. That time in the Twin Cities did result in … [Read more...] about Red Sox Sign Mark Contreras To Minor League Deal

The Yankees inquired after recently-dismissed Cubs manager David Ross regarding their bench coach opening, per Ken Rosenthal and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. Per the duo, however, Ross has indicated that his preference is to manage again if he were to return to the dugout for the 2024 season. That would seemingly be an unlikely outcome, as following this morning’s news of Joe … [Read more...] about AL East Notes: Yankees, Bailey, Rays

Veteran free agent Justin Turner was among the most reliable hitters in Boston last year, slashing a solid .275/.345/.455 with 23 home runs and a 17.6% strikeout rate. Taken together, that offensive production was 14% better than league average by measure of wRC+ despite Turner posting his highest strikeout rate since 2014 and lowest walk rate since 2016. Though Turner declined … [Read more...] about Red Sox Notes: Turner, DH, Kluber

One of the big offseason questions for the Yankees is how to proceed with Gleyber Torres. The veteran second baseman is one year from free agency, projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $15.3MM salary in his final year of arbitration. That’s still solid value for the team’s second-best hitter. Torres had a strong 2023 campaign, hitting .273/.347/.453 with 25 home runs … [Read more...] about A Possible Yankees/Red Sox Trade That Makes Sense For Both Clubs

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts. This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to … [Read more...] about MLBTR Podcast: Top 50 Free Agents Megapod (with Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams and Anthony Franco)

The Red Sox are going into their first offseason with Craig Breslow as chief baseball officer and he is setting his sights on upgrading the club’s rotation, though he isn’t specifying exactly how many pitchers he plans on bringing in. “I think we need to be open-minded,” Breslow said, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. “Starting pitching is certainly a priority for us. But to … [Read more...] about Red Sox Prioritizing Starting Pitching Help

The Red Sox announced earlier this evening that the club has declined its club option on the services of left-hander Joely Rodriguez for the 2024 season. In lieu of exercising the $4.25MM option, the team will instead pay Rodriguez a $500K buyout to return to the open market. The decision is hardly a surprising one, even though Rodriguez looked like an interesting pickup for … [Read more...] about Red Sox Decline Club Option On Joely Rodriguez