January 1: Veteran closer Edwin Diaz is taking his talents to South Beach as he inked a 1-year, $8.9M deal with the Marlins. He's slipped a bit with ERAs of 4.25 and 5.43 the last two seasons and he may not even be Miami's closer as they also signed Raisel Iglesias to a 2/21 deal.
January 2: Our first big free agent signing of the winter, and it's a familiar face:
Is it an overpay? Probably. We also had to give him a no-trade clause which could be problematic. But he's been one of, if not the, best relievers in the league the last three years, saving 82 games and earning 7 WAR. Yes he has the occasional maddening stretch where he blows a couple of saves but he's been pretty good and with all the other defections from the pen we needed him back. To make room for Fairbanks on the 40-man we DFA'd Brett Wisely.
And one of those defectors landed elsewhere as lefty Josh Taylor signed a 3/22 deal with the Mets.
January 4: Former Ray Yonny Chirinos surfaced in Houston on a 1/1.8 deal.
January 6: Another veteran closer found a new home as the recently-itinerant Kenley Jansen went to the Yankees for 1/3.4 after saving 31 games between the Reds and Mets last year albeit with a bloated ERA.
January 8: Longtime Dodger Brusdar Graterol was shipped to the Mets for veteran catcher Tomas Nido and a minor leaguer.
January 9: Another former Ray is on the move as SS Willy Adames signed up with the White Sox for 3/27. We still have Rasmussen and Feyereisen from our Adames trade in 2021 and it made room for Wander so that worked out.
January 12: Claimed 1B/OF James Wood on waivers from the Chicago White Sox.
Willy Adames continues to bring us players as to make room for him on the 40-man the White Sox waived Wood, a serious power prospect, and we were glad to pick him up. Although we have tens of millions of $ burning a hole in our pocket this winter our new acquisitions have either been in trade (Cartaya) or free (Lonnie White and now Wood).
He has big-time power and earned 3.5 WAR between AA/AAA last year and can either play 1B or the OF corners between 50 and 60 defensively. Not sure where he fits in yet but since 1B/LF/RF are in flux for us he has a shot and if not he has two option years left. To make room for Wood on the 40-man we're DFAing Josh Fleming, who's been with the organization for several years and will stay if he clears.
January 14: The Hall of Fame balloting is in:
A lot of guys came close (Ichiro agonizingly so) but only Adrian Beltre cleared 75% so congrats to him, a deserving selection. Sayonara to Manny Ramirez, who was never going to get over the hump. The new class underwhelmed the electorate with Ryan Braun's paltry 17.5% their best showing.
January 21: A couple of the top free agent starters put their signatures on paper with Michael Kopech headed to Baltimore for 6/55 and Ranger Suarez went to Texas for 4/85. Also the oft-injured Carlos Rodon signed a 1/2.6 deal with St. Louis which could be good if he actually stays healthy for more than a month at a time, as we found out in 2024 before shipping him off to Houston in the Kyle Tucker deal.
January 24: Austin Slater, who turned himself from a fourth outfielder into a semi-decent starter, signed a 4/52 seal with Oakland.
January 25: Noah Syndergaard, no longer the pitcher he once was, rejoined former Mets running mate Jacob deGrom with the Yankees on a modest 1/1.5 contract.
January 28: Jesse Winker, one of the biggest names left on the free agent market, joined the Mets on a 4/98 deal.
February 1:
Welcome back Tanner Scott! We needed a lefty back in the pen to go with Jovani Moran and Scott has been pretty reliable for us the last couple of seasons with ERAs of 2.58 and 2.87, and the price was right. To make room for Scott on the 40-man, we DFA'd Ian Seymour.
February 14: Ryan Pressly has found a new home, remaining in the division with the Yankees on a 2/8.3 deal. Hopefully he pitches like he did in the second half with us last year when we face him.
February 19: Old friend Austin Meadows parlayed a bounce-back year with Kansas City into a 4/57 deal with the White Sox.
February 21: Big trade time!
Our bullpen makeover is complete, although since we re-signed Fairbanks and Scott it wasn't quite that dramatic. But anyway we got one of the top closers in baseball in Hendriks, even if he is getting long in the tooth at 37. He had 44 saves last year for the Marlins with 1.5 WAR, rated 70 for stuff and 70 for control (albeit 45 for movement as he will give up some homers here and there, 9 in 71 IP last season). He will take Ryan Pressly's role as the RH setup guy and sometimes closer. The cost was Ramos, who had a nice couple of months to start 2023 for us and wound up a fixture at Durham. With our OF wide open this year he was going to get another look, but he's out of options and we already have to keep Rule 5 draftee Lonnie White, so he was likely the odd man out anyway. We still have $33M to spend but this year's version of Kyle Tucker or Juan Soto isn't out there to rent so we'll have to mix and match on offense a bit more and see what opens up during the season.
February 22: Eugenio Suarez has moved on to Minnesota on a 2/16 deal, and starter Tyler Mahle is going to see his ERA rise after signing for 4/68 with the Rockies.
March 2: The Phillies acquired veteran starter Sandy Alcantara from Miami for a shortstop prospect.
March 19: OF Teoscar Hernandez joins Boston on a 1/3.3 deal.
March 24: Veteran slugger Kyle Schwarber joined the Mariners on a one-year deal for $3.2M.