January 12: The Hall of Fame balloting is in.
1B Albert Pujols 98.6 (1st year) Inducted HOF
CF Carlos Beltran 84.1 (6th year) Inducted HOF
2B Robinson Cano 73.6 (1st year)
SS Alex Rodriguez 70.0 (7th year)
SP CC Sabathia 64.3 (4th year)
C Yadier Molina 60.3 (1st year)
C Joe Mauer 49.5 (5th year)
Beltran finally gets over the hump, no doubt held back for a while by voters who weren't happy with his involvement in the Houston cheating scandal. Speaking of scandals A-Rod jumped from 48% to 70% this year and might make it next time while Robinson Cano nearly made it the first time on the ballot.
January 14: Longtime Atlanta fixture Ronald Acuna Jr. is off to Cincinnati on a 3/47 deal. That might seem kind of light considering how great he's been IRL but in this save his iffy 2022 season became his new normal, so he's been a 2.5-3.5 WAR guy since.
January 15: Texas sent veteran 2B Marcus Semien to Miami for a couple of prospects as his 2022 mega-deal winds down.
January 16: We have a signing!
Welcome to Tampa Bay,
Chang-Hyeok Kim. He was part of the pro international free agent class and he potentially profiles as a #2/3 starter. Right now he'd be more of a 5th guy and he'll likely start the year at Durham.
January 17: Massive blow for the Blue Jays as Vlad Guerrero Jr. will miss the 2028 season with a broken bone in his elbow.
January 18: The Twins sent star CF Byron Buxton to the Dodgers for a couple of prospects. Star that is when healthy - he's wrecked and was limited to 47 games last year (earned a whopping 2.5 WAR in those games, but still).
January 23: The Dodgers are at it again, acquiring top-notch SP Paul Skenes from the A's for the #78 prospect in baseball, P Luz Marmolejo. Skenes has been a 4-WAR pitcher for Oakland the last couple of years.
January 26: Aaron Nola, after four years with the Angels, signed a 1/2.6 deal with the Yankees. He's become a homer-prone innings-eater, allowing 40 longballs in each of the last two seasons with slightly negative WAR, hence the small contract.
January 28: We signed our first amateur international free agent of the window, 16-year-old Venezuelan pitcher Symio Cotes who has interesting potential to say the least:
Yowza. If he ever lived up to that potential he'd win at least 5 Cy Youngs. We did give him a whopping $6M bonus and BNN now ranks him the #14 prospect in baseball.
February 1: Former White Sox CF Luis Robert inked a 4/79 pact with San Diego while old friend Drew Rasmussen joined division rival Toronto for 1/8.
February 11: SP Aaron Civale got a 3/47 deal with the Angels.
February 28: With Spring Training underway some vets found new homes on 1-year deals: Joey Gallo (SD, $2.4M), Steven Kwan (SD, $7M), Martin Perez (BOS, $6.2M), George Springer (CWS, $5.2M), Pablo Lopez (NYY, 2/7). Also a couple of former Rays signed minor-league deals: Yandy Diaz (OAK), Nathaniel Lowe (SD).