January 3: The Hall of Fame Voting is in, and well...
Oof, rough one there for Kenley Jansen, who missed by a vote or two and agonizingly close for Wainwright as well. Freeman had a nice showing in his first year of eligibility and I'd like to think all 3 will eventually be enshrined.
January 4: Paul Skenes, whom we rented in 2030, signed a 4/48 deal with the White Sox coming off a disappointing 10-13, 4.44 season with the Mets.
January 5: Well we added the RH OF bat we were looking for:
The good news on Bailey: 65 contact, 70 gap power, 55 power, 70 avoid Ks. The bad news: 35 power, was "good" for -1.1 WAR last year after hitting 239/273/326 with the Mets, and is a mediocre defensive LF. Fortunately we're only looking to use him in a complementary role - platooning with Schmidt in LF and DHing some. The cost was minimal (Contreras is roster filler) and Bailey only makes $3.1M. So nothing earth-shattering but hopefully useful. And if he keeps playing at sub-replacement value, we have next to nothing invested if we decide to get rid of him. This probably means
Alfredo Rosas is ticketed for Durham.
January 14: Another starting pitcher we rented for a year (in 2031) is on the move as lefty Ricky Tiedemann joined Pittsburgh for 4/78.
January 16: Hayden Juenger, who pitched decently for us in the bullpen last year after being claimed on waivers, signed a modest 1-year, $2.3M deal with the Mets. This bothered the fans for some reason.
January 25: Same thing with Joe Boyle, who got hurt with us last year and was non-tendered, signing for San Diego for 1 year at $1.6M yet the fans are upset. Who knew middle relievers were so popular?
January 30: Signed free agent RP Yeuris Jimenez to a 2-year, $16.6M contract.
Who says you can't go home again, Yeuris is back after four very good seasons in our bullpen in which he averaged nearly 1 WAR/season and struck out 283 in 229 IP with an ERA of 2.79 over those years. He's going to cost us a little more but he should be worth it.
February 5: Yordy Richard, whom we acquired at the deadline last year and became our closer, signed a 2/19 deal with Toronto. I was in negotiations with him and willing to go $12M on a one-year deal, but we're going to be up against it next winter salary-wise so I didn't want to make a 2-year commitment.
February 7: 3B Zack Gelof signed a 2/41 deal with Arizona.
February 10: Bobby Marsh, our 1B from 2027-2030, signed a 3/86 deal with the Cubs after coming off his best season since his first with us, earning 4.1 WAR after hitting .266-27-97 with 104 walks.
February 11: The biggest free agent of 'em all and biggest in several years is still out there as former(?) Rockies 2B Jack Ruckert, 4-time NL MVP (including consecutively from 2031-33) who's averaged about 8 WAR/season is still demanding a $500M+ contract (9 x $56). He's younger than your typical big-name free agent (28) so he should get paid. I offered him 7/350 at the outset of free agency before we signed Kath and Thean. It will be interesting to see where he ends up and for how much.
March 1: Preseason begins, we'll be back next with the Opening Day roster and preseason prediction post.