The baseball world is still reeling from Shohei Ohtani’s bombshell over the weekend, but Hot Stove season waits for no one — if anything, action figures to finally pick up now that the sport’s best player has chosen his destination. Plenty of big names remain available, and the teams who missed out on landing Ohtani figure to be extra motivated.
Who’s heading where? Each weekday, we’ll be bringing you the latest news, rumors and reports from around MLB. Monday’s edition features plenty of interesting items, from what’s next for the Dodgers after landing Ohtani to where things stand in the sweepstakes for Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. (As a reminder, here are our top 25 free agents as well as the 10 most interesting trade candidates this winter.)
MLB Hot Stove rumors: Tuesday, Dec. 12
Yamamoto free agency tour rolls on
With Ohtani locked up, the title of most in-demand free agent now likely goes to Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto — and it seems like the sweepstakes for his services has ramped up considerably over the last couple of days. Given his age (just 25) and frontline stuff, just about every big-market team is rumored to be interested: He’s already met with the Yankees, Mets and Giants and will be meeting with the Red Sox very soon, according to MLB.com, while the Blue Jays and at least two other teams remain in the mix. (Jon Heyman reports also reports that the Phillies are lurking, while you can’t count out the Dodgers now that they have an extra $25 million or so to spend.)
Per the YES Network’s Jack Curry, the Yankees left their visit on Monday cautiously optimistic, but this is among the most wide-open bidding wars we’re likely to see — with the price climbing as high as $300 million when the posting fee to Yamamoto’s NPB team is included. If you’re unfamiliar with Yamamoto as a player, there’s good reason for all this hype: The 25-year-old had a 1.16 ERA in 24 starts in Japan’s NPB last season, winning MVP honors for the third straight year.
Extension for Goldschmidt?
Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt took home NL MVP honors just a year ago, but a down year for both he and his team in 2023 led to renewed speculation about his future as he enters the final year of his five-year, $130 million deal. On the Cardinals’ end, they’d apparently love to sign him to a contract extension, at least according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
The Cardinals will approach Paul Goldschmidt at some point this offseason and hope to have a conversation about an extension — prompting what could be negotiations closer to spring training and then a deal that comes before the start of the season. If that doesn’t happen, the Cardinals will leave the door open for those discussions during the season, looking to do it around the All-Star break, or perhaps after the trade deadline, or, if it gets that far, final weekend of the regular season. Their preference is to do it before the start of the season, like they have with Mikolas and others. They do not expect it to be a contentious negotiation. Neither side does. The Cardinals believe they’ll find a way to extend Goldschmidt through his final season, and Goldschmidt has said that he does not plan on play into his 40s as Pujols, Molina did.
Goldschmidt, 36, wasn’t bad this past season, but he certainly wasn’t his usual self, hitting .268/.363/.447 (120 OPS+) with 31 doubles, 25 homers, 80 RBI, 89 runs and 11 steals. Father Time is undefeated, and it’s possible we’re finally starting to see his decline, but more likely he still has some very solid baseball left in him. An extension that takes Goldschmidt to the end of his career and helps St. Louis remain competitive over the next few seasons sounds beneficial for both sides, but if they don’t see eye-to-eye — or things go sideways for the Cards again in 2024 — he could become a very popular name ahead of the trade deadline.
Multiple teams interested in Naylor
It seems like just about every Guardian not named Jose Ramirez is on the trading block these days, and you can apparently add first baseman Josh Naylor to the list. The Cubs, Mariners, and Pirates all showed interest in Naylor during the Winter Meetings last week, according to Cleveland.com, and while no deal is particularly close, the door has at least been opened a crack.
If Naylor is in fact available, he’d immediately become one of the most intriguing bats on a thin market. The 26-year-old emerged as Cleveland’s second-best hitter this past season, slashing .308/.354/.489 with 17 homers, 31 doubles, 97 RBI and 10 steals in 121 games. You’d think that a Guardians team starved for offense — they finished 27th in runs scored and dead last in home runs in 2023 — and hoping to contend in the wide-open AL Central would be looking to build around Naylor, not trade him away. But with Cleveland always reluctant to spend and Naylor two years away from free agency, you can never say never. Plus, the team’s top prospect, Kyle Manzardo, also just happens to play first base.
