2024 MLB Winter Meetings live updates: Tracker, latest news, biggest deals, rumors, analysis for Day Two

The Blue Jays have had a second base problem ever since Cavan Biggio turned out not to be an everyday guy.

They appear to have found an everyday guy.

It’s hard to know exactly how to feel about this deal without knowing the return, but it’s unlikely the Blue Jays are sending top prospects for the infielder. He was so-so with the bat in 2024 as seen in a 252/.298/.340 slash with Cleveland, but he did steal 30 bases, and he’s considered one of the best defensive player at the position.

Gimenez will be Bo Bichette’s double-play partner in 2025, and he provides a solid floor because of the fact he’ll play everyday and likely steal 25-plus bases. His ceiling is limited, however, so he’s more of a backend starter at second base in terms of fantasy purposes.

Update: The Blue Jays are sending right-handed pitcher Nick Sandlin and infielder Spencer Horwitz to complete the deal for Gimenez.

The Yankees didn’t wait long to answer back after losing Juan Soto, even if it’s a move they likely would have made even if Soto re-signed.

It’s obviously a huge move for the Yankees and for Fried. He’s coming off a 2024 season where he posted a 3.65 ERA over 29 starts with a 166/57 K/BB across 174 1/3 innings. For his career, he’s forged a 3.07 ERA and has finished inside the Top 5 of Cy Young voting twice in his eight-years; all with Atlanta.

Fried will begin the 2024 season as New York’s second starter behind Gerrit Cole, and while he’s not an elite fantasy option, he’s a very solid one who should get plenty of win chances behind the New York lineup.

The 2024 MLB Draft Lottery took place Tuesday at the Winter Meetings, and there was a big of a surprise at the top.

The Nationals came into the draft with the fourth best odds of any club at 10.2 percent. They’ll be followed by the Angels who came into Tuesday with the third best odds at 18 percent.

The biggest jumpers were the Mariners, who went from the second-lowest odds at 0.54 percent and moved all the way to the third pick.

The Rockies and Cardinals round out the top five. The Marlins, who came into today with the best odds to secure the first pick of the 2025 Draft, fell to seventh.

As a reminder, the White Sox were ineligible to win the lottery as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, as their market size prevented them from being in back-to-back lotteries. The Athletics also were ineligible because of their position in revenue sharing.

Some of the candidates for the first-overall pick — keeping in mind it’s seven months away — include Stillwater High School infielder Ethan Holliday (Jackson’s brother), Texas A&M outfielder Jace Violette, UC Santa Barbara right-hander Tyler Bremer and Johnson High School infielder Kayson Cunningham.

The Blue Jays have been rumored to be after just about every free-agent reliever on the market — and plenty of starters, too — but their first “big” move is bringing in a familiar face.

Garcia was traded from Toronto to Seattle at the deadline, but he enjoyed a strong 2024 campaign with a 3.46 ERA and 49/12 K/BB before his campaign ended due to an elbow injury. It’s not the most interesting deal in terms of fantasy, but Garcia is a big upgrade to the Blue Jays’ current bullpen group, and he should be a solid bridge to the Toronto closer, whomever that may be.

It’s been a slower day than anticipated, but we did see a team land what should be a starting option for the 2025 campaign.

Simply put, Estrada was horrible in 2024 with a .217 average and .590 OPS over 96 games. The three seasons prior to that, however, saw him forge a slash of .266/.320/.416 with the Giants, and he stole 43 bases over that timeframe for good measure.

With Brendan Rodgers no longer in Colorado, Estrada will likely be the starting second baseman and now will get the chance to hit in some of the friendliest home confines in the sport. This still won’t be a power option, however, so fantasy managers should probably look elsewhere for a starting option to begin 2025 on their roster.

One of the top arms available via free agency is Max Fried, but it appears that will no longer be the case by the end of the Winter Meetings.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Fried is expected to make the decision on his new club by the end of Thursday.

Fried has spent his entire eight-year career with Atlanta after being traded from the Padres as a prospect, and he’s been very effective with a career ERA of 3.07 and 73-36 win-loss record. He has only made 30 starts in his career twice and has never reached 200 innings, but that shaky durability hasn’t hurt his market.

And while we don’t know where Fried is going to sign, we do (likely) know what division he’ll be in. Rosenthal lists the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays as the frontrunners for the 30-year-old; all members of the AL East.

Any of the clubs would provide Fried with good chances of picking up wins, and he’ll be a solid — but not dominant — fantasy option for 2025 and beyond.

Much of the talk of the winter for the Cubs has been whether or not the club can find a trade partner for Cody Bellinger.

Recently, however, the trade talk has turned to Seiya Suzuki, and his agent mentioned a possible move during his meeting Tuesday.

Suzuki has battled injuries since joining the Cubs from Japan, but he’s been a productive hitter when on the field, so it’s not a surprise to see teams interested in his services.

It’s also interesting to note that Suzuki does not want to be a DH, because it might be the spot that would keep him the healthiest. He’s not a bad outfielder, however, and it’s understandable why he he’d prefer to play defense rather than being limited to just the at-bats.

It seems unlikely that Suzuki gets moved this winter, but it can’t be completely ruled out.

Ever since it was reported that the Chiba Lotte Marines would post Roki Sasaki this winter, the assumption was that Sasaki would land with one of the big clubs as one of the most talented hurlers in baseball.

Not so fast.

Wolfe is of course Sasaki’s agent, so this isn’t just speculation. Wolfe called Sasaki as someone who isn’t a big fan of media that is “verbose” — a nice way of saying less is more — and called the right-hander “witty and particular.”

This doesn’t eliminate the Dodgers or Yankees nor anything close. But it’s something to keep an eye on for a pitcher that is going to be pursued by every MLB team because of his ability and the fact he won’t receive a massive contract when he first comes over. This will be a fascinating situation to watch.

The Yankees know that they will not have the services of Juan Soto in 2025, and it will be hard — maybe impossible — to replicate that production.

There are some quality bats on the market that can help, however, and Christian Walker appears to be a target for the Bronx Bombers.

Walker has been a very solid — and underrated — performer over the last three seasons with 95 homers over the last three seasons for the Diamondbacks and an OPS above .800 in each of those campaigns. On top of that, he’s considered an excellent defender at first base, and the not-so-hot corner is a position of need for the Yankees in 2025.

There are going to be plenty of teams interested in Walker’s services — the Tigers have already been mentioned as a target — but at least on paper, this is pretty close to a perfect fit.

The Red Sox have been linked to several starters, and we can add a new name to the list.

Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports that Boston is showing interest in free agent starter Walker Buehler.

This one makes a lot of sense. For one thing, the Red Sox need the arms. It would be a major upset if Boston doesn’t come away with at least two new arms before the start of the 2025 campaign to a group that let the Red Sox down for much of the year.

On top of that, Buehler has a track record of success, and while he didn’t look good for much of the regular season, he was excellent in the playoffs; reminding of the success he had prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery.

There’s some durability risk with Buehler, but there’s enough reward to suggest he’ll get one of the higher AAV contracts this winter.

The Angels have been one of the busiest teams in the early portion of the offseason while trying to shorten their rebuild.

It appears another move is coming, but likely in the form of subtraction rather than addition.

Ward is coming off a solid 2024 season with 25 homers and a .748 OPS in his 156 games with the Angels. The 30-year-old has had spurts of excellence, but they are often followed by long stretches of frustration. A team like Atlanta has been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Ward, and that would be a solid, if not spectacular landing spot for a solid, if not spectacular player.

Before Juan Soto signed his massive $765 million deal with the Mets, he was traded to the Yankees in a blockbuster deal with the Padres.

Could the top free agent of the 2026 class be on the move before the season as well?

Tucker dealt with a heel injury that limited him to just 78 games, but he was excellent in those limited chances with a .993 OPS and 23 homers in 277 at-bats. The 27-year-old has been one of the best power/speed bats in the sport over the past few years, and there’s no reason to think that’s changing soon.

The Yankees obviously make the most sense in a potential Tucker trade, as they have a need in the outfield with Soto signing elsewhere, and they also have a farm system that could match what the Astros are looking for. The Cubs do have plenty of outfield depth, but with all due respect to some of the names there, none of them match Tucker’s offensive upside nor really come close to it.

As Morosi notes, it’s feasible that Tucker just finishes the 2025 season with Houston. But it’s just as plausible someone will knock the Astros’ socks off and make an offer they can’t resist for a player that may leave for “nothing” in 2026.

Roki Sasaki was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines on Monday, and he’ll be joined by another option from the NPB on the market.

Ogasawara spent nine seasons with the Dragons, and he compiled a 3.62 ERA over 161 starts across 951 1/3 innings with the club. In 2024, the southpaw forged a 3.12 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over 144 1/3 innings in 24 starts.

Ogasawara is well known for his command, and draws comparisons to Shota Imanaga as a left-hander who commands solid — but unspectacular — stuff. He doesn’t miss many bats, and fanned just 82 hitters over those 144 1/3 innings with a career K/9 of 7.1. He’s assuredly going to see interest from MLB clubs because of his command and high floor, but his fantasy value will be determined by the landing spot.

The Blue Jays likely would be in the market for a bullpen arm or two even after trading Jordan Romano to the Phillies on Monday, but it makes the likelihood more, well, likely now, and Ben Nicholson-Smith reports that Toronto has interest in several bullpen arms.

Estevez is especially intriguing here, as he not only was a solid relief closing option for the Angels, he finished the year with the Phillies. It seems plausible that Toronto could turn to the 31-year-old as their replacement for Romano for 2025.

The Red Sox don’t appear to have a set closer for 2025, but there’s an internal option that you might have forgotten played for Boston. Mainly because he hasn’t played just yet.

Liam Hendriks was signed to a two-year, $10 million contract last offseason, and while he missed all of the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery — minus some rehab appearances at the end of the year — he’s expected to be ready for the start of the year according to Red Sox general manager Craig Breslow.

When healthy, Hendriks has been one of the best stoppers in the game. He saved 114 games from 2019-2022 with the Athletics and White Sox, and he didn’t have an ERA above 2.81 in any of those seasons. He missed the overwhelming majority of 2023 while recovering from Stage-4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and then underwent the UCL repair surgery in August of that season just five games into his return.

Kenley Jansen is a free agent and doesn’t appear likely to return to Boston, and while the team did sign Aroldis Chapman to a one-year deal, it seems very plausible that Hendriks could be the stopper to begin the 2025 campaign.

No player has been mentioned in trade rumors more than Nolan Arenado this offseason. It appears for good reason.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak acknowledged in Dallas that the teams “preference” would be to trade Arenado.

Arenado has been one of the best third baseman in baseball for the past decade or so, and even at the age of 34, he remains one of the best defensive players in the sport. The offense, however, has dropped off significantly the last two years with a career low .719 OPS in 2024. He’s also owed $64 million over the next three years — the Rockies are taking care of $10 million as part of the trade — so he’s not exactly a bargain in terms of the financial aspect.

Still, teams needing a starter at the hot corner are sure to have interest in Arenado, and it seems likely that the (probably) future Hall of Famer will be playing elsewhere in 2025.

Going into the offseason, this was not exactly considered a loaded shortstop class, and with Willy Adames signing a monster contract with the Giants, the options are even thinner.

That means teams who are looking to bolster the middle of the infield would need to go the trade route, and one player that could be of interest to teams is Carlos Correa.

Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune reports that the Twins have received phone calls in regards to Correa’s availability.

A phone call and an actual deal are obviously two very different things, and Nightengale doesn’t seem to indicate that anything is close. But the idea of a Correa deal does make sense. The 30-year-old is due over $120 million over the next four seasons, and Minnesota has reportedly been told to trim payroll for the 2025 campaign.

And while Correa has dealt with durability issues as of late — he’s played just 221 games the last two years — there’s no denying that he’s one of the most talented shortstops in the game who can make an impact with his bat and with his glove. The teams who missed out on Adames seem likely to pester Minnesota with trade offers, the question is if the Twins can get enough in the deal to justify the trade outside of just slashing payroll.