Much of the baseball world this Sunday heads to Dallas for the annual winter meetings. The biggest splash is the expected signing of 26-year-old superstar Juan Soto, which is hopefully coming very soon. In the meantime, there are plenty of other free agents out there and we’ll also see plenty of trade rumors. Let’s gather everything here.
Dodgers land Conforto
The Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to terms with veteran outfielder Michael Conforto on a free-agent contract, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports. ESPN’s Alden González pegs Conforto’s Dodgers contract at one year and $17 million. Conforto, who turns 32 in early March, is coming off a 2024 season for the Giants in which he slashed .237/.309/.450 (116 OPS+) with 20 home runs and 27 doubles in 130 games. That slash line, however, hides far better road splits: .253/.323/.530 away from Oracle Park, good for a 122 OPS+. For his career, the lefty batsman owns an OPS+ of 120 across parts of nine major-league seasons.
Despite, it would seem, the addition of Conforto, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Dodgers remain interested in bringing back power-hitting outfielder Teoscar Hernández.
Red Sox in on aces
The Red Sox are known to be one of the top suitors for Soto (as well they should be), but every team pursuing Soto should have several irons in the proverbial fire. On the Red Sox, they’ve had discussions with frontline starters Max Fried and Corbin Burnes, according to the Boston Globe.
Fried, a 30-year-old lefty, was 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA last season. He finished second in Cy Young voting in 2022, has three Gold Gloves and was the ace of the 2021 World Series champion Braves.
Burnes, a 30-year-old righty, was 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA last season, finishing fifth in AL Cy Young voting. He won the NL Cy Young in 2021 and led the league in strikeouts in 2022.
As things stand, the Red Sox’s rotation features Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello, Richard Fitts and Cooper Criswell.
Teo likes Boston?
Free-agent outfielder Teoscar Hernández would prefer to stick with the Dodgers, but