Outside The Confines: Getting a new pair of Sox for Christmas

Nov 28, 2022 - 1:00 PM

I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend. It seems like most baseball general managers and agents spent time with their families too. But the Winter Meetings are just around the corner.

• The White Sox have signed free agent right-handed pitcher Mike Clevinger. The deal is for a reported one year and $8 million.
• Ken Rosenthal and James Fegan have more on the Clevinger deal and how he fits in with the Pale Hose. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• The Pirates have signed free agent first baseman Carlos Santana to a one-year, $6.7 million deal. In case anyone was wondering, it’s not the same guy who won a Grammy for “Smooth.” That would be weird, even for the Pirates.
• The surgery that Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper had late last week turned out to be Tommy John surgery. The surgeons had said they wouldn’t know if Harper would need Tommy John until after they opened up his elbow. Harper hopes to return to the Phillies by mid-May.
• The Padres have signed free agent right-hander Julio Teheran to a minor league deal. Teheran pitched in the Atlantic and Mexican Leagues in 2022.
• Would you rather your team signed free agent Jacob deGrom or Justin Verlander? Will Sammon polled ten MLB executives to ask them which one they’d rather have. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• A roundtable discussion at MLB dot com asks almost the same question: Would you rather sign deGrom, Verlander or Carlos Rodón?
• Verlander is at the top of Will Leitch’s list of the top ten “old” free agents this offseason.
• Brendan Kuty has nine signs that free agent outfielder Aaron Judge wants to stay in the Bronx.
• Mark Feinsand profiles free agent shortstop Trea Turner and which teams are interested in signing him.
• Jon Heyman reports that eleven different teams have inquired about free agent outfielder Cody Bellinger. Yes, he reports that the Cubs are one of them. Heyman also has a bunch of other minor hot stove tidbits.
• Will Leitch ranks the best fits for Bellinger.
• R.J. Anderson has five “under-the-radar” free agents that could end up being a big bargain for the team that signs them.
• Keegan Matheson has the Blue Jays biggest needs for this off-season.

• Derrick Gold reports that the Angels ten-year personal services contract with Albert Pujols will not prevent him from attending Cardinals events.
• David Adler has the 22 nastiest pitches from 2022. Of course, the one Cubs pitcher on the list isn’t a Cub anymore.
• And finally, World Series Most Valuable Player Jeremy Peña returned home to Providence, RI where he was honored by the city and his old high school.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.