Pete Crow-Armstrong and Yordan Alvarez absolutely cleaned up this year, with *both* of them snagging unanimous MVP awards in the National and American Leagues respectively. That’s a wild feat, and it just shows how dominant these guys were. Jesse Rogers has been all over Crow-Armstrong’s development, and you know Alvarez just brings that thunder every single night. But even with that kind of star power making headlines, the whispers around the league are getting louder about something else: that December 1 lockout deadline is coming in hot.
Front Office Gambles and Free Agent Frenzy
Seriously, it’s crunch time. Mets GM David Stearns is out here making some bold predictions, saying he believes Marcus Semien can actually be *better* at age 36 next season than he was in his “bad” age-35 season this year. That’s a serious vote of confidence, or maybe a serious gamble, depending on how you look at it. Meanwhile, Scott Boras, who else, is already in full-on agent mode, dangling Tarik Skubal to the Mets and a whole bunch of other teams. Get this, Skubal actually *declined* to hire Boras back in 2016. Talk about a full circle moment! Bob Nightengale says the Mets are downplaying their chances of signing Skubal, but rival teams are apparently thinking the Mets have as good a shot as anyone. The Mets are also in the mix for Alec Bohm, having already met with his representatives. Plus, they’re bringing in Derek Johnson, a former Reds and Brewers pitch coach, in an advisory role. It wasn’t that long ago, 2024, that the Mets were making that incredibly fun postseason run, and Francisco Lindor just walked us through his iconic grand slam from the NLDS. Man, feels like ages ago, right?
Across the Diamond: Rivals and League-Wide Moves
It’s not just the Mets making moves. The entire National League East is getting busy. Atlanta’s Braves just inked right-handed reliever Evan Phillips to a three-year, $35 million deal, which is pretty wild considering he’s only thrown 31.2 major league innings over the past two seasons. They also scooped up utility player Tyler Freeman on a minor league deal. Over in Philly, The Good Phight is wondering just how much the Phillies are gonna spend this offseason. You know they’ve got some cash to throw around. Down in D.C., Federal Baseball is reporting that the Nationals cannot, absolutely cannot, rely on Jake Irvin as a starting pitcher next season. And the Marlins are one of several teams showing interest in starting pitcher Dustin May.
Zooming out to the whole league, it’s not just free agent rumors dominating. The Yankees had a super long meeting with 18-year-old Japanese pitcher Shoki Oda, which is always something to watch. The Tigers are also eyeing Shōta Imanaga, according to Jon Morosi. Mark Feinsand was right on the money saying those general manager meetings laid the groundwork for a completely bonkers couple of weeks before the lockout. And just for a little extra spice, Vas Drimalitis took a hard look at Bo Bichette’s disappointing debut season in Queens. It just goes to show, not every new face shines right away.
The clock is ticking hard with that December 1 lockout deadline just around the corner. GMs are already laying the groundwork, and if these past few days are any indication, we’re about to see some *insane* moves and rumors fly before everything grinds to a halt. Hold onto your hats, baseball fans, because things are about to get wild.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Amazin’ Avenue.
Leave a Reply