Winter Meetings Day 1: Yankees, Mets involved in potential three-team blockbuster
We’ve descended upon Las Vegas for the Major League Baseball winter meetings, the epicenter of baseball news and rumors this week. Every day, we’ll keep you up to speed with this curated rundown of the day’s top talking about. Check back often, because we’ll update this post with everything you should be caring about.
What Monday at the winter meeting lacked in actual moves, it more than made up for in juicy rumors and storylines.
The latest has the potential to be the biggest, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports the Yankees, Mets and Marlins are discussing a possible three-team blockbuster trade that would reportedly center around J.T. Realmuto.
#Mets have discussed trade in which they would land J.T. Realmuto in three-team deal with #Yankees and #Marlins, sources tell The Athletic. Not known if Syndergaard involved. NYM would not part with Syndergaard (three years control) if getting only Realmuto (two years) in return.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 11, 2018
Rosenthal initially dangled the name of Noah Syndergaard. It has since been both reported and speculated that Syndergaard would end up with the Yankees if this deal makes it to the final stages.
There have been discussions, a source confirms, on a potential 3-way trade between the Mets, Yankees and Marlins that would bring J.T. Realmuto to Flushing and could send Noah Syndergaard to the Bronx.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) December 11, 2018
Fair warning. It appears this discussion is still too early to know whether there’s a great chance it will be completely.
As of now 1 involved person describes 3-way talks between #Yankees #Mets #Marlins as lot of smoke not a lot of fire. NYY have thought Mia hesitant to deal with them, though in scenario laid out by @Ken_Rosenthal the NYM would get Realmuto from Miami.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 11, 2018
The Yankees, of course, are pretty interested in getting one of the Mets’ pitchers, according to SNY’s Andy Martino.
Source: Yankees “pushing hard” tonight to make deal with Mets
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) December 11, 2018
Source: The Yankees are interested in Mets pitching, not necessarily limited to Syndergaard
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) December 11, 2018
If it does though, it will set the winter meetings ablaze.
Red Sox preparing for life without Craig Kimbrel
The Boston Red Sox bullpen could have a significantly different look to it next season.
According to team president Dave Dombrowski, the Red Sox aren’t planning to spend big to fill the closer’s role for the 2019, which would seemingly rule out a return for Craig Kimbrel.
Dave Dombrowski doesn't anticipate the @RedSox making a big expenditure for the closer's role next year. Cites payroll already being high. Reading between the lines, it would be a miracle for Craig Kimbrel to return to Boston.
— Ian Browne (@IanMBrowne) December 10, 2018
Kimbrel was seemingly the only true reliever manager Alex Cora completely trusted during the postseason. Cora used each of his starters, including Nathan Eovaldi and Rick Porcello extensively, to record crucial outs in October over his middle relievers. Without Kimbrel, Boston could be looking at a complete rebuild and possible reimagining of their bullpen set up.
Nearly one-quarter of MLB in on J.T. Realmuto
The list of potential landing spots for prized catcher J.T. Realmuto is growing shorter. Yet despite several teams seemingly falling out of the picture, nearly 25 percent of MLB is still in the hunt according to Fancred’s Jon Heyman.
As of this moment the teams with the best chance to land Realmuto are these 7 — dodgers, mets, padres, astros, phillies, yankees and braves. A couple notably deny being too involved but they are all apparently involved enough to be in the top 7.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 11, 2018
That speaks to how highly coveted the Miami Marlins catcher is, and how well Miami should do on the return.
Rockies looking for slugging first baseman
The Colorado Rockies have yet to find to a find a suitable replacement for franchise legend Todd Helton after his retirement following the 2013 season. But they’re reportedly determined to shore up the first base position this winter.
with Ian Desmond flopping two years into his five-year $75 million contract, the Rockies made a strong play to pry All-Star Paul Goldschmidt from the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks before he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.
#Rockies Jeff Bridich said #Rockies did talk to #Dbacks about Paul Goldschmidt … DBacks made it clear they weren’t trading him to ROX.
— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) December 11, 2018
It’s no surprise the Diamondbacks refused to trade Goldschmidt within the division. The Rockies have also been linked to Carlos Santana, who was traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Seattle Mariners last month. Santana’s stay in Seattle is expected to be a short one.
Orioles closing in on manager?
It’s not often we make it to the winter meetings with a managerial job still open. Alas, here we are with the 115-loss Baltimore Orioles. Perhaps a resolution is coming soon after MASN’s Roch Kubatko reported they’ve narrow their candidates down to six.
Elias said he’s interviewed 6 manager candidates in person. There won’t be any more. #orioles
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) December 11, 2018
Baltimore tabbed Mike Elias as its new general manager two weeks ago. He’s been overseeing the managerial search.
Corey Kluber sweepstakes heating up
The most interesting man on Day 1 of the Winter Meetings? It’s not Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, both of whom will get paid a whole lot of money one day soon. That day, however, is not today.
And today, the most interesting man in baseball is Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber, whose trade market seems to be picking up, according to reports from MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. The Los Angeles Dodgers might be the favorite to land him at this point.
Source: #Indians interested in #Dodgers OF Alex Verdugo as part of Corey Kluber trade talks. Cleveland is looking for outfield bats, and Verdugo is the Dodgers' top prospect, according to @MLBPipeline. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 10, 2018
If #Indians trade Corey Kluber, they would like to receive a young outfielder in the deal. So it is not a surprise that the #Dodgers (Alex Verdugo), #Yankees (Estevan Florial) and #Brewers (Corey Ray) all are potential landing spots for Kluber. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 10, 2018
Kluber, 32, was 20-7 last year with a 2.89 ERA. He has one more year on this contract and team options for the two years after that.
Who the Yankees are interested in
Who are the Yankees targeting? Two players at the moment, but one of them doesn’t appear to be Bryce Harper
Cashman said #Yankees have scouted Kikuchi “extensively” and he has talked to Scott Boras about the LHP.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 10, 2018
Cashman said he has spoken with Dan Lozano, the agent for Manny Machado, multiple times. They have not spoken in Vegas. “I’m not going to deny we’ve had a conversation or two.”
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 10, 2018
Asked about Bryce Harper, Brian Cashman rattled off the names of his six outfielders and said there’s no spot. Reiterated that playing Harper at first base isn’t an option for the Yankees.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 10, 2018
Rumor: Nelson Cruz’s market is starting to heat up
#MNTwins are a new team in the mix for Nelson Cruz. The Goldy trade may have helped clarify things. Astros, Rays also in. White Sox possibly.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 10, 2018
Yes, Cruz is 38, but here are his homer totals the last five seasons: 37, 39, 43, 44, 40.
Say what? The Phillies tried to sign Nate Eovaldi … as a closer
Here’s an interesting twist. The #Phillies, who are shopping for starters, made a run at Nathan Eovaldi – as a closer. But Eovaldi made it clear at his press conference today he really wanted to be a starter going forward.
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) December 10, 2018
Well, they did say they were ready to spend “stupid” money. Of course, Eovaldi opted for the Red Sox and was introduced Monday in Vegas.
Must read: What it’s like to be traded
A good read for #WinterMeetings: What is it like to get traded?@Chris_Cwik talked to four ex-MLB players about when they found out they'd be traded.
➡️ https://t.co/LwP9zej8il pic.twitter.com/0Cey54Yike
— Yahoo Sports MLB (@MLByahoosports) December 10, 2018
Reds testing the market for Scooter Gennett
Reds have gauged interest in Scooter Gennett. However a 2B market that’s flush with 2B may mean the timing isn’t great.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 10, 2018
Day 1 Morning Rumors
1. The Cleveland Indians seem motivated to trade ace Corey Kluber, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have reportedly thrown their metaphorical hat into the ring.
Sources: Corey Kluber trade talks have intensified. #Dodgers are among the teams involved. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 10, 2018
2. David Robertson is getting a lot of interest. Could a signing open the floodgates for relief pitchers? We know it’s something teams put a premium on these days.
According to sources, between 6-8 teams have expressed interest in David Robertson. Among them are the Dodgers, Red Sox and Mets.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 10, 2018
3. We might start hearing a lot more about Dallas Keuchel as the next top free-agent pitcher out there, now that Patrick Corbin has signed. He and J.A. Happ are the top starters on the market.
Braves, Reds and the Phillies are three prime teams on Keuchel. But what if Yankees lose out on Happ. Might they pounce?
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 10, 2018
4. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who are expected to be busy here, are reportedly interested in second baseman DJ LeMahieu.
#Dodgers showing continued interest in free agent 2B DJ LeMahieu, source says. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 10, 2018
5. Manny Machado and Bryce Harper are, of course, the stars of this show. We’re waiting for news on either of them. Nothing juicy on Harper thus far, but the latest on Machado will have you thinking about “mystery teams” and who they could be.
Manny Machado was reputed to have three mystery teams interested (beyond known yankees, phils, chisox), and he may well have. But no one seems to know who they are (that’s why they are a mystery?!) there are skeptics. One exec opined: “He’ll get paid but the market is limited.”
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 10, 2018
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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
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