As the early part of the offseason continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. Soto meeting with teams:
The bidding for superstar outfielder Juan Soto is already getting underway, and the first order of business is for interested clubs to meet with Soto himself. That’s a process that’s set to play out this week, with the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Mets, and the incumbent Yankees all known to have scheduled a meeting at this point. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported yesterday that Toronto is first in line to meet with Soto this week as they look to add a star hitter to complement Vladimir Guerrero Jr. after missing out of Shohei Ohtani last winter, though the two New York teams have generally been regarded as the favorites for the 26-year-old phenom to this point in the process.
2. What’s next for the Angels?
The Angels have been the most aggressive team in baseball this November with a number of moves already in the books. They shipped Griffin Canning to the Braves in order to land slugger Jorge Solerthen replaced Canning in their starting rotation by signing veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks to a one-year deal. They’ve now added further reinforcements by bringing in veteran catcher Travis d'Arnaud on a two-year pact.
There’s reason to believe that aggressiveness could continue, as well; with Logan O'Hoppe entrenched as the club’s starting catcher and d’Arnaud now in the mix as an above-average backup option, it would seem likely the club is set to move on from Matt Thaisswho served as O’Hoppe’s backup this year and the club’s primary catcher in 2023 while O’Hoppe was injured. The Athletic’s Sam Blum relayed uncertainty from GM Perry Minasian regarding what Thaiss’ future with the club is following the move to land d’Arnaud. With the non-tender deadline scheduled for next week and Thaiss projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for $1.3MM, a decision on his future could be imminent.
3. Rays stadium plans remain murky:
A report yesterday from Tampa revealed that the Rays’ home of Tropicana Field could be fixed for the 2026 season. That news took the unsurprising step of more or less officially ruling out the possibility of the club returning to their ballpark in 2025 while also leaving their medium-term future uncertain. The city of St. Petersburg, which owns the stadium and is responsible for any repairs, has an insurance policy that would cover $25MM of the $55.7MM required to repair the Trop. Whether the city will look to do so is not yet clear, and until they make that decision the Rays won’t know whether they’ll be nomadic only in 2025 or for the next three seasons until their new stadium is built for the 2028 campaign. In the meantime, they’ll need to find a place to play for next season in the near future, as commissioner Rob Manfred recently suggested that there needs to be a plan in place by late December.
