Folks…hang on tight for what I’m about to say…are you ready….here it comes…we are just two days away from the month where actual baseball is played.

Bear with us. Pitchers and catchers start to report in just two weeks and we cannot wait to dive into the 2025 MLB season with you all.

Two huge names still remain available as we near February, but a couple others landed with a new team this week. We continued our esteemed player rankings on the Just Baseball Show, too, with this week focusing on the infield.

Don’t worry, comrades, this cage of monotonous rumors/reports will be broken and the effervescent bliss of actual bat-crackin’ and glove-thumping will return soon enough.

Recent Offseason Moves

Well, Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso are still available. While their own teams — the Astros and Mets, respectively — have seemed like the most logical destinations, it appears those bridges have been burned. Maybe not Joker type of burned, but burned enough that even the sugar-daddy of MLB, Steve Cohen, is frustrated.

In terms of the great arms race, Jack Flaherty is the only true impact player still available at this point in the winter (Sorry, Kyle Gibson truthers) but his market has been disarmingly quiet. There are still a number of other solid arms, though, that will presumably find a team in the near future.

It remains to be seen where those stars will end up, but this week did see one notable free agent get a nice payday on top of some other significant moves around the edges.

Jurickson Profar Signs Three-Year, $42 Million Deal with Braves

It’s been a tough winter (EDITOR’S NOTE: *life*) for San Diego…and the one player that nearly everyone penciled in to return to the Padres is going cross country.

Atlanta signed former top prospect Jurickson Profar to a three-year, $42 million deal after his awe-inspiring, career-best season at 31 years old. While Profar has never previously been near the level he performed at in 2024, there are plenty of reasons in his data to believe he can sustain high-end production.

Last season was a disappointing one for the Braves offense, but there are worse odds than counting on their litany of stars bouncing back, the return of Ronald Acuña, and addition of Profar. It wouldn’t surprise us, or anyone, if Atlanta returns to their championship-caliber ways.

Ha-Seong Kim Signs Two-Year, $29 Million Deal with Rays

Yeah…another Padre officially signed elsewhere yesterday following the Profar deal earlier in the week. The Rays signed a player that pretty perfectly fits their style of play as defensive star Ha-Seong Kim will take over at shortstop in Tampa once recovered from surgery upon signing a two-year deal.

After posting a 5.8 WAR season in 2023 thanks largely to Gold Glove defense, Kim’s 2024 felt lackluster but this deal could provide serious value.

Kim’s market was rather tricky to predict due to the average yet inconsistent offensive production and coming off a season affected by injury. Those types of scenarios are often where Tampa Bay thrives and they’ll look to do just that here.

Ryan Pressly Dealt to Cubs

The Astros dynasty across the past decade appeared to be ending early in the 2024 season before they not only salvaged it but won the AL West once again.

It’s been a tricky offseason for Houston as they traded star outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Cubs, albeit much of the reasoning being due to his pending free agent status after 2025. Alex Bregman still remains a free agent, but this move could increase their likelihood of retaining him.

A second deal of the winter with the team on the North Side of Chicago went down this week as Houston sent former closer Ryan Pressly to the Cubs for pitching prospect Juan Bello. This deal was reported to be in the works last year but Pressly had to waive his no-trade clause to make it happen. He’ll be a key piece of the bullpen for a Cubs team that struggled to hold leads at times in 2024.

Other Moves and Rumblings

• The Reds have been slowly adding useful pieces to the their young core hoping to make a leap following their tough 2024 season. They inked outfielder Austin Hays to a one-year, $5 million deal to boost their offense, especially against left-handed pitchers. Read more!

• Another international arm agreed to a deal this week as the Nationals signed Japanese pitcher Shinnosuke Ogasawara to a two-year, $3.5 million deal. He’s likely to slide into a low-leverage bullpen role as he transitions to MLB.

• As they try to take a step forward with a promising future ahead, the Pirates brought in two veterans, utility man Adam Frazier and reliever Tim Mayza, on one-year deals.

• San Diego has yet to do much as we mentioned earlier, but they did bring back catcher Elias Diaz on a one-year, $3.5 million deal who could be in line to start with the departure of Kyle Higashioka.

• Two veteran relievers agreed to deals yesterday with Ryne Stanek staying with the Mets and Tommy Kahnle (and more importantly his changeup) signing with the Tigers.

• Following a surprise playoff run, the Royals added to the back of their bullpen yesterday by signing Carlos Estevez to a two-year, $22 million deal with a third year club option that could make the deal worth $33 million total. He should work late in games alongside Lucas Erceg in Kansas City. Read more!

• An additional trade went down yesterday (of course after we wrote this) as the Reds acquired Taylor Rogers from the Giants in exchange for minor league pitcher Braxton Roxby. He has been a rock solid set up man for years and should be just that for Cincinnati this season. Read more!

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Just Baseball Trivia of the Week

Our newsletter will have a trivia question every week to test and expand the baseball knowledge of our subscribers! The answer to the weekly trivia question will be at the bottom of the newsletter each week.

Who leads MLB in ERA across the past 4 seasons (Min. 300 innings)?

A) Shohei Ohtani

B) Reynaldo Lopez

C) Brandon Woodruff

D) Michael King

Top Infielders for 2025

We kicked off our top players by position lists two weeks ago and covered the first set of positions in last week’s newsletter. Now, we move further into the rest of the infield!

Top 10 Second Basemen for 2025

This position has typically been headed by one name for the better part of a decade, but he slides into the second spot this year. One of the harder positions to rank by year, we’ve got some familiar faces at the top this year with some news ones mixed in.

After finishing third in NL MVP voting, Ketel Marte clearly claims the top spot while Jose Altuve still remains in the elite tier alongside Marcus Semien. On the other hand, youngsters Brice Turang and Luis Garcia Jr. make their rankings debut.

Top 10 Shortstops for 2025

One of the premier positions in the sport is absolutely loaded with talent right now due to a blend of excellent veterans and budding superstars. But please, nobody show this to Padres superfan (and newsletter editor!) Javier Reyes.

After one of the best seasons ever from a player at the position, Bobby Witt Jr. was the consensus top shortstop in the game among our hosts and editors. Another rising star in Gunnar Henderson joins him at the top while two very accomplished players in Francisco Lindor and Mookie Betts (Welcome to this position!) follow.

The talent continues throughout the rest of this group though with plenty of other very good shortstops not even cracking the Top 10 because, folks, it ain’t 2014 anymore. This position is arguably the most stacked in the sport.

Top 10 Third Basemen for 2025

A position led by the same handful of guys for a while has a clear cut top player now with other veteran stars to follow. The top six are a clear step above the rest at this position, but there are players on the rise to keep an eye on.

This is another position with a consensus top dog in José Ramirez, but plenty of talent follows with Rafael Devers jumping to the second spot this year and Austin Riley slotting in next.

Two players who broke out in 2024 in Mark Vientos and Jordan Westburg round out this group filled with players who simply mash. See if you can think of a mainstay at this position over the past decade who didn’t even crack the Top 10 this year…

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Other Headlines

• Our newest branch of the Just Baseball Media network is off and running as On the Clock is now our official home for College Baseball and MLB Draft coverage! Keep an eye out for our first college baseball newsletter coming soon featuring our top high school and college draft prospect boards.

• The MLB The Show cover for 2025 was released this week and it features three of the most electric young stars in the game!

• The Dominican Republic Winter League wrapped up this week as young Rays star Junior Caminero hit one of the most electric home runs you have ever seen. You think I’m being hyperbolic? Explain this this video then.

Collectibles Corner

Topps announced this week that two of the greatest MLB players ever will appear on a dual autograph card for the first time…

It’s hard to imagine how sought after this card featuring Shohei Ohtani and Barry Bonds will be in the near future.

Trivia Answer: B) Reynaldo Lopez

Okay, this one even shocked me. Across 324.2 innings of work, Lopez has a 2.66 ERA since 2021 which leads of MLB. He just became a full-time starter last season though…

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