Everyone…breathe. In and out. In…and out.

With Sunday night’s absolute firecracker bombshell supernova news that Juan Soto would be signing with the New York Mets on a just-barely-above-minimum-wage deal worth $765 million over the next 15 years, you might have forgotten — because attention spans be damned, damnit — that there was a lot of other major MLB news from over the weekend.

So lets settle down and recap some of those deals, because free agency — as the lovely graphic above so eloquently states — is rolling.

Free Agency is Rolling

With the Soto domino off the board, it’s likely that the rest of this year’s FA class will start to ink deals of their own. But don’t mistake the Soto signing as reason to tune out for the rest of the offseason, as there’s plenty of difference-making players still on the board — and even just some fun, good-vibe inducing folks — for teams to make a run after.

And the last 72ish hours saw several teams address their needs, from the expected to the unexpected. Buckle up.

Giants Sign Top SS Willy Adames

The San Francisco “Pending a Physical” Giants have finally gotten the splash they’ve been looking for…pending a physical.

Jokes aside, it’s another major move under new Giants management after many years of missing out on other top options. Coming in at No. 3 on our Top 20 free agent rankings, Adames’ combination of power (the only shortstop with 20+ homers and 70+ RBIs in each of the last 4 seasons) and defense will be a godsend for this already-talented Giants infield.

In fact, the Giants infield defense was 11th in baseball with +12 OAA (outs above average) in 2024, so adding Adames next to Matt Chapman at the corner infield could turn this into one of the best infield defenses in the National League — and perhaps all of baseball.

Guardians Keep Their Ace Shane Bieber

The Guardians managed an ALCS run in spite of losing Shane Bieber to Tommy John surgery after just two starts in 2024, so can you imagine what they might do with him in the fold. While never ones with spending expectations, the Guardians retained their Cy Young winner on a one-year, $14 million dollar contract with a $16 million player option for 2026.

It’s a deal that makes sense for both sides, as Bieber will be able to take his time in recovering from surgery while still getting paid, and the Guardians get a possible stud back in their rotation on a team-friendly deal. Bieber’s two-start sample in 2024, with an uptick in velocity, showcased what looked like his former Cy Young self — and combing the previous year, he’s rocking a solid 3.47 ERA over his last 140 innings. This deal could look like a real bargain down the road.

A’s Ink Luis Severino to Largest Deal in Franchise History

In a way, the A’s signing Severino to a 3-year, $67 million dollar contract might be the most shocking news of all. Despite being, well, the A’s, this level of investment is literally a first for them and it’ll be interesting to see if its a precursor for more moves to come as their tumultuous transition to Sacramento and, allegedly, Las Vegas continues.

For his part, Sevy bounced back quite well for the Mets in 2024, posting a 3.91 ERA in 180 innings — his most since 2018. The A’s will hope he’ll settle in nicely along with their young pitching staff, and perhaps turn the frowns upside down for the team’s future.

Mets Add Another Former Yankee, Clay Holmes, as a Treat

As if things couldn’t get better for the Mets faithful, they also added some bullpen help in the form of Clay Homes. Or, wait, hold on, they’re signing him to be a starter?

Indeed, according to ESPN reports, the Mets deal for Clay Holmes — 3-years, $38 million with an opt out after year two — comes with the expectation that he’ll be in the starting rotation rather than the pen. There has been a recent trend of successful relievers taking a shot at a larger role with some success (Michael King, Seth Lugo, Jordan Hicks) so the Mets might’ve gotten themselves a real bargain.

Check out Aram Aram Leighton’s breakdown on why Holmes’ repertoire may be conducive to a starter’s workload on the Just Baseball Show.

But if the experiment doesn’t work, Holmes has proven to be a great option — pitching to the tune of a 2.85 ERA over the last 3 seasons — out of the bullpen.

Other Notable Deals

• Tyler O’Neil (3-years, $49.5 million): With the likely departure of Anthony Santander, the O’s find a potential replacement in O’Neil. While health and consistency, he’s flashed excellent power (31 homers in 113 games in 2024) and defensive (2 Gold Glove wins in 2020 and 2021) skills before, making it a high-risk, high-reward move for the hopeful AL contenders.

• Gary Sanchez (1-year, $8.5 million): El Gary has grown to be viewed as a bit of a meme over the last few years, but the Orioles get themselves a solid backup catcher to put behind star Adley Rutschman. Sanchez trails only Salvador Perez for the most home runs by catchers over the last decade.

• Danny Jansen (1-year, $8.5 million): It’s rare to see the Rays invest in the catcher position, but Jansen makes for a solid pickup. He’s coming off a down season in 2024, but Jansen’s combined 6.1 fWAR from 2021-2023 was the 10th best among all active catchers.

• Michael Conforto (1-year, $17 million): Considering Teoscar Hernandez remains a free agent, this move is a little surprising but comes with plenty of upside. The Dodgers have shown a knack for fixing players (possibly with devil magic), and Conforto has shown plenty of power in the past, especially prior to his right shoulder injury. He also managed 20 homers in 2024 for the Giants.

• Blake Treinen (2-years, $22 million): Showing up in seemingly every high leverage situation, the Dodgers get back their dominant reliever. He’s getting up there in age, but his 2.27 ERA with LA over the last 4 seasons is the 5th best mark among all relief pitchers during that span.

• Alex Cobb (1-year deal, amount TBA): It’s been a quiet offseason thus far for the Detroit Tigers, but they make their first move in adding some pitching depth in the form of Cobb. Hardly a blockbuster, but Cobb pitched to a 2.76 ERA in 2024 for the Guardians after returning from injury late in the season, with some other effective stretches (3.7 fWAR in 2023, 2.5 fWAR in 2022) beforehand.

• Jordan Romano (1-year deal, $7.75 million): Philadelphia addressed some of their bullpen needs following the departures of Carlos Estevez and Jeff Hoffman to free agency by inking the former Blue Jays closer to a one-year deal. Romano struggled mightily in 2024 with a 6.59 ERA in 13.2 innings, but he posted a 2.29 ERA from 2020-2023 — the 8th best among all relievers during that span — so this could be a true low-risk, high-reward move for the Phightin Phillies.

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.

What was Shane Bieber’s ERA when he won the 2020 AL Cy Young?

A) 1.87

B) 2.18

C) 1.63

D) 1.51

Other Headlines

• Just Baseball has representation at the MLB Winter Meetings with writers Kevin Henry and Patrick Lyons in Dallas this week. They recapped Day One of the meetings in addition to Kevin’s piece on what we learned from managers. Make sure to keep up with them all week for more Winter Meetings content!

• The MLB Rule 5 Draft takes place this week during the Winter Meetings. Aram Leighton and Jack McMullen dove into which prospects could be selected in this year’s draft which you can also listen to on The Call Up.

• Plenty of top free agents are expected to sign this week during or soon after the Winter Meetings. Alex Bregman is a huge name to watch right now after Soto signed and plenty of others have markets that are beginning to develop. Here are some logical landing spots for more free agents:

• Most teams have yet to make their big splash this winter but will need to do so one way or another. The Orioles still need an ace, the Padres have been quiet, and the Rangers will try to return to contention by making moves.

Bowman 2024 Draft eBay Live Case Break

We’re hosting an eBay Live 2024 Bowman Jumbo Case Break! Jump in the break for a chance at autographs and many other excellent draft cards!

The auctions will end on Thursday between 5-6pm EST and the eBay Live Break is at 8pm EST that evening.

Aram will also be going live on YouTube for a Winter Meetings + Prospect Q&A at 4:30pm EST on Thursday will more information to come on that!

Trivia Answer: C) 1.63

During the 2020 shortened season, Shane Bieber pitched 77.1 innings (12 starts) and finished the season with a 1.63 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and 122 strikeouts as he unanimously won the American League Cy Young Award.

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