Author: rincon

<!–>

The Los Angeles Dodgers spent big last offseason before winning big this postseason, taking home a World Series title after committing more than $1 billion on players like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Teoscar Hernández.

Now it’s time to see which teams are in the mood to open their wallets for free agents in preparation for the 2025 season.

The Ohtani sweepstakes dominated last year’s offseason conversations until the Japanese superstar inked an eye-popping $700 million, 10-year deal last December.With apologies to Juan Soto, there might not be anyone that commands that kind of salary in the coming months, even if this year’s class is arguably deeper.

[Read more: With Ohtani and Yamamoto, World Series averaged record 12.9M viewers in Japan]

Soto, Willy Adames, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Blake Snell, Alex Bregman and Jack Flaherty are among the high-level players who are looking for new teams. After that, there’s another enticing tier of players like the previously mentioned Hernández, Anthony Santander, Jurickson Profar, Ha-Seong Kim, Pete Alonso, Christian Walker and Sean Manaea who could provide a big lift for championship-contending teams.

MLB‘s general managers will meet this week in San Antonio, Texas, in the unofficial opener to the offseason. There usually aren’t a lot of moves during these early November conversations, but the groundwork is often laid for future deals.

[Read more: 2025 MLB free-agent rankings, team fits: Juan Soto leads top 30]

Here are some things to watch as MLB free agency opens this week:

Soto shined as a Yankee, but don’t expect a NY discount

This class may be deep, but there’s no doubt the No. 1 prize is Soto. The four-time All-Star already has 201 career homers, a career .421 on-base percentage and helped lead the New York Yankees to the World Series before losing in five games to the Dodgers.

He’s also just 26 years old.

The Yankees would love to keep Soto, who teamed with Aaron Judge to become a formidable pair for the Bronx Bombers. But it’s unclear how much owner Hal Steinbrenner is willing to spend on a player who could command a contract in the range of $500 million.

[Read more: With flaws exposed in World Series, Yankees face offseason of change]

Soto didn’t tip his hand after New York’s disappointing exit in the Fall Classic, but it doesn’t sound like he’s willing to sign for a discount.

“I’m going to be available for all 30 teams,” Soto said. “I don’t want to say anybody has any advantage, because at the end of the day, we’re going to look at what they have and how much they want me.”

More Big Apple decisions brewing for the Mets

One of the more intriguing teams to watch over the coming months is the New York Mets, who overcame a slow start to advance all the way to the NL Championship Series before losing to the Dodgers.

Alonso has been a big part of the Mets’ lineup for the past six seasons, hitting 226 homers. Manaea, Luis Severino and José Quintana are also on the market after all were important pieces of the pitching rotation.

Now the franchise must decide whether to keep them, build anew, or do a mixture of both. There’s a lot of pressure on the team to improve, especially because it doesn’t seem like the crosstown Yankees are going to stop winning anytime soon.

Fascinating veterans look for late-career resurgence

It’ll be fascinating to see what happens with veterans like Paul Goldschmidt, Walker Buehler, Shane Bieber and Carlos Santana. These are guys who have some miles (and surgeries) on their bodies, but have been great big leaguers for a long time.

Goldschmidt was the 2022 NL MVP for the St. Louis Cardinals, but his offensive production took a dive over the past few years. Still, he’s a first baseman that’s good in the clubhouse and keeps his body in excellent shape.

Buehler came back from his second Tommy John surgery this season. There were several ups and downs, though his sterling performance in the World Series is reason to believe he has plenty left. He threw six scoreless innings against the Yankees, including a scoreless ninth, to clinch the series in Game 5.

Superagent Scott Boras will make his presence felt again

Baseball superagent Scott Boras has long been considered one of the best in the business, although last year’s offseason wasn’t among his finest.

Several of his clients — including Snell, Matt Chapman, Jordan Montgomery and Cody Bellinger — didn’t sign until spring training, yet didn’t command the high-dollar, long-term deals they were seeking. Instead, most ended up signing short-term deals.

Boras will be a major factor again this offseason, representing many of the major free agents, including Soto, Burnes, Alonso, Snell and Bregman.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

–>

---

---

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

<!–>

Gerrit Cole exercised his opt out from his New York Yankees contract, giving the team two days to void the opt out by adding a $36 million salary for 2029, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

Three days after the Yankees lost the World Series, New York said Saturday it declined first baseman Anthony Rizzo‘s $17 million option in favor of a $6 million buyout, making the first baseman a free agent.

Cole’s decision, which was expected, was conveyed by a person who spoke on condition of anonymity because it was not publicly announced. Cole would give up $144 million in the four remaining seasons of his $324 million, nine-year contract.

A 34-year-old right-hander, Cole won the 2023 AL Cy Young Award. His 2024 season didn’t start until June 19 because of nerve irritation and edema in his right elbow. The six-time All-Star went 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts, then was 1-0 with a 2.17 ERA in five postseason starts.

A three-time All-Star, the 35-year-old Rizzo hit .228 with eight homers and 35 RBIs over 92 games in an injury-interrupted season.

Rizzo missed 62 games with a fractured right forearm after colliding with Boston reliever Brennan Bernardino on June 16. He batted .380 (8 for 21) after returning from the injured list on Sept. 1, then fractured the fourth and fifth fingers when hit by a pitch from Pittsburgh’s Ryan Borucki on Sept. 28.

He returned for the AL Championship Series and World Series and batted .267 with no RBIs.

A 2016 World Series champion with the Chicago Cubs, Rizzo has a .261 career average with 303 homers and 965 RBIs in 14 major league seasons. He was traded from Chicago to the Yankees in July 2021.

He stayed with the Yankees for a $32 million, two-year deal, then agreed in November 2022 to a $40 million, two-year contract.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]

–>

---

---

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

<!–>

With Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto making their first appearance, the World Series averaged 12.9 million viewers in Japan, making it the most-watched Fall Classic in the nation’s history.

Along with the United States ratings, the five-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees had a combined 28.7 million average in the two countries.

The Dodgers’ 4-2 victory in Game 2 averaged 15.9 million in Japan, making it the most-watched postseason game in the nation’s history, according to Major League Baseball. Yamamoto was the Dodgers’ starting pitcher and allowed only one run and one hit in 6 1/3 innings.

Tokyo is 19 hours ahead of New York and 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles, meaning the games started around 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday morning in Japan. The games were carried through Fuji TV, NHK BS and J Sports.

The Series also delivered record viewership in Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Taiwan, according to MLB.

The World Series averaged 15.8 million viewers in the U.S. on FOX, FOX Deportes and streaming, its best performance since 2017. That is a 67% increase over last year, when the Texas Rangers‘ victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games averaged only 9.11 million, which was the lowest-recorded Series average.

Los Angeles was the top market with a 18.9 rating and 53 share, while New York was third with a 12.4 rating and 41 share. San Diego was second at 12.4 and 41.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in. The share refers to the percentage of the audience viewing it at the time.

FOX and FS1 averaged 7.49 million for the postseason, a 42% jump over last year, and its best average in seven years.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]

–>

---

---

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

<!–>

The Los Angeles Dodgers will celebrate their eighth World Series championship with a downtown parade and a stadium gathering featuring Shohei Ohtani and other star players on Friday.

The Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in five games, clinching the title with a 7-6 victory in the Bronx on Wednesday.

The team said that because of logistics, traffic and timing, fans won’t be able to attend both events. People dressed in blue Dodgers gear began gathering along downtown streets hours ahead of time.

The parade will begin mid-morning at Gloria Molina Grand Park in front of City Hall with Mayor Karen Bass in attendance. It will continue on a 45-minute route that culminates at the intersection of 5th and Flower streets, with the Dodgers traveling atop double-decker buses.

The celebration at Dodger Stadium will begin shortly after noon. The parade will be carried on the stadium’s videoboards ahead of the team’s arrival.

A portion of the proceeds from the ticketed stadium event will be donated to the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation.

There were more than a dozen arrests during informal celebrations after the team’s comeback win to clinch the Series. Burglaries, vandalism and fires occurred in some parts of the city.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]

–>

---

---

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

<!–>

Freddie Freeman authored a World Series MVP performance for the ages, and not just because the Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman dealt with a badly sprained ankle throughout the team’s playoff run.

Freeman also suffered broken cartilage in his rib just before the Dodgers began their postseason in the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres, ESPN and The Washington Post reported.

–>

The 35-year-old Freeman was diagnosed with the injury on the night of Oct. 4, one day before the start of the NLDS, per ESPN. Yet Freeman remained on the Dodgers’ roster while also dealing with the aforementioned ankle injury, plus a broken finger suffered in August that had not fully healed. He was in the lineup for that game, and still contributed through the first two rounds of the playoffs. This despite noticeable pain that required him to sit three different times during the Dodgers’ NLDS win over the Padres and NLCS win over the New York Mets.

The four days of rest between the Dodgers’ clinching Game 6 of the NLCS and Game 1 of the 2024 World Series helped Freeman make a noticeable improvement, and not only physically. He also tweaked his swing to recover his power stroke. Still, the type of rib injury Freeman was dealing with usually sidelines players for months, ESPN reported.

[RELATED: Full coverage of the World Series] 

Instead, roughly three weeks after being diagnosed with that broken rib cartilage, Freeman hit the first and only walk-off grand slam in World Series history:

And Freeman added on from there, hitting home runs in each of the Dodgers’ next three games to solidify his World Series MVP case. Freeman also broke the record for most consecutive World Series games with a home run (six, dating back to the end of the 2021 World Series he won with the Atlanta Braves) and tied the record for most RBIs in a single World Series (12).

Check out Freeman’s full World Series MVP trophy ceremony and sit-down interview with the “MLB on FOX” postgame crew below:

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]

<!–>

---

---

–>

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

<!–>

The Dodgers’ 8-7 victory over the Yankees in Game 5 for their eighth World Series title and second in five years averaged 18.6 million viewers on FOX, FOX Deportes and streaming, according to Nielsen.

That is the most-watched game in the Fall Classic since Game 7 in 2019 when the Washington Nationals’ victory over the Houston Astros averaged 23.22 million.

The series averaged 15.81 million, its best performance since 2017 when Houston’s victory over the Dodgers in seven games averaged 18.93 million.

Its also quite a turnaround from last year, when the Texas Rangers’ title over the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games averaged a record-low 9.11 million. The Dodgers-Yankees series was a 67% increase over that mark. 

Additionally, the complete 2024 MLB Postseason on FOX and FS1 averaged 7,485,000 viewers, up +42% over last year’s average (5,265,000) and FOX Sports’ best Postseason through Game 5 of the World Series since 2017, per FOX Sports PR. There was also a 101% increase in viewership among adults 18-34. 

The audience Wednesday peaked at 21.27 million from 11:15-11:30 p.m. EDT.

The game had a 21.1 rating and 55 share in Los Angeles and 14.8 rating and 39 share in New York.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in. The share refers to a percentage of the audience viewing it at the time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]

–>

---

---

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

<!–>

Shohei Ohtani added the one major accomplishment that had eluded his already illustrious career on Wednesday night.

The two-way superstar won his first World Series title, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers take down the New York Yankees in five games. As Ohtani suffered a shoulder injury late in Game 2, he didn’t have his best showing at the plate in the Fall Classic. He went 2-for-19 (.105) at the plate, failing to register a home run or an RBI.

–>

Of course, Ohtani was arguably the biggest reason why the Dodgers were even in the World Series to begin with. He became the first player in MLB history to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a regular season, making him the likely NL MVP winner. He also hit .364 with two homers in the Dodgers’ NLCS win over the New York Mets.

At 30, Ohtani has already built a strong case as one of the best players in MLB history. He’ll obviously have plenty of time to add to his case as well, and he’ll make his return to the mound in 2025 after rehabbing from elbow surgery he underwent in late 2023.

As Ohtani looks to add to his legacy, the future Hall of Famer actually mapped out his career when he was a high schooler in Japan. In the list, Ohtani wrote down each goal he’d like to accomplish at each age. The list included professional and personal goals, which could maybe serve as a guideline for what Ohtani still wants to accomplish in his career.

Here’s a complete look at Ohtani’s goal list:

• Age 18: Join an MLB team
• Age 19: Master English and reach AAA
• Age 20: Called up to the Majors, make 1.5 billion JPY (translates to $13 million in US)
• Age 21: Starting rotation, 16 wins
• Age 22: Win the Cy Young Award
• Age 23: Member of Japan WBC team
• Age 24: Throw a no-hitter and 25 wins
• Age 25: Throw fastest pitch in the world 175 kph (or 108 mph)
• Age 26: Win the World Series and get married
• Age 27: Member of Japan WBC team & MVP
• Age 28: 1st son is born
• Age 29: Throw 2nd no-hitter
• Age 30: Get most wins by a Japanese pitcher
• Age 31: 1st daughter is born
• Age 32: Win 2nd World Series
• Age 33: 2nd son is born
• Age 34: Win 3rd World Series
• Age 35: Member of Japan WBC team
• Age 36: Break the strikeout record?
• Age 37: 1st son starts baseball
• Age 38: Stats drop, start to think about retirement
• Age 39: Decide to retire at end of next season
• Age 40: Throw no-hitter in my very last game
• Age 41: Return to Japan
• Age 42: Introduce the American system to Japan?

So far, Ohtani has accomplished six of those items on the list. He made his MLB debut in 2018, checking off another goal when he earned $30 million in arbitration when he was with the Los Angeles Angels in 2023. He made Japan’s World Baseball Classic team in 2023, winning the MVP of the tournament with his two-way prowess helping his native country beat the USA in the final.

Ohtani was a few years off on when he would win his first World Series, predicting he’d win it as a 26-year-old in 2020. However, he was correct that he would win the World Series within a year of getting married, as he wedded Japanese basketball player Mamiko Tanaka ahead of the 2024 offseason. 

Even though most of the records Ohtani has made have come at the plate or on the basepaths, many of his individual goals list were focused on the mound. He rose to prominence in high school due to his pitching ability, throwing the fastest pitch ever for a Japanese high schooler at 99 mph. 

As Ohtani prepares to return to the mound in 2025, some of those pitching goals seem obtainable while some of them might be a bit out of reach. His career-high in wins is 15, which he accomplished in 2022. So, 16+ wins in a season seems doable. But 25 wins in a season is probably unlikely, as former Athletics pitcher Bob Welch was the last pitcher to reach that number, doing so in 1990. 

Throwing a 108 mph pitch is also probably unlikely to happen. He threw a 102 mph pitch during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, which was the fastest pitch he’s ever recorded. For perspective, the fastest pitch ever recorded in the modern era belongs to a 105.8 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman in 2010. Ohtani’s former Angels teammate Ben Joyce is one of the few who has even come close, firing a 105.5 mph pitch in September.

Ohtani will almost certainly not set the strikeout record, either, especially if he plans to retire at 40. He’s recorded 608 career strikeouts, which is 5,000 fewer than Nolan Ryan’s record (5,714). Ryan played for an MLB record 27 years. 

A few of the other pitching goals seem plausible, though. If Ohtani averaged roughly nine wins per season over the next 10 years, he’d break Hideo Nomo’s record for most wins ever by a Japanese pitcher (123). He finished fourth in the AL Cy Young vote in 2022, showing he has the upside to possibly win the award. Ohtani has only thrown one complete-game shutout in his career, but he only allowed one hit in that start. So, he’s already come within reach of pitching a no-hitter.

Of course, the other professional goals that Ohtani had on his list were to win a second and third World Series title. He seemed to amend those goals following the Dodgers’ World Series victory on Wednesday.

“In his first year [with the Dodgers], he won a championship,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters of Ohtani. “He’s like, ‘This is easy. We’re just gonna do it again nine more times.'”

As Friedman is referring to, Ohtani still has nine seasons remaining on the 10-year, $700 million contract he signed with the Dodgers last offseason. If Ohtani miraculously wins a title in each season remaining on his contract, it won’t matter if he accomplishes the individual goals on his list. He’d almost certainly be viewed as the best player in baseball history if he won 10 titles in a row. 

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]

<!–>

---

---

–>

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports