The San Francisco Giants have finally landed a big fish. It only took the better part of a decade and the individual with the largest deal in franchise history to make it happen. Shortstop Willy Adames now holds that distinction, however, as his reported seven-year deal for $182 million tops that of new president of baseball operations Buster Posey.
The Giants, and perhaps Posey, found themselves in this position partly because the club’s 13-year, $350 million pact with Carlos Correa two winters ago fell through over concerns about his medicals. While Correa is coming off another All-Star (yet abbreviated) season, the Twins are reportedly open to trading the 30-year-old despite four years left on his contract. The 29-year-old Adames, meanwhile, is coming off perhaps the best year of his career with the Brewers.
That prompted the following debate between our MLB writers:
Money being equal, who would you rather have for the next five years, Willy Adames or Carlos Correa?
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Rowan Kavner: This is a close call considering Adames’ durability and home run ability, but I have to go with the upside of Correa. He’s a year older with a concerning injury history, but he’s also a three-time All-Star, former Rookie of the Year and Platinum Glove winner and, as his .905 OPS this year demonstrated, a potential MVP contender when he’s healthy. The downside, of course, is that he often isn’t.
Adames is a much better bet to actually stay on the field. He’s a consistently above-average player who just produced a career year offensively, though his high strikeout and whiff rates cap his offensive ceiling. The highest wRC+ Adames has produced in a season was 126 (he was 26% better than league average offensively in the shortened 2020 season); Correa, meanwhile, has averaged a 127 wRC+ for his career (and a 126 mark over the past four years).
Since 2021, Correa and Adames rank sixth and eighth, respectively, in FanGraphs’ version of WAR among shortstops. Limit it to the past three seasons, and they’re 10th and ninth. In other words, they’ve provided close to the same value in recent years, despite Adames playing in almost 100 more games during that stretch. You can look at that two ways. One, Adames has been the more reliable player. Two, Correa is usually the more productive player when he does play. Adames leaves the yard more often, but Correa hits the ball harder, strikes out less and reaches base more often. Adames has produced between 3-5 WAR and played in at least 139 games each of the past four seasons, but he has never had a season worth 5.0 or more WAR and has never been an All-Star. Correa, meanwhile, has played in 139 games just once since 2017, but the ceiling (as evidenced by his MLB-best 7.2 bWAR season in 2021) is considerably higher.
After a down year in 2023, Correa displayed both what remains in the tank and the dangers of relying on him to stay healthy in 2024. He slashed .310/.388/.517 with encouraging underlying numbers in an All-Star season but missed half the year with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Even with Adames producing one of his best seasons ever — the former Brewers shortstop finished in the top 10 in MVP voting for the first time while posting career highs in hits, homers, RBI and stolen bases — Correa provided about the same value in about half the games.
I mentioned in our roundtable this week that I thought Adames was a perfect match for the Giants, who needed help up the middle defensively and a difference-maker in the lineup (the deal he was offered was exactly the max I said I would have given him). He was the type of player the Giants needed to get. But if I were picking between the two, I’d lean toward Correa, whose greater risk comes with greater reward.
Deesha Thosar: Adames. Perhaps the recency bias of his successful walk year is swaying me, but the 29-year-old’s career-high of 161 games in 2024 represent a major highlight, particularly when comparing him to Correa. As noted, the Giants broke their agreement with Correa a couple of winters ago because of medical issues, and there should be zero concerns about Adames’ physical health this time around. Given Buster Posey’s workhorse regimen during his prime years in San Francisco, it’s likely that Adames’ durability stood out to the new Giants front office leader — as it should. Avoiding major injuries, and playing through minor maladies, is not only becoming increasingly rare in today’s game, it’s an asset that Correa simply doesn’t have. Correa’s 86 games played in 2024 and the ongoing never-ending questions about his longevity are drawbacks that are really tough to look beyond.
Especially for someone like Posey, who is at the early stages of setting a new standard of stability for Giants baseball, it’s important to field a roster of players who can be counted on. Not only was Adames known as a clubhouse leader in Milwaukee, he was a dependable bat at a premium position, too. Of course, shortstops age rapidly, so there is a general risk of physical decline in the field with Adames. But the pop in his bat, which has played well at Oracle Park, can offset some of his defensive concerns, and his dependability goes a long way when considering a deal for the next five years. Adames has a .321 batting average, .381 on-base percentage, and .827 OPS in 63 plate appearances at Oracle. Now, the two home runs he’s hit in that span are lackluster, but that’s to be expected in the pitcher-friendly ballpark. I’m expecting Adames’ walk rate to offset some of those power concerns.
As for Correa, he always looks like he’s on the cusp of reclaiming his Houston superstar days — right up until he inevitably suffers an injury. There is no doubt at this point that those evaluating Correa for a five-year pact must readjust their expectations. Correa, who missed significant time with plantar fasciitis this past season, cannot make any promises about his finicky foot, which casts long-term concern on how much production to expect from the shortstop. I would be much more weary of going down that road with Correa than committing to a solid, albeit pricey, pact with Adames.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
Willy Adames has agreed to a $182 million, seven-year contract with San Francisco, providing the Giants with a power-hitting shortstop in the prime of his career, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on Saturday on condition of anonymity because the agreement was pending a physical. ESPN first reported the move.
The 29-year-old Adames is coming off his best offensive season in the big leagues after hitting .251 with a career-high 32 homers and 112 RBIs with the Milwaukee Brewers. He’s a solid shortstop with a strong arm and good range, though his defensive metrics slipped a little in 2024.
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He also has provided consistent power with 150 homers over seven seasons. He broke into the big leagues in 2018 with Tampa Bay and hit 20 homers in his first full season in 2019.
He was traded to the Brewers in 2021 and had one of his best seasons in 2022, slugging 31 homers with 98 RBIs and had a 4.3 WAR.
Adames was signed by the Detroit Tigers in 2012 as a 16-year-old in the Dominican Republic.
Deciding whether Juan Soto tops Shohei Ohtani for baseball’s largest contract could be in the eye of the beholder because of all the deferred money in Ohtani’s deal.
Ohtani agreed last December to a $700 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, easily exceeding the previous high set when Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels struck a $426.5 million, 12-year agreement through 2030.
Ohtani’s deal includes $680 million in deferred money payable from 2034-43. There are several interpretations of how to value that deal in current dollars:
Soto could get a contract of 10-to-15 years for $600 million or more.
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His agent, Scott Boras, is not a big fan of deferred money and thinks teams might not insist on delaying the cash.
“I think it’s much less of an issue than it was before,” Boras said. “Deferral as a mechanism for me, is it: Will it impede my ability to get the greatest asset I can acquire? And the answer to that is, I don’t think they’re going to want to do anything that impedes their primary pursuit and goal.”
Juan Soto rumors: Dodgers moving Mookie Betts to infield for free agency play?
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The interest figure used for discounting to determine luxury tax value is set in the collective bargaining agreement as the federal mid-term rate defined in section 1274(d) of the Internal Revenue Code for the October preceding the initial contract year.
That rate dropped to 3.7% this offseason, which meant if Ohtani’s deal had been agreed to this month, its annual luxury tax value would have been about $49.3 million. That would have resulted in an additional $3.5 million annual tax bill for the Dodgers, who would exceed the top threshold and would pay additional tax at a 110% rate on each dollar.
MLB’s regular payrolls, which use the same rate as the one for calculating the qualifying offer price based on the 125 largest contracts, use the prime rate set by JPMorgan Chase on the preceding Nov. 1 plus 1%, rounded to the nearest full percentage point. That figure dropped to 9% for this offseason.
Deferred compensation must be funded by the second July 1 after the season in which it was earned, discounted to a present-day value at a 5% rate.
“It’s just trying to kick dollars down the road,” St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said at the general managers’ meetings last month.
Ohtani’s payments are two-thirds of the total owed.
“It was a unique situation for where a club was, a unique situation for a player who has very significant earning potential outside of strictly his compensation from a club,” New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “Those other ones are much more representative of what you see in sort of standard contracts around the industry. Each organization, each ownership group is going to have a slightly different perspective on this, on how they’re calculating the returns off of that deferred compensation.”
Yankees’ Juan Soto cranks a solo home run, tying game against Dodgers
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Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said his team’s leadership from Guggenheim Baseball Management has the expertise to fund deferred compensation wisely.
“A lot of our ownership group are from financial background and can have that money going to work right now,” he said.
MLB proposed during collective bargaining on June 21, 2021, to put an end to the practice.
“For contracts entered into after the effective date of the Basic Agreement, deferred compensation of any kind will not be permitted,” the proposal read, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.
That idea was rejected by the union and not included in the five-year agreement that expires in December 2026.
New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman thinks his team’s large resources encourage players to seek their money as soon as possible.
“We’re open to deferrals,” he said. “A lot of times players are less open to doing deferrals for us than they are for maybe other markets, but if we can do stuff that benefits us, of course we will.”
The Los Angeles Dodgersannounced on Thursday that star first baseman Freddie Freeman “underwent surgery on his right ankle consisting of debridement and the removal of loose bodies.” He’s expected to be ready for spring training.
Freeman suffered an ankle injury in the final week of the regular season but played through it in the postseason — and proceeded to put on a show in the Fall Classic.
In the Dodgers’ five-game series win over the New York Yankees in the World Series, Freeman blasted four home runs and drove in 12 runs, helping him win MVP of the series. Furthermore, Freeman hit a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning in Game 1 of the series at Dodger Stadium.
In the regular season, Freeman totaled 22 home runs and 89 RBIs, while posting a .282/.378/.476 slash line, 4.7 WAR and 1 DRS at first base.
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Freeman, 35, is entering the fourth season of a six-year, $162 million deal with the Dodgers.
‘That’s a dream come true’ – Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman after his game-winning grand slam in Game 1 of World Series
Is there anything more enjoyable than bonding over sports with loved ones while winning some cash?
People get to do exactly that every week with our free-to-play FOX Super 6 contest.
With opportunities to win thousands of dollars, the Super 6 game gives fans a new reason to get excited about sports.
The contest — which has been live since the beginning of the 2023 NFL season — has already given away a ton of cash.
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This season, across all contests (NFL, College Football, NFL Network and MLB), more than $239,000 in cash and prizes has been awarded.
Let’s take a look at a few of our recent winners.
Home of the Braves
Les from North Georgia won the MLB Championship Super 6 contest, perfectly fitting for him as an Atlanta Braves fan.
“I’ve been playing Super 6 since September, and knowledge is my strategy,” the retiree explained.
While Les’ rooting interest is in the Braves, he does have a bold prediction about how the rest of the college football and NFL seasons will play out.
“It’s hard to win it all,” he said, “but I do think the Buckeyes, Dawgs and Falcons will make the postseason.”
College Football, MLB Reign Supreme
Justice from Maryland is one of our recent winners who chose not to tell his folks right away about his good fortune.
“No, I haven’t told my family yet, but I do plan to start my Christmas shopping earlier than later,” the college football Week 9 winner revealed.
And then there’s Midwest Jeff, a software engineer from Minnesota, who abandons strategy when it comes to FOX Super 6.
“I just pick and pray,” he admitted after cashing in on the FOX Super 6 MLB World Series contest.
Les (left) and Justice are two of the most recent FOX Super 6 winners to cash in. –> <!–>
West Coaster Cashes In
NFL Week 6 winner Michael from Washington admits that he was shocked when he found out he had won.
“When I realized it was actual and factual, I was in disbelief,” the beverage industry worker told us. “I told my family and friends, and their reaction was very similar to mine — shocked and excited.”
When it comes to his favorite team, Michael is a diehard Raiders fan. “I have been a fan of the Raiders since they were in Oakland, then L.A., back to Oakland and I’m still a fan now that they’re in Vegas.”
So what does he plan to do with the cash?
“Although I did not win the Super Bowl, I will be going to Disneyland!”
Michael from University Place, Washington, is excited about taking a Disney trip. –> <!–>
Terrible Towel, Wonderful Winner
Dakota from Pittsburgh works in finance and won the NFL Network contest in October.
“I’ve been playing for about two years and make selections primarily based off of the players’ opponents,” she explained. “A receiver or running back that might not be top 10 can still have dominant performances against weaker teams or a team facing injuries.”
The Steelers fan also gave us her bold prediction for the season.
“T.J. Watt is locked in this year, so Defensive Player of the Year is his for the taking. I think the Steelers will definitely make the playoffs and will hopefully make a run for a Super Bowl.”
Dakota enjoys watching her favorite team. –> <!–>
Super 6 at a Glance
Every week, the contest challenges its participants with fun, knowledge-oriented questions. We dug into the data to grab a few nuggets from the weeks that our highlighted winners won.
MLB League Championship Contest
There were four perfect entries in the MLB League Championship contest. Les took the top prize via the tiebreaker by most accurately predicting the final score of Game 4 of the NLCS when the Dodgers beat the Mets 10-2.
College Football Week 9
Ranker questions continue to be our most difficult question each week. During college football Week 9, Justice was part of only 1.95% of entries that correctly ordered Question No. 4: “Order the following by who will have the MOST TOTAL YARDS (highest to lowest)” as DJ Giddens > Omarion Hampton > RJ Harvey > Kaleb Johnson.
MLB World Series
The easiest question in the World Series contest was Question No. 6: “Who will win GAME 4 of the World Series? Yankees or Dodgers?” It was a relatively even split between picks, but Jeff was part of 48.7% of entries that correctly picked the Yankees to beat the Dodgers.
NFL Week 6
The hardest non-ranker question for NFL Week 6 was Question No. 1: “Who will have the MOST RECEIVING YARDS?” Michael was part of 11.9% of entries that correctly picked Chris Godwin, who had 125 receiving yards over A.J. Brown, CeeDee Lamb and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Your Turn!
So how can you join in on the fun?
It’s simple.
Just look out for our next FOX Super 6 contest, and when it goes live, try your hand to see if you can win.
The best part is that it’s free.
Your lucky day could be a few guesses away. Head to the app and start playing now!
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
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We’re in Week 5 of the Juan Soto sweepstakes, and with every report, the Yankees appear more vulnerable to losing him. The Dodgers, meanwhile, are rumored to be weighing potential trades for at least three stars.
Speaking of stars, Willy Adames isn’t a household name but is by far the best free agent among shortstops. Where would he make the most impact? Pete Alonso is the top first baseman on the market, but would he be a better buy than Christian Walker? What position players and pitchers will be the steals of free agency?
FOX Sports MLB experts Deesha Thosar and Rowan Kavner weigh in on those topics and more in our latest roundtable.
1. What potential trade target do you like best for the Dodgers: Cody Bellinger, Carlos Correa or Nolan Arenado?
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Kavner: I’d rank them Correa, Arenado and then Bellinger. Correa — if the Dodgers and their fans can look past any lingering disdain from what transpired in 2017 — makes the most sense, even if outfield is the more pressing need with Teoscar Hernández hitting free agency and Mookie Betts supposedly moving back to the infield. The Dodgers moved on from Bellinger once when they thought his salary would no longer be commensurate with his value two years ago. I highly doubt their opinion changes now, with Bellinger set to earn $27.5 million in 2025 with a player option for 2026 after his power dipped and he hit just 11% better than league average in a more pedestrian 2024 season. There are more obvious fits for him elsewhere, where he can utilize his versatility and move between the outfield and first base. Plus, it’s easier for a team to patch together an outfield than it is to find an All-Star caliber everyday shortstop, which is something the Dodgers have lacked since letting Corey Seager and Trea Turner go and is now a bigger need than third base.
Arenado could get moved, and the Dodgers have long held interest in the eight-time All-Star, but they’d have nowhere to put Max Muncy after his strong 2024 season if they trade for Arenado and Betts is occupying second base. Plus, Correa was a more valuable player in 86 games last year (3.7 bWAR) than Arenado was in 152 (2.5) and Bellinger was in 130 (2.2). He has the most upside of this trio and would provide the Dodgers a lot more certainty in their infield. Miguel Rojas, Tommy Edman and Betts are capable of taking down innings at shortstop, but Betts is better suited at second, Edman graded out better in center than at shortstop last year, and the Dodgers have preferred to keep Rojas in a part-time utility role. They demonstrated last year they don’t need a prototypical everyday shortstop to win a World Series, but having one the caliber of Correa would certainly be a nice luxury.
Thosar: I’m going with Bellinger. Even beyond the sentimentality, the Dodgers will need Bellinger’s expertise in the outfield if they don’t bring Teoscar Hernandez back in free agency. The Cubs are reportedly looking to trade Bellinger after he exercised his $27.5 million player option for 2025, and that kind of financial cost is a big risk for a player who was beset by injuries in 2024 after a promising season in 2023. But the Dodgers know Belli best, and the former MVP is a better option than Correa (who is still hated in Los Angeles after his bad blood with the 2017 championship Astros) and Arenado (who’s coming off his worst career season).
Arenado might want to be traded to the Dodgers, but do they want him? Max Muncy is signed through 2025, so they would have to shift him to second to accommodate the 10-time Gold Glove winner … but they also declared that Mookie Betts was returning to the infield next season. A reunion with Bellinger isn’t as risky or complicated as acquiring the other two trade targets.
2. Would you bet on the Yankees or The Field to sign Juan Soto? If the Yankees miss, what must they do to make this a successful offseason?
Thosar: The Yankees have to finish what they started and sign Juan Soto. They just have to, and the sky is falling if they don’t. Giving Soto a blank check in free agency was always a possibility when they traded for him in the first place, and after he enjoyed his best career season in the Bronx and took the Yankees to the World Series, presenting Soto with an offer he can’t refuse has become their only option to survive the offseason without angering the fan base. Soto was so clearly the missing piece for Aaron Judge’s Yankees, and the hope would be that if he sticks around, they might close the gap against the almighty Dodgers.
It’s hard to imagine a Soto-less Yankees team having anywhere close to the talent needed to win the American League pennant, let alone win it all, what with ace Gerrit Cole being a year older and Giancarlo Stanton on the verge of playing in his age-35 season. But landing Corbin Burnes, Teoscar Hernandez, and one of Pete Alonso/Christian Walker would qualify for a productive offseason … but the Yankees run the risk of seeing those impact players drop off the board while they wait it out for Soto.
Kavner: While Soto has to be the top priority for the Yankees (who remain among the few favorites to sign the unquestioned top player on the market), I’m going with the field, especially after hearing Hal Steinbrenner’s uncertainty following his meeting with Soto. If they don’t land him, they better get to work quickly trying to save the offense. A successful offseason would require at least two impact bats, one of which has to be a corner infielder. And even then, it might also take a difference-making starter to prevent bedlam in the Bronx.
One of Christian Walker or Alex Bregman would make a lot of sense, but Soto’s absence would also open a door in the outfield, where Teoscar Hernández or Anthony Santander linger as the top options behind Soto. A trade for someone such as Cody Bellinger, who can play both center and first, would also be in play. I want to make clear: keeping Soto is and should be the top priority. But if they could land two of those players and get Corbin Burnes or Max Fried, it might not fully make up for losing Soto, but it would provide plenty more optimism, help them save face and still cost less than what Soto will make.
3. Which team would Willy Adames make the biggest difference for? What would be your max offer for him?
Kavner: The San Francisco Giants. I have a hard time believing they won’t try to do something substantial to start the Buster Posey era, especially after their whiffs for big-ticket players in recent offseasons. Even if they do reduce payroll in 2025, as it sounds like they might, they have $30 million that they now won’t be paying Blake Snell next year. This is an offense that desperately needs a difference-making piece in the middle of the order to contend again, and the Giants could also use the help up the middle defensively.
Posey already made it clear at the GM meetings that finding a shortstop is a priority this winter, and Adames checks every box. He knocked in more runs than any shortstop in the majors this year, ranks third among all shortstops in homers over the past three seasons and plays plus defense. His presence would allow Tyler Fitzgerald to bump over to second base after his breakout rookie season. I’d expect Adames’ deal to look closer to Dansby Swanson’s than Trea Turner’s or Xander Bogaerts’. So, let’s say seven years, $182 million for my max offer.
Thosar: The Mets. Hear me out … Adames is reportedly willing to change positions if the team is a good fit for him. Since Francisco Lindor will be holding it down at short for the Mets for the next seven years, Adames would make sense in New York at either third or second base — regardless of whether they sign Juan Soto and/or keep Pete Alonso in Queens. Without the Polar Bear, Mark Vientos will likely shift to first, and the Mets could use Adames at third. Even if Alonso is re-signed, then Vientos will presumably stay at third, and Adames can take over at second base while Jeff McNeil shifts to the outfield. If Soto becomes a Met, that could limit how much the front office is willing to spend on Adames. But since finances are abundant in Steve Cohen’s neighborhood, signing Soto shouldn’t entirely stop David Stearns and company from going for it.
Adames and Lindor could team up to create the top middle infield in the National League, rivaled only by the Rangers pairing of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien across MLB. Depending on how desperate teams are, I wouldn’t go higher than $180 million, seven years for Adames, who set career highs in home runs (32), RBIs (112), and doubles (33) in his best major-league season in 2024. Realistically, I think he ends up signing in the $150-160 million range.
4. What’s the better buy: Pete Alonso for $160 million over six years or Christian Walker for $70 million over three years? Where’s the ideal landing spot for each player?
Thosar: Alonso. Even though that’s probably one year too many for a potential Polar Bear deal, the fact that his future home is likely at designated hitter shouldn’t entirely scare executives from agreeing to that deal. Alonso has power that few hitters possess in the major leagues, and he’s been able to do it at a mostly consistent clip since his 2019 rookie season. Removing the shortened 2020 pandemic season, Alonso has hit at least 34 home runs every year, and Walker has crossed that threshold just once (36 home runs in 2022) since his first full season in 2019. Alonso is also four years younger than Walker, and has shown he can dominate in the toughest media market, too.
While Walker has been consistent in Arizona, it’s entirely unknown if he can reproduce that production on a new team in a new city while entering his age-34 season. I still think Alonso makes the most sense on the Mets, with the Yankees being an ideal landing spot for Walker, who would be a solid replacement and upgrade over Anthony Rizzo.
Kavner: Walker. I think he’s one of the most underrated players in the game, and at 33, he’s demonstrating no signs of slowing down. In fact, his quality of contact numbers were considerably better in 2024 than they were in 2023. He was arguably MLB’s biggest All-Star snub this year after launching 22 homers in the first half, and even after his production dipped in the second half following an oblique issue, he still posted an OPS over .800 for the third straight year in his third straight Gold Glove season. Over those three years, he has been a more valuable player (10.8 fWAR) than Alonso (8.7), whose overall production has started to trend the wrong way.
Alonso can certainly still help a team that needs the pop, but a six-year, nine-figure deal for an inferior defender who has seen his batting average and on-base percentage decline the past two years would scare me. He’s a better bet to launch more homers than Walker over the next few years, as he has throughout his career, but I’m not sure what else he will reliably do better. Give me Walker for half the cost and time. Alonso in Houston and Walker in Seattle would make for great fits, though I’m not sure either will fork over the cash required to get them. Walker would be a great fit for the Yankees, too, so (going back to question No. 2) that’s a player they would probably need to be in on if they don’t get Soto.
5. Who is one position player and pitcher you predict will be a steal for the teams that sign them?
Kavner: Speaking of Walker, I’d expect him at his age to probably get a 2-3 year deal. For all the aforementioned reasons, I think he will be a steal in that shorter timeframe. There’s still a lot of juice in that bat — he has had an OPS+ over 120 in each of the past three seasons — and the elite defense provides a high floor.
For the pitcher, I assume it’s unfair to pick Roki Sasaki here (as long as he stays healthy, he should far outpace the capped salary he’s set to get as an international amateur). So, let’s go with Shane Bieber. It was an unfortunate situation for him injuring his elbow and undergoing Tommy John surgery right before free agency. That will surely depress the earnings on his next contract and add risk for any team signing him, but it also creates a fascinating buy-low opportunity on a former Cy Young Award winner who saw his strikeout rate skyrocket in two dazzling starts before being sidelined. It will require patience for any interested buyer, but the reward could be significant.
Thosar: Gleyber Torres and Walker Buehler. Torres was shrouded by superstars and the bright lights in the Bronx, getting heavily criticized (often, rightfully so) for misplays and sluggish decision-making in some of the Yankees’ biggest moments. Though he had a down year in 2024, he’s a two-time All Star, is only 27 years old, and has a career OPS+ of 112. It has always seemed like he would thrive in the right city, and I think he’ll end up being an under-the-radar difference-maker for whatever club signs him.
As for Buehler, it looks like his revenge era is just getting started after the dominance he showed in big-time October and World Series moments for the Dodgers. He seems to operate with a chip on his shoulder after the injuries that sidelined him, and he found new ways to be effective with a nasty knuckle curveball even after his second Tommy John surgery took away some of his elite fastball prowess. Buehler seems like the perfect candidate to be a hidden gem.
Bonus: What do you make of Rob Manfred saying there is “buzz” around adding a “Golden At-Bat” rule that would allow teams to use anyone in their lineup for one at-bat per game, regardless of where they’re at in the order?
Thosar: I had two words when I learned about the possibility of the golden at-bat: no thanks. This rule change would, in my opinion, mess with the integrity of baseball because it would minimize the importance of it being a team sport. Sending the best hitter to the plate in the game’s biggest moment takes away the opportunity for the supporting cast members to try and do something special and get their flowers. The unsung hero coming through is one of any sport’s most joyful moments. The idea that every hitter could be as critical to a team win would be negated. And then the possibility of intentionally walking Aaron Judge only for him to remain at the plate for a second straight at-bat because the Yankees would enact the golden rule is not only bizarre, it’s just plain weird. The golden at-bat rule just isn’t baseball. Hard pass.
Kavner: No thanks! For some background, this rule would allow a team to choose one at-bat in every game to send its best hitter to the plate, even if it wasn’t that player’s turn to hit. Fun idea, right? Sounds like something you and your buddies might throw around at the bar. If MLB wanted to do this in an All-Star Game setting, sure. I’m all for finding a way to spice that up in an otherwise inconsequential contest. But while I understand the effort to try to appeal to a bigger audience by finding ways to create more tension and make the game more compelling and exciting, this feels like a step too far. It’s a quick way to undo the progress made by some really great and beneficial rule changes in recent years and would fundamentally alter the game in a way that I think is too drastic.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
“There are a variety of (rule change ideas) that are being talked about out there,” Manfred said on the podcast. “One of them — there was a little buzz around it at an owners’ meeting — was the idea of a Golden At-Bat.”
Manfred’s comment was actually made back in October, but resurfaced in recent days due to a story from The Athletic. In the story, MLB officials reportedly declined to elaborate further on what the rule would entail.
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However, Manfred hinted at what the “Golden At-Bat” would look like.
“[It’s] putting your best player out there out of order at a particular point in the game,” Manfred said. “That rule and things like that are in the conversation-only stage right now.”
While Manfred didn’t mention it on “The Varsity” podcast, the Savannah Bananas have a similar rule in their games. The Savannah Bananas, who are an exhibition barnstorming team that’s been viewed as baseball’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters, have the “Golden Batter” rule. The rule, which was implemented ahead of the Bananas’ 2024 world tour, allowed teams to pinch-hit any hitter at any time of the game. Each team can only use the “Golden Batter” once.
“With the ‘Golden Batter’ rule, these insane matchups are guaranteed in each and every Banana Ball game,” a presenter for the Savannah Bananas said in a video.
USA vs. Japan Highlights
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If it were brought to MLB, the “Golden At-Bat” rule would most likely come into play in the ninth inning or in high-leverage spots in the later innings of close games. There are countless times fans would’ve wished for their team to have their top hitter at the plate rather than someone in the midst of a cold streak or a bottom-of-the-line-up hitter.
Of course, such a rule could have major implications toward MLB’s history books as well. Star players would, presumably, gain an extra at-bat each game, which would likely allow them to inflate their stats relative to previous all-time greats.
As Manfred has introduced rules such as the universal designated hitter, the ghost runner, pitch clock and shift bans that have altered the game, he noted the obstacles of getting traditionalists to accept the changes. However, Manfred said the biggest issue has been getting the players’ union fully on board.
“The player side of it is really difficult for the union,” Manfred told “The Varsity” about making those sorts of rule changes. “Obviously, you want consensus, and we need agreement, or would like agreement, with the union. The reason it’s so hard for them is that if you think about it, almost every change, the pitchers line up one way, and the hitters line up another, and they represent them both.
“It’s very hard for the union to figure out where it ought to be on these role changes, and it makes the process more difficult.”
It appears Manfred’s notion about a pitcher/hitter split might be true. In the story for The Athletic, two of the three hitters (Christian Yelich and Carlos Correa) were open to the idea of the “Golden At-Bat” making its way into regular-season games. Meanwhile, the lone pitcher interviewed for the story (Matt Strahm) wasn’t a fan of it being enacted.
So, it appears the implementation of the “Golden At-Bat” rule is still a debate, at least for now. But it could be something that baseball fans might have to get accustomed to seeing sooner rather than later.
Baseball star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly $17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” according to court documents filed Tuesday.
The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning around November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he could impersonate him to authorize wire transfers. By 2024, Mizuhara had used that money to buy about $325,000 worth of baseball cards at online resellers eBay and Whatnot, according to the court documents.
Mizuhara’s attorney, Michael G. Freedman, declined to comment on the filing.
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Mizuhara pleaded guilty in June to spending millions from Ohtani’s Arizona bank account to cover his growing gambling bets and debts with an illegal bookmaker, as well as his own medical bills and the $325,000 worth of baseball cards.
Mizuhara is due to be sentenced in January after pleading guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, crimes that carry a potential sentence of more than 30 years in federal prison. He also could be on the hook for restitution to Ohtani that could total nearly $17 million, as well as more than $1 million to the IRS. And as a legal permanent resident who has a green card, he might be deported to Japan.
Mizuhara stood by Ohtani’s side for many of the Japanese sensation’s career highlights, from serving as his catcher during the Home Run Derby at the 2021 All-Star Game, to being there for his two American League MVP wins and his record-shattering $700 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Off the field, Mizuhara became Ohtani’s friend and confidant. He famously resigned from the Los Angeles Angels during the 2021 MLB lockout so he could keep speaking to Ohtani — he was rehired after a deal was struck — and their wives reportedly socialized.
But Mizuhara gambled it all away, betting tens of millions of dollars that weren’t his to wager on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football — though prosecutors said he never bet on baseball.
Earlier this year, Ohtani and the Dodgers won the World Series, and the baseball star won his third Most Valuable Player award.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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Brandon Crawford is retiring after 14 major league seasons, all but one of those played with his hometown San Francisco Giants as a slick-fielding shortstop and fan favorite.
A four-time Gold Glove winner and three-time All-Star, the veteran infielder announced his decision in an Instagram post Wednesday.
“During this time of the year, I am constantly being reminded of the things in my life that I am most thankful for. Baseball is one of them,” Crawford wrote. “Baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and for the rest of my life I will be thankful for the opportunities and experiences it has given me. Time is precious. I’m incredibly grateful for all the years I spent playing the game I love, but now it is time for me to spend it with the people who I’m most thankful for. Thank you to all of you who have been there for me throughout the years. It’s been an unbelievable ride.”
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A fourth-round draft pick in 2008 out of UCLA, Crawford made his debut on May 27, 2011, and won World Series championships with the Giants in 2012 and ’14 — the final two titles in their every-other-year run from 2010-14.
The Giants said they will honor Crawford’s career April 26 at Oracle Park. He was a career .249 hitter with 147 home runs and 748 RBIs, but his knack for making the key defensive play is what he will long be remembered for by many.
“It was an honor to get to know Brandon as a friend and as a teammate,” new Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey said in a statement. “From the first day we were both drafted in 2008 to our final year playing together in 2021, it was an honor to play alongside him for 14 years. Whether it was the clutch moments like the grand slam he hit in the 2014 wild-card game in Pittsburgh, the franchise-record, seven-hit game he recorded in Miami, or the dazzling defensive plays and acrobatic throws he made over and over again, Brandon made his mark in a way few athletes ever do.”
There was some thought Crawford might retire after the 2023 season when his contract expired in San Francisco, but he decided to give it one more year and joined the St. Louis Cardinals on a $2 million, one-year deal. He was released in August after hitting .169 with a homer and four RBIs over 80 plate appearances.
Crawford and wife Jalynne have five young children, and family will be Crawford’s primary focus going forward.
As a boy, Crawford leaned on the railing at Candlestick Park with his hat on backward supporting his beloved Giants — and eventually would star for them.
When he signed a two-year, $32 million contract in August 2021 while wrapping up a $75 million, six-year deal he had signed in November 2015, Crawford expressed his gratitude for playing in one place for so long.
“Being drafted by my hometown team and spending most of my career with them far surpassed any dream I had as a kid,” Crawford wrote in Wednesday’s post. “I definitely pretended to win a World Series in my backyard — but winning two? That was beyond my wildest dreams.”
Giants’ Brandon Crawford, Mitch Haniger, and Joc Pederson on making their childhood dreams a reality
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He is the Giants’ career leader in games played at shortstop with 1,617.
“Watching Brandon play was an absolute privilege for not only me but for Giants’ fans everywhere,” President and CEO Larry Baer said.
“He was an All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner, a two-time World Series champion, and a Lou Gehrig and Willie Mac Award winner, that always carried himself with class, honor and respect. The Giants have been incredibly blessed to have had Brandon as part of the franchise for 16 years — really for his entire 37 years, first as a young fan, who will ever forget that indelible photo of him leaning on the railing at Candlestick Park when there was a possibility that his Giants might leave San Francisco — and as this chapter closes on his career, his legacy in the game will be celebrated by fans, teammates, and future generations of players who look up to him by the example he set.”
A year after the Los Angeles Dodgers gave the largest contract in baseball history to Shohei Ohtani, made Yoshinobu Yamamoto the highest-paid pitcher in the sport and handed Tyler Glasnow a nine-figure extension, the reigning champions are back at it with the first major splash of MLB’s 2024-25 offseason.
Less than a month after winning the World Series with a decimated rotation, the Dodgers addressed the uncertainty surrounding their pitching staff and significantly upped the ceiling of the group by agreeing to terms on a five-year, $182 million deal with Blake Snell.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner broke the news himself, announcing his intentions by posting a photo of himself in a photoshopped Dodgers jersey on his Instagram page. The agreement reportedly includes a $52 million signing bonus, deferred money — a preferred tactic of the Dodgers, allowing them to lower the luxury-tax hit — and no opt-outs, which is notable considering that’s how Snell became available to them in the first place.
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The Dodgers had been interested in Snell for years — no surprise, considering president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman drafted Snell in 2011 when he ran the Tampa Bay Rays — including last season, before the left-hander signed a two-year, $62 million deal with the Giants. Despite coming off a second Cy Young season, Snell’s market didn’t materialize the way many expected it to last offseason.
He didn’t sign until the middle of March, and the start to his San Francisco tenure began inauspiciously after the late build-up. He dealt with groin and adductor injuries and was 0-3 with a 9.51 ERA in six starts before the end of June. At the time, he had not done much to assuage teams’ fears about his durability and reliability. Snell’s Cy Young seasons in 2018 with Tampa Bay and 2023 with San Diego are the only two times in his nine-year career that he has thrown more than 130 innings, and his ERA fluctuated in the four years between those award-winning seasons, due in part to a high walk rate and erratic control. But he would soon showcase the upside that few pitchers in the sport, if any, can match.
He returned from injury in July and produced a 1.23 ERA with 114 strikeouts in 80.1 innings the rest of the way, throwing a no-hitter on Aug. 2 — the first complete game of his career — and going at least six innings while allowing one or no runs in eight of his final 14 starts. Despite the slow start, he still ranked in the 98th percentile in whiff rate, strikeout rate, hard-hit rate and expected batting average by year’s end.
He has averaged 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings over his career, the most for a starter in MLB history, and he has struck out more than that in each of his past six seasons. In 2024, his 28.9% hard-hit rate, 34.7% strikeout rate and .174 batting average against all represented career-best marks.
Those skills are especially tantalizing for a contender looking for a final piece in October, when the ability to miss bats becomes more pronounced. Snell’s 3.33 career postseason ERA doesn’t hurt, either. In other words, he’s an ideal fit for the reigning champion Dodgers, a team he overpowered in the World Series four years ago.
Corbin Burnes is a more reliable workhorse. Max Fried is a more consistent producer. But no one at the top of this year’s robust free-agent pitching class offers the elite strikeout upside that Snell provides. While he uses his fastball nearly half the time, his curveball, changeup and slider have all registered a 43% whiff rate or better in each of the last three seasons.
Snell opted out of his second season with the Giants and wasted no time securing the long-term offer that never came last winter, ensuring there wouldn’t be a hurried, frenzied start to the year this time around. He will be joining his third different NL West club in the last three years.
The Dodgers should now in theory boast a significantly better pitching staff than they had during last year’s championship run, though they couldn’t have expected the need that would arise after devoting $325 million to Yamamoto and $136.5 million to Tyler Glasnow last December. Ten months later, Yamamoto, Walker Buehler and deadline addition Jack Flaherty were the only reliable starters they had left. Despite only one pitcher still standing from their Opening Day rotation, the Dodgers persevered to win a World Series over the New York Yankees.
This offseason, given the injuries to the group and the schedules of Ohtani and Yamamoto dictating the need for a six-man rotation, it was an area they felt they needed to bolster. Buehler and Flaherty are both free agents. Yamamoto missed nearly three months with a shoulder issue. Glasnow is coming off an elbow injury that forced him out for the playoff run. Ohtani, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin are all coming off major elbow surgeries. Bobby Miller was ineffective in 2024 after a promising rookie season. Clayton Kershaw is expected to re-sign with the Dodgers in 2025, but he’ll be coming off knee and foot surgeries.
With the depth of their roster, their farm system and their ownership’s bank account, they can afford to take calculated risks that would scare off many clubs. They did it with Yamamoto, despite him never having thrown a big-league pitch. They did it with Glasnow, despite him never having thrown more than 120 innings in a season.
Snell brings risk, too, along with an unrivaled potential for reward. Last week, Ohtani joined Frank Robinson as the only players ever to win an MVP in both leagues. This week, Ohtani became teammates with one of seven pitchers ever to win the Cy Young in both leagues. Adding Ohtani and Snell to a rotation already headlined by Glasnow and Yamamoto could make it the best in baseball.
And it’s just the start this offseason for the Dodgers, who are still considered the favorites to land Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, remain among the contenders in the Juan Soto sweepstakes and could bring back All-Star Teoscar Hernández. While their corner outfield vacancies should be the next order of business, the addition of Snell quickly takes care of one of the champion’s few glaring needs, much to the chagrin of the rest of the league.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
