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AL Central Notes: Twins, Guardians, Blitzer, Ilitch, Tigers

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The bullpen will be a focus for the Twins heading into the trade deadline, even though “the reliever (trade) market is always the toughest one to navigate and always the toughest one to pin down,” chief baseball officer Derek Falvey told The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman and other reporters.  “It all depends on what’s available, but this year we’ll be more open-minded to adding whatever what we think will be something that will help us more toward the middle or the back end, ideally.”

However, it doesn’t seem like a trade may come together quickly, as with a month still left before the trade deadline, Falvey noted that many teams still haven’t decided if they’ll be buying or selling.  “You can’t really accelerate that part of the conversation,” Falvey said.  “Sometimes it’s ’all right, we’ll wait and see, we’ll put you down as interested in Player X and we’ll circle back if we’re moving in that direction.’ ”  While the Twins could push the market with an aggressive offer, that only increases the risk of overpaying for a player now when they could get the same pitcher for less in a few weeks’ time.  Getting at least one of Emilio Pagan or Tyler Duffey pitching well would greatly help Minnesota’s bullpen and trade leverage, but until that happens, the club may need to continue to explore outside options.

More from around the AL Central…

  • The Guardians figure to make some middle-infield prospects available at the trade deadline, as The Athletic’s Zack Meisel writes that the club has such a surplus that some names will eventually need to be moved by this offseason at the latest.  In terms of deadline targets, Meisel figures Cleveland will look to add in the bullpen and perhaps at catcher, though the rotation (for the first time in a while) could also be an area of need.  Adding one more quality starter would help reinforce a rotation that has been only okay this season, rather than its normal above-average quality.
  • David Blitzer is now officially a minority owner of the Guardians, though GM Mike Chernoff told Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal and other reporters that “I wouldn’t expect our operating philosophy to change.  The industry economic model is what it is and so we know what our challenges are being a small market.  We don’t shy away from those at all.”  While the financial status quo will remain in place for now, it remains to be seen what could happen if Blitzer eventually becomes the Guards’ majority owner — in six years’ time, Blitzer has an option to buy a majority share of the franchise.
  • The Tigers have a disappointing 29-46 record, but owner Christopher Ilitch is still “very pleased with the progress” of his team.  “Despite a very slow start this season with our team, there’s actually some good progress happening with some of the young guys that have come up and developed and so on and so forth,” Ilitch told reporters, including Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press.  After years of rebuilding and a big offseason spending spree, the Tigers were expected to take a big step forward this season, but Ilitch sees these struggles as another natural part of “a process that takes time.”

Aaron Barrett To Retire

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After 11 professional seasons, right-hander Aaron Barrett announced (via Twitter) that he is retiring from baseball.  The 34-year-old said he’ll pitch in his final game on Monday, July 4, as a member of the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate.

Barrett began his pro career when the Nationals selected him in the ninth round of the 2010 draft, though Barrett had also been taken (but didn’t sign) in the 2006, 2008, and 2009 drafts by the Dodgers, Twins, and Rangers, respectively.  This began a run in the Washington that lasted until Barrett inked a minor league deal with the Phillies this past winter, and Barrett’s final season has been a struggle, with a 13.86 ERA over 12 1/3 innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

As Barrett put it in his goodbye message, “I went into this year thinking this could be my last run.  I gave it EVERYTHING I had.  It didn’t go the way I thought it could.  That’s life!  It’s time for me to start the next chapter of my life.”

Barrett appeared in parts of four MLB seasons, with most of that work coming in the 2014-15 seasons when he posted a 3.47 ERA over 70 innings and 90 relief appearances.  The rest of his big league resume consists of four total innings across the 2019-20 campaigns.  The gap in between those Major League stints perhaps defines Barrett’s character, as his promising was sidetracked by both a Tommy John surgery, and then a fractured humerus bone.

The latter injury was particularly devastating, as Barrett broke his arm in horrific fashion while pitching, and extensive surgery was required.  However, Barrett’s long road back eventually led him to once again pitch in the majors — fans may recall the viral video of Double-A manager Matt LeCroy fighting back tears while telling Barrett that he had been promoted back to the Nationals’ active roster.  While Barrett only tossed 2 1/3 innings for the 2019 Nationals, he was still part of a World Series championship team.

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Barrett on his career, and we wish him the best in his post-playing endeavors.

Juan Soto Open To Extension Discussions With Nationals

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JULY 2: In another update from Dougherty, he reports that the Nationals’ latest offers to Soto haven’t included any deferred money.  Just about all of the Nats’ biggest expenditures in recent years have included heavy deferrals — for instance, Stephen Strasburg’s seven-year, $245MM contract contained $80MM is deferred money.

JULY 1: Soto spoke with Dougherty on Friday, backtracking somewhat on his previously expressed desire to play out his arbitration years to test free agency. “Everybody wants to go to free agency and see how the market is going to be for them,” Soto told the Post. “But for me, I really don’t know if I want to go there or if I want to stay here. I feel really good here. We’ll see what’s going to happen. For me, right now, the plan that we always have is go year by year. But you don’t know what the future has for you.”

Asked whether he’d consider signing an extension with the Nats, Soto replied “Yes. Why not?” He suggested he’s content with Boras and the front office discussing potential terms during the season, saying he prefers to “to be far from (negotiations) because I want to concentrate on the game.”

JUNE 30: The Nationals made an extension offer to Juan Soto at some point this spring, writes Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Specific timing of the proposal isn’t clear, but Dougherty adds that it’s believed the offer was made before Soto’s agent Scott Boras visited Nationals Park in late May. Soto rejected the offer, but Dougherty characterizes discussions between the two sides as “active.”

It’s at least the second offer the Nationals have put forth to the face of the franchise within the past 12 months. In February, Soto told Enrique Rojas of ESPN he’d rejected a long-term overture made prior to the lockout. Rojas reported the pre-lockout offer would’ve been for 13 years and $350MM guaranteed. Dougherty reports the Nationals went beyond $350MM in their spring proposal, but specific terms are unknown. Both Dougherty (Twitter link) and Britt Ghiroli of the Athletic (on Twitter) hear that rumors of a 13-year, $425MM offer are inaccurate.

In any event, the relatively recent proposal is the latest indication the Nationals are hopeful they can keep Soto around for the long haul. It’s at least somewhat notable that discussions remain open even after Soto again declined. In his February interview with Rojas, the two-time Silver Slugger Award winner expressed a desire to proceed year-by-year through the arbitration process in anticipation of reaching free agency at the end of the 2024 season. That wasn’t due to any expressed animosity towards the Nationals organization, but rather a desire to market himself to all 30 teams with a good chance at a record-setting payday.

Without specific terms of the proposal, it’s impossible to pin down precisely where the latest offer stacked up among the biggest in major league history. At worst, it’d have marked the third-largest guarantee ever. Only two players have ever topped the $350MM mark. Mookie Betts received 12 years and $365MM from the Dodgers on his July 2020 extension, while Mike Trout took home ten years and $360MM in new money on his March 2019 extension.

As was the case when Soto turned down $350MM over the winter, many fans are sure to bristle at the notion of rejecting a proposal at an even greater amount. That’s particularly true in the context of what’s been a relative “down year,” at least in comparison to his pre-2022 performance. Soto enters play Thursday with a .224/.375/.437 slash line. Those are the lowest such marks of his career across the board, as he’d hit at least .282 with an on-base percentage above .400 and a slugging percentage north of .500 every season from 2018-21.

Nevertheless, the first three months of this season are unlikely to have a depressing effect on Soto’s long-term value. For one, his relatively underwhelming numbers would still be a strong showing for the majority of players. Soto’s on-base and slugging marks are decidedly above the respective .312 and .394 league figures. His .224 batting average is certainly not ideal, but that’s in large part attributable to a .225 average on balls in play that’s the fifth-lowest number for qualified hitters. Soto’s average exit velocity and hard contact rate are down somewhat, so the lesser batted ball results can’t be chalked up solely to misfortune. Yet his quality of contact metrics have still been solid, and considering he entered the season owner of a .330 career BABIP, Soto seems likely to enjoy better ball-in-play results moving forward.

Owner of a .290/.424/.534 career line with more walks than strikeouts, Soto is still on track for an eye-popping payday. He amazingly won’t turn 24 until October and would hit free agency in advance of his age-26 season. Once there, he still looks a good bet to top the record $36MM average annual value for position players over more than a decade, assuming he stays healthy. A deal in excess of $400MM seems likely, and it’s not out of the question Soto and his reps could set their sights on the half-billion dollar mark. (Getting to $500MM would likely require a 13-year term at an AAV just shy of $38.5MM).

There’s of course some risk for Soto in continuing to turn down offers that’d make him among the highest-paid players in league history. Every player has some risk of a drop-off in performance or severe injury. Soto, though, will have already banked more than $25MM in arbitration earnings by the end of this season. He’ll go through the arb process twice more and figures to make another $50+MM over the next couple years before reaching the open market.

Discussions with Soto come against a backdrop of possible change for the Nationals. The Lerner family has been looking into sale possibilities for the past few months. A potential ownership shakeup has led to some uncertainty for president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez, each of whom are in the final guaranteed year of their contracts and have 2023 options that need to be decided upon next month.

The roster has undergone a major overhaul dating back to last summer’s trade deadline. Washington has kicked off a rebuild and seen the departures of key contributors to their 2019 World Series team like Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner. The Nats enter play tonight 20 games below .500, and they’re certain to move impending free agents Josh Bell and Nelson Cruz over the next four and a half weeks. They’ve not given much, if any, consideration to dealing Soto in a franchise-altering blockbuster. Rizzo flatly shot down speculation about a Soto trade four weeks ago, saying the Nationals “have every intention of building this team around” him.

Héctor Gómez of Z101 was first to report fairly recent discussions between Soto and the Nationals this afternoon.

Mookie Betts Could Return Tomorrow, May Play Second Base Initially

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TODAY: Betts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that he is planning to return either tomorrow or on Monday.  After today’s workout, Betts is feeling good enough to also play in the field, rather than work as a DH.

JULY 1: The Dodgers have been without Mookie Betts for the past two weeks, as the former AL MVP mends a fracture in his rib cage. The team, however, is optimistic that Betts could return as soon as next week, manager Dave Roberts told reporters last night (Twitter link via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times). Betts took batting practice, played catch and fielded grounders yesterday. Interestingly, Roberts suggested that Betts could play second base, at least initially, due the shorter throws he’d be required to make.

Betts is no stranger to second base, having played the position extensively in the minors. He’s been primarily an outfielder throughout his big league tenure, of course, though he does have 182 innings at second base — 46 of which came as recently as the 2021 season. Deploying Betts at second base would seemingly push Gavin Lux into a utility role, at least initially — or he could simply take at-bats in the outfield on a regular basis, presumably at the expense of Eddy Alvarez and perhaps Trayce Thompson.

The Dodgers acquired Thompson from the Tigers with the idea of platooning him and Alvarez in right field, and Thompson has responded with a stout .292/.320/.458 showing in 25 trips to the plate (albeit with a whopping 11 punchouts in that short sample). Alvarez, meanwhile, has gone just 4-for-25 (all singles) and fanned in a third of his plate appearances. Barring a surge at the plate over the next week, it’s easy enough to see Lux taking on the left-handed share of an outfield platoon with Thompson.

Regardless of specific defensive alignment, the bigger takeaway for the Dodgers is that Betts, who’s posted yet another outstanding batting line in 2022 (.273/.349/.535), could be back in the lineup within the next ten days. The Dodgers have gone 7-5 in his absence and overtaken the now-second-place Padres by a margin of 2.5 games, but a swift return for Betts is still an obvious boon. If he’s able to return during next week’s homestand, it’d come either in a three-game series against Rockies or a four-game set against the Cubs.

Jacob deGrom To Begin Minor League Rehab Assignment

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Jacob deGrom has hit another key marker in his injury recovery, as Mets GM Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter told reporters (including Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News) that deGrom will begin a minor league rehab assignment on Sunday with the Mets’ low-A affiliate.  DeGrom is slated to toss two innings and roughly 25 pitches.

It will mark deGrom’s first official game action of any kind in almost a full year, as the former NL Cy Young Award winner tossed seven innings against the Brewers on July 7, 2021 before forearm problems prematurely ended his 2021 season.  During Spring Training, deGrom was then set back by a stress reaction in his right shoulder, again keeping the ace on the sidelines.

Given the long layoff, deGrom has been slowly brought along, and that timeline won’t change now that he has embarked on his rehab assignment.  Eppler compared deGrom’s planned workload for Sunday’s game to what would be expected from a pitcher in his first Spring Training outing, and the Mets plan to be fluid with deGrom’s schedule going forward (i.e. he might not pitch every five days).  Even if all goes well, this elongated timeline means that deGrom will surely still be on the injured list until after the All-Star break, and he might not be fully ready to return to the big leagues until early in August.

Still, there does appear to be some light at the end of what has surely been a frustrating tunnel for deGrom.  While the Mets are still in first place in the NL East even without their longtime ace (and other key players like Max Scherzer for long portions of the season), the Braves have moved to within 3.5 games of the division lead, and the Phillies have played much better baseball over the last month.  Beyond just the NL East, the Mets will surely need their rotation in top form if they hope to continue their strong play into the postseason and then contend for a World Series title.

Given how aggressive the Mets were in the offseason, starting pitching is probably on the team’s deadline checklist even if deGrom progresses well in his rehab.  At full strength, New York’s first-choice rotation of deGrom, Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco, Chris Bassitt, and Taijuan Walker is among the best in the league, but health is certainly no guarantee.  Eppler told Thosar and other media members that he is open to all possibilities at the deadline, and that owner Steve Cohen has no issue continuing to spend big in the right situation.

Royals Activate Joel Payamps, Outright Daniel Mengden

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The Royals activated right-hander Joel Payamps from the COVID-related injury list today.  In the corresponding move, Kansas City outrighted right-hander Daniel Mengden off the 40-man roster and assigned him to Triple-A.

Payamps was placed on the COVID list on June 13, and he returned to the field last week to make a trio of Triple-A outings as part of a rehab assignment.  Despite below-average strikeout and walk rates, Payamps has a 2.42 ERA over 26 relief innings for K.C. this season, relying on a 53.7% grounder rate, a lack of hard contact, and zero homers allowed. The righty used a pretty similar recipe for success in 2021, as Payamps posted a 3.40 ERA over 50 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays and Royals in his first full MLB season.

Payamps is only 28 years old but he has 11 years of pro experience, including time in the majors in each of the last four seasons.  While not a premium bullpen arm, his numbers could get him some looks from other teams heading into the trade deadline, as the Royals are already known to be open to offers on veteran players.

Mengden signed a minor league deal with Kansas City in March, and in fact got his contract selected to the Show when Payamps was first placed on the COVID-IL.  Mengden appeared in four games with the Royals, posting a 2.08 ERA over 4 1/3 innings — this marked his first MLB action since 2020, as Mengden pitched in South Korea last season.

Though the Royals have only deployed Mengden as a reliever to date, he has started 11 of his 12 games for Triple-A Omaha, and has worked as a starter for the bulk of his career in the majors, minors, and the KBO League.  Mengden had some solid numbers pitching for the A’s in 2017-18 before control problems hampered him in 2019.

Brewers Activate Aaron Ashby From 15-Day IL

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The Brewers reinstated left-hander Aaron Ashby from the 15-day injured list today, as Ashby is slated to start today’s game against the Pirates.  Righty Trevor Kelley was optioned to Triple-A to open up a 26-man roster spot.

Following his (retroactive) IL placement on June 17, Ashby ended up missing only a minimal amount of time — a sigh of relief, given that Ashby had been sidelined by forearm inflammation. The injury wasn’t considered to be too serious at the time, and Ashby will indeed make a pretty quick return to help a Milwaukee rotation that has been shorthanded for much of the season. Even with Ashby and (earlier this week) Brandon Woodruff returning, Freddy Peralta is still on the 60-day IL until late July, and Adrian Houser was just placed on the 15-day IL yesterday due to a flexor strain.

Ashby will try to pick up the slack by continuing what has been a pretty solid sophomore year in the big leagues.  Beginning the season as a swingman, Ashby’s last five outings were all as a starting pitcher.  The left-hander has a 4.25 ERA over 55 total innings, posting a 62.6% grounder rate and an impressive array of Statcast numbers, apart from a 10.7% walk rate that is well below the league average. Control has been something of an issue for Ashby at both the MLB and minor league levels, but his ability to miss bats and generate grounders makes him yet another intriguing product of the Brewers’ pitching development system.

In other Brewers injury news, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) that Luis Perdomo is “struggling to get going” from an elbow injury that sent him to the IL back in late May. Perdomo underwent a Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2021 season, though Counsell didn’t give any indication that Perdomo’s current issue was also season-threatening, or something that could require another surgical procedure.

Hunter Renfroe will also still miss a bit more time, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy writes that Renfroe has yet to start running on the field following a calf strain that sent him to the injured list over a week ago. Renfroe’s 10-day minimum IL time expires on Sunday, but the Brewers will continue to be cautious in bringing Renfroe back, for fear of exacerbating the injury.  Renfroe had 13 home runs and a .247/.300/.490 slash line over his first 217 plate appearances this season.

Angels To Sign Jonathan Villar

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1:50pm: The Angels have officially announced the signing, with catcher Matt Thaiss optioned to Triple-A to create space on the active roster. To create room on the 40-man roster, reliever Archie Bradley was transferred to the 60-day IL. Bradley was recently shut down for at least four weeks with an elbow fracture, after which he’ll need time to get back into game shape. He isn’t likely to return within the next couple of months, making today’s transaction largely a formality.

10:50am: MLBTR has confirmed Villar is in agreement with the club on a major league deal.

8:20am: The Angels are reportedly signing infielder Jonathan Villar, according to Hector Gomez of Z101 Digital. The team has not yet confirmed the deal nor announced any corresponding moves. The club’s 40-man roster is presently full, meaning someone will have to be subtracted in order to make room for his addition. Villar is a client of ACES.

Signed by the Cubs in the offseason to a one-year, $6MM deal, Villar has struggled this year to the point that Chicago designated him for assignment and released him last week. With around $3.4MM left to be paid out, the Cubs will be on the hook for most of the remainder of that. The Angels will pay Villar the prorated league minimum for any time he spends on the roster, with that amount being subtracted from what the Cubs pay.

For the Angels, this is a way of trying to bolster an infield mix that is in serious need of bolstering. The middle infield was arguably the team’s weakest area going into the season, with a mix that included David Fletcher, Matt Duffy, Andrew Velazquez, Tyler Wade and Luis Rengifo. Fletcher struggled through 14 games before hitting the injured list and won’t return until around the All-Star break. The season-ending injury to Anthony Rendon created a hole at third base, further stretching this infield crew to cover three positions instead of two. The depth was further depleted when Duffy landed on the injured list with back spasms. Although he’s not expected to have an extended stay on the shelf, that still left the Halos with Velazquez, Wade and Rengifo in line for everyday roles, with David MacKinnon occasionally taking some time at third base.

No one out of that group has done much to solidify the infield mix, with Velazquez, Wade, Rengifo and MacKinnon all currently a sporting a wRC+ between 36 and 92, meaning they’ve all hit at below-average rates to differing degrees. Even if Duffy can return from his IL trip in short order, he’s only hitting .261/.308/.291 for a wRC+ of 74. Due to the uninspiring results of this group, the Angels have gotten a 68 wRC+ from the second base position overall, placing them 24th out of the 30 teams in the league. At third base, it’s an 82 wRC+ for 21st place, and shortstop is even worse, as their collective 44 wRC+ is dead last in the league.

Given that dearth of production from their infielders, it makes sense that they would be willing to take a gamble on Villar. Of course, whether that gamble pays off will depend upon which version of Villar shows up, as he’s had oscillating results in recent years. 2019 was arguably the best season of his career, as he hit .274/.339/.453 for a 107 wRC+. Combined with his 40 bases stolen bases, he provided 3.9 wins above replacement that year, in the estimation of FanGraphs. He followed that up with a downswing in the shortened 2020 season, hitting just .232/.301/.292 for a 65 wRC+. Last year was a nice bounceback, as he hit .249/.322/.416 for 105 wRC+, along with 14 steals. With the Cubs this year, the pendulum has swung back the other way, as Villar’s batting line is currently .222/.271/.327 for a wRC+ of 65. The defensive metrics have also soured on his glovework, with DRS giving him a -8 at second base this year.

With the Angels sporting a record of 37-42, they are currently five games behind the Guardians for the final AL Wild Card spot, with three other clubs in between them. The trade deadline is now one month away, making the next stretch of play incredibly important for teams like the Angels that could see their deadline status quickly altered by a streak, either hot or cold. If Villar can find some of the form he showed in 2019 or 2021, even for a short amount of time, it could be a significant boost to the club’s fortunes.

Braves Designate Touki Toussaint For Assignment

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The Braves announced that right-hander Jay Jackson has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. To make room on the 40-man roster fellow righty Touki Toussaint has been designated for assignment.

Toussaint, 26, was the 16th overall selection of the 2014 draft, taken by the Diamondbacks. He was traded to Atlanta in 2015 along with Bronson Arroyo for Phil Gosselin. In the years following that deal, Toussaint was viewed as one of the better prospects in Atlanta’s system and across the game as a whole. Baseball America had him on their list of Top 100 prospects in all of baseball in 2015, 2016 and 2019.

However, he has struggled with injuries and underperformance since then. He saw scattered major league action over the four seasons from 2018 to 2021, logging 145 total innings over those campaigns with a 5.46 ERA. His 23.6% strikeout rate is a bit above average, though it’s also come with an unfortunate 12.9% walk rate.

This season, his final option year, he’s gotten all his action with Triple-A Gwinnett thus far. (He was briefly recalled to the big league club in April but was optioned again before getting into a game.) He’s made eight starts for the Stripers and five relief appearances, throwing 41 2/3 frames in total. Despite a robust 27.5% strikeout rate, control has again been an issue, with his 13% walk rate helping his ERA balloon up to 6.26 on the year. It seems that the club has finally run out of patience with hoping he can right the ship and make good on his potential.

Despite those unfortunate results so far this year, Toussaint is still just 26 years old and only a few years removed from being considered one of the best young pitchers in the sport. He’s sure to garner interest for teams in need of pitching depth, especially considering he can be stashed in Triple-A for the remainder of the year. He will be out of options next year, however, meaning he will need to stick on a team’s active roster all season or else be sent into DFA limbo yet again. He currently has between two and three years of MLB service time and isn’t likely to reach the three-year plateau this season. Atlanta will have one week to work out a trade or put him through waivers.

Nationals Exercise 2023 Options On Mike Rizzo, Dave Martinez

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The Nationals announced that they have exercised the 2023 contract options of both president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez.

This concludes a bit of drama that has been surrounding the team in recent months. It was reported in May that both Rizzo and Martinez were in the final guaranteed years of their respective deals. Given that the club was mired in a roster teardown and that the Lerner family was exploring a possible sale of the club, it was certainly noteworthy that the team’s manager and primary front office member were both in lame duck status.

However, the organization has given itself a small bit more certainty about its future, with Rizzo and Martinez each locked in for at least one more season. Back in May, there were conflicting reports about Martinez’s salary for next year, with Bob Nightengale of USA Today placing it at $4MM, while Jon Heyman of the New York Post said $3.5MM. However, in reporting on today’s news, Nightengale used the $3.5MM figure. Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post relays that Martinez met with Lerner Sports COO Alan Gottlieb today, ahead of the July 15 deadline for the club to decide on both options.

Rizzo has overseen many different eras of Nationals’ baseball, having first been hired by the team in 2006. After many losing seasons, the club emerged as contenders in 2012 and stayed there for the remainder of that decade, making the playoffs five times and winning the World Series in 2019. However, their fortunes have slipped in recent years, which led to the club undergoing a massive selloff at last year’s trade deadline. That has unsurprisingly led to this season’s 29-50 record, better than only the Reds among National League teams. Martinez, on the other hand, was hired prior to the 2018 season and was at the helm of the team during competitive years, including the World Series victory. Now he has transitioned into overseeing a rebuild, with much of the roster composed of younger players auditioning to be part of the next core.

Despite the extra certainty afforded by these decisions, they also represent a kicking of the can down the road, in a sense. The same lame duck situation could still arise one year from now, unless contract extensions are worked out in the interim. The potential sale of the club still lingers in the air. Then there’s the Juan Soto situation, as the club’s superstar is slated to reach free agency after the 2024 season. Reporting in recent days has revealed that the potential of an extension is still in the cards, though Soto reportedly rejected a 13-year, $350MM offer before the lockout and some unknown, presumably-higher offer after it. That’s still a lot for the club to work out, though they’ve given themselves some time to work on it by knocking a couple of items off the to-do list.

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