The General Manager Meetings have concluded, qualifying offers were extended on Thursday and the Major League Baseball offseason moves forward ever so slowly.
Of course, there was some big news Friday. After winning the World Series, the Houston Astros and general manager James Click have parted ways.
Remember to keep those important offseason dates in mind and here are our top 50 free agents. The rumor mill won't really start churning for a few days here, but there are some things we could discuss. Let's get to it.
Mets show interest in Conforto, Heaney
Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo has hit free agency and while a return to Citi Field is certainly possible, he'll be exploring his options, which means the Mets will also being exploring theirs. Could a possible reunion with Michael Conforto be in the cards? The Athletic reports there's interest.
Remember, Conforto rejected the qualifying offer from the Mets last year, but a subsequent shoulder injury kept him out for the entirety of the 2022 season. Conforto was drafted in the first round by the Mets in 2014 and spent seven years in the majors with the team. He hit .232/.344/.384 (100 OPS+) with 20 doubles, 14 homers, 55 RBI, 52 runs and 0.8 WAR in 125 games in 2021. If the Mets did grab Conforto, they'd likely shift Starling Marte to center and use Conforto in right.
On the pitching end, Chris Bassitt has already declined the qualifying offer and Jacob deGrom will absolutely do the same. The Mets will have Max Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco, David Peterson and then perhaps Tylor Megill and Joey Lucchesi for the rotation next year, but that shows that they'll likely be active in looking to beef up the rotation this coming offseason, possibly even a frontline starter and a depth piece.
Newsday reports there's interest in lefty Andrew Heaney. The veteran showed big upside last season for the Dodgers when healthy, pitching to a 3.10 ERA (136 ERA+), 1.09 WHIP and 110 strikeouts against 19 walks in 72 2/3 innings. He's long been very talented but sort of an underachiever and it looks like the talented Dodgers pitching infrastructure pried something loose.
The "when healthy" caveat is a big one, of course. He's only made more than 18 starts in a season twice and he's now 31 years old.
Yankees interested in 'Judge complement'
The Yankees are looking into outfielder Masataka Yoshida as a "complement" to Aaron Judge, according to the New York Post. Such a tandem could only be achieved if the Yankees retain Judge, too, obviously.
The point made in the phrasing would be what kind of player Yoshida is. He's a 5-foot-8 lefty-swinger who hits for average and gets on base. He has power, too, having hit .336/.449/.559 with 28 doubles, 21 homers, 89 RBI, 57 runs and four steals last year in NPB. Such a player could hit first in front of Judge and would make for a stellar top of the order in the Bronx.
Again, though, a lot of this is dictated on the Yankees winning the Judge Sweepstakes.
Cubs met with Scott Boras and that means ... ?
The Cubs met with the super agent during the General Manager Meetings to discuss some of his clients and that includes free agent shortstops Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts, reported NBC Chicago earlier this week.
Does it mean they are charging hard for either player? Absolutely not. These meetings are all about foundation building and even a bit of an introductory phase. This could simply be a due diligence meeting. The Cubs could even be speaking with Boras about clients of his lesser in baseball stature (Josh Bell has been mentioned, for what it's worth) only to have Boras bring up two his biggest stars to a front office with deep pockets in hopes of driving up their market.
By the same token, it doesn't hurt Cubs brass to start laying groundwork for the ol' "hey, we tried really hard" defense if they don't land a big fish this offseason.
It could also be real. We've already heard Correa mention the Cubs would be an attractive landing spot and many players agree. The Cubs weren't contenders last season, but seem close to a turnaround; they had a 39-31 record in the second half, have a strong major system, a decent enough MLB foundation and plenty of payroll space within which to operate this offseason.
The question is if this was eyewash -- on one or both sides -- or true mutual interest. It's just something to watch for now.
