Major League Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings wrapped up in Dallas, with the Boston Red Sox pulling off a blockbuster trade to acquire an ace from the Chicago White Sox.
Left-hander Garrett Crochet will call Fenway Park his home in 2025, coming off an All-Star season in which he racked up 209 strikeouts in 146 innings for a White Sox team that finished with the worst record in MLB history.
Boston had to part ways with four of its top prospects to land the 25-year-old Crochet.
“We feel like we got a legitimate No. 1 starter in Garrett,” Red Sox GM Craig Breslow told reporters. “Left-handed, ton of swing and miss, massive strikeouts and feel like the best is still in front of him. So we’re excited about what he brings. And obviously, we needed to trade really good players in order to be able to do this.”
Elsewhere, Juan Soto’s 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets become official and a press conference is set for Thursday at Citi Field.
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With a few of the top players signed at the Winter Meetings, all eyes will be on Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso and Rōki Sasaki in the days and weeks to come.
What are Mets’ pitching plans with Crochet off the board?
DALLAS — As Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings wound down on Wednesday afternoon, the Red Sox completed a trade with the White Sox to acquire left-handed ace Garrett Crochet. It took a massive haul to land the 25-year-old southpaw, with the Red Sox shipping out a pair of top 100 prospects in catcher Kyle Teel and outfielder Braden Montgomery, who were the team’s last two first-round picks.
Why does any of that matter for the Mets? David Stearns said on Wednesday afternoon that the Mets were engaged in talks with White Sox general manager Chris Getz about potentially adding Crochet to the top of their rotation.
“That’s the balancing act in all of this is how much future value and how much prospect value to give up for the near term, and that’s always going to be a lot of judgment as part of that,” Stearns said. “Certainly there have been times when we have done it and we’ll continue to do it, and there are times when the price just gets too steep for us and we choose to keep our prospect value.”
– Andrew Tredennick, NorthJersey.com
Diamondbacks not looking to trade pieces
DALLAS — A year ago, the Milwaukee Brewers were fresh off their fifth postseason appearance in six seasons when they decided to trade their best pitcher. Right-hander Corbin Burnes had one year to go before free agency, but the Brewers opted to take what they could get in young talent and forge ahead without him.
Though they are in a similar situation with their two best pitchers, the Diamondbacks, as they mull their options on Day 2 at the winter meetings, do not seem to be considering trading right-handers Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly. They want to keep them.
They will worry about 2026 and beyond later. The chance to win, as general manager Mike Hazen sees it, is too precious to put in jeopardy.
“My priority is to put the best 2025 team out there as possible,” Hazen said. “I’ve always wanted to push — not all of our chips into the middle of the table, but to go for it. (I’ll take) any chance we have to go for it without sacrificing long-term (or giving us) some chance of having the bottom fall out on us again.”
– Nick Piecoro, Arizona Republic
Juan Soto contract is official
Juan Soto is officially a New York Met, with the club announcing the 15-year deal on Wednesday night.
“This is a seminal moment in franchise history,” Mets Owners Steve and Alex Cohen said in a release. “Juan Soto is a generational talent. He is not only bringing staggering historical statistics with him but also a championship pedigree.”
Said Mets president of baseball operations Davis Stearns: “Today’s signing further solidifies our organizational commitment to consistent championship competitiveness. Not only does Juan provide historic levels of on field production, but his joy, intensity, and passion for the game mirror our budding culture. We are thrilled to add him to our team and look forward to watching his excellence for years to come.”
Rule 5 draft: Reds take speedy outfielder
DALLAS – The Cincinnati Reds didn’t leave the winter meetings Wednesday looking any closer to making a trade or signing a free agent than they did when they got to town Sunday.
But just before they left the Hilton Anatole at the conclusion of the meetings, they did nab a speedy Triple-A player with a good glove and defensive versatility who might contribute to Terry Francona’s playoff-minded team in 2025 as a utility player.
Cooper Bowman, 24, who played at the University of Louisville before the Yankees drafted him in the fourth round in 2021, was acquired by the Reds from the Oakland Athletics’ system in the major-league phase of Wednesday’s Rule 5 draft.
“He’s someone we’ve liked since he was an amateur,” said Rob Coughlin, the Reds’ director of pro scouting. “We’ve consistently had quality scouting reports on him from his amateur days all the way through the minor leagues.“He’s got tremendous intangibles, baseball instincts. We think he can handle a lot of different positions.”
– Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer
Red Sox acquire Garrett Crochet in trade
DALLAS − It was eight years ago nearly to the day when the Chicago White Sox traded away their ace and future Cy Young award winner to the Boston Red Sox for four of their top prospects.
Well, history just repeated itself Wednesday when the White Sox sent ace Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox for four of their top-ranked 15 prospects, including two of the top 60-ranked prospects in baseball.
The Red Sox sent catcher Kyle Teel (the Red Sox’s 4th-best prospect), outfielder Braden Montgomery (5th-best), infielder Chase Meidroth (11th) and Wikelman Gonzalez (14th) to the White Sox in the five-player deal. Teel was ranked as baseball’s 25th-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, while Montgomery is ranked 54th.
It was on Dec. 6, 2016, when the White Sox traded Chris Sale to the Red Sox for Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe and Victor Diaz. It turned out to be a colossal bust for the White Sox, with Sale helping the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series and none of the prospects ever becoming a star for the White Sox. − Bob Nightengale
Cubs, Yankees interested in trading for Kyle Tucker
The buzz surrounding Kyle Tucker about a possible trade has increased since Juan Soto agreed to a 15-year, $765 million deal. Earlier this week, Houston Astros GM Dana Brown acknowledged that the club is listening to offers for their All-Star outfielder, who becomes a free agent next winter. The Chicago Cubs have joined the New York Yankees as possible trade candidates for Tucker.
Tigers ‘interested’ in Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki
DALLAS — The San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers are believed to be the favorites to sign Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, one of the most talented pitchers in the world.
But the Detroit Tigers are throwing their hat into the ring.
And they have a chance.
“Every team in baseball wants Sasaki,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Tuesday at MLB’s Winter Meetings, located at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. “We do, too. We’re hard at work on a presentation to position this organization as appealing to Roki and his agent. It’s going to be pretty fierce competition, and we’re hard at work to make our case, and we’ll see how it goes.”
Expect Sasaki to sign around Jan. 15.
“My understanding is they haven’t gotten to the stage where they’re arranging meetings,” Harris said. “They have a process whereby we submit our case, so to speak. After we submit, we’re going to wait to hear what the next steps are.” − Evan Petzold
Yankees showing interest in Christian Walker
With Juan Soto out of the picture, the New York Yankees have shown interest in free agent first baseman Christian Walker. Walker, who turns 34 in March, is an elite defenseman − winner of the past three Gold Gloves in the NL − with a plus bat. Over the past three seasons, Walker has 95 homers and a 123 OPS-plus compared to New York Mets 1B Pete Alonso, who has 120 homers and 131 OPS-plus. Walker has spent the last eight seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Rangers land slugger in late-night trade with Marlins
In a late move Tuesday night, the Texas Rangers acquired 1B/3B Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins. In exchange, the Marlins received infield prospects Echedry Vargas, Max Acosta and pitching prospect Brayan Mendoza. Burger, who is under control for the next four years, will give the Rangers a slugger in the lineup, either as a corner infielder or, perhaps as the designated hitter. Burger last year hit 29 homers and drove in 76 runs, following up a breakout 2023 season in which he knocked 34 homers.
Top MLB free agents remaining
Max Fried and Nathan Eovaldi, two of baseball’s top starting pitchers in USA TODAY Sports’ 2024-25 free agent rankings, are now off the board but there’s elite talent remaining on the market expected to fetch big deals.
Here are the top 10 players still on the market:
- SP Corbin Burnes
- 3B Alex Bregman
- 1B Pete Alonso
- OF Teoscar Hernández
- OF Anthony Santander
- INF Gleyber Torres
- SP Jack Flaherty
- RP Tanner Scott
- 1B Christian Walker
- RHP Walker Buehler
MLB draft lottery results
It’s the first time Washington will have the No. 1 pick since they took Bryce Harper in 2010, a year after selecting Stephen Strasburg first overall in 2009.
The Rockies and Marlins entered the lottery tied for the highest odds of getting the No. 1 pick (22.45%), but were disappointed to end up with the fourth and seventh selections, respectively. The Nationals had a 10.2% chance, the fourth-best of any team.
MLB draft lottery results:
1. Washington Nationals
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Colorado Rockies
5. St. Louis Cardinals
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
7. Miami Marlins
8. Toronto Blue Jays
9. Cincinnati Reds
10. Chicago White Sox
11. Athletics
12. Texas Rangers
13. San Francisco Giants
14. Tampa Bay Rays
15. Boston Red Sox
16. Minnesota Twins
17. Chicago Cubs
18. Arizona Diamondbacks
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