This is Yahoo Sports’ daily winter meetings preview. For a running list of the most important deals and rumors, check out our winter meetings tracker.
Gerrit Cole is joining the Yankees on a historic $324 million contract. Stephen Strasburg is going back to the Nationals on a contract that was a record for one whole day. The free-agent pitching market is going bonkers at the winter meetings, and now we enter Day 3 with keen eyes on what happens next.
There’s another rung of free-agent pitchers out there who are probably looking to seize on the demand for arms and this could mean a team like the Boston Red Sox sees increased trade attention for someone like David Price.
Here’s what to watch for on Day 3, and a few other notes about who has big paydays coming soon.
1. The pitching fallout — who’s next?
Cole and Strasburg flying off the board means Madison Bumgarner, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Dallas Keuchel are the top pitching options left on the market. There’s a definite gap between Cole and Strasburg and those three, so what happens next? Do teams like the Twins, Dodgers and Angels get desperate and offer a heftier deal to someone like Bumgarner? Do the rest of the free-agent pitchers make a deal quickly with the market is peaking? Those are the biggest questions for Day 3.
2. The most mind-blowing rumor: MadBum to the Dodgers?
Ken Rosenthal reported after Cole’s deal was done that the Dodgers may turn their attention to Madison Bumgarner and doesn’t that just sort of blow your mind?
#Dodgers will now shift their focus to free-agent left-hander Madison Bumgarner, sources tell The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 11, 2019
Bumgarner could certainly help the Dodgers, but could you imagine him in Dodger blue? Could either fan base?
3. What about David Price?
The Boston Red Sox owe David Price $96 million over the next three years, which may not be the best trade bait, but look at the times we’re living in. ESPN’s Jeff Passan says the Red Sox, who are looking to shed payroll, would deal Price, and you have to think some team will jump at it.
Do the Angels get that desperate if they can’t bag a free-agent pitcher? Do the Dodgers?
4. Who’s going to pay for Rendon?
Anthony Rendon is the last of this year’s three big free agents and he’ll get plenty of money. We’ll start to hear soon about who is willing to pay big for him. We know the Angels, Dodgers and Texas Rangers are in position to hand out a big contract, but is there anyone else out there?
Rendon is the Rangers’ top priority. The Angels and Dodgers had the money for Cole, so how much would they redirect to Rendon?
5. Will Ozuna stay in the NL Central?
We’ve been so focused on the big pitchers these past few days, there hasn’t been much chatter about the bigger bats on the market. Marcell Ozuna is definitely one of those. The Reds are the team most recently linked to him, via Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
Reds continue to show interest in Marcell Ozuna. They seek a bat and have been talking to him since the GM meetings.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 11, 2019
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