Three rumors from Tuesday’s MLB winter meetings

Three rumors from Tuesday’s MLB winter meetings

The MLB Winter Meetings are here and with Juan Soto reportedly agreeing to a contract with the New York Mets on Sunday night, teams can begin making deals without being burdened by a hypothetical $700 million for a player.

As of Tuesday, here are three of the biggest rumors about the outcome of the meetings.

Jon Morosi reports that some executives have told him that free agent pitchers demand a lot of money that teams don’t want to pay. It creates a market full of opportunities for teams with mobile starting pitchers, with Morosi naming Framber Valdez (Houston Astros) and Dylan Cease (San Diego Padres) as possible candidates.

Both pitchers have another year under contract and would therefore be leased to acquisition teams. Other teams with strong pitchers on contract years could be potential selling options for teams looking to upgrade their equipment if asking prices for free agent pitchers don’t drop.

The rumor was reportedly confirmed later in the day when Max Fried agreed to an eight-year deal worth $218 million.

Also on the rental topic, Kyle Tucker is set to hit free agency in a year, meaning teams are looking at him as a potential acquisition opportunity. Morosi reports that the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees have expressed interest in Tucker to the Houston Astros, but Houston is content with him remaining in Houston during his free agent year.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post confirmed that the Cubs and Yankees are considered fit.

Since Houston doesn’t seem too interested in moving Tucker, he could be a candidate to be moved at the trade deadline if the Astros underperform. The price may not be considered affordable for the Cubs, Yankees and other potential destinations at this time.

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported that Cubs outfielder/DH Seiya Suzuki has received interest from two potential trade teams. The information came from Suzuki’s agent through Cubs president Jed Hoyer.

Suzuki has a full no-trade clause, as Rogers pointed out, so he can control his fate to some extent, but his agent admitted that Suzuki prefers playing on the field rather than just as a DH. He told Rogers it was a “small universe” that Suzuki would consider entering.

It is unclear which two teams have expressed interest in trading for Suzuki.

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