#offseason

#offseason

Good morning! There's snow on the ground in parts of Boston today and the winter meetings are right around the corner. We're in the thick of the offseason. So what's next for the Sox? Well, here's a reminder that we don't really know: Maybe they'll get a big bat! Maybe they'll get more pitching! Maybe they won't do anything! Talk about what you want, ignore most of the rumors, and be good to one another.

The Reds enter this offseason on the heels of a playoff berth that ended almost as quickly as it came, having been swept by the eventual World Series champion Dodgers in two games during the NL Wild Card series. There's still reason for optimism headed into next year thanks to a fantastic rotation led by Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott, but Cincinnati's offense could clearly use some help.

Nimmo was drafted by the Mets 13th overall in the 2011 draft, and he's spent his entire career in the Big Apple. The outfielder began his big league career in 2016 and has slashed .262/.364/.438 with 135 home runs in 4,365 plate appearances for a 126 wRC+. His best season, at least in terms of fWAR, came in 2022. At the conclusion of that season, Nimmo signed an eight-year deal worth $162 million.

The baseball offseason is only three and a half months. It's not that long from The World Series to Spring Training. And there's the hot stove and free agents and everything. It feels pretty long though. So what do you miss the most about baseball? I miss that from mid-February to November, there's a game practically every day.

The Dodgers should have plenty of financial flexibility to play with in the coming months, with more than $60 million in salary from last season set to come off the books (resulting from Clayton Kershaw's retirement, the expiration of contracts for Michael Conforto, Kirby Yates, Michael Kopech and others, and the team's decision to designate Tony Gonsolin for assignment last week).

"We're gonna have an active offseason," Hoyer told reporters. "Take that for what it's worth. I think the largest focus will be on pitching; I think that's obvious looking at our depth chart. We're in pretty good position on the position player side; on the pitching side, we're thinner."

The Reds enter the offseason likely to seek bullpen help and multiple upgrades within the lineup, but they won't have an especially lofty budget for achieving those goals. President of baseball operations Nick Krall said Tuesday that 2026's budget "will be around the same as our payroll from 2025" ( link via C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic). Cincinnati opened the 2025 season with a roughly $112MM payroll and finished around $116MM, per Cot's Contracts.

Second baseman underwent surgery after dislocating his left shoulder with two weeks remaining in the regular season. Meanwhile, the team announced last week that third baseman Brett Harris underwent surgery to repair the UCL in his left thumb (link via Jason Burke of Sports Illustrated). The injuries cloud what were already the two weakest positions in the lineup heading into the winter.

"I think what I would say is that we need to figure out ways to improve the team and that could take a number of shapes," Breslow said. "Every team gets better if you can bring in a starter or develop a starting pitcher that could pitch at Garrett Crochet's level, right? "There's no running from that and we'll be as aggressive as we can in chasing that down while also ensuring that we're doing everything we can to develop our players internally."

The Lakers have, I guess, sniffed around Wiggins. I didn't really understand that.

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With the transfer portal and the increasing number of international prospects going to college, the real college basketball offseason is shorter than ever.