Carson Benge homers to complete 20-20 season

Meeting with representatives is standard practice for this time of year, but the Blue Jays seem keen to add offense to their infield mix, expressing an interest in Brandon Lowe and Ketel Marte as well. Perhaps the most significant development from the meeting with Chisholm is that the former Yankee is allegedly “open to a versatile defensive role in which he moves between multiple positions, including the outfield.” That would make Chisholm a better fit for the Blue Jays and other teams after he was used almost exclusively in the infield, mostly second base, by the New York Yankees over the past two-and-a-half seasons.

Preller mentioned that the Padres are dealing with some financial constraints, which made it hard to accept his $14 million team option at the end of October. However, Preller said the team “told [Pivetta] at the time of the decision we have interest in bringing him back and we still do.” The Padres would just need the new deal to be constructed in a way that gives them more financial flexibility for 2026. It remains to be seen if Pivetta is open to that.

Bonemer is fresh off hitting .286/.364/.633 in 13 Arizona Fall League games with three home runs and 12 RBI. While he played mostly infield during the regular season, Bonemer was working in the outfield in the AFL to increase his chances of debuting with the White Sox. The 43rd overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft hit .251/.380/.550 with 37 home runs, 92 RBI, and 17 steals across two levels this season, ending the year with 71 games at Double-A. If he gets off to a good start in Triple-A, he could be with the White Sox before the summer.

Sato has also been linked to the Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Mets, among others. The 27-year-old figures to move into the outfield as an MLB player, which could work for the Rangers given the injuries to Evan Carter, who had surgery this offseason. Sammon points out that “to create the payroll flexibility for Sato, the Rangers almost certainly would need to move one of their high-salaried players,” so there are a few hurdles in the way of making this happen.

DeLuca is under team control for three more seasons and is coming off a year where he hit .266/.300/.429 with 11 home runs and 17 steals. He is also a strong defender in center field, but he has battled injuries in his career and has never had more than 370 plate appearances in a season. Mesa Jr. broke out for the Rays in the second half this season, is younger, and hits left-handed, which gives him a leg up in the competition with DeLuca.

Nimmala came over from the Blue Jays at the trade deadline as part of a trade for Jose Soriano. He hit .263/.372/.492 with 16 home runs and seven steals in 89 games, split between both organizations, and began the year in Single-A for the Blue Jays before playing 23 games at High-A and 27 at Double-A prior to the trade. The 21-year-old is now thriving in the Arizona Fall League, but the Angels have Zach Neto entrenched at shortstop in MLB. Mozeliak also preached patience when talking about Nimmala, suggesting that the Angels have previously been too quick to promote their prospects. If the new front office listens, that might mean that we don’t see Nimmala at the MLB level until sometime over the summer.

He was also All-MLB First Team DH, and he’s the clear favorite to be named AL MVP on Thursday. We hope he cleared a shelf. His NL counterpart for the Hank Aaron Award was Pete Crow-Armstrong, while Zack Wheeler got NL Comeback Player of the year.

After taking a one-year deal with a mutual option from the Cardinals last winter, May seems in better position to command a two- or three-year pact this time around. He certainly wasn’t great in posting a 4.70 ERA for the Brewers and Cardinals, but he was able to stay healthy and make 31 starts and his velocity and strikeout rate both ticked up.

Hill, who turns 37 in February, generates grounders as well as anyone in the league, but he is coming off a season in which his ERA jumped to 4.60 and his strikeout rate fell to a career-low 10.4 percent. The Yankees didn’t even include him on their ALDS roster for the series against the Rays. He will come fairly cheap, though.

“I think there’s an emphasis (for Adames) to really structure his workouts to increase his athletic movements,” Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said. “The way I’m thinking is less bulky muscle mass and a little bit more -- still explosive -- but twitchy and helping with the range.” That’s probably the right call for the Giants; they need Adames’ defense to bounce back even more than they do his offense. It probably doesn’t bode well for Adames making another run at 30 homers, though.