2024 MLB Winter Meetings live updates: Tracker, latest news, biggest deals, rumors, analysis for Day Three

Ah the Rule 5 draft, everyone’s favorite event.

While most players end up being organizational fodder, there are exceptions (Trevor Hoffman, hello) and 15 players will get a chance to carve out a big-league role after being selected Wednesday.

Smith was the first pick and is coming off a 2024 campaign where he forged a 3.04 ERA and a 113/29 K/BB in 94 1/3 innings between Double- and Triple-A last season. He’ll likely be a relief option for the White Sox to begin the year.

The Marlins selected catcher Liam Hicks with the second pick from the Tigers, and he was followed by the Angels selecting left-hander relief from the Dodgers.

Noah Murdock (Royals to A’s) and Evan Reifert (Nationals to Rays) rounded out the top five.

A reminder that players taken in the Rule 5 draft have to remain on the active roster the entire year, or they have to be offered back to their former clubs.

The Red Sox have been involved in seemingly every big name pitcher that has been moved this offseason, but have come up short in their efforts.

Until now, it appears.

This, obviously, is a massive get for the Red Sox. Crochet was a first-year starter in 2024, but to say he took to it well was an understatement. The left-hander struck out 209 batters in 146 innings with a 3.58 ERA over 32 starts. He did have a few clunkers near the second half of the year, but call that being a first-year starter being due for natural regression on top of playing for one of the worst teams ever.

Teel is a nice get for the White Sox, as well. The 2023 first-round pick registered an .819 OPS in his first full season as a professional with 12 homers and reaching Triple-A to end the year. There will likely be a few more prospects heading to Chicago, but Teel is obviously the headliner, and a good one.

UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the White Sox will also get Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman Gonzalez from the Red Sox. This is a haul, and in particularly Montgomery is a great get for the White Sox after being selected early by Boston in the 2024 MLB Draft.

UPDATE: The deal is now official. We’ll be sure and have a reaction to the trade up soon. Fun one.

There’s been plenty of Kyle Tucker talk over these past few days in Dallas, and things appear to be getting hotter in regards to a potential trade.

According to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, the Cubs and Astros have discussed deals involving Tucker, Seiya Suzuki and Isaac Paredes.

On paper, this makes some sense. Suzuki is a productive player who would take over for Tucker in right field, and it would mean Suzuki doesn’t have to be a designated hitter; something he reportedly has little interest in doing. Paredes would be a natural replacement for Alex Bregman if Bregman was to leave, and his pull power would play well in Houston’s home park.

There would almost certainly be prospects headed Houston’s way as well, but the framework makes sense. It probably won’t happen, but it does make sense.

The Mets have made the biggest splash so far in the offseason, but they are far from done, and apparently willing to move Starling Marte to address some of those needs.

Marte has struggled to stay on the field over the last three years, playing in just 298 games between 2022-2024. He’s performed decently over that time frame with a .272 average, .731 OPS and 58 stolen bases in that time, but it’s worth pointing out that he’s due $20.75 million in his final year of the four-year pact he he signed with the team.

The Mets will likely have to eat some of the contract to move Marte, but it’s not terribly difficult to imagine him playing for a new team in 2025.

One of the most improved hitters in baseball in 2024 was Brenton Doyle, and at least to begin 2025, it appears Doyle is going to have an improved spot in the lineup.

Doyle is coming off a 2024 campaign where he slashed .260/.317/.446, and he added 23 homers while stealing 30 bases over 149 games. That .764 OPS was a vast improvement over the .593 mark he posted in 2023, and at the age of 26, it’s not insane to think he’ll take another step forward.

Doyle was already relevant in fantasy, but a chance to hit at the top while playing in the friendly confines of Coors Field certainly doesn’t hurt.

Spencer Horwitz was a Cleveland Guardian for about 15 minutes, give or take.

After being dealt from the Blue Jays to the Guardians in the deal for Andres Gimenez, Cleveland dealt Horwitz to the Pirates in exchange for Josh Hartle, Luis Ortiz and Michael Kennedy.

Horwitz was a solid performer in 2024 with the Blue Jays, slashing .265/.357/.433 while adding 12 homers over 381 plate appearances. He has an outstanding approach at the plate and doesn’t have a ton of swing-and-miss in his profile, and while he doesn’t make a ton of hard contact, he did show the ability to barrel the baseball (eight percent rate) and should produce solid — if unspectacular — power numbers.

Horwitz should be able to play everyday for the Pirates, and he’s a sneaky fantasy play for those who can stomach the lack of steals.

As for the Guardians, they end up trading Gimenez for Ortiz — a hurler who take a big step forward in 2024 with a 3.07 ERA over 135 innings and has a chance to start for Cleveland in 2025 — and two solid left-handed pitching prospects in Kennedy and Hartle. Its a nice piece of business.

The Rangers were a disappointment in 2024 after winning it all the previous campaign, but they bring back one of the better lineups — on paper, anyway — and added to that group late Monday night with a trade with the Marlins for Jake Burger.

Burger spent a year and a half with the Marlins after being traded from the White Sox at the 2023 deadline, and he hit .265/315/.472 in his time with Miami. The 28-year-old leaves a lot to be desired in terms of approach at the plate — he swung at pitches outside the zone 36.5 percent of the time and walked in just 5.4 percent of his plate appearances in 2024 — but he has elite power, and makes enough hard contact to hit for a not-horrific average.

Assuming there’s not a trade of Nathaniel Lowe, Burger will likely be the DH for the Rangers in 2025, and he definitely gets a fantasy glow up playing in this lineup.

In return for Burger, the Marlins get a solid prospect return. The best of these players is Vargas; a second baseman who forged a .775 OPS as a teenager for Low-A Down East and has a chance to hit for power and steal bases at the highest level.