MLB trade rumors and news: Gerrit Cole’s record deal caps off a busy day at the Winter Meetings

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• This offseason’s biggest free agent found a new home late Tuesday night, as Gerrit Cole agreed to a nine-year, $324 million contract with the Yankees. Cole’s contract is the largest ever for a pitcher — breaking the record that Stephen Strasburg set just over a day earlier — and the second-largest overall in MLB history, trailing only the $330 million deal Bryce Harper signed last offseason.
• The Rangers gave outfielder Nomar Mazara a much-needed change of scenery on Tuesday, dealing the 24-year-old outfielder to the White Sox for outfield prospect Steele Walker. Walker was the No. 4 prospect in Chicago’s system as ranked by MLB Pipeline, and his stock should only rise now that he can be referred to as “Steele Walker, Texas Ranger.”
• Didi Gregorius bet on himself (albeit in a rather lucrative fashion) on Tuesday, agreeing to a one-year, $14 million contract with the Phillies. Sir Didi will look to re-establish himself as one of the better shortstops in the majors after a down 2019 season that was partially wiped out by his recovery from Tommy John surgery, and he’ll reunite with his former manager Joe Girardi.
• After successfully flipping reclamation project Drew Pomeranz at the trade deadline last season, the Giants found themselves another starter to try to rehab and perhaps flip in 2020, signing Kevin Gausman to a one-year deal worth $9 million plus up to $1 million in incentives. While Gausman struggled in 2019, he has a big arm and his peripheral numbers were actually pretty good, so he’s at least worth taking a gamble on.
• The Gausman deal wasn’t the only interesting thing the Giants did on Tuesday, as they also acquired veteran infielder Zack Cozart and, more significantly, 2019 Angels first-rounder Will Wilson from the Halos in exchange for cash considerations. By taking on the remaining $12.67 million on Cozart’s deal, the Giants effectively buy themselves the No. 15 pick in this year’s draft, and it’s perhaps still possible that they’ll also be able to get some value out of the former All-Star after two down seasons in Anaheim.
• Stephen Strasburg was one of the bigger fish in the free agent pond this offseason. While there was a lot of speculation that he could end up somewhere else, the Nationals opened their wallets to keep him in DC with an astonishing seven year, $245 million deal.
• Did... did the Mets do something right? New York is bringing back Brad Brach (say that ten times fast) on a one year, $850,000 deal. Spending time with two different clubs last season, the 33-year-old found the most success in Queens, posting a 3.68 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP while striking out 15 over 14.2 innings — a stark contrast to the 6.13 ERA over 42 innings with the Cubs earlier in the season. The Mets’ bullpen is in desperate need of resurrection, and with a contract that is almost entirely incentive based, Brach is a decent foundation to try to revamp that on.
• The Padres added another intriguing veteran bat to their lineup, acquiring Tommy Pham and minor-league infielder/reliever Jake Cronenworth in exchange for Hunter Renfroe and Xavier Edwards.
• The Phillies helped to set what appears to be a pretty expensive starting pitching market this offseason, signing Zack Wheeler to a five year, $118 million deal.
• The Nationals have signed playoff hero and anti-aging poster child Howie Kendrick to a one-year, $6.25M deal. In addition to being one of the biggest factors in the Nationals becoming World Champions, the 36-year old put up a strong slash line during the regular season, hitting up .344/.395/.572 with 17 home runs. The deal also includes a mutual option for 2021.
• The Braves have stayed active throughout this offseason, and that continued when they signed veteran Cole Hamels to a one year, $18 million deal. There is not really such a thing as a bad one year deal, and Hamels definitely has a pedigree that seems worth taking a chance on, but $18 million for a guy that is pretty clearly on the decline does carry some risk.
• Alex Avila is packing his bags once more — this time just not at the hands of his father. The Younger Avila will head to Minnesota on a one-year, $4.25M deal. This means that Jason Castro almost surely won’t be back with the Twins in 2020.
• The Wilpons have long been punching bags for how they have chosen to run the New York Mets from their financial dealings to the personnel moves that have been made over the years (and with good reason). Some sort of change seems to be coming as they are setting things up to give up their stake as majority owners to Steve Cohen within the next five years.
• The Angels made a deal in an attempt to get their pitching staff into semi-competitive shape, trading for the Orioles’ Dylan Bundy. Bundy might not be a super sexy name these days, but if he can provide some decent innings and Shohei Ohtani can stay healthy on the mound, there is a chance for significant improvement.
• After spending the final two months of the 2019 season in Oakland, lefty reliever Jake Diekman decided not to mess with a good thing, re-upping with the Athletics on a two-year, $7.5 million deal.
• The Reds, to the surprise of basically everyone, locked up Mike Moustakas with a four year, $64 million deal. Moustakas will play second base for the Reds as he finally got the deal he was looking for the previous couple of offseasons.
• The Padres continued to make noise this offseason when they acquired Jurickson Profar from the Athletics. Profar has just one year left on his deal, but is long on talent even if the production hasn’t always been there. It is still unclear how much these moves are helping San Diego’s roster, but they are definitely keeping busy.
• The Cubs did what they probably should have done last offseason when they non-tendered Addison Russell. Given that he both was not very good last year AND has a domestic violence suspension on his record, it is unclear how much of a market he will have for his services.
• There were a ton of other non-tender decisions made Monday and it is a lot of information to parse from the big names to the guys on the 40 man roster that never were going to see the light of day. To make things easier, we created a tracker with all of the tender and non-tender decisions made with links to either our articles on them and/or the relevant reporting on the moves.
• Speaking of teams swooping in, it looks like the Rangers are not being shy about how much they’d just *love* to acquire Miguel Andujar from the Yankees, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. The 24-year old is coming off an abridged season after a torn labrum in April squashed his 2019 hopes. And with Gio Urshela stepping into the role as the Bronx’s favorite third baseman, dealing Andujar isn’t out of the Yankees line of sight.
• The Pirates hired themselves a new manager in Derek Shelton. The former Twins’ bench coach has coached in the big leagues for a long time and has been widely praised for his work in Minnesota. With the hiring, that now leaves every MLB club with a manager, as Pittsburgh was the last team to fill their vacancy.
• If you care about baseball at all in any capacity, then you need to read this: MLB’s plan to eliminate 42 minor league baseball teams, explained.
• 28-year-old right-hander Kendall Graveman, who was considered an intriguing major-league starter in the not-too-distant past (he was the Athletics’ Opening Day starter in 2018) signed a one-year deal with the Mariners in hopes of resurrecting his career. Graveman spent the 2019 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery in the Cubs organization but had his option for 2020 declined earlier this month.
• How Seymour Siwoff, the ‘angel of statistics,’ helped us understand baseball (and also love it even more, if you’re into that).
• The White Sox showed interest in basically every big free agent last offseason. While they came up empty, that is not the case this offseason as they landed the best catcher on the market, Yasmani Grandal, on a four-year deal worth $73 million. The team has gone on to say that this is likely only the beginning of their moves as they look to become relevant again.
• If you were one of those who bet that Will Smith, the top reliever on the free agent market who was widely expected to sign his qualifying offer, was going to be the first major free agent signing of the offseason... you are likely very rich. The Braves struck early as they signed Smith to a lucrative three-year deal and the team has, for the moment, a bullpen that should be a strength even if it is rather pricey.
• New manager, who dis? The Phillies are in the midst of negotiating an extension with catcher J.T. Realmuto, reports Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. As of now, Realmuto is only under team control through the 2020 season. If he hits the free-agent market after that, he is set to have a big payday and be one of the biggest names of next winter‘s class. Currently, he is projected to earn $10.3M in his last year of arbitration eligibility. If the Phillies are smart to work something out with the young catcher now before they have to deal with negotiation talks next off-season, with said extension not taking effect until 2021.