January is coming to a detailed, and shortly so will Main League Baseball‘s offseason. You would not comprehend it primarily based on how indifferently groups have behaved currently, as 4 of the highest 10 free brokers (Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery) stay unsigned. There have not even been many rumors concerning them. You work that ought to change quickly. Why not at the moment? With that in thoughts, let’s get into the information, strikes, and rumors for Monday.
Angels signal Hicks
The Angels have agreed to a big-league cope with outfielder Aaron Hicks for the league minimal, the crew introduced Monday. The Yankees are nonetheless chargeable for paying Hicks all through his contract (by way of the 2025 marketing campaign) after releasing him final 12 months. He latched on with the Orioles afterward and posted a 127 OPS+ in 65 video games with Baltimore. Hicks figures to see motion in left discipline and at DH, relying on what the Angels do the remainder of the winter.
Turner determination coming quickly?
Veteran DH Justin Turner is “more and more possible” to hitch a brand new membership this week, in line with MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. It is unclear what groups stay within the operating for Turner, however he is been linked to a number of all through the course of the offseason, together with the Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, and Mets. (The Diamondbacks have since signed Joc Pederson, suggesting they’re out.)
At this level in Turner’s profession, it is protected to put in writing him off as an element each defensively and on the basepaths. That is OK as a result of he stays a pressure on the plate. Turner is very adept at making contact and commanding the zone, and he is clearly nonetheless able to burning errors. Age- and health-related caveats apply, however Turner confirmed no issues with velocity — and it wasn’t as a result of he cheated and left himself weak to offspeed and secondary choices. If he needs to maintain enjoying, he ought to discover a welcoming dwelling someplace as a chosen hitter and occasional first baseman.
Rangers have mentioned Belt
Rely the Rangers among the many groups to have no less than internally mentioned including DH Brandon Belt to their lineup, in line with ESPN’s Buster Olney. Belt is, in fact, conversant in Rangers skipper Bruce Bochy from their shared days with the Giants. He is coming off a superb season with the Blue Jays that noticed him submit a 136 OPS+ in 103 video games. Earlier this winter, the Rangers misplaced their incumbent DH Mitch Garver to free company.
Purple Sox focused on Cooper
If the Purple Sox fail to re-sign Adam Duvall, they might flip to Garrett Cooper as a Plan B, in line with Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Cooper does not have as a lot defensive versatility as Duvall, however he does have expertise at each first base and within the nook outfield.
CBS Sports activities lately highlighted Cooper as a strong candidate to have a bounce-back season:
You would possibly suppose that we would be out on this one. In spite of everything, Cooper is a 33-year-old right-right first baseman coming off a subpar season by which he swung and missed greater than traditional. But we do suppose there’s proof that he is in for a greater 2024. His ball-tracking knowledge, particularly his share of batted balls that had an exit velocity of 95 mph or larger and a launch angle between 10 and 30 levels, put him within the neighborhood of Luis Robert Jr., Jorge Polanco, and Zack Gelof, amongst others. In different phrases, batters who had extra productive seasons. Cooper definitely would not be the primary of his sort to flame out earlier than he reaches his mid-30s. We simply suppose he deserves the chance to show that he has extra within the tank earlier than we’ll write him as such.
The Purple Sox have been rumored to looking for a nook bat with energy all winter.
