MLB's offseason weather is changing at a similar pace, with deals coming in fits and starts between periods of inactivity. Josh Naylor was the first big chip off the board, then came Dylan Cease about two weeks later. Kyle Schwarber and Edwin Diaz inked deals in quick succession about a week after Cease, after which Pete Alonso got paid. There have been other signings, to be sure, but the dam is far from breaking.
Were you by any chance looking for something to endlessly talk about until the last week of February? Jon Heyman, full-time New York Post baseball writer and part-time Scott Boras ventriloquist dummy, reported tonight that Alex Bregman is opting out of the two remaining years on his Red Sox contract, which was set to pay him an additional $80 million. A mere eight months after Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow finally put an end to last offseason's most protracted free agency saga by offering Bregman a short-term/high-AAV deal - and a tremendous amount of bargaining power in the form of those opt-outs - we now get to do it all over again.
"Not even thinking about that at all right now. Thinking about the game that just happened," Bregman told reporters. " I'm gonna think about this game and the guys in the room and start my offseason. Get after it and become a better baseball player."
Eight teams have checked in on talented but struggling CF Luis Robert Jr., and if the White Sox can trade him before confronting that $20M option decision, they need to do it.