Mega Thread 2024-2025 MLB Hot Stove

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The greatest trick Matt Mervis ever pulled was convincing the world he existed.

 

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Verlander to the Giants wasn't on anyone's bingo cards

 

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Back again after my vacation. Few transactions and signings to catch up on.

• The Athletics agreed to terms on a five-year extension with DH/OF Brent Rooker last week. The deal includes a club/vesting option for 2030. Rooker will reportedly be guaranteed $60 million. The option's base value is $22 million and could go as high as $30 million, depending on where Rooker finishes in MVP voting. The deal buys out three years of arbitration and two years of free agency. Rooker receives a $10 million signing bonus and a $2 million salary for 2025. The salary increases to $6 million in 2026, then $12 million in 2027, $13 million in 2028 and $17 million in 2029. The $22 million option vests if Rooker reaches 500 plate appearances in 2029 or combines for 900 plate appearances over 2028 and 2029. The option also vests if he achieves two top 10 MVP finishes between 2027 and 2029. Finishing in the top 10 in MVP voting in any of the next five years increases the value of the option.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers signed second baseman Hyeseong Kim to a three year contract worth $12.5 million. The deal includes a two-year club option (which must be exercised simultaneously) covering the 2028-2029 seasons. If the Dodgers exercise the option, then Kim would be paid an additional $9.5 million. The Dodgers designated catcher Diego Cartaya for assignment to create roster space for Kim. He signed the contract with mere hours left in the window to sign a contract with a MLB team or be forced to return to his KBO team, the Kiwoom Heroes, who posted him on 5 December 2024. Kim turns 26 this year and has won the KBO Golden Glve award four consecutive times. While he is speedy on the base paths and boasts an above average glove at second base (and an average one at shortstop) there are questions over his ability with the bat against MLB calibre pitching. He had a .326 batting average in the KBO over the last three seasons, but has never hit for power, which may depress his ability to play every day in the majors in the US.
• The Dodgers subsequently traded infielder Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for outfield prospect Mike Sirota and the Reds' Competitive Balance A draft selection (which will be the 37th pick in the 2025 MLB draft).
• Between Christmas and New Year's, the Diamondbacks signed RHP Corbin Burnes to a six year contract worth a guaranteed $210 million. It contains an opt-out after two years. Burnes is paid a $10 million signing bonus and will be paid $30 million in each of the first two seasons of the contract, and would need to determine whether he could better the remaining $140 million over the last four years of the contract in free agency. The contract reportedly includes approximately $60 million in deferred money and varying no-trade protection over the course of the contract. Burnes lives in Arizona in the off-season and recently became a father, so it appears that Burnes approached the Diamondbacks with the prospect of pitching in Arizona.

 

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The Texas Rangers last week signed RHP Chris Martin to a one year deal that guarantees him $5.5 million. Martin reportedly rejected offers from other clubs that would have paid him more in order to return to Arlington for what will be the last season of his career. The Red Sox, for whom Martin pitched in 2024, were one team that offered Martin a higher salary to return to their team for 2025. The Rangers designated RHP Matt Festa for assignment to create a roster spot for Martin. Festa was signed by the Rangers to a minor league deal last season and made the majors in August, pitching 18 times for the Rangers with a 4.37 ERA across 22 2/3 innings. Festa had previously pitched for the Mariners and the Mets before signing with the Rangers.

Source: Chris Martin turned down more money from the Red Sox to join Rangers

Relief pitcher Chris Martin has chosen to sign with his hometown Texas Rangers on a one-year deal, passing up the opportunity to ink a more lucrative one-year contract with the Red Sox.

www.audacy.com

 

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The Kansas City Royals have signed RHP Michael Lorenzen to a one-year, $7 million contract which comprises a $5.5 million salary and a $1.5 million buyout on a $12 million option for 2026 if the Royals decline their end of the option. The contract also contains $1 million in performance bonuses for Lorenzen, who returns to Kansas City after finishing the 2024 season with the Royals when he was acquired by the Royals in a trade from the Rangers.

'We're going to win': Lorenzen reunites with Royals on 1-year deal

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals reunited with Michael Lorenzen on Wednesday, signing the right-hander on a one-year contract. According to a source, the deal is worth a guaranteed $7 million, with a mutual contract option for 2026. Lorenzen will make $5.5 million this season as part of the Royals’...

www.mlb.com

 

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The Chicago White Sox are in agreement with LHP Martin Perez on a one-year contract worth $5 million, which comprises a $3.5 million salary and a $1.5 million buyout of a $10 million mutual option for 2026. The White Sox have a full roster, so will need to make moves to accommodate Perez and also Josh Rojas, whom the White Sox signed last week.

Perez profiles as a soft-tossing innings eater, having made 26 starts for the Pirates and Padres in 2024, with 135 innings pitched. He put up a combined 4.53 ERA for the two clubs, with an 18.1% strikeout rate, a 8.3% walk rate and a 44.4% ground ball rate. Perez has an average 9.13 mph four-seam fastball.

 

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The Whitge Sox have signed infielder Josh Rojas on a one-year, $3.5 million contract after he was non-tendered by the Mariners in November 2024. Rojas had been acquired by the Mariners from the Diamondbacks in the trade that sent closer Paul Sewald to the Diamondbacks at the 2023 trade deadline.

Versatile Rojas on signing with White Sox: 'They didn't really have to sell me too much'

CHICAGO -- When Josh Rojas first talked to the White Sox about joining the team via a one-year, $3.5 million deal, there wasn’t much selling general manager Chris Getz had to do concerning his organization. Not even coming off 121 losses in 2024, setting a record in the Modern Era

www.mlb.com

 

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The Chicago Cubs are in agreement with RHP Colin Rea on a one-year, $5 million contract that comprises a base salary of $4.25 million with a $750,000 buyout on a $6 million club option for 2026. The Cubs have a full 40-man roster and will need to create roster space when this deal becomes official. Rea pitched 292 1/3 innings for the Brewers between 2023 and 2024, with 49 starts and nine relief appearances. He put up a 4.40 ERA, with a 19.9% strikeout rate. The Brewers decided against exercising their club option over Rea that would have been worth $5.5 million and put him on waivers. No team claimed him, so they paid the $1 million to buy out the option, meaning that Rea will actually receive a slight bump in pay when factoring in the buyout payment and the guaranteed amount. Rea reunites with manager Craig Counsell, who managed Rea in 2023.

 

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The Toronto Blue Jays are in agreement with RHP Jeff Hoffman on a three year contract that guarantees the former Philly $33 million. Hoffman will receive a $5 million signing bonus, and can earn up to $6 million in centives depending on the number of innings pitched. Hoffman will receive a $5 million salary in 2025, that jumps to $11 million in each of 2026 and 2027.

According to a statement from the Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins, Hoffman will have an opportunity to close games for the Blue Jays, implying heavily that Hoffman will stay in a reliever role. Other clubs had been eyeing Hoffman as a possible starter.

Hoffman was drafted by the Blue Jays back in 2014. However, he was traded by the Blue Jays to the Rockies as part of the trade for Troy Tulowitzki, where he struggled putting up an ERA of above six in each of the five seasons in which he pitched. The Rockies traded Hoffman to the Reds in exchange for RHP Robert Stephenson before the start of the 2021 season, and the Reds turned Hoffman into a reliever. In 66 appearances across 2021-2022, Hoffman put up a combined ERA of 4.28. He signed a minor league contract with the Phillies in 2023 and made the majors in May 2023, pitching 52 1/3 innings of 2.41 ERA. He then pitched 66 1/3 innings for the Phillies in 2024, with a 2.17 ERA.

It appears that Hoffman had a contract lined up with the Orioles, worth $40 million over three years, but the Orioles had an issue with Hoffman's throwing shoulder on the physical examination that caused the Orioles to revoke their offer to Hoffman.

Blue Jays add All-Star reliever Jeff Hoffman with $33 million, 3-year contract

All-Star reliever Jeff Hoffman and the Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to a $33 million, three-year contract. The team announced the deal two days after his 32nd birthday.

apnews.com

 

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The Baltimore Orioles pivoted from Jeff Hoffman to RHP Andrew Kittredge, signing the latter to a one-year, $10 million contract. Kittredge will receive a base salary of $9 million and is guaranteed a buyout of $1 million on a $9 million club option for 2026. The Orioles have a full roster and will need to make a move when the contract becomes official. Kittredge will become the setup man for closer RHP Felix Bautista, who is expected to return from Tommy John surgery this year. Kittredge becomes an option along side Seranthony Dominguez, Yennier Cano and Keegan Akin as potential high-leverage pitchers in the Orioles' bullpen. Kittredge is an experienced pitcher in the seventh and eighth innings of games, putting up 37 holds for the Cardinals in 2024.

 

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The Baltimore Orioles have also signed RHP Charlie Morton to a one-year contract worth $15 million. Morton joins the sixth team of his career in what will be his 18th season of major league baseball. Morton spent the last four years with the Braves, where he put up a combined 3.87 ERA across 124 starts, including 30 starts in 2024 for a 4.19 ERA across 165 1/3 innings. Despite being over 40, Morton still averages about 94mph on his fastball, while his best pitch (the curveball) averages 81.5 mph, producing a combined batting average of .200. It appeared that the Orioles appealed to Morton because he wanted to complete Spring Training close to his home in Bradenton, Florida, and the Orioles do their Spring Training in Sarasota.

Morton joins Tomoyuki Sugano as new to the Orioles rotation, replacing Corbin Burnes, who signed with the Diamondbacks before the New Year.