DJ LeMahieu’s six-year, $90M deal with the Yankees is expected to lead to roster moves on middle infieldersGETTY IMAGES
The free-agent market "has been stagnant" for much of the MLB offseason, though there is a "sense among teams and agents that the market will start to move this coming week," according to Peter Abraham of the BOSTON GLOBE. DJ LeMahieu’s six-year, $90M deal with the Yankees on Friday "should lead to action on middle infielders." Mid-January also is "typically when the reliever market picks up." It appears that MLB "intends to start spring training and the regular season on time," so teams "can’t delay putting their rosters together" much longer (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/18). In St. Louis, Derrick Goold noted the Cardinals are the "only club yet to add a player via free agency or trade to the major-league roster." In a "prerecorded 'main stage' interview released on the team’s Web site" for its reworked and virtual Winter Warm-Up event, President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak "acknowledged the 'angst' he senses from fans and the financial guardrails steering the team coming out of 2020’s shortened season and truncated revenue." He "repeated his request for patience, and offered some indication of moves yet to come." With ticket sales and fan attendance still unclear, Mozeliak "suggested that the more 'time you can buy' the clearer it’s going to be how much the team has to spend" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/18).
CURTAIN CALL: In Chicago, Paul Sullivan wrote in a winter in which the "hot stove has been ice cold," White Sox Chair Jerry Reinsdorf can "take a bow for looking past the pandemic and making the financial moves necessary to try to make a strong team better." White Sox Senior VP & GM Rick Hahn said, "He’s given us the flexibility during these extraordinarily uncertain and obviously difficult for a lot of people times to have the economic wherewithal to aggressively pursue premium upgrades to a team we feel is pretty good." Sullivan noted the team now has "added nearly $29 million to the 2021 payroll" with moves for Ps Liam Hendriks and Lance Lynn and OF Adam Eaton. This led Sullivan to wonder why the White Sox and Padres are "willing to make financial commitments while most of the rest of baseball is lying low with only a month before pitchers and catchers report" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/17).
