1. Will the Nationals sell more pieces?
The big news around baseball yesterday was that the Nationals made a trade that sent a star to left field MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers in exchange for a five-prospect package headlined by Texas’s 2025 first-rounder infielder Gavin Fien. President of baseball operations Paul Toboni hasn’t been shy about the fact that the team is still in a rebuilding period at the bottom of the standings after five years under GM Mike Rizzo, and the deal signals that Toboni doesn’t see things changing in the next year or two. Reports indicate that the team has also made offers for an infielder C.J. Abrams and midfielder Jacob Jong. Abrams has three years of team control remaining, while Young has four. Nats fans will certainly be watching the trade market for players with significant interest heading into Opening Day, as Toboni’s decision on whether to retain a player like Young could be a sign of how long he expects the team to stay out of contention.
2. Who is left in the trading market?
Gore was one of the most obvious trade candidates of the offseason, both with him and with him Freddy Peralta off the plate, the choices are starting to narrow when it comes to pitchers for teams to look for. The Royals could make someone like that Kris Bubic available and perhaps the Red Sox would listen to some of their depth options, such as Patrick Sandovalbut most of the smoke in the trade market right now is centered around position players. Brendan Donovan has been the big name on that front, and it still seems more likely that the Cardinals will move him before Spring Training given the continued interest from teams like the Giants and Mariners. Whispers of the fit between Isaac Paredes and it doesn’t seem likely that the Red Sox will disappear until Boston closes the hole in their infield, and the possibility of the Cubs trading a player from their infield, such as Nico Hoerner or Matt Shaw after Alex BregmanThe arrival of the film caused quite a stir and remains very intriguing. In the meantime, Jarren Duran And Wilier Abreu have seen their names in the Boston rumor mill for years at this point. Who will be the next to move?
3. Fan events this weekend:
While Spring Training is still a few weeks away, teams around the game have begun hosting their annual offseason events to get fans excited for the upcoming season. The Twins, Astros, RockiesAnd Pirates this weekend they’re all hosting fan events, with details on the linked pages courtesy of MLB.com. The Rangers would host one too, but the team announced that the event will be canceled due to the poor weather forecast over the weekend. The Orioles, meanwhile announced that Saturday’s events will be canceled, while today’s events will be limited in size due to the coming weather. Fans planning to attend any of these events should closely monitor the team’s respective event pages (and club social media accounts) in the lead up to the event to stay informed in case poor weather leads to further cancellations.
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