Here are three things we’ll be looking at around the baseball world this weekend:
1. Will the Nationals sell more pieces?
The big news in baseball yesterday was that the Nationals made a trade that sent a star lefty MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers for a package of five prospects led by Texas’ 2025 first-round pick, a center fielder. Gavin Fien. President of baseball Paul Toboni has not been shy about the fact that the team is still in a rebuilding period after five years near the end of the tenure under GM Mike Rizzo, and the deal shows that Toboni does not see things changing in the next two years. The report revealed that the team has also issued offers for the midfielder CJ Abrams and a center fielder Jacob Young. Abrams has three years left to manage the team, while Young has four. Nats fans will be watching for a trade of those highly interested players heading into opening day, as Toboni’s decision on whether or not to grab a player like Young could be a sign of how long he expects the team to stay in contention.
2. Who is left in the trade market?
Gore was one of the most obvious acquisitions of the offseason, and so were both Freddy Peralta on the board the pitches are starting to get smaller when it comes to pitchers teams can look to trade. The Royals can make anyone fall in love Chris Bubic available and maybe the Red Sox will listen to some of their depth options like Patrick Sandovalbut most of the smoke of the trade market statistics will focus on the players in the positions at this point. Brendan Donovan was a big name in that regard, and the Cardinals still seem more likely than not to move him before Spring Training given continued interest from teams like the Giants and Mariners. Whispered conversations between Isaac Paredes and the Red Sox don’t seem likely to go until Boston solves the hole in their infield, and the possibility of the Cubs trading a player from their infield. Nico Hoerner or Matt Shaw after Alex Bregmanthe arrival of log created a logjam is always very interesting as well. Currently, Jarren Duran again Wilyer Abreu saw their names in the Boston rumor mill for years at this time. Who will go next?
3. Fan events this weekend:
While Spring Training is still a few weeks away, teams around the sport have already started holding their annual offseason events to get fans excited for the upcoming season. The Twins, Astros, Rockies, and Pirates are all holding fan events this weekend, with details on the pages linked by MLB.com’s offerings. The Rangers were expected to host one, but the team announced that the event would be canceled due to the weekend’s inclement weather. Meanwhile, the Orioles announced that Saturday’s events will be canceled while today’s events will be limited due to the impending weather. Fans planning to attend any of these events should keep an eye on team event pages (and team social media accounts) prior to the event to stay informed if inclement weather causes additional cancellations.
