Plus: 9 potential free agents to watch
Which pitcher has made the most Opening Day starts for Cleveland? |
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| Manny Machado is officially off the list of potential 2023-24 free agents, with his new 11-year, $350 million deal in San Diego countering his plans to exercise an opt-out clause in his original contract.
That's great news for Machado, for Padres fans and for what remains of a pending free agent class that already had been stretched thin -- especially on the position player side. This will be a steep drop-off from a 2022-23 class that was stacked with, among others, the reigning AL MVP Award winner and a group of star shortstops.
When it comes to bats, next offseason is set to feature two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, whose potential free agency promises to be unlike any we've seen before. There are a few other relatively big names, such as Matt Chapman, Teoscar Hernández and Rhys Hoskins, each of whom offers a mixture of strong selling points and distinct downsides. Then there are the high-profile rebound candidates who just signed one-year deals (or deals with opt-outs after 2023) -- Cody Bellinger, Michael Conforto and Joey Gallo among them -- who certainly have the talent to launch themselves back to prominence by next winter.
But what about some other position players who could use a big contract year to push their way toward the top of a thin market, in the wake of Machado's decision? Here are nine candidates. |
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The Washington Huskies put on a show in their home opener, scoring 21 runs in the first two innings and cruising to a 32-7 victory. |
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Franklin Van Gurp is one of only a handful of players from the tiny tropical island of Sint Maarten to play pro baseball, and now he has the opportunity to pitch for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. |
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Terry Francona was recently ranked by a website as the American League's most handsome manager, and the Guardians donned T-shirts to commemorate the honor. |
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The Braves hosted Grambling State and Florida A&M this weekend in the Ralph Garr-Bill Lucas HBCU Baseball Classic, named for the former Braves All-Star and the first Black GM in AL/NL history. |
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Lauren Shehadi and Carlos Peña are at Twins camp while Greg Amsinger and Dan Plesac are at Guardians camp with the latest news, player interviews and more. |
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| The Red Sox host the Marlins in a Grapefruit League matchup live at 1 p.m. ET. |
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