Juan Soto, Alex Bregman and 5 Bold Predictions for the Winter Meetings

It’s been a few weeks into the Major League Baseball offseason and there’s been a lot of movement. Jorge Soler, Travis d’Arnaud, Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks are Los Angeles Angels, while Brady Singer was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in a deal that sent Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer to the Kansas City Royals.

But the bulk of offseason activity remains, and the Winter Meetings Dec. 8-12 in Dallas, Texas, are expected to see a flurry of activity, with Juan Soto, Alex Bregman, Corbin Burnes, Willy Adames, Max Fried and Blake Snell Market is on the list.

Here are a few bold predictions for the winter meetings.

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The mood in baseball is that Soto’s agent Scott Boras will sign shortly before or at the Winter Meetings.

Soto and Boras have met with the management teams of the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers. The meetings were a kind of “getting to know each other” where no offers were made. However, according to ESPN, the offers are expected to be extended starting this week, confirming the belief that Soto could sign during the December 8-12 Winter Meetings.

And if Soto does sign during the Winter Meetings, one thing is certain: all hell would break loose.

Last year’s winter meetings were boring and that made it clear to all baseball players that we were in for a very, very slow offseason.

This year I expect the winter meetings to be very active. I expect Soto to leave and perhaps several other top players to find new homes. I also expect there will be some movement in the mid- and lower-end markets as well. I think based on the seriousness shown by the teams early this winter, this will be one of the most active winter meets in recent memory.

I don’t know what it will be, but I expect the Red Sox to make a big splash.

This could very well be an offseason prediction – I’m not sure when the Red Sox’ big-time showing will ultimately come – but I expect them to make a splash. There’s just too much smoke to ignore, and honestly, given the way the Red Sox have indicated they’re going to spend money, anything short of adding a star or two will seem like one to the fan base Failure appears.

The Red Sox are linked to Juan Soto, but it could prove very difficult to sign the superstar outfielder outside of the Mets or Yankees. The Red Sox have been linked to top free agent starting pitchers and could sign one while trading for a player like Garrett Crochet. Willy Adames, the Milwaukee Brewers’ star shortstop, is another possibility.

The possibilities are endless for the Red Sox and I expect their roster to be significantly improved this offseason, perhaps as early as the Winter Meetings.

From interviewing various baseball executives and agents, I get the impression that it’s entirely possible that Jack Flaherty signs a contract worth over $100 million.

It’s unclear which team will give Flaherty this contract – it’s unlikely the Dodgers would do that – but the right-hander is in position to make money this offseason. He eventually made great strides with the Detroit Tigers and continued that rise with the Dodgers, finishing the season with a 3.17 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 28 starts.

Flaherty is in position to sign the fourth-largest contract for a free-agent starter this offseason behind Max Fried, Blake Snell and Corbin Burnes.

I want to make it clear that I have no information to support this. This is entirely a guess based on pure vibrations.

But it makes sense. The Detroit Tigers have improved significantly under coach AJ Hinch and appear primed to be a consistent contender in the American League Central. They have a young roster and the financial flexibility to sign a star, and given Alex Bregman’s connection to Hinch – the two were with the Houston Astros – signing Bregman to Detroit makes perfect sense.

However, the Astros have made it clear that Bregman is their top priority. They have had “productive” discussions with his agent Scott Boras and are confident they have a good chance of retaining the star infielder. However, if the two sides fail to agree on terms, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Tigers step in to sign Bregman.