Bo Bichette signs with Mets; J.T. Realmuto staying with Phillies

Catching up on some free agent news after the long weekend:

Infielder Bo Bichette is leaving the Toronto Blue Jays. He's signing a three-year deal worth $126 million with the New York Mets, who pivoted after losing out to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes. 

The Mets are going to be an interesting experiment this year. They lost slugging first baseman Pete Alonso to the Baltimore Orioles in free agency, but they've signed Bichette and Jorge Polanco. And they traded outfielder Brandon Nimmo to Texas for infielder Marcus Semien.

New York's projected infield is Polanco at first base, Semien at second, Francisco Lindor at shortstop and Bichette at third.

Notably, Polanco has never played first base, and Bichette has never played third. All four of those guys have been middle infielders their whole careers. The Mets are apparently going to test the theory that players with experience at shortstop can stand anywhere else on the field.

The Philadelphia Phillies reportedly made an offer to Bichette, but after he signed with an NL East rival, the Phillies pivoted and retained their longtime starting catcher, J.T. Realmuto, on a three-year, $45 million deal. 

I keep waiting for Philadelphia to do something to shake it up, after it has fallen short repeatedly in the playoffs in recent years. But for the most part, it seems like the Phillies are running it back. They've kept two of their top three free agents this offseason, Realmuto and slugger Kyle Schwarber, who signed for five years and $150 million in December. Philadelphia lost starting pitcher Ranger Suarez to the Red Sox.

The Phillies definitely still look like a playoff team, but it feels like they need to change the mix to get to the World Series and win it. 

Red Sox to sign LHP Ranger Suarez

Maybe the free agent market in baseball is finally starting to move.

One of the top remaining pitchers available reportedly agreed to terms Wednesday. The Boston Red Sox are bringing in left-handed pitcher Ranger Suarez on a five-year, $130 million contract, sources say.

Suarez, 30, has been with the Philadelphia Phillies for the entirety of his eight-year career, totaling 53 wins against 37 losses in 187 career games. Last year, he appeared in 26 games with the Phillies -- all of them starts -- going 12-8 with a 3.20 ERA and 1.220 WHIP.

Boston appears set in its starting rotation with Sonny Gray, Suarez, Brayan Bello and Johan Oviedo lining up behind ace lefty Garrett Crochet. Gray and Oviedo were acquired in trades earlier this offseason, from the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates, respectively.

But while it looks as though the Red Sox have the pitching to compete in the rugged AL East, I'm sure their fans are still looking for the team to add a big bat.

Boston traded Rafael Devers to San Francisco last season, and it lost Alex Bregman in free agency last week. 

There are still three big bats available on the free agent market in Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger and Bo Bichette. 

I'm thinking the Red Sox would prefer to add an infielder. They already have three left-handed-hitting outfielders in Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu. That means neither Tucker nor Bellinger are the best fit, as both are lefty-hitting outfielders.That leaves Bichette.

I've developed a habit of recommending teams pursue Bichette, haven't I? I'm a little surprised a 27-year-old who can stand in the middle infield hasn't gotten a free agent contract yet. 

Baseball's offseason: A year of slow free agency

Can we all agree now that baseball has the slowest-moving and most boring offseason of all the major sports?

The World Series ended more than two months ago, and free agency has been open for weeks. Still, some of the biggest names on the market are still without a team as the calendar turns to 2026.

It's odd. Wouldn't you think all 30 teams would have interest in these players?

• Outfielder Kyle Tucker, who is a four-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger winner and 2022 World Series champion.
• Third baseman Alex Bregman, who is a three-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion. 
• Infielder Bo Bichette, who is a two-time All-Star and led the American League in hits in both 2021 and 2022.
• Outfielder Cody Bellinger, who was National League MVP in 2019, a two-time All-Star, a two-time Silver Slugger winner and 2020 World Series champion. 

None of these players are old and washed. Bregman is the oldest of the four at age 31; Bichette is the youngest at 27. These are players in their prime, but none have a contract as yet.

How about these starting pitchers:

• Framber Valdez, who has finished in the top five of the AL Cy Young voting in three of the past four years and is a 2022 World Series champion.
• Ranger Suarez, who is 16 games over .500 and has a 3.38 ERA for his career.
• Zac Gallen, who had a down season last year but still won 13 games, and has finished in the top 10 of NL Cy Young voting three times in his career. 

They could be yours, if the price is right.

Need a catcher? How about J.T. Realmuto? Third baseman Eugenio Suarez hit 49 home runs last season. He's still available. Three-time batting champ Luis Arraez is also on the market.

From a Chicago perspective, we know the White Sox won't be bidding on any of these higher-end free agents. But we also know they want to add pitching -- both in the rotation and in the bullpen. There are middle-tier options out there.

Free agent starting pitchers include old friends Chris Bassitt, Lucas Giolito and Jose Quintana. Others available are Zack Littell, Walker Buehler and Nick Martinez. How about a future Hall of Famer? Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are free agents.

There are old friends on the relief market too: Michael Kopech, Liam Hendriks and David Robertson. Also without a team are Seranthony Dominguez and Rock Falls High School product Jakob Junis.

See anything you like on that list? For Jan. 6, that's a lot of accomplished players looking for work.