{"id":422223,"date":"2026-01-20T21:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/422223\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T21:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:34:11","slug":"this-week-in-free-agency-1-13-1-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/422223\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Free Agency: 1\/13 – 1\/19"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was some real action this week with the top two free agents on the market signing as well as some notable second-tier free agents, particularly in the backstop department. Somehow, though, only 48% of the listed free agents on the free agency tracker are still available. With pitcher and catchers set to report on 2\/9, there will likely be substantial movement over the next month or so. Should be exciting!<\/p>\n

#1 \u2014 Kyle Tucker, OF (LAD)
4 years, $240 million<\/p>\n

Opt-outs after Years 2 + 3<\/p>\n

Sixty million dollars a year feels like a lot, even for a player as talented as Tucker. The Dodgers now boast a lineup with three future Hall of Famers, and Tucker who could potentially join that tier if he can stay healthy. It sure must be fun to be a Dodgers fan but one has to wonder how a deal like this might affect upcoming labor negotiations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Kyle Tucker. Photo credit- Rick Scuteri<\/p>\n

#2 \u2014 Bo Bichette, SS\/3B (NYM)
3 years, $126 million
Opt-out after Year 1<\/p>\n

The Mets missed out on Tucker and immediately pivoted to Bichette who will reportedly be playing third base for them. The bat should play but it remains to be seen if Bichette can handle the hot corner. A bit of a surprise pivot here.<\/p>\n

#13 \u2014 J.T. Realmuto, C (PHI)
3 years, $45 million<\/p>\n

Realmuto will return to the Phillies, just like teammate Kyle Schwarber though at less of a raise. Still, $15 million a year isn\u2019t bad for an aging catcher.<\/p>\n

#46 \u2014 Victor Caratini, C (MIN)
2 years, $14 million<\/p>\n

A two million dollar raise from his previous two-year contract. Caratini is extremely valuable as he can hit and play first base in addition to his ability to catch. One of the best backups in the league.<\/p>\n

#61 \u2014 Jakob Junis, RP (TEX)
1 year, $4 million<\/p>\n

All Junis does is consistently get batters out, and every offseason he has to settle for a one-year deal. The Rangers did well on this one.<\/p>\n

\"Rangers<\/a>Jakob Junis. Photo credit- David Richard-Imagn<\/p>\n

#90 \u2014 Willi Castro, UT (COL)
2 years, $12.8 million<\/p>\n

The Rockies are so weird. Castro was awful last year. Two years guaranteed is wild. <\/p>\n

#95 \u2014 Taylor Clarke, RP (ARI)
1 year, $1.55 million<\/p>\n

Clarke was almost out of baseball a year ago. He put together a nice season for the Royals and will now return to the team that drafted him as a middle reliever.<\/p>\n

#160 \u2014 Jorge Mateo, SS (ATL)
1 year, $1 million<\/p>\n

Signed after Ha-Seong Kim messed up his hand slipping on ice in Korea. One man\u2019s misfortune is another\u2019s opportunity.<\/p>\n

#187 \u2014 Trent Thornton, RP (CHC)
Minor League deal<\/p>\n

#193 \u2014 Ryan Borucki, RP (CHW)
Minor League deal<\/p>\n

The leftiest with a pulse lefty with a pulse.<\/p>\n

#224 \u2014 Sam Huff, C (BAL)
Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Proof that if you are a catcher and had a good couple of weeks with the bat one time, you will continue to get work indefinitely if you want it.<\/p>\n

#241 \u2014 Sean Hjelle, RP (NPB)
Terms TBD<\/p>\n

Keep an eye on him- if he\u2019s a starting pitcher and has success, he\u2019ll be someone who returns to a nice contract stateside.<\/p>\n

\"Sean<\/a>Sean Hjelle. Photo credit- MLB.com<\/p>\n

#276 \u2014 Zach Penrod, RP (WAS)
Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Carlos P\u00e9rez, C (HOU) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Seth Brown, OF (NYY) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Amos Willingham, RP (HOU) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Trevor Gott, RP (WAS) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Nick Robertson, RP (LAD) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Miguel Castro, RP (LAA) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Yacksel R\u00edos, RP (CHC) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n

\"Rays<\/a>Yacksel Rios. Photo credit- Tampa Bay Times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was some real action this week with the top two free agents on the market signing as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-422223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}