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Wednesday began with Aaron Judge agreeing to a mega-deal with the Yankees, ending the suspense as to where the reigning American League MVP would land.
Then, around 9:30 p.m. PT, after most of the baseball world had departed the Manchester Grand Hyatt to return home, the Padres came to terms with Xander Bogaerts on a stunning 11-year, $280 million contract, finally giving San Diego the big bat it had been trying for during talks with both Judge and Trea Turner.
Judge — who agreed to a nine-year, $360 million deal — and Bogaerts landed deals worth a combined $640 million, but they weren’t the only notable free agents who agreed to new deals on the final day of the Winter Meetings. Catcher Willson Contreras (five years, $87.5 million) agreed to a deal with the Cardinals and Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida (five years, $90 million) came to terms with the Red Sox just hours after he was officially posted. Those deals helped push this year’s total free-agent spending past the $2 billion mark, and while the offseason’s marquee event is behind us, there’s plenty of action still to come this offseason.
Let’s take a look at four of the most interesting markets to watch in the coming weeks.
Shortstop
Turner came off the board early this week after agreeing to an 11-year, $300 million deal with the Phillies, then Bogaerts became the second star shortstop to sign when he joined the Padres.
That leaves two big-time players available at the position: Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson.
Correa has drawn significant interest from a number of teams, but sources believe the Giants — who lost out on Judge — are poised to make an aggressive push for the two-time All-Star. Correa is said to be seeking a $300 million deal of his own, and considering that San Francisco knows it won’t be adding Judge — and that Bogaerts signed for $280 million — there is the belief that the Giants might do whatever it takes to sign him.