Outside The Confines: Holiday shopping lists

It looks like it’s going to be one of those busy days today. I apologize for not saving the actual link, but I saw a list of the Top 20 shortstops from 2009 — 13 years ago. Elvis Andrus is the only one still active. And he was a 20-year-old rookie in 2009.

• I know you know this already, but free agent shortstop Carlos Correa signed a 13-year, $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants.
• Will Leitch has seven thoughts on the Correa deal with the Giants.
• Dan Szymborski evaluates the Correa deal and what Correa might do in the year 2035. Or more generally, what they can expect out of Correa over the next 13 years.
• Keith Law thinks there’s a good deal of risk, but he generally likes the signing for the Giants. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Tim Kawakami looks at the “rational irrationality” of the Correa deal. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Andrew Baggarly checks in with Brandon Crawford, the Giants long-time shortstop, on how he’s taking the news. (The Athletic sub. req.) He seems to accept it, even if he’s not thrilled about moving off short.
• Mark Bowman looks at how the Correa signing affects the market for Dansby Swanson.
• You’ve probably also heard that free agent left-hander Carlos Rodón signed a six-year, $162 million deal with the New York Yankees.
• Bradford Doolittle evaluates the Rodón signing. (ESPN+ sub. req.) He gives the Yankees a B+.
• Keith Law is more sceptical, arguing that it’s a foolish bet to think Rodón will be healthy more than half the time over the next six years. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Tom Verducci believes that by adding Rodón, anything less than the World Series will be a failure for the Yanks.
• Matt Snyder writes that after adding Rodón, the Yankees’ starting rotation is one of huge upside and huge risk.
• Zach Crizer compares Rodón to Jacob deGrom and notes the two pitchers represent the rise of the two-pitch starting pitcher.
• David Adler looks at where Rodón and Gerrit Cole rank on a list of the top 1-2 starters on one team.
• Buster Olney has the inside story of how the Yankees came to re-sign outfielder Aaron Judge. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• David Schoenfield explains why the deals for Aaron Judge, Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts could all backfire as their teams pay big bucks for players in their thirties. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Gabe Lacques explains how the new collective bargaining agreement has led to these super-long free agent contracts.
• Zach Crizer has more details on how the Competitive Balance Tax is factoring into these very long deals.
• If you want to get even more into the weeds of the logic behind a 13-year contract, Ben Clemens looks at how interest rates, the Fed and inflation have played a role in these deals.
• Ken Rosenthal asks at what point does MLB step in and say that these deals are banned schemes to circumvent the luxury tax? (The Athletic sub. req.) To be clear, the answer is “Not on any of these deals.” But if someone had offered Correa a 20-year, $400 million deal, MLB probably would have blocked it.
• R.J. Anderson looks at the Braves options at shortstop as it looks increasingly unlikely that Dansby Swanson will return.
• Hannah Keyser writes that teams should not overthink free agency—just sign the best players available.
• The Dodgers have signed right-hander Noah Syndergaard to a one-year deal.
• Tom Verducci explains the four things the Dodgers must accomplish to “fix” Syndergaard.
• Alex Eisert examines what kind of pitcher Syndergaard is these days (as opposed to his “glory days” when he could throw that speedball by ya) and thinks that Thor is still good enough to improve the Dodgers rotation for 2023.
• More Dodgers news as they acquired right-handed reliever J.P. Feyereisen from the Rays for minor league pitcher Jeff Belge.
• Michael Baumann believes the Dodgers are the perfect team for Feyereisen.
• The Dodges also picked up Athletics infielder Yonny Hernandez in exchange for kevin cash. I’m not sure how the Rays feel about the Dodgers trading their manager to the A’s and them getting nothing for it. Maybe the commissioner’s office will do something about it. (NOTE: an earlier version of this link mistakenly said the A’s were getting Kevin Cash. They’re just getting an undisclosed cash.)
• The Brewers picked up infielder Owen Miller from the Guardians for a player to be named later and more cash.
• The Orioles signed utility player Adam Frazier to a one-year, $8 million deal.
• The Mets have signed catcher Omar Narváez to a two-year, $15 million deal. It’s technically a one-year deal with a player option.
• The Tigers signed left-handed starter Matthew Boyd to a one-year, $10 million contract. There’s another one million in incentives. Boyd played his entire career with Detroit before the 2022 season.
• And the Tigers signed right-hander Michael Lorenzen to a one-year, $8.5 million deal.
• Jeter Downs, the prize prospect the Red Sox got in the Mookie Betts deal, was designated for assignment by Boston.
• Leo Morgenstern explains what the Blue Jays can expect out of their newly-signed center fielder, Kevin Kiermaier.
• Aaron Gleeman looks at why the Twins are looking to trade outfielder Max Kepler and what they might get back for him. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Mark Feinsand has ten players who could still get traded this winter. No Cubs on the list.
• For those real draft masochists, Jonathan Mayo has an early 2023 mock draft.
• Dan McLaughlin is no longer the broadcaster of the Cardinals after his third arrest for a DWI.
• Mike Petriello believes that Rangers shortstop Corey Seager could be the biggest beneficiary of the decision to ban infield shifts.
• And finally, Zach Buchanan has a look at MLB writer and researcher Sarah Langs, as she continues to do what she loves (write about baseball!) despite her ALS diagnosis. (The Athletic sub. req.) It was Cubs broadcaster (and ALS fundraiser) Boog Sciambi who first noticed Langs was experiencing ALS symptoms.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Get some players for the Cubs, Jed.