Outside The Confines: ‘Twas the week before Christmas

I’m not totally sure where the month of December has gone, but suddenly we are well over halfway through it, and holiday celebrations are afoot. Hannukah is underway, and there’s less than a week left until Christmas (this is also a friendly reminder that if your partner is the one who does most of the Christmas present shopping and wrapping, please make sure you remember to get something to fill THEIR stocking so it isn’t empty on Christmas morning).

Many teams have already far exceeded their holiday budgets, but fans may be excited to get a new superstar jersey with their beloved team’s logo on it under the tree. This offseason so far has felt almost unprecedented. Typically it seems like a lot of high-value free agents are waiting until the weeks before spring training to sign as teams barter and deal, but this year no one wanted to be without an All-Star on their roster before Christmas morning.

As things tend to slow down right around the holidays, it will be interesting to see what deals get made this week, as it seems like some teams (ahem the Yankees and Mets) are going wild, while others have barely written a wish list to Santa yet.

Let’s get into today’s links!

• John Romano spotlights the unique problem Tampa is currently facing: too many great stadium concepts, too little money to actually make them.
• Dan Szymborski looks at the ripples we might see in Baltimore from the Adam Frazier signing.
• Looks like Justin Turner will be heading to Boston, according to Ian Browne.
• And in a reverse free agency move, J.D. Martinez is making his way to the Dodgers. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• The Yankees have signed Carlos Rodon, but Matt Martell doesn’t think it’s enough yet to guarantee them success.
• The Twins thought they had a long-term solution with Carlos Correa until he opted out, now Dan Hayes looks at how the Minnesota club is regrouping. (The Athletic subscription required.)

• Michael Baumann takes a look at whatever the heck it is the Red Sox are currently doing.
• Who are the best players left at each position? Manny Randhawa breaks down who is left on the board.
• Emma Baccellieri tries to make sense of what’s happened so far in a frantic and high-prices offseason market.
• Pretty nice view for hitting home runs.

• Molly Burkhardt has a little more on that scenic home run derby above.
• Remember when the guy who caught Aaron Judge’s home run turned down $3 million to take his chances on the auction market? Manny Randhawa tells us how much he actually got.
• There’s going to be a reunion in Houston, as Michael Brantley signs a one-year deal. Story by Thomas Harrigan.
• With Andrew Benintendi gone, the Yankees need to address a hole in left field. Story by Chris Kirschner. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Is this worth the money?

And tomorrow will be a better day, Buster. Make it so.