Boras, Rule 5 Draft Highlight Final Day Of Winter Meetings

Baseball’s Winter Meetings come to an end Wednesday in Nashville, first with Scott Boras holding his annual “State of his agency,” where he gives his opinions on not only his clients, but how he sees the sport heading in either a good or bad direction.  it then ends with the annual Rule 5 Draft, where teams can select players to add to their roster who meet a certain criteria of service time.

Boras, who represents Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena and a number of other high-profile clients, spoke Wednesday morning about a number of players that are either free agents or on the trade block.

• On New York Mets (and Tampa native) first baseman Pete Alonso possibly signing an extension: “I spoke to David [Stearns, Mets president of baseball operations], we told him we’re all ears.”
• On Padres outfielder Juan Soto, who has been rumored to be at the top of the Yankees wish list: “He is one of the three to four greatest players ever at his age.  It would be like [Aaron] Judge in his rookie season right now.”
• On Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill, who St. Louis is reportedly looking to move: “Tyler O’Neill was eighth in MVP voting, two Gold Gloves, 30 home runs.  It’s nice to know in the talent evaluation of the Cardinals that they have players who can reach higher than that.  I don’t know.”
• On free agent Cody Berlinger possibly being open to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had non-tendered him after the 2022 season: “Andrew [Friedman] knew he was going to return to MVP form.  They had to make an economic decision.  Cody is listening to everyone.  There’s no exclusions.”

The Rule 5 Draft is scheduled to take place at 1:30 Wednesday afternoon.