Baseball Hot Stove: My Predictions for Tucker, Bregman, Bellinger & 10 Biggest Free Agents

Peter Klein

Baseball free agency is well underway with some big names signed, but some MASSIVE names still on the board. I'm predicting where the 10 biggest remaining free agents will end up - from Kyle Tucker's mega-deal to Bo Bichette's future to whether Cody Bellinger lands in Toronto. Let's dive into where these stars are signing!  Some of these are chalk predictions, some are bold takes, and at least one is me being a total homer. But I'm breaking down the logic behind each prediction and why these destinations make sense for both the player and the team. The Mets, Blue Jays, Orioles, and Yankees all have major moves to make - let's see how it shakes out.  💬 Where did I get it right? Where am I completely wrong? Drop YOUR predictions in the comments!  👍 If you want more MLB offseason content, hit that like button and subscribe!  🔔 Turn on notifications for all baseball free agency news and analysis!  #MLB #MLBFreeAgency #KyleTucker #BoBichette #CodyBellinger #AlexBregman #FramberValdez #BaseballFreeAgency #BlueJays #Mets #Orioles #Yankees #Tigers #BaseballHotStove #CouchPotatoDiary  🎧 Listen on: Apple https://apple.co/49NGm2L | Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM?si=icY7NEBvT7yZadv_JFlT6Q  💬 Follow for live breakdowns: X.com/primetimepk | Twitch.tv/primetimepk  | Kick.com/primetimepk  🔗 Support the Show:   - Tip Jar: https://streamelements.com/couchpotatodiary/tip (fuels more content!)   - Partners: C of Dead http://cofdead403.ca/ | Swift Energy https://www.swiftenergy.gg/?ref=mriusnqm PROMO CODE: PKPrimetime for 25% Off!

Transcript

00:00Who are the big free agents going to sign with? I have 10 of the biggest names that are left in

00:06free agency. Let's give our picks for where those guys will end up.

00:21So, the baseball free agent period. Well underway. We've had some big names go,

00:27but some big names still on the board. So, I'm going to go through the 10 biggest names that I

00:32think are left in free agency and give my picks for them. At number 10, because there have been

00:39actually quite a few signed, I think Chris Bassett makes the list. I would love for him to stick with

00:44the Blue Jays and for Toronto to try to find a way to keep him around. I don't know if that's going to

00:49be the case. I think he's going to want to get that starter money, and I think a team that could

00:52kind of use him is the Texas Rangers. They've had some injury issues at pitcher and could use someone

00:59to just eat up a bunch of innings for them. Bassett can do that. He can do that effectively,

01:03and the Rangers are going to want to be competitive again here, I think. Making some big moves,

01:08obviously, so maybe they won't be, but they're going to need that starting pitching, and I think

01:12Bassett fits what Texas is looking for quite well. Next, Eugenio Suarez. I have him going to the Red Sox,

01:19which probably tells you where I don't have Alex Bregman going, but Suarez, bit of a rough playoff,

01:25a couple of big hits, but certainly didn't have the big explosion off of an excellent, excellent

01:34regular season that he had. The Red Sox need a little bit more pop in that lineup. Suarez can

01:40provide that, so I have Eugenio Suarez coming into the American League East and signing with the Red

01:46Sox. Zach Gallin is my next one with the Astros. That's who I have him signing with, so again,

01:51tells you where I don't have Frambert Valdez going. Gallin, I still think there's a there there,

01:58maybe not to what it was before, but the Astros are going to need that front-of-the-line guy.

02:03Can Gallin be just a straight-line replacement for Valdez? Probably not, but I think he can still be

02:08effective enough in what is, again, going to be an Astros season of trying to retool and trying to

02:14catch up with the Seattle Mariners. So we'll see what direction they go, but I have Gallin going

02:21there. The next one is Munitaka Murakami, who is the big kind of pop hitter coming in from Japan.

02:32It felt like there was a lot of buzz about him, and then the story came out that he basically missed

02:36every pitch that went more than 90 miles an hour last season, and so I think there was a little

02:40bit of concern there. I wonder, given the Rendon of it all and everything, feels like the Angels

02:48might want to get back in that market and might need a little bit more pop in the lineup that they

02:54got rid of Ward, maybe looking for a bit of a spark there. So I have Murakami going to the Angels.

03:00They feel like the team that could kind of match some of the demands that that prospect,

03:04or that player, sorry, would have. One of the names that everyone north of the border is excited

03:10about, interested about, stressing about, is Bo Bichette, and I have him going to the Toronto Blue

03:18Jays. I think Bo sticks with the Jays. That just, that felt like a relationship that, like, him with

03:24the fan base, him with Vladdy, and John Schneider as well, all of that felt like Bo want, like, this is Bo's

03:32team. He is obviously seeing how the market plays out, telling people he would move to second base.

03:36That doesn't take him away from the Blue Jays, by the way. Jimenez could move to short just as

03:40easily, and they could still do it that way. There's a lot of different possibilities here

03:44for Bo Bichette to stick around with the Blue Jays, and so my pick is him staying in Toronto.

03:50Tetsuya Imai is the next one. I, I had him going to the Blue Jays right up until, um, the Ponce move,

03:58and maybe that doesn't take them out. Like, maybe the Blue Jays are just stocking up on everything

04:01now, but the way he was talking about wanting to be competitive, wanting to go against the Dodgers

04:07and trying to, to beat them and, and all of that, um, maybe it's not like I'm going plucky underdog

04:13here, but I have him going to the Yankees. I think that Imai ends up with the Bronx Bombers, that they

04:18desperately need to make a move in that starting rotation, and I, that, well, we'll talk about the

04:24other ones in a second here. I don't see them making a whole lot of other big splashes right

04:28now. Maybe they do. Maybe I'm wrong, but this feels like still the one that could kind of get

04:32the fan base back into it a little bit and kind of get them rolling in the right direction because

04:36they really need to at this time. Um, Alex Bregman is the next one on the list. I am going to the

04:42Detroit Tigers. Detroit making that run to, um, back into the postseason after getting a scare from

04:50Cleveland toward the end of the year. I know that there's all the Tarek Scooble discussions going on

04:55there. I still don't think that trade actually happens. And I think that this is a lineup that

04:58needs that big game changer in the middle of it. Bregman showed that he could be that at times

05:04with, with Boston last year. He has a relationship with AJ Hinch. It all just kind of lines up. So I

05:09see Bregman going to the Tigers. Cody Bellinger next on the list. This is kind of playing what we saw

05:15from a little bit ago from last time Bellinger was available and all of that. I have them go

05:21into the Blue Jays. It's a bit of an out there thing, but Toronto, I think they're going to make

05:26the big splash bringing in Bo. Not that Bellinger is going to be cheap, cheap, cheap or anything like

05:30that, but it is probably a step down dollar amount from the big name at the end of this list. And so

05:36I think that is kind of the combination that the Blue Jays go with. It still improves the outfield

05:42spot. Lucas and Schneider, um, a fine platoon in the playoffs last year for Toronto, but Bellinger,

05:48excellent defensively, a good lefty bat for the top part of that lineup for the Blue Jays.

05:54And I think would make it a very, very dangerous Blue Jays team. He just seems to fit it really well.

06:00Haven't seen the Blue Jays tied to them a lot. So maybe this is just being the homer here. I will

06:03absolutely admit that if it's not the Blue Jays, I could totally see him just going back to the

06:08Yankees. Um, but right now I'm going to say Toronto. Frambois Valdez, uh, I am going to the Orioles.

06:14Baltimore needs pitching that they just spent going out and get Shane Baz for a few prospects. Um,

06:20Valdez, I think that incident with the catcher has really hurt the market on Valdez. Um, that there

06:28was some talk about the Blue Jays maybe kicking the tires on that. I just feel like when you are a team

06:33that everyone is talking about winning a world or going to the game seven of the world series based on the

06:38power of friendship, you can't bring in a dude who then threw at his catcher. So that is obviously

06:44an issue. And so maybe the Orioles don't want to bring that into a young clubhouse and have Adley

06:48Rushman have to deal with that, but they need starting pitching and he is the best that's

06:52available. So I think Valdez to the Orioles makes the sense. And then the last one, Kyle Tucker,

06:57basically every sign is him to the Blue Jays right now. But like I said before, I think they keep

07:02Bo around and it just prices them out a little bit of the, the Kyle Tucker market, all the moves,

07:07the Mets have made point to this. The off season hasn't been very good. It has been surprisingly

07:12a little on the cheaper side with some of the moves that they have made, some of the players

07:16that they have let go with Nimmo leaving, bringing in Simeon, um, at second base, it leaves an obvious

07:25hole in the outfield. And I think it makes all the sense in the world that they just go out and

07:28overpay and bring in Kyle Tucker. It also like the, the Met fan is pissed right now at how things have

07:36gone down. So I think that you have to kind of correct that. I think that, um, Steve Cohen and

07:43Mets ownership is aware of the Met fan reaction to everything. And so I think there is going to be a,

07:51a real push to, to make that move. So Kyle Tucker to the Mets is my prediction there. I can't imagine,

07:59I just went 10 for 10 on what you guys are thinking in terms of who goes where in baseball

08:05free agency. So let me know in either the chat here, um, or in the comments, what you think I got

08:11right and what you think I got wrong.

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