TBNL: Walker Buehler, Joc Pederson, Andrew McCutchen, Eloy Jiménez all sign

Plenty of free agents remain available in free agency, but Monday saw several teams make last-minute additions to their rosters before Christmas.

Somehow, three organizations—the Cardinals, Padres, and Twins—have yet to sign any players to an MLB deal (or make a trade, for that matter).

Walker Buehler finalizes the Boston rotation

Boston general manager Craig Breslow made it clear he was going to prioritize the pitching staff this winter and the team’s rotation (and starting depth) now looks like a strength. The group is likely complete with the addition of Walker Buehler, who reportedly agreed to a one-year, $21.05M deal.

Buehler’s entire career has been spent with the Dodgers until now, where he posted a 3.27 ERA and 1.090 WHIP across 713.2 IP. He missed nearly two years following his second Tommy John surgery in 2022 and struggled upon his return last season, pitching to a 5.38 ERA over 75 innings with a spike in his walk rate.

In the postseason, however, he looked like his old self — including a dominant inning to close out the last game of the World Series against the Yankees.

Before his latest injury, Buehler once looked like a long-term building block for the Dodgers. Despite the various injury concerns they dealt with in 2024, the club entered the offseason with a fair amount of pitching depth already under contract — including a rotation expected to feature the healthy returns of Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani alongside Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the still-unsigned Clayton Kershaw. Los Angeles wasted little time adding to the mix when free agency opened, signing Blake Snell.

The Red Sox have been aggressive in addressing their rotation. The club reportedly had an interest in Max Fried before he signed with the Yankees and was linked to Corbin Burnes at one point but balked at his asking price (which is reportedly higher than the $218M Fried signed for). They have since shifted gears some, trading for Garrett Crochet and now signing Buehler. Boston also officially announced their signing of Patrick Sandoval on Monday, though he likely won’t be available until July at the earliest.

Rangers replace Lowe’s bat with Joc Pederson

Texas has shifted a lot of pieces around the board to bolster their offense this winter. The club signed Kyle Higashioka, acquired Jake Burger, traded away Nathaniel Lowe (barely 24 hours ago), and has now added another left-handed bat to the lineup — agreeing to a two-year, $37M deal with Joc Pederson. He’ll have the option to opt-out next offseason.

Pederson spent 2024 with the Diamondbacks, serving as the team’s primary designated hitter (he didn’t play a single inning in the field). He hit 23 home runs and posted career-highs with a .275 average and .393 on-base percentage.

The 11-year veteran has long been viewed as a good clubhouse presence and has history with Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (they played together with the Dodgers). He also gives Texas depth in the outfield, even if he’ll get most of his playing time at DH. In a pinch, Pederson can even handle first base. More importantly, the Rangers may have a sneaky-good lineup next season with their offseason additions and the healthy returns of Evan Carter and Josh Jung.

Andrew McCutchen returns for another year

Pittsburgh will bring the franchise’s most popular player back for another year, announcing on Monday that they had re-signed Andrew McCutchen for the 2025 season. He will reportedly earn $5M.

McCutchen told reporters multiple times last season that he didn’t think he was ready to retire and he had no interest in playing anywhere other than Pittsburgh. A new agreement between the two sides seemed like only a matter of time.

Cutch is already one of the best players in the franchise’s storied history, ranking in the top ten in games played, hits, home runs, RBI, and total bases. McCutchen may primarily be a DH at this point in his career (lingering effects from an Achilles injury limited him to just 21 innings in the field last season) but he still hit 18 doubles and 20 homers with an OPS+ of 105 at 38 years of age.

2025 will be McCutchen’s 12th season in Pittsburgh and 17th in the majors.

Rays quietly adds Eloy Jiménez

Tampa Bay scored just 604 runs last season, the second-fewest in the majors. Adding some offense was going to be a priority this winter. The Rays like their low-cost, high-reward acquisitions and, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, have agreed to a deal with Eloy Jiménez. It is a minor league contract that will pay Jiménez $2M if he makes the team (with another $2M in potential playing time incentives).

Jiménez became a free agent when Baltimore declined a $16.5M option after last season. The Orioles had acquired Jiménez at the trade deadline hoping he’d help their lineup, but hit just one homer and had a .232/.270/.316 line in 100 PA.

The Rays are hoping Jiménez can return to form and resemble the player the White Sox thought they were signing to a six-year, $43M extension in 2019 before he’d even make his MLB debut. Jiménez hit .276/.321/.527 across his first two seasons before injuries (a torn pec, torn right hamstring, strained left hamstring, an appendectomy, and others) began to pile up, keeping him out of the lineup and limiting him to designated hitter duties (he played just 8 innings in the field in 2024).