MLB rumors: Juan Soto nearing decision as bidding clears $600 million, Cardinals likely to trade Nolan Arenado

The 2024-25 Major League Baseball offseason is well underway, and already notable free-agent names are off the board. With the Winter Meetings mere days away, we’re being treated to an almost daily supply of rumors regarding free agency, trades, and the like. Speaking of all that, Tuesday’s supply of scuttlebutt – scuttlebutt! – can be found just below. 

Soto nearing decision as bidding clears $600 million

Juan Soto, the winter’s top free agent, has begun the process of eliminating teams from contention for his services, agent Scott Boras said during Blake Snell’s introductory press conference with the Dodgers media. 

Boras didn’t offer details on which teams, exactly, were out of the running to sign Soto. Thus far this winter, the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Dodgers have been closely linked to the star outfielder. And The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the bidding for Soto has now crossed over the $600 million threshold.

Additionally, Boras didn’t offer a timetable on when Soto might sign. Alden Gonzalez of ESPN adds that Soto is expected to sign before the end of the Winter Meetings on Dec. 12. Recent history suggests sooner than later, as both Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani — the top free agents in each of the last two winters — inked their deals within the first 10 days of December.

Arenado trade more likely than not

Veteran third baseman and potential future Hall of Famer Nolan Arenado has an uncertain future with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals are pivoting toward a “reset,” and that means they’re open to trading veterans who may wish to move to a team with better odds of contention in 2025. The 33-year-old Arenado is one such player. While he has yet to formally request a trade out of St. Louis, he’s given the Cardinals the go-ahead to explore trade options. If they’re able to find a potential match, they’ll bring it to Arenado, who then must decide if he’s willing to waive his no-trade clause. Other complications to an Arenado deal include the deferred money in his contract plus the signs of offensive decline he showed last season. Even so, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports that some in the know think an Arenado trade this offseason is a strong possibility. Woo writes:

“There remains a scenario in which the Cardinals keep Arenado, though multiple league sources believe the odds of St. Louis trading him to be higher than the odds of retaining him.”

Arenado is owed $74 million over the next three seasons, although $10 million of that tab will be paid by his former team the Colorado Rockies. In anticipation of a possible Arenado swap over the winter, we at CBS Sports not long ago looked at some potential trade fits for the decorated third baseman. 

Many teams in on Kahnle

According to the New York Post, eight teams, including the incumbent New York Yankees, have interest in free-agent reliever Tommy Kahnle. 

Kahnle, 35, is coming off a 2024 season for the Yankees in which he pitched to a 2.11 ERA with 46 strikeouts and 18 unintentional walks in 42 ⅔ innings. He’s put up a sub-3.00 ERA in each of the last three seasons, albeit across a limited sample of innings thanks to arm problems. For his career, Kahnle has an ERA+ of 125 and an FIP of 3.62 across parts of 10 big-league seasons.