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The 2023-24 MLB hot stove is upon us. All eyes are on the top free agent, two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who many predict will become the first $500 million player in North American professional sports history.

Which teams will go all-in to contend for a 2024 World Series title? Where will other top free agents, such as Cody Bellinger and Blake Snell, land? Who will make the trades that has everyone buzzing?

Below is a running list of notable transactions and updates from throughout the MLB offseason.

Key links: Ranking the top 50 free agents | Ohtani tracker

Notable MLB offseason transactions

Nov. 19

Phillies re-sign Nola

Right-hander Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed on a seven-year, $172 million contract, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN on Sunday. Story


Nov. 17

Brewers acquire OF from Yankees

The Milwaukee Brewers acquired outfielder Jake Bauers from the New York Yankees for minor league outfielders Jace Avina and Brian Sanchez, Jeff Passan reports.


Negotiating window for Yamamoto to begin soon

Pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to be posted Monday, a source tells ESPN’s Buster Olney. That means the 45-day negotiating window for MLB teams will start Tuesday.


Nov. 16

Braves, White Sox make pitcher swap

The Atlanta Braves receive left-handed reliever Aaron Bummer, under club control through 2026, while the Chicago White Sox get right-handed starter Mike Soroka, left-handed starter Jared Shuster, shortstop Braden Shewmake, infielder Nicky Lopez and right-handed starter Riley Gowens.


Nov. 6

Braves bring back RHP Charlie Morton

Atlanta is exercising its $20 million option on the right-handed starter, sources tell ESPN, despite significant discussion within the organization about declining it.

Key MLB offseason dates

Nov. 6: Free agency begins

Nov. 14: Deadline for teams to add minor leaguers to the 40-man roster to protect them from Rule 5 draft

Nov. 14: Deadline for free agents to accept or reject the qualifying offer

Nov. 17: Non-tender deadline

Dec. 4-7: Winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee

Dec. 6: Rule 5 draft

Jan. 12: Deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to submit salary figures

Jan. 29: Arbitration hearings begin

Feb. 22: 2024 spring training games begin

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Sources: FBI probes MLBPA business partnership

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Sources: FBI probes MLBPA business partnership

FBI agents have reached out to major league baseball players about their knowledge of financial dealings related to a multibillion-dollar group-licensing firm started and owned, in part, by their union and the NFL Players Association, multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation told ESPN.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they had direct knowledge of law enforcement calls to at least three players involved in union leadership in recent days. The sources said the players are not targets of the investigation.

According to the sources, law enforcement agents inquired about money related to OneTeam Partners, established in 2019 by the NFLPA, MLBPA and a private-equity partner, RedBird Capital, and used to strike media deals and monetize athletes’ name, image and likeness.

In a statement, OneTeam said it is “aware of an ongoing investigation of allegations concerning our partners. We want to emphasize that OneTeam is not the subject of the investigation and has not been accused of any wrongdoing in any way. OneTeam is fully committed to cooperating with the investigation.”

Union executives said they have not been contacted by federal agents. “If the MLBPA is contacted by the government, we intend to cooperate fully with any investigation,” the MLBPA said Friday in a statement to ESPN. Player leadership has retained separate legal counsel outside of the union, sources said.

Multiple sources said the investigation is being run out of the Eastern District of New York, whose office is based in Brooklyn. A senior FBI official declined to comment Friday, and a spokesperson with the Eastern District declined to confirm the investigation.

The OneTeam partnership has become a major financial boon for both associations and has grown in valuation as it added the players’ unions of women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, and other sports and college athletes to its portfolio. OneTeam was valued at $1.9 billion in 2022, when RedBird Capital sold its 40% stake to three other investment firms.

The MLBPA’s and NFLPA’s relationships with OneTeam have come under scrutiny before. In late 2024, an anonymous unfair labor practices complaint was filed with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging “nepotism, corruption, mismanagement” at the MLBPA.

In December, the NFLPA’s outside counsel, Richard Smith, launched an audit into whether OneTeam had granted equity options to the executive directors of unions that the company represents, including the MLBPA. In its statement, OneTeam said it “remains steadfast in our commitment to following the best business practices, as has already been determined by the independent audit conducted earlier this year. … We remain dedicated to upholding the highest standards of integrity and transparency in all that we do.”

The NLRB complaint against the MLBPA alleges that the union’s executive director, Tony Clark, “improperly gave himself & other executives equity” in OneTeam and made “inadequate disclosures” about the partnership in annual union filings.

The union has previously denied the allegations against Clark, 52. He was hired as the MLBPA’s director of player relations after 15 seasons as a player and ascended to executive director following the death of his predecessor, Michael Weiner, in 2013. According to an LM-30 federal labor union disclosure he filed last year, Clark holds a seat on the OneTeam board.

Union finances have improved significantly under Clark’s leadership, due in part to proceeds from OneTeam. In 2020-24, the partnership paid the MLBPA nearly $160 million, according to the union’s annual LM-2 reports. In 2024, the union received $44.5 million from OneTeam.

The reports don’t detail how much of the OneTeam windfall was distributed to players. The MLBPA has more than $353 million in total assets, the highest fiscal-year-end figure in its history, according to the documents.

According to the MLBPA’s most recent filing, the union paid Clark $3.5 million in 2024.

The NFLPA’s audit of OneTeam was completed in March and found that the NFLPA’s role as part of OneTeam was “in compliance with best governance practices,” a source with firsthand knowledge said.

An NFLPA spokesperson declined comment Friday.

According to its LM-2s, OneTeam paid the NFLPA $422.8 million in the past five years. The NFLPA’s total assets are nearly $1.4 billion, with almost $240 million in cash, according to the union’s filings.

DeMaurice Smith, the former NFLPA leader who co-founded OneTeam with Clark, left the union in 2023 and was replaced on the partnership’s board by the union’s new executive director, Lloyd Howell Jr.

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Jays put Santander on IL with shoulder injury

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Jays put Santander on IL with shoulder injury

TORONTO — The Blue Jays put slugger Anthony Santander on the 10-day injured list Friday because of left shoulder inflammation and recalled outfielder Alan Roden from Triple-A Buffalo.

Santander is batting .179 with six home runs and 18 RBI in 50 games. The veteran switch hitter has missed a handful of games because of left hip and left shoulder soreness over the past three weeks.

Santander signed a $92.5 million, five-year contract with Toronto in January after eight seasons with Baltimore. He hit a career-best 44 home runs for the Orioles last season.

The outfielder had an MRI after Thursday’s 12-0 win over the Athletics, when he was 0 for 2 with two strikeouts and two walks, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. The team was still determining whether the next steps would include a cortisone injection or rehabilitation, the manager said.

“I think it just got to the point to where it was bothering him,” Schneider said before Friday’s game against the Athletics. “You can’t really put the work that you want to put in volume-wise, and we just think it’s best for him right now.”

Roden rejoins the Blue Jays after batting .178 with one home run and five RBI in 28 games for Toronto earlier this season, his first in the majors. Roden hit .361 with three homers and 12 RBI in 18 games at Buffalo after being sent down May 7.

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Twins reinstate Buxton after 11-game absence

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Twins reinstate Buxton after 11-game absence

SEATTLE — The Minnesota Twins reinstated center fielder Byron Buxton from the seven-day concussion injured list Friday before beginning a three-game series in Seattle, two weeks after he collided with shortstop Carlos Correa in pursuit of a shallow fly ball.

Buxton missed 11 games after the collision, which also sent Correa into the concussion protocol. Correa needed only the minimum seven-day stay on the injured list and missed five games.

To make room for Buxton, outfielder Carson McCusker was sent back to Triple-A St. Paul. Buxton was batting .261 with an .834 OPS and 18 extra-base hits, including 10 homers, before he was hurt. He also had 33 runs, 27 RBIs and 8 steals in his first 41 games.

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