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For the first time since 2022, the White Sox have an official closer. Chicago agreed to a two-year, $20 million deal with reliever Seranthony Domínguez two days after trading Luis Robert Jr. to the Mets for a pair of prospects.

No one expected Jerry Reinsdorf to actually use the extra change on a solid free agent, but this pleasant surprise is more than welcome.

Domínguez is coming off a strong 2025 season, split between the Orioles and Blue Jays: As a setup man, he accumulated a 3.16 ERA and an 11.9 K/9 rate in 67 games. Domínguez has also proven to be durable, pitching at least 50 innings in four consecutive seasons. His ability to stay healthy since missing 2020 and 2021 to Tommy John surgery will help take the load off of a bullpen that was often expected to carry games after the fifth inning. 

Beyond stat lines, Domínguez fits in perfectly with a club that has an affinity for hard-throwing relievers with swagger. Domínguez’s fastball, which he used 43% of the time in 2025 and up to 60% in the beginning of his career, averaged 97.7 mph, ranking in the 94th percentile among MLB pitchers. To offset his four-seamer’s velocity, he swapped his slider and changeup for a splitter and sweeper this year. Although these pitches alone induced nearly a 50% whiff rate and helping Domínguez’s tally a 33.3 whiff percentage and 30.3 strikeout percentage overall, his new pitch arsenal also led to a 5.6% walk rate increase. Like many high velocity hurlers, Domínguez misses bats, but gets rocked when hitters make contact.

Domínguez is a low-risk, high-reward acquisition that elevates the Sox’s bullpen. The veteran reliever brings tenured success with playoff teams and a history of dominating in high-leverage situations. With very little to lose and a lot to gain, Chicago’s pitching staff looks more ready to hold its own against decent teams this season. 

Some are concerned about how new Mets infielder Bo Bichette will handle the transition to the third base this season.

David Wright, though, is not one of them.

Wright certainly knows a thing or two about getting it done at the hot corner. 

“If I could do it, anybody could do it; it shouldn’t be that hard,” the former Mets captain joked. “But he can pick it and is such a great athlete -- I see it being a seamless transition.”

Bichette hasn’t played the position since travel ball as a teenager. 

He spent some time at second during the World Series last year with the Blue Jays, but had only appeared as a shortstop or DH prior to that at the big league level. 

Still, Wright doesn’t think it’ll present an issue for the Mets. 

In fact, after watching Bichette in those playoffs, Wright feels he's going to be a huge piece for this club with the abilities he brings on the other side of the ball. 

“The energy, the electricity, that confident swagger that he brings to a team,” Wright said. “And on top of that, he’s a heckuva player -- so I think it’s a welcome addition.”

Bichette rebounded nicely after a bit of a down 2024 campaign, finishing 16th in AL MVP voting after hitting .311 with 94 RBI and a .840 OPS over 139 games with the Jays. 

He’ll look to carryover that production hitting behind Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. 

Just like that, the tune has changed around the Mets’ offseason. 

That sour taste from losing four fan favorites from their core has quickly washed away after an action-filled week that saw them make some big-name additions to help both their offense and pitching. 

New York responded after losing out on star outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Dodgers, bringing in one of the top bats left on the market in two-time All-Star Bo Bichette to man the hot corner. 

They then filled the massive need alongside Juan Soto in their outfield, finally reaching an agreement on a deal with the Chicago White Sox to bring high-upside two-way centerfielder Luis Robert Jr. to Queens. 

Hours after Bichette was introduced at Citi Field, David Stearns was able to secure the ace he’s been searching for, completing a trade with his former club in Milwaukee for right-handers Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers. 

The Mets also picked up veteran reliever Luis Garcia on a one-year deal earlier in the day. 

On paper, this team is looking much more like a contender in the National League. 

Manager Carlos Mendoza certainly is happy with what he sees. 

“It’s exciting,” the skipper said Friday afternoon on Foul Territory. “Everything happened so fast, it was one move after another. I kept getting texts from front office members about the moves -- because of the way the offseason started, we got to this point, it’s definitely exciting.”

While the roster is now just about set, Steve Cohen's deep pockets have fans wondering if more excitement is on the way. 

As we've seen over the past few months, you can never truly rule anything out with this front office, but Mendoza did emphasize that they feel good about the club as currently constructed. 

“I know David [Stearns] is going to continue to stay active with Steve [Cohen],” he said. “As the manager, you appreciate having an owner in Steve and Alex [Cohen] who are willing to put in all of their resources; that’s a good feeling.

“David will continue to look for ways to continue to improve our roster, but we do feel really good with where we’re at from the pitching side, the position player side, the depth, the minor leagues -- we feel really good with where we’re headed as an organization.”

Yesterday, MacKenzie Gore became the first piece of the Juan Soto deal to be traded away from the Nats. However, there is a decent chance he will not be the last. As the Gore trade was finalized, rumblings about the Nats dealing CJ Abrams emerged.

The Washington Post reported that the Nats have been shopping Abrams, as well as defensive ace Jacob Young this offseason. This lines up with reporting earlier this offseason that there was interest in Abrams around the league. In December, Ken Rosenthal reported that Abrams was drawing heavy interest.

However, Paul Toboni’s tone has always been a bit different with Abrams than it was with Gore. Throughout the offseason, Toboni acknowledged that the team was actively listening with Gore. When discussing Abrams, he said the team was picking up the phone, but there has been a subtext that they would really need to be blown away to move him.

That stance was on display today when Toboni talked to Grant and Danny on 106.7. He said that he would pick up the phone, but that he sees Abrams as his shortstop. Toboni was never that committal towards Gore, which tells me something.

This is not to say he won’t be traded. There is a chance that we wake up in a couple days and Abrams is on a different team. After all, my feel for these things is not great. Yesterday, I wrote about how a Gore trade felt less likely than ever, and hours later he was dealt. You just never know with these things, but throughout the offseason, I thought a Gore trade was more likely than an Abrams move.

If Abrams gets moved, I feel like the deadline might be a better time. With three years of team control remaining, the Nats should be in absolutely no hurry to move Abrams. They should only move him if they feel like they are getting surplus value in the trade.

The deadline honestly feels like a better time to get that surplus value. There are teams that feel confident in their infield situation right now that could not feel so confident as things play out in the season. The Red Sox, Yankees and Royals are three teams that this could apply to. If Anthony Volpe continues to struggle in the Bronx, the Yankees would have a pretty glaring hole at shortstop that Abrams could address.

You can never count anything out with Toboni though. If you asked me to name five teams that Gore could be traded to, I am not sure the Rangers would be on the list and if it was, they would have been 4th or 5th on the list. Teams like the Yankees, Orioles, Cubs and even the A’s were speculated about more.

When you think about it though, the Rangers needed a younger number 3 starter behind Degrom and Eovaldi, so the fit made sense. Could there be a team like that for Abrams? The Mariners have been an AL West team that has been oddly quiet lately. Could they be a player for Abrams if they cannot land Brandon Donovan from the Cardinals? I think it is possible.

At the end of the day, if a deal happens, I think it is more likely to take place at the deadline or next offseason. Unlike Gore, the service time clock is not really ticking for Abrams yet. They could hold on to Abrams and still get the same type of package in a few months. The new player development is also probably eager to get their hands on a talent like him.

The Scott Boras factor that existed with Gore is also not there with Abrams. If they really pushed, they could get Abrams extended. It is unclear if they want to do that, but it is a possibility. I hope they at least give it a shot because Abrams is a very exciting message and it would be a good message to send to the fans. Given recent history, Nats fans probably shouldn’t get too attached to Abrams though.

Carlos Mendoza broke down the Mets’ busy week during an appearance on ‘Foul Territory’ on Friday afternoon.

Here are his thoughts:

On where Bo Bichette fits into Mets' lineup…

“This is a guy who is so versatile," he said. "He could hit leadoff, second, third, fourth -- we're still so far from Opening Day, but if you're asking me right now, I could see a combination of [Francisco] Lindor, [Juan] Soto, and Bichette right away.

“I have to have these conversations with the players, but the fact that Bo is such a good hitter, you could put him in front of Soto, you could put him behind him, you could take Lindor out of the leadoff spot and put him third -- there’s so many different ways I could go here.”  

On acquiring Luis Robert Jr. from White Sox…

“We’re looking at a very toolsy player,” Mendoza said. “When he’s healthy, he’s one of the best. We know the defense, we know the power, we know he can steal bases -- it’s our job to keep him on the field now.

“I know the trainers are already with their hands on him. We have to get to know the player, his routines and the way he prepares, then we have to make some adjustments in communication with him because that’s going to be the goal -- we need this guy on the field.”

On adding Freddy Peralta in trade with Brewers…

“I spoke with him as soon as the transaction went down,” Mendoza said. “I got on the phone with him and had a very good conversation, he was super excited -- everything I’m hearing, we all know the quality of the pitcher, but everyone keeps telling me about the quality of the person. 

“You could feel it from my first conversation how excited he was. He’s willing to report to Port St. Lucie early so he can start meeting people, and that, to me, goes a long way -- at the end of the day, he just has to be Freddy Peralta, go out there compete and give us a chance to win every time you take the baseball.”

Mendoza was also asked about a potential extension with Peralta, but like Stearns on Thursday, he said the organization is just focused on letting him get his feet wet and the rest will take care of itself. 

On Nolan McLean pitching for Team USA in the WBC...

"The fact that he's going to be able to experience that, playing with and against some of the best players in the world in that type of environment and in those settings, it's just going to continue to help his development. So I'm excited about it and I know he's super excited -- I'm looking forward to watching him pitch."