Mets seeking more starting pitching The Mets have added two potential starting pitchers to their roster so far this winter in Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes. They continue to seek more rotation help, however, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. New York remains interested in Sean Manaea, who put up excellent numbers for the club in 2024 before hitting free agency. Should that fail, the Mets could pivot to Walker Buehler or other free-agent options, such as Jack Flaherty or Nick Pivetta. Phillies exploring trades The Philadelphia Phillies are exploring trades involving veteran contributors, likely as a means to address other segments of the roster. Here’s the details from Matt Gelb of The Athletic: “The Phillies have continued to dangle Alec Bohm and Ranger Suárez, according to major-league sources, in an attempt to acquire big-league pieces. They have made Castellanos available, those sources said, but any trade would require the Phillies to pay down much of the remaining $40 million on his contract. Cubs still targeting rotation help The Chicago Cubs recently inked Matthew Boyd to a two-year, $29 million pact, and their rotation already includes Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, and Javier Assad. Even so, the Cubs still appear to be in the market for starting pitching, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic report. Sharma and Mooney add that Walker Buehler remains of interest to the Cubs, depending on what kind of contract he’s able to command. Yankees among teams interested in Estrada Second baseman Thairo Estrada is coming off an age-28 season in 2024 in which he batted .217/.247/.343 with nine home runs in 96 games for the Giants. Normally, that’s not the kind of production that would draw attention, even for a second baseman like Estrada, but he has a stronger offensive track record prior to this past season, and he’s not yet at an age that typically raises concern about decline. Speaking of all that, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports that the New York Yankees are among the teams with some level of interest in the free agent. They may be eyeing Estrada for a utility role – the likely angle – or as a potential replacement for second baseman Gleyber Torres, who is himself a free agent. MLB.com’s Thomas Harding also linked the Rockies to him.