Here are three things well be keeping an eye on around the baseball world this weekend: 1. Deals to avoid arbitration: The non-tender deadline is one week from today, and last night saw the first player of the winter look to avoid the arbitration proce s entirely and sign with his club early. In this case, the Angels with recently-acquired utilityman , though the financial details of that deal are not yet known. The days leading up to the non-tender deadline are typically rife with similar deals signed by players on the non-tender bubble, often referred to as pre-tender deals. Mets DH and Rockies southpaw were among the players who signed such agreements a year ago. Pre-tender deals often fall shy of expectations/projections, as the alternative to accepting that lower salary is typically a non-tender. 2. 40-man roster moves looming: Even sooner than the non-tender deadline is the deadline for teams to protect prospects from the Rule 5 Draft, which is scheduled for this coming Tuesday at 5pm CT. While many teams have a handful of 40-man roster spots available for prospects that need protection, thats not true for every club, and even some clubs with roster space available will have more prospects to protect than openings. Most clubs will wait until the final hours leading into Boston Red Sox Jersey the deadline to announce these moves, but some could get a jump on clearing roster space this weekend. The Red Sox stand out as one particularly interesting example of a club in need of roster space. Not only do they have a full 40-man roster, but they also have a player in need of protection who isnt a typical prospect: right-hander , who signed with the club on a two-year minor league deal last winter while rehabbing Tommy John surgery. If not added onto the clubs 40-man roster by Tuesday, Fulmer will be a rare established big leaguer available in the Rule 5 draft and for that reason would stand a strong chance of getting selected away from Boston during the Winter Meetings next month. 3. The Hernandez market: has understandably dominated headlines for major free agent hitters this offseason, particularly with him taking individual meetings with interested teams over the course of the past week. Many top-tier free agents will want to wait for Sotos decision before signing, as the teams that mi s on Soto will be motivated to pursue alternatives more aggre sively. One po sible exception? , who just won his third career Silver Slugger Award. earlier this week that Hernandez may not wait for Soto to sign and could be one of the first big-name free agents off the board this winter. Hernandez sat on the market for more than two months last offseason awaiting a three-year offer that never materialized. He eventually signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers in January. Given that lengthy stay on last years market, its understandable that hed prefer a quicker turnaround this winter. The have all been connected to Hernandez thus far. He slashed .272/.339/.501 with a career-high 33 homers and tied a career-high 12 steals with L.A. in the regular season, then went on to hit .250/.352/.417 with three home runs during the Dodgers postseason run to a 2024 World Series crown. Nick Pivetta Jersey