Wire Taps: Wilson Ramos to Mets; Why Matt Adams made sense for Nationals; What’s next this offseason?

As Christmas approaches rapidly, Scott Boras is still holding out with Bryce Harper — and Manny Machado hasn’t signed either — which clearly indicates that both will be going to the Nationals for approximately $10.

Here’s the beat from South Capitol Street:

Decoding the Nationals’ offseason: On the Adams contract, who will play second base and starting pitching (The Athletic)
The Nationals are filling out little pieces that most teams haven't even considered yet while still leaving a shred of room for Bryce Harper: they've added relievers (Trevor Rosenthal!), catchers (Yan Gomes!), and some guy named Patrick Corbin, only leaving question marks at second base and in the rotation spot that Tanner Roark left behind.

Wilson Ramos Said to Reach Two-Year Deal With Mets (NYT)
It's a James Wagner piece! The Mets, like the Nats, looked at J.T. Realmuto and Yasmani Grandal, but didn't want to pay the price — so they 'settled' for Ramos.

Mets look to add punch behind the plate by signing ex-Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos (WaPo)
Ramos, who played six seasons with the Nationals, would likely still be wearing a curly W had it not been for a torn ACL in the waning days of the 2016 season.

Aggressive moves show four NL East teams trying to win now - (MASN)
"Most of this isn’t a surprise. We knew all along the Nationals were going to make a concerted effort to address their specific areas of need after a disappointing second-place finish this season."

Boston Red Sox: World Series champs to pay $12M in luxury tax (SI.com)
"The only other team that owes is the Washington Nationals, who must pay $2,386,097, their second straight year with a bill."

Final MLB Payrolls For All 30 Teams Show Second-Largest Decline Since 2004 - (Forbes)
"In terms of the biggest spenders, the 2018 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox led the way at $239,481,745, followed by the Washington Nationals at $204,953,656."

Reunion with Matt Adams made too much sense for both sides (MASN)
It's rare for a team to sign back a free agent they traded away, but in this case, Adams made too much sense for both the Nationals and Adams' camp: a familiar town, a familiar team, a high-value, low cost player, and an easy replacement for Zimmerman.

Wilson Ramos, New York Mets reach contract (ESPN)
Ramos signed for two years at $19 million, a deal that will be worth a lot more to the Mets if Ramos produces close to the rate at which he produced last year.