Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Red Sox Rumors

Red Sox Continuing To Pursue Infield Help

By | at

12:33pm: Speier’s report has subsequently been updated to highlight Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan as a fifth infielder the Red Sox are currently focused on.

Donovan, 29 next month, is among the most discussed trade candidates in baseball this winter. In addition to being a capable defender all over the infield and outfield, Donovan sports a career 119 wRC+ and has delivered 6.0 fWAR (5.3 bWAR) in just 271 games over the past two seasons. As a left-handed batter, Donovan wouldn’t be as effective in balancing a heavily left-handed Red Sox lineup as the right-handed Bregman, Bichette, and Paredes (or even the switch-hitting Marte), but he does come with two years of affordable team control.

Newly-minted Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom is certainly familiar with Boston’s farm system at this point, both due to trades involving Contreras and Sonny Gray from earlier this offseason and also due to his years spent as chief baseball officer for the Red Sox prior to Craig Breslow’s tenure at the helm. Notably, the competition for Donovan’s services figures to be steep. Seattle and San Francisco were previously reported as front-runners for the utility man’s services earlier this month, while the Royals, Guardians, Astros, and Pirates are among the other teams to have been connected to Donovan.

10:26am: The Red Sox have long been known to be looking for a right-handed bat to add to their infield mix, and they found one when they swung a trade with the Cardinals to acquire Willson Contreras. Contreras figures to settle into an everyday role with the club between first base and DH, but even with the veteran slugger in the fold Alex Speier of the Boston Globe notes that the Red Sox remain in the market for another big bat for their infield. Speier specifically highlights four potential targets for the Red Sox: free agents Alex Bregman and Bo Bichette, Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes, and Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte. While Speier acknowledges that alternatives to that group exist in both free agency and on the trade market, those four names appear to be the focus on Boston’s efforts at this point.

The specific names themselves aren’t exactly new information. Bregman, of course, was an impactful player for the Red Sox this past season after signing a three-year, opt-out laden deal with the club last offseason. After slashing .273/.360/.462 in 114 games and notching his third career All-Star appearance, Bregman opted out of the final two years of that deal to return to free agency. A reunion with Boston has long appeared to be the most obvious fit for Bregman, and the team’s interest in a reunion is well-established. With that said, the Red Sox are known to be hesitant about offering long-term deals in free agency; Bregman’s three-year pact with the Red Sox last year was the longest free agent contract Craig Breslow has doled out during his tenure as chief baseball officer. With Bregman known to be seeking a longer-term deal this winter, it’s unclear if the Red Sox would be willing to break with their established preference for shorter-term contracts in order to sign Bregman to a five- or six-year deal that would take him into his age-36 or -37 campaign.

As for Bichette, the Red Sox reportedly conducted a video meeting with him earlier this month. Bichette stands as the top infielder available in free agency this winter on the heels of a season where he slashed .311/.357/.483 for the Blue Jays in 139 games. Bichette isn’t quite as clean of a fit for the Red Sox as Bregman would be, in terms of position. A reunion with Bregman would allow Trevor Story and Marcelo Mayer to stay at their current positions up the middle, while Bichette is a shortstop who has shown a willingness to play second base but may not feel the same way about the hot corner. With that said, most of Mayer’s time in the majors last year actually came at third while Bregman was injured. Perhaps, then, Bichette could be a preferable addition to Bregman. While he would require a contract just as long as (or perhaps even longer than) Bregman, Bichette is four years younger than Bregman. As a result, even an eight-year deal for Bichette wouldn’t come with as many years of expected decline as a five-year deal for Bregman.

Turning to the trade market, Marte has rivaled Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan as the most popular name available on the market this winter. While the Diamondbacks have made clear that they aren’t actively shopping Marte and expect to keep their star second baseman, the three-time All-Star has slashed .288/.374/.539 over the past two seasons with a wRC+ of 149, 10.9 fWAR, and 11.2 bWAR across 262 games. That’s the sort of production that compels teams to check in on a player if there’s any chance they could be available, and the Red Sox are among the teams to do so this offseason. Marte would be on Boston’s books through the end of his age-37 campaign if acquired, though the $102.5MM guaranteed left on that deal is very affordable compared to the going rate for star players.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to acquiring Marte would be the acquisition cost; while the Red Sox are known to be open to dealing from their controllable pitching depth, free agent deals for Merrill Kelly and Michael Soroka have helped to fill out the Diamondbacks’ rotation enough that the team might prefer to bring back some positional talent to help fill the void created by Marte’s departure. Trading an elite prospect talent like Mayer or Kristian Campbell would be a tough pill to swallow for the Red Sox, especially if paired with a controllable rotation arm like Connelly Early or Payton Tolle.

That could make another player on the trade market more attractive. While Paredes isn’t a star on the level of Marte, Bichette, or even Bregman, he would still bring impact to the Boston infield. The 26-year-old hit .254/.352/.458 (128 wRC+) in 102 games for the Astros last year and has slashed .239/.341/.442 (124 wRC+) since the start of the 2022 campaign. Paredes offers a consistent, bat-first profile at third base that should be attractive to the Red Sox, especially considering the slugger’s relative affordability. Paredes is slated to make his penultimate trip through arbitration this offseason, and with two years of affordable team control covering his age-27 and -28 seasons, the Red Sox need not commit to him long-term or be on the hook for any of the years following his prime.

As for his availability, Houston GM Dana Brown has publicly suggested the team has no desire to trade Paredes but he has still drawn interest from the Red Sox nonetheless. Notably, the presence of Carlos Correa and Christian Walker at the infield corners (to say nothing of Yordan Alvarez at DH) limits Paredes’s paths to playing time in Houston, which could make a trade more feasible. The Astros already brought in Mike Burrows to help fill out their rotation but could certainly still benefit from additional young pitching, which the Red Sox are more than capable of providing. Prior reports have indicated that Early and Tolle are both players the Astros are interested in, and moving one of those arms out as the centerpiece of a Paredes deal could make plenty of sense.

Red Sox Notes: Contreras, Casas, Rafaela

By | at

The Red Sox landed an impact bat in Willson Contreras on Sunday. The longtime catcher made the move to first base last season, and that’s expected to stick in Boston. “We see him primarily at first base, maybe some DH opportunities. But the more that we can get his bat in the lineup, the better off we’re going to be,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told reporters, including Sean McAdam of MassLive.com.

Contreras bounced around a bit when he first came up with the Cubs, even logging innings at third base and the corner outfield spots, but spent the majority of his time behind the plate. He served as Chicago’s primary catcher from 2017 through 2021. Conteras split his time fairly equally between catcher and DH in 2022. He went to St. Louis in 2023 and continued to play both catcher and DH somewhat evenly. The Cardinals changed course this past season, slotting Contreras in as their primary first baseman. He also made the occasional start at DH.

Heading into 2025, Contreras only had 11 career appearances at first base. He made 119 starts at the position this past season. Contreras delivered fine to solid defensive results, depending on the metric. Outs Above Average looked favorably on Contreras, with a +4 grade. Defensive Runs Saved wasn’t as kind at -1. Given Contreras’ significant contributions as a hitter, Boston will likely be fine with close to average defensive numbers. The 33-year-old has posted a wRC+ of at least 124 in four straight seasons.

Boston has Carlos Narvaez and Connor Wong penciled in as its two backstops. Narvaez had just six games of big-league experience when he was dealt from the Yankees to the Red Sox last offseason. He emerged as a reliable offensive contributor, hitting 15 home runs and slashing .241/.306/.419 across 118 appearances. Wong fell off significantly after a strong 2024. He failed to get on track at the plate after missing most of April with a broken finger. Wong has shown enough in the past to be relied on as a backup heading into next season, and it seems he’ll maintain that role if Boston isn’t interested in playing Contreras at the position.

The Contreras addition immediately puts Triston Casas’ role into question. For his part, Breslow expressed optimism about Casas’ outlook. “We still have a ton of confidence and belief in Triston. What he needs to do is commit to doing everything possible to get back on the field. He’s doing that right now,” Breslow said, relayed by Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Casas is currently recovering from a ruptured patellar tendon that cost him most of 2025. His status for the start of next season is uncertain.

Casas has frequently come up in trade rumors this offseason, even before Boston acquired Contreras. The fact that the team added a player at his position could increase the chances he’s on the move. The main inhibitor toward a potential deal is Casas’ recent performance, both in terms of production and health. He hit just .182 over 29 games before going down with the knee injury. Casas was better in 2024, but also spent three months on the injury list with a rib strain.

It’s not just Contreras pushing Casas, either. Boston has another DH option in Masataka Yoshida, who’s been squeezed out of the outfield mix by Jarren Duran, Roman Anthony, and Ceddanne Rafaela. Wilyer Abreu also performed well last year, mostly against right-handed pitching. Breslow didn’t sound overly concerned about the potential roster glut. “Those things tend to work out. (It’s an) opportunity to keep everybody fresh, to keep everybody involved and engaged at the same time.”

Sliding Rafaela to the infield could help alleviate some of the roadblocks for Casas and the young outfielders, but that isn’t the current intention of the club. “We’re a better team with Ceddanne in center field, and we’ll try to keep (him) there,” Breslow said, per Ari Alexander of 7News Boston WHDH. Rafaela earned a Gold Glove in center field this past season.

After splitting his time between shortstop and center field in 2024, Rafaela was primarily on the grass this past season. He made 19 starts at second base, but the rest of his appearances came in the outfield. Rafaela was one of the most impactful defenders at any position in 2025. He tied for second with Alejandro Kirk in Statcast’s Fielding Run Value metric. Patrick Bailey was the only player to be more productive as a defender.

Second base is an area of need for the Red Sox at the moment. If the season started today, Boston would likely be rolling with an uninspiring platoon of Romy Gonzalez and Nick Sogard at the position. Kristian Campbell could factor into that mix, though he’ll need to show more in the minors to earn another big-league opportunity.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

Brayan Bello Receiving Trade Interest From Rival Teams

By | at

The Red Sox have gotten a lot of calls about right-hander Brayan Bello, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon.  The source who shared this information with Rosenthal/Sammon pushed back, however, on the idea that the Sox had “quietly shopped” Bello themselves, as one rival executive framed the situation.

On paper, it would seem odd that the Red Sox are trying to move Bello when they’ve spent most of the offseason trying to reinforce their rotation.  Bello is coming off a season that saw him post a 3.35 ERA over a career-best 166 2/3 innings, and the righty has tossed 486 games over 87 games (86 of them starts) for the Sox over the last three years.

Back in March 2024, the Red Sox showed their commitment to Bello by locking him up to a six-year, $55MM extension covering the 2024-29 seasons, and Boston holds a $21MM club option Bello for the 2030 season that includes a $1MM buyout.  Bello doesn’t even return 27 until May, so between his age and the long-term contract, it would seem like the Red Sox have a homegrown arm locked into the rotation for at least the remainder of the decade.

As Rosenthal and Sammon point out, however, it makes some sense that the Red Sox might at least be testing the waters about what they could get for Bello, given the value of controllable starting pitching.  Even if “control” in this sense reflects Bello’s extension rather than a player’s arbitration or pre-arb years, Bello’s remaining price tag of $50.5MM over the next four seasons seems like a fair price, and potentially even still a bargain.

While Bello has been solid over his four MLB seasons, it can be argued that the Red Sox were hoping for a bit more from a pitcher who posted much bigger strikeout numbers in the minors.  In the Show, Bello has only a 19.8% strikeout rate over 543 1/3 career innings, and his 17.7K% this season was the lowest of his career.  He has an unspectacular 8.3% career walk rate to go along with that lack of missed bats.

Bello has gotten good bottom-line results by limiting hard contact, and inducing a lot of grounders, with a 52.7% groundball rate for his career.  His 95.2 mph fastball has solid velocity but Bello’s sinker is his primary pitch, even if the sinker’s effectiveness hasn’t tended to vary in consistency.  Over his career, Bello’s 4.09 ERA isn’t much below his 4.26 SIERA, but that gap stretched much wider (3.35 to 4.55) in 2025.

The Red Sox entered the offseason with plenty of big league-ready or experienced arms in their organization, but there was a clear goal of raising the rotation’s ceiling with more established hurlers.  To date, Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo have been brought in via trades with the Cardinals and Pirates, respectively, and now project to be part of Boston’s 2026 rotation.  Richard Fitts and left-handed pitching prospect Brandon Clarke were dealt to St. Louis for Gray, lower-level righty Jesus Travieso was moved to Pittsburgh as part of the Oviedo trade, plus Boston sent right-hander Hunter Dobbins and two more lower-level arms to the Cardinals in a separate trade for first baseman Willson Contreras.

Whether the Red Sox are actually trying to actively trade Bello or are just listening to offers out of due diligence remains unclear, as the Rosenthal/Sammon item implies.  The truth may lie somewhere in between all of the common offseason hot stove terminology.  Still, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has said his team is open to moving controllable pitching “in order to address other areas of the roster.”

Trading Bello would be a much different animal than moving a pitcher like Fitts or Dobbins or someone else not even guaranteed of a big league job in 2026, yet in a sense, a Bello deal would be an elevated version of the raise-the-ceiling strategy.  If the front office has some misgivings over Bello’s ability to sustain his production, or he is no longer viewed as a pitcher who can reliably be counted on for a playoff rotation, the Red Sox could potentially look to deal Bello.  Speculatively, he could be dealt for a more clear-cut frontline pitcher with fewer years of control, or perhaps moved to address a need in the lineup.

Within that same notes post, Rosenthal and Sammon also write that the Red Sox remain engaged with the Cardinals about Brendan Donovan.  Boston is one of many teams linked to Donovan’s market, however, and the most recent reports suggested that the Mariners and Giants were the favorites to pry Donovan away from St. Louis.  That said, Cards president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has shown plenty of willingness to swing trades with his former Boston team, and Bloom’s time running the Sox front office overlapped with a big chunk of Bello’s career.  Speculatively, the length of Bello’s extension could make him a factor in a Cardinals rotation even after the team is through its rebuild period, even if the Cardinals are more likely to explore higher-end prospects in any Donovan trade package.

MLBTR Podcast: Three-Way Trade, Murakami’s Short-Term Deal, And Willson Contreras To Boston

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

  • The Mets Sign Jorge Polanco, And The Braves, Blue Jays And Royals Make Moves – listen here
  • Winter Meetings Recap – listen here
  • An Agent’s Perspective with B.B. Abbott – Also, Cease, Williams, Helsley, And Gray – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images

Red Sox Acquire Willson Contreras

By | at

Less than a month after landing Sonny Gray, the Red Sox have acquired another prominent veteran talent from St. Louis.  Boston has landed first baseman Willson Contreras and $8MM in cash considerations from the Cardinals in exchange for a package of three right-handed pitchers — Hunter Dobbins and prospects Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita.

Contreras and his agents at Octagon negotiated an extra $1MM bonus for Contreras to approve the trade, as the veteran’s contract includes a full no-trade clause.  The final two guaranteed seasons of Contreras’ contract and the club option on his services for 2028 have been slightly reworked, so he’ll now receive $18MM in 2026, $17MM in 2027, and the Red Sox hold a $20MM club option on his services in 2028, with a $7.5MM buyout.  (The previous terms included salaries of $18MM and $18.5MM in 2026-27, plus a $5MM buyout on a 2028 club option valued at$17.5MM.)

The final accounting works out to $42.5MM in guaranteed money for Contreras over the remainder of his deal.  Factoring in the Cardinals’ $8MM contribution, Boston’s commitment to Contreras is $34.5MM in salary, and his luxury tax number is $17.25MM.

When the Cards were first exploring a rebuild last winter, neither Contreras or Gray was open to waiving their no-trade protection.  After a lackluster 78-84 season sent the Cards more firmly looking towards the future, Gray, Contreras, and Nolan Arenado (who blocked a deal to the Astros last winter) all indicated in recent months that they were more open to accepting a trade.

In Contreras’ case, he cracked the door open at the end of season by saying that “if something comes up…and it makes sense for me and my future, how about we talk about that?” Contreras said.  The first baseman stressed that he was still eager to contribute as a veteran leader within the Cardinals’ rebuild, though reports emerged a few weeks ago that Contreras was showing an increased willingness to waive his no-trade clause and move on to a new challenge.

Contreras (who turns 34 in May) ends his St. Louis tenure with a .261/.358/.459 slash line and 55 home runs over 1416 plate appearances from 2023-25.  Signed to a five-year, $87.5MM free agent deal back in December 2022, the idea was that Contreras would take over from Yadier Molina as the team’s regular catcher, yet in somewhat awkward fashion, the Cardinals reduced Contreras’ playing time behind the plate and used him regularly as a DH.  Heading into the 2025 season, Contreras became a full-time first baseman, returning to a position he’d played only a handful of times earlier in his career with the Cubs.  The Outs Above Average metric gave Contreras a positive +6 grade for his first base work in 2025, but he also received -1 Defensive Runs Saved.

Regardless, it would seem like Contreras is at least a passable defender at the cold corner, and the Red Sox can live with only so-so defense as long as the former All-Star continues to hit.  Contreras batted .257/.344/.447 with 20 home runs over 563 PA in 2025, translating to a 124 wRC+.  A career-low 7.8% walk rate was a concern and Contreras has always been prone to strikeouts, but he continued to make consistently hard and productive contact.  Contreras is a right-handed batter, which helps balance out a Boston lineup that tilts to the left side.

Contreras’ final four seasons in Chicago overlapped with Craig Breslow’s time working in the Cubs’ front office, before Breslow was hired to take over Boston’s baseball operations department following the 2023 season.  Breslow’s tenure has thus far been defined by significant trades, ranging from the deals that brought Gray, Garrett Crochet, and now Contreras to Fenway Park, and last June’s surprising move that sent Rafael Devers to the Giants.

One of the many factors involved in the Devers trade was Devers’ displeasure over being asked to move to first base in the wake of Triston Casas’ season-ending knee surgery in early May.  While Romy Gonzalez and deadline pickup Nathaniel Lowe helped fill the first base void, there was little doubt the Sox were going to address the position in a larger fashion this winter.  Pete Alonso, Isaac Paredes, Kazuma Okamoto, Munetaka Murakami, and Bryce Eldridge were among the first base candidates on Boston’s radar on the free agent and trade fronts this winter, and Cotillo reported last week that Contreras was another name under consideration.

With Contreras now in the fold, a Casas trade now looks increasingly likely.  Casas has been floated in trade talks even dating back to last winter and prior to his knee surgery, and despite his injury-shortened season, rival clubs figure to have interest in the former top prospect.  Conversely, if the Sox could figure out a way to dump Masataka Yoshida’s contract, Casas could share first base/DH duties with Contreras.

Adding a first baseman solves another piece of Boston’s infield puzzle, and turns a position from a weak link into a strength.  The Red Sox remain linked to such other major infield names as Bo Bichette or old friend Alex Bregman, and Contreras’ $36MM price tag shouldn’t prevent the Sox from spending big on either of those names, even considering Boston’s recent wariness about major financial commitments.  Trading an outfielder could further shake up the position-player mix, and there have been consistent rumors about the possibility of the Sox moving an outfielder for pitching.

The Red Sox entered the winter with a lot of pitching depth in terms of young arms, yet were lacking proven frontline hurlers that could join Crochet and Brayan Bello in the rotation.  Gray was one answer, and fellow trade pickup Johan Oviedo could be another after Oviedo was acquired from the Pirates.  This has made Breslow more comfortable in trading from further down his pitching depth chart, and after moving Richard Fitts and prospect Brandon Clarke to St. Louis for Gray, Breslow has now parted ways with Dobbins, Fajardo, and Aida.

The equation has been pretty simple for Breslow.  The CBO has been willing to move some (i.e. Jhostynxon Garcia, Kyle Teel) of Boston’s more highly-touted prospects while hanging onto the likes of Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kristian Campbell, and also moving some pitchers that no longer seem to be in Boston’s plans.  In Dobbins’ case, he isn’t even going to be available for the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster, as the righty tore his right ACL last July.  This was the second right ACL tear Dobbins has endured, plus he has a Tommy John surgery on his checkered health history.

Dobbins made his MLB debut in 2025, and posted a 4.13 ERA, 6.6% walk rate, and 17.6% strikeout rate over his first 61 innings in the Show.  An eighth round pick for the Sox in the 2021 draft, Dobbins is more of grounder-heavy pitcher than a big strikeout arm, but his slider and curveball have good whiff rates as complements to his 95.5mph fastball.  Significant questions remain about Dobbins’ durability, but the 26-year-old right-hander has less than a year of MLB service time and now projects to be a longer-term add to the St. Louis rotation.

Cardinals president of baseball ops Chaim Bloom is plenty familiar with Dobbins, as Bloom was running Boston’s front office when Dobbins came into the organization.  Interestingly, of the five pitchers obtained by the Cardinals in the Contreras and Gray trades, Dobbins is the only one who was part of Boston’s organization when Bloom was still there.

Fitts and (when healthy) Dobbins can factor in the Cardinals’ rotation picture as early as 2026.  Dobbins doesn’t at all fit Bloom’s desire to add another veteran arm to the rotation, yet finding an innings-eater is a short-term goal, whereas Dobbins is part of the bigger picture.  That has been the story of this offseason in St. Louis, as with Bloom now fully installed atop the decision-making pyramid, the Cardinals are embarking on the rebuild they considered but then backed away from last winter.

Trading Contreras removes another big chunk of salary from the Cards’ books.  An Arenado deal could be the next step, though that trade will be trickier due to both Arenado’s salary and the fact that (unlike Contreras or Gray) Arenado is coming off a rough 2025 season.  Other players like Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero have also been regularly mentioned in trade rumors.  One player St. Louis wasn’t very willing to move is Alec Burleson, who now looks to step right into the everyday first base role with Contreras gone.

Fajardo was an international signing for the White Sox in 2024, and he has now been traded twice before his 20th birthday.  Fajardo changed his Sox when Chicago sent him Boston a year ago in the Cam Booser trade, and the righty had a 2.25 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, and a 9.4% walk rate over 72 innings in rookie ball and with A-level Salem in 2025.  MLB Pipeline ranked Fajardo 23rd on their ranking of the top 30 Red Sox prospects, describing the teenager as “a potential mid-rotation starter” whose four-seam fastball can hit 97mph.

Aita was a sixth-round pick for the Red Sox in the 2024 draft.  His first pro season saw the 22-year-old right-hander post a 3.98 ERA in 115 1/3 combined innings in Salem and at high-A Greenville, with a 21.4% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate.  As per Geoff Pontes of Baseball America, Aita technically has a five-pitch arsenal but he rarely throws his slider.  Aita’s fastball is in the 92-93mph range but with plenty of movement, and there’s also a lot of movement and spin on his sweeper and cutter.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan (multiple links) was the first to report that Contreras was going to Boston for Dobbins and multiple minor league pitchers, with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal later identifying Fajardo and Aita.  ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported the detail of Contreras’ $1MM bonus for waiving his no-trade clause.  MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported the $8MM heading from St. Louis to Boston, and Cotillo and The Athletic’s Katie Woo had the details on the reworked money in Contreras’ contract. 

Inset picture courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing — Imagn Images

White Sox, Red Sox Among Teams With Interest In Munetaka Murakami

By | at

NPB slugger Munetaka Murakami’s posting window closes at 4pm CT time on December 22. With just over a day left for Murakami to sign with an MLB club, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the White Sox are among the teams that are presently engaged in talks with the slugger’s camp. Chris Cotillo of MassLive adds that the Red Sox have “kicked the tires” on Murakami, as well as fellow NPB infielder Kazuma Okamoto. Okamoto’s posting window closes on January 4.

Murakami’s time on the market has been unusually quiet for a player of his status. These reports of interest on the part of Chicago and Boston are the first significant reports tying Murakami to any of MLB’s 30 teams, as his representation has seemingly played things very close to the vest regarding his market. The 25-year-old has surely received interest from other clubs as well that has simply gone unreported, of course, but Murakami’s market doesn’t seem to be quite as strong as expected even when factoring in that reality.

Geoff Pontes of Baseball America suggested in an appearance on Foul Territory this past week that the slugger’s market has been “softer” than he and his representation were expecting entering the offseason. MLBTR ranked Murakami as the #4 free agent on the market this winter, predicting an eight-year, $180MM contract for the young slugger as part of our Top 50 MLB Free Agents list. That ranking accounts for Murakami’s top-of-the-scale power and extreme youth heading into free agency; Yoshinobu Yamamoto was just six months younger than Murakami when he landed a $325MM contract from the Dodgers, while the fact that Juan Soto was headed into his age-26 season was a key factor in him landing a record-shattering $765MM deal last winter.

With that said, Murakami’s low contact rates have raised some eyebrows around the baseball world since his posting, and it’s not hard to see why. The Athletic’s Eno Sarris illustrated the concerns with Murakami’s lack of contact in NPB by sharing a list of players with comparable contact rates and exit velocities in the majors in recent years. The resulting group includes some stars like Nick Kurtz (and Shohei Ohtani if the parameters adjusted to be somewhat more favorable to Murakami), but it includes a far larger group of middling players, ranging from decent regulars like Matt Wallner to early-career flame-outs like Aristides Aquino. There’s certainly reasons to believe Murakami will be a great deal better than those players, of course; his raw production in NPB is nothing short of otherworldly. Even so, the risk in the young slugger’s profile is real, and it’s not necessarily a shock that teams might shy away from giving him a massive contract until and unless he can prove his style of play works at the big league level.

Turning to the clubs with reported interest in Murakami, the White Sox are a very interesting fit. The slugger is certainly young enough to be part of the next competitive team on the south side; he’s just two years older than star rookies Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel. That makes him an intriguing fit for the Sox, especially if he signs with the club on a long-term deal. Miguel Vargas and Lenyn Sosa are the club’s projected starters at the infield corners at the moment, but neither player is locked in strongly enough to prevent the addition of Murakami.

A short-term deal could also be possible, as well; the White Sox signed Erick Fedde to a two-year deal two winters ago and rode a strong first half to secure a three-way trade involving Fedde that brought back Vargas. A similar approach could be employed here as well, at least in theory. Chicago might be a particularly appealing destination for the young slugger given their lack of competitive expectations this year; it could allow him the opportunity to make necessary adjustments at the big league level without the pressure of a pennant race, and perhaps the White Sox would be more comfortable than most clubs trying Murakami at third base despite widespread concerns about his ability at the position.

As for the Red Sox, Murakami could provide the sort of elite slugger than the Red Sox lost when they traded away Rafael Devers over the summer. That makes the fit between the sides plausible, but there are certainly questions and obstacles as well. For one, the Red Sox are entering a clear win-now window after making the playoffs last year, and might not be willing to play Murakami through any struggles that could come with his adjustment to the majors. For another, the Red Sox are already extremely left-handed and have Triston Casas in-house as a first base/DH option with plenty of upside in his own right. Boston would need to be confident that Murakami would be a substantial upgrade over Casas in order to commit significant dollars to him for the same role.

While a pursuit of Murakami from Boston can’t be ruled out, the quote from Cotillo about Boston “kicking the tires” on the slugger suggests more of a reserved approach to his market. That’s an understandable path to take, particularly given that Okamoto could be a better fit. Okamoto is older than Murakami and lacks his countryman’s elite power, but he’s enjoyed a much more steady career in NPB without contact rate concerns, offers more playable defensive skills at third base, and is a right-handed hitter who more effectively complements the Red Sox lineup. That solid fit is part of why the Red Sox have been linked to Okamoto on occasion throughout the winter, even as they pursue a reunion with third baseman Alex Bregman.

Nine Teams Exceeded Luxury Tax Threshold In 2025

By | at

Major League Baseball has finalized its calculations of teams’ competitive balance tax payrolls for the 2025 season. As first reported by The Associated Press, nine teams surpassed the $241MM base threshold. In a separate post, The AP lists the finalized CBT numbers for all 30 teams.

The payments are as follows:

  • Dodgers: $169.4MM
  • Mets: $91.6MM
  • Yankees: $61.8MM
  • Phillies: $56.1MM
  • Blue Jays: $13.6MM
  • Padres: $7MM
  • Astros: $1.5MM
  • Red Sox: $1.5MM
  • Rangers: $190K

Teams pay escalating penalties for exceeding the threshold in consecutive seasons. The Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Phillies and Rangers have all paid the tax in at least three straight years — subjecting them to the highest escalator fees. The Astros went over the line for the second straight season. The Blue Jays, Padres and Red Sox had gotten below in 2024 and are categorized as first-time payors.

This is the second straight year in which nine teams paid the CBT. The Braves, Giants and Cubs had gone over the line in ’24 but dipped below this year, which resets their status going into 2026. Atlanta’s active offseason puts them in position to go back into tax territory next year, when the base threshold climbs to $244MM. San Francisco and Chicago each have projected CBT numbers more than $40MM below that right now.

While public estimates from RosterResource and Cot’s Baseball Contracts offer an excellent approximation of teams’ payroll commitments, the official numbers are not available during the season. It’s not uncommon for rounding errors in those calculations to vary by a few million dollars. That generally isn’t a big deal but can matter for teams that are hovering very close to the tax line. Each of the Red Sox ($249MM payroll), Astros ($246MM) and Rangers ($241.38MM) were believed to have gone narrowly beyond the $241MM cutoff, but that wasn’t 100% established until this evening — particularly in the case of Texas.

The Dodgers ($417MM), Mets ($347MM), Yankees ($320MM), Phillies ($314MM) and Blue Jays ($286MM) all had payrolls above $281MM. That was the third tier of penalization and marked the point at which a team’s top draft pick is dropped by 10 spots. The Mets were the only of those five that didn’t make the playoffs. Their top pick drops from 17th to 27th. The Yankees, Philadelphia, Toronto and L.A. all have their first-round pick dropped to between 35th and 40th.

Teams that paid the CBT are entitled to the lowest level of compensation for losing free agents who declined a qualifying offer. They receive a draft choice after the fourth round for each qualified free agent who walks. They’re charged the heaviest penalty — their second- and fifth-highest picks in 2026 and $1MM from their ’27 international bonus pool — for signing a qualified free agent from another team.

San Diego and the Mets receive a pick after the fourth round for losing Dylan Cease and Edwin Díaz, respectively. Toronto (Bo Bichette), Houston (Framber Valdez) and Philadelphia (Ranger Suárez) would receive the same if their free agents sign elsewhere. The Dodgers surrendered their second- and fifth-round selections for Díaz. Toronto is slated to do the same for Cease, but if Bichette walks, they’d give up that compensatory pick instead and get their fifth-rounder back.

The Dodgers’ combined payroll and tax bill for the 2025 season lands north of $586MM. The two-time defending champions’ tax hit alone is higher than the payrolls of the bottom 12 teams in the league. There were 14 clubs that had a CBT number above $200MM. The Braves, Cubs, Giants, Angels, Diamondbacks and Mariners were the other six teams above the median. All but Seattle spent more than $200MM.

On the other end, the Marlins ($87MM) and White Sox ($92MM) were the two teams with payrolls below $100MM. The Rays ($103MM), Pirates ($109MM) and Athletics ($118MM) rounded out the bottom five — followed by the Guardians, Nationals, Twins, Brewers and Reds.

Overall, the league will collect just under $403MM in taxes. Teams must make the payments by January 21. The first $3.5MM will be used to fund player benefits. Half the remaining money goes to players’ retirement accounts, while the other half is used for revenue sharing distribution from MLB to teams.

Red Sox, Nationals Swap Pitching Prospects

By | at

In a rare type of transaction, the Nationals and Red Sox have agreed to swap pitching prospects. The clubs announced a one-for-one deal that sends righty Luis Perales to Washington and southpaw Jake Bennett to Boston. Neither player has made his MLB debut but both are on the 40-man roster.

It’s the kind of trade that fans often like to project but which almost never happens in practice. Neither Bennett nor Perales is a top-tier prospect, but they each ranked among the top 10 talents in their respective organizations at Baseball America. Teams tend to value their own prospects more highly than those in other systems. That’s only natural, as they liked the player enough to acquire them in the first place and have been instrumental in their development.

That makes it difficult for teams to align on straight prospect for prospect deals — at least ones that aren’t largely motivated by roster considerations. This one was driven by a regime change in Washington. The Nationals hired former Red Sox assistant general manager Paul Toboni as their president of baseball operations. He has hired a handful of former Boston staffers in front office and player development roles. They evidently liked Perales enough to make him a priority.

Perales is a 22-year-old who signed with the Sox out of Venezuela. He has shown huge strikeout stuff with very concerning command. The Sox added him to their 40-man roster over the 2023-24 offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Perales blew out seven starts into the following season and underwent Tommy John surgery. He missed almost all of 2025 rehabbing, only returning for three short relief appearances in the final week. Those included his first two appearances in Triple-A, where he was back to pumping a 99 MPH fastball with a low-90s cutter and a mid-80s changeup.

Baseball America’s scouting report understandably lauds the fastball. They also grade the cutter as a plus pitch but note that he’ll need to develop an offspeed pitch and dramatically improve his control if he’s to stick as a starter. While there’s a decent chance he ends up in short relief down the line, the Nationals don’t need to hurry that. They can option him to Double-A or Triple-A as a starter or multi-inning reliever as they monitor his innings in his first full season back from the surgery.

Bennett, 25, is a 6’6″ lefty who was added to Washington’s 40-man roster last month. They needed to keep him out of this winter’s Rule 5 draft. As with Perales, he has been set back by a Tommy John procedure. His surgery came after the 2023 campaign and wiped out his entire ’24 season. The Oklahoma University product got back on the mound this past May. He combined for 19 appearances between three levels up to Double-A. Bennett turned in a 2.27 earned run average across 75 1/3 innings. He recorded a slightly below-average 21.5% strikeout rate but kept his walks to a tidy 6.4% clip.

BA credits Bennett with a plus changeup as the only standout offering in a six-pitch arsenal. He has plus control and the size to generate good extension. Bennett’s fastball only sits around 92-93 MPH on average. He’s unlikely to miss a ton of bats unless the Sox can coax more velocity out of him, but he’s a much safer bet than Perales to stick in a rotation. Bennett should reach Triple-A at some point next season and has a chance to debut before the end of the year, though that’d probably take a number of injuries to starters ahead of him on the depth chart.

The Red Sox opt for the more stable back-end starter profile while the Nationals shoot for the risk-reward play. Bennett has a trio of minor league option years. Perales is headed into his third option year but is likely to be eligible for a fourth option in 2027 because of his limited professional workload.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the trade. Respective images courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Jaylynn Nash, Imagn Images.

Latest On Evan Phillips

By and | at

The Dodgers non-tendered former closer Evan Phillips in November, as the right-hander is recovering from Tommy John surgery and was heading into his final season of club control. Phillips’ projected $6.1MM salary would’ve cost the Dodgers more than double due to taxes, and given that he underwent surgery in early June, there’s no guarantee he’ll be back on a mound this season at all.

On the surface, Phillips makes for an interesting free agent target for clubs looking at bullpen help both in 2026 and in 2027. It’s become increasingly common for pitchers rehabbing from UCL surgeries to sign two-year deals, with the first year ticketed largely for rehab and the second intended to be a full season on the mound. Phillips, however, prefers to sign a straight one-year deal and return to the market next offseason, reports Tim Healey of the Boston Globe. Phillips isn’t planning to sign until at least January, when he’s cleared to resume throwing, and may delay signing until July, when he’s effectively game-ready.

The Red Sox are among the teams that have expressed interest in Phillips, per Healey, though they’re surely just one of many. Phillips’ one-year target and pre-injury track record make him a plausible fit for nearly any team. He’s not going to be prohibitively expensive for most clubs, and the 31-year-old righty has been terrific in four-plus seasons with Los Angeles.

Originally landing with the Dodgers by way of a waiver claim from the Rays, Phillips pitched decently in the final few weeks of the 2021 season. However, it was the 2022 season that saw the right-hander truly break out. In 63 innings that season, he turned in a superhuman 1.14 ERA with a 33% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate.

Dating back to that 2022 breakout, Phillips has pitched 184 2/3 innings with a 2.14 earned run average, a 29.6% strikeout rate, a 6.6% walk rate, a 43.3% ground-ball rate, 45 saves and 36 holds. He’s allowed an average of just 0.68 homers per nine innings pitched while sitting better than 96 mph with his four-seamer, just under 95.8 mph with his sinker, 93.1 mph with his cutter and 85.1 mph with his slider.

There are advantages both to waiting into late in the offseason and waiting until midseason to sign. If Phillips waits until January or later, he’ll be able to more tangibly show the progress he’s made in his surgery rehab. Scouts won’t be getting a glimpse of him at 100%, of course, but it’ll show he’s well into the rehab process and give them some empirical data to compare to other pitchers when they were at the same point in their own rehab process. That could improve his earning power. Waiting until spring training could create some new suitors and/or new urgency among interested teams, too, as it’s inevitable that a handful of relievers around the game will go down with injuries this spring (as is the case every spring).

Waiting until midseason would mean going through the first several months of the year rehabbing on his own rather than with a team, but Phillips could more accurately see which clubs are postseason contenders. It’d also rule out any possibility of a qualifying offer — however slight it would be. (Had Phillips not been injured and continued on his prior trajectory, he’d have been a QO candidate; obviously, doing that over 20-30 innings post-surgery would make the chances of receiving one far smaller.) That wouldn’t be an option if he signs a one-year deal in late June or early July, as players need to spend the whole season on a major league roster/injured list in order to receive a QO.

It’s fairly rare for a reliever to receive a QO but it does happen. As shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, in the past five years, three relievers have received and rejected QOs. They are Raisel Iglesias, Josh Hader and Edwin Díaz, who were all top closers when those deals were signed.

Phillips was arguably near that tier not too long ago but he would have to really dominate late in 2026 for a QO to become a real consideration after an extended surgery layoff. Still, from his perspective, he might prefer to wait to sign until the season has begun. Since he’s going to be missing the first half of the season regardless, he might as well close off the chance of a QO, even if it’s already a small one. A QO has a negative impact on a free agent’s earning power, so it’s always preferable to avoid it, if possible.

The midseason signing path would also give him more time to get fully healthy. As the season rolls along, it would also create a clearer picture of which teams need him the most due to injuries, competitiveness, and so on.

Last winter, David Robertson was a free agent but was reportedly looking for a deal with an average annual value of $10MM. When he didn’t find what he was looking for, he decided not to sign until the Phillies inked him in July, barely a week before the trade deadline. That was technically a prorated $16MM deal. Robertson only received about $6MM of that but that got him pretty close to his asking price for just a few months of work and he got to pick a club clearly in contention after the All-Star break.

That situation wasn’t exactly the same since Robertson was healthy whereas Phillips is not. However, it’s possible it plays out in a somewhat similar fashion. If Phillips doesn’t find offers to his liking in the coming months, he could just keep building strength. Presumably, interest from clubs would ramp up in kind. On the other hand, all this is contingent on Phillips avoiding setbacks. If he receives a somewhat fair offer in the coming months, he’ll have to weigh the pros and cons of turning it down to potentially try for more in the summer.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Royals Continuing To Explore Outfield Market

By | at

The Royals entered the offseason in pursuit of two outfielders — ideally adding one apiece via free agency and trade. They accomplished that last week, signing Lane Thomas to a $5.25MM deal and bringing in Isaac Collins in a trade with Milwaukee.

Collins played mostly left field for the Brewers. He’s loosely penciled in there for now, while Thomas provides a right-handed hitting complement to Kyle Isbel and Jac Caglianone in center and right field, respectively. It’s better than it was at season’s end but still not a great group on paper. Thomas is coming off an injury-riddled season. Caglianone struggled mightily in his first 62 MLB games and could benefit from more time at Triple-A. Isbel is a glove-only center fielder, while Collins’ breakout season came as a 27-year-old rookie.

Unsurprisingly, the Royals haven’t closed the door on the possibility of adding another outfielder. Collins has plenty of minor league infield experience — mostly at second with a handful of starts at third base as well. President of baseball operations J.J. Picollo indicated that while the Royals expect him to play mostly outfield, he has enough defensive versatility for the front office to keep their options open (link via Anne Rogers of MLB.com).

The switch-hitting Collins has a very patient approach. Kansas City ranked 22nd in on-base percentage (.309), and only the Rockies had a lower walk rate than their 7.2% clip. Collins provides a different skillet and generally raises the lineup’s floor, but his limited power means he doesn’t have a huge ceiling as an everyday left fielder. The Royals aren’t going to be in the market for a star outfielder in free agency, yet they’re kicking the tires on a more impactful trade possibility.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Royals could still be a factor for Jarren Duran. Rosenthal suggests that Kansas City has balked at putting star southpaw Cole Ragans in a Duran trade. Whether the Red Sox would insist on Ragans’ inclusion isn’t known, as The Athletic report indicates that Boston executives view the teams’ talks to date as preliminary.

That said, it’s clear the Red Sox are putting a lofty price on their top outfielders. Tim Healey of The Boston Globe writes that chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is telling interested teams that the Sox don’t feel any pressure to trade an outfielder. They’ve taken calls on Duran and Wilyer Abreu at least dating back to the summer. Between Abreu, Duran and Roman Anthony, they have three above-average to star caliber left-handed hitting outfielders. (Anthony signed an eight-year extension in August and certainly isn’t getting traded.) Ceddanne Rafaela hits from the right side and has the ability to play the infield, but much of his value comes from his elite center field defense.

Keeping all four players limits the Sox’s flexibility a bit. They can find at-bats for them all by rotating them through the designated hitter role and getting Rafaela occasional infield work. Boston has considered swapping one of Duran or Abreu for controllable starting pitching, though they’re less motivated to do so after acquiring Sonny Gray.

The Royals have been on the opposite end. Picollo said a few weeks ago that they were open to trading a starter for outfield help. He essentially took Ragans out of that mix, though. The 28-year-old lefty finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting two seasons ago. He missed a good chunk of ’25 battling a rotator cuff strain. He’s signed for a combined $12MM over the next two years and will be eligible for arbitration in 2028. He’s a potential ace whom the Royals control for three seasons at what’d likely be no more than $25MM in total.

“We’re in a really good spot (with rotation depth), so if the right trade comes along, and it costs us a starting pitcher, we have to look at it,” Picollo told Rogers at the Winter Meetings. “It’s just not going to be Cole. … We have to ask ourselves: Is this his max value right now? Probably not. If Cole pitches like he did in ‘24, who knows what his value is going to be? We just think right now, three years of control on a really good starting pitcher, it would have to be something crazy, something that’s like, ‘How can we pass this up?'”

Kansas City has gotten hits on controllable arms like Noah Cameron, Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek. Lefty Kris Bubic might be their likeliest rotation trade candidate, but he suffered a season-ending rotator cuff injury in July and is headed into his final arbitration year. No one from that group is valuable enough to headline a trade for Duran, who is coming off his third straight well above-average season. Duran is set for a $7.7MM salary and is under arbitration control through 2028.

Even if the sides can’t line up value on Duran, the Royals will evaluate other outfield possibilities. They’re also known to be searching for left-handed relief. That was more of a luxury buy around the Winter Meetings but takes on added importance after they traded Angel Zerpa to the Brewers for Collins and righty reliever Nick Mears.

Kansas City is down to Daniel Lynch IV and swingman Bailey Falter as lefty relievers on the 40-man roster. Lynch managed a 3.06 earned run average over 67 2/3 innings but did so with a well below-average 15.6% strikeout rate. There are a few one-year deal candidates available in free agency (e.g. Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Thielbar, Caleb Ferguson, Danny Coulombe). They could also explore the trade market, with St. Louis’ JoJo Romero known to be available as he enters his final year of arbitration.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top