Here are three things we’re keeping an eye on throughout baseball today…
1. Two weeks left for Imanaga:
Left-hander Shota Imanaga’s posting window is open until January 11, meaning there’s now just two weeks left for him to arrange a deal with an MLB club. If no deal is reached by then, he will return to the Yokohama BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, but all indications point to his market being robust. He has a 3.18 earned run average in his eight NPB seasons and is coming off a 2023 season that saw him finish with a 2.80 ERA and 29.2% strikeout rate. MLBTR predicted he could secure a five-year, $85MM deal but there have been reports of his market pushing to the $100MM range. The signing team would owe the BayStars a posting fee on top of the money they guarantee to Imanaga.
2. White Sox need roster spot for Maldy:
The White Sox agreed to a deal with catcher Martín Maldonado earlier this week. They currently have a full 40-man roster and will need to make some kind of move in order to open a spot before making the Maldy signing official. Perhaps the club will look to make some kind of trade in the coming days or simply designate someone for assignment.
3. What’s next for the Jays?
The Blue Jays have been connected to a lot of big names this winter, including Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Once those players landed elsewhere, the Jays pivoted to smaller moves, recently agreeing to terms with Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. There’s still time for a bigger splash, with players like Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman available in free agency. The Kiner-Falefa deal could also be a precursor to a trade, as he now joins a crowded group of depth or part-time players on the roster. With Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined up at shortstop and first base respectively, candidates for the third base and second base positions include Kiner-Falefa, Cavan Biggio, Santiago Espinal, Davis Schneider, Ernie Clement, Otto López, Orelvis Martinez, Addison Barger and Leo Jimenez.
I think the least valuable of “Kiner-Falefa, Cavan Biggio, Santiago Espinal, Davis Schneider, Ernie Clement, Otto López, Orelvis Martinez, Addison Barger and Leo Jimenez” may be the guy they gave $15MM to yesterday.
But for that money, if they had to release one of these I bet he’d be first.
Eh, Espinal is a better hitter, obviously, but Kerfuffle is a better defender and can play everywhere. If you needed one to hold down, say, 2B every day, maybe I’d take Espinal, but also that would be sad. On a team with a good lineup, IKF seems like a much more valueable bench piece as a sub, because he backs up everything, isn’t terrible anywhere, and is an elite defender at third.
He is terrible at hitting the baseball, the Jays kryptonite.
If they use IKF mainly for defense, it might work out.
What’s weird is that last season Espinal had a 644 ops but an 80 ops+
Yet IKF had a 646 ops and a 78 ops+ neither are good starting options but Falefa’s defensive versatility makes him more valuable
Ernie Clement will give him a run for his money. There’s always an Ernie Clement available at all times at a minimal price tag.
Based on current talent and issues, my team is going to be 4th place at best (Mets). Yes, we could catch lightning in a bottle, but consider the rarity. Filling out depth with young to 30-ish reclamations isn’t likely to pay off. The future is brighter, but not this coming season.
At least you don’t have Ohtani, Yamamoto and Lee all coming into your division
Huck 3: The Dodgers did basically what the Mets are going to do in ’24. They didn’t sign any big name players, preferring to save their money for Ohtani. So, in effect, the Dodgers were playing for ’24, not ’23. And it’s worked out pretty good, signing Ohtani and Yamamoto. I don’t know if Cohen can hold off til ’25.
avenger65: The big name hitter coming to the market next season is Soto, and Alonso if he doesn’t get an extension. Bregman and Altuve are also notable hitters. The big name SP’s are Cole, Barnes, Bieber, Fried, Buehler (let’s see how he does after TJS), and Wheeler.
If Cohen is gearing up for a big run for Soto, I’m all for that. Really wanted them to land Yamamoto, but the Dodgers really corralled the best two FA’s this year, plus landed some other good ones too. I have no idea how the 2024 FA class is going to play out, only hopes. We’ll see.
avenger65: The big issue in your division is the Dodgers. While I think getting Lee was a savvy pickup by the Giants (expect him to be a singles and doubles machine, scoring many runs and driving a decent number in also), I don’t think the Giants will be a force this year. The Dodgers are likely to be a class of their own. Best wishes for your team and all the others in the NL West division.
Oops … that reply was to damascusj. Mea culpa.
They will likely be in a tight race for third with the Marlins. Marlins had a negative run differential (-57) and are probably losing their second best hitter (Soler). Would not be surprised to see them back in the low 70s for wins.
I could see that, rct. As you point out, they did have a much larger run differential than the Mets (-57 versus -12). I hope you’re right. :^)
Unfortunately, we still have to compete with the Braves and Phillies too.
Who has showed interest in Shota Imanaga?
I’ve been interested in him
I definitely am interested in him also. Why not a quality lefty with good stuff for the back end of the rotation. Who wouldn’t be interested?
Not my type…
I’m hoping he goes to San Diego, but at this point I highly doubt it, unless no one else makes a run at him n his price stays low
Yankees blue jays Red Sox and a few more teams
Ham Fighter: For the second off-season in a row, the Yankees have been pretty quiet when it comes to signing FA. And I’m happy about that.
Honestly, he’d be a really good pitcher for some of the teams in the central divisions or SF, imo. Places where the field plays large.
Yankees and RSox would be making a huge mistake in acquiring a high HR, high fly ball rate pitcher. Perhaps they see something they could change with his delivery or pitch selection, but if it doesn’t work…..
I take back my last post. I forgot about Soto and Grissom.
Wasn’t Soto a trade, not FA?
IKF is a waste. The BJ’s can pick him up just to have as a trade option but no one wants him. He can’t hit his weight and plays error defense ever since 2020.
He weighs 190, he’s never hit below his weight
He should gain 110 pounds then.
He’s definitely a downgrade from Whit Merrifield and that’s saying a lot.
There’s no way he’s a downgrade from Merrifield. Merrifield is a utility player who can only play one position passably. They’re pretty much the same guy offensively but at least IKF can play multiple positions well including the more skilled ones.
Merrifield did have more WAR last year and although he struggled early on, he was the better hitter
Merrifield has played 2b and RF.
IKF with the Yankees in 2022-23: .643 OPS for an OPS+ of 81 over that stretch.
Merrifield with the Jays in 2022-23: .712 OPS for an OPS of +98.
The Jays struggled offensively this year, so who’s the better player? Also Merrifield was an AS as a utility player this year, and a GG finalist in 2022 after missing out in 2021.
IKF won a GG at 3B in 2020, but is definitely a downgrade offensively versus Matt Chapman (OPS .756 and OPS+ 112 in 2022-23 as a Jay)!
You will totally change your take on IKF by the end of the year. I used to think the same thing when he was the Yankees. I was dead wrong about this team player. You’ll love him at $7.5 million a year, and he can play anywhere to, even catch.
People look at saberstats instead of their eyes. IKF is valuable for a 26 man roster.
“Change your take on IKF”…IKF is a good, useful overall player who gets greatly undervalued by the analytics nerds. The people here trashing him obviously don’t watch him play.
Dewey – are you saying that people should NOT use their eyes? Or ONLY use their eyes? Not clear from this statement, since I don’t think people are saying IKF isn’t a valuable 26th man, just that $15M/2 years seems like a lot for someone with very low ‘saberstats’ value.
Metrics suck. Eyes are more valuable than those ridiculous numbers.
Ha! The eye test is always the cry of people who can’t understand the data. Eyes + data = good.
The 2 most recent posts involve the jays and yet still nothing to be happy about, much less excited. How did this offseason go from potentially the best Jays offseason of all time to potentially one of the worst so damn quickly?
actually it s reason to be sad. IKF wastes a roster spot and $7.5M/year! KK I would be more than fine with as 4th OF (as sadly they have Varsho who plays everyday) but the money is needed to fill the gaping holes in the lineup. 3B, DH and …at least average OF bat!
Its December.
bad moves in December are still bad moves.
They’re not bad moves though. Couple of solid role players on reasonable deals. They raise the floor for the team but won’t block anyone if there’s an unexpected breakout and the signings still leaves enough money on the table for a free agent dh and possibly more.
KK is fine, or even good. IKF actually lowers the floor.
You think 15 million for a 0.1 WAR infielder when their strongest high level prospects are infielders is a good use of resources? They don’t have an unlimited budget, and all accounts they had around 45 million to spend on non Ohtani players and they have burned nearly half of it on 2 players who don’t address their biggest need at all? One of which isn’t even an obvious upgrade over what they already had.
“They don’t have an unlimited budget”…I think this is something that way too many fans just fail to realize.
Everytime I see these situations, I can’t help but think back to when people were saying the White Sox were spending money poorly and their fans refused to understand this concept. Fastforward a few years, they have glaring holes, no money to fill them and saw their competitive window close without much to show for it.
Fans always think that teams should just spend more money, but that simply isn’t reality for most teams.
No he doesn’t because no one on the roster has his kind of glove at ss/3b.
He’s not a O.1 player unless you do something dumb and play him in lf and tank all his value. Use him at ss/3b and he’s something like a 1.5. WAR player and his 15m is spread over two years which is less per year than KK.
Agreed. Chapman (OPS+112 in 2022-23 as a Jay) and Merrifield (OPS+ 98 as a Jay) are both far better offensively than IKF (OPS+ 81), and Chapman won the 2023 GG at 3B versus IKF in 2020. Merrifield was a finalist more recently in 2022.
Exactly. As Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star put it, “The Jays are building Major League Baseball’s most redundant roster.”
I said potentially. I recognize it’s December. That being said opportunities can dry up quickly. The players who are still available also have to want to sign with Toronto. It’s not like there are dozens of potential upgrades and the Jays can have their pick.
The moves certainly raise some questions and make it harder to think along with the team. Almost all of Varsho’s value last year came in CF in limited time so it seemed logical that to maximize him he would be ticketed for CF this year. The KK signing clouds that idea and makes you wonder how they are viewing him and what that will mean for other roles. IKF is interesting too and at first glance seems to indicate that they might be willing to let Palmegiani or Barger have a real crack at 3B with IKF as an insurance policy, but then if that was the case, wouldn’t Espinal be suitable for that role and they already tendered him. Maybe they see some upside in IKF and believe he could be more of an everyday guy? Maybe his ability to play CF coupled with Kiermaier’s signing signals something about Varsho? I don’t know. We’ll have to see how they follow it up. If these moves are precursors to a trade or two, I’m intrigued. If they signal that the team is going to basically run it back with a bit of tinkering to the roster, it’s pretty hard to get all that excited about the coming season.
IKF doesn’t have upside so much as a better glove for the role. It would behoove the Jays to move Espinal now.
Is the offseason over? Are they not still able to sign FA’s & make trades?
Apparently Ohtani is holding up the market.
Varsho would not be the first player to take a year to adjust to playing in the “other” league. He obviously didn’t live up to expectations this past year. Everyone acts like he can’t possibly improve. The actual players that doomed the Jays with poor seasons were Guerrero and Manoah. If they both return to expected levels, there won’t be much to worry about.
White Sox can get a roster spot by trading Cease to the Rangers for prospects.
White Sox are waiting for Baltimore to finally get serious and step up. They got the kids. Their window is now.
White Sox have to trade Cease is value is at or near peak now. No reason to wait. See who is serious about emptying their farm system, and make a move. No chance Sox have the cash to extend him.
Yankee’s don’t have enough. Dodgers don’t have enough. Cincy ain’t serious about winning.
Agree – I get that the Os don’t want to mess this up, but their system is stacked. They could massively overpay for Cease by giving up something like Mayo and Cowser and still have a top 5 farm system. We’ll see.
But why would they? Cease is trending in the wrong direction and only has 2 years of control. That’s not the type of player you overpay for.
One year isn’t a trend. He had a down year for sure, but was 2nd Cy young the year prior, and his 3 year FIP average and era are both around 3.40. He misses bats as much as anyone and had to deal with the Sox horrific defense last year. He’ll get a haul.
Its two years of Cease. There is absolutely no reason to “empty the farm.” He’s not been that good. One solid prospect, a mid level prospect, and a lotto ticket. The WS should be trying to get 6 years of one very sure thing. If they could get Marte from Cincinnati for 2 years of Cease, Getz should pounce on it.
Good thing you aren’t a GM. They will get MUCH more than that.
You can have him for Wyatt lankford straight up. What say u ?
Atkins is out of his depth still , after 8 years!
I guess the Dodgers will pick up Imanaga for their bullpen.
The price for Imagana is pretty reasonable if the Red Sox were to sign him. I doubt we do that but it is worth mentioning. He has good numbers in the Japanese league and for 5 years at 20 million a year, that is not too bad considering some of the deals that have already happened. Question is, is it too much for John Henry?
I am completely fine passing on him but what is plan E or F at this point?
The Red Sox owners seem to have forgotten that they run a Major League Baseball team.
Are they still at $1MM spent in FA this offseason?
The Yankees free agent spending so far this offseason: Zero dollars.
Good ol’, Hal.
Yeah, just ignore Soto’s $33mm contract. Trades evidently don’t count in your understanding of payroll obligations.
@stymeedone Curmudgeon much? You know exactly what we’re talking about.
You think he is getting $100 million. I don’t know if he does good for him but I think he is gonna go for 5/$75 million
Cora: This is pure unadulterated speculation, but I could see the Sox adding Jordan Montgomery, and a fine pickup he would be too.
The more I’ve contemplated the Yankees offseason with the options that remain, the more I hope they bring Monty back. I am still averse to going over 4-5 years & $20-25MM AAV though. But, he has one trait that so many 3+ SPs don’t have today: durability.
I get that Mike Maddux seemed to have “fixed” Montgomery in Texas last season but then it looked that way in St.Louis too after he was traded there in ’22, what i don’t get is why so many in the media and the Sox fan base are enamored by them signing him.
Historically the Sox have hammered him and his numbers in Fenway aren’t that great (16 ER in 36 inning). I’m not sure the addage “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” should apply to free agent targets
Small sample size. Overall, Montgomery’s numbers are decent all around. Yankees should have never traded him because they needed him after he was gone.
And a high floor. I think it’s going to take Rodon contract to sign him.
I’ve seen reports already that Montgomery is out of the price range they want to spend. I would be happy with him too but I don’t think it’s happening
Yeah, I think he’s out of the Yanks desires price range as well. They want him at #4-5 pay scale, not as a #2-3.
But I do understand why they may not want to commit that much to him also. Either way, both our clubs desperately need to make some moves at SP; and more than just reclamation projects.
It always seems so anticlimactic to consider resigning a player that was already on the team such as Matt Chapman to be a big move. I’d like to see them do that AND sign someone else big. Not sure Bellinger is worth it but not a lot of big names still out there.
Imanga to the Tigers… Rotation of Skubal, Flaherty, Maeda, Imanga and Olson would be solid. Mize and Gipson-Long as depth.
Trade Manning and McKinstry to the Reds for prospects (Arroyo?). Sign Chapman for 3B. Sign Matt Moore for relief.
Tigers take the Central.
You could finally trade pitching for a bat
Tigers are likely to take the central without those moves. Cincinnati doesn’t need another IF. Imanga is no sure thing at $20mm per. I’d rather bet that Manning won’t break his foot a third time. They already added LH relief with Chafin. If Chapman ends up seeking a pillow contract, because of last years numbers, Detroit would not be a bad choice, but say no to the long term deal.
I’m thinking Chapman because he offers something none of the young guys have… Solid defense. Chapman would give excellent defense at 3b and they can figure out where to play Keith, jung and Malloy.
I like Moore as a solid lefty out of the pen. He could go multiple innings, he could come in high leverage innings. I believe he’s better than Holton and Chafin.
The Reds are thin on lefty bats… McKinstry can play 2b/3b and left if needed. They probably will offer Marte and some other pieces for a very good starter like Cease or maybe someone from the Marlins.
Jeez Hoyer, any interest at all for Imanaga? Cubs could certainly use a guy like him but here we are, twiddling our fingers…
I think at some point teams are going to get burned pretty bad by paying these contracts to unproven players.
It’s getting to the point where the risk vs reward isn’t there, at least not for me. Twenty million dollars for Imanaga seems too risky for my taste. He seems more middle of the rotation upside with back of the rotation floor. I’d rather spend that 20 million on Giolito who has top of the rotation upside and will require a shorter commitment.
Imanaga is unproven at the MLB level but he’d be a good gamble considering the defense that the Cubs have is pretty good. But, Hoyer needs to kick the tires on Jordan Montgomery, he’s proven to be good during the regular season and the playoffs. Giolito is another good candidate that would do well with the Cubs defense. Also, Cease is available and he’s another option that would work.
Biggest concern for Imanaga is his fly ball/HR rates; so, Yankee stadium, for example, would be a bad choice.
But, Wrigley seems like it would be a pretty good place for him because the field plays pretty large for fly balls (If I’m not mistaken).
Oh yes I agree, Yankee stadium wouldn’t be s good fit for Imanaga, Wrigley Field would be good since April and May the weather and wind stop a lot of flyballs from leaving the stadium. Giants would also be a great spot for him.
Montgomery would be a great for the Yankees, I don’t think there’s any hard feelings between the two, a reunion would be great for both sides.
Definitely agree. I really liked Monty. Durable, mid-rotation guy is really what the Yankees need at this point.
I still think Bellinger will return to the Cubs. What are your thoughts on him?
I think Bellinger’s coming back to the Cubs. He was having a good time on the team, his shoulder problem has healed, and even the one month stint on the IL wasn’t bad. I just think Hoyer is playing the waiting game, maybe get his price tag down.
I hope your Yankees get Monty. He’s a guy guy, not sure if Snell would be a great addition he’s very streaky.
I think imanaga may be another kei igawa
It’s different now bc when Kei Igawa was posted, only one team could exclusively negotiate with him. Cashman’s scouting dept was wrong about him obviously. We now have other teams’ scouts evaluating Imanaga while placing a dollar value on him.
Kei igawa 93-71 3.21 in Japan … wasn’t exactly a star in the majors (yes I’m being sarcastic )
Everyone who is pro IKF dont seem to understand how bad the Jays offense is.
With Varsho and IKF you have some of the worst batters in the game. Then you have KK and Biggio/Schnieder at 6/7 and Kirk/Jansen is batting 5th!
This assumes you sign a DH that is better than Jansen and Kirk that can bat 4th.
Jays still need a lefty power bat and with Kiermaier back if they were to sign Bellinger he would either play 1B, pushing Vlad to DH or rotate in a RF/1B/DH time share with Vlad and Springer which doesn’t seem like something he would probably go for. Joc Pederson may end up being the lefty DH bat the Jays inevitably settle for unless the long anticipated Joey Votto homecoming were to actually happen
Jays are in desperate need of an improvement in offence and Atkins comes up with Kevin Kiermaier, a 40 year old Joey Votto and IKF.
Brutal
The Jays could potentially sign Bellinger and play him at first base for a season and move Vlad to third base. They could still sign Hoskins for DH who could also play 1st in case of an injury
Vlad’s days as a Third Baseman are over. That scenario is just shoehorning players onto the roster that don’t necessarily fit
Snell, Imanga, and Hader all to the Angels!!
Snell 6-150mil
Imanga 5-100mil
Hader 4-85mil
Arte hasn’t spent even close to that on pitching since 2004 so i wouldn’t hold my breath if i were you. However, if there is a broken down bat out there he’s usually all over it
You wil I’ll never get a Snell for less than 7/210 (or some variation to manipulate AAV).
Hader will get at least 5/100 mil unless for some reason he elects to take a short term / really high AAV with Texas or similarly built team for a ring and high AAV with chance to test FA again in 2 years or a built in opt out.
WSox have plenty of expendable players on its 40 man given the ML club and minor league system is poor. That is the least of their concerns.
Note to CWS new GM..maybe you should trade a player prior to needing to open a spot on the 40 man roster. Or maybe you shouldn’t carry 4 catchers on your 40 man with 3 of them obtained in the last 4 months knitwit..
You would upgrade your Catching position too if you watched Grandal/Zavala/Lee absolutely stink it up last year. That being said, unless a Cease trade is coming (or a more surprising Jimenez trade) the White Sox are almost empty on tradeable assets so the will try to sneak some low end of the totem pole player through waivers to clear a spot for Maldonado
I want Cease to the Twins. What are the Sox looking for, they’re not going to be competitive for a few years now so i’m guessing prospects?
Apparently the White Sox asked for 5 top 100 prospects for Cease.
It seems like a ridiculous ask but you have to think there is probably 35 million on surplus value on his deal so you are probably looking at giving up 3 really highly regarded prospects plus more.
Ikf makes any team better… pay no attention to the metrics. He is a solid defender at many positions… and plays great situational baseball
Why do I feel that the Braves are gonna end up overpaying Stroman which would be a major disappointment
“…there have been reports of his market pushing to the $100MM range”
1 penny owed up front, in the range of $99,999,999.99 deferred.
Surely two of Toronto’s multitude of position players can come through for them. The last three on the list seem like good bets. Schneider did alright in a brief time, at least at first. We shall see.
Is this an open sign that the white so intend to tank this year? I get it their roster isn’t in the best shape but why would they sign maldy after how bad he played the last couple years. Maybe he is a “player-couch” for Korey Lee, that’s the only thing I can really think of
White sox**
The Red Sox should sign Chapman, move Raffy to 1st, and trade Casas.
Cease is NOT worth 3-5 top 100 prospects. I’d give up one top 30 prospect and a couple near mlb ready 30-100 guys. Probly not enough to get it done, what if we threw in either Kepler or Polonco?
Polonco or Kepler, a top 10 prospect and a 30-50 prospect? Enough to get it done?