As the offseason continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on today:
1. What’s next for the Astros?
The Astros are one week removed from a franchise-altering trade that shipped star outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Cubs in exchange for a package of three players, including All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes. Even with Paredes in the fold, Houston not only remains in the market for Alex Bregman — they also reportedly made a push to acquire Nolan Arenado from the Cardinals only for Arenado to block the deal with his no-trade clause.
Had Houston successfully brought in Arenado, it seems likely they would’ve moved Paredes over to first base. That remains a possibility for the club if they re-sign Bregman or Arenado can be convinced to waive his no-trade clause at some point down the line, but it also seems possible that the club could turn to Paredes at third and target first base help such as longtime Diamondbacks slugger Christian Walker, to whom they’ve been connected in free agency and in the lead-up to the 2024 trade deadline.
2. Sasaki scheduling meetings with teams?
Yankees GM Brian Cashman revealed to reporters (including Chris Kirschner of The Athletic) yesterday that his club has been granted an in-person meeting with star NPB right-hander Roki Sasaki, who was posted for MLB clubs during the Winter Meetings and figures to sign with a team as an international amateur next month. Until Sasaki makes his decision sometime after the international amateur free agency window for 2025 opens on January 15, he’ll be heavily courted by the majority of the league, given the unique circumstances of his free agency.
3. Contreras resolution imminent:
When the Rangers landed right-handers Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob Webb in free agency last week, that left the club in need of a 40-man roster spot. They chose to designate right-hander Roansy Contreras for assignment, which gave them a seven-day window in which they could either work out a trade involving Contreras or attempt to pass him through waivers. That window is set to expire today, meaning an announcement regarding Contreras’s future should be imminent. (Since waivers take 48 hours, which are included in that weeklong window, it seems Contreras is already on waivers.)
The 25-year-old hurler was once a consensus top-100 prospect with the Pirates and looked like at least a solid back-of-the-rotation arm as recently as 2022, when he posted a 3.79 ERA in 95 innings. A disastrous 2023 season caused him to move to the bullpen, however, and since then he’s profiled more as a middle reliever as he’s moved from Pittsburgh to Anaheim to Arlington. Now, Contreras may find himself on the move again if he’s claimed off waivers by another club. Should he clear waivers, the Rangers would have the opportunity to outright him to the minor leagues as non-roster depth for the 2025 season.
Well so much for the notion Roki doesn’t want to pitch for a large market team.
Hopefully the Red Sox have a chance, especially with Roki being buds with Yoshida.
I bet padres are willing to trade a top prospect for the bulk of your international salary cap. Hmmm….and you kno they draft better than you !
Prediction
Sasaki will strike out 19 in his 1st start for dodgers
Then blow his elbow out in 2nd start and miss 16 months
Then come back to win cy young
Then blow blow the elbow out again & leaves mlb back to tokyo
With climate change comes extreme weather
Senga missed a whole yr with injury
Yamamoto was hurt half the season
Ohtani has had 2 TJ surgeries in the majors
Roki is screwed
Hahaha Brew!
You just described Aaron Rodgers jets career
I kind of wonder if maybe the Astros should just sell the club, trade everybody away or release guys nobody else wants to take and start from scratch.
They’re tainted from the trashcan stuff and people either don’t want to play there or the guys who have been playing there or like to play there don’t have the kind of respect and integrity attached to their numbers that free agents want to be associated with.
No one outside of the “fan” cares about the trash cans. It’s completely meaningless.
hayzee – Ask Joe Kelly.
Joe Kelly was upset that they admitted to it, not that they did it.
orbit – That’s not the quote from him that I read, do you have a link?
Doesn’t really make sense because they admitted it only after they were accused and the evidence presented. They could no longer deny it even if they wanted to.
They admitted to the whole scheme to the league. The league put a stop to it once they fessed up to the whole thing. Ie, it stopped his teams from doing the same thing. Really easy to see why he was upset at them.
Orbit – So you’re saying the Dodgers were using trashcans too?
Well we can’t prove his motive, so no real point in speculating. He was mad at the Astros, that much we know.
Houston — a place where your prime star is ignored so a ridiculous cheating scheme can help lesser players. Yeah, no free agent cares about that.
@trill. You realize Altuve, and pressly are the only ones left right. It’s far fetched to say it’s because of the scandals. Especially with different managers, and front office running the team. Sounds like it’s a baseless opinion or troll attempt luckily I’m not a Astros fan.
Rex – Exactly! Plus Arenado made it clear he wasn’t ruling out the Astros, he just didn’t want to commit to them right now.
Altuve is the only one left from the 2017 team. Pressly was still on the Twins in 2017.
@rod. I was on the fence about adding pressly knew it was close. Not a Astros fan just calling out the troll comment.
Don’t forget McCullers.
Forgot about him. He hasn’t pitched since 2022. I’m skeptical he will make it back.
Trill – Arenado is waiting for Bregman to sign, then other potential suitors will be more motivated to acquire him.
Sucks for the Cards though, they would have been relieved of all but $5M per season of Arenado’s contract.
“People don’t want to play there.”
I hate the Astros too but that’s ridiculous. Josh Hader just signed there last season. He could of signed anywhere he wanted.
Arenado has a full no-trade clause but gave 6 teams he’d waive it for and the Astros were not on the list. Just because Arenado didn’t want to approve a trade there, doesn’t mean “nobody” wants to play there.
Yet that won’t stop you from crying about them will it now. Be honest. It’s ok.
Rod: Arenado’s list of six teams is apparently not the full list.
Haven’t heard that. He has a full no-trade clause regardless.
Crane’s, flaky, little 150-160M, 5-6 year max stand is way past its expiration date. Time to step up or step off Jimmy. Ahahahaha!
I believe he’s going to either the Dodgers or Padres. For most Japanese players – not all – the west coast is preferable for obvious reasons, so they each have that built-in advantage. Additionally, we all know that the Dodgers are a very well-known brand in Japan while the Fathers employ Roki’s idol.
I could see Seattle too, especially w a pitchers park and an elite staff, he would have very little early pressure.
Ma: It surprises me that Seattle isn’t more of a draw for Japanese players. Huge Japanese population not only in Washington but all the way into British Colombia. Plus, all-time great Ichiro works in the M’s front office.
Sasaki‘s stuff is so great, I’m happy that he’ll pitch in the MLB. I wish him a healthy career. Sadly I don’t think that the Yankees will land him.
I find it strange that Joel Wolfe mentioned Sasaki’s trouble with Japanese media.
I assume it’s more about criticism rather than just volume. However it is not a good indicator for handling pressure in the future.
The Japanese media follow his parents to the grocery story. The video of the media throng following them while they tried to shop is hilarious and more than a little scary.
Damn you Arenado. Rejecting the Astros just gave them good karma to win the World Series in 2025. I wish you would just go there so you can jinx them out of the playoffs like you have for every year of your career besides the short playoff stints of 2017, 2018 and 2021.
If I was in charge of MLB, I would put my thumb on the scales. Sports leagues love TV$ which loves top markets. Sasaki is a 100mm$ asset and so I would intervene to make sure he goes to a major market.
Prob plenty ways to do it, but an easy one comes to mind – get major advertiser or two to sign him for big endorsement $.
Personally, I don’t think Sasaki is coming to the Yanks. I’d love to be wrong, of course, but I’m realistic. He’s got friends in the league already like Yoshida abd Darvish so I’d give the Sox and Pads the best chance.
As for Arenado, I want to see that resolve by Christmas for the guy. Knowing for sure now that your team no longer has to suck. Here’s to a swift resolution with a team he’d like to go to.
Ichiro is personally leading the Mariners’ meeting with Sasaki. The about-to-be Hall of Famer still has a lot of sway in Japan, where he is somewhat godlike. At that ballpark, he has a chance to have a sub 2 ERA and if they use Castillo to get a solid 3B and sign one of the Kims to play 2B, they’ve got more than a good chance to win the West. After that, who knows?
Roki Sasaki is on a plane to Toronto at this very moment.
it’s true, Ki-ki to K’nada chants were heard outside the grange in Mississauga
With that new study on pitching injuries, is the commissioner going to make a new rule that pitchers can’t throw any harder than 90mph and have to keep the spin rate low? Maybe 15 RPMs?
just require everyone to throw knuckleballs
whether they know how to do it or not. games would be nothing but wild pitches and hit batsman but starters could throw 350 innings!
I would be very interested to know why Pete Alonso doesn’t seem included in first base options for the Astros
I wouldn’t be shocked if they were looking his way. It doesn’t seem as if Alonso is going to be the next to sign. I think once Bregman signs and Arenado gets traded you’ll see the odd teams out make a run for him.
Would love him in Houston for the ballpark though. I really think he would exploit that park with his hit tool. I could see average go up again there.
Anyone here actually live in/from Japan? I’m curious as to who is among the most popular MLB teams over there right now. Long shot but you never know.
West Coast teams always have a leg up due to the easier travel back to Japan so obvious answer is the Dodgers with Ohtani and Yamamoto already there, their past history with Japanese players and then being the most recent champs. Always have the classics like Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs with the 100+ year old brand names as a possibility too.
I really have a feeling it’s Seattle though. Kid is coming over without getting a massive payday so he needs to perform and the way the Mariners churn out SP’s it’s a great spot for a young pitcher. Also the fact that the ballpark is pitcher friendly. Mariners being one of the most Japanese invested franchises player wise bodes well too. Then add in Ichiro in his ear who is an absolute rock star in Japan.
Final answer: Seattle
Roki, The Yankees are old with aging bad contracts on diminished skill players of yesterday coupled with zero depth in a horrific minor league system that ranks 29th of the 30 MLB teams. Go to the team with the #3 overall farm system that already promoted a series of young studs in Casas, Duran, Abreu, Rafaela, Hamilton, Wong & Sogard. They have the top 3 prospects in all of baseball all in the top 10 in MLB prospects. Play with your peers in terms of age, and a tradition of Japanese pitchers and players well documented. Play at Fenway Park the oldest park in MLB where Babe Ruth played and won 3x Championships. Thereno better fit for you than Boston with Andrew Bailey & Co., leading the new pitching development system that has already helped every arm in the system take steps forward. There’s a dynasty in Boston, don’t miss it Roki!
Chaim Bloom wasn’t so bad.