Here are a few things to monitor around the baseball world heading into this week:
1. Rookie of the Year awards announced tonight
It’s awards week! The league’s top honors will be handed out each day, starting with Rookie of the Year tonight and concluding with Most Valuable Player on Thursday. The ROY finalists on the American League side are first baseman Nick Kurtz of the Athletics, shortstop Jacob Wilson, also of the Athletics, and outfielder Roman Anthony of the Red Sox. Catcher Drake Baldwin of the Braves leads the way on the National League side, followed by Cade Horton of the Cubs and Caleb Durbin of the Brewers. Kurtz and his 36 home runs are considered the favorite for the AL. Baldwin, who slashed .274/.341/.469 as Atlanta’s primary backstop, is considered the favorite in the NL. The winners will be announced on MLB Network at 6 pm CT.
2. Big Japanese stars headed to the big leagues
A pair of NPB heavyweights are making the jump to MLB. The Yakult Swallows officially posted third baseman Munetaka Murakami on Friday. The 25-year-old has been one of the top power hitters in Japan over the past seven seasons. Murakami hit a single-season record 56 home runs in 2022. Contact has been an issue at times, and it’s unclear whether he’ll stick at third base, but Murakami immediately becomes one of the top bats on the market. The Saitama Seibu Lions announced they have accepted right-hander Tatsuya Imai’s request to be posted. The 27-year-old has a fastball approaching triple digits and a plus slider. Imai posted a 3.15 ERA over 963 2/3 innings across eight NPB seasons. He earned three All-Star selections. Imai will join Dylan Cease and Framber Valdez as one of the top starters on the market. Murakami, and Imai once officially posted, will have 45 days to work out a contract with an MLB team.
3. Cleveland pitchers indicted on gambling charges
It had been a couple of months since we had an update on the sports betting investigation regarding Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz. The big news dropped on Sunday, as Clase and Ortiz were indicted by prosecutors on charges including “wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy, for their alleged roles in a scheme to rig bets on pitches thrown.” The alleged scheme involved Clase and Ortiz purposely throwing balls so gamblers could bet on pitches being balls or strikes, per the indictment. The pitchers face up to 65 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images.
I think Imai become the top choice given his age.
Just some semantics–I believe the Lions *agreed to post* Imai on Sunday. He’s not yet posted.
As much I’d like Horton to win the Rookie of the Year, it’s probably going to be Drake Baldwin. But it’s nice to see the Cubs get a guy that had as good first season as Horton had. All good choices!
For the AL it’s gotta be Kurtz, he had a great season.
I don’t think Horton gives a…..Who?
If Roman hadn’t been held hostage in the minors so long, it would have been an epic battle for ROY with Kurtz.
Can’t wait to see what Roman can do in a full season.
RPG, does time on the IL count against service time when considered for rookie status the following year? If it does then Roman won’t be a rookie next year, so I am wondering if he would be a rookie if it doesn’t.
It does if it’s major league IL.
R Anthony had over 200 major league ABs in 2025. He is no longer considered a rookie
big – Right, and he also exceeded 45 days on the active roster.
DBH – Time on the IL does indeed count as service time, however it does not impact his rookie eligibility because the 45-day limit is for active roster only.
No, Nick Kurtz of the Sacramento A’s way outpaced Roman Anthony and every other rookie by a country mile.
Nick Kurtz 2025 5.4 WAR 420 At-bats 36 Hrs 0.290 Avg 1.002 OPS
Roman Anthony 2025 3.1 WAR 257 ABs 8 Hrs 0.292 avg 0.859 OPS
Jacpb Wilson 2025 3.0 WAR 386 ABs 13 HRs 0.311 avg 0.800 OPS
Drake Baldwin 2025 3.3 WAR 405 ABs 19 HRs 0.274 avg. 0.810 OPS
Caleb Durbin 2025 2.8 WAR 445 ABs 11 HRs 0.256 avg. 0.721 OPS
Cade Horton 2025 2.0 WAR 23 Games 118 innings 97 Ks 3.58 FIP
Im wandering, if Hiroto Saiki ask his team (Hanshin Tigers) to posted him, which one would get higher contract. Saiki posted better number than Imai, but low K & a lot groundball.
baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=sai…
That would be another good option for sure.
Murakami and Imai to LAD, Clase and Ortiz to prison
More like Chase and Ortiz to the Witness Protection List.
@JRamHOF
C’mon, they just did a little gambling. It happens everyday in America. Maybe we should ban gambling just like we banned alcohol. That worked great!
From what i have read they were not betting, but were throwing certain pitches to help out the bettors, so basically throwing games
@jaysfansince1977
Sorry, I was just using sarcasm…
York – Did you invest in him? LOL
mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/finlete-offers-fans-the…
Try reading before reacting. They cooperated with gamblers to fix outcomes. That’s not “a little gambling”.
@JRam
Imai possible for LAD but they’re not going after Murakami. OF is bigger need so Tucker is a target.
I think Dodgers make a run at Tucker, Cubs aren’t going to go for the 400m he’s going to be asking for.
The career of Caleb Durbin thus far has been interesting for more then whats happened on the field.
After being drafted by Atlanta, Durbin was traded with another prospect to the Yankees for a reliever, Lucas Luetge, who pitched one disastrous partial season for Atlanta and never pitched in the majors again.
Two years later, Durbin was traded by the Yankees (with Nestor Cortes) to Milwaukee for a reliever, Devin Williams, who pitched one disastrous season for NY before presumably moving on.
Teams need to stop trading Durbin for relievers. It does not work out well.
Can’t blame the Yankees too much for trading Durbin for Williams. After having Clay Holmes blow so many games, they needed a closer and Devin fit the bill.
I agree Williams should have been a good get for them. It’s just funny how both Durbin trades blew up spectacularly in the faces of the teams trading Durbin away.
Definitely agree with you on Durbin. He’s turned into a nice addition to the Brewers lineup. He puts up great at bats and can be a clutch hitter too. Another great trade for the Brewers.
65 years for corrupting gambling. Add 6 months if they murdered anyone in the process…
The AL ROY seems it should go to Nick Kurtz but the NL is pretty tight.
I predicted Drake Baldwin but it could go to any of the 3.
mlbtraderumors.com/2025/11/bbwaa-announces-2025-aw…
Kurtz had much bigger numbers than Baldwin.
@robw5555
Yes, but there is an AL award and an NL award. I said Kurtz would get the AL award but it was close in the NL.
Different leagues bud Kurtz is AL, Baldwin is NL.
It’s nice to see the A’s having some promising rookie performances.
Despite the way they left Oakland and can’t move to Las Vegas for another year…
I know a bit about sports gambing, but not the extent of some of these prop bets. I had no idea that you could bet on a single pitch. Bets like that are stupod and show that there is no regulation on these guys.The sports books share data and can easily see stuff like this. How much total action could they be taking on a single pitch. There will be more of this in all sports. We see the NBA scandal and this is merely the start. To some extent having legalized betting allows more investigations.
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What’s the over under on the number of years each pitcher gets for this? If either of them ever throws a pitch again will it be a ball or a strike?