White Sox Notes: Acquisitions, Acuña, Murakami
The White Sox finalized their two-year, $20MM free agent contract with Seranthony Domínguez this afternoon. The hard-throwing righty is expected to step into the ninth inning for skipper Will Venable. That deal came on the heels of the Sox trading Luis Robert Jr. to the Mets, a move which dropped the center fielder’s $20MM salary from the books.
General manager Chris Getz said after the Robert trade that the Sox would be “very active” in using that payroll space. Domínguez will make $8MM in the first season of his slightly backloaded deal. Even if the White Sox don’t intend to reallocate all $20MM into this year’s roster, there should be room in the budget for another addition.
Getz acknowledged as much, saying on Thursday that the front office remains involved on both free agent and trade targets. “We’re still fairly active in free agency and also talking to other clubs,” Getz said in a TV appearance (video via CHSN). He made similar comments in a fan event before this weekend’s SoxFest Live event. “I believe that there are going to be more adds. To what level, (I’m) unsure,” the GM said (link via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). “What we can provide is opportunity and a runway, and some of these players we’ve acquired just haven’t gotten that runway in other places for various reasons.”
This remains a rebuild even if the White Sox have had a bigger offseason than anticipated. Domínguez is an established reliever, but the rest of Chicago’s pickups have been upside shots on young players or those whose roles might change. They jumped on the opportunity to add Munetaka Murakami on a two-year, $34MM contract when the Japanese slugger’s market didn’t develop. The Sox signed NPB returnee Anthony Kay to a two-year deal that likely includes a rotation spot. Sean Newcomb worked mostly out of the bullpen last year but could battle for a starting job in camp. On the position player side, they’ve taken fliers on former highly-regarded prospects Luisangel Acuña and Everson Pereira in trades.
Acuña came over from the Mets in the Robert deal. He’s a .248/.299/.341 hitter in 233 MLB plate appearances but never had consistent playing time in New York. Acuña has primarily been a middle infielder in his career, but he’s also playing a good amount of center field in the Venezuelan Winter League. He has plus-plus speed that could be an asset in the outfield. Jon Heyman of The New York Post writes that Acuña is likely to get an opportunity to step directly into Robert’s role as Chicago’s primary center fielder.
The versatility means Acuña will probably still see some infield work. Chicago’s middle infield tandem of Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth is more exciting than their post-Robert outfield, which may be the worst in MLB. Andrew Benintendi is back in left field. Pereira, Brooks Baldwin, Derek Hill and Tristan Peters — along with minor league signees Jarred Kelenic and Dustin Harris — make for an unimposing right field mix. There’s a decent chance they’ll make another outfield move or two before Opening Day. There’s also ample opportunity in a rotation that is led by Shane Smith, Sean Burke, Davis Martin and the free agent signees Kay and Newcomb.
While there are a lot of moving pieces, Murakami should be a staple as the everyday first baseman. Major league clubs clearly had big reservations about the rate at which he swung and missed in Japan. Murakami may have as much raw power as any hitter on the planet, though, and the Sox will no doubt have a long leash as he tries to acclimate to MLB pitching. It’s the kind of upside play that virtually no one saw coming at the beginning of the offseason, when Murakami was widely expected to command a nine-figure deal.
That skepticism extended to the White Sox themselves. Getz spoke with Scott Merkin of MLB.com about the signing and acknowledged that the NPB superstar was not a player they expected to add. “Candidly, I didn’t think it was going to be a realistic target for us. I didn’t. The speculation was big, whether it be years, and dollars. … We did our due diligence. But I still didn’t feel like it was going to be realistic, even into when free agency opened up.”
It carried well into the offseason, as Getz said he still didn’t view Murakami as a viable addition into the Winter Meetings in early December. Talks didn’t accelerate until a few days before the close of the player’s 45-day posting window, which expired on December 22. Once it became apparent that Murakami wasn’t going to find a long-term deal he desired, the Sox made their move.
“We just view this as truly upside,” Getz said of adding a marquee player from Japan. “The baseball side, the business side. There’s a big impact and it’s leading to things that perhaps we didn’t even anticipate, quite honestly.” Sox fans will want to read Merkin’s full column, which includes more specifics from Getz and Venable on the process leading up to the agreement.
Marlins Sign Daniel Johnson To Minor League Deal
The Marlins announced their slate of non-roster invitations to MLB camp on Thursday. Outfielder Daniel Johnson is among the group, as the MLB.com transaction log indicates he agreed to a minor league deal with Miami around the holidays.
Johnson played in a career-high 31 MLB games last season between the Giants and Orioles. The former fifth-round pick took 57 trips to the plate, batting .189/.246/.302 with one home run. Johnson is a career .196/.243/.322 hitter in sporadic looks spanning four seasons in the big leagues.
The 30-year-old has played parts of six Triple-A campaigns. Johnson has a .257/.323/.452 line at the top minor league level. That includes 52 contests last season, in which he had a solid .267/.314/.490 mark with a career-low 17.3% strikeout rate. Johnson has always had strong physical tools. He’s a good runner with an excellent arm and above-average bat speed. His approach and well below-average contact skills have kept him from securing consistent playing time at the MLB level.
Johnson is another left-handed bat in an outfield mix that includes lefty swingers Kyle Stowers, Jakob Marsee, Owen Caissie and potentially Griffin Conine. He’s likely to begin the season at Triple-A Jacksonville.
Astros, Tom Cosgrove Agree To Minor League Deal
The Astros are in agreement with lefty reliever Tom Cosgrove on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The CAA client gets a non-roster invite to MLB camp and would be paid at a $900K rate if he makes the team.
Cosgrove has pitched in the majors in each of the past three seasons. The majority of his experience came in his rookie year with the Padres. He tallied 51 1/3 innings of 1.75 ERA ball in 2023. His underlying numbers weren’t nearly as impressive, and Cosgrove hasn’t gotten much of an MLB look in the past two seasons. He was blitzed for 19 runs across 14 2/3 innings in ’24. The Padres designated him for assignment and sold his contract to the Cubs last April.
The 29-year-old only made two appearances in a Cubs uniform. He worked four innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts and a walk. Chicago ran him through waivers in early September. Cosgrove finished the season with a 4.53 ERA across 49 2/3 Triple-A frames. He punched out a quarter of opponents but walked almost 13% of batters faced. He elected minor league free agency at year’s end.
While Houston has lacked left-handed relief depth over the past few seasons, that looks like a strength after last year. Josh Hader will be back in the ninth inning. Steven Okert and Bennett Sousa are coming off career years, while Bryan King had an impressive first full season in his own right. Cosgrove probably doesn’t have a path to an Opening Day job barring multiple Spring Training injuries. All of Houston’s previous non-roster invitees were right-handed, though, so it’s sensible to add at least one southpaw to the camp mix.
Rangers, Cal Quantrill Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rangers are in agreement with starter Cal Quantrill on a minor league deal, reports Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. The Excel Sports Management client finished the 2025 season in the Texas organization and will be back in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Quantrill split his MLB work last season between the Braves and Marlins. Signed to a $3.5MM contract over the offseason, the former eighth overall pick made 24 starts for Miami. He ate 109 2/3 innings but struggled to a 5.50 earned run average with a 17.4% strikeout rate. Quantrill had a terrible April, and a solid three-month run thereafter wasn’t enough to drum up any trade interest. Things went back off the rails in August, as opponents tagged him for 15 runs in his first three starts of the month.
Miami released Quantrill at that point. Atlanta gave him a very brief look as they cycled through journeymen starters while their rotation was wrecked by injury. Quantrill gave up three runs in 4 2/3 frames against the Mets in his team debut. The Phillies put up a nine-spot five days later and the Braves moved on. Texas added him on a minor league contract. Quantrill started twice for Triple-A Round Rock, tossing 11 innings of four-run ball with 14 punchouts and one walk.
It was a solid enough first impression that Texas brings him back as a minor league free agent. The Rangers have as strong a top three in their rotation as any team in MLB with Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and MacKenzie Gore. They’re well set with Jack Leiter as the fourth starter. It falls off sharply from there. Jacob Latz and Kumar Rocker are probably competing for the fifth starter role. Latz pitched well last year but was mostly a reliever. Rocker fought mechanical issues.
The Rangers are well served to stash veteran depth options in camp and potentially to begin the season with Round Rock. They’ve also brought in Nabil Crismatt and Austin Gomber on minor league deals.
Giants Trade Kai-Wei Teng To Astros
8:12pm: The teams announced the deal, which also sends an undisclosed amount of international bonus money to the Giants.
7:51pm: The Giants and Astros are in agreement on a trade that’ll send swingman Kai-Wei Teng to the Astros for catching prospect Jancel Villarroel, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. San Francisco needed to create a 40-man roster spot in order to finalize their two-year deal with Harrison Bader. It appears a Teng trade will be that corresponding move. Houston designated J.P. France for assignment to open a roster spot.
Teng, a Taiwanese-born righty, has made 12 MLB appearances over the past two seasons. They haven’t gone well, as he has been tagged for 7.30 earned runs per nine across 40 2/3 innings. Teng has managed a solid 23.7% strikeout rate but has been plagued by a lack of command. He has walked nearly 13% of opponents and plunked eight more (4.1%). That’s far too many free passes around which to work even with decent swing-and-miss stuff.
The 27-year-old has shown a similar approach in the minors, though he’s coming off a much better season in Triple-A. He worked mostly in a relief role and managed a 3.63 ERA behind a fantastic 37.1% strikeout percentage across 57 innings. Teng trimmed his walk rate to 9.2% at the level last season, but he has walked at least 10% of opponents at every other stop since he was in Low-A.
Teng throws five pitches and sits in the 93 MPH range with his four-seam fastball and sinker. A mid-80s sweeper is his preferred secondary pitch and got good results in a small sample of big league work. Teng has a couple minor league options remaining and can work as rotation depth or in long relief. The Astros evidently preferred his higher swing-and-miss ceiling to France after the latter has battled shoulder issues for a couple seasons.
San Francisco has a deeper rotation mix than Houston does. Teng, whom they non-tendered after the ’24 season before re-signing to a minor league deal, was a candidate to again be designated for assignment. It’s a nice bit of business to acquire a prospect for a pure depth arm. Villorroel, a 5’8″ backstop out of Venezuela, ranked as Houston’s 20th-best prospect at Baseball America. That comes with a caveat that the Astros’ system is as thin as any in the league.
The 20-year-old Villarroel is coming off a solid .259/.351/.388 line with eight homers in 100 games in A-ball. He walked at a 10.4% rate while striking out roughly 18% of the time. He also stole 20 bases in 27 attempts, though he’s unlikely to be a huge threat on the bases as he climbs the minor league ladder. Baseball America credits him with advanced pure hitting ability and plus arm strength, though his strike zone discipline and finer defensive skills are works in progress. He’s a development flier who appears to project as a future backup.
Royals Sign Eli Morgan To Minor League Deal
The Royals announced they’ve signed reliever Eli Morgan to a minor league deal. The CAA client receives a non-roster invite to big league Spring Training. Morgan had been non-tendered by the Cubs in November.
Morgan returns to the AL Central, where he has spent the majority of his career with Cleveland. He pitched parts of four seasons there, starting 18 games as a rookie before moving to the bullpen. Morgan was a solid middle reliever between 2022-24. He combined for 176 innings of 3.27 ERA ball while striking out more than a quarter of opponents. The righty held batters to a .224/.279/.384 slash line and turned in a sub-2.00 earned run average across 32 appearances in 2024.
The quality of the raw stuff never really lined up with the strong results. Teams generally look for big velocity and a plus breaking ball from their late-inning relievers. Morgan is a changeup and control specialist whose fastball sits around 92 miles per hour. He missed some time in ’24 with elbow inflammation and even spent a month on optional assignment to Triple-A. His strikeout rate also dropped steadily over his final three seasons in Cleveland, falling from a career-high 28.1% mark down to 20.4% by his last year. The Guardians soured on him and dealt him to the Cubs for an A-ball outfielder (Alfonsin Rosario).
The trade didn’t pan out for Chicago. Morgan only pitched seven times as a Cub. He was hit hard, giving up 10 runs on 12 hits — including a trio of home runs — across 7 1/3 innings. An elbow impingement cost him the majority of the season. Morgan’s final MLB appearance came on April 14, and he was limited to 12 outings (mostly on a rehab assignment) in the minors.
Kansas City has a strong pitching staff, but they’ve made a few non-roster pickups in recent days. Morgan joins Héctor Neris and Aaron Sanchez as veteran minor league signees this week. Sanchez may be rotation depth, while Morgan and Neris will try to push Alex Lange, Daniel Lynch IV and James McArthur for a middle relief opportunity. Morgan still has a minor league option and could bounce between Kansas City and Triple-A Omaha if he wins a 40-man roster spot.
Astros To Designate J.P. France For Assignment
The Astros are designating right-hander J.P. France for assignment, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. That’ll open a 40-man roster spot to finalize their acquisition of righty Kai-Wei Teng from San Francisco.
A 14th-round senior draftee who signed for $1,000 as an amateur, France overcame significant odds to reach the majors at all. Injuries pushed him into a more prominent role than anticipated as a 28-year-old rookie three years ago. France stepped up with a 3.83 earned run average across 136 1/3 innings. He started 23 of 24 appearances and was included on Houston’s playoff rosters.
Unfortunately, France hasn’t been able to contribute much over the past two seasons. He battled a shoulder injury during Spring Training 2024. France pitched through it but was hit around in five starts and optioned to Triple-A. He suffered a setback while pitching in the minors and underwent surgery in June that came with a recovery time longer than a full calendar year. He remained on the injured list until last August.
France made it back to the mound at the end of the season. He was tagged for 17 earned runs across 24 innings in Triple-A. The Astros called him up in September as a low-leverage reliever. He tossed a scoreless inning in mop-up work on September 14. His only other appearance consisted of three innings of one-run ball to pick up a win once the Astros were officially eliminated from playoff contention.
The Astros have five days to trade the 30-year-old France or expose him to waivers. He has a little over two years of big league service and one minor league option remaining. If the Astros get him through waivers unclaimed, they’ll be able to keep him in the organization as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.
Where Can The Guardians Spend The Money Saved On The Ramírez Deal?
The Guardians hammered out their third extension with José Ramírez over the weekend. While the team still hasn't announced the contract as of Wednesday evening, it reportedly runs through his age-39 season. It more or less confirms that Ramírez will be a one-team superstar, but the biggest impact in the short term is that it involved a restructure to give the team some spending room.
Ramírez will reportedly be paid $25MM annually over the next seven seasons. $10MM of each season's salary is deferred until 2036. He'd been slated for a non-deferred $21MM salary this season. They saved $6MM against the 2026 payroll and $8MM and $10MM, respectively, over the following two years.
Any mention of the Guardians spending money is going to be met with sarcasm and skepticism. That's warranted given their usual spending habits, but this year's payroll would be extreme even by their standards. There'll almost certainly be a notable acquisition or two before Opening Day.
Cleveland has 12 players, including their arbitration class, signed for the upcoming season. Their salaries break down as follows:
- Ramírez: $25MM ($10MM deferred)
- Steven Kwan: $7.725MM
- Emmanuel Clase: $6MM
- Shawn Armstrong: $5.5MM (including option buyout)
- Trevor Stephan: $4.75MM (including option buyout)
- Tanner Bibee: $4MM
- Austin Hedges: $4MM
- Nolan Jones: $2MM
- Colin Holderman: $1.5MM
- David Fry: $1.375MM
- Matt Festa: $1MM
- Connor Brogdon: $900K
They'll also pay the Blue Jays $2.75MM as a condition of the Myles Straw trade. It's a total of $66.5MM in commitments, and even that dramatically overstates how much they'll actually spend. Ramírez is being paid $15MM this year, dropping their short-term obligations to $56.5MM.
There's also a strong chance they don't wind up paying anything to Clase. His criminal trial for alleged game-fixing won't begin until May, but it's possible MLB imposes its own discipline before the start of the season. It'd be a shock if the star reliever played another MLB game and Cleveland brass will obviously hope for the league to level a suspension that gets them off the hook for next year's salary.
If that happens, they'll be down to $50.5MM in guaranteed commitments. Filling out the roster with players on near league minimum salaries would push them into the $63-65MM range. According to The Associated Press, the Marlins were the only team with a season-opening payroll below $74.9MM last year. Cleveland ranked 25th in MLB with a $102.5MM mark.
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Latest On Zac Gallen’s Market
Zac Gallen is one of two unsigned players who declined a qualifying offer at the beginning of the offseason. The former All-Star righty is also arguably the second-best pitcher available behind Framber Valdez. It has nevertheless been a quiet winter in terms of rumors, and the odds of Gallen settling for a pillow contract are presumably rising as Spring Training approaches.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post appeared on MLB Network this week and provided an update on the starter’s market. Heyman listed the Cubs, Orioles and incumbent Diamondbacks as teams that remain in the mix. He added that the Angels and Padres have “checked in” this offseason as well but implied that the latter two teams are longer shots to get something done.
No one from that group is an ideal fit. The O’s have been most frequently connected to Valdez. Gallen feels more like a fallback target if Valdez’s asking price remains above Baltimore’s comfort zone. The Diamondbacks made a two-year, $40MM investment to bring back Merrill Kelly and signed Michael Soroka to a one-year deal. They’d still have room in the rotation for Gallen, but GM Mike Hazen suggested recently that the Kelly contract limited their financial flexibility to sign an established late-inning reliever.
That doesn’t bode especially well for their chances of fitting Gallen in the budget unless owner Ken Kendrick makes an exception to bring back a player with whom he’s familiar. Even if Gallen takes a two-year deal with an opt-out clause, he’d probably command something close to the $22.025MM qualifying offer salary which he declined at the beginning of the winter.
The Cubs went to the trade market for their biggest upgrade, sending a package led by outfield prospect Owen Caissie to the Marlins for Edward Cabrera. He’ll pair with Cade Horton at the top of a rotation that could get Justin Steele back from elbow surgery within the first couple months of the season. Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, Colin Rea, Javier Assad and Jordan Wicks are on hand as a decent collection of depth starters.
Further bolstering the rotation isn’t necessarily a need, but Patrick Mooney of The Athletic writes that the Cubs are keeping their options open on that front. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer acknowledged the higher risk of pitching injuries in the modern game and pointed out that teams often need to lean on nine or ten starters to get through a season. While that doesn’t mean they’re certainly aggressively pursuing Gallen, they’ll probably keep in contact until the veteran righty makes his decision.
The Padres and Angels have more acute rotation needs. Payroll is the bigger question for both clubs. San Diego already surprised by re-signing Michael King on a three-year, $75MM deal with opt-outs. The Angels have limited themselves to a handful of cheap one-year deals. That leaves them with a decent amount of spending room before they hit last season’s level, but there’s also no indication that ownership is willing to spend much this offseason.
Other teams known to remain in the starting pitching market include the Tigers, Braves, Athletics and White Sox. Detroit was loosely linked to Gallen around the Winter Meetings but has more recently been tied to the likes of Lucas Giolito, Chris Bassitt and Nick Martinez. None of the others have been publicly linked to Gallen this offseason, and it’d be a particular surprise to see a rebuilding White Sox team part with a draft pick to sign a qualified free agent.
Nationals Outright Riley Adams
The Nationals sent catcher Riley Adams outright to Triple-A Rochester, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. Washington designated him for assignment last week when they claimed reliever Gus Varland from Arizona. The Nats announced that Adams has accepted the minor league assignment.
Adams has between three and four years of MLB service time. That gave him the right to elect free agency in lieu of an outright assignment but meant he’d have forfeited his salary to do so. Adams and the Nats agreed to a split contract in November to avoid arbitration. That pays him at a $1MM rate for time in the big leagues and $500K for his minor league work. It was unlikely that Adams would pass on that guaranteed half-million dollars when he’d be limited to minor league offers as a free agent.
Now that he’s staying in the organization, Adams will provide non-roster depth behind the plate. The 29-year-old is a .211/.287/.354 hitter in 263 MLB games spanning five seasons. Almost all of it has come in Washington, as the Nats acquired him from the Blue Jays 12 games into his rookie season. Adams has above-average power but strikes out far too often to be a productive hitter. Defensive metrics haven’t been keen on his receiving work, though he does have a strong arm and cut down 28.8% of attempted base stealers last year.
Washington acquired rookie catcher Harry Ford in the trade sending hard-throwing reliever Jose A. Ferrer to Seattle. Ford should get run as Blake Butera’s primary catcher. Former top prospect Keibert Ruiz hasn’t lived up to expectations and now looks ticketed for a backup job. Drew Millas and catcher/utility player Mickey Gasper are on the 40-man roster. The Nationals also reunited with Tres Barrera on a minor league deal that includes a non-roster invite to Spring Training last week.