Cubs Outright Scott Kingery, Vince Velasquez
The Cubs have sent infielder/outfielder Scott Kingery and right-hander Vince Velasquez outright to Triple-A Iowa, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates they cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. Both players have the right to elect free agency but the log doesn’t indicate whether they will or not.
Kingery, who turns 32 tomorrow, signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in the offseason and cracked the Opening Day roster. He gave them some versatile depth off the bench but manager Craig Counsell didn’t use him much. Kingery was on the roster for a month and put into eight games, mostly as a pinch runner, only getting four plate appearances. It seems Counsell and the Cubs preferred Nicky Lopez in that bench role, as they traded for Lopez last week and added him to the roster, with Kingery bumped off as the corresponding move.
In his big league career, Kingery has been a light-hitting utility guy. In 1,160 plate appearances, he has produced a .227/.278/.381 batting line. He has lined up at every position on the diamond except for first base and catcher.
Players have the right to reject outright assignments in favor of free agency if they have either a previous career outright or at least three years of service time. Kingery qualifies on both accounts. He would surely be limited to minor league offers as a free agent, since every club just declined to claim him off waivers. He could stick with the Cubs as non-roster depth who could be called up in the event of a future injury, though he could also look for a comparable role elsewhere.
Velasquez was called up for one relief appearance last week. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless frames in his first MLB action since 2023. The Cubs designated him for assignment a day later to swap in another fresh arm. Velasquez, who signed an offseason minor league contract, has a 3.71 ERA across four appearances (three starts) with Iowa.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Twins Select Luis García, Designate Zak Kent For Assignment
The Twins have placed right-hander Garrett Acton on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain. To take his place on the active roster, they have selected the contract of fellow righty Luis García. To open a 40-man spot for Garcia, righty Zak Kent has been designated for assignment. Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune was the first to report the moves.
Garcia is a 39-year old veteran who debuted in the big leagues way back in 2013. He began this campaign with the Mets on a one-year deal worth $1.75MM. The Mets quickly pulled the plug on García after just six appearances of poor results and diminished velocity. After being released, he landed with the Twins on a minor league deal.
As recently as last year, García was an effective big leaguer. He split the season between the Dodgers, Nationals and Angels, tossing 55 1/3 innings with a 3.42 earned run average. His 20.6% strikeout rate and 11.2% walk rate were subpar but his 49.7% ground ball rate was quite strong.
But as mentioned, his 2026 season got out to an inauspicious start. He allowed five earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. His sinker averaged 94 miles per hour after being at 96.9 mph last year. Since joining the Twins, he has made two Triple-A appearances, allowing one earned run in two innings. His sinker velocity ticked back up to 96.2 mph in that small sample.
The Twins will plug him into their bullpen to cover for Acton’s injury. It’s a minimal commitment from a financial point of view. Assuming his deal with the Mets didn’t have an advanced consent clause, which would mean his salary wouldn’t become guaranteed until 45 days into the season, the Mets are on the hook for the remainder of his $1.75MM salary. The Twins will only have to pay him the prorated version of the league minimum for any time spent on the roster. García has more than enough service time to have the right to refuse an optional assignment to the minor league but the Twins could decide to cut bait on him at some point if things don’t work out, due to the minimal commitment.
Kent, 28, appears to be bucketed as a guy who is worth rostering but just barely. He rode the waiver wire this offseason, going from the Guardians to the Cardinals, Rangers, Cardinals again, then finally the Twins.
He broke camp with Minnesota this year but made just two appearances, allowing two earned runs in 3 2/3 innings, before being optioned to the minors. Combined with his work with the Guardians last year, he now has a 4.64 ERA in 21 1/3 big league innings.
His recent work in the minors has featured some punchouts but also some wildness. Dating back to the start of 2024, he has thrown 73 1/3 innings on the farm with a 4.17 ERA, strong 27.9% strikeout rate but high 14.2% walk rate.
He is now pushed into DFA limbo yet again, a process which can take as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Twins could take as long as five days to explore trade interest, though they could also put Kent on waivers earlier than they if they so choose. His results have been uneven in recent years but he is still optionable for the rest of this season, which could appeal to clubs looking for some extra depth. It’s clear that some clubs like him based on all the waiver claims this winter.
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Justin Steele Out Beyond All-Star Break Due To Flexor Strain
4:40pm: Manager Craig Counsell tells 104.3 The Score that Steele has a flexor strain and will be re-evaluated in a month. The skipper tells Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network that Steele is no longer expected back before the All-Star Break.
3:55pm: Cubs left-hander Justin Steele has hit a setback in his recovery from last year’s elbow surgery, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN. The specifics of the setback aren’t clear but Rogers suggests that Steele’s return timeline is likely to be pushed into the future.
Steele underwent surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament in April of 2025. The Cubs called it a “revision repair”, something less than a full Tommy John surgery, and suggested Steele could be back in about a year’s time. He was throwing off a mound by the end of January 2026, creating some hope that he could return fairly early in 2026.
The Cubs put Steele on the 60-day injured list just as the season was beginning, meaning he couldn’t officially return prior to late May. Even that timeline may no longer be on the table, as Rogers says the plan of returning by Memorial Day may now be in jeopardy.
Further details will likely be forthcoming from the club prior to tonight’s game. Whenever Steele is finally healthy, it will still be a while before he can rejoin the club. He’ll need to build up through the standard steps of throwing bullpens, then live batting practice, then a rehab assignment, with that overall process to take at least a few weeks.
It’s the latest bit of rough injury news for the Cubs. They have had a number of pitchers hit the injured list this year. In terms of quantity, most of the guys on the IL have been relievers. But the most notable blow has been that starter Cade Horton required Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.
As of a few weeks ago, it was possible to imagine the Chicago rotation having Steele, Horton and Edward Cabrera in the top three spots. Now Horton is ruled out completely and Steele is up in the air. Cabrera has a 2.73 earned run average but with some worrying signs under the hood. His four-seam velocity is down more than a tick, having gone from last year’s 97 miles per hour to this year’s 95.7. His strikeout rate has also fallen, sitting at 18.5% this year, a huge drop from the 25.8% rate he had in 2025.
The current rotation is therefore lacking in upside compared to the theoretical one they could have had. Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga and Colin Rea are talented pitchers but the whole group would be better if Steele and Horton were in it and if Cabrera was shoving more concretely.
Despite all the injuries, the Cubs have a strong 17-12 record. Assuming they stay in contention for the next few months, they were likely going to be looking for rotation upgrades to replace Horton. If Steele’s setback proves significant, then that should only increase their urgency there. If another injury pops up in the meantime, Javier Assad is probably the next man up, as he is currently pitching in long relief out of the bullpen.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images
Cubs Claim Doug Nikhazy, Designate Ben Cowles For Assignment
The Cubs have claimed left-hander Doug Nikhazy off waivers from the White Sox and optioned him to Triple-A Iowa. There wasn’t any previous indication Nikhazy had been removed from the Sox roster but it appears they tried to sneak him through waivers in recent days. The Cubs designated infielder Ben Cowles for assignment to open a 40-man spot. Jordan Bastian of MLB.com was the first to report the moves.
It’s mildly surprising that the Sox put Nikhazy on the wire. He has options and has mostly been in the minors as depth since they claimed him off waivers three weeks ago. They don’t have 40-man pressure, as guys like Tanner Murray and Drew Thorpe are 60-day IL candidates. Perhaps the Sox felt now was a good time to try to pass Nikhazy through waivers since he has an 8.71 earned run average in Triple-A this year.
Instead, the Cubs have swooped in and put the kibosh on that plan. The North Siders are looking past this year’s struggles and focusing on Nikhazy’s better numbers in previous seasons. The southpaw had a strong 2024 campaign in the Guardians’ system, tossing 123 2/3 innings on the farm with a 2.98 ERA. His 10.8% walk rate was high but he struck out 25.4% of batters faced.
He hasn’t been in amazing form since then. He made a brief major league debut in 2025 but spent most of the season in the minors, where he posted a 5.02 ERA. As mentioned, this year has been even worse so far. Despite the poor results of late, he clearly still has interest around the league. The Guards put him on waivers a few weeks ago, which is when the Sox scooped him up. Now the Cubs are taking a turn.
The Cubs have had a large number of pitching injuries this year, moreso in the bullpen than in the rotation. Nikhazy gives them some extra starting depth but perhaps could be recalled if they need a spot start or another long relief option in the bullpen. His stuff isn’t overpowering, as he averages around 90 miles per hour with his fastball. Between that and his subpar control, perhaps he should be moved to the bullpen so that his stuff could play up, but he’s mostly been a starter/swingman to this point in his career.
Cowles, 26, is clearly in a fringe zone where he’s considered a borderline roster guy. The Cubs put him on their 40-man roster in November of 2024. He was designated for assignment in September of last year and claimed by the White Sox. In the offseason, he went to the Cubs, to the Blue Jays and then back to the Cubs via waiver claims. Now he’s been bumped into DFA limbo once again.
Despite all that time on various rosters, he is still looking to make his major league debut, since he hasn’t been producing much in the minors. Back in 2024, he slashed .286/.372/.457 in Double-A, which is why the Cubs gave him a roster spot in the first place. But since then, he has a .235/.305/.372 line in Triple-A.
DFA limbo can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Cubs could take five days to explore trade interest. Cowles hasn’t been hitting for the past year-plus but he does provide speed and defensive versatility. He’s generally good for about 15 to 25 steals per year. Defensively, he has spent time at the three infield spots to the left of first base as well as left field. He still has options and could be stashed in the minors for the rest of this season and one additional campaign.
Photo courtesy of Ed Szczepanski, Imagn Images
Angels Release Jordan Romano
Right-hander Jordan Romano has been released by the Angels, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment a couple of days ago. He’ll now head to the open market in search of his next opportunity.
Players with at least five years of major league service time have the right to reject outright assignments to the minor leagues, instead electing free agency while retaining their salaries. The Halos have seemingly skipped that formality and opted to release Romano. They will remain on the hook for the remainder of his $2MM salary for now. Another club could sign him and only pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Angels pay.
Any interest from other clubs would not be based on recent trends. Romano has had a tough time in the past few years. He was injured for much of the 2024 season with the Blue Jays. He signed with the Phillies last year and had awful results. The Angels tried to get a bounceback but didn’t succeed. Between those three clubs, he has tossed 64 1/3 innings since the start of 2024, allowing 8.11 earned runs per nine.
That number probably overstates how poorly Romano has pitched. His 9.3% walk rate in that time was close to average, while his strikeout rate of 24.7% was a couple of ticks better than par. An 18.1% home run to fly ball rate didn’t help. His .331 batting average on balls in play and 54.2% strand rate were both to the unfortunate side. His 5.43 FIP for that time wasn’t good but far better than his ERA. On the wildly optimistic side, Romano actually has a 3.71 SIERA in that span.
Rather than sifting for positives in recent numbers, Romano’s potential is best shown in his more distant past. From 2020 to 2023, he posted a 2.29 ERA in 200 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays. He racked up 97 saves in that time with a 30.8% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and 43.3% ground ball rate.
He hasn’t been nearly as effective since, as mentioned. Despite some optimistic underlying data, getting back to that level will be difficult with such diminished stuff. Romano averaged 97.6 miles per hour on his four-seamer back in 2021. That number has ticked down every year since and has been at 94.5 mph so far in 2026. Similarly, his slider is more than 4 mph down from its peak.
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Red Sox Add Interim Coaches To Staff
8:10pm: The Boston Globe’s Tim Healey writes that John Soteropoulos, who had been on Cora’s staff as assistant hitting coach, will technically be a lead hitting coach. It’ll nevertheless be mostly a collaborative group that includes Simonetty and Hetzler. Tracy indicated they’re also planning to promote Low-A hitting coach Nelson Paulino to work with the MLB group. The 53-year-old Paulino has coached minor league hitters in the Boston system for nearly three decades.
1:10pm: The Red Sox announced that they have added three new coaches to their staff today. José David Flores is now the interim bench coach. Pablo Cabrera is the interim first base coach/outfield instructor. Jack Simonetty has been hired as an interim hitting assistant. Chris Cotillo of MassLive first reported the news on Flores and Simonetty while Alex Speier of The Boston Globe was first on Cabrera.
The moves are in response to the stunning Red Wedding-style massacre that occurred in Baltimore this weekend. The Sox fired manager Alex Cora as well as his hitting coach Peter Fatse, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, third base/outfield coach Kyle Hudson, and major league hitting strategist Joe Cronin. Also, run prevention coach Jason Varitek is being reassigned to a different role within the organization.
Some of those positions were quickly filled, at least on an interim basis. Chad Tracy was called up from the minors to take over as interim manager. Chad Epperson became interim third base coach. Collin Hetzler was added to the hitting staff. That still left the overall coaching group far lighter than before, but today’s additions effectively get the staff back to previous levels.
Flores, 55, has a decent amount of previous MLB coaching experience. He was infield coordinator for the Cubs from 2012 to 2017. He was the first base coach for the Phillies in 2018, then served as third base coach in Baltimore for the next two seasons. The Sox hired him to work as bench coach for Triple-A Worcester, a job he held from 2022 to 2024. He was promoted to the big league staff as first base coach going into last season.
The other two hirees are far less experienced and are joining a big league staff for the first time. Cabrera, 28, was hired by the Red Sox in 2023 to work as a coach for Double-A Portland. He then worked as defensive coach in the club’s Fort Myers complex, before getting promoted to infield/outfield defensive coordinator for this season.
Simonetty, 26, was hired as a video and technology associate for Worcester in 2023. His title was player development associate in 2024. Last year, he served as assistant hitting coach for Single-A Salem. He began this year as hitting coach for the Florida Complex League Red Sox.
The Sox will now play the majority of the 2026 season with a big chunk of the staff being hired mid-season for interim roles. Whether any of them can stick around depends on what happens in the coming months and who is in charge in 2027.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
The Marlins Should Make A Change Behind The Plate
Agustín Ramírez was the worst defensive catcher in the majors last year. The Marlins haven’t yet given up on him but perhaps they should. They have one of the top catching prospects knocking on the door and there’s an open path for them to surge into contention this year.
31 different catchers caught at least 600 innings in 2025. J.T. Realmuto led the way with 1151 1/3, almost double the 605 2/3 caught by Ramírez. Despite catching notably fewer innings than most of the catchers in this sample, Ramírez led the pack with ten errors. He allowed 19 passed balls, which was more than twice as much as the next person on that list, as no one else allowed more than nine. He was also behind the plate for 36 wild pitches, which are technically the fault of pitchers, but a good catcher can occasionally save his teammates from those. Four of those 31 catchers allowed a few more wild pitches but all in larger sample sizes. In short, if Ramírez was catching, the ball was at the backstop a lot.
Those traditional stats aligned with more advanced ones. Ramírez was credited with minus-14 Defensive Runs Saved. Only Salvador Perez, at minus-15, was worse than him in that column. The Fielding Run Value stat at FanGraphs had him last at minus-12. Statcast credited him with minus-13 catching runs, ahead of only Edgar Quero. Baseball Prospectus was less down on him overall, having him merely as one of the 13 worst catchers, but they were the one outlet that didn’t like his framing work.
Presumably, the Marlins have been willing to tolerate this in the hopes that there’s a path to improvement. Ramírez has been a very strong hitter in the minors and could be an asset if his defense got to more passable levels. He put up a combined line of .268/.357/.473 at various rungs of the minors from 2023 to 2025, leading to a 128 wRC+. His 11.5% walk rate and 18.4% strikeout rate were both strong figures and he hit 46 home runs in 1,120 plate appearances.
But his bat hasn’t quite clicked in the majors yet, perhaps due to him focusing so much on trying to improve his defense. Ramírez did hit 21 home runs last year but with a low batting average and poor walk rate, leading to a lopsided line of .231/.287/.413. That resulted in a 91 wRC+, indicating he was nine percent below league average. That’s not bad for a catcher since backstops tend to be about ten points below par, but it’s not great when considering his glovework.
Going into 2026, there was an argument for moving Ramírez to a role as a first baseman and designated hitter. Moving to first would require some work but Ramírez did play the position some in the minors. Though Ron Washington will tell you moving to first is not easy, catching is considered the most rigorous position on the field and playing anywhere else would afford Ramírez more ability to focus on his hitting.
All of that is especially true when considering the presence of Joe Mack, who is one of the top catching prospects in the league. He is considered to be a very strong defender behind the plate. He reached the Triple-A level in 2025, getting into 99 games. His offense is considered more questionable than his defense but he slashed .250/.320/.459 for a 107 wRC+ with the Jumbo Shrimp last year. He was added to the 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
The Fish could have gone with Mack and bumped Ramírez to first base, a position that was fairly open. They didn’t go that way. They have continued to stick with Liam Hicks and Ramírez as their catching duo, splitting the time almost equally. Ramírez has been behind the plate for 122 innings, compared to 123 for Hicks. Hicks is doing fine, pairing adequate defense with a .314/.354/.523 line in the early going this year, though he’s not great with the running game.
Ramírez, on the other hand, hasn’t shown many signs of improvement. His 122 innings caught this year are about a fifth of last year’s 605 2/3. He already has four errors, almost half the ten he had last year. That’s tied with Quero for the league lead. He has allowed three passed balls, a better pace than last year but not by much. Francisco Alvarez is the only guy with more, at four. Ramírez has been behind the plate for nine wild pitches already, a worse pace than last year. Only Logan O’Hoppe and Drew Millas have allowed more. FanGraphs and Statcast have soured on his framing a bit, though in a very small sample.
The Ramírez/Hicks pairing impacts their pitchers in other ways as well, as neither is great as controlling the running game. The Fish allowed 191 stolen bases last year, easily the most in the majors. The Astros were a distant second on that list with 157. Miami only caught 24 attempted steals on the year. Technically, that was higher than the 23 that the Royals nabbed, but that was because K.C.’s catchers were run on far less, only allowing 47 steals. So far in 2026, the Marlins have allowed 37 steals, again the most in the majors. They’ve only caught three.
Catchers can sometimes provide value in other ways which are difficult to measure, such as working with a pitching staff. Even there, it’s hard to give the Ramírez and Hicks much credit. Starting last year, the Marlins began calling pitches from the dugout. Ramírez and Hicks might still be doing something in terms of communication and providing confidence but it’s fair to say they’re impacting intangibles less than catchers on other teams.
The offense from Ramírez also continues to lag, as he is currently sporting a .235/.303/.367 line and 84 wRC+ this year. It’s a small sample but he’s now up to 694 career plate appearances with a .231/.290/.406 line and 90 wRC+.
Mack, meanwhile, continues to do well in Jacksonville. In his first 83 plate appearances for the Jumbo Shrimp this year, he has three home runs and a huge 19.3% walk rate. Even with a subpar .267 batting average on balls in play, he has a .224/.373/.388 line and 115 wRC+ this year.
Perhaps there are service time considerations at play. Mack is a consensus top 100 prospect in the league. The Fish could have put him on the Opening Day roster and made him eligible to earn the club a bonus draft pick as part of the prospect promotion incentive. They opted not to do that. At this point, they probably are thinking about the flip side of the PPI. Eligible players who are not promoted in the first few weeks of the season can be awarded a full year of service retroactively if they finish in the top two of rookie of the year voting.
If that were to happen, it would be the worst of both worlds for the Marlins, in a sense. They would not get a bonus pick and their window of club control over Mack would be a standard six, as opposed to being juiced to six-plus. From the team’s perspective, you’d ideally not be in that middle spot.
But the downside of keeping Mack down is that the major league club is likely worse off. With prospects, there are no guarantees of immediate success, so it can’t just be assumed that Mack will boost the big league squad. But since a big part of his appeal is his defense, he should be a lock to at least be an upgrade over Ramírez in that regard. On offense, perhaps he would struggle with the promotion, but it’s not as though Ramírez is crushing the ball so far this year.
The Marlins have received a combined .192/.248/.279 line from the DH spot this year, resulting in a 47 wRC+ which places them ahead of just the Pirates and Rockies. Putting Ramírez in there, and having him focus less on catching, could theoretically be good for the lineup.
And turning back to the PPI situation, there’s also some space opening up. Sal Stewart has nine home runs, a .291/.385/.602 line and 1.2 wins above replacement, in the eyes of FanGraphs. JJ Wetherholt is at 1.1 fWAR and Moises Ballesteros at 0.9. On the pitching side, Nolan McLean is at 1.3 fWAR and Rhett Lowder 1.0. It’s theoretically possible for Mack to come up and have a monster finish while some of those other guys struggle, but getting into the top two of voting is going to be tough when those guys already have a decent head-start.
On top of all that, there’s a window for the Marlins to have a special season. On paper, they came into the year as the fourth-best team in the division, in the eyes of most evaluators. But the Phillies and Mets are both out to awful starts. It’s still early, and the Marlins are only four games clear of those two clubs. But since the Mets and Phillies are 9-19 right now, there’s a real chance they can’t climb back into contention and end up selling at the deadline. In that situation, the Marlins would still have to battle the other N.L. clubs for a wild card spot, since it feels like Atlanta will run away with the division, but Miami’s chances feel a bit better than a few weeks ago even if they’re only 13-15.
Even putting aside the early-season standings, which could change in a hurry, this feels like a move the Marlins should make. All signs point to Mack being the long-term answer behind the plate. Ramírez, meanwhile, would seemingly be better served as a bat-first player. Perhaps the Marlins are hoping that another club will take a chance on Ramírez as a catching project, which would allow them to use him in a deadline deal, but it’s hard to envision that when progress isn’t really being made.
Photo courtesy of Mady Mertens, Isaiah J. Downing, Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Cardinals Claim Luis Peralta
The Cardinals have claimed left-hander Luis Peralta off waivers from the Rockies, according to announcements from both clubs. Colorado designated him for assignment last week. The Cards had an open 40-man spot and have optioned Peralta to Triple-A Memphis, so no corresponding moves are necessary.
Peralta, 25, is the younger brother of Freddy Peralta. The younger sibling was a starter earlier in his career but got moved to a relief role when he was a minor leaguer with the Pirates. He showed tremendous promise in that role in 2024, the year he was traded to the Rockies in a one-for-one swap for Jalen Beeks.
Between the two clubs, he tossed 47 2/3 minor league innings that year, allowing only 0.94 earned runs per nine. He did give out walks at a high rate of 11.2% but his 40.1% strikeout rate was massive and his 48.8% ground ball rate above average as well. He also got to make his big league debut and put up a 0.73 ERA in 12 1/3 innings.
Things have been going downhill since then, however. He had a 9.47 ERA in the majors last year and a 9.09 ERA at the Triple-A level. For Albuquerque, his 28% strikeout rate was still pretty good but his 15.4% walk rate way too high. In the majors, things were even worse, as his ghastly 17.8% walk rate was higher than his 15.8% strikeout rate. He began 2026 back at Triple-A but but allowed 14 earned runs in 7 1/3 innings while walking 13 opponents.
His velocity is down a bit as well. His four-seamer averaged 95 miles per hour in 2024 but dropped about half a tick last year and is now down to 93.5 miles per hour so far in 2026. His curveball and changeup have had similar drops.
The Rockies eventually gave up. Perhaps that’s because the new front office is less enamored of Peralta but it’s hard to fault them when looking at Peralta’s recent numbers. For the Cards, despite a 14-13 record at the moment, they have long planned for 2026 to be an evaluation year. They are less focused on immediate contention and more worried about long-term development.
They’ve had an open roster spot since Jared Shuster was designated for assignment two weeks ago. They are using that today to grab Peralta. Obviously, Peralta’s stock is down at the moment, but the Cards will see if there’s a path to getting him back to that 2024 form. Peralta can be optioned for the remainder of this year and one additional season as well. If things click, he has less than a year of service time, meaning he could be affordably controlled for years into the future.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
The White Sox Have Decisions To Make With Munetaka Murakami
Slugger Munetaka Murakami had to settle for a two-year “prove-it” deal with the White Sox this past offseason. It’s still early in the major league career but he is quickly proving it, which means the Sox have to decide on the path forward.
Murakami’s power was never in doubt. His time in Japan had yielded dozens of massive moonshots. The strikeouts were more concerning. He struck out almost 30% of the time in his final NPB seasons. Coming over to North America to face a greater caliber of pitching would probably lead to even more strikeouts. There were particular concerns around his lack of success against high velocity, which he would certainly see more of in MLB.
It’s hard to be a valuable hitter with that many punchouts, though it can be done. In 2025, Mike Trout and James Wood were good hitters despite striking out at least 32% of the time. Ryan McMahon and Oneil Cruz were also in that range and produced below-average results.
Many evaluators thought some team would bite the bullet and invest in Murakami regardless. It’s very rare to have a chance to sign this level of hitter for his age-26 season. There’s risk he could be like Joey Gallo but the upside play is that he resembles Kyle Schwarber. MLBTR predicted he would secure an eight-year deal worth $180MM. Other outlets were not far behind. FanGraphs predicted $154MM over seven years. The Athletic was at $158.5MM over eight years.
Murakami did not get anything close to that. Whether it was due to the strikeouts or his lack of defensive value, teams didn’t want to make a long-term commitment. He signed a two-year, $34MM deal with the White Sox.
We don’t know what other offers Murakami got. Maybe some teams floated three- or four-year arrangements. But from his perspective, if he didn’t get the real long-term offer, going short makes sense. As mentioned, he is still quite young. This deal gives him a chance to spend two years proving himself against big league pitching. He’ll be 26 and 27 in those seasons and will have another chance to seek a long-term deal ahead of his age-28 campaign.
It was thought that maybe there would be an adjustment period for Murakami, but so far he’s doing just fine. The strikeouts are certainly high, as he’s at 32.1% through 109 plate appearances. But he also has ten home runs and a massive 19.3% walk rate. He has a .253/.394/.598 line and a 170 wRC+.
The production is not exactly Schwarber-esque but is pretty close. Schwarber has a 28.5% strikeout rate in his career and hasn’t finished a full season above 31%. He has drawn walks at a 14.2% clip and has been in that range for most of his career. He used to be good for 30ish homers annually but it’s been more like 50ish in recent years. It’s still really early, but Murakami is striking out more often while showing even more power and greater on-base abilities.
Time will tell how it plays out over a larger sample. It’s possible that pitchers find a way to attack him and reduce his effectiveness. Despite the concerns about velocity, he’s doing most of his damage against fastballs. Statcast gives him a .286 batting average and .786 slugging percentage on fastballs, compared to .200 and .400 against breaking pitches and .267 and .467 against offspeed stuff. It’s also possible he continues to get more acclimated to MLB pitching and shaves off some punchouts.
If he continues to be an effective hitter for another few months, it will put the White Sox in an interesting position. It doesn’t feel like Murakami is going to be part of their long-term plans. They are currently rebuilding and aren’t expected to contend this year. The Sox are getting better relative to recent years but are 10-15 and should be on the outside of the playoff race this summer. 2027 could be more viable, but contending next year is no guarantee.
The White Sox could try to sign Murakami to an extension, giving him the nine-figure deal he didn’t get in free agency, but it would be out of character for them to do so. The Sox are one of just two teams, along with the Athletics, who have never given out a nine-figure contract. The largest contract in White Sox franchise history is the five-year, $75MM deal they gave to Andrew Benintendi. If he continues performing anywhere close to this level, he could reasonably ask for twice that much (if not more) on a new long-term deal.
If the Sox are going to break precedent, it should probably be for someone safer, an elite shortstop or center fielder perhaps. A strikeout-prone first baseman is a risky bet, even if it’s someone as exciting as Murakami. If the deal turned into an albatross, it would handcuff the team just as they are looking to put this latest rebuild in the rearview mirror.
This situation would lead to an obvious solution in most cases. If you’re a rebuilding club and you have an attractive player with a short window of club control, you trade him for prospects or other younger players who can contribute to the next competitive window. Trading Murakami this summer would yield a greater trade return than next year. The acquiring club would get Murakami for two playoff races instead of one, which adds to the appeal and the price they would be willing to pay.
But Murakami’s situation is a bit more complex than that. For a team signing a star Japanese player, part of the appeal is on the business side. In addition to whatever Murakami is providing on the field, he is presumably adding to the club’s ratings and merchandise sales in Japan. Given his strong start, he might be adding to those revenue streams on this side of the Pacific Ocean as well.
That could make the calculus more complicated. Trading Murakami this summer would be the best time to maximize his value in terms of a trade return, but it would also surely lead to a reduction in those revenue streams and frustrate the fan base. It’s also possible it could complicate discussions with Japanese free agents in the future, who may not love the prospect of a likely sign-and-trade scenario.
If the Sox decide to hold Murakami, they can keep those revenues flowing for longer. They could then see if contention in 2027 looks more viable. If not, they could still trade him that summer for a notable return, even if it’s less than trading him now. Should they contend and hold him all the way through 2027, they could give him a qualifying offer, which would net them a draft pick if he ends up signing elsewhere. That pick would be nice, but the Sox should be able to get something more attractive via trade. There’s also the risk of Murakami tanking his value by next summer, either due to injury or a decline in production.
It’s an interesting position for the Sox, who are in a transitional phase. In addition to rebuilding, they are on an unusual road to an ownership change. Jerry Reinsdorf has agreed to a succession plan with minority owner Justin Ishbia. For now, Ishbia is investing in the club and has a somewhat open-ended path to majority ownership. From 2029 to 2033, Reinsdorf can decide to finalize the sale of a majority stake to Ishbia. If not within that window, Ishbia gains the right to purchase the majority stake beginning in 2034.
As mentioned, the possibility of a Murakami extension doesn’t seem likely, based on the club’s past spending patterns. While the club is in flux, does that make them even less likely to sign a big deal? It’s also possible the next collective bargaining agreement features some sort of salary floor beginning in 2027, so the Sox may need to spend more money regardless. Perhaps they would want some clarity on that before committing to Murakami or anyone else.
Put it all together and Murakami could be one of the more intriguing players to watch in the coming months. The Sox can make various different choices about how to proceed. They could try to lock him down with a long-term deal but would likely have to shatter their franchise record to do so. A trade this summer would net a big return but would hurt them on the business side. Holding him for a trade in the winter or at next year’s deadline, or even all the way through 2027, could be a better short-term business decision but perhaps worse long-term baseball decision.
Photos courtesy of Ed Szczepanski, Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Blue Jays Acquire Willie MacIver, Designate Tyler Fitzgerald For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced that they have acquired catcher Willie MacIver from the Rangers and optioned him to Triple-A. The Rangers, who designated him for assignment yesterday, get cash considerations in return. To open a 40-man spot for MacIver, the Jays have designated Tyler Fitzgerald for assignment.
MacIver, 29, has a limited major league track record. With the Athletics in 2025, he got into 33 games but put up a meager .186/.252/.324 batting line in those. His minor league production has generally been better. During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, he put up a huge .323/.399/.534 line at Triple-A. That production came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but was nonetheless good for a 123 wRC+, indicating he was 23% better than the average hitter in that league.
He got squeezed off the Athletics’ roster at the end of last year. The Rangers claimed him off waivers and sent him to Triple-A but he got out to a slow start this year, slashing .170/.333/.255 for Round Rock. The Rangers bumped him off their roster when making some pitching moves yesterday.
For the Jays, they are in need of some extra catching depth. They lost Alejandro Kirk to thumb surgery a couple of weeks ago. They’ve since been using the duo of Tyler Heineman and Brandon Valenzuela. The depth beyond those two was thin, with no other backstop on the 40-man. CJ Stubbs was the only other catcher in the system with major league experience. That experience was just one game with the Nationals last year. He’s also on the minor league injured list now, having not played in a couple of weeks.
The Jays will continue with the Heineman-Valenzuela pairing in the big leagues for now. Should an injury arise before Kirk comes back, then they can turn to MacIver. Valenzuela also has options and currently sports a .161/.188/.258 line in 32 big league plate appearances, so it’s possible they could swap in MacIver for Valenzuela at some point.
Fitzgerald, 28, was acquired in a similar DFA cash deal three weeks ago. The Jays had just lost Leo Jiménez since he was out of options and didn’t crack the Opening Day roster. He was flipped to the Marlins and then the Jays acquired Fitzgerald to replace some of that lost infield depth, with Fitzgerald getting optioned to the minors. A few days later, Addison Barger hit the IL and Fitzgerald was called up.
A few days after that, the Jays acquired Lenyn Sosa from the White Sox and bumped Fitzgerald back down to the minors. George Springer also hit the IL and the Jays have been using Sosa both on the infield and in the designated hitter spot.
It appears the Jays felt that catching depth was a greater need than infield depth at this point. Springer and Barger seem likely to return soon, well before Kirk will be back in the mix, so Sosa could be bumped down the depth chart in the coming weeks.
Fitzgerald can be in DFA limbo for as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Jays can take five days to field trade interest. It seems likely that Fitzgerald will garner interest from someone. He still has options and can play anywhere on the diamond except catcher, meaning a lot of teams could use him somewhere.
His offense is more of a question. He burst onto the scene with the Giants in 2024 by putting up a .280/.334/.497 line. There were some yellow flags there, as Fitzgerald struck out at a 31.7% clip and benefited from a .380 batting average on balls in play. The inevitable regression was a bit more extreme than expected, as Fitzgerald had a grisly .217/.278/.327 line in 2025. Around his transactions, he has an awful .094/.147/.125 line at Triple-A this year. Despite the offensive struggles, clubs will probably like the idea of stashing Fitzgerald in the minors and hoping for a bounceback, even if getting to his 2024 level would be a tall ask.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images