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MLBTR Podcast: Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason, Managerial Vacancies, And More!

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • Munetaka Murakami to be posted for MLB clubs this offseason (2:20)
  • Ten teams will go into 2026 with a new manager, with eight of those jobs currently vacant (18:50)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Can the Mets get Tarik Skubal from the Tigers? (29:55)
  • Would Pete Alonso return to the Mets if they offered $150MM over five years? (38:20)
  • The White Sox have a lot of #4 or #5 starters. Which other teams might be interested in them? (40:00)
  • The Nationals have lots of outfielders, one of whom is 6’7″ tall, and no first baseman. Is it stupid to consider James Wood for first base? (44:20)
  • Will this finally be the Mariners’ year and can they keep Josh Naylor? (49:20)

Check out our past episodes!

  • Rockies’ Front Office Changes, Skip Schumaker, And ABS Talk – listen here
  • Mike Elias On The State Of The Orioles – listen here
  • The Tigers And Astros Try To Hang On, And Brewers’ Rotation Issues – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Offseason Outlook: Chicago White Sox

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The Reinsdorf era may be drawing to a close.  With clean books and many unsettled positions, do the White Sox have any bold offseason moves up their sleeve?

Guaranteed Contracts

Option Decisions

  • Luis Robert Jr., CF: $20MM club option ($2MM buyout); deal includes $20MM club option for 2027
  • Martin Perez, SP: $10MM mutual option ($1.5MM buyout)

Total 2026 commitments (if Robert's option is exercised): $38MM
Total long-term commitments (if Robert's option is exercised): $52.5MM through 2027

Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; salary projections via Matt Swartz)

Non-tender candidates: Wilson, Hill

Free Agents

In last year's Offseason Outlook, we briefly touched on the bigger-picture questions of who will own the White Sox long-term and where they will play in 2030.  One of those questions has likely been answered.  In June of this year, the team announced that "Jerry Reinsdorf and Justin Ishbia have reached a long-term investment agreement that establishes a framework for Ishbia to obtain a future controlling interest in the White Sox," adding that "Ishbia will make capital infusions into the White Sox as a limited partner in 2025 and 2026 that will be used to pay down existing debt and support ongoing team operations."

That's the headline, but the details are crucial:

"The agreement provides that, from 2029–33, Reinsdorf will have the option to sell the controlling interest to Ishbia. After the 2034 season, Ishbia will have the option to acquire the controlling interest. In the event of any such future transaction, all limited partners of the Sox would have the opportunity to sell to Ishbia at that time. In addition to Justin Ishbia, his brother Mat Ishbia, and father Jeff Ishbia will also be significant investors. There is no assurance that any such future transaction will occur, and in no event will such a transaction take place before 2029."

If you've got 20 minutes to spare, check out this discussion between Alex Maragos of NBC 5 Chicago and Jon Greenberg of The Athletic, who has done a lot of reporting on this planned transfer of ownership.  You'll hear the word "transformative" thrown around, but there's no reason to expect a significant player payroll increase in the near future.  White Sox fans have a new sense of hope about the future of the franchise, but for the 2025-26 offseason, we don't expect much of an Ishbia effect.

The 2025 White Sox were just normal bad, rather than historically bad.  It was the team's third consecutive 100-loss season, with a 60-102 record.  The White Sox ranked 14th in the AL with 3.99 runs scored per game.  The starting rotation ranked 11th with a 4.39 ERA, while the bullpen checked in at 10th with a 4.16 mark.  The defense seemed to be bottom-five in the league.

Despite that, positives are emerging.  The White Sox have established a Kyle Teel-Edgar Quero job-share at catcher.  Teel came up in June and posted 1.9 fWAR in 78 games, including a 125 wRC+ at the plate that ranked sixth among all catchers.  Shortstop Colson Montgomery came up in July and slugged at a level well beyond anything he'd done at Triple-A: a 129 wRC+ with 21 home runs in just 284 plate appearances.

On the pitching side, GM Chris Getz snagged Shane Smith from the Brewers in the Rule 5 draft last winter, and he remarkably became the team's All-Star representative.  The righty, 26 in April, faltered in the middle of the summer but posted a 3.09 ERA and 27.1 K% over his final ten starts.

First base was a bit of a black eye.  The White Sox justifiably gave up on former third overall pick Andrew Vaughn, optioning him to Triple-A in May and sending him to the Brewers for pitcher Aaron Civale in mid-June.  The Brewers brought Vaughn up a few weeks later and he put up a surprising and robust 142 wRC+ in 254 plate appearances, plus a couple of key home runs in the Division Series against the Cubs.

The White Sox never really settled on a first baseman after moving on from Vaughn, with guys like Tim Elko, Ryan Noda, and trade deadline pickup Curtis Mead getting looks.  The majority of starts went to Miguel Vargas, who also played a bunch of third base.  Vargas flashed signs of life in May and August, but overall his 101 wRC+ doesn't really play for a starter at an infield corner.  So what can be done?

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White Sox Outright Fletcher, Julks, Peguero, White

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The White Sox announced they have outrighted outfielders Dominic Fletcher and Corey Julks, along with pitchers Elvis Peguero and Owen White, to Triple-A Charlotte. Chicago also lost Will Robertson via waivers to Pittsburgh, which brings their 40-man roster down to 35 players.

Fletcher logged the most big-league time of the foursome this season. The 28-year-old appeared in a dozen games with the White Sox after getting called up in early September. He slashed .219/.265/.469 over 34 plate appearances. Fletcher only notched seven hits, but he made them count, swatting five doubles and a home run. Power hadn’t been part of Fletcher’s game heading into this season, but he launched a career-high 17 home runs in 105 games with Triple-A Charlotte before getting called up.

Chicago acquired Fletcher in early 2024 in a trade that sent Cristian Mena to Arizona. He was coming off a strong 2023 that saw him post an .899 OPS at Triple-A Reno and then slash .301/.350/.441 over 28 games with the Diamondbacks. Fletcher failed to replicate those results in Chicago, stumbling to a .206 batting average in 72 games with the White Sox last season. The team made a point to give Fletcher and other young players more opportunities to close 2024, but it didn’t translate into a big-league role for Fletcher this past season.

Julks has the most MLB experience of the group, though the majority of his work came in 2023 with Houston. He came over in a trade midway through 2024 after the Astros designated him for assignment. Julks held down a part-time role for the White Sox after the deal, appearing in 66 games, including 45 starts. Julks got on base at a meager .275 clip while striking out at an elevated 26.5% rate. While he hardly got a look with Chicago in 2025, Julks did hit 15 home runs with 18 steals at Triple-A. It’s that type of power and speed that has intrigued multiple organizations.

A massive 2022 put Julks on the radar in Houston. He smashed 31 home runs and stole 22 bases in 130 games at Triple-A Sugar Land. The performance led Julks to break camp with the Astros in 2023. He earned regular opportunities through July, but a 79 wRC+ landed him back at Sugar Land. He’s failed to gain significant traction since then. Julks appeared in just six games with the White Sox this past year. He’s now entering his age-30 season.

Chicago claimed Peguero off waivers from the Brewers in August. He’s pitched in parts of five MLB seasons. Peguero debuted with the Angels in 2021. He’s recorded a 4.26 ERA across 141 2/3 innings at the MLB level. All but one of his appearances have come as a reliever.

Peguero scuffled to a 4.91 ERA over six outings with Milwaukee this season before getting designated for assignment. He joined the White Sox for a pair of appearances, allowing three earned runs over two innings. Peguero’s debut with Chicago marked his first career MLB start. He opened against Detroit ahead of bulk reliever Tyler Alexander, allowing a run over 1 2/3 innings.

White was also a waiver claim. The White Sox scooped him up in February after the Yankees designated him for assignment. It was the final stop on a whirlwind offseason for White, who was traded from Texas to Cincinnati, then designated for assignment and claimed by the Yankees, before finally arriving in Chicago in the span of six weeks.

It’s been a while, but White had plenty of hype as a prospect. He was a second-round pick by the Rangers in 2018. Injuries set him back, but he was a consensus top 100 prospect heading into 2023. That season went poorly for White, both at the minor league level and in his first MLB stint. White posted a pedestrian 4.99 ERA upon reaching Triple-A. His prodigious strikeout numbers from the lower levels of the minors completely dissipated. He was rocked in four innings with the Rangers, allowing five earned runs over two appearances. White continued to scuffle at Triple-A in 2024, posting a 5.64 ERA. He was crushed for eight earned runs over three MLB outings. White made it up for seven innings with the White Sox this past season, allowing seven earned runs on 14 hits.

Pirates Claim Will Robertson, Designate Ryan Kreidler

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The Pirates announced they have claimed outfielder Will Robertson off waivers from the White Sox. Ryan Kreidler was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Pittsburgh marks the third MLB organization for Robertson in the past four months. He came to Chicago in a trade from Toronto back in July after getting designated for assignment by the Blue Jays. Robertson had been in Toronto’s minor league system for his entire career heading into this season, since getting drafted by the team in 2019.

A strong start to the Triple-A season earned Robertson his first taste of MLB action in June. He slashed .292/.403/.578 with the Buffalo Bisons prior to getting the call. Robertson made three starts with the Blue Jays, recording an RBI single for his first MLB hit on June 15 against the Phillies. It would be his only knock with the team.

Robertson spent his first week in Chicago with the big-league club. He appeared in four games, making two starts. He went 0-for-6 with four strikeouts. Robertson was optioned to Triple-A on July 19. He returned to the White Sox on August 27 and carved out a semi-regular role over the final month of the season. Robertson made 13 starts in September, while also appearing twice as a pinch-hitter. He recorded seven hits in 44 at-bats.

Andrew McCutchen and Tommy Pham are free agents, so Pittsburgh could use some outfield depth heading into 2026. Robertson’s persistent strikeout issues will make it tough for him to hold down a regular MLB job, but he’s shown power potential at times in the minors. He hit 20 home runs in Triple-A between Buffalo and Charlotte this past season. Robertson popped 19 homers in 464 plate appearances with Buffalo in 2024, matching his mark from 2023 with Double-A New Hampshire.

Pittsburgh claimed Kreidler off waivers from Detroit in August. He spent a week on the big-league roster in September before heading back to Triple-A Indianapolis. Kreidler did not make an appearance with the Pirates.

Kreidler spent parts of four MLB seasons with the Tigers. He’s hit just .138 across 211 plate appearances at the highest level. His main draw is defensive versatility. Kreidler has made appearances at second base, shortstop, third base, left field, and center field with Detroit. If Kreidler clears waivers, he’ll qualify for minor league free agency at the beginning of the offseason.

Sandy Alomar Sr. Passes Away

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Former All-Star infielder Sandy Alomar Sr. has passed away, per an announcement from the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League. He was 81 years old and would have turned 82 this coming weekend.

The father of big leaguers Roberto Alomar and Sandy Alomar Jr., Sandy Sr. enjoyed a 15-year playing career of his own. From 1964-78, he suited up for the Angels, Yankees, White Sox, Braves, Rangers and Mets. The elder Alomar made the 1970 All-Star team as a member of the Angels during a season in which he batted .251/.302/.293 and played in all 162 games while providing quality defense and 35 stolen bases.

In all, Alomar hit .245/.290/.288 in 5160 major league plate appearances across his decade and a half as a big league player. He played primarily second base but also logged more than 1200 innings at shortstop and made a handful of appearances at the hot corner. Alomar was known for his glove and speed more than his bat; he totaled just 13 career home runs, 126 doubles and 19 triples but piled up 227 career stolen bases. He’s one of just 300 players to ever steal at least 225 bags in his career.

Beyond his career as a player, Alomar logged parts of 16 season as a coach in the major leagues, spending time with the Padres (third base coach), Cubs (first base coach), Rockies (third base coach) and Mets (bench coach, first base coach). He also managed in the minor league ranks for both the Cubs and the Mets and spent several seasons coaching and managing teams at home in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

Our condolences go out to each of the organizations Alomar impacted, as well as the Alomar family and friends, and the countless fans he accrued over a baseball career that spanned more than 50 years.

10 Players Elect Free Agency

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Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents.  Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back.  These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion.  These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

Catchers

Infielder

Outfielder

Pitchers

14 Players Elect Free Agency

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Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents.  Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back.  These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion.  These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielder

Pitchers

Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images

22 Players Elect Free Agency

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Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents.  Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back.  These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion.  These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Utility Players

Pitchers

White Sox Making Multiple Coaching Changes

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The White Sox announced today that manager Will Venable’s coaching staff will be overhauled this winter. Specifically, the club announced that they will not be renewing the contracts of pitching coach Ethan Katz, hitting coach Marcus Thames, first base coach Jason Bourgeois, and catching coach Drew Butera. James Fegan of Sox Machine adds that Sergio Santos, who manages the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, will also not have his contract renewed. Chicago’s announcement goes on to note that offensive coordinator (and former interim manager) Grady Sizemore will be offered a role within the organization for 2026, although USA Today’s Bob Nightengale clarifies that he’ll be reassigned if he decides to remain with the team.

The news nearly entirely eliminates holdovers from former manager Pedro Grifol’s coaching staff, which led the White Sox to a season that saw them post the season with the most losses in modern MLB history. Bench coach Walker McKinven and assistant hitting coach Joel McKeithan were both hired by Venable last winter. Third base/infield coach Justin Jirschele was hired shortly after Grifol was dismissed in August 2024, meaning that the only remaining member of Grifol’s staff if Sizemore departs the organization or is reassigned into a non-coaching role would be assistant pitching coach Matt Wise.

While virtually any team would look good next to the 2024 White Sox, the 2025 iteration of the club was still among the worst teams in baseball. Their 60-102 record gave them the second-worst record in the sport, behind only the Rockies’s disastrous 119-loss season. While there were some positive signs, such as strong showings from rookies Kyle Teel and Colson Montgomery as well as the emergence of Rule 5 pick Shane Smith, it’s impossible to deny that there was more bad than good for Chicago this year. Outside of Teel and Montgomery, their best hitter was 34-year-old Mike Tauchman, who was non-tendered last offseason and will be a free agent after the 2026 campaign. Andrew Benintendi may have rebounded to post league average offensive production this year, but that’s not likely to help them clear the $32.2MM remaining on his contract off their books.

With young players emerging from the minors to take significant roles on the team and a .333 winning percentage over the past three seasons, it’s understandable that White Sox brass would feel it’s time for a larger-scale change. That’s particularly true for Venable, who will be able to hand-pick the replacements for these coaches who had been in the organization prior to his arrival last offseason. A new coaching staff for 2026 should provide both Venable and the club as a whole a fresh start headed into 2026, which will be the first full season both Montgomery and Teel spend in the majors as well as an opportunity for fellow youngsters like Chase Meidroth and Edgar Quero to take a step forward after getting their feet wet in the big leagues this year.

Michael A. Taylor Announces Retirement

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White Sox outfielder Michael A. Taylor announced his retirement to members of the media today, ahead of the Sox facing the Nationals in Washington, a place he played for many years. “To be able to play my last games of my career here in this ballpark in front of these fans, it’s just the icing on the cake,” Taylor said, per Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. He is in the lineup for the Sox today, playing center field and batting ninth, in what will be his final game.

Michael A. Taylor | Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY SportsTaylor, now 34, was a sixth-round pick of the Nationals back in 2009. He was a shortstop at that time, considered to be raw, but in possession of some elite tools. He was moved to the outfield and quickly showed the potential to be a strong defender. He also showed more pop with the bat as he climbed the ladder, hitting 23 homers in the minors in 2014.

Going into 2015, he was considered to be one of the top 100 prospects in the game. Baseball America gave him the #32 spot, MLB Pipeline had him at #42, Baseball Prospectus at #57 and ESPN at #71. FanGraphs was a bit more bearish, putting him at #133 on their top 200 list.

Taylor had already made a brief major league debut in 2014 but got more properly established in 2015. He got into 138 games for the Nats, popping 14 homers and stealing 16 bags, but his overall value was held back by subpar walk and strikeout rates of 6.8% and 30.9%. Over his career, he would have his ups and downs, but his contributions mostly took that shape. He could put the ball over the fence, track it down with his glove and swipe some bags, but the plate discipline was never good.

Despite his flaws, he was a useful player for the Nats during their best stretch in Washington. The club finished above .500 in each season from 2012 to 2019, making the playoffs in five of those eight seasons. Those clubs featured stars like Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Trea Turner, Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon and others, but Taylor often played a solid supporting role.

In 2019, Taylor spent a decent chunk of the year in the minors, only getting into 53 big league games with one home run. But he took on a more prominent role at just the right time. As the Nats made a miracle charge through the postseason, Taylor got into eight of the club’s playoff contests. He clinched the NLDS over the Dodgers with a diving catch, as seen in this video from MLB.com. He also slashed .333/.391/.619 in his 23 plate appearances as the Nats eventually went on to win the World Series.

In the shortened 2020 season, Taylor had a rough showing, slashing .196/.253/.424. At the end of that campaign, the Nats put him on waivers and he elected free agency after clearing. That led to a one-year, $1.75MM deal with the Royals for 2021. He bounced back somewhat that year with a .244/.297/.356 line and 14 stolen bases. As the season was winding down, the Royals didn’t want him to get away, so they gave him a two-year, $9MM extension for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

He had a somewhat similar campaign in the first year of that extension but the Royals flipped him to the Twins for 2023. He hit a career-high 21 home runs for Minnesota that year but also struck out at a 33.5% rate, leading to a .220/.278/.442 batting line.

That was a relatively strong campaign for him but he remained unsigned into mid-March of 2024, when he settled for a one-year, $4MM deal with the Pirates. His year in Pittsburgh turned out to be fairly forgettable, as he hit just five home runs and put up a .193/.253/.290 line. He then secured a one-year, $1.95MM deal to join the rebuilding White Sox this year. With one game remaining, he is currently sporting a .199/.256/.366 line.

Taylor currently has 1,215 games played with 3,797 plate appearances, with one more contest to go. He has 806 hits, including 109 home runs. He has drawn walks at a 6.9% clip and struck out 30.7% of the time, producing a .232/.287/.379 batting line. He stole 128 bases. He was credited with 90 Defensive Runs Saved and 61 Outs Above Average in his career as an outfielder. For the 2014-2025 period, that DRS total was sixth among outfielders and his OAA tally was eighth. FanGraphs credited him with 10.2 wins above replacement. Baseball Reference gave him 12.6 WAR and pegs his career earnings above $27MM.

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Taylor on a solid career and wish him the best in whatever comes next. He tells Golden that he plans to spend more time with his kids but would consider a coaching role in the future.

Photos courtesy of Geoff Burke, Steve Mitchell, Imagn Images

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