All Activity

And he's too old for a team at least two years away...Murakami has age and growth/potential in his favor. Two years from prime for him.

He's not going more than 2-3 years if he doesn't get 5-8 years as originally targeted. 8/$180 was the mlbtr projection. A non contender/guaranteed playing time situation away from the major media markets makes some sense. But a deal for just two years or maybe three doesn't help the Sox as much as teams like the Pirates Red Sox Reds Mariners and Padres that are in win now mode and have (quite) relatively limited budgets. Then he crushes the ball and is off to the Dodgers to replace Muncy/Freeman.

Okamoto hits righty. Looking at their roster, they already have at least 3 R/R 1b/3b. Murakami fits what they said they were looking for much better.

waivers Brandon Eisert Mike Vasil Jesse Scholtens to Rays Tristan Peters trades Jankowski sold to Rays Thaiss for Dru Baker Tristan Gray sold to Houser for Mead/Davitt/Peoples Gomez/Wilson for Pereira/Murray

If Indiana offers the Bears a better deal (Lower taxes and infrastructure) and Illinois doesn't the Bears will move to Indiana. The KC Chiefs are on the verge of moving to the State of Kansas. The annoucement is expected next week. Better deals usually have the teams moving.

I think real question is what percentage of our 40 man roster is made up of former Rays.

I don’t think so. They can aim much bigger than that.

No idea. Still haven’t seen anything reputable.

Since last offseason, how many trades have we made with the Rays? At least 4 right?

https://sports.yahoo.com/videos/favorable-market-emerging-white-sox-180752958.html 👀

Maybe but it still wouldn’t change the questions about his ability to hit MLB pitching. He might as well sign with a MLB team now.

I don’t know what to think here. Getting colder feet that he probably sucks, and then I’d feel bad I wanted someone who wasn’t good. But I’m also starving for something more interesting that trading for 40 man fodder from other teams. Tough call. I’d probably fail the Oreo test.

Drop his K rate and he hits the powerball.

Labor certainty?

He’s already proven he can mash in Japan. How would another year of raking there change anything?

It almost has to be Thome, doesn't it?

If the offers are bad enough that the Sox are in, why wouldn't he just go back to Japan and try again next year?

I'd be happy with either

Personally, I think it’s going to be Okamoto based on his K% and BB%. Feels more like the kind of guy they would target based on what they are trying to do here (OBP, patience at the plate, good walk rate, good K rate, defense, and of course, cheaper).

At the moment, I would expect Cholowsky at the 1.01 and then us trying to push a couple of prep players down to our second & third selections. One those kids may be a CF type, but you can’t really draft for need early in the draft. Getz will likely have to address CF in the near term in a different fashion.

And you guys thought I was joking with finding "Murakami is coming" in Venable's quote

We can’t draft higher than 10th in 2027. Might as well make the 2026 season as watchable as possible.

Every player a club signs comes with risk. This should be a relatively easy decision. Getting fans into 2026 should be a motive enough.

It would certainly generate a little excitement that we sorely need. Outside of the draft next year, we need some hope and reason to watch.

He isn't good enough to command an opt out not with the posting fee on top. Three years with a vesting option makes sense to me. I'd offer 3/65 with a 500 PA 30 million option for 2029. If he's just a 1 WAR player bench him and move on. Little downside risk here given the context imo so get it done.