Autumn Dreamin

"Kicked the tires" feels lower on the "seat at the table" scale than "engaged in talks" but who knows.

Murakami himself is stateside right now fwiw. In NYC last I saw

Sox still adding to the data/analytics side. This guy is coming off of a year in the SF org. Pitching focus, has his own proprietary model listed on Linkedin/Github. Worked with the SF A ball team, who were champs last season behind a pitching staff that led their league comfortably in ERA/WHIP.

Most reputable source yet?

Like this for the Pirates

Definitely seems like the international side is his specialty. Wonder if he was drawn more by the AGM title or maybe the opportunity to expand his responsibilities/experience beyond that.

Getting your top signing (ranked #2 in the class by MLB) sniped a month before the period opens, yikes

At least I can properly root for him to figure it out now that he's not a Guardian

...?

From Fegan: “For 15 years, Carlos has been an invaluable presence in our organization, leaving a lasting impact across our operations,” read part of Neander's statement. “His professionalism, teamwork and unwavering dedication have made him an exceptional colleague and a cherished friend to me and countless others at the Rays." Rodriguez spent four seasons with the Blue Jays as a scout and initially joined the Rays in that capacity on the international side, eventually moving up to director of their international scouting department, but has since expanded his work into other areas. He served as the team's vice president of international operations and player development from 2019-21, and Rodriguez had held the title of assistant general manager for the last three seasons. On the team website, the Rays have credited Rodriguez for helping develop the organization's nutrition and wellness programs for players, along with generally enhancing a player development system and international scouting reach. His timeline with the Rays generally overlaps with a stretch where their scouts produced a lot of big leaguers from Latin America, their minor league affiliates won a lot of games, and the team's sustained success despite light big league payrolls became the envy of the league. In 2021, The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney reported Rodriguez was a finalist in the Cubs' general manager search that ultimately resulted in the hire of Carter Hawkins https://soxmachine.com/2025/12/white-sox-finalizing-hire-of-former-rays-executive-carlos-rodriguez-to-assistant-general-manager-role

Also fwiw, Sarris realized he made an error in the chart and the list is missing guys like Judge and Ohtani

Almost every blurb is a variation of "questionable fit due to cost/position/timing" including the Sox: Chicago White Sox Adding Murakami would be a fun way to inject some much-needed excitement on the South Side and would offer Murakami a lower-stakes setting to adjust to major-league pitching, but it would also be a sizable risk that this front office (and ownership group) is probably uninterested in taking at this stage of their rebuild.

Some tidbits on the new guys: Denorfia and Venable were platoon mates in RF for SD in 2012. He comes over from 5 years with the Rockies, managing AA and then as outfield/baserunning coordinator. Also was on the 2019 Cubs staff as quality assurance coach. Local product Tony Medina shares Schaumburg Boomers ties with Shomon. His most recent title there was director of analytics, was a hitting coach before that. Has also worked in development/analytics with TEX/KC/HOU. His Twitter header is "chicks dig the xwOBA" and his timeline (which includes back to back reposts of the Ishbia news and Teel's call up) suggest a Sox fandom that predates his hiring. Markinson is the youngest member of the staff at 22. He's coming off of being Northwestern's starting catcher in 2025. Signed as an UDFA with the Phillies, but decided to pivot from a playing career last month. Matt Wise is the oldest member of the staff...and he's only 50. His title has changed from assistant pitching coach to bullpen coach, and Bobby Hearn gets his old role. 3 pitching coaches feels new? Hearn comes over from the Twins where he was assistant pitching coordinator. He was teammates with freshman Shane Smith at Wake Forest. This might be the youngest staff in the league. The staff is bigger than last year, but no longer has a dedicated catching coach. McKinven will handle most of those duties now. Leger is currently managing a DWL team. He comes over from STL where he worked his way up from their DR complex to "assistant field and baserunning coordinator." Won a manager of the year honor for leading their AA team to a franchise wins record in 2024. Also spent 7 years managing in the Mets MiLB system. Winning record over 1300+ games in the minors, seems on track to be interviewing for MLB managerial openings sooner than later. Definitely seems to be an emphasis on guys who can connect and communicate with players based on youth/playing experience/track record. Far cry from having TLR at the helm.

Red Sox have also been a potential Marte destination

Red Sox have reported interest in both Murakami and Okamoto, but are also trying to sort out the Bregman thing. Plus they might be in on Arenado and/or out on Mayer depending on how various dominos fall. I imagine there's some pressure on them to do something soon, given they and the Rockies are alone in not making any FA moves yet.

Giants also reunite with fellow old friend Gregory Santos on an MiLB deal.

There's a little chatter But of course they'd have to be willing to sign the check

I think it's very silly and in some contexts a bit dishonest to pretend that 40 man roster management consists of just writing down your 40 best players and walking away. Many (most?) teams don’t have full 40’s right now, and it’s not because every org only has ~37 valuable players and regards all of their eligible but unrostered prospects as org detritus. Plenty of players who don't get taken in the Rule 5 would absolutely get snapped up if available in a trade or on waivers where they don't come with Rule 5 restrictions. Part of the reason they don't get protected is to reduce the risk of needing to waive/option them or someone else later. The question for Rule 5 protection isn't simply "is this a good enough player to keep in my org?" There's a finite number of 40 man spots, everyone in the league knows exactly how many there are, and using one for Rule 5 protection early in the offseason involves a long list of competing considerations. What is the risk of another team committing a season-long roster spot to this player (as you said, very low) historically? In contrast, what is the chance that protecting them forces a riskier move when managing my roster later? Is Player A more or less likely to be claimed in the Rule 5 (where they can't be optioned) than Player B (who can be optioned) is on waivers? With my current 40 man balance, do I need rostered depth more in some places than others? Is this player's route to my opening day 26 more likely to be blocked, forcing an option year on my end that lowers their future control/value? And so on. Most means of player acquisition are about value mismatches. Improving the Sox roster will inherently require acquiring players that have more value here than where they are coming from, but a player's value on your roster compared to their value on another is influenced by all sorts of things other than "they didn't think the player was good enough." Also, sometimes teams are just wrong in their evaluations entirely (and the wrong team isn't always the Sox!) Garrett Whitlock (2.4 WAR last season) pitched in the playoffs for Boston in the same year they picked him up in the Rule 5 draft, and I doubt any fans watching were embarrassed by it. I similarly doubt they were sad about fellow Rule 5 pick Justin Slaten leading their bullpen in ERA in his first year there. Both guys are still rostered, not because Boston has had years of a desolate farm with no depth, but because they successfully found value where those guys' original teams didn't and found money spends just as well. I don't think they (or anyone really) should feel bad for getting "too much" Rule 5 production. If anything, they should get bonus points because it freed them up to spend more capital in other ways, like grabbing Crochet.