Autumn Dreamin

They had 6 catchers going into ST last season (Quero, Teel, Lee, Hackenberg, Thaiss, Narvaez). Romo gets them back to 5 after the departures of Thaiss and Narvaez. Charlotte needs help there, so probably another depth add or two coming.

Thought there'd be a bit more here honestly

Eloy's been playing winter ball, I assume with the intent of attracting a camp deal from someone.

Weird that the full return hasn't been reported yet? Word is that Cassie is the headliner though.

Noel on waivers again after an Orioles DFA

The last 10: 21. RHP Gage Ziehl 22. LHP Blake Larson 23. RHP Jairo iriarte 24. C Landon Hodge 25. SS Jacob Gonzalez 26. RHP Luis Reyes 27. RHP Gabe Davis 28. LHP Shane Murphy 29. RHP Yobal Rodriguez 30. IF Matthew Boughton Top 5 are all 55+ grades (65 for Noah, 60 for Bones) but mostly high risk (other than Montgomery who is average risk). In the "adjusted grade" which accounts for risk, the top 5 stays the same but McDougal moves into a tie with Carlson to join the upper tier. Gonna see if there's anything new or of note in the writeups...

Getz made similar "happy to have him" comments last offseason and obviously did end up holding on to Robert despite the trade chatter at that time. Folks here said he was being disingenuous and would "obviously" take whatever he could get before ST ended, and here we are a full season + $20 million option later. Is he available? Obviously...for some yet to be met price. But nothing about this saga so far contradicts the idea that they are fine with keeping him if the alternative is giving him away. If they were desperate to move him for any return, he'd be gone for an A-ball pitcher and a lottery ticket IFA already. If they just wanted him gone entirely, they don't pick up the option. I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that they are actually content to keep Robert if they can't get a return they like, because they have repeatedly demonstrated that to be the case.

Yankees cancelled all of their pre-agreements, so I imagine they'll have plenty of IFA money to trade for anyone who comes asking

BA really likes Bonemer

A little late to unite Noel and Holliday, but alas

Eloy in the LIDOM playoffs

Yes. He could beat the current signing record by seven figures and still be well under slot.

Kona Takahashi has the same deadline as Imai, so there should be news on that front soon too.

Kay endorses the Imai pursuit (and gives Mune a Schwarber comp): Some other notes from the full episode: Directly cited Fedde's first year success here as a big consideration in signing, including the org having familiarity with the transition (back) to MLB from NBP. Mentioned the workload adjustment specifically (from ~110+ pitches once a week to a 5 day rotation). He said he's talked to "all the pitching guys" both before and since signing, and feels they are on the same page and "had everything [he] was looking for" Said adding a sinker is one of his major improvements he made, since it let him stay in the zone more in a league where guys don't chase/K as much.

It isn't too surprising when you factor in some regression to the mean in 1 run games + continued development, since they were around 70 expected wins last year.

FWIW, news of Imanaga's signing came out 3 days before his deadline. Imai is closer to his deadline than that (plus the additional factor of the holiday), so it really feels like something should be imminent.

If they sign Imai, do we get a Tokyo crosstown series in 2027?