The MLB offseason has been moving at a snail's pace, particularly lately. Things were bound to slow down around Christmas time, but not much of note has happened in the three days since the holiday. The MLB rumor mill, however, is starting to heat up just a bit.
The latest rumors worth keeping tabs on involve Tatsuya Imai, the Detroit Tigers' connection to Alex Bregman, and options to fortify the Boston Red Sox's lineup.
Tatsuya Imai market appears to be non-existent
With Dylan Cease off the board, an argument could be made that Tatsuya Imai is the best free agent starting pitcher available. You wouldn't know that based on his market, or lack thereof.
“Apparently, there actually aren’t many concrete options on the table yet,” Imai said on TV Asahi’s “Udo Times” program, according to a translated X post by @NekoSuke5_5_2. “And it seems that having teams show interest and receiving a formal offer are completely different things.”
Imai revealed that he has not received a single offer in free agency. This is particularly notable because his signing deadline is set for Jan. 2 at 5:00 p.m. ET. There are still five days for Imai to get an offer and sign a deal, and there's no reason to believe that he won't receive a single offer, but the lack of activity so far is pretty jarring. I mean, the only clear update we've seen thus far is that the New York Yankees hadn't met with him and didn't have any plans to meet with him as of a week ago.
Munetaka Murakami, another Japanese free agent, also received little public interest before signing with the Chicago White Sox. As strange as that was, Murakami's whiff and defensive concerns were glaring. Imai doesn't have those same concerns and has star-level upside, yet teams just don't appear eager to sign him.
It'll be interesting to see what, if anything, this ends up meaning. Imai still figures to get a long-term deal worth nine figures, but the longer he goes without an offer, the less likely it is that he gets the kind of deal he envisions, and the more likely it is that a sleeper team emerges, much like the White Sox did with Murakami.
Tigers aren't involved in Alex Bregman sweepstakes
The Detroit Tigers are in the uncomfortable position of deciding whether they should keep or trade Tarik Skubal, entering his final season of club control. Even with it being unlikely that they'll re-sign him, keeping the back-to-back Cy Young winner makes sense if they add an impactful player or two to their roster. A guy like Alex Bregman, for example, would be a needle-mover. Unfortunately, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press ($) revealed that the Tigers have not entered the Bregman sweepstakes.
"The Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks have been active in the Bregman sweepstakes, but the Tigers haven't shown any new movement, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Free Press on condition of anonymity because they're not permitted to speak publicly. The interest from the Tigers remains lukewarm, just as it has all offseason, with eight weeks until the first game of spring training," Petzold wrote.
I can understand the Tigers being a bit hesitant to pursue Bregman knowing he spurned them last offseason and knowing that he's a 31-year-old likely looking for a deal that'll cover the next half decade or more, but it's a bit inexplicable that Detroit isn't involved at all. The Tigers are in dire need of a big right-handed bat, and could easily make room for Bregman, one of the best options available, at third base.
The contract might not age well, but if there was ever a time for the Tigers to make a splash, it's while Skubal is on the team. If they won't make a sincere effort to win the World Series in 2026, why bother keeping Skubal, knowing the odds are against them to extend him long-term? Tigers fans can only hope that the team will enter the Bregman sweepstakes or pursue Bo Bichette, otherwise it might be a long and frustrating winter in Detroit ahead of a crucial year.
Red Sox have options to bolster lineup
The Boston Red Sox entered the offseason with a clear need for big bats in their lineup. Willson Contreras certainly qualifies as a big bat, but he isn't exactly the superstar Red Sox fans were hoping for. Fortunately, even though we're almost two months into the offseason, there are still a ton of options for the Red Sox to pursue, as Alex Speier of the Boston Globe ($) notes.
"With Contreras in the fold, the Sox continue to pursue another infield bat. According to major league sources, the team’s primary targets remain fairly consistent: Free agent infielders Alex Bregman and Bo Bichette, as well as trade candidates Ketel Marte (Diamondbacks) and Isaac Paredes (Astros). Aside from Marte, who is a switch-hitter, all are righthanded. There are additional alternatives on both the trade and free agent markets, but to date, that group of five occupies the front-burner pursuits," Speier wrote.
Admittedly, some of these options are better than others, but all four do make varying degrees of sense for the Red Sox. Alex Bregman, as Red Sox fans know, starred on and particularly off the field for the team and would be a welcome reunion. Bo Bichette isn't the slugger Red Sox fans are looking for, but he's a hit machine who also has a knack for driving in clutch runs. Isaac Paredes might not be a big name and isn't a good defender, but he is a dead-pull hitter, making him a dream fit for Fenway Park's Green Monster.
The white whale of the group, though, is Ketel Marte, a player the Red Sox have been linked to all offseason. Whether the Diamondbacks will actually trade their best player remains to be seen, but Marte, a switch-hitting superstar locked in for the next six years, is the best hitter the Red Sox can realistically acquire this winter. It isn't Marte or bust by any means, but it will be a bit disappointing if Marte is traded and the Red Sox aren't the team that acquires him, even with the other options available.