A Christmas miracle in Chicago? Plus: Skaggs trial ends in settlement
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Willson Contreras is headed to the Red Sox. What should Boston’s next move be? Plus: A surprise destination for a Japanese slugger, the end of an ugly legal battle for the Angels and a very busy hot stove week. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!
Thank You, Come Again: Contreras traded to Red Sox
After an earlier offseason trade that sent Sonny Gray from the Cardinals to the Red Sox, the two sides became repeat customers yesterday: St. Louis is sending catcher/first baseman Willson Contreras to Boston in exchange for RHP Hunter Dobbins and two other prospects.
Contreras was not initially expected to be dealt this offseason, despite the Cardinals’ recent lean into a rebuild. But — as reported earlier this month by Katie Woo — the veteran recently became more willing to waive his no-trade clause for the right fit.
That’s Boston, oddly enough. In 2023, 23-year-old Triston Casas was the apparent first baseman of the present and future. But injuries limited Casas to 92 games over the last two seasons, so Contreras (who moved from catcher to first base last year at age 33) is a fit.
If there’s any surprise, it might be that the Cardinals were able to land Dobbins, who looked like a legitimate mid-rotation starter in his rookie season last year.
But with the Red Sox acquiring Gray, they had something of a starting pitching surplus — or at least a young starting pitching surplus. Gray, Garrett Crochet, Johan Oviedo and Brayan Bello are a strong top 80 percent of the rotation. Dobbins was part of the next tier of up-and-comers with Kyle Harrison, Peyton Tolle and Connelly Early.
Speaking of moves the Red Sox could, or should, still make, Ken’s up next. But first …
More trades:
- The Orioles traded four minor-leaguers and a competitive balance draft pick to the Rays for Shane Baz. The Rays also matched up with the Astros and Pirates in a three-team deal that sent 2B Brandon Lowe to Pittsburgh and SP Mike Burrows to the Astros. With the two trades, Tampa added six players to the team’s top 30 prospects.
Ken’s Notebook: Where will Alex Bregman land?
From my latest column:
The Red Sox will have no excuses if they fail to re-sign free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman. And they will need to pivot quickly and dramatically if Bregman lands with another club.
Both the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks have emerged as legitimate suitors for Bregman, according to sources briefed on the discussions. Other clubs, including the Cubs, also are said to be involved.
So, while Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow seemingly has created a clear financial path to bring back Bregman, he must continue exploring other options, knowing none might be as good.
The acquisition of Contreras was Breslow’s first step toward boosting his offense. But if he does not add another bat somewhere, he essentially would be swapping out Bregman for Contreras without additional upgrades to a lineup that, after the All-Star break, ranked only 14th in runs per game.
Free agent Bo Bichette, who turns 28 in March, is capable of moving from shortstop to second or third. A trade for Arizona’s Ketel Marte or St. Louis’ Brendan Donovan could also provide a major upgrade at second. And a number of other alternatives exist at third — Marcelo Mayer internally, Eugenio Suárez and Kazuma Okamoto in free agency, the Astros’ Isaac Paredes and Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado in trades.
Bregman, who turns 32 in March, is still the best fit for the Red Sox. He is proven in Boston. And he is one of the game’s most respected leaders, that rare player who makes his teammates better.
Money should not be a problem. The company that owns the Red Sox, the Fenway Sports Group, agreed last week to sell the Pittsburgh Penguins for $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion, approximately double what it paid for the team in 2021. FSG surely prefers to view the Red Sox as a separate entity, but not to worry. Breslow, to this point, has conducted his offseason rather efficiently.
None of Boston’s three acquisitions — Contreras, Gray and Oviedo — suffocated the team’s payroll. And the Rafael Devers trade last June, which netted the Red Sox a savings of more than $220 million, left the team with money to burn.
Slugger Signing: Murakami to the White Sox
Call it a Christmas miracle, the Pope effect or “concerns about his swing-and-miss,” but the White Sox pulled off a shocker, signing Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami for two years and $34 million.
If you asked me six months ago where Murakami — who turns 26 in February — would sign this winter, I don’t think the White Sox would have been in my top … 25? After all, the power is legitimately special. His 56 home runs in Japan in 2022 broke Sadaharu Oh’s NPB record that stood since 1964. Despite being limited to 56 games last year with injury, he still hit 22 home runs, which — as Keith Law points out — would have tied him for White Sox team lead last year.
That’s the sort of power that attracts the big spenders, isn’t it?
But the concerns kept cropping up: a strikeout rate near 30 percent, in a league that doesn’t strike out as much as MLB? As it turns out, Will Sammon’s suggestion was prescient: Murakami got the shorter deal.
Not that $34 million is nothing, but in baseball money, it’s the sort of risk you can take. If he hits 40 home runs, you got a steal. If he strikes out 250 times, well — shrug — it’s a two-year deal. (If he does both at the same time, you probably found the Goldilocks “just right” number.)
I know the White Sox have been a landing place for spare punchlines, but their farm system has steadily improved in recent years. Are we on the verge of the South Side being fun again in the somewhat-near future?
More Japanese free agents: RHP Tatsuya Imai’s deadline to sign is Jan. 2 (could he end up in Chicago, too?) and corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto has until Jan. 4.
Skaggs Trial: Sides reach a settlement
Six years after Tyler Skaggs’ death, the case between the late pitcher’s family and the Angels ended in a settlement, just as jurors were making final deliberations.
The amount of the settlement was not disclosed, though we can take a guess from context clues. From Sam Blum’s final report:
“One juror, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to freely discuss the deliberations, said the jury would have awarded $62.5 million for lost earnings, which went down to $50 million when factoring in agents fees and consumption. Non-economic losses would have been $19.5 million total … punitive damages would have been $10 million. With the exception of the punitive damages, those numbers would have been reduced by some percentage, based on how at-fault the jury believed Tyler Skaggs to be.”
Quick math: We’re looking at somewhere between $49.75 million (if both parties were found equally liable) and $89.5 million (if the Angels were found fully responsible).
Once the jury started asking clarifying questions about punitive damages, it became clear the Angels would be paying significant damages. So after dragging this on for years and years, they crossed the aisle and offered enough money to make it all go away.
One result: They now can’t be found legally liable for Skaggs’ death. In the eyes of the law, they just made an offer that was generous enough to make it worth foregoing the, what, one or two more hours of jury deliberation?
There are no winners here, but at least it’s over.
Handshakes and High Fives
Jayson Stark spoke to many of the game’s greats about Pete Rose, who — in 2027 — will be on a Hall of Fame ballot for the first time.
With Tarik Skubal now joining Paul Skenes, Team USA has three of the last four Cy Young awards represented at the WBC. Logan Webb also finished in the top 10 in each of the last three years.
The numbers are in: The Dodgers’ luxury tax bill for 2025 is $169 million — more than 12 MLB teams paid for their entire roster.
Before the betting probe, MLB also caught Emmanuel Clase breaking cell phone rules built for the sign-stealing era, reports Evan Drellich and Zack Meisel.
On the pods: The Roundtable looks back at what they’ll remember most from the 2025 baseball season.
Most-clicked in Monday’s newsletter: Once again, Ron Washington’s “Moneyball” first-base comment.
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