What is the story about?
Good
morning.
- Now-former NPB third baseman Kazuma Okamoto had his introductory press conference with the Blue Jays. In it, he said how his daughter picked out the Blue Jays as the best logo in MLB.
- Eric Longenhagen analyzes what kind of a player the Blue Jays are likely getting in Okamoto.
- The Astros also introduced former NPB pitcher Tatsuya Imai and owner Jim Crane explained that the Astros’ stadium naming rights (with a Japanese corporation) played a big role in landing Imai in Houston. Eben-Novy-Williams reports.
- R.J. Anderson has three reasons why posted Japanese players got much smaller contracts than they were expected to get.
- Teams are worried about the safety and availability of Venezuelan players after the recent military action in that country. Anthony Olivieri and Michael Rothstein with the story.
- Andy McCullough has more on the uncertain fate of Venezuelan players (The Athletic sub. req.) and how the situation might affect the upcoming season and the World Baseball Classic.
- The Athletics have been denied trademarks on “Las Vegas Athletics” and “Vegas Athletics” by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This could force a name change if the decision is not reversed.
- Now we’re back to the rumor mill. Mark Feinsand assessed the state of the market of free agent third baseman Alex Bregman.
- Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon report on rumors surrounding the Yankees, Blue Jays, Cubs and other teams. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Thomas Harrington believed the fate of the American League East could be decided by where the top remaining free agents sign.
- Buster Olney and Jesse Rogers discuss the current state of the free agent market and the rumors therein.
- Bob Nightengale has some reasons why the free agent market has been so slow this winter.
- Marlowe Alter has all the trade rumors surrounding Tigers pitching ace Tarik Skubal.
- AJ Cassavell thinks moves made over the next three weeks could be critical for the Padres.
- Jordan Shusterman has four big questions for the Brewers.
- Michael Baumann wonders if the low-budget teams are actually trying to spend more this winter.
- Dayn Perry has ten storylines for the 2026 season.
- A couple of small transactions. The Orioles have claimed outfielder Jhonkensy Noel off of waivers from the Guardians. Jake Rill reports.
- The Guardians also dealt left-hander Justin Bruihl to the Cardinals for someone named “cash considerations.” John Denton with the story.
- Andrew Marchand reports that NBC is trying to hire Clayton Kershaw as their top studio analyst for their new baseball broadcasts. (The Athletic free reg. req.) NBC is also considering Tigers broadcaster Jason Benetti as their top national broadcaster.
- The Phillies have hired Don Mattingly as the team’s new bench coach. Don’s son Preston is the general manager of the Phillies.
- The Brewers have hired Daniel Vogelbach as one of the team’s hitting coaches. Make your own joke about which current top manager the Brewers will trade Vogelbach for.
- Yankees manager Aaron Boone supports the decision of his superstar outfielder Aaron Judge to play in the World Baseball Classic, saying it will give Judge a better ramp-up to the regular season than Spring Training would. Gabe Lacques with the story.
- The MLB Pipeline gang have eight predictions for prospects this year.
- Davy Andrews writes that the data suggests that hitters may be able to make more contact by standing closer to the plate. It’s not a definitive study, but a suggestion for further research.
- Will Sammon and Eno Sarris speak to free agent outfielder Tommy Pham who has developed his own analytic metric that he calls PhamGraphs. (The Athletic free reg. req.) This is actually a serious thing and not some ballplayer saying “RBI is what matter.” Whether it’s a good or better metric than what we already have is beyond my pay grade.
- And finally, Benjamin Hill has the nine best bobblehead promotions of the minor leagues last year.
