All the latest news and rumors for the Houston Astros and all around MLB – It’s in here! The offseason edition Crawfish Boil for December 16, 2025:
- Adrian Houser is going to San Francisco:
The former 2011 2nd Rd pick of the Houston Astros split 2025 between the White Sox and Rays, going a combined 8-5 with a 3.31 ERA and 1.28 WHIP over 21 starts and 125 IP. The righthander was much better in Chicago (2.10 ERA in 11 starts) than in Tampa (4.79 ERA in 10 starts).
- Reliever Caleb Ferguson is headed to Cincinnati:
Ferguson, a lefty pen arm who had a cup of coffee with the Astros in 2024, split 2025 between the Pirates and Mariners. He finished the season 5-4 with a 3.58 ERA and 1.163 WHIP over 70 appearances spanning 65.1 IP.
- Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic doesn’t expect the Padres to be taking any steps backward in 2026:
- Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com and MLB Network thinks the Dodgers should be in on SS Bo Bichette:
- Jared Carrabis thinks the criticisms of Japanese star Munetaka Murakami are being heavily overblown:
- Ken Rosenthal says Murakami is being viewed as a “boom or bust” guy:
- Former MLB GM Jim Duquette has an idea for a team that could sign Murakami:
He has less than a week before his posting period ends.
- Former Mets closer Edwin Diaz explains why he left New York for the Dodgers:
- Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski laid out his vision of the Phillies’ outfield, and as expected, it does not include Nick Castellanos:
- Ken Rosenthal says the Phillies will have to eat a lot of cash to find a taker for Castellanos:
- Former Cardinals SP Lance Lynn has a strong stance on what he believes Cardinals need to get in a return if they trade Brendan Donovan:
- Mark Feinsand of MLB.com lists his top 5 free agent “dominoes to fall” to get the market moving:
- Another pitcher is making a comeback to the US after finding success overseas:
Griffin was 6-1 with a 1.62 ERA and 0.949 WHIP in 14 starts spanning 78 innings for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan last season. For his NPB (Japanese Major League) career, he is 18-10 with a 2.75 ERA and 1.033 WHIP in 54 games and 315.2 IP over 3 seasons.
- The Atlanta Braves are bringing back Ha-Seong Kim on a one-year deal:
Former Astros super utility man Mauricio Dubon will now likely return to the super utility role. Kim had previously opted out of a $16M option to return to Atlanta, and now gets a nice raise.
- The Red Sox and Nationals swapped pitching prospects:
MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato has the details on the players:
https://www.mlb.com/news/red-sox-trade-luis-perales-to-nationals-for-jake-bennett
- The Minnesota Twins were saddled with over $500M in debt. The Pohlad family tried to sell the team, but was unable to primarily because of the debt load, and had to take the team off the market. It was reported today they had agreed to sell minority interest in the team while retaining all decision-making authority:
- Former Red Sox 2B and current Red Sox broadcaster Lou Merloni would really like to see Alex Bregman back in Boston, and soon:
- Did MLB’s next commissioner just leave the sport?
