Fair Territory - Red Sox acquire Willson Contreras, Murakami 2-year White Sox deal, Bo Bichette/Alex Bregman latest intel

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Monday edition of Fair Territory. A lot of action right now, and I expect plenty of action in the next couple of days leading up to Christmas. Let's get right to it. Let's go to yesterday's news. We had two major situations developed. One was a trade the Red Sox made for Wilson Contreras. The other, earlier in the day was the White Sox signing of Munataka Morikami. Let's start with Contreras. This was a move that had been rumored for several weeks. We all knew that the Red Sox were looking for offensive help, and they still are after the Contrerast's move. We'll get into that as the show progresses. But this trade is the second trade that they've made with their former president of Baseball Operations, actually chief baseball officer, Hem Bloom. The second trade that they've made in which Heim Bloom with the Cardinals now sent the money to get better prospects and for the Red Sox. These deals are, at least from a financial perspective, looking good. I'll get more into that as well. Here's the trade Wilson Contreras for Hunter Dobbins, who made his debut last year and was impressive in two prospects Yorker for Haardo and Blake Aita, all right handed pitchers. They're the guys who went for Wilson Contreras. I wrote and tweeted Fajardo was just nineteen years old, a four hundred thousand dollars sign out of Venezuela by the White Sox twenty twenty four, acquired for the DFA Cambooser last winter, and then I eate a six round pick out of Kansas State in twenty twenty four.

00:01:31
Speaker 2: So a guy who has been.

00:01:32
Speaker 1: In the major leagues in Dobbins and two longer term prospects. That's what the Cardinals get back for Wilson Contreras. What do the Red Sox get? A guy who can play first base, a guy who is pretty strong in the clubhouse, a good leader, and a guy who, over the last two seasons has been When judging by f war, Fangraft's version of wins a Brough replacement nearly identical to Pete Alonso in terms of production, their f wars are nearly the same now. Alonso has more power contrast gets on baseboard. Contreras is also more than two and a half years older. But while you needed to trade three prospects for Contreras, you're getting him for one hundred and twelve point five million dollars less than the Orioles gave Pete Alonso. So that's from the Red Sox perspective, from a financial sense, a good exchange, something that should help them next year. I don't see Wilson Contreras necessarily slowing down.

00:02:30
Speaker 2: Now.

00:02:31
Speaker 1: Questions arise with their roster as a result of this move. What happens to Tristan Cassis. Well, he's coming off a ruptured Patel attendant. He had surgery for that, and there is not certainty that he'll be ready for opening day, you see. Jim McCaffrey wrote about that today in The Athletic. But once Cassis returns, they can use him in some kind of rotation first base DH with Contreras. We'll see Cassis is not really a proven major league player yet. So this at least gives the Red Sox what the baseball people call a very good floor at first base. The other question with the Red Sox Masataka Yoshida, what is going to happen with this dude? So two years and thirty six million on his contract. Once Kasis returns, there's seemingly no place for him, and I don't see a place for him even really in the interim without Castes. So that's a guy that they've talked about trading and dumping for a while. Now we'll see if it happens. Maybe they go into spring training with their depth, see how casts progresses. I don't know, but without question, this cannot be their last offensive move. They've traded for Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo to help their starting rotation. They've done some other smaller things and now they've added contraras deals not official yet.

00:03:48
Speaker 2: But will be.

00:03:50
Speaker 1: They need one more big bat and we'll talk more about that in the inside dish.

00:03:55
Speaker 2: Now.

00:03:55
Speaker 1: The other big move yesterday, and this was a bit of a stunner. News first came out on Saturday night from Mark Feinesland and Scott merkeno MLB dot Com that the White Sox were a team for Murakami, and people thought, well, the White Sox, why would they want Murakami? Well, a couple of reasons. One, the price proved to be right, two years, thirty four million for a guy who was projected to get a lot more than that in free agency, because he's going to be twenty six this season. The Athletics Tim Britton had him at eight years, one hundred and eight and fifty eight point five million, eight one fifty eight point five.

00:04:33
Speaker 2: So what happened to Murrikami?

00:04:35
Speaker 1: The questions that a lot of teams had, really twenty nine teams it would seem, had about.

00:04:41
Speaker 2: His swing and miss, his ability to hit.

00:04:44
Speaker 1: Velocity, whether his strikeout rate in Japan, which was rather high, would be even higher in the major leagues. Now we're going to find out just who Murakami is. His people, his representatives at Excel Sports Management, believe that he could be another Kyle Schwarber, a guy who also strikes out a lot, but like Murakami, has a ton of power and a ton of eggs and philosophy, all those things that you look for from a slugger. So he now signs the short term deal. If he succeeds well, a couple of things could happen. One the White Sox could trade him, or they could make him part of their core, extend him at some point and make him the centerpiece of the next great White Sox team. I know you laugh at those mere words. But the White Sox are building an interesting young core of position players, and they've got some pitching coming as well, and some pitching in the major leagues. So Murakami is a guy who really actually fits nicely for them, and once they can get him on a lesser deal, then they got interested. This developed in my understanding very quickly over the last couple of days. He's a guy that obviously should bring power as long as he can make contact to a team that severely lacked it last year, severely lacked offense at all. White Sox were twenty seventh and run scored twenty eighth in slugging percentage. As Keith Law and The Athletic wrote, you'll probably not guess their home run.

00:06:15
Speaker 2: Leader last year.

00:06:16
Speaker 1: It was Lenine Sosa with twenty two. So Morikami goes to the White Sox in a bit of a surprise, and also over the weekend. And this seems like ages ago now because the off season moves so quickly at times. But there were some big trades on Friday involving starting pitchers, specifically controllable starting pitchers. Shane Boz, three years of club control, goes to the Orioles, Mike Burrows six years of club control goes to the Astros. Now, what's interesting about these moves as we go forward here? They were interesting in themselves, and I wrote an entire column about the Rays Orioles trade regarding Boz. But what I see going forward is that if you are a team holding a controllable starting pitcher and you see the big returns that the Orioles in particular, or that the Rays in particular got for Boz, You're gonna think to yourself, well, maybe I can do that for my own team. I'm thinking about the Washington Nationals Mackenzie Gore two years of control. I'm thinking about the Miami Marlins Edward Cabrera three years of control, same as baz Well. Mackenzie Gore all right, one fewer year of control than Shane bos but probably a better picture. In the eyes of many in the major leagues. Boz is a guy who has not yet reached his ceiling. So you're the Nationals, you're sitting pretty. You're the Marlins, you're sitting pretty. You're thinking we can get something big too. And don't forget the return for Burrows that the Pirates received was three major leaguers, including Brandon Law.

00:07:51
Speaker 2: So it's going to be interesting to see if.

00:07:53
Speaker 1: This emboldens those teams to ask for more, if it ultimately leads those teams to keep these players because they can get what they want, can't get that monster return that the Rays got for Boz. And it will even be interesting to see if the Twins with Joe Ryan, who have been adamant about not trading Joe Ryan, now get tempted because he's a guy with two years of control into possibly doing something, knowing what might be out there. Again might be out there because the free agents that remain the top free agents from ra Valdez Ranger Suarez, in my they don't seem to excite teams the way other free agents in the past have. So perhaps the controllable starters are the way to go for these teams, and there are a number of teams that still need them.

00:08:40
Speaker 2: All right, that is it for the first segment.

00:08:41
Speaker 1: We will be back with the Inside Dish, more on the Red Sox, more on Alex Bregman and Boba Schett when.

00:08:47
Speaker 2: We return, well well, well, well.

00:08:56
Speaker 1: Time now for the inside Dish.

00:08:57
Speaker 2: You know, the drill.

00:08:58
Speaker 1: It's the part of the show right to talk about something I've written, a trend in the game, something else going on, entirely, something personal, perhaps well rarely something personal. But today I'm going to talk about the column that I published this morning, and also the general sense of what is going on with Alex Bregman, with Bobaschett, and specifically what is going.

00:09:19
Speaker 2: On with the Boston Red Sox.

00:09:20
Speaker 1: As I wrote, the Red Sox have created a financial path for a big move. Alex Bregman should be their first choice. What is this path you speak of? Ken pretty clear? So with the money that the Red Sox got in the two trades for Contraras and Gray, Williams Wilson Contraras and Sonny Gray twenty eight million in those two trades, they essentially paid those players down to very reasonable rates. With Sonny Gray it comes down to one year, twenty one million. That's a very good move for the club from in the terms of what they will be paying him for what his production might be. He'll probably be exceeding.

00:10:00
Speaker 2: That value in what he does.

00:10:03
Speaker 1: And then with Contreras it's two years forty two point five million. It's still a reasonable number for a guy who plays at the level that Wilson Contreras does so in those two trades, and in the trade for Oviedo, Johann Oviedo, who is projected to earn ten million in arbitration this season. The Red Sox cut financially prudent deals. That's one element of this. Another element, of course, is the money they saved in the Raphael Devers trade last June, more than two hundred and twenty million going forward again, more than two hundred and twenty million saved in that trade, not all in one year, of course, it's spread out over time, but they created incredible payroll flexibility with that deal. That was one of the motivations. And then finally, also this week, we learned that the Fenway Sports Group, owners of the Red Sox, are selling the Pittsburgh Penguins for a reported one point seven billion to one point eight billion. That's nearly twice or about twice what they paid for the Penguins back in twenty twenty one. Pretty good investment, pretty good.

00:11:08
Speaker 2: Return over four years. Now.

00:11:10
Speaker 1: I know what the Red Sox would say, or the Fenwaz Sports Group would say, that's a separate transaction, has nothing to do with the Red Sox. We operate the Red Sox simply based on their cash. All right, whatever, the Red Sox have money. We know they have money.

00:11:24
Speaker 2: We know they need.

00:11:26
Speaker 1: Another big bat in addition to Wilson Contraras, So who is it going to be? As I wrote in my opinion, the first choice should still be Bregman. He is, yes, going to be thirty two years old in March. But at the same time, the Red Sox saw firsthand last season what Bregman can do for them offensively, defensively, and the thing that might distinguish him the most is what he offers from a leadership standpoint, the dugout and the clubhouse. This is a guy, a rare player who, as I wrote, helps make teammates better. That's what Alex Bregman does, in addition to being a really good player, a really good third baseman. So Bregman, Okay, that's one possibility. Boba Schett would be another free agent possibility, and Boba Schett would be an interesting fit for the Red Sox as well. They could play him at second most likely, I would think, or third. They still have Trevor's story at short and Marcelo Mayer conceivably could fill in at the other position, or perhaps they could do something else at the other infield spot. But to me, Bregman, because of his leadership, because the Red Sox have experienced him, because he has proven himself in Boston, he should be the first choice. Now, there are other teams obviously interested in Bregman. As I wrote, the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays have emerged as legitimate suitors in recent days, and there are other teams involved as well. And I know a lot of people Red Sox fans in particular the last few days are like h Scott boris just using media for leverage.

00:13:01
Speaker 2: Guys, use common sense.

00:13:03
Speaker 1: Do you really think there is only one team interested in Alex Bregman, only one team interested in Boba Schett. These are elite free agents. The same goes for Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger. These guys have active markets. Now it remains to be seen just what they'll get. But the point of it is there's competition. Now, what will the Diamondbacks do? Well, they could keep katel Marte even if they signed Bregman, though I don't expect that to happen. Katel Marte becomes a ten and five player with full veto rights over a trade on the tenth day of the season. We've heard all off season, even before that, about Marte's issues in the clubhouse. They've been well chronicled, and it seems to me that Diamondbacks want to move on.

00:13:49
Speaker 2: The Red Sox could be a.

00:13:50
Speaker 1: Team for Marte. They could be a team for Brendan Donovan, another player reported to be in trade talks. You play one of those guys at second base, maybe you play may or third, and you don't need Alex Bregman or Boba Schett. Okay, you do that, that's fine. The problem with that from the Red Sox perspective is they've already made three trades in which they've given up prospects. Three Now they could do it again. They really haven't touched the top of their system. But to do it to get a Marte or a Donovan would probably require one of their top starting pitchers, top young starting pitchers. I'm talking about Peyton, Totley or Connelly early. They've already lost some pitching depth, so I'm not sure they want to make a trade again. It points toward free agency. So what about Toronto's role in this? Toronto Blue Jays a team that for several years there couldn't seem to sign a free agent.

00:14:45
Speaker 2: That they got a few smaller ones.

00:14:48
Speaker 1: Now suddenly seem to be a destination for all free agents. We've seen them sign three already this offseason, Dylan Cees, Cody Ponce and Tyler Rodgers. They've spent a lot of money already, and it sure seems like with them in the mix for virtually every big name out there, they've got one more signing at least in them. Bregman is actually a really good fit for them. They can play them at third base, they can move her and to Clement the second Addison Barger to write and go about it that way, you'd have Springer in Santander Dhing playing some outfield as well. He is someone who would fit quite nicely, as would Bobachhett with Bobaschett, it's largely the same equation. You play him at second, you play clemented third, Barger and Wright, Springer and Santander contributing in the outfield. So all of these things are in play for the Blue Jays, and I imagine Tucker and Bellinger to an extent are as well. But their need, the greater need is in the infield, so the Blue Jays. You can see the logic there. And also keep in mind George Springer and Miles Straw, two guys who are on the Blue Jays right now. They were teammates with Alex Bregman Houston. They know what he brings. I'm sure they've spoken highly of him. Again, there are other teams in the mix for Bregman, for Brishett. My point what I wrote today is that the Red Sox need to come.

00:16:12
Speaker 2: Away with one of these guys.

00:16:14
Speaker 1: Now, if you don't get either of them, you could sign a third baseman, whether it's Kazumo Akamoto or a Uhano Suarez. You can make a trade for Noan Arnado, but none of these options is as good as Bregman or Bishett. So for the Red Sox, the way I see it, they've got one job here, one job, get another big bat, and do it in free agency so you don't have to trade some of your better prospects. There it is. I've alerted the Red Sox. We'll see what they do back with grilling Tan right after this.

00:16:48
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00:17:29
Speaker 2: All right.

00:17:29
Speaker 1: Time now for grilling and Ken the part of the show where I answer your questions.

00:17:33
Speaker 2: Let's get right to them.

00:17:37
Speaker 1: First question comes from Tyler Max Smith, who says Anthopolis Braves, President of base Operations Alexandthopolis said on the radio he's shooting high and wants to add an.

00:17:47
Speaker 2: Impactful starting pitcher with the team.

00:17:49
Speaker 1: Adding Maldonado Martin Maldonado to the front office last week. Could a from ber Valdez signing me next. That's a good connection you're making there, Tyler, and certainly Martin Malda is well acquainted with Fromer Valdez. I'm not sure that that's the route Alexanthopolis wants to go. Valdez. You would think is going to get a fairly big contract, but there is some question now just how well he's going to do. Now. I'm sure his market is fairly active and I'm sure he's going to do pretty well. But you see there that he was born in November of nineteen ninety three, so he is a guy who's thirty two. He was always going to command a shorter deal. The question is would the Braves be willing to do a short term, high dollar deal with him, say, I don't know, four or five years at thirty million a year. I'm throwing numbers out there. I know, I don't know the answer to that. The Braves also could make a trade, and they have some players that would be interesting to other teams, some young pitchers in particular that are coming. But Anthopolis has been quite clear, as he said on the radio, that he does want another starter, whether it's a one year trade for a ready Peralta, or whether it's a signing a from ber Valdez, or whether it's a more controllable starter who would be acquired into trade that remains to be seen, all right. Next question, This one comes from Cody Klegg eight one oh five, who says, after the Brandon Loud trade, what is next for the Pirates and what about Akamoto? Akamoto is one of the players in their mix. I've heard Luis Robert Junior with them, I've heard Ryan O'Hearn with them. I would expect that they are going to continue pursuing offensive help, both in free agency and in trade. But as we've seen so far, and it's still relatively early in free agency, as we've seen they've been unable to get some of the bigger targets that they were talking about. At least Kyle Schwarber was one, Josh Naylor was another, and there have been others too where they just haven't been a factor. Because generally free agents, when they have a better option than the Pirates, they're gonna take the better option and less the Pirates dramatically overpay. And they've yet to show that they're going to do that. So they may end up with a Ryan O'Hearn or an Aohano Suarez in free agency or some other free agent. But it seems to me that if you trade for someone like Robert Jr. Or trade for some other bats somewhere else. That is the preferred way to go. That is what they did in the three team deal with Tampa Bay and Houston, the deal that brought them Brandon Law and Jake Mangum and the left handed reliever Mason Montgomery. It was a good path for them, and I expect that's going to be still a better path for them, perhaps than working the free agent market.

00:20:41
Speaker 2: Remember they also got.

00:20:42
Speaker 1: The password from the Red Sox in the Oviedo trade. He's a guy that can help them offensively as well.

00:20:50
Speaker 2: All right, next.

00:20:50
Speaker 1: Question, This one comes from Padre Bod who asked, well, the Padres add ohearn or a Rise. Padres need help at first, or they have a vacancy first, I should say with Arise a free agent, and o'haran certainly was someone who did well there and was someone who.

00:21:07
Speaker 2: Was a good fit there. I can see that for sure.

00:21:10
Speaker 1: The real questions with the Padres involve their payroll.

00:21:14
Speaker 2: And where they go from here.

00:21:15
Speaker 1: Now that they've signed Michael King to a three year, seventy five million dollar deal, that really is a one year, twenty two million dollar deal if he does well he probably is going to opt out. I'm not sure what the Padres are going to do. You never can read AJ Preller exactly, but their payroll, at least when you talk to other teams, is something that they're concerned about and something that they're trying to address.

00:21:38
Speaker 2: So it would seem to me to make further moves, they're going to have to clear some money.

00:21:43
Speaker 1: Now. I don't know who it's going to be and how they're going to do it, but AJ Preller is one of the most creative gms in the sport, if not the most creative, and he will figure out how to make the resources work for him and how to put a team together.

00:21:58
Speaker 2: With what he has.

00:22:01
Speaker 1: All right, next question, Tony hvac two Ken, will the Mets.

00:22:05
Speaker 2: Trade for an ace this week?

00:22:07
Speaker 1: Tony, good question, And certainly the Mets need an ace, and it's all the usual suspects that are in play, right, Valdez and Suarez and am I. But the problem there is the Mets do not want to go long term on any of the free agents starting pitchers in the.

00:22:24
Speaker 2: Market this year.

00:22:25
Speaker 1: They're not enamored of these guys, and many teams are feeling basically the same way. Maybe that's why these guys haven't signed yet. Well they trade for a starting pitcher now, that possibly is more likely.

00:22:38
Speaker 2: And we've written.

00:22:39
Speaker 1: In the Athletic about the Mets talks with the Padres that have involved Nick Pavetta. The Mets, I'm sure are on other starting pictures as well, and they've even been involved in trade talks regarding their own starting pitchers David Peterson, CODEI Senga. So the Mets, like the Yankees cross.

00:22:58
Speaker 2: Town, they're not done.

00:23:00
Speaker 1: They really haven't even gotten started in some respects yet. And I do expect if they don't trade for a starting pitcher, they'll sign one. Maybe they'll find two in one way or another. They know they know they have to address their rotation, and as Will Salmon at The Athletic wrote today, they also could use Cody Bellinger or someone of that ILK to help their offense, with Pete A, Lonzo Goan, and Jorge Polanco their only offensive replacement thus far, outside of the exchange of Brandon Nimo from Marcus Simeon. All right, next question, this one comes from cam Stanch five six oh three. What the heck are the Yankees doing?

00:23:39
Speaker 2: It seems like nothing.

00:23:41
Speaker 1: Well, They've resigned Tim Hill, They've signed Paul Blackburn, Amed Rosario, Ryan Yarbero.

00:23:48
Speaker 2: Okay, I know it's not enough.

00:23:50
Speaker 1: The Yankees are not necessarily going to be as active as they were last offseason when they lost Juan Soda to free agency. But they know at the very least they have to find a bat to replace Cody Bellinger. They have to find help in that bullpen in front of David Bednar, and they really could use one more starter.

00:24:09
Speaker 2: With Rodin and.

00:24:09
Speaker 1: Cole not starting the season in the rotation. With Schlitler, a guy who probably will be on some kind of innings restriction, they need help there too. The Yankees, like the Mets, I do not believe that they're simply going to call it an off season over the next couple of days. You know what we're done January February, we'll.

00:24:28
Speaker 2: Just be quiet. No, they're going to do stuff. We just don't know what they're going to do.

00:24:32
Speaker 1: And that is the intrigue that the rest of this off season brings for those particular teams and for all of these other teams we've talked about as well.

00:24:41
Speaker 2: All Right, that wraps it up today.

00:24:42
Speaker 1: I want to thank everyone for watching and for listening, Foul Territory is coming up and listen to who is on.

00:24:47
Speaker 2: Foul Territory today.

00:24:49
Speaker 1: Pete Alonzo, Brandon Low, and Robert Murray. Alana Rizzo joins me for our final Fair Territory of the year that will be Friday at twelve thirty Eastern.

00:24:59
Speaker 2: Talk to you then.

00:25:00
Speaker 1: Merry Christmas, Happy handed that everyone have a great holiday