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All the biggest news and rumors regarding the Houston Astros and from around MLB – they’re all in here! Its an offseason Crawfish Boil for December 21, 2025.
- Munetaka Murakami is heading to the South Side of Chicago.
The White Sox get a potential huge bargain on Murakami, whose power is regarded as being off the charts but also could potentially be a high strikeout player. He is expected to play 1B. For a team that operates like a smaller market team despite being in Chicago, they could have found a franchise cornerstone bat for a very low price. The ChiSox also think Murakami could be a draw at the park as well:
Meanwhile, the ChiSox are still looking to move CF Luis Robert Jr., and both the Mets and Reds are among the teams interested:
- Is Isaac Paredes ahead of schedule?
Previous reports has Paredes as not expected to be 100% for Spring Training and that the Astros hoped he would be close to 100% for the start of the season. Paredes making his Winter League debut would indicate that he is already close to 100%, as it would stand to reason that the Astros would not permit him to play if he were not 100% or very close to it.
A healthy Paredes could push the Astros to be more likely to trade 1B Christian Walker and move Paredes to 1B, but it also could make Paredes value on the trade market even higher as he shows he is 100% recovered from his hamstring injury.
- Astros not done bringing in starting pitching? Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports the team considers the Burrows deal a “good start”:
Rome states that the Astros are roughly $22M under the first tax line, which the team reportedly wants to stay under entering the 2026 season.
- The Tigers make the signing of RP Kyle Finnegan official:
- In case you are wondering how hard MLB owners are going to push for a salary cap at the end of the 2026 season in the next CBA, the Dodgers paid more in luxury tax than 12 teams paid in payroll.
It is considered all but a certainty by both sides that the owners will impose a lockout at the end of the 2026 season.
- The Angels and the Skaggs family reached a settlement before a jury verdict was rendered, bringing an end to an ugly and tragic case:
This was a really disturbing case that saw the Angels organization calling witnesses to downplay Skaggs’ abilities as a player and try to label him a drug dealer in open court. The Skaggs’ family was seeking $118M in damages, and it appeared the jury would vote in favor of the family and against the team.
The settlement allowed the team to keep the amount of money paid out private, but for anyone following the case, the Angels organization could not have looked worse.
- Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic had a lot of info in this piece but there are two main themes – the Blue Jays interest in 3B Alex Bregman and the Royals interest in adding a bat and not moving a top 3 starter:
The Jays interest in Bregman is interesting, as he was previously reported as a “Plan B” if the team failed to land either OF Kyle Tucker or SS Bo Bichette. The Jays had been reported to be looking for a LH bat, but Bregman is considered to be a better fit for them defensively. Bregman’s reputation for being a respected leader on and off the field is also a big part of his allure to teams, and the Jays have two of his former teammates in George Springer and Myles Straw who are among the top leadership voices in the Jays clubhouse.
Bregman would stay at 3B and Ernie Clement would move to 2B. While Tim Britton of The Athletic projected a 6-year, $171M contract, it’s possible that his market doesn’t materialize in that manner and it’s been suggested that he could wind up on another shorter term loan.
The Royals are reportedly looking for another bat, with eyes on the Red Sox’ Jarren Duran and the Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan. While the Mariners have been considered the favorites to land Donovan for weeks, no deal has materialized as yet.
The Royals are also open to moving LH starter Kris Bubic, and could be enticed to move a reliever like John Schreiber or Bailey Falter. The team is seemingly uninterested in moving one of it’s top three starters in Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha or Cole Ragans.
- SP Paul Blackburn is going back to the Yankees:
- After the re-signing of SP Michael King, and the trades of SP Shane Baz and Mike Burrows, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com examines the current state of the top of the SP Market:
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