{"id":395161,"date":"2026-01-06T11:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T11:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/395161\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T11:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T11:00:13","slug":"this-week-in-free-agency-12-28-1-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/395161\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Free Agency: 12\/28 – 1\/4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not a ton of action last week what with the holidays and everything. Not an excuse for being a day late though, sorry about that. <\/p>\n

#20 \u2014 Tatsuya Imai, SP (HOU)
3 years, $54 million
Multiple opt-outs included<\/p>\n

Something of a surprise that Imai didn\u2019t get more but this allows him some runway in the same way Murakami\u2019s contract with the White Sox does. If he\u2019s good, he\u2019ll make a lot of money next year. If he\u2019s bad, he simply won\u2019t opt out.<\/p>\n

\"Tatsuya<\/a><\/p>\n

#28 \u2014 Tyler Mahle, SP (SFG)
1 year, $10 million<\/p>\n

Good move for the Giants. Mahle missed half the season but was outstanding when he was healthy. If he can maintain that success, the combination of him, Logan Webb and Robbie Ray make for a nice rotation for San Francisco at a very reasonable price. They\u2019ve also added Adrian Houser at the backend.<\/p>\n

#35 \u2014 Kaz Okamoto, 1B (TOR)
4 years, $60 million<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t really say I get this one. It\u2019s a very reasonable payout but where is Okamoto going to play? Toronto says he\u2019ll be a super utility player, but they already have one of those in Ernie Clement. Can\u2019t say I get this one.<\/p>\n

#69 \u2014 Zach Eflin, SP (BAL)
1 year, $10 million<\/p>\n

Makes sense. Eflin\u2019s had a lot of health issues but when healthy, he\u2019s quite good. Solid middle-of-the-rotation depth.<\/p>\n

#130 \u2014 Kirby Yates, RP (LAA)
1 year, $5 million<\/p>\n

There was a real chance Yates might retire after crashing and burning in LA but he gets another shot with the other LA team. If he assumes Kenley Jansen\u2019s previous role at closer, things get interesting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Yates was the #22 overall free agent after his 2024 season and even got his own graphic. Relievers sure are a volatile bunch, aren\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

#172 \u2014 Jarred Kelenic, OF (CHW)
Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Man, remember when Kelenic was a top prospect in the game? Feels like eons ago but he\u2019s still just 26.<\/p>\n

#190 \u2014 Nic Enright, RP (TOR)
2-year Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Enright had a nice run with Cleveland but will miss the entire 2026 season, hence the two-year MiLB deal.<\/p>\n

#208 \u2014 Alexander Canario, OF (NPB)
Terms undisclosed<\/p>\n

#212 \u2014 Nabil Crismatt, SP (TEX)
Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Crismatt actually did a pretty nice job as a starter for the Diamondbacks last year despite essentially never starting in the majors prior.<\/p>\n

#220 \u2014 Josh Winckowski, RP (TOR)
2-year Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Same story as Nic Enright except he was terrible in 2025.<\/p>\n

#231 \u2014 Orlando Arcia, UT (MIN)
Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Another case of \u201chow the mighty have fallen.<\/p>\n

\"Orlando<\/a><\/p>\n

Pedro Avila, RP (CLE) \u2014 1 year, split salary<\/p>\n

Blake Hunt, C (SDP) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Jose Azocar, OF (ATL) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n

DaShawn Keirsey Jr., OF (ATL) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Nick Hernandez, RP (Athletics) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n

Scott Effross, RP (DET) \u2014 Minor League deal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not a ton of action last week what with the holidays and everything. Not an excuse for being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-395161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}