The Opener: Holiday Rush, Starting Pitching Free Agents, Murakami

Here are three things we’re keeping an eye on going into the final weekend before the holiday break…

1. Last-minute shopping?

The hot stove tends to slow down a bit around the holidays and Christmas is on Thursday next week. Will that spur teams and players to get some things done before the shops close? Already this morning, before this post could even go up, the Padres agreed to a deal with Sung Mun Song and the Phillies traded Matt Strahm to the Royals for Jonathan Bowlan.

2. Rotation market moving?

The starting pitching section of free agency has been moving a bit slower than other segments. The Blue Jays quickly snapped up Dylan Cease but then things went quiet for a few weeks. Things have seemingly picked up a bit, as Michael King, Merrill Kelly, Dustin May and Adrian Houser have come off the board in the past week. Tatsuya Imai, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez, Zac Gallen and others are still out there and could perhaps see their markets pick up.

3. Ticking clock for posted players.

Players coming from NPB or KBO who are posted for MLB clubs only have a set amount of time to negotiate deals. Song got a deal done just before his posting window was set to close. Munetaka Murakami is now the one with the least amount of sand in the hourglass, as his posting window closes on December 22nd. Imai and Kazuma Okamoto have until early January but might want to get something done before the holidays.

Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images