About the Off-Season: Scattered Musings

About the Off-Season: Scattered Musings:

Yesterday, the Orioles acquired Shane Baz

By Tim Kabel

December 20, 2025

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We are five days away from Christmas and there are only 11 days left in the year. 2026 will be here in the blink of an eye and so far, the Yankees have done... not very much. They re-signed Ryan Yarbrough, Tim Hill, and Amed Rosario. That's it. I will now share some thoughts regarding the Yankees, Baseball in general, and other matters of a seasonal nature.

• On December 19th, 1843, Charles Dickens published, A Christmas Carol. Ever since then, it has been appearing annually and it is truly a classic. Amazingly, people never seem to grow tired of it. My friend Roger was given a signed copy by Dickens himself who actually referred to Roger as “little dickens." Ironically, the expression, “What the dickens”, was coined by William Shakespeare in The Merry Wives of Windsor in the late 1500s and obviously had nothing to do with Charles Dickens. Now, I'm not going to say that my friend Roger saw the original production of The Merry Wives of Windsor in person. I do have my limits. Besides, he couldn't get the day off from work to see the play.

  
  

• Yesterday, the Orioles acquired Shane Baz from Tampa Bay. They have already added Pete Alonso, Taylor Ward, and Ryan Helsley. That's just a bit better than what the Yankees have done so far. The Red Sox have made additions. The Blue Jays have made additions. The Rays are building for the future but, they will probably be contenders fairly soon. The Yankees signed an 18-year-old kid from the Netherlands and a few guys who have bounced around the minor leagues. Frankly, when I heard that Tyler Austin was returning to the Major Leagues after six years in Japan, I was convinced the Yankees would be the team to sign him. Instead, he signed with the Cubs.

  
  

• At least, the Yankees did clear a roster space, not that they seem to have any intentions of using it. They granted Allan Winans his release so he could go pitch in Japan. He will probably come back in six years. Maybe the Yankees will sign him then. I know there is still time. I know there has not been a ton of activity, but there has been activity. The Orioles have improved a tremendous amount. They do not appear to be finished. The Blue Jays have improved. The Red Sox have added players. I don't know how much they've actually improved but they've done a few things. I know Brian Cashman likes to lie in the weeds and then suddenly spring out. I think this time he might have fallen asleep in the weeds.

  
  

• Yesterday, the Rays also traded Brandon Lowe to the Pirates in a three-team deal with the Astros. The San Diego Padres not only signed Michael King, but they also signed infielder Sung Mun Song (didn't Neil Diamond sing that?) from the KBO. In 2025 Song hit 26 home runs with 25 stolen bases in 144 games and was named the 2025 KBO player of the year by his peers. The Phillies traded left-handed reliever Matt Strahm to the Kansas City Royals for right-handed reliever Jonathan Bowlan. Strahm was a 2024 All-Star. Perhaps Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner are not aware that Major League teams can acquire players at this time of the year. Maybe they are watching all the film versions of A Christmas Carol and munching on popcorn instead of making deals. Who could blame them?

  
  

• Today is Saturday, December 20th. The deadline to sign Munetaka Murakami is Monday. Of the players posted to the MLB from Japan this offseason, he is the first one who will reach his deadline. There have not been a lot of rumors about his signing. It will be very interesting to see where he goes. He's a powerful left-handed hitter but he's not considered to be a great fielder and he does strike out a lot. Essentially, he is a younger left-handed version of Giancarlo Stanton. At one point, Murakami was linked to the Yankees but there has not been a lot of that talk lately. Once his situation is resolved, the attention will fully switch to Tatsuya Imai, Kazuma Okamoto, and to a lesser extent Kona Takahashi. The Yankees have been heavily linked to both Imai and Okamoto. The best thing about this is that these players have deadlines as part of the posting system. As noted, Murakami’s deadline is Monday. Imai must be signed by January 2nd and Okamoto and Takahashi have until January 4th to be signed. In other words, within the next two weeks, all four of these players should be under contract with a Major League team. Even if the Yankees don't sign any of them, it will provide clarity as to what the Yankees will be doing.

  
  

• Yesterday, Aaron Boone was distributing food and toys to local families at a police precinct in the Bronx. That is a wonderful gesture on his part and on behalf of the Yankees. I applaud him for doing that. If only he had restricted his activity to that, there wouldn't be a problem. He didn't. He stated the following regarding the Yankees postseason activities thus far, “It's probably not finished, there will be tweaks I'm sure up until Spring Training.” “Probably not finished”? “Tweaks?" Everyone knows the Yankees need to acquire more pitching, both starting and relief, more offense whether that is in the form of Cody Bellinger or Corey Seager or Bo Bichette or, well anybody. Yet, Boone suspects the Yankees are not finished. I understand he can't panic or fall to pieces in the middle of the police station. But there had to be a better way to say it.

  
  

  Anyway, one of the things that perturbs me regarding Aaron Boone, Brian Cashman, and to some extent Hal Steinbrenner is their air of superiority and smugness when they speak to the media. They act as if they're speaking to a confused child and are barely tolerant of their audience. The Yankees have not won the World Series since 2009. They have played in a World Series once since 2009 and lost. They didn't look good losing that World Series either. Yet, Boone and Cashman sort of shake their head with mild annoyance and act as if they have won dozens of World Series. It reminds me of the old Pink Panther movies when Inspector Clouseau would act as if he was the greatest detective in the world. His actions and statements smacked of superiority and omniscience. The difference is that he was a fictional character, he was hysterically funny, and he always eventually succeeded. He finished the job. Brian Cashman hasn't finished the job since 2009. Aaron Boone hasn't ever finished the job. They need to have more of a sense of urgency and focus. Now Inspector Clouseau always said when he left to work the case, “Until I return, and the case is solved.” No matter how preposterous his actions were, the case was eventually always solved. With Boone and Cashman, nothing has been solved .