The Rundown Lite: Imai Decision Looming, Cheaper Bullpen Construction Probably Smarter, Rendon Done

I’ve got very little time and there’s virtually nothing to report at this point, so let’s keep this quick and get to ringing in the new year however you see fit. For the last several years, my family has gone to my sister’s house to spend the evening with her family playing various card games before celebrating the ball drop with milkshakes.

Some team could very well be celebrating their resolution to upgrade their rotation with Tatsuya Imai, who will need to make a decision by Friday. It may actually come today or Thursday because he’ll have to pass a physical before the deal becomes official. The righty has been taking meetings in LA and told Japanese TV he has narrowed his list down to 3-4 teams, and a report out of Japan had the White Sox emerging as a serious contender.

That appears to have been a matter of some details being lost in translation, as subsequent stateside reports say the Sox are merely on the periphery. Everyone gets cagey about this stuff, especially when deadlines are involved, so it’s hard to take anything super seriously until we get something more concrete. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the news drop before the ball.

Buying Bullpens Doesn’t Always Work

Every year, folks get upset about dumpster-diving Jed Hoyer and cheap Tom Ricketts choosing to take a lower-cost route when it comes to bullpen construction. That’s certainly been true this winter, as Hoyer has added five relievers at a cost of around $21 million, which is less than the recent contract signed by former Cub Brad Keller.

If we look at the Cubs’ history with big-money bullpen arms, however, it makes more sense to stick with the clearance section. Consider how much they got out of Héctor Neris, who got $9 million and couldn’t even make it through a full season in Chicago. Or Brandon Morrow, who got $21 million for two years and only pitched 36 games for the Cubs. Craig Kimbrel got $43 million for three years, then earned a total of 39 saves for the Cubs and Sox in that time. Two of those were partial seasons due to his late signing and the pandemic, but still.

Pending future performance, Tanner Scott looks like a bullet they dodged. It’s true that Hoyer’s risk aversion has kept him from making deals many fans would have liked, but it’s hard to find much fault with the way he’s gone about building bullpens. Unless you would rather he’d added three relievers for roughly $34 million AAV, in which case he’s failed miserably.

I’ll be the first to admit I loved the Morrow signing and taking the big swing on Kimbrel when he went unsigned prior to his QO penalties falling off, but that affinity wore off quickly. If you’re going to put together an eight-leg parlay with monster odds, it’s best to wager a small amount and hope it pays off big.

Rendon Restructures Deal, Not Retiring

Anthony Rendon‘s seven-year, $245 million contract with the Angels looked like a potential disaster when he signed it prior to the 2020 season, and it’s only gotten worse with time. After posting 6.8 fWAR for the Nationals in 2019, the third baseman put up a combined 3.7 fWAR across parts of five seasons in Anaheim. He didn’t play more than 58 games in any of those seasons, then missed all of 2025, and never reached double-digit homers.

Then there’s the notion that he really didn’t love playing baseball. While it’s perfectly fine for players to prioritize their families over their jobs, many felt as though Rendon simply took the money and ran. Not that he said or did much to dissuade that thought.

He will not return to the Angels after agreeing to restructure the remaining $38 million of his deal over the next 3-5 years, though he’s not officially retiring just yet. That may happen at some point soon, but the Angels will have to release him in the meantime to clear a roster spot. I will withhold judgment because I don’t know what was going on with Rendon off the field that could have contributed to his lack of production and/or desire, but this is yet another massive misstep in a long history of them for the Angels.

Many organizations have experienced systemic ineptitude, but I don’t know that any can match the high-profile stupidity of an ongoing run that includes Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Tyler Skaggs, and Rendon.

Other News and Notes

• The White Sox have signed Jarred Kelenic to a minor league deal. The No. 6 overall pick by the Mets in 2018 rose to become a top-5 prospect before being traded to Seattle for Edwin Diaz. Kelenic looked like a superstar in the making with massive pop from the left side, but he’s never come close to living up to the hype. He won’t turn 27 until mid-July, so there’s still time to figure something out.
• Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen said that Ketel Marte trade talks won’t continue throughout the offseason, which is really just a matter of admitting they don’t want to keep things open-ended in perpetuity. That could also be an indication of their status in the pursuit of Alex Bregman.
• I really can’t come up with anything else of note to put here, that’s how slow things are right now.

Avatar: Fire and Ash Review

I was going to call it Fire and Ass, mostly because Jim Cameron was pretty clearly up his own with this one, but it really wasn’t that bad. Though the movie was overlong and suffered from pacing problems as a result, it was visually stunning and didn’t seem as heavy-handed with its themes as either of the first two entries. There was a bit of an ick factor with a certain romantic connection that I’ll avoid diving into here, and some of the ancillary storylines could have been trimmed to tighten up the plot.

As far as a popcorn blockbuster goes, this provided everything I was looking for. Even better, it only cost $18 for me to take both kids because our local theater has $6 tickets on Tuesdays.

Be safe tonight and we’ll see you right back here in 2026.