Major League Baseball’s offseason is likely to slow down due to the upcoming holidays, but teams still have a few days to do some winter shopping before Thanksgiving. Below, CBS Sports has compiled all of Sunday’s most notable rumors and transactions in one convenient place.
Tigers, others interested in Helsley as starter
According to The Athletic, the Tigers are one of several teams interested in signing reliever Ryan Helsley and converting him into a starter.
The 31-year-old Helsley has never started a game in the major leagues and has not made a professional start at any level since 2018. Still, teams hope he can follow in the footsteps of Reynaldo Lopez, Michael King and Clay Holmes, among others, and make a change in the rotation.
Helsley had a 4.50 ERA (92 ERA+) and 2.52 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 58 appearances between the Cardinals and Mets last season. He has struggled with command throughout his career and has issued nearly four walks per nine innings. Helsley has three pitches that fall into the average or better category: his fastball and two breaking balls, although he rarely uses his curveball.
The Tigers are believed to be looking for a starting pitcher regardless. whether they keep it or not Ace Tarik Skubal, who is set to hit free agency after next season.
Veterans interested in Imai
According to MLB Network’s John Morosi, you can count the Giants among suitors for incoming Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai. The 27-year-old Imai was recently posted for MLB consideration by the Saitama Seibu Lions of the NPB. He will have until January 2 to sign a deal with an MLB team. Lions will receive a posting fee proportionate to the value of his signed contract.
Here’s what CBS Sports wrote about Imai when ranking him as the 12th best available free agent:
Relative to how front offices view hitters transferring from NPB, pitchers are almost a given. There are too many success stories to base the decision on differences in ball and schedule or to suggest that it would have a devastating impact on the talent concerned. This is good news for Imai’s stock. He is fresh off an impressive season in which he posted a 1.92 ERA and 3.96 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 163 innings. He has mid-90s velocity and a forkball-like slider that he delivers from a low release point. Imai isn’t far from struggling with his command (it took him until his seventh professional season to walk fewer than four batters per nine innings), but teams confident in his strikethrowing ability can envision him becoming at least the No. 3 starter next spring.
Logan Webb and Robbie Ray will lead the San Francisco rotation in 2026 and Landon Rupp was looking like a solid starter before his August injury, but there’s a question mark beyond that.
The Giants are likely to face stiff competition for Imai’s services, with the usual highrollers – the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and Cubs – also looking like potential contenders.
The Giants have made several accomplishments since installing longtime catcher Buster Posey as their top executive. These included signing shortstop Willie Adams, trading for infielder Rafael Devers, and hiring former college coach Tony Vitello as their new captain.
Cubs looking for top starter
The Cubs have already added some notable pitchers to their staff this winter, including left-handed starter Shota Imanaga returning after accepting a qualifying offer and reliever Phil Maton. Multi-year agreement agreedYet that doesn’t mean Chicago is done purchasing quality weapons,
Instead, the Cubs continue to search for a front-of-the-rotation starter, according to Sadahev Sharma of The Athletic.
If the Cubs add their starter via free agency, they could pursue Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, Michael King, Ranger Suarez, or Zack Gallen, among other options. Sharma says it’s possible the Cubs’ addition comes via a trade, however, Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera could be named as a potential target.
The Cubs rotation currently consists of Imanaga, Horton, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea or Xavier Assad. Justin Steele, who had elbow surgery last spring, is also expected to return sometime during the summer.
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