The Bears formally announce that outfielders
Gilbert Murray and
Jorge Lopez will be trade to Shin Seiki. Coming back from the Evas is a package of outfielder
Benton Hawkins, reliever
Sadakuno Nakagawa, swingman
Kyoichi Yoshimura, and three positional prospects from the international complex. For the Bears, it continues a trend of trying to build the farm without completely giving up on today's team.
After an early season knee injury, Murray only played in 34 games for the Bears last year with minimal production and the club still clawed their way into the playoffs. As a result, the new regime got used to playing without him and feel that they can still contend for a playoff berth despite the loss. Jorge Lopez is a PEBA-ready prospect with some upside that the club would have liked to give a shot, but with a logjam of PEBA talent and top prospects in the outfield he would have struggled to find regular at bats even with Murray out the door. In terms of 2025 production, Lopez/Murray combined for +0.3 WAR so Bears fans should rest assured that they are not losing a ton of production from the 2025 cindarella team they loved so much.
Benton Hawkins is the newest Bear and it will be interesting to see how he fits with the club. His .747 OPS in 2025 represents one of the lowest his career and a significant drop off from recent years. At 30 years old, he could be starting a long-term decline but we're thinking there is a little more left in the tank than meets the eye. If he can stay healthy that is... Hawkins missed a lot of time in 2025 with various nagging injuries. Early indications are that the Bears will keep him on the bench against lefties and have him sit some right handed matchups as well. Hawkins is on an interesting contract with $27.3M guaranteed from 2026-28, but zero risk team options for 2029-30 as has agent failed to negotiate a buyout.
The Bears are said to be very excited about Eagle Eye Nakagawa and Kyoichi Yoshimura. Nakagawa has got great stuff and is a former starter from the LRS so we expect to use him heavily in a multi-inning role out of the bullpen. After losing our former closer in a trade, it's not out of the question that he could contend for the closing role, but we think there's a lot of value in the innings that he should be able to eat out of the bullpen. His limited usage in Shin Seiki is a mystery to us, but I think it stems from the fact that the Evas are a simply loaded team. Yoshimura has had some good years that he is not too far removed from, and he will get the chance to compete for a position at the back of the Bears rotation. If he doesn't make the cut, it won't hurt to have another lefty arm out of the bullpen.
There are limited scouting reports on the international prospects coming back to Bakersfield in the deal.
Connor Clavell, a catcher from England, is the most mature and at 20 years old will make his debut in SS-A this season. Clavell profiles to an offensive catcher with power who will need to work on his defense or move to first base.
Ahungena 'Taz' Harun is a 19 year old South African infielder. The Bears think he can be a plus hitter and be satisfactory in the field at the second base position if he meets his potential. The biggest upside prospect of the 3 is first baseman
Clyde Stinton. He's only 17 and recently signed a $611k bonus deal out of England and profiles as a big power lefty first base bat who can struggle with the strikeout.
If you want to look at the positives, which I do... The Bears have filled some holes in the pitching staff, freed up some at bats for younger outfielders, and added quality prospects to the farm, without giving up much production from last years playoff team. A trade of an outfielder was needed to avoid playing dangerous waiver games later, and the filled rotation slots allows us to spend a little bit more in free agency on quality rather than quantity. Go Bears!
Good luck to Gilbert, Jorge, and Kevin's Evas squad. This was a fun negotiation.