Worldwide Sports News

Baltimore Orioles vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, March 14, 2026, 1:05 p.m. ET

Location: LECOM Park, Bradenton, FL

How to Listen: KDKA-FM 93.7

The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home today against the Baltimore Orioles looking to grab a win in Spring Training.

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The slow drip of bad Romy Gonzalez news has reached its inevitable conclusion, as Gonzalez just underwent surgery to repair a tear in his left labrum. Believe it or not, this is not the worst case scenario. He’ll go on the 60-day IL and then likely need a lengthy rehab period, but he should be back sometime in mid-summer. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

Taking Romy’s spot on the roster will be lefty reliever Danny Coulombe, whom we told you about yesterday. It actually sounds like the Sox and Coulombe first approached each other about a deal at the beginning of the offseason, so Coulombe had a relatively stress-free winter watching his kids play soccer and jogging around his Dallas-area neighborhood in his cleats. (CJ Haddad, MLB.com)

Missing most of Spring Training meant that Coulombe missed a little bit of history, as Braiden Ward broke the record for most steals in one spring training, and then went all Ricky Henderson to celebrate. (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)

Despite making history, Braiden Ward remains a big long shot to make the opening day roster. Connelly Early, on the other hand, entered Spring Training legimately hoping to win a spot in the rotation. But while MLB’s service time rules are making that look unlikely right now, he’s trying not to let it affect him. (Christopher Smith, MLB.com)

Early’s fellow rookie fireballer, Payton Tolle, was always less likely to make the big league team out of camp. And he knows exactly why that is and what he needs to work on:

Marcelo Mayer is also competing for a roster spot — at least, that’s what Alex Cora is saying publicly. Mayer has had an up-and-down week amidst an up-and-down spring. And while Cora is pleased that he had two hits in yesterday’s game, he still had some criticism for Mayer’s defense on an attempted double-play. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

If Mayer needs any more defensive tutelage, he can always look to shortstop Trevor Story. Story and ace Garrett Crochet are the two guys Alex Cora is looking at to be clubhouse leaders this season. (Kaley Brown, Boston.com)

If you’ve heard much about RHP John Brebbia, it might have something to do with his beard — which has a story all its own. (More on that in a minute.)

Right now, however, the reliever is working to make the Colorado Rockies as they begin to shore up their Opening Day roster.

Last weekend, Purple Row spoke to Brebbia at spring training to get his thoughts on the rebuilding Rockies, acting as a mentor, and, of course, that beard.

Some background

Brebbia is the kind of journeyman reliever that’s seen a lot of places.

He grew up in Sharon, Massachusetts, and attended Elon University. (In case you’re intrested, he completed his degree in political science a few years ago.) The 35-year-old righty was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 2011 MLB Draft (30th round) and then embarked on his long baseball journey.

On May 28, 2017, Brebbia made his MLB debut against — and this is true — the Rockies.

Brebbia has played for a lot of teams: St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves (twice), and Detroit Tigers. Add to that, he’s had plenty of time on MiLB rosters, too.

He has the kind of arsenal the Rockies looking for. According to Baseball Savant, Brebbia has a four-pitch mix: a four-seamer (49%), a slider (43%), a changeup (7%), and a curveball (1%).

Brebbia has a career 4.04 ERA (3.80 FIP) in 378.1 IP and has accumulated 3.1 fWAR.

According to Baseball Reference, Brebbia has logged 13 games, including 43 plate appearances at Coors Field. He has a 0.93 ERA, allowing 10 hits that resulted in two runs while striking out 10.

Spending time with the Rockies

Brebbia has, admittedly, attended his share of spring training camps. So far, he’s impressed with the “good energy” he’s seen at Salt River Fields from coaches, players, and the performance department.

“It’s just a high energy,” Brebbia said. “There’s a lot of excitement, which I think is so fun. You don’t always, you don’t always get that everywhere.”

Even though he’s new to the Rockies orgnization, Brebbia is not new to some of the Rockies coaching staff since he worked with Gabe Ribas during as time with the Detroit Tigers and Matt Daniels while with the Tigers and San Francisco Giants.

“I think this staff is awesome,” he said. “I think they work well together. I think that they’re they’re all working towards the same goal. I don’t want to say they’re ‘like-minded’ because I think they all can offer different things in different ways.”

He continued, “But there’s a couple things that are philosophy/process-oriented that I think this coaching staff is really grabbing by the reins and using as the foundational driver for pitching success. And I it makes sense. It passes the gut check, it passes the brain check, it passes the computer algorithm check. So I think it’s a really good starting place.”

Brebbia was quick to point out the collaborative nature of the Rockies new coaching staff.

“I feel like the staff will offer input in roughly equal amounts throughout our pitchers meetings,” Brebbia said.

“It might not all be on the same topic. One person could be more pitch sequencing, while the other person is more biomechanical or flight-aerodynamic oriented, but I feel like everyone has an area of pitching that they like or that they’re interested in, or that they are maybe responsible for.”

Plus, the coaching staff is informed.

“I have noticed that throughout our meetings, they all provide input, and you can tell that they’ve done their research and they care about it.”

A lifelong learner

Although Brebbia is older that most of his fellow Rockies bullpen denizens, he doesn’t see himself as a mentor to younger players.

“I learned a heck of a lot more from them than the other way around,” he said, acknowledging that baseball is a fast-changing game.

“Baseball, every few years, you look at it and you’re like, ‘Whoa. Everyone’s a heck of a lot better now than they used to be,‘” Brebbia said. “So I’m doing as much as I can to absorb how the heck everyone here is throwing 1000 miles an hour, and why everyone’s got four pitches that are really good and that break right.”

Then he added, “if there’s anything I can offer, great, but I’m pretty useless, so we’ll see.“

Brebbia is cagey, however, about revealing what he’s working on in terms of his pitch mix.

“I might have a couple,” he said. “I might have six of them. I might have 11 of them.”

But there are definitely some changes in the mix.

“We’ll whittle it down into what will hopefully be the in season arsenal before too long. But yeah, I am working on a handful of things.”

Much of this is consistent with what Brebbia told hosts CJ Nitkowski and Ryan Spilborghs during “Players Week” on “Loud Outs.“

Spilborghs: I had the pleasure last night emceeing a little event with some stakeholders with the Rockies. And we were talking with Paul de Podesta. And Paul was describing this pitching staff and this group of new thinkers, as far as the coaching staff. They brought in Alon Leichman from Miami, Gabe Ribas— I believe he came from the White Sox. You have MattBuschmann, who’s bounced around. What does that make you feel when you know you have a brand new coaching staff? Do you have a feeling, like, they’re just gonna throw stuff up, throw stuff up against the wall. Does that excite you to be a part of that?

Brebbia: I think that you can kind of have two approaches towards seeing that. I know some people are like, “Okay, give me one thing. Let me do this one thing. Let me slow down.” I’m the exact opposite. I would like to be rapid fire shot by a paintball gun with as many things as you can possibly get. And then let’s see what works and what doesn’t work.

I expect tons of failure because I want to try tons of things, and you hope you get a little bit that works out of it, at least. So when I see something like that, I get excited because I’m like, “Oh, cool.”

Baseball is so rapidly moving in — I don’t want to say a new direction. It’s not like technology is new, and the data they’re collecting is new, but it’s it’s advancing very quickly in the direction that it’s going. So I think that when you have a bunch of different thought processes, a bunch of different minds kind of getting together and firing away, I think you can get some really, really special things out of it.

Again, some people can look at it and say, ”That feels messy to me. I don’t like that.” But I think there’s a lot more people that are like, ”That’s pretty cool. Let’s see what happens.” Because if the one way doesn’t work, you have so many other options to go to. So I love being able to see it and then be a part of it.

If there’s one thing that’s been clear since DePodesta became the Rockies president of baseball operations, it’s that anything is on the table — In 2026, the Rockies intend to try a lot of things to see what works. To do that, they are going to need players who are willing to be creative and aren’t afraid to fail.

Brebbia is just the type.

Then there’s there’s the beard

Rockies fans are used to their players making the most of their facial hair — Charlie Blackmon provides an obvious point.

Brebbia, too, has his own approach that he curates during the MLB season in addition to his pitching.

“Years and years ago, 2014 was the first year I had some teammates that shaved and were just going to grow their beards at just for something to do in the middle of the season,” Brebbia said. “I thought, ‘Why the heck not? I’ll do that.’ So I clean shaved and then just let it go.”

Then the magic started.

“It ended up being a year where I was like, ‘Wow, I actually feel like I got a lot better this year.’ I did some really good things and tried to move my career forward. So I did it again the next year, and I felt the same way. And then it just kind of became, it became a thing.”

And so a Brebbian tradition was born.

“I’ll clean shave before the first game of the season spring training,” he said. “I more or less keep it however it is now, but I’ll clean shave right before the first game of the season, and then just let it ride until they tell me the season’s over.”

Look at any in-season photos of Brebbia, and you’ll have a pretty good sense of the month based on his facial hair.

The next question, then, is whether fans and Brebbia will be tracking his beard growth as a Rockie.

Teams are beginning to trim their rosters, so we’ll know soon enough.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:

For the Yankees:

Let’s talk about it.

*In an effort to make the nomination voting easier for everyone, I will comment, “NOMINATIONS”, and you may reply to that with your picks and upvote the player you’d like to see on the next nominee list.

Winner

New nominee

The process for this public vote is explained below. Please take a moment to read this before participating:

• Please only vote for one. The player with the most votes at the end of voting will win the ranked spot. The remaining four players move on to the next ballot where they are joined by a new nominee.
• In the comments, below the official voting, the community will nominate players to be put onto the ballot for the next round. The format for your comment should be “Nomination: Player Name”.
• If a prospect is traded, his name will be crossed out, and all other players will be moved up a space. If a prospect is acquired, a special vote will be put up to determine where that player should rank.

Click on the link here to vote!

* * *

A’s fans top prospects, ranked:

1. Leo De Vries, SS
2. Jamie Arnold, LHP
3. Gage Jump, LHP
4. Wei-En Lin, LHP
5. Braden Nett, RHP
6. Henry Bolte, OF
7. Johenssy Colome, SS
8. Edgar Montero, SS
9. Steven Echavarria, RHP
10. Devin Taylor, OF
11. Mason Barnett, RHP
12. Tommy White, 3B
13. Henry Baez, RHP
14. Zane Taylor, RHP
15. Cole Miller, RHP
16. Gunnar Hoglund, RHP
17. Shotaro Morii, SS/RHP
18. Junior Perez, OF
19. Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, SS
20. Kade Morris, RHP
21. Yunior Tur, RHP
22. Eduarniel Nunez, RHP
23. A.J. Causey, RHP
24. Ryan Lasko, OF
25. XXX

The voting continues! Let’s vote for the 24th-best prospect in the Athletics’ system. Here’s a quick rundown on each nominee— the scouting grades (on a 20-to-80 scale) and scouting reports come from MLB Pipeline.

Nominees on the current ballot:

Breyson Guedez OF

Expected level: Low-A | Age: 18

2025 stats (ROK): 210 PA, .359/.395/.490, 15 doubles, 2 triples, 2 HR, 46 RBI, 14 BB, 20 K, 5 SB

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 40 | Run: 45 | Arm: 45 | Field: 50 | Overall: 40

Guedez has a knack for hitting. His swing is smooth through the zone with good barrel control and impressive hand-eye coordination that allows him to get to pitches both inside and outside of the zone. He does tend to chase at a high rate, though that is not uncommon for a teenager. There isn’t much power to his game at this point, and the A’s are unsure how much will come even as he fills out his 5-foot-11 frame.

Guedez’s defense is considered average with an average arm, which likely limits him to a corner outfield spot. He was one of the more fun players to watch for the A’s player development staff down in the Dominican Republic this past summer, but with his no standout defensive attribute and underwhelming power, he will have to rely on his strong hit tool to carry him through the system.

Clark Elliott, OF

Expected level: Double-A | Age: 25

2025 stats (A+/AA): 386 PA, .251/.395/.422, 20 doubles, 5 triples, 12 HR, 53 RBI, 81 BB, 97 K, 16 SB

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 50 | Run: 60 | Arm: 60 | Field: 50 | Overall: 45

Elliott has a quick bat that enables him to consistently hit quality fastballs for line drives all over the field. There has been some debate as to how much power he might develop, though an increase in home run totals from five in 2021 to 16 in 2022 should give some hope that he can grow into average power at the very least. He has shown some deficiencies against left-handed pitching that he’ll need to improve.

Above-average speed and solid defensive skills make Elliott an asset anywhere in the outfield, though right field was his full-time position at Michigan.

Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang, RHP

Expected level: Double-A | Age: 25

2025 stats (AA): 4.08 ERA, 26 starts (28 appearances), 145 2/3 IP, 145 K, 35 BB, 22 HR, 4.19 FIP

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55 | Overall: 40

Zhuang leans heavily on his four-seam fastball that he can change speeds quite a bit with, throwing heaters that range anywhere from 86-96 mph, though it generally sits in the low-90s. His low-80s changeup has emerged as his best secondary pitch. He also brings a mid-70s curveball, low-80s slider and mixes in a low-80s splitter, providing a decent starter repertoire.

Zhuang, nicknamed ‘Z-Man’ within the organization, did a good job of staying healthy last season to silence some previous injury concerns. But while he has above-average command and enough pitches to remain a starter in the Minors, questions still remain about the effectiveness of his offspeed stuff, especially against higher competition, which could eventually lead to him switching to a bullpen role where his fastball can play up in shorter stints.

Gavin Turley, OF

Expected level: A+ | Age: 22

2025 stats (A): 125 PA, .243/.336/.430, 8 doubles, 0 triples, 4 HR, 20 RBI, 14 BB, 34 K, 0 SB

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 55 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 50 | Overall: 40

Turley falls in line with similar A’s draft picks in recent years — like Denzel Clarke and Rodney Green Jr. — as a toolsy outfielder with some concerns about his ability to make consistent contact. He’s got big power and is able to drive the ball out to all fields with great bat speed, but his strikeout rates throughout his career with the Beavers were somewhat alarming. The question over whether he can hit enough to tap into that raw power is something he’ll have to prove early in his pro career. He has a tendency to chase breaking stuff often, though he mitigates that issue somewhat with his strong ability to draw walks.

A big knock on Turley coming out of college was poor defense, but the A’s believe he is plenty athletic and speedy enough to improve and envision that happening as he grows into his 6-foot-1 frame. His body type and look in the box remind some within the organization of Mark Canha, and he’ll look to move through the system as a power-hitting corner outfielder.

Ryan Lasko, OF

Expected level: Double-A | Age: 23

2025 stats (ROK/A/AAA): 375 PA, .244/.355/.343, 9 doubles, 2 triples, 6 HR, 42 RBI, 46 BB, 86 K, 14 SB

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 40 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 60 | Overall: 40

Lasko is still trying to learn his craft from an offensive standpoint. He brings good plate discipline and bat speed, but pitch recognition is something he’s still working to improve. The A’s have also worked with him to rein in his high intensity during games. The power element he showed in college has also yet to show up much in pro ball.

Defense is Lasko’s calling card. He’s a plus defender in the outfield with a great arm and plays center field fearlessly with high energy. His speed is evident in his range, as well as on the basepaths. He’s another talented center fielder in the A’s system who could one day provide stellar defense in the Majors, but the hit tool is something he’ll have to continue improving to become anything more than a fourth outfielder at the highest level.

* * *

Programming Note: Each CPL vote will run for around 48 hours, so don’t delay in making your vote!

Part of the discussion about the Dodgers Gondola project, which has been largely overlooked to date, concerns what will happen to the parking lots at Dodger Stadium after the project is completed, which is a large if, at this point.

As we have covered, the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) of Dodger Stadium Section 2.1.1, commercial development of the parking lots is wholly dependent on getting mass transportation (as defined in Section 5.1.2), “as including, without limitation, a subway or a lightrail [sic]”) servicing Dodger Stadium.

How a gondola is actually a subway or light rail is a question for another day.

Five years ago, no one would have guessed that the terms ejusdem generis or statutory construction would show up at True Blue LA, but the times they are a-changin.’ Rather than discuss the operation of a gondola system, whose costs are still entirely unknown at this point, or Dodger Stadium Express, whose costs are known to the penny for the next three seasons — a topic we will cover next time, it is time to take a step back.

Everyone is focused on the impending lockout of the sport this coming December, with good reason, but if you take a step back, from the Dodgers’ perspective, the issues underlying the lockout and the Dodgers Gondola project are really the same story, just told from different perspectives.

While the shiny bright object of the pending strife is the question of a salary cap, the underlying story is the allocation of money to franchises, as sourcing has been upended by market changes. The Dodgers have largely been immune to these concerns as they are benefiting from the current system, but they have hardly broken it.

If anything, the organization perfected an imperfect model. When one looks at the landscape of baseball in this context, one should notice three prevailing trends:

1. The Dodgers have the largest television rights deal in the sport (and the incompetence of Frank McCourt and MLB owners is largely to blame).
2. Most other teams have had to deal with the death of the regional sports network model, and
3. Teams are mimicking the Atlanta Braves’ model of serving as commercial landlords to line their own coffers.

Life as a Media Juggernaut

Baseball finances for most teams, apart from the Dodgers, are in flux due to the demise of the regional sports network system. Unlike the NBA and the NFL, which generally rely on national media revenue, other MLB teams are more reliant on regional/local media revenue. Most MLB teams, if not all, except Atlanta, do not make their finances public, so the figures below are not definitive; one would be wise to take them with a grain of salt.

As discussed in depth elsewhere, the Dodgers have a 25-year, $8.35 billion media deal, the largest in the sport.

Maury Brown of Forbes summarized the recently revisited controversy regarding the Dodgers’ alleged sweetheart deal regarding their media rights:

During the bankruptcy sale, McCourt sought to determine what the “fair-market value” of the Dodgers’ media rights might ultimately be, which could be higher than what he had been seeking with FOX when the sale finally closed. These “special terms” determined in the court-controlled proceedings amounted to $84 million annually, with escalators. By setting that figure, it put in motion the revenue-sharing terms for a future deal: the league taking 34% and distributing it to the league’s payees.

As history shows, that projected “fair-market value” was woefully short.

Guggenheim Partners eventually purchased the Dodgers for $2.15 billion in 2012, and said that a key part of their offer was the “special terms” for the projected local media rights. In 2013, the Dodgers went 50/50 with Time Warner Cable to launch Spectrum Sportsnet LA, the new regional sports network launched for the Dodgers in 2014, is a 25-year deal valued at $8.35 billion.

At the time, Maury Brown, then of Baseball Prospectus, reported on the “special terms” in question. The special terms set the Dodgers’ annual TV rights fees from the regional network at about $84 million, plus a 4 percent annual escalator, for the life of the contract the team signed with the network.

Current baseball rules require that big-market teams share 34 percent of regional network rights fees with small-market teams. Unlike NFL franchises, which receive equal shares of league-negotiated TV rights fees, MLB teams have widely varying broadcast revenues. The 34 percent revenue-sharing requirement was intended to level the playing field.

Here, that result did not play out.

Per the Los Angeles Times’ reporting, the average annual value of the Dodgers’ deal is $334 million. Once again, Mr. Brown (this time, from Forbes):

Needless to say, the league and other owners weren’t happy with the 34% of $84 million annually that had come out of the bankruptcy proceedings, but the Dodgers pointed out that those terms were driven by court proceedings.

MLB and the Dodgers did get those figures adjusted, but even so, they come woefully short of the AAV the Dodgers are getting….In 2012, the league steadfastly claimed that “All up-front cash payments and all annual rights fees shall be subject to revenue-sharing under normal principles.” The problem is, “all” was the amount subject to the bankruptcy sale based on the then “fair-market value.”

By allowing Frank McCourt into the club of MLB owners, MLB set in motion a series of events that led to the Dodgers gaining access to wealth beyond the dreams of avarice, something one could not have imagined while the organization was in the throes of bankruptcy.

In 2013, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported that the Dodgers and the league had hashed out a compromise.

After negotiations, MLB and Guggenheim made a modest adjustment, setting the “fair-market value” of the Time Warner deal at about $130 million for the first year rather than $84 million. That figure is used to determine the league’s cut, which for all local TV deals has since increased from 34% to 48%.

Ultimately, under this arrangement, Mr. Brown estimated that the Dodgers would retain an additional $2 billion that they would otherwise have shared with the league over the life of the deal. Needless to say, this figure is a source of agita in some corners of the league, given the financial might the Dodgers have finally unleashed during the past couple of seasons.

While MLB continues to bumble around its media rights, especially given the additional hoops one must jump through to access MLB streaming in 2026, the Dodgers are largely insulated from regional network concerns. This fact stands out, particularly given that the league will assume additional broadcasts in 2026, while the Dodgers glide above such concerns.

The Dodgers have built a financial juggernaut, with reported sponsorships from the Ohtani signing totaling roughly half of the league.

The rest of MLB plays at being commercial landlords

To compensate, the other teams in the league have had to adjust.

In that adjustment, certain realities have started to become painfully clear. Extra money has to come from somewhere. Where the Dodgers have largely risen above the difficulties with media rights, an aspect where the team is stagnant is the development of an alternative revenue stream, namely, commercial landlord income from team-owned land in the direct vicinity of the ballpark.

After all, if local/regional funds are in flux, most teams have scrambled to replace or address this instability by mimicking the Atlanta Braves and their Battery neighborhood. The gist is that the team owns the land around Truist Park and collects rent from its tenants as a year-round source of income.

Accordingly, the question at Dodger Stadium feels like it has shifted from “if the parking lots will be developed” to “when and how the parking lots will be developed,” because the economics of baseball have permanently changed under the system described above. The Dodgers are in no rush to develop the parking lots, but given the Gondola’s likely marginal impact on stadium traffic, there is no logical reason to build the bloody thing unless one were trying to unlock commercial development at Dodger Stadium.

For those who have never been to Atlanta when the Dodgers are around (which is fair because of both distance and objective racism), one might wonder what is around the ballpark: generally, restaurants, venues, and stores with operating hours one might expect in Fresno, California, i.e., things close earlier than one might think, especially on Sunday. The Braves also acquired a nearby six-building office complex, called Pennant Park, in 2025.

As the Braves are owned by a publicly traded company, the franchise is an anomaly in MLB: its books are open, even after being spun off from Liberty Media. On February 25, the team issued a press release regarding its legally mandated filing with the government.

Highlights include:

• Total revenue grew to $732 million in 2025, up 11% from the prior year.
  • Baseball revenue increased 7% from the prior year to $635 million.
  • Mixed-Use Development revenue grew 45% from the prior year to $97 million.
• Total Adjusted OIBDA⁽¹⁾ grew to $108 million in 2025, up 172% from the prior year.
  • Baseball Adjusted OIBDA grew to $51 million in 2025, an increase of over $44 million from the prior year.
  • Mixed-Use Development Adjusted OIBDA grew 51% from the prior year to $69 million.
• Operating income (loss) improved by $26 million to $(14) million, down from $(40) million in the prior year.

What MLB owners are counting on is for most to come up with the following conclusion to these numbers: “Oh no — Atlanta lost just under $30 million last year?!?”

Is Atlanta broke? Not really.

Rob Mains of Baseball Prospectus published a superb breakdown of Atlanta’s books in late February and skewered the league’s likely argument in labor negotiations going forward:

You look at those [negative] numbers and you think, “Geez, a company that has over two-thirds of a billion dollars in revenues loses tens of millions of dollars per year. Baseball must be a money-losing business. No wonder the owners need payroll relief.”

The numbers reported by the Braves are real. They’re not making them up. In fact, they are reviewed by the company’s independent audit firm, KPMG LLC. (See their letter on page III-12.) So why does Forbes, in its annual review of baseball finances, and people like me insist that the industry’s in what the Brits would call rude health?

I am sorry to tell you that I’m going to have to explain accounting. If that’s asking too much—I understand—suffice it to say “Yes, of course, it’s profitable”…

[emphasis added.]

Mr. Mains then describes generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP, pronounced “gap”) for the uninitiated, which standardize the reporting of operating income and net earnings.

Once again, Mr. Mains:

The Braves own, in addition to the ballclub, The Battery, a real estate development adjacent to the ballpark. Real estate entails a lot of depreciation. The roof, the [heating, ventilation, and air conditioning], the furniture, all of it has a limited lifespan. So it generates substantial depreciation charges. But the Braves don’t have to write a check for that. It doesn’t affect their cash flow…

Depreciation and amortization are legitimate charges. They’re supported by GAAP. But they don’t mean the Braves losing money in way most people think of it, i.e., running down their cash balance.

Yes, GAAP says [the Atlanta Braves] are in the red. But Forbes doesn’t. I don’t. Even the Braves themselves don’t. Every quarter, in addition the GAAP amounts, they report “Adjusted OIBDA,” which they define as operating income before various noncash and nonoperating charges that GAAP includes in net income, including depreciation and amortization. They even helpfully include a table showing the difference between Operating income (GAAP) and OIBDA (non-GAAP).

…Which numbers are correct, the GAAP losses or the non-GAAP gains? I had a career as a financial analyst, using the financial statements of companies to develop valuations of the stocks they issued in order to recommend them to investors….I generally used non-GAAP measures to derive valuations. They paint a clearer picture. Look, if the Braves were losing $30 million a year, they wouldn’t be able to borrow money, and they’d be running out of cash.

[emphasis added.]

Moreover, if Atlanta were losing that much money per year, Atlanta would not be able to extend Chris Sale for $27 million/year or make any other major additions, which is a discussion for our eastern colleagues at our sister site, Battery Power. They reported on the financial health of the Braves and concurred with Mr. Mains:

The Braves are a baseball club and also practically a real estate investment trust. Don’t make me tap the sign. It’s boring, but mixed-use development is where they profit the most. And to be honest, they could double their hotels, shops, restaurants, and parking outside the ballpark and still have room to grow.

Event hosting on the Braves’ properties is strong. They said there were 380 total events and concerts in 2025. And of these 147 were held at the Coca-Cola Roxy, 144 on the common areas, and 95 Truist Park events…

…The Braves paid off 21 million dollars in debt this last quarter. Their long term debt is up slightly more than 10 million dollars. Pennant Park cost the Braves 93 million. If you assume the Braves debt obligations are 21 million in a three-month period (as is the case with fixed payments), they have made 84 million dollars in debt payment this year. They did this without touching their revolving debt (kind of like a line of credit) and actually pay it down by 25 million.

So they effectively made almost one Pennant Park-sized property worth of debt payments this year. They appear to have the head room for more purchases. Another way to look at it is that in seven or so years, they can be debt-free. With zero debt payments, they could have pay 84 million dollars worth of players.

The revenue stream from commercial property is the way of the future. Look at every other franchise in MLB, and you will see teams either buying up or developing commercial real estate (hello, San Francisco), trying to relocate to build commercial real estate (hello, Kansas City, to varying success), or building new stadiums (hello, Tampa Bay), even in the face of incompetent ownership (hello, Las Vegas). Even the Cubs are trying to control the rooftops overlooking Wrigley Field.

Moreover, it would not be a difficult leap to imagine that ownership groups would not wish to share this revenue stream with players, even in the unlikely event of a salary cap being imposed/agreed to. If one were looking for a future potential third rail in labor negotiations, splitting the revenues from commercial real estate is an obvious candidate.

The Dodgers do not have this problem — yet.

The Dodgers currently have a literal sea of undeveloped parking lots and are riding high on the figurative hog of the current media deal. However, the Dodgers are not the type of organization to just sit still while the rest of the league rushes to become commercial real estate landlords.

One can be forgiven for forgetting the dark times of previous ownership.

Frank McCourt commissioned the Next 50 plan to modernize Dodger Stadium during his ownership, which clearly did not happen. For those who have forgotten, the original plans, which are still accessible, state the following:

The Dodger Stadium “Next 50” plan features Dodger Way, a ceremonial new “front door” and urban plaza surrounded by an administrative office building for the Dodgers organization; the Dodger Experience an interactive museum showcasing the history of the Dodgers and baseball in Los Angeles; a 20,000 square foot flagship Dodger Store; and the Dodger Cafe. Connecting all the elements of the project is The Green Necklace – a ring of gardens, open plazas, and amenities around the stadium, which moves the fan experience outside the walls of the stadium so they have activities which can extend their time at the ballpark beyond the game. The Top of Park plaza located at the highest elevation on site will feature breathtaking 360 degree views spanning the Downtown skyline and Santa Monica Bay, the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains, and the Dodger Stadium diamond. Other features within the Green Necklace are two, 8-level, 900-car parking structures and a series of food service /retail concession clusters.

While the Guggenheim Group has upgraded Dodger Stadium during its ownership tenure, most notably by finally giving the stadium a badly-needed front door with the addition and renovation of Centerfield Plaza, it has never formally or publicly abandoned Next 50.

As we have established, the Next 50 plan cannot be implemented until the CCR requirements are met, which is not possible until the Gondola is completed. And as we have covered these last few years exhaustively, the Gondola Project is far from a sure thing. Still, it would be heartening if stakeholders were having conversations about the effect that any development would have on Dodger Stadium’s neighbors rather than regurgitating the same arguments about the Gondola itself.

While the prep pitchers have dealt with injury, the Detroit Tigers continue to do well in the college ranks. Outside of Jackson Jobe, most of their pitching success on the farm has come from finding undervalued college arms like Troy Melton, Jake Miller, Andrew Sears, Lucas Elissalt, and Jaden Hamm. Other than Melton, the group hasn’t quite broken through at the major league level yet, and the Tigers dealt away a pair of solid young prospects in Josh Randall and Micah Ashman, both college draft picks, in trades last July. For the first time in Scott Harris’ tenure running the club, the Tigers took a college pitcher in the top two rounds last summer when they selected Oklahoma right-hander Malachi Witherspoon with the 62nd overall pick. We’re excited to see his pro debut this spring.

Witherspoon and his twin brother Kyson were both notable prep pitchers and they went to Oklahoma together, eventually heading up the Sooners rotation in their junior seasons. Kyson was the more successful of the two, but Malachi has huge stuff and simply hasn’t been able to refine his command enough. He spent his junior year striking out plenty of batters when he was on, and falling behind too often and giving up walks and homers when he wasn’t. It was a disappointing junior season with an ERA over 5.00 for him, and his draft stock slipped out of the top rounds as a result. The Tigers were apparently confident they could make him a much more consistent strike thrower, and drafted him in the late second round last summer. They paid him full slot value at $1,448,700, so it wasn’t as though they got a discount either. We’ll see if this minor gamble pays off.

The powerfully built, 6’3” right-hander certainly has the stuff to be great. Witherspoon has routinely hit 98-100 mph while sitting comfortably in the 95-96 mph range as a starter. The fourseamer has good riding action with a little cut, and the Tigers, as we mentioned in Michael Massey’s scouting report, seem to be hunting for that shape a bit these days. Tarik Skubal himself is a prime example of a pitcher who can really jam opposing handed hitters with a riding fastball that looks like it should tail back into the strike zone, but never quite does. Thrown inside to right-handers, Witherspoon’s heater does feature a bit more late tailing action that ties hitters up and generates a good whiff rate. The problem remains commanding it, and this has been Witherspoon’s issue since the Jacksonville, Florda native’s days in high school, when his raw stuff was already getting him some notoriety.

Witherspoon backs up the gas with a plus slider in the upper 80’s with a traditional shape. He’ll also throw a cutterish version around 90 mph, and can snap the slider off into more of a sharp, downward diving version for whiffs when he wants it. He also has a good 12-6 power curveball in the lower 80’s. He throws with a really sound delivery and a pretty standard three-quarters look, but doesn’t seem built to turn over circle changeups or sinkers very well. He might be a splitter candidate, or perhaps the beneficiary of seam-shifted changeup like Skubal’s, because otherwise his changeup is well behind his main offerings and shows no signs of developing into a major league caliber pitch.

The big issue here is command, and there isn’t really an obvious flaw in his delivery to pin it on. Oklahoma has a pretty good pitching program, and couldn’t really crack the case in two seasons of working with him after Witherspoon transferred there after a freshman season at the JUCO level. His stride direction can sometimes get a bit out of whack, but otherwise it just seems like rhythm and timing issues that may be tricky to correct. He shows pretty good balance and a nice clean arm path. He gets solid extension and resists well with his lead leg to help generate velo without excessive upper body effort. From the wind-up he does raise his arms up head high and has a pretty high leg kick as well. Perhaps just trimming those moves down a little could make the whole delivery a little more consistent in terms of timing.

If the command doesn’t improve significantly, it may be that Witherspoon ultimately has to simplify his pitch mix and work in relief. So there’s certainly some real relief risk despite his durability and pretty ferocious pitch mix. However, the upside here is definitely as a frontline major league starting pitcher. If he’d thrown more strikes last year the stuff alone would’ve made him an easy first round pick in the draft. If he figures it out he’ll be a top 100 prospect by season’s end.

All his issues have been present for a while and he had plenty of eyes on him in his junior year, so the Tigers must have a plan to help him spot the fastball and avoid the occasional bouts of spiked sliders that plagued his junior year. If they can get him sorted, this is going to look like a steal and Witherspoon could move very quickly toward the major leagues. Presumably he’ll be starting for West Michigan this season as an advanced college starter. If things come together he’ll be in the upper minors by year’s end and could be ready for a debut sometime in 2027.

When a team — say, the Detroit Tigers — has, arguably, one of the best pitchers on the planet — maybe someone like Tarik Skubal — and their control of that pitcher is in its last season, it would make sense to seize the moment and try to win it all.

Further, let’s posit that said team is coming off back-to-back playoff appearances, which indicates some organizational momentum. The only reasonable choice, then, would be to move heaven and earth and build around that player for one last run.

For most of the offseason, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris seemed relatively tame as the team was inactive in the free-agent market while rumors flew that the Tigers might be open to trading Skubal. And then Harris began building seriously for 2026 — as in signing Framber Valdez to a three-year, $115 million contract and bringing back fan favorite Justin Verlander, along with a series of other moves designed to fortify the Tigers as they push their chips to the center of the table.

The question now is whether they did enough.

2025 Record: 87-75 (1st in the AL Central)

Projected FanGraphs 2026 record: 86-76 (1st in the AL Central)

What did they do during the offseason? Well, the Tigers went to work this winter despite a slow start. Besides the aforementioned additions, they extended manager A.J. Hinch, brought back Jack Flaherty (well, he exercised his player option) and Gleyber Torres (accepted a qualifying offer), and made some interesting signings, such as relievers Kyle Finnegan and Kenley Jansen, plus KBO sensation Drew Anderson.

Other minor moves included trading righty Chase Lee for lefty Johan Simon and flipping outfielder Justyn Henry-Malloy for cash.

So, how good are the 2026 Tigers? Well, despite the fact that they did their best to irritate the best and most consistent pitcher in the league with lowball offers, they can actually compete.

Skubal, winner of the last two AL Cy Young awards, remains with the team despite the record gap in arbitration negotiations and the endless trade rumors, so the Tigers begin with a significant advantage. Plus, they’ve added Valdez to an already solid rotation, which also projects to have Flaherty (3.85 FIP last year), Casey Mize (3.87 ERA), and Verlander. Anderson is around in case there’s an injury, and he just put up a 2.25 ERA in 171.2 innings in Korea with 245 punchouts.

Detroit will miss Reese Olson in 2026 after he underwent right shoulder labral repair surgery, but waiting on the farm will be Troy Melton, Keider Montero, and Sawyer Gipson-Long; plus, Jackson Jobe is expected to return from Tommy John surgery in the second half of the season.

Long story short, the Tigers have a deep rotation.

As for the bullpen? The Tigers are mostly solid on this front. They have Jansen, Finnegan, Will Vest, Anderson, Tyler Holton, Brenan Hanifee, Brant Hurter, and Beau Brieske. That group should hold its own.

While there were some clear upgrades acquired in the pitching department, the same can’t be said about the offense. This is largely the same group that ranked 12th last year with a 103 wRC+, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Detroit had nine guys with above-average offensive performance in 2025 in a minimum of 150 plate appearances: Jahmai Jones (159 wRC+), Riley Greene (121), Spencer Torkelson (118), Kerry Carpenter (115), Zach McKinstry (114), Torres (113), Dillon Dingler (109), and Colt Keith (109).

Of course, they also have the jewel of the crown: shortstop prospect Kevin McGonigle, who posted a 182 wRC+ last year in the minors and is at 172 in spring training play. He should be able to break camp with the team and projects as a future star.

The Tigers’ offense is full of steady, above-average guys but lacks one true, difference-making talent. Greene is close, but he is not a superstar. If McGonigle develops as expected, he could fill that void and give Detroit a true star in the position player department.

As things stand right now, the Tigers will fight with the Guardians and Royals for the AL Central and a place in the postseason. If they consider themselves out of it, there is a chance they ultimately flip Skubal for prospects ahead of the deadline, but they should be good enough to make one last run with their ace before he hits free agency.

More Pinstripe Alley MLB team season previews can be found here.

The final two weeks of camp are way more important than the first two but the heat is on between Dylan Moore and Bryan De La Cruz for the final spot on the 26-man roster.

The 13th position player may not play much at all with how Rob Thomson has the roles aligned. Edmundo Sosa acts as the backup infielder who might platoon with Bryson Stott. Otto Kemp is probably platooning in left field with Brandon Marsh and is the primary fourth outfielder. Rafael Marchán will have the hardest job in baseball, being the backup catcher to JT Realmuto.

So there isn’t much wiggle room for the final position player. The Phillies carried Kody Clemens for the first three weeks of 2025 and appeared in seven games with just six plate appearances. Things could always change injuries occur of course.

A good way to measure a hitter’s performance in spring training is by looking at their average exit velocity and launch angle. The limited sample size against questionable competition doesn’t allow for massive conclusions, but it can at least tell you who’s seeing the ball well. Raw results can also get weird in a sample size this short.

Bryan De La Cruz has crushed the ball in camp with a 97 mph average exit velocity and 15 degree launch angle. He has made consistent hard contact even if there are a few too many strikeouts in there. The results have been there with a .478 slugging and batting average over .300.

Dylan Moore is not getting the same results but has hit the ball hard too with a 93.9 mph exit velocity and optimal launch angle. There have been less strikeouts but he hasn’t seen the ball drop too often.

With both having good springs, it will make for an interesting final two weeks to see who’s still hot.

Roster fit and path to least resistance probably favor Moore here. If the Phillies want Kemp to be the primary platoon partner for Brandon Marsh in left field, it would make more sense to send De La Cruz to AAA. Moore gives them more positional versatility with being able to play seven different positions.

According to Matt Gelb on the podcast Phillies Therapy, Moore has an opt-out five days before spring training and De La Cruz is not until later in the season. If the Phillies want to keep both, Moore would be easier to pick.

After all of this, it might be Garrett Stubbs. Guy is a winner.

Jonathan Bowlan

Bowlan’s performance has been mixed through Grapefruit League games but there are two main takeaways. The first is that the fastball looks really tough to hit. He will throw it at the top of the strike zone but his delivery makes it hard for hitters to pick up while having good velocity.

This was the big reason the Phillies traded for him. In 2025 with the Royals, Bowlan’s four-seam fastball generated a whiff rate of 43.5% in a limited, but not super small sample size.

The other is that the way he pitches might leave for a bit of variance. His fastball is going to often miss high, which might be easier for hitters to take. He also might tend to miss high with his breaking balls which could cause some damage problems. Spencer Jones crushed a hanging slider from him on Tuesday.

It wouldn’t be correct to say he has terrible control because Bowlan can throw strikes but there could be a home run problem going from Kauffman to Citizens Bank Park.

In a recent post by MLB Pipeline, they made predictions for every farm system heading into the 2026 season, and their outlook for the Houston Astros system was fairly bullish.

The Astros enter the 2026 season without a Top 100 prospect on Pipeline’s list for the third time in the last five years, but that doesn’t mean the system lacks talent.

Their bold prediction is that the Astros will have three Top 100 prospects by the end of the 2026 season. The three players they project to make the list are:

Kevin Alvarez – Alvarez was signed by the Houston Astros this past winter for $2 million, one of the largest international bonuses the organization has ever handed out. Just 17 years old, Alvarez was widely regarded as one of the top pure hitters in the 2025 international signing class. A left-handed hitter with an advanced approach at the plate, he projects for above-average power and stands out as a well-rounded athlete with a strong arm and solid defensive instincts. Alvarez backed up the hype in his first professional season, hitting .300 with 12 doubles, three triples, two home runs, 33 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases over 47 games.

Ethan Frey – Frey was selected by the Houston Astros in the third round of the 2025 MLB Draft, with the team going over slot to secure his signing. The former LSU Tigers baseball standout broke out during his junior season, batting .331 with 15 doubles, 13 home runs, and 50 RBIs over 62 games. Standing 6’6”, Frey combines impressive size with surprising athleticism and speed. He offers above-average raw power and currently has the tools to handle center field. The 21-year-old impressed in his professional debut, hitting .330 with five doubles, three home runs, and 17 RBIs while drawing 20 walks against 25 strikeouts.

Xavier Neyens – Neyens was selected by the Houston Astros in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft and signed for $4.12 million, the organization’s largest signing bonus since Alex Bregman received $5.9 million in 2015. A left-handed hitter out of Mount Vernon High School in Washington, Neyens possesses some of the most impressive raw power in the 2025 draft class. Standing 6’4″ and weighing 210 pounds, Neyens projects as a potential middle-of-the-order bat thanks to his powerful swing and advanced hitting ability.

If these three prospects take the steps forward that MLB Pipeline predicts, the Houston Astros farm system could quickly gain more national attention. While the system may lack a current Top 100 prospect, the talent is there for a few players to break out in 2026. A strong season from this group could reshape the perception of the Astros’ pipeline.

Earlier this week, I asked you this question via the SB Nation Reacts survey: How many games will the Cubs win this year?

The overwhelming majority of those who voted in the survey said the Cubs will win at least 90 games:

Eighty-five percent of you said the Cubs will win between 90 and 99 games, with the plurality (47 percent) saying the sweet spot is between 90 and 94.

The Cubs, as you know, won 92 games last year — and that was after a 59-39 start. That’s a winning percentage of .602. If the Cubs had continued to play at that percentage the rest of 2025, they’d have won 98 games. Personally, I think the 2026 Cubs are a better team than last year’s and I was in the “95 to 99” group.

Of course, there are a lot of variables here — injuries, unexpected good or bad years, luck, etc.

But the Cubs, in my view, go into this year as the clear favorites to win the NL Central.

Here are the two national questions asked in this week’s survey:

I think there should be some concern, especially after Atlanta outfielder Jurickson Profar tested positive for the second time and is facing a suspension for all of 2026. I think it’s in between “not at all” and “it’s a major problem.”

I would agree with this vote. Profar’s first suspension cost him half of last year, now he’s likely going to miss all of this year (he’s appealed, but it’s unclear whether he can do that under MLB’s Joint Drug Agreement with the MLBPA).

Thanks for participating in this week’s survey!

This edition of SB Nation Reacts is sponsored by FanDuel.