Anatoliy Trubin’s 98th-minute goal was the highlight of a dramatic night on which all the English teams bar Newcastle finished in the top eight
Napoli Meret, Di Lorenzo, Juan Jesus, Buongiorno, Spinazzola, Lobotka, McTominay, Olivera, Vergara, Elmas, Hojlund.
Subs: Contini, Spinelli, Gutierrez, Lukaku, Beukema, De Chiara, Garofalo.
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Let me paint you a picture of basketball karma that’s almost too perfect to be real.
Andrew Wiggins gets traded to Miami for Jimmy Butler. The Warriors throw a tribute video for Wiggins that damn near made me tear up. Then, in what feels like a cosmic joke, Jimmy Butler tears his ACL against his former team in Miami. Meanwhile, Jonathan Kuminga (who requested a trade and fell completely out of Steve Kerr’s rotation) suddenly has value again because the Warriors desperately need a wing with Butler down.
And where’s Wiggins? Out in South Beach playing solid two-way basketball like he never left the Bay Area. So here’s the question that’s got Dub Nation’s head spinning: What if the Warriors just… brought Wiggins back? What if they traded Kuminga to Miami for the guy they shipped out about a year ago?
Before you laugh this off as fantasy, remember: the Warriors have done this before.
They traded James Wiseman—the #2 overall pick from 2020—to get back Gary Payton II, a player they’d literally let walk. When you realize you were wrong, or when circumstances change the equation, Golden State has shown they’re not too proud to hit the undo button. That’s not weakness. That’s organizational wisdom.
The basketball fit makes sense in ways that should scare us. Wiggins knows this system inside and out. He knows the defensive rotations, the offensive flow, the culture. There’s zero learning curve. He’s already proven he can be the second-best player on a championship team while guarding the opponent’s best wing every night.
Kuminga, for all his athletic gifts and potential, has been maddeningly inconsistent. He wanted out. Kerr clearly doesn’t trust him in big moments. And although I want every Warriors pick to dominate here in the Bay, Miami’s developmental track record with young wings could be helpful for him. Maybe a change of scenery unlocks something in JK that Golden State couldn’t?
But here’s where it gets complicated, and why I’m not saying I want this to happen; I’m just saying I’m fascinated that it could happen. The return of Wiggins after the Warriors traded him for something better in Butler would be absolutely hilarious. I spent years defending Wiggins when the entire basketball world called him a bust. I wrote Dub Nation a love letter about his play when he left. I celebrated that 2022 championship harder than anyone because it vindicated everything I believed about Maple Jordan. So yeah, part of me would love to see #22 back in blue and gold.
But the other part of me wonders if the circumstances that made Wiggins great here were lightning in a bottle. That nostalgia is a hell of a drug, especially when you’re watching Steph’s window close in real-time. The Warriors are shuffling their deck before the trade deadline, trying to give Curry the best hand possible. Whether that includes a Wiggins return is anyone’s guess.
All I know is this: if it happens, Wiggins Island is about to experience a real estate boom.
What do you think, Dub Nation? Am I crazy for even entertaining this? Drop your thoughts below.
Wednesday’s Celtics-Hawks game feels like a fresh coat of paint on an old car. Boston is competing for the top of the East, while the Hawks take their appointed place in the play-in tournament. An offseason full of attrition for the Celtics (that directly helped the Hawks) seemingly changed nothing. Funny sport we have here.
When these two teams met a couple of weeks ago, it was an utter blowout in the C’s favor. What do they have to do this time for a similar result? Let’s break down the key matchups and set plays.
Jalen Johnson’s breakout season has been the one thing keeping the Hawks from disaster. As they navigated the end of the Trae Young era, it has been Johnson’s offensive play that keeps their heads above water. But he sure has his flaws.
Atlanta has maintained a 78th percentile defensive rating with Johnson on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass. But that’s not much of a credit to JJ; outside of his defensive rebounding, which is excellent, he’s not bringing a lot to the table defensively. And the Celtics know that.
There wasn’t much complexity to the Boston gameplan in the first matchup. See Jalen, put Jalen in action, profit. His penchant for giving up soft switches and getting lost in rotation is a huge boon for a team that wants to attack mismatches and shoot as many threes as possible.
Perhaps this time around, Boston will up the complexity, adding some Spain/Stack PNRs and double-drag actions. Those extra layers of communication will put extra strain on Atlanta’s defense to cover for Johnson. But the most likely scenario is that they keep it simple and bring whoever he is guarding into a direct ball screen. As you saw above, it sure does work.
Atlanta has no problem stacking overlapping skill sets. They view that as a strength, not a weakness. One skillset they have in spades is pull-up shooting, especially coming out of dribble handoffs. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert, Luke Kennard, and Vit Krejci are all capable PU3 shooters off the dribble. Atlanta also has plenty of capable DHO operators: Onyeka Okongwu, Mo Gueye, and the aforementioned Jalen Johnson.
If you’re not active, denying the pull-up shots over these dribble handoffs, Atlanta can bury you in a hurry. They generated a whole bunch of looks in the first matchup.
Luckily for the Celtics, a lot of those shots came up wanting. They were able to play in drop and let the screen navigation dictate the shot. If they’re less lucky in this game, I’m curious whether or not Mazzulla adjusts the game plan to blitz these dribble handoffs and run them off the line
A key to this Atlanta team has been the development of Mouhamed Gueye. The young big is a defensive wizard, and his ability to survive on the perimeter on both ends of the floor makes him ideal for double-big pairings. So far, the Gueye-Onyeka Okongwu duo has been on the floor for 15.7% of Atlanta’s total possessions this season. It’s a combination that is becoming integral to their lineups.
That has not been a fruitful pairing so far, with a -8.3 net rating. They have weaknesses to exploit, and the Celtics will have to be wise to take advantage. Both players are young, and while they are great defenders, they can be thrown off when making unconventional rotations.
If the Celtics are crisp in their ball movement and relocations, there are plenty of threes and layups to be had against this lineup. But you also have to account for the size concerns; Okongwu is good at posting up mismatches, and those two can hit the glass hard against smaller competition. Sam Hauser is the key here as an excellent floor spacer with size; it’s no coincidence that his 30-point, 10/21 three-point shooting night came against these Hawks.
I hope you feel a bit more prepared for this game. Now kick back and bask in some Celtics excellence.
The Golden State Warriors are still adjusting to life without Jimmy Butler. Luckily for the Dubs, they get another cupcake matchup to work things out as they visit the Utah Jazz as 9.5-point road favorites.
My Warriors vs. Jazz predictions expect De’Anthony Melton to step up in Butler’s absence, with tip-off set for 9:00 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City.
Read more in my NBA picks for Wednesday, January 28.
Warriors vs Jazz best bet: De'Anthony Melton Over 2.5 assists (+150)
One player who has seen an uptick in production with Jimmy Butler sidelined is De’Anthony Melton.
The Golden State Warriors guard has averaged 16 points and 3.5 assists per game in the four contests since Butler’s injury, and I like him to deliver another productive night against the Utah Jazz.
Utah is arguably the worst defensive team in the NBA, ranking last in both defensive rating and opponent points per game. The Jazz also sit at the bottom in opponent assists per possession, and oddsmakers have seemingly overlooked Melton’s improved assist numbers with Butler out.
Utah surrenders the most 3-point attempts and makes per game in the Association, and the Jazz have allowed Steph Curry to score 31 points in both previous meetings.
Another player who could step up with Butler out is Moses Moody. He’s been cleaning lately, averaging 4.8 rebounds over his last five contests.
If the first three legs of this SGP hit, the Dubs likely cover this number as well.
The Jazz have hit the game total Over in 32 of their last 45 home games (+17.70 Units / 36% ROI). Find more NBA betting trends for Warriors vs. Jazz.
| Location | Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT |
| Date | Wednesday, January 28, 2026 |
| Tip-off | 10:00 p.m. ET |
| TV | NBCS-Bay Area, KJZZ |
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After six long games, injured Philadelphia Flyers goalie Dan Vladar is expected to make his return to the ice and reclaim his place as the club's starter.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Flyers announced that Vladar, 28, was activated from injured reserve, signaling his official return.
In a corresponding transaction, top goalie prospect Aleksei Kolosov was returned to the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Vladar hasn't played for the Flyers since a 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 14; the Czech netminder saved four of the six shots he faced before departing with a lower-body injury at the end of the first period.
Kolosov started only one game for the Flyers in Vladar's absence, ceding three goals on three shots in a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers.
Flyers Activate Big Defender & Send Another To AHLThe Flyers have made some roster moves. The Belarusian's other appearance with Vladar on the shelf came in relief of Ersson, when Kolosov made 13 saves on 16 shots in a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Ersson, who retains his hold on the Flyers' backup goalie job with Kolosov failing to impress in limited action, went 2-2-1 over the last six games, allowing 19 goals, making 130 saves on 149 shots, and posting a 3.61 GAA and .872 save percentage.
Those numbers are far from ideal, regardless of how the Flyers performed in front of him, and now Vladar, who is now fully healthy and ready to go, will jump back into the driver's seat with Philadelphia's season on the line.
Ex-Flyers Goalie Dominating for NHL's Hottest TeamStop me if you've heard this one before, but a former <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> goalie is dominating for one of the NHL's hottest teams, and it may not be who you expect.
The Metropolitan Division rival Columbus Blue Jackets will host the Flyers at Nationwide Arena at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
Just a day after I wrote about the Brewers notably inviting two catchers to spring training, they’ve tacked on another catcher to that group.
Veteran catcher Reese McGuire, who spent last season with the Cubs, has agreed to a minor league deal with Milwaukee with an invite to major league spring training, per Curt Hogg.
McGuire, 31 in March, was a first-round pick by the Pirates back in 2013. He’s appeared in parts of eight MLB seasons with four different teams, including the Blue Jays, White Sox, Red Sox, and Cubs. His best season came back in 2019, when he appeared in 30 games for Toronto and totaled 1.0 bWAR, hitting .299/.346/.526 with five homers and 11 RBIs.
He appeared in 44 with Chicago in 2025, functioning as the primary backup to Carson Kelly. He hit .226/.245/.444 with nine homers, 24 RBIs, and 17 runs scored. He’s also considered an above-average catcher in terms of framing, blocking, and his throwing arm, catching eight of 31 would-be stealers in 2025 (25.9%) and sporting a career caught-stealing rate of 27.1%.
While William Contreras is the clear starter behind the plate for Milwaukee, McGuire will compete with Jeferson Quero and a few other minor leaguers for the backup job this spring. If the coaching staff feels that Quero needs a little more time to develop, it isn’t inconceivable that McGuire breaks camp with the major league squad at the end of March.
McGuire also doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, so if he enters the season on the Brewers’ MLB roster, the team won’t be able to option him whenever Quero is ready.
Is any player off limits?
With the trade deadline a week away, Giannis Antetokounmpo has become the biggest name to watch on the market, and the Knicks have hovered around the center of the conversation all season.
From a salary standpoint, a one-for-one deal centered on Karl-Anthony Towns is the cleanest match for both teams. But if you’re talking purely basketball, a straight swap tells a different story, with Towns coming up just a tier below Giannis.
Across 13 seasons, Antetokounmpo has posted career averages of 24 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists per game, along with a steal and a block on a nightly basis.
Towns, over 11 seasons with two franchises, has put up similar numbers, 23 points and 11 rebounds per game, but with less playmaking and defensive impact, averaging three assists and fewer than one steal and block per game.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Giannis Antetokounmpo have built markedly different résumés that reflect their contrasting career arcs. Towns burst into the league as the 2016 NBA Rookie of the Year and has since developed into a perennial All-Star, earning one All-NBA Third Team selection while redefining what is possible offensively for a center. A 2022 NBA Three-Point Contest champion, Towns is widely regarded as the greatest shooting big man in league history, combining volume, efficiency, and range in a way few frontcourt players ever have. Giannis, meanwhile, has authored one of the most decorated careers of his era. The two-time NBA MVP, 2021 NBA champion, and Finals MVP has also captured a Defensive Player of the Year award, made multiple All-NBA First Teams and All-Defensive First Teams, and cemented his legacy with a historic 50-point performance in the championship-clinching game of the 2021 NBA Finals.
At the end of the day, Giannis’s résumé clearly outweighs Towns’s, and if the Bucks balk at a deal centered on him, there are plenty of other scenarios the Knicks could explore. According to ESPN’s Trade Machine, alternative packages could be constructed using nearly any combination of players on the roster, including the possibility of a blockbuster deal built around Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges.
A straight-up Giannis-for-Brunson trade isn’t possible, but with other pieces, the captain could, on paper, be moved.
Comparing 1:1, the notion would heavily favor the Knicks in terms of overall talent. Giannis is a generational star, an NBA champion who is capable of dominating every aspect of the game, while Brunson, though an elite point guard and floor leader, can’t match that same level of impact. The Knicks would instantly upgrade their ceiling with a two-time MVP on the roster. The Bucks, meanwhile, would gain a steady, reliable playmaker who can run an offense and score efficiently, but they’d be losing the centerpiece of their franchise.
In pure talent terms, the edge goes to New York, though salary considerations and roster balance, from a long-term strategy, fit, and roster balance perspective, the Bucks could argue they’re getting pieces to rebuild or diversify.
Another trade scenario that works within the trade machine is a 3-for-1 deal that would send OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson, and Guerschon Yabusele to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
From Milwaukee’s side, bringing in Anunoby, Robinson, and Yabusele would add depth, positional balance, and manageable contracts, but it would come at the massive cost of losing their franchise player. Anunoby provides elite two-way wing play and perimeter defense, Robinson offers rim protection and rebounding, and Yabusele adds scoring versatility off the bench. While the Bucks would gain talent at multiple positions, they would be giving up the unique, game-changing impact that Giannis brings every night.
In the end, this type of move would be trading star power for depth and balance, which could put Milwaukee’s ability to contend for a title at risk. It would give the Knicks a true Big Three, even if the idea is extremely unrealistic. While this dream scenario would almost certainly never materialize, it highlights just how many different player combinations the Knicks can realistically explore.
That said, the bigger question remains: should New York explore every possible avenue to land the two-time MVP, even if it means considering moves that would once have seemed unthinkable? And if they do, is anyone, primarily Brunson, truly off limits when it comes to building a team capable of contending for a championship?
After being teased for years about his dry skin, NBA superstar and current Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant has teased a collaboration with the skincare company CeraVe.
Durant, 37, alluded to the collaboration in a video shared Tuesday, Jan. 27, on X, in which he reads jokes poking fun at his dry legs.
"Y’all keep bringing up my legs…might be time to address it with @cerave? #ad," he captioned the post, tagging the company owned by L'Oréal.
In the video, Durant reads multiple X posts by random users begging him to put lotion on his legs. "No way KD can be that Ashy!!!!!!! No way lol. OMG," one user's post reads.
The other X posts shared in the video joke about Durant's dry legs being "highly flammable," and how fans sometimes chant "you need lotion" during NBA games.
The final X post Durant reads in the video says: "Going to be the first NBA player with a lotion deal." After reading this post, the 15-time NBA All-Star throws up his hands as a cash register sound is heard.
Obviously, the MacKenzie Gore trade is the biggest move the Nationals have made in the past week. However, there have been a few minor moves that you may have missed. I wanted to take a look at some of the news items that have been lost in the shuffle. Between minor league signings and spring training invites, there is plenty to talk about.
The first move I want to discuss actually happened today. It was reported that the Nats signed veteran infielder Sergio Alcantara to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite. The 29 year old has appeared in 193 MLB games, getting into one for the Giants last year.
Alcantara is a sure handed switch hitting shortstop, who should provide solid organizational depth. He is pretty buried on the depth chart, but if injuries hit, there is a chance that Alcantara could be called up at some point this season.
Another move announced in the last day or so is that the Nats out-righted Andry Lara to Triple-A. Lara was DFA’d on January 20th, but cleared waivers. He will remain in the Nats organization, but is off of the 40-man roster.
This is good for both sides. Lara was clearly not ready for the MLB. Now that he is off the 40-man, the 23 year old can focus on sharpening his craft in the minors without worrying about being shuttled back and forth. It is nice to see that the Nats were able to keep him in the organization. While it has not been announced yet, he should get an invite to Spring Training.
Speaking of Spring Training, the Nats announced their internal non-roster invites. It is not a large list, but notable prospects like Seaver King and Caleb Lomavita will be invited. Interestingly, Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana were also invited to MLB camp despite being injured.
Being in a big league camp should be a good learning experience for these youngsters. The full list of non-roster invites for minor league free agent signings has not been announced yet. We know players like Warming Bernabel and Matt Mervis will be there.
Some other players who will be there are Trevor Gott, Zach Penrod and Tres Barrera. The Nats announced the minor league signings of those three a few days ago. Gott and Barrera have been in the Nats organization before, and have both played for the big league team back in the day.
Out of the three, Penrod is probably the most interesting. He has real control problems, but has a 95 MPH heater with life from the left side. I do not think he will break camp with the team, but it would not be a surprise if we see him at some point.
One more arm the Nats signed to a minor league deal is Bryce Montes de Oca. The towering righty is coming back from his second Tommy John Surgery. Prior to the surgery, de Oca’s fastball lived in the upper 90’s. If he can show that sort of velocity again, he will have a chance to stick with the Nats.
None of these moves are earth shattering, but they are worth going over. Maybe one of these arms has some sort of surprise breakout season. This year is going to be all about players showing what they have. The Nats are not going to be very competitive this year, so plenty of players will get chances. Hopefully a couple of these guys can stick and become pieces for the future.
The Orlando Magic will look to break a four-game losing streak as they visit the in-state rival Miami Heat on Wednesday night.
The last two meetings between these teams saw relatively little scoring on both sides, and I’m taking the Under again in my Magic vs. Heat predictions.
Read on to see my full analysis of tonight’s matchup in my free NBA picks for Wednesday, January 28.
Magic vs Heat best bet: Under 229.5 (-110)
No team in the NBA plays faster than the Miami Heat, but that hasn’t always meant that other teams can’t slow them down. We saw that on Sunday when the Phoenix Suns held Miami to only 111 points, albeit in a win for the Heat.
It’s been a similar story in the last two games between the Heat and the Orlando Magic. Orlando won both of those games in December by keeping the fast-paced Miami offense in check, hitting the Under in both games with totals of 211 and 225 points, respectively.
The Magic have also been grinding on offense as of late. They’ve failed to score more than 109 points in any of their last four games, hitting the Under in each of their last three contests.
The loss of Franz Wagner (22.2 ppg), who has been suffering through a variety of injuries this season, has hurt the Orlando offense, and even Paolo Banchero — who scored 37 points on Monday and is averaging 24.5 ppg in January — hasn’t been able to get the Magic back on track.
With Orlando struggling to put up points, but also having a strong track record of imposing their game plan on Miami, I’m not expecting a lot of scoring in tonight’s game.
Orlando has dropped four straight games and has failed to cover in any of those losses, so I’ll take the heat to cover a small spread, something they’ve done in three of their last four.
I’m also going to take Bam Adebayo to hit his combined rebound and assists Over at 13.5, a number he’s reached six times so far in January.
Andrew Wiggins has compiled at least 18 combined points and assists in five of his last seven games overall and is averaging 18.6 points + assists on the season.
The Under is 3-0 in Orlando’s last three games overall. Find more NBA betting trends for Magic vs. Heat.
| Location | Kaseya Center, Miami, FL |
| Date | Wednesday, January 28, 2026 |
| Tip-off | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| TV | FDSN-Florida, FDSN-Sun |
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Winners of four in a row but suddenly seeing mounting injuries, the Cleveland Cavaliers (28-20) host Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and the Los Angeles Lakes (28-17) tonight at Rocket Arena.
A healthy 7-3 in their last ten, the Cavs are playing some of their best basketball of the season. This despite playing without starting point guard Darius Garland (toe) for the past two weeks. To the naked eye, Cleveland looks better with Jaylon Tyson getting more run. But now they must also take the court minus Evan Mobley (calf) who is expected to be sidelined potentially through the All-Star Break. In a surprisingly competitive top half of the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers have their work cut out for them if they are to remain in the Top Six.
Meanwhile, the Lakers have won four of their last five and sit atop the Pacific Division, one game ahead of the surprising Phoenix Suns. Luka Doncic is the leader of this edition of the Lakers. The perennial All-NBA guard leads the team scoring an average of 33.8 points while handing out nearly nine assists (8.8) per game. LA needs all that offense and more because they struggle defensively allowing just over 116 points per game this season.
This is the first of two meetings this season between the Lakers and the Cavaliers. They are scheduled to play in Los Angeles on March 31.
Lets take a closer look at the matchup and take into consideration lineups, injuries, and other factors affecting the line and total.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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The latest odds as of Wednesday courtesy of DraftKings:
This game opened Cavs -2.5 with the Total set at 234.5.
Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!
Watch More: Reaction to Derrick Rose’s Jersey Retirement
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Despite the fact that we’ve hit this lull period here in the offseason, there’s still a fair number of players out there who are available via free agency. In fact, there’s actually plenty of starting pitchers who are still on the market at the moment. Jon Heyman of the New York Post recently took note of this via a social media post:
Two of the names that Heyman mentioned in his own post that he quoted were Lucas Giolito and Chris Bassitt. As it turns out, those two players are now currently linked because the Atlanta Braves are reportedly interested in potentially bringing either one of those guys in. Heyman was the one who linked the Braves to those two while he made an appearance on MLB Network. He’ll start talking about the Braves interest in Giolito (and Bassitt as well) at around 4:20 during the video below:
All the way back in November, Alex Anthopoulos did state that the team would be looking for pitching during the offseason. They accomplished the goal of fortifying the bullpen (with the retention of Raisel Iglesias and the Robert Suarez signing being chief among their offseason acquisitions) and now they’re apparently looking to make sure that their starting rotation is fortified for the upcoming season as well.
Lucas Giolito will be entering his Age-31 season here in 2026 but he’s coming off of a bit of a bounce-back season in 2025 where he stuck with the Red Sox for the entire season after bouncing between three clubs in 2024. He produced an ERA of 3.41 (80 ERA-) and a FIP of 4.17 (99 FIP-) over the course of 26 starts and 145 innings pitched for Boston. That was good for 2.0 fWAR in 2025, which gave him his most productive season since 2021 which is when he capped off a very good three-year run with a 4.1 fWAR season back then.
Giolito has certainly had his ups-and-downs since 2021 and he’s also coming off of an elbow injury that ended his season prematurely in September. However, he did end up making a recovery early enough to where he’s essentially had a full offseason to work out instead of rehabbing so the obvious hope for any team that would sign him is that he’ll be ready to go once spring training and the regular season rolls around.
Alternatively, Chris Bassitt has been very steady since the 2019 season and any team who brings him in knows what they’re likely going to get — even as he enters his Age-37 season for the upcoming season. Bassitt has made 188 starts since 2019 and thrown 1087.1 innings across that span and over the course of all that time, he’s sat on an ERA of 3.60 (87 ERA-) and a FIP of 3.94 (93 FIP-).
That is about as steady and reliable as it gets over a long run and he also proved it in the Postseason for the Blue Jays last season. He made seven appearances for Toronto over the course of their long playoff run and notched a 10.38 K/9 rate alongside a 1.04 ERA and a 1.52 FIP while coming out of the ‘pen for the Jays. That type of reliability goes a long way and also seems to fit what the Braves would like to have whenever they actually do dip their toes into the free agency water. This is a club that values experience and a proven track record and it appears that Bassitt has both of those qualities.
I’d be pretty happy with either one of these pitchers joining the rotation (especially considering that neither of them will have the penalty associated with the Qualifying Offer attached to them), as they would certainly help add a period to some of the lingering question marks surrounding this rotation. Atlanta still currently has a very solid rotation on paper but as we’ve seen with the past couple of seasons, injuries can tear that paper up in a hurry. If Atlanta does choose to bring in one of these guys, they could at least be satisfied knowing that Giolito is coming into this season healthy and Bassitt has been consistent (even though he is aging) for a good and long while, now. We’ll see what happens when it comes to one of these two potentially joining up with the Braves ahead of this upcoming season.
Once one of the most promising Twins on the roster, Edouard Julien’s time in Minnesota has come to a close. The Twins announced they traded Julien and pitching Pierson Ohl to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Jace Kaminska.
Julien, 26, was instrumental to the Twins’ 2023 playoff run when they finally broke their 20-year postseason losing streak. In 109 games, he hit .263/.381/.459 with 16 home runs, a 134 wRC+, and 2.7 fWAR. Unfortunately, in the two seasons since then, he’s combined to hit .208/.299/.324, 11 homers, a 79 wRC+, and -0.8 fWAR. Never a good defender, his defense went from “poor” to “unplayable” in his final two years in Minnesota.
The fall came hard and fast for a player who always struck out too much and started getting exploited by pitchers who had better scouting reports on him. With Julien out of options, him getting surpassed by Luke Keaschall and Kody Clemens, and his lack of defensive ability, there simply wasn’t a role for him on Minnesota’s roster anymore. Instead, he’ll get a chance to revitalize his career in hitter-friendly Coors Field where his power should play well.
Ohl, meanwhile, just made his Twins debut last season and served as a multi-inning reliever and spot starter when injuries piled up for the pitching staff in the middle of 2025. His surface level 5.10 ERA was ugly, but his 4.20 FIP and 3.99 xFIP combined with solid, if unspectacular, strikeout and walk rates made him look like he could be a decent mid-game reliever. As a pitcher who relies on his changeup as his “out” pitch, there’s a good chance Ohl will be less affected by the elevation in Colorado compared to other pitchers.
Kaminska, 24, was the Rockies’ 10th-round pick in 2023. He missed all of 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery, but pitched very well in 2024 in the hitter-friendly California League. Kaminska threw 87.1 innings to the tune of a 2.78 ERA/3.13 FIP while striking out 104 batters and walking just 12. His ERA and FIP were 41% and 35% better than league average, for context. He’ll miss the beginning of the 2026 season due to the elbow surgery, but should make his return in the first half of this year.
Today is nomination day, so head to the comment section to nominate the next group of prospects for Friday’s CPL!
We’re officially three-quarters of the way through the 2026 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List! Spring Training is about to start, and our community project ranking the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization is about to end.
But we still have some extremely intriguing names to discuss before it does, including Monday’s winner: shortstop Maui Ahuna, who has been voted as the No. 33 prospect in the organization. That’s a drop of 10 spots for Ahuna, who came in at No. 23 in last year’s CPL.
Ahuna, who was a fourth-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Tony Vitello’s Tennessee, has a not uncommon profile for a shortstop: elite glove, questionable bat. The left-handed hitter, who will turn 24 during Spring Training, is a wizard with the leather, and certainly could respectably stand on stage in a debate about the best defensive shortstop in the system (though he’d probably lose that debate to Josuar González). But the massive swing-and-miss issues that popped up during his time playing college ball have not yet dissipated in his short pro stint.
The offensive numbers are still good, thanks to a combination of power, walks, BABIP fortune, and facing lower levels. In 63 games across the Complex League, Low-A, and High-A last year, Ahuna slashed .269/.370/.453 for an .823 OPS and a 123 wRC+, with five home runs in 274 plate appearances, and 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts. That paints the picture of someone with some offensive potential, but the hit tool remains scary (Fangraphs gives it a 20 present/30 future grade). Ahuna struck out 27.0% of the time in 2025, with a swinging strike rate of 14.3%, which was the 11th-highest mark among Giants prospects with at least 200 plate appearances last year and, unlike Ahuna, most of the names with worse marks were young for their level, rather than old for it.
The swing-and-miss issues are bigger than the strikeout and swinging strike rates would suggest, since Ahuna is a patient batter who accomplishes a lot of success by merely not swinging. Friend of the site Roger Munter, whose currently ongoing prospect rankings are a true must-read for Giants farm fans, contextualized this with a scary stat, saying “As was true in his final season at Tennessee, he often runs whiff rates as high as 40%.”
Another major concern with Ahuna is the injury history, as he’s suffered numerous setbacks in his career. Since getting drafted in 2023, Ahuna has played just 97 games, and just 58 of them have been in the field (although he did play 11 games in the Arizona Fall League a few months ago). The flip side to that is that, perhaps if and when he can actually stay on the field for an extended period of time, he’ll be able to make some gains to his hit tool. As it stands, Ahuna is a fascinating measuring stick for how people value prospects. He has a fatal flaw, and one that historically is very, very difficult to fix. But everything else is so good and intriguing that, should he make that fix, he could turn into a high-quality MLB player.
Needless to say, his upcoming age-24 season will be pivotal. I’d assume it starts with High-A Eugene, where he played just 11 games last year before the season ended.
Now let’s add to the list, and a reminder that today is nomination day. Both voting for the No. 34 prospect and nominating the next batch of prospects will take place in the comment section.
Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.
Rayner Arias — 19.8-year old OF — .173 OPS/-42 wRC+ in Low-A (30 PA); .699 OPS/87 wRC+ in ACL (178 PA)
Reggie Crawford — 25.1-year old LHP — did not pitch in 2025; 1.04 ERA/4.07 FIP in AAA in 2024 (8.2 IP); 4.66 ERA/4.93 FIP in AA in 2024 (9.2 IP)
Cam Maldonado — 22.2-year old OF — .691 OPS/92 wRC+ in Low-A (71 PA)
Reid Worley — 19.6-year old RHP — yet to debut
Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page. All stats are from the 2025 season.