Lukas Vlahos graded the team’s acquisition of Luis Robert Jr.
Ryan Clifford came in at number 8 on the Amazin’ Avenue list of Mets’ prospects list.
This Date in Mets History
The Mets dealt Steven Matz to the Blue Jays for a package that featured Sean Reid-Foley, Josh Winchowski, and Yennsy Diaz on this date in 2021. On the same day, they signed Aaron Loup, who pitched in one season for New York and set a franchise record for fewest earned runs allowed (six) with at least 50 innings pitched.
American vents frustration after quarter-final loss
Gauff believed she was letting out anger in private
Coco Gauff has expressed her disappointment after video of her smashing her racket at the Australian Open was picked up on camera.
The American was well below her usual high standards during her 6-1, 6-2 defeat by Elina Svitolina on Tuesday. Gauff had trouble with her forehand and serve throughout the match - she double-faulted five times in the first set alone – and hit 26 unforced errors to just three winners, losing in just 59 minutes. She also appeared to believe there was something wrong with her equipment as she struggled with her control, and had three of her rackets restrung in the opening set.
There’s something different about Arizona this season.
On the surface, it looks like the typical Tommy Lloyd team. The Wildcats started the season with impressive wins, rolling into the new calendar year playing a fast, fun brand of basketball that puts them in the upper echelon of title contenders.
It always seems smart to buy stock in the top-ranked Wildcats. The only issue is it has gone to waste in March. The same vibe has existed during this season, and you may be hesitant to buy-in again given the recent postseason history. Maybe you need to see more — or just avoid it entirely.
But there’s something different about these Wildcats. This team looks like it can be legit and break the Final Four curse; Arizona got through its first major test of 2026 with a road win at Brigham Young — just not in the prettiest of fashion.
For the majority of the night on Monday, Jan. 26, Arizona looked like it was the best team in the country. It went into a hostile Marriott Center — where 13th-ranked BYU hasn’t lost in nearly a year — and silenced more than 18,000 people.
The Wildcats dominated both sides of the ball, and answered everything the Cougars tried. Brayden Burries and Jaden Bradley were slicing and dicing while BYU star AJ Dybantsa struggled to find a rhythm after dropping 43 points just two days before.
It was a 19-point game with just under 11 minutes to go and we were ready to declare Arizona was no longer the team that can’t get it done when the lights are brightest. That was until the Wildcats showed part of that identity isn’t gone yet.
Arizona let BYU hang around and the Cougars made a late push, all while the Wildcats were falling apart. Not defending the perimeter. Collapsing on the boards. A flagrant foul. Turnovers.
BYU made a 12-2 run in the final minute to make it a one-point deficit with 16 seconds left, and the Cougars had a chance to steal the win, only for Burries to save the day with a block from behind.
In what was looking like an emphatic statement to the rest of the country, Arizona instead showed it isn’t invincible. Yes, they deserve to be the unanimous No. 1 team in the country with a 9-0 Quad 1 record, tied for most wins in the category with Duke.
Yet the game in Provo, Utah was eerily similar to how the season goes: fantastic start, but fall apart at the end. Arizona has looked so dominant recently, mostly because it hasn’t been tested in some time.
After beating Connecticut, Alabama and San Diego State all before Christmas, the competition has been easy to start Big 12 action. Five of the first seven games came against the bottom half of the conference, all mostly blowout victories.
We want to see how this Arizona team stacks up against other elite teams before it’s worth investing in. It passed the first test, but plenty more are on the horizon.
BYU was just the start of a 10-game stretch where Arizona will play six ranked teams, all of which are in the top 14 of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. Trips to Kansas and Houston? Good luck with that.
This will be the time for Arizona to prove its legitimacy. It certainly is capable of doing so. What’s scary about the Wildcats is they are lethal in numerous ways. Opponents walk into the arena and don’t know who will be the deadly assassin, mostly because it’s a team full of them.
One night it’s the guards in Burries, Bradley or Koa Peat, the next it’s the veteran big man Motiejus Krivas, and so on. Like against BYU, it can be multiple of them, which shouldn’t give teams much of a chance.
This Arizona team has all the makings of being the one that gets back to the Final Four for the first time since 2001. It has the tools and recipe to be cutting the nets by then.
But then we remember how the end always goes, where this mighty looking ship gets taken out by an iceberg that should have been avoidable. This upcoming stretch will show if Arizona is done sinking, and ready to finish the voyage.
Yesterday, we told you about the four Red Sox prospects who made their way into MLB Pipeline’s top-100 list: Payton Tolle, Franklin Arias, Connelly Early, and Kyson Witherspoon. Today, we have a new prospect ranking — this one from the Athletic’s Keith Law. The same four players are on it, though Law is comparatively lower on Tolle (he has him 40th compared to Pipeline’s 19, admitting that he wasn’t high on him to start last season) and comparatively higher on Arias, who he has at number 12 compared to Pipeline’s 31. (Keith Law The Athletic)
But is it risky to get too attached to any of those guys? According to a new report, the Red Sox remain interested in infielder Isaac Parades of the Astros, though no deal is particularly close. (Chandler Rome, The Athletic)
Though the fact that no deal is particularly close right now doesn’t mean that a deal can’t come together quickly, as evidenced by the Ranger Suárez signing. In this piece that dives into the pursuit of the pitcher, we learn that the Red Sox met with Suárez way back at the start of the offseason after deciding he was the best fit among this year’s class of free agent pitchers. But that was as far as things went until the Sox were forced to pivot quickly following the Alex Bregman departure. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
Speaking of the Alex Bregman departure, it’s a little unsettling that we still have no idea who is going to play third base for the 2026 Red Sox— or second base for that matter. But Marcelo Mayer is going to be prepared either way: “I’m doing everything I can, taking reps at third and at second base, and I feel really good at both. So wherever they need me is where I’m gonna play, and I’m gonna do my best out there.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)
As for who will play whichever position Mayer doesn’t man, can I interest you is some Dylan Moore?
They’ve had some conversations with Dylan Moore, per source, but unclear if they’ll be his final destination.
The Mavericks were 1-1 this past week and remain locked into 12th place in the West. They played both games at home, beating Golden State (123-115) and losing to the Los Angeles Lakers (116-110). Dallas was supposed to fly to Milwaukee for a game on Sunday, but due to inclement weather, the game was postponed. Naji Marshall led the team in scoring with 25.5 points per game. Kyrie Irving (knee) and Anthony Davis (finger) remain out.
Grade: C+
The Mavericks had a good win against the Warriors. They survived an onslaught from Steph Curry, which, frankly, was breathtaking to witness. Curry had 38 points on 8-of-15 from deep, and each subsequent shot was more incredible than the last. Still, Dallas was able to mitigate the “other guys” and likely got saved from a massive night from Jonathan Kuminga when he exited with an injury after scoring 10 points in nine minutes. Naji Marshall, Max Christie, and Cooper Flagg were all really good, and had the fourth quarter of the Lakers game not happened, this might have been an A+ week.
But the Mavericks get a C+ instead. And yes, that fourth quarter was so bad, it cost them two grades. With 9:38 remaining in the game, the Lakers had put together one of the worst 14.5-minute stretches of basketball I have ever seen to begin the second half. They had scored 14 points until then, and Dallas held a 93-79 lead. From that point forward, Los Angeles outscored the Mavericks 37-17 in just over 9.5 minutes of game time. If you don’t want to do the math, that’s a pace of 187 points per 48 minutes the Mavericks allowed to close the game.
Their defense was putrid, they got stagnant on offense, and head coach Jason Kidd refused to shake things up. Brandon Williams had an excellent run to close the third and was a big reason why Dallas held that lead. But his magic ran out quickly in the final frame, and yet Kidd stuck with him until the clock hit zero. Cooper Flagg was passive and settled. P.J. Washington was in the game, but you could not tell. The lack of a point guard on this team was never more obvious than when Dallas could not get a good shot for what seemed like hours while the Lakers got bucket after bucket on the other end.
And, as horrible as the Lakers’ (and specifically Luka Doncic) defense was in the first three periods, they were just as lights out defensively in the fourth. It was the kind of loss that would have driven everyone mad if the Mavericks were playing for a playoff seeding. With three games in four days this week, they need to flush that collapse and build on the seven quarters they played at a very high level.
Straight A’s: Max Christie
I could have given Naji Marshall A’s this week, too, but Marshall is just doing what he has done all year. Christie, on the other hand, has added things to his game that he did not have last season, and maybe not even earlier this year. Everyone knows about the shooting: 45.5 percent from 3-point range on 5.8 attempts per game. But what I have been most impressed with is his two-point shot diet. He shot 50 percent on 12 twos this week and showed off some moves that were very mature. One stands out against the Lakers, where he caught the ball in transition, pushed, and used his body effectively on a slow euro-step to go into Jake LaRavia and draw a foul:
He has rapidly improved in his time in Dallas. Christie is just 22 and making under $9 million for the next two seasons. He may be playing well enough to bring in a serious return in trade, but I think it is in Dallas’s best interest to retain him as part of their young core. Much like how I felt about Quentin Grimes, it is important to actually keep some of the young, talented guards you have instead of trading them for cost control purposes. Christie certainly falls in that category and is an excellent complementary piece for a rebuild around Cooper Flagg.
Currently Failing: P.J. Washington
Washington has not been the same since injuring his ankle against Houston earlier this month. In the three games he has played since, he has scored just 24 points in 79 minutes while shooting 33 percent from the floor. His impact has been overwhelmingly negative, and he just looks off. His head is not there right now, and you can tell by the way he is moving on offense. Every dribble and push shot or floater looks a step slow, and you can see his brain over-analyzing what to do in real time. It’s not a matter of talent, because we all have seen what he can be. Washington just needs to refocus and stop thinking as much when he is out there. With all the trade talk surrounding Dallas, it is probably a good thing for Washington that he cannot be dealt this season. It is in his best interest to focus on playing for the rest of the year without distractions and finish strong.
Extra Credit: Luka Doncic
Before Saturday’s game against the Lakers, former Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic reached out to 22 online personalities to invite them to the game for a meet-and-greet, as well as a chance to sit in his suite for the action:
Dallas will always be special to Luka 🥹
Almost a year after the trade to LA, Luka surprised 22 fans who supported him on social media with a suite for Lakers–Mavs, a pregame meet & greet, and gift bags with Luka Lakers jerseys and his signature shoe. pic.twitter.com/hdznSXx5bv
This group included our very own editor-in-chief, Kirk Henderson, who brought his son with him for an experience they will both remember for the rest of their lives. It was an awesome gesture by Doncic, and one that he absolutely did not have to do. In talking with people who were invited, everyone agreed that he could not have been nicer.
Doncic will always be loved in Dallas. He will never look normal in purple and gold. We don’t know if he has had thoughts about returning to play for the Mavericks one day, but it is clear that he still thinks about the city and the fans regularly.
Dylan Cease (how come I’ve been saying his name Cleese like he’s John Cleese son?) is a 30-year-old, right-handed pitcher whom the Jays signed to a 5-year, $210 million contract. It is more than possible that the last couple of years of that contract won’t go well.
Cease has pitched seven seasons in the MLB and has a 65-58 record, 3.88 ERA in 188 starts, and a 16.7 bWAR. His best season was 2022, when he had a 2.20 ERA, went 14-8 in 32 starts, and posted a 6.4 bWAR, finishing second in Cy Young voting (he finished fourth in 2024).
In our post about the signing, we had a poll. 42.9% of us were ‘Kind of Happy’, 41.8% were Very Happy. Only 5.1% were Kind of or Very Unhappy. I’m slightly curious how you could be very upset, but maybe they were Yankees fans.
But then we also had a poll asking, ‘Should the Jays sign Cease if the cost is $31 million a year for five years?’ and 64.2% said no. So we are nothing if not flexible.
Last year wasn’t his best; he had an 8-12 record and a 4.55 ERA in 32 starts. Everyone is allowed a down year.
He’s been incredibly durable. He’s made 32 or 33 starts in each of the last five seasons. The season before that was COVID-shortened. And he’s thrown between 165 and 189 innings in those five seasons.
Dylan throws five pitches, but his Four Seamer (averaging 97.1 MPH last year) and Slider show up 83% percent of the time. The rest: Knuckle Curve, Sinker, Sweeper, and Change-up. I’d think that, as he ages and perhaps loses a bit on the fastball, he’ll have to start throwing one or two of those secondary pitches more often.
I’d like to think he’ll be in the 2-4 range for WAR in most of his seasons with the Jays, but I’ll hold out hope that he can have another 5+ season. Dylan threw a lot of innings in his 20s, and often, guys like that don’t age well, but ‘often’ isn’t ‘always’.
Steamer thinks he’ll make 32 starts, throw 185 innings with a 3.61 ERA and a 12-10 record and a 3.8 fWAR. I think 185 innings is a lot; he’s only been over that once in his career, and the Jays aren’t the kind of team to push a starter.
The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to get absolutely no breaks from the rest of the NHL when it comes to their hunt for a playoff spot.
Following games played on Jan. 26, the Toronto Maple Leafs fell to six points out of a playoff spot after the Boston Bruins picked up a single point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Rangers on Monday.
It was a disappointing result for the Bruins, who had a 3-2 lead in the third period against the openly rebuilding New York Rangers before Will Borgen tied the game with 6:17 to go in regulation time.
That additional point means the Leafs were pushed further down to six points out the second wild card spot. They went into Monday's action down five points out of a playoff spot. It turns out that had the Bruins won the game, it wouldn't have impacted the Leafs' deficit at all, since the Montreal Canadiens would have moved down to the second wild card position ahead of the Leafs by the same six points.
The Leafs certainly have their work cut out for them with five games remaining before the NHL schedule pauses for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
NHL Eastern Conference Wild Card Chase
The Maple Leafs host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. The Sabres are six points up on the Leafs, but hold the third-place spot in the Atlantic Division by virtue of fewer games played over Boston and Montreal (both with 63 points). Needless to say, this game is big for Toronto, who are on a four-game losing streak and needs to pick up some points before heading west, where they will embark on a four-game road trip against the Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and wrap up against the Edmonton Oilers.
MoneyPuck.com opened Monday by listing the probability of the Leafs making the playoffs at 7.6 percent.
“I went to school here,” the UCLA graduate said. “I manage the Dodgers.
“It’s a no-brainer.”
There’s a seemingly long time between now and the 2028 Olympics, but also a lot of logistical items to be resolved. But aside from that, there’s also the question of whether major league players would be allowed to play in the Olympics, which would require a disruption to the MLB schedule that season.
During the World Series last October, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred expressed optimism that a deal could be struck between the league’s owners and the player’s union for MLB players to be used in the Olympics, per Bill Shaikin at the Los Angeles Times:
“I am positive about it. … I think the owners have crossed the line in terms of, we’d like to do it if we can possibly make it work, but there are logistical issues that still need to be worked through.”
The schedule for the 2028 Olympics runs from July 14-30. When baseball will be played hasn’t been finalized, but Dodger Stadium will host the games, as it did in 1984 when the Summer Olympics were last in Los Angeles. Back then, baseball was only a demonstration sport in the Olympics. Baseball was an official medal sport from 1992 to 2008, and again in the 2020 Olympics, which were played in 2021.
Team USA did not qualify for the Olympics in 2024, and were led by college coaches in the 1992 and 1996 games. Since then, the team has been managed in Olympic play by former Dodgers.
In 2000, Tommy Lasorda managed Team USA to a gold medal in Sydney. Davey Johnson, who managed the Dodgers from ., helmed Team USA to a bronze medal in 2008 in Beijing., Longtime Dodgers catcher and Angels manager Mike Scioscia led the team to silver in 2021 in Tokyo, with a team that included former Dodgers Edwin Jackson and Tim Federowicz.
The Montreal Canadiens have now lost their last two games and four out of five crucial divisional matchups in just over two weeks. As a result, they now find themselves in the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference, although the Boston Bruins now have 63 points as well after their overtime loss against the New York Rangers on Monday night. Montreal remains ahead thanks to having a game in hand, but it now has its back right up against the wall. This team needs a spark, something that will allow it to right the ship and get back on the right trajectory.
The last time it needed that in December, the Habs brass was forced to call up Jacob Fowler from the Laval Rocket, and unless the goaltenders find a way to step up, that may soon be in the cards as well. After Samuel Montembeault failed to make the big saves in the last two games, Jakub Dobes will be given the net tonight against a strong Vegas Golden Knights side.
The Nevada outfit is comfortably installed atop the Pacific Division and has a 7-3-0 record in its last 10 games, but it is coming off a humiliating 7-1 blowout loss against the Ottawa Senators. It likely means the players will be absolutely pumped when they jump on the Bell Centre Ice on Tuesday night. While the Habs have won the last duel between the two sides, they’ve only beaten Vegas three times in their previous 10 meetings.
Tuesday night’s tilt will be Dobes’ first game against Vegas, and he’s got a 15-5-3 record on the season with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .887 save percentage. Meanwhile, Montembeault has a 2-2-2 career record against the Knights with a 3.20 GAA and a .910 SV. The Becancour native was in net for the first game between the two teams this season, a 4-1 win in which he made 30 saves on 31 shots, which was perhaps his best performance of the year.
Based on Monday’s practice, it’s unlikely that there will be any other changes to the Canadiens’ lineup since Patrik Laine, Samuel Blais, Joe Veleno and Jayden Struble were taking rotations as extras.
Meanwhile, the Knights have yet to confirm who will be manning their net. Aidin Hill, who has recently come back from injury, was in the net for the entirety of Sunday night’s 7-1 blowout loss, and it will be interesting to see if he’s given a chance to get back on the horse right away. He’s 5-2-0 against the Canadiens with a 2.71 GAA and a .900 SV. Meanwhile, Akira Schmid has a 1-1-0 record with a 2.02 GAA and a .905 SV against the Habs. As for Carter Hart, who signed with Vegas earlier this season, he’s currently out with a lower-body injury and is being evaluated every week.
Up front, Phillip Danault is the Canadiens’ most productive forward against the Knights, thanks to playing them a lot when he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings. He has 17 points in 20 games against Bruce Cassidy’s men. Captain Nick Suzuki comes in second place with 11 points in as many games, followed by Mike Matheson, who has eight points in 13 duels. Cole Caufield sits right outside the top three, but he’s still a point-per-game player against the Knights with seven points in as many games. The sniper is red hot lately; he has goals (8) in his last five games and 10 points in that span. Suzuki is also on a five-game point streak with two goals and seven assists, while Matheson has an assist in each of the last four games.
Meanwhile, Mitch Marner is the visitors' most productive player against Montreal with 40 points in 39 games, followed by Jack Eichel (24 points in 25 games) and Mark Stone (24 points in 28 games). What do the three have in common? They all took on Montreal regularly when they played in the Atlantic Division for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, and Senators, respectively. Newly acquired defenseman Rasmus Andersson is the only player currently running a point streak, with two assists in as many games as a member of the Golden Knights.
If the Canadiens hope to win the game, they’ll have to provide a real 60-minute effort; the Knights have a plus-23 differential in the third frame, meaning the Habs can’t afford to let up in the final frame, even if they have the lead. That has been an issue for the Habs lately, and it was discussed at the team meeting after practice on Monday.
The game is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on RDS, TSN2, and SCRIPPS. Mike Sullivan and Jon McIsaac will be the referees, while Michel Cormier and Jeremy Faucher will be the linemen.
Yesterday, the San Francisco Giants announced that they have signed outfielder Harrison Bader to a two-year deal. So I wanted to check in and see how people are feeling about the signing.
Personally, I agree with Brady’s assessment in the linked post above. Bader is an improvement on outfield defense, which is great! And if he hits as well as he did in 2025, that would also be a plus! Though I’m not sure if that’s sustainable, as he has tended to be a little under league average.
Bryan pointed out something interesting as well, in that he tends to hit pretty well in NL West parks (except for Dodger Stadium, naturally).
But the defensive improvement is the point! And I’m excited about it.
How are you feeling about the Harrison Bader signing?
National prospect list season continued on Monday as Keith Law, prospect writer for The Athletic, dropped his new top 100 list. At this point you won’t be surprised to find three highly ranked Detroit Tigers prospects in his top 30. Max Clark continues to grade almost unanimously as the best all around outfield prospect in baseball, while Kevin McGonigle remains behind the Pirates’ Konnor Griffin as the second ranked prospect in baseball with the best hit tool of any player in the minor leagues.
Law’s intro does have some interesting points, namely that the top 100 at this point is very hitter heavy. There just aren’t many obvious, dominant pitching prospects who have already proven their ability to handle the workload around the game. He mainly cites injury as the cause, noting that as a result of the ever higher rates of injury that teams are pushing their pitching prospects along more and more carefully, focused more on stuff and control rather than on stretching them out, trying to save their workload until they reach the major leagues. In any case, this is reflected in the fact that there are a lot of talented pitching prospects with 45/45+ grades, but they just aren’t as proven enough to really draw certain top 100 level grades, and the demands and more limited workloads make it harder to gauge who might actually emerge to put up 3+ WAR seasons in the bigs.
The Tigers’ Troy Melton is a pretty good example of this. He’s super talented, but the lack of a good third pitch led most to keep him in those 45 tiers entering 2025, including us. Based on his production and outlook, that still seems like an accurate grade. But he’s clearly improved and has the potential to be a 3-4 level starter or possibily more if he commands his splitter more effectively in the coming years. We just don’t know how long it may be until he gets a chance to prove he can do it in a full-time starting role and those usage concerns nowadays make it trickier to forecast future value for pitchers unless the player is already an established stud starter in the upper levels prior to the next season.
None of that pitching development strategy really seems to be working out, however. The Tigers are uber cautious with workload, both in terms of overall innings, length of outings, and frequency of outings, rarely giving a starting pitching prospect two starts in a week’s time, and so far it isn’t doing them a bit of good.
Law has RHP Bubba Chandler of the Pirates as the top pitching prospect in baseball in the 14th spot, with the Mets RHP Nolan McLean behind him at 15. RHP Ryan Sloan of the Mariners is ranked 21st, with RHP Andrew Painter of the Phillies at 22. All together Law has just 12 pitchers in the top 50.
Law says: He’s an elite hitter for hard contact, pairing that with outstanding swing decisions, so the result is that he hits the ball in the air and pulls it a ton, getting to surprising power for a guy with more of a medium build and frame.
#5 Max Clark
Law says: Clark has excellent bat speed and a very advanced eye at the plate, which combined to produce just an 18 percent whiff rate on the season, along with an 18 percent chase rate that dropped to 10 percent on pitches well out of the zone.
His MLB ceiling is as a plus defender with high OBPs and 18-22 homers a year, which is going to at least make him an All-Star and a big fan favorite.
#17 Bryce Rainer
Law says: When he played, he showed a bit of everything, with power (peaking at 111.6 mph EV, with a hard-hit rate over 52 percent), patience, plus defense and, at least before the injury, a plus-plus arm. He had no trouble with better velocity, hitting .333/.440/.476 last year off 94-plus mph in a sample of 80 pitches.
#59 Josue Briceño
Law says: (at the Double-A level) He did still maintain his feel for the strike zone and continued to make plenty of contact in the zone (85 percent), so there’s reason to believe he’ll resume mashing with more reps at the level. It’s plus power already, even to the opposite field, as he understands how to hit the ball where it’s pitched…
#91 Max Anderson
Law says: He focused over the offseason on trying to change how he was making contact from getting on top of the ball to hitting it on the bottom half, and took off from the start of last season, with a .306/.358/.499 line in Double A in 90 games, then a .267/.327/.422 line in Triple A where he still had a 46 percent hard-hit rate. His production is almost entirely in his hit tool; he has average power, below-average patience and below-average speed, so he has to continue to post high contact rates given his lack of a current defensive position.
Summary
Overall the only thing in terms of the Tigers that hasn’t already been covered extensively is Max Anderson making the list. Law cites the defensive concerns we’ve brought up repeatedly the past two seasons, but is more optimistic that he’ll hit enough to make it as an everyday player. I continue to think his pitch selection and overall discipline is going to have to improve quite a bit, as major league pitchers aren’t going to have that much trouble getting the current version of Anderson swinging at pitchers’ pitches and getting him out on the ground.
Anderson does have good hands and makes plenty of contact. There’s just a lot of pressure on the bat to hit for power due to his lack of defensive utility, mostly because of his mediocre range. His fairly strong and accurate arm helps make up for it and will allow him to play back against hitters without the footspeed to beat out choppers and slower rollers hit his way. It’s nice to see some optimism for Anderson, and hopefully Law ends up being in the right on this one.
Two top government officials in Kansas City, Mayor Quinton Lucas and Interim Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota, had a closed-door meeting with MO Governor Mike Kehoe to have stadium discussions.
Lucas and LeVota also emphasized a speedy end to the protracted fight over the team between Missouri and Kansas, which has dragged on for more than 18 months. Both officials said they hope to strike a stadium deal before the end of spring training, which will finish in late March.
“I hope it’s resolved before spring training is concluded, which is kind of opening day,” Lucas said on Wednesday. “I think that what we’re all going to do is work our level best to make sure we can get there.”
That feels incredibly optimistic to me, but we’ll see.
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the MacKenzie Gore trade, the trajectories of the Rangers and Nationals since their respective World Series victories, and why the White Sox signed Seranthony Domínguez. Then (29:38) they bring on baseball buds Brent Rooker and Vinnie Pasquantino for a wide-ranging conversation about their scrapped podcasting plans, the Royals remodeling Kauffman Stadium, how Sutter Health Park played, the good and bad of bat-speed training, the challenge system, Brent’s sinking strikeout rate, the best breakfasts, the Pasqwich, A’s outfield defense, Nick Kurtz and Jac Caglianone, playing with Rich Hill, A’s extensions, playing 162 games, why they haven’t become 30-30 guys, arbitration, players’ pre-lockout messaging, an offseason signing deadline, Vinnie’s interactions with Shohei Ohtani, the WBC, the weather, and more.
Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep analyzes Nick Loftin’s chances for proving himself in the upcoming season.
There’s a lot to like with Loftin’s profile above. He ranked in the 90th percentile in above in O-Swing%, Whiff%, Z-Contact%, K%, and BB%. He also ranked in the 95th percentile in wOBA and 97th percentile in xwOBA. The latter demonstrates that his performance was legitimate and not just a product of “batted ball luck”. Lastly, he launched the ball well with Omaha (79th percentile) and pulled the ball in the air effectively (89th percentile). Those kinds of batted-ball skills, combined with his plate discipline, are exactly what the Royals are looking for in hitters, especially under new assistant hitting coaches Connor Dawson and Marcus Thames.
Unfortunately, things haven’t clicked in Kansas City for Loftin yet, as they did in Omaha last season. In 67 games and 188 plate appearances with the Royals last year, Loftin posted a .279 wOBA, 73 wRC+, and 0.1 fWAR. He also hit four home runs, scored 17 runs, and collected 20 RBI.
Baseball America has their breakout prospects for the Royals ($). These are prospects outside the top 10 that they think could vault up rankings in 2026.
Freddy Contreras, RHP BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme Adjusted Grade: 30
Track Record: While fellow pitcher Kendry Chourio’s sensational breakout headlined the Royals’ 2025 international signing class, Contreras may not be as far behind his Dominican Summer League teammate as some expected. Contreras, who didn’t turn 17 until the final week of the DSL season, signed for $147,500 and then pitched to a 3.30 ERA with 37 strikeouts to 13 walks in 30 innings, earning a DSL all-star nod.
Scouting Report: Contreras is a lean righthander with a four-seamer that was in the low 90s early in the season, but averaged 95 mph and touched 98 by the end of the year. He commands it well and it projects as a plus offering. His 79 mph curveball has above-average potential with good spin and movement, and Contreras also has feel for an 87 mph changeup. Both secondaries generated plenty of whiffs in the DSL. Contreras is highly competitive and confident on the mound.
The Future: Given his youth, a return to the DSL would make sense for Contreras. However, the Royals haven’t shied away from aggressive assignments for teenage arms, so he very well could open 2026 in the Arizona Complex League with a solid fastball-curveball combination that gives him a high floor for his age.
Mike Gillespie at Kings of Kauffman writes that Drew Waters is probably on his last chance.
Jacob Milham also at Kings of Kauffman writes about three players whose chase rate may make it tough for them to fit in the team’s no-chase hitting philosophy.
The Royals apparently have a new sports betting partner, if you’re into that sort of thing.
MLB The Show ‘26 will not have a new cover athlete. Will they just put a baseball hat? A picture of home plate? Pasquatch? I guess we’ll find out!
Off Topic: My career is in data engineering, and thus AI is a whole big thing since the tools are getting pretty good at writing code. I know there are tons of stories of people using AI to generate slop code that they have to spend more time fixing later. But there are plenty of stories in my company of this…not happening at all. I’ve been using GenAI for code for quite some time and have found it useful. Anyone else code? What are your experiences?
Song of the Day is NOFX with Seeing Double at the Triple Rock.
Warren Schaeffer is, by any standard, an energetic and positive person. He also tends to keep busy, though that has been especially true since becoming the Colorado Rockies permanent manager as he participated in hiring new staff, communicated with players and a new front office, and began planning spring training.
So, how was his offseason?
“It’s been a lot of work,” he says — but with enthusiasm, not exhaustion.
On the eve of Rockies Fest, Schaeffer answered a few questions about building a staff, communication, and changes coming to Scottsdale.
After being named the Rockies permanent manager, there was the matter of him finding his own staff.
“[It’s been] a lot of interviews,” Schaeffer said, “a whole lot of interviews to get it right — who we need to hire — because we had a lot of people to hire: new pitching coach, new assistant pitching coach, new bullpen coach, new first base coach, new hitting coach. I mean a lot.”
In addition, Schaeffer is currently focused on hiring the minor league coaching staff.
“It’s been a huge collaborative effort,” he said, “all of these hirings between the minor leagues and the major leagues, looking for that unity going up and down the chain.”
Something that can get lost in this Rockies rebuild is that team-building is happening throughout the organization. New front office and coaching stuff are meeting each other and learning to work together just as the players will next month. Prior to Rockies Fest, president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta convened a “summit” where all parts of the organization came together and began sorting out their roles and planning for the future.
“It’s been great getting to know Paul [DePodesta] and what he’s about,” Schaeffer said. “It’s been great getting to know Josh Byrnes and what he’s about and the new assistantGMs, and it’s an exciting time right now.”
It’s not just the manager; the players are enthusiastic about the changes, too.
“They’re all, almost pretty much to a man, extremely excited,” Schaeffer said.
“Players in general are always excited about the next season, and I would say specifically ours because they want to right the wrong that has been going on.”
”[R]ight the wrong that has been going on” would be those consecutive 100-loss seasons with the most recent being historically bad.
He added, “It just seems like the momentum that we’ve got going on, the players are extremely excited about that.”
Schaeffer’s calling card has always been his emphasis on communication, and that hasn’t changed heading into 2026. If anything, it’s even more important.
“I have strong relationships with the players already, and I continue to cultivate those with the new ones coming in and trying to create leaders in that area,” Schaeffer said. “And at the same time, we’re all in this together, in terms of Paul and Josh and Tommy Tanous and Ian Levin, all the new guys, and Walker [Monfort].”
Then he added, “But I love doing that because of the relationships you can build.”
Schaeffer’s plans to revamp spring training are also taking shape, and they start with “higher expectations.”
As Schaeffer puts it, “It’s one thing to talk about them, and it’s another thing to put them into action.”
The changes to spring training will be notable.
“Spring training will look completely different scheduling-wise, where we spend our time, what we spend our time on,” he said.
He was light on specifics since he’s not yet shared the details with the players, but he did says this: “It’ll look clearly different to the players, which is what matters, with a huge focus on winning.”
Too, there will be an emphasis on sustainability.
“We want to build a sustainable winner here for the city of Denver,” he said. “We believe that that could absolutely happen, and this is the first step.”
For Schaeffer, 2025 was a year of learning, and he has two primary lessons he’s bringing into 2026.
“Number one, preparation for the win that night,” Schaeffer said, “how to prepare better, and bringing in Jeff Pickler as a bench coach, who is exceptional at that part of the game, is going to be an enormous help for me and everybody else in terms of preparation.”
Then there’s the second lesson.
“The second thing that I learned, I think big time last year, is that at the big-league level, development never stops. It can never stop,” he said.
“Through the interview process this winter and being with these [new coaches] the past four or five days and getting to talk to them over the phone, the new coaches I’m talking about, it’s clear that they’re going to get that a relentless obsession with getting the player better, which is what they want. The point is, this isn’t the final product of the players we have. They’re going to get better. And that’s a learning experience from last year. We’re not finished getting better. There’s more in the tank.”
This week on the internet
Please enjoy this snippet from Rockies Family Feud, featuring Chase Dollander:
Freeman tells Thomas Harding about his preparation for the 2026 season. Thomas Harding spoke with Paul DePodesta about the outfielder’s role: “We still see him as an outfielder. He’s a right-handed hitter, but he complements Jake [McCarthy] and Mickey [Moniak], but we also see him as the guy who can play in the infield. He’s played second, third and some short in the big leagues. He maybe even snuck in a game or two at first base at some point along the way.”
There has arguably been no bigger weak spot for the New York Yankees over the past few years than the hot corner. Since the departure of Gio Urshela following the 2021 season, the Bombers have tried to fill the hole with veteran placeholders by first trading for Josh Donaldson and eventually giving the role to DJ LeMahieu, who steadily declined to the point where he was released from the roster entirely last July.
Finally cutting bait with LeMahieu made it clear that third base needed to be addressed at the trade deadline, and the Yankees did just that by acquiring Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for pitching prospects Griffin Herring and Josh Grosz. McMahon is a defensive specialist and below-average hitter who strikes out a lot, and that’s exactly what he gave the Yankees in 54 games. He projects to start at third base for the team in 2026.
Another trade deadline acquisition, Amed Rosario, re-signed this offseason and will likely bounce between second base, third base, and the outfield during his platoon appearances. The Yankees’ starting lineup is overwhelmingly left-handed, so Rosario should slot in somewhere anytime they face a southpaw starting pitcher. When given the choice of starting McMahon or Jazz Chisholm Jr. against a lefty, they will likely opt for the latter, meaning Rosario could make most of his appearances in 2026 at third.
McMahon and Rosario’s acquisitions were part of a trade deadline makeover that reshaped the Yankees’ roster in 2025. That makeover cost them a significant chunk of minor-league talent, and third base was one of the positions that was hit hard. Here’s how the rest of the organization lines up at the hot corner:
The minor-league depth at the position is weaker than usual with many of the team’s top young options at third base being dealt away. Jesus Rodriguez emerged as a promising option in Triple-A and Parks Harber tore up Low-A and High-A last year, but they were both traded to the Giants (alongside Trystan Vrieling) in the Camilo Doval deal. Dylan Jasso served as the primary third baseman for Double-A Somerset for most of the year, but he was traded to Miami in the Ryan Weathers trade just a couple weeks ago.
These trades leave a lot of lineup questions at third base throughout the organization. Jorbit Vivas (who was discussed during our second base preview) played 33 games at third in Triple-A last season, but Jeimer Candelario is no longer with the team so Vivas could be the RailRiders’ primary third baseman. The recently-acquired veteran trio of Braden Shewmake, Paul DeJong, and Zack Short (who were discussed during our shortstop preview) could also produce a replacement for Candelario which would allow Vivas to remain at second base.
The departure of Jasso leaves third base wide open at Somerset. Tyler Hardman served as the primary first baseman last season and only played three games at third, but he’s played the hot corner in the past and could be an option for a position change if the team decides to promote Coby Morales to replace him at first. Josh Moylan led High-A Hudson Valley in appearances at third and has spent the past two years at the level, so he could also be in line for a promotion to Somerset. Moylan has been a slightly above-average offensive producer in each of 2024 and 2025, with walk rates between 13-15% and strikeout rates between 25-30%. Juan Matheus was another contributor at third in Low-A and High-A last year, but he was also part of the package that went to Miami in exchange for Weathers.
Other options for starts at third base this year at these levels could include Owen Cobb, Enmanuel Tejeda, Kaeden Kent, and Roderick Arias, all of whom were included in our season previews for shortstop and second base. With so few primary third basemen in the organization, players like these may find an opportunity for more playing time if they’re able to slot into an open role and adjust nicely at the hot corner.
In fact, FanGraphs’ Roster Resource tool only has three minor leaguers in the system listed as primary third baseman, none of them higher in the organization than Low-A. The first of these players is Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek, the team’s 20th-round pick from last year’s MLB Draft out of USC. Martin-Grudzielanek didn’t hit very well in his last two seasons in college, and was underwhelming in his first 24 games with Low-A Tampa.
It’s a bit ironic that the most promising third base prospect still in the Yankees’ system may very well be the lowest one on the totem pole. Richard Matic spent his age-17 season repeating the Dominican Summer League in 2025, but the results were night and day compared to his first year. After hitting .196 with a 71 wRC+ at age 16 against DSL pitching, Matic excelled in 46 games last season with a .336/.487/.566 slash line, five home runs, a 20.9/22.5 BB/K% ratio and a 167 wRC+. He’s a right-handed power bat with a 6-foot, 200-pound frame who could emerge as one of the most promising sluggers in the system if he can adapt to the Complex league and stateside competition. The list of DSL bats who fall off a cliff against stiffer competition is long every year, but this is what the ones who do make it look like. The last third baseman listed by Roster Resource is Leni Done, who signed as an international free agent last season and also hit five home runs in the DSL.
Third base is the most chaotic infield position in the organization entering 2026 due to all the roster turnover, though there are a few players who could take advantage of new opportunities due to this uncertainty. It’s unlikely that any of these players contribute at the big-league level anytime soon, but it’s worth following along to see who gets the first crack at filling in for some of these players who were traded away.
There are bound to be some events of note at some point. Perhaps not today. But we remain vigilant. Pitchers and catchers are due to report in two weeks.
We do have a nice The Compound Podcast if you have time, and several shorter stories, both on video and via text. Randy Holt has a good piece about building the bench, below. Pat Hughes is going to have a fundraiser chat in mid-February.
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Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs’ injured ace is ‘movin and a groovin’ his way back to action. “It’s a heck of a boost,” Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins said, “to have a guy that’s a top of the rotation-type talent that potentially could come in here and be that for us later in the year.”
Jack Lindsay (North Side Baseball*): The Cubs’ fourth outfielder battle is wide open. “There’s a crucial roster spot up for grabs this spring. Four Cubs are now in position to fight for it.“
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