The Yankees played to a 3-3 tie with the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.
Here are the takeaways...
-Max Fried wasn't necessarily at the top of his game, but he had an effective outing nonetheless. The lefty went 5.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits, including a two-run homer by Junior Caminero in the first inning. Fried walked three and struck out four, finishing his spring camp with a 3.38 ERA.
-The Yankees didn't have a hit through the first four innings, but the offense came to life in the fifth when Anthony Volpe lined an opposite-field home run for the Bombers' first hit of the game. Austin Wells followed that up with a two-run shot to put the Yankees ahead. Wells now has six home runs this spring, and he's likely won the leadoff hitter job come Opening Day.
-Aaron Judge's rough go of it this spring continued Sunday, as he went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts, though he did reach base on a walk. The Yankees' captain is hitting just .129 this spring.
-Paul Goldschmidt was back in the lineup for a second straight day after missing some time with a sore back. The veteran went 1-for-3 with a single and a strikeout, and he's now hitting .297 this spring.
The Yankees finish their 2025 spring training schedule with a trip to Port St. Lucie to play the Mets on Monday afternoon, with first pitch on SNY at 1:10 p.m.
Breakout star second baseman Zack Gelof will begin the season on the injured list after suffering a hook of the hamate fracture in his right hand, MLB Media’s Martín Gallegos reported Sunday.
A’s second baseman Zack Gelof has a hook of the hamate fracture of his right hand. He will undergo surgery tomorrow in LA and will begin the season on the injured list.
While the loss of Gelof surely will be tough to overcome, it does open up an opportunity for one of the Athletics’ top prospects to make thier mark in the big leagues.
Infielder Max Muncy, the Athletic’s No. 7 prospect, will make the Opening Day roster, Gallegos reported Sunday.
Muncy, not to be confused with the Los Angeles Dogders slugger of the same name, was drafted No. 25 overall by the Athletics in the 2021 MLB Draft.
Muncy his hitting .289 with one home run and seven RBIs in 38 spring training at-bats for the Athletics.
The 22-year-old slashed .277/.373/.491 in 50 games for the Las Vegas Aviators last season, and now will seek to contribute to the Athletics’ innaugural season in West Sacramento while the ballclub’s Las Vegas relocation progresses.
The Athletics begin the 2025 MLB season on Thursday night against the Seattle Mariners.
Breakout star second baseman Zack Gelof will begin the season on the injured list after suffering a hook of the hamate fracture in his right hand, MLB Media’s Martín Gallegos reported Sunday.
A’s second baseman Zack Gelof has a hook of the hamate fracture of his right hand. He will undergo surgery tomorrow in LA and will begin the season on the injured list.
While the loss of Gelof surely will be tough to overcome, it does open up an opportunity for one of the Athletics’ top prospects to make thier mark in the big leagues.
Infielder Max Muncy, the Athletic’s No. 7 prospect, will make the Opening Day roster, Gallegos reported Sunday.
Muncy, not to be confused with the Los Angeles Dogders slugger of the same name, was drafted No. 25 overall by the Athletics in the 2021 MLB Draft.
Muncy his hitting .289 with one home run and seven RBIs in 38 spring training at-bats for the Athletics.
The 22-year-old slashed .277/.373/.491 in 50 games for the Las Vegas Aviators last season, and now will seek to contribute to the Athletics’ innaugural season in West Sacramento while the ballclub’s Las Vegas relocation progresses.
The Athletics begin the 2025 MLB season on Thursday night against the Seattle Mariners.
CLEVELAND — Right-hander Tanner Bibee has signed a five-year, $48 million contract with the Cleveland Guardians, a deal that includes a team option for 2030 and could be worth $68 million over six seasons.
Bibee will get his first opening-day assignment on Thursday at Kansas City. He went 12-8 with a 3.47 ERA last season, finishing with 12 quality starts in 31 outings and 187 strikeouts in 173 2/3 innings.
The 26-year-old California native was 0-1 with a 3.45 ERA in four postseason starts last year.
Cleveland also traded infielder/outfielder Tyler Freeman to Colorado for outfielder Nolan Jones on Saturday.
Bibee gets a $2 million signing bonus and salaries of $3 million in 2025, $4 million in 2026, $7 million in 2027, $10 million in 2028 and $21 million in 2029. Cleveland’s 2030 option is for $21 million with a $1 million buyout.
His 2029 salary and the option can escalate by up to $4 million based on Cy Young Award voting from 2025-28. The buyout can increase by an additional $2 million based on Cy Young voting.
Bibee’s deal supersedes a one-year contract agreed to March 8 that called for an $812,000 salary in the major leagues and $372,900 in the minors. He would have been eligible for arbitration after each of the next three seasons and for free agency following the 2028 World Series.
Bibee had 10 wins during his rookie season in 2023 and was second in AL Rookie of the Year voting. He is the third Cleveland pitcher since 2000 with at least 10 wins in each of his first two seasons in the big leagues. Hall of Famer CC Sabathia (2001-02) and Shane Bieber (2018-19) are the others.
Cleveland selected Bibee in the fifth round of the 2021 amateur draft. He will anchor a young rotation this season that will be missing Bieber for at least the first half as he continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.
PHOENIX — Arizona hard-throwing right-hander Justin Martinez has agreed to a five-year, $18 million contract even as he continues to compete for the role of Diamondbacks closer.
The contract announced on Saturday by Arizona supersedes the one-year contract agreed to on March 11 that called for a $772,200 salary in the major leagues and $335,700 in the minors.
The deal includes a $2 million signing bonus and $1.5 million salary in 2025. He will earn $2 million in 2026, $3 million in 2027, $4 million in 2028, $5.5 million in 2029, with club options for $7 million in 2030 and $9 million in 2031.
Manager Torey Lovullo has said he is still considering Martinez, left-hander A.J. Puk and right-hander Kevin Ginkel for the closer role. Martinez had eight saves and a 2.48 ERA despite 36 walks in 72 2/3 innings in 2024.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Houston Astros released outfielder Ben Gamel and left-hander Jalen Beeks on Saturday.
The move with Gamel comes less than two months after he agreed to a one-year, $1.2 million contract. The deal included a $200,000 signing bonus and a $1 million salary, which was not guaranteed.
The Astros will owe Gamel 45 days termination pay, which comes to $241,036, instead of his salary.
The 32-year-old Gamel hit .167 in 24 at-bats in spring training. He hit .259 with one homer in 20 games with the Astros last season.
The 31-year-old Beeks allowed one run in four innings this spring. He was a combined 7-4 with a 4.50 ERA for Colorado and Pittsburgh in 2024. He had 10 saves, including nine with the Rockies. He got a $100,000 signing bonus as part of his deal with the Astros.
Also, right-hander Miguel Castro and infielder Luis Guillorme were informed they would not make the Astros’ opening day roster. Each will remain with the team through spring training.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals confirmed Saturday they have acquired outfielder Mark Canha from the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Royals will send a player to be named later or cash to the Brewers for Canha, 36.
Canha, who can also play first base, was with the Brewers on a minor league deal and had the right to opt out of his contract on Saturday. He was 2-for-23 with one homer this spring.
Canha made his major league debut with Oakland in 2015, his first of seven seasons with the A’s. He has also played for the New York Mets, Detroit and San Francisco. He has a .249 career batting average with 120 homers, including a career-high 26 with Oakland in 2019.
Canha played a combined 125 games with Detroit and San Francisco in 2024 and hit .242 with seven homers.
SARASOTA, Fla. — Right-hander Kyle Gibson returned to the Baltimore Orioles after a one-season absence, agreeing Friday to a one-year, $5.25 million contract.
Reaching a deal less than a week before opening day, Gibson figures to join a rotation projected to include right-handers Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer and Tomoyuki Sugano.
Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez will start the season on the injured list because of inflammation in his throwing elbow.
Gibson, a 37-year-old who went 8-8 with a 4.24 ERA in 30 starts for St. Louis last year, can earn an additional $1,525,000 in performance bonuses. He would get $150,000 each for 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 starts, and $125,000 apiece for 110, 120, 130, 140 and 150 innings.
He was 15-9 with a 4.73 ERA in 33 starts for the Orioles in 2023 on a one-year, $10 million deal, then agreed to a one-year contract with the Cardinals that included a $12 million salary. St. Louis declined a $12 million option for 2025 in favor of a $1 million buyout.
Gibson is 112-108 with a 4.52 ERA in 324 starts and six relief appearances over 12 seasons with Minnesota (2013-19), Texas (2020-21), Philadelphia (2021-22), the Orioles and Cardinals.
Baltimore’s rotation lost ace Corbin Burnes, who agreed to a six-year, $210 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Colorado’s Thairo Estrada broke his right wrist when he was hit by a pitch from Texas’ Kumar Rocker and will be out four to eight weeks, manager Bud Black said Friday.
Estrada, injured on a 97.1 mph sinker leading off Thursday’s game, was expected to be the Rockies’ second baseman when they open at Tampa Bay on March 28.
The 29-year-old spent the past four seasons with San Francisco and hit .217 with nine homers and 47 RBIs last year, when he was sidelined by a sprained left wrist between June 27 and July 9 and again between July 25 and Aug. 19. He was assigned outright to Triple-A Sacramento on Aug. 30 and on Oct. 1 elected to become a free agent.
Estrada has a .251 average with 48 homers, 195 RBIs and 52 stolen bases in 469 games over parts of six seasons with the New York Yankees (2019-20) and the Giants (2021-24).
TAMPA, Fla. — Carlos Carrasco’s impressive spring performance has earned the right-hander a major league contract with New York and a spot in the Yankees’ rotation.
The Yankees announced on Saturday they had signed Carrasco to a one-year contract.
Carrasco, 38, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees on Feb. 5 and could have opted out of the deal on Saturday. Instead, the right-hander’s 1.69 ERA in five spring training games, including four starts, earned him his new deal with New York.
He gets a $1.5 million salary while in the major leagues and $180,000 while in the minors, and can earn $2.5 million in performance bonuses for starts: $150,000 each for 12, 14, 16 and 18, $250,000 each for 20, 22, 24 and 26, and $450,000 each for 28 and 30.
Carrasco was 3-10 with a 5.64 ERA in 21 starts for Cleveland last season. In 15 seasons, Carrasco has a 110-103 record and 4.14 ERA. He led the American League in wins in 2017, when he was 18-6 with Cleveland.
The Yankees moved right-hander Gerrit Cole to the 60-day injured list as he faces season-ending Tommy John surgery.
Another injury also created the opening for Carrasco. General manager Brian Cashman said right-hander Clarke Schmidt will open the season on the injured list. Schmidt is recovering from back stiffness and a sore right shoulder.
Also, the team reassigned right-handers Colten Brewer and Geoff Hartlieb, left-hander Rob Zastryzny, outfielder Ismael Munguia and infielder-outfielder Andrew Velazquez to minor league camp.
Tyler Phillips made it all the way to the end of camp with the Phillies but was designated for assignment on Sunday afternoon to clear a roster spot for waiver claim Carlos Hernandez, a high-velocity right-hander formerly with the Royals.
Hernandez will be in the Phillies’ Opening Day bullpen. He’s a burly, 6-foot-4, 255-pound right-hander from Venezuela entering his age-28 season. He started 11 games for Kansas City in 2021 but has pitched mostly in relief since, appearing frequently in high-leverage spots in the second half of 2024. He had a 3.30 ERA in 30 innings last season, though he walked 16 and that’s been a career-long issue. Hernandez has walked a batter every two innings in the majors.
The Phillies will take a chance; really, it’s not much of a gamble. Teams can do worse with the final reliever in their bullpen. Hernandez’ fastball averaged just over 98 mph last season.
Earlier in the day, the Phillies optioned pitcher Michael Mercado to Triple A Lehigh Valley, likely meaning that Matt Strahm (left shoulder) will be ready for Opening Day.
This is the eight-man bullpen: Jordan Romano, Strahm, Orion Kerkering, Jose Alvarado, Tanner Banks, Jose Ruiz, Joe Ross and Hernandez.
The Phillies’ five starters to begin the season will be Zack Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez and Taijuan Walker. Ranger Suarez (back stiffness) will begin the season on the injured list, manager Rob Thomson said in an in-game interview during Sunday’s spring training game.
Walker’s first turn in the rotation will be in the Phillies’ sixth game of the season. Wheeler will pitch Games 1 and 5. The Phillies have to early off-days that would’ve given Wheeler too much rest otherwise.
The Phillies’ spring training finale is Monday afternoon in Clearwater against the Rays. They have 27 healthy players left on their spring training roster, with the only remaining battle between Kody Clemens and Buddy Kennedy for the final bench spot. The Phils could also do what they did with Hernandez, bringing in a player let go by another organization, if they find a bench fit better than Clemens or Kennedy over the next 72 hours.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Colorado Rockies traded outfielder Nolan Jones to the Cleveland Guardians for Tyler Freeman on Saturday.
The addition of Freeman provides increased flexibility for Colorado after it lost Thairo Estrada to a broken right wrist. The 25-year-old Freeman has made big league starts at second base, third, shortstop and center field.
The 26-year-old Jones returns to Cleveland after he made his big league debut with the Guardians in 2022. The second-round pick in the 2016 amateur draft was traded to the Rockies in November 2022 for infielder Juan Brito.
Jones is looking to bounce back after he was limited to 79 games last year because of a back issue. He hit .227 with three homers and 28 RBIs.
Jones had a big year in 2023, batting .297 with 20 homers, 62 RBIs and 20 steals in 106 games. He finished fourth in balloting for NL Rookie of the Year.
Freeman was Cleveland’s opening-day starter in center in 2024. He hit .209 with seven homers and 32 RBIs in 118 games for the AL Central champions.
He was selected by Cleveland in the second round of the 2017 draft.
The Rockies visit Tampa Bay for their opener on Friday, and the Guardians are at Kansas City on Thursday for opening day.
Prior to Sunday afternoon’s matchup with the Miami Marlins, Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza provided a roster update while also mapping out the starting rotation to begin the season.
Reliever Dedniel Núñez, who suffered a strained flexor tendon in late July that ended his rookie season prematurely, has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.
While Núñez proved himself as one of the Mets’ most valuable relievers in 2024 before the injury, posting a 2.31 ERA, Mendoza explained that the Mets need to build him up more before he’s ready to go in potential four- or five-out situations.
Mendoza said it would be “unfair” to Núñez to ask him to do that before he’s properly built up.
“We explained the whole situation with him and he understood, and once he’s ready to go, he’ll be back here,” Mendoza said, noting that the right-hander had an option.
With Núñez starting the season in Syracuse, Max Kranick and Huascar Brazoban are two options to take his spot in the bullpen.
Tylor Megill to start Game 2 of regular season, initial five-man rotation set
Mendoza announced that Tylor Megill will start the second game of the regular season for the Mets in Houston.
“Megill earned it. He came into camp on a mission,” Mendoza said. “He went out there and earned it. He did a lot of the things that we were asking, staring with throwing strikes and attacking hitters, and he did that. Stuff is elite, so yeah, he earned it.”
While the Mets will still need to see how all of their pitchers finish the spring health-wise, the current plan is to have Griffin Canning start the third game, followed by David Peterson and Kodai Senga. Clay Holmes has already been announced as the Opening Day starter.
That would also mean that Megill is on pace to start the Mets’ home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, April 4.
Opening Day can’t get here soon enough, before another Yankee or Met gets hurt. Indeed, injuries have dampened spirits a bit for the local teams this spring, but there is still plenty of reason to believe they’ll both be playing October baseball again.
So it figures to be an eventful season here in New York, even if the Los Angeles Dodgers loom as a burgeoning dynasty with their huge payroll and galaxy of stars.
Who knows what surprises lay ahead, but here are my 10 bold predictions for the 2025 MLB season, centering mostly around the Mets and Yankees.
Seems crazy considering the former Mets’ ace turns 37 in June and has thrown only 41 innings in two seasons with the Texas Rangers, before and after the second Tommy John surgery of his career. For that matter he hasn’t thrown anything close to a full season, other than the shortened pandemic year, since 2019.
Yet deGrom was once again making it look easy in his brief return at the end of last season, as overpowering as ever in three abbreviated starts. It’s just a matter of staying healthy, and you’d think his latest elbow surgery would provide him some rope in that area. It doesn’t take 200 innings to win a Cy Young anymore either and if Justin Verlander can win the Cy Young at age 39 after missing two years from TJ surgery, well, why not deGrom?
9. Shohei Ohtani gives up pitching
At some point it’s just going to make too much sense for Ohtani and the LA Dodgers not to do it. The Dodgers probably would prefer it right now but they will bow to their superstar’s wish to resume pitching after Tommy John surgery in 2023.
And maybe he’ll be successful as a starter. But if he’s not immediately dominant and there’s any sense his pitching is taking a toll on his offense, the pressure will mount on him to just hit home runs and steal bases. The Dodgers, after all, have a loaded starting rotation without Ohtani but they need his impact in their lineup to win another championship.
8. Dedniel Núñez replaces Edwin Diaz as Mets closer
Diaz’s strong finish in 2024 made it easier to forget his up-and-down season but his shaky spring has resurrected concerns about whether he can still be an elite closer. His velocity has been down slightly and his inability to prevent baserunners from stealing at will against him is looming as a potentially costly problem.
Núñez, meanwhile, returned this spring from the flexor tendon injury that shut him down after he emerged as a surprise bullpen weapon in 2024, throwing 98 mph again. If Diaz can’t regain his 2022 dominance, in his second season back from knee surgery, the Mets could be better off with Núñez closing and Diaz in a setup role.
New York Mets closer Edwin Díaz (39) pitches in the 4th inning against the Houston Astros at Clover Park. / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
The Yankees didn’t actually sign Dominguez when he was 12 years old, it just seems that long since the hype began. Yet his talent is legit and, despite all the hand-wringing over his misadventures in left field, I think he proves to be the real thing in his first full season in the big leagues at age 22.
He’ll settle in defensively, allowing him to relax and let his tools take over. He stole 40 bases in the minors two years ago and scouts continue to marvel at how quickly the ball leaves the ballpark when Dominguez squares one up. That could well add up to a 30/30 season and the emergence of a star.
6. The Red Sox are back in a big way
After several years of angering their fans with a lack of spending and a patient approach to building through the farm system, the Boston Red Sox will take a huge leap forward, winning the AL East and reaching the World Series for the first time since 2018.
They made some key moves in the offseason, trading for Garrett Crochet, signing Walker Buehler and Alex Bregman, to complement the young talent that is ready to blossom. The timing is right for them in a watered-down American League, all the more so considering the Yankees’ injuries.
5. Yankees trade for Sandy Alcantara
The idea was to pair Gerrit Cole with Max Fried and ride dominant starting pitching to a championship in the wake of losing Juan Soto to the Mets. But with Cole lost for the season and Luis Gil for months, the only way to replicate that formula is to trade for Alcantara this summer.
This is assuming the Miami Marlins’ ace returns with dominance after Tommy John surgery, and he appears to be on his way after a strong spring training. The cost will be high, as Alcantara is under contract through 2027, including a team option year, but the Yankees could well be desperate to win before Aaron Judge gets old. And the Marlins seem to be at the beginning of another rebuild.
New York Mets pitcher Clay Holmes (35) pitches against the Houston Astros in the third inning at Clover Park / Jim Rassol - Imagn Images
Holmes’ dominance in Florida is among the happiest developments for the Mets so far in spring training, making them look smart for the decision to sign him as a free agent and convert him from a reliever to a starter.
I don’t think it’s a fluke either. He’s added an effective change-up to his reliever arsenal and has begun complementing his turbo-sinker with a four-seam fastball up in the strike zone. What about stamina? Well, when Seth Lugo made a similar conversion upon signing with the San Diego Padres in 2023, he threw 146 innings in his first year there. No reason Holmes can’t do that and earn an All-Star nod along the way.
3. The rivalry is back: Yankees lose to Red Sox in ALCS
Baseball needs the Yankees and Red Sox to hate each other again, and while the intensity may never reach the 2003-2004 level, this looks like the year the rivalry will get hot again.
Injuries obviously have hit the Yankees hard but they still should have enough to earn a wild card spot and move on to an ALCS meeting with the division-champion Red Sox. Judge will have another monster season but the Yankees will miss Soto in the post-season and fall short of a second straight World Series appearance
2. Mets fall in NLCS again as the Soto-era begins with promise
This time it may not be as much of a love-fest as 2024, considering how high the expectations are with Soto on board, as the Mets earn a wild card berth but lose again to the Dodgers in the NLCS, mainly because their starting pitching can’t match up with LA.
Yet in the big picture I think the Mets in 2025 will take another step toward winning it all under Steve Cohen, as Soto establishes himself in Queens with an MVP-type season and the farm system starts to produce, most importantly on the pitching side, starting with Brandon Sproat making an impact at some point.
1. Dodgers tie '98 Yankees and go back-to-back
Obviously it’s not all that bold to predict a second straight championship for the Dodgers after their Evil Empire-like off-season, but I also think they go a step farther and deliver one of the great seasons in major league history by winning 114 games, as the Yankees did in 1998.
That’s still two short of the all-time record of 116, set by the 1906 Chicago Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners, but it would be quite a feat while validating all of LA’s spending, while also officially make them the team to hate around baseball.
The Dodgers have so much elite pitching, both in the rotation and the bullpen, to go with their dynamic lineup, that 114 seems very much within their reach. And while the post-season is always a crapshoot, as the saying goes, the Dodgers have the weapons to win their second straight title and set up a possible dynasty.
The Mets continue their Grapefruit League action as they take on the Miami Marlins at 1:10 p.m. on PIX11. Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...
Mets Notes
Griffin Canning, Sunday's starter on the mound, has allowed just one earned run over the course of his three starts this spring
Brett Baty leads the Grapefruit League with his 1.123 OPS this spring. He's in the lineup again, playing second base and hitting sixth
Juan Soto leads all Mets players with four home runs this spring, while Baty and Jose Siri are just off the pace with three
MARLINS
METS
Javier Sanoja, LF
Francisco Lindor, SS
Dane Myers, CF
Starling Marte, DH
Kyle Stowers, RF
Pete Alonso, 1B
Eric Wagaman, 3B
Brandon Nimmo, LF
Matt Mervis, 1B
Mark Vientos, 3B
Liam Hicks, DH
Brett Baty, 2B
Rob Brantly, C
Alexander Canario, RF
Starlyn Caba, SS
Luis Torrens, C
Carter Johnson, 2B
Tyrone Taylor, CF
How can I watch Mets vs. Marlins online?
To watch Mets games online via PIX11, you will need a subscription to a TV service provider and live in the New York City metro area. This will allow fans to watch the Mets on their computer, tablet or mobile phone browser.
