Category: Sports News

Rejoice, San Diego Padres baseball is back!

Full squad workouts have begun in preparation for the 2026 season. And by the end of the week, we will have digested our first Cactus League clash. 

Not too many major league Spring Training camps have two legitimate stars like Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. beginning their work for the coming season. Each will continue to anchor the Padres’ lineup at the top of the order. Normally, we would be discussing their impact on the team’s success. 

Instead, all eyes will be on Ethan Salas, who is entering the crossroads of his pro career.

Why has Salas’ stock dropped?

No question, his stock has declined, as Salas is no longer atop the consensus top prospect lists. Baseball America ranked him No. 8 in their 2024 MLB prospect list. Now, Salas is ranked No. 90 in this year’s prospect list. Injuries and struggles at the plate have contributed to his demise.

So, not great news for Salas, who is the Friar’s top international free agent signing at 16 years old for $ 5.6 million. Despite all the uncertainty, the organization invited him to major league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Since his arrival, his offensive production has been disappointing. In three minor league seasons, Salas has a career batting average of .221, accompanied by underwhelming power numbers. He has 58 extra-base hits in 800 minor league at-bats. But what is more alarming is that he struck out in 22.5% of his plate appearances. It is not a bad percentage if you were a proven power-hitter. 

Last season, Salas hit .188 in 10 games at Double-A San Antonio. The 19-year-old missed the remainder of the season due to a stress reaction in his lower back. Thus, another lost season in his development.

The one constant in his up-and-down pro career has been his defense, as Salas is considered one of the top defensive catching prospects in baseball. Scouts have graded him with high marks (70-fielding and 60-arm) on their 20-80 grade scale. It is the reason why Salas is still in conversation as a potential major league call-up candidate.

What is next in Salas’ career?

The odds are high that Salas will begin the 2026 campaign in the minors. The Padres do not have a spot on the Opening Day roster for him, as all the competitors for the backup catcher role have a proven track record in the majors. 

You can argue that injuries have left him a shell of his former self. But Salas has an opportunity in the major league camp to show he can be productive at the plate and hopefully remain injury-free for the upcoming season.

It is not impossible to believe the Friars might be inclined to trade Salas before breaking camp. Nevertheless, other clubs may be reluctant to acquire him due to concerns regarding his offensive production. If the market for Salas is lower than expected, then let him develop in the minors. Hopefully, he fulfills his potential and becomes a more complete player.

It is not impossible to envision Salas turning his career around. He is young enough to improve offensively.

All the talk is over; Salas must prove he is a potential fixture in a major league lineup. He is at the crossroads of his Padres career; something has to give in 2026. 

Speculation about a contract extension for San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller has been persistent this offseason. Multiple reports have stated that a deal between Preller and the Padres would be forthcoming but to this point nothing is done as of the team’s first full squad workout of Spring Training, Sunday.

Preller is entering the final year of his contract, making him a “lame duck” general manager. Questions about his future with the organization are to be expected but so far remain unanswered. Padres CEO Erik Greupner spoke with Ben Higgins and Steven Woods of “Ben and Woods” on 97.3 The Fan in October of 2025 about an extension for Preller.

“It’s always been the plan that the discussions around an extension for A.J. would take place at the beginning of the offseason as part of our review and evaluation,” Greupner said. “So those discussions have begun and we’re optimistic that A.J. will be our president of baseball operations past 2026.”

Now that February has arrived, Spring Training has begun and Preller still does not have a contract extension, the questions about his future with the team are becoming more prevalent and players are being asked for their thoughts on the situation. Manny Machado, who Preller brought to San Diego as a free agent in 2019, praised Preller and the work he has done with the Padres, adding his lack of an extension is “weird.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of weird,” Machado said. “They’ve been saying they’ve been working on it. Obviously, there’s a lot going on right now with the organization, but I think they’ll figure it out. At the end of the day, we all know the value of A.J. in this organization.”

It certainly cannot hurt Preller’s case for an extension if one of the locker room leaders who is connected to the team for the foreseeable future speaks on his behalf. To Preller’s credit, according to a social media post from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune, when Preller was asked about Machado’s comments he said, “You give out a $300 million contract, usually you get those kinds of comments.”

Preller had the backing of another prominent player well before the media scrums on Sunday. Michael King who re-signed with the Padres in the offseason after testing the free agent market credited Preller for his desire to return to San Diego.

“I’d say the main reason I signed back here was because of Preller,” King said at Padres FanFest in January. “Knowing him as a GM, I know he is going to put a winning team out there every time I’m a part of this contract. I wanted to win throughout the duration of it, and I have the trust in him to do that.”

Machado had similar sentiments to King about Preller and his ability to put together a roster, and for good reason. Preller has been the architect of the most successful run in franchise history, which has included trips to the playoffs in four of the last six seasons.

“We do what we can with the team and he does his best,” Machado said. “Obviously, it’s been successful the last two years with what we’ve had to navigate. This year is nothing different.

“He’s made three moves (Saturday) in a matter of 24 hours and made our team drastically better and he’s going to continue to do that,” Machado added.

Preller has been one of the most active and aggressive general managers in baseball during his time in San Diego. He has shown a willingness to trade from the roster and the minor league system to acquire current players like Fernando Tatis Jr., Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Jason Adam, Jake Cronenworth and more recently Mason Miller. He traded for players who have left the organization like Blake Snell, Juan Soto, Josh Hader, Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez. Not all the trades have gone in favor of San Diego, but each one has kept the Padres in the discussion of a team competing for a World Series championship.

“I think we all know that and we all have faith in him and know that he’s gonna want the best for this organization, the best for this team and he’s gonna try to put the best team out there to go out there and give us the best opportunity to win a championship,” Machado said Sunday.

Preller has also spent money, and this is an area where the part of the fanbase that was not upset about trading away prospects and potential, tends to stand up and make its voice heard. Preller initially signed Machado and then extended him for 11 years at $350 million, keeping him with the team until 2033. Preller extended Tatis Jr. on a 14-year $340 million deal in 2021 and Cronenworth on a seven-year, $80 million deal in April of 2023. Preller extended Jackson Merrill in 2025 with a nine-year, $135 million deal and gave shortstop Xander Bogaerts $280 million over 11 years in free agency in 2023.

Not all these contracts looked good at the time they were given out and some still do not look very good today. However, this offseason has shown the cost for star-level major league players is climbing rapidly and the contracts like the ones given to Cronenworth or Bogaerts may look better from one year to the next moving forward.

The farm system is depleted because of multiple trades over the past couple of seasons, but Preller has shown the ability to scout, identify and acquire talent that allows him to continue to make deadline deals year after year.

Depending on what you read or hear, the San Diego fanbase seems divided about Preller’s future with the Padres. He has his supporters and he has people who would happily pack his bags if it meant he could leave town faster. Preller has said he wants to be in San Diego, and the players seem to want him, too. Sooner or later a deal for Preller needs to get done and if it is not with the Padres, there is little doubt another team would not jump at the chance to bring him into their organization.

It has been less than a week since the start of 2026 Spring Training arrived, and the it feels like the 2025 bad injury luck for the Braves never ended. It feels like every day comes with a new injury update, and while some may be positive, the negative updates seem to always be of significance.

Jurickson Profar spoke with the media for the first time, and it was revealed he had sports hernia surgery back in November. The good news is that is fully healthy now, which is certainly a positive for the lineup. The more significant news of the day was that Hurston Waldrep will be out indefinitely due to “loose bodies” causing soreness in his pitching elbow. The ligament seems to be fine currently, but this is another blow to the Braves rotation depth. The logic of adding another starter has now become a legitimate need, one the Braves likely need to address sooner than later.

Braves News

Profar also discussed his expected role with the Braves as DH heading into 2026 season.

MLB News

Bryce Harper of the Phillies discussed the offseason comments from GM Dave Dombrowski for the first time on

Sunday.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The Yankees are in an interesting spot with outfielder Jasson Domínguez in 2026. Domínguez is still young enough and his development would be best served by playing every day. However, it’s difficult—at least as of right now (we’re still over a month away from Opening Day and it’s best to expected the unexpected with spring training roster health)—to make the argument that he’s in the Yankees’ best lineup since Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, and Cody Bellinger patrol the outfield with Giancarlo Stanton at DH. That very well could mean that “The Martian” starts the year back in the minor leagues. Domínguez himself understands the dilemma, but is trying not to focus on the noise surrounding his status.

ESPN | Jorge Castillo: After suffering an elbow injury last July, Judge spent a lot of the stretch run hampered. While that didn’t really stop his march to the MVP, the Yankees’ captain definitely felt the effects while playing the field. Going into 2026, that shouldn’t be an issue. Judge is “fully cleared” be a full participant in workouts and will feature in several of the early spring training games before he heads to the World Baseball Classic on behalf of Team USA.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: We’ll double down on Hoch this morning. Carlos Lagrange is ranked as one of the top 100 prospects in baseball according to several outlets, featuring a high-octane fastball as well as a trio of tantalizing secondary pitches. He’s undoubtedly one of the most interesting players in the Yankees’ system. So far in spring training, he’s impressed the Yankees, not only on the mound but off it too.

By the way, in case you’re wondering, the man himself clarified how to pronounce Lagrange’s last name, since some people haven’t been getting it right:

When the Colorado Rockies released their list of spring training invitees, it included 19 non-roster invitees.

President of baseball operations Paul DePodesta has been clear that the Rockies are looking for athleticism and versatility in position players and a developed arsenal in pitchers.

So, Purple Row Night Owls, here’s tonight’s question: Which non-roster invitee (invitees?) is (are?) most likely to break camp with the Rockies?

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

PHOENIX — No translation was required for Hyeseong Kim’s appraisal of Roki Sasaki’s new slider.

“Good,” Kim said in English.

Good enough for the Korean infielder to swing at the pitch and miss in a live batting practice session against Sasaki on Saturday.

Project Roki is underway at Camelback Ranch, the ninth-inning sensation of the Dodgers’ most recent World Series run working to solidify a place in the team’s rotation.

Sasaki is armed with two weapons that made him a dominant pitcher in Japan, as well as the country’s most anticipated baseball export since Shohei Ohtani: a 100-mph fastball and Wiffle-ball-like forkball. 

Last year, more than 83% of pitches he threw were either fastballs or forkballs. Finding success as a major league starter will be borderline impossible with just two effective pitches, which is why the 24-year-old Sasaki is attempting to incorporate into his arsenal a slider or cutter, or maybe both. 

Sasaki said he junked the slower variation of the slider he threw last season, which was not only hittable but also contributed to shoulder problems that sidelined him for four months. He is now experimenting with a faster version of the pitch he threw earlier in his career in Japan, with a spiral spin.

“I thought the slider I threw last year wasn’t very good,” Sasaki said in Japanese. “In reality, the results weren’t very good, either.”

Before he was placed on the injured list last year, Sasaki made eight starts in which he posted a 4.72 ERA.

The swing-and-miss by Kim on Saturday was a positive sign, but Sasaki said he still doesn’t have a clear vision for a pitch that will move away from right-handed hitters, whether it will be a slider or a cutter or something in between. Sasaki said he also plans to mix in a two-seamer.

By adding a slider or cutter and a two-seamer that travels in the opposite direction, Sasaki said, “I think it will bring my fastball and forkball to life.”

Said Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes: “If he’s executing the fastball and split the way he’s capable of, with what he’s done in the past, it’s an amazing foundation. Anything on top of that is just going to make things more challenging for opposing hitters.”

Sasaki downplayed the magnitude of the changes he’s making, saying he started working on the new pitches last year. Whatever he ends up adding to his pitch mix, comfort will be a major priority.

“As much as possible, I don’t want it to affect my current pitching motion,” he said.

Sasaki showed why that was important to him as he pitched to Kim and minor-league catcher Seby Zavala. His fastball touched 98.6 mph.

Reflecting on his first season with the Dodgers last year, Sasaki said, “It wasn’t so much about coming to the major leagues and more about me stumbling.”

He believes that once he starts competing at this level without any physical impairments, he should be able to see the problems he has to remedy in order to excel.

“My goal is to continue pitching so that I can see those challenges,” Sasaki said.

Returning in the final week of the regular season as a reliever and enjoying success as a closer in the playoffs last year was helpful, Sasaki said.

“Rather than finish at the end of the spring (when I was placed on the injured list), it was obviously better to finish in a good way in the postseason,” he said. “It’s now easier to imagine something good. I was able to see something good, so in that sense, I think I’m able to pitch a little more relaxed.”

Sasaki is also drawing inspiration from a visit he made in the winter.

Back in Japan in December, Sasaki held a baseball clinic for 170 elementary school students in the coastal town of Suzu, which was devastated by an earthquake in 2024. He said he reached out to the city in the middle of last season to make arrangements. He ran with the children, watched them play catch and answered their questions. Before they left, he handed each of them an autographed baseball.

Sasaki could relate to the children, as his own life was shaped by a major earthquake. When he was 9, his childhood home in Rikuzentakata was swept into the ocean by a tsunami. He lost his father and a set of grandparents in the disaster.

“That was my first time participating in a baseball clinic,” Sasaki said. “It’s an experience you don’t usually have. I received different kinds of strength from the children.”

He’s now channeling that into a new arsenal, a new season and potentially a new identity as a pitcher.