Category: Sports News

MESA, Arizona — By the time I got to the Cubs Sloan Park complex this morning, much of the activity had slowed down for the day. However, I do have some photos and video to show you. First, though, since this was the first full squad workout day for the team, Cubs Executive Chairman Tom Ricketts had a few comments after meeting with players:

It’s the usual thing he says every spring. This year, though, I think the team is in very good position to win.

After the catchers workout was done, Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya stopped and signed autographs — for everyone waiting. There were a couple dozen kids waiting and the catchers obliged everyone.

So that’s a good thing.

Then, I went over to Field 1, where I had heard Ian Happ, Michael Busch and Alex Bregman were supposed to be hitting. But, I found out those three had been there earlier and were done for the day.

Instead, I saw some brief hitting sessions from Dansby Swanson and Kevin Alcántara, so I can share some videos of that with you.

That’s a very brief visit to Cubs camp today. There was actually a game going on at Sloan Park today. The Cubs (along with several other Spring Training parks) are hosting the Desert Invitational involving college baseball teams. Today’s Sloan Park game was Air Force vs. Kansas State — I saw quite a few fans dressed in KSU purple.

Tuesday is supposed to be a bit rainy and cool in the Valley so practices will likely be indoors. The Cubs’ first spring game will be Friday against the White Sox at Sloan Park at 2:05 p.m. CT. That game will be televised on Marquee Sports Network, with a radio broadcast on The Score.

Spring training is here, and exhibition games will be on the schedule as early as the end of this week. With that in mind, it’s time to kick the mailbag back into high gear, and get back to answering your questions on a weekly basis. The Yankees are gearing up in camp, and have gotten some promising news so far with both Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón aiming to get into Grapefruit League games by the end of spring. There are a couple of minor bumps to address, namely Ben Rice sitting out a couple of days with a sore neck, but they avoided dropping any major bombs on us in the first presser of the year so all things considered that’s a great start.

The floor is wide open for questions about this team. They’ve infamously decided to run it back with the roster that took them to the ALDS last year, plus or minus some bullpen tweaking, and they’ve got a bigger role in store for both Rice and Trent Grisham compared to the start of last year. Will their gamble to bet on themselves work out? Will they get reinforcements for the rotation earlier than expected, or is that a pipedream? Can Aaron Judge really be a superhuman for another consecutive year?  If you have questions like these, or anything else on your mind, send ‘em in for a chance to be featured in our Yankees mailbag.

Answers will run on Friday afternoon. All questions received by the night of February 19th will be considered. You can leave your submissions in the comment section below or by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Righthanded pitcher Zak Kent has been claimed off of waivers by the St. Louis Cardinals, it was announced today. The Rangers had designated Kent for assignment a few days ago to clear a 40 man roster spot for the newly signed Jordan Montgomery.

This is the second time this offseason that the Cardinals have claimed Kent, who was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2019, and then traded to Cleveland for international bonus pool money at the end of spring training 2024 when the Rangers were opening 40 man roster spots for Jared Walsh, Wyatt Langford and Jose Urena.

Kent made his major league debut for Cleveland in 2025, but was placed on waivers in December, with St. Louis claiming him. The Cardinals then waived him in January, and Texas claimed him. Now he’s back with St. Louis, and I would wager he’ll be placed on waivers again towards the end of spring training when the Cards need a 40 man roster spot and teams are flooding the waiver wire with similar guys, making it more likely he goes unclaimed and can be outrighted.

FanGraphs on Monday put out its top prospects in baseball, with five Dodgers ranked in the top 110 entering the 2026.

Eric Longenhagen, Brendan Gawlowski, and James Fegan wrote up the prospects, a list that was expanded from 100 to 110 to account for the prospects with a Future Value rating of 50 (on the 20-to-80 scouting scale) or higher.

Three outfielders lead the Dodgers contingent represented here, with Josue De Paula ranked 17th, Zyhir Hope 41st, and Eduardo Quintero 43rd.

De Paula is ranked between 14th and 24th on prospect lists at FanGraphs, Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN, The Athletic, and MLB Pipeline, with an average ranking of 18.5. Says FanGraphs of his future: “De Paula’s combination of present raw power and long-term physical projection give him a great shot to develop 40-homer raw power at peak, though it’s debatable whether his hitting skills are the kind that will allow him to actualize all of that raw thump in games.”

Other Dodgers to show up on the list at FanGraphs are shortstop Emil Morales ranked 61st and pitcher River Ryan at 107th coming back from Tommy John surgery. De Paula (48th) and Ryan (101st) are the only Dodgers returning from last year’s preseason ranking at FanGraphs.

Based on the FanGraphs Dodgers team prospect rankings from December, the next prospects in line in the system are, in order, outfielder Mike Sirota, pitcher Christian Zazueta, and shortstop Alex Freeland.

Thomas Saggese has proven that he is a versatile player, but does he have the skill set to transition to the outfield? There are reports that the St. Louis Cardinals are at least considering it.

I came across this story from MLB Trade Rumors over the weekend that says the St. Louis Cardinals are exploring internal options for its outfield and right-handed bat needs. In their report, they refer to a story by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch saying the Cardinals have not been seriously engaged with Randall Grichuk and that Austin Hays had chosen the White Sox over the Cardinals due to playing time expectations. Their conclusion was that the St. Louis Cardinals were considering Jose Fermin and/or Thomas Saggese for outfield playing time. The Post-Dispatch just shared video today of Chaim Bloom saying Saggese in the outfield is a possibility.

Jose Fermin has already played a handful of MLB games in the outfield, but Saggese hasn’t played in the outfield since he was a 10-year-old kid. As we have shared here previously, Thomas Saggese has solid defensive numbers at 2nd and 3rd base with less impressive metrics at shortstop. Speed plays a much larger role in the outfield than it does the infield and Baseball America rates Thomas as having average to below-average speed rated to around 45 on a 20 to 80 scale. With his work ethic, I don’t question that he can adapt and learn a corner outfield position, but his natural skill set doesn’t seem to be a comfortable fit.

The concept for possibly transitioning Saggese to the outfield would allow him more playing time since his primary infield positions will be filled by Gorman, Winn and likely Wetherholt. If he could earn outfield playing time, that would get his right-handed bat into the lineup, but that’s not the thump many of us were hoping for. My initial impressions of Thomas Saggese was that he was a scrappy hitter similar to David Eckstein. That’s not a bad thing since he did end up being a World Series MVP, but David was known as a slap hitter with limited power. To be fair to Thomas Saggese, his performance in the minors in 2023 and 2024 show he does have some pop with 26 homers in 2023 and 21 in 2024. As I recall, David Eckstein only had 35 home runs over his 11-year career.

We’re still at the genesis of Spring Training so it’s too early to know if the St. Louis Cardinals envision Thomas Saggese as a middle infielder primarily and an outfielder only on rare occasions, but it’s obvious that the team would really love for him to be able to take on the super-utility role that Brendan Donovan excelled at. Does the thought of Thomas Saggese in the outfield make you nervous or is this a brilliant use of an already versatile right-handed bat? No matter what your opinion on Saggese in the outfield is, here’s something that is guaranteed to brighten your day as shared by the St. Louis Cardinals this morning.

Three days ago, ESPN published a tongue-in-cheek article called “Why Your Team Didn’t Do What You Wanted This Winter.” In a spectrum that ran Dodgers-to-Rockies, the Mariners were thankfully much closer to the Dodgers side of things, but Bradford Doolittle, the author, did question why the Mariners didn’t get another lefty bullpen arm to help Gabe Speier, saying some not-so-nice things about Jose Ferrer in the process and giving minimal attention to Robinson Ortiz, one of the Mariners’ early moves this winter. I’m not sure that today’s move of bringing in Josh Simpson from Miami to take Logan Evans’ spot on the 40-man will make Doolittle feel like the Mariners Didmore to address their lefty bullpen issues, but there is now another lefty in the mix along with Speier, Ferrer, and Ortiz.

Simpson got dumped right before Valentine’s Day as the Marlins DFA’d him on Thursday, allowing the Mariners to swoop in and acquire the Columbia product, who has so far spent his entire career in the Marlins organization after being drafted in the 32nd round in 2019. Simpson has had some injury issues in his career, missing a year in between his sophomore and junior seasons at Columbia with TJ. After being drafted he made steady progress through the Marlins system, dominating at the lower levels; but in 2023, he struggled with both injury (shoulder impingement) and throwing strikes at Double-A. 2024 wasn’t kinder on the injury front, as Simpson missed most of the season with “left elbow ulnar neuritis,” also known as cubital tunnel syndrome; you might recognize that as the thing that sidelined flamethrowing Angels pitcher Ben Joyce.

Simpson’s fastball comes in about ten miles slower than Joyce’s, so that’s not the concern with him; it’s more keeping him on the field, which he was able to do in 2025, and throwing strikes, which he was not as able to do. Simpson has enormous strikeout potential thanks to a deep repertoire and ability to spin a breaking ball; his sweeper is a whiff-machine, especially effective against lefties, and when he has a feel for his changeup, it’s deadly:

But there is a troubling amount of his highlight film titled “Josh Simpson escapes a jam,” because he often found himself in jams due to poor command.

There is a lot of raw material to work with for the 28-year-old, who might benefit from a different set of developmental eyes on him. He doesn’t have an overpowering fastball, coming in around 94 and depending more on weak contact than whiffs, and he pairs that with a sinker that is supposed to be a weapon against lefties but winds up in the middle of the plate too often. The Mariners, despite popular perception, don’t tend to make a ton of mechanical adjustments with their pitchers, but just from watching a couple pitches our John Trupin suggested there’s a lack of front-side consistency with Simpson that could be addressed. Then there’s the issue of being able to consistently land his curveball, sweeper, and changeup, which seems like a big ask for a pitcher who’s struggling to throw strikes, so perhaps some selective arsenal editing could be helpful. There’s also the injury aspect to consider, although Simpson is coming off a healthy 2025.

The question in Doolittle’s article still stands; if Ferrer and Ortiz don’t merit much mention, Simpson, at this stage at least, is a tick down from either of those two. But there are a lot of interesting components here that hearken back to the previous lefty duo of Speier and Tayler Saucedo, with Speier raining down hellfire and Saucedo—when he was on—coaxing ugly swings and weak contact. It’s a good lefty one-two punch, in theory; the Mariners’ job this spring will be to find Speier the right sparring partner, and now a new contender has entered the ring.

With real baseball games just around the corner FanGraphs released their Top 100 Prospect List for 2026. Only two Braves prospects make the list this year with JR Ritchie leading the way coming in at No. 68 overall, while Didier Fuentes comes in at No. 90 on the list. This is the highest we’ve seen JR Ritchie come in on a list this pre-season, and the first one that has Fuentes on it at all.

Coming into his age 22 season Fangraphs has JR Ritchie at 68 overall, with a future value of 50 – a significant value that pretty much gives him a legitimate starting pitcher grade.

Here’s a little bit of what FanGraphs had to say about JR and it’s definitely worth the click to read the full breakdown.

Ritchie touches 97 with both of his fastballs, and after years of sitting 91-93, he added a tick and change in 2025, when his heater averaged 93.9 mph. While not a seismic breakout, it’s a meaningful step forward for a strike-thrower with a change and good feel to spin, one who has been on the 45/50 line in previous evaluation cycles. The extra velo gives him more wiggle room in the zone, and his ability to command the ball to both sides of the plate suggests he’ll fully leverage it.

Despite the rough stint in the majors for Didier last year, one that many have noted was a bit rushed, FanGraphs also gave him a 50 future value grade. Here’s a little of what they had to say about Didier.

Fuentes is advanced beyond his years. His delivery is simple and repeatable, with a quick and clean arm stroke and moderate effort throughout his delivery. He’s primarily a fastball/sweeper guy, and will sprinkle in a curve and splitter. He’s adept at spotting the fastball to the glove-side corner and the top rail of the zone, where mid-90s velo, plus extension, and a low release height all help it play as an above-average weapon.

Once again – it is definitely worth the click to read the full breakdown of Didier, one that might ease some of the concerns that have made their way around social media. With the Braves already facing several starting pitcher injuries there is definitely the real possibility that both find their way in Atlanta this year – sooner than later.

According to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, Ty France is expected to join the San Diego Padres’ Spring Training camp as a non-roster invitee after signing a minor-league deal with the team.

France, 31, has a career .262 batting average in seven big-league seasons with five organizations. He made his debut in the majors with the Padres in 2019 before being dealt to the Seattle Mariners at the following trade deadline. 

In 2025, France split time between the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays. He hit .257 in 490 combined at-bats with the two clubs. The first baseman was acquired by the Blue Jays to become a defensive replacement for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. His ability around the bag upgraded the Jays infield defense.

The veteran was honored for his elite fielding at first base by winning his first Gold Glove this past offseason. France led all first basemen with a +10 Outs Above Average (OAA) and recorded a .996 fielding percentage.

The Friars have added a reliable glove to their infield mix. France will compete with Nick Castellanos, Miguel Andujar and Gavin Sheets for playing time at first base and designated hitter.

We knew Tommy Edman was behind in spring training after undergoing right ankle surgery in November, and on Monday morning at Camelback Ranch, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts ruled out the utility man for opening day. Edman will begin the regular season on the injured list, per the many beat reporters on site in Arizona.

From Katie Woo at The Athletic:

“Just looking as to where his ankle is at, trying to play the long view,” Roberts said. “You don’t want to have any regression or setbacks, so how can we be methodical with it. For me, knowing he’s just taking swings, isn’t up to full speed doing the baseball stuff, it takes a lot to get your body into baseball shape. We’re not going to rush it. Want to put him in the best position.”

This mirrors what Edman said during Dodgers Fest at Dodger Stadium on January 31, just two and a half weeks after his walking boot was removed.

“I’m really hopeful I’ll be able to put the ankle injuries of the last couple of years behind me. It’s something I kind of dealt with throughout ’24 and ’25, and I feel like it affected the way to play the game I normally would be able to,” Edman said in January. “I’m thankful I got the surgery when I did, and everything’s gone very smooth with recovery so far. The part of the ankle that was bugging me hasn’t popped up at all during recovery. Now it’s just getting used to putting weight on that leg and pushing off in an efficient way.

“The timetable is more of as I progress, so it’s kind of hard to say when I’ll be able to hop back into a major league game again. … I want to make sure I’m a full go, and don’t have to worry about [the ankle] again the rest of the year.”

Coupled with the newly-re-signed Kiké Hernández out until roughly midseason after left elbow surgery, that opens up a few roster spots among Dodgers position players for the early part of the season, including Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland in the mix for playing time at second base along with veteran Miguel Rojas.

The locker room at Camelback Ranch is quite spacious, but the Dodgers are testing its capacity this spring training. The latest addition is infielder Santiago Espinal, who was signed to a minor league contract with a non-roster invitation to spring training, per the variousbeat reporterson site in Arizona.

Espinal makes 34 Dodgers non-roster invitees in camp, including 12 non-catching position players.

Espinal, 31, has played in the majors in each of the last six seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds. Last year in 114 games with Cincinnati, Espinal hit .243/.292/.282 with 12 doubles and no home runs in 328 plate appearances. Over his career the right-handed-batting Espinal is a .261/.316/.349 hitter with an 85 wRC+, including .291/.344/.409 with a 107 wRC+ against left-handed pitching.

The veteran has played all over the infield, with 196 career starts at third base, 180 starts at second base, 34 starts at shortstop, plus seven starts in right field, six in left, and two starts at first base.

Espinal is at least nominally part of the competition for playing time at second base with Tommy Edman set to start the regular season on the injured list after right ankle surgery in November, manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Monday at Camelback Ranch.

Should Espinal happen make the Dodgers roster, he would have the right to refuse any minor league assignment due to his five years, 149 days of major league service time.

The Royals had made moves to contend in 2014, but still, their postseason run had a “we’re just happy to be here” feel, where every day the team was playing with house money. They parlayed that attitude into a pennant, falling just short of winning one of the most improbable championships in modern baseball history.

The 2024 Royals had a more improbable postseason appearance, after improving by 30 wins that season. They had a remarkable sweep over the Orioles in the Wild Card round, but the clock struck midnight in the ALDS against the Yankees. Still, most everyone saw it as an extraordinarily successful season after losing 106 games the year before.

But expectations change, and the definition of “success” changes with it. The Royals have established they are no longer a cellar-dwelling team, but can they go from being in baseball’s middle class to reaching the penthouse?

What would you consider a successful 2026 season?

If you heard a collective sigh of relief, it came from the Friar Faithful this morning. 

San Diego Union-Tribune writer Kevin Acee reported (subscription required) the San Diego Padres and President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller have agreed on a multi-year contract extension.

The agreement ends the speculation of Preller’s potential departure that surfaced this winter. His previous deal would have expired at the conclusion of the 2026 season.

In an official team statement, Padres chairman John Seidler praised Preller for his commitment to winning and positioning the franchise for sustained success. 

The Friars are coming off consecutive 90-plus win seasons, as the club has reached the postseason four out of the last six seasons (2020, 2022, 2024, and 2025). Plus, the team set a new attendance record at Petco Park with over 3.4 million fans last season. 

Preller is affectionately known as the “Rockstar GM” by the Friar Faithful for his ability to make numerous player moves in a rapid-fire manner.

His first offseason saw Preller orchestrate 10 trades before the start of the 2015 season. He showed the willingness to trade top prospects for talent who can make an immediate impact on the field.

At the 2020 trade deadline, he completed six trades in less than 72 hours. Preller overhauled the roster, shedding 16 players while landing 10 new additions in return. The trades ignited the Friars to make their first postseason appearance in his tenure. 

Hired by the Padres in August of 2014, Preller is now the second-longest tenured baseball executive in the majors, trailing only Brian Cashman of the New York Yankees.

No terms of the contract extension were announced.