We’re hitting the really slow portion of the offseason with most of the big name free agents having signed already. I’m not even sure who is left other than Framber Valdez other than a billion pitchers looking for a team.
It is an assumption around the league that the Orioles’ offseason work is not done just yet. Specifically, they want to upgrade their rotation. Less specifically, if reports are to be believed, they seemingly aren’t settled on any one arm in particular.
Framber Valdez is considered the top pitcher left on the free agent market, and the Orioles have been connected to him for months now. Reporting indicates that the O’s have made an offer, although details on that are fuzzy. But it would seem that Valdez is hoping for a bigger, better offer to come his way.
Lurking in the background of those conversations is another free agent, Zac Gallen. A year ago, it seemed like the righty was poised to sign a big contract this winter. He was coming off of three straight years with an ERA of 3.65 or better, and had earned Cy Young votes in three of his previous five campaigns. But he struggled in 2025, compiling a 4.83 ERA, and saw his strikeout rate dip for the third year in a row. On top of that, he was extended a qualifying offer by the Diamondbacks, adding a layer of cost consideration to his free agency.
Even still, Gallen is a bonafide big league starter with an impressive resume. If the price is right, teams could be willing to take the risk that he will bounce back and get back to his lofty standards. After all, Gallen was much better in the second half of the year (3.97 ERA) than he was in the first half (5.40 ERA). Maybe he found something with his mechanics that he can lean on for a much better 2026 season.
Gallen’s free agency has been an adventure. Back in early December, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that Gallen was close to finalizing a deal with the Chicago Cubs that would pay $22 million per year. That was quickly refuted by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Now, a month-and-a-half later, Gallen remains on the market.
The latest reporting on the pitcher comes from Jon Heyman. Appearing on MLB Network Tuesday evening, Heyman described the Orioles as “in on Zac Gallen,” alongside the Cubs, with a return to the Diamondbacks also on the table. That would be a rather new development for the O’s, who have only been tangentially linked to Gallen throughout the winter, as they have been to just about any pitcher with a pulse.
This could also be viewed as a broader negotiating tactic. The Orioles want Valdez’s camp to know they have other options. Gallen’s team might be trying to push the Cubs or Diamondbacks for an extra year or more money in their offers. In that way, the two sides can use each other without truly being involved or interested in one another.
Or maybe the Orioles do actually sign Gallen. Who knows. Please just let it be spring already and let me stop reading “rumors.” I’m all set!
Links
MLB Rumors: Zac Gallen Gets Latest Update with Potential Suitors | Yardbarker Just a re-link of the one mentioned above. Gallen is an intriguing arm. He will probably be cheaper than Valdez, and he is two years younger. But he is also coming off of a far worse season, and there are worrying trends in his pitch data. If the money makes sense, the Orioles could still sign him, but Valdez feels like their preference.
Latest prospect rankings and leftovers from Birdland Caravan | Roch Kubatko Oodles of quotes from the Birdland Caravan events that happened before the snow this weekend. There is a good energy around the team as spring approaches. The roster feels better. The players seem excited. The manager is giving off a good attitude. The vibes are immaculate.
Here is 2026’s All-Underrated Team | MLB.com A new Oriole and an old friend make appearances here. Taylor Ward is going to be an interesting player to watch. I admit that I haven’t caught many Angels games the last few years. But his stats show what sort of impact he can make in a lineup. You have to imagine that he will be putting his best foot forward as a 32-year-old in a contract year.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
Wesley Wright turns 41 today. The southpaw was limited to just two appearances for the Orioles in 2015 due to a lingering trapezius strain. He was released in July of that season.
This day in O’s history
1982 – The Orioles acquire outfielder Dan Ford from the Angels in exchange for third baseman Doug DeCinces and pitcher Jeff Schneider
2000 – Free agent pitcher Pat Rapp signs a one-year deal with the Orioles.
2026 baseball projections are out now, so I’m going to begin to take a look at how the crystal ball of statistical projections sees things for the coming year. Sure, we might lose one of our key players in Brendan Donovan, so I will probably do this again (plus ZiPS literally just came out a few days ago in its raw form), but I have grown wary of the thought of either keeping or watching Donovan go, so for now, I’ll just assume he’s going to stick around. Even though it would seem that he is going to be traded any day or week now…
But wait! I have some poll results from last week’s polls: 82% of voters said that it isn’t fair that Jim Edmonds did not make the Hall of Fame because he is practically just as good as his old teammate Scott Rolen, as well as the two most recent Hall of Fame inductees Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones. 10% of voters said that he was straight up snubbed by the writers. Only 8% of voters thought that he fell just short and should not be in the Hall of Fame.
As far as the Nolan Arenado poll went, 32% of voters think that Nolan Arenado will fall just short of getting into the Hall of Fame, and that he has rapidly entered his decline phase. 27% of voters think that he’s so much on the cusp of induction that it is impossible to tell if he will make the Hall of Fame. 5% vote for duh, everyone knows Nolan Arenado and his legendary defense, it’s the Hall of FAME, he should be in. Then there was a split 18% of voters saying that he will make it in eventually, and 18% thinking that he should not even be considered for the Hall of Fame.
So VEB is pretty united in thinking Jim Edmonds should make it to the Hall of Fame, and in thinking Nolan Arenado probably won’t make the Hall of Fame. At least according to those two polls from last week. Now back to this week’s scheduled programming:
These are probably going to be the Cardinals key players (unless of course Donovan is traded, then who knows):
Click this link in the event that the embed link doesn’t work on wordpress.
So the early results are in and as you can tell, ZiPS and Fangraphs Depth Charts like the Cardinals starters ok enough, but the Bat X (another system that was actually pretty good when using it last season) makes our best 9 look a little weak. That said this will be one of the more difficult teams to project with so many unknowns and young players adding to the uncertainty. However, The Bat thinks our starting rotation will be better than some might expect. Albeit, nothing too impressive now matter how you slice it.
If Brendan Donovan leaves, the projections see him as our 2nd most valuable player at this point. Masyn Winn’s elite defense has made a believer of both ZiPS and Fangraphs Depth Charts, so that’s an encouraging sign. He should be our most valuable player, at least according to projections. Here’s where I’m going to disagree with the projections though…
I think Ivan Herrera will be our second most valuable player, even if Donovan stays. The projections think he will be about as valuable as Pedro Pages, but I think he can surpass that, even with The Bat X doubtful projection. No projection system has him cracking 3 WAR, but I believe he can do it. But on the other hand, this is the season where I will define my thinking of him… will he stick at catcher, and more importantly, can he play a full season?
Herrera staying healthy could be a huge boost for this team. Outside of Winn and Herrera, I don’t see much potential of an over 3 WAR season from anyone except JJ Wetherholt, who could win Rookie of the Year if he cracks 3 WAR. Sure it is possible he will cross that milestone this season, but I think it unfair to expect that from him in his first year. If Brendan Donovan somehow completes a full season in St Louis in 2026, sure he has a chance at cracking the 3 WAR barrier, but I wouldn’t bank on that.
The Pedro Pages projections are very solid but I’m not even sure that he won’t be traded still. So I don’t have much to say about that other than his defense carries him well. I’d like to instead focus on Lars Nootbaar: if healthy, he’s putting up at least 2 WAR this year. Not bad on such a mediocre team. Another bright spot is none of the projection systems think that Jordan Walker will continue to be a negative value MLB player. In fact, Fangraphs Depth Charts and The Bat X think he will be around a win over replacement level. So I guess that might be nice. For what it’s worth, ZiPS thinks Jordan is good for 14 home runs. Depth Charts and the Bat X say 16 homers. So he seems to be destined for 15+ home runs. I guess that would be ok.
If anyone besides Ivan Herrera can bring some offensive upside to the ballclub, it might be Alec Burleson. While ZiPS and The Bat X think that he will have trouble cracking the 2 WAR barrier, Fangraphs Depth Charts sees a little more potential than that, and I suppose if everything breaks Burly’s way, he’s another candidate for a breakout 3+ WAR season. It’s not really out of the question, given his track record of improving noticeably each year of his MLB career. He looked like he couldn’t hit in his cup of coffee in 2022. In 2023, he was a below average hitter. In 2024, he was an above average hitter. Then, in 2025 he raised his batting average and on-base percentage enough that he was awarded a Silver Slugger (I guess because he bounced around 1B, DH, and OF).
That tracks to a wRC+ of 56, 89, 106, and 124. Since he has went up by 18 wRC+ from 2023-2024 and also from 2024-2025, I guess that means he will hit at 142 wRC+ in 2026! Then we would have our best hitter.
What is perhaps most interesting about the starting pitching: Michael McGreevy is projected to be our best starting pitcher. Maybe this is his year. Maybe not, but I think 2 WAR from McGreevy is totally possible. Just behind McGreevy is Liberatore as #2, and for what it’s worth, The Bat sees both McGreevy and Liberatore as 2 WAR starters. I’m sure it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine Dustin May as another 2 WAR starter. His projections however range from 1.5 to 1.8 WAR.
What might be most surprising is Andre Pallante the solid #4 starting pitcher that the projections see. Heck, I’ll take 1.4 to 1.5 WAR from Andre Pallante! And then the other projected top 5 SP is Kyle Leahy at this point. Guess we will see what he looks like in Spring Training, because we now have Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins staring into the starting rotation. Perhaps those guys become middle relievers though. Or, it could be Pallante and Leahy.
Of all other pitchers possible to crack the starting rotation, ZiPS gives parlance to the idea that Quinn Mathews will be getting some innings, around 46 IP is what is projected. What are the breakdowns for Fangraphs Depth Charts projections on innings pitched? Leahy will get around 128 IP with Pallante (148), McGreevy (149), May (153), and Liberatore (157) shouldering most of the workload. Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins are projected at around 100 IP each to round out a top 7 in possible rotation arms.
The key components to the bullpen are projected to be Matt Svanson, JoJo Romero, Riley O’Brien, Gordon Graceffo, and Ryne Stanek all getting 60 or so innings. I think the bullpen could be a strength again this year.
What if we get lucky and we get the best projections from each system for each player? That line of thinking has us at 7 WAR production from Winn + Wetherholt, close to 6 WAR from the Herrera + Pages combo, close to 5 WAR from Burleson + Nootbaar, and if you get another 6 WAR from the trio of Donovan, Scott, and Walker, that doesn’t sound so bad does it.
And if things go well for the rotation, it’s not impossible that the top 7 innings eaters are worth 10 WAR.
Now worst case scenarios… Leahy fails at starting pitching and the rotation bottoms out at around 5 WAR total. Winn and Wetherholt both fail to pass 2 WAR. Donovan is gone. Alec Burleson’s 2025 season was a bit of a mirage and he hits like he did in 2024. Lars Nootbaar is hurt again. Herrera at catcher only causes confusion for the whole team and he doesn’t hit like he did last year. Victor Scott II is barely above replacement level because he can’t hit, and Walker is a failed prospect. Yes, that is a last place team, probably. And of course in this nightmare scenario, Gorman still never pans out.
Well I hope that was fun! It has both given me a little hope, and a glimpse into how bad this team could be. I almost didn’t even write about projections this year, because the highlights and entertainment value are likely to be to see how new players perform and grow, and to see how all this rebuilding and retooling pans out. It feels like more of a research and development team than one worried about win totals and WAR values. But in the coming weeks I plan on looking at the NL Central and sorting out how likely we are to finish ahead of any of the other NL Central teams. Hey, it’s not much, but finishing ahead of last place is definitely a goal of some sort.
That concludes the baseball coverage, now that I have finished writing about 2025 music in the past few weeks, I am about to start a new project that will take me all year probably. I have experienced life in over 50 years now, being born at the end of 1975. So I am going to go back and write about each year of my life, from the standpoint of music/arts/culture. And knowing me, it’ll be mainly about music but I’ll be throwing random movies and other things in, as well, just to keep it fun.
1975
I was born just after the end of the Vietnam War, and the founding of Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico. SNL made its debut and Jaws was the big movie of the year. The first successful test flight of my favorite plane ever, the supersonic Concorde, occurred. The Rubik’s Cube was patented. Watergate was still on everyone’s minds. Benoit Mandelbrot coined the term fractal. But I wasn’t alive for most of that year.
As far as baseball goes, the Reds were in the NL West somehow and won 108 games, the Brewers were in the AL East, the Pirates were the best team in the NL Central, Rod Carew had a .359 batting average, the home run leaders were in the upper 30s in total, Frank Tanana threw 269 strikeouts, Hank Aaron passed Babe Ruth in career RBI, Lou Brock reached 2,500 hits vs the Padres with the birds on the bat on his jersey, Joe Morgan was the MVP, and the Reds edged out the Red Sox in a 7 game World Series. The Cardinals and Mets barely finished above .500 and were in the same division. They used to be a key rival for the Cardinals.
Always music-minded, I will now turn to some musical selections… the highest esteemed albums of that year were releases like ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Pink Floyd, ‘Blood On The Tracks’ by Bob Dylan, and Eno’s ‘Another Green World’. Those are all fine albums, but I am here to tell you about my favorites from 1975. Maybe you’ll hear a sleeper here that you didn’t know about… or not!
links to full albums on album title
Top 10 Albums from 1975
Mahavishnu Orchestra – ‘Visions of the Emerald Beyond’ I would argue that this is John McLaughlin’s most underrated album, only eclipsed by 1971’s ‘Inner Mounting Flame’. The heights are even higher on Visions of the Emerald Beyond, however! And it even gets downright funky at one point. Rock n Roll in its highest form, absolutely astonishing. Every time I hear this album I wonder how someone can be so good at guitar, while finding other musicians on that level… Let your spirit soar into the emerald beyond.
Rush – ‘Caress of Steel’ I have a soft spot for this album, and another that I feel is undervalued in an even more famous prog rock band’s discography. It is worth listening to this album for the epic cut “The Necromancer” alone. While “The Fountain of Lamneth” gives us a taste of what’s to come on ‘2112’ and ‘Hemispheres’ with Rush’s first truly epic length prog rock songs. “Lakeside Park” and “Bastille Day” are two of Rush’s very best songs and are fan favorites… and “I Think I’m Going Bald” is a rare taste of comedy from the band, sounding like a stoned AC/DC. I always wondered how this album flopped while the ones after it succeeded, but I suppose timing is everything when you’re coming up with new ideas.
Yezda Urfa – ‘Boris’ If you have this album as the best album of 1975, I cannot argue with you there. This may be the most ambitious album of the whole list. It’s expansive prog rock sound is bigger than the genre. It stays completely authentic without sounding pretentious, despite its advanced musical nature, it shows restraint and wisdom. It gives you glimpses into the future, invents whole genres years before they exist without anyone knowing. The recording sounds very real, immediate, intimate. Energetic guitars, synthesizers, complicated bass parts, and tasteful but very dynamic and inventive drumming create a whole musical world to be enveloped in. Prog rock at its best. If that wasn’t enough, here are 27 minutes of bonus tracks!
Budgie – ‘Bandolier’ if you don’t know Budgie, well I’m hear to tell you that they are one of the best rock n roll bands of all time! This is not my favorite album by them but it is still so good that it is towards the top of my list! For fans of Led Zeppelin, early Rush, Blue Cheer, and Black Sabbath. The tightest riffs! Budgie is a key band to 1970’s rock if you have not heard of them. They have elements of prog but I’d file them under early heavy metal and straight up 70’s rock.
Frank Zappa – ‘One Size Fits All’ my prog rock extravaganza continues with The Mothers of Invention masterpiece ‘One Size Fits All’. I once did a project with some close music friends I’ve made over the years and they came to the conclusion that the album opener “Inca Roads” is the best Zappa song of all time. I wasn’t full in agreement with the majority but it is certainly one of his most impressive musical pieces, insanely complex and interesting. The whole album is really good though, flows from start to finish.
King Tubby – ‘The Roots of Dub’ I must admit I am not the biggest reggae fan… unless it’s true dub reggae! I love that shit. I first learned about it in my Sound Production class in college, and how King Tubby was one of the originators of the sound, which along with people like Brian Eno really started to push the idea of the studio as member of the band. The use of effects such as delay, echo, tape loops, and other studio tricks were employed by Tubby, who along with Lee Scratch Perry was ahead of their time in music production while using less equipment than many of their peers. Anyhow, ‘The Roots of Dub’ shows the beginnings of this style of music and is a bit more simple than some dub productions, but it’s also pure and happy music showing what you can do on a DIY budget. He then created his Hometown Hi-fi soundsystem and became one of the most inventive producers of all time.
Fripp & Eno – ‘Evening Star’ is an inspirational collaboration between two of the all time musical greats. If you like ambient music and/or drone, this helped write the book on it. You will hear some of the most beautiful and welcoming music imaginable in the world of ‘Evening Star’ as well as its more somber second half which comes down from the ecstatic highs. I know Eno also released ‘Another Green World’ and more in 1975, but I have to keep it prog adjacent with Fripp involved too! Haha, just kidding. I just like this album a lot and think it’s pretty sounding.
Black Sabbath – ‘Sabotage’ to me, this album came out after Black Sabbath peaked. It’s hard to believe that this is Sabbath’s 6th album, but maybe it explains that they were a little burnt out by the time ‘Sabotage’ was released. Putting out two albums in 1970, and then an album a year for three years after while touring a lot and partying like no men on earth before, might do that to you. Seeing Black Sabbath this low on my list kind of surprises me and probably you too, but it’s on here primarily because of how good the song “Hole In The Sky” really really is, and because of “Symptom of the Universe”. Even though I think of them as past their prime and burnt out already here, I still think of it as the last great Black Sabbath album. But holy moly Batman, the first 6 Sabbath albums have so many incredibly awesome songs that defined heavy metal.
Henry Cow – ‘In Praise of Learning’ a slice of avant garde prog that could be seen in the same league as maybe ‘Larks Tongues In Aspic’ by King Crimson with its use of space, free jazz outburts, sound experiments, but showing moments of all out frenetic musicianship and virtuosity. It’s a little bit pretentious but if you can get past that it’s doing a lot of things that few dare to accomplish. Elements of postmodern classical, avant jazz, prog rock, protest music, and experimentation. And in some ways it sounds like a precursor to no wave and post-punk that would come years later.
Betty Davis – ‘Nasty Gal’ I love how Betty does funk music and I love her voice. Just a fun listen that was pretty edgy for the times! While I prefer 1974’s ‘They Say I’m Different’, this is definitely a damn good follow up. There is a documentary about her that I definitely recommend watching. She was a controversial musician who just kind of disappeared before she got any more famous. Married to Miles Davis for a time but he got paranoid that she was having an affair with Jimi Hendrix! Which hastened the end of their marriage since she claims she wasn’t. She was a talented NYC enigma who just vanished.
And that right there is my Album of the Year 1975. I have this one on vinyl which I bought on a whim and remains one of my prized possessions!
All righty, one year down many to go! Now hopefully we will get more Cardinals news this week and keep the hot stove going, it’s still January but you know what February means! Keep on rocking in the free world if you can.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths.
“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire.
Kiki Cuyler* makes the Hall, and other stories.
Today in baseball history:
1888 – In Chicago, IL, 350 fans brave the weather to watch a baseball game on ice at Lincoln Park. Second baseman Fred Pfeffer of the Chicago White Stockings plays wearing a top hat. After two hours and five innings of play, the game is called. The “Spaldings” defeat the “North-Siders,” 7-6. (2)
1890 – In the first of many lawsuits filed against Players League members by their former teams, a judge refuses to grant an injunction against John Ward, president of the Brotherhood. His decision, echoed frequently by other judges, states that the “want of fairness and mutuality” in the standard National League contract, specifically the clauses relating to the reserve rule, “[is] apparent.” (2)
1907 – In an effort to reduce playing-date conflicts between their leagues, presidents Harry Pulliam of the National League and Ban Johnson of the American League meet to plan schedules. Conflicting dates are reduced to 27. (2)
1953 – Fred Saigh is found guilty of income tax evasion and is sentenced to a fifteen-month jail term, but will serve only five months at the federal prison in Terre Haute before being given parole for good behavior. The embattled Cardinal owner, under pressure of his franchise being taken away by MLB, puts in place a lucrative deal with a consortium that plans to move the team to Houston, but is persuaded to sell the team for less ($3.5 million) to Gussie Busch, when the Anheuser-Busch president persuades him that civic pride was more important than financial gain. (2)
1958 – Roy Campanella, driving home from his liquor store in Harlem, breaks his neck when his rented 1957 Chevrolet sedan hit a telephone pole in an early morning auto accident on Long Island. The 36-year-old Dodger catcher, who has won three MVP awards (1951, ‘53, ‘55) will remain paralyzed for the rest of his life. (2)
1968 – Goose Goslin, a former Senator and Tiger outfielder who retired with a career .316 batting average after playing in five World Series, and Kiki Cuyler*, a .321 career hitter who won four stolen base crowns for the Pirates and Cubs, are elected into the Hall of Fame by a unanimous vote of the Veterans Committee. Goslin believed his enshrinement in Cooperstown was helped by his interview that was shared in Lawrence Ritter’s 1966 book, The Glory of Their Times: The Story Of The Early Days Of Baseball Told By The Men Who Played It. (I recommend this book) (1,2)
1980 – Hank Aaron refuses an award from CommissionerBowie Kuhn honoring him for hitting his 715th home run. Aaron charges that baseball’s treatment of retired black ballplayers falls far short of what is needed. (1,2)
2009 – Aaron Heilman is traded for the second time this offseason when the Mariners swap the 30-year-old right-hander to the Cubs for utility infielder Ronny Cedeno and southpaw Garrett Olson. Seven weeks ago, the Mets dealt the much-maligned reliever to Seattle as part of a three-team trade that included the Indians. (2)
2013 – The Los Angeles Dodgers announce the launch of SportsNet LA, their own regional sports network on Time Warner Cable. The deal is a prelude to a long-rumored $7 billion deal that will award Time Warner broadcast rights for Dodger games for the next 25 years. However, the Commissioner’s office is concerned about the proposed deal, as its annual value is well above that used for revenue sharing purposes, which will result in the Dodgers pocketing a huge financial windfall if no adjustments are made. (2)
1521 – Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany which lasts until May 25th; Produced the “Edict of Worms” which denounced Martin Luther
1807 – London’s Pall Mall is the first street lit by gaslight
1813 – Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is published by Thomas Egerton in the United Kingdom
1985 – The charity single “We Are the World” is recorded by supergroup USA for Africa (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and other pop stars)
2017 – Australian Open Women’s Tennis: Serena Williams defeats older sister Venus Williams 6–4, 6–4 for her 7th Australian title and record 23rd Grand Slam event singles victory.
Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources, in order to help correct the record.
With Spring Training and the 2026 MLB season within sight, ESPN has released their list of the Top 100 MLB prospects for the upcoming season. Atop their list was the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Konnor Griffin, who has been touted as one of the best prospects in recent history.
ESPN MLB Insider Kiley McDaniel compiled the list of prospects and cited that Griffin’s tools far surpassed any other prospect from this class and put him in the upper echelon of some of the best players in the game today.
“Griffin is the top prospect in baseball by a mile, and I almost put him in the 70 FV tier, which is the highest I’ll put any hypothetical prospect, as that means I expect him to be on MVP ballots with 5-plus WAR seasons every year,” McDaniel wrote. “If I move him to a 70 FV, that would put Griffin in the conversation with Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and other top prospects of this era.”
McDaniel went on to give Griffin pro comps to Fernando Tatis Jr. because of his frame and overall talent, as well as Bobby Witt Jr. because of his skills as a shortstop with a blend of power and speed that makes him dangerous both in the batter’s box and on the base pads.
Four Pirates prospects just cracked ESPN’s Top 100 for 2026 — and it starts at the very top.
Konnor Griffin is the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, with Kiley McDaniel calling him “the best we’ve seen in a number of years” and putting him in Bryce Harper/Mike Trout territory… pic.twitter.com/sr1pxSX3uT
While these are still all projections for how good Griffin can be, McDaniel did note that to this point the game has not looked difficult for him and has excelled everywhere he’s been in his young career.
“We don’t currently know the limits of what Griffin can do on a baseball field, ranging from being the most talented player in his age group since early in high school to fixing what some swing gurus thought was a fatal flaw to his game in a matter of months,” McDaniel wrote. “Projecting him to make further adjustments seems like a formality now.”
Since Griffin stepped foot on the field for the first time as a professional, it was clear that he could be something special. The Pirates drafted him ninth overall in the 2024 draft as the best high school prospect in the class. He would make his pro debut in 2025 with the Bradenton Marauders. From there it was only a matter of time before the top prospect in Pittsburgh’s system was going to make a name for himself.
After 50 games with Bradenton, Griffin was called up to High-A Greensboro where he really started to establish himself as one of the best players in the world. He would be added to the National League Futures roster during the All-Star break, and would then pick up where he left off by being promoted to Altoona and helping them during their postseason run. The 19-year-old short stop finished the 2025 season with a slash line of .333/.415/.527 to go along with a .942 OPS, 21 home runs, 94 RBIs and 65 stolen bases.
With those great numbers came a great amount of individual accolades for Griffin. Baseball America named him the top Minor League player of the year and a Minor League All-Star. USA Today named Griffin the top Minor League player of the year as well. He was also named a Rawlings MiLB Gold Glove award recipient with other numerous All-Star nominations being claimed by Griffin as well.
It's Top 100 Day!
The article is stuffed with 25,000 words of tool grades, scouting reports, and notes on the metas that teams are using to find value in scouting and development https://t.co/Yztl4WCXOQ
With the way that the Pirates are currently constructed, Griffin has a very real chance at making an impact in the Major Leagues as early as this year. The Mississippi native was one of the several prospects to be non-roster invitees to big league Spring Training in Bradenton, and it’s speculated that his time with the Pirates will not end there this season. Even if he’s not in Pittsburgh immediately following Spring Training, there’s still a chance that he get’s called up at some point in the season.
McDaniel noted that given Griffin’s inexperience he might not be called up this early, but did cite that the “superstars almost always arrive ahead of schedule”.
“There’s chatter he could break camp as the every-day big league shortstop and possibly garner a bonus draft pick for the Pirates if he wins National League Rookie of the Year,” McDaniel wrote.“Add Griffin to Paul Skenes, with Bubba Chandler also breaking into the big leagues with front-line upside, and you can start to imagine how this team could electrify the Steel City.”
Free agency never really ends, as general managers are likely to tell you as the January cold gives way to the promise of Florida sunshine. Yet the pickings are getting ever slimmer on Major League Baseball's free agent market - especially the hitting side.
A pair of difference-making starting pitchers are still available, along with a decent swath of reliable, itinerant veterans who can pad out the middle or back of the rotation. But it's getting late late, as one might say, as teams aim to wrap up their dealmaking before camps begin opening Feb. 10.
Not sure if he’ll sniff the Max Fried rent district for lefty starters but it never hurts when you’re literally one of two on the market. Valdez is consistently right around 200 innings, has a championship pedigree and suppresses the home run ball. Not an ideal conclusion to his Houston era, but it’s also easy enough to hand him the ball and set your alarm clock for September.
2. Zac Gallen (30, RHP, Diamondbacks)
He led the NL in WHIP (0.91) and the majors in fewest hits per nine innings (5.9) in 2022, but regressed to 1.26 and 8.3/8.1 the past two seasons. He was much better once the trade deadline passed, posting a 3.32 ERA in his last 11 starts.
Giolito finally turned the page on a pair of injury-ravaged seasons to make 26 starts and post a 3.41 ERA, enough to comfortably decline his $19 million player option. Giolito completed at least six innings in 15 of his 26 starts, though he missed a playoff outing with elbow soreness.
4. Eugenio Suárez (34, 3B, Mariners)
Forty-nine home runs at age 34: What kind of a price do you put on that? Suarez, a free agent for the first time in his career, is about to find out. Suitors know what they’re getting: Punishing power, a ton of strikeouts, suboptimal defense at third but off the charts on the clubhouse affability index.
5. Chris Bassitt (37, RHP, Blue Jays)
A little high for the reliable righty? Well, consider that there are so few Chris Bassitts out there and this one just completed a three-year, $63 million deal with numbing consistency: 32 starts a year, a 3.89 ERA, nearly six innings per start. He topped that off with a selfless stint in the playoff bullpen, where he gave up one earned run in seven appearances.
6. Max Scherzer (41, RHP, Blue Jays)
He indicated after World Series Game 7 that he hadn’t thrown his final pitch, and he posted often enough in 2025 that the standard one year, $15.5 million deal should still be waiting for him.
7. Justin Verlander (43, RHP, Giants)
Those videos of Verlander and Scherzer playing bridge in the nursing home are gonna be wild 40 or so years from now. For now, though, they’ve got innings in their arms and for Verlander’s sake, hopefully he can find a home that’s both pitcher-friendly but also not totally lacking in run support: His 3.85 ERA resulted in a 4-11 record as he sits on 266 wins.
8. Luis Arráez (28, INF/DH, Padres)
Let the Arráez Rorshach tests begin. Do you see a singles hitter with a league average OPS? Or a magician with elite bat-to-ball skills? A three-time batting champion with three teams? Or a guy who can never justify his lack of slug despite all those one-baggers. Be interesting to see what the market thinks.
9. Nick Martinez (35, RHP, Reds)
More invaluable than his peripherals indicate, Martinez took the ball 82 times over two years in Cincy, including 42 starts, and amassed 6.3 WAR and a steady 3.83 ERA.
10. Jose Quintana (37, LHP, Brewers)
Can we at least spare this man the indignity of nosing around for a job in March?
11. Paul Goldschmidt (38, 1B, Yankees)
Until further notice, he remains a decent right-handed platoon option at first, the Yankees eminently pleased at the 1.2 WAR and clubhouse gravitas he provided.
12. Rhys Hoskins (33, 1B/DH, Brewers)
A bumpy couple of years in Milwaukee, where injuries and the emergence of Andrew Vaughn cut Hoskins out of the fun this past season. He struck out more than once per game as a Brewer but did salvage league-average OPS thanks to his power.
13. Zack Littell (30, RHP, Reds)
Littell completed the transition from swingman to full-fledged starter the past two seasons and this year reached 186 ⅔ innings with Tampa Bay and Cincinnati. Just 130 strikeouts might give suitors pause to believe he can repeat it, but Littell has proven himself as a reliable innings-eater.
14. Tomoyuki Sugano (36, RHP, Orioles)
A tale of three seasons for Sugano, who started strongly, faded badly and then made a mini-comeback to land almost exactly on the definition of "quality start": A 10-10 record and 4.64 ERA. Probably did enough to land another job stateside in 2026.
15. Michael Conforto (33, OF, Dodgers)
Will that beautiful left-handed swing again prove irresistible to a suitor? The Dodgers gambled $17 million that they could turn him into a weapon and he batted .199 and did not make the playoff rosters.
16. Marcell Ozuna (35, DH, Braves)
Last call for the full-time DH? The Braves couldn’t get rid of Ozuna at the trade deadline and now he’ll take his 21 homers to the market. Hit 40 and 39 homers in 2023-24, finishing fourth in NL MVP voting in ’24.
17. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (31, INF, Blue Jays)
Simple though his role may be, there’s simply not many IKFs out there, tasked with catching the ball, running the bases well and possessing the ability to fill in anywhere on the infield.
18. Austin Hays (30, OF, Reds)
Cincy was a solid fit for Hays, who smacked 15 homers in 380 at-bats. Still adept in a right-handed platoon role.
19. Patrick Corbin (36, LHP, Rangers)
Can still eat innings – 155 of ‘em in 2025 – and now with a little less pain, as he shaved his ERA from 5.62 his final year in Washington to 4.40 in Texas.
20. David Robertson (40, RHP, Phillies)
Used to be only Roger Clemens could get away with chilling out for a few months and then hopping aboard a playoff train. Robertson did so to some success in Philly; will he be up for the long haul next spring?
21. Tommy Kahnle (36, RHP, Tigers)
Leaving New York – where he’d posted a 2.38 ERA his past two seasons – was tricky for Kahnle, whose 4.43 ERA was his worst since 2018.
22. Daniel Coulombe (36, LHP, Rangers)
Was better before he got caught up in the Twins fire sale (1.16 ERA in Minnesota, 5.25 in 15 appearances in Texas) but on balance remains one of the most reliable and versatile lefty relief options available.
23. Walker Buehler (31, RHP, Phillies)
The arm is too good to give up on, even if the Red Sox had little choice but to do so after posting a 5.45 ERA and 5.89 FIP in 22 starts there. He fared a little better in a two-start look-see with Philadelphia, but he’ll clearly be in a short-term incentive-laden situation in 2025.
24. Jon Gray (34, RHP, Rangers)
His 2025 was a wash, as a fractured wrist in spring training and shoulder neuritis limited him to six appearances.
25. Tyler Anderson (36, LHP, Angels)
Seemed like a quick three years in Anaheim, mercifully, where Anderson posted a good year, not-so-good and a so-so season. He’s coming off the last of those, the biggest bugaboo a career worst 1.8 homers per nine.
26. Miles Mikolas (37, RHP, Cardinals)
A bit of will-he or won’t-he involved with Mikolas, who may retire, though he’s never one to leave any innings on the table. Last year, he ate up 156 ⅓ of them, with a 4.84 ERA.
27. Miguel Andujar (30, INF, Reds)
A nifty revival for the 2018 Rookie of the Year runner-up, as he posted an .822 OPS with the A’s and Reds and positioned himself as a versatile righty platoon bat going forward.
28. Justin Wilson (38, LHP, Red Sox)
About as close to a LOOGY as one can get in this three-batter minimum era, as Wilson tossed 48 1/3 innings in 61 appearances, holding lefties to a .212 average.
29. Mitch Garver (35, C/DH, Mariners)
The bat continues to fade, but Garver did catch 43 games backing up the Big Dumper in Seattle.
30. Scott Barlow (33, RHP, Reds)
A throw-till-you-blow guy and well, Barlow hasn’t blown yet, his 75 appearances always a value to a team needing innings.
31. Martin Perez (34, LHP, White Sox)
Declined the player portion of his mutual option after a flexor strain limited him to 10 starts in 2025.
32. Starling Marte (37, OF, Mets)
His four years of meritorious, if injury-plagued, service in Flushing are over. But Marte should still retain some value as an extra outfielder.
33. Andrew McCutchen (39, OF, Pirates)
He’s not so sure about that open invitation to return to Pittsburgh, but has indicated he’ll run it back one more time, somewhere, in 2026.
34. Brent Suter (36, LHP, Reds)
If only for the post-clinch dance moves. For real, though, Suter never pitched more than 3 ⅔ innings last season but appeared in innings 1 through 9 at some point. Anytime, anywhere.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — For many of the nearly 28 years since the Tampa Bay Rays held their inaugural game in St. Petersburg’s domed stadium, they have been looking for a bigger, better deal.
Tropicana Field’s location, across Tampa Bay from the much-larger population base in Tampa, attributed to low attendance through most of those years.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays began as the most recent of Major League Baseball’s expansion teams, along with the Arizona Diamondbacks. They eventually dropped Devil from the team’s name and have carved a fairly successful path as a small-market team despite a low payroll and poor attendance.
Every few years, talks of a new stadium to replace the aging Trop evolved and dissolved, including a failed proposal to move to Tampa’s Ybor City district and an effort to remain in St. Petersburg that seemed on track until Hurricane Milton in 2024 shifted local priorities. Last March the Rays withdrew from a $1.3 billion stadium deal with St. Petersburg.
Now stadium talks are back on, though few details have been released by the team, which has a new ownership group with new plans for the future.
The Rays signed a nonbinding memorandum of agreement last week with Tampa’s Hillsborough College to build a multiuse facility on a 113-acre site along Dale Mabry Boulevard. The site is across the street from Raymond James Stadium, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play, and in the shadows of George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is the spring training home to the New York Yankees.
When would the stadium be built?
Few details about the stadium, including whether it will have a roof, have been released by the team. It has said it wants a roof, which is almost essential to avoid long delays during Florida’s rainy season and spare fans the sticky summer humidity.
The team is continuing talks with officials in Tampa to get the deal completed. The agreement with Hillsborough College includes a six-month window for negotiations.
The Rays had been negotiating with St. Petersburg and Pinellas County for a new ballpark to be built adjacent to Tropicana Field. But the team in March withdrew from a $1.3 billion project to construct the new stadium, citing the hurricane and delays that likely drove up the proposal’s cost.Playing at Steinbrenner Field, which has a capacity of 10,046, the Rays had 61 sellouts and drew 786,750, down from 1,337,739 in 2024, when they were 28th among the 30 MLB teams and ahead of only Miami and Oakland. In 2025, the Rays were 29th in attendance, edging out the Athletics, who are playing home games at a minor league ballpark in West Sacramento, California, while a new stadium expected to open in 2028 is built in Las Vegas. The As drew 768,464 fans in 2025.
What happened to Tropicana Field?
Hurricane Milton struck Florida’s Gulf Coast in October 2024, ripping Tropicana Field’s roof to shreds.
The significant damage forced the team to play the entire 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, which underwent a 120-hour makeover following the Yankees’ final spring training game to prepare for the Rays’ opening day.
Meantime, repairs got underway at the Trop, and the team is expected to be back in St. Petersburg for the 2026 season. The Rays are under lease at the Trop through at least the 2028 baseball season.
The destruction caused by the hurricane and rising costs of repairs and new construction in part led Stuart Sternberg to pull out of a proposed stadium deal with St. Petersburg last year and sell the team.
The stadium opened in 1990 at an initial cost of $138 million and featured what the team said was the world’s largest cable-supported domed roof, with the panels made of “translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass” supported by 180 miles of cables connected by struts.
Playing at Steinbrenner Field, which has a capacity of 10,046, the Rays had 61 sellouts and drew 786,750, down from 1,337,739 in 2024, when they were 28th among the 30 MLB teams and ahead of only Miami and Oakland. In 2025, the Rays were 29th in attendance, edging out the Athletics, who are playing home games at a minor league ballpark in West Sacramento, California, while a new stadium expected to open in 2028 is built in Las Vegas. The As drew 768,464 fans in 2025.
What do we know about the proposed stadium?
So far, not a lot. Nothing has been made public about how much money the team’s ownership plans to contribute, or how much or even what they are asking from the city, county and state.
The new Rays ownership wants to create an atmosphere similar to Truist Park, where the Atlanta Braves play, which features a mix of shops, dining, living and work space outside the stadium. Again, few details have been publicly shared.
The memorandum-of-understanding with Hillsborough College also calls for creation of new campus facilities for the college.
Rays CEO Ken Babby said there is still a lot of work to be done.
“What I can say with certainty is that we believe with conviction that we’re going to be able to create a world-class work-live-learn-play development here in Tampa Bay, and we’re very, very encouraged and pleased by today’s outcome,” Babby said.
The team said in a statement that there are parking and access challenges at the location, but they will work through a comprehensive and collaborative process with Tampa, Hillsborough County, local law enforcement and planning experts to prioritize parking and overall mobility.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the state will not help finance the stadium. But he agreed to help facilitate the relocation of a juvenile justice facility on the property and added that the state could likely help pay for sewers and roads around the area.
Who are the new owners of the Rays?
Last September, a group led by Florida-based real estate developer Patrick Zalupski finalized a deal to purchase the team from former owner Stuart Sternberg. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.4 billion.
Zalupski, the CEO of Jacksonville-based Dream Finders Homes Inc., is the team’s control person and a co-chair along with Bill Cosgrove, who is CEO of Union Home Mortgage in Ohio.
The team’s new CEO is Ken Babby. Babby is CEO of Fast Forward Sports Group, which owns the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, a Miami Marlins affiliate, and the Double-A Akron RubberDucks, a Cleveland Guardians farm team.
Sternberg took control of the team from founding owner Vince Naimoli in November 2005. He oversaw the rebranding of the team from the Devil Rays after the 2007 season.
The Rays won AL East titles in 2008, 2010, 2020 and 2021 and twice reached the World Series, losing to Philadelphia in 2008 and to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020.
MLB.com | David Adler: All Rise, for the unveiling of the 2026 MLB The Show cover. Aaron Judge is this year’s cover athlete for the video game, appearing in both his Yankees pinstripes and his Team USA uniform. It’s the second time Judge has appeared on the cover of The Show, as he was chosen for the 2018 edition of the game following his superb Rookie of the Year campaign in 2017.
New York Post | Greg Joyce: The Yankees have named 44-year-old Mario Garza their new international scouting director. Garza will succeed longtime director Danny Rowland, whom the Yankees let go back in November after a string of poor showings on the IFA market. Garza has been with the Yankees for 16 years, most recently working as director of baseball development.
MLB Trade Rumors | Darragh McDonald: A new pitcher is on the Yankees roster, as New York claimed righty Dom Hamel off waivers from the Rangers. A third-round pick by the Mets out of Dallas Baptist in 2021, Hamel debuted in September 2025 but that stands as his lone career game thus far. The Orioles grabbed him off waivers shortly afterward and the Rangers were soon to follow with a waiver claim of their own. Hamel had a high ERA at Triple-A Syracuse in 2025, but the 26-year-old did fan over a batter per inning, so perhaps there’s something for the Yankees to work with there. To make room on the 40-man, they designated the recently-claimed Marco Luciano for assignment, as well as lefty Jayvien Sandridge, who cameoed in the 2025 Yankees bullpen.
New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: The Yankees signed 18-year-old pitcher Tijn Fredrikze as an international prospect at the end of 2025, the first time they’d signed a European-born player in 13 years. Phillips spoke to Fredrikze and Troy Williams, the scout who covers Europe, Africa, and the Middle East for the Yankees and uncovered Fredrikze. With so few prospects emerging from those areas, Williams was thrilled to secure Fredrikze, a player from the Netherlands that led the Dutch Major League in strikeouts last year. Fredrikze faces a long climb to the majors, but he sounds confident he can overcome the odds. “I want to be a Hall of Famer,” he said. “That’s my goal. My first goal was signing, and when I got close to that, my goals changed really fast. I just want to be the best out there.”
Newsweek | Jon Paul Hoornstra: Zach Monroe, a pitcher who played for the 1958 and 1959 Yankees, passed away at the age of 94 in his native Peoria, Illinois. He made 24 appearances in the majors in his career, all for the Yankees, posting a 3.38 ERA in the process. Monroe was part of the team that defeated the Milwaukee Braves in seven games in the 1958 World Series. He’s survived by four daughters, as well as many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. With Monroe’s passing, only four members of the 1958 champions remain: Tony Kubek, Bobby Richardson, Johnny James, and now-centenarian pitcher Bobby Shantz.
Rockies Fest must have been weird for Jake McCarthy.
Just over two weeks ago, the Colorado Rockies traded for him, and last Saturday, he found himself in a Rockies jersey answering questions from a very Rockies crowd on a very cold day in Denver.
Still, McCarthy, like any good baseball player, showed up and did his job.
First, he appeared on a panel with other positions players during afternoon. In that panel, he was funny and shared that his walk-up song had been Kurt Angle’s WWE song; that at least it’s easy for him to turn right rather than left at the Salt River Fields Training Facility; and that he’s eager to start playing with the Rockies.
After Rockies Fest ended, he along with Hunter Goodman and Kyle Freeland met with media.
Here’s a clip from that session courtesy of Guerilla Sports:
Below are some highlights of McCarthy’s conversation with media.
On playing at Coors Field
I was initially very excited. I’m so excited. I always loved coming to play here. Obviously, it’s a beautiful park. The fans are good. But, you know, when you talk about the big outfield, the elevation, I do think that plays to my game pretty well. And I think this team, especially, too, it’s very athletic team. . . . So I’m just excited to be a part of it. Whatever that role looks like, I just want to make an impact offensively, defensively, on the base paths, and put my game on display.
On changes the Rockies are making
It’s super exciting to be a part of something new. . . . I just think a lot of people in this building are hungry, and I have a lot of respect for this organization. I’ve been here, played against the Rockies at all the levels of the minor leagues up to this point, so I’ve got a lot of respect for the coaches and players that I played against for so long. And again, I’m really excited to be a part of it, really, really happy to be a part of what’s ascending here.
On making adjustments
I honestly can’t tell you what the adjustment of life is going to be so far because I’m just going to the same building in a different door. . . . I just go a little further to go into a different gate in the building. So that’s pretty convenient spring training part of it. But I think this team has played against me a lot, so I’m sure they have a lot of evaluations, but they traded for me, and I’m really grateful for that, and I want to make them really look good in this trade. And again, I’m just grateful for an opportunity here to sort of go out and [get a] fresh start just making my own impact here and helping this team. So I keep repeating myself, but I’m just really excited.
On what he worked on during the offseason
I think getting back to what makes me go as a player, and I think it could be dynamic, and I think that means getting on base for guys like this guy to the left of me [Goodman] and playing good defense, especially in a field like this. So, I think there were parts of last season that maybe I got away from that a little bit. So again, just eager to kind of get back on track.
On getting comfortable at Coors Field
I’ll say I’ve always sort of bounced around all three outfield positions, and there’s been no communication of like, exactly what the role will be, but I’m totally okay with doing that, and I’ve always done it. I take pride in playing all three outfield positions, and then, yeah, it’s a big outfield, whether it’s left, right, center, it’s a lot of lot of room to cover. So I’m looking forward to the challenge, and I’m excited to play alongside other good defensive outfielders, and I’m excited to sort of make that a reputation of us playing the outfield really well.
On Warren Schaeffer
I just met him for the first time in person five minutes before this. But he seems like a go-getter. Seems like the right guy to put this organization going in the right direction. And, you know, I love it. I love a straightforward manager, a guy who’s just going to shoot you straight and try to win some ball games. So I think that’s the type of guy we need, and I’m excited for it.
After the session ended, McCarthy found himself surrounded by Denver media introducing themselves to him. He smiled, shook everyone’s hand, and said, “Sorry, but I’m not going to remember your names.”
It was a drinking-from-a-fire-hose kind of day, but McCarthy handled it with grace.
It’s Tuesday night here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in out of the cold. We’re so glad to see you. There’s no cover charge. We can check your coat for you. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last night I asked you which recent deal for a starting pitcher do you wish the Cubs had made? Most of y0u thought the Cubs made the right move as 55 percent of you picked Edward Cabrera. The deal the Mets made for Freddy Peralta finished in second with 34 percent.
On Tuesday nights/Wednesday morning, I don’t normally write about movies. But you still have time to vote in the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classicmatchup between The Matrix and Back to the Future. But I always have time for jazz. I guess that time is now.
Tonight we’re featuring some funky rock fusion from Snarky Puppy, the supergroup led by bassist Michael League. This is from 2022 and is an original composition from League called “Bet.”
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music.
Some of you may disagree with me, but I think the Cubs are a very good team this year without any real weaknesses. I go through the projected starting lineup, starting rotation and bullpen and there isn’t one guy on the team whom I think “He needs to be replaced.” This is a team that can make the National League Championship Series and beyond.
But “can” is a very different word than “will.” The Cubs have a good plan for 2026, but as Mike Tyson famously said “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” And trust me, the Cubs are going to get punched in the mouth. Metaphorically, of course.
Last year, Justin Steele going down with elbow surgery was a punch in the mouth. Then the Cubs got another punch in the mouth with Shōta Imanaga went down with a hamstring injury. The Cubs managed to cover that over with a combination of Colin Rea and eventually Cade Horton, but come September, Horton was injured, Imanaga was not as effective after his injury and he really seemed to lose it by October. The Cubs ran out of starting pitching by the Division Series with the Brewers and that brought the 2025 season down.
So what I’m asking you to do is stress test the Cubs 2026 season. What’s most likely to go wrong? Where does the front office need to add extra redundancies to prevent disasters? Where, if something goes wrong, are the Cubs most screwed?
Obviously the starting pitching rotation is one place to worry about and yes, pitchers are going to get hurt. But the Cubs traded for Edward Cabrera and Justin Steele’s return is ahead of schedule. Javier Assad and Jordan Wicks are waiting in the wings and top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins should make his major league debut sometime this season. Is that enough?
Then there is the bullpen, which was a source of strength last season but has almost been completely rebuilt after most of the relievers left as free agents. Daniel Palencia and Caleb Thielbar are back. We hope Porter Hodge is healthy. Almost everyone else is new. Relievers are also very volatile from year to year. Have the Cubs done enough to make sure that they have the arms to get the final 9-to-12 outs every game?
Catching was a source of strength last year, but that was almost entirely because Carson Kelly had a career year. Can he do that again at 31? The Cubs suffered a huge blow last year when Miguel Amaya missed most of the season with two injuries. They lucked out when Reese McGuire stepped in and served as a solid backup to Kelly. Will the Cubs be as lucky again? Or maybe they’ll be luckier and Kelly and Amaya will be healthy all season and Moisés Ballesteros can fill in when necessary.
The infield looks pretty solid to me with the Alex Bregman signing and Matt Shaw moving to a utility role. I suppose there is the issue of how Michael Busch will do against left-handed pitching, but that’s what Tyler Austin is for. But maybe you see infield problems where I don’t.
Finally, the starting outfield is set with Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki. But what if one of them gets hurt? The Cubs traded away Owen Caissie, so he won’t be there for depth. He couldn’t play center field anyways, although I suppose Happ could in a pinch. There’s top prospect Kevin Alcántara, but the Cubs might prefer he gat at-bats in Iowa to sitting on the bench in Chicago. Are Dylan Carlson or Chas McCormick enough cover is something happens?
So what I’m asking you is what do you want keeping team president Jed Hoyer up nights worrying about. Where is the Cubs 2026 season most likely to break? What part of the team needs added reinforcements? Where are they most vulnerable?
Thank you for stopping by tonight. Please don’t forget your coat or anything else you may have checked. Get home safely. Stay warm. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow for more BCB After Dark.
Bo Bichette’s focus this spring appears to rest solely with his new team.
On the heels of his lucrative three-year, $126 million deal with the Mets, the infielder will not suit up for Team Brazil in this year’s World Baseball Classic, according to ESPN Brasil.
Access the Mets beat like never before
Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.
The 27-year-old expressed his desire to suit up for Brazil in this year’s tournament alongside older brother Dante Bichette Jr., a first-round pick by the Yankees in 2011.
Their mother, Mariana, is a native of Porto Alegre, Brazil, which made them both eligible.
“I hope that I can bring some attention to baseball in Brazil,” Bichette told MLB.com last May. “There’s amazing and talented athletes in there. The WBC is a big opportunity for us.”
Bichette, the Mets’ new third baseman, was officially introduced at a press conference last week. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
Bo and Dante, sons of former MLB slugger Dante Bichette, both suited up for Brazil during the 2016 WBC qualifiers at Maimonides Park in Brooklyn.
A prospect in the Blue Jays system at the time, Bichette recorded two hits in those games, though Brazil failed to qualify for the WBC.
Bichette would have been the lone MLB representative for Brazil in the tournament, as his brother never played above Double-A. The last Brazilian-born players to appear at the MLB level were catcher Yan Gomes and pitcher Thyago Vieira in 2024.
After spending his first seven major league seasons with the Blue Jays, the two-time All-Star officially joined the Mets as the team’s new third baseman last week.
He slashed a strong .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs last season, finishing second to Aaron Judge (.331) for the American League batting title.
Outside of last year’s postseason, when he played at second base after returning from a knee injury, Bichette spent his entire big league career at shortstop — where several defensive metrics rated him among the worst defenders at the position.
“He’s an athlete,” Mendoza said. “We’re looking at a guy that has played shortstop pretty much his whole career. And just watching him today, moving around third base, taking ground balls, creating angles and then the throws to first base, I was telling him, ‘It looks like you played there before.’”
The 2026 Spring Training report date for pitchers and catchers is two weeks from today. Joe Musgrove is again hosting his Camp 44 before the new season begins. San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish will almost definitely be participating with the team in one capacity or another. After having his third elbow surgery following last season, Darvish is three months removed and heading into the necessary rehabilitation required to get normal function back in his elbow.
The big question regarding Darvish is what role he will take going forward. As far back as last season, it was clear that Darvish had already started contemplating ending his professional career. While rehabbing and trying to get back on the field, he said: “I did seriously consider potentially not coming back – with the injury as well as with my performance the last couple years not being up to standard. But I thought to myself to go all out and treat it as if it was my last time.”
After the surgery, Darvish stated his goal was to rehab in order to be able to have normal function again. Many thought the 39-year-old veteran was implying that he was seriously considering retirement.
Now we jump forward to January of 2026 and the month leading up to Spring Training. Darvish again implied, while appearing at an event for Ronald McDonald House in December, that his goal was health and pitching again was not in his sights at that point.
The Padres are budget constrained, the free agent and trade markets have been outrageously expensive, and Padres fans are clamoring for additions to be made to the roster to round out the team.
Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune published an article stating the Darvish retirement was around the corner and he would be walking away from the remainder of his contract. His exact words:
“Yu Darvish does not plan to pitch again in the major leagues.”
Acee quoted Darvish (from the Ronald McDonald House event) – “The way my rehab is going now, I am focused on getting right, not coming back. Right now, I’m not really thinking too much about the future. Just knowing the way I think, I’m sure I will one day want to throw again. All I’ve thought about in my life is baseball.”
After writing in his article that Darvish was done, there was a swift response on social media from both Darvish and his agent, Joel Wolfe.
According to Yu Darvish’s agent, Joel Wolfe, no decision has been made on the pitcher’s retirement.
Wolfe: “Yu has not made a final decision yet. This is a complicated matter we are still working through.”
“You may have seen an article, and although I am leaning towards voiding the contract, there’s still a lot that has to be talked over with the Padres so the finer details are yet to be decided. Also I will not be announcing my retirement yet. Right now I am fully focused on my rehab for my elbow, and if I get to a point where I can throw again, I will start from scratch again to compete. If once I get to that point I feel I can’t do that, I will announce my retirement.”
“Since there are reports about my retirement, I’ll explain briefly,” he posted. “I’ve been discussing with the Padres since last year about terminating the contract, but I haven’t decided to retire yet. My own intention has been consistent since the start of the offseason, but at this point, discussions with the Padres, the players’ association, and my agent haven’t been finalized.
“As for me, if I can thoroughly complete my rehab and feel confident that I can pitch in games both mentally and physically, I’d like to start over and compete from scratch again. As for this year, I plan to go to Petco Park for rehab as well, and also attend a bit of Spring Training.”
Two things are true as you read what Darvish stated. He intends to walk away from his contract with the Padres and, if he decides to pitch again, it will be starting over from scratch and earning a spot on a roster. The details of the first fact are complicated and involve legal and financial issues for both the player and his representatives.
The second point is that he must complete his rehab before even thinking about pitching again. Darvish will be 40 when that process is completed. This is his third elbow surgery and his second UCL surgery. His intention appears clear. He does not want to take any more money from the Padres as a professional pitcher. There will be a negotiation that settles on an agreement for all parties but it seems clear Darvish would prefer to walk away.
Any announcement of a retirement is not immediately forthcoming. If he voids his contract he will owe no one anything and can take his time deciding about his professional future. If he stayed under contract he would have to proceed as the team required but on his own he can do it his way.
Acee was interviewed on Monday, Jan. 26, on San Diego Sports 760 radio with Jon Schaeffer clarifying his reporting. He acknowledged that using the word “retired” or “retirement” was a mistake. Although he stands by his statement that Darvish is fully intending on walking away from his Padres contract, the end of his professional career has not necessarily arrived and that is a call only Darvish can make.
Despite the premature jump that Acee took in announcing this development, it should be noted that Padres fans have probably seen the last of Darvish in a Padres uniform in a professional game. Even if his contract is converted into a personal services agreement or a front office job, Darvish as a Padres starter is probably a done deal.
As is his tendency, Darvish will refuse to take money he didn’t earn. The same as when he had to walk away in 2024 to deal with family issues, the team will not have to pay him money that he hasn’t worked for. He was quoted in December – “As far as leaving lots of money, I look at it as that was never mine to begin with. Especially considering the money I haven’t physically earned yet.”
A man of high principles and honor, Darvish will hopefully remain a part of this organization even after his playing days are over. He has already begun the transition into another role as he sat in on talks with free agents and was present during the negotiations for Michael King’s re-signing. He also attended the news conference after that signing.
Darvish is known to be close to Padres president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller and it would make sense that a special assistant role would be a good fit for him. No matter the final deal that is struck, Darvish should be admired for the ethics and principles that he brings to his career. All Padres fans should appreciate what he has meant to this team professionally and as a rolemodel for his teammates.
Like Musgrove, who stayed with the team as a mentor and cheerleader all through his rehab time last season, Darvish intends to spend time with the team during Spring Training. There is no doubt he will do what he can to support the rest of the team and the pitching staff as they prepare for the new season.
At an event on Saturday, Jan. 25, for the new Miracle League field, Musgrove was quoted:
“I know Darvish, I know his passion for the game, about his desire to help people around him get better, but I have no expectation as far as what we’re going to get out of him this year. I don’t say that in a negative way, I say that as this is a decision for Yu. He’s got his reasons why he’s doing it; I think it is extremely admirable what he’s doing, but I don’t want to put any of my opinions out there. It’s his decision to make 100 percent and I don’t feel a certain way about it.”
Staying out of the controversy is a wise choice for Musgrove but it seems clear that his teammates know what Darvish is intending and appreciate him for who he is.
Padres fans should do the same.
Even though this is likely to take some time to finalize, don’t become so wrapped up in the money side that we forget to appreciate the man who is doing it. Yes, the extra payroll flexibility will go far to helping with the roster this year and in coming years. No doubt, that is exactly what Darvish intended.
But with the unprecedented contracts we are seeing in professional sports, it is refreshing to be in the company of an athlete who puts his team, his adopted city and his fans ahead of himself.
But when asked about the potential of signing a contract extension, the right-hander pitched around it.
“I just got here,” he said Tuesday on an introductory Zoom call with reporters. “I think that I got to see around, I have to share time with my teammates and think about different ideas, learn about everybody, coaches, the organization in general and then we can see.”
Still, this is now the second time Stearns has traded for Peralta — the first when he was a 19-year-old acquired by the Brewers — which the now 29-year-old right-hander acknowledged “says a lot.”
This time Stearns is adding Peralta to the rotation as an established, high-end pitcher — costing the Mets prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat — who should elevate their chances heading into 2026.
Freddy Peralta pitched to a 2.70 ERA across 33 starts with 204 strikeouts in a career-high 176 ²/₃ innings last season. AP
“I’m really happy to be here in New York and represent the New York Mets organization,” Peralta said. “It’s a different market [than Milwaukee], a different city, there’s a lot more fans, a lot more people watching. Being honest, I like the competition that we’re going to face here. I’ve been around, watching for years what it is to be part of that big-market team. I’m excited to be part of the team and I can’t wait.”
Peralta, a two-time All-Star, pitched to a 2.70 ERA across 33 starts with 204 strikeouts in a career-high 176 ²/₃ innings last season.
It marked the third straight season in which he has made 30-plus starts, demonstrating a durability that he said was the “most important thing” to him.
And while pitching in Milwaukee and the NL Central is not the same as pitching in Queens and the NL East, Peralta has also made nine playoff appearances, which he believes should prepare him for his new opportunity.
“I think it’s going to help a lot, because the game during the playoffs, it’s on a different level,” he said. “I think probably New York is the same level — every game feels like that. I remember Opening Day in 2025 against the Yankees, it’s how it felt. I felt the same and it was crazy, the vibes and all that, the energy of the fans. Even being the first day, I felt that. I think that’s going to feel [like it] every five days in New York.”
The Dominican Republic native — who said he was still unsure if he would participate in the WBC this spring because of “personal reasons” — said he was looking forward to pitching in front of a strong Latin community that New York offers.
“There’s a huge challenge for me because I know how we are, the Latinos,’ he said. “I know that we have that inside of us, that hunger to win every time. I think I’m going to take that as a challenge to get better, to feel better, to get better every five days, to give my best and to make adjustments quicker. I know the people there are thinking the same way that I’m thinking: we just want to win. That’s what I’m going to work for, to get better and be ready for that.”
The Mets and Yankees front offices now know when they have to put their pens down on any midseason trades.
According to multiple reports, Major League Baseball has informed teams that the 2026 trade deadline is set for Monday, Aug. 3, at 6 p.m.
MLB Trade Rumors notes that this year's date is notable in that it's the first time since the flexible deadline was implemented -- a feature included in the 2022 collective bargaining agreement -- that the league has pushed the date this late. Many baseball fans recognize July 31 as the usual trade deadline, but the flexible deadline feature allows MLB to set the deadline on any date between July 28 and Aug. 3.
On Aug. 3, all eight games start no later than 6:40 p.m. ET. The Mets are off while the Yankees host the St. Louis Cardinals on 7:05 p.m.
Last season, the Mets and Yankees had busy trade deadlines. The Mets dealt for OF Cedric Mullins along with relievers Tyler Rogers, Gregory Soto and Ryan Helsley.
The Yankees had a more impactful trade deadline. They acquired INFO/OF Jose Caballero, 3B Ryan McMahon, utility man Amed Rosario, and relievers Greg Bird, Camilo Doval and David Bednar.
